#some people love raising infant puppies

[wyrddogs]

One of the biggest reasons I really dislike infant puppies is so much time and energy is dedicated to making sure they get training, and socialization, and playtime, and physical and mental exercise. And you have to be on top of them 100% of the time to make sure they aren't harassing your other dogs or chewing power cords or inventing new ways to kill themselves.

Which means when the infant is down for a nap I have to do my chores or rest, which means that my adult dog and I are not getting the physical exercise we are used to/need. And I'm too tired to give my adult dog the mental exercise he's used to/needs.

So I'm playing with Zaku so he'll be tired enough to nap and Kermit stands a few feet to the side and just barks at me.

Things will get better once I can take this puppy for walks, but man, this first month is rough.

[fallenhunnyapple]

Some Baby Savior AU Expansion

This is an Adamsapple AU because I love them they have taken over my life. I'm sorry in advance because there's a lot going on and I'm bad at being succinct.

This AU works under the Assumption that Adam didn't Die to get into Heaven. He was Ascended while he was still alive as a 'reward' for staying 'good', having not eaten of the Fruit of Knowledge. But his children were still tainted because of their mother, and so while they were still young, the eldest still only being in their teens, he was taken away from them to stay safe in Heaven.

Also, there are yearly meetings held a week after Exterminations where Lucifer and Adam (and Lute) meet in order to discuss quotas, numbers, etc. They're mandatory as per the agreement.

So-

Lilith left Lucifer while Charlie was still just an infant and he had to raise her alone. It was Difficult and when Lucifer was Busy, Charlie spent a lot of time being watched by her Aunts and Uncles, the Sins. But he foolishly let himself trust the people of his ring once and they took advantage, an Overlord trying to vy for more influence hired someone to steal the Princess and hold her hostage. The night before the Extermination.

Lucifer is already overworked and stressed and now having his daughter kidnapped made him lose his mind and go on a full rampage, destroying part of Pentagram City in his blind rage and panic. Which, Great for the Exorcists as long as they keep out of his way because that means they can pick off all the freaked out and fleeing sinners.

And it's during this panicked frantic mess that Adam quite literally drops in on these shady sinners (through the ground because of Hell's shitty infrastructure) who try to Kill him. Surprise, Angelic Steel weapons are being manufactured and they can Hurt Angels. They're still no match for Adam, so he kills them, but not without getting nicked by a few bullets, his arm injured, his wing useless, and his mask a little shattered. And then he hears a fussy crying sound and finds a baby hidden in a nearby crate. Pale with cute red cheeks and golden hair. She reminds him of someone. And she reminds him of his youngest daughter the last time he saw her... Well, she's hellborne, so he wasn't going to kill her anyway. Maybe he'll just take her home with him and he can puppy dog eyes at Sera until she let him keep her!

But he can't fly with these injuries, so he needs to go to the Embassy where he knows Lute and his girls will be waiting for him. But the Embassy is really close to Lucifer's rampage zone. What's he being so insane about anyway? And after almost becoming collateral, and Adam Yelling at him, it clicks. Those red cheeks were familiar for a reason. She must be his kid. There go his plans for bringing her with him. And here he was picking out a name and everything : / He can't bring himself to hate her or to take her away from her dad when he's obviously so upset. It's Begrudgingly that he gets Lucifer's attention to give the baby back. He's attached to her now.

A week after the Extermination, there's a meeting. To discuss the use of Angelic Weapons in hell, to find out who and how they're being made and distributed and ending that production immediately. And Lucifer can't exactly trust anyone in Pride anymore so Charlie comes to the meeting. She's happy to see the weird Kitty again. Adam is Thrilled to see her and spends a good chunk of the meeting making silly faces to make her laugh.

This becomes Normal, Charlie coming to the meetings, too young to understand anything but excited to get to see Adam. She has very clearly gotten attached to him.

Many years pass (Charlie is over 200 years old, and I assume that means super slow aging so she's developmentally 6 years old) and Adam tells Lucifer to not bring Charlie to the meeting. Lucifer agrees and leaves her with Bee in Gluttony. At the meeting, Adam is there in person, pacing and stressed. Lucifer arrives to find him in that state and Adam breaks down, begging on his knees for Lucifer to keep him in Hell. He can't go back to Heaven. They're going to make him remarry Lilith and she's probably into pegging and he doesn't want to be pegged.

Lucifer tries to wrap his mind around the fact that Lilith is in Heaven. Adam feels a little guilty but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't force Lilith to go home and stop being a deadbeat Mom. Lucifer is Mad that Adam never told him Lilith was in Heaven, he knew how much of a struggle he was having without her. Adam tries to make excuses and reverts to begging again, saying they won't let him leave Heaven again if he goes back. And that hits a cord. Lucifer's angry about the thing with Lilith, but Charlie didn't know her mother. She knew Adam though, and he doesn't want her to go through the pain of losing someone important to her. Okay, he'll help keep Adam safe in Hell so Heaven can't get to him. And by that Point, Adam was reminded that there's a chance that Heaven might come after Charlie so actually he'd be staying regardless so he can keep an Eye on Charlie and keep her safe.

Unbeknownst to Adam though, Lucifer has a secret. He'd fallen in love with him. It's 100% because of seeing how good Adam is with Charlie. Charlie is Lucifer's Everything, she is the most important thing in his life and she likes and gets along with Adam and Adam clearly cares for her and that means more than anything else could. And he's in love because of it. But he doesn't tell Adam that.

Together Adam and Lucifer raise Charlie, they're Dad/Daddy and Dadam (Adam came up with it because actually being called a nickname for father reminded him too much of the kids he didn't get to see grow up). And when Charlie gets old enough to move out on her own, Empty Nest Syndrome kicks in. But in the "we're not raising a kid together anymore, we should go our separate ways" kinda way. Because the entire time Lucifer never said anything about his feelings so they'd been Platonically co-parenting for over a century while Lucifer pined.

Charlie finds out that Adam is thinking of moving out and panics because she thinks this means her dads are getting a divorce. She never knew they weren't married. She never knew they weren't even Together. Because they sure Seemed to love each other all those years! She tries to encourage her dad to tell Adam how he feels and he does. It doesn't go well. Adam doesn't believe it, he refuses. (And it's not because he doesn't love him, Adam has loved him consistently since Eden) But he just can't accept it and decides it's Definitely better to move out. Lucifer goes into a depressive isolated episode while Adam is out there going on week long Benders to try and cope. The Sins have to get involved once Charlie reaches out, worried about both of them because Lucifer is barely responsive and Adam is dismissive. Ozzie tries to find out what's going on with Lucifer and Bee is taking care of the doped up drunken depressed mess that is Adam, she knows how to deal with drunks.

The Sins and Charlie are going to help them sort out their shit so they can actually try to be happy together the way they should have been the whole time. That's about where the conversation's ended for now. Orz this is long

Gonna @ the people who seemed interested in more info @lordxsblog @fightinsoda

[lesbian-for-arthur-morgan]

Hello! Love your work!

Can you do headcanons for Hosea with a daughter? (Or child if you'd prefer gender neutrality)

She's his kid with Bessie, and I was wondering how the two would be, growing up in the gang, how he'd be as a father, how she'd be with the other members, whatever you'd like to write!

As for her age, I'm thinking young adult during the events of the game, maybe John's age too

Thank you!

Hosea with a Child

Gender Neutral language!

Genre: Fluff! Some angst - No game spoilers Featuring: Dad!Hosea, Platonic John, Platonic Arthur Warnings: Mentions of death and grief

AN: I hope you like these! I really enjoyed writing this request it was so cute and fun to think about Hosea as a dad raising a kid in the gang <3 Thank you so much

---> Requests are open! Check out my guidelines if you have any questions!

<><><><>

Childhood Years:

According to Hosea, you were the only good thing he had ever done with his life.

Being his only child with Bessie, you were spoiled as much as he could afford. As an infant you were given the warmest blankets, the softest toys, and the most attention he could give you.

That short period of time where he left the gang was around the time that you were born after him and Bessie’s wedding. He wanted to give you a proper childhood away from the hardship of the life of an outlaw.

As he said himself, though, the life just draws you back in.

When he went back to Dutch he brought you and Bessie with him.

Hosea worshiped and adored you. Everything he did in the gang he convinced himself was for you and Bessie.

He told you the story of Robin Hood as you grew old enough to understand stories before bedtime. He’d sit you in front of the fire and smile as you gazed up at him in wonder while he told the tale of the hero who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

During the earlier years of the gang, when they still stole for the good of others in one way or another, you always thought of Hosea as Robin Hood - he was a hero to you.

You started calling Dutch “Uncle Dutch” and considered many other members of the gang as family.

You were only eight when Arthur was brought in to the group. You followed him like a shadow and it warmed Hosea’s heart to see you trying to play with another kid (even though Arthur was fourteen by this time - he was still the youngest person for you to hang around).

Since Hosea eventually started viewing Arthur as a son, you viewed him as your badass older brother.

Teen Years:

By the time you turned fifteen, you were expected to start contributing to the gang. Most of the time you were just a pickpocket. Hosea didn’t want you robbing trains or putting yourself in any real danger, and Bessie wouldn’t allow you to do anything that could taint your soul (as she would put it).

For a while you were just quick and sneaky.

Arthur watched over you whenever you went into town to grab a few coins and watches from the people walking through the streets just in case anyone caught on to your act and you needed assistance.

You whined to Hosea that you felt like he didn’t trust you to take care of yourself since Arthur was always babysitting you, Hosea said he’d figure something out. He knew you could take care of yourself, of course.

He fixed it by telling Arthur to be sneakier while he was watching you.

Once you turned sixteen, Hosea started taking you on hunting trips with him. He wanted to make sure you could take care of yourself and your mom in case anything happened to him.

“Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat forever.” He’d say on nearly every hunting trip the two of you went on.

“But we’re hunting deer, Pop, not fishin’.” You’d correct him and he’d just wave his hand in the air as if to dismiss you. “Same concept, kid.” He’d retort.

At seventeen, John joined the Van Der Linde gang. It was the first time there was someone exactly your age near you daily that you got to interact with.

At first, John was following Arthur around like a puppy and it made you so jealous. You complained to Hosea about it, you said John was taking your brother from you and it wasn’t fair.

Hosea laughed lightly whenever you dramatically groaned and whined and told you to give it time, John would become your friend as well.

Hosea was right of course, as always. After a month or two the amazement over Arthur Morgan wore off and John became a great friend of yours.

The two of you bickered a lot, though. Being the same age and all, you were constantly at each other’s throats.

Bessie always said that you and John were like an old married couple. That comment caused you two to look at each other gag over dramatically.

Young Adulthood (around the events of the game):

When your mom, Bessie, died a part of you died with her. Hosea might as well have died too.

For a year, he never left his bed and when he did it was only to grab another bottle of whiskey to drown his sorrows in.

Some days were better than others during he grieving, but there were weeks that would go by when he couldn’t bear to look at you.

You had Bessie’s eyes and her smile. You had all the best parts of Bessie and seeing her in you but not seeing her made Hosea’s heart shatter all over again.

During this time you depended on Arthur and John to be your rocks. They were the ones who kept your focus away from the black hole of grief eating away at your insides. And during the days that the grief was too much to handle, they pat your back and held your hand while you let yourself rot away in bed.

Some nights John would come to see you when he couldn’t sleep and the two of you would cry over Bessie until you drifted out of consciousness.

Everyone felt her death deeply.

As time goes by, your wounds have healed as have Hosea’s. He sobered up and after a long crying session where all you two did was hold each other and reminisce over Bessie, you were a family again.

During the events at Blackwater, you were Hosea’s first priority. He got you packed and to safety as fast as he could once it was time to flee.

In that huge snowstorm on your way east, Hosea gave you his extra jacket and gloves to keep you warm. You rode in the wagon with Abigail and Jack, huddling with them for warmth and assuring them that John would be okay and back soon.

For a while after Blackwater, Hosea refused to let you out of his sights. After what happened with Bessie and the chaos that was that whole situation, you were the only thing he lived for. He couldn’t have anything happen to you.

You didn’t complain, either. You didn’t want to be away from him for a while. You were terrified during Blackwater, terrified you’d lose him or John or Arthur. You let him baby you and watch over you like a hawk as long as it gave his mind peace.

At Horseshoe Overlook, you went hunting with Hosea as often as you could. It was like a tradition for the two of you.

“Give a man a fish,” He’d start his lecture on the importance of learning survival skills and you’d have to stifle a groan and a laugh.

You’d probably heard that phrase nearly a million times at that point. He always said fish, too. Never changed it for whatever you were hunting.

Hosea wasn’t only your father, but your best friend. He was the best person you knew despite his occupation, and you adored him with your entire being.

He wasn’t technically a good man, but he was a great dad.

<><><><>

I hope you enjoyed these!! Thank you for reading

[sonic-fankid-showdown]

Poll 3, Round 1.

About Geode: (by @oddogoblino) In an attempt to impress The Eggman, a mad yet inexperienced scientist stole Gerald Robotnik's blueprints of Project SHADOW and tried to improve on it to make the definitive true ultimate lifeform to defeat Sonic once and for all. To add insult to injury, the eggsupporter had chosen to use some of Sonic's DNA along with Shadow's, that'd been found from battle aftermaths, to make his creation. Before their prototype was even finished though, GUN had found out about Project REMASTERED. Rouge told Shadow about it before GUN could do a raid though so he could handle this personal matter how he found fit. Well, Shadow went and destroyed the lab of course, though he wasn't prepared to see just how early in development the project was. He was expecting something full grown but all he found was the prototype barely in the infant phase in its development. Being unable to just kill a baby or adopt this all powerful baby off to an unsuspecting family (and also being unknowingly motivated by Black Arms instincts to keep the species alive), Shadow decided to take the little hoglet in as his own. At first, Shadow was too caught up in caring for Geode off instinct to think about telling anyone about him, but just a few months in and Geode already began showing his defects in creation and Shadow turned to Sonic and Tails for help. Now, Geode has inhibitor rings to keep his chaos energy at a stable level and has been growing up comfortably from home to home, adventure to adventure. Geode himself though, by the time he's 16, is a very quiet, introverted, affectionate, emotional, compassionate, and sort of awkward character. He's not good at social but he cares about others and is very forgiving when hes wronged and has decent emotional intelligence. He's a "be mindful of how you use the water if the cup's half empty" kinda thinker. He's very curious on just about anything new he discovers. Others can think of him as being a bit simple minded sometimes though. People tend to overwhelm him easily so he finds most comfort in spending time with Chao. If he's not on a mission, he's a bit of a clumsy puppy of a guy. But, if Shadow puts 2 thoughts into something and Sonic puts none, then Geode only puts 1 thought into everything he does. He's a pacifist who can't bring himself to hurt living beings, he can fight nonsentient robots just fine but otherwise he prefers to trap any living enemies in whatever he can get his hands on. He's a stealth type and has a habit of stealing artifacts and other magical things he deems too powerful to let be taken even by his dads. He can see chaos auras 24/7 to a heightened sense, being able to see the chaos energy even in plants along with being able to see the chaos energy left behind from those deceased (aka, ghosts). He's faster than Sonic but he's weaker than Shadow. He loves the world around him very dearly, having Sonic's passion for life/the world and Shadow's determination to fight for himself. Geode also has picked up mechanics as a small hobby though he's not very passionate about it.

About Brutus: (by @susahnasomething) A genetically enhanced clone of Shadow (mixed with Sonic's DNA) Brutus was made and raised by Eclipse the Darkling, who hoped to bring back the black arms by making a bunch of super powerful clones. This was not good for her. Eventually the heroes defeated Eclipse, and Shadow rescued her (not her clone siblings sadly, cause SOMEONE DECIDED THAT THERE SHALL ONLY BE ONE) and was then raised by sonadow. Brutus is a dark and conceited girl, reminding everyone of past shadow. Who firmly believes she cannot be killed nor destroyed, so she tends to throw herself into danger. (shes the ultimate lifeform nothing can hurt her!!) . . . totally!

[pianocat939]

Great Celina!! I have came far and wide to ask you ... HCs/theories on Yandere big mama BUT! He was raised by big mama instead of splints ~ 👀 love to see what you come up with

Hello traveler from afar! I shall heed your request!

Tw: Leo tries to eat bugs, betrayal, manipulation, murder and kidnapping at the yandere part (it's towards the bottom)

Theory on Leo if Big Mama was his Parent

(Now before we actually begin I assume you’re talking about Leo because I did briefly touch on a former post about it but if you were talking about all 4 I apologize.)

The only possible way I can see Leo being even in Big Mama's clutches in the first place is if Lou Jitsu dropped him on accident while trying to escape Draxum's lab. It can be both in the yokai or human world but either way, bro got left behind.

Big Mama finds a poor turtle baby and decides to take him home since there was no one to keep her company after Lou went dashy-dash on her. And guess what, she is a surprisingly great mom.

Spiders are known to just straight up leave their babies as soon as they are born, but as she is a yokai, not an animal, so she has empathy for infant Leo. She would do the things that society would consider a "loving mother". Although some of her spider behaviour does change a few things: she feeds him bugs, nips him lightly if she's in her spider form, and carries him around in her silk threads.

Oh, and he picks up her accent lmao.

By the time he's a child/pre-teen stage, he is 100% brat. He'll mess up his mummy's hotel decorations, steals food from the chefs, and do anything a child can think of. But there's one thing that's the most important in this stage, his development of manipulation. Not only is he the son of the owner of Grand Nexus Hotel, but he is also a child. And children can get away with anything if they use the right words.

Whenever he causes mischief and someone tries to report him on it, he'll do puppy eyes with a hint of sadness in his voice, and before you know it, he deceives the staff member. This lets him get away a few times until Big Mama notices his talent with words.

She starts giving him little tasks such as "Try to get that dealer to give you that fruit for free," or "Have that little boy let you play with his toys". This slowly starts turning gears in Leo's head and by the time he's a teen he helps his mummy out in "assisting" customers.

So the day when the turtles meet Big Mama, imagine their surprise when they see another turtle dressed in fine formal wear. The other 3 boys always heard stories from Splinter about how they had a missing brother that has red marks on his face. There was no possibility that he isn't their brother.

As expected, Mikey runs up to him in a big hug, which is lightly shrugged off by Leo as he thinks Mikey is just another customer. He's bombarded with questions from Donnie and Mikey but he waves his hand and walks off, stating he needs to attend to his job.

Skip forward to the time Big Mama reveals her yokai form and the two groups start fighting. Midway through the battle, Leo attacks one of them, most likely Donnie as he is the easiest to target. Donnie feels betrayed and painstakingly says 'brother' but Leo only laughs and retorts he's not their brother.

So now he's their eternal enemy.

Ok now for some Yandere Hcs because that's my job now.

He's not too different when compared to his normal counterpart but there are a few noticeable changes in his personality.

He tends to do some more indirect actions such as having hitmen, or throwing people in the Battle Nexus whenever there's a rival. If he's really feeling murderous though, he'll fight them right in the arena.

He doesn't have an "I feel useless" problem like normal Leo either. Instead, he has a more possessive and "what would you do without me" type of thing.

If he is to kidnap MC, they're going to be trapped in the Hotel as that is where he is often times and the security guards/cameras are everywhere (the staff does not want to upset Big Mama's son, he has a horrible temper if things don't go as planned).

If I were to summarize everything, he's a mix of normal Leo and Donnie.

——————————————————

Something tells me he would try to crawl around like a spider as a kid.

- Celina

[seravphs]

ੈ♡˳·˖✶ — HAWKS x READER 

There’s a beautiful boy in your church and he’s asking for forgiveness. 

wc — 1k

tags — hawks and his catholic guilt complex, church maid/daughter of the local priest reader, religion, title from Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Is it rude to tell someone they don’t get confession? 

Well, in the first place, it’s not like confession is something that can be got. Confession is…confession. It’s just what it is, but it’s not what it’s not, and what it’s not is whatever the pretty blonde boy is doing in the confessional. He comes in and tries to flay himself alive on the altar of self sacrifice, which is decidedly not in your father’s teachings. 

There’s a reason your brother got sent to the seminary and your parents made you the church maid (church mouse, more like, your brother teases). You’re in your head too much, talking to yourself about your daydreams, but painfully quiet when addressed. 

For all your faults, however, you’re observant. 

Because you’re quiet and soft spoken, people overlook you. The church grandmothers pinch your cheek and call you ‘such a good child’, only to whisper their concerns about your inability to find a husband behind your back. You know they’re only gossiping out of concern, but still. You’ve got time! What’s wrong with being an old spinster, anyways? At least you would never have to ask a man for money if you were self-sufficient. 

You’re not worried. If anything goes wrong, you can extort all the churchgoers with what you know (that was a joke). But what else are you supposed to do with all this information? You’re holding everybody’s secrets and it’s eating you up inside. You’re worried that any time you open your mouth, they might just spill out of you, like the fairy tales about the girl who could only speak in jewels. 

Maybe you need to go to confession. 

Someone beat you to it. 

You can’t see him inside, of course, or what would be the point of a confessional? But you can tell from the minuscule details, as you always have. The sunlight from the large windows have trails of dust motes floating through them, shining on the light marks left behind by expensive dress shoes. The air smells like honey and oranges, cologne that no one else in this town could afford to commission. The single blonde strand of hair (that man shed like a dog, honestly) on the floor tied it altogether. 

Hawks was here. 

Quietly, surreptitiously, you try to sneak off. He’s doing his thing, and you don’t want to disturb him. As nice as it is to hear the soft rumble of his voice smooth over the words of his prayer, you don’t want to eavesdrop. You felt bad enough the first few times you did it and realized how tortured he was. 

Hawks was the most desirable bachelor in the town. He had been adopted by the mayor when he was just an infant and raised to be the perfect successor. He was never anywhere short of the golden boy he had been taught to be, always polite, always the gentleman. You like him well enough, of course. Like everyone else, you couldn’t help but be charmed by him. He just had that aura to him, a sort of call for love that made him irresistible. It was like the beauty of a clear spring day or the sweetness of a newborn puppy - you couldn’t help but adore it. It was only natural.

Still, there was a lack of authenticity that made Hawks distant. He was wealthy, powerful, and well-read, it was true, but more than that, it seemed like there was a glass partition between him and the rest of the world. 

You didn’t think it was all a facade. It was impossible to be as kind as Hawks was and have it all be fake, but you didn’t think it was all real, either. It was like watching a doll rather than a human, simply eerie to witness such perfection and know that some of it must be manufactured. 

Just as you’re about to escape the room, you’re too lost in your thoughts about Hawks to hear the door swing open. 

He sees you. 

“Hello there.” 

You resist the urge to squeak (you are not a mouse, you argue with your brother in your head). 

Run or stay? Fight or flight? Go or stand your ground? 

While you’re deliberating, he’s already caught up to you. 

“The priest’s daughter, right?” he smiles. “It’s good to see you again.” 

You’re a little stunned by his admission even though you shouldn’t be. Hawks is perfect, it makes sense his memory is as well. You try to convince yourself it’s nothing personal, that it’s just part of his upbringing when you ask, “You remember me?” 

“Of course I remember you,” he says. “You were the one who left me the poem, didn’t you? By the Oliver girl?”

You had. 

It was after you had caught him at confession. You hadn’t meant to. It was just-

It had been hours, he was still in there, and you needed to clean.

Hawks had a peculiar way of praying. He knelt down, head pressed firmly to the ground, and prayed like he was begging. It was as if he thought he needed to suffer to get what he wanted - to deserve what he wanted. You caught snippets of prayers on your rounds every hour or so, checking to see if he had left yet. Sometimes, all he was asking for was the right to live. To be made worthy of the gift he had been given, and yet the one he felt he did not deserve. 

But Hawks was a good boy. You knew this. Everyone knew this. You were surprised he didn’t. 

In a moment of sympathy that had been startled out of you by the force of his prayer, or just simple compassion that the Lord had charged you to have for every human being, something had compelled you to slip the poem you had stolen out of your brother’s books into the side pocket of his bag. Then you ushered him out. 

It hadn’t meant anything, really. You were surprised he even found it. 

“Did you like it?” You ask, lamely, with nothing else to say, grasping for topics of conversation. 

Something about his smile seems different from usual. Softer around the edges, eyes crinkled in a way that’s likely to give him premature wrinkles. “It was a kind thing to do. Thank you.” 

Perhaps it’s because he’s so good, but something about Hawks makes you give way to impulsivity. You want to take care of him. It’s like looking at a soaked kitten left on the side of the street, except Hawks is inconceivably more privileged, and yet- 

Something about him seems in need of spoiling. 

It’s that urge that makes you stumble over your next words, struggling to get them out. “I’m not a priest but you’re always welcome! I mean, of course, the church is always open to everyone. You know what I mean!”

“I do,” he laughs. “Thank you. Really. I have a gift for you, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Oh-“ you’re pleased against your will. He’s so good. At making you love him, at everything. “You don’t have to.”

“Please. I want to. Will you wait to open it until I leave? I’m a little nervous to see your reaction.” 

Now you’re nervous, but you doubt that he would give you anything dangerous. When the door swings closed, you unwrap the beautifully wrapped package he pressed into your palm. It’s a sturdy tube lined with jewel toned velvet. When you pull off the lid and turn it upside down, neatly folded paper cascades into your hand. 

A letter?

(A confession?)

A poem. 

[folkloreguk]

💌🧸 Brother's Best Friend

A/N: Got this request a while ago and now I'm wondering why I've never written this trope before bc this was so fun??? Lmk how you liked it! x

genre: optional bias (m) x reader (f), smut, size/strength kink??, choking, dom!bias (it’s kinda playful tho), brother's best friend!au, sneaking around, play fighting, lowkey getting caught but not directly?

words: ~ 4.1 k

disclaimer: I don’t mean for the age gap to be gigantic…I’m talking about anything from 1-2 years maximum tbh!!! Anything else would be weird and I’m not about that! They’re also both obviously consenting adults!

[H/N means 'his (bias) name']

In youreyes, your first meeting had been a disaster. The new spider man movie had been released only days ago, and you were adamant on seeing it. And to your luck, your older brother and his best friend had already made plans to watch it together. As a little sister, you were treated like the baby of the family, and it didn’t matter that you were far from being an infant anymore. So naturally, your brother had been condemned by your parents to bring you along. He declared his distaste in your presence by attempting to ignore you, but you were used to that. Just like you were aware of his bad moods, you knew he could change within minutes and magically turn into the sweetest, most caring big brother you could wish for.

Whatever. You didn’t need his approval to enjoy the trip to the movie theater, you told yourself. Had it not been for his best friend, who you hadn’t seen in ages. H/N and you had never properly spoken before, and the last time you saw him he had been an awkward, prepubescent boy who had appeared at your door to pick up your brother for a playdate. There was no trace of immaturity now. Instead, it was you who had morphed into an awkward, shy mess at the sight of him.

His ‘hello’ had a warm and deep melody to it which swooped you up in his aura so suddenly, you had no time to prepare. Had his smile always been this stupidly charming? Hell, it was so bright, you had to meticulously inspect the ground every time he sent a grin your way. When before you hadn’t felt guilty for being a bother, you now sure did. What impression would you leave, trailing behind the older boys like a lost puppy? What would he take you for? The annoying little sister who didn’t have friends of her own? The mood-killer, who wouldn’t understand any of the boys’ inside jokes? The anti-social, weird girl who was obsessed with fictional men, like people loved to belittle teenage girls with normal interests?

As things turned out, his initial opinion of you was quite the opposite. If only you could have spied into his brain, it would have saved you a landslide of worry. Although your brother took up all of H/N’s attention before the movie started, he noticed you a good amount. To be precise, you blew him away at first sight. Your cute laugh won him over in a matter of seconds and he liked that your merch sweater could have been stolen straight out of his own closet. He didn’t want to feel too smug, but the way you diverted your eyes away from him whenever he looked in your direction only boosted his confidence further.

Your brother might have warned him. Stay away from her. She’s off limits for you. But not a thousand vicious, older brothers could have kept him from trying to get to you. It was up to you, after all, whether you wanted him around or not, and not to your brother. From that day on, H/N didn’t skip out on a chance to see you, even if it meant merely an exchange of a few words, or a simple greeting. And to his luck, you turned out to be equally as enraptured by him.

There was something about the untouchable, the forbidden, that attracted him to you even more. Plus, you were simply too precious to forget about. One morning, you dropped off a beanie at his place, which he had left at your house after meeting with your big brother the previous day. When he had asked if he could drive you to school as a thank you, you happily accepted. You had marked that day as the first day of your new life. First, it was harmless flirting. To be honest, you were under the impression he was merely messing with you. Because you were the cute little sister of his best friend. Because you would turn into an awkward shell of a person who had lost all ability to articulate, and your cheeks would burn as if they were on fire, whenever he charmed you.

But the flirting slowly reached newer levels, and before you knew it you were discussing your sexual fantasies over text messages and giving him bedroom eyes as you opened the front door for him. “H/N’s here!” you would then shout to your big brother. Then you would watch the two boys walk off to your brother’s room, pondering why life had to be this way for you. It wasn’t fair. Siblings were supposed to share, right? Why did you have to wait your turn until after midnight, when no one would notice, to spend time with H/N?

But to H/N, the sneaking around in the middle of the night and the secret messages you sent to each other, it all added to the excitement. Surely, there were days on which he wished he could just break the truth to your brother. The impact it could have on their friendship was enough intimidation for him to refrain, though. Things were better off this way, for now.

Today was no exception to your usual lies. When your brother asked if you would go out with him to do some shopping, you had played the victim and feigned a stomachache. Your parents wouldn’t be home all weekend. You’d have been stupid to waste a perfect opportunity like that. Who knew when you could have H/N in your bed the next time? Normally, you were restricted to his car, or to his bed in the dark of night. Yes, those places had something enticing at first glance. But the backseat of a car was only enjoyable for so many clandestine meetings. So today you notified him of your golden opportunity before your brother had even walked out the door.

The moment H/N texted you that he was outside your home, you opened the front door and dragged him to your room.

“Are you in control today, little one?” he asked, closing the bedroom door after you.

“Why are you asking that?” you replied, not wanting to talk at all but rather do so much more productive things.

“I don’t know…perhaps because you haven’t let me say a word since I came through the door,” he said.

“Right. Maybe I’m planning on tying you up, blindfolding you, and torturing you with ice and wax,” you joked in a casual tone, despite not usually requesting such graphic ideas.

“I don’t know if I’d let you do that,” he grinned with raised eyebrows. “Besides, I know you’d rather be at the receiving end of that. It’s a sweet idea, though. If we had some more time…”

“Think you could get away from me if I tied you up?” you said, but he was towering over you with the calmness of a king who knew he reigned over the situation.

“We both know I’m stronger than you, doll,” he said. You didn’t like it when boys called you weak. But you’d let it slide, knowing he was only joking and would never underestimate you outside of the bedroom. He put his lips right up to yours, so you felt his breath on them. His fingers came up to cup your face, but then slowly inched to your neck. When they closed around your neck, putting the slightest amount of pressure on your skin, you whimpered quietly.

“Need reminding?” he asked. As much pent-up frustration you had, and as much as your stomach was flipping upside down from how badly you needed him, you just had to play with him. You knew it would make for more fun.

“I think- “ you started, with a grin. Then you grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pushed him backwards, until he was stumbling. Although caught off guard, he was quick to pull you along with him as he fell onto your bed. You landed on top of him with a small squeal.

“Go on, let’s see who can throw the other off the bed first,” he teased with a superiority that only spurred you on. Then again, you would always be in the mood for the oldest childhood game you had ever known. Only now it wasn’t your brother, but his best friend you were playing against. It added a layer of excitement, and after only seconds, giggles had overtaken you as you struggled in his grip.

“No tickling is allowed,” you said. He nodded obediently with a smirk that told you he might not abide by your rules.

At first, you had attempted to hold him down by his arms. But your legs tangled, and he pushed his chest up against yours, like he was about to flip you over. Your plan seemed to be working only momentarily. You groaned a little as he grabbed your wrists swiftly and held his stance against your attempt to pull his upper body to the side.

“Cute,” he said. That’s when you realized, he was barely struggling, barely trying, even. While you were giving your most, he smirked like he was watching a kitten trying to fight a lion. It was child’s play to him, keeping you in check. Literally. With an annoying expression of amusement on his face, he let you have the upper hand for a while. Then, as if you had never had an ounce of advantage, he turned it around and pulled you into him. His eyes suggested he might just send you tumbling down onto the floor any moment now. Nonetheless, you weren’t going to give up so easily. Taking your chances, you let go of his arms and moved sideways, so you could have your go at pushing him towards the edge of the mattress.

“I don’t think so,” he said. Suddenly, he bear-hugged your body and rolled you both over. Before you could protest or defend yourself, your arm was dangling off the side of your bed and if you had moved a tiny bit further, you would have slid off the bedsheets and right onto your carpet. It was his turn to straddle you now. As if his actions hadn’t been enough declarations of his strength, he pinned your wrists to the bed above your head and gave you a challenging smirk.

“I was going to let you win, doll. But you weren’t trying hard enough,” he said. “What are you going to do about it?”

What were you going to do? He had you completely immobilized. “Just let it go, then. We get it, you’re super strong and super big and the coolest,” you said.

He seemed to take an instant liking to your declaration. “Say it again. This time minus the eye-rolling, sugar.”

“You’re stronger than me,” you said, trying to avoid the laughter that was threatening to come out. Could he read in your gaze how badly you wanted him to kiss you already? If he could, he wasn’t acting on it. Instead, he bent to the crook of your neck and spoke.

“Does it turn you on that I can overpower you?” his breath fanned your ear and you had to close your eyes to control yourself.

“Yes. Because I trust you,” you answered truthfully. The corner of his lips curled into a cocky grin.

“You know what? I think I’d rather you stay in bed with me instead of throwing you on the floor. There’s so many things we can do up here, isn’t that right, little one?” His lips brushed over your cheek and then over your lips as he spoke. The nickname had always made you weak in the knees and he knew it. When he finally enveloped your lips in a kiss, you swore you could feel an electric spark jump between the two of you. The mellowness of it turned into hunger rapidly, and as soon as his tongue flicked over your bottom lip, you whimpered like you hadn’t seen him in a year.

“Needy, are we?” he asked, running his hand up your sides and underneath your shirt. He could say that again. “Let’s get these off, then.”

The seconds in which you pulled off your clothes and couldn’t hang on his lips and feel his skin on your body should have been considered a form of torture in itself. Then, time always went by so much slower than usually.

When you had both shed off your clothes, he climbed back on top of you. Instead of straddling your hips he was now resting between your legs. There was nothing separating you from him, and it was apparent not only through the body heat that radiated off him. He reached down and whilst peppering kisses on your chest, slid his fingers through your slick arousal that was pooling in your core.

“You’re so wet,” he said in surprise, but couldn’t hide his approval and self-confidence in his voice.

“I know,” you said, rolling your eyes but simultaneously fighting the urge to moan at the smallest of touches he was teasing your with. “I’m so horny. Can’t we skip foreplay?”

“Poor doll,” he said. “I should’ve come over earlier, huh?”

“You know that wasn’t possible,” you said. With a desperate look, you pleaded him silently.

“I wanna taste you,” he said, but your put your hand on his cheek softly.

“Maybe later?” you said. “Please, I need to have you inside of me. Now.”

“You’re extra cute when you’re this needy,” he smiled. “Are there still condoms in your nightstand?”

You nodded and had never moved so fast to open a drawer in your life. Pretending to have any patience left, you waited for him to roll on the rubber.

“I love the way you look at me,” he said. “When you’re waiting for me. Could watch you for hours.”

“God, I hope you won’t. Come here, please?” you replied, making him chuckle. He lined himself up with your core, but then made no inclination to move ahead. His dark eyes and little head tilt told you everything.

“Don’t mess with me anymore,” you whined, reaching for the back of his neck to pull him closer. “Do it. H/N.”

“Beg for it.” His words twisted something in the pit of your stomach. Although you were burning with hunger, you could never say no to him. Then again, you were curious to see what would happen if you did.

“What if I don’t? Don’t you want to fuck me as much as I want it?” you challenged him. Something glinted in his eyes, and you knew you shouldn’t have even brought it up.

“I can always do this,” he said, and you followed his eyes down his body and to where he had wrapped his hand around his cock. Slowly, he jerked himself off, and you weren’t sure he was biting his lip because of the feeling or to discompose you. His small sigh should’ve been caused by you. This wasn’t what you had wanted. His tip was right by your slit. He could’ve pushed his length in so easily, and yet he wasn’t. Debating what to say, you kept your eyes trained on his hard member that looked so delicious in his hands. His deep groans rang in your ears. It didn’t take long for you to cave.

“Fuck. That should be me around you,” you said. “That should be my pussy you’re fucking and not your hands. Please.”

“Isn’t that right?” he said.

“Yes. Please, fuck me. I would feel so much better than your hands, and you know it. Please,” you whined. “I need you right now H/N. Please.”

You added another ‘please’ – for good measure – because the way his tongue darted out and licked his smirking lips could make you say anything if it would get him to fuck you.

“It’s okay, I’ll take care of you,” he said. “Think you can take me?”

“Yes, yes-, I can! Please, fuck me,” you said in a waterfall of words, and he chuckled handsomely.

“Good girl,” he said, running a gentle hand over your head. “If it’s too much you let me know.”

“As always.”

The tip of his cock gently pushed into your core, making you hold your breath as he entered you slowly. It caused you to feel every inch with every second. Your brain felt fuzzy, and you sighed gratefully at the relief.

“Fuck, you’re so perfect,” he moaned. The carefulness in his thrusts paired with his moon eyes at you only remained that way for a few seconds. Then, he straightened up and grabbed your hips to drag you in closer. You moaned helplessly when he almost pulled out completely, so slowly it almost made you crazy, only to slam his length into you until his tip brushed against the deepest spot inside of you. It was an action he repeated over and over, until you were reduced to a puddle of desperate whimpers, and you clasped the bedsheets in your hands tightly.

“You like it this way, little one?” he asked. He was apparently finding enjoyment in your reaction. How you could barely keep your eyes open, and when you did, your eyeballs threatened to roll to the back of your head. How your fingers clenched around the closest plushie, and you cradled it against your chest in bliss.

“Yes- fuck,” you said. “Feels so good.”

Of course, right as you said this, he had to change things up. His thrusts turned lazy and messy as he leaned backwards slightly. With an equally lazy demeanor, his thumb flicked over your clit, rubbing circles on it.

“Let me hear you. Say my name,” he said, and you quietly moaned his name. You adored the way it sounded, voiced like this, with barely more than a breath underneath your soft tone. Now and then, his cock slipped out of you, making you clench around nothing and furthermore had you going completely out of your mind. When he would push himself into your opening again, it felt as if it was the first time he was entering you today. Except you felt it repeatedly, each time as incredible as the previous. Your mouth hung open, rendered speechless except for the little moans and whimpers sounding from your throat. There was a familiar knot beginning to form in your stomach, tying firmer with each passing minute.

As if he could read your mind, he decided then he was done with his sweet torture of teasing you to an orgasm. You couldn’t be mad at him, though, because what he had planned was just as perfect, if not better. His hands wandered to their original place on your sides, and he began to snap his hips into yours at a faster pace. A small cry of surprise left your lips, while he only smirked at you through heavy-lidded eyes. Impulsively, you lifted your legs a little, intensifying the feeling of his member roughly dragging through your velvet walls.

“H/N, I’m so close,” you whimpered.

“Me too,” he replied, not slowing down for a second.

His broad frame towering over your body was a sight you would never get enough of and his gazes at you were hot enough that they could have stopped your heart in its tracks. A few strands of hair stuck to his forehead and there was a thin sheet of sweat on his neck. It all just made him more breathtaking to you. The slight pain from his nails digging into the skin on your waist was staggering, and you could barely wait to see the masterpiece of marks he would leave tonight.

You were a moaning mess, flying on cloud nine and simultaneously overwhelmed by his treatment of you. It clouded your mind at took over your whole body like you were made for him to fuck you. His length filled up your tight hole and he did it with such force that your whole body rocked into your mattress in a steady, fast-paced rhythm. He let go of your waist then and supported himself on his arm by the side of your head. When his other hand went to your neck you shuddered in anticipation.

“You should see yourself with my hand around your throat,” he said. “So pretty, little one.”

“We can do it in front of a mirror sometime- ,” you suggested, but were cut off at the end of the sentence as his fingers tightened on your neck. Instantly, the effect of it hit you. The lack of oxygen made your head swim in a sea of pleasure and the unrelenting desire to come. Through fluttering eyelids, you peeked up at him. The way he licked his lips and then clenched his jaw, the gorgeous shape of his collarbones and shoulders – you sometimes wondered if he was even real. Every so often he loosened his grip on you. When he did, you took gulps of air and then instantly whined for him to choke you again.

“Let go for me,” he said. “Show me your pretty face when I make you come. I’m fucking you well, aren’t I?”

You nodded as well as you could when he was gripping your throat and you couldn’t breathe properly at the moment. It didn’t matter you couldn’t talk. He was probably not expecting you to answer, either way. In a pleasure-induced trance, you closed your eyes and let it happen, like he had asked it from you. Your hazy consciousness barely registered that he was reaching his high with you. Too overcome were you, with your thighs trembling uncontrollably and your back arching off the mattress. He had let go of your neck and was riding out his own orgasm with sloppy thrusts that only sent you into another frenzy and had you whimpering his name softly. When he had finished too, he slowed down and pulled you into a gentle kiss, rubbing his nose against yours sweetly.

“That was amazing,” he said, and with a blissful hum you nodded. Your lips changed into a pout when he rolled off you and got up. You were tired of sending him back home so quickly. As he discarded the condom in the bin, you put on your most enchanting eyes, so he would have no other choice.

“Stay a little longer, please,” you asked. You knew he wanted to, as well. So although he was aware that your brother could return at any moment, he tumbled back into bed with you.

“Just for a little while,” he said. “Mhm…you’re so perfect to cuddle, baby.” His embrace was warm and his scent comforting, as he hummed a lovely melody. The soft touch of his fingers running through your hair lulled you right into a light sleep. You were awoken rather abruptly, and with half a heart attack.

“Hey Y/N, have you seen my charger- “ your brother’s voice suddenly broke through the silence and you wondered if you would have to pack up and leave the country after this sort of embarrassment.

“It’s not what it looks like,” you said, knowing well enough it was the dumbest thing you could have said. But who could blame you? You had only woken up two seconds ago.

“Really?” your brother asked. “Because I hear H/N sneak into our house so often lately, I’m starting to wonder if his parents threw him out.”

His tone was surprisingly calm.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you,” H/N said to your brother. “I thought you’d hate me and that we’d be over as friends.”

“I know I told you once to leave Y/N alone. But now…I guess it’s cool. She’s been in a great mood lately, and if that’s thanks to you, I think I can approve of you two. Although I’m not looking forward to being a third wheel, I think I can get used to it if I try hard enough,” your brother said. You couldn’t believe your ears, and involuntarily smiled like a fool. No more hiding. No more secrets.

“I stole your charger. I’m sorry,” you said then, making your brother roll his eyes. “It’s by the sofa in the living room.”

“Great. I needed a reason to leave anyway,” your brother said. “I might approve of you, but this situation is still too awkward. I’ll see you tomorrow, then, H/N?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the boy in your bed said.

“You’ll see me too!” you added as a joke, as your brother already walked away from the door.

“Unfortunately I will!” your brother shouted, with the unnerving tone only a big brother could possibly muster.

[bellarkeselection]

Date Shift

Request from @maximeevansblog Alex and the reader his girlfriend both work late night shifts at the hospital. But the two managed to still have a fun date night.

Being a nurse at Seattle Grey is tiring. Especially when you've already worked a full days shift. Nurses aren't always treated the same as the doctors or attendings but aren't lower than interns. Unless you happen to be dating a resident, that's how you go up in the ranks. Sitting at the nurses desk I tap my pencil on the counter until I hear a voice that always brings a smile to my face. "Hey babe, they got you on the night shift?" My boyfriend of 2 years Alex Karev comes to lean over the counter. Alex and I had gotten together after he passed the intern exam and became a resident of the hospital since I didn't find it right to be dating an intern. "Unfortunately yes. A nurse's job is never done like everyone else's." I rest my chin in the palm of my hand yawning a little. 'Why are you here. I thought you'd went home hours ago?"

"Some of the kids need to be monitored so I told Arizona I'd take some extra time. Plus I'd just be laying in bed bored waiting for my girlfriend to get home." I smile matching his own. He really did have a soft side for kids in Peds. He didn't take shit from grown people but with kids he embraced the gentle side of him. The side I immediately fell for that is hidden by his ass-hole persona. "Don't get your hopes up for that Alex. I'm here for another 5 hours until another nurse comes to trade me shifts." He raises a brow glancing to his watch playfully smirking. "5 hours huh. That means we got time to kill." He pulls out his phone tying in something until I hear music quietly playing through the speakers. "Glad you Exist" by Dan + Shay, a song he knows I liked recently.

He rounds the nurse station with an open outstretched hand. "Care to dance?" I try to decline remembering I have a bunch of charts to file. "Alex, we can't we're at work." He scoffs shacking his head giving me puppy dog eyes. "Y/n we're the only ones here. I think we can have some fun after our long days." Finally I place my right hand in his letting him lead me out to the empty hallway. My arms go around his neck and his are on my waist as we sway side to side. Alex may not seem like the dancing type. But he's actually pretty good at it. He slowly spins me out a few times getting a smile on my face earning a chuckle from him. During a stressful or bad day we always manage to make the other laugh or smile, sex in an on-call room doesn't hurt either.

An hour later we'd found some wheelchairs and decided to have a race. Chief Webber and Dr. Bailey would have our heads if they saw us doing this in the hospital. I round the corner of the nurses station with Alex closing in behind me. He slides past me over the finish line with me in second place. "I can't believe you beat me. These things are harder to move than I thought." Alex chuckled after throwing his hands up in victory. "Sure, sure or maybe I'm just too awesome." I climb into his lap arms around his neck, his hands resting on my thighs. "Watch your ego, Karev." He kisses me longley until we need air. "You wanna see the babies?"

My face lights up when I jumped up immediately so he can lead me to the Peds floor. I barely ever get to see the difference area's of Seattle Grace. Always busy giving doctors their charts and doing helping patients get ready for surgery. Alex gently opened the door as to not wake the tiny infants from their peaceful sleep. "So here we are, baby." He directs arms stretched out in front of him. Slowly I walk to each baby reading over all the different names. All these children will experience all different walks of life. Excitement, love, laughter every single thing.

"I want one, Alex." I blurted out feeling him wrap his arms around me from behind. His chin resting on my right shoulder. "You want a baby?" Turning in his arms I nodded simply grinning. "Yes, I want a baby of my own." Ever since I was a teenager I thought of having children. Being born an only child I always wanted a sibling but it wasn't meant to be. "How many would you want?" He questioned looking around the room at all thr tiny babies. Tapping my fingers on my chin I think for a second. "Hmm, 2 or 3 maybe. What about you?" He plants a kiss to my forehead answering. "As many as you want, nurse L/n."

I cup his face in my hands pulling his lips down to mine. The kiss started off slow but quickly grew passionate. Alex breaks away heavily breathing. "You wanna try right now?" A smirk meets my lips replying. "Hell yes but not in here." He motioned for me to jump securing my legs around his waist. He carries me to the nearest on-call room and we ditched our clothes. "I love you Y/n and I can't wait to have kids with you." Alex mumbled against my lips, trailing kisses down my neck. My fingers bury themselves in his hair tugging at it softly. "I love you too, Alex Karev."

Comment and reblog 😊

[mefiman]

Hamato Family’s First Visit to the Hidden City

Story request by @rottmntrulesall. Hope you enjoy the story, bud! ^^

"C'mon, everyone! Hurry up!" Michelangelo's impatience was obvious in his excitement. He and his siblings were finally going to show their dad's relatives for the first time to the Hidden City for two reasons; one: to view the many wonders of the other world and two: to have a formal, proper meeting with Draxum's parents. The latter part had instilled some unease into the Hamato siblings, especially Saki who was wary about stepping foot into a mysterious world and was about to see for himself the father and mother of the "monster" who altered his younger brother many years ago.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Hamato Kenji asked. Raphael glanced at his uncle, understanding his uncle's concerns. "We've been there a lot, Uncle Kenji! We did encounter a few dangers there before but other than that, the people there don't usually attack humans unless provoked." Raph assured his uncle.

"There are a lot of places to visit like the many resorts and spas if you want to have a massage and ooh, Señor Hueso's Run of the Mill Pizza where they make one of the best pizzas! I know the manager of that place, we're amigos~" Leonardo took the chance to quip in.

"I can't wait to see Grandpa Mons again! Wait till you guys meet him yourselves, he's the nicest, sweetest grandpa you'll ever meet! He's still as strong as he's gentle!" Mikey said happily.

"I wonder if Grandma Chemia has some wicked new inventions to show me!" Donatello exclaimed.

"This would be my first time seeing my grandparents, Arachne..." Ariadne whispered to her best friend, Arachne.

"You've never seen them before?" Her friend asked.

"Once when I was a baby... I haven't seen them for years." The yokai femme told Arachne.

"Alright, kids, you've shown us all that you're excited to bring us to visit the Hidden City, Mikey, can you open the portal now?" Splinter asked.

"Sure, Dad!" Mikey got to work quickly.

Draxum felt a tinge of anxiety inside himself. He could not recall the last time he visited his creators ever since he moved out of home to pursue his alchemy researching, away from his parents' constant arguments, half of which is about their preferred methods of raising him. It was a surprise how those two still manage to live under the same roof despite their obvious clashing personalities. He guessed that they tolerated each other just for his sake. His parents had never produced any more offspring after him and one of Arachne’s parents...

"Hey, are you okay, Dad?" A female voice asked him. Draxum jolted from his pondering to find that his daughter, Poison Ivy asking him out of concern. He just gave a small smile as he ran his clawed hands over her helmet. "Am fine, just thinking about your grandparents." He assured her. He marveled how Ivy much had grown from the last time he scientifically created her with his and Lou Jitsu's DNAs; she being so tiny as a developed newborn infant growing in a liquid chamber to a young lady around the boys' ages. From what he knew later on, Splinter raised her along with the Turtles. Ivy had lived her life at first as a normal human teenager until her yokai genes started appearing. The initial discovery of her origins did shake her world but over time, she had learnt to accept and use them to assist her brothers in their adventures. She was intelligent like Draxum and his mother with his father's gentle, mature nature as well as Splinter/Lou's sassiness. She loved to study on botany and coincidently, her powers involved using vines and summoning plant like monsters at will. She recently revealed her sexuality preference as a lesbian and had a girlfriend who is a fellow classmate and witch trainee/apprentice in disguise. Both her creators and siblings were happy for her. As of now, she was cradling her younger sister, Venus de Milo was giggling and squealing as April, Ariadne and Arachne cooed and tickled her belly.

The group watched Mikey draw a symbol on the wall at an alley. Once the symbol was drawn, an open portal revealed. The Hamato siblings' mouths went ajar, not believing what they just saw. "if you think that's mind blowing, you haven't seen nothing yet!" Mikey grinned. His three other brothers and the three girls each took hold of one of their Hamato uncles and aunts's hands. The moment they all jumped into that portal, they found themselves staring at a massive part of a what seemed to be a huge city. The sky above was unlike Earth's skies; instead it was orange with some brown. The architecture of the buildings there were monster shaped with some tall, castle like structures far away from the city. There were a lot of people of all shapes, sizes, colors and appearances walking, running, passing by each other, buying their needs or doing their usual business trades. The Turtle family allowed their Hamato relatives to take in their first view around them. Saki's eyes were bulging out of his sockets, he could not believe for his life what he was seeing. Anthropomorphic, mostly consisting of animal, everyday objects, monstrous and supernatural like individuals roamed every part of the streets around him, he felt as if he was having a strange dream that defied logic! Nori on the other hand, looked right and left, taking in interesting sights that captured her attention. Underneath a calm façade, Kenji was freaking out internally at the new, foreign view. Hiroki was squealing in delight similar to a child had just discovered a world made of toys and sweets. Her twin, Hikari was a bit calmer than his sister, feeling a thrill of danger running through his veins. Last but not least, the youngest Hamato sibling, Mei's stance looked poker face yet she looked around to see if there were any Gothic like people that she can interact with. The Turtles and the girls grinned, seeing the reactions of the others.

"What do you think? Surreal, huh?" They ask.

"Amazing.."

"Fascinating..."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing..."

"Someone please tell me that I'm dreaming..." Saki mumbled, still not believing.

"No, you're not," Draxum replied, going straight to the point with an indifferent expression. "May we please hurry to my parents' house, I bet they're waiting for our arrival..."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey clapped both his hands once. "Lead the way, Draxy!"

Draxum sighed as he took the lead of the group. Along the way, there were a few whispers around and behind Draxum coming from the city people but Splinter and Ivy took hold of both his hands and gave a comforting, assuring squeeze, making him feel better. Ariadne gave her uncle a comforting hand on to his shoulder. They were soon out of the main city square to a further distance into the woods. They had to climb up a hill for a while until they reached a big mansion residing there.

"We are here at last. My childhood home..." Draxum said, looking at the grassy, serene valley below, reminiscing the times where he as a little one ran galloping around the field, cartwheeling with glee among the flowers and his sire teaching him the basics on how to defend himself the predator way. Both father and son spend their days in the early years, sparring with each other...

"Draxum, my son!" The former alchemist warrior villain snapped out of his memories to find himself being engulfed into the arms of none other than his dear, loving old father, Monsrage who brought his only son into a crushing bear hug which knocked the wind out of his lungs. "How have you been, my little baby boy? It's rare that you visit us but it's so wonderful to see you bring your family along! How delightful!" the older yokai gushed, his bushy tail wagging with unlimited enthusiasm like an excited puppy. Monsrage was rather huge and muscular with perked up, pointy ears, silky straight black hair unchanged through time and a fairly long beard to match. Like Draxum before, he wore a battle mask. He had a significant dark upperlip. His body had different shades of blue just like his son, Draxum when he was armored. Monsrage's eyes were the same like Draxum's. His feet in particular, was a noticeable difference. Unlike his wife and son, his feet were shaped like a lion's paws, fitting for him coming from a predator species.

"Father, it's great to see you... but can you please let go now? I can't breathe..." Draxum choked out, being smothered by his sire's busty chest. Monsrage immediately loosened his grip, apologizing profusely while checking to see if he had accidently broken any of his son's bones. Draxum shook his head, smiling a little. His sire had never changed all these years, still a concerned worrywart. And he bet his mother had not either...

Chemia on the other hand, was greeting the rest of the visitors with feverish energy. She was a redhead with shades of pink for her skin colour and her ears, long and drooped. Her eyes had a little twinkle in them, a part of her eccentric personality and plump, red lips. Like her husband, she wore a mask. Donnie, April, Arachne and Ivy were given a whirlwind hug the moment they came in front of her. Monsrage went back to the mansion with his son to give the new visitors, the Hamatos, April, and Arachne a warm greeting as well as welcome his beloved grandchildren with his signature bear hug and proceed to pepper their faces with smooches which they were delighted to have especially Mikey, Ariadne, Ivy and Venus. Monsrage and Chemia ushered them all into their humble abode. The Hamatos were initially skeptical about meeting Draxum's family but they were soon warmed up to them. Later on, the mansion was filled with guffaws of laughter as Monsrage showed them all baby pictures of his son which embarrased the poor warrior scientist. Donnie, April and Ivy were treated to Grandma Chemia's latest creations. Monsrage himself had a blast, playing with Venus and sparring with the Turtles and the girls. Arachne was delighted to meet her grandparents as a young adolescent, telling them about her achievements, adventures and that her own parents are doing well. The Hamatos became comfortable talking with Draxum's parents over some snack delicacies. Overall, everyone had a wonderful time at the Hidden City.

I had fun writing this! Was tiring but oh so worth it.

The Hamato siblings (minus Lou/Splinter) and Venus de Milo belong to @rottmntrulesall while Ariadne and Arachne are the OCs of @mikeykawaii/@mikey-ho. Monsrage, Chemia and Poison Ivy along with the mention of the witch girlfriend belong to me, @mefiman. I hope you don’t mind me incorporating your girls into this story, @mikeykawaii but I’ve been dying to add them in, especially Ari meeting her grandparents! ^^ 

[thelittleplantlover]

Surprise - Corpse x Reader

As requested by @thefanficmonster (with changes), because she writes so much for so many people. It was time to give her something she wanted to read. Thank you for all your amazing stories and your support on this fic Vy🧡!

Pronounce: gender neutral

Warnings: none

Genre: fluff

Word count: 1647

~ A surprise does not always means something good. But you might be surprised yourself with how people react.~

I grumbled and cursed while climbing up the steep stairs of Corpse’s building with two heavy bags of groceries and supplies hanging off my shoulders. Of course, there was no food left in the fridge or even the cupboards when I had arrived for the first time today. I could have known. Okay I lied. Technically there was food. However, not even I could decipher what dish could be made from the leftovers. Not to boost my own ego, but I had gotten quite good at making tasty dishes since I first visited his home.

Out of breath I reached the correct floor. In normal times, especially during this heat, I would have taken the evaluators up to his floor. Sadly, several serious safety issues had been discovered during the maintenance work performed on the elevators the day before. Leaving me with nothing but these awful stairs. To admit, I was slightly proud of myself for reaching it without any stops on between. One victory point for (y/n).

I fumbled around to find the keys. It did not help that I felt rushed. What I had left at Corpse’s home could be considered a surprise. When thinking of a surprise, people usually assume it is something nice. Something the other person would like. I was not so sure if he would love it. I rather had the feeling he would be displeased. And in all honesty, I did feel slightly anxious about it. Looking back at the situation I could not see what better option I had. After all, you can’t turn away an infant in need and I was sure Corpse would not either.

Once inside, I waddled straight to the kitchen not bothering to turn on the big lights. Getting rid of the heavy weights on my shoulders was the only think on my mind at this point. How did these cheap weak plastic bags even still hold on? The handles had ripped off before with less.

With a last grunt of effort, they found their way on the countertop. I allowed myself one sigh of relieve before putting myself back to work again. After filling up the fridge, I turned around to replace the foil, which has been living as an empty roll of cardboard for the past three weeks. Wondered why. It was a good move though. To do the foil first and the filled fruit bowl later. After all, foil does not break when it falls to the floor.

What was it again that the insects always preached? If you don’t move they won’t see you? Yes. That apparently what I tried when I saw Corpse sitting on the couch. The infant on his lap. In the dimmed light with his dark clothing, his persona radiated smart psychopathic villain in a spy movie energy. I did feel like that one person that walked into the villain’s office at the wrong moment that would freeze only to be killed a few seconds later.

Corpse looked me straight in my eyes, while scratching the head of the fluff ball that laid on his lap. Only enhancing the psychotic energy. His voice did nothing to decrease it.

“We are both very disappointed in you.” His face was stoic, his voice steady. At least I could exclude the possibility that he would be mad. That did not dismiss the feeling of stress that ran through me.

The only thing I could let out as a response was a sound between a groan and a wince. I quickly ducked down to avoid his gaze. Keeping myself busy by picking up the foil. Placing it on the counter and throwing the empty roll in the paper bin, I started to unpack the rest of the things I bought. Keeping myself busy was a way to delay his disappointment. However, I knew that it would come soon or later. And sometimes it is better to just get it over with.

I decided to explain myself once I heard him moving towards me. “I was not going to keep him. Just until we could check if he is chipped at the vet and get some advice on what to do with him. I promise!” turning around to face him. He had moved the pup from his lap into one of his arms. The little thing was small enough to comfortable lay in his arm.

“We?” His head turned slightly left to peek into the last bag. Curious to see what I had brought with me. I was not sure if he could see the dog supplies. If he did, he did not comment on them looking like a contrast to what I just promised. Not daring to take them out of the bag, I just stood in front of him. My hands fumbling with each other.

“Yeah.” The nerves kicking in harder as he moved to look at me. I still did not know what exactly he thought of the situation. “My lab partner and I were collecting samples at the river and we saw the poor boy stranded on a large rock in the middle of the it. So, we saved him. But neither of our homes allow pets so…” I fell silent, avoiding his eyes. Hoping he would not mind my decision.

I heard an amused huff above me before feeling his lips on the top of my head.

“You’re too cute.”

I looked up to face him. His adorable slime was plastered brightly on his face. Not a hint if displease or discomfort. I had calculated that he would at least be slightly upset with me. “You- are not mad?”

He even had the audacity to let out a laugh. The little boy on his arm shaking with him. “No. I’m not mad.” He sends me a reassuring smile, for which I could only look at my feet for. I still felt bad for not telling him. This received me another amused huff and a one-armed hug. Careful to avoid hurting the pup, he pulled me into his chest. Kissing the top of my head before leaning his head on top of mine. “How could I be while you are being so precious.”

Flustered I buried my head further into him. Something that he did not miss as I felt his chest vibrate with his chuckle.

Pulling slightly away while keeping his arm around my waist Corpse asked: “He is only going to stay for a little while though, right? I still can’t take care of plants, I for sure cannot take care of a dog.” His head nodding towards the window still. Three pale green plants tried their hardest to survive. Their leaves hanging, like they tried to physically show that they were slightly suffering.

“No,” I laughed, “I don’t think either of us has the time to take proper care of him.” I looked up and give him a smile back. “Especially seeing my first job is to make sure you actually have something nutritional to eat in your house.” Petting his chest for the food measure.

Corpse stuttered, his hand leaving me to rub his neck. Pleased with not being the only one put into a little situation today, I unpacked the dog supplies. Leaving the bed and bowls on the counter. Corpse could decide where it was okay to place them. It was still his apartment.

“So, you are okay with him staying over until we know what to do? I will of course stay here for the time.” I still wanted to check if he would be fully okay with it. Forcing him to take a puppy in was the last thing I wanted. “If that’s okay.” I rushed after, my confidence faltering. We have not yet been together for that long and I did not want to invade his privacy. I knew how much he appreciated to have some time on his own as well.

If Corpse was shy or had any doubts about my stay at all, he was good at hiding it. His free arm wrapped around me once again. “If getting an ugly dog was what it took to make you stay longer, I would have gotten one sooner.”

“Ugly?” I exclaimed in disgust as I softly pushed myself away from him. I placed my hand on my heart. My mouth slightly agape, eyebrows raised.

“He is ugly. Look at him.” Corpse argued. Grabbing the floof with two hands he held him out right up to my face. Sure, the little mut definitely did not deserve the first price in a beauty contest. But the little tooth sticking out at the bottom and the goofy eyes made him even cuter. I was sure some of his friend would agree.

“Bingus is ugly and you love him.” I retorted. Which was answered with a loud gasp before I could even finish my sentence. It was questionable to me whether or not the hurtful expression on his face was played or not. Either way, Corpse replied passionately to my statement.

“You take that back!” His finger now pointing to me. “Bingus is a God. He is very pretty.” His passion combined with his facial expression made me fail to suppress the giggle bubbling up.

I pushed his hand down and stepped closer to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek. “However, none of them are as pretty as you.” The whisper made him flustered and slightly uneasy but also made his beautiful smile break out again. He quickly composed himself, putting the now wiggling pup down and straightened up.

He gave me a quick kiss on the lips, his smile never leaving his face, before grabbing his car keys from the counter. “Come one, let’s get your stuff. If you are going to stay for a while you will be needing more clothes. Can’t have you steal all my hoodies.”

[wyrddogs]

For those of you who enjoyed my notes on what I did with Kermit, here are some things that Zaku has been working on in the three days I’ve owned him:

- Baby impulse control stuff, including:

~~ The crate door will never open until you are quiet and all four feet are on the floor.

~~ I will set you down when you are done wiggling.

~~ Crate door will not open until you are quiet and all four feet are on the floor.

~~ Did I mention the crate door?

- Lots and lots and lots of driving time. He rapidly became a very good traveler.

- Experience staying in a hotel. Lots of elevator rides. Exposure to a wide variety of people and dogs in a wide variety of daytime and nighttime clothing.

- So far of the six dogs I’ve owned/raised, his potty training is coming along the fastest. Warp speed, basically. He came to me litter-trained, and instantly grasped that outside is the potty place. He keeps his crate clean as long as there are no blankies. He can earn back a crate blankie once he figures out they are not for peeing on.

- Integration into the pack is going well. He is extremely brave and is not at all intimidated by the older puppies. He is very good about paying attention to dogs telling him to leave them alone...

- ... But he still has baby brain, so sometimes he says “but I WANT to play with you” and is then removed from the other dog.

- We are learning that grabbing the dachshund and thrashing him is never acceptable behavior. Respecting dachshund and chihuahua personal space is paramount.

- Some fun baby tug and fetch games. Really good handler engagement.

- He’s still small enough that I carried him while taking Kermit for a walk. He’s very good about being carried.

- Trips to two different Petsmarts.

- Introduction to brushing, collar grab, and feet handling. Introduction to laying upside-down in my lap, which is my preferred position for nail trims.

- Need to work on putting his collar on and off. It’s a struggle because he gets very excited and then gets very bitey. Want to officially introduce his harness rather than just shoving it on him. Also need to see if I can get him to stay in the little backpack I’m borrowing. He’s currently Kermit-sized but won’t be in a week.

- Vet visit is tomorrow, and we’ll hang out at confo class tonight. Baby “agility” class starts next week-ish.

[lebrookestore]

love you again; l.mk

Pairing: Mark Lee x reader

Themes: not mentioned idol au, but kind of implied, music, fluff, crack, husband! mark, PG13

WC: 1k

TIMESTAMPS AND DRABBLES MASTERLIST

Taeil was busy singing his heart out on the makeshift stage, while the rest of you watched him, chatting with the rest of your friends. You slipped out your phone, pulling up your messages to see if the babysitter had updated you on anything. A hand wrapped around your own, pushing your phone back into your bag.

“Aera will be fine”, Mark assured you, speaking of his and your daughter, “Nina is a good babysitter, and she’s been left with Aera before”

“I know”, you said, “But I can’t help being worried. She’s only five months”

“Five months, goodness gracious”, Donghyuck said, handing your husband a drink, “She’s grown so much!” Donghyuck was Aera’s godfather, and Mark’s best friend. He could spend hours cooing at the baby, fiercely protective of her. He had cried when Mark told him he was to be the godfather, but if you asked him about that, he would hotly deny it.

Mark wrapped an arm around you, smiling brightly. The two of you had gotten married after dating for five years, in the spring, and as mentioned before, had a lovely daughter. She had Mark’s eyes and his adorable smile. When she was born, it was as if the love between you had multiplied several times, it was like it had started a new. Instead of having to split your love for a new person in your family, more love had been created.

However, constantly waking up several times a night was exhausting, and with Mark and your job, it could get tiring. Granted, your job had let you work at home, still, taking care of an infant and managing everything else was not easy. Mark helped as much as he could, and was an absolute angel.

When the two of you heard your friend group was meeting up, you took the chance to get out of the house and do something different for the first time in five months.

But as a mother, you wouldn’t stop worrying about your child no matter what.

The karaoke restaurant was buzzing with life, Taeil’s song had just finished his song and people were clapping now. He smiled sheepishly, walking down from the stage and back to the group. “The parents have arrived!”, he exclaimed, patting Mark on the back, “Will you go rap?”

Mark laughed good-naturedly, “Maybe, Doyoung, you have to sing”

“I’m eating”, Doyoung said indignantly, stuffing his face with another bite of tteokbokki, “Why don’t you try Y/n?”

Your eyes widened, shaking your head, “Nu-uh, I want to eat too”, you reached out for the kimchi, but Jaehyun pulled it away, “Come one Y/n, one song! We’ve heard you sing before, and you’re good”

Jisung, the youngest of your group nodded eagerly. You grumbled under your breath, shooting Mark a woeful look, hoping he would sympathize with you. He smirked instead, shrugging and giving you a little push towards the stage. You glared at him, muttering curses under your breath as you climbed the stage, turning towards the iPad where your song options were. 

Choosing a song you liked, you took your place behind the mic. Mark gave you a thumbs up and the rest of your friends hooted and smiled at you like fools. You grimaced as they embarrassed you, the rest of the people in the restaurant giving them strange looks.

The music began, and you hesitantly sang along, and even though you were nervous, you did well, hitting all the notes perfectly, your voice sounding very pretty with the melody. Mark looked extremely proud, whereas your dumbass friends kept hooting and hyping you up.

Mark looked at you singing, your eyes shining with the lighting, and couldn’t stop the wide smile that broke out on his face, You were perfect to him, in every way, and he loved you so damn much, he couldn’t believe you were his, let alone the fact that he had a beautiful daughter with you.

Mark had always thought love would be like a breath of fresh air, a new feeling, something he had never felt before. He had been sure it would feel different, and he would know immediately. But when he met you, he realized that love, for him, was very different. Loving you felt like coming back home, lighting a candle, like staying in on a snowy day, huddling together next to the fire. It felt warm and fuzzy, a feeling he had grown to love.

Seeing you up there, on that stage, it felt like he was seeing you for the first time, falling in love with you for the first time all over again, that warm feeling making its way into his stomach.

You finished up, walking back to your group, head down in embarrassment as the others clapped politely. “Happy?”, you hissed at Doyoung, “Now you better sing, mister”, you threatened him. 

“She even sounds like a mother now”, Hyuck quipped, raising his hands up to defend himself against your playful hit, “EOMMA HELP!”

“She is the ‘eomma’ now dumbass, you can’t escape her”, Jungwoo said, patting Hycuks head like he was some sort of puppy. He rolled his eyes, pushing Jungwoo away. You leaned into Mark, who kissed your temple affectionately, “I love you”, he whispered. “I love you too”, you replied, squeezing his hand.

“PDA!”, Taeil called out, “Jisung close your eyes and shut your ears”

“I’m legal!?!”

“Oh, I should check with the baby sitter”, you thought aloud, pulling out your phone. After seeing no messages or any cries for help, you put it back into your bag. You watched Chenle and Jisung bicker over something, taking a sip of whatever drink Johnny had gotten for you.

“You know”, Mark mused, “I love you so much I could get you pregnant again”

You spluttered, elbowing your husband for his comment, “Mark no-”, you started seeing that Donghyuck had pulled a face, “Let’s get through one kid first please”

“After that then?”, he asked, raising an eyebrow at you, smirking.

“I should have listened to Taeil hyung”, Jisung complained, covering his ears dramatically, “I’m too young for this!”

[phoenixyfriend]

Mangekyo Mikoto

Okay, so, concept time:

Due to a coincidence of scheduling and also just Being Pushy About It, Mikoto ends up on Kushina's protection detail during the Kyuubi Attack

Is heavily injured but not fatally so (I'm thinking spinal damage?), and is unable to save Kushina, blames herself, develops Mangekyo as a result.

Due to her heavy injuries in defense of Kushina and Minato, and her development of Mangekyo in response to Kushina's death, people are a little hard-pressed to argue that she or the Uchiha as a clan were responsible for the attack. The Clan Head’s Wife (and I’m in camp ‘Fugaku married into the position, Mikoto was the actual heir and they passed over the role because Fugaku liked paperwork more) nearly died, okay, if an Uchiha was responsible, then it was a rogue.

Ergo: Mikoto gets custody of Naruto, as godmother who is not currently under suspicion of, you know, causing the whole bullshit in the first place.

Having Mangekyo also means she has some argument in place that if the Kyuubi does break free again, she now has the means to stop it from causing widespread damage. (This isn’t common knowledge, but she does leverage it against Hiruzen and the council.)

Mostly this spirals over into: 1. Mikoto has the most powerful eyes in the clan but is also no longer capable of going on missions due to a debilitating spinal injury that has her using a wheelchair most times. 2. Mikoto raising Naruto; Sasuke and Itachi both being VERY protective of their 'little brother' 3. Mikoto having flashbacks to that one 'pretty sure I'm bi, let's find out' affair she had with Kushina before Minato and Fugaku dug up the courage to ask their respective crushes out.

I'm wishy-washy on whether or not the jinchuuriki thing becomes common knowledge because I feel like Mikoto would hate the idea of that info leaking, but I also imagine that she'd be in the hospital for at least a week or two after the incident, and unable to stop whoever shared the info

Consider Itachi being hella protective of Baby Brothers and, also, the utter hellion that Naruto becomes whenever someone (Fugaku) makes the mistake of asking Shisui to watch the kids for an afternoon

"Why doesn't Naruto have our clan name?" "Because I was very close with his mother, and I want to honor her by letting Naruto keep the name of his family by blood. His mother can't be here to raise him, but he can at least have her name."

I have this really solid image in my head of Mikoto in her wheelchair, infant/toddler Naruto standing on her lap to play with her hair as she holds his arms so he doesn't fall, while slightly-bigger-toddler Sasuke is on the floor and clinging to the wheels to stay upright and trying to tap at Naruto's legs because He Wants To Play

Also: Mikoto inviting Kakashi over to see Naruto and whenever someone tries to throw a fit over The Eye Stealer coming by, she just does Pleasant Smile With Mangekyo and then Fugaku has to Freak Out Like Hell because My Darling, Stop Doing That, Your Eyes Are Bleeding And You Will Go Blind Because You Wanted Drama.

Fugaku is an "I cannot stop my wife but I will flutter about uselessly as she damages herself for an intimidation bonus" husband.

Itachi regularly panics because he's five years old and his hands aren't big enough for two infants. It's like the "drunk person presented with puppies" video, except Itachi isn't drunk, he's five and overwhelmed by Baby.

This, except Itachi's problem is that he's like. Three feet tall. - He has to draft Shisui to help. - And then Kakashi because ANBU Hound keeps stalking his house.

I can't decide if Kakashi is more "Oh, is this how people saw me when I was that age? No wonder they all thought I was creepy as hell." or "This is Normal™️." - Probably the latter, he’s like fifteen and traumatized as heck.

This last bit I’m a little unsure of adding so if anyone feels I’m jumping into a topic I’m not qualified to talk about, even with the disclaimers, please let me know and I’ll remove it.

On the topic of transracial* adoption: it’s something that I'd be wary of writing about in too much depth because it's not my lived experience, for all that I can guess at some parts of how it would apply, but for a bulletpoint concept, I feel okay with touching on it.

Naruto is raised by Uchiha, surrounded by Uchiha, culturally an Uchiha... except he will never have Sharingan, he can't really do Katon, he's a chakra powerhouse in a way that screams Uzumaki, and he is visibly not Uchiha. I feel like that's liable to cause some identity issues and imposter syndrome about being part of the family down the line in ways that, say, being adopted by Kakashi wouldn't.

He wouldn't experience the same "Otherness" that he did in canon, but he would experience some Othering. Even with a loving direct family of Scary Murderers who want to protect him, there's only so much they can do. Especially if he starts to feel like their protecting him is just another thing that makes him Other, especially if some of the more distantly related Uchiha Do Not Want Him There.

*To clarify, I’m talking about the original meaning of the term, which is the specific elements of racism and cultural disconnect experienced by adoptees in families of a race that differs from their own, most commonly children of color adopted by white families.

(I believe it’s the most similar term to what 'feeling othered, even unintentionally, by way of being phenotypically distinct from the family and community one has been adopted by' would be in this situation... especially since Kushina was an immigrant? IDK.)

(Obviously, there are a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t want to write about this in too much depth, because applying real-world racial dynamics and situations to a fantasy universe of Naruto’s type is questionable practice. However, this term is still the one that matches up most to what I’m thinking about, so I wanted to give a nod in that direction to address that there are similar experiences in the world that I can’t hope to directly understand.)

[ladyanaconda]

Helluva Boss Vol 2: Loo Loo Land

Striker awoke with a start, panting heavily. His heart pounded so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest at any moment now. The imp sighed as he ran a hand through his ash white hair.

He had that nightmare again. He didn't cry, as he had no more tears to shed and it wouldn't being her back but the wound was still raw. He'd tell himself that he did what she asked of him: to save their son. However, the guilt was still there.

Striker went to the kitchen for a glass of water. As he looked through the window, he noticed it was raining. There were no thunders tonight but still, he better go check on Jake just in case.

Something pulled on his pants. Speak of the devil! Striker looked down and found the infant next to his leg, his little hand grasping his pants. How Jake managed to crawl all the way down from his nursery was a mystery to Striker.

"What's up, kiddo?" Striker asked, not really expecting an answer. Jake reached out his hands, asking to be picked up. Sighing, he bent down to pick up his son. " Can't sleep either, huh? That makes two of us, my boy," he said gently as he walked up the stairs. "How about we keep each other company for a while? It'll be less lonely that way."

Striker sat on his bed and placed Jake on his lap. He entertained the little one with the rattling of his tail for a while until Jake lost interest and snuggled into his father's chest, yawning. Striker knew what the little one needed. Jake protested via whimpers as he was tucked back into his nearly started to wail if not for the familiar sound of a guitar's strings and his father's voice as the cradle was rocked from side to side.

Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small

You seem so strong

My arms will hold you

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

Can't be broken

I will be here don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart

From this day on

Now and forevermore

You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here in my heart

Always

Always…

Jake had long been lulled into sleep by the end of the song. Smiling, Striker kissed the little one's forehead.

"Good night."

*HB*

"M and M, J and S, get in here! We're going to Loo Loo Land!"

Striker frowned under his hat, annoyed at having his nap interrupted. "Isn't that the rip-off of Lucifer's far more popular LuLu World?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, Strike! Stolas is paying us extra cash for making sure he and his daughter are still breathing by the end of the day."

Striker covered his face with his hat again. "Sorry, Blitz, my contract only includes assassination jobs."

"Look at it this way: you're going to 'assassinate' whoever tries to lay a hand on Stolas and his daughter."

The cowboy frowned. "Why us? Doesn't that blueblood have a whole legion of guards at his disposal?"

"Come on, dad! I want to go to Loo Loo Land!" Jake pleaded, taking his father's hat. "I've never been to a theme park!"

"Yeah, Strike, it'll be fun!" Millie wrapped an arm around the cowboy's shoulder. "You won't find a cheaper theme park in all of Hell, plus it's a good opportunity for you and Jake to spend some quality time together!"

Striker would have protested further, but Jake (and Blitzo) were giving him the 'puppy eyes' face. At last, he murmured. "Ugh. Fine."

They picked up the owl Goetias in I.M.P.'s van and went straight to the theme park in the Greed ring. As always, Striker and Jake rode Bombproof to avoid an overcrowding inside the vehicle, especially with two bluebloods inside.

Striker'd seen a few tv commercials about Loo Loo Land, but something he'd learned over the years is that no intentional rip-off of anything was worth wasting money on. He was soon proven right once they arrived at the place. Most of the attractions within Loo Loo Land were either broken, cracked, or disheveled-looking. And judging by the look on Octavia's face, she didn't like it here either. Jake, on the other hand…

"Cool! Look, dad, there's a carousel! Can we go? No, wait, I wanna try the roller coaster first! Whoa, is that a dragon? I must pet it!" the impling was running around the place, awing over the rides and booths with wide eyes.

"Blitz better add another zero to my next paycheck." Striker murmured under his breath.

"Woow! I haven't been to this place since I was a tot! It hasn't changed a bit- oh, LOOK!" Millie pulled Moxxie and Jake into a hug and gestured to an old dinosaur-like animatronic. "It's Big Woobly!"

"That is… deeply upsetting," Moxxie whispered.

"Oh, come on! It's fun! You've never been here?"

"No, theme parks always disturbed me. Especially the mascots."

"I agree with Moxxie." Millie, Jake, and Moxxie himself gave Striker a baffled look. "As incredible as it sounds."

"Well, hey there!" Striker was caught off guard as Moxxie suddenly jumped into his arms with a frightened yelp as a guy in an old cartoonish apple costume appeared out of nowhere. The only reason he didn't drop Moxxie was that he too was disturbed by the awful, smelly costume. "I'm Loo Loo! Welcome to Loo Loo Land! If ya'll get hurt, just try and sue us!"

Striker quickly wrapped his tail around Jake's waist and lifted him up before he could get too close to 'Loo Loo'.

"Hey, dad, let go!" the impling protested.

"Stay away from that predator, kiddo." Striker finally dropped Moxxie to the ground.

"I have a question."

"Well, ask away, little girlie!" the mascot made a poor attempt at goofy laughter.

Octavia sneered. "Is it true this park is just a really shameless spin-off or Lucifer's far more popular Lu Lu World? This place reeks of insecure corporate shame."

Striker held tightly unto Jake until they left the creepy mascot behind. Being new to this place, he decided to follow Millie and Moxxie around for a while.

"You really love this place, huh?" Moxxie asked casually.

Millie nodded eagerly. "I love this place! My parents would bring me and my siblings here when they could swing it. Money-wise."

"Dad, look!" Jake ran towards a gift shop and pressed his face against the window, eyeing a plush dragon like the one on the Petting Zoo. "Can I have one?"

Striker only had to look at the price, 400 souls, to reply. "Absolutely not."

"Whyy?"

"400 souls for a doll you'll end up throwing away? Don't you wanna throw away all of my salary, since you're on it?"

Jake pouted, arms crossed. "Meanie."

"He does have a point. I mean, that much for a novelty cup you use one time?" Moxxie added, pointing at said cup worth 29 souls.

"Cause it's Loo Loo Land!" Millie chirped.

"Listen to your hoe, Mox." Blitzo seemingly had no trouble with loading up on the theme park's merch. "Hey, Strike, how 'bout you and I take the first watch while M and M have a little fun with Jakey?"

"Can I, dad? Please, please, please!"

Striker sighed. "Fine. Just stay close to Millie and Moxxie and listen to whatever they tell-"

"Um, Striker, I have to interrupt your fatherly monologue, but they already left." Blitzo was right. Millie, Moxie, and Jake were gone already.

Striker merely sighed and loaded his rifle.

*HB*

Jake still couldn't understand why his father had never brought him to Loo Loo Land before. This place was incredible! The rides, the junk food, kicking the guy in the Loo Loo costume; for some reason, he couldn't resist the urge every time he saw the apple costume. And of course, Moxie simply had to ruin everything. His wimpy stomach couldn't handle The Lawsuit ride and he ended up vomiting unto the people in the front car, Jake included. They had to get him new clothes in the nearest gift shop.

"You're so lucky my dad wasn't here or he would have fed you to that," Jake pointed at the dragon peeking over the Petting zoo fence.

"Okay, guys, how about we take a look around the smaller rides?" Millie suggested.

"You mean the kids area? That's where the Petting Zoo is! Can we go there to see the dragon?"

"I don't care as long as I don't have to get on top of it," Moxxie murmured, his hand still clutching his stomach. Jake squealed happily.

There were lots of animals at the Petting Zoo. Jake recognized some from Wrath, most notably some Hellhorses with green fire to reflect Greed. He had seen how Bombproof's fire color change from orange to red each time they entered Pride, and it had changed to a minty green when they entered Greed. There were other animals he had only seen in books too, but his attention was entirely focused on the giant red, black and white wyvern. Known as Hellvern, it is native to Greed and is often used as a 'guardian dog' of sorts by Overlords.

Jake felt a shiver down his spine as the giant dragon stared down at him curiously. Taking a deep breath, he stroked the animal's snout. Once he realized his hand was attached to his body, Jake began to laugh and jump.

"I touched the dragon, I touched the dragon!" he cried out happily. "Just wait until I tell dad!"

"Oh, I bet he'll be very proud of you!" Millie smirked, ruffling the impling's hair. "

Afterward, they took a break from the rides and wandered around the snack and game booths. Jake and Millie ate big cones of ice cream bugs and fried butter sticks. Moxxie chose not to consume any 'junk food of questionable origin'.

"This place is amazing! Man, I wish I'd come here sooner!" Jake said happily as he looked around the game booths.

"So Striker has never brought here? He would have loved the rides for sure!" Millie pointed out.

"Nah, dad's never been too fond of machines. He'd rather do things the old-fashioned way."

Moxxie scoffed. "Yeah, why would he come to work on a horse otherwise?"

"Well, at least we don't waste time on looking for a parking spot."

"Touché, kid."

"Hey, now that we're on it, I don't think we've ever met your mom."

Jake stopped in his tracks. His… mom? It's the first time someone's brought that up. Dad has never talked about her and there are no photos of her in the house. But surely he had one, right? Everyone has one.

"Hello, hello! Step right up and win a thing!"

Millie's excited cry distracted Jake from his thoughts. "Oh, look, Moxxie! A thing!" The 'thing' in question was a purple stuffed penguin-like creature with imp horns and pink overalls.

"Oh, you like that thing?"

"Yesss! I don't really know what that thing is but I want that thing!"

Moxxie smirked. "Finally, something I can handle." he placed a soul bill on the counter. "Okay! One game, please!"

Unsurprisingly, the cork but the target. To Jake's surprise, however, the target barely moved. Moxxie didn't seem to mind since he had hit the bullseye.

"Strike one, little man!"

Moxie's smugness faded instantly. "But I hit it!"

"Hmm, I don't know what to tell ya, buddy. The target, see?" the vendor pointed at said target "It didn't go down, so yeah, no go, bro."

Growling, Moxie placed another bill on the counter and fired another cork at the bullseye, but again it didn't move. Annoyed, Moxxie slapped the pistol. "The Heaven's wrong with this thing?!"

"Oh. Man, a real shame, I tell ya." the carnie made crying gestures in a mocking manner, prompting Moxxie to slam yet another bill on the counter.

*HB*

As incredible as it may sound, Striker envied his son. Jake was probably having a great time at the admittedly cool-looking rides while he is stuck babysitting a blueblood. He couldn't say he was completely bored, though. Turns out the pervert was right when he said there'd be lots of people going after him. Striker even ended up making a bet with Blitzo over who could shoot more people by the end of the day. Up to now, Striker was winning.

The cowboy casually spotted Octavia, who by then looked like she'd snap at any second now. He couldn't blame her, the show's musical number was rather bizarre.

"How come that pervert hasn't noticed his daughter is not enjoying himself at all?" he asked Blitzo casually.

"Not our business, Strike. We're their bodyguards, not their family therapists. Speaking of which," Blitzo shot an assassin in the back before he could stab Stolas. Blitzo smirked. "That makes it four on my count, Striker."

"Let's save that for later, Blitz. Looks like the mare's finally kicked." Striker motioned to Octavia as she fled the tent, Stolas following closely behind.

"You should find Jakey. It's Millie and Moxxie's watch, anyway, they can go keep an eye on Stolas."

Striker nodded gratefully and left the circus tent. Surprisingly, it didn't take him too long to find Jake, Moxxie, and Millie. They were at a shooting game booth. Judging by the enraged look in Moxxie's face and the 600 souls in the vendor's hands, the wimp just got scammed.

"Hey, dad! You won't believe what I did, I petted a dragon!"

Striker chuckled and petted the boy's head. "I'm glad you had a great time, kiddo."

"Hey, you, cowboy! You look like ye might be better at shooting this sad little fella."

Striker frowned. He knew from experience that these booths were rigged to scam customers out of their money at the vendor's leisure. He had a better idea. Smirking, Striker pulled out his pistol and handed it to Jake.

"Show them what you got, kiddo."

The impling's face lit up. He pointed the barrel of the weapon at the carnie to give him a fright before shooting all of the targets with flawless precision in quick succession. The bullets went right through the targets, leaving big holes. The carne was reduced to a trembling, frightened mess.

"H-Hey, take it easy, p-pal…" he stuttered nervously as Jake pointed the gun at him again.

"That's my boy!" Striker laughed, patting Jake's shoulder.

"Now I think," Moxxie sneered as he leaned unto the counter. "That you owe us a thing."

Something crashed through the roof of the shooting gallery and on top of the carnie. The group leaned in to take a look.

"Sir?" Moxxie asked.

Striker sighed once he turned around and found the theme park literally on fire. "Really, Blitz? I leave you alone for a second and you screw the damn place up?"

"Oh, hey guys!" Blitzo seemingly didn't hear him as he drew his pistol. "You should probably go, uh, make sure Stolas is okay. I got some… unfinished business to take care of."

The group dispersed, with Millie quickly grabbing her plush thing. Strike quickly picked Jake up and moved out of the way as Blitzo fired at the burning robot; the thing caught the bullet in its mouth and curled up to roll towards Blitzo in a fiery charge. Blitzo jumped out of the way just as the robot hit the booth and it exploded in an inferno of green flames.

"Um, Dad, should we lend Blitzo a hand?"

"I suppose so lest he ends up blowing the whole place up with us inside."

Jake smirked as he spotted the dragon from before on the loose. "I got an idea!"

Striker knew what the boy was thinking. He wasn't sure if it was such a good idea, though; he's dealt with wild hogs, hellhorses, and many fauna, but never a fully-grown Hellvern. Then again, he's always liked challenges. He had Jake climbed onto his back and cling to his neck.

"Hang on tight, my boy, this will be one hell of a ride!"

Grabbing a discarded rope and tying it into a lasso, Striker expertly threw it over the dragon's neck and pulled, tightening around its neck. When the animal reared back and spread its wings, Striker took advantage of the momentum to pull himself onto the Hellvern's back.

"Easy, there! I'm your new master now!" the cowboy shouted over the Hellvern's angry shrieks, pulling the ropes tightly in the manner of reins. It wasn't that hard, as the Hellvern had already been tamed. Otherwise, it was like riding a giant version of Bombproof.

"Woohoo! Can we keep the Hellvern, dad?!"

"I already got enough with a Hellhorse, kiddo!"

Striker led the animal through the green inferno, eyeing the crazy robot going after Blitzo. Millie and Moxxie were shooting it, but it was far too fast for bullets. Striker couldn't contain an excited 'yeehaw' cry as he whipped the Hellvern forward and it snatched Robo Fizz right before it could run Blitzo over; the animal threw Robo Fizz into the air before eating it whole.

"Got a new mount, Striker?! Can I keep Bombproof?!"

"In your dreams, Blitz!"

They barely made it out of Loo Loo Land before it was consumed by flames, then made a run for it before anyone could identify them as the people who destroyed the place. Mammon would look for heads to roll before the day's end, after all.

*HB*

"Best… Day… Ever…" Jake laughed in-between exhausted pants as they got home that night.

Striker fell on top of the couch, groaning in exhaustion. "We're taking the rest of the week off, kiddo. If Blitz calls, tell him Bombproof has a cold or something like that, but I'm not moving from this couch."

Jake joined his father and snuggled against him. "Thanks for taking me to Loo Loo Land, daddy."

"I'd say 'anytime' if the park hadn't been reduced to ashes." Striker chuckled, eyes closed as he wrapped an arm around his son.

As Jake snuggled into his father's arm, he thought about what Millie had said back at Loo Loo Land about.. "Hey, dad?"

"Mmm?"

"Can I ask you something? "

"What?"

"Well…" Jake took a deep breath. "Do I have a mom? I mean, Millie has one, Moxie too, Blitzo… Even Stolas's daughter has a mom. I've never seen any pictures and you've never told me about her…"

Jake trailed off as he heard snoring. Dad had already fallen asleep. He must be really exhausted, Jake thought. I can ask him some other time. I'll let him rest for now.

…

Striker didn't open his eyes until he was certain that Jake had fallen asleep; then he carefully cradled his son in his arms and carried him upstairs all the way to his room. He carefully tucked Jake in as quietly as possible; Jake shifted a bit, but otherwise didn't look like he'd wake up anytime soon. Striker smiled as he stroked his son's hair.

It's not that he didn't want Jake to know about his mother. He wanted to tell his son about the wild-spirited, strong-willed woman that stole his heart. He really did. But he just couldn't find the words to explain what had happened to her. Just even remembering her was like adding lemon and salt to an open wound. Striker would tell Jake about his mother eventually, just not now.

The cowboy carefully placed the stuffed dragon he had grabbed from the shooting gallery in Jake's grasp, carefully leaning in to kiss the boy's head.

"Good night."

*HB*

Well, seems there's been a hint about Jake's mother. What do you think happened to her? I might go into details later on.

[supercasey]

So I've been playing The Hades Game like fucking mad for the last few weeks, and although I'm not very far in it (at least, I don’t think I am; I’ve only beat Hades once!), I'm absolutely in love with it! Anyways, a certain idea has been kicking around in my head for awhile now, so I thought I'd share it with y'all; feel free to tell me what you think of it! (Warning: spoilers for when you beat Hades the first time!)

Anyways, I've already seen a really cool AU post for if Demeter raised Zagreus on the surface by herself (which you can find HERE; please check it out, the outfit for Zag alone is an amazing concept, and I love the artwork!!!) but I keep thinking about an AU where, after Zagreus dies at birth, Persephone runs away and takes his wrapped up body with her.

On the surface, she reconnects/reunites with her mother Demeter, and with her aid, the two of them manage to resurrect the newborn baby, though now he has more white in his hair than anything else. After that, Persephone sends Hades a letter to tell him that Zagreus is alive and well (because she actually has some fucking class), before proceeding to raise Zagreus on the surface with her mother, far away from the entrance to hell. The Olympians also help her out a bit, but mostly they just help by hiding Zagreus when it’s necessary.

(The rest is under a cut ‘cus this got a bit long, sorry!)

Years pass in relative peace, until Zagreus is about as old as he is in-game (I think he’s around 20-25ish???) and is living well, working with his mom and grandma to take care of their gardens and live peacefully away from mankind; he especially loves tending to the animals and guiding lost mortals to safety. However, one day while foraging for fruit in the deepest corners of his mother’s signature garden, Zagreus happens across a strange man in long robes, who introduces himself as Thanatos.

The two men get along swimmingly from minute one, and after agreeing to meet with each other again soon, they leave and tell their families/friends all about the experience, having no clue who they are to each other. After all, Thanatos was told growing up that his lord’s first wife died giving birth to their first and only child, who was a stillborn, and Zagreus thinks his father died of disease (his mom didn’t have to heart to tell him anything bad about his dad). Needless to say, they’re gonna be in for quite the shock soon.

Cue Hades losing his shit and calling on Thanatos, Megaera, and Achilles to go find his progeny and bring him home; he gives them special permission to leave the Underworld without any resistance, trusting Than to lead the way back to Zagreus. Achilles is less than thrilled to be performing such a morally grey task for his master, but Meg and Than are eager to prove themselves, so he begrudgingly agrees to help, even if it hurts his conscience to do so.

Persephone and Demeter also freak the hell out on their end, scared shitless by the fact that Death incarnate has just met their son/grandson, and they’re worried that he plans on coming back again soon. Demeter suggests sending Zagreus to live with the Olympians until this all blows over, but Persephone disagrees, wanting her son to stay nearby in case he grows ill (it’s implied that she’s a bit overprotective of him, mostly because she’s afraid of him dying again; this also means she refuses to let him know that he’s in any danger, believing it would only make things worse for him in the long-run). Frustrated but understanding her daughter’s pain all too well, Demeter at least convinces her to call on the Olympians for aid, which Persephone agrees to do.

The gods promise to help of course, but... well, they're low-key lying; they wanna see how this plays out first.

After several days of traveling through hell (literally), the “let’s kidnap Zagreus” gang makes it to the surface, and they immediately head to Persephone’s garden. All this time, Zagreus has no idea that he’s being targeted, so he goes about his chores as usual, only to run into Than again, and hey, he brought some more friends for him to meet! Zagreus is friendly with all of them, being raised to be very polite by his guardians, and while he’s busy chatting with Than and Achilles, he doesn’t notice Meg sneaking behind him. Just as Zagreus is rattling on about how the animals have been faring this summer, Meg stabs Zagreus in the back with a blade coated in Hades’s blood, cursing him to belong to the Underworld again.

With Zagreus now unconscious from a sedative that was mixed with the blood, the trio hurry off with him back to the Underworld, but not without Persephone seeing what they’ve done to her son. Horrified, she begins to sob, and winter arrives in the mortal world without so much as a fall season in-between this and the summertime.

When Zagreus comes to, he finds himself in a bedroom similar to the one he has in the game, but it’s much cleaner and has less objects of personal value to him. Hades is standing at the foot of his bed when he wakes up, and very calmly, Hades tells Zagreus that he’s his father, and that from now on, Zagreus will be living in the Underworld with him and his people, where he so obviously belongs. It’s a shame his mother can’t be here, of course, but they just need to wait awhile, that’s all; surely she’ll come to her senses and return home soon, now that her husband and son are here.

Zagreus jumps out of bed and faces his father as soon as he’s done monologuing, ready to tell him off for what he’s done, but to his shock, Hades hugs him as soon as he’s on his feet, and admits that he’s waited for this day for a long, long time. He asks his son to please just accept that this is his home now, and despite still being a bit surprised (and subtly hugging Hades back because Longing), Zagreus tells him straight up that he can’t, that he has to get home, especially with winter coming in a few months!

Dejected but not overly surprised, Hades simply nods in acceptance, but he still warns Zagreus that it’s no use trying to fight it; he’s stuck here, now and forever, so he may as well get comfortable and try getting along with him, because no one’s going anywhere anytime soon. Zagreus is horrified, but he nods nonetheless, unsure of what to say or do just yet.

Later that night, as Zagreus is struggling to sleep in this new, unfamiliar place, Achilles comes to him and apologizes about what’s happened, and although he can’t magically fix everything for him, he tells Zagreus that it actually is supposedly possible to escape; it’s just that no one’s ever done it before. Driven by his desire for freedom and the thought of reuniting with his mother, Zagreus tells Achilles that he’s going to find a way out, no matter the cost. Achilles congratulates him on his tenacity, but warns him that it won’t be easy. Still, he’s willing to help Zagreus as much as he can.

From then on, I imagine the game playing out very differently from the original, with a rather frazzled and scared Zagreus trying to get home to his mom and grandma, but with none of his training from Achilles in this AU, he has to rely on something his mother taught him; his connection with earth and all it’s inhabitants. Or, in his case, his connection with the spirits of animals (a cross of his dad and mom’s powers). That’s right, I’m making The Hades Game into a fucking Pokemon-ripoff, but still with some rouge-like elements mixed in (mostly with Zagreus not keeping his animals after runs).

Having royally fucked up in not stepping in sooner to protect Zagreus, the gods end up helping him out by sending down animals associated with them for the young god to tame for a run (I’ll come up with them later). They usually offer a selection to choose from, and from there Zagreus can build up a team and use it to try and escape the Underworld.

To replace weapons, I like to think he’d have “signature” animals that can help him out for any of his runs, specifically ones from Achilles, Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter (once he reaches the surface at least once), and eventually even Hades gives him one if they bond together enough ((yes, it’s Cerberus... kinda; it’s a puppy version of him, otherwise he’d be OP as fuck)). Zagreus’s signature animals can all be given names, and they keep certain skills that they pick up through enough experience battling in the Underworld for Zagreus.

As for story-line stuff, Zagreus ends up in a very fish out of water situation as he tries to get to know everyone in Hades’s house (he’s still our kindhearted Zag, after all, and he knows most of them aren’t to blame, not even really Than!) while also focusing on his goal to get home to his mom. Hades ends up being a lot nicer to him in this AU, perhaps overly so, as he’s trying to make his son like him more in order to make up for lost time (and fill the hole in his heart that Zag’s initial death as an infant and Persephone leaving with him created). It’s part of the reason he’s even letting Zagreus try to escape; he wants him to learn that it won’t work on his own terms (and maybe also scare the kid so bad that he comes running to him for comfort afterwards).

Also, I should really note that Zagreus is 100% a sweet country farm boy in this AU, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on with pretty much anything in the Underworld, much to everyone’s astonishment. For example:

Meg: Gods, it must be weird getting used to everything down here, huh? Sick of stepping in bat shit yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, and Dusa’s pretty good about cleaning it up to begin with. Zagreus: I mean, I guess? It’s not that different from chicken shit tbh. Meg: What the fuck is a chicken???

After that... yeah, I dunno. I’ll try playing Hades some more, see if I think up anything else that could be interesting, but for now, I hope at least someone ends up liking this dumb AU (if not, I’ll still like it... might even try my hand at drawing for it a bit tbh). Again, please check out the person who’s post/art I linked earlier in the post, ‘cus their art is really awesome and inspired me to include Demeter more in this AU!

[ninjakasuga]

Sonally Week Year 3 Day One

Another year, another of @gojira007 and their blog @boundforfreedomsonsal hosting another week of one of the best OTP’s of fiction. Here’s my entry for Day One: Dawn.

Foreward: Another year; another Sonally Week! Here’s my entry for Day One, and hope ya’all enjoy. This one is a sequel of sorts to my “Surprise” Day entry last year, where after some heckling over certain aspects of his romance with Sally; Sonic gets the news he’s gonna be a big brother! Instead of a literally dawn I decided to do a more thematic ‘dawn of a new part of life’ aspect than the actual time of day.

“Sonic.”

The blue furred Hedgehog in question continued to pace the floor, seeming to either not hear, or simply not regard the call of his name. He stopped, but not to reply, and began to tap his foot repeatedly as he often did in a show of impatience. Soon he was pacing yet again, causing the one trying to get his attention to sigh in exasperation, again.

“Sonic!” Raising her voice, just-oh-so-slightly, Sally again, attempted to get the attention of her fiancé’ this time reaching out and managing to grasp his tail and give it a small yank. Probably not the best thing for Sonic’s pride as he let out the cutest squeak in response, but Sally didn’t mind. Smiling coyly yet with a hint of apology in her eyes as he turned to face her, she reached for his arm, softly rubbing it. “Calm down a bit hun, you’re going to wear the floor out.” Rubbing his slightly sore posterior, Sonic gave his beloved a mild glare that softened almost as soon as it appeared; agitation giving way to the concern plaguing him. “Sorry Sal, it’s just, well it’s been over an hour since the expected due date. What’s the hold up?”

A voice quips from a chair along the opposite side of the waiting room from Sonic and Sally. “Well that’s how labor sometimes goes Sonny-boy. I mean you didn’t exactly pop out as soon as your Ma’s water broke. Slow-going was the name of the game.” Chuckled Charles Hedgehog, finding much amusement in his nephew’s impatience. An impatience he very much empathized with, but knew better than to get too riled up at this point. “So an hour past when the doctor expects the babies to come is small change, especially compared to how you made everyone wait a whole ten hours and ninety-one minutes before you finally graced us with your presence.”

Sitting besides Charles, Rosie Woodchuck let out her own dainty but hearty giggle as she reached to give the silver-furred Hedgehog a gentle squeeze of his hand. “Oh the language coming out of that room. We both feared for your brother’s manlihood if not his existence.”

“I wasn’t that hard on Mom was I?” Inquired Sonic with genuine curiosity mixed with a mild hint of indignity. His gaze only half-way went to his Uncle and Rosie; mainly because he still found it weird they were dating. Correction had been dating on the down-low since, well, a long time with the two only having a ‘break’ when he’d been roboticized all those years. He was genuinely happy for them, but it was still just plain weird to him.

“I think pregnancy is hard for any woman the first time around, or so I read and was told.” Mused Sally as she gently pulled Sonic to sit beside her, rubbing his quills to both straighten them out, and to soothe his nerves. Not unlike Sonic she was still processing the semi-recent revelation that her beloved former Nanny and Sir Charles had been dating under everyone’s noses for so long. Then again should she be surprised? Both were rather private people about their personal lives outside of whatever they did with friends and family. Not to mention the true reason they kept it quiet back in the day had more to do with concerns their positions in the Royal Court would cause unrest for some if their more intimate relationship came to light.

Looking toward Rosie, Sally was now curious about her own birth given the topic. “Were Elias or I rough on Mother?”

Rosie shook her head, “Not really, Elias took some time, but your dear Mother thankfully did not have too rough a time of it. Her calm demeanor kept up even dealing with labor pains, and the end result more than made up for it. You were much easier, as she knew what to navigate and you only took so many hours after the labor contractions began to grace us with your presence.” She smiled fondly, thinking about the two occasions, then giggled. “That said she wasn’t above occasionally reminding your Father it was his fault she was in that state, and well, that’s her story to tell more than mine.”

Snickering, Sally looked at Sonic with a very straight face, barely keeping a grin from forming. “I promise if we have kids, not to threaten your masculinity. That said, I will probably get my vengeance some other way.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Sonic elbowed his girlfriend-now-fiance’ gently in the arm. “Oh reeeeeeeally? Well you gotta catch me first Sal.”

“I already did.” She murmured, leaning in to kiss his cheek as she laced her fingers with his.

“Got me there,” Relenting, Sonic returned the smile, as well as the kiss, planting it on her fluffy cheek before leaning back in his seat. His concern for his Mother and his impending siblings, slightly alleviated for the time being.

The elder couple shared a look, one they had often shared when they were witness to the dear love and devotion between Sally and Sonic. From children to adults, the two always seemed to be a pair they fit so well, it was clear as day even when they were in diapers or arguing up a storm as toddlers, to their teen years. The small things in life that made all the gloom and doom of the past decade and some odd-change worth living for. Soon everyone’s heard turns as the double-door leading to the maternity ward opened and Doctor Quack limped out, leaning on his cane carefully, but with a confident stride; showcasing he’d come to master the walking tool quite well.

“Well-?!”

Holding up his free hand, both to interrupt as well as allow Quack to pull down his mask, his bill forming into a smile. “Your newborn sister and brother are here, healthy and loud, and your Mother is doing very well herself.”

The four cheer as they stand up, mindful this was still a hospital and kept it down, but their jubilation was completely understood.

“Can we see them?” Asked Sonic, already antsy and looking ready to speed down the corridor.

“Yes, we’ve already handled all the post-birth clean up, and checked their vitals as well as Bernie’s, who herself wishes to see you all as well. So I see no issue with allowing visitation right away, but do keep it brief, they do need their rest.” Advised the water-foul doctor as he kept himself straight, if just to fight off his own fatigue which was now creeping up after the long labor. “Just NO running Sonic, got it?”

At the mild admonishment, the Hedgehog simply grinned. “Me? Run through a hospital? Would I do thaaaaaaaaaaaat?”

“Yes, you would.” Everyone else remarked with amazing timing and matching deadpan. To which Sonic rolled his eyes.

“Sheesh, talk about a crowd! Anyway let’s go, let’s go!” Sonic urged, already half-dragging Sally along, forcing his beloved to keep in rapid pace close to him as they held hands still. Sally simply went with it, laughing softly at Sonic’s outright adorable impulsive need to see his new siblings. Chuck and Rosie merely followed at their pace, but there was certainly a spring in their step as well.

Eventually the group, along with Doctor Quack, reach the room designated for Bernie and her newborns. Managing to keep Sonic at bay enough, Quack pushed the door open for them and cleared his throat. “Jules, Bernie, your guests have arrived.”

Like an impatient puppy, Sonic squeezed past Quack, Sally trailing hand-in-hand still from behind. His emerald-green eyes, zeroing-in on the target, even as his breath hitched softly as a wave of emotion floored Sonic as he finally gazed upon his Mother and new siblings. As tired as Bernie Hedgehog looked, nothing could dull the intense love and adoration in her eyes and face as she held two swaddled bundles in her arms. Her husband Jules’ own expression was a mirror of his wife’s, only tinged with the pride only a Father can know. Each look up their expressions beaming more at the sight of their eldest child, with Jules instantly waving him over.

“Hey there son, come say hi to your baby brother and sister!”

Noticing that Sally seemed a bit frozen, Sally found back a ‘snerk’ that wanted to come out, and simply pulled him along. Upon seeing the two infants, mewling and cooing, her own eyes mist. “Awww, they’re adorable!”

“Y-yeah they are…” Sonic managed a dry chuckle,  why did his throat feel so dry? He’d been psyched for this ever since his Mom laid the bombshell she was pregnant nine months ago! Of all the times for Sonic the Hedgehog to choke and lose his cool, it’s this? He didn’t lose his cool this much, asking Sally to marry him for Almighty’s sake! Leaning over he got a much better look at the two.

One of the two clearly favored their Mother’s more light-purple coat, another had the milder-blue of his Father. Both were cute as a button, and just, the sounds they made! Sonic usually wasn’t one to obsess over cute things, but he was entranced. “So we got names for these two? Or do I call em’ Li’ Sib one, and two?”

“We were thinking of Sonia, for this little angel.” Explained Bernie as she gently pet the back of her daughter’s head. The newborn curled against the warm hand that carried the scent of her Mother. “As for this handsome young man, I was thinking of something with M, like Manwell or Manny.”

“If he’s anything like Sonny-boy he’ll be one manic child.” Chuckled Charles as he and Rosie moved closer taking the end of the bed so as to not crowd anyone.

Something about that line struck a chord with Jules, who instantly adopted a thoughtful look as he rubbed his chin. “Manic, manic, why not Manic?” He grinned even as his wife looked at him rather funny. “Face it hun, if Sonic’s any indication, these two are going to be spirited, and it kind of goes well don’t you think?”

After a moment, Bernie tired rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she however smiled, “Manic it is. However if that name causes him woe, I’ll be sure he knows he has you to blame.”

“Anybody gives him or Sonia woe I’mma deck em’.” Sonic proclaimed, pounding his fists together.

“Nor alone,” Agreed Sally as she leaned against him. They weren’t her siblings biologically, but already she had decided she would help protect them at all cost.

“Triple, and quadruple so.” Added Rosie, who nodded along with Charles. The family was united on this front.

“Fantastic.” Giggling, Bernie kissed the heads of her newborns. “Hear that, your family is ready to murder for you.”

“You all can plot future murder later, as much as I hate to spoil the moment, Mother and both newborns need rest.” Spoke up Quack as he stood at the door, keeping silent until now.

Yawning, Bernie nodded in agreement, she was drained. Her gaze lifted to her husband. “You get some rest too, you’ve been up with me through all this.”

“I didn’t do even a fraction of the work; but, rest sounds good.” He yawned, quickly covering his mouth. “Mind if I just crash here Doc?”

“I’ve already asked an orderly to bring a rollaway for you. I know better.” Smiled the duck-doctor in a knowing fashion. “Now come now everyone, time to go.”

Looking at his parents, Sonic instantly stated. “We’ll visit tomorrow, promise.”

“Looking forward to it son, looking forward to it.”

Giving his siblings one last look, Sonic smiled and winked at the two infants. “Welcome to the world you two, hopefully by the time you can talk and explore the world there’ll be one last fat-man to worry about. That’s a big-bro promise!”