#I kinda spooked myself searching for references

[artsymyargentavislove]

Special Monsuno Unit, Aquatic Division: Marianas

Marianas is a Monsuno Commisioned for a Storm base all the way to the lonely and freezing waters of the antartic thundra. Affectionately nicknamed 'Spots' by her controller, her main job is to assist in drilling activities to extract resources from the depths of the cold ice, such as Monsuno essence, minerals and biological samples for scientific research.

A situational fighter, forethought as invincible underwater, she's quite vulnerable and significantely slower on land. It's the only storm Monsuno with the ability to create ice instead of only electricity and/or fire, useful to close gaps on collapsing ice or ingeniously create the perfect surface to slide on freely to make up for her disadvantage on land.

She's a hybrid between a Spotted Seal and a Narwhal.

[stupidityismyjobsecurity]

What does Minotaur in a china mean? Only curious

So this is a bit of a story, and it gets pretty deep in the introspective/personal/self-critical kinda way, so apologies in advance if this is long-winded.

“Minotaur in a china shop” is a play on the phrase “bull in a china shop”. The original phrase is usually used to describe a situation requiring an amount of care or delicacy, into which someone or something without the required care or delicacy is thrown; sometimes to disastrous effect. It’s based on this theory that a bull in a china shop would knock something over, breaking it, which would make a loud noise which would spook the bull, which would break more things, more loud noise, more broken things until eventually everything was destroyed. (Since disproven by mythbusters, but it’s a gripping visual)

I’ve been referred to as a bull in a china shop only a couple of times, the most memorable describing the way I search a smoke-filled housefire, but I’ve always enjoyed how visual of a metaphor/simile it is.

The first time I heard the phrase “Minotaur in a china shop” it was the title to a computer game. The game was set in a literal china shop where you played the owner, an actual minotaur. The goal was to make money and you could do so in two ways: sell your wares to buying customers, or destroy enough of your shop that the insurance payout was enough to cover your losses. The controls were intentionally janky for an added level of difficulty and it was a fun little game with a decent skill curve and a funny premise, but the clever title and the fact that they based an entire game off of it was what stuck out to me.

That slight change was what made it such a fitting metaphor for my life. I usually consider myself fairly adept at navigating delicate and skillful physical situations without breaking anything as long as I don’t want to, but when it comes to emotional relationships, I seem to break a lot of people and I feel like I don’t really know what I’m doing. In the worst cases, it’s been very similar to the escalating nature of a bull in a china shop, where it becomes self-escalating destruction due to my unfamiliarity with the emotions involved/my fear of the situation being one of the root causes.

So that is why Minotaur in a China Shop is my blog header. It is the most fitting metaphor I’ve found for the duality that is my proficiency at working with things and how shit I am at working with intimate relationships.

[lurafita]

Pokemon babysitting service

Some background for the universe in which this takes place.

There are no pokeballs. Pokemon aren’t captured, but live either wildly or domesticated among humans.

If Pokemon cause chaos/damage, special units are deployed to deal with the situation. Pokemon choose their humans, if they wish to live among them, not the other way around.

Not every person has a Pokemon, and not every person wants one. Just as not every pokemon wishes to tie themselves to a human. Pokemon also get al ittle territorial over their chosen human and only share them with another pokemon, if the other pokemon can create a counter balance to the team, or bring something new to the table. (In essence, if for example a grass type chose their human, it would not accept another grass type to join.)

It is very rare to see a human with more than two pokemon.

Yes, some pokemon choose villains as their companions. Yes, some pokemon are ‘evil’.

Every hero (and most villains) have pokemon partners, because many pokemon feel drawn to a lifestyle that promises opportunity to fight.

Oh, another quick thing: Peter is an Omega here and the birth mother of his and Tony’s children. It is natural for children to refer to their Omega parent as mom/mother/mommy and so on, and their Alpha parent as dad/father/pops, and so on. Apart from that, their second genders will not really play a role.

“Maybe you should stay home, sweetheart. You just recovered from our last mission.”

Tony followed behind his husband, as Peter went from room to room in search of his left webshooter.

“Babe, that was last week. My leg was healed the next day. And my ribs only took a few hours more than that.”

He entered the kitchen next, making a beeline for the refridgerator. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had placed whatever he had in hand in the fridge in exchange for a snack, and then forgotten about it. Tony loved to tease him about that particular habit.

“They probably don’t even need us. I bet by the time we make it to the park, Cap and the others already have everything under control.”

Tony continued to argue. Even though Peter was right, and his injuries from their last mission had healed in no time at all, the older man would have liked for his love to have a bit more down time, before the next crazy villain with their equally crazy pokemon rolled around.

Also, it had not been fun to watch his husband get hit by an energy blast that knocked him unconcious, and then fall off the building to his likely death. Thank god Cap’s Braviary had been close enough to catch Spidey.

Tony, as well as his Magnezone and Peter’s Arcanine, had gotten very spooked that day, and may have hovered and been a little protective for the rest of last week. Greninja and Alakazam, Peter and Tony’s respective other pokemon partners, had been concerened about the near miss as well, but far more composed than the others, who had been at the scene and witnessed it live.

(Every time Spiderman and Iron Man were both called out for a mission, two of their pokemon would accompany them, while the other two stayed with Ben and Morgan, the four year old Stark twins.)

“Steve called for back-up because there are too many enemies for the team to handle on their own. Where is that stupid webshooter? In fact, you and Alakazam should probably go ahead already. Greninja and I will follow as soon as I - AHA! There it is!”

Peter shouted triumphantly, as he fished the black bracelet out of the dishwasher. He clipped it on and activated the nano particles that crept along his body to form the Spiderman suit. Then he speed walked into the living room, his mask purposely not forming over his face yet.

He plucked a happily giggling Ben from his seat on Magnezone (the electric/steel type loved letting the kids ride on top), and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Daddy and Mommy are going to kick some bad guy butt. You be good for Magnezone and Arcanine, okay?”

Ben nodded with all the enthusiasm of a four year old, wrapped his arms around Peter’s neck for a quick squeeze, and was set back onto his dad’s Magnezone. The spider enhanced hero gave Magnezone a loving pat as well, before walking over to where little Morgan was leaning against the big fire type, and swung her up for a kiss and hug.

“You too, princess. No tricking the pokemon to find the secret candy stash again, got it? Remember how sick you and Ben got after that?”

Morgan nodded regretfully.

“My tummy hurt. Sweets are good. But too much is bad.”

Peter booped her nose.

“Exactly. It’s okay to make a mistake-”

Both Morgan and Ben (who was currently in his father’s embrace) finished the sentence.

“-as long as you learn from it.”

Peter beamed at them proudly, as he quickly ruffled his hand through Arcanines fur.

“We have the smartest children ever.”

Tony had finished with Ben and Magnezone and come over to scoop up Morgan.

“Of course we do. The smartest, cutest and best little son and daughter, right?”

Ben and Morgan were quick to shout their agreement. Setting his daughter back down next to the big dog pokemon (who he quickly scratched behind the ears), Tony directed another look at his husband.

“Please be careful, honey. I can’t-”

Peter cut him off with a kiss.

“I promise. You be careful, too. Now come on, if we don’t get over there already, the rest of the team will have all the fun to themselves.”

With these words the iconic Spiderman mask closed over his face and he ran to their exit window, where Grenjinja and Alakazam were already waiting for them. The frog pokemon leapt out of the window with her human partner, after sharing a quick nod with Arcanine. Tony’s suit was rapidly forming over him, as he stepped closer to Alakazam.

“Well, can’t have those two get there before us. Ready?”

The psychic pokemon nodded and levitated off the ground. Tony turned around once more, before the metallic mask closed over his face.

“You four take good care of each other, or ice cream is banned forever.”

Then he and Alakazam were off and the large window pane closed behind them.

As soon as their parents were gone, little Morgan and Ben locked eyes.

“Race around the suite?”

“You are on!”

Ben was still seated on Magnezone and Morgan clambered up on Arcanine. The two pokemon lined up, precious cargo securely on their backs, and got into a starting position.

Ben looked up to the ceiling.

“We needs a countdown, Fridy.”*

The A.I. sounded amused as she started counting down dutifully from 5.

_______________________________________

* Not a typo. Ben and Morgan are four. They sometimes don’t get grammar or names perfectly right.

The End.

I know this is short (and possibly not at all what was expected from the story prompt), but I’m kinda proud of myself for finally writing something that’s actually drabble lengths. :-) I usually get lost in explanations and story side-lines and before I know what happened, that cute little oneshot I planned has been bitten by the mulit-chapter-zombie and turned into a monster I don’t have enough plot ideas for.

So, just a cute, little, domestic snippet here with Pokemon. :-)

Hope you enjoyed it.

Remember to take breaks when you need them, be fair and kind to yourself and others around you, and have a wonderful day. Also, make sure you drink enough water today.