#ocean man au

[chimkin-samich]

Hiya! It’s been a while since I asked you lot a question. (Also I’m sorry if I ask to many questions. My friends call me Whiskers cause I’m curious like a cat 🐈.)

Anyways, I have two strange questions: 1. In the Mermaid AU, are Sun and Moon more fish-like, reptilian, or mammal-like? Also, how exactly do mer people… breed/reproduce? It’s a weird question, I know. It’s been bugging me for a while. If you don’t know, just say nothing or make shit up.

I also created characters inspired by your artwork for my fanfic The Royal Blooded Assassin. Thank you for creating such amazing artwork and stories, I really enjoy them 🫶

Aaaaaa so happy you asked since we got into the deep world building of this not long ago, ima put it under a read more cuz it’s prob gonna be long lol

Also added some merboys lore at the end of how they met since with the world building it makes more sense

AND AAAAAA VERY HAPPY WE INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE CHARACTERS BITING BITING

The merboys are a combination of fish and reptile, their skin is more reptile scale like (think of a shark skin but not as sharp) since it helps them cut through the water much easier which allows them to be able to shoot through the water with a sudden quick flick of their tail (especially Moon since he hunts like a great white, attacking with a burst of speed from below)

Although there are mammal like Mers based on whales and dolphins that have blubber like skin, mers come in large variety’s just the boys are in the similar subspecies Sun is a lion fish, moon is an angler and eclipse is a hybrid of a non-venomous lion fish (that’s why he doesn’t have spines like sun) and angler

As for mating and breeding, fish like mers like the boys are polyamorous, they tend to mate in groups of 3 and more with usually 1 female and multiple males, the males aren’t always mates with each other but it’s not a must, it’s usually done since it allows them to provide for their young and the female more efficiently as well as genetic diversity (a mer can genetically have 3-4 parents)

They are able to change their sex so if their are say 2 females and 1 male one of them will change to make the ratio be 1 F and 2 M and vice versa If say it’s 3M one of them (usually the most dominant) will become the female, the only difference is those that swapped sex aren’t as fertile but it’s not a major issue just a bit more difficult to conceive (females that were originally male do have smaller clutches tho so instead of the usual 5-6 it’s 2-4)

Mammal like mers are the opposite but they do have larger family pods with more generations, they are also matriarchal like the boys pods (it’s the majority but not the rule that all mers are matriarchal)

Fish mers either group in just mated partners like Moons pod was only his parents and siblings, but sometimes another group will be in the same territory, its never more than 3 family groups to a pod, Suns pod was the opposite being a much more social species they group into large groups of up to 3-5 family groups

Gonna add some more stuff like their habits and such since ima already typing lol,

Mers stay in their pods up until their about 12, once they reach that age their forced out to prove themselves in the wilds on their owns, and they can’t attempt to return until their at least 18, it’s a way of both making sure the most adaptable make it to adulthood and population control, they want to make sure the mers in the group are able to help sustain the group, but most mers usually end up forming their own groups since it’s also a period for them to find possible mates, sometime (in Suns species case at least) mers will return with their partners to add into their original family group, making the pod a bit bigger but it’s not very common

Mers also begin having heats near the age of 14 so that’s where the mate finding part comes in

And for a bit of lore with the boys now that y’all know this

Eclipse was a hybrid, his mother (sun sub species) was attacked by a lone desperate mer (moons species) in heat and eclipse was the only one to survive in the clutch, he stuck around until the age of 10 due to his mother protecting and teaching him, but when she was killed in a hunt he was casted out by the dominant male (rare but it happens that a male can lead the pod), he was already nearing the size of an adult (he has gigantism and double arms due to being a hybrid) at that age so it felt like a threat to them, so off he went into the wild until later finding Sun at the age of 15 and Moon at the age of 17

Sun was separated from his pod during an attack when he was about 10 and was on his own for a few months before Eclipse caught him snooping around his territory, Sun would have been terrified of Eclipse if weren’t for the fact that the fins around his head look similar to his own, so he figured it was someone of his species and latched on immediately, Eclipse being lonely and a complete sweetheart adopted him into his solo pod on the spot

Moon joined the group at around 13-14, he had been having a horrible time during his coming of age trial since he was a bigger loner than his species already once and refused to really sit down and listen when his parents tried to teach him survival skills, He meets sun first when he enters their cave looking for food, which Sun was eating, Sun seeing him starving hands it to him and once he’s finished Moons exhaustion and loneliness catches up and he cuddles up to sun, Eclipse finds them and just adopts Moon on the spot as well

Their ages go (at least once they mate with Tari)

Sun:32 Moon:33 Eclipse:37

Sun and Moon were separated from Eclipse when they were 15 and 16 when they were captured, Eclipse does end up finding them since a few years after they disappeared he goes back to his nomadic lifestyle of before, so they rejoin together when sun and moon are about 30-31, Since he caught their scent when they went back to their old cave hoping eclipse would be there before beginning to look for Tari after she helped them escape the aquarium

Eclipse does end up trying to kill Tari when he sees her for the first time cuz he smells their scent on him and assumes she did something to them, she blinds him for a few days cuz she pokes his eyes escaping his grasp before getting attacked by Sun and Moon, Hes cold towards her the first few months but warms up as he sees the interactions between her and the other 2, his hard shell fully cracks tho when she first says she thinks he’s pretty

The only others that had called him pretty were the researchers constantly searching for him (he has forums dedicated to him cuz of how unique he is) but it felt detached like just saying a painting is pretty, and Sun and Moon but they preferred calling him cool, so when someone hes starting to get along with calls him pretty that hard ass attitude basically disappears and he begins his own courting not long after lol

Eclipse isn’t considered attractive by his species standards because of the discoloration and double arm mutation so he has some self esteem issues in that regard, they went away when Sun and Moon were in his pod since they never judged him but came back in his isolation, Tari helps to ebb that away again once they start getting along and more when he begins his courting

Also Their basically immortal (like lobsters) but it’s really rare to find one that’s lived longer than 2 centuries most tend to die at the age of 70-90 due to you know living in the wilds

[starry-bi-sky]

Clone^2 Damian

If you really think about, Damian's situation in the clone^2 au is... kinda tragic? Especially in the early months of his arrival. Like,,, think about it. Damian has always known he was a clone of Damian Wayne, that he was a copy of the blood son. There was nothing 'original' about him, not even his name (of which at least Danny has that). He was just... a replacement. A disposable one, to boot.

And he knew that, to an extent, by the time he was six years old. he might not have been actively acknowledging it -- he's six years old -- but deep down he knew. And like, he's six years old. Every small child craves the love and affection of an adult, especially their parents, and even though he knew he was clone, I imagine he still considered - and still does consider, somewhat - Talia and Bruce as his mother and father. And I really doubt he was... getting it?

Now, I know Talia loves Damian, her son. At least in some interpretations she does, and in this au she does. But... a clone of her son? I'm not so certain if she would have the same affection for baby Dames as she would for Damian. I don't think she would treat him badly, but I don't think Talia would treat him warmly either. Kinda just, distant. Colder than she would have been with OG Damian.

And, I know I've mentioned Damian's arrival from Danny's point of view, and its kind of comical kind of insane from his perspective -- a little boy clone of Damian Wayne falls through a portal and immediately attacks him. That sounds like a bad joke.

But, if you think of this from Damian's point of view? It's like he just got dropped into a scary movie. Like, think about it. You're six years old, and suddenly a portal, as green and as swirling as your grandfather's pools, opens up beneath your feet and sucks you through.

After an intense bout of vertigo, you end up in a massive, urban city -- completely different from the rural mountain palace that you lived in for the last six years of your life, and in this city, you don't know any of the language. You don't know what anyone is saying, you can't read any of the signs - you are completely stranded, away from home.

And then, to make things worse, you're facing a figure with a terrifying mask and eyes as burning green as the portal you fell through. Of course Damian's first instinct, six years old, is to attack. He's terrified.

And this figure, he's not a good fighter, but he's fast, and he dodges you quickly. He grabs your sword with his hands, and tries to restrain you, saying something in a language you don't know. Naturally, Damian is just scared. He's six! He'd just be learning how to read if he was normal child going to school.

This figure halfway through the fight yanks off his mask -- he realizes you're scared -- and looking at you now, is a youthful version of your father. This is a clone of your dad, someone you have never met but, six years old, still wants to. Damian gets defensive. This is an imposter.

But this imposter eventually gets you home with him - and he's using his little box, his phone, to communicate with you through a mechanical voice speaking in arabic. and it's frustrating. The boy, the imposter, can say whatever to you just fine, but trying to talk back is a hassle and a half. He's six, he doesn't have that much patience.

He wants to go home.

And so he keeps trying to run away. He keeps trying to find out of this hellish concrete jungle, and he keeps getting lost. It's loud, and busy, and there are people talking to you and you don't understand them, and there are rules and signs you don't understand - Damian tries to cross the street and nearly gets hit by a car. He doesn't know how the road signs work, he was never taught. They didn't get to that.

And he gets lost. And it gets dark, and Damian is brave, but he is six, and this is the worst stress he's been under in all his six years of life. He wants, desperately more than anything, to go home. Why wouldn't he? The only stable... semi-stable environment he was in just got ripped out from under his feet, literally! He wants his mother.

And it's not happening.

But there's something good to be said, at least. The imposter that looks like his father always comes and finds him, no matter what. He could have left that morning, and he will find Damian at midnight, frazzled and worried, and carrying an extra jacket with him because it is cold in Amity Park and Damian is six years old.

And sometimes Damian attacks him - he's scared and stressed and he doesn't want to be here. And every time he catches the sword. Even though Damian can see it cut into his hand and pearls of blood well up and stains his fingers. Even though Damian can see him wince in pain and bite his lip, he still catches it.

But with that little box, he coaxes Damian to come back with him. It's cold, it's dark, Amity Park is unsafe at night. They can figure something out tomorrow, please. And every time, he agrees, reluctantly. And the imposter takes the extra jacket he brought with -- a flannel, a hoodie, a jacket -- and he wraps it around him. It's warm, Damian's clothes are not that thick, and even though he thinks he might hate this imposter, he still sticks close to his legs as he leads him down the street.

And sometimes the imposter carries him, because Damian's shoes are not that thick, and he cuts his foot on broken glass while they're walking home. The imposter sits in the bathroom with him and carefully cleans the cut out, and makes sure it doesn't get infected.

There's hope you know, he still has it. His mother will be looking for him. She'll be worried. He's important to them. Damian may not be the original, but he is still a blood son. He is still her son. She will come find him. This nightmare will end soon. He can go home.

And then weeks pass, and nothing. Then months, and nothing. His family is not coming for him, and it hurts. Hurts more than anything. And yet while that happens, the boy he's attacked, and hurt, teaches himself arabic in order to speak to him. He takes Damian out of the house one afternoon and buys him new clothes, or tries to. And then he keeps buying him new clothes. He gives him blankets and gives up his bed to him until they can get him one himself, and steadily he teaches Damian english.

This boy is kind. Kinder than Damian's ever experienced, and he doesn't know what to do with it. He's devastated by the fact that he is not as important to his family as his family is to him. What do you do when you're six years old and you learn something like that? When a random stranger who looks like your father is kinder to you, and cares more about you than your family did?

And then Damian tells him he's a clone. He's Damian Wayne's clone, and he tells him his purpose - that their grandfather made him to kill him. And the boy, the imposter, Damian thinks he probably already knows that he's a clone. But he doesn't say that. He just nods, and asks him if he wants to tell his original about him.

Damian says no. He doesn't want to. He's tired of living in the shadow of his original. He wants to keep this to himself. This is his. For once, all of this is his.

And to his surprise, the imposter doesn't try and convince him otherwise. He just nods, and says okay. And when Damian asks why, the imposter - his brother - looks at him and says.

"I don't care about Damian Wayne. I care about you." And in Damian's gobsmacked silence, his brother continues. He tells him that if Damian doesn't want to tell his original that he exists, then they don't need to. They don't need to worry about the LoA going after him, because clearly if his 'grandfather' needs to make a clone of Damian in order to take him out, then whatever it was that Damian Wayne was doing to keep himself safe, was working.

"Wayne already has people in his corner, he's got Gotham's army of vigilantes to keep himself safe." his brother says with his eyes as blue as moonlight. "You, however. Do not." And he continues, and says that if Damian Wayne has the same training as Damian does, then he will be fine. He doesn't need to be aware of his clone. Because if DW doesn't know about Damian, then the LoA doesn't either.

And here's the thing. Damian would not have survived in the LoA for long. Not as a clone. No matter what, he was going to die no matter what he did, and sooner rather than later. The sword of Damocles was always hanging above his head in the League of Assassins.

That portal, and meeting Danny, saved his life. There's no way around it. And to an extent Damian knows this even at six years old. He may not be aware that he would've died, but he knows that meeting Danny was the best thing to happen to him.

It's no wonder after that, that Damian is as clingy to Danny as he is. Danny is the first person he's met to offer him unconditional love, with no strings attached, only pure affection.

[legend-had-it]

4ever yearning for a fic where zoro and sanji are in-canon childhood friends and theyre like, exactly the same, but small

i want zoro to show up to the baratie [kuina and koushirou took him] and Instantly pick a fight with sanji, and this just Keeps on going forever.

and everything is the same but they pull up embarassing childhood memories whenever they start losing

[art-by-fate]

“It’s my rabbits.” Tango laughs. “My lab rabbits. They’re alive!”

“And they have glowing eyes?”

“Yeah, they, uh, didn’t before. They had normal rabbit eyes. I will admit, this is creepy.”

Drawing is from @slashmagpie ‘s fic, Empty Oceans.

[fruggle]

SirenTale (part 1)

Decided to make a lil comic of some of my siren designs from previous posts! (Photoshop didn't sace another like 6 frames I finished and I wanna cry)

[jtl-fics]

But also... Andreil on the great British bake off (they have celebrity seasons)

Look, I'm gonna be honest.

It's a disaster in two parts.

Neil is there EXPLICITLY because Stuart found out that he had been asked to go do it because he is technically British. Stuart has asked him to be the bane of Paul Hollywood's existence and is willing to do quite a bit to make the man's life hell.

"He knows what he did." is all Stuart will say on the matter.

Neil agrees to come be a Baker on the stipulation that Andrew also gets to come. Andrew has no interest in baking other than what it can produce for him to eat, he has no desire to do the laborious task of baking himself.

Stuart offers him an Aston.

Andrew agrees.

Neil is a nightmare in the tent. He hates desserts. He hates measuring. He has never done a single prep bake. He has no idea what the desserts are during the technical challenge. He just goes with his gut (his iron gut). He produces three straight desserts that Paul will not let Prue eat for fear that she will just straight up die if she eats it. He is a pile of misery upon consuming all three.

When Neil is kicked off in round one no one is surprised. Paul pats Neil on the back as he leaves the tent and Neil just leans in, "Stuart Hatford sends his regards." he says now that the mic has been removed. Paul Hollywood's tan fades but Neil doesn't look back.

Andrew is a nightmare for a completely different reason and that reason is that he very visibly and honestly does not give a single flying fuck about what he's doing but he's doing quite well. He is the most boring man on camera, zero quips, won't interact with Noel and whoever the fuck is the other presenter by this point, just him doing exactly what the recipe requires and then he always makes a point of grabbing whatever Paul and Prue have judged and taking it all back to his station so that he can eat it. He stares straight into the camera as he eats an entire three tier cake. He dedicates every week he is Star Baker to his inspiration: Kevin Day.

Andrew makes it all the way to the Finals with impressive bakes that he basically just decided on 100% by how much he thinks it would upset Kevin to watch him eat it knowing that he SHOULD be doing weight training for the olympics. ("Weight TRAINING not Weight GAINING Andrew! Do you have to hold up two fingers as you eat the entire thing? Can you at least PRETEND it's not to SPITE me?" Kevin wails as Andrew calls him for the post-credit scene where the star bakers call their families usually but Andrew just uses it so everyone can hear Kevin Day lose his mind on Public Access.)

Andrew gets to the finals and his show stopper....it's immaculate. It's gorgeous. It's a work of art. Paul Hollywood is looking at this feat of modern baking engineering in wonder.

He shakes Andrew's hand before he even tastes it and-

"Stuart Hatford sends his regards."

Paul Hollywood is now nervous to eat this cake. Does he look out at the gathered friends and family of the contestants and see Stuart Hatford? Does he remember what he did?

He eats the cake because show obligations and it tastes as good as it looks but he is oddly silent as Prue talks about it.

Andrew Wins and Paul Hollywood stays exactly one entire party's width away from Neil, Stuart, and Andrew during the entire victory picnic.

Andrew gives his post bake-off speech and flat out says it was kind of boring and he wants to go home to America. The next scene is him driving off with Neil in an Aston Martin.

Edit: Thanks @the-inner-musings-of-a-worm for the idea once again!

[the-bitter-ocean]

(ACT 3/4 OPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT SPOILERS) Wanted to practice more writing and decided to do this quick drabble based on this illustration that @startagainaprologue made for his isat randomized roleswap au! Writing is under the cut:

<You wait for her to touch you.>

< As you stand there and wait you are suddenly hit with a realization.>

< A very obvious one, if you’re being truthful with yourself. >

< She will never be the one to reach out to touch you first. >

< Euphrasie is polite like that.>

< It isn’t to say that she’s afraid of touch. >

< Quite the opposite, actually.>

< Euphrasie is nothing like you.>

< You’ve seen her for dozens of loops hug the people in your party.>

< She enjoys showing that type of affection to others. It makes her happy.>

< She will always hesitate on giving it when it comes to you.>

< Even though you know now what she wanted to say to you.>

< You know you know you know but it can’t be real until you put pen to paper.>

< You want it be the truth so badly. >

=> < Keep waiting. >

=> < Rewrite the script. >

=> < Keep waiting. >

< You wait. >

<…>

< Nothing changes. >

< Why? Why do you keep doing that? Why are you still waiting? >

< Is it really that enjoyable to revisit the same old story again and again? >

< Do you enjoy torturing yourself that much?>

< This will continue to go on like this if you don’t make the first step. >

< Ah, what did she say a few loops ago? “Be the change you wish to see in the world?” >

< Well, here you are. >

< You’re in the same spot as always. >

< She says the same lines. She reaches out to you- for just a moment before remembering her role. >

< She starts to lower her hand away.>

< You wish to change the way this ends. >

< There’s a common saying that repeating the exact same actions and expecting different results is nothing short of insanity. >

<…>

< So what will you do? >

=> < Keep waiting.>

=> < Rewrite the script. >

=> < Rewrite the script. >

((“Oh! Hello Odile! It’s very good to see-”))

((“…-You?”))

((…?!))

< You lunge forward.>

((“Odile? Are you-“))

((“Ah-!”))

< You embrace her. >

< Euphrasie feels warm and comforting. >

< Far brighter than the sun that’s currently shining down upon on the two of you. >

< You hold unto her. >

< You smile. >

< You open your eyes and look up. >

< Euphrasie is… >

<…?! >

< She’s frowning. >

< You freeze. >

< You quickly let go and move away. >

< You feel cold. >

< Why? >

<Why does she look like that?>

< Why why why why wh- >

< You feel a tug on your stomach and you- >

<……>

< “Hello, Euphrasie. After hearing what you said earlier…I wanted to conduct private investigation on the Favor Tree.” >

< “.. I’d like to get it done sooner, rather than later since we have a finite amount of time on our hands.” >

((“Oh okay! I don’t mean to distract you, Odile.”))

< She smiles at you. >

< You don’t make the mistake of smiling back at her again. >

((“.. So intense..!”))

((“ But in all seriousness, I'll let you go. See you at the Clocktower!”))

[crismakesstuff]

mermay: invincible edition

[m-kyunie]

redraw of a tiny random AU

[crocodilenjoyer]

what if you 🫵 wanted to take a nap 💤 but god said ☝️ asl dunmeshi au 💥

[criminalcinnamon]

Mermaid alenoah.

[chimkin-samich]

A bunch of cropped wips oh the fish boys in making ✨✨

[cyclone4ride]

Introducing: Noel Gruber!!

One the first people to discover the face behind Spider Silk, Noel helps Ocean become a better hero, and a better person. He’s the eye of the team, knows where trouble is and who is behind the crime. He knows what makes people popular, and what makes heroes stand out, and he was the one who designed Ocean’s suit. Those two are like fire and ice, complete opposite yet passionate in their own way, that’s why their friendship grows stronger each passing by.

[chainsawctopus]

I made a Yoshida-Denji roleswap AU some time ago but gave up on it cause I don't know how to design a good Ocean Devil Hybrid design LMAO 😭 Octopus Pochita's name is Takocchi, more random info in tags

[starwrighter]

I am not a baby!! (Yes you are,)

(Prompt) (Previous part) (Next) (Masterpost) (Ao3)

(Part four peoples!!!)

Either something went wrong with that transmission or he was going to be stuck on this planet for 99,999 hours. Both options didn't bode well for him but one was clearly better than the other.

Ancient's how long was 99,999 hours? With a number that big he was looking at spending around ten years waiting for a rescue team to show up and help them. If everyone wasn't dead by that point they'd probably have built a super cool society with Deepsea bases and nuclear power that they'd have to give up. In ten years he would've figured out what the heck was going on with him and brought them home himself. Though, ten years would give him an excuse for why he was still around the same age he was when he left. Wipe the PDA's data beyond recovery, blame the most annoying creature or plant as what shrank him, and refuse to elaborate any further.

A transmission error was more likely than his brilliant hypothetical scenario. When a spaceship as big as the aurora crashed there was bound to be some interference. Whether that interference be artificial or not was still unclear much to his dismay.

At least he had a scanner, that was a big step for him in his progression. A lot of the actually helpful blueprints were corrupted in the crash and supposedly the scanner could help recover them. Scanning fragments of salvaged tech would be the quickest way of recovery all things considered. Destroyed beacons, singed seaglides, and trashcans were scattered all throughout the shallows, pollution likely reaching farther than what he'd explored. With a crash, this big damage likely extended much farther than what was visible to him.

Not only did their ship crush who knows how many creatures and plants, the regular and radioactive pollution would screw over future generations of fish! It was the intergalactic equivalent of a catastrophic oil spill and he was an unwilling participant in it. Something deep inside him ached at the thought of him being a participant in a planet's destruction.

Chunks of broken spaceship were bad enough for the environment on its own. Batteries, trash, fuel, and hundreds of pounds of manmade resources that'd take hundreds if not thousands of years to decompose. Every scrap of metal, every piece of plastic trash no matter the size was something to poison, choke or kill the local wildlife. Sam would be furious, this wasn't a case of natural food shortages or extreme weather, this could very well be an extinction event! Nuclear power was the default for Alterra's larger ships, and if it wasn't already, the aurora was soon to start leaking radiation all over the place!

This was one of the few life-bearing planets humanity discovered! Hundreds upon hundreds of planets have been discovered within humanity's years of space exploration but life existing without human intervention was still rare. Metal, rock, and gas were what were all that were usually brought back in the beginning. As humanity's technology advanced, they went farther into space, with more habitable planets being discovered and an uptick in thriving alien life. There was always a continuous stream of new discoveries in their universe, alien floras and fauna being discovered as often as they went extinct. Even so, it'd be a cold day in hell before he shared responsibility for any aliens going extinct.

Genetic mutations, Birth defects, and massive amounts of death were the first things that came to mind when radiation was brought into the picture. Radiation was the biggest issue so far, the melted spaceship could be recycled, no matter what Alterra's stupid rules told him he could and couldn't do. Trusting a corporation to clean up their own messes was like asking a toddler to clean up their toys; it would only lead to a conniption fit and a half-assed job. It was unclear how long he was going to be here and if when he met up with the other survivors, the need for materials would only increase as time went on.

Scanning and salvaging would have to wait until the next morning. Darkness shrouded the ocean outside his life pod, making it twice as dangerous to be out there tearing wrecks apart. Bioluminescence wasn't a skill he could put on his resume just yet nor was any kind of night vision. It would be both dangerous and annoying to swim around aimlessly in the dark when he had a perfectly good life pod he could relax in.

Standing in the safety of his lifepod, Danny ran the scanner up and down his body, the tech lighting him up a brilliant blue.

"Performing self-scan. Vital signs follow continuous pattern; no adverse effects identified. Detecting tracing amounts of foreign bacteria. Continuing to monitor,"

The PDA chimed and if Danny were an actual infant like the stupid tablet insisted he was he wouldn't have understood a word of those sentences. But since he wasn't a baby he could properly understand that there were alien germs in his body that really shouldn't be there.

Yeah, That seemed like a problem but it wasn't the reason his powers were short-circuiting. Before they even entered the atmosphere his powers were going wonky. Everything felt the same as it did before he came in contact with this "Foreign bacteria" There were no physical symptoms to complain about so maybe it was just his PDA's way of warning him he was coming down with an alien cold?

Whatever it was, Danny bet fifty bucks the metal muncher was what gave it to him. The creature had a face that screamed "Hey! look at me, I have all the diseases!" Now he was no marine biologist but scrap metal and electrical wire didn't exactly seem like the healthiest snack to chew on. Although, with the resemblance it had to crocodiles back home, one could only wonder if it swallowed metal to help with digestion?

Jagged teeth like the ones on the metal muncher weren't exactly suitable for grinding up food. Finding out the Metal muncher's stomach was full of rocks would be the least surprising thing that's happened today. Metal salvage from the Aurora was way too big to work as a stomach stone so it was more likely the creature just liked chewing on metal. It seemed just as interested in the titanium deposits as it was with the salvage so maybe it was a natural way to file down or sharpen their teeth? Hopefully, the metal munchers were smart enough to avoid chewing on wires that were actively sparking.

Opening a note function on his PDA, Danny began scribbling down everything he'd learned from his encounter with the metal muncher. Easily distracted, aggressive, territorial? Deciding everything he’d seen today was their normal everyday behavior would be stupid. There were new variables in the creature’s environment that could impact its behavior. Continued observation would be helpful as would scanning the animal in the morning. If Danny was going to be stranded on an alien planet you bet your ass he’s going to be studying the local wildlife while he’s here.

“A proper sleep schedule is imperative to the physical and phycological development of young children, " A chime played on his PDA closing the notes app without any warning. A repetitive string of Z’s overtook his screen making it impossible for him to navigate through the applications. Cheeks burning Danny turned the thing off and on again stomping with a huff when the same thing happened when it booted up again.

Taking a deep breath Danny sulked over to the storage unit. It was the only flat surface in this Lifepod he could lay down on and one could only pray to the ancients that the lid wouldn’t cave underneath him. Sleeping on the floor was out of the question. biohazardous goo coated the floor, still liquid enough to slosh around with the erythematic motion of the sea. Naturally, due to preferences, Danny decided to curl up on a surface that didn't have his melted organs on it.

________

Slithering through a barren seabed that once flourished as well as one could in a dying ocean. Mourning the lives that were lost today, he'd failed all over again. His youngest had been the one to see the precursors building raise into the sky this time. A blast strong enough to shake the island that it was built on shot out into the sky. They'd expected something to crash into the water soon after but what they hadn't expected was the size of what hit the waters.

Miles of the seafloor was torn up, and thousands of animals were dead. Jason said it was ironic, even after the precursors wiped themselves out they still found ways to destroy the planet. Bruce thought it was just cruel. It was by sheer stroke of luck that none of his kids had been close to the reaper's breeding ground at the time of impact. All of them managed to remain relatively unharmed when flames and giant pieces of rubble fell from the sky.

Surviving reapers flocked to the sight of the impact, shielded, unseen through the cloud of upturned sand and rubble. It wasn't until they caught a reaper with a familiar-looking creature locked in its mandibles, red blood spilling into the waters as it once had a decade ago that they realized it was happening again.

Nearly all who they'd found near the impact site had been unresponsive, charred, or mangled with their organs strewn out through the sea. In the clutches of the predators now circling the site dying in their arms no matter how quickly or carefully they managed to pry them from the brutal maw of the reapers. Within minutes of the impact, they'd already had a death count in the dozens. It was horrific, little bodies so much like his and his children's more vulnerable forms, dulled claws of younglings that had not yet grown old enough to hunt for themselves. Worst of all was looking into their dying eyes and seeing the agony and confusion of a sentient creature facing a brutal death just as their lives had begun. But that was the death count before the others landed.

Eggs with metallic shells and odd patterning landed all throughout the crater some even landing in the cold darkness of the void where they couldn't be retrieved. Their landings had been much gentler than the initial impact. Immediately the little ones began crawling out of their shells, confused and scared, physically weak. It wasn't uncommon for the precursors to deform the unborn, kidnaping and experimenting on children who lived and died in agony. Malformities ran rampant in this batch of younglings. Instead of soft faces and the vibrant, expressive eyes, they'd come to associate with these children, there were pitch-black, featureless heads smoother than sandstone but solid as titanium. There were points when a child that looked perfectly healthy would go limp for seemingly no reason and never move again. A sped-up gestation period was known to cause problems, let alone a hatching that was induced by precursor technology. As much as it killed him to admit, these younglings, while more abundant were sicklier than the small batch of three that'd fallen years ago.

Most if not all the healthier young ones died from the elements before they could reach them. It was devastating for Dick to find the youngling he'd been guarding in his territory, covered in the luminescent cysts that foreshadowed a certain death. The children got scared when they tried to protect them and when these children got scared they had a tendency to die from it.

Every single death felt like a personal failure. It's like nothing they could do would ever stop the hurt that the precursors continued to cause a thousand years after their extinction.

"Hey... B?" Dick's voice echoed in his mind a reassuring reminder that his son was safe and close enough to contact them. However, the emotions that came in with his son's words were anything but reassuring. Stomach filling with dread he settled on the sea bed just preparing himself for devastating news.

"We've searched the entire crater- none of them survived," A wave of grief hit him like a tsunami when Dicks words sunk in.

"Not the entire crater, there's still the one that landed in the shallows," Tim chimed in.

"We watched that egg for three hours and nothing crawled out of it," Steph groaned and Bruce could almost hear the dramatic way his daughter threw herself into the sand.

"Plus it was smoking and smelled of rot," Duke added somberly, slowly gliding through the impact site by his side.

"Geez, none of them even survived long enough to start building this time!" Dick exclaimed a mournful edge to his usual cheerful tone.

"Tch, pitiful," Damian finally decided to chime in, disappointment clear in the juveniles voice

" Who's pitiful? The babies who died today or the precursors who set them up for death?" Jason questioned, a dangerous edge seeping into the bond.

"I think it's obvious who I was talking about Todd," Damian spat.

"Considering how obsessed you are with what the last group created no, it's not obvious demon spawn," Jason sneered.

"Guys!" Dick snapped. "Arguing with each other isn't help and it sure as the lava zone is hot isn't going to make you feel better for long," Murmurs of agreement rang throughout the bond.

" One of us should still keep an eye on the egg in the shallows," Bruce clutched a piece of metal in pitch-black claws, gills flaring as he swam underneath an egg floating upside-down on the ocean's surface. "Maybe they're just late bloomers?"

"...Maybe?"

"I guess it's possible,"

"Not likely,"

"Tch, if it's already rotten getting our hopes up is pointless," Damian added to the chorus of replies.

"Try saying that when we have new baby siblings swimming around," Dick beamed.

"I will not because it isn't going to happen," His youngest argued pointedly.

"Awwwww, someone's worried they won't be the guppy of the family anymore!" Dick cooed much to Damian's dismay and everyone else's entertainment.

"I am not!" Damian snapped his voice louder than Dick's despite him being the farthest from the impact zone. "If anything I'd be glad someone else would be the victim of you people's constant smothering!" Damian spat, his words lacking any true venom.

"Whatever you say kiddo,"

"Shut up Grayson!" Laughter rang out through the bond followed by teasing and cooing. A reminder that despite everything Bruce still had living children and he hoped it would stay that way long after he passed.

( @avelnfear @meira-3919 @thought-u-said-dragon-queen @hugsandchaos @blep-23 @zeldomnyo @bytheoldwillowtree @justwannabecat @shepherdsheart @starlightcat04 @stargazing-bookwyrm @pupstim )

[spectator-zee]

I have so many notes and ideas I have for my AU, yet none of them shared for fear of creating inconsistencies, bad characterization or being not 'Disney' enough. 🥲