#solar-nightengale

[naivesilver]

Another one I'm thinking maaaaybeeeeee no.3 from the Teen prompts on Kid fic/parent fic dialogue prompts for Cedar and August :)

TWO MONTHS AND A HALF LATER, WE'RE FINALLY DONE WITH THESE LMAO I'm so sorry for the delay, brain wasn't braining in this direction as you know 💔

Kid Fic/Parent Fic Prompts

3. "Everyone makes mistakes, it's okay."

If he were to be quite honest, August would have to admit he has lost the plot of the story Cedar is telling him several minutes ago.

He won’t tell his daughter that, though. It’s not her fault that his teenage years were fairly atypical, and as such, there’s very little he could add to her winding tale full of thirteen-year-olds. And he’s still listening, because she deserves his full attention and it’s sweet how animated she gets when she’s talking, so it doesn’t really make a difference - he just has to pretend very hard that he knows what’s going on.

“...and then she said her dad wouldn’t let her come to the bridge with us because she’d bought the wrong thing when she was getting groceries,” she concludes, ferociously stabbing some more salad with her fork as though it had personally offended her. August has been done with his own lunch for a while now, but she’s been too distracted to catch up with him. “That’s so stupid, it’s not like she did it on purpose. It was a mistake. Hasn’t he ever made a mistake?”

“Probably,” he agrees, because that at least seems sensible enough. “Everyone makes mistakes. Pretty sure grown ups aren’t immune. I definitely am not.”

“Thank you.” Cedar purses her lips in thought, some of her frustration seemingly evaporating at long last, but when she glances up at her father her brow is still furrowed. “Why do you always say that?”

August raises an eyebrow. “Say what?”

“That kind of thing. About people making mistakes. You say that all the time.”

“Because it’s true. You can’t get any wiser if you don’t get things wrong from time to time. Just want to make sure you remember that.”

“Dad. I know. I’m not dumb.”

“I know you aren’t, kiddo.”

And he does know. Cedar’s bright and smart and funny, a sweet young girl who doesn’t have a single selfish bone in her body. She’s the most normal kid one could ever imagine. She might be the only thing August doesn’t regret about his life before the curse broke.

But he also knows that might not be enough. He might not be there to catch her, the next time she makes a misstep. And even if- even if they’re normal, ordinary, age-appropriate missteps, someone might still consider them unforgivable and screw her perception of life up forever.

That’s something August learned first-hand. In fact, he might be the world-leading expert on it, though it doesn’t bring him any satisfaction. 

“Some people don’t think like that, though,” he continues, trying to keep his voice light. He wants her safe, but he doesn’t want her spooked. “They might try to tell you the opposite. Just…don’t let anyone convince you that you need to be perfect, okay? That’d be exhausting.”

Cedar’s brown eyes are wide and wondering, as if she couldn’t quite grasp the entirety of what he’s saying, which…is probably fair. It’s more than she was likely expecting on a random weekday. What really matters is that it sticks, somewhere in her brain that she might need to revisit later.

In this moment, she looks nothing like him. With some luck, she won’t ever grow up to resemble him, on the outside or especially on the inside. “Okay, Dad.”

“Good girl. Now finish your lunch. You need time to digest that before you go swimming.”

“I already told Grandpa, that's fake news!"

[vampiricjester]

drew vivild for @solar-nightengale !!!!!!!!! i love drawing peoples dragonborns its so fun

[aradiiaa]

Here’s a pair of OC’s by @solar-nightengale! Thanks for commissioning me :D

[Commission info] [Patreon] [Repost rules]

[naivesilver]

And self-indulgence no.2 and this one you absolutely do NOT have to do either but I couldn't help but play a little devil's advocate for it but how's about any prompt of your choosing for the Saplings x Enchanté AU?

"You don't have to do it" bold of you to assume I wasn't foaming at the mouth with the need to continue that AU - the children need to be FOUND, dammit!!!!!!!! Alas, this came out as a mixture of various prompts so I'm not tagging a single one, do with that what you will 💝

Parental Caretaker and Kid Prompts

Classical Tropes in Parental Stories

“Ow,” Beth whines, rubbing at her eyes. Falling hurt, but this stings.

The nice older girl dabbing at her skinned knee winces, her wooden face creaking. “I’m sorry,” she says, regretfully. “I know it’s unpleasant, but if we don’t clean it, dirt could get in and make it worse. I’m almost done, I promise.”

Beth sniffles, but doesn’t respond. She wants to believe her, but it’s hard to believe anyone when you’re lost in a strange place and you don’t know what’s going on or the person that’s talking to you.

At least this Cedar seems helpful. She’s a puppet, but Beth has seen a lot of puppets walking around today, and Cedar was the only one who stopped to check on her when she fell while looking for Lampwick or Pinocchio or anyone she might recognize, really.

“It’s okay, I know what I’m doing,” she says now, patting Beth gently on the leg. “Where I lived before there was this little girl, I think she was about your age- her name was Azure. I babysat her a lot, and she was always tumbling somewhere. You know, once she was playing with my friend’s pet dragon, and she even tripped on him!”

“Oh.” That sounds dangerous, though maybe in a place where puppets can talk, dragons let children climb on their backs as well. “I know a dragon, too.”

“Really?”

“Uh-uh. Her name’s Lily.”

“That’s cool! The one I knew was called Nevermore. He could become as big as a house and as small as a bag. I kind of miss him- I miss all my friends, actually. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

Beth doesn't have that many friends, so she’s pretty sure she doesn't know anything, but that still doesn't sound right. “Why not?”

“Well, they live fairy far from me. Once it’s safe to travel, maybe I’ll go back there to say hi. But I have family here now too. Well, here being the Storybrooke where I live, not this one. I have brothers. One of them is almost as small as you.” Cedar laughs quietly then, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry, I'm probably talking too much. You didn't get any of that, did you?”

Beth is a bit lost on everything she's heard, honestly, but that sounds rude to say. Besides, she's also curious, the stinging on her knee much easier to ignore now. “I dunno. Can you tell me more about your friend's dragon, though?”

The laughter she gets this time sounds a lot realer than the first one, which is probably a good thing. “Sure. I'm done with this anyway. All clean!”

Cedar begins chattering about this and that as she fixes the younger girl's skirt and hoists her back up to her feet, holding her hand as they look around, and Beth does listen, promise, because this sounds like an exciting tale, and yet, at some point she loses track of it. It's not her fault; it's just that it's a lot of words, and this place is strange and full of bright lights, and-

And she's just seen something that is bound to distract her. “Wait!”

“What?” Cedar stops talking to glance down at her, but Beth doesn’t explain, and instead begins tugging her in a new direction.

There are two men walking up the road. Their faces seem very similar, except for being clean shaven or not, but while one of them is dressed a lot like the people in this town and is holding the hand of a child, the other looks just like-

“Pinoo!” She cries out, waving her free arm frantically. She’d like to run to him right that second, but if the carriages back home were already going too fast not to frighten her, the strange metal ones she’s seen on these roads are even worse - she doesn’t think they’d notice her and keep from running her over, if she let go of Cedar’s hand.

She doesn’t need to, anyway. Even from a distance, she sees the man’s eyes widen when he notices her, and he quickens his pace, rushing to get a hold of her. “Beth!”

Beth lets herself be hoisted up and kissed on the cheek, giddy with excitement as Pinocchio - her Pinocchio - cradles her close and lets out a relieved sigh. “Thank the gods you’re alright, bug. When I couldn’t find you anywhere- I was so worried.”

“That’s your daughter?” 

The girl begrudgingly pulls her face away from where it was nestling in the crook of Pinocchio’s neck to check who’s speaking - the other two people she spotted have come closer, too, so it must have been the child. Except he’s not really a child like her, more of a puppet like Cedar, dark eyes peering from around the legs of the man with Pinocchio’s face. “She doesn’t look like you.”

“Be nice, kid,” the second man chides him, albeit gently. “You don’t look a lot like me, either.”

“That’s cause I’m wood,” the boy protests. He catches her looking curiously at him and sticks out of his tongue - Beth gasps, a little offended, and returns the gesture in kind, startling a noise out of Pinocchio that sounds like a strangled laugh.

“Oh my godmothers, now there are two of them,” Cedar sighs, but when the big stranger holds out an arm she lets herself be pulled closer with a smile, curling protectively around the boy. "Hi, baby. I'm happy to see you too."

They seem happy to have found each other. Beth’s happy, too, for them but also for herself - she’s grateful that Cedar helped her, and patched her up and comforted her when she thought she was lost, but things always look less scary when Pinocchio’s holding her, as if she was high enough off the ground for bad things to be unable to catch her. That’s home, even if they’re not home home.

There’s still one thing missing, though, and she finds herself peering up at Pinocchio’s face, opening her mouth just as Cedar does the same towards her own family: “Where’s Lam’wick?”

“Where’s Mokku?”

[naivesilver]

Dragging in the Saplings AU for THIS ONE!!!! The "Caretaker gives the kid their clothes, which are waaay too large for them" on Classic tropes/prompts in parental stories <3

This is my self indulgent moment. Like, all the other fills were self indulgent moments. But this is PARTICULARLY for my eyes only lmao

Classic Tropes in Parental Stories

Caretaker gives the kid their clothes, which are waaay too large for them so they are sitting there in a oversized sweater and Caretaker rolls up their sleeves

“You look dumb wearing that,” Mokku says, pulling a face.

“No I don’t,” his brother protests, turning this way and that in front of the mirror, arms outstretched. “I look cool!”

“You look like August. That’s pretty much the opposite of cool.”

Not for the first time since his house has been colonized by those three, August makes a mental bid of patience. In fact, he thinks he’s never made use of this much patience before in his life. “Okay, that was uncalled for, kid.” 

He should have said no when Picco asked if he could try on the leather jacket while they cleaned out stuff in the entrance. He has a feeling he doesn’t say no nearly as much as he should. In ten years time, someone is going to blame that for whatever issue these kids have, as if he was the one who made them and not just the guy that had to eventually step in.

But Picco asks for so little usually, it felt stupid to not give in. And besides, it makes for a sweet sight, frankly, the boy looking at himself with his eyes full of wonder and admiration, even though the jacket is as big as a trench coat on him and the sleeves had to be rolled up a few times to see his hands peek out. “Look, you can have it when you’re older, if it’s still in one piece by then.”

“I'm older,” Cedar chimes in from the couch, not even looking up from her sketchpad. “Can I have it?”

“Your father would probably find a reason to freak out about it.”

The girl ponders on this for a moment, pencil tapping absentmindedly on the page, then gives a resigned nod. “Yeah, you're right.”

“Besides, I very much still need it. Can I hang it back up?”

The question is directed at Picco, who nods in response- but then stops, as if struck by a sudden idea. “No,” he says, his face scrunching up in a big, childish grin of mischief. “It's all mine now.”

August stares at him for a moment, somewhat surprised. They’ve done great progress with the kid, sure, but he still tends to err on the side of caution more often than not. Being cheeky for sport isn’t his move, usually.

It’s a good look on him, though. Makes him seem more like the young boy he should always have been allowed to be. Makes it easy to smile back, to play along. “Oh really? Trying to take my place now?”

Picco nods again this time, more vigorously. “Uh-uh!”

“That’s right,” Mokku interjects - he got a grin to match his brother’s at some point, even if a little too enthusiastic for August’s liking. “He’s the man of the house now. You gotta listen to everything he says. He makes the rules.”

“That’s not how I talk and you know it.”

“My bad, hold on-” The older boy bends down to whisper something in the other’s ear - Picco tries to contain a fit of snickers for a long time, then glances back up at him.

“Hi, I’m August,” he says, making a valiant attempt at dropping his voice low and maintaining a mock-serious look on his face. “I didn’t tell you my name right away ‘cause I wanted to be mysterious. I’m coming into your town on my motorcycle and stealing things.”

Cedar bursts out in a strangled laugh, covering her face with the sketchbook. In fact, August notes detachedly, all three kids are laughing blatantly at him - he has a vague sense that he should be chiding them for it, because they’re being little shits, and even though it’s healthy for them they should pick a different butt for their jokes, for a change.

But God, he really didn’t think this interdimensional adoption stuff through, because the only thing that leaves his mouth is-

“I’m never letting any of you hang out with Emma ever again.”

[naivesilver]

And the Family Dialogue Prompts "Where did Character B go? It's getting dark." "They're supposed to be with character A." involving the Divorce AU >:)

You guys said I was allowed to condense your prompts into one, which I'm very glad for, because there's only so much Christmas content I can write while slowly being roasted on the spit of global warming. Enjoy the divorce!

Family Dialogue Prompts

Classic Tropes in Parental stories

"Where did Character B go? It's getting dark." "They're supposed to be with character A." / Winter! (picture snowball fights, sleighing, building a snowman, hot chocolate, baking cookies, Christmas presents)

It’s almost opening time for the evening, the two of them continue to be the only ones in the bar, and Lampwick does not appreciate any of it. 

“Shouldn’t they be back already?” He asks, knowing there’s a sliver of anxiety in his voice that won’t stay hidden, no matter how hard he tries.

Robin shrugs, putting away the glass he’d been polishing. The other man looks remarkably calm, considering they haven’t seen their respective children in hours. “You know Lizard. They probably got carried away doing stuff.”

“What stuff? And how are you okay with this? It’s getting dark outside.”

“Relax. They’re not hiking up a mountain overnight. They went to see Santa. At the mall. Roland goes every year.”

Lampwick shoots him a skeptical glance that is basically screaming that doesn’t mean a fucking thing. “With you being a helicopter parent behind him, not Lizard.”

“Well, one time I sent him off with Little John. I think that might have been worse.”

“You’re not helping.”

“You’re beyond help.” Robin waves him off dismissively. “It’s alright. They’re just a little late. Lizard knows what she’s doing.”

“Is someone implying that I don’t?”

Relief washes over Lampwick like a warm shower as the woman’s voice cuts through their conversation - Lizard closes the door behind her back as soon as she’s inside, to deter anyone from thinking the bar’s actually already open, but not before two giddy little figures have rushed in, chasing each other.

“Perhaps,” Robin replies noncommittally, then his face breaks into a broad grin, crouching down with his arms open in Roland’s direction. “Look who’s here! Did you get a picture with Santa?”

The boy positively beams as he nods. “Yes! And he gave us candy. I ate mine, but Nati still has it.”

“You didn’t say anything about the amount of sugar they were allowed to have,” Lizard says, shedding her hat and scarf and sighing in clear appreciation of the heated room. “So I just improvised.”

“If they’re still running circles around us at bedtime, I’ll make you wrangle them.” Lampwick mirrors the rude gesture she throws at him when the kids aren’t looking, then bends down to gather Renata in his arms, giving her the softest smile he can muster. “Hey there. Did you have fun?”

The girl nods, her soft cheeks cold against his neck. “Santa got a big tree. And elves.”

“Wow. That sounds great. Did you tell him what you wanted for Christmas?”

“Uh-uh. I said it real quiet in his ear. Roland shouted.”

“I didn’t shout!” Roland protests, loud enough to make his father wince.

“Lizard, weigh in on this, you’re the only one who can settle it.”

“Okay, why me?”

“Because you’re the one who took them?”

“Look, he wasn’t any louder than the rest of the mall.” The woman pauses, but after a moment she adds, deliberately casual: “By the way, we ran into August over there.”

Whatever Lampwick had meant to say dies in his throat, which Lizard, damn her, probably expected. By contrast, Renata perks up immediately upon hearing that name. “Yes! We said hi!”

“How nice,” Robin comments, tone impressively neutral. He’s looking at Lampwick like he’s expecting a visible reaction. Lampwick doesn’t give him the satisfaction of showing any.

“Yeah, Nati was very happy to see him,” Lizard continues, as if she hadn’t just thrown him onto an emotional rollercoaster. “You should text him to say thanks, actually. There was no way of getting her to smile for the picture, but he managed. Call that a Christmas miracle.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters. He manages to keep his cool until he’s put his niece down and herded her towards a table so she and Roland can have some food before the shift starts, then takes his friend aside and hisses: “Are you fucking serious?”

Lizard gives him an unimpressed look. She’s very good at those, unfortunately. “It’s not like I planned this, is it? And it won’t kill you to talk to him every so often, if it’s for her sake. She really was glad to see him.”

“I know, but- whose side are you on?”

“The kid’s. That’s why I just used my time off to take her to meet a big sweaty guy in a red costume- you’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Shut up.” Lampwick groans, wondering how much of this frustration he can let out on rude customers over the evening without making a scene. Very little, probably. “I hate you, d’you know that?”

“Get in line, Wick. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.”

[naivesilver]

And finally self-indulgence no.1 (which you CAN ignore): Maybe the kid hiding behind caretaker from parental caretaker and kid writing prompts ft. Enchanté! Lia and Beth >:))))

AUNTIE LIA TRUTHERS RISE!!!!!!!

Caretaker and Kid Prompts

kid hiding behind caretaker

Before Bethan came along, Grace thought she had a solid grasp on where Eliana’s priorities lay.

The woman might be thoroughly unpredictable in every other regard, but that stuff hardly ever changes. As a rule, Eliana is terrific company to Grace herself, very protective of Pinocchio, and watchful like a vulture around Lampwick, which is hilarious - the guy definitely needed someone else to unnerve him, remind him that there’s only so much bullshit he’s allotted on any given day.

But now, the kid is here. And as the two of them watch over her, waiting for Pinocchio and Lampwick just outside the market, Grace is beginning to feel like something has shifted.

“Oh, you’re growing so big and strong, sunflower seed,” Eliana coos, smoothing down Beth’s wild hair. “But you need better clothes before the season changes, yes? I’m going to make you the warmest cloak you’ll ever see. Or a scarf, maybe. We don’t want you getting sick.”

The girl seems still bewildered, if heartened, by the display, but Grace arches a skeptical eyebrow. “Don’t you have enough projects as it is?”

“First of all, that is none of your business. Secondly, you’d be surprised at how much dust my loom has been gathering lately. Those two fools are not getting anything from me this Yuletide- that will teach them to keep me out of the loop. They’re not too tall to be treated like unruly children yet.”

“Please, let me be in the room when you tell them that. I’d love to see their faces.” She glances up, eyes scanning the busy street searching for the aforementioned two fools - instead, she spots a smaller, much less endearing sight, a displeased groan escaping her lips. “Oh no.”

“What?” Eliana stands up with a frown, trying to follow her gaze. “I don't like that tone of voice. What is it?”

Grace gestures towards the figure approaching them, now discreetly changed into a proper human size. “Who is it, more like. Seems like we have an unexpected guest.”

“I see.” The other woman’s eyes narrow, her stance grown steely and guarded as the newcomer draws closer. “Hello, Mother.”

“Eliana.” The Blue Fairy draws to a halt before them, her expression carefully collected despite a faint tinge of surprise in her voice. “Grace. I didn't expect to find you here.”

“Neither did I. But see, we are supposed to have dinner at Pinocchio’s house tonight. I wouldn’t imagine he has extended the invitation to you?”

It’s worded like a question, but it’s easy to hear the derision underneath. Eliana’s smile is broad and dangerous, and it makes the wrinkles at the corner of her eyes deepen into her skin - by contrast, her mother looks virtually unchanged and unaged from the last time Grace saw her. Would that one of these last times were the last one ever, she thinks, rather uncharitably, but chooses to keep her mouth shut and instead directs her focus onto Bethan.

And good thing she did, honestly. The girl has that look on her face that Grace likes little and less, the wide-eyed, watchful one that makes her resemble a rabbit on the forest floor, listening for the fox’s arrival. She clings to Eliana’s skirt for dear life, half hidden behind the fabric as she stares up at the Blue Fairy - and is stared back at, it seems, given the brief, reproving change in expression that crosses the woman’s eyes.

Eliana must have noticed, too, because while her smile doesn’t move an inch, her gaze becomes cold as ice. “So? What brings you here, except interrupting our conversation?”

The fairy shoots her a pointed look that would probably work as a reprimand to just about anyone else. “Council business, unfortunately. I need your brother to weigh in on a certain matter, and he hasn’t answered my summons.”

“One would expect that saving the kingdom came with a few days of reprieve, wouldn’t they, Mother?”

“The work is never done. So? Do you know where I could find him?”

“Yes. At court, at the next council meeting. I’ll accompany him and make sure he’s on time, don’t worry.”

“I would rather speak to him myself, if you don’t mind.”

The tone of her words prompts Grace to scoff, a few choice words of her own on the tip of her tongue, but Eliana beats her to the punch, even if regrettably that’s not the literal course of events. “I do mind, actually. Unless it’s a matter of life and death, there is no reason for this hurry now of all times.” 

Grace fancies she can see a vein pulsing on the Blue Fairy’s forehead. “I wish you would stop treating everything like a game, child.”

“Why would I, when it continues to entertain me? Besides, it’s such a lovely day, and I would like it to remain so without you upsetting my darling niece. Again.” She puts a protective hand over Beth’s head, then, and raises the other in a cheeky little wave. “Good day, Mother. See you at the castle.”

The fairy bristles, and makes as if to snap back at her daughter. But then she huffs, clearly irritated, and within moments she is gone, with a trail of magic in her wake and not so much as a by-your-leave.

Grace watches the spot where she was standing on for a beat before turning back to Eliana, impressed despite herself. “I love when you do that. I wish I could make her turn on her heel on a whim, too.”

“It helps to have plenty of blackmail material. She knows I could ruin her if she so much as breathed wrong in Pinocchio’s direction.” The other woman lifts Bethan in her arms, cuddling the child close as her expression softens. “Are you alright, my sweet?”

“Uh-hu.” Beth nods, but still burrows into her shoulder, voice muffled. “Don’ like her.”

“That makes two of us, kid,” Grace can’t help but grumble, patting her gently on the back, and Eliana nods in approval.

“Three, actually. But forget about her- she’s gone, and she won’t bother us for a while.” She presses a kiss to the girl’s cheek, gesturing for Grace to come along.

“And those two are taking too long, don’t you think? Let us go look for them. We can search the wool stalls and pick the material for your scarf if we get bored.”

[naivesilver]

Still continuing with TP AND still some parent & child relations prompts but “hey, uh, things got tough back there… wanna go get some dessert or somethin’?” With a little Roland 😏 (haven't seen him in so long little baby boy <33333)

I don't know how this came out or what you had in mind, so I hope I handled it right ajlhflajfhlakjhf 💖

Parent/child relationship prompts

“I never thought I’d say something like this, but I don’t want to set foot in a castle for the foreseeable future,” Regina announces, sinking into her couch with a relieved sigh.

At long last, they’re home. Her drink with Emma is finished, Excalibur is locked up safely in her vault, and the Charmings are off sorting out their own problems for a change. If it were just her and Robin in the house, they could put aside every other less pressing issue so they could rest their weary bones and start wrapping their heads about everything that’s happened since Christmas.

Unfortunately, however, the third person with them is too young to understand the whole picture, and yet old enough to be hyperactive while he adjusts to being in the right world again. In fact, Roland keeps wandering aimlessly around the room, picking things up only to set them back down seconds later

“I liked the castle,” he says, eventually. “Why wasn’t it there anymore when we left?”

“Because it was made with magic, Roland,” Regina explains patiently, for what feels like the umpteenth time. “Once the magic stopped working, the castle stopped existing.”

“Oh. That’s boring.”

“Why is he more concerned about the castle than the actual battle he saw?” Robin whispers in her ear, looking puzzled from where he’s pressing close to the woman’s side. “That knight threatened him with a sword, for goodness’ sake. Should we be worried?”

“I don’t know how much notice he paid to that sword, Lampwick was covering him pretty well,” she mutters back, scoffing.

“One of his smartest moments, for sure.” 

“And Morgana said she’d take care of the kids’ memories. I suppose that might have helped.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” The man scratches at his beard, looking nothing short of exhausted as his voice becomes louder again. “In any case, I wish I had that much energy, too. We’ve been running around like chickens without a head for too long- I think we should rest, while we have the chance.”

“Things have been pretty hectic lately,” Regina concedes, but instead of taking the advice she leans forward and beckons the boy closer, her smile full of mischief. “But what I think that means is, we should skip worrying about dinner and go straight to dessert. What do you say?”

“Yes!” Roland cheers, throwing his hands up in excitement as he steps eagerly into her arms. “With chocolate!”

Robin huffs in laughter, but his eyes are warm and relieved as he looks over the both of them. “You'll never convince him to side with an apple turnover, I'm sorry.”

“That's okay.” She lets the boy clamber onto her lap, and finally, the clenching in her chest begins relenting, and Morgana’s words grow dimmer in her head, even if just for a moment. “What matters is that we're eating it right here where we belong. I'm tired of knights and Camelot sorcery, aren't you?”

“Couldn't have said it better myself, Regina.”