#craig.....mat...amanda......robert...all of them...

AAAAH, MY FIRST DREAM DADDY ASK!

The Dad is staring at the sight before him. You're sitting on a couch and enjoying coffee with your daughters. You had invited your boyfriend to meet the rest of your family, but this was not what they expected at all.

"Oh, honey! You made it!" You said happily, getting up from your spot and dragging your man to the center of the room to show him off to your daughters. They're almost perfect copies of you if they all weren't different ages.

"This is my oldest Meri! She draws comics and can spell alphabet backward."

"Pleased to meet you." Meri greets him and the Dad can feel confidence radiating from your eldest with her firm handshake.

"This one is Suvi! She wants to become a writer and has friends in Europe!"

"Dad..." Suvi mumbled, obviously embarrassed, but she did shake hands with the Dad. "Nice to meet you."

"This is my second youngest Lilja! She is studying to become an art teacher and has piercings!"

"It's finally great to put a face in my father's stories about you," Lilja said with a kind smile, the piercing on her face moving lightly.

"You already know her, but last, but not least, Amanda!"

"Gee, thanks, dad." Amanda rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"My family is filled with creative souls!" You were all smiles and filled with proudness when you turned towards your beloved. "So? What do you think?"

Craig

"Bro..." The athlete said before smiling happily. "Bro! You always said you wanted a big family!"

"It's a dream come true!" You laughed and Craig smiled. "Bro, we need to get our kids together and make one super team!"

He is honestly happy for you and excited by the idea of Briar, Hazel, and River meeting your daughters. You could all go out to a family dinner at the pizza place and movies and even more!

Robert

"Holy shit. There are more...! "

They all look alike and so much like you. The man thinks your daughters could be actual clones and you're their guardian that the government has put in charge of the girls.

Like, Robert had his hands full with Val, but you actually have 4 kids and girls on top of that?! How haven't you gone crazy yet?

Brian

Takes a good look at your family and goes like, "Well, I'll be damn! You have a real dream team here!"

You're smiling, smug that you beat Brian, but the joy doesn't stop there. Brian asks if your daughters would like to meet Daisy and while Amanda knew the 10 years old, your other daughters didn't.

So imagine when they finally meet Daisy, they are taken aback by how smart she is and you can see Brian smiling. The score was a tie. Well played Brian.

Damien

"My, what a lovely family you have!" Damien says and smiles, but inside he is excited. How marvelous! The goth immediately thought how Lucien could like your daughters.

Hold on. Your eldest... Does she draw comics? What kind? Could they perhaps be...? Yaoi?

He makes sure to ask from you because he is too shy to actually ask directly but he will later when the two of you are settling in the bed. Until then, he lets his imagination run wild.

Mat

"Oh, wow, uh, nice to meet you all!" Mat introduces himself as he nervously looks from one daughter to another. He thinks he might pass out because of how nervous he was.

He wanted to give a good first impression, but he can feel your daughters looking at him and-!

Suddenly you grasp his hand and hug him sideways and the cool dad relaxes notably. Your daughters ask a question or two and Mat sees they aren't as scary as the first thought. He actually looks up to the time when he can introduce Carmensita to them.

Joseph

"You weren't kidding when you said you have a big family," Joseph said but he was smiling. The man loved family time and kids, why else he has so many himself?

Though, while Joseph had experience with younger kids and rebellious youngsters, he didn't really have any experience with older kids.

Wants to show your kids to his own and invite them to bake together for the church's bake sale.

Hugo

He actually had a slight hunch about your daughters. When he started teaching Amanda, he could tell he had heard your family name from somewhere...

So he did a little digging and found out your other daughters had studied in the same school where he taught at.

Robert : This man has perfected his skills in hiding his emotions over the year. All that work seemingly went down the drain after he started dating you though. All you would have to do is give this man a genuine compliment and a kiss on his hand and he would have to turn his head in the hopes that you wouldn’t notice the blush on his cheeks. Its useless though, his ears always give it away. This man has gone a long time without this type of tenderness and it will take him a while to get used to it again.

Damien: He can't help the goofy smile that takes over his face every time you compliment him. Your compliments always seem to come out of nowhere and catch him off guard. He could be doing something as mundane as putting on his make up for the day and you would suddenly find a way to praise him for his skills. It's really becoming a problem that he has to stop what he's doing just to hide his flustered laughter into his palm.

Mat: Nervous laughter. That seems to be the reaction he can never stop, no matter how hard he tries. Most of the time he can stop the huge smile from taking over his face by biting his lips, but there's always a small up turn of the lips no matter what. Surprisingly his blush is very subdued. Sneak kisses and hugs are a guaranteed way to get him to react the most. He will always return the affection as best as he can while trying to stop giggling.

Craig: A blinding smile would take over his face, but you can always see a hint of a blush on his cheeks. This man is like a huge puppy. All you would have to do to get this man to melt is to just acknowledge all the work he does. Praise him for being a good father and friend and he would almost start crying. He likes to know that his efforts are being appreciated. He would retaliate by giving you a crushing hug.

Joseph: His eyes would widen and a small 'oh' would escape past his lips before he could stop it. Innuendos are a sure fire way to get this man blushing all the way up to his ears. He would have to collect himself for a moment before slapping you on the arm weakly and telling you to stop it. The blush will remain on his face for a while though.

Hugo: Run your fingers through his hair while he's resting his head on your lap. This man is so stressed and can't help the moan that passes his lips every time you do it. Neither of you really know if the following blush is from the embarrassment the noise causes or just the action itself, but you don't particularly care. This man is touch starved and can't resist your pampering after a long work day.

(The only man who ever thought he was worth anything more than a quick fuck died, and not a day passes without him thinking Amanda would better off if it had been the other way around.)

So he follows him home once, twice, thrice and doesn’t think about the way the air feels colder at five a.m when you’re still trying to put your shirt on and definitely not running away. He sneaks home with bites on his collarbones and scratch marks down his back like a teenager who’s been mauled by a rabid wolf and went back for more, and tells himself this too shall pass like his therapist told him to, back when he was still seeing one.

He keeps the window open to remind himself it’s colder outside than it is inside.

I chose Damien. Never saw myself as a Vampire Daddy Club member but shit happens.

Here are the reasons I considered - 

1) He’s emotionally stable

2) He’s immensely excited about the things he loves

3) He’s rich and in the most neoliberal sense, the avatar’s daughter was going to an expensive college

4) The man knows he has a problematic son and is completely supportive of his need for space and adjusts to Lucien’s random behaviour

5) The guy is a techie and he wears dorky glasses and tennis shoes so I am in no way intimidated by his epic outfits and make-up

The last date with Damien was a lecture on accepting the fears of mortality and the benefits of viewing it as a beautiful thing. The big reveal that  Damien has interests and a life outside of his goth persona is simultaneously surprising and yet so obvious. The date reminds me of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s One Story lecture and the assumption that people are only one-dimensional. 

After choosing Damien, the story ends with Amanda’s graduation party and a final conversation with all the relevant characters of the game. The game actually recalls the decisions the player makes and recalls those conversations. Amanda breaks it to the avatar that she is looking forward to distance from him to grow as an individual which seems to capture the real anxieties of parenthood.  

I think each father reflects some anxiety that the player relates to. For Damien, the anxiety was escapism and the using things like hobbies or delinquency as avenues to release stress and inadvertently becoming occupied by them. This isn’t just relevant to queer groups and their avenues to create their identity and their safe spaces, but to a lot of youth who are need an escape (such as videogames)

For Robert, the anxiety was having to face consequences of choosing ones own happiness. This is the reverse of Joseph’s anxiety, which is having to face the consequences of giving up certain things to be accomplished and accepted. 

I don’t know about Brian because I honestly can’t stand his character and refused to go on a second date. 

For Craig, the anxiety is the need to provide for people who depend on you and being overwhelmed by responsibility. This anxiety is present in older generations, but it is stronger in new adults entering the economy and having to face massive burdens that were otherwise held back by their guardians. 

For Mat, the anxiety was becoming a different person due to trauma. Changing and being unable to do certain things after a crisis is difficult, especially with those things are related to someone’s identity. I am not sure how I feel about the narrative that eventually people need to find the confidence to return to their previous joys instead of accepting change and the impact of life. 

For Hugo, the anxiety was having no influence on the world. Hugo was not considered a highly impactful teacher and he had a hard time parenting his son. The fear that a person can disappear into irrelevance is common in a culture where exceptionalism is praised. 

Note, none of these anxieties are limited to the queer community this game seems to be ideally representing. Instead, the game is giving players a narrative that seems more privileged than their narrative since it is based on a universe where there is acceptance and strong community. The cul-de-sac seems separated from the rest of the world the same way many communities disconnect from broader society in order to protect themselves from discrimination on a regular basis. I personally, saw this space as beneficial in allowing me to consider a narrative that was possible past the age of 30 since many youth are faced with this fear that failing as a young adult means they will have no prospects when, in reality, life will go on and maybe certain joys come only with age. 

Damien: He absolutely loves this!! He was trying to think of a way to broach the subject when Dadsona excitedly proposed the idea of making him authentic Victorian clothes to him. He has a Victorian aesthetics themed blog that he posts all the finished pieces to. He’s the perfect model. They make jokes that it’s straight out of a Jane Austen novel, Dadsona the lonely spinster and Damien the high-class romantic interest.

Hugo: Also loves this. Suits are expensive to own on a teacher’s salary.  He’s grateful for Dadsona being able to repair his clothes and him not having to throw them out- even more grateful that Dadsona can fix Ernest’s clothes. His favourite thing Dadsona makes him are the patterned waistcoats and matching bowties.

Brian: Good plus sized clothing is some hard to come by, so he’s overwhelmed when Dadsona offers to make his clothes. He isn’t too interested in fashion but he enjoys the gifts he gets all the same and wears the clothes with pride. Immediately tries them on when they’re done, him, Dadsona, Daisy and Amanda host mini fashion shows at home.

Joseph: Adores the clothes. Tells everyone his boyfriend made them constantly. He’ll find a way to get his new shirt into a conversation just watch him. So proud of his talented boyfriend. Christie is always asking for dresses made by Dadsona.

Mat: He’s a little shy about it at first, but he likes the clothes. Terrible model though, the amount of times Dadsona has accidentally poked him with a pin is ridiculous because Mat just can’t stay still during fitting. 

Craig: He almost refuses because he knows Dadsona will want to dress him in something other than jogging bottoms, but he can’t bear to turn him down. He remembers having to model for Dadsona’s projects in college, he’s another one that can’t stay still. Begs Dadsona to make tiny baby clothes for River.

This would be when things are in sudden swing, everyone is making base/shelter.

A scale of 1-10 would be their chance of survival/who would last the longest. These numbers are variable depending on who their with/the situation. If everyone were able to team up their numbers would probably increase by a point or 2. If they were on their own it would definitely decrease by 1.5/2.

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vvvv *DADDS* vvvv

Joseph: I could easily say he was the one that caused it, but what would be the fun in that. Honestly he would be the man in action/leader and get his family to the church because be knows the place like the back of his hand. Take hold up there, reinforce all exits and windows. Leader/strategist. [7.5]

Mary: Woman in action, fashion steaks out of the pews, arms and keeps constant guard of the kiddos/anyone else's kid they found along the way. Leaving someone for dead? Not a thing with her. Second leader. [8.5]

Robert: Riding around killing as many of the undead he can. Knows what they are and is already five steps ahead of everyone else. Knows how to survive on crackers and whiskey. Probably pick people he trusted and knew up along the way. Joseph always said if anything happens to go to the church. Ammunition man/fighter. [9-10]

Damien: I'm sorry to say this but hes the weakest link. Would have the hardest time dealing with things. Would be able to face things as long as he had Lucien. Would be the voice of reason when the group gets too crazy or when he knows there's no win in a situation. First thing he'd do is let out all of the animals at the shelter/make sure they're all safe before taking cover. [5 or 6 w/Lucien 3 w/o.]

Hugo: Would probably be at the school with most of the kids. The school would be randomly put in lock down but something would feel wrong. He'd lock the door close the windows/shades the whole shpeal. After about a couple minutes of waiting he'd call other teachers to figure out whats going on only to be told to turn on the news. Once seeing what was happening he tell his kids to arm themselves with what they could find and(by himself)go out to reinforce the doors/entrance. Would shapen up and be as brave as possible for the kids. [7]

Mat: Also fragail boi, would be at the coffee shop when he sees people start running in the street/panicking. Once most of his customers would have left by then, he'd lock down shop and tell Pablo to get to his mom, call if you need help, ect. Would be calling everyone to make sure they were ok. Once getting word to head to the church he'd take as much food as possible. [6]

Brian: He would be the one able to get the kids from the school(especially if Daisy was there)with Hugo on the inside, and with Robert's help. I think he'd have some hunting guns/weapons on hand, in a safe. With him any base if the safest. Would help all parents get to their kids and vice versa. His house would be second base. [8]

Craig: Him and his girls would be most physically fit(obviously) to handle the apocalypse. Would be able to out run the dead with each kid under his arm. Once getting a call from Robert to head to the church he'd grab as many essentials and sprint if he couldn't access the car at the moment. Would most likely go on supply runs. [8]

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vvvv *KIDS* vvvv

Knowing that most of the kids would be in school at the time(besides Joseph's kids and Craig's)I imagine them finding each other and Hugo to bust out and get to their family.

Amanda would be that leader that's not appointed as leader but everyone sees her as such. [7.5]

Ernest would either still keep his idc attitude or be scared shitless. [6]

Lucien would just have one goal, get to his dad/make sure dad is ok. [7]

Carmensita would be the most fragile in this situation, Amanda would make sure to keep her close. [6]

Daisy would very anxious but be able to keep calm. Best at strategies and would be second in command next to Amanda, next to Hugo. [7]

Val would have a radio/communicator that her dad gave her as a departure gift when she moved. Would be fine/survive so far with her gf. [9]

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DADSONA!!!(in canon)