#maybe it's Della's fault

[ahoyimlosingmymind]

okay yeah- Alden is not canonically awful- questionable? certainly. But not evil.

Having said that- someone has got to explain to me how his kids ended up with so many childhood grievances and one of them joined a terrorist organization...

all I'm saying is that they turned out a little funky for having such 'well adjusted parents.'..

like wtf was going on in that house?

[the-way-astray]

i must be the only (kind of) unironic aldella shipper in this entire fandom.

(ranting in the tags)

[korkorali]

I think the worst bit for me about all Those Sorts (you know the type) of fics is that they always take Della extremely out of character in order to make her the 'antagonist.'

And that sucks because it's just not necessary! It's the worst because you can have Della & Louie angst where Della's the 'antagonist,' and it's in-character.

You just have to have Louie be wrong in the end (kind of).

The reason why Della and Louie clash in Timephoon and Glomtales! isn't because Della 'disapproves of scheming in entirety' or something, it's because she's done the same goddamn thing as him.

(And side note- Timephoon is honestly an amazing piece of storytelling, because it allows us to see Della's thought process for taking the Spear of Selene by showing us Louie doing pretty much the same thing.)

She's been through it all before, and she knows how it ends.

And that fucking terrifies her! The idea that one of her kids is making the same mistakes as her, could go through the same thing as she did, and she's the only one who can see it, is terrifying.

The way to start out a story like this is simple; have an adventure go wrong. Not in a deadly way, not in a way that's caused by Louie (at least, not that anyone but him notices), not in a way that costs anyone their life- but in a way that causes them to lose the treasure. The adventure is a failure, and they have to come back empty handed, like New Gods on the Block.

Maybe some people get hurt, maybe it's vaguely Louie's fault (and even then- it'd be better if it wasn't even his fault, it's just his brain connecting patterns where there aren't any), but the most important part is that they don't get the treasure, and it's like- one of those ones that can only be found once every hundred years or something.

Louie feels responsible (I mean all of the kids do, but as it'd be a Louie story he'd be the one focused on) and upset that they want to all that trouble and don't have anything to show for it, so he tries to figure out some way to go on the adventure again.

Turns out, after a bit of research, there is a way to get to the treasure again! Louie brings it to Scrooge's attention excitedly- but Scrooge turns it down. Says it's too dangerous, that they're not doing it, end of story.

...Not end of story- everyone's still obviously miserable. So Louie decides that 'okay, if it's 'too dangerous,' then I'll just go in secret. It'll be fine, Scrooge is just overreacting.'

So he starts trying to put a plan into place to get the treasure in secret- but Della, somehow, seems to know what he's doing (hint: it's because she knows what she'd do if she was in Louie's shoes). And is consistently getting in his way.

And there you go- a perfect setup to have Della consistently and purposefully stepping on Louie's toes, getting in his way, trying to stop him from doing things, and it's even in-character! It'd probably start out with the two acting like everything's perfectly hunky-dory, even though both of them know that the other knows that they know that the other knows why they did this one thing.

As plans get deeper, it'd escalate to Della trying to actively call Louie out, but he always manages to just barely weasel his way out of it, and eventually commence his plan.

It obviously goes wrong. But Della's there to help. And finally she'd actually explain why the fuck she's been something of a thorn in his side for the past few weeks, why it seems like she knows what he's thinking: because she does.

Because she's been through the same thing.

Because she fucked up, and left her stranded on the moon for ten years, and she does not want that for her kid. (And of course everything could've been solved if she'd just sat down and talked to Louie about that at the onset, but it's Della- she only likes to bring up the moon when it's funny. She would've thought 'nah it's fine, I can handle this, I don't need to bare my soul, I shouldn't burden anyone with that' without realizing that oh yeah, no, that's the exact same thought process she doesn't want Louie to think)

And of course they'd argue, because it'd be a high-stress situation and neither of them would have the composure to pretend that everything's alright and they haven't been sniping at each other for the past week or so, and eventually it'd finally come up; eventually, they'd finally bring up that they thought the exact same thing when Louie did this, when Louie took the Timetub, when Della took the Spear.

'...And if anything goes wrong, at least I'm the only one who'll get hurt.' (Because you cannot tell me that that was not the last thought running through both of their heads when they took the timetub/Spear of Selene, you cannot convince me that they didn't think they were doing right by their families in that moment, that they hadn't done their due diligence and minimized risk down to one person.)

And Louie wouldn't understand, because he did the right thing. He minimized risk, he made sure nobody else would get hurt. But that's wrong- because if he got hurt, then Della (Donald, Scrooge, their family, her kids) would get hurt too. That they could fly into a vacuum all they wanted, but at the end of the day, they still didn't exist in one.

Eventually, they'd get out of there and abandon the mission again. Maybe they'd succeed, but probably not. But that's not important- what'd be important is that they were both safe and alive and okay.

There- a Della & Louie thing, extremely angsty, well Della as the 'antagonist,' and it's all in-character. Easy.

[writebackatya]

For anyone out there thinking about creating a DuckTales 2017 OC that is Della’s husband and the father of Huey, Dewey, and Louie; I should let you know that doing this The Spear of Selene incident is now partially your fault

Actually scratch that, it’s now ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT!

You selfish jerk!

Why didn’t you sit down with your wife and talk things over with her!? Why didn’t you talk about the overwhelming feelings she must’ve had when having three kids. Maybe that’s why she took the rocket because she thought it would be her last adventure as her own woman with the pressures of motherhood coming towards her!

Oh there was nothing you could do to prevent Della’s actions!? Well then why the hell did you let Donald Duck take her kids and raise them by himself!? That bum can’t even hold down a job let alone a high note! You really want garble mouth to raise your kids by himself!?! At least try to convincee him to tell the boys about their own family!

Oh and Uncle Scrooge! One of Della’s close family members that loved her near and dear! Way to let him become a recluse! He a lost a part of himself because of the Spear of Selene!

Also fuck you for not letting her kids be named Jet, Rebel, and Turbo! That was like one of her wishes and you failed at that too!

God I’m so mad at this nonexistent character I made up

I hate you Father of the Triplets! Why don’t people get mad at you instead of the three that caused the Spear of Selene!

[janetbrown711]

Melatonin

Louie can't sleep after an adventure gone wrong, his mother's words echoing in his head like the worst worst record, and so he seeks solace with his dear old Uncle Donald.

Ao3 Link

Louie was tired, which wasn’t surprising for 2:17 in the morning. It had also been a long, long day of adventuring and he had been grateful when he finally was able to throw himself on his bunk bed.

Unfortunately though, Louie couldn’t sleep.

His back and legs ached something fierce from all of the above-average amounts of running and walking and climbing he had to do, and there was this weight on his chest that caused his heart to pound, keeping his eyes and mind on alert.

Insomnia was nothing new for the youngest duck brother, of course, but that didn’t make it any less annoying (especially with Dewey’s tendency to snore). He’d normally just go on his phone and scroll through social media until his eyes decided to close, but it didn’t feel right tonight. No, his feed was too full of Webby and Dewey’s photos of their adventure. Photos of Scrooge, Huey, and Della were on every post, with Louie having to swipe through to find any with him in them.

That wasn’t their fault though, Louie really hadn’t been in the mood today for hiking mountains and fighting bears and bear-like monsters to find some mystic honey stirrer. The photos of him were blurry and embarrassing, unlike the usual where he’d at least pose with the treasure or he and Webby had some kind of fun side quest.

A chill ran through Louie that made him sit up and sigh, rubbing the bandages around one of his hands as he tried to think of what to do.

He could go to the kitchen and if Duckworth wasn’t too busy ghost-sleeping, he could make him some tea..? No, no, Louie hated tea more than Scrooge hated to waste it. Something else then… like watching YouTube? No, his feed was overrun with videos about Doofus Drake and Scrooge McDuck sightings and hustler videos that Louie really didn’t have an interest in (at least… not right now). He could try counting sheep, but– but there was something else on his mind playing on repeat instead.

“C’mon Louie, it’s just one more mile, don’t get lazy on me now.” His mother smiled at him, hands on her hips and a bouncy energy that just made him even more tired by the second.

“Yeah, Louie! C’mon, it’ll be totally cool to see the top of the mountain,” Huey encouraged too.

“If I don’t die before then,” Louie panted, leaning back against a tree.

Della tsked and rolled her eyes. “You sound just like your uncle, you know that?”

Louie perked up at that, but before he could say anything, Dewey punched him in the arm as he and Webby sped by.

“See ya later, slowpokes!” he called out mockingly as Webby made a face.

“Hey! We’re supposed to be on the lookout for bears, you two!” Della laughed and hurried to go join them.

“Hey–! Wait for us!” Huey shouted and started scurrying off too, and Louie had no choice but to follow.

…Louie didn’t know why his mind was focusing on it– it wasn’t a big deal, really. They all made it eventually, even if Louie missed the “big reveal” and family photo op. They had hundreds of those, Louie being gone from one or two or however many at this point wasn’t a big deal. He was the lazy one, after all. Consequences, simple as that.

“If you want to be part of this family, you got to–”

Louie shot up and out of bed, startled by his own memory as the pounding in his chest only increased.

“It’s just a stupid memory, Louie. Just shut up and go back to sleep,” he muttered to himself before checking if he’d awoken his brothers. Thankfully, the answer was no, so Louie was left to… well, as much as he wanted to, he was in no condition to go back to bed. He was still stuck in “fight or flight” mode, so he needed to walk around– maybe to find some melatonin.

As good as that sounded though, he knew the numerous bathrooms barely even had toilet paper, much less medications due to how stingy Scrooge was. If there was melatonin to be found, it probably expired in 1986 and probably had a nightmare shadow creature trapped inside for extra measure.

Then again, Uncle Donald always kept his melatonin and other vitamins stocked, so maybe Louie could just go to the houseboat to check? Hopefully he could do so without waking his uncle, but if he caught him, it wasn’t like he’d get in trouble.

Louie bit his cheek, finding his phone and unplugging it to check the time, annoyed but not surprised it had only been two minutes. With a sigh, Louie put his phone in his pajama pocket, and quietly crept out of his room into the halls of the manor.

Nights like these always made the mansion feel haunted– more than by Duckworth, anyways. His uncle was crazy old and so was his choice in curtains and decoration. While Duckworth and Beakley kept dust away, the moonlight had this uncanny way of pointing out every crack and crevice that was previously unknown. Plus, the quiet made the creaking wood and pipes a lot more noticeable, and with Louie, being in the state that he was, picked up the pace to avoid it as much as possible.

Thankfully, the courtyard wasn’t too hard to get to and soon, Louie was back sneaking his way on the houseboat like it was nothing.

While it took a second to get used to, the familiar sway and creaking of the houseboat was comforting for the young duck, and he couldn’t help but smile as he made his way to the bathroom’s medicine cabinet for raiding.

In there, he found a half empty bottle of aspirin, a thing of tums, an empty paper cup, some mouthwash, but no sign of any melatonin.

“Well… frick,” Louie muttered to himself, closing the mirror and nearly jumping out of his skin when he heard footsteps just outside.

“Hello?” called out the tired and scratchy voice of Louie’s uncle.

Busted.

“Sorry, Uncle Dee, I was just looking for some melatonin to nab.” Louie’s face was red as he flicked the light off and stepped out to the small hallway.

His uncle smiled pitifully at him. “Can’t sleep?”

Louie shook his head.

“I keep that in my room now since you three moved out.” Donald chuckled. “I can grab it for you, and I can make some tea too, if you’d like.”

Louie bit his cheek. It was getting late, but as much as Louie wanted to just take the melatonin and hope his feelings would just drown out, he couldn’t deny having a cup of sleepytime tea with his uncle would help.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” Louie gave a crooked little smile, which made his uncle chuckle again and ruffle his hair before going to the kitchen. Louie followed, sliding into the circular booth and watching as his uncle pulled out the dented old kettle and filled it with water.

“Have you gotten any sleep at all?” his uncle asked, watching it fill.

Louie shook his head. “No, not really… I’m more surprised you’re awake though, I really thought it would be an easy in-and-out.”

“You’d be surprised how raising triplets and being ex-navy can affect how light you sleep.” His uncle winked and turned the water off.

Louie snorted. “I think Mom could sleep through a bombing.”

“Yeah, that’s Della all right.” Donald’s voice wavered a bit, though he quickly turned to muttering in frustration as it took a second before his stove would light. It eventually did, and once that was all settled he sighed and leaned against the counter. “So what’s keeping you up this time, Lou?”

“Oh, you know… adventure stuff, I guess,” Louie danced around the details, picking at the bandage on his hand.

His uncle’s eyes landed on it, and based on his reaction, it seemed he hadn’t noticed his injury at dinner. “Are you okay? What happened? Did Huey or Webby do the bandaging? Or was it Dewey? Not that he does a bad job, he just always forgets the Neosporin–”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, Uncle Dee– really,” Louie forced a smile. “It’s just a minor scrape, I promise.”

“You know, I’ve always told Scrooge you boys need better gloves and gear just so situations like this don’t happen.” Donald shook his head and left the kitchen, muttering under his breath the whole time.

Welp. Better than a scolding to stay safer, Louie thought to himself as he closed his eyes for a second.

When he opened them again, his uncle was back with a first aid kit and a bottle of melatonin.

“Here, let me look at it,” Donald asked, taking a seat next to Louie.

“It’s fine, Uncle Donald,” Louie tried to assure him, but his uncle didn’t relent, taking his hand and quickly unwrapping the bandage.

His uncle frowned, inspecting it. “This doesn’t look like a regular scrape. What happened?”

“It was just a sharp rock, I swear.” Louie looked away to try and mask the lie.

Donald didn’t seem to believe it, but focused his efforts more on adding some neosporin to his cut before finding a suitable gauze pad, bringing Louie momentarily relief.

“Who wrapped this the first time? And how long was it between hurting yourself and getting bandaged?” Donald interrogated.

“Dewey when we got back to the plane, I guess– it’s really not a big deal, Uncle Donald, I’m fine,” Louie tried to push, but he could see Donald’s eye twitch.

“No one had a first aid kit? Not even Huey?” Donald asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“He ran out using it on Webby and Dewey and Launchpad.” Louie shrugged. “Seemed only fair to let them have it this time anyways, since I’m usually the one taking all the supplies.”

Donald frowned, now taking the roller bandage and wrapping his wrist twice before going diagonally to the outside of his pinky. “I don’t like you thinking like that; your safety and health matters just as much as anyone else’s– even if you’ve got worse luck and tire out quicker.”

“Sure,” Louie sighed, looking at the kettle and seeing the steam starting to escape, a squeal imminent.

“I’m serious, Louie. I don’t want you talking like that. You deserve as much love and care as anyone else.” His uncle looked at him seriously, but the ten-year-old avoided eye contact.

Donald frowned, finishing the bandaging just as the kettle began to squeal and put a brief pause to go deal with that.

“If you want a place in this family–”

Stop. Just stop, Louie hissed in his mind. He hated that stupid video and that stupid memory. It was so long ago, there really wasn’t a point for it to be on repeat like it was. Yeah, his mom joked that if he hadn’t been so clumsy on the last adventure then Huey wouldn’t have ran out of bandages, but like… that was different. Louie was fine. It was fine. It was cool.

“So are you going to actually tell me how you hurt yourself, or are you going to keep me guessing all night?” Donald sighed, pouring the hot water into two mugs.

“It was a sharp rock, I promise.” Louie bit his cheek.

“Right.” His uncle’s shoulders sagged, before he shook his head and set the kettle down. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Adventures are hard sometimes, I get it– plus, I know I can be a little protective–”

Louie laughed.

Donald rolled his eyes. “Okay, maybe more than a little protective, but you know… someone’s gotta.”

Louie’s smile faded and his eyes went back to his hands.

His uncle hummed in amusement as he got the tea bags and began brewing before returning with mugs in hand to the booth. “I’m sorry today was rough. I wish I could’ve been there.”

Louie waved his hand. “You would’ve gotten hurt a lot more than me.”

“Yeah, but at least Della knows to carry three extra kits whenever I’m around,” Donald laughed, and a lump formed in Louie’s throat.

“Right, yeah.” Louie tried to ignore it, tapping his fingers on the glass as he urged the tea to brew faster.

When it was done, he could feel his uncle's eyes on him as he took a sip of tea, searching and scanning like they had many times before. It was how he eventually learned to detect Louie's schemes, and it never failed to make Louie feel small.

To his surprise though, instead of saying anything, Donald wrapped an arm around Louie and pulled him to his side, kissing his head and hugging him tight. It made the lump tighten and tears threaten to form, the pressure building so tight Louie might just burst.

“I love you, Louie. You know that?” his uncle whispered.

Louie could only nod.

“I love you very, very much, Lou. I care about your health and safety, and I want you to be happy more than anything else in the whole wide world, do you understand?” Donald continued.

Louie nodded again, his lower lip beginning to tremble.

His uncle hugged him tighter. “Louie, I want you to tell me what’s hurting you. You don’t have to give details– but know that nothing is too much for me, okay? I want to help you… please…”

The ‘please’ shattered Louie’s resolve. He opened his mouth to speak maybe three times, before he eventually croaked it out:

“Why… doesn’t mom… like me..?”

Donald let out a quiet gasp, filling Louie with instant regret that broke him down into a sobbing mess in an instant.

“Oh, Louie.” His uncle pulled Louie onto his lap now, hugging him tight as he rocked back and forth while the ten-year-old just buried his face in his chest.

“S-sh-she– It-it’s like– She likes H-Huey, a-and Dewey, a-and even Webby– b-but– b-but–”

“I’m so sorry, honey.” Donald hugged him a little tighter, and Louie could tell he was crying too.

“I-I keep screwing u-up– a-and it’s like– i-it’s like she ca-can’t even tell a-and she just– she hates me, Unca’ Donald, she hates me,” Louie wept.

“Della doesn’t hate you, Louie, she just doesn’t understand, I promise,” Donald tried to assure, but Louie just shook his head.

“Sh-she keeps– she keeps calling me lazy a-and she makes fun of me wh-when I fail a-and even get hurt– it hurts so much, Unca’ Donald, it hurts so much,” Louie confessed, a wave of sorrow crashing down with the realization.

“I’m so sorry, Lou…” his uncle’s voice cracked. “I wish she didn’t. I really, really wish she didn’t– but old habits die hard, I’m so sorry.”

It took Louie a moment to process what his uncle said, and when he did, he sat up a bit. “Y-you mean she does that to you too?”

Donald nodded with a sad smile. “Everyone does, but Del and Scrooge especially. I used to joke that’s the only reason they kept me around.”

Louie’s heart managed to break a second time and he practically leapt to hug his uncle. “M’so sorry, I-I never meant to– I just– I’m so sorry, Uncle Donald.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Lou. I’ve learned to accept it.” Donald rubbed his back.

“But you shouldn’t have to! I-it sucks– I hate being just a joke to them, a-and you’re so much more than that too!” Louie broke the embrace again.

“Louie, you aren’t a joke to them, I promise. You have that wonderful mind of yours that’s always so good at planning and scheming and escaping and they value that tremendously.” Donald put his hands on Louie’s shoulders.

Louie looked at the ground. “Even mom..?”

Donald gave a long sigh. “Your mom is… new to this. She doesn’t understand how you work yet and assumes you won’t take it personally, like how I would act– but that doesn’t make it right. She loves you, but she just doesn’t know how to, and I’m sorry that hurts you…”

Louie looked away, his mom’s words echoing again in his mind.

“If you want to be a part of this family, you gotta stop.”

“She… she said if I wanted to be a part of this family, I had to stop scheming– had to stop the one thing I’m good at,” Louie whispered.

He could see his uncle’s shoulders tense. “When did she say that..?”

“When you were gone after the ‘timephoon incident’.” Louie sniffled, wiping away hot tears as he stared at his mug.

Donald gave another long, heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry, Louie. I wish she understood you, I really, really do…”

“Sh-she also– I hurt my hand because she didn’t see me slipping. She didn’t help me– sh-she assumed I’d be okay, but I’m not okay– it’s not okay, Uncle Donald, it’s not.” Louie shook his head and curled up to Donald’s side, and his uncle wrapped an arm around him.

“I’m so sorry, Lou. Della just gets so wrapped up in her own head, she has a hard time recognizing people aren’t always at her level.” Donald rested his head atop Louie’s and squeezed him.

“I-I felt so alone today– I hate feeling alone,” Louie confessed more.

“I know, Louie, I know. And if it helps, you’ll always have me no matter what, okay? There’s nothing you could do to make me hate or leave you. You’ll always be my little Louie, and even if we get separated, I’ll always find my way back– even if it’s the moon,” Donald pointed out with a soft smile.

“Thanks, Uncle Donald.” Louie nuzzled closer. “I wish mom understood you too.”

His uncle laughed weakly. “Maybe one day… but in the meantime, I’m lucky to have you.”

Louie couldn’t help but laugh a little too. “I’m lucky to have you too, Uncle Donald.”

The pair of them sat in silence for a while, with Louie curled extra tight to his side and Donald holding him nice and close. It was calming, especially with the slow eb and flow of the pool water. All that crying had exhausted Louie, and he figured his uncle likely felt the same. However, Louie couldn’t even imagine going back to his bunk now, not when he felt his uncle needed him as much as he needed Donald.

“I’ll try and talk to her. It’ll be slow and I don’t know how she’ll take it, but I’ll talk to her,” Donald suddenly spoke up. “Uncle Scrooge too, for that matter.”

Louie wiped his eyes and shook his head. “You don’t gotta do that, it probably won’t change anything.”

“I have to try, Lou.” Donald looked down at him. “You’re worth at least trying.”

Louie didn’t have a response for that, so he just nuzzled back close and there was quiet again.

Louie liked the quiet. It was much better than the eerie silence of the manor, and how it would always be broken abruptly by some creaking wood or wind whirling down the chimney. On the houseboat, the sounds were constant, like a lullaby. The splashing of the water, the squeaking old metal, the soft hum of the old AC unit– it always knew how to put Louie to sleep.

“Uncle Donald?” he suddenly spoke up.

“Yes?”

“Can I… stay here with you tonight?” Louie glanced back up at him.

Donald’s face melted into a soft smile. “Of course, Lou. You’re welcome here any time.”

“Good.” Louie smiled too, before yawning.

His uncle chuckled before yawning himself. “Looks like we should get going to bed, huh?”

“I could stay up longer,” Louie lied, making his uncle roll his eyes.

“Drink some tea before you take that melatonin, I don’t want it going to waste,” Donald lightly teased before getting up and drinking more of his own.

Louie nodded, beginning to chug before he remembered he really wasn’t that big of a fan of tea, and so set it down again. “Is… that enough?” Louie asked.

Donald laughed. “Yes, yes, it’s fine, I’m just joking, no need to force yourself.”

Louie smiled before struggling to open the bottle of melatonin. Noticing this, his uncle walked over and helped him retrieve the yellow pill, which Louie took with a little bit of tea. After that was done, Donald cleaned up their mugs and set them out to dry. Once that was settled, Louie took Donald’s hand and the two of them went to cuddle the rest of the night away.

[tapinix2]

Hey guys, I'm obsessed with Ducktales so I'm making an AU for it

We all know that Donald has anger issues and sees a therapist.

Well, what if a bit after the triplets are born and a while since Della has left there's an incident. He loses his tempor and one of the boys gets hurt, not badly, it's just a scratch, but he still feels horrible about it.

Donald is super anxious, so it's no surprise that he starts constantly worrying about accidentally hurting them again.

After talking to his therapist they decided that it would be best to send HDL to a foster family while maintaining guardianship until he's made more progress and can control his anger better.

They make arrangements, child services suggest trying to contact any relatives first.

While Donald insists that Scrooge is unfit to parent the boys, they call him anyway. Suprise suprise, he doesn't answer no matter how hard they try to talk to him. He's too busy pouring all his time into finding Della, ignoring anything else, he doesn't even find out about what's happening with his nephews.

Normally his close friend and housekeeper would answer these calls, but she has her hands so full with baby Webby (who's just shy of a year younger than HDL) that they go unnoticed.

Gladstone says that he would love to take them in but he's currently planning for a four year long expedition that includes traveling to casinos for gambling and drinking, not very kid friendly. He'd postpone, but the opportunity to visit some of the venues only opens once in a thousand years, and he is determined to win some big money in those legendary casinos. (hint hint, he gets trapped in one of them).

Feathery offers to take them, and child services denies due to the fact that he lives alone underwater. The conditions aren't safe for young children to grow up, but HDL will be allowed to visit once in a while if requested, as the facility itself is sound. He isn't willing to abandon his work on the edge of a breakthrough and move to a house above sea level.

So it's decided they will go to foster for a bit, Donald's only condition is that they don't get separated no matter what. He figures that even if something happens that they can't talk to him again, they'd always have each other. Everyone agrees to this and the paperwork is brought out.

Things are good for the first year, they go to this nice couple with an older kid, see their uncle on weekends, and start at public school. Donald's therapy is making progress, but he hasn't been able to hold down a job so the boys are to stay with the foster until he's financially stable.

Then Dewey gets into a fight. It wasn't his fault, really, but these older boys were picking on him so he punched them.

Louie tries to stay out of it, he's the smallest of the trio since he hatched last, and when one of the boys comes at him he uses his size to duck under them and run off. He goes to get a teacher.

Huey attempts to break it up at first, but after they push Dewey to the ground and try to hurt Louie, overprotective big brother loses his tempor.

He beats the bullies up, despite them being two years ahead. They aren't so injured they need medical attention but one of them hit their head and passed out, while the other two are bleeding and cowering against the wall when a teacher arrives.

HDL gets blamed for the incident, and they all get in trouble while the bullies get off. Despite Louie's protests, he's been marked down for cheating on a test and the school assumes he was part of it as well. Usually, they would just get detention, maybe a short suspension, however, one of the bullies just happens to be the son of a very influential school board member.

So the triplets end up expelled, after a lot of exaggeration over the incident and some crocodile tears from the bullies. They use Donald's anger issues against them, to prove that the boys are unstable. At this point they had only been in school a few months.

The school board talks to child services and recommends that the triplets are sent to homes or schools for troubled children. After half-ass assessing the boys, they ignore Donald's request and split them up.

Huey was able to play things down for himself, he's not a good liar but he's a goodie two shoes who managed to appeal to them. He stays with their original family for the time being and is moved to a different public school, while attending semi-regular therapy sessions for a bit.

Dewey is abrasive but hasn't been in trouble with the school before this. He tells them that the older boys started the fight, and while they don't entirely believe this story they go easy on him. They notice that he's very hyperactive, with love for adventure. Dewey is sent to Cape Suzette, where other foster/orphan children with a lot of energy have gone and seen promising results. They believe that being able to put his mind into more complicated things will calm his spirit. He bounces around the city a bit, and becomes friends with Kit who knew his mom from flight school (although they were never very close).

Louie gets it the worst, despite being the only one not involved in the fight. The bullies had claimed that he had been the one to start the whole thing, and the school board was very biased in their favour. Louie had previously managed to trick these three into giving him extra dessert at lunch, so this was their form of payback.

No matter how much he tried to explain that it wasn't true, the previous marks on his record for cheating made him out to be a bad kid. In actuality, he only tried to cheat because he was too lazy to do the work. He's a smart kid and he knew the answers, he could have passed just fine.

Thus, Louie ends up at a home for 'troubled boys'. He's one of the youngest, definitely the smallest, and way out of his element considering he was falsely accused.

The fight happened on Monday, the expulsion was finalized on Wednesday, and the boys were moved by Friday. On Saturday Donald is told that HDL got into a fight at school, and they believe his anger issues may have been a negative influence, so they want to pause the weekly visits for a little bit. Believing that they know best, and not having been told that the triplets were split up, Donald doesn't argue. He only asks if the boys were hurt at all, to which he gets a truthful "no, minus a few scratches".

AND THUS

THe boys have been separated, at an age where they would hardly rmbr once they grow up, and Donald has lost contact with them.

Do they manage to find each other and reunite once again? Do the triplets ever end up in a stable home? Does Scrooge get off his ass and become a parent figure to Webby? Will Donald attempt to contact his nephews again or become discouraged by everyone telling him he's unfit to be a parent?

We'll just have to wait and see.

I've been calling it the "finding family au" but I suppose you could also call it "split up au" as well.

This is the basic backstory, which I probably won't draw out, and we have a little more to go through until we get to the start of the actual story. I plan to make a mini comic for that little prelude, although it may take a bit to finish.

Send me asks about this and I will love u forever, I'm working on drawing designs for the triplets rn.

Yes, many more characters will be included. I have plans for team science, team heroes, team magic, May + June, and Goldie. If u have anyone else u wanna see let me know!

[unluckyuncle]

Family Threads 𓅭𓅭𓅭𓅭 Amity Drabble

Boy oh boy had it been a rough month for the duck. Of course, it had been another year of the triplet's birthday, more specifically one where he wasn't able to share in it. Donald had to pretend it was enough for him, but it only made his heart more to think about.

It was a suggestion of the family he did have here ( honorary, but in his book, that's all that mattered ) that led him all the way out to the Padadue temple. It really was a pretty landscape out here, just teeming with life and color.

He walked into the temple, not exactly sure what to expect. But he knew what he was here for. He was greeted by one of the Acolytes, who spoke to him a little bit more about what this was and the entire ceremony process. It sounded like a lot of magic-y things that Donald didn't fully understand, but he was assured that it was painless, and the end result would be well worth the time.

Donald let out a deep sigh but nodded. A huge part of him just wanted to see his family again, and this Sovenance Tapestry seemed to be the best way to do that.

He sat down and thought hard. Though really, he didn't have to do that much. He had so many memories of his family.

The boys were the first things that came to his mind. Of course, that wasn't too much of a surprise. He thought of them today. Dewey with his energy. Louie with his cleverness. Huey with his intelligence. He loved each and every one of them more than life itself. He remember when they hatched. Their first steps. Their first day at school. And of course, he remembered the struggles. The trips to the food bank. And the days when Donald wasn't sure he was good enough to be considered a parent at all. But he knew without a shadow of a doubt that they loved him just as much as he did, and that's what mattered the most to him.

With the boys comes Uncle Scrooge. There's a pain in those memories, Donald knows. He feels it deep within himself. The 10 years of bitterness, anger, regrets. But he remembers the times before. The adventures they had, the way Uncle Scrooge was so much like a father to him when his own didn't take the time to understand him. He'd spent so much of his life with the man, that he hardly knew what to do with himself when they cut ties. But now he was back. He loves Uncle Scrooge more than anything, even with his faults. They're family, and families stick together.

With Scrooge then comes Della... she was alive. She was somewhere home - or maybe not, he didn't know for sure. But she could be back with her kids, her wonderful boys. He wondered how much she had changed - if he'd even recognize her if he saw her ( would she recognize him? ) But he focused on their past. There was no one else who understood him like her. They stood up for him like her. She was there for all of his lowest moments, just like he was there for hers. Of course, they fought and teased... but they loved each other. That's all Donald can hope for.

There were so many memories that Donald searched through. He saw little Webby and Mrs. Beakly. He saw Launchpad and Gyro. So many friends; all of whom he'd call his family in one form or another. They'd saved the world together and loved each other more than anything else. Donald had been 10 years without a family, only to find himself surrounded by multitudes. Like all families in the world, they weren't perfect, but they all knew where they belonged.

And that's what he left the temple with. The tapestry turned out pretty big, but it was full of his memories. They were so vivid and captured the likeness just as he remembered it. The image depicted a giant family photo. Donald with the boys all doing something dear to them. Scrooge and Della stood behind, a plane in the distance. While everyone else filled the space around them, totally unique and representative of who they were.

It was a beautiful thing, and he couldn't be happier that he had one. He'd treasure it forever.

[fantasticenthusiasttale]

The inicial idea:

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But the first thing I thought of when I got this fic idea was "Wow, I will make it an angst!" And who don't like angsty fics don't worry, if this works the next one-shot will be a fluff, and maybe with DW and DA.

PS: Beakley isn't here bc she went to the mansion when she got Webby, and that fic happened before.

Warning: angst

Anyway, enjoy :)

《》《》《》

The dissolution of the Duck-McDuck family

"You... You crazy old man! You murder! " Donald shouted with Scrooge. Once he and Drake knew what is happening, he got absolutely furious with his uncle. How he dares to do something in that size as a secret, he couldn't see that could turn into a huge crazyness? How many ways this could go wrong and it really went?

"I'm not a murder! This is not my fault! This don't went in the way it should go!" Scrooge shouted in answer. The stress of the situation was making him crazy, he just have to find her, anywhere she is, to the family be alright again. When she returns, the things will work again, his nephews will finally understand and regret everything what they're saying, and obviously he will ground all of these children and then forgive it. They will be an happy family again. He will never give up of this plan.

"Not your fault? Ha! Who built the Spear of Selene? Who made a rocket what sent our sister to the space while she will be mother?" Donald pointed to the eggs under Drake's care in the baby carriage. "Why you doesn't even told us? We're her brothers! We could hide the secret too!"

"I said, but you throught that were a craziness! I just throught that would make she happy! She always liked craziness!" Scrooge justified himself, he just wanted to see his niece smiling.

"I know, but she was pregnant when you begun with it! And now, look what you have done! She's disappeared and the babies will born in a few days!" Donald shouted anxiously.

"I'm doing everything I can to find her! She will be here to watch her boys born, just be more patient!" Scrooge told his older and out of control nephew.

"More patient? MORE PATIENT?!" Drake turned mad and got out his place with the babies fastily to not have the chance to do something bad to them accidentaly. "Now it's a week without Della! A whole week without our sister here! More time where you don't find her means more chances to she be dead! If you don't solve this fastily, our nephews will be orphans just like us!"

Scrooge looked to the younger nephew. "They won't! I'm solving this! You will have your sister faster than you think!"

"I'm tired of this! I can't trust you! You're saying this since she got in the rocket! Don't lie to me!"

"Because it's true! The process it's just too slow for find something! It makes me mad too!"

"Uncle Scrooge, Della is dead?" Donald looked at his uncle, almost with tears in his eyes. The boys needs their mother, don't matter what they have to do to have it. It isn't for him or even for Drake, it's for the boys. They needs her.

Scrooge sympathized sadily with the lad's look, while Drake was trying to calm down. Everyone wants Della in home again, but they're losing the patience. "I don't know, Donald. We hope she isn't."

Donald's face turned red again "That's it! We cannot stay here anymore!"

Scrooge got surprised "What? What do you mean?"

Drake looked confused to his brother, and Donald looked at him "We cannot stay living in the mansion from the duck who killed our sister!" He looked at Scrooge "If you made an entire rocket to her while she was pregnant, and now she disappeared and you 'can't find her', that means you always wanted to get rid of her! How you dares?!"

Scrooge turns panicked "WHAT? Are you crazy? You are completely wrong! I never would do somenthing like that!"

"Stop lying! I should know you are mad! All of these adventuries you does, all of your thirst for dangerous! How I never noticed it?"

"Donald, stop! Go to your room! You're grounded!"

"Who will be the next, huh, Scrooge? Me, Drake, the boys or all of us together? If it's me be fast, I don't like to wait!"

"Donald! Get out of my house! I'm not letting you talk to me in that way, principally under my roof!"

"You are right! We're not staying more one minute in this mansion! Let's go packing, Drake! We'll live in the boat I bought with my savings!" Donald signaled to Drake.

"Ha! The old houseboat instead the mansion from the richest duck in the world?" Scrooge mocked.

"I prefer live in the streets than spend here one minute more! C'mon, Drake!"

"No! If you wants to live alone, you can! But Drake and the boys stay with me!"

"No way! The boys will go with me! I'm her twin! And Drake is big enough to decide by himself where he want to go!"

Drake looked to Donald and Scrooge, stopping his eyes on his uncle "Donald is right, Della wouldn't like her boys living in the mansion if she could know who you truly are!"

"So, if you two thinks it, you better get out of my house before I call the police!" Scrooge raised his cane.

"Let's go Donald, there's nothing here to us anymore." Drake said to his older brother.

"Oh, if mom and dad could know what you did to their little girl... Just wait 'till the boys be grown up and find out about this!" Donald threatened "Just think what they will do with you, you murder!"

Donald and Drake left the room to packing their things, and Scrooge went to the rocket control cabin to try to find his niece. Before he came back, the brothers said goodbye to Duckworth and left the McDuck Mansion with the houseboat, to return only ten years later.

[mandareeboo]

3, 16, and 25 for DuckTales for the choose violence ask meme! Please and thank you!

3.) screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr

Anyone who claims Donald is just as at fault for the Spear of Selene. He literally didn't know about the damn thing. He tried to get Della to chill out a bit on adventures bc, well, babies. The next thing he knows his sister is missing in space. Maybe cutting Scrooge off was too much but he was just a dude being a dude.

16.) you can’t understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I have never really understood the Huey-Violet ship? I mean ship what you want, no skin off my nose, but I never saw the chemistry of it. They'd be good buddies though.

25.) common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing

Honestly most of the complaints I've seen have been legitimate. People are iffy with the Webby twist. The Della-Louie conflict was handled poorly. Della should have been told that Scrooge and Donald were no contact for ten years. Etc etc.

[korkorali]

The Many Dimensions of Della Duck sounds really interesting!

That one is interesting, in my opinion! It would be a multi-chapter story about like- how Della might exist in different media besides just DT17. What her story looks like, and what she's like, all explored in a 'DT17 Della is sent through a bunch of different dimensions and helps different iterations of herself.'

---

Most people in the world had a generally 'normal' kind of life. They woke up, did their job, did something else like talk to friends or something, and then went to sleep. They didn't have to worry about cultists, or portals, or getting stuck on the moon, or strange occult writings, or the botched summoning of an Ancient One in the heart of Duckburg, or glitching out of reality because you perceived That Which Cannot Be... all that most people had to worry about was whether or not they'd get a raise this quarter.

And unfortunately for her, Della Duck was not a normal person. Not by a long shot.

Which, in certain cases, did serve her well. For example, if a 'normal person' was hurtling through spacetime in a painful, glitching wormhole type situation, they'd probably be freaking the fuck out to the point where their mind would shatter. Della, however, didn't get that. Some (read: her) would say that she wasn't allowed to have something as simple as a broken mind at this point.

No, no, instead her mind had to just latch on to the color of those cultists' robes. Who the fuck thought that chartreuse was a good color for a cult getup? Seriously, she really hoped that whoever had decided on that had been one of their sacrifices.

...Maybe her brain was already broken. That would explain some things.

Of course, none of this would've happened if she'd just- stayed home for a change. Weathered out the stupid thoughts in her own brain and slept in 'till morning, like a normal person would. Normal people, after a loud and hurtful and very destabilizing fight, would simply cry themselves to sleep. But not Della! No, no, she just had to sneak out in the middle of the night to take a walk. 'Just to clear her head,' she'd claimed.

'Well good job, Past Della. You certainly did that.' She thought to herself, closing her eyes as the stream of colors that technically she wasn't supposed to be able to see burned into her eyes. Honestly, she should probably be kinder to herself, she knew that, but- at the same time she couldn't help but consider that maybe all this self-deprecation was her brain's way of protecting her.

Hurtling through the metaphysical equivalent of time and space wasn't exactly something people were built to handle. The fact that she wasn't even sure if she had a body or not at the moment spoke wonders to that. Maybe the self-hatred was just a way of keeping herself from thinking about how she was totally fucked, and it was all her fault, and this was just like the moon and she was going to die alone and nobody would know where she was and she deserved it-

Okay, maybe she needed to dial it back from that.

It was hard to do, though- all she was at the moment was thought. And even that was strained, the image of What Isn't still burned directly into her mind every time she tried to think of something else, and just- the way that they were built, too. Like damn, for something that didn't technically have any form, That Which Cannot Be was honestly kinda ripped, she had to admit.

'Della, you are hurtling through reality at breakneck speed and you have no idea where you're going- or if you're even going anywhere.' She reminded herself, 'C'mon, get your head in the game and think of a way out of this! There always is, you know this! Come on, focus, let's fix this shit! After all- Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!'

Unfortunately a positive attitude did very little to actually substantially impact one's being in the para-zone, the kaleidoscope colors only bleeding a slightly different shade in response.

However, before she could fall back into another internal monologue she felt something, which was actually kind of amazing in a place where material sensation had no meaning. It was a tug, a vibration, a reverberation that rippled through the thought 'Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!', in a way that was almost but not completely unlike the humming of a tuning fork or the string of a guitar vibrating.

Della didn't know what exactly that meant, but something was better than an eternity of trippy visuals, so she focused her will on that thought, and around her she began to feel other things, things that had the shape of chemical reaction and the weight of time where cause preceded effect. All it needed was a little push, a small touch of effort and focus to spark a cascading effect that pulled her in like a hard boiled egg being sucked through the mouth of a bottle that held a vacuum.

And then she landed face first on cold wet stone floor, and became aware of the fact that her physical form was now actually smarting quite a bit. Pain was good, it meant you were alive, but it was also painful.

"...Aaaghhh, ow." Della breathed out, rolling onto her side as she clutched her head. Apparently, something could stop Della Duck. Said thing was a rock.

---

(Tagging @imjustusingthistolikeartists so that they can add their two cents to the whole thing if they'd like!)

[lenniharrisonsims]

Behind The Scenes...

Cheiftain's Villa, Sulani Independant Islands, 7:43pm

Part I

*hushed murmuring from guests*

Eugene: Don’t you think it’s… weird… to have Mama just laying there like that? And everyone gawping at her?

Emma: I do think it’s a little… macabre.

Eugene: She should be a rest, not put on display.

Emma: It’s Windenburgian tradition. And you know how Grandfather is about tradition.

Eugene: *mumbles* All of this is Grandfather’s fault.

Emma: Gene, don’t say that!

Eugene: *hushed* Well it’s true! The war, Mama’s pregnancy, her death, and now this creepy funeral!

Emma: Maybe, but you can’t say it.

Eugene: Uncle Jonas says whatever he wants to Grandfather and nothing happens to him.

Emma: I wish Uncle Jo was here, he always knows how to cheer me up.

Eugene: Me too…

Emma: And Grandmama.

Emma (cont.): How do you think Papa is doing?

*the siblings look across the room at Albert*

Eugene: Not very good, I would guess… He loved Mama…

Emma: And to think it was an arranged marriage…

Eugene: Let’s hope all our arranged marriages work out as well as theirs. I’ll go check on him, you wanna come?

Emma: I have to put Della down, it’s late for her.

Eugene: Alright. Goodnight.

Emma: Night, Gene.

*Across the room, Agathe has worked herself up*

Agathe: Where the hell are you Victor?

*She cuts through the crowd across the room to the door to the office*

Part I

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❛  𝐢  𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭  𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧  𝐭𝐨  𝐛𝐞  𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭  𝐚𝐧𝐝  𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭  .  𝐢  𝐰𝐚𝐬  𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧  𝐭𝐨  𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞  𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝  𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫  𝐚𝐧𝐝  𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞  𝐚𝐭  𝐦𝐲  𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬  .  ❜ 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨

                          ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. ( @batteredoptimist )

       𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐍, 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐒, 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 and ready to strike — her voice is velvet torn at the seams, and to that more-intelligent man, that would serve as a rattle and warning: stay away. Except for this: Romana is his wife — and when the pain of the world is too much, he will be there. He will always be there. When she’s sad or happy or confused or pissed the fuck off — he will be at her side, a constant — and that will never change. Their marriage is considered short by the ideas of the community — they’re still young, and are far from having it all figured out. Hell, they haven’t really had a chance. It’s been one thing after another since the engagement — and if he believed in such things, he might say that someone had cursed them in attempts to doom the love between them.

      Somehow, despite the world’s best attempts — that love has only seemed to grow and flourish, despite the pain and heartache that keeps laying itself at their feet. Sometimes, when the days are done and the sun has gone to rest beyond the horizon line — they’ll curl up on the couch and he’ll kiss her hair and tell her that they’re living a real-life Italian soap opera. Sometimes it works to make her laugh, and sometimes she’s too tired and sometimes she’s too mad, and those things are okay too — he can’t blame her for any of them. He’s just glad she’s not alone anymore. She’d carried so much for so long — he’s happy to share the load.

       He knows her well enough to know that anger is sometimes fear and sometimes fury — sometimes it’s too much, and sometimes it’s not enough. He’s not afraid of her rattle — because deep down, Romana is a good person who has been forced into too many tight little boxes, and too many impossible circumstances. He’d issue a warning to the world as well, were he in her position. But he hopes that by now, through everything — she knows that he is safety and home for her — a place to land. This considered, he wraps an arm around her waist and turns off the stove.

       “I don’t think it works like that, luce della mia vita,” he says gently, wrapping her in his arms, aware of the wooden spoon in her hand, but unafraid of it. “I don’t think that you were born for bad things to happen to you, or to become anything that you don’t want to be. Maybe the world tries to decide for us — that’s true — but I’d fight the world too, to give you the choice.”

     Talking about Luci is always a bit of a tightrope act. He knows that Romana isn’t unaware that the lass has snapped — but nor is she immune to her own feelings for her. For his own part, Mariano tries his best to love everyone that Romana loves — even if he’s almost certain she wants him dead, too. “I know you love her — and I know you want to protect her. But you did not do this. You didn’t break down the house of cards. What she did is not your fault, baby.” He knows his wife. Knows that she’s strong and brave and will carry the weight of her loved ones’ pain, even at her own expense. They’re calling for Romana to replace Luci  — it might be the only thing that saves Catherine’s daughter in the end. To that end, Mariano knows that Romana is cornered  — “I’ll be your side no matter what you choose. If you choose to stay and become the boss, I will be at your side — to advise you, or simply to be your husband and support you. If you choose to walk away — I’ll get you out of here safely, amore. Mama and Papa too.“

      When they’d first gotten married, Mariano had taken Mama for a spin in the Ferrari — she’d laughed and laughed. He’d been happy then, despite everything that had happened prior. Taking Mama Adelina in the Ferrari, and having drinks with Papa, and holding Romana safe at night had made him feel as though he’d found his own purpose. There’s nothing that Mariano Verratti would not do for his family — his beautiful, clever wife and her parents. He wishes more than anything that she’d choose to walk away and leave it all behind. But he knows that she won’t, and he bends to kiss her shoulder softly. “Maybe though, either way, there’s been enough shattering and shaking, hm? You don’t have to be soft and quiet. But you don’t have to destroy yourself in the name of love, either, carissima.”

[the-nameless-wacky-inventor]

OHHH I LOVE THIS

Two things that really stand out to me are the plague doctor thing and the siphoning magic thing, those could both work REALLY well.

I loveeeee her realizing she’s been committing war crimes dlflflfmf god forbid women to anything

Okay here’s what I’m thinking- she is part of a little village who was hit with Theeeee plague first, and because most everyone died it was pretty self-contained. Dol starts to study it, and gets picked up by the St. Canard nobility as someone who can work on preventing it from spreading anymore. With many of the people who contracted it being dead she could work on necromancy then, bringing the people from her village back to life to study them (PFFTTT and I love the idea of her just digging up mass graves and that maybe that’s how the nobility find her-). This goes on for a few years and she’s not entirely focusing on a cure, rather figuring out exactly how and why it spreads and where it came from, because it is definitely not a normal virus. Eventually it escapes her and gets out into the world, maybe that can be her big guilty secret that she allowed it to spread. Now she’s really looking for a cure, and will do whatever she can to stop it because she feels as if it’s her fault.

The way this plague works is it spreads magically, only people with magical abilities can get it. It’s extremely contagious but only through magic, if someone infected uses their magic and at the same time someone else uses their magic, it’ll spread to them. Because of the different kinds of uses it takes out wizards faster, but witches definitely get it bad too. From there it acts like a regular fever/cold, only it’s got a 100% death rate. Getting it is a death sentence. It doesn’t spread at all through physical connection, getting sneezed and coughed on won’t get you sick at all. And your level of magic dictates how fast you die, Boyd gets it and it takes him 2 weeks to die (he has about an average level of magic), Mads has more than him so it takes him a little less than a week to die, and in some versions of the story Blue gets it, and it would kill them in hours (ew imagine having a fever so bad it kills you in like four hours that sounds awful). Hold on I just remembered- thing is, Mads and Boyd do actually die. Just before they pass however they are given this cure Blue finds a mention of in some old book, a flower that can heal anything that grows on a faraway mountain. At first it seems too late, the plague kills them both before the cure could work, but it’s such a powerful antidote that it not only cures them but brings them back to life. So that could be something that Dol learns about and is interested in as well!

In the story as things are going on Gyro comes up with a concept for a cure (he first starts looking for one when Boyd gets sick), using the kings blood. Long story short the royal bloodline of Duckburg have literal magic in their blood, and Gyro thinks that’s what he could use to create a cure. They only have so many flowers- so when everyone’s done dying he begins working with Blue to make a cure out of NFenton’s blood (the. reason he knows them is because he tries to kidnap Mads to use his blood, assuming that because Mads has been with NFenton for years he’s married and has done the ritual that gives him the magical blood too. Mads is. not married yet so it doesn’t work and NFenton imprisons them (Gyro co-conspires with Fenton and Della) for kidnapping his partner, and sends them to get the flower when Mads is sick). And it works! They find a way to mass-produce it and distribute it throughout Duckburg. the thing is. however. Duckburg and St. Canard are enemies, and the outbreak first happened in St. Canard, so they’ve been hit hard. So mayyyyybe NFenton could be a little stingy about giving them a cure, and that’s why Dol visits, to tell them what she’s learned throughout her years of study and to convince them to give them their homemade cure as well.

AS. FOR SIPHONING MAGIC THIS IS GENIUS. I’ve had this long-time half formed idea of the way that enemies could possibly take down Blue. Usual magic-blocking things don’t do anything to them, so I’ve been thinking so far that the only way to stop them from using magic is to actually drain it from them. So MAYBEEEE Dol is the one who creates this technology for her research, and it catches the interest of the St. Canard nobility she’s working under. They get the formula or whatever of how to do it from her, and she doesn’t think anything of it at first. THEN. LATER. AFTER SHES BECOME FRIENDS WITH BLUE. the nobility capture them, using her magic-draining technology to contain them (An idea I’ve liked if I ever went with this too is that it doesn’t hurt most people, but because they’re so strong to have their magic drained fucking hurts). Dol feels absolutely betrayed that they would use her work against one of her friends, and that could be when her loyalty to them really starts to crumble.

Also yes Mads is still sassy and silly in this au, if I’m being entirely honest he’s even worse here because he’s being spoiled by a king and because the king likes him he’s sooooo smug about being able to get away with whatever he wants sldfkglgkckxkz

BREAKING DOWN YOUR FUCKING DOOR ITS FITTING DOL INTO THE ROYALTY AU TIME.

Uhhh I have no idea how much you know about this AU so I wanna give you a rundown if thats okay and I was gonna do this in a dm but it felt too long so I'm doing it! in an ask!

I wanna go character by character of the main ones but first thing to know! Duckburg and St. Canard are different kingdoms, they're the two main kingdoms & St. Canard are. the bad guys pretty much. Their nobility is all basically F.O.W.L. and they're ruled by a certain King Starling. They've been teasing at war with Duckburg for years now.  Another thing is that clone and Negaverse characters all exist independently with the others, for clones they aren't clones they're just regular existing people like Mads has. a childhood he was a kid he doesn't even meet Gyro until he's in his mid 20s (ages are changed here too I think Gyro's like 35). And as for Negaverse people in this universe there just happens to be two people who look similar and sometimes have similar names and opposite personalities.  I was gonna say the last thing to know is about the magic but I already told you about that :3

Mads- pretty much like the main character of this au? St. Canard is known for their assassin cult, it's the reason nobody wants to go to war with them because they have these silent killers who have never ever missed a target. They're very shrouded in secret and nobody knows much about them.  Guess who is one of them! Mads! He grows up being horribly traumatized by the experience (everyone there is) but it's everything he knows and he doesn't realize how bad it is. so. one day he's given a mission into Duckburg, where he gets too big of a taste of freedom and decides to never go back. Through too long of a series of events to relay here he ends up in the duckburg king's prison where the king takes an interest in him as he's finally caught one of St. Canards famous assassins. Uhhhhhhh silly things ensue and. they end up married.

Nega Fenton- Named simply Fenton Crackshell here to distinguish him from the other Fenton, he's the king of Duckburg! He was formerly a lord under the previous king, Nega Scrooge (who I don't have a distinguishing in-universe name for yet), who was a horrible tyrant who ruled with a bloody iron fist. NFenton overthrows him and becomes king, and he's much better than the last, and he’s good, but not the greatest. He rules with absolute cold logic and does whatever for the Greater Good no matter the sacrifice, though he does what he can to minimize that sacrifice. He's also known for having a bit of a temper and being a little vain. Spending all day interrogating his captive assassin means the questions get more personal, and someoneeeee starts to fall in looove 👀

The Blue Phantom- I have most of their stuff on artfight but yeag they're second hand to the king, they'd inherit the throne if anything happened to him (before Mads shows up). They're the overpowered royal wizard (though they have witch magic as well) who is in charge of any of the castle's magical output (for example there's like. cleaning spells on the rivers all throughout the kingdom so it's drinkable, and that means Blue's in charge of stuff like that). They're not born royalty though.

Nega Gyro- Distinguished in-universe so far by just calling him Lord Gearloose, he was a lord who served under NScrooge alongside NFenton, and now is NFenton's advisor! He's nice but a little shady, in some versions of the au he ends up evil and betrays them all <333 He is the only one with a braincell in the nobility but nobody listens to him because they think he's uptight and controlling.

Gyro- A witch inventor (commoner!) who creates crazy new spells, he was causing such a ruckus in the kingdom with his spells going wrong that he eventually moved outside of the city (which is on the edge of the kingdom, so mostly outside the kingdom as well) for his safety. There he lives in the woods and is allowed to do whatever he wants to do with spells.

Fenton- Gyro's former apprentice turned partner who went with him when he left the city. Gyro doesn't go into the city much anymore so it's Fenton who does, he goes to the markets to sell their spells and they actually have a pretty good business going! Boyd lives with them too but I don't have a backstory for him yet, idk how they acquired this child.

Della- She was a knight who served under NScrooge, and when NFenton led an uprising against him, she stood with Scrooge. Not because she was loyal, he was horrible, but because she wanted to stay on the winning side and didn't think NFenton would win. He did, and he was mad that she went against him so he took away her title and sent her home. The triplets were little at the time (under the age of 5) and she was never around them with her work, so it let her go back home and be a mom. She lives on the edge of the city so she's close friends with Gyro!

Black Heron- she is just kind of. pure evil in this au and I love that for her. If Mads is the main character in this au then she's the main villain/antagonist. She was his old instructor back with the assassins and essentially where he gets most of his trauma from. He was her favorite pupil so she pushed him the hardest and wanted him to be the best, no matter what. Now that he's left she absolutely hates him, and will do whatever she can to get him back at her mercy.

Gandra- Also an assassin, Mads' childhood best friend! (she also may or may not be blind in this au im still thinking on it) She grew up in the same year as him, they shared a bunk bed. They were really close, but the assassin group forbids close relationships and even friendships are frowned upon. This is so they don’t form a closer alliance to each other over their instructors or their cause. Because of this the instructors started doing little things to force them apart, making them work different places or creating a rivalry between them.  By the time Mads leaves in his 20s they are very strained, they barley talk to each other. They really stopped talking when Mads was 18 and moved out of the girls’ sleeping quarters, which meant they couldn’t stay up late talking before bed anymore.  They still care for each other but again it’s incredibly strained. 

SO THOSE ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS- that does give you some hints at the lore too- timeline wise it goes NSceooge is overthrown by NFenton, Blue is appointed royal wizard by him before he’s even coronated (he meets them in the castle dungeon, long story). Five years later Mads shows up and starts living in the castle, and two years after that there’s a big magic plague which introduces Gyro and Fenton who have a cure. They left the kingdom before NScrooge was overthrown, so they’ve been living in the woods for over 7 years at that point. Anything additional to the storyline will have to happen sometime after the plague fiasco. 

SO FEEL FREE TO FIT DOL IN THERE WHEREVER YOU WANT 💕💕💕 Literally however.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking for her, and ofc you can change however you want, but that when Gyro left the kingdom for causing problems Dol was right there with him.  However she wasn’t one for hiding out in the woods so she moves on into St. Canard, where she is also quickly caught by the nobility for her spell problems. There they realize rather than imprisoning her they can use her, and she becomes some kind of court inventor/witch/wizard/healer, either one or all three. It’s a cutthroat environment but she thrives there, and is given whatever kind of funding she wants. 7 years later, after the plague, she is sent on a kind of diplomatic trip back to Duckburg, and stays at the castle there for a while. She’s not really loyal to her kingdom but has it too good to defect (and mayyyyybe secretly is scared to) so she doesn’t want to leave but she knows how bad they are there, and in some ways she eventually becomes a double agent for Duckburg. So she wouldn’t entirely be a trickster character (probably a little tho-) but I feel like I would want her to be treated as such in the narrative? She’s kind of just a third party with a hand in each world, doing mostly her own thing without entirely bending to the whim of either party. She is just Hanging Out and meddling here and there. So technically she still has to behave according to st canard (because they have an evil king with an army of assassins), but acts in the story like she doesn’t. 

Anyway!!! That’s what I was thinking but ofc do whatever you want! I like the idea of her saying in the Duckburg castle for a few weeks on some kind of business, and I thought it would be funny if Mads doesn’t like her for some reason at first. XD Probably for petty reasons but they eventually become friends :3  Lmk if you have any questions or anything :3333

(One last thing- when Mads was captured by Duckburg he was scheduled for an execution, and as the interrogations kept going on it kept getting pushed back. It was never officially called off it was just rescheduled until no one cared anymore. So because of that everyone just thought he was killed eventually, and stopped caring. BECAUSE OF THAT. St. Canard think he’s dead too, so they’re not looking for him. So when Dol shows up he also has to do what he can to notttttt be recognized) 

SCREAMS AS YOU KICK IN MY DOOR WITH A HISTORY LESSON LDSKNLKDSFNL I was reading this and cross checking it with your dms on the magic system like I was studying for a polisci test. But probably better than I did for those because I failed that class…..

ANYWAYS!!! 

Firstly, congrats on writing three pages of lore in a Tumblr ask! I pasted it into Google docs to read it better cuz my eyes suck skdfnlsdf. I do really quick wanna drop some of the ideas I had for Dol, just in case there are any pieces that you might like to incorporate into the story somehow. I’ve been developing her a lot for the original story I’m working on and I can even finally share an old piece of her DT lore that I never got around to actually using in anything! 

QUICK OG LORE BACKGROUND:

In her DT lore I was eventually gonna reveal that she was either the lead researcher or one of the researchers that headed the cloning project that F.O.W.L did when they made Webby and then later May and June. She stayed on for a while because they said they had info on where Gyro was, but when she figured out that they had no intention of sharing it she escaped after a battle with Heron. Newton was also gonna be one of the cloning experiments, as they would have definitely have tested the clone tech/magic/whatever they used on some random dna first before going with their end game. Dol took him with her because she didn’t want to leave him behind in case F.O.W.L decided to get rid of him now that they knew the cloning stuff worked. 

I’ll try not to ramble too much on this one or I’ll end up writing like…20 pages. In my story Barely Baphomet the world is inhabited by toons of all kinds, but the world they live in has areas that are different genres, and certain toons can’t travel to genres that clash with what they are (example: if an object head toon went to an area that was non fiction, their head would turn unsentient and their body would have no head, killing them.) Dol ends up studying biology in a genre state where there are no slapstick toons (the name for object head, sentient object, and generally all rubberhose toons) and there’s a popular theory in those areas that slapstick toons aren’t truly sentient, but have learned how to mimic the behavior of sentient toons in order to play pranks and cause problems. Long story short, Dol ends up doing tons of experiments on these "unsentient" slapstick toons trying to find a way to transfer their long lives and logic-defying abilities to the more modern toons. She finds out she’s absolutely committing war crimes on sentient people, and then blows up the research facility when she discovers that the “director” of the place is something that…was never supposed to exist the way it does in the place they are.

So her heart’s in the right place, but ultimately she puts her goal before the people she’s supposedly chasing it for. Is what her character arc seems to always boil down to. 

ROYALTY AU THOUGHTS I HAD BEFORE AND DURING MY EDUCATION ON THE LORE:

For royalty au I was thinking of something definitely with a plague doctor kind of vibe. I was going off of the assumption that you might not want to have her be related to any of your gang since she’s not a canon character (also I thought that NGyro was Gyro because I totally didn’t catch that you had multiples in there lksdnflsndf) so I had this kinda half-baked idea that she either grew up in a village that was wiped out by plague, or she was working to try and stop the spread of them (normal plagues, not magical). Dol decides that if they can’t stop disease, why not just figure out how to bring people back to life? So she starts experimenting with spells and potions and such on dead bodies, usually resulting in an undead situation or something worse. Maybe she’s found a way to siphon magic out of people and is mixing lots of magic together for more powerful (and unstable) spells/potions, if that’s possible. I thought it would be funny if either she was found by any of the cast either because there were reports of graveyards being dug up and they went out to investigate, or she’s been secretly experimenting in the dungeons somehow for who knows how long (assuming that people in the dungeon die there a lot, because then she has a great, close-by supply of research cadavers!) I would think that a magic plague, even if it was over when she showed up, would have her working more out in the open to a point where she’d draw attention to herself.

I see her as either being disillusioned with healing as a practice, or she needs to be reminded of how big of an impact healing has on someone(s), even if it can’t fix everything. Either she’d only have witch magic, or she would have both but primarily focus her attention on using witch magic to tamper with potion ingredients and such. I don’t wanna make her too overpowered or anything!

Also yes, I would love for her and Mads to be friends, especially if he’s still as sassy as he is in your main aus kdsnfklndsf. 

If she's not an agent then she'd at the very least be some kinf od person of interest. I can imagine that St. Canard would see potential in having a witch on their side that seems pretty blase about what you can and can't do with magic and flesh. For Duckburg...maybe they'd just try to keep her busy (they could never keep her busy in a way that is not concerning skdfldnflksnf)

Those are all of my thoughts and things and odds and ends, let me know if any of these sound good, and if not I hope it was at least a fun read!

[soluchi]

JOJOS REACTING TO YOUR DEATH (1/2)

SUMMARY: them reacting to your death but ur being a little whore

WORDS: 1.6k

WARNINGS: death, suicide (technically, the reader jus wants to die, part 7 spoilers, mostly platonic but can be read romantically

PARTS: 4-7

NOTES: none of this is in order i write as the ideas come 2 me (slay i sound so artistic), i havent written for some of these characters but it's not obvious cause all of it is actual dog shit, I DO NOT HATE GIORNO i just wrote his part first n thought everything else wld b kept shprt 🤡

josuke higashikata

appears calm cause you won't stop fucking joking around

  please assure him tht it's ok for him to cry

will try to heal you but you're like "hey. quit it >:("

jesus hes literally a mess

"you can cry, i know losing such a hot and sexy person wld hurt extremely." "*tearing up* hot and sexy mean the same thing"

"this must be payback for that time i told a 6 year old he looked like a chewed up lego." you laughed. before josuke even moved, you gripped his wrist and stared at him like a dead fish. "if you fucking pull out crazy diamond, i'm going to bring you with me."

he looked away from you in guilt. "you're too young to die." you scoffed and squinted at him. "dude, i'm literally older than you." when you flopped on him, he almost fell over. "yea, by a year." you punched him lightly, as that was all you could manage. "jesus christ man, i'm dying. are you seriously going to be mean to me while i'm fuckin bleeding out?!"

after a semi comfortable silence with you staring at josukes eyes and josuke trying to look you in the eyes. he couldn't do it, he couldn't bear to watch the color drain from your eyes. it'd hurt too much. "your eyes are pretty." you smiled at him.

"are you trying to be nice now so do can go to heaven?" you scowled at your friend. "can i not be nice?" he wasn't staring at you directly but you could see his deadpan expression. "not in practice." you sneered at him. "but i just was." he rolled his eyes and a tear fell out from his eye. "barely."

"...hey, josuke. you know you can cry right? i'm sure losing such a stunning and breath taking person would hurt immensely." there were tears dropping on your face before you could even finish talking. "stunning and breath taking means the same thing." you pushed him slightly as a response.

he holds you as if you would turn to dust right in front of his eyes, and because all that he's seen, you're pretty sure he expects that to happen. "do you think the afterlife will be fun?" he considers what he should say, hearing the tiniest bit of worry in your voice. "probably not, but you'll make it fun."

your dimples show as you smile up at him, pretending not to hear the crack in his voice because i'd make you sad. "i didn't know you thought so highly of me." an impossible amount of tears escape his eyes as his voice quivers as he feels you starting to go limp. "you know i love you, right?"

"no shit."

giorno giovanna

he litch rillee does not know how to react

and it's not really his fault cause you keep on acting like a fuckin goofy goober

like damn bitch shut up !!! anyways.

bro can barely talk like aw :( mm :(( anyways !

another mf tht tries to heal you when you literally just want to die like damn 😕

"hey, giorno." you called for him but watched the sky, laying on your back. "now that this... mess is all over, are we finally going to get to vandalize the boboli gardens?" the blonde slightly flinched at your laughter. "ah, shit!" you groaned, half because of the way your ribs felt. "do you think i'll have enough time to try every biscotto della nonna? maybe prank a tourist one last time?"

his hands are shaking but they still find their way to the left side of your waist. "you're fine, you're fine. i can help. you'll be fine." he notices that you've stopped talking but he still brings his stand out. "giorno."

the way you say his name with a tone he thinks hes never heard you use. you sound so sweet and tender at this moment, despite what's actually going on. this makes it all the more unfair because there's still so much of you that you haven't shown to the world, or even him. 

"remember to visit the boboli gardens for me."

jolyne cujoh

she won cry cause her momma didn't raise a little bitch !!! (lie)

when u hit her w tht "stay gold, ponyboy" type shit she starts fuckinf bawling

yall know tht monologue johnny from the outsiders does in the hospital

"17 years ain't long enough!!!"

she starts bawling

like, damn, bro !!! was tht really necessary !?!?

at least she wasn't making a big deal about this, you smiled at your friend. "just one time, before i.. go, you've got to promise me that you'll eat microwaved cereal at least once." you laugh at your choice of words, and jolyne laughs too, but it sounds a little forced. "you know you can cry right? it's just us and i'm literally dying. who's gonna tell?" jolyne exhales from her nose, slightly turning her head to the left, so she wouldn't have to stare at the blood on your lips.

when you finally found what you were looking for, you took jolyne's hand. "jolyne, you know how i've been joking around and wishing that someone would just kill me? i mean, i guess it's still true but..." you squeeze her hand, and she can't keep her eyes off of your hand. you felt so cold. 

"i can't believe im gonna die in a fucking prison!" you lament. "god, my mother was right." the blue bunned girl wants to say something when she sees you crying, but she doesn't know what. "it's not enough. i didn't get enough time! there are so many things i could've been doing if i wasn't rotting here!"

jolyne stares at the floor which you lay on, contemplating her next words. "hermes and i are planning to escape. somehow, i can get someone to help you and-" you nod your head until your eyes light up. she savors the moment and burns the image into her brain. hopefully, it'll help her cope with another friend dying to protect her.

"this," you put something cold in her hands, but it wasn't necessarily cold like your hands. when she opened her hands and glanced at it, she looked back to you with furrowed eyebrows. "this is your..."

you sat up, at least to the point where you were able to hug her. "take it with you. i feel like if you take my most prized possession, i'll still be alive. diamonds and rust probably won't work anymore, but at least i'll still be out of here." 

"i'm gonna miss you." you say after closing your eyes. "hey, you haven't died yet. quit being dramatic." you laughed softly while deciding to ignore the way her voice cracked. "i'll come back to haunt you so i can tell you what the afterlife is like."

you opened your eyes for a few seconds to see her smile. you always loved how her eyes crinkled when she smiled, even when she was crying. jolyne wiped her eyes and held your hand to her face. "bring back a souvenir."

"i already gave you my necklace, greedy."

johnny joestar

STOP IMAGINE IF U DIED RIGHT AFTER HE SENT FUNNY VALENTINE IN2 DANTES INFERNO

GOD THT WLD B SO FUNNY

"we was bout 2 make it out the hood bro what the fuck 😭😭😭"

you touched your chest when you saw the president sucked into the ground. when you made the contact, there was something liquid like on you. "oh." was the only thing you said when you raised your hand to your eyes. you must've been injured while the three of you were shooting at each other, you thought while staring at the crimson liquid.

johnny turned to you after hearing your reaction, to what he assumed was the death of funny valentine. you were eerily quiet for someone who jokes even in the worst situations. you took your attention away from your hand and on to johnny. when you opened your mouth, you coughed up blood while johnny watched you in dread. 

"johnny, you need to get to a doctor." the fact that you didn't say 'we' did not go over his head. "you..." you pursed your lips and looked to the ground. "this journey sure has been fun, huh?" you force out a laugh when you see him tearing up. "i told you already i knew i was going to die on the road. it's been fun being your friend."

"but we're so close, you- you can't-" you attempt a smile, but it only makes the situation worse. "you can finish for me, don't be a whore." the blood on your hand is drying and the texture makes you uncomfortable. "i'm so sorry." you finally look him in the eyes and you wish you didn't. "i truly hope you find happiness after this."

god, he really was a loud crier. or maybe it was the fact that he had no one else left. "i don't know if you're crying cause i'm going to hell or because i'm dying right now." after yelling a string of curses, he crawls over to you. you warned him about doing this because of his wounds. "fuck! you can't just... can't you use heart shaped box?" you shook your head. "if i could, i still wouldn't." he wanted to hug you but he was afraid that you'd be cold. he wasn't sure he'd be able to go on after this. 

"i'll kill the devil for you after i die. maybe i'll beat up god too." he couldn't even glare when you made that dumb joke. "are you seriously going to go out without having a single moment where you weren't joking around?" you grinned at him and closed your eyes.

"yup."

yall have no idea how many times ive reposted this shit trying to get it into tags 😭

[lo-55]

Cake Walk

When you brought a cake to the Crow Club for Wylan’s birthday, you never imagined that Kaz would have something special in mind for you, too.

Pre-established relationships, gratuitous swearing.

Sometimes you thought you were maybe a little too defensive of your teammates. It wasn’t your fault, really. They were all at least a few months younger than you, although you were getting to be old enough that some were half a decade away. It was a weird feeling, and it only added to the fact that you were getting irritated with this woman. 

“This isn’t the cake I ordered! It’s too small!” 

It was the cake she ordered, and you had the receipts to prove it. Half a sheet, white cake with strawberries inside. Her daughters name was laid on top in blocks of chocolate that you yourself had carefully cut out. Everything about the cake was what she’d asked for. 

“Ma’am,” Della said, as kindly as she could, “this is what a half a sheet it.”

The woman turned up her nose. 

“Maybe it was before your fat-ass ate all of it.” 

Aaaand that was enough. 

You stepped smoothly between the pair and motioned Della back into the back of the bakery. You were nearly closed for the day, and your boss had already gone home. Which meant that by the simple fact that you had been here longest, you were now in charge. Flower dusted your shoulders and there was a smear of green on your cheek. 

“Ma’am,” you said firmly. “This is the size you ordered. If you need more we have more over here that are already made up that you can choose from.” 

You gestured to the display case beside you. She sniffed and picked out one in similar colors to her order. You thought that was the end, but no. She looked between the two cakes in their boxes, then crossed her arms irritably. 

“Why is that one thicker than mine?” 

You wanted to kick her. Badly. “That’s just how it turned out. It has a thicker icing on it.” 

She pointed to her cake. The one that you had made not an hour ago. 

“That’s not filled.”

What. 

“Yes it is.” You didn’t flinch from her flower. You’d been doing this far too long for that. She didn’t intimidate you one bit. 

“It’s thinner,” she insisted. “I’m not paying for that!”

“Then you’re not getting the cake. It is filled.” 

You stared at eachother, you blank faced and seemingly unconcerned, and her steadily turning red. 

Finally, she shut the lids on the boxes. 

“Fine!” She snapped, and carried them off to pay at the from desk, between the breads and the braided strudels. 

You shook your head and went to go finish cleaning, dreaming of getting away from this place and going to visit your friend, Jesper. He’d been a regular during his university days, and at some point you’d started taking your breaks with him. Now you we’re actually friends, and he’s promised to buy you a drink tonight. 

Saints if you didn’t need it. 

You were almost done washing the metal frosting tips when Della hissed through her teeth, “she’s back!”

Yep. You were going to kick this woman. Your boss might slap you on the wrist, but it would sooo be worth it. 

You tossed your rag in the sink and turned to walk towards the front, shoulders back, head high, and mouth curved in an unbreakable Customer Smile. 

“Hi there, did you need help with something else?” you asked sweetly. 

She pulled out the bill of sale she’d gotten at the front desk. Say what you would about the Kerch, their book keeping was impeccable. 

She shoved it not two inches from your face. 

“This does say filled.” 

Perfectly calm outwardly you looked at her from behind the bill. 

“They wouldn’t have that information there. It is filled.” 

You didn’t budge. You weren’t giving her anything for free, and you weren’t letting her push you around. You wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of feeling powerful here. 

She was so beet red you thought she was going to burst into flames. Instead, she spun around and stormed out for the second time that day. 

Once the door was closed Ally, the clerk who ran the front desk, flipped the sign to closed. 

Della came to stand beside you. She was a sweet girl, who just wanted to be helpful and liked. She couldn't stand being yelled at. 

Contrarily, you no longer gave a shit what customers thought about you. They weren’t real people anyways. Just faces and orders and occasional insults. You were younger than Della when someone called you a lying cunt for saying you didn’t know if you had any cornbread, and after that the bad interactions had started to blur together. 

“Well,” you said, clapping your hands together. “I’m off.” 

You grabbed a cake off of the counter that you’d made earlier, just a little one, and left out the back door. Under your apron you were dressed like a real person, instead of a baker, and you wandered off into the streets until you were standing in front of the Crow Club. For once it was closed, they were putting fresh paint up and installing a new bar and tiles, so when you slipped in the side entrance you had to step carefully over stacks of tile and around sheet covered furniture. 

Jesper was practicing rolling dice when you got there. Kaz, Inej, Nina, Mathias, and Wylan all sat around as well. 

“I brought cake,” you said cheerfully, drawing all the attention to you. You were exhausted, and you still felt kinda gross from working around the ovens all day, but it all melted away when Jesper snatched the box from you and presented it to Wylan.

It was his first birthday away from his father, and Jesper had wanted to make it special for him. 

They sickeningly cute. 

Nina and Mathias leaned together at a different table, talking quietly in Fjerdan, and Inej smiled at you when you were close enough. The two of you bumped fists before you sat beside Kaz, not touching but close enough you could feel his body heat. 

You rarely touched Kaz first. You didn’t know the whole story behind it, but he reacted poorly to touch. 

He was trying to get better about it. At least when it came to you. He let you lean against him sometimes, when it was just the two of you in the attic of the Slat, nothing but books and your own voices to keep you two company. He held your hand sometimes under the tables, until it got too much and he had to pull away. 

You didn’t mind. He was trying, trying so, so hard and that meant the world to you. 

Foolish as it may have been, there were few people in the world you trusted more than Kaz Brekker. 

Jesper had introduced you, when they’d needed to act like a catering company to sneak into a mercher’s house. You weren’t a Dreg, you weren’t even a proper thief, or a thief in training like Mathias and Wylan. 

You supplied the snacks and gently roasted Jesper. You provided support and warm bread to return to. Sometimes, especially for these folks, it was the small, domestic comforts that meant the most. 

“You look tired.” 

You shouldn’t have been surprised that Kaz noticed. You ran your fingers through your hair. 

“It was a long day. People suck.” 

“You could always come work with us.” 

“I’d be a terrible sneak. I’m too honest. I suck at lying.” 

“That’s not true.” 

You looked at him in confusion. Kaz nodded towards Mathias. 

“You told him he sounded natural speaking Kerch last week, and even I almost believed you.” 

You snorted and shook your head. “You’re an awful man.” 

“And you’re dating me, so what does that make you?” 

You hummed, pretending to think. “Either a fool, or very, very lucky. Possibly both.” 

“If you were a fool you would be dating Jesper.” 

“Ah, very true. And then poor Wylan would be all alone in the world.” 

Kaz shook his head at you, fondly, and slipped his hand towards yours under the table. He linked his pinky with you, and you found yourself grinning like a fool. You’d never be able to introduce him to your parents, but you loved Kaz, brilliant thief that he was. 

“If I asked you, would you teach me how to pick a pocket?” You asked abruptly. “Or pick a lock?” 

“If you asked me?” he considered that. You thought that he liked that you existed in a more mundane world than he did. You were a slice of normality for him, who wove rumors and legends out of air until most people believed he was a demon, that his hands were claws and gnarled and cursed. 

“Yes,” he said at last. “But you wouldn’t want to learn from me. I’m not a very nice teacher. Ask Inej.” 

“Inej is a perfectly talented thief, sir, and you know it.” 

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that she had fun learning to be one. And I… I like you liking me.” 

You softened. You turned you hand and his and brought his hand up to kiss the back of it, your lips warm against the dark leather. He only allowed you these liberties when you were alone, or with this small group. He wouldn’t put you in other danger. 

“I wouldn’t stop liking you because you did something that I asked you to. I’m not that silly, thank you very much.” 

Kaz squeezed your hand, his face a bit darker, and let go of you for the time being. 

“No. I suppose you’re not. Are you asking me to teach you how to steal?” 

“Hmmm. Maybe,” you admitted. “I had a rough customer today, I would have loved to do something to get back at her. Taking her wallet would have been just the thing.” 

“You know I can do that for you,” he pointed out. “If you have her name.” 

You paused. Bit your lip. “Well, yeah, but I don’t- I dunno. I don’t want you to think I’m using you for your connections. I’m here for you, not for your power.” 

Kaz stared at you for a long, long time. 

You wished you could read his mind. You wished you knew what he was thinking more often. You thought you knew him better than anyone, and maybe you did, but there were times when you couldn’t a get a read on him and it drove you up a wall. 

“I know you wouldn’t do that. You’re too honest. Too blunt. You can only lie when you’re getting paid for it.” 

He startled a laugh out of you, and you grinned hugely at him. “Well you’ve got me pegged there. Okay then. Kaz Brekker, love my life, light of my world, sun to my moon, will you fuck this annoying twat over for me?” 

Kaz very promptly shoved your face away while you laughed, feeling light and happy. That cake woman was going to get her karma. 

“Would you two get a room?” Jesper rolled his eyes at the two of you, as if he didn’t have his arm around Wylan the entire time, and wasn’t trying to kiss frosting off the corner of his mouth. 

“I’d get a room just to get away from you two,” you snickered at them. “You’re sickeningly sweet, you know that right?” 

Wylan, who was beet red, tried to hide his face in his hands. 

All the same, you and Kaz did end up retiring to one of the private game rooms in the back. 

You were about to curl into the corner of the couch, assuming your physical time with Kaz was over, before he called your name. 

You paused and looked up at him. There was a slight furrow in his brow. 

“I want to try something,” he said without preamble. “I intended to save this for a- a different day. Your birthday, maybe, or a holiday, but…” 

It was a rare sight to see Kaz Brekker anything other than calm and collected, or scheming. You cocked your head. 

“Then let’s just make this day special,” you said reasonably. “What were you thinking?” 

Kaz hesitated again. You’d never seen him look so nervous. 

His fingers tip brushed across your cheek, where you’d had frosting smeared earlier, and he stepped closer. Your breath caught when you cottoned on to what he was planning. 

“Kaz-” 

“Just. Let me do this. Please.” 

You nodded minutely, your heart beating hard in your chest. It felt like a bird about to take flight. 

Kaz leaned in and pressed his mouth to yours, his lips were feather light and warm. 

It was all you could do not to throw your arms around him and pull him closer. Instead, you took his hand again and kissed back, soft and slow. 

There was no rush. It was your first kiss, and you planned on savoring it. The road to get to it was a long one. It had taken work and patience for Kaz to even touch your hand, then hold it, then hug you, and now- 

It wasn’t a cake walk, but it was worth every effort.

[laladellakang]

Wait can u post it again I’m here 24/7 the second I leave you post sth I’m gonna cry 😭 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

y'know what? i'll post it here and delete this once the full fic is out 😌

"Fuck! Dumb bitch," I face-palmed when I idiotically replied to Jay.

"Why? What's wrong?" "You good?" two of my friends asked while the other one just raised his eyebrow.

We're currently chilling in the school's empty library. One of them is my classmate who is also on her period and the other two just wanted to bail.

"I said something in the group chat," I groaned, covering my eyes with my arms. Why am I so stupid?

"And..?"

"Jake used to go here, remember? He knows that I'm supposed to be in class right now," I turned to my side on the bean bag. This somehow makes my ovaries hurt more.

"Oh shit- well.. Maybe he'll think that you're just opening your phone in class," one of the guys said.

"Orr worst case scenario, just tell them the truth. You skipped math cause your vagina walls are shedding and it hurts like shit so you can't get yourself to deal with more torture," the other guy said.

"But I just got into a fight with Heeseung and Jungwon yesterday so I really don't wanna get scolded again," getting scolded is nothing new to me, but when it comes from any of my boyfriends (or parents)... It just hits more.

And my currently sensitive, thick, hard-as-hell-to-achieve ass won't be able to take it. Just like what happened yesterday with Heewon.

"It's not like they've never ditched before, no?" the same guy raised his eyebrow.

"Dude, we rarely go to school and hardly ever stay for the whole day. Last time any of them ditched was probably in their trainee days," I ran a hand through my bangs."I just hope that Jake doesn't- shit! I was just about to say that I hope he won't snitch!"

"He said 'shouldn't you be in class right now?' oh my God," I groaned again.

Jake fucking Sim. I swear to- I mean, it's not his fault, it's mine but I'm feeling real petty so, JAKE FUCKING SIM.

"Well, Delle," my girl-friend snorted at the unintentional rhyme she made. "Good fucking luck."

❅◦❆◦❅◦❆◦❅◦❆◦❅◦❆

I took a deep breath before tapping in the combination to enter the dorm and entering carefully. I didn't even announce my arrival like I always do.

"Della? Is that you?" Sunghoon called out.

Woo! My eyes are already glossing over! Hold them back, Lala. You're good at this. You've been doing this for years.

"Yes?" I tried to not sound nervous. Trust, Delle, trust. It's okay. They shouldn't be too mad.

"Come here," oh my God, now I'm even more anxious. The one who called wasn't Heeseung. The others have never told me to 'come over' with that tone.

"Yes?" I said in a small voice, barely entering the kitchen. There were only two boys there- Jayhoon.

"Did you skip class?" Jay asked calmly. I couldn't bring myself to verbally answer so all I could do was nod. "Is this the first time?" he asked next, to which I also shook my head to. "As of debut, I mean?"

Does purposefully joining a class late count..?

"I've only joined a class late. This is the first time," thank God my voice didn't shake.

"Often?" Jay went again. Shit- I know being cool is his thing and all but it's making him seem even more intimidating.

Once again, I couldn't bring myself to answer so I just nodded.

"Della, you know that we rarely go to school, right?" Sunghoon stated. "-and we almost never stay for the whole day, right? Not to mention that this is your last year," well here comes the stupid waterworks.

Please don't cry. I don't want them to think that I'm trying to manipulate them.

"Look- I know that you're struggling and trying your best but you can't ditch like that, babe. It's only for a couple of hours," Jay said. "Coming in class late? Well.. fine- at least you weren't called to the headmaster's office, right?"

"I don't give a shit about you coming in late but Della, you really shouldn't skip classes. You need to make up for your lack of attendance and you shouldn't... add more to that," Sunghoon's voice softened drastically when (I'm guessing) he saw my unpreventable glossy eyes.

"Yah! Park Sunghoon!" Jay immediately went into protective mode and got up to pull me to his chest.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! She doesn't normally cry if we argue," I felt a hand (that wasn't Jay's) brushing through my hair. "Della, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

Guess what this hormonal bitch did upon hearing that? I cried harder, of course.

"Della! Oh my God- I'm so sorry I was really harsh and didn't even ask-" Sunghoon suddenly cut himself off. "Wait... You're on your period, right?"

"Oh my god! Is that why you bailed?! You were in pain, weren't you?!" Jay grabbed my face so I would look at him. His eyes were filled with worry.

"Della, I am so sorry!" is Sunghoon crouching down so he can hug my waist? "Ahh, Heeseung-hyung!"

Two days in and my period had already caused so much dumb drama. What else is going to happen down the line?