this is basically what happened, right?

(these guys are very lucky that everyone at NRC 1) has the combined intelligence of a sack of bricks, and 2) is easily distracted by shiny things.)

MUD DOGS MUD DOGS MUD DOGS MU

so yeah raph was with the mud dogs for the earlier years of his life! they raised him the best that a ragtag group of criminals could manage, and he became a sort of team mascot

I imagine their dynamic summed up by that one scene from Megamind’s backstory (y’know. the one where they teach him police=bad and robber=good? yeah uhhh they really screwed up his perception of crime and legality with that one, oops)

As for how he went from living with them to working for Big Mama? That’s for me to know and you guys to eventually find out

Classic "promised-at-birth-to-the-Ghost-King" story, except the contract never states how, exactly, the King is to use the offered soul. Usually, one would be offered as a bride or sacrifice. But with Pariah Dark sealed away, his retainers got a little lazy in the last few millennia. They just made some generic contracts and practically handed them out like candy.

When Danny took over as king via conquest, that included all the weird and messed up soul contracts the previous retainers had signed. And since ghost magic was a thing and seemed to have it out for Danny personally, many of these contracts updated their terms and conditions as soon as that crown hit Danny's head, reflecting the new King's subconscious desires and personality.

This caused many issues with those still around to profit from these contracts. Some people lost their power, some gained more, and some were unbound and kicked to the curb. A few special people found themselves dropping dead after their less-than-ethical abilities disappeared.

Danny was unaware of the chaos he had unintentionally caused for quite a while. It was only brought to his attention when a letter arrived on his desk one day with a copy of someone's valid contract enclosed. The new changes have been highlighted, and a separate note is attached.

It seems that in exchange for blessings of near-immortality for her infant son, a mother had offered Pariah Dark both their souls in order to ensure her child's survival during harsh times. (The souls were to be collected upon death and were to be used as soldiers in the King's Army.) The mother's soul had returned to the Keep decades ago and was recently assigned to tend to the gardens, while her son seemed to have grown into a fine gentleman and was still alive. He used his mother's gifts to serve his country and loved ones well, it seemed.

At first, Danny didn't see what any of this had to do with him. If the mother was already a part of his kingdom, and the son would be eventually, why was a letter about the whole thing showing up before him?

Then he read the revised contract, which bore his magical signature. A signature that overruled the power of Pariah and binding it to him.

'...and as such, in return for the abilities stated above, [Mary Pennyworth] and [Alfred Pennyworth] will fulfill the conditions detailed below, upon pain of Ending.

[Mary Pennyworth], when returned to the Kingdom of Dark Kingdom of Stars, will work as a lieutenant in the Skeleton Army caretaker in the Gardens of Pluto.

STATUS: COMPLETED

[Alfred Pennyworth], when returned to the Kingdom of Dark Kingdom of Stars, will work as a general in the Skeleton Army caretaker of the King and his Court.

STATUS: PENDING'

Danny had to re-read the contract several times to understand what it was saying. He now had a caretaker? What did a caretaker do? Was it like a ghost parent? Could this guy ghost-ground him??

He sighed and pressed the speed dial on his phone for Tucker. Time to find out who the hell this Alfred Pennyworth guy was, and how to break a magic contract when it wasn't even fulfilled yet.

Meanwhile, Alfred had just found the original copy of the contract amongst his mother's belongings after it glowed and drew him in. The paperwork cleared up a lot of mysteries he'd always wondered about himself, even if he disapproved of his mother's methods. Nonetheless, he smoothed out the aged paper with dark green ink, noted the fresh (sloppy, a teenager?) signature, and began preparing to meet this supposed new King and his Court.

It wouldn't hurt to make introductions before he died, after all.

at risk of losing his ‘red haired’ title from how green jealousy makes him

more phoenix wright situations

wangsheng slimess

I just think Tallulah gets to be upset about this. “It’s not Wilbur’s fault” “He’s not a bad dad” “He loves his daughter so much” yes! These are all true! And it’s not his fault! But he’s still not there. And Tallulah has gone through so much and still hasn’t seen him, the one time he was around was the one time she wasn’t, and all she has are letters and “I’m thinking of you always” and things that used to be theirs together, but he’s still not there. She’s waited and she’s been patient and she’s loved him all the same, and he’s still not there. Like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, from the happy milestones to the traumatic events, he’s still not there.

She knows that it’s not his fault, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s absent. That in and of itself just adds to the sorrow, because she knows why he’s gone, and she’s been told time and time again it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, she knows this - it doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting, that it doesn’t hurt, that she doesn’t yearn for her father to be there more than anything in the world, and he’s just not there.

So yes, she gets to be upset, and be caustic, and stomp her feet and write bitter messages, and be angry and vitriolic, because she’s a little girl missing her father, who feels things with her whole heart and soul - and that means she gets to feel the ugly parts of it, too.

sorry for not being there when you needed me

Ofc I love "More than Anything" from Hazbin Hotel I have daddy issues and Jeremy Jordan was the man I hyper-fixated on as a result of that.

please officer— that's my emotional support traumatized and reluctant father figure character

I love Trucy so much but I’m just thinking about her and Phoenix’s first couple of months living together

Trucy moves so silently (“she’s like… the twins from that scary movie”), so Phoenix either has his eye on her constantly so she won’t get into trouble (or hurt herself) or

“Hello Daddy.”

SHIT— has to restraint himself from flinging what he’s holding into the nearest wall, “o-oh! Hey Trucy!”

Staring at him with her All Seeing Eyes, “do you want to see something cool.”

Oh— oh god please don’t let it be a body. Do we have mice? Did she catch a mouse??? “Oh, yeah, sure thing kiddo.”

Tenderly takes him by the hand and pulls him into her room, “I organized all my socks by color.”

“…oh. Wow. Cool!”

“I also organized all my construction paper by color but that seemed less important at the time”

“Uh-…huh”

AND AN ASIDE I THINK ITS VERY IMPORTANT that Phoenix takes EVERYTHING IN STRIDE, like yessss king, water off a ducks back, this is your child now

There's something so crushing about the theory that Hopper is actually Will's father, and it truly is the Jonathan of it all. Imagine Jonathan finding out and thinking what? really? For a split second before realizing that no, it's not both of them. That would be crazy. It's just Will. Of course it's just Will.

what if purple never calls him dad

No but I'm obsessed with the situationship where Durge and Karlach are friends, Durge and Gortash are lovers and Gortash and Karlach can't stand each other.

Also,depending on Durge, the Durgetash reveal can be messy af with both Durge and Karlach reacting violently, Karlach at the fact what her friend is the architect of that mess and Gortash's lover and Durge at her and the team's reaction.

Bonus point if Durge is loyal to Gortash to a fault bc they went against their Father's direct wishes bc of the affection towards that man, and everyone having an awful time dealing with it.

I'm not a parent, but can you imagine how psychotic Dragon would get if Sabo got hurt in his place. Like to some degree Sabo is worried that if Dragon were to die, the revolution would die with him, and Sabo was raised from a very young age to think of himself as expendable because of his parents, and that kind of thing can settle into the marrow of your bones and not go away no matter how much time passes. He would more than willingly stand in front of a brutal attack to defend Dragon, though Dragon is the last person in the world who'd ever need to be shielded. It's instinct for Sabo to protect, plus this is Luffy’s dad AND a member of the D clan. Dragon is important, Sabo isn't, so he'd happily take a hit in Dragon's stead. Queue his blood splattering across Dragon's face and Dragon just has a psychotic break because first of all he probably most definitely has ptsd, suddenly all he can see is Sabo crying against him because he can't open the gate to Grey Terminal, ten years old with half his face burned bloody and unconscious, and he just fucking snaps cuz that's not just a revolutionary or the chief of staff or his second in command that's his fucking kid and he's watched him grow up for the past twelve years, he can remember when Sabo barely reached his knee in height and now he's bleeding out because he, the child, was trying to protect Dragon, the parent. Nonono, that's not how this works and now Dragon has to commit homicide. "Would you kill for you child" he sure would! He knows Sabo can take care of himself but if he sees that blond brat fall in front of him he is going to descend to the lowest level of hell and bring whoever pulled the trigger with him.

i feel like this is me being stupid but when jean tells wymack that kevin never once doubted wymack would take him in

what the fuck does that mean