#they are in big trouble now

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 30 - "Are you with me?"

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: G

Warnings: -

A/N: I had absolutely no idea what to do with this one… and it shows I think… also can this be considered crackish?

"Danny you ready?"

"Give me a second Red!"

"No time! Going live in…"

"Wait wait wait!"

"3..."

"I got the popcorn!"

"2…"

"What about the block against the Justice League?!"

"1…"

"Red locked them out of the system. Now get ready!!"

"Go!"

Danny blinked as he got pushed by Superboy in front of the camera Impulse was standing behind. Behind them was Wonder Girl giving him a thumbs up with one hand and holding up giant flash cards with her other one.

"Uh Hi?"

Impulse raised an eyebrow and moved his hand in a keep going motion. Nervously Danny rubbed his neck. He looked left and right as if looking for something until his eyes focused back onto the camera. He coughed, took a deep breath, unnecessary in phantom form but helpful to calm down, before smiling and touching his hands together at their fingertips.

"Ahem. Hello, hi. Now you might be wondering. Who the fuck is that guy to interrupt my Saturday night movie program. I am Phantom, the newest member of Young Justice. King of the Ghost Zone also known as the Infinite Realms. The Dimension that's pretty much gluing our entire reality together." He gave the camera a nervous smile before he continued. "I am here to tell you on behalf of the entirety of the Infinite Realms. That you humans, of this dimension…"

Danny took a deep breath, from the corner of his eyes he saw Superboy giving another keep going sign while Red Robin was checking something on his laptop, making sure none of their mentors was trying to cut short their live feat over the entire world as well as that the subtitles worked for different language countries.

"...well you humans suck." Danny said as he breathed out, closing his eyes and pausing for a moment to let his message sink in. "Look, I get it. It's always hard finding something new, seeing change but come on. Anti-Ecto Acts? Was that necessary?"

He waved his hand around like he was thinking to find the right words while peaking at the flash card Wonder Girl was holding up.

"Like come on, can't you humans get your act together? Why hunt down an entire species just because they are different? You humans are already constantly at war with each other, aside from the idiocy of that, do you really have to add interdimensional war to that list?"

Danny chuckled nervously ignoring the additional flash card Impulse was now holding up to make him call out some of the humans' crimes against, the list mostly containing petty things Impulse didn't like. "Just so you know. I am barely keeping my council from declaring the dimensional one by the way." He added instead.

"Now you all are probably wondering what the hell this random ghost hero is talking about with no solution." He glanced to the side. " Well I have one."

Danny coughed into his hand and right his stance. "Dogs."

He held out his arms and Cujo appeared out of nowhere jumping into them. Off camera Wonder Girl coed. His ghost puppy had pretty much charmed all his hero friends since day one.

"They are loyal, awesome, cute and every beings best friend. Ancients even Superman has one!" Danny said smiling as he held up Cujo into the camera, he was glad he had remembered to infuse Red Robin's equipment with ectoplasm so the broadcast wouldn't get distorted.

"It's something we can all agree on. So, are you with me? Let's discard these stupid acts and all focus on the cuteness of little beings like him? How could anyone want to destroy his entire existence!"

"SHIT!" Red Robin cursed loudly off Camera and Danny blinked head turning towards his direction. "B got our location! Oracle ratted us out and is about to shut down the broadcast!"

"What this soon?! We didn't even get to the juicy parts yet!" Impulse complained loudly and Danny nervously faced the camera.

"Uh… Yea so.. No Anti-Ecto Acts and pro Dogs!" He summed up liften a encouraging fist up as Cujo barked happily in his arms.

"ETA 2! We need to bolt!" Red Robin shouted as Wonder Girl Rushed across the camera to open the window on the other side. Superboy was already picking up Red Robin and Impulse was gone before Red had even finished his sentence.

Phantom gave the camera one nervous smile as Cujo jumped out of his arms. "For the record. This broadcast was brought to you by sleep deprived Red and our opinion that the Justice League is taking too long!"

The next second phantom was seen rushing off to the side most likely following the others a moment later a crash was heard in the distance before the camera tilted and fell to the side. The broadcast was cut off at that point.

Unknown to the audience, a group of young hero's was rushing away from there not so secret broadcasting location, trying to escape their mentors that were not happy about their kids trying to take matters into their own hands just because 'the adults are taking to long'.

#fictober23 #danny fenton #dp x dc #danny phantom #dpxdc #tim drake #conner kent #bart allan #cassie sandsmark #young justice #I have no idea what I was thinking while writing this... #the kids have enough of waiting #they decided to do a broadcast for a good cause #it was Tim's sleep deprived idea #everyone just rolled with it #it was crazy enough of an idea to work #their mentors didn't know #they are in big trouble now #Justice League is taking to long to get rid of the Anti-Ecto Acts #probably crackish #the teens have chaos energy that needs to live

[starry-songs-canvas]

Fenton-Proved Kryptonite!

Sorry for the lack of prompt last week, been sick.

——————————————————

Lex Luthor had sent a representative for LexCorp, instead of coming to Vlad Masters himself.

Rude, but smart.

But this imbecile can’t seem to hold a simple business conversation! (No ghostly interference needed) Starring at his most recent attempt of a bust of his dear Madeline, (a good improvement from his previous endeavor, but even Vlad will admit it’s… slight imperfections. If only he could capture her essence as well as he does her idiot husband! At least those give him some stress relief.)

“I apologize for boring you, however I do happen to believe these major details are rather important.” Vlad growls.

“I- I apologize sir, but if I may ask, where did you get so much kryptonite?!” The representative chokes out.

Tl:DR, Vlad’s machines make kryptonite as a byproduct, which he then ice sculpts into Jack Fentons head. Imagine this, if you will.

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #dc x dp crossover #dc x dp prompt #dcxdp #Vlad gets into kryptonite sculpting #But he can only make Jack Fentons head #He also doesn’t realize he’s making kryptonite #He just thinks it’s condensed ectoplasm with a hard shell #Which makes it very hard almost impossible to use in a lot of inventions #Lex Luthor now really wants to be in business with vlad #Possible mindcontrol be risked. #Superman is now in big trouble #But does this “kryptonite” interact with Superman in the same way? #Or is the only kryptonite that works remnants from krypton? #Idk you decide

[kash-phia]

baby pokemon trainers 🐣

#pokemon #trainer leaf #trainer lyra #rival silver #rival blue #trainer ethan #pokemon frlg #pokemon hgss #headcanon post #kashart #blue oak #green oak #rival green #this is my headcanon of their appearnce when they were 5 or 6ish hahaha #green and leaf were a pair of trouble makers #the metapod is a stolen lab pokemon lol #he is the caterpie's big brother; somehow caterpie got the impression that her brother was kidnapped by evil men in white coats #in actuality her brother went theyre willfully lol #now caterpie managed to drag two human kids into rescuing metapod....his lil sister always causes him trouble... #ohh and i suppose i hc baby ethan as a bit of a crybaby #esp before he got marill haha #he was a prime bully target too;but lyra always stuck up for him! she protecc her friend! #in this case however he tripped and fell because 2 pokemon knocked over him #they are very sorry too as you can see #oh and as for silver #i guess this is after (REDACTED) happened #or maybe during it #much later he finally (REDACTED) and spent some time (REDACTED) #and then later he finally decided he was going to steal a pokemon

[altho-arto]

ADVISORS! plural !! Oooh Kabru is definitely staying in the kingdom with the toudens and marcille im 99.9999% sure of it now that chapter 97 is out

I want a hundred chapters of the post-canon silly Kabru&Marcille sitcom "we are trying to rule this kingdom but SOMEONE is not helping" Kingdom shenanigans 💚 (the someone is usually Laios. the older races' diplomats and ex-shadow governors are not helping tho)

(ID in alt text)

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #kabru #marcille donato #my art #uuh farcille and labru mentions too i guess #man now that the dungeon trouble is over kabru can befriend laios and go to that lunch date they talked about ! #he will be studying whats wrong w him for years to come....fantastic.. (hope mithrun and his crew visit to keep him sane) #but more importantly i just wonder how a convo about being raised among elves while not being 'pure' elves themselves would go. #how big would marcille's mommy issues be? her circumstances are less dire than kabru's adoption but damn im sure she has wild anecdotes to

[noxcheshire]

I was taking a moment after finishing reading DP: agit , you know, just processing the adventure and the potential that this story can give to DP fandom when I suddenly got whiplash by a visual of that old video of some guy in a military vehicle and his dad yelling at him.

But it twisted to be Dan having destroyed half the world before Danny comes in with his hands on his hips like a disappointed/angry mom and yelling at Dan to stop trying to destroy the world again and Dan screaming back “YOU’RE NOT MY MOM!”

And Danny, not missing a beat, slaps back, “I AM your mom, and you will get down here right now!”

But I’m going to make this dpxdc cause I like it and no one can stop me.

So here we have Dan creating havoc, and throwing things, very upset. Being truly evil and scary; striking fear into the JL and heroes, when in comes Danny Fenton.

Not even Phantom.

Just Danny Fenton in all his small — taking after his mother — glory. He is walking in with hands on his hips in that perfect disappointed mom pose and glaring up at Dan.

Dan who was currently sneering over the heroes of this world, and either too cocky to notice the heroes attention splitting between himself and something else, or truly unaware of the human behind him.

“DAN PHANTOM!” Danny yells, “You get down here right now!”

The villain — Dan Phantom — spins fast in the air, red eyes large and loosing a percentage of that evil charm before it returns with a snarl. “YOU’RE NOT MY MOM!”

“I AM your mom, and you will listen to me; get down here right now!”

Dan, in a rather uncharacteristic expectation from what the heroes knew of him this entire three days of destruction, throws his head back and yells.

The sound was filled with teenage rebellion. And then, miraculously, Dan floated down to Danny, with a very upset pout.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dcxdp #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #Danny is a mom to two physically grown children #Dan escaped from their universe and decided to wreck havoc in another #big sister Ellie does get an earful for having tried to distract Danny from the mess she started #she very much has encouraged Dan to cause havoc by challenging him against the JL #Danny is not amused #Danny offhandedly explains to the jl that Dan had ripped his way through his body fully grown #he doesn’t elaborate further #Dan hisses when looked at #Dan does try to explain himself but Danny cuts him off with: and your sister is getting an earful too #Dan knows they are both in trouble now #jl looking at Danny and then Dan: is this a god thing???

[venomgaia]

Guys that go bump in the night

(minorly inspired by @karniss-bg3 's response to this ask)

#bg3 #astarion #rhylolin/lobo (oc) #kar'niss #drider #baldurs gate 3 #driftoodles #alternative titles thst were suggested have been: the monster mash; two charlatan party crashers and their plus one #a drider a lycanthrope and a vampire walk into a bar #etc etc etc i could keep going #i imagine this would be a post bg3 plot thing . dunno what trouble theyre getting into but #whatever theyre up to someones probably gonna have to bail them out. my moneys on gale #with how ive been sketching kar'niss ive been drawing him more emaciated during bg3 bc i noticed his abdomen wrinkles at the bottom which #is a trait of dehydration in arachnids. hes probs not eating very well in moonrise lmao. but i imagine lobo heres been taking p good care #of him. also i think karniss still isnt used to being complimented so every time anyone says he looks nice he throws a fit about it #arachnophobia #but yeah so i try to draw him with rounder n softer features if im drawing him doing smthn post bg3 #anywayyys i have a big day tomorrow i wish i had more energy to put smthn neater out but. for now. woe drider #i actually planned on replying to the og ask with more refined doodles but i may do thst later shdkdnkd

[soaked-ghost]

best part of having a blorbo is playing dress up with them :}

#every outfit found on pinterest btw #took me a while to figure out ink's fashion sense but I think I *kind of* grasp it now #I think he likes to keep it remotely modest with one garnement on him with all the colors. while the rest- #-of the fit stays white or grey or black. #I think he's a small shirt big pants kind of person but tbh I don't think he would ever wear shows #I just followed the references here #figuring out a character's fashion sense can be tricky but also helps a lot with understanding their personality! #so I recommend doing that if ur having trouble with getting a character by making aesthetic boards and the like #also it's super fun!!!!! #ink sans #sans au #utmv #art #myart

[jkpng]

day 135/547 of missing jungkook

#jk #jungkook #buny #said i would yap abt this live and here it is #ik when i was watching it live i said to smone like. the mood is weirdly melancholic but now hes talking abt food and instantly its lighter #but since then i kinda forgot that the first half of that live is like. SUCH AN ODD VIBE #and i rewatched unprepared for it 😭 and got emotional #like idk. like the vibe is DAMP. its heavy not necessarily sad but it was Heavy #and hes talking abt not sleeping well lately and waxing poetic abt he can come here when he feels unstable and it feels safe n comforting #and like. mentioning he feels nauseous and one song looped for like 20 mins and sitting in the fucking dark just pondering silently #like bro ARE U GOOD????? its giving Me whenever im horribly depressed 😭 #like ik u cant really tell someones feelings from their face esp if u dont know them but he just seemed. troubled #and i was watching it like Bro why are u on a livestream sitting in the dark staring at me w big wet eyes ARE U OK……. #and then he starts talking abt food and my eyes literally got wet bc he just. immediately brightened #and got talkative again #and i cant explain idk it made me emotional like. wuh hes happy telling us abt his noodle recipe….wuh…… #and i had to tap out idk ill watch the rest later. IDK IDKKKKKKK im just fond. whatever

[catominor]

do you guys think a small a nd sickly senator can really have a virtuous and wise stoicful mindset

#ficposting #lucius furius camillus #<3 #now that ive actually read a little about stoicism im anjoying it so much & applying mynew Knowledge to exploring his Mind Palace #though also to be serious": i think a big part of wny lfc was drawn to stoicism was the ideas about physical states not being important for #living virtously. because of how badly hes been treated For being sickly/weak... i think its comforting to him to feel he has control over #his morality &that the state of his body. which he cant control #doesnt really matter.. even if he cant control everything around him (and believe me he wants to he is a complete control freak) he can #atleast control hislittle brain in his head (kinda. at least he thinks he can). however when he cant control things this is when he runs #into trouble.... he is a control freak abt both himself and his environment honestly

[sonicchaoscontrol]

hi this is the at some random time check to see if you are alive and doing okay :]

are you alive? ☐

are you doing okay? ☐

please check each box that applies to you

*end of message beep*

I'll check that first box, but not the second, because oops, here come the scales of consequence. Or rather -

Hangin’ in there, but only barely!

Enter, stage left: My horrible habit of disappearing off the face of the planet when things are too much. Everyone has been so kind, and so patient, and as it turns out, I didn’t plan this surprise break, either. The personal details don’t belong on this page, given that I’m trying to keep non-comic posts to a minimum, but the TLDR is effectively ‘I am currently in a rather dire financial situation, and have no energy to spare on this side hobby’.

It’s irresponsible of me to let things go so long without updates, but at the same time, I am overbooked and Big Stressy, and I have to prioritize my current IRL situation if I want to be able to eat. Thank you, as always, and this check-in was definitely appreciated.

I will continue to do my best to stay afloat, and believe me, I’m just as frustrated as a lot of readers are! Bear with me as I fumble with that mythical thing called ‘being a responsible adult’.

#mod post #mod draws #i love y'all very much but my unemployed ass is very much in trouble right now #i. uh. should probably open up sonic comms tbh #anyway hi i'm alive and while i don't have an art update i do have a life update #i'll save the big details for personal blog things. me not that kind of squirrel

[journey-to-the-attic]

one thing i've noticed about obey me's story is that it generally delivers on big dramatic narrative moments, but often neglects the surrounding scenes and especially the fallout. there is of course, the oft-talked-about lesson 16, feat. mc's death that never gets brought up again, but then there's also s2's amnesia arc, which ends things with "mc has the ring so everything is completely fine forever"

om has a habit of doing this, where a realm-wide (or heck, universe-wide) problem is hand-waved away by the appearance of a convenient fix-it, which is usually either an object or just ~magic~ (magic as a plot device in om in general is handled poorly but that's a story for another day)

in some cases they just don't address the fallout at all. at least belphie talks about what he did in lesson 16 - but, see nb s2, wherein levi floods the entire devildom, submerging entire houses, and they don't bring it up again afterwards. as far as i remember too, belphie's mini-arc in this season wasn't really given room to breathe, either

but here's the main thing (spoilers for nb lessons 38 and 39)

i've just done these two lessons and in hindsight lucifer's mini-arc feels like a lot of missed potential

honestly they could have excluded diavolo entirely - his main purpose was to stall for time so that the brothers could show up. the moment where he kneels was cool (more on that moment later), but the way they've written him in means that the angels kinda. don't get to do anything? at all?

look - raphael has a gorgeous character moment at the end of 37 where he cries for the brothers' plight. like you don't understand this had so much potential!!! he didn't really do much in s1 (and might not have actually been himself??) so i was hoping this would be his chance to shine, but instead he's on the sidelines. simeon gets the most to do, and even then it's really not much. luke doesn't do anything, unless you count those blessings he and simeon give mc, but they don't really factor in at all??

what especially doesn't make sense about diavolo's role here is that lucifer turns on mc after they step in to protect him. this is meant to be a pay-off to diavolo's less savoury motivation for saving the brothers, revealed in his arc in nb s1, but all lucifer does is say it, get mad, then completely forgets about it once all is said and done

if that's all they were going to do with it, why bring it up at all? from a character standpoint, it makes more sense for mc to shield one of the angels - again, raphael this could've been your moment. (alternatively it could've been a call-back to the og s1 where mc shields luke in the underground tomb)

the appearance of the brothers was welcome, but at the same time i don't quite buy that they all got out of their respective predicaments completely fine. (also where did mephistopheles go??) lucifer also calms down very quickly, which is a great moment for the power of family, but at the same time i feel like he would've needed at least a few more dialogue boxes of him registering through his rage that his brothers were there. eh, this is more nitpicky than everything else

the brotherly moment was 10/10 though. love these guys <3

but i hated the final resolution so so much. sure, have god forgive him, whatever. but why would you end it all with a "papa loves you"???? if it had been raphael or simeon saying it, maybe i could get behind this as a symptom of the celestial realm's unhealthy society, but LUCIFER, whose greatest fear was revealed to be his father in s3 of the original story?

om has never made it seem like god's relationship with the angels was anything other than controlling and borderline abusive, and for some reason (if the poignant flashback is anything to go by) they've done a complete heel turn into "actually it's fine because he loves the angels". it could be read as representing how children often still cling to abusive/controlling parents, but i doubt it - especially coming from lucifer, who started a war and lost a sister in direct opposition to his father

and i get the whole deal with "lucifer was so beautiful as an angel" but it feels really disingenuous to the brothers' arc (about settling into the devildom and coming into their own as demons) to harp on about it. like, fuck that, have lucifer cast away the angel form, or at least have some pushback from him in the aftermath. have mc tell him "you're even more beautiful as a demon" or something

then in lesson 39 everything's back to normal. it's a very cute lesson and i had fun in the moment, but it feels off. there's no discussion of what happened, everyone's completely fine. there's got to be some psychological after-effects to all of that, no? for lucifer especially if not the brothers who got frozen as well???

though lucifer's dragon gift was very sweet. i can't stay mad at that old man

#i think a big issue is that om's juggling a lot of characters #even back when it was just the brothers they had trouble evenly distributing development and characterisation #(and beel's still constantly getting the short end of the stick) #nb is very good at delivering concepts but it's 50/50 whether they're executed well #am i being picky about this silly otome game? perhaps #but it's very much a character and story driven game so at the same time this is kinda the whole point #om is not badly written. otherwise i wouldn't have been stuck in the devildom for like 4 years now!! #but there are so many threads that could be so good #that the writers either miss or weave into the wrong knot entirely #obey me

[theranciddwarf]

First finished art of 2023. Of course it’s going to be the ghoul mayor. Look at him. You’re just been naughty and he’s wondering just what he’s going to do with you. You’re in big trouble now. Pssst. I also do commissions.

#my art #fallout 4 #fallout #ghoul #fallout ghoul #john hanckc #hancock fallout #digital art #canadianartist #commissions open #john hancock #fallout fanart #fanart #you're in big trouble now #those eyes can kill and make you swoon at the same time #theranciddwarf

[golbiey]

team rose pencil case design that im nearly done and will be ordering before the end of the year!! ❤️

#amy rose #cream the rabbit #big the cat #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #sonic heroes #team rose #COLOURS #im very excited for this but have motivation troubles lately so here is a preview #the tiny thumbnail there is the back design which i also really like yay #it shall have a white zipper and lining i think #i did a sketch for a team sonic design as well but i opened twitter one day and someone had drawn basically the exact same thing #so it is scrapped and here is this design now for the record JFHDJFHF

[kicktwine]

oh so alisaie’s exaggerated bully behavior is 80% fanon. saying this she casually picks up a large rock

#say one thing wrong to me and you will have a wonderful few days with the rock #if angry silly girls have 100 fans etc if they have 0 fans i have died #sorry i saw a YouTube meme i vehemently disliked on principle and got mad at the only child behavior- #kipspeak #she is just short tempered and uses anger to mask other more ‘shameful’ emotions!!! alphy did the same thing with just deciding not #to express them. which is still not good and I think why he breaks and ends up teary so often now #this shortness does not translate to actually being mean to people. she only uses being mean as a shield for herself and being snarky #Is just fun for her. it’s fun for Me. you have to inconsequentually tease people or they’ll never learn to laugh at themselves #the twins and thancred 🫵 do this thing where they have big emotions but they don’t want anyone to SEE they have big weird emotions #so alphy pretends he doesn’t have them under a veneer of dignity and alisaie pretends the emotions are Something Else. thancred is #just so emotionally constipated he has trouble expressing anything. he’s got enough baggage for a flatbed #anyways. alisaie is such a compassionate and kind girl and she learned how to make snarky jokes and went ham. and she hates appearing sad o #weak or vulnerable so she blocks it off with an unapproachable emotion so no one pities her and they maybe get on with the plot #it is in fact also great at getting ppl to move away from the sad or embarrassing topic. even if the tradeoff is being more offputting #she would never (grabs youtube meme) she would never seriously bully her brother. this is sibling ribbing only. Cain instinct #just leave her be she is learning how to snark humor and she loves it she loves being sharp. alphy has wit he just keeps it close #my brother didn’t learn how to tell or receive a joke until he was 14 he took everything so seriously. he can do it now though and he’s #HILARIOUS. Don’t tell him I said that. my man knows exactly where the funny points are even if he hasn’t learned when to stop yet #too many tags. Whatever. jokey snark alisaie who sometimes compliments is happy alisaie grouchy snappy angry alisaie is way too stressed #very easy way to tell between the two. even alphy can tell between the two I believe! He tends to rib back in protest if they’re having fun #and try to stop her if they’re not having fun. case in point ‘what is that supposed to mean?!’ vs ‘alisaie ryne was only trying to help.’ #I know they’re twins but that’s such an intensely older sibling thing to do that it reels me #LONG TAGS AND THREE EDITS TO ADD ON SHORT I resent this stereotype taken too far into ooc behavior. it happened with nya #It will happen again and as a postscript let me regale you with Things U Can Notice About Character Motivation and Actions— #I’m not done let me s #she and raha are friends now I decree. ‘haha you like me’ SPUTTERING PROTEST FROM BOTH

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

helping your bestie with his astronaut training (or in other words, an excuse for me to draw apollo clinging onto clay like a koala)

#i've actually been thinking about the cosmic turnabout almost nonstop for a few days now #ace attorney #apollo justice #clay terran #claypollo #well in my brain it's platonic but you can think of this however you want #aa5 spoilers #random stuff #my stuff #canonically clay must be pretty stronk though #he carried sol even though they were both in their big heckin spacesuits and then protected the hope capsule despite being stabbed #also. why do i have so much trouble drawing apollo #he looks like a different person every time i draw him (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[onceandfuturewarlqck]

leon wonders when merlin had started to become friend, family, more than servant, more than arthur's, but his (theirs, gwaine's smiles said, was screamed by gwen's hugs, lancelot's quiet hushes. theirs.)

leon had grown up with morgana and arthur, and being a few years older than them he had taken on the role as the older brother.

it had been easy.

it was leon morgana arthur, never separated, holding each other's hands and backs.

thick as thieves, always together, and leon took the role of protecting arthur, and then he became a knight and he swore an oath to uther but mostly to the prince.

he looked at his friend brother prince king and he swore.

because leon would protect arthur no matter what.

and life goes on, in a way, and people grow, like they're supposed to do, and things change, and leon's days are filled with patrols and trainings and aching limbs and orders to follow.

it leavea him aching.

then.

then this boy comes in, all limbs and no muscles and even less brain cause he has to be at the very least a fool to pick a fight with arthur, of all people.

and leon watches, because he is a knight, no matter that the prince is being an asshole and a bully.

(which he wasn't as a kid. he was sweet and nice and shy and kind, and leon would always remember the way he used to shake when there were thunders, hiding himself under the covers; he would never forget the soft smiles he would give him, the time he had cried because morgana had fallen down and scraped his knees, the concentrated look when he wanted to comfort her but didnt know how to actually do it. arthur had been a sweet child, but he also was uther's son, and he wanted to make him proud.)

(and then the raid happened and arthur spiraled and closed himself and not even leon can reach for him anymore.

you're too far away, he wants to cry.

he offers his arm, but arthur turns around everytime.)

(leon nowdays wonders if arthur the kid is forever dead, sacrificed to arthur the son. it shouldn't sadden him, but it does. he thinks, leon morgana arthur, but now it's leon, and morgana, and arthur, with all those empty spaces, all looking at different walls.)

the gangly boy is lost and gone within the day.

until he saves arthur's life and becomes his manservant, that's it, and now leon has to spend all the time watching as this boy, merlin, keeps threatening the prince, calling him a prat, insulting him?

leon thinks he hit the head and he is in some other alternative universe because there is no way that this servant can act like that, without any sense of proprierty, almost friendly, with the crown prince without facing some punishment.

but arthur doesn't send him away. he talks back, jokes with him, and something slowly begins to melt in his prince. something blooms into spring again, weak and tentative, but it's there.

(and maybe leon is jealous, because when was the last time that he and arthur had joked like that? they used to run across the castle, hiding from maids. morgana would convince arthur to pull pranks, and arthur would drag leon along, and the three of them would laugh and play all day.

they used to spend nights huddled together, talking about everything, dreaming about the future. arthur would talk about slaying monsters and being a hero, and morgana would roll her eyes and say that leon was way more hero-like. leon would blush and say that he would defend them both from evil. he would later trip on the sheets and arthur would laugh at him while helping him up, before softly asking him if he was alright, corcern painting his eyes, and morgana would call him "my knight" with a cheeky smile, but they were happy.)

(now they talk less and leon calls arthur "sire" and "my prince" and all these titles, and he has forgotten how arthur's name tastes like in his mouth. and here he is, merlin, a servant, calling arthur a prat, a clotpole,  a dollophead, calling him arthur.)

leon doesn't know how to deal with merlin.

then merlin follows arthur into danger.

and again.

and again.

merlin is dead set onto going with arthur everywhere. merlin drinks poison for arthur. merlin jumps in front of bandits for arthur. merlin will do everything for arthur.

and once, leon tells him he shouldnt do this, he is just a servant, it is not his job to protect the prince.

and merlin gives him this long weird look and he purses his lips and leon doesnt know how to interpret all this, and says, you're right, its not a servant's job, and leaves it at it.

and he goes with them to the next quest anyway, which confuses leon even more.

it's not until one day merlin pushes leon out of a bandit's way, almost getting skewered by a blade, that he finally understands.

arthur fusses over merlin, pretending not to care, but his eyes lingers too much, and his hands are shaky, and merlin laughs at him and calls him a mother hen, which makes the prince pout. then the prince looks at leon and asks him if he is okay, and the concern is still there, it has never aged away, and leon is breathless and can only nod, and stare at merlin.

merlin stares back.

merlin was right, it's not a servant's job to risk their own life like this.

but merlin is not just a servant. he is their friend.

and leon thanks him, and merlin just shrugs him off, but there's a blush on his cheeks. then arthur calls for merlin, the moment broken and so many unsaid words piling in leon's mouth. merlin goes to aid the prince, leaving with an apologetic smile. he watches them as they joke around together and he watches as arthur's touch seems to hover on merlin's shoulder.

and leon understands.

(he thinks about how he has really failed. not as a knight, but as a friend. because leon had sworn to protect arthur but he had forgotten that, sometimes, what one needs protection from are not sorcerers or bandits or gigantic beasts. sometimes people need protection from themselves. and sometimes you don't protect someone with a sword, sometimes you do that with a kind word, a pulled prank or a gentle hand.)

merlin is always at arthur's side, at their side. and leon swears a second oath, one night, when the younger boy is lying too still on the ground, pained gasps rattling out of his lips as the fever rises together with infection.

arthur is asleep, next to him, he hasn't left merlin, and there is a furrow on his forehead he wishes to smother.

(arthur, sweet loving arthur, with scratches on his hands, and dirt on his cheeks, always full of love and nowhere to place it. looking for a father to give it, for someone to treasure it.

arthur and his bleeding heart.

merlin had stumbled his way in, with all his stubborness and loud loyalty and blinding affection, and without knowing it, arthur had placed that same heart in merlin's caring hands.

and merlin will die before any harm comes to it.)

(he does a good job at that, leon muses. merlin is too good for them all.)

you protect us all, he thinks, taking in the shaky figure, the flimsy blanket hiding the scar covered chest, but those scars are burnt on leon's mind and he doesn't need to see them to know they are there.

because merlin was never supposed to have scars.

friendship, a voice sighs in his mind.

you protect us all, but who protects you?

and leon kneels, in the middle of the night, between trees and sleeping knights, with merlin's shudders and the rustling of the wind, he kneels for the second time in his life, and he swears.

"to merlin of ealdor," he promises.

to merlin of camelot.

servant friend and brother.

#listen #leon morgana and arthur were definitely best friends and siblings #morgana was the chaotic kid who could charm everyone with a kind smile #arthur was the softest and sweetest kid i dont make the rules he was the shy kid who brings flowers to their teachers #and leon was this quiet and a bit clumsy kid with big eyes and morgana would always get him into trouble #i love them so much #leon adopting merlin yes #leon watching merlin making arthur happy and thinking welp now youre my little brother #leon and merlin friendship warms my heart #theyre so important to me #merlin #merlin bbc #merthur #arthur pendragon #merlin and arthur #bbc merlin #i wrote this #leon #knights of the round table #merlin fanfiction #merlin fic #merthur fic #merlin and leon #merlin and the knights #arthur and leon #merleon