Sibling Dynamics - Blog Posts

Hunter on his way to get adopted🦉🔮🏠✨

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Arcane has had me thinking about this dynamic of what I'd call "found siblings" or something like that.

The trope of "like brothers" or "like sisters" I feel is often translated wrong, or ends up becoming more romantic than inteneded is what I think is the neglect of the tie that makes siblings, siblings.

siblings are tied together by a large, fundamental simualrity that forever will tie them together, regardless of what life brigns them. Sharing the same parents intertwines two indivudals, as well as growing up in the same home, regardless of if you are related or not. This tie is a shared expeircne that shapes a persons deveolpmental years.

Also, what always makes me laugh a bit when I hear the line "they're like my brother/sister" or "We're like siblings" is the fact that most of the time, they NEVER act like siblings.

If you want to have to characters have this "found sibling" relationship, they need to be able to express anger, frustration, and a childish annoyance at the other. Siblings know that regarldess of how much they can be angry and hold a form of hatred for the other, at the end of the day, that person has been in their life so long that there are some things that that person will only understand. It's being close because this person knows too much about you, it's sometimes a resigned love. It's not talking to this person for weeks or months but still knowing every intimate and embarassing detail about how this person's tween years.

Now, I'm speaking from a biased standpoint, I'm not close with my sibling in the way in which we talk with one another every day and are best pals or something. But, they're someone I can call at the end of the day when I need help. We won't talk for a month but if I'm stuck in the ER again because of my chronic health condtion, they'll hang out with me the entire time just so i don't feel lonely.

To write characters that percive one another as siblings, they need to be characters that will always help the other out at the end of the day. They can hate one another, but still come when called. They argue, maybe they don't see each other for months because life just got in the way, but when they see one another, they go back to bickering like six year olds. Sibling dynamics are held together by the fact that they know far too much about each other to stop being friends without it being a liability.

Overall, I feel like what creates a great sibling dynamic is the resigned love both characters hold for eachother. It's an eyeroll and a sigh while reaching out a helping hand. It's disagreeing with all of their choices, but reluctantly saying yes to helping them anyway because at the end of the day, you know them too well, you've seen them at their worst and walking away just isn't an option.

Duke and Jason Being Hood Kids - Part 10

Dick is dreaming. He has to be dreaming. The scene in front of him is a nightmare, but the operative verb is ‘dreaming’ and oh my fucking God.

“My brother, Roy?” He knows he’s shrieking at octaves that probably trigger dogs, but he can’t help it. “My baby brother!”

Jason throws a t-shirt at him. A shirt that he should be wearing, because who gave him permission to be half naked with anyone, much less with Roy Harper?

“You don’t know how to knock?” The younger man’s pissed, but Dick’s so far beyond caring. “Ring a doorbell? Send a text? Jesus, Dick, what if I’d been—“

“Naked?” Dick is pulling at his hair and gesturing wildly, completely ignoring the bleeding wound on his arm that led him to break into his brother’s apartment in the first place. “Or—don’t you fucking move, Roy!”

The disheveled redhead freezes. His hair’s a mess, he’s got a bruise—oh God, a hickey—blooming on his neck, and he’s holding his unzipped pants up with one hand while reaching for the front door with the other.

In retrospect, Dick absolutely could’ve knocked. Or rung the doorbell. Or texted, even. Hell, a quick ‘bullet grazed my arm on patrol, need a stitch or two and a bandaid’ wouldn’t have hurt. In fact, it likely would’ve saved him from tumbling through Jason’s living room window to find his brother pinned to the wall, held up by his thighs with legs wrapped around Roy’s waist, one hand buried in red hair and the other dipping into the other man’s—

Oh my God, Jason’s having sex. The thought rings in his head like a church bell on Sunday morning. My little brother’s been deflowered.

“How long has this been going on?” Dick’s switched to his Nightwing’s Asking The Fucking Questions Now, Asshole voice. “Who—“

Roy steps between Jason and Dick. “Dickie, that’s not—“

“How long have you been defiling my baby brother?”

“Defiling? Jesus, we’re consenting adults!”

“And we’ve been dating for over a year,” Jason interjects. “No defiling…Well, there’s been defiling, but it’s been mutual.”

Dick feels his soul leave his body momentarily. It comes back, but it’s forever scarred by this knowledge now.

“Did anyone else…” His voice is hoarse from all the shrieking. He’s barely holding it together and wants to do some more screaming very soon. “Who knows?”

Jason sighs in exasperation and grabs the shirt he threw Dick’s way. He puts it on and grabs the first aid kit by the coffee table before pushing his older brother onto the couch.

“Duke,” he answers. He pops the kit open and retrieves a set of gloves to check the wound on Dick’s arm. “He’s the only one I told. Tim knows I’m dating someone, but he doesn’t know who. Pretty sure Bruce knows via osmosis or some shit, because he’s Bruce.”

Dick’s not sure if it’s blood loss or shock, or maybe a combination of both, but he’s suddenly reeling and lightheaded.

“Duke?” Jason’s cleaned the wound already. He’s threading a needle for stitches now. “You told Duke? Why not me? Why didn’t Duke tell me?”

Roy, who’s keeping a safe distance from the brothers across the room, snorts incredulously. “Gee, I wonder why. Couldn’t be because you might overreact.”

Dick glares at his friend—possibly murder victim by the end of the night, but he hasn’t decided yet—while Jason completes the first stitch. “I just walked in on you trying to—“

“Engage in perfectly consensual adult activities?” Jason tugs at the thread with more force than is necessary and is satisfied when Dick winces in pain. “In the privacy of my own home? I’m 22, asshole. I can’t get dicked down in peace?”

Soul leaving body again. Might not come back this time.

Jason finishes a third stitch and nods, satisfied that the wound is closed. “And Duke knows that snitches get stitches. He wouldn’t blab without good reason.”

“True that.”

Dick almost jumps out of his skin when Duke, who absolutely wasn’t here a second ago, joins the conversation.

“Chill out, Big Bird,” the teen laughs as he tosses a backpack onto the couch. “Roy texted. Apparently you saw something you weren’t supposed to see and need a ride home. Civvies in the bag, change and we’ll go.”

Dick feels like he’s losing his mind. “You knew! You never said anything!”

Duke shrugs. “First rule of surviving in Gotham, my dude—snitches get stitches. Not my business, not my news. But also, fuck I look like outing people?”

Jason fist-bumps their younger brother and smirks. This is unacceptable. A travesty. A hate crime. Not actually a crime, but it feels like one and Dick hates it.

Specifically, Tim is for the kids who had parents with undiagnosed trauma and mental illnesses. The ones who had to gentle parent their own parents. The ones that have to remain stable even when they can't because they are needed.

Dick is for the eldest children that feel constant guilt for how their actions affect the rest of the family. In success, you set a standard too high for them and in failure you're taking away resources(time, emotional energy, money) that should have been theirs.

Somewhere in between, relating to them both, is the youngest that has to be happy all the time for the family to function. The one that gets made fun of when you need a joke. But also the one that knows everyone's triggers and is always paying attention to everyone's mood. The one whose work is never recognized because no one else has to be home as much as them, everyone else gets a break but them.

Dick is for the eldest sibling while Tim is for the parentified children and I think that's the most important difference between them

Yall know the posts that are like "you can usually tell who little sister is bc she'll be the taller one", lets test that theory

if you need an example, my sister is older than me by 3 years and I'm taller by a few inches

Edit: 1) sorry to all the middle children out there!! I didn't mean to forget yall on purpose it slipped my mind when I made this poll, take a cookie as an apology 🍪🍪🍪. Just choose whatever option fits best and explain in the tags if you feel like it.

2) the formatting of the polls are like that bc it was late asl when I made this poll and it made sense to me at the time, so sorry again if yall have trouble understanding the poll

Sabo passing over the responsibility role to Deuce like, "That's the gist. Best of luck" 👌

survival lessons can also apply to a ship

A very relatable conversation between siblings of brother and sister👌

I'm sure heket tried to turn Narinder to "The one who waits" to "The one who dies" after this drawing

have this thing i drew yesterday

i was gonna add more to this but i need to stop for a bit i get a shooting pain in my hand when i move my wrist, thumb or index too much bye bye 🫡

I have to admit something. Having siblings is a blessing, but it is also cruel. What do you mean I have to live 18 years of my life with them and then just walk away? Go into the world and live as an adult and make plans in order to see them? Live in a house on my own, not having to hide the remote or wake up earlier in the morning in order to use the bathroom first? What kind of fuckery is this? There is a possibility that I won’t even be within driving distance from them? I spend 18 years with them, laughing, crying, arguing, cheering, fighting and making all kinds of memories only to have to walk away from seeing them everyday?

I know that this isn’t always the case, that I can also see my siblings every day once I am an adult too. But to have to make plans in order to do so? To check if they are available to go grab a coffee or watch a movie? It seems so weird and a bit cruel to me. How can we go from seeing each other constantly to living far away from each other? It seems so strange...

Can I request rotmnt with anger issues teen!reader (gn, 15-16) who has difficulty with expressing that they see the turtles as their sibling figure? They don't wanna admit on how they see the turtles cuz if they said that the reader would be embarrassed due to how they were treated by their bio siblings about it so they just don't say anything, only that they are just friends.

A/N: Of course! Here's a set of headcanons for the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (ROTTMNT) with an angry, reserved teen reader who secretly sees the turtles as sibling figures but has difficulty expressing it. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!!

General Dynamics

The Turtles’ Initial Perception: At first, the turtles assume you’re just a moody, tough teenager who prefers to keep things casual. They respect your boundaries but are curious about the walls you’ve built around yourself

Your Struggles: You often lash out when things get too emotional or personal, fearing vulnerability might lead to mockery or rejection, like what you experienced with your biological siblings.

Silent Acts of Care: Despite your reluctance to express your feelings, you show you care in subtle ways—fixing things they break, grabbing their favorite snacks, or patching up their gear without being asked.

Individual Turtle Dynamics

Leonardo:

Leo teases you constantly, but he’s careful not to push too far when he senses you’re genuinely upset.

He makes lighthearted jokes about you being “the angsty middle sibling” to see if you’ll slip up and admit you see them as family.

When you’re overwhelmed, Leo offers distractions rather than deep talks—movies, video games, or spontaneous rooftop hangouts.

Raphael

Raph is incredibly protective of you, even if he doesn’t fully understand your emotional struggles. He sees you as part of the team, even if you insist you’re just “friends.”

He’s the first to notice your hidden acts of kindness, like repairing his punching bag or leaving protein bars in his gym bag.

During heated moments, Raph is the one to remind you it’s okay to be angry, but he also encourages you to channel it productively—sparring matches become your shared thing.

Donatello

Donnie appreciates how you quietly help out with his experiments or organize his tools when he’s too busy to do it himself. He doesn’t say it outright, but he considers it your way of bonding.

He’s great at giving you space when you need it but will also deliver blunt truths if he thinks you’re being too hard on yourself.

Donnie surprises you by creating small gadgets that help manage your anger—like stress-relief tools or a punching dummy that fights back (lightly).

Michelangelo

Mikey makes it his mission to break through your emotional barriers with kindness and persistence.

He often pulls you into group activities like cooking, painting, or prank wars, subtly reminding you that you’re part of their “family unit.”

Mikey is the one who comforts you during rare moments of vulnerability, assuring you that it’s okay to care about them without fear of rejection.

The turtles, being who they are, would likely accept you with open arms, helping you work through your anger and fears while showing you that family isn’t about blood—it’s about love and loyalty.