#parent Phan au

[antiadvil]

i promised not to have more long WIPs but oh my god i'm surrounded by ENABLERS. i'm outlining </3 i'm making a playlist </3 i'm fucked </3 chaptered fic in september maybe

[thighguys]

Phan Fic Recs #3!!

here is the requested long fic list! these are all 100k+, not all of them are finished (i didn't put any on here that aren't actively updating tho) and all of them are SO good so i hope you enjoy :)

Silver Arrows To The Heart by @evermorepeyton (137k WIP)- this one is a duplicate from the other list but there might be a few on here, ignore that<3 anyway this fic is AMAZING!!! dan and phil formula 1 drivers au- they're both on Mercedes and lots of awesome teammates to lovers hijinks ensue<3 this one gets a special shoutout for having some fantastic female characters (who are dare i say just as intriguing as dnp themselves?) and also bc the author is a beautiful human who i love<3 a super fun fic and very in character for both of them (somehow lmao, you wouldnt expect it with racecar drivers but somehow it works so well)

dancing on the blades (you set my heart on fire) by kishere (123k)- imagine all the 2009 phan lore but if dan and phil were figure skaters. yep, it's a yuri on ice au where dan scores a spot in the famous Lester training gym and meets phil, who is one of the most well known figure skaters in england<3 fantastic fantastic fic, such perfect vibes and lots of great lester family cameos<3

Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY! by @natigail (176k)- the final duplicate from the medium list<3 this fic is AMAZING!!!! this is the one that got me back into phanfic in general afterhaving not read any for about 6 years, it's a strictly come dancing au where phil is a hot pro dancer and dan is a celebrity/gay activist, and they accidentally become the first gay couple to compete in scd<3 FANTASTIC outfit and dance descriptions, i listened to all the songs while reading it and it was honestly so lovely i felt like i could see it so clearly<3 also- the lore references are AMAZING lol i felt like a pro every time i found a little easter egg. amazing fic, i HIGHLY recommend it<3

A Semester Abroad by @everything-is-as-it-was (162k WIP)- this one is really fun!! lots of domestic phouse vibes as it is about an american college student who gets stranded in England after a study abroad housing situation falls through and who gets accidentally taken in by these two random british guys with a REALLY weird house... sooo funny, it's really quite cute and i highly recommend giving it a read! I love outsider pov and this has an abundance of funny moments because dnp are Weird

Broke, Gay and New in Town by @natigail (347k)- do you want the softest, cutest, most magical and compelling story to ever exist??? literally look no further because right here is the dan and phil stardew valley au and it is SO CUTE!!! dan inherits a farm from his grandfather and decides to ditch his boring life to go and run it, and he has so many adventures along the way. oh yeah phil is there too and hes SO CUTE and they fall in love :3 seriously so cute, also you don't need stardew valley knowledge to enjoy this it is independently perfect (i have never played the game and actually learned what it was From this fic so ur good lol)

linger on by dizzy, waveydnp (184k)- this one is so so so sweet... non youtuber au where 33yo phil has been living with his parents, but when his dad dies his mom decides to sell the house and phil has to find somewhere new to live. so ofc he becomes roommates with some guy called dan, and ummm they fall in love? honestly they are SO perfect in this fic, i adore it<3 highly recommend

L'Histoire Française by danfanciesphil (105k)- suuuuper fun teachers au! phil is a history professor and dan is his TA. this fic is SO FUN!!!! genuinely adore it lol, it's one of the first phan fics i ever read and it has stayed with me forever<3

So Many Stars by transdimensional_void (152k)- another teachers au :) dnp meet when they both become english teachers at a school in japan and this is VERY cute <3

okay there's the list!! sorry this one is shorter than the others haha, there are too few long fics in the phandom :( but all of these are so so lovely and i hope you enjoy! lol some distractions may be needed during these trying times <3

[phanamu]

So. No One Knows AUs.

Based on canon Danny was seriously considering telling his parents what was going on a month after his accident, and even actually tried to at breakfast before Jazz interrupted. Later, Sam low-key talks him out of it while she's projecting, and one Lunch Lady fight later Danny seems to entirely abandon the idea.

So. What if those two things didn't happen?

I know it kind of defeats the point of No One Knows, but it could be fun to explore what happens when No One Knows at first except Danny and his parents.

What would change for Jack and Maddie? Assuming they're not terrible parents who value their work and spectrophobia over their still-breathing and actively ecto-irradiated child, because that idea is being brilliantly explored already by other phans and I'm squishy. Would they focus on 'fixing' Danny? or on helping him understand?

How do the older Fentons handle the guilt over his accident? Do they consider shutting the portal down and taking up new work, or do they double down because now it's more important to understand than ever? What if ghosts keep coming through, and they see for themselves how much better equipped Danny is to fight them at first? How do they handle the newfound fear of other people hunting their son, ghostly and otherwise? How much freedom do they allow Danny to either moonlight as a protector or still be a normal kid?

Would they tell Jazz? On the one hand it would be less complicated and convoluted to pull her into the loop, but would her skepticism of ghost studies, criticism of her parents methods, and the desire not to either pressure Danny out of his privacy or take her focus off graduating in two years be seen as a barrier? If so, for how long? and what would be the fallout of her finding out on her own?

How do Danny's friendships weather the strain? Again, already being brilliantly explored, but well worth asking. Are they Danny's last slice of normal? Do they even know he had an accident, or did he abruptly go quiet on them? How much do they push? or worry? How much messier does it get as Phantom becomes more well known?

And then there's Vlad. Jack and Maddie may not draw the dots right away, but how quickly does he start to feel threatened by the possibility? Does it change anything, seeing how the Fentons respond to Danny both due to and despite of what he's become? Is he found out, and if so, how? Does he take a different tactic and try to worm his way into his old friends' confidence? Does he leverage his expertise, and to what end?

Does Danny come out of this feeling more or less compassion for himself? More accident than monster? Freakish victim or budding hero? I can't see him doing anything but rising up to the fight if a fight has to happen, but is he working with his parents or against them?

How much does the game change when No One Knows becomes the Family Secret?

[secret-origins-crossover]

Secret Origins: Masterlist

Okay, this is your captain Ghost speaking with more updates on this blog! I am slowly figuring out how this works, but I wanted to make a masterlist for the Secret Origins verse!

This is going to be a slow process though it’ll include links to the fanfiction, a potential discord server, lore, and so much more! I haven’t done this kind of thing often, so please bear with me if it isn’t immediately perfect.

Secret Origins is a passion project started by a fan (me!) and is meant to be for other fans. However, I’m the only moderator behind this account which means this is going to be self indulgent! The alternate universe crosses Danny Phantom, American Dragon: Jake Long, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, and Miraculous Ladybug into the same world. Following their unexpected encounter, they decide to team up in order to take on bigger threats. However, “Secret Origins” is the prequel to something bigger.

In other words, Secret Origins is almost like MCU where there are mini storylines that weave into a main one! And with that, let’s get right to the fun, yes?

SECRET ORIGINS SYNOPSIS

An unexpected trip to Paris for the Fenton’s causes a chain of reactions no one thought possible. Phantom discovers there are other heroes, and Secret Origins follows how the “Secret Quartet” was formed, consisting of Danny Phantom, Jake Long, Adrien Agreste, and Randy Cunningham. However when they’re confronted with new dangers, well, it’s only a matter of time before trouble follows them as it always. Of course, they’ll also have the rest of their expanding team to back them up.

Secret Origins is inspired off of the alternate universe “Secret Trio” though has its own lore and information.

Are you willing to enter a world beyond your imagination? Only one way to find out…

MAIN CHARACTERS

Randy Cunningham: Randy’s your average, normal teenager… right? Wrong! What Norrisville doesn’t know is that he’s also the current Ninja, and there have been others before him. Though his world is about to get a whole lot bigger.

Danny Phantom: Danny’s life was quite ordinary… at least until an accident in his parents’ basement caused him to become a halfa, an odd phenomena making him half-human, half-ghost. Now, he’s also the hero, Phantom, and is ready to kick butt.

Jake Long: Amidst New York is a hidden protector of the magical world: the American Dragon. For Jake Long, being a shapeshifting teenager is nothing crazy! At least until he ends up pulled into something he never thought possible… and bringing up the rear is��

Adrien Agreste: Adrien Agreste is a boy who seemingly has it all: money, fame, brought up in a rich family but what Paris, France, doesn’t know is that he’s Chat Noir! He’s quite used to the hero life until something opens a new door and who knows what come out of that?

Supporting Characters

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Marinette is Adrien’s partner-in-heroics. As the current holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, protecting Paris isn’t easy until she meets another hero who comes from another country and well, things won’t be the same.

[REDACTED]

NAVIGATION PAGE

about | muses | lore

asks | series

OFFICIAL TAGS

#origins au #origins verse (main tag)

#secret origins lore (lore tag)

#phan noir (platonic tag for danny and adrien’s friendship)

#ghost speaks (answers/replies to asks)

#🌙 (general server tag)

NOTE: This blog is still under development as I flesh out the crossover! Please be patient with me

[readthephible]

okay i’m heavily procrastinating here. but i am now 2 weeks away from college starting again and i wanted to write more on this break. but i haven’t, bc i write on my phone and get distracted easily. so here is me forcing my wips / ideas into the light in hopes of holding myself accountable

smosh:

- stop the world (i wanna get off with you)

part 4 of domestic smutty shaymien series. currently at 10.6k words. purely fluffy smut and not much else.

- it’s sword of a funny story

not yet written. danse/chamien meetcute where chanse meets damien at renfaire

- raised by wolves (pending title)

nintendogs. action. actually has a plot. drabble i wrote the other day here

- the element of surprise

wild west shaymanda au. amanda is a damsel in distress rescued by sheriff shayne. shayne gets pegged by her, she is adamant on running away to hollywood, shayne follows after her.

- love me more

(potentially unrequited) shaynse. chanse’s crush on shayne is obvious to everyone but himself

- your best american girl

courtrasha; courtney meets arasha’s parents for the first time, it doesn’t go well

- stitches

based on anthony’s funeral x pet sematary

~

phan:

- dance upon the stars tonight

baldurs gate 3 x phan au

- take a chance on me

never completed, unintentionally abandoned drag queen dan au i wish i had the energy to revive

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Best Friends To Lovers Masterlist

50 notes to unbox (ao3) - dylaesthetics

Summary: Dan moves out of his parent's home to start university and his older lifelong best friend Phil is rather an efficient help when it comes to helping Dan unpack, as well as a regular visitor of Dan's studio. What happens when Phil stumbles upon Dan's piggy bank for university savings he crafted as a child and finds it a new purpose? What happens when the truth comes out when it's so needed?

OR an overly cute, long and coming of age multiple part one shot you better read now.

About useless lists and oblivious teenagers (ao3) - OliveTheHobbit

Summary: Phil helps Dan with his sexuality crisis while he tries to overcome the fact he is head over heels for him. Oh, and they have a date day.

Advent Calendar 2019 (ao3) - Phantje

Summary: Dan and Phil are best friends. Also, Dan loves Phil, but Phil doesn't need to know that, especially as it could unredeemably change their relationship. Also, Dan loves being part of Phil's daughter Ashley's life. As long as he can stay close to them and see them be happy, he should be fine.

When Phil asks him for a favour, Dan agrees without hesitating, unaware of how much a taste of his dream life would affect him.

A December-y story of Dan growing in his love for Phil, and Phil discovering his love which has always been there.

Big Love (ao3) - winstonlives

Summary: Phil wakes up freezing one night, only to find out he is shrinking. Panicked and tiny he goes to Dan for help. Together the two deal with the challenges that come along with being too small for the normal world. Relying on each other, and working together, they realize their friendship, is in fact more than just friendship.

Do You Know How in Love With You I Am (Please Notice) (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: Based on a Phan!The Office AU drawing by @laurainlilac on tumblr

Dan works at a small paper company, but the brightside to this boring career is that his best friend Phil is just a few feet away at reception. The downside to this is that he's hopelessly, irrevocably in love with said best friend. Oh, and Phil is engaged, too.

A short little story about best friends, being in love, and pining hopelessly after the boy you think you can't have. But, don't worry, there's a happy ending in here somewhere.

Drunken Nonsense (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Young Dan and Phil end up playing their own drunken version of truth or dare following a few too many cocktails at the Lester Family Christmas Gathering in Phil's family home. Confessions are made, and two best friends become lovers.

How Life Changes (ao3) - madd09

Summary: Phil had no idea how much his life was going to change when Cornelia and Martyn announced they were expecting and how it would end up being a catalyst for him and Dan,

Keep These Secrets In A Lie (ao3) - CanDanAndPhilNot (enbycalhoun)

Summary: Dan and Phil are friends. But friends don't act the way they do.

Midnight Cab Rides to You (ao3) - QueenKatelynTheAristocrat

Summary: "Whenever he felt the spiralling of his thoughts that indicated an impending breakdown, there was only ever one place he would go. He wondered how many breakdowns he had left before Phil got sick of him."

Also known as: Dan can't stand another damn minute on campus, so he does the only thing he can think of to make himself feel like he isn't dying. He gets a cab to Phil's flat.

never quite as it seems (ao3) - Ablissa

Summary: Phil has a unique gift that allows him to see something he never expected to see - his best friend Dan, meeting the person that would most likely become the love of his life. It hasn't happened yet, and right now, Dan has no idea what lies ahead.

When old feelings resurface and every choice may have a big impact on the upcoming events, will Phil be able to make the right decision?

Stars in His Eyes (ao3) - harleymoony

Summary: Once every week, Dan and Phil sneak out of their houses to go stargazing together. Tonight is Dan’s birthday, and Phil has something planned for that, of course.

Watching You, Watching Me (ao3) - Spring_Haze

Summary: Dan accidentally discovers his best friend and roommate pleasuring himself in the early hours of the morning and can't look away. In fact, he can't keep his hands off of himself. Phil is surprised by Dan's reaction, and two best friends make long-time confessions.

you only know you love him when you let him go (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan was sitting on his beanbag chair and nodding along to Phil’s story, tossing a ball into the air as he stared at his best friend.

While Phil continued describing how pretty Amanda looked and how amazing the movie was, Dan was focused on Phil himself. He let his eyes roam over Phil’s face, catching on shiny irises and sharp cheekbones and pink lips, and thinking of how much he’d love to feel those lips against his own.

And suddenly, everything made sense to Dan.

He froze, the ball falling on his head as his chest filled with terror. Phil continued with his story, delightfully oblivious to the panic attack Dan was two seconds away from having. He was attracted to his best friend, and big time, too, but Phil now had a girlfriend, and one he’d been wanting for over two years.

Well, fuck.

You're All my Reasons (ao3) - QueenKatelynTheAristocrat

Summary: "Phil wished he could think of the right thing to say. It would be nice if at times like this his English Language degree knowledge would kick in and provide him with the words to make Dan understand that he could tell Phil anything, that there was nothing he could say that would scare Phil away, but alas."

In which Dan's depression doesn't allow him to leave his room for two days, and Phil struggles to find the words, but what comes to realize is that maybe words aren't always necessary.

Just a bit of hurt/comfort fluff to get you through your day.

You set my soul alight (ao3) - Wolf_Of_Westeros

Summary: Dan likes Phil. Phil likes Dan. Neither of them know about it.

[smallraindrops-blog]

Meet Me in The Sunflower fields

(Day 4 to 6)

(A sleep family series)

Summary: out of order snapshots of the hazy days of summer with cherry popsicles and the distant, happy laughter of family. Modern!au

Word count: 2k

warnings: no beta, hinted at family trauma, cursing, cheating ( not between Hypnos&Y/N) Alcohol, NSFWISH, Bad decisions.

Notes: omg i’m sorry y'all. Work has lost its fucking tits but i am here! I will return to fix any mistakes but i hope yall enjoy this enjoy this.

Please mind the warnings~~~~<3<3<3<3<3<3

Love yall! mawh. Xoxoxo

~

Vacation

The whole world felt like it was made of brilliant crystals. The shining waves of the ocean, the gleaming white sand were so beautiful that it was nearly blinding. 

The smell of coconuts and sunscreen was in the air as well as the sounds of laughter, noisy seagulls and the nearby town. 

It was paradise. 

Morpheus would rather be anywhere else. Actually, no. He would rather be back home, working with his theater group on the newest play. 

With a sour expression, Morpheus looked up his spot under the large umbrella, his play script in his hands. 

Phobetor was covered from head to toe in sand, with a determined gleam in his freaky yellow eyes as he added more sand to whatever it was building. He sat back, scanned his creations and dumped even more sand on top.

Morpheus’ scowl deepened, and he looked past his baby brother to the twins. 

The twins were playing in the waves, Icelos’ white curls frizzing up in the everblue waters, and was screaming as Phan tossed a bucket of seaweed at her. She immediately tackled him, using her height to shove him under the waves. 

They were all acting like little babies. 

With a deep sigh, Morpheus returned to his script, or tried to anyway. He knew he wasn’t being fair to his siblings but that only seemed to make his bad mood worse. 

It didn’t help that his parents were also acting like teenagers, only worse. They were acting like lovesick ones. 

Morpheus knew if he turned around to look behind him, he would probably see some disgusting sight like Papa whispering in Dad’s ear while Dad giggled like some dumb girl or them cuddled up or gods- kissing for far too long. 

Again.

His parents had seemed to have forgotten they were adults with children and they were being gross right now. 

Sighing, he made himself look back at the page he was trying to read. The words weren’t sticking no matter how many times he read it.

“Lunch time!” Dad singed as he appeared by Morpheus’ side. “Come on all of you, I am not chasing after you!”

“I'm good.” Morpheus grumbled, hunching his shoulders as he tried to keep his eyes on the paper. 

“Are you still studying, baby?” Dad looked over his shoulder as he looked at the script, the wind picking up his long curls.  

“Not a baby.” Morpheus shot back, narrowing his eyes at the page like it would help. “I need to learn this stuff.”

“You need a break.” Dad returned Morpheus’ tone with a sigh. Hypnos sat down next to Morpheus and Hypnos rested his head on his own knee as he got comfortable. 

Giving up, Morpheus copied his dad, not quite realizing he was doing so. The pages fluttered in the wind, the waves so loud it seemed to drown out the gulls along with the twins’ laughter. 

For a long moment, they sat side by side in silence. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dad eyed him, digging his toes into the sand. Morpheus huffed, slapping a hand on the paper, annoyed at the noise. At himself.

“Is there anything to talk about?”  Morpheus looked at the sea. “I know I’m being moody.”

”You’re twelve.” Dad smiled like that alone was enough of a reason. Morpheus shook his head, his curls flopping everywhere. 

“It just… I worked really hard. I even made Phobetor sit for hours to watch me practice.”

“And you still haven’t paid me!” Phobetor yelled, arms deep in his creation. Morpheus was starting to get worried that his baby brother might become one with the sand at this point. 

“I told you that you have to wait until I get my first movie deal!” 

Morpheus ignored his dad’s laughing and Phobetor’s booing as he flopped down onto his back. He stared up at the striped umbrella.

“Dad, sorry for…” Morpheus gestured vaguely, unable to come up with the right words. 

Dad grabbed his hand, locking their fingers together and gave a squeeze. Morpheus wanted to say he was too old to hold his Dad’s hand but it felt nice. The sounds of the waves were no longer grating and Morpheus let himself breath.

He was on vacation and he just need-

Dad immediately jerked at Morpheus’ hand, “No- don’t you dare!” 

Morpheus frowned, lifting his head up in confusion only to scream when he saw the twins looming above with two large buckets overflowing with water and seaweed. Dad pulled Morpheus into his arms but it was too late.

Both of them immediately got soaked and covered in disgusting weed. There was a moment of panicked silence as the twins realized they also got their dad. 

Hypnos had gotten the worst of it, seaweed covering his face with his clothes soaked. He looked like a drowned creature. Dad slowly peeled away the plant from his face, a  dark scowl growing as he did so. 

Morpheus made a sound of disgust at the wet sound. 

“Oops.” Phan whispered. 

“Dad, we meant to get Morpheus!” Icelos said, unsuccessfully fighting back her laughter. “We’re sorry.”

Dad gave them an ice cold smile, pressing his finger together in a snapping position. “Oh, you will be.” 

The twins frowned in confusion then Hypnos snapped his fingers. Appearing out of nowhere, Papa wrapped his arms around the twins and lifted them both up easily. 

Their panicking screams made Morpheus laugh and he waved them goodbye as they were carried off to the ocean.

Dad chased after them, still removing seaweeds from his body. “I want them to sleep with the fishes!”

”No! No!” But their screams had turned to delight. Phobtor wrestled himself from the sand, falling down on his face once before rushing back up as he tried following them. “Wait, I wanna go too!” 

Morpheus knew he was grinning like an utter loon as he watched but couldn’t seem to stop it. When he saw the papers were ruined, he didn’t exactly feel that bad about it.

~~

Camera 

Achilles scowled, his fingers fumbling around the lens. “Damn bloody-“

“Do you need help?” Patroclus sounded far too amused, tossing more diving rings for the grandkids to hunt for. Achilles looked up and narrowed his eyes. 

Patroclus was lounging on his inflatable chair, sunglasses on and a beer by his elbow as he tossed out another one to the deep end of the pool. He flashed Achilles a roguish grin, far too handsome for his - or Achilles’- own good. He looked like a king with his little subjects bobbing around him, diving for their the goods their king tossed their way.

“No. I’m perfectly fine. Just trying to get the happiest moments of our lives immortalized. That’s all.” Achilles gestured with the camera.

Patroclus peered over his sunglasses at Achilles, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement and waved to the kids. “Hey, one of you push me closer to your ridiculous grandad.” 

Phan came over first, looking adorable in a pair froggy goggles and tried to push. His little arms moving as hard as he could. “You’re too heavy!” 

Achilles laughed at the false outrage on Patroclus’ expression. He watched for a moment longer as the other kids came along to help then he went back to the camera. 

He stopped listening to the back and forward between Patroclus and their little grandbabies.

He had turned it on, the little light blinking at him mockingly, he knew it was taking photos by the clicking sounds…

Achilles peered through the camera and he reailzed that he was an idoit. Rolling his eyes at himself, he took off the led cover. He grinned when he saw the scene before him in crisp detail. 

Then with lighting quick taps on the button, got the exact moment a surprised Patroclus was tipped over, holding his beer high up to save it as his sunglasses went flying as water went up around them

Their grandchildren’s expressions of mischief and horror just made Achilles grin even more. 

Many more wonderful photos were taken that summer day but Achilles made sure to get that one framed.

~~

Message in a bottle

(Pre-relationship/It’s complicated, early twenties)

When it happened, you weren’t exactly surprised nor was anyone else who wasn’t living under a rock.

It was painfully oblivious that the way Endymion stared at Selene and the way she looked back that something was going on. You had tried to mention it to Hypnos, who merely ignored you.

Not that it hurt your feelings or anything. Just because you and him made out a few times during high school didn’t mean you and him were friends. 

Or anything like that. Ever.

The Endymion and Hypnos’ breakup had been a long time coming. 

Only you didn’t expect Endymion to publicly break up with Hypnos. On his birthday. For fucks sake, he could had done it literally anywhere else or any other day. You tried not to think about how you remembered when it was Hypnos’ birthday.

As Dolly Parton began pleading to Jolene to not steal her man, her drawl lingering in your ears, you took another glance as you ran the towel down the bar counter. 

Hypnos was sitting alone, an empty cocktail glass in front of him and a few shot glasses. He had stumbled in with a damp tank top and dipping swim shorts and began ordering drinks like the world was ending.

He looked ready to cry. Again.

With an annoyed sigh at yourself, you went to him.

You didn’t utter a word as you began making him another drink, one with considerably less alcohol in it. Hypnos only blinked when you placed it in front of him.

”On the house.” You told him, tossing the rag onto your shoulder, scanning the area. The bar was mostly empty, most people had left, a few lingering over the last call drinks. 

Hypnos let out a rueful chuckle, curling his long, elegant fingers around the glass. He said nothing for a long moment, sipping on the sugary drink. 

You didn’t mind. It allowed you a moment to study him. Hypnos had grown up while you were gone. He had gone from an awkward looking - but adorable- teen to something lovely, otherworldly. Heavy lidded golden eyes and elegant, slender limbs with flowing curls and a gorgeous, killer smile.

Although he hadn’t directed that smile at you for a long time. Endymion was a goddamn idiot far as you were concerned.

“I should have believed you.” Hypnos whispered, stirring the straw around the glass, the ice clinking together. 

“Hypnos-“

“I don’t know if it makes you feel better but I didn’t believe my brothers. Or my sisters. Or Meg. Or Dusa. Zagreus. Hell, now that I am thinking about it I am pretty sure even my mother tried to say something. So many people tried to warn me and it took me finding them in our bed before I acknowledged it. During the fucking pool party. They were fucking during my birthday get-together.” 

You nodded, not saying anything, recognizing that he just needed to speak. 

“Did you know I pleaded for him to just be honest with me? Even all that-'' Hypnos' voice cracked and he took another deep sip, almost to the bottom of the glass.

“I can help burn the mattress.” You offered. 

Hypnos didn’t laugh like you thought he would. He did meet your eyes and you were surprised that he didn’t look as drunk as you thought he would be. 

“Endymion hated you.” Hypnos told you, watching your expression. You lift an eyebrow but you weren’t that surprised. You had caught him glaring at you more than once. 

“Ever since I told him we hooked up in high school.” Hypnos added, licking his lips nervously. Your eyes followed the flash of pink flesh. 

At least you know why now. You resisted the urge to smirk at new knowledge. 

You remembered how soft Hypnos’ mouth felt under yours, the hungry way he kissed back, the soft whimpers he made when you kissed his neck, shivering under you. You wondered if he still responded so sweetly, so earnestly or if experience had trained him out of it. 

Fuck. 

This was a bad idea. For so many reasons. 

You swallowed. You were an adult, not some dumb kid who had a hardon for a guy who hated your guts ever since that damn lemonade stand rivalry. Hypnos shifted, tucking a curl behind his ear, his eyes darting away. 

He looked beautiful. Lonely.

“I get off in twenty minutes.” You told him. 

[charcoalhawk]

Don’t go where I can’t follow

What scares Tucker the most, after everything, was that he hadn’t even known anything was wrong.

Truce gift for @phan-pheeking-tastic, ended up going with Tucker and Sam finding out Danny is half-ghost in a No-One Knows AU.

This was super fun to do, hope you enjoy!

What scares Tucker the most, after everything, was that he hadn’t even known anything was wrong.

He had thought, with how close he and Danny were, how close they had been, that he would have known if something had happened to him. To his family.

But he hadn’t. Neither had Sam.

When he wakes up that day there’s no dread, no forbording feeling in gut. Heck, Tucker wakes up pretty happy.

It’s the last day of school before winter break, and he and Sam have plans to play as much Doom as possible so they can hopefully beat it before the new year. There’s rumors that anyone who can will be able to access new dlc content that otherwise won’t be available until at least the summer.

Some small part of him is even happy that Danny isn’t in town this week, meaning he and Sam can hang out without things getting awkward.

And Tucker hates thinking like that. Danny was his best friend for a long, long time, but ever since high school started the two of them had slowly drifted apart. Which he does understand, on some level. They’re not five years old anymore playing together on the playground.

But Danny had become so aloof with them, barely interacting with them in class and showing up late to hang out, if he even showed up at all.

And it couldn’t have been because of their new undead neighbors that now haunted the town. After the first like, month, Phantom had proved he was a decent enough ghost that most people didn’t really have to worry about malicious undead any more than they had to worry about overdue homework.

He and Sam have just finished fighting the second to last boss in Doom when there’s a knock on his door. A quick glance at his computer’s clock shows that it isn’t even 11pm yet, so it can’t be his parents telling him to start winding down to go to sleep. It’s also winter break now, so why-?

After a second his Dad’s face peeks through the door, his form backlit by the hallway lights. He thinks he sees his mom too, but after a moment she seems to briefly lay her hand on his father’s shoulder then disappear from view.

“Hey kiddo,” it's hard to tell what his dad is thinking at that moment, and his voice sounds carefully neutral, “are you at a good stopping point for the night? I need to talk with you about something serious.”

He goes to share a glance at Sam but she’s already getting up from her desk.

“Hey Tuck,” Sam’s voice is muffled from her starting to remove her headphones, “I think I’m going to have to call it quits for tonight. My parents just came in and said they need to talk about something important. Hopefully tomorrow we can start planning for the final boss. I’ll text you later, night.”

“Sounds good,” he replies, quickly saving and logging out to the main screen, “night.”

And with that the room is washed in silence. After a second of hesitation his Dad reaches over and flips on the room’s overhead light, moving to sit on the bed across from his gaming set-up.

“Soooo…” Tucker prompts, “what’s up? You said you needed to tell me about something serious?”

His dad doesn’t respond immediately, taking a deep breath before slowly reaching out to rest his hand on Tucker’s shoulder.

“Tucker,” his father looks so sad, “there’s been an accident, a- an attack. Danny’s mom is in a coma.”

———

It takes almost a week to fully find out what happened.

The Fenton’s had been visiting a family friend in Wisconsin, apparently Vlad Masters had gone to college with Danny’s parents, and had invited them all to his mansion for the weekend. It had also been rumored that Mr. Masters had been experiencing some supernatural events that he had wanted Maddie and Jack to help him solve, and with how fanatic the two were around ghosts they had obviously been eager to help in any way they could.

And it had turned out that the rumors had been true, and at least one violent ghost had attacked the mansion the following evening.

Here the details get murky.

Some reports say a single ghost was responsible for the attack, and only the Fenton’s weapons and skill saved everyone from being killed by the vengeful spirit. Others claim it was two ghosts having a territory spat that just so happened to happen in the mansion. Some even claim Phantom drove off the raging ghost and stopped more injuries from occurring.

Number of ghosts aside, the attack had destroyed almost a third of the Masters’ Mansion, and had left most of the staff with injuries from debris or from the ghosts themselves. Danny and Jazz had apparently escaped the worst of it because their parents had gotten them out early on and the two had hidden in the nearby woods until authorities arrived.

Jack had gotten a nasty concussion and broken two ribs fighting off the ghost(s), and Maddie had suffered some kind of mental or physical trauma that left her comatose.

Vlad Masters’ was missing, no one had seen him directly prior to the attack, and afterwards it was like he had just up and vanished.

————

He and Sam stand outside the Fenton house for almost a full minute before Sam seems to find the courage to knock. Two long, followed by two fast and one long, the same combination they’ve all used since they were little kids.

The silence afterwards is thick, and just as Sam is raising her hand to knock again there’s a series of clanking sounds as the locks are undone and the door opens to reveal Jasmine Fenton.

“Oh, hey there,” she gives a small smile, “I’m glad you two are here. Danny is upstairs in his room, we’re all pretty shaken up from what happened, having you two visit should help.”

“How is- how are you holding up?” Tucker asks as they move through the hallway into the living room, a place that’s both so familiar and yet alien, he half expects Danny to be leaning over the staircase inviting them upstairs to his room.

“It’s, I’ve been holding it together,” Jazz says, “I’ll probably be staying here at least until Dad’s ribs are better, luckily all my professors are pretty accommodating and will be letting me attend virtually until I can head back to college. I’m… really scared for my mom, but I trust that she’s getting the best care possible and that she’ll wake up soon.”

Jazz gestures towards the stairs, “Danny’s in his room, call me if you guys need anything. I was actually just about to head over to the Hospital, Dad should be getting discharged today, so we should be back in a few hours.”

With one last smile Jazz heads back the way they came and there’s the sound of the front door opening and closing.

“Should we really be doing this?” Tucker finally breaks the silence, glancing towards the staircase as if Danny will suddenly appear there.

“Honestly I don’t know, but it’s too late to go back now. If we leave Jazz will just ask Danny when she gets back and then we’ll be the assholes who left without saying anything.”

Damn, Tucker hates it when Sam uses logic like that.

“Yeah but it’s just, I don’t think we’ve had a full conversation with him in the past month. It feels wrong to just drop in now when he’s hurting like this.”

“Well it’s not like Dash or Paulina is going to just waltz by and offer to go comfort him,” Sam’s mouth twists into a grimmance, “and Valerie’s probably too busy investigating the attack to try and find the ghosts who did this.”

Tucker can’t argue with that, they really are the closest ones to Danny. Still, it feels wrong to walk up those steps and knock on Danny’s bedroom door like nothing in the past two years has happened.

There’s no immediate answer, but after a second series of knocks there’s the sound of bare feet on hardwood before the door opens slightly, just enough for Danny’s tired blue eyes to peek out.

“Hi,” Danny’s voice is hoarse, “uh, no offense but why are you two here?”

“We uh-,” Tucker shares a glance with Sam, “we wanted to check in on you. I know we aren’t all as close anymore but we wanted to at least see if you were ok in person and see if there was anything we could do.”

That sounded a lot better in his head, but Danny isn’t slamming the door on them, so there’s that. After a moment the door opens fully and he and Sam cautiously walk inside as Danny moves to lean against the far wall.

“I, thanks for coming over?” He seems to almost hug himself, looking anxiously around the room. “I don’t know if your parents put you up to this, or worse Jazz, but you guys don’t need to hang around out of some sense of obligation.”

“We came because we wanted to Danny!” Sam exclaims, “we’re still your friends and, and we care about you! This is obviously traumatizing and we want to help you-“

“You guys don’t understand!” Danny snarls at them. Apparently what Tucker had thought was anxiety was in fact anger.

“You think I’m some scared kid trying to come to terms with an unfortunate accident. Well I’m not!”

Danny’s eyes almost seem to glow in response to his heated words, which doesn’t make any sense. Humans eyes don’t glow, the only thing close to that that Tucker has seen happens when ghosts-

“It was my fault!”

With that last shout there’s a brilliant flash of white, and when Tucker can finally blink the spots out of his vision he finds he can’t quite comprehend what he sees before him.

“I hurt her! I was trying to stop that stupid ghost from hurting my Dad and I ended up almost killing my mom!”

Danny’s too long sweatpants and pullover have been replaced with a glowing hazmat suit, and what’s left standing before them is Phantom, the town’s own ghostly hero. The town’s very young, very dead hero.

“What?”

Sam sounds like she’s just been gut punched, and Tucker doesn’t feel much different.

Everyone in Amity Park knows that Phantom is one of the friendlier ghosts that now haunt them, even dealing with the rowdier ones that try to interfere with day to day human life.

But everyone also agrees that Phantom can be downright terrifying most of the time. The simple fact that he looks all of thirteen makes most residents uncomfortable at best.

Trying to understand that Danny and Phantom are one in the same is almost too much for him, but looking the ghost dead in the eyes now the similarities between the two are overwhelming.

He can see Danny in the way the ghost is hunched like he’s about to collapse onto himself, and he can see Phantom in how his stance is planted and ready to move in a moment's notice.

“It’s-“ and here Phantom's voice breaks, “it’s my fault.”

And with that soft admission the dam finally breaks, and Phantom crumbles to the floor, back heaving as great sobs wrack his body.

In that moment Tucker’s body seems to almost move on to own, moving almost in tandem with Sam to crouch down and envelop Danny in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry that happened,” Sam whispers into Danny’s hair, “I wish you could have told us when this happened so we could have helped. But we know now. We’ll help you however we can, and I’m sure your mom will be better in time.”

Sam sounds so sure of what she’s saying, Tucker can’t even bring himself to speak. Whatever happened to Danny, whatever he’s been doing these past two years, has changed him.

All Tucker can do is tighten his grip, a promise that he hopes he can keep.

[your-old-sins-tournament]

OC NAVAL WARFARE

/ -- Romantic

*-- Unlabelled/Other

+ -- QPR

& -- Familial

HG^2 (Charlie "Chuck" Beaumont/Octavian "Tavi Osborne)

Tavi is a cringe-fail loser spoiled rich kid protegy who never properly developed any social skills aside from making people swoon over them. They fell off their god-complex high-horse so hard it landed them in prison for their parents' murder. (They got better, though!) (Tavi, not the parents. The parents are still very much dead.) Chuck has extreme middle child syndrome and enough guilt to strangle the horse Tavi just fell off of (figuratively) .They were so desperate for outside validation that their old girlfriend straight-up poisoned them and they thought nothing of it. Grades and success always meant the world to them until they met Tavi and discovered that reputation wasn't everything. Sometimes being "evil" can be fun, too. Between these two they could fill a lake with their self-loathing, and then fill another with their love for eachother. They are in it together to the end, along with the children they somehow manage to pick up along the way. (These two are technically Marvel/Spiderverse OCs, though they are very separated from the Canon. My partner and I have gone kinda nuts with them over the years, and their story now includes elements/characters from: Ouran High School Host Club, The Magnus Archives, Danny Phantom, Ace Attorney, Supernatural, Harry Potter (as a parody), and many more that I cannot recall.)

Tavi (or Octavian [They/Them]) is the child of two multi millionaire parents. Though they had quite the god complex as a child it was slightly dampened by their roommate/rival/friend Chuck when they got to college at the age of 16. Though they had many wacky adventures during their four years together, that soon came crashing down when their parents were murdered during graduation. So like any sane person they cut off all contact to anyone that they cared about and started getting a Doctorate (after they were miraculously proven innocent). From their they spiraled until they turned 28 and started working at their parents' old company were they run back into Chuck. Chuck (or Charlie [They/Them]) is the middle child of 8, being sandwiched in-between two sets of twins and one set of triplets, wants to noticed within the family. This is achieved when they manage to graduate highschool early and get a huge full-ride scholarship to MIT. They are lead to be roomed with the other 16 year old, Tavi. Through their four years of people assuming that they are dating (they would like to date the but they definitely don't feel the same [they do]) their time together was cut off when their mother had to got to the hospital where she would die a year later. Gets into a toxic relationship, or should I call it poisonous?, relationship with a girl named Gray. That relationship ends and they get a job at a big science place where they eventually reunite with Tavi. Though their relationship starts off very rocky they find bonding time after becoming villains against a common foe and starting a twitch together. Eventually they find a bigger bad and adopt the first villain together <3 (Technically they are Spiderverse/Spiderman ocs but do NOT follow canon very well. Their lore goes further down the rabbit whole but I feel like this gives a good impression of them both haha [I kinda got carried away is what I am saying])

LuNal-Maisther (LuNal and Maisther)

LuNal (Luca/Nalis)

Luca (he/him) and Nalis (she/they) are two street kids, at 14 they’re the oldest of their group and take care of the others. Luca is a panromantic boy who crossdresses, Nalis is a genderfluid (fem to enby, rarely masc) genderqueer kid who’s usually something like a girl. Luca is a big bombastic personality, always there to make sure everyone is okay and come up with a plan of action; he’s also desperately in love with Nalis. Nalis calm, cool, and collected, keeps to herself, and hates relying on others but is smart, competent, and helpful herself. She makes a game of spurning with a deadpan attitude, but she’s just as attached to him as he is to her. They’re a power couple crossed with a vaudeville comedy duo. To Nalis, Luca is someone who won’t abandon her and says that maybe it’s okay to let her guard down a bit, that she won’t be burned if she does. To Luca, Nalis is an equal, someone he doesn’t have to take care of, and the funniest person in the world; no one else sees it! But her dry sarcasm sends him into a fit everytime.

Maisther (Esther/Maidy)

it’s a very simple ship I made up as a plot device for my novel but I fell in love with it. Two girls who are so so autistic in different ways and also are best friends are growing apart (projection time baby!) and go from besties-worsties-lovers essentially. Blah blah blah they forge a new bond through their struggling relationship .. I’m sure you’ve heard it before but these two freaks mean a lot to me and I’d be grateful if you could vote for them 👍

[natigail]

Week 29 (2023) updates:

Wrote 7.3k on my phan Stardew Valley AU - Broke, Gay and New In Town

Wrote 6.9k on my skz wolfpack AU - Rest in the Belly of the Wolf

Wrote 6.6k on my join skz wolfpack AU companion piece

Wrote 3.6k on my skz ace/sex worker AU

Wrote a 2.2k canon compliant Nimona one shot

And I journalled every single day

Total words: 30.5k (exactly 30.500)

This is officially the most I've ever written in a week since I started doing these weekly recaps. It's the second time I've broken 30k (last time was back in August 2021), and I honestly cannot believe I pulled this off. It did help that I had the week off and not too many plans other than a friend meet-up and helping my parents a bit with their new holiday home. It was clearly very good for my productivity to just have loads of time to write. This is so many words, and across five different stories, which is also a big accomplishment. Definitely necessary because PEDIA is looming ever closer and I've only got one more week of prep left. Wish me luck!

[anironsidh]

I posted 594 times in 2022

32 posts created (5%)

562 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fanficmemes

@sir-libearian

@ringsandbutterflies

@deadandphilgames

@strange-aeons

I tagged 390 of my posts in 2022

Only 34% of my posts had no tags

#dan and phil - 50 posts

#daniel howell - 44 posts

#phan - 30 posts

#ospbb 2022 - 26 posts

#danisnotonfire - 24 posts

#phandom - 24 posts

#old school phandom big bang - 22 posts

#anastasia - 21 posts

#anastasia 1997 - 20 posts

#dracula daily - 18 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

#update everyone tagging this with their/their friends fav ocs is so cute i love you people im scrolling thru my notifs in tears

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Day three of maylorweek 2022, still going strong, a mood board for a single parent Roger x teacher Brian au I'm working on 😁

@beatlegirl1968 #maylorweek2022

24 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

#4

For the @phandomgiftexchange , my gift for @upintwenty ! I based this off of the prompt, slice of life and fluff, and the idea of the fic that I thought of (between ospbb and work it didn't happen lol) but I was glad to be able to practice my art skills 😁

I used magic poser and Sketchbook for this piece, then InCollage to add the watermark and edit slightly. Tumblr messed with the quality, but I hope y'all like it 😄

26 notes - Posted July 9, 2022

#3

For day four of Maylor week 2022, an old married couple type aesthetic 😁

@beatlegirl1968 loving this prompt for today!

30 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

#2

Presenting my @carryonthroughtheages art piece!

Continuing on from my Anastasia obsession (literally just did an Anastasia au for the ospbb), that's the theme for this art! Ft Simon as Princess Anastasia and Baz as Dmitri!

Using MagicPoser and Sketchbook, one version without the background.

40 notes - Posted September 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Knew I'd Find You Again || OSPBB fic 2022

Announcing my fic for this year's @oldschoolpbb event, an Anastasia au combining the movie and musical, from the end of the Russian empire to the wonder of Paris. Featuring Phil as the missing Grand Duke Philip Lestov of Russia and Dan as Daniel Howlov, a conman working alongside Cornelia in a scheme to find an imposter and gain a reward while finding the real thing on the way. They must stay one step ahead of Deputy Commissioner Kolya Petrov, set on finishing his father's mission, and Rasputin, determined to end the Lestov line for good.

In the twilight of the Russian Empire, the younger son of Czar Nigel Lestov finds an unlikely friend in a kitchen boy with a very different past. Philip Lestov has no idea what is to come, this future with his new friend stretching out as far as he can see, and Daniel Howlov gets a glimpse at a world so far from his own. Ten years later, the czar and his wife are dead and their older son is left to live with his grandmother in Paris; far from the new regime that wants the Lestovs dead. The young tsarevich Philip has gone missing while rumors fly of his survival. The dowager Empress has offered a reward, ten million rubles for her beloved grandsons return, a reward that does not go unnoticed by now conman Daniel Howlov and his close friend, former Duchess Cornelia. When they come across a man with no memories and a resemblance to the prince, the two hatch a plan. Followed closely by Kolya Petrov, an officer set on completing his fathers mission, and the mystic Rasputin, who wants nothing more than the death of the last Lestovs, they must journey to Paris with their fake prince. Instead of a reward, they find something much more unexpected waiting for them. Dan counted on a way out, not falling in love. (og in notes)

Featuring @spoiledmuffin and @husbants as my wonderful beta readers, and the amazing art of @paradisobound ! Header by me with photos from pinterest, edits of dnp were done by me as well.

Read the fic below, and enjoy!

111 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

(This feels accurate, love that dnp took over lmao)

[muchanmocha]

I love the point you brought up about his age and what stage of life he's at.

From personal experience and observations, the instinct to struggle and grow and take more control of your life and make your own decisions (which often creates friction with your parents/guardians) happens most commonly in your teens, which is probably why "teenage rebellion" (though not aptly named imo) is a whole acknowledged thing. Yet Luka is well into his adulthood now, on the brink of passing "young adulthood." It's painful to think about the extent of the damage his complete lack of autonomy has caused him in all aspects up to this point and especially at this point. To make use of a bad analogy—living in the cupboard under the stairs is bad enough as a child, but now you're still living in that same cupboard as a fully grown adult.

This is particularly so when we know Heperu is an abnormality. Notably, no other guardian has been shown flexing anywhere near this level of control over their pet-humans. Heperu is a helicopter parent to the power of 10.

Nigeh actively neglects Sua. Urak's parenting amounts to physical punishment until the pet-human in question produces the results they want. Unsha prefers to let the leash slack and allow Ivan to prove himself to them, and ultimately Team Forma+9 has noted their parenting to also be a form of neglect. Shine prioritizes Mizi's wants above all, even supporting her entry into Alien Stage despite their own personal desire to keep Mizi safe and close. And Phan? Hyuna's guardian is the ultimate embodiment of "does not give a fk." Which is interesting... because it brings up the question of whether Heperu's attempt to be Phan's greatest rival and foil is why his behavior and methods are so extreme in the opposite direction.

-

On the topic of Luka working with Hyuna on some level or in some aspect to save contestants, I think it's a really cool concept to explore, especially in AUs and such, but considering there are Patreon posts noting that Hyuna saving Mizi was a personal impulse and not planned, and that Hyuna's R7 plan didn't involve saving Till because she knew it was impossible, that's unfortunately debunked in canon.

Luka Character Analysis

While all the characters in alien stage deal with some theme of control given the fact that they are literally pets I wanna explore how Luka deals with this theme specifically.

This is all my opinion and I would love to hear if u disagree or have anything to add cause I loveeee talking about this stuff. I’m probably just restating a bunch of stuff other ppl have said but I think I got some new stuff here… hopefully.

Main points

1) he’s a designer baby

2) his branding location

3) his heart

4) his age

5) his training

6) how this control leads to him manipulating others

7) other things

Luka is THE designer baby

Luka’s biology is not even something he can control. Even his genetics were designed by aliens showing how not even his nature and bodily functions is not something he has autonomy over.

Luka has surgery scars possibly from treatments done to benefit the aliens.

(From Luka’s bday post) Luka looks towards possible attempts to create him or recreate him IN HIS BIRTHDAY POST. This image always has an affect on me omg..

“Luka was born this way because I created him” (the guardian interview thing)

Luka’s Branding

All of the other main characters in alien stage have their brand either on their arms, neck, or shoulder area. This is why it’s odd that Luka’s branding is on his hip. This could mean a lot of things and probably does but my ongoing analysis is this. Brands are meant to be seen, they exist so people can look at them. Lukas is the only one with a brand in a place that stays hidden.

To me this is because the aliens like Luka because he appears to want to participate in Alien stage. He appears to enjoy being on stage and barely even wears a collar. In the same vain his brand is hidden as Heperu, his alien, doesn’t want other aliens to see Luka’s reluctance. He places his brand in a place inconspicuous so that the aliens can pretend Luka has control over himself. This is aided by the extent of Heperu’s control as it is so ingrained in Luka that even if it isn’t acknowledged Luka has no other choice but to obey. The fact that Luka can appear so willing is proof of just how much agency he lacks.

Another advantage of his branding placement is that while it remains hidden to other people it is obvious to Luka. It is very easy to see something on your hip when compared to you neck. The brand is to remind Luka he is under control while not reminding anyone else.

(Guys I couldn’t find the bigger version) when getting branded Luka lifts up his shirt while others seem unconscious or constrained. Showing just how deeply Luka is controlled that he willingly helps getting branded in order to give himself the illusion of a choice.

His Heart

Luka has immense control of his heartrate like his first song is literally called “ruler of my heart”. (For this section I assume the amount of purple on his finger correlates with the pumping of his heart.)

Luka was trained since birth to control his heart rate and fear. This reflects how even his most basic and unconscious actions are manipulated in order to benefit Heperu. It shows how collar or not he is under Heperu’s control.

An aspect of this can be seen in the flashbacks from All In when after the incident with Hyun Woo his finger tips turn purple. Whether Luka is surprised by this because it shows he was able to change his own heart-rate for the first time or because his heart-rate changed without him allowing it is ambiguous. Regardless it shows how even during important emotional situations Luka is always striving for more control over his heart just as Heperu had intended.

(Both images from the interview w Luka)

His Age

Luka is 30 years old. All the other competitors are in their early twenties, a time in your life when you are still not completely independent. Many people their age are in higher education and may still live with their parents. While other competitors should definitely have much more independence then they do they still are children in a way. Overall compared to the other contestants Luka is supposed to be in a stage of his life with much more autonomy. This further reflects his lack of control as he is at an age when he should be in control of himself and still has less freedom than a toddler.

Training

Growing up Luka has been under much more training than most. Heperu often trained him or outreached doctors and specialists to help make him into Heperu’s image. Heperu himself even notes it more extreme than what most aliens do showing how even compared to other humans Luka has very little agency as most other aliens simply enroll their humans into Anakt Garden.

(guardian interview)

(Interview with Luka)

Luka’s diet being monitored also shows how Heperu controls all aspects of Luka and how this harms Luka.

How this leads to Luka being manipulative.

This affects the way he interacts with the stage. I’ve seen many people say he manipulates his fellow competitors to survive and while I think this is in part the reason, given how his popularity already protects him I don’t think it’s the main one.

Luka controls his heart rate not only because he was so thoroughly taught to but because he wants to himself. Being able to have complete control over his body and actions brings him comfort as he has usually has none. His heart rate is something that only he can change which leads him to control it heavily and this pattern continues outside of his heart as well.

On the stage Luka does the same thing. He manipulates the performance and his performance mate for the sake of simply being able to. It’s clear his owner has no control over his performance. He seems shocked when Luka is beat up by Mizi while Luka clearly had pushed her to do so. The stage is the only place Luka is given autonomy and as such he wants control to the fullest extent pushing him to control every aspect of the stage, including others.

This is seen when Luka frowns as soon as Till notices Mizi as suddenly the round is out of Luka’s control.

In a way it’s a self fulfilling prophecy as his whole life Luka has been controlled to benefit Heperu and now the only way he can achieve any sort of control is by doing exactly what heperu wants. To gain control of his heart he has to give into his training. To gain control of the stage he has to win. Even the control Luka does have has little power. He can do what he wants but it changes none of the effects.

(Lukas interview) shows Luka is less focused on survival on stage and instead performance and control.

The whole comic where Hyuna describes singing as the one place she has control over herself to Luka describes this rlly well. Especially as when she does this the text is placed over Luka singing showing how he himself uses singing as his only pathway to freedom. This is even further explored in the last panel where Luka says that Hyuna is his. While interpreted as something sweet by Hyuna it definitely could have darker undertones when considering Luka’s tendencies to control anyone he can, or even foreshadow what happened to Hyun Woo.

Other stuff

Theory:

Now we’re getting into theory territory. The resistance has attempted twice to rescue someone. Both happen to be on Luka’s matches. Luka specifically led to Mizi’s ability to be rescued, directly pushing her to fight him which led to Hyuna having the chance to take her. It is possible Luka could be working with Hyuna.

With this theory you could also explain the moment where Luka gets upset when Till notices Mizi. If Luka is aware of Hyuna’s plan and Mizi being in the crowd ruined it, then it would be reasonable that he would accidentally break his mask by showing his distress at this.

This is definitely a reach of some sort but I think the concept could still be interesting as it implies Luka could’ve escaped with Hyuna but instead chose to stay to help others escape, or due to brainwashing. Possibly leading to Hyuna’s complicated feelings towards Luka. Overall though Hyuna and Luka’s relationship needs to explored a lot more before any of this could be close to true.

Character profile

Luka is the only character whose profile shows neither his likes nor dislikes, this could represent how due to the extreme control Heperu has over him he has been unable to form his own identity or express any of his opinions.

The end

Anyway that’s my rambling. Definitely missed some stuff but hoped you liked it. Thank you for reading this. All this is my opinion and I would love to hear critiques and other opinions please anything if it means more content.

[wannabemerida]

I had so much fun writing my first kid fic with the help of my beta, @heartthrobphilly  and basing it off of @bluevlvvt ’s artwork (the link above!) —— Word count: 2.6k Prompt: Phil offers to drive his friends daughter (lola) to her ballet lesson. he runs into a cute dad with his daughter rosie. he offers to drive lola to her ballet lessons every week after that. (slow plot development lol) Warnings: light cursing, angst —— It’s 3:02pm as Phil waits outside of Brookside Elementary School. According to Ian, Lola usually exits through this door and waits to be retrieved from the playground. So far, there’s no sign of the little blonde girl playing outside.

A shout of “Uncle Phil!” catches his attention and he turns around to the soccer pitch just in time to see the kindergartener running at him, embracing him in a hug when they collide. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking care of you tonight, remember? Your dad has a big business dinner, and your mom is in Wolverhampton for her job, yeah?”

“Ohhhhh, I just thought Grandma would be taking care of me again,” the six year old explains, not seeming particularly fussed.

“C’mon, let’s head home.”

Two hours later when Phil suggests they order Chinese to the brick house, Lola quickly shuts his craving down. “Uncle Phil, we can’t have Chinese tonight, Thursdays are always Kraft Dinner nights, dummy!”

“Hey Lola, are you done with your dinner? You have ballet soon and still need to get ready!” Seeing Lola’s face that has a bit of the cheesy noodles left on it from quickly scarfing down her meal, Phil grabs a paper towel from the roll on the kitchen counter.

“Yeah! Do you have my leotard?” Phil grabs the light green leotard out of the overnight bag that Lola had brought along, handing it to her with the napkin, (“Lols, you’re a mess!”) her slippers, and a pair of tights.

The drive to the Portner Ballet Studio takes about 15 minutes, with Phil accidentally hitting every red light possible. This causes Lola some distress, claiming that the five minutes she has before class “isn’t enough to talk to Rosie, and she’s the only nice one there that I like.”

Nevertheless, when the raven-haired man and his favorite “niece” enter the building, a small girl with fluffy brown hair immediately runs up to Lola and hugs her. “Rosie, this is my Uncle Phil!

“Lola! You’re finally here! Daddy said you might not be coming today because you’re normally here before me,” the brunette pauses, “but you’re here now, see, Daddy? I told you she would come!”

Phil is frozen. The man who walks up behind Rosie is the most beautiful person Phil has seen, and that’s saying something, considering that Chris Hemsworth exists. But no, the curly brown fringe, hazel eyes, tall, lanky stature, and his soft face (not to mention his monochrome aesthetic and “best dad in the world” travel mug) easily outrank even the likes of Thor.

“Um, hey?” Phil is snapped out of his trance, needing to be able to respond to the greeting. “You’re Lola’s uncle?”

“Well, um, sort of? I’m really good family friends with Lola’s dad, and so I’m kind of an unofficial uncle to her.” Had he been responding to anything else, Phil probably would’ve stuttered, but the number of times he’s had to explain the title makes it so he can explain perfectly, even in front of someone this stunning.

“I’m- I’m Dan.” The two men glance over at the young girls who are chattering animatedly.

“Oh, yeah, Phil Lester.” Dan holds his hand out for a handshake.

“Rosie’s my daughter,” he says quietly, but there’s no mistaking the fondness he has when he says it.

“I can tell, she looks just like you, without the black and white.”

“Oh, I guess we do? My parents keep saying she looks like, um, Angie-” Dan’s voice decrescendos as he gets further along his sentence.

“Angie … is Rosie’s mom?”

“Oh, um, yeah.” Phil’s heart drops.

“Cool.” Not cool. Dan has a wife. Dan had a kid. With his wife.

“Have you got any kids?” Dan asks, a light blush still visible across his cheeks.

“Ah, no, I didn’t have time to find someone in Uni and now I’m single with 2 masters degrees.” Phil unconsciously plots a way to make himself seem more interesting.

“What are they in?” Dan asks, looking genuinely curious.

“I got my first one in English language and linguistics, and my second in post-production editing.”

“What do you do with those? How do they fit together?”

“I’m a special effects engineer for Disney, and they don’t really fit together to be honest,” Phil pauses, “although I do make YouTube videos and that kind of meshes them together,”

“Wow, um, cool,” Dan stutters.

“So what about you?”

“Huh?”

“What’s your job, besides ‘best dad in the world’?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m stupid.” Phil giggles, thinking of how his father would reply with ‘Hi stupid, I’m dad!’. “But I’m a writer for Vogue and I dabble in fashion photography. It’s mainly just taking photos of Rosie if I’m being honest, but the photographers sometimes get sick and I end up doing the shoot.”

“Vogue? Like, the fashion magazine?” Phil doesn’t know much about fashion, but he’s seen the magazine numerous times in the Tesco checkout lane.

“Yeah, well, technically it’s British Vogue, but…”

“Yeah.”

There’s a calm but slightly awkward silence as the conversation loses direction. The two men avoid eye contact, not wanting to make it worse.

The silence is broken by Dan’s tenor voice. “So what films have you worked on?”

“I got to work a bit on Spiderman: Homecoming, but the Live-action Beauty and the Beast was pretty fun. You know the scene where the gold leaf comes off of the ceiling to go on Belle’s dress?” When Dan nods, Phil breaks out into a grin. “That was me.”

“Wow.” Dan breathes out. “After she saw that, she kept trying to put stickers on her ceiling in the hopes that they would transfer to her shirt. It was a nightmare.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Nah mate, it was kind of funny as well. I’ve got a few photos that I’ll save for when she graduates.”

“She’ll love that,” Phil chuckles, and the deep, throaty sound makes Dan’s heart stutter. “So you’re into fashion?”

Dan blushes. “Yeah? I mean I can’t really afford any designers, but I’ll turn into a fanboy at times.”

“Why do they charge so much? Like, half of the suits these designers make look identical to something I could buy from a department store for thousands of dollars less.”

“Well, a lot of designers carefully hand-make every piece, whereas the stuff you get in a store has probably been made by a pre-programmed machine and poorly paid workers in a factory. There’s also differences in fabric types, quality, and origins. And, a lot of designers will tailor the suit to perfectly fit you for a slightly higher price. If you go to a department store-”

“I see what you mean when you say you turn into a fanboy, but thank you for the mini lesson on why celebrities are willing to spend so much money on a navy tux. Your insights are amusing.” Phil grins.

“Did you also know that navy suits are better investments than black ones? It’s because the blue fits into so many more settings than a black one.”

While Phil could watch Dan talk about his passions for hours, just watching and memorizing how the lines change across his face, and God, that dimple, Phil supposes his relentless staring would get a bit creepy. “So what are the ballet lessons like? I’ve only been to a few of Lola’s performances.”

“Oh, um, well, they spend the first 20 minutes warming up, and then they move to the barre where they practice a bunch of stuff that’s in French that I can’t remember, and then they start to go over the routine for their next performance.”

“What is it?”

“What?”

“Their next performance?”

“Yeah! Sorry, I’m stupid,” Dan blushes for what must be the fiftieth time since he first met Phil. “The studio is putting on The Firebird.”

“No! Um, I mean, you’re not stupid. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with The Firebird. What is it about?” Phil has heard the name before, but only in the context of movie scores resembling Stravinsky’s composition. “It sounds kind of intense, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know much, but from what Rosie’s told me, the firebird gets caught by a prince and when he lets her go she helps him defeat the magician to save some princess, but I’m pretty sure I’m missing like half of the plot. I would say to just Google it and not to go by my word,” The nervous laughter emitted by Dan makes Phil instantly worry that he might have made the brunet uncomfortable or misread Dan’s friendliness as a blossoming friendship when it might have been a ploy to gather gossip for the nosy ballet moms.

“Thanks, I think I’ll trust you on that.” Dan offers a small smile at Phil’s response, letting the two men fall into silence as they watch the group of young girls and 3 boys practice their pliés and dégagés. An hour and a half later, the children exit the studio and find their guardians to go home.

“It was nice meeting you, Phil,’’ Dan admits as Rosie and Lola exchange a goodbye hug. The six words send Phil’s heart into overdrive and he feels his cheeks heating up.

“Yeah, you too, Dan,” Phil replies, proud of himself for not tripping over his words. Looking back, Phil’s whole interaction was impressive, considering his track record of ending up injured in some way.

Last time, Phil wound up with a broken ankle, having paid more attention to the cute digital renderer than the set of stairs they were walking down. It wasn’t all for nothing, though, Phil having gained the cute man’s phone number. Not that that did much for his love life, finding out two days that the boy he had his eyes on was dating the very female gaffer of their most recent movie, but that’s not the point.

This time, nothing will happen, because a) Phil dropping Lola off at ballet was a one time thing, so most likely, he’ll never see Dan again, and b) Dan has a daughter, who is his genetically, which means he has (or had) a wife, all summarizing that no matter how cute the brunet is, Dan is straight.

Not that Phil’s brain will accept that Dan is off-limits as a possible partner. Over the next few days, the image of soft brown eyes, curly fringes, and lanky limbs continuously make appearances in the back of Phil’s head. The very effective distractions cause Phil’s co-workers to worry, and PJ’s repetitive “have you been sleeping okay?”s have driven Phil to the point of insanity.

The answer to PJ’s question is quite easily “no”, Phil having only slept well once that week (he refused to admit it but that was the night that he got off to the image of a faceless figure who looked suspiciously like the boy who wouldn’t leave his head.)

By Wednesday, Phil was fed up with his brain’s reaction to not having seen Dan since the previous Thursday. Pulling out his phone, he does the only thing he can think of to satisfy his hungry mind. He calls Ian.

“Phil? Do you need something?” is the answer he gets when Ian finally picks up.

“No, um, I was just wondering, would you like me to take Lola to ballet again tomorrow?” Phil looks at the lines he had written down on a notepad, an effort to keep himself from going into a 20-minute rant about how in love with Dan he is.

“Sure, I guess? Why are you offering?”

“Just thought that you and Pam could use a break,”

“Oh, okay then, thanks! Same as last week?”

“Sure! Talk to you later!”

Phil’s convinced that his squeal of excitement was the reason that the people who lived across the street turned their lights on and not the fact that their smoke detector went off. He probably set that off too, in hindsight. And caused the stove fire.

23 hours later, Phil finds himself standing inside the dance studio again, surrounded by shrieking kids, chattering parents, and the faint sound of the top 20 radio playing in the background.

“Mister Phil! Where’s Lola?” Rosie pulls on Phil’s sleeve, stopping when she sees her best friend walk out of the bathroom.

“Why, Miss Rosie, she’s right there!” Rosie giggles, pulling out of a hug with Lola.

“I know that now, silly.” She and Lola run into the studio, eager to get to do the optional partner stretches before class starts.

“Are you Lola’s father?” A woman dressed in a skirt suit and heels walks up behind Phil.

“Oh, no, I’m just a family friend. I occasionally take Lola to ballet to give her parents some alone time.”

“Ah.” The woman sticks her hand out for a handshake. “I’m Angela Wright, Rosie’s mom.”

Had there been a small creature under it, Phil’s heart would have killed it from the speed at which it fell. He knew that Rosie had a mom, that Dan had a wife, that Dan wasn’t available. So why did it still hurt so much?

“Oh, cool,” Phil responds a moment later, his voice considerably deflated.

Phil’s unspoken question is answered right as it pops into is head. “Dan contracted the flu, and is stuck at home in bed, which is why I’m here this week. I’m normally responsible for taking Rosie to taekwondo while he takes care of ballet lessons, but that evidently won’t work this week. Honestly, it’s just like Dan to get a winter disease in the middle of summer.”

“I was going to ask about setting up a playdate between Rosie and Lola, but…” Angie trails off.

“Yeah,” Phil nods in understanding, not liking this woman any more than he did a minute ago. “I’m gonna go sit down.” No response comes from the woman, but Phil’s not particularly bothered.

Maybe he should be nicer to the wife of the man he’s stupidly trying to woo, but he just can’t. How is he supposed to be nice to his competition, who’s already clearly won?

When he vaguely notices the ballet instructor make a big motion with her arms, Phil decides that watching a group of five and six year olds is an adequate distraction from the turmoil in his brain. After 10 minutes of watching the kids do various tasks, jumping and prancing around the room, he zones off.

“Uncle Phillll, come onnnnnnn!” wakes Phil from his trance, no longer seeing the ballet students in the studio but now milling around the lobby and leaving. “Class ended like, forever ago! Can we leave? I wanna go get ice cream!”

A quick look at the clock told Phil that class had only ended 5 minutes ago, but to an antsy six-year-old, he supposed that could feel like an eternity.

“Lola, we aren’t getting ice cream. I’d rather not have your parents be mad at me for loading you up on sugar, right?” The small girl pouts but grabs Phil’s hand, dragging him to the car.

While it was easy getting Lola into her car seat, getting her out was a whole other task. It took Phil, Ian, Pamela, a blanket, 2 stuffed animals, and a lullaby to successfully remove the sleeping child out of the carseat, into the house, and onto her bed where she could sleep without interruption.

Once he was back in his car, Phil sat in the driveway, resting his head on the steering wheel, regretting ever offering to take Lola to dance lessons at all. Remember back in college when all those crushes were single? You fucked up, bud.

[phantasticworks]

Shiny Things/Paper Rings (iydlmp bonus fic)

Hello all!! back again with some more iydlmp bonus content! if you haven't read the original fic this one will probably make absolutely zero sense, so i recommend reading iydlmp first! also this turned out a lot shorter than i thought but I just thought you guys would like some phil pov and what better place for it than the part where dan was mad at him :')

read on ao3

Summary: Phil and Martyn have a day out...

This Phil POV bonus fic occurs during Chapter 22 of the main fic, If You Don't Love Me, Pretend. This fic picks up after Phil leaves the apartment the morning after Jaiden's trip to A&E and gives some insight into what Phil was thinking during this chapter.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: none

He’s not sure how it happened, but this whole morning has definitely gone horribly wrong.

Phil sighs, shaking his head as he makes his way downstairs to where the Uber is waiting. He’s trying not to think about the way Dan had turned away from his touch just a moment ago, his stomach churning with the thought that he might’ve made Dan uncomfortable somehow. Despite Phil’s best efforts to push it away, his head is spinning, trying to come up with some explanation for Dan’s behavior, some mistake he’d unknowingly made that set him off. But it doesn’t do more than give him a low-grade migraine and he eventually decides that it’s not worth making himself sick over. He can still fix this.

The look on Dan’s face when Phil had tried to kiss him earlier floats back into his mind, and he swallows hard, his stomach sinking.

He can still fix it. Right?

~~~

“Took you long enough,” is the first thing out of his brother’s mouth when he meets him at the shops.

“Yeah, well,” Phil says, shrugging. He doesn’t meet Martyn’s eyes, instead just scuffs his shoe against the uneven bricks beneath their feet.

Martyn seems to hesitate, like he’s reassessing the situation, and Phil briefly hates him and how perceptive he is. “Are you alright, buddy?” he asks gently.

Phil nods, then shrugs. He finally forces himself to make eye contact, giving Martyn what is likely an unconvincing smile. “I’m fine. Are we gonna go eat? Shop? What are we doing?”

“I’m… I’m not sure. Are you sure you’re okay?” Martyn asks.

“Yep. Just tired,” Phil lies through his teeth.

There’s a beat of silence in which Martyn seems to be studying him closely, narrowed eyes and all. He must be disappointed at what he finds, because his shoulders drop and he sighs. “Alright,” he says, sounding resigned. “You don’t have to tell me, but… I’m here if you need to talk, okay?”

Damn him for being such a good brother.

Phil rolls his eyes despite himself. “I know that. C’mon. Let’s get inside somewhere, it’s bloody freezing.”

Martyn’s spirits seem lifted enough now that Phil’s speaking in full sentences, so he turns to lead them off down the street. “Do you have anyplace specific you’re wanting to go?” Martyn asks. “Because I’ll be honest, mate, I haven’t a fuckin’ clue where I’m headed.”

Phil almost chastises him for the swear, just like he’d do to Dan at home, but with a start he realizes his kids aren’t with him. That’s so unusual these days, unless he’s at work, that it takes him a second to process it. “Er…” he stalls, trying to come up with a response to whatever the hell his brother just said, even though he wasn’t really listening.

Just then, they pass by a familiar sign posted above a shop. Something nudges Phil’s memory and he absently reaches to check that his wallet is in his pocket. It is, of course, and his feet slow in front of the shop.

“Actually…” he says slowly.

Martyn stops, a little belatedly, and he has to backtrack a few steps to remain in front of Phil. “What?” Martyn says, looking around. He spots the sign of the shop they’ve stopped in front of and his eyes go comically wide. “Uh… didn’t you two already get the prop rings, or whatever?” He asks, glaring at the jeweler sign like it’s personally offended him.

Phil twists the silver band on his ring finger of his left hand. “Yes,” he replies simply, eyeing the ring display at the front window.

“Then…” Martyn says slowly.

And honestly, Phil knows he’s already connected the dots, he truly isn’t that daft. But he sees no reason to deprive him of the answer he’s fishing for.

“This isn’t going to be a prop ring.”

There’s a beat of silence, and before Martyn can protest or anything, Phil marches towards the store, a decisive pep in his step.

“Welcome to Goldsmith’s, how may I assist you?” the cheerful sales associate asks as soon as Phil steps inside.

“Phil,” Martyn hisses from behind him.

Phil ignores him. “Hello,” he greets the associate. “I’m looking for an engagement ring.”

The girl smiles brightly. “Well, congratulations, sir! This is a very exciting chapter of your life, so I’d be happy to help you find what you’re looking for.”

“Great,” Phil says with a smile. He ignores the pointed stare Martyn is sending his way.

“We have a wide selection of engagement rings and bands to choose from, but let me show you to some of our more popular sellers,” the sales associate is saying as she leads them to a case towards the front.

Phil stops her with a short laugh. “Actually, I was hoping I could see your more unique styles. My fian- partner-“ he clears his throat. “My partner is very particular, and I know he’ll want something different, something unique.”

The attendant smiles. “It’s great that you know that! Makes my job a lot easier,” she laughs.

Phil smiles, shaking off his brother’s hand when he tries to grab Phil’s arm. The sales associate is showing them to another case when Martyn starts to whisper.

“Are you sure about this? Like, absolutely positive?” He sounds paranoid, and Phil can’t believe someone else is more nervous about this than he is. “This is a huge decision, Phil, and the two of you aren’t even really-“

“Don’t,” Phil says, sharper than intended.

Martyn snaps his mouth shut, but looks at Phil with a guilty frown.

“These are some styles that either aren’t “in-style” right now, or just aren’t very popular,” the sales associate explains, pulling out a jewelry tray for Phil to examine.

“This one is nice,” Phil says absently, tapping on a rather simple one that has three stones embedded in the simple white gold band. He glances at Martyn, who’s studying the rings with something like confused curiosity. Phil nudges him. “What do you think?”

Martyn glances between him and the ring a couple times, then shrugs. “I don’t know… I reckon Dan would like something a bit flashier, actually.”

Phil smiles, relieved that Martyn’s actually helping now and not questioning his decisions. “Yeah, true.” He looks at the others, letting his gaze linger on the more ornate ones a little longer, waiting for some sort of sign to hit him, but it doesn’t happen.

A moment or two passes where none of them speak, giving Phil the quiet time to study the rings carefully. And study is all he can really do, since none of them really stand out to him. “Is there…”

The sales associate must be all too familiar with this, because she’s quick to pick up on his train of thought. “You know, I think I have another drawer in the back, give me just a moment.”

Phil nods, smiling in relief now that he doesn’t have to actually voice his opinion on the rings he’d been shown so far.

She’s barely been gone a minute when Phil feels Martyn’s hand on his arm. He sighs. “Martyn,” he starts, turning to tell him, kindly, to bugger off.

“Hey,” Martyn interrupts him. He’s smiling a little, which wasn’t the expression Phil was expecting to see. “You really love him, huh?”

Phil drops his gaze to the ring he’s already wearing, the one he’s so emotionally attached to now that he can’t bear to imagine ever taking it off. “I… yeah. Yeah, I really do.”

Martyn is quiet for a moment. “Have you always? Or is this like… a new thing?”

Phil levels him with a look, one brow quirked in disbelief. “You’re really going to ask me that?”

“Well…” Martyn shrugs, then laughs when he sees the dumbfounded look Phil is giving him. “Okay, yeah, yeah. I mean… you have been rather obvious from the start.”

Phil has to laugh at that. “God, I know. No idea how Dan didn’t realize it sooner. I guess we were both just so deep in denial that we didn’t know how to deal with ourselves.”

“Does he? Realize it now, I mean?” Martyn asks softly.

Just then, before Phil gets the chance to reply, the sales lady returns with another drawer of rings.

“These are some of our more unique choices, mixed in with some newer pieces that haven’t done as well as we thought they would,” she says, setting the tray down and stepping back to give him the space to survey them.

“Dan would love that,” Phil remarks, mostly to himself.

“Which one?” Martyn asks.

Phil shakes his head, still studying them closely. “No, I just meant like, getting a ring that no one else wants. Adopting it, saving it from the depths of jewelry hell and all that.”

Martyn laughs, and Phil smiles. “Fair enough.”

The sales associate begins explaining some other options she can present if he doesn’t like these, but it’s while she’s talking that he sees it. It’s flashier than he’d prefer for himself, with a somewhat feminine style. It’s white gold, Dan’s favorite, with simple diamonds twisted on the band leading up to the center, where the main diamond sits.

It’s perfect.

“Can I see that one?” Phil asks, pointing to the ring that is absolutely, perfectly Dan.

The sales associate smiles and nods. “This one has been here for a month or so. It’s the only one we’ve got, but we can get it resized if you decide you like it.” She hands the ring to him carefully, then steps back to give him a chance to look it over and consider it.

Phil clutches the ring gently, holding it up close to his face to inspect it. It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. He can already imagine slipping it on Dan’s lovely digit, the face he’d make when Phil really, properly proposes.

He’s so deep in the fantasy that he doesn’t even realize the sales associate is speaking to him until his brother pinches his arm.

“Ow!” Phil yelps, turning to glare at Martyn with little thought to the other person standing there.

“I’m sorry, but she’s trying to ask you a question, mate. At least pretend to pay attention,” Martyn says with a roll of his eyes, smiling apologetically at the sales lady when he’s done being dramatic.

“I’m so sorry,” Phil says to her immediately. “I was… sorry, what were you saying?”

The girl smiles kindly at him. “I take it this is the one?“ she says, nodding to the ring.

Phil takes one last look at it, then nods. “Yeah, this is definitely the one. He’ll love it.”

She smiles. “Lovely. I was just asking, do you happen to know what his ring size is?”

“Well, actually- oh, here, I guess I shouldn’t be the one holding onto this,” he says, handing the ring back as he starts digging in his pocket. He pulls out his wallet and takes a second to rummage around, finding what he’s looking for in record time. “Oh, here it is. We actually bought some jewelry here not too long ago and we both got a copy of the receipt,” Phil explains, sliding it over to her.

The sales associate picks it up, scanning the information quickly. “Oh, this is perfect. Since you’re already in our system I can look up the purchase and we can figure out his size. I’m assuming we’ll definitely need to resize this, correct?”

Phil glances at the ring again, and nods with a laugh. “Oh, definitely. That wouldn’t even fit on his pinky.”

She laughs along with him, then closes the case, the ring still clutched safely in her hand. “Alright. If you’ll just follow me, I’ll pull your account up on the computer and we’ll get the rest squared away!”

~~~

Less than half an hour later, Phil and Martyn step back out on the streets, a new receipt in Phil’s pocket, the estimated pick-up date circled on it in red ink.

“Is this what you had planned for today?” Martyn asks as they begin strolling off towards some other shops.

Phil laughs at that. “No. What I had planned for today was snuggling my boyfriend and my kids.”

Martyn gives him a look. “Boyfriend, eh? So it’s official, then?” he asks, a mischievous smirk on his face.

Phil can feel his face flush when he realizes what he’s just said. “Well… I call him that sometimes. In my head.”

Martyn isn’t polite enough not to laugh at him. “Oh, so Dan isn’t aware of this new development?”

There’s an awkward pause as Phil tries to think of a realistic lie, but it’s filled with Martyn cackling, then pretending to cover it up with a cough. “He knows that there are… feelings happening. I think.”

“You think?” Martyn basically squawks. “Jesus, man. Why don’t you just tell him you fancy him? You know he feels the same.”

He gestures them towards a candy shop then, and Phil is helpless to refuse. He follows behind Martyn slowly, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Well… I mean, I guess I think I know how he feels, but I… I’m not sure.”

Martyn had stopped to hold the door open for him, but at that he pauses, turning to give Phil a blank stare. “Mate,” he deadpans.

“What?” Phil says defensively. “Open the door, it’s freezing out here.”

Martyn rolls his eyes, but waves Phil through, following behind him closely to continue the conversation. “Don’t be daft. Or, at least be less daft, if you can manage that.”

“Thanks, Mar, you’re such a beaming ray of kindness today. I’ve missed our bonding times,” Phil says, and he hopes his voice is dripping with sarcasm.

“You know you did,” Martyn teases. Phil can’t even deny that. He did.

“Whatever,” he says, mindlessly strolling the store, his hands tucked firmly in his pockets to keep him from buying anything.

“I’m serious, though,” Martyn says after a minute, tucking a box of licorice under his arm, likely for their father. “I think you both would feel better if you just had a conversation about it, yeah?”

Phil’s quiet, thinking about it. Of course, Martyn is right. “I know,” he says, rather than admitting it in so many words. “And, God, I’ve already bought a real ring, haven’t I? I’ve got to say something. Surely he’ll say no if I just propose out of nowhere. And-”

“I doubt it,” Martyn interrupts his rambling, examining some chocolate oranges.

Phil blinks. “Doubt what?” He says, suspicious.

Martyn shrugs. “I doubt he’d say no. Knowing the two of you, he might actually prefer it if you just propose, so neither of you have to actually talk like functioning human beings.”

And this, Phil thinks, is where Martyn clearly doesn’t know Dan very well. “Oh, no. Dan loves to talk. He loves a good serious chat. We have them with the kids all the time.”

Martyn glances at him then, smiling a little. “He’s a good dad?” he asks.

Phil sighs wistfully, wishing again that he’d said no to his brother and just stayed home to snuggle with his grumpy-Dan and their kids. “The best,” he says truthfully. He hesitates then, debating on whether or not he should share this next part with his brother.

“What is it?” Martyn asks, Phil’s anxiety and hesitation far too easy to read for someone who has known him his whole life.

Phil chews his lip in contemplation, but sighs. It would be good to get a second opinion on this, he figures.

“Dan asked me to adopt the kids with him.”

Martyn drops the box of licorice.

Phil winces at the noise, and they both glance at the shopkeep, who gives them a tired once-over before going back to his coffee and tablet.

“He what?” Martyn whisper-shouts, leaning back down to retrieve the box.

“He asked me to adopt-”

Martyn flaps his hand. “Shut up, I heard you. I just…” He stares at Phil, his eyes wide. “That’s a lot, man. That’s a big responsibility.”

Phil knows he doesn’t really mean it like that, but he bristles anyway at the insinuation that he maybe can’t handle that responsibility. He feels like he’s been doing just fine so far, though.

“I know that,” he says, a little defensive. “We know that. I just…” he trails off then. This may not even be something Martyn understands. He and Cornelia have Evan, but… still. This is a little different.

“Just what?” Martyn says, his voice soft.

Phil sighs. “They’re my kids, Martyn. And as odd as it sounds, Dan is my family. With or without them, he’s… He’s my person. And he’s the only person I’d want to have a family with.”

Martyn is silent, glancing at Phil for only a minute before going over to the counter to pay for the candy. Phil trails after him, feeling a little like he’s in trouble, even though he hasn’t even done anything. Martyn can’t crucify him for a crime he didn’t even commit, he thinks bitterly.

They head out of the shop, and Martyn pulls out his phone and glances at the time. “You feel like doing a little bit of Christmas shopping?”

~~~

Later that evening, when Phil is eating dinner at the table by himself, a message pops up from his brother. They’d abandoned the conversation about Dan and the kids at the candy shop, and Phil had honestly thought Martyn was angry with him. The message clears his conscience of that, at least.

Martyn: Talk to Dan. If you guys can ever get your shit sorted out, I think those kids would be thrilled to have you guys as forever parents.

Martyn: Also, you owe me for lunch

~~~

[laurainlilac]

oh dear

∘

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