Hi! I recently started reading your Blind Date fic, and I've enjoyed it so far. I'm excited to see how Bowser's and Luigi's relationship grows and develops, as well as for Luigi to start looking after Junior and the Koopalings. With that being said, I'm quite curious how Bowser actually raised the Koopalings. I can just imagine Bowser returning to the castle with a bunch of tiny turtles and some eggs, and just being like, "There, now I have kids!" and Kamek just stares at him with wide eyes, knowing firsthand how draining raising a child can be, let alone 7. Did he just drop them all on the poor old man, or did he participate in some ways?
Hey, sorry for the late reply! I'm more than happy to answer anything Blind Date related! I'm so happy that you're enjoying the fic as well :D
As for your question, yes, Bowser isn't much of an attentive father when he first "adopted" them. Bowser's line of thinking is just: get children, ???, profit. So he did indeed just drop them on Kamek's lap.
I would say about a few weeks into it, he realised that it was a very bad idea. I say when he first bring everyone home, only Morton, Wendy, Roy and Ludwig had hatched, with Ludwig being the only one "walking and talking at the time" so take that as you will. They were too rowdy for the entire castle to even take care of. And when his men couldn't do something, Bowser has to step in. And even if past him didn't want to admit it... he was absolutely charmed by the little monsters.
Note that he didn't consider himself to be the koopaling's father until Junior came to his life. He was much more attentive for Junior, obviously. And I think that's when he rethink his relationship with the koopalings, and became more empathetic toward their condition, and take them under his wings properly this time. Actually try to feed them himself, let them share the dining table, read them bedtime stories and such.
How do I explain this... basically, the koopalings were Junior's siblings first, and Bowser's children second. They see Junior as one of their own, mostly because Bowser left babysitting duty to them a lot at the time. Even years later, after most of the koopalings were happily calling Bowser their father (except Ludwig), even Bowser himself still question what they are to him. He'll gladly call the collective of koopalings + Junior his "children". But if you ask for specific. Like if you ask Bowser "so are you the koopaling's step father?", Bowser would be a bit more hesitate, and response with something like "does it matter? They're mine."
It's almost as if he's a little shameful about his behaviour in the past, and this riff he created between these children he stole... and the heir he obviously spoil and pay more attention to. He may love them all now, but it's hard to ignore how much he didn't when they first came to his life.
I hope I explain that well! Thank you so much for sending me an ask! I'm open to clarify anything more from the fic :D
