Call me Flake

About Kenneth:

Kenneth is a good kid, of course he is. His greatest effort in life is not to be a burden to those around him, so he tries to be as independent as possible.

He was raised by Gwen and Kevin, who did a great job with his upbringing. To be honest, they always introduced him as their son; they never made any distinction between him and Devlin.

His relationship with Ben is dry. They don’t share a father–son bond, they can live without interacting, and above all, they have this strange mix of hatred and affection. Curiously, they resemble each other far beyond physical appearance: they share the same facial expressions, the same ways of reacting to certain events (which is curious, considering Kenneth was raised entirely by Gwen), and sometimes even the same battle movements.

And here comes the part I like the most: Kenneth could be considered a clone of Ben!

Kenneth’s mother was half-alien, so her human body lacked DNA. When carrying Kenneth, he ended up being almost an exact copy of Ben.

As for Kenneth, his clothing style is quite reserved, mostly because he doesn’t like to show too much skin. He also imitates whatever haircut Gwen decides to get!

This Kenneth is not a replacement for the canonical Kenny; both come from different dimensions. The difference is that in this AU, Ben did not marry Kai but had another wife instead.

Kenneth showing off his muscles and the scars on his arms from Ben’s training!

(Though I should update this drawing to show that he has other wounds on his back from the villains themselves, still, thanks to this drawing you can see the intensity with which Ben trains him to survive.)

About Devlin:

Anything you’d call a disaster, he is—but he makes up for it by being a good student. In fact, he’s a model student despite his somewhat messy look.

Devlin gives Gwen plenty of gray hairs. He’s a sweetheart, charming, and has excellent charisma, but having inherited his mother’s anodite traits and his interest in magic, let’s just say he tends to get into situations he shouldn’t—dragging Kenneth along so the punishment will be lighter.

Devlin, raised with love by both parents, never felt jealous of Kenneth. To him, his brother is his life. Devlin cannot live without him. They are deeply attached to each other, and the love they share is mutual.

For Devlin, Kenneth is and will always be his brother.

Devlin has two tattoos on his body, one on his back and one on his arm. Both were designed by Kenneth.

Would Gwen let him get tattoos at such a young age? Considering her son would do it anyway, Gwen preferred to take him herself to a clean studio with people who did good work—so yes. But Devlin has to pay for his own tattoos, which, given their size and complexity, are not cheap at all.

There’s a drawing of Devlin I never finished, but you can see his back tattoo there, which is already fully designed.

Curiously, Devlin has also been injured a few times by the villains of this world, but his body heals without leaving scars.

About Kevin and Gwen:

Notice how everyone in the family photo is looking at Kenneth—I’M CRYING. I love this sketch. And yes, in this picture Devlin had shorter hair.

The parents of the year: they had one child and already adopted another. They truly worked hard to be good parents, and honestly, they’ve been well rewarded because both of their sons love and adore them like crazy.

Even though there’s no clear distinction between the kids and both are treated equally, it’s true that Kevin and Gwen had to learn to be more affectionate for Kenneth, so their displays of love are always expressed through physical affection.

Kevin ruffles their hair, strokes their cheeks, pats them on the back, or rests his arms on his sons’ shoulders. Gwen, on the other hand, is sweeter—kisses on the cheek, lots of hugs, constant gestures of caressing or fixing their hair.

About Ben (I don’t have drawings of him alone, but what better than seeing him with Julie, right?)

(A short piece about Gwen and Kevin accepting Kenneth as their son.)

Ben is incapable of letting go of the past, and the years as a hero weighed down on him, ruining many things in his life. He was actually handling it well, but after losing his wife—and convincing himself it was his fault—he found himself unable to raise Kenneth.

He tried to take care of him for a month, but when he couldn’t anymore, he brought Kenneth to the only people in the world he knew would care for him as if he were their own.

Ben truly cannot feel anything for Kenneth, and vice versa. They are very detached from one another. For Ben, the only thing he can teach Kenneth is how to survive, because he doesn’t know how to be a father, and his son doesn’t know how to be a son.

Ben knows he was—and is—a bad father.

And this is where Julie comes in. She always knew how to bring Ben back down to earth and stop him from believing he was the center of the world. She was never afraid to tell him the truth, even if it hurt him.

She is a fundamental part of the fanfic!

A little more about Julie: she’s a former professional tennis player who is now a famous makeup model, considered one of the most beautiful women alive!

About Ken/Kenny:

(An excerpt from the fanfic where we see Julie being Julie)

In this AU, Kenny belongs to another reality into which Kenneth accidentally falls. This is a way of showing a parallel between the two boys.

My boy has an incredible relationship with his father. He adores him, and they adore each other mutually. Because of this, Kenneth feels a terrible jealousy that is obvious from afar. Yet Kenneth also finds the kind of family affection or dynamic Kenny has with his father somewhat strange: they always use words of affirmation, emotional validation, and tenderness when interacting.

Kenny is a hero alongside his father, so he is also bewildered to learn that there’s a version of himself who doesn’t share that dynamic!

Kenny plays an important role in the story because he creates the contrast between a child raised with affection and care, while Kenneth is the child raised for survival—in one world where things are more relaxed, and in another where chaos is the natural state.

Unfortunately, he only appears in a few chapters of the fanfic, but that doesn’t change the fact that Kenny is his father’s beloved baby, and the one who has the best life.

And if not, I have this:

Well, that’s all. Did I manage to convince you to read the fanfic?