#convict childcare au

[lalalalupia]

Found the convict childcare Au by @the-final-sif Yesterday through Kenjo wonderful art! and I can not sleep since. 👁👁 So, I need to draws rivals duo crumbs in this AU to regain my sanity.

[the-final-sif]

Thinking about c!Drunz in the convict childcare au again.

Because like, from c!Punz's perspective everything goes terrible. He was waiting for c!Dream to get out of the prison, and they had a plan, and then all of the sudden, c!Ranboo is dead and Dream is gone and he doesn't know what to do anymore.

What's worse is Punz knows that Dream isn't dead. If Dream was dead, this would be easy. Punz could bring him back, and then they'd go get their revenge! Dream being dead would be preferable to this.

The rest of the server (minus the syndicate and Badlands) is convinced that Dream has somehow taken Sam hostage, but Punz knows that can't be true, because Dream would've told him. So Punz is uniquely aware that Dream is absolutely alive and that Sam is keeping him hostage in secret for an unknown reason.

Punz doesn't know what's happened to Dream, and he's worried about the worst. He's searching obsessively but it's really hard given that he's still pretending to not be on Dream's side. So he's also trying to throw Quackity's group off the scent and trying to decide if he can trust the Syndicate or not.

In the end, the Syndicate finds Dream first. They don't tell anyone. Punz finds out after the rest of the server manages to catch up and find where Dream escaped from. And then Punz has to wait again. Because he can't going after the syndicate. He just has to hope that Techno will honor the favor in a meaningful way. He's stuck fearing the worst.

Eventually, Dream's awake and aware enough to get a message across. He's able to sweet talk one of Philza's crows into bringing Punz a short letter,

'alive, with syndicate, can't come meet up yet'

That's all it says, but Punz ends up sobbing in something between relief and exhaustion. The crow sticks around, a bit put off by the reaction to it's letter, but also feeling kinda nosy and wanting a response to carry back (and some peanuts. Dream promised Punz had peanuts and would share >:[ where are the peanuts Punz). Punz needs a hot minute to recover, but eventually manages to scrawl back a quick 'okay' and then find some treats to repay the bird for carrying the message.

It takes time before the two of them can meet up. Messages are dangerous, so they speak in vague terms. Punz knows Dream is injured, but there's something else keeping him with the Syndicate. Punz is wracking his brain trying to figure out what it could be. Is it Ranboo? Does Techno want Ranboo revived before he'll let Dream leave? Punz doesn't like to think that Techno would hold Dream hostage like that, but people change in grief.

When Punz can finally go see Dream, he travels light but he carries an End Chest with full equipment for both of them. His shulker is stacked with potions. He's ready for the worst.

In a sense, he finds it. Even with all the time to heal, Dream has obviously been tortured. Scars litter his body, and his hands shake. He struggles to stand on his own, and he's only just barely started putting on weight. Dream's been getting help, Punz can see that much. It's enough that he doesn't draw a sword against Techno. But it's still hard to see.

On some level, Punz was ready for that. The sight hits him full force, but he was ready for that.

He wasn't ready for the little scarred piglin toddler curled up next to Dream on the couch. Eyeing him with great suspicion.

Punz is cautious as he's introduced to Michael and Dream gives him a simplified explanation of what happened. From how the toddler is staying very firmly pressed up against Dream, one little hand clutched on his shirt, it's pretty obvious what's keeping Dream here. This is a harder problem to resolve.

Still, Punz makes the most of it. Once he's got an understand of the situation he gives Michael a grin and offers to tell him stories about Dream from when they were kids. Dream groans, but he's got a smile under there, and Michael is delighted to learn Caretaker Secrets (Techno won't admit to it, but he was 100% eavesdropping to also get the Dream Secrets).

[kenjo-arts]

The Convict Childcare Au by @the-final-sif is amazing and lives rent free in my head

[step-back-apple-jack]

Progress

This is a little snippet of something I’m working on for @the-final-sif​‘s Convict Childcare au, with some differences in that my Dream is a white Enderman hybrid. The basic premise of the au is that c!Sam accidentally kills c!Ranboo while arresting him, and kidnaps Michael for leverage. Panicked, he takes c!Dream and Michael and holds them both in a new prison far away. Dream and Michael grow very close, and are eventually rescued by other members of the server. This drabble takes place a couple months after rescue.

Today must be a bad day, was the first thought that ran through Ponk’s head when Dream all but sauntered into the office. It had been a while since Dream had felt the need to pull on the proud, untouchable facade. The scowling, flinty-eyed Michael that was clinging close enough to Dream as to be almost tripping over his heels only further proved his theory. Through the doorway he locked eyes with Technoblade who had, as usual, escorted Dream to his appointment. The piglin gave a thumbs up and a grimace before shutting the door with a click.

That boded well.

With the mask on, Ponk couldn’t see Dream’s expressions, but over the two months of near-daily visits, he liked to think that he had a pretty good read on the man’s emotional state through his body language. It was sometimes subtle, but there was always at least one tell that gave him away. He gave the Enderman hybrid a quick once over, running through his mental checklist; tail, low and relaxed; ears, perked; right hand, snugly wrapped around Michael's; left hand— ah, there it was. Stuffed into a pocket, but Ponk could see the fabric shift with the arrhythmic flexing of a fist. Too mild to be anger— perhaps frustration, or impatience. Perhaps pain.

“Ponk,” Dream greeted with almost mocking politeness, gently nudging Michael to do the same. The toddler merely glared up at Ponk and huffed. Ponk raised an eyebrow at the both of them but didn’t comment, simply nodding in return as he bit back a sigh. He had hoped they were past all of this.

“Hey, Dream. Hi, Michael,” he said, tone neutral as he tried to gauge how much of a headache this appointment was going to be. “Please have a seat.”

“You got it, Doctor.” Dream brushed past him and went to lift Michael onto one of the two chairs in the office, but the piglin squirmed away from his grip and squealed a harsh, “No!”

Both adults flinched at the volume, Dream immediately kneeling next to the fuming toddler while Ponk stood uncertainly in the back.

“You don’t want to sit, Michael?” Dream asked, voice abruptly gentle.

Michael shook his head furiously, arms crossed tightly across his chest. “No!”

“That’s alright, but I’m going to need you to be calm for this, okay?” So soft, so patient. “If you can’t be calm, that’s okay, but you’ll have to wait outside with Techno.”

The boy's eyes widened and Ponk felt a jolt of panic as they gained the unmistakable sheen of unshed tears.

“No!” The cry was even more vehement than the previous two, and Michael reached out, hands grasping. Dream pulled him into a close hug without hesitation, curling his large frame around the much smaller, more fragile one.

Ponk’s eyes narrowed at the faint, full-body spasm the movement caused, muscles tight with pain before forcibly loosening.

“Can you be calm, Michael?” Dream asked, not a hint of strain in his voice as a scarred palm rubbed soothing lines up and down the child’s back.

After several long seconds, there was a weak, sniffling assent, and then Michael was pulling back, rubbing at his teary face with his arms and wrists, his hands with their three, thick clawed fingers angled carefully away from his eyes. 

Dream cleaned up Michael's face with the help of a box of tissues Ponk offered. Eventually, everyone settled enough to take their places; Dream sprawled in a chair, knees spread arrogantly, Michael standing at his side like a particularly small, puffy-eyed and fierce bodyguard, and Ponk pulling over the second chair to sit near (but not directly in front of) Dream. Dream tilted his head in a question. Usually they would take the basic vitals first, and the doctor hadn’t grabbed any of the equipment. In answer, Ponk held out his hand, palm up.

“Can I please see your left hand?”

The fabric of Dream’s pocket rustled.

“It’s fine.”

“We both know you’d say that even if you—“ Ponk caught the toddler’s eye and fumbled for a more “family-friendly” example. “You— uh. Somehow…lost all your bones?”

Dream wheezed, but Michael gave a solemn nod of agreement, leveling his caretaker an astonishingly unimpressed look. Ponk tried not to feel too vindicated.

“Even Michael agrees with me,” he said. He fluttered his fingers in a beckoning gesture, moving his hand a little closer. “Can I please see it?”

Dream hesitated. His tail, tucked beneath the chair, gave a single, frantic jerk before stilling. Eventually he shrugged, plopping the back of his hand into Ponk’s warm palm.

“Well, if Michael agrees with you…” he joked easily, lightly chucking the piglin under the chin with his free hand. The boy yelped and ducked away, one hand flying up to press against his chin, guarding it from future attacks, while the other made grabby motions towards Dream’s tail. Dream promptly flicked the long appendage up to drape itself in the toddler’s grasp. The kid tucked the plume of fur at the tip under his chin, replacing the hand that was previously guarding it to bury his fingers in the fluff instead. Whether it was to comfort Dream or Michael, Ponk wasn’t sure, but he hoped it worked. It certainly wasn’t doing it quickly though, as Michael frowned at him, eyes hard and unblinking. Today really must’ve been bad.

Ponk ignored the burning stare boring a hole in the side of his head, choosing instead to focus on his task.

“Open, please,” he commanded.

Dream splayed his left hand out as far as he could, the fingers still partially curled and trembling violently as if cold.

“Now, close until you feel no pain.”

The fingers twitched, bent, barely moving from their first position. Ponk flicked his eyes from the stiff hand, to the extended arm seemingly locked in place, to Dream’s concentrated stare at the appendage, and didn’t believe it for a second.

“That looks painful,” he remarked dryly.

Dream shrugged a shoulder, the one extended being held carefully still. “It’s not,” he said blithely. 

“Dream. I can’t help you make progress if you lie to me about this.”

Dream scoffed at the word “progress”, head dipping to the side as if he had just rolled his eyes. Michael was still soothingly stroking the plume of fur, eyes darting worried glances to Dream, and protective scowls to Ponk. Dream noticed, and immediately heaved a dramatic sigh as he playfully tapped Michael in the face with the mass of fur, chuckling when the boy spluttered, batting the tail away.

“It’s fine,” he said, and Ponk wasn’t quite sure which of the three he was trying to reassure. Nevertheless, the hybrid let his fingers slowly curl back to his palm, only stopping when the tips were barely a centimeter away from touching flesh. 

Ponk’s frown was hidden by his mask, but Dream’s shoulders stiffened anyway. 

He had regressed. 

Well, at least now he had a fair idea as to why it was a bad day. Ponk knew well the frustration and despair of a faltered recovery, no matter how temporary. 

“It’ll pass,” he reassured, reaching out and taking Dream’s hand in his own, thumb hooking under Dream’s fingers and gently pulling back, assisting him with the stretch. Unfortunately, Ponk had failed to notice that he did not have Dream’s attention, the other looking at Michael, not wanting to see the doctor’s reaction to the worsened state of his hand. Because of this, Dream was unprepared for both the touch and the sting, yanking his hand back with a hiss of pain. Ponk let go immediately, hurrying to apologize, but the words choked in his throat when he felt a small hand seize his wrist.

“Are you right-handed or left-handed?”

Ponk sucked in a breath (it wasn’t Sam it wasn’t Sam the hand was too small not as strong it’s not Sam) and locked his muscles in place in order to avoid doing something disastrous like kick Michael away.

“Michael! Let go now!” Ponk had never heard Dream raise his voice at Michael, and it had been a long time since he had heard such fear in his words. The grip vanished immediately as Michael scrambled back, eyes wide and once again tear-filled as he stared at Dream who was on his feet and between the two in the time it took to blink, clawed feet planted wide and ready. 

Trying not to feel too hurt by such an extreme reaction (it wasn’t until later that Ponk realized it had been the first time Michael had been physically aggressive to him; Dream couldn’t be sure how he would take it and was most likely simply erring on the side of caution), Ponk straightened gingerly and edged his chair further back, remaining seated. His wrist ached, and he rubbed it against his chest. Prime, that kid had gotten strong.

“Michael.” Dream’s tone had lowered significantly, reactive panic lessened, but it still held a firm authority. “Apologize to Ponk, and then go wait outside. You promised you would be calm and that wasn’t calm.” He kept his mask pointed unerringly toward the doctor.

Ponk felt a spike of panic as the kid moodily circled a closed fist over his chest in acquiescence. If Michael was separated from Dream after the toddler attempted to protect him, it was almost certain that the piglin would assume his caretaker would be punished on his behalf as soon as the door shut, weeks of patient effort to build trust between both Dream and Michael going to waste due to his own misstep. Ponk knew damn well what Sam had done to his prisoners, and he knew damn well he wasn’t about to let Michael believe he was anything like the Warden. Ponk would not tolerate being grabbed like that again, but punishment could come after bridges had stabilized.

“Apology accepted,” he said quickly. “But you don’t have to go outside. In fact…” Keeping his movements just a touch slower than normal, he slid off the bright yellow stethoscope draped around his neck and offered it to Michael. “Would you like to help?”

Apparently that was a magic phrase because Michael lit up-- but then hesitated, eagerness dampening as he looked from Ponk’s masked face to Dream’s, reaching out to hold the latter’s hand. The hybrid, appearing much more at ease (breathing, steady; stance, no longer defensive; tail-- there. Swaying slightly faster than true calm, but no longer agitated), squeezed the child’s fingers encouragingly.

“If you want to,” he said, as if answering an unspoken question. “It’s fine.”

Permission granted, Michael picked up the stethoscope, somewhat suspicious of the sudden change in the room’s atmosphere, but it wasn’t long before he was eagerly hanging on to every word the doctor said. It was one of the most disorganized appointments Ponk ever had, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it, not when Michael finally looked like the kid he was supposed to be. He was fascinated with listening to Dream’s breathing and strong heartbeat with the stethoscope, and quickly got distracted with placing the smooth disk on every inch of the man he could reach. Ponk then taught Michael how and where to check for a pulse, as well as how to properly apply a bandaid. They wasted quite a few of the brightly colored bandages for practice, most being stuck to a long-suffering Dream. Even his mask didn’t survive unscathed, a lime green patch stuck boldly in the center. Michael then turned to the doctor and with the utmost concentration wrapped a fiery orange one securely around his index finger. Ponk refused to admit just how touched he felt at the honor. 

After Ponk confiscated the box of bandaids from Michael's new mission to cover the entire office in them, he demonstrated the same stretch he had attempted to do for Dream’s hand earlier (making certain the man was prepared this time), as well as a few other of the more mild exercises. It was risky, and Michael did indeed start to become stressed when Dream’s breaths came faster, when his tail lashed the ground in an effort to soothe the pain. But he perked up when, after several long minutes of this, Ponk pointed out how much easier Dream’s hand was flexing, how much firmer his grip.

“Although it hurts, this type of injury needs Dream to move it a lot in order to get better,” he explained to an enraptured Michael. “But too much, or doing it the wrong way, can make it worse. You also always need to take breaks.” He tried not to sound too pointed when he said that. Dream huffed under his breath, staring down at his aching, shivering hand. He didn’t say a word, besides a murmured thanks when Ponk gave Michael a heated pad to place over it. Letting Dream have a few minutes to recover in peace, Ponk kept the toddler’s attention by demonstrating the abbreviated version of brewing health and regen potions, slipping Michael a bit of melon as a treat. He pretended not to notice him sneakily passing some on to Dream.

When Dream’s jaw finally unclenched and his breathing became less deliberate, Ponk guided the two to the scale on the far side of the room, dragging his chair so Michael could stand on it and see the dial. The kid had been weighed before, during a basic check-up soon after he had been rescued, but Ponk had been more focused on making the process as quick and as painless as he could for them both, hurrying to urge the fearful, snappish toddler back to an unconscious Dream’s side. He never had much chance to actually show off the equipment.

Dream obediently stepped onto the scale, for the first time seeming almost self-conscious in Michael's presence. But he hid it quickly, poking Michael in the ribs to make him squeal.

“Look at you, buddy,” he laughed. “Almost as tall as me!”

Michael beamed and Ponk hastily muffled a snort, because even standing on a chair the toddler barely reached the Enderman hybrid’s shoulder. Freaking giraffe of a man. Him and Ranboo both. He stood on the opposite side of the scale from Michael, and pointed at the numbered dashes.

“Michael, see this?” He tapped at the dash that the red marker had swung to when Dream got onto the scale. “This shows how much Dream weighs.” He discreetly wrote the number down in his report.

Michael tapped the glass over the marker as well, then eagerly turned to Dream and held his arms out to be picked up. Dream obliged, and Michael was delighted as the marker immediately swung further to the right. He tapped harder on the glass, giggling when it caused the marker to tremble. His laughter was contagious, and the adults found themselves helpless to resist chuckling along, although Dream’s sounded a touch forced. Ponk considered showing Michael where Dream’s weight should be, to educate him and show them both how much closer to it Dream was than when he started getting treatment, but decided against it. Dream already was having a hard day with his recovery; he didn’t need to see just how much more was needed before he could be considered stably healthy. There were better ways of encouraging him. And proving a point. So instead, Ponk gestured to the hybrid to put Michael back down in the chair, and once the dial resettled, he pointed to another dash on the far left.

“And this…” He tapped the glass like before. “Was his weight when we found you.”

Dream straightened, a soft, sharp intake of breath the only indicator of his surprise. It was one thing to see the numbers slowly (too slowly) creep higher. It was another to see the leap of progress made, in a clear, hard fact.

Michael saw it too, and prodded Dream’s bicep until the other looked over at him, and then thick fingers moved in rapid sign, his smile stretched wider than the one on Dream’s mask.

“Yeah, buddy,” Dream responded verbally, his hands reflecting his words with sign language almost automatically. “I do feel better.” There was a hint of almost wonder to his words.

Michael squealed, the sound much more excited than the previous times he made it. His hands gripped the arm of the chair to balance himself as he bounced in place, near bursting with sudden energy.

“Michael—“ Dream scolded with no heat, hands reaching out to settle the boy, but the toddler had already stilled and was repeating a word in sign over and over, touching his fingertips over his mouth, like someone hiding a smile, before flicking it away into a thumbs up. Dream mirrored the motions, using his other hand to tilt his mask up so Michael could see his grin, see his lips form the words he spoke.

“Better, yes, I feel better.” He suddenly turned his head towards Ponk, who jolted at the abrupt attention. “With many thanks to Ponk.”

Caught off guard by the praise, the doctor could only splutter and stare back blankly. Dream’s shoulders were relaxed, his ears were relaxed, his tail was relaxed— Ponk couldn’t see a tense muscle anywhere. He was being genuine. It didn’t seem too unfair of him to find it surprising.

Dream’s mask was still tilted up, and the smile there was different than the rare few Ponk had seen before; neither broad and warm, nor sickly sweet. It was small, hesitant, like the shy wave a kid would do when they catch the eye of someone across the classroom— someone they wanted to make friends with.

“You can thank me by being less of a stubborn pain in my ass,” Ponk finally responded with a roll of his eyes, the words holding no bite. 

A small wave back. 

~~

Technoblade, standing guard next to the office door, was already looking in Ponk’s direction when the doctor rounded the corner at a brisk trot, his hooved hand slipping from the hilt of his sword.

“You’re a bit late, doc,” he drawled, a question in his raised eyebrow.

“I know, I know,” Ponk gasped out, waving his hand in dismissive irritation. “Fran knocked over a couple of my house plants, and one of them was in a ceramic jar that broke. Had to clean up all of that and make sure she hadn’t hurt herself.”

Techno scoffed. “See, that’s why all my pets stay outside.”

“Bullshit, you let a polar bear in your house all the time.”

“Steve’s not a pet, he’s a friend.”

Ponk rolled his eyes. At the door he gave a brisk knock, waited, then hurried inside.

“Sorry I’m late, I--”

“Dot!”

Ponk cut himself off and stared down at the small piglin child that stood eagerly before him.

“...Pardon?”

“Doc, Michael,” Dream corrected with a chuckle, not moving from his spot in the chair besides giving a lazy wave to Ponk. “Doc. Doctor. Remember?” He took three fingers and tapped the inside of his wrist, on his pulse point. “Doctor.”

Michael dutifully imitated him, frowning in concentration.

“Dot. Dodder. Dodter.”

“Better,” Dream praised warmly. To Ponk, he said, “Michael's been looking forward to coming back here ever since the last appointment. He had a good time.”

A surge of warmth unfurled in Ponk’s chest, and he was glad his ski mask covered everything but his eyes as a pleased smile stretched across his reddening cheeks. Dream grinned knowingly anyway.

Ponk unhooked his yellow stethoscope from the wall, and knelt to be level with the toddler. 

“I’m glad you had fun, Michael,” he said with genuine delight. He offered the stethoscope. “Do you want to help again today?”

Michael nodded so vigorously Ponk worried the boy’s head would fly off his shoulders. “Yes! Yes!”

“Please,” Dream called.

“Peese! Puhleese. Yes, puhleese!”

“Oh my god you’re so cute,” Ponk whispered fervently. He shook himself. “I mean; thank you for your manners. Here.” He handed over the instrument and Michael dashed back to Dream’s side, immediately pressing the disk to his chest. Belatedly he called back, “Thank you!”

Ponk and Dream both laughed. “You’re welcome, Michael,” Ponk said with rare open fondness. The child had made fantastic progress with trusting adults again, and even with the occasional setbacks like the last appointment, both Michael and Dream were without a doubt recovering: slowly, painfully, and sometimes Dream even seemed like he was determined to charge right back down into the pit he was fighting to claw out of, but it was progress all the same.

And it was damn good to see.

[paranoid-spotlight-everest]

So I just had a *great* idea for a meme

Anakin and Padme format I think

Person: so you're a c!dream apologist?

c!dream apologists: I don't agree with his actions or excuse his crimes /srs, but yes.

(how fucked up is it that to like a fictional character you have to go "yeah but I don't support abuse!" I don't even see, say, c!Quackity apologists doing that)

Person: so you want c!dream to have a redemption arc and a happy ending?

c!dream apologists: (currently adding even more trauma in their AU'S)

Yes. Of course. /LIE

ALL OF THE AU'S ARE ANGST

ALL OF THE CONTENT

ANGST

[x-i-l-verify]

What’s your favorite c!Dream AU? I ask because I honestly cannot pick one, and I am curious if you can.

Generally speaking, Syndicate c!Dream AUs. Yes, get that boy healing and understanding and good friends who will stick by him and not abandon him!! It's the good shit!!!

Specifically, oof. That's a hard one. I guess if I had to pick just ONE it would be @the-final-sif's convict childcare AU, specifically because it's the first DSMP AU that gave me brainrot bad enough to do fanart for it, so it has a special place in my heart.

Send me dreblr-related questions!!

[pathetic-dumpling]

actually does anyone want to know about the gentle death au bc ive been super busy with other writing projects for like 6 months but i still want to tell people about it yknow

[hiding-in-the-vault]

Work doodles!

Rival blobs, a Dream XD, dteam children, Dream struggling to write, and Dream with Michael from Convict Childcare AU. And a snazzy axe 

[milder-manners]

For @the-final-sif's newest au, Convicted childcare!

I hope you like it!

[thekingwhowouldhavebeen]

Michael In Prison

Character List: Michael C!Dream C!Sam C!Quackity

Trigger Warning:

Read at your own risk

-Child Abuse -Child Neglect -Depictions of Torture and Abuse

Note before going into this- I saw the-final-sif’s Convict Childcare au and please note that there is no correlation! I created this AU on the Rainy Weather discord server and only found the child care au today! However, it is really amazing and please please go check it out. I binged reading it all day and its so so good!!!

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

This is an Au where the events that led to Sam getting Michael happened a LOT sooner than planned. In his panic of not having anywhere to place Michael, Quackity comes up with the ‘brilliant’ plan of “Why don’t we put Michael in with Dream?”

Lets get into the Au then :D

-Dream is a Dragon Hybrid, specifically an Albino Ender Dragon. He used to have wings, however Sam cut them off after a month or two in the prison due to them being a ‘security risk’ and the amount of times Sam got hit by them. Now, most of his draconic traits are patches of scales, fanged teeth, horns, sharp nails and his vertical-slit pupils. He can also snarl, growl and purr but cannot breathe fire (well he can, but its a huge risk since it can burn him from the inside). He has a lot of draconic instincts as well, and falls into a more ‘feral’ state as his mental health decreases. 

-Michael is of course a baby zombie Piglin, and technically an ‘enemy’ to End Creatures. He used to be terrified of Ranboo when he first met him, but now he doesn’t have the instinct to be afraid of End-Born Creatures. He was found alone in the Nether Wastes by Tubbo and Ranboo, and loves his parents very much.  He cannot speak, both common and Piglin (he’s completely silent), but knows a few signs such as Food/Hungry, More, Tired and a few similar things just so he can start to communicate with his parents. Tubbo and Ranboo are learning to really understand sign first before they start really teaching Michael. 

-Sam originally had Michael in his base, however stuck between guarding the prison, letting Quackity in and out, potentially having to heal Dream and then having to also take care of a high needs child, found that it was much too difficult to juggle everything. Next he puts Michael in one of the jail cells, but then finds that Michael is not doing well since he is a Piglin and needs social interaction. That's when Quackity comes in and says “Why not shove him in with Dream?”

-Sam says no at first, deciding to put more focus on ‘caring’ for Michael, but finds himself growing increasingly frustrated. Michael is constantly terrified of him, crying a lot and Sam gets headaches every time he enters the cell. Then he thinks “Hey, if anything, Dream will kill Michael and put me out of my damn misery...and properly piss off a lot of the server since Michael is MUCH younger than Tommy”. He doesn’t even consider the idea of Dream actually liking Michael.

-About 3 weeks of Michael alone in the cell, he is then transferred to the main prison cell. 

-He is rightly terrified of Dream at first. He had no idea what to expect of this strange person who smelled of blood and stench, or what this person would want from him. So for the first few days, he’s keeping his distance despite shivering and craving contact. It isn’t until Dream makes the first move, asking him if he wants to come over to him with slightly opened arms that gets Michael to throw himself into his arms and being brought into a tight hug. 

-That’s the start of their bond. Dream is giving Michael most of his food, even if its barely enough to keep Dream functioning. Especially since they only seem to be getting a potato each and Dream is giving Michael half of his own potato. Dream keeps Michael warm, and tries his best to entertain him with stories of adventures when he was younger, or pretending to find shapes within the lava. Sometimes if Dream can find the strength to do so, he will sing Michael lullabies when he’s having trouble sleeping.

-Dream teaches Michael proper sign. Wanting to communicate with the little Piglin more now that he finally has company. He knows sign through both Callahan and a desire to be able to communicate with a lot of people (he knows quite a few languages and learning Spanish through the torture sessions with Quackity). Michael is a quick learner, and seems to take Dream’s teachings really well. 

-Once Michael asks what happened to Dream, but Dream just plays it off like “I got hurt, but I am okay now little one”

-Its about a month until Quackity decides he wants to return. Annoyed that Sam has been keeping him from Dream for so long, and says he can handle a stupid Piglin. Plus its just a kid, what could Michael do?

-So he returns, and immediately when Dream realizes as he hears Quackity’s voice, he tells him “We have a new game now, I want you to close your eyes and face that wall okay bud? Put your hands over your ears and I want you to count all the way to 100, if you mess up, start over okay?”

-Of course, Michael listens. He can hear Dream’s urgency, and does what he says. He keeps going, restarting since he still is so young and can barely get to 20 without messing up. He only stops when he feels Dream’s hand on his shoulder to which he opens his eyes and looks at Dream. There seems to be fresh wounds, and Michael can smell the pain radiating off of him. 

-Dream teaches Michael how to sign his name that day, as well as Ranboo’s and Tubbo’s name. Michael then spells out Dream’s name, before signing ‘family’ with a bright white smile. Dream just pulls him close. 

-Quackity comes back every day. Michael only looked back once, and wakes up with squealing nightmares when he dreams of Dream crying as Quackity sliced across his skin. 

-Dream stopped screaming or making noises. He knows that Michael knows something is wrong, but he refuses to let the kid know the extent. Quackity hates it, and deals his frustration out with more grueling and horrifying methods of torture. All to get Dream to scream. 

-Quackity once tried to target Michael. Grabbing him and bringing the knife to just garner some reaction out of Dream. This resulted with Dream’s hands around Quackity’s throat, his claws digging into his neck as he snarled and threatened “Don’t you EVER touch him again”. Sam had to rip Dream off of him and Michael went running to Dream who wrapped himself around him protectively. 

-Dream sometimes purrs when Michael is having a hard time calming down. Michael usually falls asleep when he does so. 

[lalalalupia]

For anyone who interested in my c!sam design! Here, is some full design I have drawn so far. (Adding a little bit of the convict childcare AU there.bc I not move on.)

Anyway, I just realized that I have a OC with similar design as well as c!sam controlling issues and I am chocked 👁👄👁.

[the-final-sif]

Vital Convict childcare au note: c!George, once he's in the picture (once c!Dream realizes XD effectively accidentally locked George in a coma), starts out annoyed by Michael's existence. Because Michael existing prevents George from just taking Dream back and hiding him away from the rest of the world. He ponders child murder for at least a little bit before deciding it'd be too hard and not worth getting caught. Also Dream can bring back the dead so it wouldn't even last long.

Michael, on the other hand, fucking loves George. There is no good reason for this behind Dream speaking fondly of George, and also Michael thinking that he looks really cool. Plus, the mushrooms remind him of home (in the nether) where red mushrooms meant safety and good snacks.

Since George can't get away with murder, and because Michael is a very well behaved child (for him) he eventually warms up to him and learns that spending time with Michael is an easy way to also get time with Dream. Plus, admittedly, Michael grows on him after awhile. Also it's very funny watching Techno be bound to the whims of a toddler (particularly when Techno can't pick a fight with George or Michael will be upset by it).

[theminecraftbox]

I always confuse you with @the-final-sif even tho your blogs look absolutely nothing alike. Like, I know you're not the same person, but my brain thinks you're the same person so I always have to double take

I will take this as a resounding compliment :)

(I would die for convict childcare au c!Dream.)

[tubbocio]

me before: why is everyone spammjng this 'convict childcare' au on my dash :/

me now, spamming childcare convict au

[onceuponaloonatic]

(i just read most of surrogate au on a road trip i Love) do you want to do chaeyoung is hanging out with jihyo and baby nico but jihyo has to run in for a work thing or smth and so chaeyoung is left alone with nico. chaeyoung however has Zero childcare skills and is so clueless. queue chaeyoung getting nontoxic paint and trying to paint with 2 month old nico, its literally all smears and both are covered in paint from head to toe by the end but sana and jihyo both love it and take one of the "artworks" and frame it.

thank you so much !! sorry for the wait !! also i only have three asks left so if you guys have any ideas please send asks!!

“Who’s the cutest baby in the world? You are.” Jihyo smiled as she tickled Nico’s stomach, earning her a giggle in response. Nico had just started giggling a few days ago, right after her second month of life had officially begun. Needless to say, her parents could not give enough of it. Sana had taken countless videos the first time Nico giggled, and had sent all of them to Jihyo. Now that Jihyo was watching Nico, she couldn’t get enough of her baby girl giggling. “I love you.” Jihyo kissed Nico’s cheek.

“Babe if you give her too much attention she’s going to be spoiled.” Chaeyoung giggled from the couch. She had received most of the videos from Jihyo, and she thought it was adorable how in love with Nico Jihyo was. She also knew her girlfriend needed this time with Nico. She hadn’t been able to spend much time with her lately and Chaeyoung knew it was eating at Jihyo. “I think it’s too late for that.” Jihyo picked Nico up and carried her to the couch where she sat next to Chaeyoung. She quickly settled Nico before leaning into her girlfriend. “You’ve seen how Sana is with her. Sana is like obsessed with Nico.” “Don’t pretend you aren’t too.” Chaeyoung giggled. “You are just as in love with her as Sana is. She’s my competition for your heart.” Chaeyoung smiled when a tiny foot kicked her arm as Nico wiggled in Jihyo’s lap.

“You know I love both of you right? It’s not a competition. I love both of you.” Jihyo nodded, resting her head on Chaeyoung’s shoulder. Chaeyoung’s arm snaked its way around her waist and Jihyo smiled. “I know. Don’t tell Nico though, we have a bet going.” Chaeyoung laughed as Nico’s foot kicked her again. Chaeyoung took her free hand and grabbed Nico’s foot, squeezing her clothed foot. Nico’s toes curled reflexively, gripping onto Chaeyoung's hand while she played with Jihyo’s shirt collar. Their perfect moment was interrupted when Jihyo’s phone rang. Jihyo sighed, moving Nico to one arm to pick up the phone. Chaeyoung squeezed Jihyo’s waist before letting go, moving to take Nico from her girlfriend. Nico giggled as Chaeyoung lifted her up as high as she could before bringing her back in. Jihyo eyed her with an amused smile while she talked on the phone, but it was quickly replaced with a look Chaeyoung knew all too well. “Your boss?” Chaeyoung asked once Jihyo was off the phone. “It’s Saturday. My boss knows I don’t work weekends.” Jihyo sighed. “But there’s an emergency in the case, if I don't fix it we might not be able to get the conviction.” “I get it.” Chaeyoung smiled. “You have an important job. Nico knows that too. I’ve got her, go.” “Thank you so much. I love you. You're the best.” Jihyo gave Chaeyoung a quick kiss before getting up to get dressed. “I know. I’m the best girlfriend in the world. It’s a curse.” Chaeyoung said dramatically. Jihyo laughed as she quickly threw on work appropriate clothes. Once she was dressed she pulled her hair up in a quick ponytail before moving to say goodbye. “Be good for Auntie Chaeyoung Nico.” Jihyo kissed Nico’s chubby cheek. “And you, no roughhousing.” “Can’t make any promises.” Chaeyoung giggled. “I’m serious. I should be back after lunch. You have Sana’s number but in case your phone dies it’s on the fridge. Her bottles with instructions are in the fridge. Sana wrote them so they should be pretty through but if you have any questions I’ll keep my phone on and Momo calls herself the master of bottles, she doesn’t need to eat until after her mid-day nap but if I’m not back by then you’ll need to take care of it. She needs to nap at eleven thirty, and she should be awake by one. The baby monitor is on but if there’s any issues with it-”

“Jihyo, it’s okay. Seriously you and Sana both spiral so much. It’s going to be okay. Nico and I have hung out before. I love you, have fun at work.” Chaeyoung giggled, kissing Jihyo one more time.

“Thank you. I love you too. Bye Chae, bye Nico!” Chaeyoung had to practically push Jihyo out of the apartment. “It’s just you and me kiddo.” Chaeyoung giggled, kissing Nico’s cheek before taking her over to the couch. She sat for a few minutes before Nico started whining. Chaeyoung quickly went through the usual list of Nico things but it quickly dawned on her why Nico was whining. “You're bored. Alright, let’s find something for you to do.” Chaeyoung went over to the baby bag Sana had packed and looked through it. She found a toy for Nico, pulling it out and giving it to Nico. Nico felt the toy, but immediately threw it. “Alright not that.” Chaeyoung sighed. She had spent time with Nico before, but not alone. She actually had never watched kids alone. Her best friend growing up babysat a bit in high school for some extra money, but Chaeyoung only went with her once and the kid was ten. It was nothing like taking care of a baby. It was a little overwhelming. So Chaeyoung did what she normally did when she had no idea what to do. Google.

After a quick “what to do with a two month old” google search and looking through a few articles she came to the conclusion she had no idea what she was doing. She had already tried toys, Nico had quickly rejected that. Sana and Momo handled tummy time so Chaeyoung didn’t want to do anything that would be wrong or confusing for Nico. Nico’s nap didn’t start for an hour, and she clearly wasn’t hungry. “What do you want to do baby?” Chaeyoung sighed, thinking about what to do. “You could help Auntie Chaeyoung with her work, would that be fun?” Chaeyoung’s answer came with a tiny kick to the arm and she took that as a yes. She carried Nico over to the makeshift paint station she had in the corner of their living room. Before she moved in, Jihyo had an old piano she had inherited from her family there. Now the piano sat on the other side of the living room and Jihyo’s dead plant that had been sitting in her living room for way too long had been replaced. Chaeyoung liked the change, it felt a lot more homey. “Alright let’s see. Here, this is non-toxic. Have you ever painted before?” Chaeyoung asked. “I’m guessing you haven’t. Your mommies are kind of boring. Let’s change that.” Chaeyoung smiled. “Do you know what color this is? This is red.” Chaeyoung smiled, getting some red non-toxic paint and putting some on her paint tray. She moved Nico so she was using one hand to support her body, Nico looking at her curiously. Chaeyoung put one finger in the red paint, showing it to Nico before putting it on the blank canvas. “Want to try?” Chaeyoung grabbed one of Nico’s hands and put it in the paint before putting it on the canvas. Nico giggled as a tiny hand print appeared on the canvas. “Like that? Let’s get some more colors yeah?” xx

Jihyo got through her work as quickly as possible. She wanted to be back before Nico’s nap in case Chaeyoung had trouble putting her down and she wanted to spend time with Nico. Thankfully, she got through it all quickly. She rushed home as fast as she could, noting she got home a couple minutes before Nico’s nap was supposed to start.

“Chae? I’m back!” Jihyo called when she entered the apartment. She took her shoes off before going into the living room. She saw her daughter and girlfriend sitting at Chaeyoung’s painting station. Both of them were covered in paint somehow but both had huge smiles on their faces. Jihyo couldn’t help herself but take a picture. “Hi baby.” Jihyo greeted after taking a picture.

“Oh hey! Nico look Mama’s back!” Chaeyoung giggled. “We made art.” “I can see that.” Jihyo smiled, taking Nico from Chaeyong and giggling at how much paint was on the denim dress Sana had put on her that morning. “Let’s go get you clean and then take a nap.” “I’ll clean up here.” Chaeyoung smiled. Jihyo nodded and carried Nico to their bedroom. She undressed Nico before putting her in the sink and gently wiping the paint off of her. She put on Nico’s pink frog print pajamas before sitting down on the bed with Nico in her arms. She rubbed Nico’s back and hummed to her as she waited for her to fall asleep. Nico was out quicker than Jihyo had ever seen her, and Jihyo gently put her in her crib before going back to her girlfriend. “She asleep?” Chaeyoung asked. “She fell asleep faster than she ever has with me.” Jihyo smiled, sitting in Chaeyoung’s lap. “Cool. Look at the art we did.” Chaeyoung showed Jihyo the canvas, which was covered in paint smudges and tiny hand prints. “Aww. We should hang this in the new living room.” Jihyo giggled.

“Hmm.. I think we should put it in Nico’s new room. The nice thing about moving is she will have her own room with us too.” “We could do that. Or you two could make a smaller one and it could go onto our new fancy fridge.” Jihyo offered. “Oh, sounds good. I meant to ask, would you prefer purple or blue for Nico’s new room? I was thinking we could do a sky theme with clouds and stars, but I wanted to ask your opinion first.” Chaeyoung asked.

“Chaeyoung, you really don’t have to-”

“No no no. You agreed to give me complete creative control of Nico’s room when you decided to give her her own room. It’s part of being my girlfriend.” Chaeyoung wrapped her arms around Jihyo’s waist.

“I was going to say, you don’t need to paint my daughter’s room. It’s a lot of work-”

“I know. But we can do it together. Nico deserves the world.” Chaeyoung kissed Jihyo’s temple. “Plus painting is kind of sexy, isn’t it?” “I can’t believe you.” Jihyo rolled her eyes, but couldn’t fight the proud smile on her face. Even if she was faking annoyance, she loved how much Chaeyoung loved Nico. When they were first dating, Chaeyoung had seemed apprehensive about Nico. Jihyo and her were already dating when Jihyo found out Sana was pregnant, but their relationship was only a few weeks old and definitely not in a place to be having kids together. Chaeyoung was younger than her too, so Jihyo was worried about how she would be with Nico. But ever since Chaeyoung had met her, she had been in love with Nico. And it seemed the longer they were together, the more Chaeyoung fell in love with Jihyo’s daughter. Nico was important to Jihyo, and so was Chaeyoung. She couldn’t help but be filled to the brim with happiness seeing them get along. “Love you too Hyo.”

[x-i-l-verify]

A family can be a traumatized 22-year-old war criminal and an (ex-)zombie pig toddler.

Bonus c!Dream w/ mask:

[Convict Childcare AU belongs to @the-final-sif​] [pose reference]