#shadow each bio parents

[ghostbuster30]

I was making art for the shadowpeach Bio parent takeover and I was listening to Epic, then I was like wouldn't it be crazy if. And the more I did it I was like they're kinda alike, like they both think they are monsters (one more than the other), both have red bandanas and miss their wives!

They miss their wives

[cutvdo]

Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU - summary

When I read a long fanfic I like I do a little summary on what happens each chapter so I can easily reread the parts I want.

So I did one for @kyri45 Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU comic.

link to comic Master post (from part 1 to 8) link to Second Master post (has the rest of part 8 and part 9)

THIS IS SPOILERS, GO READ THE COMIC BEFORE READING THIS!!!!

The way it goes is "summary (characters that show up, by emojis the first time a character shows up it will also have a name, INDEX at the end of the post) extra".

The extra is like if someone is blushing or no-glamour, easier for compilations. and Sun = Sun Wukong.

P.1: First Arc 1) master post 2) we will co-mentor MK (🐒MK ☀️Sun 🌑Mac) 3) MK has shadow powers, Mama!Macaque (🐒☀️🌑) 4) MK has 4 ears, he is perfect (🐒☀️🌑) 5) Don't you know powers are genetic (🔥Redson 🐒) 6) Pigsy phone call (☀️🌑,🐷Pigsy-phone📞) 7) too much noise (🐒☀️🌑) 8) we are related talk (🐒☀️🌑) 9) Pigsy shovel talk (☀️🌑🐷)

P.2: Week 1 and 2 1) MK corner (🐒☀️🌑) 2) new clothes (🐒) bonus) 🪭PIF finds out (🔥🪭PIF 🌑) 3) afraid to apologies (☀️🌑,🐒-sleeping) 4) train Kaiju form with Mac (🐒☀️🌑) Mac-kaiju 5) Mac apologies to MK (🐒☀️🌑) Mac-MK-kaiju 6) MK planed this (🐒☀️) reddit-ing 7) Redson and Mei find out (🐒🔥🐉Mei 🪭) 8) Redson gives MK support (🐒🔥)+(☀️🐃DBK) 9) Bull gives advice to Sun (☀️🐃)

P.3: Training montage 1) Sun stepping down from an argument (🐒☀️🌑) 2) never gives up (🐒☀️🌑) Sun blush🔴 3) Grooming train (🐒☀️🌑Monkeys) Sun blush🔴 4) more for MK (☀️🌑👓Tang) bonus) Family dinner (🐒☀️🌑) 5) soft ears (🐒☀️🌑🔥🐉) Mac blush🔴 6) MK's room (🐒☀️🌑)

P:4: Un-divorce arc 1) APOLOGY (☀️🌑) glamour-less Sun 2) Mac nightmare (☀️🌑 Monkeys) 3) Sun nightmare (☀️🌑 Monkeys) 4) made bed bigger (☀️🌑 Monkeys) 5) 🍼MK is baby now (🐒☀️🌑) 6) Mama Mamacaque (🐒☀️🌑) 7) Mamacaque shadow play (🐒🌑,☀️-watch) 8) Want parenthood talk (☀️🌑) 9) family cuddle (🐒☀️🌑) 10) MK wakes-up to family cuddle (🐒, ☀️-🌑-sleep) bonus) Spicynoodle (🐒🔥🐉)

P.5: More than a successor 1) 2am waiting for Mac (☀️🌑) 2) MK sees past (☀️🌑,🐷-phone📞) 3) giving Pigsy and Tang advice (🐒🐷👓, ☀️-🌑-phone📞) 4) Sun freakout (☀️🌑) 5) not a nightmare (🐒☀️🌑) glamour-less Mac 6) it was the only way (🐒☀️🌑) 7) family hug (🐒☀️🌑) talk 8) Sandy therapy (🐒 🐱Sandy) 9) not a successor anymore (🐒☀️🌑🐱) 10) continue part 9 (🐒☀️🌑) 11) Xiaotian , new weapon (🐒☀️🌑)

P.6: Training Arc 2, Electric Boogaloo 1) ask ⚔️Chiyou [god of war] (🐒☀️🌑 ⚔️Chiyou) 2) making weapon (🐒☀️🌑⚔️) Mac blush🔴 3) weapon reveal (🐒☀️🌑⚔️) 4) human Sun and Mac (🐒☀️🌑) 5) Lilo and stitch (🐷🐒 ,☀️-phone📞) 6) Sun nightmare: cuddle prison (🐒☀️🌑) 7) Sun nightmare: family cuddle (🐒☀️🌑) 8) 3 monkies clinging (🐒☀️🌑) 9) Red and MK sparring (🐒🔥🐉) MK-blush!🔴🔴🔴 10) puberty talk (🐒☀️🌑) Mac-blush🔴🔴 11) puberty talk + tickle attack (🐒🌑) Mac-MK-blush🔴 12) trans (🐒☀️🌑)

P.7: Full Moon Eclipse 1) Mac's cold, Sun takes to hot springs (☀️🌑) Sun-blush🔴 2) why Mac was cold (☀️🌑) 3) MK goes to Red to clear misunderstanding (🐒🔥 Bob) 4) MK and Red talking, demon etiquette, white hair (🐒🔥) 5) not a freak (🐒🔥🐃☀️) everyone-blush LMAO🔴🔴🔴🔴 6) Mac explaining to MK about white hair (🐒🌑🔥☀️) Sun-blush🔴 🔗What cover text says: link 7) parents reactions (☀️🐃🌑🪭) 8) 🌑eclipse (🐒🌑☀️ ,🐉-phone📞) glamour-less Mac & MK + white fur 9) fully charged, MK makes a quick call (🐒🌑☀️) glamour-less Mac & MK + white fur 10) MK calls Mei (🐒,🐉-phone📞) 11) Mac, I forgive you (🌑☀️) glamour-less Sun 12) Baba Mama (🐒☀️🌑) Sun-cry bonus) joke comic 4th wall: 🔗LINK 13) Sun's and Mac's reactions, Heaven! (🌑☀️, 🐒-sleep) Mac-Sun-cry Sun-blush🔴

P.8: A Dark, Long Night 1) Nezha you are joking? (🐒 🛞Nezha 👺li-jing) 2) Mac stops Wukong from being impulsive (🌑☀️) 3) MK gets a circlet and a contract (🐒🛞👺 🌿Guanyin) HURT ANGST 4) Family meeting (☀️🌑🐷👓🐉🐱🔥) at FFM 5) Bonding over daddy issues (🐒🛞) Sunset Lotus Duo 6) Tied name contract (🐒🛞🌿🔥) 7) Nezha gives Red and MK space (🐒🛞🔥) 8) Red is upset (🐒🔥) MK-Red-blush🔴 + color🎨 🚀History from when the comic was posted: 🔗 We got a challenge from kyri54 to make the comic tag trending, and this is the result. God the day of was wild, so many posts. 9) MK self sacrifice did damage to his loved ones part 2, electric bogaloo (🐒🔥) MK-Red-blush🔴 🔗What cover text says: link 10) 🎉KISS!!!!!!!! (🐒🔥) MK-Red-blush🔴 color🎨

11) Kissing for 20 panels (🐒🔥) MK-Red-blush🔴 12) Nezha walk in on them (🐒🔥🛞) MK-Red-blush🔴 13) MK asks for Mac's help (🔥🌑☀️🐷🐒) Red-blush🔴 14) A distraction and a challenge (🔥🌑☀️🐉🐷👓🐒) Red-blush🔴 15) Wukong took the news about MK's circlet very well /j (☀️🌑🐷👓🐉🐱🔥) animation! Sun-kaiju 16) Girl fight! (🌑☀️🐉) kaiju 17) See yourself the way I see you (🌑☀️) 🔗links to the flashbacks from the show: link, link, link 18) you're beautiful (☀️🌑🐷👓🐉🐱) Mac-kaiju-blush🔴 Sun-kaiju 19) Show Them The Real Sun Wukong! (☀️🌑🐷👓🐉🔥) Sun-kaiju-blush🔴 Red-blush🔴 20) Dads to the rescue (🐒🌑🐷👓) hugs 21) Dad council vote: should MK change his name? (🐒🌑🐷👓) 22) The baby is FED! (🐒🌑🐷👓)

23) 𝄞🎤 HIT IT! IT'S SHOWTIME (🐒🌑☀️🐉🛞👺) Sun-kaiju SONG 24) ♪ LET THE DESTRUCTION BEGIN!! (☀️🛞🔥🐉) ☀️-kaiju 25) 🎵 THEY ARE GOING DOWN, BABY! (🐒🌑🐉) SOYSAUCE 26) ♬ BABY CHAOS BEING CHAOTIC (🐒🌑☀️🔥👺) ☀️-kaiju 27) 🎶 NOT THE GUMDROP BUTTON (🐒🌑☀️👺🛞) ☀️-kaiju 28) ♫ END SONG (🐒🌑🌿☀️👺🔥🐉) ☀️-kaiju 🔗fan edit of the whole song in sink with the panels🎸 🔗fan edit that I can't help but include🔗they made a longer version

29) Napping while scroll hunting (👺☀️🐒🌿) ☀️-kaiju 30) My name is what? (👺☀️🐒🐷 👓🐱🪭🌿 31) Wake up (👺☀️🐒) 32) Sibling PIF Macaque IRON SHADOW (🌑🪭) * on stream we found out they don't have a pair name so we made one, IRON SHADOW! 33) Nezha MK sibling bonding time (🐒🛞) Sunset Lotus Duo + 🟥▶YouTube video 34) Did you hear that? (🌑☀️🪭🐷👓🐱) ☀️-kaiju 35) 🐉MEI EXPRESS! (🌑☀️🪭🐷👓🐉🔥🐱) ☀️-kaiju 🤣 36) Wukong, I forgive you for everything (🌑☀️) ☀️-kaiju 37) 🎉KISS!!!! + 🟥▶YouTube video (🌑☀️) glamour-less 🍑 🚀We got another challenge!!!!! No specific date yet, but will be anywhere between March 6th to March 15th. This time is to get #Lego Monkie Kid tag to first place. 38) What’s your answer? (🐒🌑☀️🛞👺🐷👓🐉🔥🐱) 🔴 39) MK The Monkie Kid (🐒🌑☀️🛞👺) 🔗Who is in the audience: link, link 40) How did that work? HUG (🐒🌑☀️🐷👓🛞👺🌿) 41) Why did that happen? NAP (🐒🌿🌑☀️🐉🔥🐷👓🐱)  NAME, Red-blush🔴 🔗All the Spirited Away references in Part 8: A Dark Long Night 🔗About MK’s name

Part 9: A new Dawn (Epilogue) 1) Poor Red Son ❤️💛 (🐒🔥🐃🪭🐷👓)🔴 2) Mildly spicy, noodles❤️💛, which aren't free (🐒🔥🐷👓)🔴 🔗Oh my stars 3) 🙈🙉🙊 Moderate spicy shadowpeach, did it change? (🌑☀️)🔴 4) Immortal, Hey new jacket (🐒🐉)😭😭 5) 🍜cry over a bowl of noodles (🌑☀️🐷👓)😭 🔗 Playlist music from kyri45 🎶 6) Combine power (🐒🌑☀️?) 7) March 2nd, 1PM ET

INDEX: ☀️Sun = Sun Wukong = Monkey King l🌑Mac = Macaque | 🐒MK 🔥Redson | 🐉Mei | 🐷Pigsy | 👓Tang |🐱Sandy 🐃DBK = Demon Bull King | 🪭PIF = Princess Iron Fan 🛞Nezha |👺li-jing | 🌿Guanyin

I realized that there isn't a ship name (platonic) for MK and NeZha, any suggestions? @sypher-moon05 gave the idea for Sunset Lotus Duo, since it's an actual orange lotus. (full name 'Amazon Sunset Lotus').

Of course the comic didn't end yet (I will cry when it does) so I will edit the post from time to time.

If you liked this kind of summary then here is my AO3 bookmarks

[kyri45]

I love you art so much omg Shadowpeach bio parents gave me so much inspiration and joy and AUGHH your amazing!! I’m tearing up! 😭 Thank you!! For bringing this into existence! This is all I ever needed after S5 of lmk!! But I have a question if it’s not tooo.. much too ask for.. but in your au does bai he exist?.. (bai he as the little girl aka the hostess of the lady bone demon, the girl who got possessed) me and other ppl in the fandom had a cute little idea that mk was like a big brother for her and that macaque was like a parent that she never had after the battle with lbd. And all that, so all I ask- is does she at least exist? And if she does? Will we perhaps see her interact with the group (or maybe macaque 👀

) keep up the good work btw!! Love your art and comic!!

Bai He surely exist and she is both in MK and Macaque lives. But I'll be honest I always assumed she must have had some kind of parental figure. Mostly because in S4/5 she barely appeared, and when she did she looked... alright? So I suspect she does have some people who take care of her. I think after LBD both she started to visit both Macaque shadow play theater ans sometimes Pigsy noodles shop. MK still has some flashbacks when she sees her, and I assume Macaque has some kind of resentment for, in a way, knowing he also caused her some pain. Mac and Bai He bonded. But I couldn't have such a young child be Macaque surrogate father, because I don't believe neither Macaque or Wukong had what it takes at the beginning of the AU to be parental figures, not with all the issues they still had with each other or in general. Especially with such a young child such as Bai He. Now that they are both slightly better, they could be both more open to the idea of actually babysitting her together sometimes.

[nothoughtsjustfic]

Finding Yourself - C.SC [Part 1]

🐢Who: Choi Seungcheol (Seventeen) x female reader 🐢What: 18+. Dark themes. Mafia au. Angst. Fluff. Suggestive. Slow burn. Mafia Boss Seungcheol. Single parent Seungcheol. Strangers to friends to lovers. Chan is reader’s little brother. Hansol is Seungcheol’s son. 🐢Word count: 15.5k 🐢Warnings: Characters with autism/ADHD. Selective mutism. Mentions and depictions of being overwhelmed/sensory overload and meltdowns. Off screen gang violence including gun use. Implied intention of non-con in discussion. Mentions of skipping meals/poor diet/nutrition. Mentions of past child abuse/abusive parents. Homelessness due to running away and associated issues; lack of money/food/water etc. Mentions of past forced sex work. 🐢Summary:“In an attempt to protect your little brother, you run away from home and the gang your father forced you into as a teenager.

You truly thought you were done with that life. But months later, when members of the Centaurs gang find you and your brother squatting in their property mid gang-fight, they take you back to their headquarters and force you right back into it.

Suddenly, you find yourself living in the home of the leader of the oldest, most famous gang in the entire country, and you very quickly realise that he isn’t the ruthless monster everyone thinks he is.”

Minors do NOT interact, which means reblogging and/or commenting on this story. I WILL block any account that interacts without an age indicator in their bio.

Masterlist Finding Yourself Part 2 – Finding Yourself Part 3

Disclaimer: Okay, so I feel like I need to point out that I do have both autism and ADHD, and I have done a lot of research around both during my own discovery/diagnosis periods; even now I’m constantly learning that more aspects of myself are very common in people with autism/ADHD so there is truth behind how the characters are portrayed in this fic. Yet, with that being said, both autism and ADHD are very vast in that you can have a room full of people with both disabilities and yet every single one of those people are incredibly different, which means that the characters in this story who have autism or ADHD are not accurate portrayals of every single person with either. There are 4 clearly stated autistic people in this fic throughout and they are each different personalities and how their disability affects them. So please don’t leave comments or send rude asks accusing me of misrepresentation or anything like that just because a character you’ve watched in a movie isn’t written the same as these characters, thanks.

Tears. It’s always tears when you need silence. When you’re trying to sleep. When you’re trying to keep you both safe. It’s always tears.

“Shhh, Channie, shhh, it’s okay,” you try to soothe your little brother through a sensory meltdown that was triggered minutes ago by the overwhelming noises of yelling and gunfire echoing deafeningly around the warehouse.

You thought it would be safe here. The place seemed abandoned, yet secure, with no broken windows to let in the breeze, nor any sign of recent human activity, only some stray animals and their leavings. But it was the best shot you had, and for almost a week, it had been a little slice of dirty haven for you and Chan.

Then, less than twenty minutes ago, you heard multiple cars pull up outside of the dusty warehouse and then footsteps entered the building. You had curled up protectively around your brother in the corner of a room, hidden by the shadows as the newcomers swept through the warehouse for any signs of life. Somehow they entirely missed the two of you, and you were so grateful for it, even if you remained in place, holding your brother in the shadows for a little longer, just in case.

But now, whatever meeting is happening has gone awry and the ear-splitting sounds have set off your five-year-old brother. Although you want to curl up into a tiny ball and cry too as the sounds assault your own senses, you can’t; your meltdown will have to wait until you’re both safe again.

Which won’t happen if Chan doesn’t stop screaming and thrashing, kicking out while also trying to burrow himself right into your chest to try and block the noises and gain comfort from the only person who has shown him any in a long time.

Though, there’s only so much you can do, only so much your hands pressed over his own on his ears do to block the sensory overload when you can feel the noise in your own chest, and you know that Chan has always been much more sensitive about such things.

You wish you have a pair of ear defenders for him, but your father never believed in them and Chan’s mother was perhaps even worse where caring about the poor boy was concerned, so he was never given the tools needed to support him. And your limited finances upon running away with your little brother have gone to keeping him fed and as warm as possible. There have been no spare pennies for such things, even with you skipping meals and sacrificing supplies for yourself in order to protect your brother.

All you can do is hope that it will be over soon and the gangsters, who have intruded upon your safe space, will rapidly leave without hearing Chan’s shrieking.

Of course, with your luck today, it doesn’t go how you hope.

Even before the yelling and gunfire has ceased, the door swings open and a couple of men enter with guns raised. It’s easy for them to locate you with Chan still screaming and kicking out at everything he can reach.

“What do we have here?” The slighter shorter of the two men smirks while eyeing you and your brother as the pair stop too close for comfort, yet still far enough away that your brother’s thrashing doesn’t reach them.

“Something pretty, and something pretty fucking annoying,” the other man retorts, making the first guffaw while you continue to try to soothe Chan and keep him still without removing your eyes from the dangerous men. “Think we got time to take turns?”

“Nah, even if we did, I won’t be able to enjoy it with the little shit screaming like that.”

“Knock him out.”

“Don’t even joke about hurting a kid ‘round here,” the shorter man warns, giving his partner a firm look. “Boss would kill you slowly if word got back to him. You know he’s protective of kids.”

“Then what the fuck do we do? We can’t kill the bitch either because he don’t like kids left behind, and I’m pretty sure we’re fucked if they find out we left them here.”

The two men stare at you and Chan in careful consideration for almost a full minute.

The answer only comes when the gunfire finally ceases, even if Chan doesn’t stop screaming yet. “We’ll have to take them with us.”

As much as you’d rather not go along with the two men, or the dozen or so other men with them, you know you don’t have a choice. If it’s only you who you have to worry about, you’d have already risked sneaking out while the showdown was in progress, but with Chan to consider, you can’t risk the gunfire being turned on you.

So, when the pair stalk you out of the safety of the room with Chan still wailing against your chest as you carry him, though luckily he’s now clinging to you and not wildly thrashing, and a gun pressed to your back, you go while mourning the items you’ve lost due to not being able to pack up anything. The men had only hovered long enough to let you pick up Chan and grab your backpacks.

Up until you’re in the car with another man sliding into the seat to your left while looking bewildered, you have no idea who these gangsters are, but this new man has his arms on show despite the cold weather and the centaur tattoo on his right bicep stares at you mockingly.

Today really isn’t your lucky day.

“What’s this?” He demands, almost glaring at the two men in the front of the car while motioning vaguely to you and your little brother.

“Found them in a room, kid was screaming the place down, this is quiet for him,” the driver, the shorter of the pair, replies, tone almost polite now and you can safely guess that this tall, muscled man is a much higher rank than them. “Didn’t know what to do with them considering the rules about kids and everything.”

“So, you decided to completely bypass me and make a decision on your own?” The tall man asks, now closing the car door behind him and reaching for his seatbelt, yet he stops and motions to the space between you two. “Put him there so he can be strapped in,” he says to you, already grabbing the seatbelt for the middle seat ready to pull over.

“What?” You mutter dumbly.

“This car isn’t going anywhere until we’re all strapped in securely and it’s unsafe for a child to be strapped in on your lap. Put him here so he can be safe between us, I’ll keep my arm in front of him so he can’t fall.”

“He can sit next to the door,” you reply and start to move over into the centre yourself, but the man makes a dismissive noise and shakes his head.

“No, if that door gets rammed, he’ll get seriously injured; he should go in the middle, so our bodies protect him.”

“How likely is it that we’ll get rammed?”

“More likely than you realise, especially if the ones we just met have back up waiting down the way.”

“Then just let us go.”

He sighs. “I wish I could, seriously, I don’t want to endanger your son, but those idiots are right in that leaving you is a bad idea, we can’t trust you. So, either you willingly put him down or I move him myself and I think that would just make him more upset.”

For a few seconds, you do nothing but stare at the man, hoping that he’ll suddenly decide to trust a complete stranger and let you go, but he doesn’t, and you reluctantly adjust Chan to sit him at your left side between the two of you.

“It’s okay, I’m right here,” you whisper as you press down on his legs to stop him from trying to climb onto your lap again. “I’m not leaving, we just need to strap in, okay? We’re going to strap in and go for a drive, okay, Squirt?”

Silently, the man manoeuvres the safety belt across Chan’s body and clicks it into place as you continue to soothe your little brother. Then, the man reaches over even further to plug your seat belt in before finishing with his own and kicking the back of the driver’s seat lightly to prompt him to start the car.

Thankfully, Chan calms down once the car is in motion and you’ve pulled out his comfort turtle plushie for him to squeeze to his chest repeatedly.

You know the man on Chan’s left is watching your brother as he almost hurts himself with the toy, but you don’t care, all you care about is that Chan’s self-soothing is working and isn’t hurting him. The man can think whatever he wants.

The location you’re taken to isn’t one you’ve ever been to before, yet nobody needs to speak the name for you to know that this large, sprawling estate fortified with three sets of tall gates and walls, plus guards, is the base of the Centaurs, the oldest still running gang in the country.

The whereabouts of the estate isn’t a secret, it’s easy information to get, but due to the sheer size of the gang and their legendary skills, especially of the leaders and head family, not even the authorities are brave enough to launch an attack. Though some over-cocky gangs have been dumb enough to try over the years and inevitably failed without making it past even the first wall.

The place truly is one of the most secure places in the entire country. It almost puts military compounds to shame with the levels of security covering the sprawling grounds.

It feels more like a village based on how long you remain in the car once past the first two sets of gates, and all the buildings and people you pass on the gravel roads.

Then, when the final wall is in view, you’re moved into another car, with only the tall man joining you after he’s talked to another man a little shorter than himself. The tall man doesn’t say a word once he’s in the driver’s seat after making sure you and Chan are strapped in, before driving further forward along the gravel roads and through the final gates.

Finally, you see the impressive, impeccably well-kept, grand building that is Choi Manor where it sits pride of place in the very centre of the estate, behind all three walls.

There are nowhere near as many people wandering around now. It seems more like you only see groundsmen maintaining all the greenery and plant life, turning the area within the final wall into something almost out of a fairy tale. It’s truly beautiful.

Chan peers out of the window as best as he can when he can barely see over the edge of the door, with his wide, red rimmed eyes staring at all the colours of the flowers and fruits in awe. He’s never seen so many different plants in one place, in fact, you would even go as far as to say he’s never seen so many plants full stop.

Your own family home was never this natural; your father preferred to do away with nature to save the hassle of having to have people tend to it. The closest was the greenhouse your father let you keep for yourself for a few years before Chan was even born, until your father’s new wife destroyed it in a jealous fit when he didn’t buy her the car she wanted. Never mind the fact that she never learned to drive.

“Okay, so, a few things,” the tall man states when he parks the car beside a handful of other similar cars in front of the extravagant home. He turns off the engine and unplugs his seatbelt so that he can turn around in his seat to face you directly. “The boss isn’t home right now and won’t be until late, and I obviously can’t let you wander around unattended, so you’re going to be locked in one of the guest rooms with someone outside your door until the boss is back and decides what to do next. Understood?” You just nod.

Honestly, it’s a lot better than expected; you assumed you’d be locked up in a storage room or something equally as unwelcoming, not a guest bedroom of the most lavish home you’ve ever seen outside of movies and TV shows.

“Make sure you both shower and dress in clean clothes before the boss is back, you don’t want to meet him dirty. And eat, I guess you haven’t eaten in a while, right? You look skinny. I’ll get some food sent up. Does he like nuggets?” He motions vaguely to Chan.

“Nuggets?”

“Yeah, chicken nuggets. I think there’s some animal shapes, but they may be all gone; we don’t get groceries in until tomorrow.”

“Uh… he’s never had them.”

“What?” The man sputters in disbelief. “What kid has never had animal nuggets?! I’ll send out for some if we don’t have any. It’s a crime you’ve never fed your son animal nuggets, seriously.”

Despite this being the second time that he’s assumed Chan to be your son, you don’t correct him; you’re too caught up on other things to care to put the relationship between you straight. “Why would you assume I have access to things like that when we were sleeping in what I thought was an abandoned warehouse?”

“Oh…right, sorry, wasn’t thinking.” He gives you an awkward, apologetic smile before climbing out of the car.

He leaves you to unplug yourself and Chan at your own pace and climb out of the car to join him on the white gravel. Chan is immediately taken by the sound and shuffles on his feet to hear the clacking and grinding under his boots.

When you look up, you expect to see the man about to urge you on, however, he’s simply watching Chan with his head tilted a little, curious, and with the slight hint of a smile on his lips.

Surprising you further, the man patiently waits until Chan is satisfied and takes your offered hand to quietly and closely toddle alongside you behind the stranger into the huge house.

“Sorry, there’s no kid size guest slippers,” the man apologises as he puts down a pair of adult guest slippers from a section of the unit beside the shoe rack, which you don’t really pay any attention to as you’re too busy trying to remove both yours and Chan’s boots to not dirty the perfectly polished marble flooring.

Though you can’t say either of your socks are in much better condition than the soles of your shoes and embarrassedly shove your feet into the slippers before your filthy, hole-riddled socks can be seen. At least Chan’s socks are new, if dirty. Still, you pick him up quickly and hope the man hasn’t noticed the condition of your brother’s socks.

“This way.”

Quietly, you follow the man down the hall and stand outside of a room when he motions you to, allowing him to step inside alone. You hear him talking to another man in low voices for a moment, then he reappears with a slim man who is barely shorter than him, though you think if the first didn’t slouch so much he’d be even taller.

“Hello, I’m Junhui,” the new man greets you with a friendly smile, entirely throwing you off with his open, welcoming aura. “I’m the house chef so I need to know if you or your son have any allergies or dietary requirements so that I can prepare you something delicious!”

“Uhm, no allergies,” you reply and adjust Chan in your hold; he’s too big for you to easily hold him for prolonged periods now so you need to alter his place against your chest fairly frequently in order to keep supporting his weight.

Some months back, you could’ve carried him for extended lengths of time, and you often used to indulge him whenever he asked, regularly carrying him around on your back as you went about your daily life, so long as it was appropriate. But that was then; so much has changed since. Some days you can barely even hold your own body up, let alone his.

“And requirements? For any reason: belief or preference, I need to know,” the cook continues with genuine interest.

“He’s very particular about his food,” you admit and tilt your head towards Chan a little as if they won’t realise that you’re talking about him. “The plainer the better really.”

“Oh, we have one like that already,” Junhui chuckles and flaps a hand almost dismissively as if it’s nothing. “I can handle that no problem! How old is he? I need to know what portion sizes.”

“Five, almost six, but he’s never had a big appetite.”

“Oh!” Junhui and the tall man both look astonished at the information, with matching raised eyebrows and slightly widened eyes. “Perhaps that’s why he’s so small! I thought he’s more like three going on four! I’ll try to make accordingly, but if he’s still hungry, you get a message to me, and I’ll bring more; we can’t let the kids go hungry! Or mama, what about your diet?”

“Oh, uhm, don’t worry,” you try to dismiss the concern, and both men instantly look at you sternly.

“What do you eat, ma’am?” Junhui repeats firmly. “Do you have allergies?” You shake your head silently in response. “What do you usually eat?”

“Whatever he doesn’t finish,” you answer meekly, embarrassed to admit to your inability to afford to feed yourself.

But it seems as if the kind chef doesn’t quite understand. “Okay, and what else?”

“Jun,” the tall man murmurs, gently tapping the other with the back of his fingers. Junhui looks at him and the pair exchange some barely-there expressions, which you don’t have the mental energy to even try to discern the meanings of, before they both look at you and there’s now something you think must be sympathy in the cook’s eyes.

“Oh, right. Uhm, well, what do you like? I can make almost anything!” He offers, brightening back up out of his slightly awkward understanding.

“It’s okay.”

“Please just tell him what you enjoy eating so I can show you to your room,” the tall man pleads. “He’ll make us stand here all afternoon and night if you don’t.”

“I’m just grateful you’re feeding him,” you assure.

“If you don’t tell me what you enjoy eating, ma’am, I will send dish after dish to your room until one comes back empty,” Junhui warns, and something about this man tells you that he’s being entirely serious.

“J-Just you know…uhm…I uh…” your mind is suddenly blank; you can feel the stress and anxiety of the past few hours building up and threatening to break you right here in front of the strangers. The kind chef and the high-ranking member of the most famous gang in the country. You really don’t want to fall apart in front of them.

“How about you think about it, and we’ll get a message down when you’ve decided?” The tall man offers. You nod quickly in agreement. “Okay, let’s go straight to your room and Jun will send some snacks up while you think, yeah?”

“I can do snacks!” Junhui promises before turning and scuttling further down the hall.

“He really loves feeding people,” the tall man says with a little chuckle before motioning back the way you came, so you back up to let him lead the way to the entrance hall and then up the grand staircase.

The bedroom he takes you is at the back of the house and overlooks the patio with a view out over the gardens and lawn beyond, though you don’t do more than simply glance over at the large windows before focusing on the room itself.

There’s a king-sized bed against the back wall and on the opposite wall, with a fair distance in between, is a flat screen TV sitting before a plush looking loveseat and low table. You can see two doors on the wall opposite to the entrance door and assume they lead to an ensuite and walk in wardrobe, but other than that, it’s all rather empty.

“This room isn’t used that much and it’s further away from the frequently used rooms, plus below is the ballroom and well, that definitely doesn’t get used often so I thought this room would be best, because it’ll be quieter here. I guess your son is noise sensitive?”

“You care about that?” You ask shocked as you look at him and finally put Chan down on the floor to rest your arms, though he stays glued to your side despite being obviously curious as he peers around from the edges of his vision.

“Yeah, kids are important and everyone in this house and inner estate believes in that too. We’ll all do whatever we need to make your time here comfortable.”

“We’re hostages, not guests,” you remind simply.

The man winces a little. “Yeah, I guess so.” He shrugs helplessly. “It is what it is, I guess. I really don’t know what the boss is going to do later; we haven’t had this situation occur before so we’re all kind of clueless, but we don’t want to hurt you or your son.”

“He’s not my son,” you finally correct, not sure what else to say and look down at Chan. “He’s my brother.”

“Oh! Okay. What’s his name?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It’d be nice to have something to call him. What about a nickname then?”

“He won’t talk to you, it doesn’t matter.”

“Right.” There’s a moment of tense silence before the man talks up again. “What about you? Can I at least know a name to call you?”

For a few seconds, you debate not answering him, but then you figure the least you could do is give the man something to refer to you as, even if you refuse to give your real name. “Pearl,” you answer, giving the only name your brother calls you, after a character in his favourite movie.

You don’t know if the man realises it’s just an alias or not, but he smiles at you as if he doesn’t care and is just glad to have a name to call you. “I’m Mingyu, I’ll oversee your care until the boss is back, so if you need anything you can ask whoever is outside the door for me and I’ll come right away. For now, I’ll let you poke about the room while I get fresh bedding and towels and everything. Do you have spare clothes? I’ll get extra anyway for you both. I’ll be right back!” He darts out of the room and closes the door behind him gently, yet securely, before you can even try to answer.

“Where we?” Chan asks seconds later when he looks up at you.

“Where are we,” you correct naturally, trying to prevent his delayed speech getting worse with only you for company. It’s hard when you’re not personally used to talking to people very much, even back when you had people around to talk to. But you’re trying to do the best you can for your little brother and not impede his development further. It’s just hard.

“Where are we?” Chan repeats without hesitation, already long ago used to being corrected, though he has only ever tried to absorb and learn your own words, no-one else’s.

It’s much easier for him to progress now that his sole educator genuinely cares about him and understands his struggles. He’s come in leaps and bounds in some ways the past few months, but you know the life you’ve dragged him into won’t be good for his growth in the long run.

Every day you wish you can do better for him, but there are too many obstacles for you to traverse on your own and half the days you’re stuck in an endless loop of regret from taking him away, and relief from taking him away, with no room left in your mind and soul to do anything but stare off until Chan needs you.

“Just somewhere until we find our next move,” you answer, not sure what to say to the innocent boy because you can’t exactly tell him the truth, though you don’t want to lie to him if you can help it. You hate being lied to so you’ve always made a point of being as honest with Chan as you can. He deserves that much, at the very least.

“Mm, okay,” he replies and lets go of you to start wandering around curiously.

You remain in the middle of the room and watch him for a few minutes until there’s a knock on the door and Chan scrambles back to your side.

“It’s me!” Mingyu calls. “Mingyu!” He adds, and you call for him to come in, so the door opens and the tall man steps inside with his arms full of a bundle of different materials, and another shorter man following him. “This is Seungkwan; he’s really good with kids and bugged me to let him meet your brother. That’s cool, right?”

“I don’t have a choice who you bring here,” you point out while putting your hand on Chan’s head protectively when both men move into the room to step past you in different directions. Mingyu places the bundle of clothing in his arms on the couch while Seungkwan scuttles over to the bed and starts to strip it of the stale sheets.

“We don’t want to overwhelm you two,” Mingyu explains. “I know it’s not your choice to be here and chances are, you’re two very innocent people caught in the wrong place, so you’ve done nothing wrong and there is no issue between us.”

You can’t help but wonder what kind of tune this man would be singing if he saw the brand on your thigh. You know it wouldn’t be a good one.

“Bring the sheets, Gyu,” Seungkwan encourages now that he has the bed entirely bare of any sheets.

Obligingly, Mingyu grabs the clean bedding from the bundle to approach and help Seungkwan set up the bed neatly while you and Chan watch silently, though whenever the pair look over at you, Chan looks away and presses further into your leg.

“So,” Mingyu starts once the bed is ready and he and Seungkwan move closer. Though they keep more than just a polite distance from you both, even if Seungkwan keeps glancing at Chan as if he wants to talk to the little boy yet can see that it’s not a good idea. “Have you thought about what you want to eat?”

“Oh…no,” you reply honestly. “I forgot.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” He tilts his head, curious and a little confused as if he doesn’t understand how you can’t be hungry considering the state of you.

“No,” it’s another completely truthful answer and makes the tall man look even more puzzled, but at least he doesn’t question it.

“Okay, well, maybe some snacks will bring back your appetite. We don’t have any women’s clothes, you’re the only woman in the manor in years so I brought you some of mine, I hope that’s okay.”

“You idiot,” Seungkwan scolds and backhands Mingyu’s closest arm, making the tall man break into a pout, to your complete astonishment. “Those will drown her!” The smaller man looks at you with a kind smile. “I’ll get you some of my own, those will be better suited, and I’ll get something for your brother. We might have some clothes small enough, but they might be too big. But at least they’ll do until his own clothes are cleaned up, right?”

Honestly, you’re still too thrown off by how kind the men in this house have been to you so far to be able to answer in any certain way. It’s very kind, yes, and you truly appreciate it, at least for Chan’s sake so he doesn’t have to suffer more, but you can’t believe they’re doing this out of the goodness of their own hearts. It’s unfathomable to you.

All you do is make a vague sound in response that Seungkwan takes as agreement and smiles, only telling you that he’ll be right back before leaving.

“Did you look at the bathroom?” Mingyu prompts, pointing to the still closed doors. You shake your head. “I’ll show you how the shower and stuff work, they’re stupidly complicated with all the options,” he says as he walks over to the left-hand door and opens it to an all-white bathroom, which is lit brightly despite the overhead light not being turned on, thanks to the large window above the tub against the back wall.

You pick Chan up to carry him into the bathroom and peer around curiously while Mingyu rambles on about how long it took him to get used to the fancy showers here when he first joined, and then they changed them to even fancier ones with more options, so he had to learn it all again.

It’s strange how different the large man seems at the manor compared to when you first met him. Although there had clearly been care in him then, as evident by his insistence on all of you wearing seatbelts and the arm that he had kept in front of Chan the entire drive with enough space to not be close to touching the boy, he had seemed every bit the gangster he must be to be a Centaur. Yet, now at the house, he’s almost a different person; no tense edges and only open expressions.

It must be that thing about people being themselves when they’re at home; feeling safe and able to be honest about who they truly are. You’ve never had that and wonder what it must feel like to experience that genuine ease and comfort, to be free. You doubt you’ll ever know.

“Ah, shit,” Mingyu curses when the water sprays out over him once he turns one of the dials. “I forgot about the multiple heads,” he grumbles and turns the water back off to face you while pulling his sleeveless t-shirt away from his torso where the water is making it start to stick and enhance his muscled chest. “Oh, sorry! I swore in front of him!” He apologises with wide eyes and one hand coming up to cover his mouth guiltily.

“He’s heard worse,” you reply, not at all bothered by the curse as you often drop minor curses in front of Chan, and he hasn’t copied them yet. Nor the more vulgar ones your father prefers.

“Still, I shouldn’t do it.” He glances over your shoulder a second before you hear footsteps approaching, making you move aside and turn so that you have a clear view of everyone.

“Hopefully, these will all be okay,” Seungkwan says as he enters the bathroom with a pile of clothing to place on the counter. “You can keep it all too if you want, none of it gets used anyway so it’d be better if someone who’d make use of it all gets it.”

“Oh. Thank you,” you reply, once again shocked by the kindness of these men but starting to get a little more accustomed to it, enough to show some gratitude at least.

“No problem!” He chirps then moves back to the bedroom to grab the towels from the couch to also put on the bathroom counter. “As far as I’m aware, everything you might want should be in the cupboards; the bathrooms are usually always fully stocked.” To check the validity of his own words, Seungkwan goes over to the unit and opens the doors to reveal more towels, toilet rolls, cleaning products and toiletries. “Ah, I’ll take these ones, they probably smell musty now; they must’ve been in here a while.” He plucks out the stack of towels and sniffs them, immediately pulling a face. “Yeah, I’ll go get you more.” He wanders off before anyone can say anything.

“I’ll let you shower and everything. I imagine snacks will be in the bedroom by the time you’re done,” Mingyu declares. “You can lock the doors too, by the way, this one and the bedroom door if that makes you feel safe. But if you don’t answer when we knock, at least half of us can either pick the lock or break it off, but we will only do that if you don’t answer in a reasonable time. For safety reasons; both yours, and ours.”

“I understand,” you reply simply and nod a little in agreement to his warning.

“Okay, great! Enjoy your showers and I’ll see you in a bit!”

Mingyu leaves and you wait until you watch him also leave the bedroom and shut the door behind him before you put Chan down and close the bathroom door, immediately clicking the lock into place.

“Use the toilet, Squirt,” you encourage, motioning to the toilet and glad that Chan waddles straight over obediently to do his business while you rummage through the cupboard to take out the necessary supplies.

“Hurts,” Chan’s words make you look over to where he’s still sitting on the toilet and frowning at you.

“Your belly?” He shakes his head. “Oh, to pee?” He nods. “Ah, I was worried you haven’t had enough to drink. Okay, well hopefully they’ll have left drinks, and you can drink lots and that will help.”

“Juice?”

“Mm, maybe, I don’t know, bud.”

“I want apple juice.”

“We’ll see what they give us. It might just be water.” Chan pulls a face. “I know you don’t like water but it’s good, remember? We need to make sure we drink enough of it to be healthy. You didn’t drink your water this morning and now it hurts to pee.”

“Lots but not too much,” he repeats the words you’ve said to him many times when convincing him to drink his daily water intake.

It was so much easier when you had access to whatever drinks you wanted, but now you can rarely afford to buy anything other than cheap bottled water or refill empty bottles at public water fountains, which are few and far between these days. So sometimes, it’s truly a struggle to keep you both hydrated.

“Exactly, too much or too little is bad for us.”

“Need to be healthy.”

“We do. And clean, so finish up and let’s get you showered.”

“Water?” Chan gasps excitedly and rushes to get off the toilet and close the lid before flushing it, then speeds over with his trousers still around his knees, but you don’t scold him for it; there’s no point when he’s about to take them off. Also, it makes him waddle like a penguin and it’s rather amusing.

“Yeah, get naked and I’ll get it nice and warm.”

“Water time!” Chan exclaims happily and rapidly starts to throw off his clothes, making you once again glad that you have been able to buy him clothes that are easy for him to handle on his own, without buttons or zips for him to get frustrated with. One less reason for a meltdown.

Although he doesn’t have any water safe toys to play with in the shower, Chan has endless fun jumping under the warm water and splashing around while singing every water themed song he can think of, even making up plenty too, while you sit on the tiles outside of the splash zone and watch fondly.

There will never be anyone who you love and adore more than your little brother. You’d do anything for him, risk everything if it would make him smile like this all the time.

Though after a while, you do have to stop his joyful playing so that you can give him a soapy sponge for him to clean his body while you scrub his shaggy hair clean as he sits on the wet tiles in front of where you kneel, getting your jeans wet but you don’t care.

Once Chan is all clean, you wrap him up in a few towels and sit him on the dry tiles facing the wall so he can play with the few toys from his backpack and remain occupied while you shower. It’s not that often that you can shower properly, usually you just have to wash you both over with baby wipes, or with a damp cloth when you can find a private space big enough for it. Showers have become a luxury over the past months, but even with the little amount you’ve had, Chan knows that he must remain looking away while you shower to give you privacy, and he only complains about it if he doesn’t stay entertained with toys for the duration.

As much as you’d love to stand under the water and let it soothe your aching muscles until your skin is all wrinkly, you know you can’t, so you scrub yourself as quickly as possible while remaining thorough, before getting out and rubbing your body dry so you can pull on the clothes Seungkwan left for you. Of course, there isn’t a bra or underwear, but the sweatpants, t-shirt, socks, and hoodie all fit comfortably enough and smell fresh and clean.

With a towel around your hair, you get Chan up and dressed before towel drying both of your hair quickly and unlocking the bathroom door to let you out into the bedroom.

As Mingyu said, someone has left snacks on the low table, a lot of snacks and various bottles and cans of drinks.

Chan gasps excitedly and rushes over to pick up a little bottle of apple juice. “Juice, Per!”

“Mm, sit down then,” you hum and take the bottle to open it as Chan sits down and plops his turtle plushie at his side in wait. As soon as you’ve handed over the open bottle, your brother starts to gulp the contents down eagerly. “Ah, Channie, slow, you’ll make yourself sick. We must be careful when we eat and drink, remember?”

“But I so thirsty, Per!”

“I know, but it’s not going anywhere. Take it steady, Squirt.”

“Slow and steady wins the race,” he quotes, and you smile softly as you watch him purposely take much smaller sips now, all because of a tortoise in an old fable.

Once he’s consumed half of the bottle, Chan puts it on the table and accepts the packet of mini cookies you’ve opened to offer and happily starts munching away with his feet contently flopping from side to side where they’re stretched out in front of him under the table.

While Chan eats the snacks you’ve set up ready for him, you go back to the bathroom to clean your clothes in the sink with the soaps, even if they’re not designed for this, but you can’t be picky about how you get your clothes clean, you just care that they are.

When Chan scrambles into the bathroom while you’re setting everything up to dry, you become concerned until you hear the knocking on the bedroom door and understand what has spooked your little brother. “It’s okay, you can wait in here,” you assure and pat his head before going to the bedroom to open the door while he does as offered and remains hiding in the bathroom.

On the other side of the bedroom door upon opening it stand Mingyu and Junhui, each with a tray of covered plates in their hands and smiles on their faces.

“Hi, Pearl!” Junhui greets. “Food’s ready!”

“Oh,” you step back to let the men in and rush over to the low table to clean up the crumbs and packets Chan has left behind.

“Here, here, I’ll take them,” Mingyu offers, plucking the rubbish from your hands after he’s put down the tray in his hands. “I need to go out for a bit, but Jun is still around, and Seungkwan is too, so you can ask for either of them until I’m back. It should only be an hour; I’ve just got to deal with some stuff in the middle wall.” You nod in understanding. Mingyu shoots you a smile before he leaves, pulling up the door, yet leaving it open slightly as Junhui is still in the room.

The chef is kneeling beside the table as he sets up all of the plates, uncovering them as he goes and causing various delicious scents to fill the room. You’re not surprised that Chan shuffles over and half hides behind your legs as he eyes the food, drawn in by the smell.

“So!” Junhui starts when he’s done arranging everything and looks up. He jerks back in surprise spotting Chan suddenly at your side, but he just smiles at him brightly, then looks up at you. “I thought I’d play it mostly safe and made some plain, yet still tasty and nutritious, foods; enough for the both of you butttt” he starts pulling out condiment bottles and jars of herbs and spices from the various pockets on his cargo pants and apron. “I brought flavours so you can adjust them as you like! I thought that’d be easier than stressing you out by asking you what you like again; that clearly wasn’t getting anywhere. So here, enjoy, eat as much or as little as you want, and you can ask Soonyoung for me if you need more.”

“Soonyoung?” You repeat confusedly.

“Yeah, the guy outside the room.” He motions to the door over his shoulder. “But be warned if you do open the door to ask for something, you will have to deal with talking to him. He hurt his ankle last week and is only off bed rest now, still not allowed to do patrols or go out so he’s sitting on a chair sulking and constantly complaining that he’s bored. But he’s got great hearing and is dumb enough to still jump around on his bad ankle so he will stop you from leaving and get hurt in the process. And then we’ll have to deal with him sulking even longer, so for our sake, please don’t try to run away or anything.”

“That would be illogical given where we are,” you point out simply.

The cook makes a noise of understanding while nodding his head slowly. “Ah, so you do know where you are and whose roof you’re under.”

“Mingyu’s tattoo gives it away, yes.”

“He’s insane, I tell you,” Junhui states, picking up a child-sized cutlery set to hand over, so you take it and sit down, pulling Chan down next to you and handing him the fork to let him pick what he wants to try. No surprise, he goes straight for the plain noodles. Junhui hands you the adult’s cutlery set, though you just hold it at the edge of the table as he talks. “It’s January and the idiot keeps going out in stupid, thin jackets that inevitably get ripped and destroyed, and I think he does it on purpose just to have an excuse to take them off and get his arms out. He’s very vain that Mingyu; he’s hot and he knows it.” He tuts.

You’re not sure what to say in response. Sure, Mingyu is very attractive, and it had struck you as very odd that he was only in a sleeveless t-shirt in winter, but he hadn’t come across as vain to you, though you’re aware that you really don’t know him at all to have a solid opinion on his vanity level. So, you just make a vague sound in response and hope it’s enough to appease Junhui.

“Well, anyway, I’ll let you eat. If you don’t like any of it, tell Soonyoung to call me and I’ll make something else; all I do around here is cook and dinner isn’t for hours, so I don’t have anything else to do. You’d actually be doing me a favour by giving me something to do other than sit playing games on my phone in the den or trying to convince one of the others to entertain me.”

“Why don’t you sit with Soonyoung, if you’re both bored?” You logically suggest.

“Because…actually, that’s a good point. I’ll get a game, do you like games? We can play monopoly…oh, no, that’s a bad idea. Cluedo? No, Soonyoung never understands those kinds of games.” He frowns in thought.

“I’d rather just focus on my brother.”

“Ah, right, right. You’re a good sister.” Junhui gets to his feet after slapping his own thighs. “I’ll be outside and if we get too loud, just come out and tell us to shut up, we both lack volume control when we get excited. Okay, bye, Pearl. Bye, little man!” Junhui skips out of your room, calling to Soonyoung about playing a game as he goes. You can’t see the other man, but you hear his excited whoop before the door shuts and blessedly closes out their conversation.

“Is it good, Channie?” You ask, brushing Chan’s floppy, almost dry hair back out of his eyes. He hums and nods in agreement as he eats. “Good.”

Only now that you’re alone with your little brother and content that he’s eating well do you pick up your cutlery and start to eat.

Although Mingyu has reappeared and left again multiple times, you and Chan are mostly alone for hours, with the man only popping in to check on you both and ask if you need anything, plus take away all the dishes with Junhui.

It’s almost midnight when there’s a knock on the door and you look over from being curled protectively around your sleeping brother. Something about the knock is different to how Mingyu knocks, it’s firmer, yet still gentle in a strange contradiction that makes your stomach flitter with anxiety.

Silently, as to not disturb Chan, you get off the bed and walk to the door to open it just as the knocking starts up again.

On the other side is a man, who although you’ve never met before, you’ve seen his picture many times in files in your father’s office to be able to recognise his dark gaze and full lips.

Choi Seungcheol, the current leader of Choi’s Centaurs as of ten years ago when his father passed through means that have never been publicly verified. Many even think that Seungcheol himself had a hand in his father’s death just so that he could take over the gang sooner.

You don’t know enough of the man to have an opinion on that matter, but what you do know is that he makes an intimidating figure as he looms over you in riding leathers with his motorbike helmet still in one gloved hand at his side, whereas the other is bare and raised in a fist from knocking on the door.

“Pearl, I assume?” He greets, raising an eyebrow slightly in question while lowering his arm to hang at his side.

You don’t know if the dark look is intentional or not, but you do know the shadows under his eyes aren’t. He looks exhausted and you can’t imagine he’s very happy about having to come to you upon returning home instead of going to bed like he no doubt yearns to.

You nod in confirmation. “Your brother is asleep?” Another nod. “Alright, step out here so we can talk without waking him.”

Silently, you step into the hall when he moves aside, before you pull the door up almost entirely shut, yet cracked open enough that you can hear if Chan needs you.

“So, what I hear is that a couple of my guys found you in the warehouse where it seems as if you’ve been sleeping with your brother?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, good, you speak,” he places his helmet on the floor so that he can remove his glove and tuck it into his jacket pocket with the other before unzipping the protective jacket, showing a plain black t-shirt tucked into the waistband of his trousers. “You’re homeless?”

“Yes.”

“Any family to go to? I can’t send you back onto the streets with a kid.”

“Just like that?” You ask, looking at him puzzled. “You’re just sending us out again?”

“What do you expect me to do with you? I know you’re aware I don’t condone violence towards children, nor do I agree with leaving any kid in a position where they don’t have an adult to look after them. I’m not going to hurt your brother, and hurting you would hurt him too, so my only option is to send you off and hope you won’t try to cause me any trouble by saying shit about whatever you saw and heard at the warehouse.”

“And here.”

“What?”

“Your men brought me into your home; as far as I’m aware that’s pretty fucking unheard of.”

He nods slightly in confirmation. “This situation is unheard of, you’re right, Mingyu fucked up by bringing you into the manor when he could’ve left you in one of the empty houses in the outer wall, but I can’t blame him when he did it to make sure he knows you two will be safe and looked after. So tomorrow I’ll personally drive you to the closest family you have, so that I know you arrive safely.”

“No.”

“No?” He frowns at you in astonishment. “The fuck do you mean no? I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, sweetheart. I’m in charge and you’re under my roof, you’re alive because of my rules and you have no fucking place to say no to me.”

“I’ll say no to whoever I need to if it means protecting my brother.”

“I just said I’m not going to let anyone hurt him.”

“Sending us to family will mean him getting hurt.”

“Did you run away?” You nod in confirmation. “Because your parents hurt you?”

“I took him and ran because I knew it would only get worse for him now that… Look, I don’t give a fuck who you are or what you can do to me; I’m not letting you send my brother back there. I won’t do a thing that puts us back on their radar. So just take us back to the warehouse so I can grab the shit I had to leave behind and we can see the last of each other.”

Seungcheol stares at you consideringly for a long moment as his arms cross over his chest before he nods once in understanding and acceptance. “Alright, no family, but I’m not sending you back to the streets. There must be some kind of women’s and children’s refuge that would take you in.”

“Separately. I’m not his parent and as I’m not a kid myself, we’d get separated.”

“Then lie and say he’s your son.”

“I don’t like to lie.”

He scoffs a laugh. “You wouldn’t last a day in my world with that mindset, sweetheart.” You don’t answer and just stare at him silently, well aware of how wrong his assumption is. “Right, so not that. Well, and this is a once in a lifetime offer, but I’ll buy you a house, put it in your name, give you money to cover costs for a few months while you get on your feet, and we never cross paths again. You won’t owe me shit either; I have more money than I know what to do with anyway, I can afford to help someone in need.”

“If I use my name they will find us, Seungcheol,” you plainly state.

He blinks at you a few times dumbly before responding. “Oh, that’s my name.”

You can’t help but look at him in concern for his odd reaction. “Yes.”

“You seriously do know who I am. I didn’t even introduce myself.”

“You’re the head of the most famous gang in the country, of course I know who you are.”

“Mm, many might know me by name, not by face.”

“Mingyu told me the boss will be by to see me once he’s home; you are the only person who has knocked on the door other than him. And you said you’re in charge; I’m under your roof. It’s not hard to put two and two together,” comes your logical rationalisation, easily explaining how you didn’t fail to recognise him despite his lack of introduction.

He’s right in that most people may know his alias, yet have no idea what his first name is, even if they know his family name, or who the name belongs to if they passed him in the street without introduction.

“Huh, guess so. Just threw me hearing my name suddenly, especially as nobody actually calls me that.”

“I don’t like your alias,” you admit bluntly, and to your surprise, the man lets out a laugh. “What?”

“Nobody has ever said that to my face before. Wow, either you have the biggest balls I’ve ever seen, or you’re so sleep deprived that you’ve forgotten how to act.”

Once again, you don’t answer, just silently stare at him. You truly have no idea what category you fit under right now, if either.

“You’re an interesting one, Pearl,” he declares with amusement tilting the edge of his lips up ever so slightly. “Well, I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with this tonight so we’re both going to go the fuck to bed and get some much-needed sleep, then we’ll talk again. And I’ll meet your brother; the guys say he’s adorable and shy, so I’m real curious about him.”

“Right,” you mutter in response, not sure what you’re expected to say right now.

“Alright, well, seeing as you’re not an idiot and know who I am and what you risk if you try to fuck me over, I won’t have anyone outside your room anymore and no-one will bother you until the morning when someone comes and gets you for breakfast.”

“Get us? Like, to join?”

“Yeah, we can talk over breakfast; I’ve got a busy day tomorrow and the sooner we sort this shit out, the better.”

“Right.”

“Go back to your brother and make sure you sleep too. You look like you’re about to pass out any second,” he says as he bends over momentarily to swoop up his helmet into his hold.

“Says you.”

Seungcheol snorts a laugh as he turns and walks off. “Definitely an interesting one.”

You watch him until he turns at the end of the hall and is out of sight before you go back into the bedroom and lock the door so that when you curl up under the covers with your brother, you feel safe enough to close your eyes and sleep in a soft bed for the first time in months.

Maybe today hasn’t been quite as unlucky as you initially thought.

When the knock comes in the morning, you’ve already been up for a few hours.

You’ve already cleaned up the bathroom and bedroom, showered for what may be the last time in a while to take advantage while Chan slept, and dressed back in your own clean clothes; though you’ve neatly folded the ones Seungkwan gave you into your backpack, hoping that he was being honest about allowing you to keep them, you could really do with the spare clothes.

Once Chan woke, you had him drink some juice, then let him splash around in the bath until the water was cold and his skin wrinkly, before drying him and dressing him in clean clothes and folding his new spares into your own backpack as his own is too full of his own spare clothes, toys, and other necessary supplies.

Chan’s playing with his toys on the bed at your side when the knock comes, so you leave him there to get up and answer the door.

“Good morning!” Mingyu greets you brightly once the door is open and you have sight of one another. “I’m glad you’re already up, breakfast is just about ready. Is your brother up too?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, great, let’s go join the others.” You nod slightly in agreement, then turn to get Chan and carry him with you as he clutches his turtle to his chest and hides in your neck.

“Does he have trouble walking?” Mingyu wonders as you follow him down the hall.

“Sometimes.”

“Ah, you just carry him all of the time, so I wondered.”

“It’s just easier, lets me know he’s safe if I’m holding him.”

“That makes sense. But he is safe here, you know. Nobody will hurt him. We all love kids in this house, in the appropriate way.”

“I don’t know you to trust those words.”

“I understand,” he assures and gives you a little smile.

Nothing more is said all the way to the kitchen where you can already hear noise before you enter. It’s not too loud, thankfully, just the general sounds of people being happy and chatting. And to your surprise, you can hear a child’s voice amongst it all.

“They’re here!” Junhui cheers as you enter the kitchen and see him cooking with another man while the large breakfast table is surrounded by a bunch of men, Seungcheol and Seungkwan included, plus a little boy who is in the middle of climbing over a brightly smiling man.

The little boy immediately looks over and grins brightly. “My new friend!” He exclaims.

“No, no, I told you, no,” Seungcheol says with a sigh. “Every child you meet isn’t your friend, Solie.”

“But he will be!” The boy insists and almost climbs up onto the table, though the man who he’s using as a willing climbing frame grabs him and moves him to put on the floor. Undeterred as if it’s a regular occurrence, the boy runs around the table to approach you and stare up at your hiding little brother in awe. “Hi! I’m Hansol, I’m almost seven! What’s your name?”

All the men look over curiously, stopping their conversations to see what happens next.

“I’m sorry, Hansol, but he doesn’t talk to anyone but me,” you say to the young boy gently.

“Oh,” Hansol frowns. “Why?”

“He only feels safe with me.”

“Oh. I don’t have a sister, but I feel safest with my daddy, so I talk his ear off, he says.” To your surprise, he points over at Seungcheol, who is watching his son with fond amusement.

In all you’ve seen and read about Choi Seungcheol over the years, you’ve never even heard a rumour that he has a child, not even a woman claiming to be carrying his child to try and get money from the filthy-rich family. There have even been rumours that the man is gay due to the lack of women seen on his arm over the years. Maybe that’s still true and Hansol isn’t biologically Seungcheol’s, maybe he’s adopted or a surrogate baby; not that it matters when you can see nothing but pure love in the man’s eyes for his son.

At least now you understand why the men had all been so insistent that Seungcheol has strict rules to protect children; as a father he likely has a better appreciation and love for the little humans. Well, a good father should, at least. Something about this man makes you think that he is a good and doting father, despite being a ruthless gang leader.

“Ah, it’s good you feel safe with him,” you decide to say and look at Hansol, who nods enthusiastically in agreement before looking at Chan again.

“Can we still be friends if he doesn’t talk and I talk a lot?”

“I don’t know,” you answer honestly. “I don’t know if he can handle it, he’s sensitive to noise.”

“Oh, me too, like bangs and stuff; it makes me feel all horrible and gross and sometimes I wear my special headphones, and it makes it all quiet. Does he have special headphones too? They’re really good!”

“Ear defenders?”

“Oh, is that what they’re called?”

You nod. “Defend means to protect and they’re designed to protect your hearing and block out noises.”

“Ooooh, that’s cool! Daddy!” Hansol turns to look at his father. “My special headphones are superheroes for my ears!”

“So I heard,” Seungcheol replies with a chuckle. “Why don’t you come sit down so Pearl can get comfortable with her brother for breakfast, hm?”

“Can I sit with him?”

“I think he’d rather sit with his sister.”

The little boy deflates, whole posture slumping and his lips protruding sadly, “oh.”

“You can sit with me, Solie!” The same man Hansol had earlier been climbing on offers, making Hansol light right back up and run over to clamber up.

“No, no way,” Junhui argues sternly. “You spill enough food as it is without a child on your lap, Kwon Soonyoung.”

The man you now know to be Soonyoung, the man with the injured ankle who had been keeping guard outside of your room yesterday, pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, which Hansol copies when he’s in his own seat on his dad’s right at the head of the table. “You never let us have breakfast cuddles anymore,” Soonyoung complains in a mumble.

“Learn to eat like a grown up and then you’ll be allowed breakfast cuddles,” another man says as Mingyu leads you over to the empty two seats on Seungcheol’s left and motions for you to sit in the one closest to the boss. You sit in the offered chair while continuing to hold Chan chest to chest on your lap, and Mingyu takes the seat on your left.

“You’re younger than me!” Soonyoung exclaims.

“Alright children, at least pretend to know how to behave when we have guests,” Seungcheol chides, though he looks to be so used to the playful bickering that it doesn’t truly bother him.

“Yes, daddy,” Soonyoung agrees, then yelps when the metal chopstick Seungcheol abruptly throws through the air whacks him in the arm. “Ow!”

“I’ve told you not to call me that!”

“You do call them children,” the man at the other end of the table points out with a little, lazily amused smirk. “It’s your own fault, daddy.”

“Yeah, daddy,” multiple of the men chime in sync, then start to cackle when Seungcheol sighs heavily.

Though the man decides to ignore them all and turns his attention to you instead. “So, how’d you two sleep?”

“Good,” you reply, eyes darting around as everyone starts to serve themselves now that Junhui and the man who was cooking with him are seated, a sign that it’s time to eat. You’re shocked that they don’t wait for Seungcheol and Hansol to have their servings first, as the lead family. Though you can see Soonyoung making sure that the child has food on his plate before he gets his own share.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll grab it for you,” Mingyu offers. “Does he eat toast?” You nod in confirmation, so Mingyu grabs a couple of slices of toast. “With butter?” You nod again and he gets to work buttering the toast.

“Will you turn around?” You request Chan softly once you’ve leaned down to talk to him. He shakes his head. “Just halfway, please, Squirt. You can face the wall, but you need to be able to reach your food.”

Chan tenses for a second as he squeezes his turtle tight to his chest, before he relaxes and you know it means he’s ready, so you adjust him until his back is to Mingyu. Although Chan is technically facing Seungcheol now, the wall is more directly in front of him, and he stares at it.

“Anything else on it? We don’t have peanut butter, Hansol’s allergic, but we have probably almost anything else,” Mingyu says once the toast is buttered and on the plate that is sitting in front of you on the table.

“Do you want anything on your toast, Squirt?” You ask. Chan glances over to the plate and instead of verbally answering, he picks up a piece of the warm toast to start eating contently, feet starting to bounce a little as he chews.

“Is his name Squirt?” Hansol speaks up from directly opposite you, causing you to look over and see that he’s already got crumbs around his mouth from his own toast, though his is slathered in jam and he also has a single sausage on his plate.

“It’s a nickname,” you answer.

“Oh, why?”

“Have you seen Finding Nemo?”

“Yeah!” Hansol lights up. “I wanna bounce on the jellyfish, boing, boing!” He bounces in his seat.

“Ah, you shouldn’t bounce when you eat,” you say automatically, worried about the boy choking. “It’s a hazard to move in such a way while you eat.”

Hansol falls still to look at you with intrigue. “What’s hazard mean?”

“Dangerous. A hazard is something that’s dangerous.”

“Oh. So, no bouncing when eating?” You hum and nod in approval. “Okay.”

“What?” Seungcheol baulks in disbelief. “I’ve been telling you to sit still while you eat since you could sit up and you listen to someone you just met?”

“You never told me it’s dangerous, daddy. I don’t want to get hurt, you know.”

“I must’ve told you it’s dangerous,” Seungcheol mutters.

“Nope! You tell me I make a mess.”

“Oh…well, okay, that’s my fault then, I should’ve put the danger warnings first.”

“You should,” Hansol agrees simply, and for the first time in over 24 hours, you almost laugh yet manage to hold it back and instead just smile amusedly. “Will Squirt play with me after breakfast?”

“I thought we’re playing after breakfast,” Seungkwan pouts from Mingyu’s left.

“I always play with you Uncle Kwannie, I need new friends who aren’t old.”

“Wow, Hansol, wow,” Seungkwan deadpans. “You say such lovely things.”

“I am a lovely boy,” Hansol agrees, entirely missing the sarcasm in the man’s voice, making Mingyu giggle as Seungkwan pouts to stop himself from also laughing. “Does Squirt like climbing? I want to play outside after breakfast, and I can show my climbing frame, and we can play fishies too! I bet he’ll like that if he likes Nemo. Does he like playing fishies?”

“I don’t think he’s ever played it,” you answer honestly.

“We just pretend we’re fishies living in the sea, it’s pretty easy to play.” Hansol shrugs.

“Just eat your breakfast, Sol,” Seungcheol says, tapping the edge of Hansol’s plate.

“I am eating, daddy, you’re not and she’s not. We’re all eating but you two.”

“Okay, well focus on your food while we talk about adult stuff, okay?”

“Ugh, boring,” Hansol huffs and turns to start talking to Soonyoung, who happily listens to the little boy as they both eat with crumbs around their mouths and wide eyes on one another.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Seungcheol starts as he finally moves to put food on his own plate, though pauses when he realises that only Chan’s second piece of toast is on the plate in front of you. “You can help yourself; it’s all free game.”

“I’m okay, thank you,” you reply.

“Eat, you need energy to look after your brother,” he declares firmly and as much as you want to argue, he’s got you by bringing Chan into it; you’re pretty sure he said that on purpose. “I’m going to put food on your plate, and you don’t have to eat it all, but eat something, okay?” He doesn’t wait for your agreement before he gets up onto his feet to lean over the table further and serve a little of most of the dishes onto your plate before he serves himself a much heartier portion of everything.

For a few minutes, you eat quietly, feeding Chan from your own cutlery too so that he’s not just eating toast, even if he seems perfectly happy slowly chewing on it while staring off, though he opens his mouth to accept whatever you choose to feed him without complaint.

“Can I ask something?” Seungcheol’s voice makes you look away from Chan and to the man on your right. There’s something in his eyes you can’t place as he watches Chan curiously. “Is he autistic?” Your movements immediately halt and Seungcheol notices, snapping his full attention to your carefully blank expression. “He is, isn’t he?”

“My brother’s business is not yours,” you state firmly.

“I’m not trying to step on your toes or anything, I just see a lot of Hansol in him,” he explains with a shrug. “He’s got autism and ADHD, so I get it, we all get it, if he is autistic. It’s not a dirty word in this house and we all make accommodations where necessary to make sure my son doesn’t ever feel other, you know? He’s just another kid with some differences as far as he’s concerned.”

For a long moment, you just stare at Seungcheol in utter shock at his words. Not necessarily that Hansol has autism and ADHD because that doesn’t exactly surprise you despite having just met the kid, sometimes you just know these things, but what is a surprise is the ease in which Seungcheol says it all and the fact that you truly believe him; that they all accept and love Hansol and do what they can to support him.

It’s everything you’ve ever wanted for Chan.

“Oh,” you breathe out, and with that breath, it feels like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. “It’s why I took him away. He got diagnosed in summer, and suddenly…can we stay?” You suddenly request, shocking the man visibly; his eyes go wide, and he straightens up from his casual slouch as he leans on his elbows on the table. “I will work for you; I’ll do whatever you need me to, just please allow my brother to grow up somewhere stable and with love. I’m not asking you to love him in any way, or for any of you to look after him; but for him to see another child like him receiving such love, I hope he’ll know there’s more than just one person on the side of kids like him.”

Seungcheol remains quiet for a second before he lets out a little breath. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I was actually going to suggest it myself, that you stay, because I really don’t know what else to do. You have nowhere to go, and I had a feeling he’s autistic, so I know it’s even harder for you and I truly don’t want to risk your family finding you, especially now I know why they think it’s acceptable to be cruel to an innocent child. I was just surprised you asked.”

“For his sake I’ll do anything.”

“Can you clean?”

“What?”

“If you stay, you need to work and there’s always stuff to clean in a house this size.”

“Is this because I’m a woman?” You deadpan and suddenly, the men closest to you turn quiet, creating a domino effect of silence along the table as they all turn to look at their flustered leader. “Is that the only job you could think of for a woman to be of use in your gang, Seungcheol?”

“Oooh,” Soonyoung jeers under his breath amusedly.

“What? No!” Seungcheol sputters. “I’m not sexist! I know women have plenty of uses besides cleaning!”

“Then why are there no women other than me in this house? I saw perhaps five on the entire drive through the estate. Those don’t seem like numbers of an equal opportunist.”

“I like her,” one of the men whispers to another, however as no-one else is talking, it’s loud and clear to you all and he doesn’t seem to care at all.

“What’s sexist?” Hansol curiously asks.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not sexist,” Seungcheol reiterates, dismissing Hansol’s question with a wave of his hand, making his son pout sadly at not being answered and catching your attention, which in turn, makes Seungcheol look at his son seeing your gaze focused on the boy, and the man notices Hansol’s frown. “Oh, Solie, I didn’t mean to upset you, it’s just not something a six-year-old needs to worry about.”

“I think if he asks, he’s curious enough to deserve an answer,” you point out. “Wouldn’t it be better to give him the knowledge earlier, so he grows up with it, than risk it not settling properly in his mind and being easy to pull apart when he’s older?”

“Oh, I really like her,” the same whispered voice as last time declares.

Seungcheol sighs then shuffles to face Hansol better. “Okay, Pearl’s right, I should give you an actual answer when you ask about things like this. Sexism is when someone thinks their sex or gender is above another. Like, for example, some idiot men think women belong in the kitchen and have no use other than staying at home to raise kids and look after the house. That’s men being sexist towards women.”

“Oh, like you only giving Pearl a cleaning job,” Hansol says, making Seungcheol wince, while some of the men start to snicker. “That’s really bad, daddy, give her a better job.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a cleaner, all jobs have worth. If nobody cleans, things will be dirty so it’s a perfectly valid job, Hansol.”

“But you’re being sexist so that makes it bad, right?”

“Okay, it would be if that was what I was doing, but I only said cleaner because I have no idea what Pearl’s skills are, and you don’t need qualifications or past job experience to clean.”

“Then ask her. If you don’t know what she’s good at, ask her,” Hansol reasons logically.

“How does it feel when a six-year-old has more logic and common sense than you, Coupsie?” The man at the other end of the table asks with an amused grin, earning an unimpressed expression from Seungcheol as he straightens up and turns towards you.

Seungcheol looks at you with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry for not asking you, that wasn’t right. We’ll have an interview when I’m back later and discuss what your place here will be, does that sound okay to you, Pearl?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” you agree simply. He relaxes a little before motioning for everyone to get back to their food, and the conversation is dropped there.

Just as he had said, after breakfast, Hansol enthusiastically leads you and Chan outside once you’re all three of you are in your shoes and coats, to go to the play area that would put a public child’s play park to shame.

There’s a large climbing frame, multiple types of swings, slides of varying heights and styles, trampolines imbedded in the rubber tarmac, spinning seats and roundabouts, seesaws and a huge racetrack painted onto the ground and weaving through all the various apparatus. Plus, there’s even a shelter with go carts, bikes, wagons, and even more toys.

And that’s just this section of the garden. A little further away you can see a large, covered section of ground, which you’d assume is an in-ground pool if there were any sign of ladders or tiles around it instead of more rubber tarmac. You have no idea what it is, but you know it’s another activity for Hansol.

It really is clear that Seungcheol will go above and beyond for the sake of his son.

“What shall we play first, Squirt?” Hansol asks, turning to look at Chan, who is entirely focused on the strange sensation of slightly springy ground under him as he bounces on his toes curiously. “It’s cool, right?! It’s just like in real play parks! Uncle Jihoon says it’s safety playground flooring; it’s got rubber in it so when we fall it isn’t as hard as normal ground and won’t hurt so much or break us as easily.”

Of course, Chan doesn’t respond in any way and honestly, you’re not even sure he’s heard a word that Hansol has said to him, you don’t know if Chan even realises that he’s being spoken to despite the older boy using the nickname so smoothly it’s like he’s always used it.

“Do you like bouncing?” Hansol asks, having no issue with the lack of response and instead rushes over to the trampolines to jump onto. “Look! Look, Squirt! We can touch the clouds!”

“Hey,” you say as you crouch down so you can get Chan’s attention. He glances at you, then looks up when he sees you looking directly at him, signalling that you want his attention. “Hansol wants to play with you, don’t you think that’d be fun? You can make a friend.” You motion over to where Hansol is still happily bouncing away, causing Chan to look over. He pulls an uncertain face. “Want to try?” You offer your hand and to your joy, Chan takes it, silently agreeing to give the trampoline a go. It’s a huge step in Chan making his first friend.

Together, you walk over to the trampolines and Hansol lights up noticing you nearing. He bounces closer and offers his hand to Chan. “I’ll bounce with you, it’s really fun, Squirt!”

“It’s okay, I’m right here,” you assure your brother and gently remove your hand from his. He looks at you with rounded eyes of hesitation, yet when you smile and nod reassuringly, he turns and tentatively takes Hansol’s hand.

Your heart swells with joy seeing Chan accept the older boy enough to timidly follow him onto the trampoline, even if he makes slightly distressed sounds as the material bends under his weight.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Squirt,” Hansol soothes in a gentle tone and holds both of Chan’s hands securely so they’re facing one another, though Chan is staring alarmed down at the ground bending beneath their feet. “It’s a trampoline, it’s made to bounce. We can do it gently.”

So, so, so carefully, Hansol starts to bounce. His feet don’t even leave the trampoline and he’s more just bending his legs a little and using the movement to bob them slightly. Chan’s distressed sounds grow, but Hansol makes more soothing noises and holds his hands tighter. He keeps talking to Chan, telling him that it’s okay and “Solie is here, Squirt” and slowly, Chan calms until he’s just making little squeaky types of sounds every handful of seconds.

Once his noises stop being fearful and turn curious, Hansol encourages Chan to try bouncing too. With Hansol’s gentle support, Chan does start to bounce and the utter joy that lights up his face when he lifts his head to look at you with sparkling eyes makes you feel like you could break at any second. You didn’t know he could look so happy with someone else.

Right here, you decide that no matter what Seungcheol asks you to do, you’ll do it. So long as Chan gets to remain here looking so genuinely happy like this, you’ll do anything.

For the first time in months, Chan isn’t right by your side. He’s not far and you can hear Hansol’s voice from the playroom opposite, along with Seungkwan’s, who you have learned is Hansol’s nanny, even if Hansol is often not with the man as the child is both very self-sufficient but also very sneaky at escaping Seungkwan to go play with other people when he gets bored.

It’s probably half of the reason Seungcheol’s home office is right opposite Hansol’s playroom, so Seungcheol can be near if his son wants him when he gets fed up with his nanny.

“Hansol’s always wanted a little brother,” Seungcheol randomly states when you’re both sitting on the leather seating to one side of his office. He’s slouched on the loveseat and you’re sitting in the armchair with a view of the open door, even if you can’t see through to the open door of the playroom. This at least makes you feel better as you’re not turning your back on Chan.

You look at Seungcheol with a slightly raised, questioning eyebrow at his words.

“Just, he’s good with your brother, right?” You nod in confirmation because for all the energy Hansol has in his slight body, he’s so gentle with Chan, so caring, and you can entirely understand what Seungcheol is saying. Hansol is treating Chan like the little brother he’s always wanted. “He’s asked for a little brother for the past two Christmases.” He chuckles and forces himself to sit upright and lean over to pour himself a glass of water from the carafe on the low table in the centre of the seating.

You remain quiet and look back at the door to listen to Hansol’s and Seungkwan’s voices as they play. You can’t hear Chan, and you’re not surprised about it, but it does make you worry that you can’t tell if he’s enjoying the games when he’s so used to either playing alone or with you, even if you’re never as imaginative as either Hansol or Seungkwan.

“You don’t have to worry, Seungkwan knows first aid if they do get hurt,” Seungcheol promises.

“I’m not worried about injury, I’m worried that my brother will suffer in silence, unable to speak up for himself and without me there to talk for him.”

“I don’t mean to overstep or sound like a dick, but have you considered that that doesn’t help?” You look at him with furrowed brows. Seungcheol immediately holds up his hands in defence. “I’m just saying that if you always talk for him, he’s not going to learn to talk for himself.”

“While I agree that can be the case in many circumstances, this is not it. My brother is capable of talking when he feels safe and comfortable with a person, and I’m the only person he has. Even before his diagnosis he didn’t speak to most people because he had delayed speech, and the assholes never gave him the time and understanding to get out what he needed. He’s improved a lot more with just me to talk to these past months than beforehand. So no, I am not making a problem here.”

“Okay,” Seungcheol accepts obligingly. “I believe you, and I apologise for implying that you’re holding him back. Some people just don’t realise they are. They think they’re helping but they’re not. We’ve gotta let our kids figure shit out for themselves sometimes.”

“I know, but some kids and people just aren’t capable of figuring certain things out for themselves, so we have to help them lest they suffer in silence their entire lives.”

“Yeah, I think we know that very well. Raising a kid with disabilities is hard, but I’d never change him.”

“No, I wouldn’t either.”

The two of you share a moment of pure understanding that only breaks when you smile slightly and Seungcheol suddenly looks away while clearing his throat before swallowing down the rest of his water with flushed cheeks.

You can’t help but wonder if he’s ill to suddenly get visibly hot like that. You hope that if he is ill, it’s not contagious; you don’t think you can handle even a common cold right now with the poor condition of your body.

“So,” he says as he puts his glass down on the table perhaps a little too quickly, judging by the loud thunk it makes, which makes him wince. He takes a second to steady the glass then leans back and lays one arm on the back of the couch while he looks at you with even pinker cheeks.

“Are you ill?” You blurt.

“What?” He frowns at you bewilderedly. “No, why? Do I look like shit?” He puts his free hand to his cheek worriedly.

“You’re pink.”

“Oh,” he laughs awkwardly and abruptly gets up to cross the room and open the window. “J-just hot!”

“It’s winter.”

“I’ve just got back from a physically strenuous job,” he explains, and turns so his back is to the open window and his ass is leaning against the windowsill. “Talking of jobs, let’s decide what you can do for me. To work for me, I mean.”

“I don’t know what else that could mean other than work,” you point out and he lets out another strange, awkward laugh. “Are you high?”

“No,” he frowns suddenly, expression abruptly changing. “I don’t do drugs.”

“It would explain your odd behaviour. Either you’re ill, or high.”

“Neither! I’m fine, I’m fine,” he waves his hands dismissively before crossing his arms to tuck his hands under his biceps against his ribs. “So, have you had a job before? I assume so based on the fact you’ve only been homeless for the past months since running away, right? You had a house before then?”

“Family home.”

“Ah, so you didn’t pay rent and stuff.”

“No, I paid rent, it just wasn’t my house.”

“Wait, your parents made you pay rent to live in the family home?” He baulks in disgust.

“Father, my mother died years ago. And my stepmother; my brother’s mother if you want to get specific.”

“Oh, you’re half siblings? I assumed full, you seem very close.”

“As I said, I’m the only person who’s bothered to give him understanding.”

“He’s lucky to have you.”

“Like Hansol is lucky to have you.”

“In some ways, but others, not so much.” He motions around vaguely. “You obviously know what I do, what he’s surrounded by even if he doesn’t realise it yet. At least, I hope he doesn’t; I’m trying to shield him from all that fucked up shit, but I know it’s impossible considering his babysitters are often armed.”

“Is Seungkwan?”

“No, no, he can barely fire a gun. He was just a down-on-his-luck college kid, Hansol befriended him one day and then asked me to make Kwan his babysitter so he could buy new shoes.” He huffs a little laugh. “I have no idea how I raised a kid like that, but I’m glad.”

“It’s probably a lot that’s just him, his soul, if you believe in that.”

“Mm, yeah, probably. Anyway, back to you, you worked?” You nod. “What did you do?”

“Uhm, it’s kind of hard to pinpoint, I did a lot of stuff.” You bite your lip nervously and glance over at the open door before getting up to approach Seungcheol, who shuffles to straighten up. You stop out of arm's reach and lace your fingers together in front of you while staring at his shoulder to not make eye contact. “There is something you should know, and you won’t like it, but you know why I left, and I will always put my brother over anything.”

“What is it?” He asks, voice a little firm, no-nonsense, having sensed that this is serious.

“Who our father is. Who I worked for.”

“You’re a fucking gangster too, aren’t you?” He groans and puts his face in his hands. “I swear if you’re from one of those fucking pissy little gangs always causing me grief, I’m going to be pissed and you’re out on your ass; I’ll keep your brother, and I promise he’ll always be safe with me, but you’re out.”

“I wouldn’t say a pissy little gang,” you reply and glance up at him to see him peering at you in wait over the top of his fingers. “Vultures.”

In the blink of an eye, Seungcheol is directly in front of you and holding your jaw to make you look in his burning gaze. “Say that again, sweetheart. Who did you just say you’re associated with?”

“I left.”

“You’re his fucking child.”

“Did you know he has a child?”

Seungcheol’s anger ebbs a little as he considers your words. “No,” he admits in murmured realisation and slowly loosens his grasp before his fingers slip away from your skin and he takes a half step back. “Why didn’t I know about you? You’re not a kid, you’re what, late twenties?”

“Thirty.”

“Oh, we’re the same age,” he comments and eyes you carefully before stepping back again and crossing his arms over his chest. “I would’ve heard if The Vulture has a fucking thirty-year-old daughter.”

“Not if he never wanted anyone to know.”

“Hiding his golden child to keep her safe, that what you’re going for?”

“No, the opposite. He hid me for my protection when I was little, like I assume you’re doing with Hansol, but then it turned to shame and only the immediate circle knows I’m his daughter, everyone else thinks I’m just another member.”

“Why shame?”

“Is it relevant?”

“Maybe. What did you do?”

“Just exist.”

“Is he sexist?”

You huff a laugh at the reminder of the conversation from breakfast. Seungcheol’s lips twitch up into the start of a smile. “Yes, actually, but that’s not it.”

“Then what?”

You consider your options now; you could lie, but that never sits right with you, you could tell him it’s none of his business and hope he simply accepts that, but you’re not positive he will, not when the safety of his family and integrity of his centuries old gang is on the line.

Which leaves you with telling the truth and hoping that his heart doesn’t bend only for children. “I took my brother away because I know how cruel our father can get; I know what the next steps would be to try and ‘fix’ him because he did the same to me when I was a child.”

“Oh,” Seungcheol murmurs. “You’re autistic too?”

“He blamed my mother, turns out that asshole is the common denominator.”

“I see.” He moves to close the window then leans against the windowsill again as he looks at you thoughtfully. “I won’t lie, this has thrown me a little. I don’t know how to deal with autistic adults, just Hansol.”

“You don’t have to deal with me,” you scoff.

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that, I just mean like, what accommodations and stuff to make. How to support you and everything. We’ll have to have a real sit down and talk it out when I have time, and I’ll do research too because obviously I only looked up how autism affects little boys, not women.”

“Research?” He nods. “You don’t have to do that, I’ve had my whole life to figure out how to handle this myself, I don’t need accommodations.”

“Pearl,” he says firmly. “You were raised in a home I can’t believe you ever felt wanted or loved in, based on what you’ve said and what I know of how The Vulture and his gang works. I’m amazed you turned out so understanding and gentle, honestly. But the point is, that environment is not the place someone with autism or other things like that can learn to be true to themself. But that’s going to change, okay? You can be yourself here, you’re safe and no-one will be cruel to you for stimming or needing a break or whatever else you may need, okay?”

It sounds far too good to be true; you’ve never heard those words before, never had anyone tell you that you can just be you without risking getting hit with whatever is to hand. Honestly, at this point, you don’t even know if you know how to be yourself, you’ve been masking for so long.

Instead of trying to put all your thoughts into words you know won’t come out correctly with how jumbled your mind is, you just stare at Seungcheol.

“Alright, let’s circle back to that another day and for now, tell me what you did as a Vulture.”

“Various things.”

“Like what? Finances, tech, streets, driving, meetings, what?” You nod. “What?”

“All of it. I did something in all of it depending on what was needed of me.”

“You didn’t have a speciality?”

“Well…I was often bait, if that’s what you mean.”

“Bait?” He mutters, expression tightening. “What does that mean, Pearl?”

“There weren’t many women other than the whores and dad didn’t trust them to not betray him, so he’d send me to get attention of the men they wanted and take them to a secondary location.”

“Your father used you as sex bait?”

“I guess you could call it that.”

“I knew he was fucked up but that’s something else,” he hisses and glares at nothing in particular. “How much do you know about how he works, how the gang is run?”

“Everything.” Seungcheol’s head snaps up to look at you with wide eyes. “I guess when you abuse someone and they still stay, you assume they’re loyal, or at least too scared to be a threat.”

“Are you loyal?”

“No.”

“Are you too scared to be a threat?”

“Never.”

Seungcheol’s mouth turns up into a smirk. “Then I know exactly what your job is, sweetheart; you’re going to help me tear apart the Vultures and dance on their graves.”

“I don’t know how to dance.”

Seungcheol chokes on a laugh. “It’s not literal, it’s a saying.”

“Oh. Why is that a saying? Why would you dance on someone’s grave?”

“Because you’re happy that they’re dead, a celebration.”

“Oh…I guess I should learn to dance.”

Don’t forget to reblog if you liked to help spread the story and let others read it too! And don't be shy to leave comments or send an ask so I can see your thoughts 🥺 💖

Permanent taglist: @okiedokrie, @tusswrites, @svtiddiess

[necromancer-at-abattoir]

Jude doesn't always think of Cardan

I saw a comment saying that everything and everyone that Jude thought about would tie back to Cardan every single time.

That's.......not true.

I'm not going to deny that Jude thinks about Cardan a lot and that their relationship is definitely a core part of the books. There's a reason why it's the number one thing the fandom talks about.

But she doesn't think about him all the time and she's certainly not obsessed with him as some people make her out be.

She has thoughts about Vivienne and her relationship with her, Taryn and her betrayal, Madoc and their complicated relationship, Oriana and Oak and even Dain and the Court of Shadows. She reflects on her past, present and future and her life in Elfhame, not all of which includes Cardan.

Even in the second book where their relationship picks up, she has thoughts about her family, her bio parents, her adoptive parents, her siblings, the Court of Shadows, Grimsen, her failed relationship with Locke, Vivienne's friendship with Cardan and she even thinks about Heather and also. There are plenty of moments without Cardan where she doesn't think of him.

And in the third book when she reunites with him and their relationship is official, she does think about him a lot, but not all the time. She thinks about her mother, her father, Madoc (her second father), Vivienne, Grima Mog, Heather, Taryn and Locke, etc. She even has moments with the Roach, the Ghost and the Bomb.

None of this ties back to Cardan. And it's true that their relationship is definitely present in each book, this just seems like another attempt to put romance above platonic relationships, which is exasperating. Seriously, let Jude have her platonic relationships without bringing Cardan into them!

[msweebyness]

MiracOlympus- Nathaniel

He’s not a bad guy, but try telling mortals that! @imsparky2002 @artzychic27

Nathaniel, God of the Dead and Lord of the Underworld (aka Hades)

Appearance/Attire: Shaggy, shoulder-length red hair that falls over his eyes, flaming at the tips, eyes have black sclera and flaming teal orbs for irises, dark rings under eyes, deathly pale skin, fades to dark grey with crack lines at hands and feet (think of Eclipsa), short but wiry build, shadows constantly swirling around his feet. Black war helm with open front (the helm of darkness), onyx circlet and stud earrings, onyx chain necklaces, black floor-length toga with grey sleeves, purple sash with a skull clasp, belt made of onyx skulls, black sandals, carries a large black staff with two points.

Bio: Born the oldest of three royal sons, Nathaniel was never a god who liked having a lot of attention on him, and certainly never wished to be king of all the gods. That’s why he was more than happy to let Adrien take up that mantle and take the quiet and foreboding Underworld for his domain. With the air of gloom that always hangs around him and his stoic nature, Nathaniel matches his kingdom well and mortals fear the day they’ll have to enter and face him. Despite this, he is a peaceful deity who never looks to start drama on Olympus, and can be very caring towards those close to him, especially his king, Marc and his two younger brothers. While he’d much prefer to spend his time managing his realm and working on his sketches, that doesn’t mean he’s not a force to be reckoned with when someone crosses him. Just ask anyone who’s tried to hurt his family.

Fun Facts!

One day while he was walking through the deep forest, looking for inspiration for his drawings, a young Nathaniel came across a most unusual creature. It was a small dog with three heads, and she was cold, hungry and alone. For the next few months, he would return every day to feed and play with her, developing a strong bond with the creature. Eventually, his parents found out about this, and on Emilie’s insistence, he was allowed to keep the dog, who he named Baark. Eventually, when she was grown and he had taken over the Underworld, she became the guard dog of the realm of the dead, and the loyal companion of him and his king.

Despite all the rumors that go around in the mortal world, Nathaniel most certainly did NOT kidnap Marc and never kept him in the Underworld against his will. He actually offered to let the flower god (who he’d been smitten with since childhood) hide out in the underworld until some bad actors who wanted to exploit his life-giving powers were contained. It was only due to the interference of Lila that Mylene panicked due to not knowing her brother’s whereabouts. The misunderstanding was cleared up pretty quickly once the dust settled, and Marc began spending more and more time in the Underworld. Eventually, he and Nathaniel would marry and rule over the land of the dead together. (Three guesses as to which envious god started the kidnapping rumor.)

Nathaniel is usually pretty reasonable, but if a mortal crosses the line, he’s not afraid to bring the hammer down. Just ask Tantalus, who tried to serve his own son to the gods at a banquet (I know, Greek mythology can be seriously f*cked), and was sentenced to stand forever in a pool of water he could never drink from under a tree that’s fruit he could never reach. Or Sisyphus, who cheated death by literally imprisoning him (more on that when we formally meet Anthony), and would spend his entire afterlife rolling a massive stone up a hill, only for it to fall back down each time. Moral of the story: don’t piss off the lord of the dead.

Hit the Undertaker’s entrance music! Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[kurithedweeb]

Since I’ve ended up filling the ranks of side characters with background NPCs and fleshing them out to the point of basically being original characters, I’ve been considering adding OCs with no basis in canon to the mix. I’m already halfway there by giving Katelyn’s unnamed brothers a story, so why not?

For example, members of noble households. Nursemaids and pages and groundskeepers and such.

Kenmur would have had at least one nursemaid when his old village was attacked who would have likely been with him at the time of the attack and therefore likely been the one first able to get baby Kenmur to some semblance of safety and possibly survived as a result. Pages were men or boys employed to be personal attendants to people of rank who might have also done chores and errands for the household or establishment they worked for, and each of the Ro’Meave brothers might have had a page around their own age growing up, Zane might even have the same page he had when he was young still on his service as an attendant when he’s grown. Meteli’s a pretty backwater and casual place, but a Lord’s household is still a Lord’s household and so the Zvahl family probably had a few servants who might have lived in or very near the household, a groundskeeper among them that I think Cadenza would have been close to and learned about flowers from.

There’s also a big thing about succession in MCD, so I’d need to add some heirs and apprentices to the Lords in the various villages, plus actually fill some of the villages we never see in canon. Nahakra needs an heir, so do the Neopolitan villages, I need to figure out Matataki’s whole situation and someone has to fill the void in Boboros’s leadership after Gene killed both the Lord and the heir and they also need a head guard.

I’ve been dabbling with how I’m handling the families of the main and supporting cast that we don’t see or hear about in canon too.

Zenix was an only child and his parents belonged to a sect that worshipped the Destroyer and he grew up worshipping Shad instead of Irene alongside the rest of their small settlement. The settlement was found and divided when he was about ten, and his parents raised him in seclusion where it was safe after that. All three of them died in a house fire Zenix set by accident when he was a teen, and after being brought back Zenix can’t remember much about them due to injuries sustained in the fire.

Nana has an absolutely massive family. In MyS she mentions being the seventh child of twelve. In her clan’s compound in Tu’la there’s the main branch of the clan which includes Nana and her siblings, their parents, a scattering of uncles and aunts and cousins, and any nieces or nephews she may have. Then there’s the vassal clans under them, at least one of which should be a clan of craftsmen so they don’t have to outsource their gear or clothing very often. They also have the servants of the household and possibly their families, any gladiators sponsored by the clan, tradesmen under contract to the clan, and possibly any orphans the household sponsors and trains to eventually make a contract with. There would also be aides and attendants and advisors. When I say massive family, I mean it.

Then we also have a few of the main and supporting cast where I completely fudge the canon. One of Cadenza’s bio parents is a Shadow Knight and that’s why Shadow Knights are always after her. Esmund and Xavier had an older sister, then Xavier had a wife and several kids that turned into the Ro’Meave line. Aaron had a brother who’s only a few years older than Jacob. Vylad has a slew of half-siblings across the continent. Travis has a twin who the Demon Warlock stole away to make his successor when they were young. Kiki and Brendan are estranged from their father and sister. Ein was the unnamed pup from the werewolf tribe near Brightport and was adopted by an older woman from the werewolf kingdom after being split from his tribe. Dante and Gene had a father who they never saw because he was always working, alongside their canon mom and uncle. Malachi has a whole line of indirect descendants because his parents had another kid after he was sent away, and they have old family stories where being turned into a ghost like their ancestor Malachi is what happens to bad kids. Enki and Kul’zak had two kids, one by adoption and the other by magickal means.

This isn’t even getting into my whole Seven Sinners of Virtue thing, which is basically the generation before the Divine Warriors if they were part of a cycle of people whose purpose is to keep the world spinning by whatever means necessary. There’s the Seven, the families, their enemies, and the gods who were worshipped before the Divine Faith came about.

This is. So Many Characters.

[mysteriousmoss]

HI APHBLR HAVE THIS AU I THOUGHT OF

OK SO

Aphmau was brought along earlier than canon. This had effects such as her being a literal child(like she’s a infant at beginning of au) and Shad is the one to find her.

Shad goes “This is a baby. My baby. I need to protect my baby” and adopts her on the spot(she is infact Irene’s daughter in a sense and somehow has his genetics making him her bio dad-)

Reason she’s found? A shadow knight named Terrie. o7 Terrie you would of loved Deadpool and Wolverine.

Anyways Terrie is Aphmaus middle name in the au.

Shad spends years traveling and this results in Aph growing up knowing many of the characters as children. The Romeave brothers fate is much different due to growing up as close friends with Aphmau and Shad being close friends eventually with their parents. Garroth treats Aph as his little sister. Zane and Aph drag Vylad to tea parties. Aph also knows Laurence as a kid, both drag Candenza to cause chaos.

The result of Aph growing up traveling for first few years of her life is a knowledge of the different languages in that world. She eventually is raised in phoenix drop and Shad become lord of Phoenix Drop, the travels eventually become more diplomatic and she only joins when its travels to Okasis or Meteli.

She’s the reason Garroth and Laurence meet. THEY ARE GAY YOUR HONOR—

Aaron and Aph had a small fling and ultimately decided to be friends as they love each other but now know it’s more like siblings friends or cousins. Aph is Aaron’s sons god mother.

ANYWAYS ONTO SHAD AND HIS SHIT

Morherfucker is a girl dad. He will do anything and I mean ANYTHING for his daughter

Aphmau asks to do his nails? He sits still and lets her do them and also provides a shit ton of nail polishes and nail stuff

Boy troubles? Movies and ice cream(and shad sending shadow knights to beat the guys ass)

He has no overworld home and refuses to bring his new daughter to the nether(the shadow knights adore her and see her as a niece) due to the heat along with lava and fire. They eventually settle in Phoenix Drop and Shad becomes the lord instead of aph

Shads a good guy here. Irene’s a villain. But still follow their roles we just see a different perspective.

That’s all K byeeee

BONUS

9 year old aph: Dad do I have a mom?

Shad: -war flashbacks to Irene- no.

Aph: …

Shad:…

Aph:Are you okay-

Shad: eat your dinner.

Edit: any au questions I am down to answer just add em to me ask box

[unknownstarrl]

Bio:

Name: Rosalind Eiric(ロザリンド•エイリック)

Romaji: Rozarindo Eirikku

V/A: Sakamoto Maaya

Age: 16(???)

Race: Human-Homunculus(???)

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Birthday: 29/9 (the day she was adopted)

Star sign: Libra

Family: Mr Eiric [adoptive father]

Mrs Eiric [adoptive mother]

Grim [old companion]

Unnamed lover †

Height: 162 cm

Dominant hand: Right

Favorite food: Soused Herring

Least favorite food: Chili

Hobbies: Learning magic, reading books, singing, cooking

Talents: Control magic, good knowledge acquisition, singing

Other names: Rose, Rosa (Short name)

The Abyssal Sorcceress (Shin'en no Majo) [Former]

Alchemy's creation [Seraphis]/ Magic's daughter [Rosalind]

Henchwoman (Grim)

Dreamy girl (Ace, Ruggie)

Rosie (Cater)

Dumb bunny (Leona)

Siren (Azul)

Hagi-chan <Royal blue tang> (Floyd)

Potato, Panda (Vil)

Fleur de Silence (Flower of silence), Mademoiselle Flamme Azur (Miss Azure Flame) (Rook)

Rosalind-shi (Idia)

Human (Sebek)

Beautiful girl (Najma)

Kind sister/Yasashii ane-chan (Cheka)

Alice (Chenya)

Princess (Royal sword academy's students)

_________________________________

Student profile:

School: Night Raven College

Class: 1-A - No.31

Year: Freshman

Dorm: Ramshackle

Club: Science

Occupation: Guardian [Former]

Rosalind & Grim - One Student

Beast tamer

Prefect of Ramshackle

Singer of Monstro Lounge

Best subject: Alchemy

Favorite subject: None

Least favorite subject: Flying

_______________________________

Appearance:

Rosalind is described as a 16-year-old girl with sleek black hair that has bright blue tips resembling flickering blue flames, making it hard for others to look away. Rosalind has fair skin and a slender body, as if a light touch could make her fall. Her blue eyes are reminiscent of the ocean, always appear to be in a daze, as if she is sleep-deprived and the dark circles hidden beneath her blue eyes told tales of sleepless nights and unspoken burdens, casting a faint shadow over her otherwise vivid gaze

She often wears a dreamy expression on her face, as if she is in a dream, even though she claims to be extremely alert

Rosalind has a modest height and is often the subject of jokes by the students of Night Raven College, but she rarely pays attention to or feels bothered by this

Rosalind wears a bracelet (like this) made of dark silver metal, with delicate interlocking links that fit snugly around her wrist. Embedded in the bracelet are 8 stones, each glowing faintly in different colors: crimson, amber, violet, red velvet, purple, bright blue, emerald green, and the final one, colorless. No one knows where the bracelet came from, only that it has been with Rosalind since her earliest memory.

_________________________________

Personality:

Although Rosalind may appear to be a silly and easy-to-bully girl on the outside, she is actually an intelligent and strong person. Whenever her friends are in danger, she doesn’t hesitate to rush out to protect them. Rosalind is also cautious and usually does not take kindly to people with suspicious appearances

Additionally, Rosalind is an animal lover and often brings many animals home, from stray dogs, cats to even rats and cockroaches, which drives her parents crazy. While this tendency has lessened as she has grown up, she still cannot control her desire to pet soft-furred animals

Rosalind also has a cold and ruthless side. If given the chance, she wouldn’t hesitate to use her magic to deal with those who pose a threat to her and her friends

_________________________________

Backstory:

In an unnamed kingdom within Twisted Wonderland, Rosalind or formerly known as Seraphis - a Homunculus created by alchemists and sorcerers to protect the nation from external threats. Emotionless and programmed to follow orders, she was not seen as a hero, but merely a cold-blooded killing machine. Despite this, she had Grim, her only companion, and later met a knight who gave her a human heart and helped her experience true emotions

Together with Grim and her beloved knight, they planned to escape the kingdom and live freely. However, the ruling powers discovered their plan and captured them. To maintain control, they forced Seraphis to kill the person she loved most. Because she was created to follow orders, she couldn't resist. This event shattered her emotionally, and her suppressed magic spiraled out of control. Overcome with grief and fury, Seraphis lost control of both her powers and her emotions, unleashing a devastating magical force that burned the entire kingdom to the ground. Until the flames were fully extinguished, all that remained was a heap of ashes and scattered ruins. The kingdom Seraphis had spent decades protecting was buried beneath the ashes, lost forever, never to rise again

After the kingdom's destruction, both Seraphis and Grim vanished without a trace, and no one heard of them again.

After this event, Seraphis was somehow brought to Earth, transformed into an infant, losing all memories and having her powers sealed. She was adopted by a couple on Earth and named Rosalind Eiric. She grew up living a normal life, unaware of her true past. However, during an unexpected incident, Rosalind accidentally returned to Twisted Wonderland, the place where the unnamed kingdom once stood, beginning her journey to rediscover her past and confront her true identity

_________________________________

Unique magic:

"Once the final magic seal is unlocked, Rosalind will gain her Unique Magic"

From the ashes of despair, I rise. In the flames of my fury, I summon forth the guardians of the lost. Let the eternal fire burn bright!

"Ember of the fallen"

Summon entities from the ashes of those who have fallen, transforming them into fiery warriors to aid her in battle

_________________________________

Trivia:

Rosalind is inspired by Chernabog (The Fantasia), Morgan le Fay (Arthurian legend) and Alice (Alice in Wonderland - 2010)

Rosalind, or rather her past self, has been immortalized in the history of Twisted Wonderland and is referred to as "The Abyssal Sorceress" , her status is considered on par with The Great Seven

No one knows that Rosalind is "The Abyssal Sorceress'', not even herself, except for The Dark Mirror

After both of them disappeared, Grim also lost his original memories and form, and somehow appeared at Night Raven College

Almost all the students at Night Raven College initially believed that Rosalind was just a student without magic, getting into the school through "relationships" , only few people knew that Rosalind actually possessed magic

Since childhood, Rosalind had a habit of eating strange things she came across. While this tendency diminished as she grew older, it still occasionally happened. A prime example is when she asked Grim for a stone after each Overblot to eat, but Grim, annoyed, would refuse

Back in middle school, Rosalind was often bullied by her classmates because of her quirky personality and unusual hair. Her adoptive parents knew about it and talked to the principal and teachers several times, but nothing really changed. Rosalind rarely fought back, so the bullies kept pushing their limits. Eventually, when things got too much, Rosalind defended herself, and one of the bullies ended up getting hurt. After that incident, the bully's parents demanded action, and soon after, Rosalind's family decided to move away. They've been living in a different place ever since

Unable to rely on Crowley any longer, Rosalind planned to work as a waitress at Monstro Lounge. However, after discovering her singing talent, Rosalind was invited by Azul to become a performer at Mostro Lounge (of course, her salary was increased as well)

Although she may seem foolish and dreamy, Rosalind is actually very intelligent, she consistently ranks among the top 50 students with outstanding achievements without resorting to cheating or signing contracts with Azul

Crowley and Grim once tried to convince Rosalind to participate in the VDC, but she refused

After conducting research, Crowley and Crewel stated that Rosalind is currently carrying eight seals and the bracelet she carried represents that. Each time one of these seals is unlocked, the corresponding stone cracks, marking the release of her sealed power, both her magic and memories will return

However, the return of her magic is not a good sign but rather an ill omen. In Chapter 3, after unlocking her magic, the overuse of it caused Rosalind to cough up blood and fall unconscious for several days. This could potentially lead to Rosalind experiencing an Overblot, so she has been strictly prohibited from overusing magic, and is only allowed to use basic spells

It seems that after unlocking the higher-level sealing floors, hypnosis magic has almost no effect on Rosalind. For example, in Chapter 4, Jamil and Jade's unique magic only influences her for a short time before it ends. Additionally, during the 'Stage in Playful Land' event, she was not affected by Fellow Honest's unique magic and even told him to stop his antics

Rosalind once had a boyfriend, as revealed in the card "Ace Trappola SSR - Ghost Marriage." She dated a good-looking guy back in middle school, and after a month of dating, she found out that the whole relationship was just a bet between him and his friends. He even insulted Rosalind, saying that no one would like someone as weird as her. However, after learning the truth, Rosalind didn’t feel sad—or rather, she didn’t feel anything at all, because she never really liked him, she had only agreed to date him out of curiosity about love and relationships

[makutaservaela]

Random Bionicle Headcanons and Running Gags

Involving canon characters

Somehow, Helryx always knows exactly where in the room Jerbraz is in and looks him dead in the eye when she speaks to him. Masks that can reveal him don't generally reveal details, so she is the only person who ever looks him in the eye. He has no clue how she does it and it scares him shitless. (Mazeka suspects she can hear his breathing and/or footsteps, uses that to calculate whereabouts to look, and then listens for his surprised breath-hitch when her gaze meets his eyes).

Mutran hates heights

Teridax was generally considered annoying by most other Makuta. Even those who respected his plan generally considered him annoying on a personal level.

Although Skakdi need to work with another Skakdi to activate their elemental powers, the assistance can either be physical or neurological. In other words, they can either be in close-proximity and activate at the same time, or on can just grab the other's arm and then he can use his powers. He doesn't need the other Skakdi's consent to use his powers that way.

Upon returning to Toa status, Vakama is really fucking tall for some reason, towering over the other Toa Metru.

Onua Nuva in his adaptive armour is also really fucking tall for some reason.

Air elementals are usually quite short.

Miserix sounds like Morgan Freeman.

Vican sounds kinda like Eminem.

Skakdi speak with some accent I can't quite identify, but it is rather UKish. I've always imagined it that way even though I have no clue what the accent is. For example, they pronounce Rs "wr". I likely based that on the fact they rarely close their lips all the way (they can, they just don't do it often).

Skakdi move faster on four legs than two, but prefer two legs so they can hold things and to look more civilised.

Avak smokes cigars (despite the aforementioned lip-closing thing)

Lewa is really good at figuring out people's secrets by incorrectly assuming what the secret is, cracking a joke about what he thinks the secret is, and then the person misunderstands the joke into thinking he knows the *actual* secret, and they confess.

There are some implants installed into all Dark Hunters upon initiation. One is the implantation of metal fangs as a backup weapon. Because of this, some people have taken to calling Dark Hunters/Ex-Dark-Hunters "Metal-Mouths".

Mutran can't spell "Kraahkan". In general, he is not good at spelling.

Most Bionicle are somewhat ambidextrous. They do tend to have a dominant hand, although the difference between dominant and non-dominant is way smaller than with humans.

Mutran is left-handed (which can be seen in a recent Bio-Parenting).

Krika is naturally heterochromatic- one gold eye, one red. When disguised as a male Makuta, part of his disguise involved hiding his heterochromia. Now that she is restored to life, she displays her natural eye colour.

Vamprah tends to self-groom via licking when he is embarrassed.

Miserix tends to self-groom via licking as a show of disrespect (ie, if someone is talking to him and he wants to communicate "I no longer give a shit about your opinion, go away", he will just start grooming and act very, very interested in his grooming. He used to do this non-stop to the Shadowed One).

Since their revival, Makuta have regained The Call: Makuta have an instinct to give a bird-like shriek when they feel there are no other Makuta around, and if a Makuta hears a Call, they feel a strong urge to respond. It's a method of locating and keeping track of each other. They had it long ago, but lost it when they originally became essence in armour. They can pinpoint the distance and direction of another Makuta's Call if they hear it.

The Call is affected by mask: Shelek wearers give one similar to the stereotypical "eagle" call (which is actually a hawk call). Avsa wearers give one more similar to an actual eagle call. Jutlins are short, rapid shrills, Felnas sounds like a mountain lion scream, both the Kraahkan and Miserix make a crocodile-like growl that vibrates everything in its vicinity, and I haven't decided the other masks yet.

A smallish canid species on Bota Magna was named "Vahki" and are kept as pets. The name is due to their similarish appearance and how they are often kept as livestock guard dogs.

Spikits can be farmed for their milk, but it tastes awful and needs to be heavily processed.

Helryx has developed narcolepsy due to how worn-out she is. The other Order Members politely ignore her random faints, although they will usually make some attempt to catch her.

I have no clue where tf Umbra went in my HC.

I am incapable of reading Irnakk's name without automatically pronouncing it "EE-nak". I... have no clue why. I think someone erroneously put that in the Wikipedia once and it just settled in my head.

For some reason as a kid I screwed up Matau's name and, until I watched the movies, thought his name was "Matua" (Mah-Too-uh)

Involving OCs

The Toa Metru are god-awful at coming up with original names for things (hence the naming conventions of the island of Mata Nui). This is why Nokama named most of her kids after Rahi: Muaka, Oohnora, Usall, and Goku.

In canon, when Pohatu learns a new thing, he always asks "What is XYZ?" And usually immediately finds said thing. This trait is genetic, and despite him not having raised his son, his son Pohanu, grandson Mikaua, and granddaughter Lonya all picked up this trait independently.

All four of Matau's kids have independently developed some thing that makes them more likely to bond with Nuju: Irunak was, due to a birth defect, born an ice-elemental, Oohnora was the middle of 9 kids and struggled to get attention, so the ever-distant Nuju was the only one who noticed her, and Kekek and Usall taught themselves the language of the flyers to use as a code-language without knowing that Nuju could also speak it fluently.

[scribblestatic]

I've been on my Sonic the Hedgehog brainrot since I was a kid, and it's not stopping anytime soon, so how about I write an AU where Sonic is actually Maria reincarnated just because I think that's fun?

Because Shadow kinda forgot that she was a person. Don't get me wrong—he remembers her lovingly, but perhaps due to time or perhaps from Prof. Robotnik messing with his memories, he remembers Maria as a beautiful, healthy-looking girl who spoke with kindness and peace. A balm on his hurt and pain for not being able to heal her despite being the ultimate lifeform.

In reality, Maria was a person. Someone with flaws. Someone more than sad softness and peaceful smiles.

Maria was angry. She was in pain. Her skin was pale, not from some sort of natural beauty, but from illness. She had dark circles under her eyes. She had the Robotnik nose and wore glasses to help with her eyesight on days it went blurry (never quite as 'pretty' as the pictures of Prof. Robotnik's late wife). She didn't wear them all the time, but she wore them more than Shadow's memory would allow.

Her fury came out in her words, full of snark and bite, and she'd use her intelligence to dig in deep. And she'd just as deeply apologize when she went too far, knowing her pain wasn't an excuse to be cruel.

She liked pigs in a blanket when she had her cheat days. She liked fiddling with Shadow's air shoes and improving them, glasses on to protect her sensitive eyes. She wanted to enter the bio-zone of the ARK, but was staunchly prevented from doing so, unable to sit in the flowers and greenery she saw within.

She was jealous of Shadow. Of his speed, power, might. Of his health. But she cared for him more than she was jealous, because she truly did love him.

She wasn't always right with some of the things she said or did, but she did her best to do what she thought was right. She sometimes fussed despite alternative solutions being logically better. She hid her pain as much as possible, not wanting to be seen as weak anymore. She hated being around other people for very long because they'd always look at her with pity. She wanted to be sociable, to be strong.

She'd give up her intellect if it meant she could touch grass even once.

She wanted, desperately, to go to Earth. And she died, sacrificing herself to save Shadow, with no regrets. Though she never stood on Earth, the fact Shadow would make it there was more than good enough for her.

And she died.

Years later, Sonic was born.

He grew up on his own for the most part, his parents mere fuzzy silhouettes in his memory. Even so, Sonic was fine with that. He could adapt to anything. His high amounts of Chaos energy helped him immensely.

His favorite food for a long was anything to do with sausages, though that evolved further once he was introduced to chili dogs. In his free time, which is often, he loves rolling in flowers and laying out in the quiet, simply enjoying the Earth and the soft thrumming of the energy around him.

Since he didn't grow up with a formal education, he's not the most book smart. Even so, with some learning from the locals, he knew enough to build and fly a plane all on his own despite being a kid. Still, he found he enjoyed spending more time moving around. Being a bookworm was good and all, he just preferred the joy and rush of adrenaline that came with running.

Because he's fast. He's so fast.

He always knows which direction he's facing and knows, to the centimeter, how far he as to run to get from one place to another. He remembers each place he's been and learns extremely detailed information about every location. He finds hidden routes and has quick reflexes to navigate around anywhere. He adapts to just about anything with ease.

That's how he adapts to Tails following him around, to being his big brother and dad at the same time. That's how he adapts to fighting off Eggman and his robots, crushing them with ease and power, feeling the thrill of it. That's how he adapts to speaking with others once he finds his voice, being snarky and prideful but just as easygoing.

He's adapted to a lot over the years. To getting to know Amy and Knuckles and the others he's grown to care for and love. To growing further into his powers and becoming even stronger. To fighting and befriending people from every walk of life. To seeing robots as their own beings and teaming up with the ones that are able to excel beyond their programming. To his playful friendship with Rouge, joking around with dramatics; to his vague understanding with Omega, who he doesn't mind helping; to his rivalry with Shadow, who produces so many different feelings in him, some that he's never felt before, others that he's felt forever.

The one thing he hasn't quite adapted to, though, is the strange little visions he saw after looking at the scrawled writing in Prof. Robotnik's cell. Flashes of something deep within pulled, briefly, to the surface. Like he's watching through the glasses he used to wear when he was very young and his fur was still brown, eyes still black.

They become more frequent, though they don't startle him, really. Sometimes, they come in dreams he only half-remembers by the time he wakes up, the thoughts almost completely fading after an hour or two. He doesn't really bother exploring it, not right now, anyway.

I'll continue this at some point, I think.

[sylaurin]

Kabniel Shinespark - Stats and Facts

B A S I C S

Name: Kabniel Shinespark

Nicknames: Kab, Sparks

Age: 22 as of the beginning of Dawntrail

Nameday: 7th Sun of the 4th Astral Moon

Race: Hyur Midlander

Gender: Female (mtf trans)

Orientation: Bisexual/polyamorous

Profession: Adventurer, small business owner

P H Y S I C A L   A S P E C T S

Hair: Black with orange highlights, kept long but worn up in braids/tails

Eyes: Green

Skin: tan

Tattoos/scars: none(yet)

F A M I L Y

Parents: Bio parents are Iskra (mother) and Thiago (father) who were part of a Garlean spy network in Ala Mhigo prio to the invasion and during the occupation but fled to Eorzea after becoming pregnant. Thiago is captured during the escape and Iskra barely makes it to Eorzea. Iskra later leaves her twin children in the care of an exiled monk, Rennir, once a lead on Thiago's whereabouts emerges, however she didn't return. Adoptive parents are Defiant Oak (dad) and Silver Allium (mom) a Roegadyn couple that took her in after her "grandfather" was murdered.

Siblings: she has a twin brother, Kal, separated as children when Iskra failed to return and he was placed in the care of mages once his affinity for magic was discovered. They've met each other in their adventures but have no clue they're related.

Grandparents: Rennir a hyur highlander Monk that was friends with Iskra back in Ala Mhigo, though he only knows her as her cover identity and not as a Garlean operative. He raises Kabniel until he was killed by H'raha Tia, a monk from the secretive Sect of Shadows

In-laws and Other: the Leveilleur family from her bond with Alisaie (which includes Thancred in this AU) and the Dotharl tribe (which includes the WoL Kal’istae Miurani) through her bond with Sadu. Gaius Baelsar, her mother's adoptive father.

Pets: None

S K I L L S

Abilities: Highly skilled martial artist, knows a little bit about magitek (enough to keep her bike on the road without having to rely on the Iron Works overmuch), somewhat skilled in botany learning from her adoptive parents, learned to make various drinks (hard and soft) while working in Costa Del Sol.

Hobbies: Training, competitive fighting, traveling, mischief

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Determination, nothing short of hydaelyn herself can stop Kabniel once she is on her path.

Most Negative Trait: Rowdy, loud and proud. She's often rude and indelicate.

L I K E S

Colors: Orange, red, pink, gold, blue, purple

Smells: the ocean, mountain air, rain, sweat, citrus

Textures: Silk, smooth wood, smooth stone, soft petals, cold water

Drinks: Hot and Iced tea, water, sweet red wine, hot chocolate, mixed drinks

O T H E R    D E T A I L S

Smokes: Never

Drinks: socially on occasion

Drugs: Never

Mount Issuance: She generally didn't have the time or resources to own and maintain a chocobo of her own so she typically walked or rented a bird if she needed to move fast. Eventually though she managed to scrape up enough to commission Nero to build her her motorcycle.

Been Arrested: Yes

Tagged by @paintedscales

[kyri45]

✨ShadowPeach Bio Parents Bio AU Q&A! 23/10✨

I'm LIVE on my TWITCH page drawing Spicynoodle! Come and say hi!

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

Anonimo ha chiesto: Ok so your Bio parent AU (loving it so much by the way) takes place after season 5 right? I thought it would be cool if you touched on Monkey Kings issues with Mk using the circuit on him. I eat that stuff up. if its already going in a different direction then that's ok, just a suggestion.

Aww in the end I don't think I can fit this in the story. It's absolutely an amazing idea, and I had thought of adding it for so long, but in the end the final part of the story will go differently.

Anonimo ha chiesto: How do Wukong and Macaque react that they have two grandchildren?? (Kai and Nya)

Will probably die of emotions. The fact that that's both their son's son/daughter, and that's their nephew/niece. It would blow them away. I'll never have children, but they completely change your prespective.

@shadowpeachera ha chiesto: AGHHHHHH XIAOTIANS WEAPON IS SOOO COOOOLLL AND THE WAY YOUR SHOWED HIM MAKING IT AGHHHHHH SO GOOD HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO COME UP WITH THE DESIGN? THE COLOURS? THE EVERYTHING UGHH I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS COMIC AGHHH

I think I did a couple of sketches before the final design, but I went on pinterest quite a lot before to see some variations of magical staff

@beanspassin ha chiesto: Do you think Macaque and Wukong will ever find out about each other secretly checking the other out? Cause let’s face it, Wukong will get a MASSIVE ego boost when he finds out Macaque was staring at him. 🤭

I think Macaque can HEAR when Wukong is checking him out. Wukong probably would negate the fact that he's checking him out, bc my boy is just a mess of emotion

@tessthe-cheesecake ha chiesto: Hello! I just wanted to say I really love your Shadowpeach Bio Parent AU I just have two questions, one: how is MK handling four ears? I assume he doesn't like crowded places (if yes then me too bud me too) ok second question would MK ever go back to being Wukong's successor but in his own way instead? :)

I think MK doesn't want to be a successor bc he doesn't want to be the next Monkey King, but he still wants to be the Monkie Kid. Also, I think he might be starting to feel himself a little more like an heir then a successor

@minli-daughter-of-wukong ha chiesto: So, would you have changed MK’s weapon if you thought a staff wasn’t really his style anymore? Also how did you come up with the idea for the sunset staff and can you give tips on how to find the right kind of weapon you’d choose for a character? So this is so long lol

I aint real good with weapon/characters. This was my first time matching a weapon to a character to be honest. I wanted to create something that was similar to both Wukong's and Macaque's staff, but at the same time being something new. With a new color palette that could represent the kind of hero MK wants to be

@cavern-of-shenanigans ha chiesto: Ok ok ok this is kind of silly but MKs new staff kind of reminds me of a twirling baton So combined with Macaques showmanship and the scarf bit MK tied on, they could play around with it and do a joint shadow play/ribbon dance performance! Maybe add him into the hero warrior story? Nice mother son bonding activity because its cute

HA! true! they are performance duo!

@ashmeertheimp ha chiesto: Hi love your fan art, story,and art style! What if piggsy and Tang went on a long trip and lives in flower fruit Mountain

I don't think freenoodle could survive living so close to shadowpeach

@italian-wizarding-world ha chiesto: Duuude i love, Love, LOVE!!! your art, and your Mk, Wu and Mama it's just too sweet, just two question: 1 Why sunset and not dawn? is it because usually sunset are more impresive? or maybe the staff has two "forms" depending on him using more his shadow powers and if so can he change between them? 2 We need red son reaction to Mk essentially magical girl transformation even if it's just a sparkling staff, because i think it would be epic/hilarious. We need more moment about them and Mei lookin at how dumb both are

I liked sunset because in a way MK started more with Sun powers and he is now discovering more his Macaque side of powers, so he's approaching a little bit the shadows (so his journey was from day to slowly twilight)

Anonimo ha chiesto: Have you ever thought about drawing an adult MK? I love your drawing style, and I wanted to see what an adult MK would look like, as well as Mei and Red Son. Você já pensou em desenhar um MK adulto? Eu amo seu estilo de desenho, e eu queria ver como seria um MK adulto, assim como Mei e Red Son.(I'm Brazilian by the way and I love reading your Au)

Maybe in the future....?

Anonimo ha chiesto: I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE NO ..I ADORE YOUR DRAWINGS MAN!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ EVERY DAY I REREAD THE WHOLE LMK COMICS OF YOURS..!!!!!!❤️❤️ And hey l have a quition!!! What if mk interrupted wukong while his meditation and like wukong thinks he's in the past what is he gonna do when he see mac!?🌝❤️ Probably we will see a lot of hugs and kisses?🥹

Can you imagine since they are so cuddly even if they aren't together yet again in the AU, that because of this Macaque for a good moment DOESN'T notice the difference?

Anonimo ha chiesto: Can we get a character sheet for chiyou?

nope sorry, but he will come back no worry

Anonimo ha chiesto: Who else wants to see Pigsy and Tang show Monkey King and Macaque pictures of MK growing up?

Aww I think Wukong and Macaque would die from cuteness but at the same time feel a great remorse that they weren't there for their child when he was little. They are glad freenoodle was with them, but still, It's a big chunk of his life that they missed.

@itz-izzyart ha chiesto: So with the noise canceling headphones, does mk wear them so he (hopefully) doesn’t start hearing the past again or is it just something he wears to help him sleep at night?

Both. It helps him muffle the noise.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Would Wukong get ptsd if MK somehow got a circlet himself ?

He would probably loose all his immortalities rather than let MK have a circlet.

@loseranddummy ha chiesto: I have a ≈question≈ is Peng gonna be in your lmk bio parent comic by chance?

mmmm nope, sorry

@oddogoblino ha chiesto: Beeeeeg monke armmssss...meant for hug jail...

yessss..... and cudlleeeeeee...

Anonimo ha chiesto: :D was macaque grooming mk while they were waiting for the weapon to be forged

yup!

Anonimo ha chiesto: HI! Hope you're well and staying hydrated. Would we/could we see more Lilo and Stitch refs for your ShadowPeach bio parents au? I saw the last one and couldn't stop laughing. 😆 Maybe a beach scene or something?

I'll have to see the movie again and I'll see if new idea come in my mind

Anonimo ha chiesto: Have you ever thought about that because Macaque was gone from the living world for so long he doesn't know how use modern technology. Like Wukong's phone will go off when he isn't there and Macaque can't figure out how to get the stupid thing to be quiet

They are both gay boomers, your honor

Anonimo ha chiesto: In your shadowpeach au who is a morning person and who is a night owl Macaque or Wukong?

none of them. Wukong sleeps like 12 hours and Macaque like 5. (but now he's sleeping more thanks to Wukong but still wakes up earlier than Wukong)

[halfbreeddege]

Sonic Movie 3 Spoiler Thoughts

Alrighty! I just got back from watching Sonic 3. I got my spoilery thoughts below the read more.

-Dammit! Tom and Maddie are the best. parents. ever!!!! That poor couple was practically going insane without their fuzzy kids around.

-Wonder how Sonic's uncles would react around him.

-Now that I think about it, did Sonic call Tom "dad" or "Donut Lord" even once (sweater doesn't count)?

-Oooh, Ozzy has some jealously going on. I thought they were getting along pretty well up to the Knuckles show.

-Walters actually gets a little redemption on this movie. He's not hostile towards Team Sonic and he was actually trying to protect Maria and Co. during the raid.

-I was still hoping it was a Wachowski that was involved in the raid 50 years ago.

-Who got the girl in the Telanovela?

-Gasp It's the goat milker!!!

-That 4th wall break by Eggman and Gerald

-I saw in the credits "Escape from the City" was in the soundtrack, but I don't remember hearing any of it.

-Eggman gets the 'damn' card, but not Shadow. Ok.

-I want to go to the Chao Garden now. I don't care if I'm an adult.

-Keanu, you did an amazing job as Shadow. Surprised Sonic didn't point out he sounds like the guy from Speed.

-I'll admit, I got a little teary eye watching the Shadow and Maria montage.

-Chaos Control was not mentioned ONCE!!

-No Olive Garden mention for once? XD -They included E.G.G.M.A.N!!! -They included "Talk about low budget flights, no food or movies… I'm outta here!" -Not enough Live and Learn. Seriously, I would have LOVED to hear longer bits of it, but they mostly kept playing the motif. During the space battle they did play a little more, but it's still not enough for my thirsty ass.

-I was wondering if they were going to include the "I have no idea" line, but not this time.

-Ritter gets like 3 main scenes and that's about it. She pretty much turned into a nothing burger. I was hoping Sam's (Sam Procrastinates) theory would had been right that she was actually Rouge but used a hologram to disguise as a human.

-Speaking of Rouge, it's really weird to see Shadow without her around.

-Sonic going apeshit when Shadow dropped the line "What was his name again? Tom?" Yeah, man. Get a punch in for me too.

-I watched Fadel's spoiler review, did not realize that was the Bio Lizard reference with the monster film Shadow and Maria watched.

-Where the hell was Jojo?! All this time I was predicting she would play a major part in Shadow realizing the errors of his way and she doesn't even get a mention. I would have thought maybe Randall at least would have gotten a bigger role since he's with G.U.N. but he's technically just a cameo.

-Agent Stone, my dude, he is a total badass in this movie and I felt so bad for him. Honestly, I never really thought he was going to be that big of a part of the franchise when I saw him in the first movie and thought he was going to be a one off character, but each passing movie, I'm starting to love the character more and more. Also, Lee Majdoub is a pretty cool guy and you can tell he really appreciates all the fan feedback.

-I'm not a fan of the Eggman x Stone ship, but oh God, I know the ones that do are having one hell of a field day right now.

-Soooo….how did Gerald live to be 110?????

-Not sure which death was more gruesome. Shooting range or bug zapped?

-"You're no Maria." Fuck you, Gerald!

-The dance scene with Gerald & Eggman was hilarious. Their final fight, was kinda meh…

-*sigh* yep, more fart jokes.

-Ok, so people predicting something bad happening to Tom were half right. Some were saying he was going to die, which I didn't think was going to happen. However, he did get a good whack from Shadow. I'm so happy he survived though.

-Wait, did Walters live or die?

-I predict next movie is going to touch time travelling since they're introducing Amy and Metal Sonic.

-Fadel was right, that last battle was like a DBZ fight.

-Shadow probably saved Eggman.

-I'm noticing each Sonic trailer, there's always that one scene that gets changed in the final product. The first movie trailer was any scene with Sonic in red shoes, the second movie was when Knuckles actually says "Does it look like I need your power?", this movie was the battle with Sonic & Shadow, they're actually in their super forms.

[kingdomruined]

crínán. • physical. • about. • isms. • aesthetics. • connections.

aaron taylor johnson, gay, male + he/him → isn’t that crínán na tuaighe? i hear that they're (prince) mor'du from brave. i hear they’re 35 (unsure how old bc he didn't age while being an evil bear). they seem to be strong & proud, but also greedy & jealous. their aesthetics include starry nights outside, arrows and bolts deeply lodged inside festering flesh, shoulders drooped with the heavy weight of guilt weighing them down.

BASIC INFO

full name — Crínán Na Tuaighe also known as — mor'du, prince age — thirty-five (his soul is much, much older) gender — cis male, (he/ him/ his pronouns) orientation — homosexual fairy tale connection — brave clothing style — furs and leathers

PHYSICAL INFO

face claim — Aaron Taylor Johnson hair — brown / eyes — blue  height — five foot & ten inches build — broad af T. scars — one scar over his right eye, scarred tissue across his upper back from arrows, bolts and fire over the centuries he spent as a bear tattoos — n/a piercings — n/a special characteristics — old-fashioned, quiet, doesn't turn his back to people

PERSONALITY

positive traits — strong, determined, proud negative traits — greedy, jealous, egoistical, careless hobbies — other than trying to find redemption, he.. doesn't know

MEDICAL INFO

mental — healthy physical — healthy, though the vision on his left eye is not good phobias — witches eyesight — 6/20 (left eye), 18/20 right eye dominant hand — right hand alcohol use — yes diet — mostly meat, but he doesn't care

SPICY INFO

sexual preference — bottom (probably) kinks — breeding, scents, hair pulling, rough, edging, collars + leashes, restraints anti-kinks — gore/scat, blood play

BACKGROUND

birthplace — in a kingdom in the highlands parents — king duncan (deceased) siblings — 3 brothers (deceased) notable skills — bear shapeshifter

BIO

in  the  rugged  and  mist-shrouded  highlands,  where  ancient  stones  spoke  of  long-forgotten  tales,  there  lived  a  king  who  ruled  a  great  and  prosperous  kingdom.  this  king,  wise  and  just,  had  four  sons,  each  fierce  and  proud  in  their  (  and  his  )  own  way.  as  the  king  grew  old  and  felt  the  weight  of  his  years,  he  knew  that  the  time  had  come  to  pass  on  his  crown.  to  keep  his  lands  united  and  his  people  strong,  he  decided  to  divide  the  kingdom  among  his  four  sons,  sharing  the  power  equally.

but  his  eldest  son,  crínán,  the  strongest  and  most  ambitious  of  them  all  -  a  warrior  unmatched  in  strength,  and  in  his  heart,  the  seeds  of  pride  and  greed  had  already  taken  root.  he  refused  to  share  his  crown.  he  wanted  the  kingdom  for  himself,  believing  he  alone  deserved  to  rule.  when  his  father  passed  away,  crínán  defied  his  brothers,  shattering  the  unity  his  father  had  hoped  to  preserve.  the  brothers,  unwilling  to  bow  to  his  tyranny,  rose  against  him,  and  soon  the  once-peaceful  kingdom  was  torn  apart  by  a  brutal  war.

the  battles  raged,  and  crínán's  rage  and  lust  for  power  grew  ever  fiercer.  desperate  to  claim  victory,  he  sought  out  a  dark  witch  deep  within  the  ancient  forest  of  the  highlands.  she  was  a  mysterious  figure,  a  woman  of  shadow  and  power,  known  for  her  wicked  sorcery.  with  cold  eyes  that  saw  through  to  his  hungry  soul,  she  listened  to  his  demands.  crínán  wanted  strength  beyond  that  of  any  mortal—strength  that  would  allow  him  to  crush  his  brothers  and  take  the  kingdom  by  force.

the  witch,  seeing  the  darkness  within  him,  agreed  to  his  request,  but  she  warned  him  that  this  gift  would  come  with  a  price.  but  the  kind,  blinded  by  ambition,  ignored  her  words  and  accepted  the  deal.  she  handed  him  a  potion,  a  brew  thick  and  black  as  night,  and  as  he  drank  it,  a  terrible  change  came  over  him.

his  body  twisted  and  stretched,  his  bones  grew  and  snapped,  his  hands  became  paws  with  claws  sharp  as  daggers,  and  his  face  turned  into  a  monstrous  snout.  he  roared  in  agony  and  fury,  but  the  spell  had  worked  -  granting  him  the  strength  he  desired  —  he  had  become  a  gigantic,  ferocious  bear,  towering  over  any  man,  but  he  had  also  lost  his  humanity.  consumed  by  his  thirst  for  power,  he  had  become  a  beast,  cursed  to  walk  the  earth  in  monstrous  form,  unless  he  mended  the  broken  bond  with  his  brothers.

with  the  strength  of  ten  men  or  more,  the  bear  wreaked  havoc  across  the  land,  his  brothers  were  no  match  for  his  might  and  one  by  one  -  he  crushed  them,  leaving  the  kingdom  broken  and  bleeding,  sinking  into  darkness.  the  years  turned  into  centuries,  and  the  legend  of  Mor'du—  the  king  who  had  become  a  black  bear—  grew  into  a  tale  told  to  frighten  children  and  grown  men  alike.  he  became  a  shadow  in  the  woods,  a  creature  spoken  of  only  in  whispers.  some  said  his  eyes  still  held  the  rage  of  the  man  he  had  once  been,  burning  with  the  regret  of  his  choice.

generations  later,  in  the  kingdom  of  dunbroch,  a  new  story  was  unfolding.  a  headstrong  prince  named  ivor  -  with  fiery  red  hair  and  a  spirit  to  match,  had  set  out  to  change  her  fate.  in  his  struggle  to  save  his  family  and  his  kingdom,  ivor  encountered  the  same  witch  who  had  once  cursed  mor'du.

he  learned  the  story  of  mor'du—the  tale  of  the  prince  whose  pride  had  destroyed  him  and  everything  he  owned  and  loved.  but  ivor  made  the  same  mistake  he  did  and  had  to  pay  the  price.  to  fix  his  mistakes,  he's  led  by  wisps  to  the  castle  that  once  belonged  to  the  man  only  known  from  legends  anymore.  he  found  him,  his  rage  unbroken  and  his  fury  endless. 

he  escaped his mighty claws,  but  when  they  met  again half a lifetime later -- ivor no longer the young fearless prince he met once upon a time ,  mor'du  would  not  give  up  that  easily.  this  time  they  fought  in  a  stone  circle  -  the  one  mor'du  performed  his  spell  in  and  exchanged  his  humanity  for  power  and  greed,  his  soul  bound  to  the  stones  forever.  together  with  his  brothers,  they  took  the  great  black  bear  down,  squashed  under  one  of  the  stones  -  the  very  stones  that  held  onto  his  humanity  for  centuries.  a  change  in  the  air  shook  the  earth  and  a  bright  glow  eradicated  off  the  fallen  giant,  but  when  it  subsided  they  would  no  longer  find  a  bear  slain  underneath.  instead,  they  found  a  man  -  drenched  in  bright  blue  light  -  just  like  the  wisps. 

he  ..was  alive. 

his  heart  drowned  in  sorrow  and  regret,  his  eyes  glazed  over  and  empty,  though  at  the  same  time…  gratitude. 

the  curse  was  lifted  ...it  seemed  and  after  centuries  of  hopeless  wandering,  the  prince  was  human  once  more, even if lost in a time and world that was not his own.  or  so  they  thought.  the  bond  with  his  brothers  could  never  be  mended,  so  regardless  of  his  very  soul  being  back  where  it  belonged,  every  full  moon,  mor'du  would  return  and  wreak  havoc  upon  everybody  in  his  path. 

maybe  one  day  he  could  earn  their  forgiveness,  in  life…  or  in  death.

[cartoon-buffoon]

I will not do anything CURRENTLY with this but I'm not saying I never will. Here is some info character bios for a Sonic AU based on the prototype designs for Shadow, Sonic, Silver and Blaze. I wrote a fic about this idea however it was moreso a conflict between Terios and Shadow, here's the full lore. Oh and this AU is simply titled "the prototype AU"—uncreative I know.

Basically in this AU Doctor Eggman has created a portal to alternate dimensions in an attempt to beat Sonic once more. It's after traversing the multiverse does he stumble across a soft of bizzaro alt versions of his universe's Shadow, Sonic, Silver, and Blaze. These mysterious mobians are from a multiverse that was destroyed leaving them all alone in the cold multiverse where they go world to world doing whatever jobs they can in order to feed themselves whilst on a search for a "prime" universe. Aka a universe that is nearly identical to theirs but isn't doomed to die. This group catches Eggman's eye because of how apparently notorious they are for getting the jobs they are hired to do done, they are not only talented but also efficient and ask no questions. With a promise of them being able to live their lives and never worry about going hungry or living in a universe doomed to die they agree to help Eggman. That's basically the synopsis of the plot so here's some bios for the alt versions of Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Blaze which are all based on the beta designs and concept art of said characters which will be provided in poor screenshot quality.

Ash The Cat

Ash is a pyromancer character similar to blaze however her powers differ in the fact that they are mostly smoke based and come from her body directly rather than Blaze being able to summon fire. Her origins consist of her being born to a poor family and by some genetic mutation she displayed her powers very young as a toddler. Her parents were actually really kind and loving but her inexperience with her powers lead to a fire being caused which killed them both. Alone, frightened by herself, and full of self hatred she lived on the street for a few years as a young kid until she met Venice. Initially hating each other, the two grew to understand each other's situation with Venice revealing he too was born with powers. It was with Venice that Ash actually managed to snap out of her fear and gain some confidence and completely turned her life around, becoming a successful CEO with millions of dollars. History repeated itself once she had everything going for her, after making a reckless stupid decision an entire working crew died under her watch and all the guilt came back to her breaking any resolve or confidence she built. Fueled by the need to redeem herself, Ash reunited with Venice and it was Venice who introduced her to Terios and Feels where she now worked as a vigilante of the night, putting aside her fears to protect those who can't protect themselves. After her universe's destruction she carries a portion of the blame like the other 3 members of her team, still scared and easily frightened she relies on Venice to help her ease any anxieties but she is still a more than capable of fighter who manages to beat Blaze by latching onto smoke Blaze's fires made and repeatedly landing cheap shots.

Venice the Mink

Venice shares a lot of similarities with Silver, he's also a time traveler sent from the future in order to stop chaos and destruction. He doesn't have psychokinesis as a power but he makes use of both gravity manipulation and quick time travel which he labels as "blinking". Somewhat similar to Silver who was sent back in time mature enough to know what his job was although not being able to know what the Iblis Trigger was, Venice was sent back in time only as a baby, always feeling he was destined to do something with his powers but never fully understanding until it was too late. Growing up, Venice initially had an alright life, a mobian couple adopted him after just finding him in an alley one day and they cherished him like he was their child. Unfortunately greed was a lot stronger than love and after he started showing signs of his powers they sold him off to that universe's version of GUN. After seeing armed soldiers suddenly invade his home and attempted to take him away from his adopted parents who just sat back and let a check be written for them as payment, little Venice's powers fully came out and he used both his blinking and gravity manipulation to slaughter the agents and his adopted parents. With a distrust for all cemented in from that encounter, Venice wandered the streets growing up with an innate hatred for all and he was quick to use his powers if anyone threatened him. It was only after he ran into Ash and found out she was like him did he find someone he could rely on. From then on Venice put on a tough front knowing Ash looked up to him, after Ash became successful he was offered a job by her but didn't take it. Instead he parted and decided to continue on his path of hate, living life as a homeless vagrant who abused his powers to get by. Eventually he stumbled into Feels who kicked the absolutely ever living shit outta him and embarrassed him constantly in the fight, it was Feels who actually inspired him to change his ways and offered him a better way to not only change his life but others. After becoming a hero Ash came back into Venice's life and he recruited her to the team that now had Terios. Everything was going good for Venice until the end of his universe happened, it was when facing total destruction of everything he cherished did some memory awaken in him. He realized then and there when it was too late that he squandered his gift and understood his purpose. After his universe was only a few hours away from being destroyed he set down one of his time travel markers and did his best to save the universe. Unfortunately no matter how many times he blinked back, doing different things each time, he couldn't find a way to save his universe when it was already doomed. Enraged by himself and his stupidity, he followed Ash, Terios, and Feels in their universe hopping squadron where he was jaded by the trauma of it all and became ruthless and a killer. Behind the tough guy and confident facade still stands a regretful and sorrow stricken mink, in his free time he constantly blinks back to the past trying to save a universe but all it does is remind him of his failure. Upon taking doctor Eggman's offer with the rest of his crew, Venice was sent to beat Silver and he did so with nothing but cocky arrogance and hatred for him. Something about the fact that Silver's universe IS saved makes him feel even more worthless that he couldn't do his job and even after beating Silver Venice used a bit of overkill and repeatedly used gravity manipulation to slam Silver into the ground until the hedgehog was unconscious.

Terios the prototype

Terios was his universe's version of project Shadow however he wasn't made with the intent to create "the ultimate lifeform", instead it was a straight forward government experiment made to create a weapon. In their universe there was no black doom to gain energy from, so instead the government used technology to seal the chaos emeralds into a physical vessel. This vessel became Terios, his body completely made of Chaos energy makes him one with the chaos energy flowing through every being in his world allowing him complete control over the elements. He can manipulate chaos energy to create energy constructs like chaos spears or use it to shield himself, he also is capable of minor reality warping such as speeding up, slowing down, or completely halting time at the expense of his own body considering whenever he uses chaos energy he effectively is using his own life force. Similar to Shadow the gold shackles around his wrists are inhibitors, keeping in check the chaos energy he passively generates and prevents him from turning "super" where he then acts like a sadistic killer who's own body is ripping itself apart. Considering how dangerous and unstable Terios was with this little fact the government actually planned to eliminate him, not wanting to risk what would happen if they let someone like him on a battle field only for those inhibitors to accidentally come off making him an enemy to everyone. Not wanting to COMPLETELY abandon the project yet, they still trained Terios and did frequent experiments on him wishing to understand how to make a controlled chaos-fused lifeform after he would be terminated. Through the nonstop training to test what his body could handle and the frequent experiments Terios slowly learned via reading books alotted to him. These books taught him that there actually was an outside world where more than just needles and chains awaited, it's what made him smart and slowly learn what the government was planning on doing with him once they gained enough research. When the day finally came and Terios termination plot went into order, Terios broke his inhibitors and unleashed the full force of his chaos energy, lashing out and killing each and every scientist or government agent responsible for his creation and captivity in a vicious rampage that carried out into the public after breaking free. Thankfully his senseless slaughter was stopped by Feels, the rabbit managed to calm Terios in his bloody thirsty state and by some quick thinking made him fall unconscious and eventually put those inhibitors back on him. From then on Terios and Feels bonded, the hedgehog learning the good in humanity and even finding attraction in Feels and friends in Venice and Ash. From then on he made a vow to make sure nobody suffered like he did. Sadly this vow would be taken literally, when his world was suddenly endangered and he could do nothing to stop it he, Ash, Venice, and Feels got ready to depart from their dying world. Before they left Terios made sure to take it upon himself to rid the world of all life, in an act he deemed "humane" he ripped the life force out of everyone on the planet, letting himself absorb the pain that would be inflicted on those who would have perished a much more painful death. Terios forever carries the pain of all those he "spared" and after being offered by Eggman to live carefree in a world similar to the one he lost he accepted, fighting shadow in order to finally try and be free of the pain he carries. Slowly tiring out Shadow, he eventually beat him by outlasting him in the fight and slowly draining him of the chaos energy that flows throughout him until Shadow fell unconscious, although he refused to kill Shadow on the base that he has done enough killing for his entire existence.

Feels the Rabbit

Feels is the leader of the group that were once heroes before becoming universe hopping bounty hunters and gun for hires. Feels was almost a basic 1 to 1 with Sonic in terms of personality, carefree, goofy, and always looking for an adventure wherever it could be found. Feels' origin is also somewhat similar to Sonic's, he was born a normal animal without powers and it was only through mystical means did he actually gain abilities. When Feels was just a bunny his uncle was working on a machine that would allow things to crossover between worlds, unbeknownst to his uncle though his machine created a gateway to the special zone which is the timeless zone outside of all other dimensions and universes. While usually the special zone has small contained areas allowing people to travel to different universes or collect items that host chaos energy (the multidimensional roads in Archie or the half-pipe levels from the games themselves) Feels fell outside of those bounds, falling into a the nonsensical chaotic space of the special zone where his body was stretched, squished, and ripped apart atom by atom. This rather painful experience completely changed his body's composition and when Feels fell back into his world he found his body now possessed the power to stretch and even grow in size at will. Regretful his nephew had to be put through such an awful experience by him, Feels' uncle tried to teach Feels about his power and one day hopefully cure him. Instead of being cured though Feels asked to be trained how to fight, wanting to be a superhero and protect people. While his uncle didn't understand it, he did his best to coach Feels into becoming a hero and even after dying of old age Feels continued to be a beacon of hope and light to the world. From then on he made his way through being a hero and trying to befriend as many as he could, the main four being obviously Venice, Ash, and Terios. Aforementioned ago, Terios is Feels romantic partner and while the hedgehog wishes to be subtle about their relationship Feels is very public about their love, constantly making very lewd comments in a hope to fluster Terios (with varying degrees of success). Now while he was always the beacon of joy and positivity, when his world was being destroyed and he physically couldn't save anyone other than the 4 close teammates he had, it broke him. The destruction of his world completely shattered his pysche and over time and hopping universes Feels has developed a bit of insanity. He even completely tries to forget about his home world, outright denying he ever had a destroyed universe and when Venice or Ash try to bring it up or even mention it he's sent into a frenzy that only Terios can snap him out of. With a bit of psychotic attitude and complete repression of what happened, when Eggman reached out and offered them a place to stay Feels took a second and actually looked at the past. The split second that he remembered what happened made him take Eggman's offer almost instantly and when given details about Sonic he instantly went out and started to cause chaos to attract the blue hedgehog. The fight with Sonic was nothing too special as Feels just constantly bounced back against whatever Sonic attacked him with, and the second he managed to tire down Sonic enough Feels used his stretchy rubber powers to brutally beat Sonic. He would have killed Sonic too if not for Terios snapping him out his little murderous episode.

Aaannnddd THAT'S ALL FOLKS! I do kinda wanna do something with these characters as I think a story of them clashing against their normal counterparts gives me some idea for some really cool fight scenes in my head. (For example the fic I wrote had Terios cutting off Shadow's chaos control turning it into "Chaos Controlled" which I remember writing and thinking "oh fuck this is badass!"). Anyways yeah idk when I'll do something with this, I already got a lot on my plate right now in terms writing, just wanted to share this idea. I always looked at these concept arts and going "damn... These kinda go crazy" (especially Silver and Blaze's prototype designs because GOD DAMN! they're awesome!) and I just wanted to use these otherwise forgotten bits of Sonic behind the scenes stuff into an AU. It's only now that Feels and Terios are I guess semi-canon because of their skins in 2 different games.