#<< she’s the newest dweller

[lanayru-the-water-god]

(Lanayru is ~900 years old)

Lily: “What was that like, Lady Lanayru?”

I don’t remember much, just that I had to save her life. I had no choice…but as I was losing consciousness I apparently told Nerin I was sorry. Those were my last words…

Don’t worry, my sweet one, it was completely painless and none of this is new to me, ok?

*Lily nods her head, the concern fading from her face.*

After my inevitable resurrection, I was carried back to my domain. These are from Nerin’s words, of course, not mine…so Lady Cordelia, Just Faron, Lady Lorelei, they all offered to hold me and take care of me. But Nerin snapped back, “NO! Don’t touch my Lanayru!” And she whispered into my ear, “You’re gonna be just fine, RuRu, I promise…” At least something like that, from what she told me.

“But my friends? Did they do something wrong?”

Your fellow Dwellers were just here to help, Lady Lily, they did nothing wrong…but one thing you should know about Nerin is that she can be extremely protective of me. She carried me up the stairs to get here while I was unconscious, a difficult task for one person! It would’ve been easier had Cordelia helped, but Nerin wouldn’t let anyone touch me. My little one…oh how I love her so.

And a month of intense waiting later…here I am!

[sundove88]

DBZ: Waves of Freedom Chapter 3: Making Waves

After work that very day, Vegeta made his way down to the water and immediately perched on the rocky outcrop where he and Goku often had their conversations. As soon as he set foot on the smooth stones that dotted this little part of the beach, a few other merpeople besides the citrus tailed merman where beside him. “Wha- Where did you come from?!”, Vegeta shouted, unable to contain his surprise. “Vegeta, I’d like you to meet some of my family and friends.”, replied Goku as he perched on the rock next to his best buddy. “Well, if you hadn’t noticed, by know, I’m Chi Chi, Goku’s wife, to be exact!”, replied the arowana tailed mermaid as Gohan and Goten surfaced alongside her. As the others came forward and perched on the rocks in their own ways, Vegeta saw how diverse the world of merpeople could be- from Krillin’s weedy seadragon traits to help him hide within the kelp, Yamcha’s octopus tentacles to help him reach into tight spaces, Tien’s koi fins to help him slice through the water, Android 17’s dolphin instincts to help him find lost sailors, Android 18’s lion fish spines to protect her family, and so on, so forth.

It was then that he noticed Bulma and blushed at the sight- her blue hair that matched the seawater to an uncanny extent, and her blue tang inspired tail that sparkled with a radiant pearly finish. But the most beautiful thing about her wasn’t her tail, or her shiny turquoise circuit inspired top, or her aquamarine colored eyes. It was her heart that refused to waver in the face of adversity, and to care for her young son Trunks, who she had brought home from an orphanage under her metaphorical wing. “I see you now realize you feel right at home with us, eh?”, Bulma said as she let her son flick his Siamese fighting fish tail playfully at Vegeta’s face, seawater splashing onto his skin. But that made Vegeta remember something very important- and it wasn’t good. “Now, I don’t want you all to be angry at me, but… I have to attend a work banquet tonight.”, he said as everyone’s jaws dropped in shock. “WHAT?!”, they said in unison.

“Yeah… and it’s apparently to raise funds for the company’s efforts into quote unquote ‘Protecting the Environment’, which Empire Drilling does anything BUT.”, Vegeta replied with a sigh. “But I promise to swim with Kakarot tonight, and even if it takes sneaking out of the work banquet, I’d do anything to get out of that blasted company.”, the young employee said, taking out something from his shirt pocket. In his hands was a lifelike water Lily hairpin, from the petals to the leaves, all elements of it were handcrafted to replicate the look of a beautiful blossom on the water. “Kakarot, this belonged to my mother- I want you to have this. That way you can always think of me even when I’m at work.”, Vegeta said as he placed the hairpin into the merman’s hands. “Aww, Vegeta! You shouldn’t have! And I’ve got something for you as well!”, Goku replied, nudging Chi Chi as she presented a bracelet made from part of an old fishing net, decorated with pearls, shells, and pieces of coral from beneath the waves. “A bracelet like this one is something that merpeople give to show their friendship, kinda like you land dwellers.”, Gohan said as Vegeta placed the bracelet on his wrist, feeling the rough texture of the net and the smoothness of the pearls and shells. He smiled, genuinely touched by the gesture. “Thanks, Kakarot. I’ve gotta get ready for the work banquet, but I promise that I’ll swim with you!”, Vegeta replied as he hurried back to his apartment, smiling.

That night, the work banquet was in full swing as the chatter of work patrons filled the air, and talk of work and the newest opportunities for the company’s newest employees stifled the stuffy atmosphere even more. Vegeta stood at the edge of the hall where the banquet was being held, his black and white suit feeling like a restriction from the freedom that was right in front of his face- the ocean. “What’s wrong, Vegeta? Cat got yer tongue?”, replied Jeice as he passed by the melancholy young man in his red tuxedo, staring bitterly at the water in front of him. “Nevermind what I want.”, replied Vegeta as he gazed out to sea. Guldo, Recoome, Burter, and Ginyu tried to get through to him and strike up a conversation, but there was no trying to sway him. He remembered his promise to Goku, and he was determined to keep it. I’d better sneak away now, while everyone else is busy chatting like there’s no tomorrow., he thought to himself. As soon as he got the chance he dashed away from the hall the party was being held and ran towards his apartment building. And immediately after changing into his much more comfortable swim trunks (Which he hadn’t worn in a while), he raced down to the ocean and saw Goku on the rocks, as if he were waiting for him.

“Ready to go, Best buddy?”, Goku replied, his tail flicking droplets of water into the evening air. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Kakarot.”, Vegeta replied as he waded into the cool ocean water, lapping up against his skin and sending shivers up his spine. “It’s ok. Just let the water embrace you, and you’ll be fine.”, Goku replied as he helped Vegeta into the water. Before he knew it, they both dove into the water, the cool waters enveloping them. Vegeta felt an immediate sense of freedom as he swam beside Goku. The water was alive with color, illuminated by the moonlight that filtered down from the surface. It took a while for Vegeta to catch up with his fishy companion, but when he finally did, he was treated to something he had never before experienced. With his own eyes, he experienced a sensory overload- the good kind, as he looked down at the corals that made up the reefs and the fish that dwelled within their crevices and the various species that called this part of the ocean home. “Look over there, Vegeta! That’s a school of convict tangs. And those are angelfish. Aren’t they beautiful?” Goku explained as he pointed out some of the species on the reef. Vegeta’s eyes widened in awe as a sea turtle gracefully swam by, its chocolate colored shell glinting in the light. He reached out, his fingers brushing against the turtle’s smooth surface. A flame angelfish tagged along, its vibrant red scales glimmering in the moonlit water as he gave kisses to the land dweller before swimming away, while a mandarin dragonet swam by and tickled one of his legs. Even a school of Pajama Cardinalfish thought he was a local merman, even going as far as to make themselves at home in his vicinity.

As they continued deeper into the reef, the marine life began to approach the young land dweller and sense the kindness within him. A clownfish swam through Vegeta’s spiky dark hair, mistaking it for an anemone of sorts. “Hehe! He just wants to say hi.”, Goku replied, allowing the small clownfish to swim towards his anemone home. As they continued their swim, Vegeta could see that the marine life were friendly towards him, even though he didn’t have a fishtail. A small seahorse drifted towards him and latched onto his finger for a bit, a normally timid octopus worked up the courage to emerge from its den and perch on his shoulder, and even a pod of dolphins swam around him, sensing his kind and caring nature. “They can sense your compassion.”, Goku explained as the baby bottlenose nudged Vegeta, making him smile even more. And alongside the colorful marine life and the beautiful coral reefs, the duo also came across ancient ruins with secrets untold, forests of kelp that seemed to reach the sky, and shipwrecks that held treasures from times of old. After quite a bit of swimming, the two boys headed back towards the land, exhausted yet happy after their journey through the coral reef. “You know, Kakarot? I’ve got something to say to you.”, Vegeta replied as they neared the shore. “What would that be?”, asked Goku, always open and thoughtful. “I wanna stay with you- I wanna be part of this world from now on.” Vegeta said as he climbed up onto the sand, the feeling of a natural sugar scrub beneath his feet. “I like that a lot, Vegeta.”, the orange tailed merman said as he perched next to his land bound companion. “And I have a… request for you.”, said Vegeta as he dried himself off. “What would that be? Just get it off your chest if you can.”, Goku replied. Vegeta took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the decision but also the excitement of a new beginning.

“Can you… turn me into… a merman?”

[clarafyer]

HI SO MY FRIEND AND I DROPPED SOME BANGER LINES IN A ROLEPLAY JUST NOW WITH THE TRUSTED VOID DWELLERS AND I AM STIMMING SO HARD RIGHT NOW I AM SHOOK

TW: Mentions of death, choking, threats

"Before you, someone had your act covered. But she was killed by the hag. She was made into a display even, to try and scare us off. Oh boy, Tenebris did not like losing her talent."

“And yet, he gained someone infinitely more competent and most definitely more skilled in the craft."

"Yeah, yeah, feel free shut up about yourself already."

“You need to have a strong ego to be a great musician, Malorie.”

"And you have to be focused to be a great aerialist, Mamon."

“That explains a lot; you keep getting distracted, chasing dead ends when going after the witch.”

She snapped, dropping down and yanking at the silks, bringing down the support beams in a loud, creaking crash. As he looks at the site, she's gone, before he hears her voice once again, behind him as fabric quickly wraps around his neck.

"I will not hesitate to put you in your place, puppeteer. This fucking job has been one of the ONLY ones I have been assigned for the past YEARS. And I've three hundred more years of this contract than you. I have worked harder than I will probably ever see you. I have earned my place among these acts. You? You were given it." With every growled word, the silk's grasp on him became tighter.

"Am I clear, Mamon?"

“I will respect you and your seniority when you do something worth respecting. You mistake hard work with accomplishments. Sisyphus may toil endlessly working hard, pushing that boulder uphill, but that doesn’t mean the struggle is commendable if he makes no real progress. I may have been given this spot by mere talent alone, but I’ve made more strides towards my own goals in my brief time here than you have. But sure, you are clear in the flawed point you present.”

There was deafening silence, before she yanked, pulling him backwards as the tension released.

"Your point is heard as well. I'm getting back to work, now. Oh, and just so you know, I hear the boss is considering putting on a show in a month's time. Perhaps you should prepare one of your scores for it."

The false Mamon Malorie was strangling falls to the ground as its form turns back to one of the villagers. Mamon is dancing with the corpse of the lady he killed, doing a waltz. He pulls the corpse into a dip and her head falls off. “What did you think the try outs were for?”

"Coward. Good day." She made a quick gesture, shortening the silks back to just barely showing out from her sleeves before walking off.

-----

The whole context isn't there because I am NOT pasting the entire roleplay, but god damn I am so proud the finishing lines we did, I HAD TO SHARE.

Mamon is my friend's character who is the newest "act" in Tenebris' circus (the trusted void dwellers.) But he is a 2 year old character revived for the new version of the story. He is the puppeteer, while Malorie is the aerialist. The other acts have FINALLY been figured out, I just need to redesign an old character of mine and design 2 new characters.

Also the hag is Flora and in case not everyone knows, she cheated death by insanity and that REALLY fucked things up in the afterlife

[auxiliarydetective]

The Aenar - Evie Edition

In building my newest Star Trek OC, Ezori, I took a deep dive into the Memory Alpha and Memory Beta articles on Aenar (and Andorians), and I came up with some headcanons and additions that I figured I could share with you guys.

Disclaimer: I am not a biologist, or an anthropologist, or a zoologist, or whatever else you might need to be to have professional opinions on this. I am a history student with a hyperfixation and going off of what feels right. If you don't like what I came up with, you can give me contructive criticism (please do, I like realism) or leave <3

With that being said, let's get into it! We'll be using my dear girl Ezori as a reference from here on out, so here she is out of uniform! This is going off of the ENT-era Aenar design mostly, since Ezori is an OC for ENT.

Almost everything on Memory Alpha/Beta still applies, so if I don't touch on something, you can just assume that whatever is said there is also true for my Aenar lovelies. Also, some of these ideas were inspired by the takes on Aenar by @nichestartrekkie0-0, so check out their Aenar tag! They've got some really cool ideas there!

Now, for our first topic:

I. Biology !

Very obviously, I gave them tails. I got the idea because their antennae are there for balance. Obviously, you'd need great balance as an ice-dwelling species, because ice is slippery. And what else gives you excellent balance? That's right: A tail.

The tail is very long (about the person's full height plus maybe 10%) and prehensile and grows out of the body about where a human's tailbone starts, so just above the butt. When navigating tight, crowded or familiar/safe spaces, an Aenar might keep it wrapped around their body for practicality reasons. Almost the whole tail is fairly sensitive because it's also one of the main sense organs of the Aenar. Besides touch, they can sense shifts in temperature and also whatever waves telepathy travels by - though these are mainly picked up by the antennae and ears. They also have a lot of strength in that tail for reasons which will become a bit clearer later. As a side note: Andorians are born with some semblance of a tail, but since it's non-functional, it's usually removed directly at birth or shortly after - it's essentially a vestigial organ for them.

Going from there, I thought about what other features might be practical for ice dwellers to have, and then it hit me: Spikes! You can use them to hold on to things if it gets slippery and, even more crucially, you can use them to help you climb. So, I added spikes to the tail - which is why their tails have to be this long and strong. You have to have reach with them and they have to be able to support a lot of weight. But I didn't want the Aenar, who are known pacifists, to carry around full-on spiked whips all the time since it didn't really fit their theme, so I decided that the spikes should be able to lie flat against the tail. My inspiration was HTTYD's Deadly Nadders. So, as you can see, they have five rows of spikes, the third row being the biggest, as well as one tip spike. Beneath those rows of spikes are the most sensitive sense organs of the Aenar. Think of the spikes as eyelids and the receptors beneath as the eyes being protected by the lids. So, whenever an Aenar splays their spikes, it's not a show of aggression. It's ye olde fight or flight response. Because while, yes, technically they could ram those spikes into whatever is threatening them, even more crucially, the spikes being splayed out allows the receptors beneath to receive more stimuli, which makes navigating your environment a lot easier for when you have to run away. These spikes are, obviously, not sensitive, since they're supposed to be rammed into ice, but the receptors are. There's a more robust, scalier area that sort of blends into the rest of the tail just beneath the lowest row of spikes.

Additionally, Aenar have little bumps across their backs along their spines. These used to be further spikes but turned into nothing but small bumps in the course of evolution. They're also usually fairly short because the energy that could be used to help them grow goes into warding off the cold.

As another biological adaption to the cold, Aenar (and Andorians) have a different chemical composition of their fat layers which makes them more insulating - this is why Andorians (and also Aenar) can sustain both extreme cold and extreme heat. Aenar also have a habit of using only non-tiring movements when in cold environments. This comes off as somewhat "graceful" to other species because these movements are very light and fluid. When in warmer environments, they need to snack a lot to keep their energy levels up and stay healthy. They might even be some form of mesotherm, but I'm hesitant to really apply this term here.

Their "vision" works based on all of their other senses to compensate for their blindness. They navigate their surroundings through sensing changes in temperature (ice walls are colder than their surroundings, for example), and "echoes" of both sound and telepathy waves, as well as touch if necessary. Additionally, they have a good grasp on where people or animals are based on telepathy alone, and being around seeing people helps them navigate usually harder-to-grasp environments through picking up what those people see as telepathic "background noise". All of this leads to Aenar being able to navigate familiar environments better than unfamiliar ones because they get accustomed to those stimuli, as well as them having more trouble perceiving inanimate objects than living and/or sentient ones.

In my head, Aenar skintones range from a pale icy blue to almost entirely snow-white with only some blue-ish contours/undertones. Eye colors range from blue to grey and are either pale or almost white - in which case they can look to be almost shimmering in a lot of different colors, kinda like opals or those "color-changing" blue eyes some humans have. The pupils arent much darker than the irises. Their hair is practically always white, only very rarely platinum blonde. I also gave them white eyelashes since it just made sense. I'd imagine body hair isn't that common, but you wouldn't be able to really see it either way since it would be white. Also, I changed the top part of the antennae to blue because... why would they be pink? The insides of their mouths are also blue, same for any other area where humans are pink. Also, Aenar freckles are golden. This has no logical reason other than that it looked like that to me with the makeup on the show. They blush very easily because their skin is so light and their blush is blue.

II. Culture !

This deals with a very broad understanding of culture, just so I don't have to create a bunch of mini categories.

First of all, I'm convinced that chubby = attractive to Aenar. Not because they think that that body type looks pretty, obviously, since they can't see, but because chubby = warm and soft (and also more resistant to freezing).

With that in mind, I was convinced that Aenar would like to accentuate the stomach area - which led me to the idea that Aenar have a rich culture of body jewelry (and they're probably a little disappointed and confused whenever they meet a species that doesn't). Belly button piercings are very common and almost everyone has them, similar to how a lot of humans have pierced earlobes. Speaking of pierced earlobes, there is an Aenar belief that ear piercings increase your hearing and telepathic abilities. Piercing your antennae is fairly rare since they're very vulnerable and piercing someone's tail is difficult. So, people might wear rings around them instead. A special sort of ring is when the main "shackle" part that holds the jewelry in place is semi-transparent (and usually a similar color to the person's skin) and (in the case of tail jewelry) has a hoop attached to make it look like the hoop is loosely dangling from around the tail, or (in the case of antennae) has chains attached to form a sort of net falling across the hair. The hoop method is less common for antennae since hoops are heavy and any chains on the antennae are usually attached at the base so as to not impact movability - unless for special occasions. The spikes can't be pierced because they're too hard and the forehead/eyebrow ridges are rarely pierced because they're also hard and a bit impractical to pierce, but it's not entirely impossible. If someone doesn't want percings, cuffs or body chains are common alternatives.

Piercings are a sign of prestige, especially if they're made of precious metals. More piercings = more prestige. This is also why being a piercer is a very well-respected job. Giving people piercings has some semblance of a spiritual/ritual tradition, so there's a lot of respect and honor involved. It can also be a very intimate thing. Aenar often get piercings for weddings, anniversaries, the birth of a child, and other festivities, and they also often get piercings together to strengthen their bond with each other.

Aenar are also eerily quiet. This is, on one hand, because they hear so well, and on the other because of their light movements and because they just don't have the need to talk much. Whenever they do talk, they're usually soft-spoken. Because Aenar are so quiet, treading lightly and whatnot, they seem to sometimes just appear next to people who can't feel them coming through telepathy.

They also just... don't lie. Why would they? They're convinced that everyone around them would know when they're lying because everyone around them has telepathy, so why try? This doesn't mean that they're extremely straightforward or blunt though, they're still very soft-spoken and polite. If they insult you, it will be through backhanded compliments and sly little comments that only you will hear.

Remember how I said that Aenar blush easily? Well, they also don't know what blushing is. I mean, they do realize that their face turns hot and whatnot, but they don't know that they turn blue, because they can't see it.

Going back to the topic of mobility, instead of ice picks, Aenar have clawed gloves to aid in climbing. Long distances are covered by ice sled tracks if necessary.

And finally, Aenar clothes are usually white or in light shades of other colors to blend in with the icy environment. Wearing dark or vibrant colors is seen as obnoxious and disrespectful to the community.

SO! I think that's it for now. If you sat through this, congrats! Have a cookie 🍪

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

Also tagging @enterprise-come-in

[wiickian]

This is Cassidy the newest member of the Railroad. They were previously a vault dweller from vault 81 and decided they weren’t going to go back after venturing out. Cass was tired of the rules and regulations and braved the wasteland alone until running into a raider gang at the combat zone. She ran with the raiders for a few years before one of them betrayed her and tried killing her in her sleep for her chem stash. She killed the raider and was kicked out of the gang so she returned to the combat zone and met Cait. They became really good friends and started doing jobs on the side while the fighting business was slow. When business picked back up, Cass had to find work and ended up following the freedom trail after hearing a diamond city guard talking about it. She stumbled upon a cashe and found the password for the door in the old church and opened the railroad HQ. She was immediately interrogated and was told that if she does a few jobs for the railroad they’ll consider her as a potential agent. After proving her worth to deacon they become good friends and then she started working for the railroad under the name charmer. While she was out scavenging with deacon she found a publick occurrence newspaper on top of a bloodpack and read it. Hearing about the institute intrigued her and she made her way to diamond city. She eventually got interviewed by piper and saved nick and all that jazz and is now nick’s very best friend/maybe lover.

[simplegenius042]

Fallout Casting for Satoru "Kakashi-sensei" Gojojojo for Jujutsu Kaisen Abridged react fic

"Five bucks and I'll tongue punch your fart box." - Satoru Gojo, Episode 3 JJK Abridged (by The Schmuck Squad).

Reasons To Why I Believe These Characters Should Be Cast As The Variant of JJK Abridge's Satoru Gojo are listed below the cut:

Elrand Brandt (Fallout Vault Dweller OC, faceclaim Jason Statham) -> In his twenties and had told the Master to kill himself.

Finidy Mona (Fallout 2 Chosen One OC, faceclaim Jessica Alba) -> "Chosen One" will be as close to "Honored One" as Fallout will get.

Alph Dolen (Fallout 3 Lone Wanderer OC, faceclaim Sam Blackensee. Has transformed into a Ghoul) -> Fawkes talked about how it was his destiny to save Project Purity and his hopes and dreams died in his early twenties.

Raul Alfonso Tejada (a ghoul mechanic that helps out Ryder in Fallout New Vegas, follows her around after she saved him on Black Mountain and is inspired to pick up his guns again to protect those of lesser fortune) -> He's badass and voiced by Danny Trejo. Also got very father-figure vibes going on. And lost a young female companion (his sister) like Gojo had (Riko) whom they were both trying to protect.

Nate Gust Sarid (Fallout 4 Sole Survivor OC, faceclaim Steven He. He is a Synthetic Human) -> The SPECIAL cheat stats make a lot more sense with him given the context that he's a synth, which could be similar to Gojo's cheat skills in general. Not to mention they're both (basically) fathers (Shaun for Nate and Yuji & Megumi for Gojo).

Vega (Fallout 76 Resident OC, faceclaim Yvonne Strahovski. Has transformed into a Super Mutant) -> Both are selfish and have unbreakable egos.

Tycho (from Fallout, a Nevada ranger who's wandered the Wasteland of California, he helps Elrand beat Gizmo and takes on the Master's Super Mutant army) -> Hides his face and a total all around badass.

Roger Westin (from Fallout 2, an NCR congressman fighting against the corruption within the New California Republic with underhanded tactics to build a peaceful, civil expansion into the north) -> Badass breaking the rules to do the right thing.

Butch DeLoria (from Fallout 3, Alph's former childhood bully in Vault 101, now one of his closest allies after the Lone Wanderer saved the life of Butch's mother from Radroaches. After Alph and Amata we're run out of the Vault, Butch helped build up the rebellion against Overseer Almodovar, and had managed to slip out of the vault to get Alph and Amata's help. After resolving the issue, Butch joined up with Alph and Amata to wander the Capital Wasteland, becoming the founding members of the newest Tunnel Snakes) -> He's rocking a style and while he can come off as a jerk, he's got a heart of gold, though never a push-over.

Joshua Graham (from Fallout New Vegas' Honest Hearts DLC, Joshua is Caesar's former Legate, now known as "the Burned Man", he resides in Zion to help the Dead Horses (as well as Daniel and the Sorrows) against the threat of the White Legs. Ryder gets some very important insight from him on how to deal with Caesar's Legion) -> Okay, so his eyes aren't blindfolded, but he is bandaged up elsewhere. And not to mention his voice is captivating. And he'd probably despise his Gojo variant which makes for some humorous opportunities.

Deacon (from Fallout 4, the Railroad's top intelligence agent and overall the best spymaster you'll ever meet, he trains Nate in the art of espionage and being a better liar. Had given Nate trust issues for a while when partnered together. He also helps Nate discover he is a synth and come to terms with his newfound existence) -> He's got the charisma. He's got the sunglasses. He's got the lies and the confidence. He's got the vibe of a responsible irresponsible adult. He's got the vibes of a back-alley drug dealer guaranteed to give you the good stuff and be there with you to make sure it goes alright. He's probably stolen caps from Carrington. He's the man. The goat. The guy the Railroad keep around because he's really good at his job even if his tactics are questionable sometimes.

Remember, for the alternative option, REBLOG and put in the tags WHO else from the Fallout franchise should be Abridged!Gojo and WHY you think they'd better suit the role.

I've also created and will continue to update (until the polling is done) a Master List for the poll results of the casted winners. You can find it right here.

You can find my Fallout OC profiles Master List right here, which also includes a link to the original post where I pitched my react fic idea. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, chow!

[thatonebirdwrites]

As I write ficlets here, I dump them in my Books of Destiny. Newest chapter is the idea for the Fallout AU. I wanted to keep Kara feeling alien, and the best way to do that is for her to be a vault dweller who ventures into the wastelands for the first time. This puts Lena as a wastelander (secretly with the Railroad but working as a scavenger). I'm mixing the plots of Fallout 3 and 4 because I liked Fallout 3's plot better, but I prefer Fallout 4's setting and factions. (Have played these games dozens of times.) What is the Fallout Universe?

If Fusion Power was invented and became commonplace in the 1950s, where even cars are run on fusion, only for a nuclear war to break out. Two hundred years after the War, the character leaves their vault knowing little to nothing about the wasteland. It's a dark satire with ridiculous elements. As a fun easter egg, in Fallout 3, you can find Bethseda's offices. Yes, they put their offices in the game.

Year 2278, May 12 - 200 Years After the War

Two days after leaving the vault, Kara realized that the world did not fit what the overseer had described. In fact, everything she'd been told about the world seemed to be terribly wrong.

The giant cockroaches and mosquitoes? They weren't supposed to be that big! When she saw the furless mongrel dogs and cows with two heads, she quickly realized that the Vault's biology book was utterly useless for this wasteland. The land itself mostly dried grass, vine-drenched trees, and over-sized, glowing mushrooms.

How was Kara supposed to find a clean source of water and better foodstuff to replace their lost stores? The wasteland looked so inhospitable, and nearly all the water sources held far too much radioactivity. Her Geiger counter kept bouncing up to warn her away from the more dangerous areas -- her vault suit didn't quite protect against the radiation, she should have worn a hazmat suit -- but in other areas that did harbor life, none matched her biology vaultbooks. So she had no idea what was edible.

Up ahead, Kara sighted three figures. She darted behind a rock. Last thing she needed was a fight. The last one with that creepy, fur-less and rabid dog had nearly gotten her killed. Her arm still ached from the dog's claws. She'd had to use three stimpacks before the injury began to slowly repair itself.

So she huddled behind a rock and watched the approach of humans. The first she'd seen since leaving the vault. She had a knife with her, canned food and water, and some tech from the vault. The gun she'd found in a rundown shack yesterday was out of ammo. Not that she was any good at it. Shooting wasn't part of the vault curriculum.

Two of the humans were dressed in leather coats, black pants with knee pads, and a hard helmet. A giant, hulking robot walked next to them, but a human voice emanated from it. It looked like one of the power armors Kara had seen in the textbooks from the war.

One of the humans looked like a woman. She held a device in her hand and moved it back and forth over the ground. Her skin was sun-burned, her black hair tied back in a loose ponytail, but her eyes were so, so green. As green as the tree drawings in Kara's vault textbooks. She was gorgeous.

The trio walked closer, and their voices drifted over the broken trees and shattered road. "Jack, are you certain this was the coordinates? Because I'm not picking up any signals." Even the woman's voice sounded beautiful.

"We've been over this, Lena. The triangulation pinpointed the crash to this location," Jack said, his deeper voice held an accent Kara didn't recognize. "We simply need to cover more area."

"Perhaps we should split up?" The power armor person said. Their voice was a low alto. "Cover more ground?"

"Bloody hell, Sam, we'd be easy pickings for any enemy then," Jack said with a dramatic flourish of his hand.

"You would be fine, Sam," Lena said with a roll of her eyes. "You got the power armor. Besides, the idea isn't feasible. I have the scanner. Without it, you're looking for a cap in a lake."

Kara blinked as their words filtered through her. Wait. A crash? She'd seen lots of crashes since leaving the Vault. In fact, one had been still smoking. It resembled the Vertibirds from her textbooks of the war. She'd passed by it yesterday when she'd sighted the giant cockroach and almost fell off a cliff in her eagerness to escape it.

Without thinking it through, she darted to her feet. "Hey! I saw a crash!"

And soon found herself facing three weapons -- a flamethrower in Sam's hands, a hunting rifle in Jack's, and a laser gun in Lena's.

Kara threw up her hands. "Please don't shoot! I don't mean any harm. I just heard you talking about a crash, and I saw one."

Lena lowered her weapon first. One eyebrow rose as her gaze swept over Kara. "You're wearing a vault jumpsuit."

"Yes?" Kara looked down at the blue and yellow suit. The number 101 was emblazoned across the front. Was it a bad thing to be a vault-dweller? She wondered if maybe she should have lied. Too late now. "I left it two days ago."

"Wait, you're a vault dweller?" Jack slid the rifle over his shoulder and grinned. "Our luck is in! Can you take us to it?"

Kara lowered her hands, confused. "Why?"

"Most vaults are powered by fusion," Lena explained, "and we're low on fusion cores. Is your power still functioning?"

Kara shifted uneasily back toward her rock. "I'm not sure." She'd left the vault intact, meaning her family was still there. Leading these people to it just for them to take the vault's power? That would put them all in danger.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Sam asked. She had lowered her weapon, but her voice was still intimidating due to the power armor. "Come on, you just left it, didn't you?"

"I can take you to the crash," Kara said, firmly. Alex and the others relied on her mission to find a better water source. Leading strangers there to steal power was not part of the mission. "And maybe we can negotiate if you help me find a clean source of water."

"Now see here," Jack started to say, but Lena held up her hand to stop him.

"Negotiate we definitely can. So what's your name?" With a smile, Lena stepped in front of the others and held out her hand to Kara. "I'm Lena, this is Jack, and that's Sam."

"Kara from Vault 111." Kara shook Lena's hand with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

[skeletood]

Meet my newest troll, Franzi. I thought an arctic sea dweller would be a neat concept. She has the personality of a gentle giant whale and stands at about 8 feet tall. I love her with my life

[plaguery]

} You Will Play This Game. >♥︎

(((helll yeah illl play this game* whatever u say princesss**)))

*illl play fuckin whatever anyway tbh

**but its more important that i do aaanyyything u ask

EVONYA ORADKA is a former forest dweller, suspicious in behavior and of others. Amongst her wooded community, she was considered a kind of ghastly ‘princess’ of the hunt, but she herself never used this term. Her relationship to her bow is said to be a soul connection: her spirit flowing as an extension through the arrows, which are said to pierce and invade the soul of their targets. They are hypervigilant, protective, and have a tendency to suggest that they can help with things much more than they actually can. She is better at setting boundaries and rules that benefit her aims more than soothing or mending. By nature, they are relatively closed off from much of Plagaris at large and stick to taking care of the day to day survival tasks of themself and others. However, they have picked up an internet surfing habit that lets them more openly express themself to the digital world.

RICHAT TEVELL does not use that name, thank you very much. Either RT or "The Veil" will do. It is Plagaris' foremost scavenger, collecting all manner of junk and refuse with the hopes of recycling it all into something new. Employment and RT haven't historically gotten along very well, so it gets by with its recycling projects or with the help of its buds. When he's not caring for his collections or the newest weeds budding in his hovel, he's making video vision boards from archival footage, known to some as AMVs. RT is jovial, fun loving, and chatty to boot, always having additional points to expound upon when it talks. Its eye for detail almost never misses a thing and recently, its been using said eye to map out small game demos. The Veil does have to rest quite often though, his excitable energy can only take his body so far. He doesn't mind, as long as his moirail or this new Evonya girl are around to talk.

[insomniac-jay]

Jobless Monday [Heavy Metalikka]

Being kicked out of a band means falling on hard times.

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid

"Here."

Roxy placed a check in Irina's hands, careful not to crumble it up. "Buy you and Lisa something nice."

"Roxy, you know you don't have to pay me or Lisa rent to live here, right?" Irina placed the check in her pocket for now. She still stood in the doorway of Roxy's room, not wanting to come in since she had to go somewhere and Roxy was doing some much needed primping.

"Still. It's not fair to you that I don't have a place to live." Roxy dabbed some moisturizer on her face. "Even if we are best friends."

"Roxy, Lisa and I let you live here because we wanted you to. You're not leeching off of us at all."

Roxy stopped to face Irina. They were so much more than just best friends; they were practically sisters. What sister wouldn't open her home to another in a time of need? But even then, guilt still ate at Roxy the more she thought about her current situation. She felt like she had to repay Irina in some way to ease the burden of her inability to be self sufficient at her age.

"That's...that's good to know."

Irina moved to reach out to her sister when Lisa's agitated footsteps rang through the halls.

"Rina! Alvin's in the basement again!"

"Again? This is the third time this month!"

With Irina gone to deal with the basement dweller, Roxy was once again left alone with her thoughts when she didn't want to be. In the time since successfully getting revenge against her former Black Friday bandmates, everything became null.

Did she regret what she'd done? No. She managed to give the Flash of all people a concussion. Was this remorse? Why should she feel remorse for a bunch of ungrateful Hollywood hopefuls who were on the verge of breaking up before she stepped onto the scene?

So what was this emptiness swelling inside her? Surely it wasn't longing. It's not like she needed those traitors anyway--Roxy had plenty of star power on her own. But maybe it wasn't longing for her old band, but for something else. Something to fill the void.

"Roxy, we're leaving!"

Lisa's sudden voice broke the musician out of her thoughts. "If one of the guys comes over, just tell them we're out!"

"Alright!"

As soon as the front door closed, Roxy's previous thoughts returned with a vengeance. What was there to do now that she no longer had a goal? Being Heavy Metalikka gave her a thrill unlike any other. There was joy to be found in seeing herself as a wanted person and raising hell for the authorities.

Her life as Roxanne Lee was calling back to her as well. It insisted that Heavy Metalikka was just a phase. Roxy had enough fans to create a plentiful solo career.

Nothing wrong with going indie, Roxy thought to herself, searching around her room for a distraction. Her eyes landed on the newest Rebecca Silver book. She was just getting to the good part when she stopped reading. Maybe a book would take her mind off things. Mama did say that a good book is the cure to boredom.

[unclewarwick]

introducing Yzyck Fournier and his friends, starting with this drawing i just finished today!

Cat Something is a very nervous and generally silent person. He was 'created' by Dr. Gones when she removed his brain from his original body and put it into the body he now inhabits. He does not like being near her. His memories of life before the procedure are scant; "Cat-something" was his response when asked for his name. Dr. Nibha Gones (pronounced 'Jones') is a mad scientist who likes to find the strangest and often most unethical ways to create new life. She likes to think she is the most reasonable person in her circle, but such a thing does not really exist. She is more reserved and disconnected from everyone. Yzyck Fournier (first name pronounced 'Isaac') is a Frankenstein-cum-Geppetto type who performs gender-affirming surgeries. He views Dr. Gones as his enemy, but they have also been friends for a very long time. Yzyck's friends (not including Dr. Gones) live with him in a big laboratory. He refers to many of his friends as his 'creations'.

Yaag Kralaaga is the most recent of Yzyck's creations. It's not quite dead and not quite alive. He is very clingy to Yzyck and sometimes only speaks one word at a time. It likes to meet new people, but new people do not like to meet it. Yaag can tend to have an aggressive demeanour. Accordion Doll is an animated accordion doll that Yzyck made. It does not have a name and mostly slinks around the lab aimlessly, not capable of much else. Magret is one of Yzyck's very old friends. He speaks through the gramophone horn and likes to wear a large variety of dresses. He was the subject of Yzyck's first experiment, which failed and resulted in Magret losing his head. His body was preserved for a long time until Yzyck felt he was skilled enough to bring his friend back.

there's not really a set storyline with this group, it's mostly just a way to have fun and draw whatever ridiculous ideas i get. the rest of the art in this post is from newest to oldest.

2024-07-17 -- dr. gones is invited to yzyck's place.

2024-07-15 and 2024-06-02 -- comic i struggled to colour in bc Tired, and some life advice from a man with varied and fantastical experience! both of these are the first time i properly drew a character (dr. gones, magret) while having the concept for them a very long time beforehand.

2024-04-20 -- an 'animation' using audio from conan o'brien's appearance on hot ones, with other original characters (Mick and Christian) that you can see more of in the #attic dweller tag.

2024-02-27 -- mick brought christian to be observed by yzyck, who observes more than mick hoped.

both 2023-12-28 -- a newspaper clipping and a very normal vlog.

2023-12-17 -- poster about how the ongoing pandemic is a workers' rights issue.

2023-11-12 and 2023-11-13 -- yaag in the "flirty" and "very flirty" sims 4 emotion poses as part of a not-abandoned-but-on-hold WIP where i'm trying to draw characters in each emotion pose from the game.

2023-10-23 -- one of my favourite drawings of my fellas! poses based off a photo of the monkees. it was hard to interpret whose body parts belonged to who since they were wearing matching outfits in the photo.

2023-09-04 -- mick asks if yzyck can take a look at this beast being kept in his attic. he is scared of everything. yaag is there too.

2023-07-13 -- animated gif of yzyck showing off his incredible skills. one of the first times i felt i "properly" drew him.

2023-06-22 -- ariel needs legs meme redraw with mick and yzyck.

2023-06-22 -- yzyck talks about his favourite thing to eat for breakfast.

2023-04-30 -- my first (kinda) full drawing of yaag. i am simply not good at planning out reference sheets, so i was unable to draw its head actually attached to its body..

all 2022-04-13 -- some loose early drawings of yzyck and magret.

2022-03-02 -- first drawing of yzyck - the words were a note to myself to remember the name and details of a new character i wanted to make.

2021-08-08 -- a demonstration of how the accordion doll can move. i'd forgotten to draw the pattern on the bellows.

2021-07-04 -- this all started with the accordion doll, which was a concept a friend had. at the time i drew this, i began to think about who would have created it.

[vines-mansion]

Lurker Reference

Words;

Lurker

The Newest

Nicknames;

The baby, smalls, shiftie, the wingless one

Status; undetermined

Oc Type; Unknown

Lurker has no eyeliner (wings) marks due to these being givin in person

lurker’s lack of wings is sometimes disturbing to other mansion dwellers

Lurker is a young shapeshifter who doesn’t know where xey came from before they found Lurksville. She tries to be friends with everyone he meets though, and is a little social butterfly. Goes by all pronouns!

Lurker is naturally quite small, a little shorter than a middle schooler, but can shift to be taller. Lurker isn’t very good at shape shifting though, and sometimes hits the Uncanny Valley

New, confused, and hasn’t had anything explained.

Your Pall, and the main Veiwpoint!

Ones she’s closest to;

Katelynn

Open for Asks

[empressofthesunwriter]

Making Waves

You are a young mermaid, not ready for your adult responsibility when you find a secret underwater tunnel that leads to a secret cove. You couldn’t imagine how your life was going to change because of it. HiccupXMermaid!Reader

Chapter 4: Growing closer

Tight your little hand was held by your mother. She was making sure you didn’t get lost.

With your free hand, you scratched the collar of your dress. You weren’t used to clothes.

It was so itchy!

Your father laughs and pats your head.

You grin up at him.

Your little family is one of many in this ocean of land-dwellers. No one would suspect anything.

With big eyes you let your parents lead you through the festive land dweller home.

There was food, music, and games!

Things you have never seen. It was so different than when your people celebrate important dates.

Children run around laughing. Men cheery drunk many cups of ale. Women talked, and gossiped with each other.

Young men asked young women to dance with them at the plaza in an enchanting circle, where they switched partners, twirling around and finding each other again.

Laughing you pointed at it and your father got the hit.

He took you in his arms, twirling you around.

You giggled happily and heard how your mother was clapping in tune with the music for you both.

You could see that some land dweller, mostly older women, watched you and your father dancing away, cooing at you two.

You did blush a bit, but you wouldn’t stop.

Your father picked you up and throw you high up. You heard the worried gasp of the land dwellers, but you were used to and had faith in your father.

He caught you, putting you down on the floor.

The music got more energetic.

You gripped one of each hand of your parents so that you three could dance together.

It was so much fun to get twirled around by your mother and your father.

It was heartwarming seeing how they danced with each other, emotions you didn’t understand in their eyes, yet you wanted that someone looked one day at you this way.

This look was so amazing.

With a last big twirl the song ended, you laughed gleefully and your parents took you in their embrace.

That’s when you saw him.

He was all alone in a corner of the plaza, like a lost little lamb.

He looked at you with big green eyes, as if you were something otherwordly. You didn’t know why you blushed.

You saw how he seemed to give himself a pep talk and walked slowly up to you…

Abruptly you awoke from your dream or more from the memory and looked confused around.

Last night you decide to sleep underwater, even if Toothless was an amazing cuddle partner, you had missed the lull of the water, so you slept on the ground of the pool in the hidden cove.

You were enjoying your dream, remembering your old land dweller friend, as two big splashes woke you up.

Finally, you saw that Hiccup and Toothless seemed to have taken a dive.

But why was Hiccup cheering like a maniac?

Determined to get the answer you swim up and break the surface beside Hiccup.

“Good morning, Hiccup. You seem really enthusiastic, what’s up?”

Grinning he turns to you and shakes his wet brown locks from his forehead.

“Hey [Y/N]! Good morning to you too I was wondering where you were.”, he greets you, his grin really bordering on maniac.

“Mermaid, did you forget? I’m more used to sleeping underwater.”, you raise an eyebrow at him and turn to Toothless.

The dragon is on land and is shaking himself dry like a big dog.

Wait for a second, what was that?!

“Hiccup, what is this on Toothless tail?”, you ask shocked.

It looks like a tailfin, but it’s impossible. It can’t just grow back!

“That my dear friend is my newest invention.”, he tells you proudly. “I understood that without his tailfin intact Toothless can never fly again, so I made him an artificial one.”

Here Toothless snorts really loud and seems to shake his head at Hiccup.

“Yeah I know, Toothless, it wasn’t that good. But I will work on it till I get it right! You will fly again I promise.”

You get all mushy inside.

How sweet of Hiccup to want to help Toothless.

“You are a good man.”, you tell him proudly.

Here he grins sheepishly and rubs his neck.

“Well, it is actually my fault that he is like that…”

…What?!

With an ice-cold voice you demand to know what he means by that and he tells you that he was the one who shoot down Toothless with one of his inventions!

You know what do to!

With your fishtail, you send a huge wave in his face, which nearly drowns him and makes Toothless laugh a dragon laugh.

“Come on [Y/N], I said sorry a 100 times, even Toothless isn’t angry at me anymore.”. Hiccup whines at you.

You just scoff and cuddle closer to Toothless, who has one of his wings wrapped around your form.

Maybe you are been petty, Hiccup is doing anything to right his wrong, just your anger is still bigger. You still remember with clarity how Toothless has suffered under his wound till you healed him up.

“All right.”, signs Hiccup. “I brought something for you too, I will just leave it here.”

This perks you up.

“You have something for me?”, you repeated and even Toothless grumbled interested.

Hiccup grins a little and hands you a big parcel.

You look at it confused.

“The big fur is a blanket, so you don’t freeze if you sleep above ground.”, he tells you, while you unpack it.

A pretty dress in your favorite color, undergarments, and shoes come out.

You blink a few times.

Then you give him a grin.

“It bothers you so much that I’m naked that you got me clothes, I’m right?”

He splutters an excuse, but his red cheeks are a dead giveaway.

“All right, all right. I will wear it. There is just a problem.”, you tell him gleefully, excited to see how he reacts.

“W-What?”

“I don’t know how to dress in it. You need to help me.”

Hiccup turns formally into a statue. Just his gapping mouth and his red cheeks are any indications that he is still in the realm of the living.

You and Toothless break out in laughter. For that Hiccup gives you both a death stare.

But it seems his discomfort with seeing you all the time naked is higher than helping you dress because he tells you to stand up.

Grinning cheekily you do it.

“And now?”, you ask with a wink.

 The young man huffs at you and picks up the undergarments.

“First this!”

Oho, seems like someone wants to be all tough. You just can’t and giggle even more. He looks at you annoyed.

Putting the undergarments on is an experience.

Feeling his callous hands on your skin gives you goosebumps and lets your mind thrift to places where you probably shouldn’t go.

Like how they would feel in your most sensitive place.

You fight off your lust, while Hiccup helps you put on the dress.

Okay, now you feel like a toddler.

After the shoes are in their place, you playfully pick up the skirt of your dress and twirl around.

You admit you feel beautiful wearing it.

Nonetheless, you ask: “So how do I look?”

The way Hiccup stares at you and gulps, make the butterflies in your stomach fly wild. This look…you have seen it before, you can’t just put your finger on it.

“You look amazing.”, Hiccup coughs shyly. His eyes look at the ground and a cute blush is on his cheeks. “The color suits you well.”

“You have seen me butt naked, but me dressed get’s you all bothered. You are a cutie pie, you know?”, you can’t help but tease him a bit.

For that, you get again an annoyed look.

You just giggle.

The next day you watch amused at how Hiccup chases Toothless around the coven.

He had made a saddle and harness so he could help Toothless fly. To say the dragon wasn’t impressed with his idea was an understatement.

“[Y/N], please help me!”, Hiccup formally whines at you.

 With a laugh, you help him to catch the running dragon.

“That a good boy.”, you coo at Toothless, giving him pats, while Hiccup puts the saddle on him. “Who is the most handsome boy? Yes, it’s you!”

Toothless gives you for this a big dragon smooch.

You give his snout a kiss back.

You miss how heartful Hiccup looks at you.

Toothless and Hiccup are trying out to fly together. You are in your mermaid form in the water watching them.

The tail breaks free sending Hiccup flying.

“Hiccup!”, you shout worried. “Toothless!”

Thank god for the two land in the water.

You swim up to them to check if they are okay.

“Okay, I need something that doesn’t make me fly off this easily.”, Hiccup mumbles to himself, while you look for injuries.

“I have something for you.”

You are petting Toothless and grin up to him.

“Another gift? You spoil me, Hiccup!”

He turns red, handing you a book.

You look at it fascinated.

“If you are ever bored, you can read the book. It’s one of my favorites.”, he explains to you.

“That’s very sweet of you.”, you tell him touched. “There is just one problem.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t read your language.”

Hiccup is still for a second, blinking with wide eyes, till he announces: “Well then I have to teach you how to read and write.”

Thus your first lesson starts.

You laugh out loud seeing how blissful Toothless is rolling around in the tall grass. The dragon writhes on his back, tongue wagging, in complete bliss.

Hiccup picks up a bit of the dragon nip and gets a mischief idea.

Later, before he has to go to Dragon Training, you both sit together leaning on Toothless in the cove, reading together.

Well, Hiccup reads and tries to teach you.

You follow his finger moving over the writing word, reading out loud with him.

Slowly you get a grasp on the language of the Vikings.

Like Hiccup has taught you, you write your own name on the ground of the cove.

Meanwhile, Hiccup rubs Toothless behind the ear, causing him to relax and fall over.

You both stare at each other and then at the purring dragon.

You laugh together.

You feel your heart hammering in your chest.

These days with Hiccup and Toothless have been so far the best days of your life.

You didn’t know, but Hiccup thought the same about you and Toothless.

“You are so mean.”, you tell Hiccup giggling.

With his hammer, he has created a little light spot which Toothless chases around the coven like a big kitty cat.

He just winks at you, which makes you turn shy and he blushes red after he realized what he has done.

You both look down at the ground, small smiles on your faces.

Hiccup straps a newly designed harness onto Toothless. With Toothless tied to a nearby post with a rope. Hiccup rides him in the air while stationary. Toothless looks like a giant kite tied to a tree stump.

This harness seems to work.

You look up from your book and smile at them.

They are slowly getting there.

The rope breaks and the pair crashes into a tree.

Worried you call out to them and look for injuries.

That’s when Hiccup sees that the harness has become jacked.

“Oh, great.”, he groans.

“Oh dear, what now?”, you ask him.

Hiccup looks from you to Toothless.

“Well, you both ever visited a Viking village?”

Toothless and you stare at him.

“This is crazy!”, you mumbled as you search in the Blacksmith's stall for the tool Hiccup asked you.

Toothless is with you in there, while Hiccup is out, playing guard.

Suddenly you hear a feminine voice calling out to Hiccup.

Both talk really awkward to each other or better this Astrid is accusing Hiccup of being weirder than usual.

You turn angry hearing that.

Who is this girl and who the hell does she think she is?

You find the tool the same moment Toothless sees the sheep.

“Toothless, no!”, you hiss at him.

Too late then Hiccup gets pulled through the shutters.

You sit behind Hiccup holding on tight as you three make it like a tree and escape from this Astrid.

At least you got the tool and can separate Hiccup and Toothless in the safety of the cove.

What crazy days you have lived with them!

Next

[fearsmagazine]

GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures

SYNOPSIS: In the undiscovered stratum of Hollow Earth, Kong embarks on a quest to find a family. His discoveries, however, accidentally unleash the most formidable threat humanity has ever faced. Simultaneously, Godzilla is stirred into action by a signal transmitted by dwellers of Hollow Earth's lower realm. Jia, the last of Skull Island's Iwi, also perceives the signal. Kong and Godzilla, aided by Mothra, join forces in response to the call, determined to overcome the threat. This journey delves deeper into the histories and origins of these Titans, as well as the enigmas of Skull Island and beyond.

REVIEW: During my childhood, my local cinema's Saturday Matinee frequently showcased the newest Toho giant monster film. The Kaiju are again on the move as Godzilla, Kong, and Mothra form an unprecedented alliance in this latest American adaptation of the franchise, facing a formidable Titan threat in a thrilling spectacle reminiscent of classic buddy team-ups and certain elements of the "Planet of the Apes" mythology. The film promises an epic, action-packed giant monster battle royale.

I would have thought more elements from the Apple+ series "Monarch"ould be integrated into "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." However, the story begins shortly after "Godzilla vs. Kong." Kong is depicted as a more relatable character with new and intriguing additions to his fighting techniques and arsenal. His seasoned gladiator-like demeanor is evident in his facial expressions and movements within the Hollow Earth arena. Godzilla maintains his aloofness and cold-blooded nature, though he does receive a few more significant moments later in the film.

The human characters' personal dramas underscore the significant threat to the surface world. These dramas are often juxtaposed with lighter moments, creating a dark comedic tone. The narrative falls short of achieving a truly epic feel but introduces rich new elements to the Monsterverse mythology. However, there are some unanswered questions regarding the villain and his minions, such as their motivations for moving certain stones.

The narrative also has a Jules Verne-esque quality, given the diverse cast of characters with distinct specialities and personal relationships. While there may be a few logical inconsistencies towards the end of the film, the focus on action and adventure ultimately overshadows these issues.

The production values in this film are nothing short of breathtaking. The state-of-the-art visual effects, photorealistic textures, and seamless integration of various elements create a visual feast for the eyes. Some of the most challenging elements, such as intricate hairs, realistic water effects, and detailed creature scales, are executed with such precision. My analytical mind was initially engaged, but at some point, I found myself carried away by the visual spectacle, immersing myself in the cinematic journey.

The production designs are equally impressive, with stunning sets and meticulously crafted costumes. The soundtrack is an eclectic mix of pop songs, including "Welcome To My World," "Twilight Zone," and "Was Made For Lovin' You," juxtaposed with orchestral pieces reminiscent of composers such as Nino Rota and Tangerine Dream. This unique combination adds a layer of excitement and energy to the film, creating an immersive audiovisual experience.

The actors who survived the last film, plus a few new additions, totally sell the magic, wonder and terror of this computer generated reality of the Titans. Actress Kaylee Hottle steals the show as Jia. She provides such a sense of wonder and empathy that adds to a viewer’s engagement with the film. The rest of the actors have a specific part/character to play and keep it fresh without becoming cliched.

Despite its traditional summer blockbuster feel, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is surprisingly scheduled for a late March release. This new installment in the Monsterverse Mythology provides an exciting and thrilling journey, fulfilling the expectations of fans and delivering more. Though Godzilla takes a backseat to Kong in this narrative, it's likely that the king of the monsters will have his moment in the spotlight in future installments or the series. The film caters to both newcomers to the franchise and dedicated fans of these American films and the iconic Toho universe, offering Easter eggs and references for the latter group.

CAST: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House, Ron Smyck, Chantelle Jamieson, and Greg Hatton. CREW: Director - Adam Wingard; Screenplay - Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater; Based on the characters owned and created by TOHO CO., LTD; Monsterverse Mythology Development - Barnaby Legg; Producers - Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric Mcleod, Thomas Tull and Brian Rogers; Cinematographer - Ben Seresin; Score - Tom Holkenborg and Antonio di Iorio; Editor - Josh Schaeffer; Production Designer - Tom Hammock; Costume Designer - Emily Seresin; Visual Effects Supervisor - Alessandro Ongaro; Creature Design - Legacy Effects & WĒTĀ Workshop Limited; Prosthetics & Special Effects Makeup - JMB FX Studios. OFFICIAL: www.godzillaxkongmovie.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/GodzillaXKong/ TWITTER: twitter.com/GodzillaXKong TRAILER: https://youtu.be/qqrpMRDuPfc?si=F6aV-MAEmhz2yPVv RELEASE DATE: In theaters March 29th, 2024

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[dailyivorycello]

image ID: a digital drawing of ivorycello looking up at the cave dweller from her newest video, with the cave dweller looming over her. she has long flowing pink hair and her hummingbird wings are open. the cave dweller has glowing yellow eyes that cast a light on ivory. end ID

day 49: she's about to girlboss the cave dweller

[fragileizywriting]

C'est La Sea!!

Hello! It's time for more of my Lukanette mermaid AU!

AO3 | Prompt List

I'm so thankful to everyone who enjoyed the first prompt fill! Hopefully, I can continue to deliver! Every Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of this month, I'll be posting a prompt fill. Some might be longer than others, or more thought out. Some might be more simpler. Nonetheless, all will be lukanette fluff and goodness and everything we deserve and crave 🤤 (there might be a few prompts in here that are NSFW! So exciting eeee!)

Today's prompt: Courting

“Luka! You’re— oh Stars— your mother did say you were taller than the last time I saw you but— oh— I wasn’t ready!” She gasped behind her hands.

Well. Okay. That wasn’t really nice of her, was it? It bubbled out of her like a jetstream, and she knew for a fact that he harboured a little insecure about his differentness, but she didn’t have to go on and blab about it! What kind of a friend was she? He must’ve been so worried about first impressions and the first thing she latched onto the first thought which was— oh stars— Luka was… huge.

Huge.

So, so much longer than the last time she’d seen him— there was no way he could sleep on his childhood bed anymore, not with that tail on him! Not even curled up like the sea-serpent he is could he fit! And she had to mention that first…

Oh, Stars! What kind of a friend was she?

She swallowed, ironically dry for someone who was certain to have such a wet mouth, looking him over. It’d been so long since she’d seen him, and aside from the length he’d certainly filled out a lot the last time she’d seen him. His tail, so massive, so thick, too, stern enough to rival that of a shark’s. His fins didn’t sway as much as hers in the current, slightly more stiff with cartilage. It made sense. Being more hydrodynamic was more important to deep-sea dwellers— all lines, all muscle, and sleekness that would help him catch up with his prey in time to have them for dinner.

Catch prey… oh, Stars. She couldn’t help the twitch at the idea, feeling herself pink under his stare.

Not only was he larger now, but everything about him looked so different. His hair, always shaggy and pluming against his ears, looked long now. Close enough to be as long as hers— well, usually, because she’d given herself the opportunity to grow out her hair, too. She’d been accustomed to pulling it back in two even braids, but Luka… he had this look to him, an unkeptness that took someone’s focus away from his tail and dark markings against the fins, up to his face. No amount of teeth can make her shy away from that private smile of his, how he looked at her like he’d always done before he’d gone up to the surface.

“Wow— Marinette— you—” Luka’s face twitched as he looked her over, almost like he’d been just as overwhelmed as she was. How was it that ten years were finally over? That he was finally coming home? Everyday it was a struggle, knowing that her best friend wasn’t within arm’s reach, and could only come home to visit on the spare bits of holidays. And this last growth had been the most obvious out of all of it, growing out like kelp grass. She let him look over the newest patterns of her scales and fins with a smile, letting him brush over her scales with those gentle and giant hands of his. His touch, from a hand so large it could easy crush her fins, was so gentle along her that she found herself shivering. “You look beautiful.”

She pinked again. “Do you mean that? I’m sure you’re just saying that to—”

“Yes,” he nodded, immediately cutting her off like he couldn’t contain himself. “No, I’m not saying that because I feel obligated to— wow. Holy hell. I really do think it.”

She bit her lip, wringing her hands in front of her, trying her best not to raise her shoulders up to her ears. “You… you mean that? Really?”

“I wouldn’t lie about that.” But he shied anyway, rubbing at the back of his neck, such an endearing human concept. It was a little hard for him to color anything close to red, even with such pale skin that glinted like the moon, but there was something warming under his cheeks, and she teased him about it with a dip to her waist, looking him over, trying not to get a smile glinting in her eyes.

“Luka?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” he mumbled out.

Maybe she’d been pressing too hard. Not to be deterred, she could tell that he was feeling playful, but she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

So she gave him a bit of reprieve. She allowed herself to face away from him, baring her back and showing off all the encrusted pearls woven in her hair because she’d taken a good time preparing herself so she could see him, choosing to swim over to his shelves. New trinkets adorned them— some ticked, just like the watches he used to give her. Some were toys, clearly, heavy enough to stay stationary on the shelf and not attempt to float away. Toy ships with masts that would move with the water around them… little models of ‘dwellers. Each one with pink tails and black hair, something so clearly her about them that Marinette looked them over with fondness, trying her best not to touch them and ruin them, wondering how long he’d kept these little trinkets and wondered about home. About… her. A few of them have spots where the paint is missing, like he’d put his thumb there often, rubbing it in an attempt to have her near. 

“How have you been, Luka?”

“Homesick,” he answered back under his breath. She heard him anyway.

“How’s your dad?”

She could do the small talk. She could break the ice. It was always strange to have Luka come back home, always trying to fall into a rhythm that the two of them couldn’t quite find until the next couple of days of him being here. There was always that chance that Luka wasn’t interested of being so close to her anymore… there was always that chance that his eyes didn’t light up because of her. Maybe he’d found a hew hobby, or maybe they weren’t close together anymore, or maybe… maybe he’d… found someone.

At the thought, her face soured.

“He’s okay. How are your parents? I didn’t see them—”

“They’re okay.”

“Do they need help at work?”

She looked at him over her shoulder, teasing him. “Are you offering to spend time with me and my family?”

“You think I don’t want to?”

She swam closer. Closer. Just enough to get into his personal space, elevated and above him, staring down at him— with his head craned all the way back to meet her gaze, hair pluming, and long lashes catching the light, Marinette knew this would be the first thing she would paint when she ever got the chance to try out the gouches he kept on his boat above the reef. “Luka,” she starts, “I always want to spend time with you, but I feel like I’m bothering you.”

“I feel like I’m bothering you,” he admitted. “I heard about your tests you have later on this week. Don’t you want to study for them?”

What in the world was he talking about? “Tests come and go! Seeing you and hanging out with you is a once in a lifetime opportunity, practically!”

“Oh. I guess I… do leave a lot, huh? Does that mean that you…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing. Sorry.”

“I missed you,” she reiterated, when Luka looked crestfallen. “Every day I kept wondering what you were up to!”

“Oh,” he repeated, lips thin, trying not to smile. “Every day, I kept wondering what you were up to, too.”

“What’s changed?”

“Huh?”

“What’s changed?” she emphasized. “You look… scared. Tell me what’s changed.”

“About me?”

“About everything. Tell me everything.”

It was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that Luka had gone through puberty. The both of them had. She’d gotten bigger, too, though definitely not that much. No longer a skinny twig, there was a substantial amount of girth around her hips. She couldn’t fit into her favorite enclave, anymore. No matter how much she wanted to. When life got too stressful and all she dreamt about was having Luka near, she’d hide in there.

Now she needed somewhere new to hide.

Anarka never minded her showing up in the cave, perusing and spending time with Juleka. It was obvious to anyone that she couldn’t stay away, finding herself on the worst of nights hiding in his room. Curled up on his bed, waiting for him to come back, not wanting him to stay away for so long.

“Okay, but— okay— wait. Don’t freak out. I didn’t just grow this time, I got something else too.”

“Freak out? Freak out about what, exactly—” Oh.

“This.”

She stared. Hard. For a long, long time— attempting to will her mouth to open and actually speak, but couldn’t really come up with anything as she just continued to look. Wow. Wow. On command? Or was it like a layer of eyelid she hadn’t seen before? He hadn’t been able to do this the last time they’d met… 

Oh, that’s terrifying!

After a long period of wish-washing through all the available things she could possibly say, she just decided to slam into him for a hug while crying tears of joy.

Oh, she’d missed this man. So much.

“M-Marinette?”

She laughed hard enough to cry. “You know what, Luka, I’m so glad you’re home! Talk about a cool weird thing to have!”

He wrapped his arms around her waist as she pushed him into a spin— and there was muscle there, tight and warm around her in a luxurious way that made her want to purr— muscle that hadn’t been there the years before when he’d come to visit, still working on pursuing a better relationship with his father, or when he’d follow his mother back into the deep sea to keep her company. Muscle that felt stiff and stern underneath her fingertips as she brushed up against them, wrapping her tail against his, never minding how little she could actually cover since he was so long. But he himself melded to her, even though his muscles refused to budge, curling into her with a laugh and a shy kiss to her ear as a hello as they almost hit into the wall from how hard she’d swam into him. 

“I am, too,” he laughed.

“I’ve missed everything about you. Your eyes, your smile, your voice, you—”

“Me, too,” he murmured. “Everything. All of you.”

Her hair tangled around them as it started to plume out, spinning out of their braids. She usually kept her hair back for this exact reason, the long tentacle-like strands always made her mom call her a little octopus when she was younger… partially because of her refusal to stop wrapping her tail on anything that she was interested in, and partially because of how her hair blossomed out like one. Luka pulled it away from himself, patting her hair down with a large hand that cupped the back of her head with such easiness it made her feel dizzy.

There were stars catching in his eyes.

She couldn’t stop staring.

“Oh, your hair…”

“I can fix it. That’s not a problem. Who cares about that?”

“I care. You looked so nice with all the pearls in.”

“Not important!” She snatched a floating pearl. “So, tell me. I want to know everything. Where have you been? What have you been up to? How is the world up there? How’s your dad? How are you adjusting to your eyes?  Your eyes really do glow in the dark, huh?” She tried her hardest not to snort into his shoulder, barely noticing the way her back hit the stone behind her. “Actually, let’s focus on that for just a bit first. How annoying does that get when it’s time to go to bed?”

“It’s the worst,” he groaned into her hair. “Sometimes my eyes will slip open while I’m asleep and it’ll wake me up because I think someone’s opened the blinds to the room. You know, up above. I think I’ll just put a stone in front of my window to keep the light out, but hell… I’m my own idiot. Sometimes I forget to control it. It’s like headlights from a car.”

“That bad, Sky?” It was very obvious that she was trying to keep in her laughter, hiding her face behind a hand, scrunching her nose this way and that in order to get the amusement off of her face. He pulled back enough and watched her with a smile of his own, crossing his arms against his chest as she busied herself by batting the very tip her tail on the floor in an effort to conceal her humor, still wiggling her fins with his. Even now, old as they were, she couldn’t quite get out of the habit of braiding her tail with his… luckily for her, he never minded it. He always felt calmer. 

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Wouldn’t dream to,” she giggled behind a hand.

“You little liar.”

“I just think it’s very useful.”

“It’s not,” he whined, “I hate it. I’m a freak with it. I’m so self conscious about it.”

“No, don’t be, I think it’s cool! I’m just thinking, maybe if you used two eye patches to cover your eyes like pirates do?”

“Nah, that would just be a tangle of string. I’d end up suffocating myself on accident. Which— to be fair— would be a lot better than… this.”

“Oh come on, Luka, I don’t think it’s that bad.” 

“Pearl. I can literally see in the dark.”

She loved it when he called her that. 

“And?” she teased, feeling coy.

“I can see everything with it.”

She went ramrod straight. “Wait— seriously? Everything?”

“Yes. Everything. It’s like the sun hasn’t actually turned off. I can see in the dark.”

“Like.” Her eyes widened. “Everything.”

If he’d looked outside last night, he would’ve seen her pacing outside his cave! She’d been there for a while trying to muster up the courage to see him… whenever she hears that he’s come home, she always gives him a few hours to reacclimate. She’s a bit much. She’s too loud; too excited; too in-his-face. Luka never says any of it, but the past few years he’d shied away whenever she’d gotten too close, and that’d been enough to give her the message.

But then he gets so sad when she doen’t try…

So she’d stumbled, right in front of the cave, pacing back and forth and spinning in circles trying to rationalize going inside and saying hello. He needed to say hello to his family; spend time with those who were of the same blood. Juleka hadn’t seen him for as long as her, either. His sister was always priority.

So she’d just… went home. And waited. Spinning in circles in her enclave. Braiding and unbraiding and rebraiding her hair, all to give her something to do.

“Everything,” he repeated. With a smile, he teased: “I saw you yesterday.”

She made a noise. “No you didn’t.”

“You looked so beautiful last night.” He stutters. “You always do.” 

“I wasn’t here.”

“Yes you were,” he laughed. “Why didn’t you come in? I was… I wanted…” He licked his lips. “Anyway, I was so scared for you to come by, today. I don’t look as pretty as you do and I felt like you’d… not like me. I’m huge, now.”

Her fins refused to sit still, fluttering in excitement. “You… think I’m pretty?”

All he does is blink. “You didn’t know that? You’re so beautiful. Much easier on the eyes than I am.”

“Don’t say that,” she gasped. Just a smidge closer and suddenly, Marinette found herself petting his cheekbones with her hands. Beautiful lashes fluttered against her palm as she kept tracing those painted markings. “I’ve always thought you’re handsome. Especially now. You’ve grown so much and it fits you so well. We always knew that you were going to be big, and tall, and long—���

“—and have giant teeth—”

“—and giant teeth,” she repeated. “I think all of it is so… lovely.” 

“‘Lovely’?”

“Looking at you is one of my favorite things. You know I could look at you all day. I’ve done it before. And I’ve talked for the both of us for the rest of our lives.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Why would I lie?” Stars, how she wanted to kiss him. It’s overwhelming. If only she could. “You didn’t have to worry about that type of stuff.”

“Why didn’t you come inside yesterday?”

“Because I got embarrassed by how much I wanted to see you. When I think about you I get too… ‘much’. I’m attached to you like an octopus and I don’t want to annoy you.”

“You? Annoy me?” Luka sighed. “Never ever. Without you, it’s just hard to sleep. Up above? I’m pretty sure I have insomnia, now.”

“Without me…?”

“That’s why I needed to come down here.”

“Did you miss the reef that much?”

“I missed you,” he corrected. With a hand much, much bigger than hers, he cupped both of her wrists into a single one of his palms. Large claws wrap around her, comforting and warm. “Marinette, I had to come down here because of you.”

“M-me?”

“I was getting really lonely without you. My mom and my dad were about to capsize me off the Liberty because I couldn’t get over you. ‘There are other fish in the sea!’ my dad said, drunk, before my mom hit him with the cork of the wine bottle. It’s annoying to anyone around. Mom shoved me down here to talk to you.”

Her eyes went wide. That… that made sense. That made so much sense. She’d felt it, too— this clawing, aggravating thing that made her uncomfortable for days. It was harder to recover when she was hurt or stressed, and she’d just chalked it up to missing him and having her best friend. They were always together. It was always so common for the two of them to get into trouble together; why not expect it to happen now? Even as young adults, the two of them were still a matching set. Luka’s family was always asking about when the last time she’d seen him… was it because of something more than friendship?

“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “I—”

“Do you have that problem, too?”

What point would there be to lie to him about that? All she wanted to do was nod until her head popped off. “Yes. Often. Every day, I thought I’d never see you again because we’d just gone into two different paths, and I just didn’t like it at all. It kept making me sick. I wake up with headaches. I think I’m dehydrated or I’m suffocating. It felt like… like a bond fever.”

Luka blushed as well as he could. “We don’t have to do that anymore, if you’d like.”

“You’re staying here? You’re coming home for good?”

“I got you something. Just a little something. It’s… I saw it, up above, and I knew that I needed to get it for you. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it was driving my mom nuts.”

A box no larger than her own hands was presented to her. A beautiful color, dark red and almost furry when she touched it— velvet, if she remembered correctly the name. It was gorgeous. When she went to open it, Luka shifted, braiding their tails together in a way that felt more comfortable and natural. His hands made it to her dorsal fins, petting her gently until it tickled.

Inside, just like a clam, a pearl on a gold chord glittered. Pale pink, softer than her scales and almost creamy-white, she couldn’t find any words to say.

“It reminded me of you,” he tacked on, trying to fill in the silence. “I wanted to… I wanted to try to… uhm. Maybe. Date you. Court you. Both.”

Her eyes went wider than previously, face bright with a blush. With a tackle, spinning them both in huge circles, she cried: “Really? Really? You’d… want to? Me?”

“If you’d let me,” he laughed. “I know I’m not ideal, but—”

“Yes! Yes, please!” 

“Seriously? Wait, really?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more than my life.”

“I’m— with me?”

Duh. Nose crinkled, she frowned. “What does that mean? It’s always been with you.”

“But I’m—” he paused. “I thought. I mean, I could’ve sworn— aren’t you seeing someone?”

“No?”

“But you’re so pretty. And you’re…” That hand on her dorsal fin tickles when he moves it towards her hips. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to date you, you know? You’re like a fantasy.”

Stars. Was it possible for her heart rate to jump any higher?

“Don’t— a fantasy—” she scoffed. “I think people just assume we’re together, which is why they don’t do anything?” It was hard to ignore the way something possessive glinted in those eyes of his. “I have a lot of headaches, maybe people just think I have bond fever even though we…” Well. They hadn’t even kissed. Maybe she should fix that?

She did.

She kissed him hard enough to hurt. 

Fins fluttering, hair spreading like plumes, she must’ve looked like a witch with how excited and how messy she looked. Pulling away with a smile, she couldn’t contain the happiest of hums as he held her tighter, chasing her mouth for another one. 

“A thousand times yes,” she told him, before succumbing to his threatening kisses.

AO3 | Prompt List