#I think I might start adding them to the bottom part of the fins | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

megan-is-mia · 4 years ago

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I need to tell you that you’ve managed to become one of my favorite twst writers in the span of a single evening. I spent the majority of last night reading all of your twst content. As a monster lover, I feel obligated to say thank you for all of the food. There is a fair amount of monster f*cker content in the twst fandom, but most blogs only have a small handful of monster stories. So when I saw the amount of monster content on your blog, I almost wept.

If you’re still taking requests from the monster prompt, how about 21 “Taking you away from the human world was the only way to save you" with the Mer-trio?

(Wow... I did not realize people considered any of my content to be monster-fucker food. Anyways you wrote Mo21 in your request but the prompt you typed was for Mo20 so I did that one. Hopefully you still like it!) 20. “Taking you away from the human world was the only way to save you” (Yandere! Octavinelle Trio x Fem! S/o)

Stormy nights were (Y/n)’s favorite kind of nights, nothing beat being wrapped up in a warm blanket, looking out her window at the rain falling and the occasional flashes of lightning that lit up the skies. The only thing that could even begin to compare to the wonder of stormy nights were the mornings that followed them, when the earth was still wet from the rain and the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon.

You were sure to find something interesting outside after a storm. However, what (Y/n) found in her pool that following morning more than exceeded her expectations of something interesting. The winds from the storm had dropped debris into her pool making it look more like a sliver of ocean than part of suburbia. She began clearing the tree branches and other chunks of flora when something in the water grabbed her leg. A less brave soul would have called an exterminator or animal control at this point but (Y/n) did not, instead she retreated inside for the time being to start thinking up a plan of action. It wasn’t until night had fallen that she approached the pool again this time armed with a broom and a bag of fish she’d bought at the store the day of the storm. She tentatively poked the water with the broom and nothing happened. Then suddenly a webbed hand darted out of the water and yanked on the broom making (Y/n) drop the fish she was holding into the water as she tumbled into the pool with a gasp. As she sank under the surface she locked eyes with something that flashed her a toothy grin before it grabbed her and swam to the surface with her in its clutches. As she broke the surface of the water she was able to see there were at least two things in the water with her.

“Nee Jade the fish the human brought with her taste awful” the thing not holding (Y/n) said with a whine as it bit off the head of one a fish and swallowed it whole without chewing any further. The girl looked frantically between the two creatures trying to make sure she wasn’t just seeing double in the darkness. Nope, there really were two of them yet they looked eerily similar like twins. “Ehhh Floyd, if they taste so bad why are you still eating them?” the thing holding (Y/n) answered with a tilt of its head as its ear fins twitched with curiosity. The girl had to assume that Jade and Floyd must be the creatures’ names, not yet processing the information that there were literal talking fish-people in her pool. That knowledge would take a few more moments to sink in, at which point (Y/n) let out another gasp.

“You?! You can talk?!” (Y/n) said her words spluttering out like water out of a clogged faucet. Her sudden words drew a laugh from both mermen and Floyd swam closer as he took another big bite of the fish he’d been chewing on. “Of course we talk shrimpy, what did you expect silly?” he said with a toothy grin even wider than the one Jade had given her when she’d been sinking down to the bottom of the pool. “Give her a little credit, Azul did give her quite a scare earlier when she was trying to remove the gunk and almost forced him out of hiding. I don’t think intelligent life was exactly what she was expecting to find after that” Jade said, his tone a mix of condescension and comforting as he hugged (Y/n) closer to his body. The girl’s mind was ready to short-circuit as a third voice joined the conversation. “I only did that so she’d stop digging around while other humans might be around to get involved” this third voice, the aforementioned Azul she guessed, said with only its head poking out of the water and no visible ear fins to be seen. However when (Y/n) looked down she could see masses of tentacles below Azul as well as the long eel-like tails that made up the bottom halves of both Floyd and Jade’s bodies. “I don’t feel so good” (Y/n) mumbled right before blacking out and going limp in Jade’s arms. When she came too she was lying on her side out of the pool with an eel-merman staring at her impatiently. It took her a moment to identify which one it was by which side his black hair streak fell and she finally said “Floyd?” to which the eel-mer grinned and nodded his head at her as she sat up. “Yep that's me Shrimpy, you gave us all a real scare by passing out like that” Floyd said his tone playfully accusing as (Y/n)’s eyes darted down to check if she’d really seen what she thought she’d seen. Yup, the young man still had an eel tail instead of legs and she hadn’t just imagined all of it. “Heeey my eyes are up here Shrimpy” Floyd said with a pout grabbing (Y/n)’s chin and forcing her to make eye-contact with him. “Sorry! I’m still getting used to the whole, merfolk are real, thing. I just wanted to see if you really did have a tail or not” (Y/n) said not liking the way Floyd’s nails pressed her skin making it clear he could crush her jaw like a grape if he put any pressure on his grip. Luckily her words brought a laugh from the eel-merman and he released her jaw before hauling himself up out of the water to sit next to her. “Wanna feel?” Floyd said, gesturing to himself with a grin. Tentatively (Y/n) nodded as she reached over and gently ran a finger down his tail. “Aww Shrimpy I barely felt that, do it again and put a little more elbow grease into it” the eel-mer said with a whine as he grabbed the girl’s wrist and placed her hand flat against his body. Obediently (Y/n) ran her hand down the male’s skin feeling the slightly slimy yet smooth quality of his tail under her fingertips. “You two look like you’re getting along nicely” Azul commented, swimming over to the pair and surprising (Y/n) out of the stupor she’d fallen under from petting the eel-mer so she almost tumbled back into the pool. The girl only just barely kept her balance this time to the amusement of both mermen. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you…” Azul trailed off, waiting for the young woman to provide her name. “(Y/n), I’m (Y/n)” (Y/n) said quickly. “I know this is an insensitive question but how’d you end up in my pool? I mean I’ve had a few crocodiles thrown in my pool by a particularly bad storm once or twice. That's what I thought I was dealing with before when I brought the fish. Just a few crocodiles, not three mermen and… I’m rambling sorry… This is just weird as hell for me” the girl said looking sheepishly off to the side. “Don’t worry this is an odd situation for us as well” Jade said having swum back over to the group partway through (Y/n)’s rant. “We’re not in the habit of showing up in random human pools, somebody just made a mistake with his potion mixing and accidentally summoned a tsunami that dropped us off here” the eel-mermaid added giving Azul a bit of side-eye, to which the octo-mer grumbled under his breath and pouted. “Regardless we’re kind of stuck here unless we can get the ingredients to make another potion to take us home or we get some outside help to transport us back to the beach and to the ocean” Jade said giving (Y/n) a meaningful look. The girl’s face scrunched up in thought, she didn't know these young men very well and she wasn’t sure she could trust them as far as she could throw them (which wouldn't be far). However, her sense of morality overcame her fear of strangers and she let out a reluctant sigh before speaking. “I’ll help you get back to the sea, I have a car but I don't know if you’ll all fit in it comfortably” (Y/n) said slowly, hoping that her offer might be turned down but that was wishful thinking. The mermen were all more than willing to risk the discomfort of being in her car in exchange for getting home faster. Somehow (Y/n) managed to get all of them into her car (though Floyd was purposely wriggly as a fish on a hook as she tried to set him on the backseat of her car) and began driving out of her quiet neighborhood towards the nearest patch of ocean. During the drive Azul told her about their underwater home, with the occasional comment from the twins, and she had to admit it sounded nice living in the Coral Sea. Eventually, she found a quiet spot of sand by the sea and parked the car before helping the boys out and back into the water. Floyd and Jade went easily enough but Azul seemed to need more help and (Y/n) found herself in waist-deep water before she knew what was happening. All of a sudden the octo-mer’s tentacles were laced around her legs and she was being dragged under as Azul shot forward into deeper water where the eels waited. “Sorry about this Angelfish. I would have preferred that you came to us of your own free will but we just couldn't wait anymore” Azul said, keeping a firm grip on (Y/n) with his tentacles as he swam towards Floyd and Jade who both grinned upon seeing that the octo-mer had been successful in grabbing the girl. Instinctively (Y/n) had tried to hold her breath when she was pulled under only to pass out from oxygen deprivation and wake up breathing water. “What do you think of your new gills? Pretty nice aren’t they?” Azul crooned, his tentacles still wrapped around (Y/n)’s body and tightening when she tried to struggle free of his hold. “Ah, ah, aw Angelfish there’s no need to fight I’m not gonna hurt you” the octopus-merman said in a gently scolding tone before raising his voice to alert the eels that (Y/n) had finally woken up. “Shrimpy’s gills are so cute! I almost wanna pull them and see if she screams” Floyd said excitedly pinching one of the delicate, lacey gill slits that now occupied (Y/n)’s neck. The girl let out a yelp of pain which brought out a laugh from the cruel eel-mer. “Now, now Floyd we can’t go pulling (Y/n)’s gills willy-nilly. Not unless she misbehaves that is” Jade commented running a finger along the other side of the girl’s neck feeling her gills for himself. “We’ve all had our eye on you for a while now Angelfish” Azul said bringing (Y/n)’s attention back on him again as he leaned in to kiss her softly. The feeling of the tweels’ hands over her gills ready to choke her, was the only thing that kept (Y/n) from fighting the kiss from the octo-mer. “The human world… it's just too harsh a place for a sweetheart like you. Taking you away from the human world was the only way to save you” Azul added after a moment. “Plus the fact you’re really cute” Floyd added before smashing his mouth against (Y/n) and biting her lips as he kissed her hungrily. The girl whimpered into his mouth but her protests were all muffled by his tongue against hers until he finally pulled away grinning. “You probably won't see things our way at first but you will” Jade commented before he went in for a kiss softer than his twin’s but still rougher than the octopus’s. “After all we’ll have all the time in the world to change your mind…” THE END

#Yandere Jade Leech #Jade Leech #Yandere Floyd Leech #Floyd Leech #Yandere Azul Ashengrotto #Azul Ashengrotto

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years ago

Text

“Sharky” *Part 2*

Don’t hate me because Barba is kind of a dick right now. We all know he’s not-- but we need the drama. <3

Part 1

Part 3

Tag List:

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@gibbs274

@dumauier

@wanniiieeee

@objection-argumentative

@word-scribbless

@aprildecker-blog

---------

“So he actually asked you to dinner?”

“Yeah, but it’s probably some weird tactic to get inside my head,”

“Is he cute?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Honey it always matters.”

Alright, so you had one friend. One best friend. One very best friend that you’d known since law school. But nobody needed to know that.

“....Yeah, I’d say he’s pretty attractive,” You finally admitted as you reheated your leftovers.

“Oh my God you’ve had sex dreams about this man haven’t you?!” He squealed.

“HOW do you do that?!” You stared at the phone in disbelief.

“It’s a gift,” He laughed. “I can hear the lust in your voice,”

“Whatever,” You grabbed a beer from the fridge.

“So what are you going to wear?”

“I don’t know, I’ll decide in the moment,” You sat down on your couch and started catching up on your shows with your food and beer.

“Oh no no no, you need to wear your silver dress with those platinum earrings I bought you for Christmas,”

“Seriously, Charles? Are you going to come over and do my hair and make up too?” You chuckled sarcastically as you shoved low mien in your face.

“Do you want me to?”

“I’m hanging up now,”

“Wait wait wait,” He pleaded and you listened.

“Be nice to him, honey,”

“I’m always nice,” You stated in an offended tone.

“You’re cordial. Be nice-- Smile, flirt. Have a good time,” You heard his sweet intentions through the phone; it was like he was actually being a caring best friend.

“You make it sound like a date,”

“Well that all depends if you fuck him after,” There he was.

“I’m really hanging up now,”

“Call me after!”

-----

You went with the silver dress and black pumps-- just because Charles had put the idea in your head, not because it was the outfit you looked best in. You stepped out of your Uber in front of the restaurant:

“Forlini’s” You read out loud. “...This place better not be expensive,”

You went inside and noticed Barba was already at the bar so you walked over to join him.

“Hey, Sharky!” His greeting caused an eye roll from you.

“Seriously can we drop the name? I’m a woman not a fish,” You took a bar stool next to him.

“...Well then you probably shouldn’t have worn that,” He nodded.

“Excuse me?”

“You look like a shark to me,” He gestured to your silver dress; it was tight on the top and kind of flowed down your legs, like a fish tail. You had never noticed it before, but him pointing it out made it suddenly glaringly obvious.

“Alright guppy, what are you drinking?” You smirked, slipping into the bar stool next to him.

“Guppy…” Now he rolled his eyes with a smile. “Scotch, neat,”

“I’ll have what he’s having, only stronger,” You instructed the bartender, causing an even bigger eye roll from Barba.

“You’re something else, you know that?”

“Thank you,” You beamed proudly.

The bartender returned with your drink; you noticed that he was very young and very good looking. You slipped him a $20 with a sly smile.

“Keep the change, handsome,” You gave him a wink. He looked between the two of you, confused as to why you’d be flirting shamelessly with him in front of Barba.

“We’re not together,” You said very loudly.

“Wow, don’t say it so eagerly,”

“Hey I might need some stress relief after this interrogation, I’m just covering my bases,” You smirked, still eyeing the bartender.

“Is that what you think this is?”

“What else is a first date if not an interrogation?” You suddenly realized what you had said and to your dismay you saw Barba caught it too.

“Ah so this IS a date,” He smirked.

“..I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant--” You stumbled over your words as Rafael just smiled at you in amusement.

“Just shut up and ask your questions, I know you have a list of them” You shook your head dismissively.

“Not a list…” He nodded to the bartender for another round. “Alright well why did you choose to be a defense attorney?”

“Money,” You replied without a pause.

“Money? Really?” He asked with a judgey tone.

“Hey you try growing up dirt poor and see how much you appreciate having money,” You snapped.

“I did, and I do; but it doesn’t run my life,” He shook his head disapprovingly.

“It doesn’t run my life,” You knocked back the rest of your scotch, ready for the new one.

“Really? Then tell me, how do you pick your cases?” He raised an eyebrow.

“My boss gives them to me,” You didn’t see the big deal.

“Uh huh and how does he order them?” He was making a point, you knew he was.

“...By the biggest paycheck for the firm,” You finally admitted.

“Uh huh,” He nodded smugly, sipping his new scotch.

“Look Barba I already told you this, defense lawyers are unfeeling monsters. What else do you want me to say?” You scoffed.

“Is that the only reason you became one?” He smirked at you.

“No, actually it’s not,” You replied as you sipped your own scotch.

“Really? Why else?” He raised his eyebrows curiously.

“Because any law student out of night school can defend a good guy,” You inched closer to his face.

“Defending a bad guy is a challenge,” You pulled back and noticed he was still smirking, and he added an approving nod.

“Fair enough,”

“Really?” You raised an eyebrow.

“I mean you make a good point,” He scanned you up and down. “Everybody loves a challenge,”

You felt yourself blush as his eyes ran over you, your own eyes surveying his entire body. You would never admit it to anyone, but you did always have a thing for the ADA-- not like “doodle hearts in your notebook” thing, but when he’d do his crosses in court you’d always stare at his perfect ass in those chinos and wonder what it would be like to take a bite out of it.

Some other days, particularly when he wore the black and pink suit, you’d imagine what it would be like to just shove him onto his little offensive desk and fuck him right there in the courtroom, with everyone watching. You were so lost in your own fantasies that you didn’t notice people approaching you--

“Rafa?” An all too familiar voice came from the side of the room. You turned to see Rafael’s rag tag bunch of misfit detectives staring at you.

“Olivia,” Rafael said softly like a kid caught out after curfew.

“So this is why you couldn’t come out with us, because you were taking HER out?” Olivia spat.

“Um excuse you, I’m taking HIM out,” You grabbed Rafael’s hand and put it on your knee.

“NOBODY is taking ANYBODY ‘out’,” Rafael snapped his hand back and gave you a dirty look.

“Liv it’s just a friendly dinner, and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to have this conversation,” He gave her those pathetic apologetic eyes, like a puppy who had just peed on the rug.

“Why do you care anyway, detective?” You asked innocently. You knew she had cream in her panties with his name on it, and you weren’t afraid to call her on it.

“Excuse me?” She scoffed with a laugh. “I care because he’s my best friend, and he doesn’t need to be manipulated by you,”

“Really? Me manipulating him?” You smirked and stood up off your bar stool and got real close to her face. “Then why did he ask me out?”

Olivia stared in horror at you, then Barba, then threw up her hands and stomped off. Carisi, Rollins and Fin all muttered goodbyes and dashed out behind her.

“Why would you do that?!” He looked like he wanted to go after her, but he was staying to have it out with you.

“Why would I--? Are you serious, Barba?!” You continued standing, now crossing your arms. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“What?” He looked confused but you weren’t buying it.

“You asked me here on purpose,” You narrowed your eyes.

“Well obviously it was on purpose--” He tried playing it off.

“No no, don’t be cute. You asked me here with an agenda,” You inched closer to him.

“What? Oh come on Sharky not everyone is you, with your ulterior motives--” He glanced around nervously.

“MY ulterior--?! You asked me here to make your little work wife jealous!” You were making a scene now, but you didn’t care.

“What? I most certainly did NOT--” He tried defending himself.

“Then why did you ask me to come to the same restaurant you knew they were going to be at? I mean if you didn’t ��want’ to be caught. I know you’re not that stupid,”

“I forgot,” He muttered softly.

“You FORGOT? Do you really think I’m that stupid? I’m not Olivia,” You crossed your arms again.

“DON’T talk about her,” He growled.

“Oh my god are-- are you on something?!” You threw your hands up. “You clearly have a thing for that woman, and yet you asked me out to parade me in front of her, for why?” You threw your hands up in frustration.

“I didn’t ask you out for that Y/N, I swear--” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Then WHY did you ask me out?”

“I-I don’t know…” Now he turned those apologetic eyes on you, but you weren’t falling for it like his little detective.

“You’re fucking unbelievable, you know that?” Tears were forming in your throat against your wishes; you would not let this fucker see you have emotions.

“You know you offense lawyers, you sit up there on your moral high horses, judging all of us “bottom feeders”. But I would never fuck with anyone’s emotions or their heart, Barba. That’s just cruel,”

“I thought you didn’t have a heart,” He was still going for the quips, he had some balls you’d give him that.

“Oh so that’s what this was,” You sucked back the tears as you tried to laugh it off.

“You wanted to fuck with the big bad Sea Witch, see if she had a heart?” You really couldn’t believe he was this vindictive. This whole time you thought, maybe....well, you didn’t know what. But you were clearly mistaken.

“No, I’m sorry I was just--” He stood up and tried to put his hand on your shoulder but you jerked away.

“Well guess what, Barba? You win! You made the shark cry. Are you happy?” You couldn’t hold the tears anymore as you yelled.

“Y/N I’m sorry, I really am--” He tried going for your hand, but you slapped him across the face.

“Don’t follow me,” You warned him as you turned and stormed out of the restaurant.

How could you have been so wrong about him? Why did you even care?

#rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagine #law and order special victims unit #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction

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hollenka99 · 3 years ago

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A Mislabeled Hourglass

Summary: Fundy grows up faster than Wilbur was expecting but he is going to make the most of his son’s shorter childhood regardless.

Warnings: Mentions of hunting animals, implied character death

Wilbur is no stranger to growing up faster than most. In the midst of learning survival skills as a child, he was still able to play to his heart's content. His mum, and later Phil, never cared too much if he got dirty. Kids will be kids. Despite that, his first experience with grief is at 6, he causes an animal's death sooner than most would and he dies himself for the first time at the age of only 9 (stupid accident, he should have watched his step). He is perhaps 8 when Phil gives him his first taste of independence. At 11, Tommy enters their life and makes him a big brother. Phil's day trips gradually get more frequent, sometimes stretching out for longer durations too. Whenever it's just him and Tommy, he has to be responsible, has to play a more adult role despite being in his early teens when it becomes a noticeable habit. Then Technoblade shows up. You could argue that from around 17 or 18, Wilbur is practically becomes a young carer on a full time basis. However, this accelerated maturation was all mental. The earth had gone around the sun once when he spoke his first word, five times when he began deciphering sequences of letters as words, ten times when Phil told him what to expect over the next several years and it had completed its 19th revolution shortly before Fundy came into the world. Fundy was... different. First of all, he was a shapeshifter so right off the bat, he was never going to look fully human. Sally had fins and naturally red hair. Fundy was born with a substantial amount of ginger hair and ears that seemed slightly more pointed than they should be. When his son gets older, it will become apparent that his senses are stronger than Wilbur's too. Speaking of Fundy getting older... Wilbur has a hunch that something isn't quite right when his baby rapidly outgrows clothes meant for his age group. He initially dismisses it as Fundy likely inheriting his ridiculously tall genes. Because what else could it be, right? Then he is crawling at 2 months old. Wilbur's far from a baby expert but he's sure infants don't become that mobile that soon. A month or so later, Fundy takes his first clumsy steps towards him. Now that? Yeah, that undoubtedly raises alarm bells. He knows for a fact that that milestone was for those around 12 months old. Okay yep, something was definitely up. The books say Fundy should have been introduced to solid foods by now. He guesses that puts him in the Bad Dad category, along with temporarily using cows to feed him when he first got Fundy. He'd defend himself by pointing out he didn't have formula on hand the moment he became a father and was yet to learn non-human milk wasn't actually good for the baby but those excuses don't seem credible. He knows he's been going about this blinder than he would liked since day 1 but the accelerated aging might end up screwing him over even more. Ha, imagine having time to settle into parenting a baby before they graduate into toddlerhood. It's fine, he swears it's fine. It just means he gets to start having comprehensible, reciprocated conversations sooner than most, not to mention going through less nappies. There are stumbles for the first week or two after Fundy learns to walk but his son soon gets the hang of it. Only days after his first steps comes his first word. Noisy pattering paired with cries of "Daddy!" get more common. He could certainly get used to this. A one year old's way of running is potentially one of the silliest things he's ever witnessed. But look at his little champion go! When Fundy learns to crouch, Wilbur is crouching right beside him. Tommy comments that he looks and sounds like an idiot whenever he plays with Fundy. Wilbur pays him no heed because his brother is an absolute hypocrite. He has to say, Tommy is doing a great job for someone who was thrown in at the deep end just as much as he was and his brother doesn't even have the responsibility of having to care for a kid. He's always been a bit... rough and ready when it comes to playing with others. But with Fundy, he makes sure to be gentle around the toddler. Wilbur isn't entirely sure whether hanging upside down from someone's grip on a near daily basis is healthy for a little kid but Fundy's eruption of giggles each time suggest otherwise. When Tommy turned 11, he was not yet an uncle. The following April, he has a two year old nephew who complains he wants to help blow out the candles, nearly fighting for his right to do it instead of the actual birthday boy. It somehow leads to a pillow fight between them. So all in all, Tommy is taking it in his stride. By Fundy's second Christmas, Wilbur is able to start calculating. A 14 month old kid is supposed to be getting the hang of being bipedal, not receiving books that will help them learn how to read. Given that his son was walking at 3 months old, his best guess is that Fundy's development rate was four times that of other children. It seems consistent too since Fundy is approximately the equivalent of a 4 or 5 year old boy now. He recalls Sally once joking about how shapeshifters tended to live fast and die 'young'. He thinks he gets what she means now. Quadruple speed for Fundy though? Fuck. If he's got the maths right, they will be the same physical age when Wilbur is 25. The gap will only grow more and more from then on. At 30, he will have a child who is roughly 40. And when Wilbur himself is 40... he'd rather not dwell on the heartache his early 40s are set to bring. He has been given a 60 second hourglass that's been labelled as a 4 minute one. He's begun to comprehend this with 2 seconds' worth of sand already piling at the bottom. What is he even supposed to do? Does he bake a birthday cake every January, April, July and October 10th or just that last date? He guesses that will be for Fundy to decide in the future. Tommy has made a 'reverse leap day kid' joke before but it really is based in truth. While still a small child, one of Fundy's favourite places to rest is against his father's chest. There have been plenty of nights where the little boy has fallen asleep in his father's arms while being read a story. He's rapidly getting bigger and Wilbur frequently has to adapt how he holds him to accommodate. In the quietest of moments, his eyes will notice a tiny mischievous smile directed at him that will make his day or his ears will catch the softest of snores coming from beside him. As much as he tries to enjoy those occasions, peace often leads to a chance for overthinking to take place. When that happens, it all turns bittersweet with the desperate wish he could get several years of this, not feel lucky if he gets more than 2 or 3 of them. Of course, every time Fundy is resting against his chest is not necessarily positive. There are obviously the typical 'toddler having a breakdown because they scraped their knee' type stuff. Those are fine, all he has to do is soothe him and distract from what is usually an overthought 'injury'. But then there are the times where Fundy's fingers ache from the ordeal of slowly developing claws, Wilbur lets him dig his nails into his jumpers as hard as he feels the need to. The same happens whenever there is any significant growth with his ears too. The older Fundy gets, the more used to the flat of a small head pressing into his chest he becomes. He would do anything to alleviate his pain and discomfort if he could. And no, he definitely hasn't shed a tear or two when nobody is watching in regards to the matter. From here on in, it feels like he's on home soil. He's helped raise a kid from the age of 4 before. The only difference now is that this kid is his own flesh and blood. And a shapeshifter, which Tommy never was. They've begun entering the "Dad, look what I can do!" phase of Fundy's life, now that he is getting more capable with age. The first major instance is when he comes home from a hunt. Tommy has a smug look on his face and Fundy seems seconds from exploding with excitement. His son is let loose on him as soon as he's freshened up, dragging him to a chair where he is made to listen to the most drawn out reading session he has ever experienced. But Wilbur can't help but beam every time Fundy successfully gets through a word. The day he believes Fundy is old enough to start learn how to use a bow can't come soon enough. He knows fuck all about hybrids or shapeshifters other than the very basics. He can't tell you how to construct the most impressive of architectural structures. But this, archery and hunting? Now that he can impart wisdom on. He passes down second hand stories about Fundy's grandma and anecdotes about his trips with Phil when he was a young boy himself. As far as he can tell, Fundy laps it all up. Swordplay is soon added to the mix of training activities. The wooden sword he crafted for his son is slightly too big but eh, the kid will quickly grow into (then inevitably out of) it sooner than later. They gradually work up from technique and stance to improving accuracy and striking moving targets. Every bit of progress he makes, his dad is there cheering him on. Fundy only grows reluctant when it begins to get 'real'. That is to say, when Wilbur tries to take him on an actual hunt or attempts to introduce him to the subject of turning a kill into a meal. And yeah, he gets it. He wasn't the biggest fan of it either when he was being taught himself. Plus, he's aware Fundy's nose is more sensitive than his or Tommy's so yep, preparing a body's going to be even less pleasant for him. It's unfortunately a part of this sort of life. There's... well, there's always the option of heading down to the butcher's in town. Just keep in mind who got his first girlfriend indirectly due to the fact her dad would always give him money for helping supply produce. You've been doing great though. The important part is you're learning how to survive on your own if need be, not to mention how to defend yourself in case of an attack. Another part of Fundy's development to make him gush with pride is when he starts to really hone his shapeshifter nature. It's small at first, a furrier hand transforming into a paw here, a lump of a half formed tail spotted underneath a dressing gown there. He can't really describe how happy it makes him to see a child with a fox's head greet him one morning when Fundy jumps out from behind a door. There are features the young shapeshifter will keep in his human form obviously. Yet it's thrilling to have him keep coming over to show off a new shifting-related ability. The first time Fundy manages to morph fully into a fox, during the spring after his 2nd birthday, Wilbur promises the three of them can have an 'anything Fundy says, goes' type thing the following day in celebration. There are times where Fundy may, for instance, forget to include his tail as an animal or he'll walk around as his usual self, albeit with accidental fox eyes. It's simply a matter of practise, Wilbur believes. One of the best parts of Fundy gradually improving his shapeshifting is the fact he loves to curl up on his dad's lap while in fox form. Wilbur cherishes it. Fundy's getting older now (taller too, this kid is undoubtedly going to be at least 6 foot one day) but he'll always be smaller as a fox than as a human. Forgive a father with limited time to enjoy carrying his son around for wanting to prolong the inevitable. Fundy is 3 when he physically catches up with Tommy, age wise. It's not until he is the equivalent of maybe 15 that he passes his uncle's height. Tommy complains about it incessantly, especially whenever Fundy teases him about how much taller he's getting. It's all fun and games but Wilbur was an unusually large teenager once (only a few years ago really, though let's not dwell on that) so he understands what it's like. Going through growth spurts is hardly the most enjoyable thing out there and he can't imagine how it must feel to keep getting hit by them with even less time to settle into your new height. Not to mention growing pains. During a quiet evening, he checks in on his son and approaches the subject. It leads to him allowing Fundy to rant about the worst parts of growing up. Orange fur recedes on his arms to show a few stretch marks. Ah, he was wondering if the extra hair was deliberate or simply puberty taking hold. He assures Fundy stretch marks aren't something to be ashamed of. He got a bunch of them himself at his age. Although, they've pretty much all faded by now. It's fine, you don't need to stress about it. Besides, Tommy's going through the same kind of shit. The main problem with Fundy and Tommy being similar ages now is that they are arguably closer than ever. Which, no, isn't a bad thing. In fact, he's glad that for a few months they're able to hang out on more equal footing. The issue lies in the fact that Fundy takes after his uncle when it comes to causing mischief. The little rascal is turning into a bit of a prankster. And yeah, maybe Wilbur himself likes channelling hints of chaos into his life but you'll never hear the designated responsible adult admit to that in the others' presence. At one point, Fundy is a six year old gleefully explaining how Tommy helped him up so he could place that water bucket. Only a year later, there's an 11 year old revealing that yes, he was the one to make their chickens, cows and sheep switch enclosures during the night. He only gets more ambitious from there. God knows where he got all that dye from when he's in his mid-teens. Fundy is much like himself as a teenager. Both clearly love their respective fathers but both grow to varying degrees of resentment regarding the level of independence they are given. Wilbur always had too much. It was his job to take care of Tommy whenever Phil left on short trips until the avian hybrid pretty much said 'well, you're an adult now, you can take care of things all by yourself' before heading off with Technoblade for months on end. It's why Wilbur knows kids want a safety net, for an adult to be there to help them out if they need it (no matter how mature or independent they feel). Has he taken it further than he should have? Maybe. Fundy is the only one who can be the true judge of that. He just wants his little boy to be safe and happy. He didn't want him to grow up so quickly. However, even if this was happening in 15 years, he would have grown up too soon. It doesn't surprise him too much when Tommy and Fundy make the choice to go off on their own. He only allows it because they promise they will stick together throughout the journey. He supposes it was time. Phil snuck off to do the same around their age and his mum was roughly 18 when she set off to be a nomadic traveller. The thought to live a similar style life has crossed Wilbur's mind. His duty to the two boys under his care has always made him reconsider. But Tommy is 16 now and not as much of a child as Wilbur likes to say he is. As for Fundy, he's probably around the equivalent of 18 or 19 by this point. He hates to admit it but they've both grown up. Where the hell did the time go? So although it pains him to do so, he nevertheless sends them off with a smile. If they find anywhere nice in their adventures, they'll be sure to tell him. He might even join them if they choose to stick around in one area. He turns back into the house after they leave and fuck, has it always been this empty? He gets a letter in early July, telling him all about this place called the Dream SMP and their time there. He arrives and things seem to snowball as soon as he begins the 'drug business' bullshit. Suddenly, he's a general with his brother and son as soldiers, along with some new friends. They are at a disadvantage in this fight against tyranny but it's okay, Eret says she has a secret weapon. They might just pull through. Or... they might instead be brutally betrayed by a former friend and lose so much more than their possessions. He loses track of his battalion in the chaos. All he knows is screaming for everyone to flee. Then the agony a sword through his stomach. Tubbo's dead, as is Tommy. Where's Fundy? He can't see him anywhere. God, please say he managed to get the fuck out of here. Please let it be that he turned into a fox and scarpered away, something like that. Never mind his dad. If Fundy's alright, he'll be alright too. He loves his son, has done all he was able to ensure his little boy has never had reason to doubt this fact. Over the past few years, that love has been repaid in mischievous grins, unrestrained giggles and drowsy cuddles, among other quieter moments. It gets repaid once again as a boy playing a soldier struggles to join the side of his pretend general of a father in order to loosely grasp hands. It barely registers. Neither does the tiny pained smile or ginger hair that go largely missed by eyes preoccupied with the vain effort to keep them open. They all celebrate the independence they'd fought so hard for the next night. The bittersweet nature of this victory goes ignored. With all the cheerful chatter and singing declaring their land to be one of freedom from tyranny drifting in the evening air from the campfire, it feels like the good mood will never end. It feels like the only thing that may tear the father and son apart is Wilbur's desperation for just a bit more time with Fundy as his little boy, despite how painfully obvious he was already grown up into a man in less than 5 years. Arm slung around him as a toast is made, they are not yet a debilitatingly stressed president, increasingly suicidal exilee or secretly loyal spy. For tonight, they are still a relatively happy, loving pair. For tonight, there is hypothetically still so much time for them to stay like that.

#dream smp #wilbur soot #fundy #my writing

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gottawriteanegoortwo · 4 years ago

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Mermay - Dilliam - An Introduction

Happy Mermay!

William discovers that Mark’s girlfriend is hiding a secret known as ‘Damien’. He’d never guess the truth.

Word Count: 2,807 (I got a little carried away, and this wasn’t even what I intended to write!)

Even if William had known Mark and Celine for two years, he always felt like he was on the outside of the group.

(Aside from feeling like the third wheel as Mark and Celine had been in a steady relationship since Mark first introduced his childhood friend to his girlfriend)

Mark, Celine, and her family seemed to have a secret. Whenever they would chat, there would be mention of "Damien" in passing. But when William tried to ask for context, he was never given it. Mark and Celine would conveniently slide the topic elsewhere to avoid answering the question, while he was in no position to ask her parents. All William could gather was that Damien travelled but occasionally returned to the family home. Was he a businessman, forever on the roam? Was he a soldier like William? Was he family or a friend? After several years of being left in the dark, he had accepted that he'd never learn the truth.

In January, he had been sent overseas with the military as part of a peacekeeping mission. Even if there were opportunities for video calls, the three decided to write letters to give William something to do while on duty and to make the time go by a little faster. The young Colonel realised something interesting - by Celine's fourth letter, she had mentioned Damien. He guessed that the vagabond must have returned while the soldier was overseas. He noted in his next letter that he was surprised Celine willingly mentioned this mysterious figure (William? Bitter? Of course not!). As though adding to the mystery, the letter he received in reply was a curious one:

"I'm sorry I couldn't explain it before. Damien is my brother, but he's very shy. He doesn't like others knowing about him without being told first. I have told him about you and he's rather interested in what you're doing."

William was FLOORED. He'd known Celine for two FULL years and there had never been mention of a sibling?? He didn't remember a family photo with unfamiliar faces. Deciding it was a better argument to have when he was home, he instead crammed two letters into the one envelope - one for Celine, one for Damien. If the brother was secretive, it might be best to prove that William was a trustworthy friend. Friendly, short letters would be a good way to start.

For the next two months, the letters became a great distraction from his duties. Mark was asking William for advice on how to propose. Celine was updating William on the house she and Mark had bought, including sending photos of the ocean just at their doorstep. Damien, while proving that he was a secretive individual, wrote short letters about himself. The mysterious brother kept to himself, and it got William wondering about how shy Damien was. It was endearing, in a way. William accepted that he was wrong to take the news so harshly at first. Celine was merely doing right by her brother.

It wasn't long after William sent his letters in response that his squad was ambushed. The attackers were defeated, but not without William having his leg broken in the process, among other things. He was sent to a local hospital before it was decided that getting him home would be more beneficial. Any letters that arrived at the base for William were instead returned to sender, as the soldier was being transferred too frequently while being treated to determine where he would be at a given moment.

It was June by the time William arrived home. Not even a medical boot and a crutch could dampen his spirits. Mark's hug of relief nearly knocked them both down, but Celine joining the hug successfully toppled them over William's rucksack as they erupted into laughs. The couple gave William the grand tour of their new home. It was as charming and elegant as Mark would like, while secluded from frequent public activity as Celine desired. Not only that, the house was near a cliff edge, which allowed a beautiful view of the ocean. William took in this view as he sat in the living room with a glass of water.

"Will?" Celine's voice stirred him from his daze. "I know you've done a lot of walking to get here and you're likely tired but… Would you like to meet Damien today?"

"Would I like to what?" William repeated blankly, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Your idea of sending him letters worked a treat. He asked me every day if there was a new letter for him. He's very curious about you."

"From what you told me, I thought he would have been gone by now." William's observation had Celine shaking her head.

"He waited to see you. I think learning about your injuries worried him." Celine's gaze lifted briefly to the water before she added, "He'll understand if he needs to wait until tomorrow -"

"No, no. I'll admit I've been curious to meet him as well. All this time you've had a brother and no one could tell me. What time will he arrive?"

"Actually, he's already here. Come on. I'll show you. There's one more part of the house you haven't seen."

William was fully expecting there to be a secret basement. Instead, he was led out to the back garden. It was small and neat, complete with a small wall to give some semblance of shelter. It looked like it belonged to a farmland cottage, especially given the gate at the bottom. Celine unlocked it and went first. William could see a path that led down to the ocean. The steps were man-made and weren't too steep. It would be a slow walk down but he could manage it in the medical boot.

"Damien is my twin brother," Celine began as she guided William down the steps, "and nearly everyone who knows my family doesn't know he exists. You and Mark are the only one of my friends who know and, well, you'll understand soon."

At the bottom of the steps was a seating area protected by some large rocks that created a safe area to swim in without worry of sudden tides whisking you out to sea. William hobbled over to one of the large rocks so he could sit down, gather his energy and curse the boot. Celine followed, climbing onto a neighbouring large rock.

"Damien? Are you here? I have my friend William, the Colonel!"

Ripples began to spread through the still water. William watched with wide-eyed curiosity when he caught movement below the surface. He had been watching the water while coming down the stairs, and there weren't any items or clothing strewn about. Before he could ask Celine, a head popped out of the water in front of him.

It was a man, or what looked like one. His smooth skin was as white as porcelain and shimmered in the sunlight. There were tiny bubble-like markings that William swore looked like scales. His hair was as dark as Celine's, but with a blue tint with the right light. It appeared to hold its shape by being stylised into smaller 'chunks' to form larger strands of hair. The ears were finned and had a pale blue along the edges. His face, despite not looking fully human, reminded William of both Celine and her father. The eyes were a different shape to the rest of the family - presumably more rounded and large to help with hunting - but the 'nose' and mouth were a perfect match. Even the eye colour was the same as Celine's.

"Damien, I take it?" William thought it absurd, but his hunch to ask immediately proved to be a good thing. The head ducked back under the water. Celine gave a knowing smirk and stepped back. In a flash, a large blur pounced for the rocks and climbed up with surprising agility, revealing what was actually a merman in full display. From head to tail, the skin kept that white tone, unlike what William would have seen in movies. There were fin-like protrusions emerging from his collar bones and his upper arms, which went from that pale blue on the edges to a dark purple at the base, almost like a sunset. This coloration was also on the frills that went down his stomach and on either side of his tail, before all three trailed off at differing points to allow the splendour of the large tail tip. William did remember Celine having posters of betta fish in her room when they met, was this why?

"The Colonel, yes? Oh, it's such a pleasure to meet you! Celine has told me so much about you! I'm so sorry I wasn't able to meet you sooner." Damien had snatched up William's left hand with both his webbed ones and shook eagerly, until he caught himself and quickly pulled back. "I'm so sorry. It's not often I get to meet new people." As quickly as he had sprung forward, Damien pulled back as his sister sat down beside him, ears flattened in embarrassment. The twins had such a likeness once the obvious differences were put aside.

"Don't apologise. I've been looking forward to meeting you too. I can't believe no one told me before I left. I'm offended!" William put a hand on his chest and dramatically sighed, only to erupt into cackles when Celine reached over and slapped his arm.

The three sat on the rocks for the afternoon. Celine and Damien took the time to explain to William about their genetics. Their father's grandfather was a merman who had decided to leave the life of the water behind and marry their great-grandmother. The merfolk genes became a passive trait. Their descendants had natural aquatic talents but all were completely human. Their mother, however, had magic in her bloodline, and this strengthened the recessive merfolk gene. When she was expecting twins, one was a regular human pregnancy, while the other was cocooned in water. In that regard, Damien was a miracle that he survived and had a healthy childhood...

"- but it meant no one outside a small circle knew I existed," Damien sighed. "Celine was able to go to school, make friends, while I was taught by our grandparents, as well as Celine who showed me what she learned in school. Because I'm not human-passing like movies show, I couldn't use a wheelchair and a blanket like I wanted." Not only that, there wasn't a large community of mythical creatures that they knew of. "But don't take this to be me lamenting my fate. I've had a wonderful life and have made connections with many merfolk communities around the world who welcomed me in while I am studying."

"Studying?" William looked confused, but Celine took the moment to wrap her arm around Damien's shoulder.

"You are looking at one of the top merfolk experts on culture and tradition, as well as a general fish expert. Speaking of," she patted Damien on the shoulder as she rose to her feet, "I should go back up and help Mark. We're having dinner down here." With that, she hopped off the rocks and began the ascent back up the house. Damien and William watched her go, before the soldier turned back around.

"So, an expert, eh? I happen to be rather unintelligent compared to your sister and Mark, so I'm afraid you'll have to tell me everything." He rested his elbow on his good leg, and propped his chin on his hand as he grinned at the merman. Damien's eyes darted aside and his ears flattened in embarrassment.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself an 'expert'," Damien admitted quietly, "but actually… I'd rather hear about you. I really enjoyed receiving your letters while you were away. Is that why you wear those clothes?"

"Oh these?" Whoops. William had forgotten to change when he arrived. He barely had a moment to drop his bags to the guest room. "This is my military uniform. It's commonplace to wear it when you're on duty, even if you're simply being sent home. It's not the normal battle uniform, not anymore. That's just regular camouflage. This is an everyday uniform that shows off any badges you have earned and -" William stopped as he felt his hat being plucked off his head. He hadn't noticed Damien crawl over until it was too late. Instead of snatching it back, he ruffled his hair so that it lost the 'hat hair' look.

"How can you wear this? I've never seen anything like it!" Damien, after a brief examination, decided to try it on. The strange shape of the hat meant that it kept falling forward on him, no matter what he did to try and keep it in place. Instead of helping, William simply laughed at the merman's misfortune.

When William eventually agreed to help Damien wear the hat in a way that wouldn't fall off, he began to share stories of his early days in the army. Damien was enthralled, asking questions in a bid to learn more. It was no wonder that both were startled by the arrival of Mark and Celine with lanterns and all the necessities for a feast by the sea. Damien returned to the water while the humans set up, only to resurface when they were ready. His skin needed to be rehydrated for what he knew would be a long evening ahead.

Food, drink and merriment were had that night. Damien had hoisted himself onto the bench so he could fully join in. William honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good night in the company of his dear friends. Perhaps not having to worry about a secret made it a lot easier to converse. For the first time in a long time, William didn't feel like an outsider amongst his own friends; but he didn't dwell on it much. Instead, he gave witty commentary during Mark's dramatic retelling of events the pair went through as youths.

At some point, Celine had fetched blankets from a sturdy, weathered box hidden amongst the box and wrapped one around herself and Damien. The twins nestled together as time passed, and Damien was content to enjoy being in the company of Celine and all her closest friends at last.

The low flickering of the lanterns was the cue for the humans to return indoors. With William staying for a few days, Damien was content to let them go without feeling too sorry for himself. There would be plenty of time to chat. He sat on the rocks as he watched Mark help William back up the steps. Even from a distance, he could hear William barking something about how "this means nothing and I'm still stronger than you" and "I swear to God I'll push you down the stairs if you keep laughing at me Mark".

"He's a good man, that Colonel." Damien jumped when Celine spoke. When did she move to sit beside him?! "When Mark introduced me, I was worried that his loud voice and brashness meant bad things, but he's been such a good, loyal friend over the last few years. I hope that he wasn't too 'much' for you today."

"N-no, no. I… he's exactly like you said he'd be." His eyes were on the two men as they disappeared out of view. "He's not angry that he didn't know about me, is he?"

"Nah." Celine leaned back, enjoying the light sea breeze. "He knew we were hiding something. I think he's happy to know he can be trusted. And he'll be stuck here for at least a day or two while Mark and I are working thanks to that broken foot. I'd bet he'll make it his mission to come down here alone just to show he can."

"I'd like that. He has a lot of stories to tell… Would it be weird if I ask him to keep talking?"

"Not as weird as it is that you've caught some sort of feelings for him. Did you get bitten by a love-bug, brother dearest?"

"Shut up, darling sister," Damien quickly nudged her, only to receive a counter-shove in response. "Just… don't tell him, alright? I know better than to interrupt a human marriage like that." He'd content himself with the company of the man who had captured his attention from the first letter. Celine slid off the rock and stretched. She glanced over her shoulder with a knowing smirk, gesturing to her left hand, which Damien knew was the hand with her engagement ring.

"His ring is on the other hand, Damien. It's a birthday present from his father. Goodnight, brother~" And off she went, gleefully ignoring her brother's confused questions.

"What do you mean he doesn't have a partner??"

#mermay #dilliam #mayor damien #wkm the colonel #writersofmark #(disclaimer: it's one in the morning. My friend is yelling at me to go to bed)#(but I refuse! This needs to be posted first!)#(so ignore any possible errors. It's super late)#(but now I sleep goodnight)

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kyidyl · 4 years ago

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Kyidyl Explains Bones - Part 3

Well, I had this halfway done and then TUMBLR ATE IT, so let me start again. UGH.

(These posts are collected under the KyidylBones tag. Do with that information what you will, lol.)

So what are we getting into today? Sex determination!

Ethical Note: I’m adding this bc not everyone who sees this post saw my post yesterday and this is important info, especially on Tumblr. Anthropologists of all stripes are well aware that sex and gender are extremely complicated. Trust me, we know. But we still do sex determination for a few reasons. First, because missing persons databases are arranged on a male/female binary, and if we’re comparing a set of remains to that database to identify the remains then we need that info. Second, demographic info for populations that have disappeared is important, even if those populations are historical. This might shock you (<--sarcasm), but written records are usually either lacking or inaccurate. Third, if we know the sex of the skeleton we can compare that to the grave goods and learn some interesting cultural things, including possibly being trans, because none of the signs of being trans survive physically in the skeleton. So I am going to be using male/female binary language, but it isn’t to exclude the wide variety of sexes and genders that don’t exist on that binary, it’s because it’s what I’ve got to work with. And if you have questions about this, feel free to ask, but please be respectful.

Alright, so there are some vocab words for today’s post and I had them all nicely written out in an easy to read paragraph, but it got eaten, so I’m just gonna present them in list fashion this time:

Characteristic - All physical markers of human variation exist on a spectrum because humans are varied and we invented the categories to begin with. If something is characteristic of, say, a male? It means that it is very, very distinctly male. It matches the stereotypical expectation of what you’d see in a male. It’s a standard for an obvious example of a given thing.

Landmark - A landmark on your bones is a feature of the bones that is always in the same place. We use this to help us identify a bone and to help us know what side it is on. IE, your lesser trochanter is a bump on your femur (thigh bone) that is on the inside towards the back. It’s always in that spot, so we know which direction it should face and ergo which side it would be on. Landmarks are unique to the bone in question.

Foramen - A hole on a bone. The big one in your skull that your spinal cord goes through is the foramen magnum and it literally means big hole. But there are a lot of little ones all over your skeleton so your nerves and blood vessels can do to your skeleton what the weirwood did to Bryden Rivers. I said what I said. ;)

Bilateral - Both sides. Humans have bilateral symmetry and so one side is symmetrical (externally and WRT your skeleton, but not always your organs.) to the other. You can split us down the middle and the two sides are basically the same.

Ok, so there’s another set of terms that you need to know, but I’m going to be copying and pasting this into every post going forward so I’m making it separate. Anyone who works with any kind of anatomy uses these terms to be very specific about the location of something on the body. They are:

Anterior/Posterior - Front and back respectively. I remember them because my mom used to say posterior when she didn’t want to say butt, and because A comes before P the way front comes before back. Sometimes people say dorsal and ventral, and I remember that because a dorsal fin is on a whale’s back.

Proximal/Distal - Near and far vertically in relationship to the center of your body. I remember it because one end of the bone is in close proximity to me and the other one is distant.

Medial/Lateral - Near and far horizontally in relationship to the center of your body. I remember it because medial is closer to the middle of my body, and lateral isn’t medial. Also, if you are reading left to right L comes before M and you’d get to a lateral body part before a medial one.

So, where to begin? How do we know what sex people were assigned at birth from just their skeleton? Let’s start with what everyone is most familiar with:

The Pelvis

The pelvis of an adult human is a really common thing for an archaeologist to find. And by the time we find it, it’s usually in three pieces (excluding your tailbone aka last vertebra). Your left and right hip bones, called the innominates, and your sacrum. Mind you, the pelvis is made up of a number of bones, but they all fuse in adulthood except these three (fun fact: I’m so used to using the individual names for them that I had to *google* the word innominate.), so this is what we usually find. If it’s a kid, they still survive well because they’re thick, heavy bones, but they aren’t fused. Another fun fact, the bumps of bone that you feel under your ass are called your ischium and I’m only telling you that because I think it’s a fun word to say. Your hop bones, like the actual entirety of the flat bladed part at the top, that’s called the Illium. I like that word too. Aaanyway, here’s a human pelvis:

(Source)

These are actual bone specimens in the top down view, both are women, but they are of different ethnic origin.

(Source)

This is a cast (IE, plastic), front view of a male pelvis.

You can see those 3 pieces I’m talking about. The only joint there that remains unfused is the sacroiliac joint, IE, where the two halves of the pelvis join the sacrum. However! You sacrum is technically a series of fused vertebrae and your spinal cord runs almost all the way to the very tip. There are some conditions which cause these not to fuse, or to not fuse properly, or to not properly encase the spinal cord and it causes all KINDS of issues. But anyway, yeah, your sacrum is a really tough hunk of bone because it carries a lot of weight. The bit in the front is called the pubic symphysis and, despite what certain tumblr posts would have you believe, having children does NOT leave a notch on the inner side of it from the muscle tearing away tiny chunks of the bone. In fact, it is hotly debated whether or not pregnancy leaves behind any skeletal evidence at all.

Alright, so basically speaking, females make da babies and males don’t, so the different equipment is differently shaped......

.....wait, no, that’s not right. Let’s back up. Male and female humans are differently proportioned and their center of gravity is, on average, different. This is the whole thing about men having upper body strength and women having thighs that can crush watermelons. This is on *average* (I will be saying a lot about averages in these posts.) true. And so the physics of the forces exerted on your bones is different. Males are top-heavy, and so their pelvis is shaped in response to their gate and muscle structure because the pelvis supports and distributes the weight of your entire body. And bipedalism means that the shape of the pelvis is very, very different depending on the weight distribution. These changes to the pelvis are really obvious, which is why we can tell from just a few bones whether or not a hominin was bipedal. It changes the *entire* body.

It is true though that the pelvis of a female is different than a male, because a female pelvis has to be able to support the weight of a developing child while still allowing the individual to walk. So the interaction of average size, a uterus, and the bipedal gate means that male and female pelvises are a different shape.

Here is a comparison:

(Source)

So firstly, that angle is called the sub-public angle, and because a females pelvis is wider and flatter than a male’s (when viewed from the front) it’s wider in the front. This also gives any babies more room. Secondly, you can see the difference in the tilt of the sacrum - in the female you can’t see the tailbone. This, again, is due to the confluence of weight distribution and the necessity of passing a baby’s head through that space. It would be a lot harder to push it out if you had a tailbone in the way. Lastly, you can see that the shape of the circle when you look top down and bottom up are different - wider on the woman because of the same reasons I’ve already mentioned. There is one more major difference between the male and female pelvis, and that’s the sciatic notch:

(Source)

Characteristic of male on the left, intermediate in the middle, and female on the right (and dang, she was young, too.). Thinner is male, wider is female. Usually you can fit your thumb in a female’s notch but barely or not at all in a male. I personally find the subpubic arch and the sciatic notch the easiest to use because, fun fact #2, those 3 sections are a bitch to hold together with your hands and that makes it hard to see the other shapes. The amount of sacrums and pelvic bones I’ve accidentally dropped while trying to determine sex....it’s a lot, ok? It’s a lot. I only have two hands and pelvises are big.

There are also several less obvious ways of determining sex from a skeleton, so you guys should definitely visit the source for the above image because they go into it deeper and there are several excellent images of public bones.

So how else do we determine sex? The next easiest way is from the skull, because the features are distinct and skulls survive well.

The Skull

In my opinion the easiest landmark to use on a skull for sex determination is the jaw. There are several features of the jaw that can be used here - and, mind you, when determining sex we measure every small and large sex-linked feature according to a scale and then average it all out. We never look at any single thing (although sometimes the individual has something so characteristic that you can’t help it. The individual in my position has a brow like a neanderthal, so it was pretty obvious.). Anyway, there are several features here but the easiest is to look at the shape of the lateral distal posterior portion of the jaw. It’s called the masseteric tuberosity. Basically, it’s a little bit of bone that sticks out of the back of your jaw. It’s one of the attachment points of the masseter aka chewing muscles attach. Because males have stronger muscles pulling on that part of the jaw and exerting more force, it flares out further for them when you look at it from the front, like this:

(Source)

It’s that sticky-outy thing thing that I circled in red. Here is an example of the same thing on females:

(Source)

Female jaws are rounder, and so that bit is less defined, flares out less, and is not as sharp as it is on males. And this is a reminder that these measures aren’t absolutes - humans have a lot of variance in them. The female asian and the male on the right both have somewhat atypical structures, while the female european and the two other males have a very characteristic structure.

The two other easiest to identify are the shape of the brown line and the shape of the chin (the mental protuberance). Here is an image of the comparison:

(Source: Pinterest, but this images are from the Human Bone Manual text that I use and I used this image so I wouldn’t have to make my own. :P)

You can see in the profile that the female skull has a higher, more vertical forehead with less pronounced brow ridges. If you look, you can also see that her chin protrudes less in profile, and is softer and less pronounced in the frontal view. The angle under her teeth is less severe.

So these three things, the chin, the brow, and the jaw, are the easiest to identify the most likely to be characteristic of the sex of the individual. But, if you compare the images I’ve used here you’ll also notice that there are other differences in the skull. Females have more of a slope to the bottom of their jaw, the bump on the back of their heads (the occipital protuberance) tends to be far less pronounced; and this is the case for all muscle attachments generally speaking. On average, males are more easily able to build muscle mass and are larger, and so their muscles pull harder on their skeletons and create larger muscle attachments. The round, blunt thing to the right of the back of the jaw that sticks out from the skull (the mastoid process), is also at a different angle and is larger in males. This is another case of the muscles being bigger and stronger - the mastoid process is where several of your jaw and neck muscles attach.

There you have it, then. The easiest ways to tell the sex of a skeleton. :)

This post has been approved by Gage the science doggo:

#science #anthropology #skeletons #human remains #human skeletons #education #KyidylBones #archaeology #bioarchaeology #humans #bones #human bones

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tellmealovestory · 4 years ago

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That Summer (4/?)

Summary: You’ve spent every summer since you were a child in the idyllic beach town you call home three months out of the year. This summer should be no different except for the addition of Bucky Barnes. Sparks fly upon first meeting, but it’s only a summer fling, right? Modern AU.

Notes: Also posted on my ao3.

Warnings: A few lines of suggestiveness, angst if you squint

Series Masterlist

"How come you never cooked for us before?" Wanda asked.

"Last time she cooked she almost burned the kitchen down," Natasha added, laughing when Wanda's eyes grew wide with a mix of shock and worry.

Standing over the wooden cutting board you ignored them as you concentrated on slicing cucumbers and tomatoes for salad. "That's not completely true," you muttered under your breath. Wiping your hands on the red apron you had borrowed from Wanda you walked over to the stove checking on the potatoes.

"You never told me that."

"Because it was a long time ago," you started, opening the oven door to check on the chicken. "And I'm not going to burn down the kitchen so please stop looking so worried, Wanda."

A snort came from the other side of the room. "It was two years ago when she was dating that guy Eric."

"The musician?"

"Are we really doing this right now?" You groaned.

Ignoring you she continued, "That's the one. She tried making him a fancy dinner and when he got there how'd you say it happened again?" Smirking she snapped her fingers. "The lust overcame you and you guys went at it like rabbits."

"Okay, okay, first off," you started, raising your voice to be heard over their peals of laughter, "Natasha is lying I did not say anything like that! Although I might have gotten distracted when he came over and we might have had sex making me forget about dinner and there may have been a small fire in the kitchen, but it didn't burn down! And Wanda, please stop looking at me like that because I promise you that's not going to happen tonight!"

"Which part isn't happening tonight, Y/N?" Nat teased.

"I hate you." Untying the apron you focused on folding it into neat squares while trying to ignore Natasha's laughter and Wanda's growing nerves as she hovered around you, checking the boiling potatoes and chicken roasting in the oven. "Also, for the record it was different with Eric. Our whole relationship was about sex and with Bucky... it's deeper than that. I've never felt this way about someone else before and..." Letting your words trail off you stared down at the counter, your fingers running over the apron. "After the movie in the park and all the dates he's taken me on I wanted to do something nice for him so no, tonight is not going to be a repeat of the disaster with Eric and you guys have nothing to worry about. We're going to have a nice homemade dinner and that's it."

Greeted with silence you looked up to find Natasha scribbling down the number for the fire department and Wanda again hovering by the stove.

"You guys really have no faith in me," you sighed. "I made brownies this morning and you weren't worried."

"That was before," Wanda murmured, fingers turning down the burner of the stove.

"I promise you by the time you get home the kitchen will still be here, everything will be cleaned up and-"

"You and Bucky will be making out on the counter again?" Natasha added, deftly catching the apron you threw at her.

"Wanda!" You snapped. "You said you weren't going to tell her about that!"

"She went into some very graphic details about where she saw your hands disappearing."

"I hate both of you," you muttered. Heat burned your face and you couldn't tell if it was from the conversation, the oven being on during the heat of summer or the memories of that late night in the kitchen with Bucky kissing you until your lips were swollen, exploring his body with your fingers and hands until you swore you knew it as well as yours.

Ignoring their laughter and the way you could still feel your face burning you glanced over at the clock. "Shouldn't you guys be leaving?"

"Someone's eager for us to be gone."

"I'm not eager," you lied. "But you guys don't want to be late. You know traffic and parking and all that."

"Uh huh. I get it. I think she wants some alone time with Bucky. Come on, Wanda."

Peeking into the oven again Wanda fiddled with the knobs of the stove. "We could help you finish dinner first."

Exchanging a look with Nat across the kitchen you watched the way she went over to Wanda, slinging an arm around her shoulder and murmuring something you couldn't quite hear, but still she didn't budge.

"I promise that I'm not going to burn the kitchen down. Natasha exaggerated what happened with Eric. You guys have nothing to worry about. I've got this under control."

Twenty minutes later and you did not have it under control.

After darting upstairs to freshen up you had stepped out of the shower only to catch your first whiff of smoke. Thinking nothing of it you had taken your time in searching for something to wear. But as the minutes ticked by the ashen smell grew stronger until you couldn’t ignore it anymore and when the piercing screech of the smoke detector blared in your ears you had raced downstairs. Tugging your dress on only half aware it was on backwards you skidded to a stop at the edge of the kitchen.

The piercing screech was amplified downstairs as smoke filled the kitchen, billowing out into the living room. Acting on instinct you raced to the oven, flinging the doors open only to be met with more smoke. Coughing, eyes burning with tears you waved it away before reaching for a pair of oven mitts and pulling the pan out.

Burned beyond repair you slammed the pan onto the stove, the thunk reverberating throughout the kitchen. Hours of preparation for tonight ruined in a matter of minutes. Tossing the mitts onto the counter you ran a hand over your hair determined not to cry, but it was so hard when all you had wanted was tonight to be perfect, a small thank you for all the time and thought he had put into your dates and it was ruined.

Letting the screen door slam shut as you left behind the smoke filled house you inhaled the saltiness of the ocean and the sweetness of freshly cut grass. Sitting on the bottom step of the front porch, brain trying to come up with a plan b for tonights date, clean feet getting dirtier by the second as you ran them over small pebbles, loose piles of dirt, grass clippings from early this morning when you had cut it. In the distance you could hear the familiar rumbling of Bucky's motorcycle, the soundtrack to your summer.

Like a child eagerly waiting for the ice cream truck to drive down their block on those hot summer days you stood up, bouncing on the balls of your feet as you watched Bucky effortlessly maneuver the motorcycle to a stop in front of the house. No matter how many times you watched from the living room, peering through the curtains, or standing on the front porch watching him leave you would never get tired of the way he so easily climbed on and off as if the bike was part of him and in someways you supposed that was true. Meeting him halfway the sidewalk burned the bottoms of your feet, but you paid it little mind as you flung you arms around his shoulders, inhaling that familiar scent of exhaust and woods and him. The smells of your summer.

"Hi," you breathed, lips landing on the corner of his mouth as you struggled to break the news to him.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Eyebrows knitted together, callused hands resting on your shoulders before gliding down your arms, gaze scrutinizing your body looking for any sign of injury before briefly glancing to the house.

"I'm fin-,"

"You're not." Sliding his hands up to your face he cupped your still warm cheeks, striking eyes filling with a cloudiness, voice gruff. "Something happened, pretty girl."

Guilt pooled in the pit of your stomach for making him think the worst. "I'm fine."

"That why your dress is on backwards and you're out here waiting for me?"

"Maybe I missed you." Warmth found its way onto your face and though you wished you could blame it on the mugginess of the night you knew it had more to do with the current situation. "Okay, okay, there may have been a little accident in the kitchen, but I didn't burn anything this time. Technically I burned dinner and the kitchen is probably still filled with smoke, but other than that I'm fine."

"This time?" He laughed and like the waves washing away sand castles you could feel the guilt and the worry about trying to impress him tonight washing away.

"I tell you I burned dinner and I ruined our date and the only thing you take away is that I've done this before?" His laughter was infectious.

"You didn't ruin our date," he murmured, offended at the thought that you would ever think that. Dropping his hands from your face he rested them on your waist, tugging you closer to him. It was too hot to be held, but that didn't stop you from resting your head on the burning leather of his jacket or to let out a content sight when he kissed the top of your head.

"I did though." Voice muffled against his chest you pulled back enough to stare up into his eyes. "You've been planning all these amazing dates for us and I wanted to do something nice in return and instead I made a huge mess and dinner was gonna be good, like really good, Bucky. Better than your chocolate chip banana pancakes good."

"That so, pretty girl?"

"Mhm."

"Weren't you the one who said my pancakes were the best thing you ever ate?" Dipping his head down so his mouth was pressed against your ear he whispered, "Weren't you the one who moaned after the first bite? Said they were as good as that orgasm I gave you the night before?"

You swore the temperature rose a hundred degrees on that sidewalk and it had nothing to do with the night air. Opening and closing your mouth you were at a loss for words.

“Hm?”

“Brownies,” you blurted, a twinge of embarrassment working its way through you. “I made some brownies this morning which unlike dinner aren’t burned.”

“Brownies? You trying to distract me?”

Laughing you shrugged your shoulder. “Maybe,” you said, drawing the word out until he was laughing too, until he was leaning down and kissing you, until you momentarily forgot about dinner, until you were so happy you swore you would sink straight down into the cement. “Is it working?”

“Maybe.” Kissing you again, a little longer this time, one hand sliding to your lower back holding you close. “C’mon, I’ve got an idea.”

His idea turned out to be brownie sundaes shared on the patio, double scoops of vanilla ice cream dripping with extra whip cream and enough chocolate sauce to make your teeth ache. Watching as the sky turned from rosy pinks reminding you of the way he’d blush to deep purples that reminded you of the wildflowers that dotted the grassy fields on the drives he’d taken you on outside the city. And when the pinks and purples of the sky changed to deep blue to black, when the stars came out, when your stomach hurt from laughing too much and eating too many sweets you had grabbed his hand, leading him down the steps and onto the sandy beach.

Deserted, stars twinkling above, your bare feet sinking into the damp sand, cool ocean water running over your toes, holding hands, his rich laughter drifting outward when he teased you about Jaws getting you when you dared to wade a little further into the dark water.

Tugging you back to shore, your feet kicking up water, your own laughter joining his when you accidentally splashed him, soaking the bottoms of his jeans. Feet and legs wet, sand sticking to your skin like sugar on fried donuts you stumbled into his open arms deliriously happy.

“Careful there,” he laughed, so reminiscent of that first night you met.

“I’m always careful.”

“That why you burned dinner?”

“You’re never gonna let me live that down either are you?”

“Not a chance.” Pulling you close to his side he wrapped his arm around your waist, your feet sinking into the sand as you continued your lazy stroll along the beach.

Almost back to the house you paused your steps gaze swiveling to the patio where the light was still on illuminating the wicker furniture, the piles of fluffy blankets and oversized pillows you used during your girls nights, the same set that you used when it became too hot upstairs, the fans and open windows doing nothing to cool you off as you slinked down the stairs and settled in for a night sleeping out under the stars. The kitchen light was still off telling you that your friends weren't home yet. Except for the waves rolling against the shore it was quiet out. Down the beach you could see a bonfire, the orange flames dancing in the night as a small group of friends huddled around the warmth.

"Why were you so worried when you came over?" You hadn't meant to blurt it out, but since his arrival and the worry that had seeped from him even after you told him you were fine to the way he had been so tense in the kitchen watching those final curls of smoke float around the ceiling you could tell something had been bothering him.

"I told you," he murmured, voice a little gruff, arm tightening around your waist as he led you in the direction of the stairs.

Holding firm you dug your feet into the sand. "Come on I'm serious. You were weird. I've waited for you outside before and in the kitchen? You saw the smoke and you just shut down. I've never seen you act like that before so talk to me."

Dropping his arm from your waist he said, "'Bout two years before we moved here there was an accident." Silently climbing the stairs after him you shivered when he reached for your hand, pulling you down onto the lush pile of blankets and pillows.

"Got into some trouble with another biker group." Refusing to meet your eyes he stared out at the horizon. "Started off small with fights. Didn't take long for things to escalate. Sure you wanna hear the rest?"

"Nothing you say is going to make me think less of you, Bucky Barnes," you whispered. Lifting your hand to his face your thumb smoothing over his stubbled cheeks and jaw, tracing the plumpness of his lower lip, you smiled softly when he relaxed into your touch and met your eyes.

"They weren't good people, Y/N. It was a small town, they were ruining it by running drugs through. When we got word we tried to stop them and." A pause. A deep breath. A humorless chuckle. "We confronted them, got them to leave and thought that was the end. Couple months later our bar burned down."

Another pause. Another deep breath. Eyes turning downwards. "Nobody got hurt, but they burned it to the ground. Didn't take a genius to figure out who was behind it. After that we left town. Haven't seen 'em since, but tonight when I saw you sittin' on the porch, your dress on backwards the only thing I could think about was they were here and hurt you. Then in the kitchen when I saw the smoke, dunno, guess I went back to that night."

"Jesus," you breathed, at a loss for words. It was the deepest you had ever delved into your pasts and sitting next to him on a floral blanket, the patio light bathing him so that you could see the pain in his eyes, could see the way his shoulders were hunched as if by telling you he was still worried you'd think less of him. Seeing him so vulnerable next to you had your heart shattering. You had heard rumors around town about him and his friends, had seen the way the locals had pointed and stared, but you had never given it much thought when they had been nothing but kind and generous towards you. And when you had asked your friends about it they had simply shrugged their shoulders, murmuring offerings about how it was a small town and rumors spread like fire around here.

"Yeah."

"I meant what I said it doesn't change anything.” The thought of Bucky and his friends getting caught up in another round of fights, of their war escalating, bringing with it the possibility of casualties didn’t sit well with you. “You really think they’d come back after all this time?”

Gently removing your hand from his face he pressed a soft kiss to first your knuckles and then your palm in a gesture that was both calming and sensual. “No,” he finally said.

“But what about other groups coming after you or-“

“Hey, you got nothing to worry about, pretty girl. Haven’t been in trouble since and don’t plan on getting into more. ‘Sides, nothing interesting happens in this town anyway.”

“Really, Bucky?” You asked, trying and failing to hold back your growing smile. You didn’t understand how he could go from talking about something so serious and dangerous to making jokes, but a small part of you was thankful for the lighter conversation. “Nothing interesting has happened here? At all?”

“Well,” he smirked, “Guess one interesting thing.”

“What’s that?”

Your breath hitched when he leaned in closer, your eyes fluttering shut, heart picking up speed at the thought of feeling his lips on yours again. Warm breath against your mouth, fingertips dancing down your jaw and neck, but still, you didn’t feel his kiss. The growing impatience you felt turned to frustration.

“This patio. Most interesting one I’ve seen. Wanna tell me why you guys have so many pillows and blankets out here?”

“Seriously?”

“What?” He asked innocently with a shrug of his shoulders and an infuriating smirk. “Expecting a different answer?”

And this time when he leaned forward he gave you the answer you were looking for in a kiss that left you tasting brownies on his lips and tongue. Breathless when he pulled away you went back for seconds wanting him to kiss away your fears over his past, wanting to kiss away his worries of seeing you on the porch.

“How was that answer?”

“A lot better,” you breathed.

Stretching his body on the floral blanket he spread his arms, an invitation you accepted without hesitation as you curled into his side, feeling instantly safe and at home. Stroking his fingers down your back you let your eyes flutter shut as every beat of his heart and every roll of the ocean against the shore lulled you into a sense of peacefulness.

Your feet were still caked with sand, his jeans still a little wet and when you shivered against him he grabbed a light blanket, draping it over your body so delicately you were convinced it would take a week before your smile faded.

“Sometimes when I can’t sleep I come out here and look at the stars.”

“You ever gonna tell me what’s so special about those stars?”

“Jealous?” You teased.

“No,” he scoffed. “Already showed you I could make you feel better than the stars, pretty girl, don’t tell me you forgot already.”

There was no way you’d ever forget that night,. The way his body had pressed yours into the edge of the blanket and grass, the way he kept laughing, husky voiced reminding you to be quiet. The memories came rushing back and as you buried your head in his chest you now knew it’d take a month before your smile faded.

“I didn’t forget,” you mumbled, face burning as you left out the part about how’d you never forget. In a summer that was already filled to the brim with snapshots of your time together that one was on the top of the pile.

“I always tell people it started when we learned about them in school, but it started earlier than that. When I was a kid I always had trouble leaving at the end of summer. I used to throw tantrums and beg my parents to let me stay here year round and obviously that never worked out,” you laughed. “One year my mom told me that whenever I got lonely and missed the beach and my friends all I had to do was look at the stars and I wouldn’t be lonely because they’d be watching over everything I left behind. I know it sounds dumb, but I was a child and didn’t know any better. But as I got older it just became this sense of comfort, you know? I’d leave and even miles away from everyone I loved I took comfort knowing that no matter the distance we’d still have the stars watching over us.”

“You never thought about staying when you got older?”

“All the time. When I was a kid I used to picture myself moving here right after graduation and sharing a house with Wanda and Nat and sometimes when I’m having a bad day I dream about packing everything up and coming here, but I’ve got a life back home, a job. My mom is expecting me to take over the business one day. It’s not that simple.”

It was the closest you had come to talking about the end of summer and with a pang in your chest you realized for the first time just how hard it was going to be saying goodbye to him. Blinking back the tears you pushed those thoughts to the back of your mind, telling yourself you still had time with him even though it felt like every second was slipping through your fingers.

“That what you want?”

You wanted to tell him he was the first person who ever asked you that, wanted to tell him that before meeting him that was the plan, wanted to tell him that a part of you, a large, scary part of you that was reckless wanted to spend the rest of your life with him, wanted to tell him that even though you didn’t know each other well enough you wanted to settle down making a life with him here in this little slice of paradise. Even to your own mind you knew how ridiculous you sounded. But there was something about him, about the way he made you feel whole, the way you couldn’t get him off your mind no matter how hard you tried, the way those simple good morning texts sent your heart racing and your smile growing so large it hurt your face, the way you never slept so well as when you fell asleep next to him, the way you wanted to grow old with him by your side learning new things about him everyday, the way you were convinced you’d never feel this way about anyone else.

You couldn’t tell him that though. You hadn’t even told him that you thought you were falling in love with him. Instead you softly said, “What I want is to stay like this for a little longer.”

“He’s still here? That’s a good sign means she probably didn’t burn the kitchen down,” Wanda murmured as the headlights of Natasha’s car swept over Bucky’s motorcycle and the darkened front of the house.

“Or it could mean you’re about to walk in on them in the kitchen again,” Natasha retorted. “Or the living room.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Entering the house each of them made sure to make extra noise, stomping their feet, using their outdoor voices in a bid of warning. With each light that was flipped on to illuminate an empty room they became more confident.

“Maybe they’re upstairs,” Natasha said before getting shushed by Wanda.

Sliding the patio door open Wanda lightly stepped out being careful to avoid the creaky boards that would awaken you and Bucky. Slipping her phone out of her pocket she snapped a few pictures of you on your side fast asleep with Bucky holding you to his chest, arm wrapped protectively around your middle quietly snoring.

“Because that’s not creepy at all,” Natasha smirked.

“She’ll thank us for these later.”

Tags;

@nacho-bucky

@redhairedfeistynerd

@19mrs-rogers18

@ceeellewrites

@shawnie--jo

@breakfast-at-kelseys

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x reader #my writing

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freddiesaysalright · 4 years ago

Text

Part of Your World - Chapter 3

Ben!Prince Eric x Mermaid!Reader

Summary: Prince Ben is trying to escape an arranged marriage. A young mermaid wants to escape the sea. Their paths cross and they may just be what the other is looking for.

Word Count: 4.2K

Tag List: @psychosupernatural, @someone-get-a-medic, @bensrhapsody, @deakyclicks, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @minigranger, @crazyweirdocalledfriday, @the-moving-finger-writes, @assembledherethevolunteers, @rose-writes-prose, @queenlover05, @26-7-49, @drowsebaby, @im-an-adult-ish, @queen-paladin, @rogerina-owns-me, @mirkwoodshewolf, @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhye, @radiob-l-a-hblah, @xviiarez If you’d like to be added, let me know!

A/N: I’m sorry these chapters are taking so long, y’all. I have just been having a rough time. I hope y’all enjoy this update, though :D

Warning(s): None :)

Moodboard

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3 here we go!!!

“You were waiting for me?” you questioned.

She snickered humorlessly. “Of course, princess. I keep track of all things going on in the ocean. I hoped you would consult me for help.”

You squared your shoulders. “I’ve heard rumors about you, Sycoria. Your help always comes with a price.”

“Well of course it does, darling,” she practically sang back. “All things have a price, not just my services. How would the world be if you could just get something from nothing?”

She began to slink around you, circling you, her eyes hungrily searching your form. You were apprehensive about this. But you had come this far. And you had to see Ben again.

“So, what is it you know about my desires?” you asked.

“You want the human prince,” she answered. “In order to get him, you’ll have to become human.”

You blinked. “Is that something you’re capable of?”

“Oh, my dear,” she chuckled. “I can do anything.”

“And...and what would it cost me?” you asked.

She stopped in front of you and examined your face.

“There will be two things,” she said. “One for each leg. The first, that pretty ring on your finger.”

“But -”

“It costs what it costs, darling,” she cut across you. “No haggling.”

You remained silent.

“That’s a good girl,” she praised sarcastically. “And get used to that. The second thing I want is your voice.”

“My voice?” you questioned. “But won’t I need my voice to get to know him?”

“Who needs all that?” she returned. “You’re beautiful! What else does he need to know about you?”

“I just think we should have some common interests and -”

She cut you off again. “Listen, girl. Men on the surface are not interested in a woman’s opinion or interests. You’re better off using that pretty face of yours.”

You frowned. That didn’t sound right to you. There was no way Ben had that view and tolerated Behati at the same time. Even if human society in general felt it, that was not Ben. But, that probably wasn’t relevant to Sycoria. You decided not to argue the point any further. Besides, who needed a voice when your souls had already met? You could find a way to communicate.

“Okay,” you said. “So, what’s the catch?”

“I’ll give you seven days to get the prince to fall in love with you,” she said with a sneer. “And he has to kiss you - true love’s kiss. If it happens, you will be a human permanently, and go on your merry way.”

“But if I don’t?”

“If you don’t,” she said. “I turn you into sea foam.”

You gasped and your stomach dropped. That was a rather harsh alternative! Conflict stirred within you. If you accomplished this, you would have all you ever wanted. But if you didn’t, there was a horrifying existence awaiting. Either way, there was no returning to your old life. The only way to do that was to swim away now. But your heart ached at the thought of missing out on your chance for Ben. So that wasn’t really an option.

Sycoria extended her hand.

“Is it a deal?” she pressed.

You observed her outstretched palm and hesitated. Your heart was hammering against your chest. There was no turning back now. No matter what happened, your life would never be the same. And you didn’t want it to be.

“It’s a deal.”

She let out a wicked cackle as she took your hand. A gold thread appeared above your arms and wrapped itself around your clasped hands. It tightened on you and it felt warm against your skin. Sycoria waved her free hand above it and began to chant in a language you did not understand.

Ben’s ring floated off your hand and slid itself onto Sycoria’s finger. Water began to swirl around the fins at the bottom of your tail. The whirlpool rose up around you, except for the hand still attached to the sea witch’s.

Your tail began to heat up. You looked down and saw it glowing the same gold as the string that sealed your agreement. You watched as the fins and scales twisted up and deformed. Magically, your tail began to split in half. It wasn’t painful, but you did feel an odd ache as your scales disappeared and smooth skin took its place. Suddenly, you had thighs, knees, ankles, feet! You almost gasped, but you couldn’t. Not with fully human lungs.

Sycoria released your hand. The whirlpool began to shoot upwards, taking you with it. It pushed you all the way out of her cave, and then rocketed away. It moved so fast your vision was blurry. That might have also been from struggling to breathe. But you were abruptly far away from her lair, nothing around you for miles. Then, you began a projection upward. You hurtled toward the surface, desperate for air.

When you finally broke through, you gulped it in. Fresh air. It had never felt so precious to you. The whirlpool slowly brought you to the nearby shoreline. Then you felt it. Warm sand. Dazed, winded, exhausted, and alone, you collapsed into it.

***

“There’s an island up ahead where we can stop,” Behati said, checking her map. “We’ve been there before.”

“Are there supplies there?” Ben asked.

“There are no people, but plenty of animals,” she explained. “Wild turkeys and the like. Plus, fresh fruits. We stocked up in your harbor, but I’d like some more things. Plus, we can give the girls some time off the ship.”

He shot her a sympathetic look. She smiled.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, little prince,” she said. “Soon enough, I will find Sycoria and break this curse. Until then, I won’t deprive my girls.”

“I want to help,” he told her. “With finding the sea witch.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in it,” she replied.

“Well, it’s coming from you,” he said. “You’re the most honest person I’ve ever met.”

“That really is saying something, considering I’m a pirate,” she teased.

He chuckled. “I trust you, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m flattered, but we agreed that this was temporary,” she said. “Finding Sycoria could take years, and you won’t want to be here that long.”

“Sure I will!” he protested.

She shook her head. “No, you won’t. Remember that girl that saved your life? Don’t you want to find her?”

“Well, yes, but she might not even be real,” he said.

“How could you imagine a woman rescuing you?” she challenged. “I appreciate you, Ben, but you have your own journey. And I have mine.”

“Maybe I could help you first, and then you could help me,” he suggested.

She grinned. “They are too different, little prince.”

She began to walk away. He frowned.

“Why do you call me ‘little prince’ all the time?” he asked. “I’m not that much younger than you.”

She turned to face him with a smirk. “I may not look it, but I’m actually old enough to be your mother.”

“That old?”

With astonishing speed, she whipped around, removed her boot, and hurled it at him, hitting him square in the chest. He took the impact with a soft “oof” and caught the shoe before it fell to the deck. He could already feel a bruise forming.

“Shut up and get ready to anchor, porky mouth,” she said with a scowl.

He chuckled again and tossed her shoe back to her. She shoved her foot into it and stomped away, slamming the door to her quarters. He laughed.

“I wouldn’t be so amused, Ben,” Ari said. “She may leave you on the island for that one.”

He stopped laughing. “Are you serious?”

She shrugged. Then she moved along to prepare to go to the island.

Before getting on the rowboat, Ben was assured he would be allowed to return to the ship. He joined Kay and Ari in their boat as the crew lowered it down. It hit the water with a soft splash and then the three of them - with two other boats - began to row toward the shore.

The water was smooth, with few waves, so their oars cut through it easily. They were able to reach the shore within minutes.

As they all climbed out and hit the sand, Ben noticed something that made his brows draw together. It appeared to be...footprints. Footprints leading into the woods. He nudged Ari with his elbow as she finished throwing her oar down. She faced him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Look,” he said, pointing.

She followed his finger and saw it too. She whistled and everyone looked at her.

“Ben just pointed out something we all should be aware of,” she said. “Someone else has been on the island.”

They all exchanged a nervous look.

“You’ll see just over there, footprints leading into the foliage,” she went on. “Keep your weapons up and your senses sharp. We don’t know who this person is or what they’re capable of.”

“Couldn’t it be someone in need?” asked Sharna, another crew member. “If they’re alone, they might be a victim of a shipwreck.”

Ben had not considered that. He looked at Ari.

“That might be true,” she agreed. “But if that’s the case, they may be as defensive and guarded as we are. If they’ve been through trauma, they’ll be jumpy. We still have to have the utmost caution.”

They all nodded. Several of them drew daggers, while Ari retrieved her pistol. They all crouched low and started toward the tree line.

You were just heading back to the beach, hoping to see any sign of Behati’s ship. But before that, you needed water and to eat something. You’d found a creek in the jungle, and drank from it to ease your parched throat. On several of the bushes, you found berries. You plucked them from the branches and headed back to the sand to enjoy them.

Walking was proving to be a bit of a challenge. You had to carefully consider each step, and parts of the path were painful against your feet. It didn’t occur to you how much the plant life could prick and poke at you.

Legs were a lot wobblier than a tail. In the water, you didn’t really need balance. But the sturdiness of the ground beneath you was jarring. To have your surroundings be so rigid and unmoving was something you were really going to have to adjust to.

As you approached the beach and the tree line thinned out, you saw that there was already a group of people there. Your eyes immediately found Ben, but you noticed that all of them were on edge as they came toward the trees. They had their weapons drawn and were all staying close together. They hadn’t seen you yet.

You crouched behind a bush, feeling an odd stretch in your muscles. Knees and ankles were strange and not nearly as strong as you had hoped. You had to put down the fruit and use your hands to stay balanced.

Ben took a deep breath as he and the girls stopped just before the trees. He looked carefully among the thick green branches but couldn’t see anything or anyone. It set him even more on edge. Ari was looking back toward the tracks in the sand, brow furrowed. Ben followed her gaze.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“It looks like….whoever this was had trouble walking,” she said. “There are drag marks in the sand too, and places where it looks like they fell. I think Sharna’s right, this is probably someone in trouble.”

“If they’re struggling to walk, they can’t have gone far,” Ben pointed out. “Should we call out so we don’t startle them?”

Ari hesitated. “I’m not sure. They could still be dangerous. I don’t want any of us at risk, either.”

You heard their hushed conversation despite their efforts. Now that their shoulders had relaxed and their weapons had lowered, you felt like now was the time to meet them. You were only a few feet away. Slowly, you pushed yourself up.

Ben and Behati’s crew jumped back when they heard the bush rustle and you rose to your full height. They watched in awe as you appeared before them. It struck you suddenly that they were clothed and you were not. Humans covered themselves. It was a mystery to you as to why, but you stood out enough to feel embarrassed.

Ben had never seen a woman so beautiful. You felt familiar to him, like he had met you before, only he couldn’t place where it was. Something about your eyes gave him the feeling. You held his gaze with such a knowing look, he was certain you felt it too.

“It’s you!” he gasped.

“What?” Ari questioned.

He stepped forward, ignoring her, and he approached you.

“Have we met before?” he asked.

You nodded, beaming.

“You’re the one I’ve been looking for!” he cried.

He reached out for you, and you took his offered hand. To touch him sent such a thrill through your body, you nearly forgot that the others were there.

“Please, you’ve got to tell me your name,” he said.

You started to say it, but no sound came from your throat. In your excitement, you forgot that your voice was gone. You thought for a moment about what to do. Then you decided to try something crazy.

My name is Y/N, you signed to him.

His face fell. The disappointed expression that claimed it broke your heart.

“Oh, I must be mistaken,” he said. “The woman who saved me spoke to me.”

You tried to stay optimistic.

You know sign language? You asked.

He nodded. “Yes. My mother is deaf, so I learned it young.”

That made you smile. He offered a small one in return.

“D’you need help?” he asked.

You nodded your head. He looked you over, realizing just now that you were naked. Your hair covered your chest, the bush you hid behind blocked you from the waist down, but his cheeks still went pink. He shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around your shoulders.

“There,” he said, then turned to Ari. “Should we bring her to the ship?”

“Well, she’s a woman in need, Captain Behati will be happy to help her,” she said. “What did she say her name was?”

“Y/N,” Ben said, looking back at you. “That’s rather pretty.”

Thank you, you signed, your own face heating up now.

“Come on, Y/N,” Ari said. “Ben and I will take you to the ship while the rest of the girls do some hunting and gathering.”

Her smile was gentle. You immediately trusted her. Still holding Ben’s hand, you came out from behind the bush. You stumbled when you moved, and you fell right into Ben’s chest. He caught you in strong arms, with a soft laugh. You looked up at him apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “You’ve really been through something, haven’t you?”

You nodded slowly. He helped you steady yourself, and the three of you headed back down the beach toward the row boat. He had to assist you into it, but you didn’t mind at all. You settled onto the little bench seat, wrapping his coat tighter around your shoulders. It smelled so nice. Something you didn’t notice the last time you were close to him.

“I’ll row,” Ari said, picking up the oar before Ben could. “You need to be resting that arm.”

“It’s fine,” he protested, but she shook her head. “At least let me help push it.”

“Fine,” she said. “But nothing more after that. You really want to have to get it sewn up again?”

“God, no,” he sighed. “You can row.”

“That’s a good lad,” she said.

You smiled at their friendly exchange. It felt a bit odd once you were on the water to be floating in the boat. You had never noticed how much the water actually moved before. The rocking motion made your stomach churn.

“So, Y/N, how’d you end up on the island?” Ben asked.

Shipwreck, you signed.

You didn’t like to lie, but the truth was too unbelievable.

“A shipwreck, eh?” he continued. “It must have been some journey for you. I didn’t see any debris.”

You blinked, surprised by this observation, but slid quickly back to a neutral expression.

I’m not sure how it happened or where, you signed. There was an explosion, and the next thing I knew, I was on the island.

“That’s scary,” he said. “I’m sorry you went through all that.”

Thank you, you signed.

He put his hand on top of yours and you felt warm.

It didn’t take long to reach the ship. Ben had to help you again, since you struggled to stand up in the rocking boat. However, this time when you climbed up, there was a rope ladder. It was much easier without a tail. Ari came up behind you, and Ben climbed up last. Ari helped you over the edge, and you planted your feet on the ship.

Behati emerged from her quarters when she heard the noise. Your jaw dropped when you saw her. She was so tall, and her skin was so dark and beautiful. She was a living legend, right in front of you.

Then you remembered that she had seen you for that fleeting moment after you rescued Ben. You saw the recognition in her eyes - as well as some confusion at your new appearance - and you shot her a pleading look. She gave you a curt nod. She would not reveal you.

“Captain, this is Y/N,” Ari said. “We found her on the island. Apparently there was a shipwreck.”

“I see,” Behati said. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. But we’re happy to help you.”

“She got on a lot easier than I did,” Ben joked.

“She is not a man,” she returned with a chuckle.

“Well, she can’t speak,” he explained. “But she knows sign language.”

“You know sign language?” Behati questioned, eyebrows raising.

“Yeah, my mother’s deaf,” he said again. “I was raised with it. I’m surprised you know it.”

“I meet all kinds of people, little prince,” she said. “I thought it would be useful to know. There are a few other crew members who know it as well.”

That’s a relief, you signed.

“I bet,” she teased. “Can you imagine only being able to talk to Ben?”

“Hey!” he said with playful indignance.

Their banter made you worry a bit. Could it be possible that Ben and the captain were already attached to each other? You were so certain that you had felt something after rescuing him, but what if it was only gratitude? What if you were doomed to Sycoria’s fate because he already loved another?

“Come,” Behati said. “We’ll get you some fresh clothes and some water, yeah?”

You nodded and followed her to her quarters.

Ben watched you go, feeling an unfamiliar longing in his chest. The way your hair fell down your back and swished when you walked was mesmerizing. The way your hands moved so delicately when you signed charmed him. And your eyes were absolutely captivating.

“How sweet,” Ari joked. “Ben’s got a crush.”

“I do not,” he returned, rolling his eyes.

Inside with Behati, she addressed the elephant in the room.

“So, last time we met, you were a mermaid,” she said. “Although, we weren’t properly introduced.”

You looked uncomfortably at the floor. She pushed some clothes into your arms, then cupped your chin to make you look at her.

“I won’t ask what made you do this, it’s not my business,” she said. “But there’s only one being I know with the power to make such a transformation….Sycoria.”

You held her gaze and nodded.

“Do you know how to find her?” she asked.

You shook your head before you signed, After she transformed me, she sent me away so fast, I was disoriented. I’m not sure how far away the island is from her lair.

“So, she’s in a lair somewhere,” Behati said. “It can’t be too far from here. What do you remember of it?”

Purple, you signed. It glows purple.

“Well, it’s a start,” she said. “Welcome aboard, Y/N. I’ll let you get dressed.”

She started to leave, but you grabbed her arm. She faced you.

Are you and Ben...together? You asked.

It was such an awkward thing. But you had to know now if you were wasting your time. She threw her head back and cackled.

“Oh, sweet sea child,” she wheezed, wiping her eyes. “The only one interested in Ben on this ship is you.”

Your brow furrowed.

“I’ve never wanted a man,” she said. “Nor will I. I have only ever loved women.”

And your crew? They’re all like you?

She nodded. “There are a few of us who enjoy men as well. But most of us don’t.”

I never thought that human attraction was as varied as the merpeople, you signed. We have many couples of varied genders.

“Humans are fascinating creatures, Y/N,” she told you. “I just hope they don’t disappoint you.”

You raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Never mind,” she said with a shrug. “I’ll leave you to it now.”

You took her arm again. Now - a little embarrassed - you signed, I don’t know how to put them on.

She chuckled. “I’ll help you, then. No worries.”

You thanked her and she showed you how to wear everything. They were simple clothes, and she taught you the words for everything - pants, shirt, boots, et cetera. Human garments were surprisingly comfortable, but Behati explained that most human women wore dresses, underneath which were these things called corsets. They sounded horrible to you, so you were grateful to be where you were.

“And one last thing,” Behati said, grabbing a hat and placing it on your head. “Protect that pretty skin from the sun.”

You smiled again at her.

“We’ll need to do something about that hair,” she said. “I can braid it for you if you want.”

You nodded eagerly and plopped yourself down in her chair. She laughed and took her place behind you. You had extremely long hair, and just the few moments you spent on deck showed you the wind was going to be a problem. Thankfully, Behati twisted your hair into two beautiful braids, and you were ready to join the crew.

When you stepped out, Ben and Ari were waiting.

“How does she look?” Behati asked, twirling you.

“Great!” Ben said, enthusiastically. “Although, she looks much too sweet to be a member of a pirate crew.”

Your face flushed and you toyed with one of your braids. He felt his heart skip a beat at your display of bashfulness. He thought you were...cute. Very cute.

“I agree,” Behati said. “But luckily, it’s not permanent. Perhaps we’ll find something more suitable for her at our next stop.”

“When’s that?” Ben wondered.

“Not far from here is a harbor town called Henrietta,” she told him. “We’re going to stop there to pick up things like clothes and weapons. Plus, there’s someone there I’d like Y/N to meet.”

You shot her a quizzical look.

“Not to worry,” she said. “Ben will go with you.”

She explained nothing else, but returned to her quarters.

She’s so mysterious, you signed.

“She is,” he agreed. “But she’s got a big heart.”

You nodded.

So, you began. Was your mother born deaf or did she become deaf later in life?

“She was born deaf,” he said. “Were you born mute?”

You shook your head sadly.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

It’s alright, you signed. It was sort of my choice. But that’s a long story.

“Well, I’d love to hear it someday,” he said kindly.

I want to know more about you, you replied. What’s your mother’s name?

“Asenora,” he said. “My father’s name is James. They’re the king and queen.”

Tell me more.

You coaxed as much information as you could out of Ben before the crew returned from the island. It was nearly two hours of getting to know him. He told you a bit about his childhood and the way he ended up with Behati - since he was unaware you knew the story from your eavesdropping.

“You’re a very easy person to talk to, Y/N,” Ben said.

Probably because I’m not able to interrupt, you joked.

He chuckled. “Well, you said it.”

Not technically, you continued.

He full on laughed. “Look, the girls are coming back. But why don’t we continue this later? It’s been really lovely to have someone to chat to.”

You nodded.

Absolutely, you signed. How can I help?

“Ari and I can show you,” he said.

He took your hand and led you over to her. As the small team returned, it was time to get ready to hoist the anchor and move again. And dinner had to be prepared. Ari showed you how to help, and you were eager to prove you could. As you helped her wind up a rope, you looked over at Ben, who was helping Behati sort the food and game they had collected on the island. He caught your eye and smiled.

What you had felt after your rescue was still there, that much you knew. The only obstacle was getting to a place where you could explain everything to Ben. You just hoped he would believe you. But as you grinned at each other, you were as hopeful as you’d ever been.

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x you #BoRhap #BoRhap cast #borhap boys #borhap cast x reader #borhap cast imagine #borhap cast x you #borhap boys x reader #borhap boys imagine #borhap boys x you #part of your world series

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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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And Everyday: When Life Gives You Lemons, Put Some Vodka in Your Lemonade (Crystal Methyd/Gigi Goode, Jaida Essence Hall/Jan Sport) - Campvanjie

AN: This was originally written for a fic exchange, and posted to AO3 under my now deleted account there on May 1st, 2020. Reposting here, because I’m proud of it, and am clearing old S12 fics from my Google drive. I’m the original author of this work, and there’s absolutely no plagiarism going on!

Summary: Gigi needs a soft place to land after her quarter-life meltdown, and Crystal realizes the happily every after she gave up on, might not be totally out of reach. Meanwhile, Jaida and Jan work on restoring an old barnhouse; because marriage begets home improvement.Prompts: Parenthood AU, Enemies to Lovers, Idiots in Love, and Angst all used to varying degrees.

CW: conversations around divorce/child custody and (past) bullying behavior, character mentions (non-specific) mental health issues as the reason for a past breakup.

“- Ugh, anyway, it’s like 3:30, he’s almost an hour late and I don’t know why the fuck I even got all dressed up just to sit at court being looked at like I’m some cheap bitch-”, Gigi grumbled into her phone. It was pressed against her cheek as she tried her best to juggle her purse and a extra-large coffee held in her other hand, her livid glare captured perfectly in the harsh, white light of the bathroom mirror across from her.

“I dunno, maybe because you have to be there? Kind of the mom thing to do.”, Crystal told her, static edging into her voice.

It was a long-distance call after all, and Gigi had fought against her fingers dialing the number almost by muscle memory. She had only relented once she had gotten through the packed hallway of the courts complex, and almost collapsed into what seemed like the only empty bathroom.

Call Crystal, had been the only thing she could think of do, in between beating her palms against the cool, brick walls, and shaking with sobs she refused to shed for fear of ruining her makeup.

Without missing a beat; Crystal had picked up, her voice always high and slowed, syllables enunciated in a way that had trained Gigi into asking for coffee, like it was spelled with a K, calling her son’s name, with the E in the middle a sharp, upward spike.

Crystal, Gigi realized with a start; was who had taught her to gulp in her breaths to hide herself crying, and shove her fist into her front pocket, to keep herself from shaking so much.

“I know. I know you’re right. I just- God, I’m so sick of it. It just want this all to be over so I can go back to what’s important, and stop feeling like my entire world is crashing down around me."

Crystal laughed, a little too dry for it to be genuine. "Hey, Gigi?"

"Hm?"

"If you- if you wanted, maybe you and the little munchkin could visit? Come see me in Missouri, maybe it’ll get your mind off things."

Gigi’s hands stopped underneath the stream of lukewarm water flowing from the faucet, her eyes meeting her reflection in the mirror. She looked like shit, no matter how much her carefully applied façade remained in place, her gaze jittered around the small room and she had never felt so truly tired in her entire life.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, me of all people should know something about everything falling apart."

Less than an hour later, Gigi found herself dialing Crystal’s number again. She stood outside the courthouse, her glasses misted from the early- evening rain shower as she waited for her car.

Relinquished. She didn’t know whether to laugh, or cry, or take her parents up on their offer to live in their Florida timeshare and disappear off the face of the planet, too.

"He’s not coming because he filed paperwork to relinquish parental rights two weeks ago. In the eyes of the law, it’s just the two of you.”, her lawyer had told her, after finding Gigi just outside the bathroom. Jackie Cox was always dressed in tweed, pastel, pantsuits, dark hair coiffed in buttery smooth curls at the top of her head, her lips pursed in a thin, straight line, as though she was perpetually exhausted.

Gigi supposed that, being one of the city’s longest-serving family court attorneys would do that to you.

“I don’t know how I missed it on the dockets, but I should have told you first.”, Jackie apologized; her hand warm and steady at the small of Gigi’s back as she walked her client back up the hallway.

Gigi grunted, shrugging her shoulders underneath her jacket. “It’s fin- It wouldn’t have changed anything, Jackie. Really, thanks for everything."

She let herself lean against Jackie, letting one of her oldest friends wrap her arms around her, breathing in the scent of Jackie’s honeysuckle perfume on the courthouse steps.

"I’m sorry this happened-”, Jackie started, and Gigi could feel her heart sink to her stomach.

She had never done well with pity, least of all when she truly deserved it.

“Don’t be. Please, just don’t.”

“What are you going to do now?”, Jackie asked, as Gigi stepped out of her embrace, surveying the street before them that was quickly filling with cars and bikes and buses as the work day finished and school let out for the day.

“Right now? Get in an Uber and hope they don’t charge me triple for being late at daycare again.”

Crystal picked up on the fourth ring, and Gigi could hear the sound of a sink running in the background. Water splashed against metal, and the distinct sound of another woman’s voice, screeching with laughter, buzzed through the speakers of Gigi’s phone.

“Whoo- chile, I’m telling you if you come any closer with that flour, I’m gonna-"

"Shit. Sorry.”, Crystal had muffled the phone against her chest, the static only cutting out when Gigi was sure she had ducked into another room.

“How quickly can you get that guest room set up? I’m pretty sure we can make it for tomorrow if I drive through the night.”

“Mom- Mom it’s twelve-thirty-five. It’s way, way, way past your bedtime!”, Destiny crowed from his carseat, kicking at Gigi’s back. His blonde curls were plastered to the side of his face, lips dusted with salt from the bag of chips that Gigi had let him pick out form himself at their last rest stop.

Their entire lives had fit neatly into the sickeningly suburban five-seater that his father had insisted on, the largest luggage case filled with her son’s clothes and bedsheets still having enough room to jostle under his bare feet.

She knew it was impulsive, and stupid, and half-expected the police to pull them over several states away, but as the highways emptied to nothing bur a ribbon of white lines that kept them on the right side of the road, Gigi became more and more convinced she was doing the right thing.

“My bedtime is five-thirty, kiddo. Yours is eight, so you get to stay up so much later.”, she joked easily, never having had Destiny for so many hours, all by herself in the years since he had started preschool.

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense! It’s eight at night and right now it’s morning! Nobody goes to sleep at five in the morning!”, he shrieked, and giggled at his own reflection in the rearview mirror.

“That’s when the garbage truck wakes up!”, he added. Gigi didn’t remember, if he had ever talked so much, his voice jarring and so different from the toddler babbles she had recorded, and kept on her phone to watch on her worst days.

Her textile studio had taken up her days, until her partners had grown tired of Gigi stumbling in at eleven in the morning, unable to force herself to care very much about their bottom line, and the grey, dull world outside until Destiny had come to kick her out of bed.

Afterwards, his father would take her nights, the pressure incessant that they be exactly what they looked like- a family that belonged in a catalog, with a perfectly dressed, perfectly quiet child, money to burn and success in spades; drinking from matching flutes of champagne while Destiny was left alone in his basement bedroom with a baby monitor and his collection of stuffed animals.

Gigi faltered in a sea of plastic smiles and shallow conversations, and at the end of the day, all of her friends who had warned her off marrying her senior-year rebound, giving her life over to the promise of a bright, empty future, had been right.

He wanted to live in a dream, where she was only ever a sidekick; their son nothing more to him than a prop to parade, an filled-in item on a checklist that he had given up without a second thought.

Gigi had named him Destiny, because she liked it first, but second, because it had sounded so good with his last name; that she had never even considered having to change it.

Destiny Goode was a name that sounded like a motivational quote from a caveman, and she briefly wondered, merging on to the next interstate her GPS system highlighted- if a six-year-old would remember his name if she changed it right now.

He could be a Garret, or a Jaden, just like every other boy at school.

A fresh slate with no more questions to be asked, and nothing left to tie her perfect boy to Gigi’s worst mistake.

“-So, she’ll be here at nine-thirty, and we’re all going to be nice as fuck and not make it weird, okay?"

Crystal smoothed down the pleats of her skirt with her palms, her legs crossed in front of her at the breakfast table, as her eyes flitted between Jaida and Jan, who both had forks in hand as they enjoyed the chilaquilles that Crystal had set out for their meal, knowing this was going to be a big conversation.

"Chile-”

“Okay, go back to the part where she broke up with you and then ended up married to darksided Warner-"

"Guys!”, Crystal protested, glaring down at her friends.

Jaida and Jan had bought the barn on her family’s property not even weeks after Crystal had agreed to put it on the market, the decrepit, white-washed wood tower an eyesore along the country highway.

They were the closest thing she had to neighbors, in the wide acres of rolling plains that separated everyone by miles along the road, and it hadn’t taken long for the three of them to grow close.

Together, they had carved a guest house out of the front entryway, laying water pipes and television cable; and were working on renovations to turn the barn’s hall into an event space, with glass lanterns hanging high along the rafters that Crystal remembered walking across like a tightrope when she was a child.

Jan drilled in heavy wood planks to form a catwalk that overlooked the barn floor, which you could reach from the outside fire escape, and Crystal had been thrilled to finally put her years of following behind her father to use, toolbox in hand as she sanded down the reinforced beams holding up the roof.

If Gigi hadn’t called her, Crystal and Jan had a day ahead of them of hauling the shingles from a pallet left by the side of the road, in Crystal’s truck up to the barn, while Jaida had her camera, and a full calendar of Senior Portraits to finish before the end of the school year.

“I know it sounds like a lot, but please, please, don’t make it weird. Gigi always…- She always needed everything to go perfectly, and I hate to say it but… I might be her only real friend. Like, ever.”, Crystal told them, biting down on the inside of her cheek.

Gigi, who for the past few years, had been nothing but a collection of memories that would fire in her brain occasionally, like a slight twinge from an old injury, would be back in the flesh at her doorstep, at any minute. Crystal barely had the time to recruit Jaida’s help in clearing out her guest rooms for Gigi and her son, much less process how she truly felt about offering up her home as their refuge.

Gigi had never responded to the birthday cards she sent for Destiny after his third birthday; barely ever logging into her Facebook page that had been filled with photos of the two of them through college; and seemed to abruptly be cut off after she had gotten married. Occasionally, something would trickle through, a vacation photo of her little family, and anniversary note, a first day at school and a post that asked everyone to go and follow her business page.

For all of the refreshing Crystal did, Gigi’s studio seemed to never upload anything beyond its logo and business hours.

“Nah, listen, I get it, babe.”, said Jaida, a tortilla chip hanging from the corner of her mouth. “People grow and change and we gotta meet them where they’re at."

She nodded towards Jan, who was gulping down her orange juice, with a fond grin. "If you would have told my queen bitch ass when I was in high school, that I would end up married to Miss Team Too Much, I would have stole your man and told the whole school some dirty secret.”, Jaida laughed. “Everybody’s dealing with something, and I was so closeted and angry I was acting a fool for free."

"You were never closeted.”, Jan piped up, her voice rising an octave from normal, making Crystal widen her eyes as she looked to her side.

“Glass closet, honey. Besides, my point is, it’s water under a bridge, whatever we do when we’re young. I love you now.”, she said, pressing a kiss to Jan’s temple as she rose to go take their dishes to the sink. “You ended up turning out to be an amazing woman. I’m sure Gigi’s just the same."

The sun was high over the horizon line when Gigi’s car rumbled up the range road, rocks spraying into the grass as her wheels skipped over the pockmarked dirt.

She had taken Destiny to a hotel waterpark with a free breakfast, the absolute joy and shock on his face more than worth being several hours off of the arrival time she had texted Crystal. He was asleep now, only dressed in a pair of shorts and his sneakers, the buckles of his carseat starting to chafe red against his skin.

Gigi turned left at the barn, towards the yellow-shuttered house she remembered visiting over so many spring breaks and reading weeks, surprised to see two workers, stacking pallets of shingles by the barn door. One was a gorgeous, darker-skinned woman, the sun glittering from the highlights in her hair as she waved over to Gigi, making her grin despite herself.

Crystal’s tiny town had always been welcoming, the huge open expanses of space seeming to make everyone all the more willing to seek a connection- though Gigi would have never guessed that Crystal and her family would ever do anything with the barn, which looked just a little less decrepit than she remembered, so many years later.

She parked by the balcony, just in front of Crystal’s truck, and shook Destiny awake, helping him into the first shirt which she could reach from his bag.

"C'mon, Des. We’re here. Are you excited to say hi to Mom’s friend? She stayed up all night to make you new room!”, she asked, watching as he took in the word around them.

“You have friends?”, he blurted out, so plainly that Gigi couldn’t keep a smile off her face, even if he had probably heard that from a TV show she probably shouldn’t have been letting him see.

“That’s not very nice."

Still, she kissed the top of his head, and helped him out of the car, his tiny hand feeling heavy in hers as they made their way up the stairs to Crystal’s door.

The balcony creaked under their feet, as Gigi raised her hand to press against the doorbell, Destiny tugging against her shirt, pointing up at the colorful strips of cut paper that still adorned the windows, the sun cutting what must have been a stained-glass glow inside the house.

"Snowflakes, like at school!”, he called to her, pressing his face against the windowsill before Gigi pulled him back.

“No, it’s called papel picado.”, Gigi corrected, remembering how Crystal had spent hours at her paper press in the basement of the art rooms in college, a mess of stencils spread across the desk, a chisel and mallet in hand as she studied the pictures her grandmother would send her.

Crystal’s tongue would poke out of her mouth, her pupils blown wide in concentration, oblivious to the darkening sky above her until Gigi would find her, at half-past midnight, standing still wide awake in the middle of confetti slices of cut paper piling around her.

They would kiss, exhilarated and young and alone together, and Gigi would never think anything was wrong until-

“Gigi! Geegs! Look who’s late to their own party!”, Crystal squealed, the door swinging wide open to reveal her; red-brown hair still as wild as ever, piled into a messy ponytail atop her head, and a smile so wide Gigi could see nearly all her teeth. Crystal sparkled with the same craft glitter that had always hung from her fingertips, her cheeks flush as though she’d run from one end of the house to the other.

Her eyes looked bright again, the memory of which was so foreign to Gigi that she took a moment to take it all in, Crystal’s bright skirt and her tight, sleeveless top looking all the more like relics of the summers they had spent together.

“Ahoy.”, she greeted, raising a hand to her forehead in a mock salute.

Crystal giggled.

Giggled, like she always had, and waved them inside with a flourish of her hand.

“Are you mad at me?”, Jaida asked, kicking open the toolbox that she and Jan shared.

They had watched Crystal let the storied Gigi into the house, and decided to occupy themselves with bolting down the side light fixtures in the barn, until whatever was probably going on between their neighbor and ex calmed down enough for Crystal to invite them in.

But, Jan’s temper had grown increasingly short through their day, her drill now clenched in a white-knuckled grip as Jaida held the ladder she was on steady below her, digging in the tool box for the next drill bit she would need.

“Why- the fuck- would I be mad at you?”, she said through gritted teeth, over the sound of the power tool in her hand.

“‘Cause you just said fuck, for one.”, Jaida muttered, her eyes rolling skyward. Her wife had always been a little dramatic, but there was nothing Jaida hated more than the silent treatment, far preferring a knock-down, drag-out, screaming fight to being frozen out for hours with little more than a sharp glance or a silent nodded sent her way.

Jan shrugged her shoulders, her favorite blue and red flannel shirt stretching deliciously tight across her back.

Was Jan teasing her? Was it all some kind of elaborate game that was intended to be finished in their bedroom?

“Well, whatever you’re doing, it’s killing the mood, babe.”, Jaida teased, hoping that Jan would get the hint.

Instead, she dropped the drill from her grip, clattering down the ladder as it bounced on the hard-packed ground. The battery pack popped from the tool’s back, not that Jan could be bothered as she stalked away, ignoring Jaida’s raised eyebrows.

“Hey- hey- you can’t just wreck stuff because you’re having a bad day!”, Jaida called after her wife, looking down at the mess of wires at her feet. “And I don’t know how to fix this shit so-"

She fell silent, as Jan’s steps echoed up the outdoor fire escape, her body disappearing until Jaida could only see the outline of her long, blonde hair, blowing in the wind from the balcony.

"Jan?”, she shouted, following her up the steps. “Hey, I know I fucked up, but you gotta tell me how otherwise I’m not gonna know how to fix it."

"Right.”, Jan scoffed as Jaida rounded the corner, the two of them facing towards Crystal’s house, where a second-floor light flickered on and off several times. “I forgot that everything’s so easy for you, I just have to spell it all out."

"Okay, what does that even mean?"

Jan glowered at her wife, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Why did you tell Crystal the reason you were a bully in high school was because you weren’t out?"

"That’s what this about? Baby-”, Jaida reached forward, her hand only barely touching Jan’s shoulder before her wife flinched away. “I was just trying to make her feel a little better about the whole thing, everything going on with Gigi. I don’t even remember if I was a bully in high school."

"Maybe I do.”, Jan snapped, her eyes flashing up in anger for a split second.

Jaida sighed, looking back over the horizon; where the sun was starting to dip at the back of scattered farmhouses and cottage homes littered accross the plains. “Look- I- I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have brought it up-”

“You’ve never apologized."

"You want me to say sorry?"

It had been years since Jan and Jaida had reconnected, long separated from the people that they had been as children.

Jaida had remembered Jan as an easy target from their first day in kindergarten, a tiny, loud girl who fell into a pattern that followed until Jan had left for college on a musical theatre scholarship, and Jaida had gone to play basketball for a small, comfortable liberal arts college in the heartland. When she had met Jan again; she was another person who shared the same name, at an alumni event where both of them had been invited to promote their respective colleges.

Where Jan had always worn her heart on her sleeve, the woman Jaida had married was confident, and passionate, witty and driven beyond belief.

She hadn’t had a second thought proposing to her, in the middle of the butterfly sanctuary at the zoo in the springtime, kissing her passionately without question at their Central Park wedding, their families both swaying together underneath the canopy of a white tent, to the music of the very first DJ they had found on Google.

"I just want you to- admit that it happened.”

“You’re acting like this was a big deal.”, Jaida groaned. “Baby, we were kids."

"It was a big deal. I thought about the stupid shit you and your friends said, for years after- and you don’t know what that was like."

"Okay- I-”

Jaida sighed, laying her hands on the railing that rounded the balcony, squeezing the metal rung tightly against her palms, the fight seeping out of her as she studied her wife, who looked on the verge of tears.

“Jan- baby, hey, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

Silence fell between them, the sound of the crickets the only thing that cut in between their breaths. Jan buried her face in her hands, elbows resting against the railing beside her wife.

“I know. It’s just, that stuff adds up sometimes.”

She pressed herself into her wife’s shoulder, letting her head rest against Jaida’s arm.

“It adds up the other way around, too. Don’t think it doesn’t.”, Jan whispered, and Jaida finally let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in, her arm snaking around to rest around her wife’s waist. “It’s just a lot of work.”

“Then I’ll work on it, baby. Just tell me what you need.”

Gigi was surprised, at how instantly familiar Crystals kitchen was, breakfast leftovers heaped on top of Destiny’s plate while she quietly accepted a Diet Coke, sipping at the flat beverage as she finally began to relax. Gigi could tell her son was starting to feel sleepy, his eyes losing focus even as he kept lifting his fork to his mouth.

“Cielito.”, Crystal cooed, as she ruffled his curls, passing by the two of them as she moved to shutter the blinds in the kitchen. Destiny clearly thrived under the attention, and Gigi wondered if he had always craved touch, or if he was only a child who was excited by all of the new things around him. The heat was sticky, and Crystal’s brightly painted walls made the whole house look even more like an eternal birthday party, the fridge covered with photos and magnets.

Crystal had never learned to speak Spanish, at least as far as Gigi knew, having begged Crystal to help her pass her class for months when they had been roommates, but she supposed, she must have picked up more of it, with all the time she must have spent with her family afterwards.

“Where are you Mom and Dad?”, Gigi asked, swirling her straw in her Diet Coke. “I should say hi, right?"

Crystal shrugged. "We could Facetime? They were back in Mexico for a while after my Dad got sick, but right now they’re travelling Europe, living the old people dream. I’m sure my Mom still misses you."

Gigi took a deeper breath, her lips pursed as she watched Crystal dump dirty dishes in the sink.

"Is um- are you getting the barn demolished? I saw a couple people working on it outside."

"Oh, that’s just Jan and Jaida. They live there. I sold it a few months ago, and they’re trying to turn it into, like, a wedding hall. You’d love them- they’re the gayes-”, she paused, looking down at Destiny as he tipped his glass of orange juice into his mouth. “They’re super, super in love, and so gross."

Gigi could feel herself start to blush, even though she had started having that conversation with her son almost as soon as he had started to learn to talk.

"I usually have them over for dinner, so you can say hi."

Gigi coughed, swallowing the question that had been at the tip of her tongue since she had spoken to Crystal the day before.

"So? are you seeing anyone?”, she asked.

Crystal shook her head. “I’m not really looking.”, she said. “Still putting the cry in Crystal!”, she laughed. “And you were right, I wouldn’t want to put that on anyone else."

"I- ”, Gigi bit back her reply, not quite knowing if this was a talk she wanted to have, with her son arranging chips on his plate not two feet in front of her.

“Hey- buddy”, Crystal tapped on Destiny’s shoulder, nudging him with her hip. “Go wash your hands in the bathroom. It’s the one with the fish on the door and Star Wars on the curtain."

He looked back up at his mother, Gigi giving him a curt nod of approval as he skittered up the hallway.

"He’s a cute kid, you know? You’re doing a good job.”, she told Gigi, pushing the boy’s chair back in.

“Yeah… mostly not my job, but I’ll pass it on to our last nanny."

Gigi had stood with their plates, following Crystal to the sink where she happily plunged her arms into the hot, soapy bubbles, not caring very much for how her shirtsleeves got soaked in the water, navy fabric clinging to her wrists.

"Seriously. Gigi- look at me.”, Crystal reached around her, shutting off the faucet with a decisive clicking noise. “I don’t blame you for being twenty-one and not sticking around after I flipped out because I didn’t know how to deal with college, and real life and everything. It’s a day by day thing.”, she shrugged, reaching to open a cabinet and put the glasses in the drying rack away.

Crystal’s body was almost uncomfortably close, pressing into Gigi’s side like she remembered them being like, when they had shared their first apartment, having barely enough room for two people in between the fridge and the stove.

“Some days are better than others. But it’s-”, she paused, and smirked, her lips curling into the same wicked grin that Gigi could never shake from her memories, no matter how hard she tried. “No offense, but you’re not important enough for it to have been your fault."

"Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”, Gigi couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head. “Kick a girl when she’s down?"

"Or, some people just have shitty brain chemistry, and other people are assholes. Stop thinking it’s all on you all the time, you absolute flaming fuck-up.”, Crystal told her, her words softening behind her smile.

“Maybe don’t say flaming, but I did fu-"

Destiny padded back into the room, rubbing at his eyes. "Is it adult time yet?”, he asked, his tiny mouth yawning open. “Everyone’s saying all the bad words."

Crystal snickered, turning her undivided attention back to rinsing out the sink, her back turned to the both of them as if to say Gigi was on her own with that one.

"Good night, I guess.”, she muttered, shuffling across the tile towards him.

“See you tomorrow, Geegs. Just don’t forget, there’s always that.”

Gigi laid in bed with Destiny resting half on her chest, her son not wanting to leave her side, once the novelty of their adventure had worn off, and he had started to realize that there was a certain kind of permanence, to Crystal’s rainbow-colored walls, to the laughter from the kitchen that came from Jan and Jaida, who had eyed Gigi with enough suspicion to let it be known to her that she was absolutely not welcome in whatever little world they had built.

Okay, maybe the last bit was just in her head, and she could just introduce herself properly at breakfast the next morning- but she had still jumped at the chance to lock herself in Destiny’s appointed bedroom, pretending that he would need her to fall asleep, even though he had only wanted to cuddle before passing out completely the second that she dimmed the lights.

She scrolled through her phone, mindlessly as her son shifted in her arms, the message bubble beside his father’s name still lit up red with unread texts, that she skipped through to flick past her Instagram feed, landing on Crystal’s profile at the very bottom of her following list. The very first account which she had followed, years ago, and the very last that she kept up with, the creeping intimacy of being under Crystal’s roof, trying to piece together the life she had dropped out of, thicker than the heat of the air around her.

Crystal’s photos were all filtered through something that made them look brighter, more vibrant than the rainy afternoons and damp wetlands that they featured in the background, the captions all long, effusive essays about the importance of showing up to vote, or the beauty of the creek behind her house in the summertime. The most recent photo, featured her lying in a bed of sunflowers, grinning up at the sky, eyes half-shut against the sunlight.

Don’t look right into a solar eclipse!, the caption started, followed by at least a dozen laughing emoji faces, alternating with bright pink flowers. Sometimes life just punches you in the face, dummy! And you just gotta deal with it anyway. Don’t waste a second!

Gigi chuckled, locking the phone and laying it back on the bedside table, trying to move as little as possible as she turned off what was left of the light in the bedroom, and drew herself closer to her son in her arms.

His breathing was steady, his hands reaching for her hair in his sleep.

“Okay, kiddo. I got you.”, she said to nobody in particular, sinking lower in the sheets so she could tuck them tighter around him.

There’s always tomorrow, she could hear Crystal telling her, her voice clear as the dream Gigi was starting to slip into.

The next morning, she would start putting everything back together again.

#rpdr fanfiction #gigi goode #crystal methyd #jaida essence hall #jan sport #crygi #jaida x jan #lesbian au #hurt/comfort #parenting au #s12 #angst #fluff #campvanjie #tw mentions of divorce #tw mention of mental illness

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spearxwind · 5 years ago

Photo

ALRIGHT I can finally post this! The first of hopefully a bunch of big movie cgi monster reimaginings that I want to do. This was also posted one month ago on my patreon, along WIPS and other stuff, so do check it out!!

Anyway, this is the full, in-depth rework for the indominus rex that i worked on during April!! There’s a LOT of thought that went into this. and i mean A SHIT TON. I took the time to write a long ass artist/design commentary (under the readmore, bc its long) to explain all my decisions for this, design-wise!

I hope yall like this :’) I spent an inordinate amount of time perfecting it

Artist commentary - Indominus rex

Okay there’s a lot I want to talk about but let’s start…. at the beginning shall we.

I did this whoooole thing for two reasons: 1. I want to prove that I am at least some good at creature design, and able to do concept art for my things and 2. a lot of movie monsters, particularly ones made by legendary studios, are never…. that great at all. The indominus had SO MUCH promise as a concept, but in the end they wasted her potential and that was really sad; so i took it onto myself to try and make another, wilder take on it.

OH BUT FIRST, DISCLAIMER: The art is in no way meant to be 100% anatomically correct. First bc this thing does not and hopefully never will exist physically, and second because I’m a simple student and can only dedicate so much time to anatomy and such yes.

PART 1. CONSTRUCTION OF THE BEAST

The indominus, according to the movie, is an artificial dinosaur, made from scraps and selected genetics from both a lot of dinosaurs (tyrannosaurus, gigantosaurus, therizinosaurus, majungasaurus, rugops, velocirraptor, carnotaurus and although it is not a dinosaur it also has deinosuchus dna) and some modern animals as well (including cuttlefish, tree frog and pit viper), making it a chimera of sorts.

The first thing you might notice is that.. i gave it a veil! Like a cuttlefish’s swimmy.. fin thing. The whole top part of the indominus is a cuttlefish “cover”, and hence it can do anything a cuttlefish could do (change colors or textures) but only on that part of its body. The movie pulling the ‘yeah it can turn invisible lol’ card was hhhh because we don’t really see it in action (i mean. That’s the point but also not) and it’s kind of wild that it could have just changed its whole body’s color at will so why not put a little more sense into it and just have it be the parts influenced by the cuttlefish? Oh, and a lot of the animals used to make this genetic trainwreck are water dwelling and/or amphibian so… this monster is ALSO amphibian. It can swim really well, and generally do well in water for certain periods of time (it’s still much better suited for land but I digress). I think it’d have used the camouflage ability especially when going along the surface of the water so it’s stark white body doesn’t stand out horribly.

For the head I went with a much more crocodilian approach since it’s supposed to be heavy and wide, however the original design had a bunch of mistakes that i aimed to fix with that too, namely: the jaw joint being literally In The Neck for some reason, made it look frail as hell and like it’d have no strength, and also it had a horribly frail looking, shrinkwrapped neck, which I also took a stab at. (Speaking of shrinkwrapping, they did the same for the skull which. yikes.)

The OG head also had a ridiculous width to it compared to the eye placement, so it wouldn’t have been able to see much at all, added to the fact that it had a really, really small brain case.

In this new version i tried to fix all those things, and added a few aspects from other animals like the eyes being a mixture between slanted frog/snake eyes, and then the cuttlefish horizontal pupil. Biologically and realistically, this wouldn’t make much sense at all but fuck it, it can’t possibly be the worst thing.

The indo I made also has a lot of spikes on its head (as opposed to just two) and they’re all forward facing (as opposed to the OG’s backward facing spikes ???) AND last but not least it has heat pits right below its eyes. Those are from the pit viper and can sense heat signatures (cause i mean. why would you make a dinosaur and specifically mention pit viper dna but then do nothing with that. oh my god.)

I also discarded all the hard scales/spikes on the back in favor of it being able to make new ‘spikes’ with the cuttlefish texturing.

Next item: the arms. In the movie they’re a big part of the dinosaur’s action for whatever reason, it behaves like a half quadrupedal half bipedal creature. Sadly i elected to ignore that. The designers gave it long talons and then justified it by using therizinosaurus, which 1. had bigger talons, proportionately and 2. had bird wrists. So it could NOT have walked on its front legs and that’s the direction i went. Amped the fuck out of those claws, and i gave it the tree frog pads on its fingers (so instead of having to always spear things, it can hold onto stuff by patting it with those) and put some webbing all over bc 1. frog dna, 2. bird dna, 3. cuttlefish dna. I also gave it pin feathers on its forearms, because yeah velociraptor dna. Whoever did the OG design just said ‘yeah we gave it pin feathers from velociraptor dna’ which is what those weird spikes on its neck were, and called it a day.

The legs and tail don’t have that much more going on for them, same stuff. Frog pads and then a couple feathers. The tail itself i imagine is less rounded like we’ve been reconstructing theropods and more crocodilian looking so it can propel itself when swimming.

PART 2. GIVING IT FLAWS

Of course, being a genetic trainwreck, it’s not a Perfect Organism™, so you can see fuck-ups here and there because this thing had so many dna used for it...,

Let’s start with the head (because it’s where most of the items are anyway.)

The fucked up teeth. Those drove me up the entire wall in the OG design because yeah, they were fucked up bc of dna and that was cool! But they also had them all on the outside for some reason?? and they were stupid sharp and small so they didn’t look like many at all… just frail in general. I changed that to have a couple external teeth (croc dna again, tbh i just went with a lot of croc) and then a LOT of teeth actually inside the mouth. Also asymmetrical because, again. fuckt up.

In the mouth too, it’s got two tongues. One is actually functional, and the other (the snakey one) is fused to the bottom of its mouth. Itd still function as a smell sensory organ like an actual snake’s, it just cannot be thwiped out of the mouth.

The hole in its lower jaw is also the snake dna fucking up, making a not-quite-split jaw. It’s not functional either, it’s just a hole. It’s also got a regular opening to flick the tongue out like a normal snake, it just can’t.

I … did not give it scales (i did give it HINTS of scales, but nothing major) Because. yeah i figured it would be less likely to have them in this scenario haha

Also apparently in the movie they said it could manipulate its heat signature and i just scrapped that entirely cause what the fuck. I mean it’s cool but it didn’t do much, i feel like it’d be scarier if they could have KNOWN where this thing was but just couldn’t zone in on it either way bc it was that good at being stealthy.

The colors. The OG design is white bc of the invisibility thing, and it gives it an overall artificial feel that is great. I wasn’t quite able to emulate that because I went for a more naturally colored look, it’s just an albino bastard. Being this color would definitely be a disadvantage since it’d make it visible to everyone, so rather than just go ‘oh god oh fuck’ [turns invisible] and be done it’d have to curl up and position itself so the veil covers any would-be visible parts of it.

And uhh that’s about all I have! Ty for reading!

#windyart #indominus rex #jurassic world #dinosaur #creature design #legendary redesign #i think theres one more thing in this tag but its very very old and im gonna redo it anyway #h idk what to tag this as. i rly hope people like it :')))

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buckthegrump · 5 years ago

Text

Fractured Moonlight on the Sea

Summary: During a storm, a human gets sent overboard and Bucky makes the decision to save the human. It doesn’t take long for him to fall in love with her. The only problem with that is Bucky is a merman and belongs to a different world. So he makes a deal.

Word Count: 4536

Warnings: Angst, mentions of abuse, character death

A/n: because @geosaurusrrex asked me too *not my gif. like i said queen of hell also this is ALL sea’s fault so

The waves had calmed significantly after the storm that had been raging all week.

Bucky’d always enjoyed swimming closer to the surface, especially in the eye of a storm when the moonlight seemed to be at it’s brightest. Bucky knew that the calm wouldn’t last very much longer so he breached the surface to get a clear look at the night sky.

A ship was lingering not too far from where Bucky was. He ducked underwater quickly before realizing no one was paying attention to him or the water. He swam towards the ship and listened to the people above him.

He’d always been curious about life as a human. He watched them as much as he could without getting caught. All of his friends thought he was crazy for being so interested in the lifestyle of humans. The other merfolk thought that humans were silly and unnecessary.

Not Bucky, he marveled at the fact that they lived such short lives and tried to do as much with that short life as possible, but he supposed that it was part of being mortal. With immortality came loss of interest. But the humans, they were constantly changing and evolving.

The people on the deck of the boat above him were pirates from what he could tell, and they were upset that a woman had stowed away on their ship. Pirates believed it to be bad luck to have a woman aboard a ship. So they made her walk the plank.

The poor woman clearly had terrible luck because the storm was staring back up and the crew was getting antsy. A clap of thumber boomed through the night sky and the wind and waves picked back up.

The entire crew was yelling now and after the first big wave crashed against the ship, the woman landed in the water.

Bucky knew two things for sure as he watched her fall to the sea. Number one, that she was never going to be able to get out of this situation without help. And number two, that it was expected of him to leave her alone, let nature take its course.

But that wasn’t the type of merman that Bucky was. Steve would say that he was kind and a protector, that his heart was too big for his own good.

So it was no surprise to Bucky when he found himself swimming towards the helpless human. She was sinking and going down quickly. Bucky swam at full speed towards her and pulled her back towards the surface.

The sun was already rising by the time Bucky was able to find a piece of land to take her to. When they finally made it to shore he laid her down on the beach. He was finally able to look at her. She was beautiful.

She had short red hair that went down to just below her chin, she was a small thing but she looked strong. He wished she would open her eyes so he could see what color they were, or that she was awake so she could tell him her name.

Bucky brushed some of her hair out of her face.

“This is a bad idea,” he muttered to himself. But that wasn’t going to stop him from doing it.

He placed his hands on her cheeks and closed his eyes. The magic that flowed through all merpeople was slight, only enough to help heal someone or something. The group of merfolk that Bucky belonged to mostly healed fish and wales that had become subject to some terrible things. (Another reason his peers found it odd he was so interested in humans, but Bucky had to believe that they weren’t all bad.)

The woman began to cough as she turned over to her side. Although Bucky was infatuated with the human world he was also scared that this woman would see him as a monster. A lot of humans did. So when her eyes started to flutter open Bucky dove back into the ocean.

He swam behind a rock to keep an eye on her to make sure that she made it off the beach alright.

When she was gone he submerged himself to go find Steve.

Steve stared at Bucky incredulously.

Bucky had gotten this look before and knew that Steve was about to start a lecture. So Bucky sat on a rock on the floor of the ocean. He propped his chin up on his hand and waited for his best friend to start spewing out the words that were brewing in his mind.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Steve yelled. A few fish stopped swimming and looked over at Steve who waved them off. “You cannot just go up to the surface and save every human that you come across!”

“It was just woman, Steve,” Bucky said calmly, “And she was forced off her ship because she was a woman and according to the humans having a woman on board is ‘frightfully bad luck’. And she didn’t stand a chance in that storm. What was I supposed to do, let her die?”

Steve kept quiet but Bucky could see the ‘yes’ that wanted to come out of his mouth. Steve pursed his lips, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You’re going to do something else incredibly stupid aren’t you?” Steve asked, eyes still closed.

Bucky grimaced. Steve opened an eye to see his friend’s facial expression.

“Oh Poseidon,” Steve muttered.

Y/n was humming to herself. A pointless tune but the silence in her cave was about to drive her crazy.

An octopus, named Fury, was resting on a piece of coral next to the table Y/n had. Fury was the only company she ever had but she didn’t mind too much. Fury, who was named that way because of his bad attitude, glared at Y/n. She wasn’t sure that he had any other facial expression.

“Fury if you have something to say,” Y/n said as she tucked a little piece of purple coral behind her ear, “just say it.”

“Someone’s coming,” he muttered as he glared towards the opening of the cave.”

Y/n got up from her spot in front of her desk as she did her fin seamlessly transitioned into 8 tentacles. Her surroundings went from light and colorful to dark and grungy. There was a cauldron in the middle of the cave where they had been nothing before.

“You going to kill them?” Fury asked with a frightening kind of glee.

“I don’t even know what they want, Fury.”

Just then a merman swam deeper into her cave stopping at the entrance of her home.

He wasn’t her usual type of costumer. Typically they came in crying or believed they weren’t much to look at.

This one though, this one was calm. And beautiful. He had dark brown hair and a little bit of stubble that lined his jaw. His eyes were bluer than the sea and the top half of his body appeared to be crafted by Poseidon himself. And his tail had so many different colors it was unlike anything Y/n had seen before.

“And what brings you here child?” She asked although he looked to be full grown. “It can’t be that you want to be prettier -” she swam over to him and circled him just to scare him a little bit, “- no, it’s got to be something else. Were you dared to come in here? Offered something if you came in here and stole from me?”

The water around her got darker and darker as she spoke and Fury, who still narrowed his eyes at the intruder now had the smallest grin on his face.

“No,” the merman insisted “I would never -”

“Then what is it?” Y/n floated up so she was above him but put her face right into hers.

“I want to be human,” he blurted.

Y/n lowered herself and the water around her returned to the lightness it’d been when the merman entered.

“What’s your name child?”

“Bucky,” he answered.

“Bucky,” Y/n repeated, she liked the way he flinched when she said it. “Now, Bucky, what could possibly possess you to want to be a human?”

She swam back to her desk and pulled out a book. When he didn’t answer she whipped her head towards him.

“You fell in love.” It wasn’t a question. “Oh, my dear sweet child, falling in love with a human is a dangerous game that I don’t think you’re prepared for.”

Fury snickered next to her and Bucky turned his head towards the octopus before looking back to her.

“Can you do it or not?” He asked inpatients creeping into his voice.

“Careful child,” she warned, “I am still the sea which.”

“Apologies.”

Y/n sat down and studied Bucky. There was something about him that made Y/n hesitate.

“Fine, I will turn you human -”

“Really?” He smiled and somehow became more beautiful.

“But,” he froze, “She needs to kiss you by the sunrises on the fourth day. And I’ll need something in return.”

“But I don’t have -”

“Your voice,” she cut him off, “That’s all I want from you.”

Bucky stared at her for a moment. Y/n almost shifted under his gaze but she stayed still and stared back.

“Deal.”

Y/n grinned at him as the light around him turned pitch black.

Bucky woke up on sand he knew that much. When he opened his eyes, the sun was brighter than he’d ever witnessed. He sat up. It didn’t register at first the bottom half of his body. But once it did he wanted to laugh or say something but when he tried to no sound came out.

He sat on the beach completely naked unsure of how to go about walking.

“This is a bad idea.”

Y/n’s head snapped to the octopus. “No one asked you, Fury.”

“Maybe not.” He continued to swim next to her. “But I’m right and if you’re so set on keeping up the appearance of your evil sea witch persona, you might want to reconsider this idea.”

“I’m only checking on him,” she insisted. “Besides he was different than the others.”

“Oh gods,” Fury whispered.

The two of them rose just enough so their eyes were above the waterline. She looked at Bucky who was sitting on the beach just where the water met the land. He looked. . .happy. Happier than she’d ever seen anyone. He’d also gotten more beautiful, which was a little upsetting to her.

“He really is beautiful isn’t he?” Y/n was speaking to herself but of course, Fury couldn’t go a minute without adding whatever thought was running through his head.

“Do you have the memory of a pygmy?” Fury asked.

“Shut up,” she groaned.

But Fury had a point.

Y/n hadn’t always been known as the evil sea witch nor had she always secluded herself to a cave deep in the ocean where no one dared to go. In fact, she once lived in the heart of the underwater city that she was sure Bucky had come from.

She was well-liked and had many friends.

One day she was speaking with her father about who she would one day marry. Brock, the most desirable merman they knew and somehow Y/n’s father had set it up. But a few days before the wedding, Y/n’s father died a result of a terrible accident.

It was then that Y/n started to see Brock’s true colors and he began to beat and abuse her. He would take every opportunity to abuse her. It lasted a lot longer than it should have and one day Y/n just snapped.

All merpeople had magic, most of the time it was just the ability to heal other creatures. But sometimes, very rarely could a merperson develop the ability to harness any other type of magic. But Y/n had.

One day when Brock was being particularly mean and Y/n was at the point where she feared for her own life, something happened. Whether it was Y/n snapping or her own body unable to take the strain of his blows anymore, something burst from inside her and Brock became a school of Skipjack Tuna. The school of fish darted away from Y/n quickly.

Rumors spread about how Brock was just an innocent bystander of Y/n’s wrath and how she’d been beating him for quite some time. She tried to tell people the real story but no one believed her so she retreated to a dark cave where no one dared to follow.

Since then she’d kept up the illusion of the evil sea witch almost granting someone’s wish but adding something that would make them rethink the deal they were about to make. Bucky was the first person to agree to the deal in years.

So she was curious as to how this would go, Fury could bite her for all she cared.

Fury chuckled next to her as they watched Bucky struggle to stand.

“How is he going to get someone to kiss him if he can’t even stand,” Fury laughed at him.

Y/n didn’t answer nor did she take her eyes off of the blue-eyed man.

“Y/n, I beg of you not to do anything stupid,” Fury said but it was too late, Y/n was already swimming towards the new human.

Bucky was confused as the sea witch that had been described to him as the evilest creature living in the sea emerged from the ocean and silently helped him up to his feet.

He had so many questions he could voice, the biggest one is why she had given herself legs and was currently helping him.

“You’ll need clothes if you’re going to blend into life up here,” she told him softly. With a wave of her hand, he was covered in cloth that felt weird on his body, or maybe it was just his new-ish body that felt weird.

The sea witch stayed with him and helped him learn to walk until he had the hang of it.

“Your legs will be shaky for a while, but I think you’ve got it,” she smiled at him. “Now remember you have until sunrise on the fourth day, that gives you three whole days to get what you need.”

He nodded still so very confused as to why she was helping him. Shouldn’t she be hoping and praying for his demise?

“If you need any help blow into this,” she placed a small shell into his hands, “and I will see what I can do, but I think you’ll do great.”

Bucky turned around and looked at the settlement of humans behind him for a second as bells rung and when he turned back the sea witch had gone.

Finding the girl he’d saved was easy enough. Her name was Natasha and for the first day, he tried to find a way to communicate with her. Luckily he understood what she was saying and he was able to write down his name so she wouldn’t have to guess.

He wasn’t sure how to go about explaining the rest of the situation though, so he just didn’t tell her. Because how was he supposed to say ‘oh hey I’m a merman and I saved you from certain death during that storm and I traded my voice in for legs so that I could see if you wanted to fall in love with me. By the way, you have to kiss me in three days otherwise I’ll die and the sea witch will be in charge of my soul.’ No, He would keep that to himself.

It was the morning of the second day, and Bucky was sitting with Natasha in front of a cafe where everyone frequented to have breakfast or lunch. Natasha had ordered for him, she had said a million times that she was afraid that he wouldn’t like what she had chosen for him.

When they got their food Natasha watched him nervously as he took a few bites.

“Do you like it?” She whispered, he continued to chew as if he were thinking about it.

Bucky nodded his head with a smile on his face.

“Good,” Natasha beamed. “Ok for the rest of the day I was thinking we could -” she stared listing off ideas of what they could do around the city and Bucky was only half paying attention. He knew that whatever they ended up doing he would have fun so long as he was with her.

By the sunset on the second day, Bucky was head over heels with Natasha. He knew it was soon and rather naive of him to be falling so quickly for someone he’s barely met but he couldn’t help it.

Natasha would show him the sights of their kingdom and they would dance together anytime they found a street performer. Bucky knew that he could be charming if the mermaids from back home were anything to go off of. But back then he had his voice. Now, now he just had to hope that Natasha was starting to feel the same way towards him.

He was beginning to think that she might, until the middle of the third day when he saw Natasha run into the arms of another man. Which he would’ve normally brushed off until he watched her kiss him with a passion that Bucky had only ever seen once or twice in his life.

It wasn’t until the sun was just about to set that night when he blew into the small shell that the sea witch had given him.

Y/n had been watching Bucky every chance she got. She’d transformed herself into a small bird to keep an eye on his progress. She was starting to get jealous of woman Bucky was wooing, whose name ended up being Natasha.

It was when she watched the look on Bucky’s face when Natasha kissed a different man that Y/n was unable to take it anymore.

She rushed back to her cave and began looking through all of her things.

“I told you it was a bad idea,” Fury unhelpfully pointed out but Y/n ignored him. She was upset that Fury was right. It was a bad idea to watch him but there was something about Bucky that drew her to him. Something that she hadn’t felt since Brock.

But Bucky wasn’t Brock. Or at least she hoped that he wasn’t.

She looked through every book, scroll, and scrap of paper that she had but found nothing.

As luck would have it, someone else swam into her cave. With no warning from Fury, who seemed to be keeping up his trend of the day of being unhelpful, the merman Steve got to see what so few had.

Y/n had heard of Steve, he was the subject of a few wishes that never actually became deals.

He saw the sea witch not for what she wanted everyone else to see but who she actually was. Someone who’d hidden herself away after the world had wronged her.

“What do you want?” She asked still holding a book that was turning out to be useless.

“I want to get Bucky out of the deal,” Steve spoke.

“What?” Fury asked only to be shushed by Y/n.

“I’ve been watching Bucky after he made the deal with you and I want to get him out of it. It’s not fair that he has to kiss someone who’s in love with someone else. He shouldn’t have to go through with that,” Steve said.

“He should’ve thought of that before he made a deal with a sea witch,” Fury sneered.

“Silence,” Y/n snapped at Fury who sunk back into his spot. She then turned to Steve and slammed the book she was holding. “The squid is right -”

“Octopus,” Fury hissed.

“- your friend should’ve thought of that before he made the deal.”

“There has to be some loophole to get him out of it, please,” Steve begged.

“I can’t,” Y/n said in a softer tone.

“But -”

“Steve, I can’t,” she said again. “I’ve looked for a loophole but I can’t find one.”

“Then I’ll make a deal,” Steve said.

Before Y/n could respond she felt the magic of the shell she’d given to Bucky calling to her.

Bucky sat on the dock waiting. The witch had never actually told him that she would help him, just that she would see what she could do. He should’ve known that it was all a trick. That the witch was truly evil and just wanted his soul to be trapped with the rest of the merfolk souls she’d collected over the years.

He’d been so naive to think that maybe she wasn’t as bad as people had insisted she was. All he wanted to do was let out a scream but he would never talk again. That was the price he paid for his Poseidon forsaken legs.

Just as he was about to toss the shell into the ocean and head popped out of the water next to the dock. He looked down to find the sea witch. She pulled herself onto the dock, she had human legs and was wearing a brown dress with a white apron something that Bucky had noticed was common around the human kingdom.

“Sorry,” she apologized as Bucky helped her up. They stood in front of each other staring. “I was dealing with something but I’m here now.”

Bucky opened his mouth to explain what had happened but couldn’t.

“Oh, sorry,” she said and gently swiped the pads of her fingers across his throat.

“She’s in love with someone else and I don’t know what do,” Bucky whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek.

“I can get you out of it,” the sea witch, who’s name Bucky had forgotten until just then Y/n. How’d he had forgotten her name was a mystery to him. “But I need something in return.”

“Haven’t you taken enough?” Bucky asked he looked at her confused and irritated.

“It’s just how magic works, Bucky,” she said his name so softly he almost forgot that she was a witch. “If I don’t get something from the person who wants it then later something else will be taken from them.”

“You use magic all the time,” Bucky said, “what is taken from you?”

“I’m assuming you know the story of me and Brock.”

“I know what people say happened, that you randomly turned him into a monster. But I also know that not a single merfolk has asked you what happened.”

Y/n stared at him for a minute and Bucky wondered if he’d said something wrong.

“He used to hit me,” she finally said. “And after months of it happening. . . he went too far one night and almost killed me. And so my magic protected me by turning him into a school of tuna. But of course, people wouldn’t believe me so I secluded myself. My loneliness and the trauma I went through is the price I pay.”

“So what price do I have to pay?” Bucky looked at her and she handed him a dagger.

“To save your life, you must take another,” she whispered looking at the dagger.

“I have to kill the one I love,” he said understanding.

“No,” she said and laughed humorlessly. “You wouldn’t do that. I’ve kept an eye on you for the past three days and I hope that I’m right about you. Because I don’t think that you would do that.”

“So what must I do?”

“You have to take the life of the person who loves you.”

Bucky froze. “I don’t have anyone like that.”

“That’s not true, Steve loves you. And he is willing to give his life for you, I know this because earlier today he barged into my home demanding I let you out of our deal.”

“I’m not killing St-”

“You also have me,” Y/n cut him off. “It was stupid of me to fall in love with someone that I’d barely met but I did.”

“Y/n -”

“You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met, and you’re the only person to not assume what happened between me and Brock. You’re also one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I wish we would’ve met under different circumstances because then maybe things would be different. Maybe we might’ve had a chance.”

Bucky who was so confused by everything that Y/n had just confessed cupped her cheek with his free hand. She leaned into his palm and Bucky could almost see it. The two of them being together and happy, maybe they lived in her cave, maybe the people back home would listen to her side of the story and they could live out the rest of their days there.

“I didn’t think I would ever fall in love, so thank you,” Y/n whispered.

Bucky, with the dagger down at his side, leaned over and kissed Y/n. He wasn’t exactly sure why he did it but he liked it, he liked the small smile the dawned on her lips as they moved against his, and he liked when she brought up her hands to rest on his face.

When she pulled away on of her hands dropped. “That one won’t count,” she told him sadly.

The sun was almost done setting and Bucky noticed the tears on her face. He wiped them away, he wanted to say something to her but he wasn’t sure what. Did he love her? He wasn’t sure, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t see himself loving her.

But they were out of time and Y/n pulled him back in for a hug. She whispered something in his ear, it was in a language he didn’t understand.

Before he could stop her, she grabbed his hand that held the dagger and plunged it into her heart.

“No,” Bucky whispered. They were still in an embrace and whispered something else in his ear.

“It’s ok, James,” how she knew his real name he’ll never know, “You’re going to find someone that you love who loves you back in the way you deserve.”

He sunk to his knees still holding on to Y/n. He pulled the dagger out of her and looked at her face. She had a small smile on her face and before he could say anything else to her, her body turned to mist and spread out across the sea.

Now when Bucky looked out he saw the reflection of the sunset on the ocean and it sparkled like her eyes had.

His legs turned back into his tail he removed his human clothes and lowered himself into the water. His heart was heavy for a mermaid who’d he’d barely just met. But he took solace in the fact that every time the sun would set over the sea it would sparkle just for her.

#Bucky Barnes x Reader #Bucky Barnes AU #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x natasha romanoff #bucky x nat #death tw #mentions of death

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falseroar · 4 years ago

Text

The Light Keeper (Part 1)

((Story: William and his friend are finally ready to make the leap from sea to shore. It’s all William has ever wanted, but their last night together in the water may ruin all those carefully laid plans.

Warnings: mentions of blood and a shark attack.

A while back I kind of promised a fluffier fic to balance out the story I posted yesterday, and despite what it sounds like, this is it. This is another WKM Mer AU, a one shot completely unrelated to yesterday’s story, although there are some common elements like the “every step on land feels like knives” thing that I borrowed from Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. It’s a one shot that, um, managed to double in size when I rewrote it, so I’ll actually be posting it in two parts today to make it a little easier to read. Oh! And if anyone is curious, William and the others like him have mer forms based off of nurse sharks, which are apparently pretty chill, tend to stay in one place, and hang out in groups during the day while hunting alone at night, with only larger sharks to worry about.

Part 2 is up now.))

The mer sighed, his thick gray tail stirring the water of the underwater cave as he lay with his head resting on his arms, eyes scanning the rocky surface of the bay’s bottom outside and down below. There was movement in the water, as always, the flash of silver as schools of fish dipped in and out of the current, the waving streams of kelp that together with the brightly colored coral served to hide those not willing to venture out into the open water.

And past all of that, the sudden drop that marked the end of the bay and the start of the vast and dark depths of the ocean.

Here, alone, he felt the sting of just how quiet these waters were now. Sure, there were boats on most days, trailing their nets in the water or dropping those silly-looking traps down, but even today there were no shadows cutting through the waves overhead.

He’d already lost count of how many days it had been since the others moved on, in search of less dangerous waters, not helped by how many times he had drifted in and out of sleep those first few days. There were stories that there had been more mer in these waters, back before the humans settled the bay, but even he could remember when his people weren’t the only ones in these waters, when others from up and down the coast would stop by in their migrations.

Now it was just him and the one he spent every day watching and waiting for, quietly afraid that today would be the day they failed to return.

They were just so…small.

It was the first thought that crossed William’s mind that night, when he spotted the unfamiliar shape moving among the forest of kelp. And fast, he realized when the distant figure froze at his shout before taking off toward the rocks.

He tried to keep up, but by the time he reached the other side of the bay, all he could see was a pair of eyes staring back at him from deep within a crevasse that he would have thought too tight for even one of the young mer to fit in.

“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you,” he had said, but they just pulled further back into the darkness and refused to answer until he gave up and swam away.

Except then he was on the lookout, always keeping an eye on that side of the bay when he ventured out to hunt. He was more than willing to keep his distance, if it meant getting a better idea of the stranger in the bay with a tail and coloration unlike any he had seen before.

“A migrater, probably from up the river that feeds into the bay,” one of the elders of the group had said, when William brought it up. “They move from saltwater to fresh and back again, but I’ve never heard of one on their own before.”

The other elders had looked uneasy at that, sharing a few possible theories, but William had stopped listening at that point. He didn’t waste any time going back to the crevasse, and to the surprise of both the other mer and himself he managed to get halfway in with only a bit of a struggle.

“Have you ever touched grass?!”

If William had been the sort of mer given to thinking things through, he might have realized how terrifying it might be to have a strange and much larger mer forcing his way into your shelter, but then he also might never have heard the stranger speak.

“…What?”

“Grass? The green stuff that just pops out of the ground, like kelp, but it’s…Well, I haven’t seen any up close, but it looks different, does it feel different? Upriver, did you ever see any humans? Did they ever see you?”

Confused, the stranger had slowly answered his questions. Yes, they had touched grass, no, it didn’t feel like kelp. Yes, they had seen humans, but they had always been careful to never be seen.

Of course, that just opened the floodgates for even more questions, some of which the stranger knew the answer to, others they just shrugged at. Until, finally, just as William was about to leave and hunt for the night, it occurred to him to ask one more question.

“What’s your name?”

“…Y/N.”

“I’m William,” he said, reaching an arm into the crevasse to envelop their hand in his own. “I’ll be back tomorrow night, okay?”

Before they could answer, he was swimming away.

That’s how it went for a few months, with the strange new mer gradually opening up and even venturing out to swim around the bay with William, although they never strayed out for long at night. They listened as he told them what little he had been able to learn about the humans of the bay by watching them, listening in to their conversations on the boats or even on the docks of the town when he ventured close enough.

“One day I’m going to go up there,” William had said one night, as they floated on the surface.

Y/N wrenched their eyes away from the rotating light of the tall tower that stood apart from the town, on a patch of rock that jutted out between the edge of the bay and the sea beyond, and followed his gaze to the town itself. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but how?”

“There’s a deep, deep water mer, in the rift where the sun does not reach,” William said, pointing in what he thought might be roughly the right direction. “It’s said that if you’re brave enough and determined enough, you can make a deal with that mer for anything. Including a spell to walk on land. Of course, you have to have something worth offering in exchange, or else I would already be gone.”

“I’m glad you’re still here,” Y/N had said, surprising William. Before he could answer, they scrunched up their nose and asked, “But deep water mer, aren’t they…”

“Absolutely massive, I’ve heard,” William said. He grinned at the smaller mer and added, “They’d probably snap you up as a snack.”

They had shoved him away (or tried to), protesting that they weren’t that much smaller than him, and the conversation had devolved into a bunch of jokes until they gave up and swam away. At the time, neither of them could have imagined that it would be Y/N who ventured down into the rift.

Now, William rose up, visible joy and relief spreading across his face as he spotted the blue of his friend’s tail, the dark shape sticking close to the sand and rocks as they swam. As soon as they reached his cave, William swept them up into a hug.

“William!” They struggled, but not much and certainly not enough to free their self from his hold. “Do you really have to do this every time?”

“I missed you,” he said, only relaxing his grip a little but apparently still enough for them to slip away. “How did it go? Tell me everything!”

They tried not to, but he saw their smile at the now familiar words. Before answering, they swam into the cave and came to rest on the mossy floor with a tired sigh.

“First things first, how is your fin doing?”

“Good enough I don’t think I should have to just stay in this cave all the time,” William answered, but he turned so they could get a good look.

It had been a regular day, dozing on and off with the others, before there was a scream and a flash of blood in the water. Their shelter had always felt safe, but with the snapping and lunging jaws at the entrance it suddenly seemed like a deathtrap.

William didn’t remember deciding, or even thinking before he surged forward and tackled the predator, rough skin tearing at his own as he locked arms around the thrashing body and pulled it away so the others had a chance to flee. He did remember the pain though, when both bodies slammed into the rock and suddenly those terrible, hungry jaws turned on him and tore into his pectoral fin.

Y/N carefully removed the makeshift kelp bandage and studied the wound before admitting, “It does look a lot better.”

“Thanks to you,” William said, and they just shrugged.

Like they hadn’t been the first mer he saw after waking up, covered in bruises and scratches after having somehow fended off that great white shark who had found its way into their waters. Like they hadn’t silently decided to stay with him, allowing the others to move on down the coast. Like they hadn’t tended to his wounds, day after day. Like they hadn’t hunted for him to make sure he had enough to eat. Like they hadn’t returned one day after venturing down into the darkness of the rift, trembling and with their hair sheared off, but bearing two identical shell necklaces on two separate strings.

“I think everything might finally be ready,” they said as they closed their eyes. “According to the deep water mer, that pair of ‘scissors’ was the last of the payment. That, and explaining that the humans call them ‘scissors’ and not ‘two sharp blades working as one.’ Still don’t know what all of that stuff is for, but it’s the last time I’ll have to go down there.”

William ran a hand over the back of their head, feeling the rough edges where their hair had only just started to grow back, and felt them shudder but lean into the touch.

“I should have helped,” he said, not for the first time.

“Going up there is…Walking hurts, William, even when you’re not wounded. That’s why the deep water mer said—”

“That I had to wait until my fin was healed,” William finished. “Y/N, please, I’m ready!”

“…Tomorrow,” they said, closing their eyes once again. “Just let me rest, and tomorrow we can…”

“Leave.” William felt a thrill at those words, but something in his voice made the other mer raise their head and look at him.

“You could still try to find the others,” they said. “It might take time, but we know what direction they went. Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

“Am I sure?! Do you know how long I’ve dreamed of this? Even if—even if I thought I could ever swim like I used to, I don’t want to just find another place to settle down and spend my whole life in. I want to see the world, Y/N, and the deep sea…” William’s fingers brushed his fin and he winced. “Well, it’s never where I really wanted to go, is it?”

They relaxed at that, and William realized they had been worried for him, yet again. After all, they hadn’t asked before venturing down into the rift, most likely because they knew he would never have let them go on their own. He also realized that he wasn’t the only one whose life was about to change.

“What about you?”

“…It’s not like I have anything worth staying down here for,” they said. “Besides, someone has to make sure you stay out of trouble.”

“But isn’t there something you want to go on land for?” William pressed. “You’ve been up there several times now, is there anything worth leaving the water for?”

They took so long to answer that William began to fear there wasn’t going to be an answer, until they said, “It’s…beautiful, in a different way than the water. It hurts to walk, but feeling the grass under your feet makes it feel worth every step. And the music…”

They stopped, smiling at some memory, and William felt the tension easing in his chest. Enough to tease, “Now, I remember there was something about a way to get rid of that pain. What was it again…?”

Y/N turned their head away, but William just swam to their other side and pressed his face close to theirs until they answered. “True love’s kiss can make the spell permanent and banish the pain of leaving your world behind. Apparently.”

He cracked up into a laugh at their expression and the less than enthusiastic way they said it, same way the deep water mer did when they learned that particular part of the spell.

“So, have you found any dashing princes up above?” William asked. “Any fetching ladies catch your eye?”

“William.”

“At least tell me you’ve learned the light keeper’s name.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then what have you even been doing up there?!”

“Getting what we need to survive,” they said, using their tail to push him away. “You keep this up, and I won’t tell you where I hid the clothes.”

“Joke’s on you, you already told me,” William said. They had explained how they had found a place near the shore to hide money and clothing, both of which they had been surprised to find was so easy to obtain in exchange for a few dozen pearls, although neither could figure out why the human in question would want so many.

“Like you were actually listening.”

“I wonder how it works if your true love isn’t a person,” William mused.

Y/N tried not to, but eventually gave in and asked, “Want to explain what that’s supposed to mean?”

“What if my true love is adventure, is exploration, is a little bit of madness every now and then? How am I supposed to kiss that?”

“Carefully.”

William chuckled, and as silence started to descend upon the cave an idea struck him.

“…Let’s swim up to the surface.”

“What? Please, William, I’m so tired—”

“But this could be our last night like this!” William shook their arm as gently as he could. “We can look at the stars together.”

“There aren’t any stars, there’s a storm coming in.”

“Even better!” William tried shaking them again, but they just groaned. “Come on, you love riding the waves. And maybe we’ll see someone?”

His encouraging tone did little to stir the other mer, and after a minute or so William decided it was time for desperate measures.

“Wha—William!”

Y/N’s eyes shot open as they felt the shell necklace go up and over their head, but the other mer just gave them a smile before leaving the cave. As he expected, it didn’t take long for them to catch up and start swimming circles around him as he ascended, eyes on the necklace clenched tight in his hand.

“Be careful with that!”

William answered by putting the necklace on to go with his own before catching the small mer in his arms. “Come on, we should see how your ‘true love’ is doing! Do you think he’ll be wearing the yellow again?”

“He’s not my true love, I don’t even know anything about him,” they protested.

“I know he looks like a clownfish in that getup,” William said.

“He does not! …He looks like a yellow tang.”

William laughed and pulled his friend up with him, until they both surfaced in the midst of huge waves that drew the water up before sending it crashing down, the roar of the swell almost as loud as the wind and thunder overhead. A bolt of lightning split the sky and William felt Y/N’s grip on his hand tighten.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he said, or tried to, but he wasn’t sure if they could hear his voice over the noise. Still, they followed his lead and together they swam along, occasionally allowing themselves to be picked up and carried along with a wave that upon impact would leave both of them spinning along in its currents before another tried to drag them in. Above and below the water, they could hear each other’s laughter, enjoying the ride and the sudden shifts from air to water and back again

In the middle of the bay though, away from the rocks, the waves weren’t quite as rough and the two mer were able to tread water and watch the light spin around the top of the strange tower, illuminating the bay and the sea out beyond.

“Do you think there any ships out there?” William asked, peering out toward the horizon or the little bit of it that could be seen through the roiling clouds and water.

“I hope not,” Y/N said, before suddenly tightening their grip on his hand again. “William, that wave!”

He saw it too, already larger than any of the others before it and gathering strength as it passed through the narrow opening of the bay, drawing in the water until it seemed impossible that they could not see the corals down below. And drawing in the mer too, as they realized when they tried to dive and swim to shelter, only to find themselves rising higher and higher.

Just as the wave crested and began to descend upon the bay, William felt Y/N’s hand slip out of his own.

Once it was over, William found himself alone in the open water, dazed but uninjured. And with no sign of the smaller mer, no matter how far he swam or how much he called above or below water. He resurfaced what felt like hours later but may have only been minutes or even seconds after the crash and called again, tears joining the saltwater in his eyes so that he could barely make out the rocks in the distance. Much less make sense of the sight of the yellow-clad figure moving there, not until it was too late to do anything about it.

((End of Part 1. Link to Part 2.

Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch ))

#markiplier #fanfiction #wkm william #wkm y/n #mer au #wkm damien #mermay #fluff

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twiwrite · 5 years ago

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CHAPTER ONE; 711 DAYS.

This is a house of collections. Artwork, books, instruments, albums, sheetmusic, clothing, exotic plants -- the Cullens have collected a museums’ worth.

Words: 3.7K Warnings: you may develop a cavity after consuming this sugary shit.

CONTINUE READING ON; FANFICTION | A03

FULL PIECE BELOW THE CUT;

FORKS, WASHINGTON SEPTEMBER, 1950.

This is a house of collections. Artwork, books, instruments, albums, sheet music, clothing, exotic plants -- the Cullens have collected a museums’ worth.

In the past few days, I’ve made myself particularly familiar with the clothes. Oh, the clothes! They’ve got closet after closet of coats and shoes and dresses I could only ever dream of wearing -- more than a family of five could ever possibly need.

I’ve concluded that the closet right off the master bedroom is the most fantastic of them all. It’s about the size of the little house Jasper and I shared -- but with higher ceilings, and a nicer paint job.

Every shelf of the master closet is full, every hanger turned in the same direction. There’s every colour, and fabric, and style of clothing imaginable, and each piece is arranged with care and forethought; by season, then by routine. Hats up top. Outfits right below. Shoes on the bottom. Special occasion items are tucked in the back, and their ample jewellery collection is displayed on its own little table. It’s a room fit for royalty, and I’m desperately jealous.

I’d give anything to have a closet like this.

The first time I saw it, I couldn’t contain my excitement. It poured out of me so loud and so pure, that I was compared to a child on Christmas. In the time since, I’ve longed to spend a full day — maybe longer — lost within that fabric forest.

I’ve managed a quick peek every now and then, but each and every time, my plans to explore further are foiled by a Cullen, curious to find their newest housemate.

I see them coming, and I’m back to something less suspicious before anyone catches me in the midst of my foolish little games.

Today is different. I’ve got ample time to explore, totally unencumbered. No one is here except Jasper and I. The Cullens have left for a hunt, and we’ve been trusted to care for their big house of belongings in the meantime. And while I miss my new family -- which I truly do -- it’s nice to just be, without Edward in my head, or Rosalie nervously eyeing my every step. I’ve got room to breathe, if I wanted to.

Jasper and I had planned on using our day to venture towards town without the added pressure of prying tawny eyes, but late last night I saw that his mind had changed -- that he was no longer ready for such an important experiment -- and so today has become a day of adventure right here, in the safety of the big house. I don’t mind. We can try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. We certainly have the time.

For Jasper, a day in means a day lost in Carlisle’s study, with his nose pressed to the page of a book. He’s happy in there. I can feel it radiating through the whole house, like a sweet cross-breeze, and so I leave him undisturbed. Besides -- when Jasper gets a book in his hands, or any good opportunity to learn, nothing will distract him, not even me. Not unless its got a racing pulse.

Luckily, there’s none of that here.

So, really, it’s just me and the belongings.

I take the opportunity to dig deep into Esme and Carlisle’s regal closet. I peek into garment bags and hat boxes, rifle through scarves and gloves and trays full of accessories, and take the time to scrutinize every single piece of clothing.

A few are so new you can still smell the store on them, others are old as me. Some of Carlisle’s suits might be older than that, still. Jasper’s age, at least, and so well-kept that any untrained eye would think they were fresh from the haberdashery.

The older pieces smell of their owners day to day -- for Esme, it’s a plethora of floral scents. Rosehip. Lavender. Peony. All of which she grows in abundance, in the garden tucked up against the house. Carlisle was harder to make out at first, but after spending a few hours lost in his belongings, I managed to place it. Castile soap and antiseptic. Iodine, I think. It’s strange, at first, almost too clean, but then I notice something underneath all that — something cold, and sort of sweet.

I bury my nose into one of his tweed jackets and inhale deeply. The powerful tangle of scents caught on Carlisle’s jacket waft over me and settle in, but I make the point to take another draw — even deeper this time — to try and distinguish each individual odour. First I make out the rich scent of vanillin that oozes from his study, and then it hits me — mint, from the plant sitting on the kitchen windowsill.

Below all that — rosehip, lavender, and peony, all embedded deep in the fabric of his jacket. I smile, and the tweed tickles my mouth. That’s Esme, lingering on. It makes sense — the two are never more than a foot apart. She’s left her mark on him in more ways than one.

Once I’m satisfied, I tuck Carlisle’s jacket back into place and move on to do the same with a particularly lovely sage green dress.

This one is brand new. It still smells of sweaty human hands and nondescript, chemical perfumes.

I keep on digging, and searching, and enjoying, and eventually I land at the table where Esme keeps her collection of trinkets and jewels. I look at them, all shiny and perfect, and I think how lucky she is to have such beautiful things.

I commit myself to just looking — that is, until I notice the glimmer of a pearl tucked beneath the edge of a satin headscarf.

I’ve always loved pearls.

Before I know it, the most pleasing peal-adorned hairpin is resting in my hands.

My heart doesn’t beat, but it does squeeze at the sight.

It feels familiar, like it’s already been mine. Maybe I’ve seen it before, in a vision, or a store, or at some point in the indistinguishable fog that was my human life. It’s small and simple and delicate, and I just know that it’s an antique, too -- maybe a family heirloom!

Oh, I love it. I really, truly love it.

It’d look so swell pinning back Esme’s caramel coloured waves, or tucked into one of Rosalie’s elaborately braided creations.

Me, on the other hand? With hair so spiky, and unyielding, and awful, I’ve always tried to draw attention away from it, not towards. I’ve never bothered with such precious things. Disappointed for the billionth time over the permanence of my choppy locks, I glance into the little mirror situated beside the jewellery tray and take a good, hard look at my boyish appearance.

Maybe if I twist that piece of hair just so, and stick the pin right there -- My vision goes out of focus, and I come to spinning in a room. I’m tucked against Jasper’s chest, feeling warm and good and happy. I can see the floor, and my feet, and the hem of a blue skirt.

Jasper touches something atop my head. “I like this,” he mutters, “it’s pretty. Reminds me of your skin, whenever I can get you out in the sun.”

I blink and I’m back in Esme’s closet.

He likes it.

I look to the mirror again, to check once more if I might find the right spot for such a pin, and in my reflection, just behind me, I spot something very familiar.

Something blue. Well!

That’s all the confirmation I need.

The grin that splits my face in two is an unstoppable force.

Visions like this are my favourite.

When I’m in-tune enough to catch a glimpse into my own future — one that confirms a question or leads me left or right — I know to listen. To pay close attention. If I catch all the details and follow all the clues, I’m more often than not led to a picture perfect moment. One that I would have otherwise missed, if left to nothing but luck.

It’s these self-fulfilling-prophecies that brought me to Jasper. They brought me here.

I tuck the pin into the pocket I’ve sewn into my dress -- I’ll have it back before Esme notices! -- and turn on my heel to march towards the most beautiful thing I’ve found yet.

A dress, pale-blue, and made of tulle, with a tea-length skirt and a ruched bodice. It’s magnificent!

The most tantalizing part? I already know that this particular dress would fit me just right. I’ve seen it!

Still, I hesitate to touch it. It’s not mine.

The same vision flashes before my eyes, like the future calling directly out to me, saying, I already told you, you must! So I must. Who am I to argue an inevitability? This particular future is set in stone. So --

I lurch forward and curl my fingers into the ample skirt, gasping out in utter delight when I do. This here is no common frock. This is a work of art. My simple, curtain-fabric dress seems almost disgraceful now. I want out of it, and into this. Esme won’t mind. I’m sure of it. She’s been so insistent that I use whatever I need, after all. And what Esme doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I make quick work of the change.

The inside of the blue dress is lined with silk. It slides deliciously over my marble skin, like butter melting in a warm pan. I take extra care with the line of buttons running up its back, snapping each one closed as delicately as my fingers will allow. I flatten out the skirt, careful not to pull, and float towards the full body mirror leaned in the far corner.

The dress’ shoulders hang off mine just right. Its bodice hugs my waist like it was tailored just for me. The skirt -- well, the tulle hits just past my knees, and tickles them every time I move. I look beautiful. I look happy and bright that I swear there’s colour in my cheeks.

I look like one of them. A human.

Not just any old human. One of the fantastic ones. Straight from sunny, golden Hollywood. Rita Hayworth. Ginger Rogers. Grace Kelly!

I admire myself for another second, but refuse to rest before my outfit is complete.

Somewhere in the mess of ugly dress I’d discarded on the floor, I find the pearl pin. I bring it with me back over to the mirror, and start fiddling away with my hair. I struggle for awhile, but just when I’m about to give up, my hair submits, and I find the perfect spot to showcase the singular shining pearl against my dark hair.

It even manages to hold down a particularly formidable cowlick in the process.

There.

Perfect.

I want to be content standing here in the closet, where Esme’s dress is out of harm’s way, but my heart aches to find that simple and tooth-achingly-sweet moment I saw minutes ago. I want to find Jasper.

So, armed with the courage only a perfect dress could give you, I venture out into the house.

I wander around in Esme’s blue dress, my head held high. I swoosh down the stairs and dance my way through every hall, with no need for music or party-goers with this magnificent, twirly thing to entertain me. I could go on all night, twisting, and turning, and gliding around.

My one-woman parade ends in the living room, right in front of my second favourite spot. Here are ceiling-high shelves, tirelessly cradling a collection of vinyl records that spans through genres and decades. There are singles, and extended plays, and soundtracks, all lovingly forced into each and every measly inch of storage space. And even that’s not enough to contain this particular collection — down at my feet are more piles, stacking up towards the hem of my dress.

Any second, the weight of it all is going to rip through the floor. I’ve never known a vampire to accumulate so many things. Then again -- I’ve never really known any vampire, except for Jasper. Maybe a penchant for collecting is normal among our kind, if given the chance. It makes sense. An endless life equates to endless things.

I drag my fingers along the spines of albums arranged at my height. I walk, collecting fresh dust on my fingertips, until I’m stopped by the hard corner of the cabinet positioned alongside their glorious collection.

Sitting on top is a brand spanking new record player.

I’ve had little radios of my own, and spent many hours tucked up beside jukebox in Finch’s diner, but I’ve never stayed in one place long enough to justify owning such an extravagance.

Such a thing shouldn’t just sit, collecting dust.

It takes a little investigation — and a little peering into the immediate future — but I eventually figure out how to bring the player to life. I settle on a record by an artist I’ve heard before, almost everywhere I go.

I set the needle down on the record, more gentle than I was with the buttons on my dress, and wait for the thing to crackle to life. Music follows soon after.

The hearty bass of a big band orchestra shakes dust of the speakers, and they go on flexing in time, like a beating heart.

I turn the music louder, hoping the steady beat might distract Jasper from his books.

While I wait, I close my eyes, and I let the joyous sound shake me, too. It brings me to life, starting in my fingers, until I’m moving head to toe.

I let go of everything else for a moment — I leave the future where it is, and my worries at the door, and I focus on how happy I am right now.

Eyes still closed, I wander out into the middle of the living room and spin myself around, hands outstretched to feel the edge of my skirt fly when I do. I spin again, and again, until something stops me.

I’m delightedly surprised -- something I’m not very often -- to find Jasper there, with a big stupid grin on his face. He catches my hand, effectively stopping me in place.

“How long have you been watching me?” I ask through a fit of giddy laughter. “Didn’t you see me coming?” He teases, staring me down with that feigned-serious look he wears so well.

I hum in response, not interested in explaining how deeply I’ve been enjoying the present. Jasper doesn’t quite get it yet, how big of a burden monitoring the future can be.

He chuckles and lifts his hand to spin me around. I follow his lead, just on time with the beat of the music, and turn until I’m facing him again. Then Jasper pulls me close, right up against his chest, and settles his free hand on my back, just between my shoulders. Each fingertip spreads a calm kind of happy through my being, growing larger and more dominant until all I can feel is what he is.

I understand more of how our powers work now, and how much proximity has to do with it. From afar, Jasper’s emotions might be palpable to me, if he works hard to project them and I work hard to tune him in. Up close, however, it’s all too easy to drown in him. It’s not my doing, and not his. It just is. It was overwhelming at first, feeling enough for two people, but now I’m not sure how I ever existed without this kind of fullness.

We stay quiet and sway for awhile, until Jasper decides to speak. I can feel the finality of his decision coming towards me in the form of a vision, but I push it off, eager to stay right here with him instead. “We should do this more often,” he says, before taking a step back to twirl me again. I tip myself back into his embrace, and nod fervently at his suggestion. “Any excuse, right?” I ask, turning my gaze towards our tightly clasped hands.

Jasper chuckles, and tightens his arm around my waist. “I don’t think we need an excuse,” he says confidently, like it’s obvious.

I shrug, and smile sweetly up at him. “Well — an opportunity, then.”

He nods, and laughs again.

From where I stand, I can see the floor, and my bare feet, and the baby blue hem of Esme’s dress. A familiar type of chill rolls up my spine. Here it comes.

Jasper’s hand lifts off my back and reaches up. He touches the pearl tucked into my hair, just as lovingly as I saw he would, and so I lift my eyes to him like I’m meant to do.

“I like this,” he mutters, “it’s pretty. Reminds me of your skin, whenever I can get you out in the sun.” I grin.

What’s next hasn’t been plotted out, but my mouth seems to find the words anyways. “I hate to break it to you, but there’s not much sun around here.”

He furrows his brows, like he’s seriously considering this new information. “Probably a good thing,” Jasper notes. He touches the little bobble one more time, and then brings his hand back to my waist. After a moment of deep thought, Jasper speaks again. “We’ll just have to make our own sunshine.”

Goodness, he’s great.

Overflowing with his joy and my own, I stretch up as high as I can, on the very tips of my toes, and press a hard kiss to his smiling mouth. Even then, he bends himself in half to reach me.

We melt into each other, a puddle of his emotions and mine. Jasper’s hand leaves my waist to cradle the side of my face and his touch spreads searing want against my cheek. I welcome everything he has to give me, and curl my fingers into the fabric of his shirt to say, yes, please, more.

I’ve always mourned my humanity, but God, I’m so grateful not to breathe. It means Jasper and I could go on like this indefinitely. Forever.

It’s exactly what I want, and Jasper knows that, but he slides back into the role of proper gentleman before his powers get the best of us and there’s no turning back.

He clears his throat.

I laugh.

My head lands on Jasper’s chest and I close my eyes. The music slows to a stop after a while, and the needle against the inner end of the record, where the grooves in the vinyl cease.

Neither of us bother to do anything about it. We stand there in silence, just holding each other, swaying back and forth to the click, click, click coming from the far end of the room. That’s music enough for us.

I feel Jasper shift. His head turns up and his shoulders lower.

Then, another voice shakes me out of Jasper’s arms. “Chronologically, by year. And then by preference, I guess.” Surprised twice in one day! I look past Jasper’s arm to see Edward leaning against the doorframe, smiling at us both with a good and proper grin.

Jasper lets me go and turns around, and I stand and watch as he attempts to match the man’s expression.

“-- since you were wondering,” Edward finishes. He stretches out his smile and stands up straight, then acknowledges me with a solid nod.

Jasper sighs out a nervous laugh. “I was,” he says, forcing his body into a straight line. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he says of Edward’s gift.

“Sorry,” Edward says, unapologetically.

“It’s a wonderful collection,” I offer, snaking an arm low around Jasper’s waist. He relaxes, just a little, so I keep throwing calm his way.

Next into the room is Carlisle, followed closely by Rosalie and Emmett. Esme is tucked between them.

Esme!

The dress!

Before I can hide my crime behind Jasper’s body, I’m caught. “Alice!” She says, her red-painted lips pulling into a smile.

“Oh, Esme -- I’m sorry, I know you said I could borrow a dress or two, but this! --”

“You look absolutely lovely.”

Three surprises — now that’s absolutely unheard of. What a strange kind of day.

“Oh,” I say, hands flying up to fiddle with the bodice. I smile through my embarrassment and mumble a quiet thank you. “It’s yours,” Esme quickly assures. “It fits you like a glove.”

No words leave my mouth, but a wonky little gasp of air does.

Carlisle’s smile pulls wider across his face. He closes the distance between himself and his wife, and takes one hand out of his cardigan’s pocket to rest on Esme’s shoulder proudly. “I agree,” he simply states, “like it was made for you.”

“Oh, I could never!” I argue.

Rosalie looks up from Emmett, who’s sat himself down to pull off his muddy shoes, and she huffs a laugh at me. “You’re already wearing it,” she notes, with a surprising amount of sincerity amongst her usual bite.

Esme eyes Rosalie. “You absolutely can,” she insists, ignoring the blonde’s remark. “Please. What’s mine is yours. You’re part of the family now.”

I look down at the dress -- my dress -- and burst into a fit of giddy laughter. How can I say no to that? I look at the Cullens one by one -- Esme and Carlisle still embracing, Rosalie and Emmett poised just behind them, and Edward smiling that all-knowing-smile to their left -- and then land my gaze on sweet, dedicated Jasper.

This is my family.

For thirty years, I’ve been searching. I’ve been looking, and looking -- scanning through the future and digging to understand the past -- hoping to find some spot in space and time that suits me right.

For so long I searched alone, with nothing, and no one, and no idea where to go.

That changed when I saw a man, scarred and uncertain and spun of gold. It changed again, when I saw a family put together by choice, and by love.

I started on a path that would lead me across the country and back again, with nothing more than hope and a picture in my mind.

I’ve gained so much since then — pieces of myself, determination stronger than fear, a deep, life-affirming understanding of what it means to love, and be loved, unconditionally, with every inch of your deadened heart — but nothing will ever compare to the satisfaction that I feel right now.

I can stop. I can stop wanting, and waiting, and searching. I’m here. I’m finally here, exactly where I’m meant to be.

I’m home, and that is the best thing of all. THE END.

#jalice fic #twilight fic #jalice #alice x jasper #jalice one-shot #SURPRISE!#HERE'S A THING THAT I SHOULDN'T BE DOING BUT I AM!#I have so many ideas running around my head #little moments in the twilight universe that happen between these two nuggets #and I want to get them out #so welcome to all the time #AKA the collection of one shots you never asked for #not totally one shots but like #moments #i call them one shots bc it's going to be completely non linear #you'll get peaks into the past #into the span of jalice life in the midst of the ed/bella twi-through-bd shit #and looks into the ~future~#this is going to be updated SO IRREGULARLY #and im telling you now #but every now and then you'll find a lil something special that's been on my mind #a little hallmark moment if you will #not always this sweet but #OKAY HERE #all the time in the world #TAG:#att #chapter one

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gottawriteanegoortwo · 4 years ago

Text

Mermay - Dilliam - Calming the Merman

After the human sister and merfolk brother had an argument, Mark and William decide they need to step in to try and find a solution. Mark goes to talk to his fiancée, while William makes the trip outside to find Damien. Hopefully it goes well…

Word Count: 1,664

Part One, Part Two.

William carefully made his way down the steps to the rock pool. It was easier to navigate without the clunky boot toppling him off-balance, but it inspired him to consider making a safety railing to make it less treacherous. When he reached the bottom, he noticed that Damien was nowhere to be seen, confirming his hunch that something happened between the siblings. But rather than making it look too obvious that he was checking in on Damien, he pulled out his small notebook and pencil and began making notes. He didn't try being quiet either, as he counted the steps he took to the picnic bench, hummed and muttered to himself about various modifications, argued with himself about the pros and cons of a little wall at the bottom of the walkway, and even opened and closed the chest hidden in the rocks to test the condition of the hinges.

William's knocking of the picnic bench was the last straw as Damien slowly raised his head out of the water. William - who was mid-knock - froze at the sight of the glare he'd get from Celine in a more intimidating mer variant.

"Pray tell there is a reason that you're making such a racket." William gulped, slowly lowering his hand back to the table.

"I didn't think anyone was here, so I thought I'd come down and start planning ahead -"

"Oh, yes. To go with whatever is needed to turn this into my 'home'. You don't need to work on anything. I don't need an enclosure."

"Enclosure?" William repeated with a confused blink. "I'm trying to see how I can weather-and-ocean-proof this place. Did you see this bench? It's not even painted, let alone varnished. It'll be ripped apart in a few years." Damien glared at William for several, long seconds before he sighed.

"Fine. Whatever. Just stop being so noisy." He began to move to go back under the water, only that William called his name.

"Wait wait! I need a second opinion. What colour should the bench be?"

"Why should I care? Any wood colour will be fine."

"But it can be painted any colour. The varnish to protect it would go on afterward and that dries clear. We could paint this like the rainbow if you wanted. Well, have a think about it." He was going to leave it at that, but should Damien be allowed to sulk underwater? "Actually, before you go, can you check something for me?" Damien rolled his eyes, but was too polite to simply refuse.

"... What?"

"The rocks. What are the bases like? Will they need any sort of support to keep them in place?" Damien nodded at the request and ducked under the surface.

"The rocks are well grounded. Storms shouldn't knock them," he responded once he emerged, "But you shouldn't put anything in between the rocks either. See how they're shaped? The water has gradually eroded them over the years. It means the water will flow through without causing disruption. Putting anything in the gaps would only create a blockade that would harm the creatures that make their home on the rocks underwater."

"Huh… I never considered that. So is it safe there?" Damien's nod had William quickly taking notes in his book.

"Since the base of the rocks are closer together, it's the perfect spot to sleep without being disturbed. I don't need any sort of shelter."

"I wasn't going to build a shelter," William quickly reminded him.

"Sure. Celine probably told you she wanted somewhere for me to live and feel part of the family, right?" No answer. "Thought so. I'm only giving you the benefit of doubt since all this is new to you, but merfolk aren't the same as humans." William, genuinely interested in what he was being told, moved around the picnic table so he could sit on the ground closest to Damien. "Merfolk don’t live in ‘homes’. Instead, they have nests in a community setting. It's in our instinct to travel throughout the year. The distance and duration depends on the species, from what I've seen. Some migrate to warmer waters, others travel if they desire to breed -"

"Is that why you travel so much?" Damien's glare and raised fins had William whip his hands up in self-defence again. "I'm curious! I'm a man who travels a lot as well!"

"I suppose you might understand better than others, mayhaps." His collarbone fins settled down to their normal position again as he swam forward to lean against one of the rocks protecting the path beside William. "It started from trying to find our distant relatives when I was old enough to make the voyage across the Pacific. Over time, it became fuelled by my need to understand mer culture. Being raised like a human child has its advantages, but I missed a lot of vital skills and cues that would help me as an adult. I had certain habits as a child that my family thought were merely quirks, but they were instincts I was trying to develop, and had to relearn in later years. I couldn't hold it against them - no one in my family knew what to do - but they have a habit of trying to… humanise me, I suppose." Damien rested his chin on the cool rock with a sigh, the tip of his tail idly bobbing up and down.

"In them trying to do what's best for you, they think of it from a human point of view?" At least, that's how William was understanding it. The merman nodded solemnly as his eyes lowered to the rocks.

"It sounds like I'm so ungrateful for everything they've done, doesn't it?"

"I don't think so. You know what's best for you. And I've been tasked to do right by you. So… What would you like done here?" When Damien looked up at the question, William felt his heart tighten in sympathy for the poor merman. "What I mean is - can you think of anything that might make this place feel a little more homely by merfolk standard? I've done handiwork in houses before, but never nesting grounds. If we're doing this, it needs to be done right. But I’ll be working in the house first, so whatever needs to be done here will be a little lower down the list. And even then, I have small tasks to do here first - like, did no one think of buying a box with waterproofed hinges? They're already starting to rust. I could probably find paint to have it blend it better into the rocks and -"

"William?" Damien's voice cut the rambling clean in two. "Thank you. It's nice talking to someone who has no experience with any of this but who wants to learn. I feel like you honestly want to listen to me instead of deciding on my behalf. I’ll have a think about your offer." William looked down. The pair locked eyes and smiled simultaneously.

"You're welcome. But between you and me, I'd choose your opinion over Celine's when it comes to the rock pool."

"I'd certainly hope so. This isn't even a rock pool. It's a rocky shore. You see how the rocks slope gradually at the base of the cliff? It would normally be hidden by sand on the beaches you might be used to. A rock pool is a shallow pool of water that forms in rock that has been eroded by the tide over many years."

"Oh. I didn't know that. I thought it was called a rock pool since this section looks a little like a swimming pool surrounded by rocks? You know, the rocks stop the tide pulling you away in this little bit, but then you can go that way into the proper ocean?"

Damien paused, lifting his head to take in the surroundings with a different viewpoint. As he realised that William was right, he giggled. The soldier had to quickly rely on years of military practice to keep a straight face. That sound was unlike anything he had heard before, including previous times Damien laughed. It was music to his ears. He was enthralled.

"I wouldn't be opposed to calling this place 'The Rockpool' for that reason. Mayhaps we could ask Celine to make a sign…. Oh no." Memories of their last conversation came back to him in a flash. "I was so angry at her earlier. Could… Could you fetch her for me? I need to apologise. I should know better than to lose my temper. It isn't right." As much as he wanted to continue talking to William, he needed to set things right. William seemed to agree as he slowly climbed to his feet and stretched.

"Clearing the air is a good idea. I can tell you that she doesn't want to build you a house. All she wants is for you to feel comfortable, but perhaps she doesn't fully know what that is since she might actually be thinking from a human standpoint." William slowly shook life back into his legs as he added, "For what it's worth, I'll be doing the work. Whatever happens here will need your approval first. End of." It was a reassurance that worked wonders. He dismissed himself and made his way toward the steps to find Celine.

"Orange!"

"Pardon?" William was barely halfway up the stairs before he spun around to the water. Damien had swum across the pool toward the steps, his demeanour already brighter.

"I want the picnic table to be orange! Some of the corals I love in the nesting grounds are orange."

"Orange it is!" William gave a salute and picked up the pace to hurry back inside. Once out of sight, Damien dove back into the water to quickly do laps and shake off some of the energy that built up while talking to William. What was it about William that made Damien feel like everything was going to be alright?

Was this love?

#dilliam #mermay #mayor damien #william j barnum #writersofmark #(read-more is for tidiness! :D )#(at the very least I'm amusing myself with this series. It's nice to have a little project to write.)#Blue Soul (Damien)#Eccentric Goof (Colonel)

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chibi-pix · 5 years ago

Text

VLD AU - Wishes

Another lovely installation of the mermaid Pidge AU! And with an illustration a little ways into the tale. Well! Enjoy the 2,350+ ficlet in the “keep reading” below.

Pidge looked up at the stars. She knew she couldn’t always have Lance around, he had to return home so people didn’t go looking for him and accidentally find her, it was understandable, but she couldn’t help but miss him when he wasn’t with her. She wondered if this was how others felt when they were in love and couldn’t spend time together.

Love. Weren’t they just friends, though? She was friends with Hunk and Keith, too. But Lance, she felt something different with him. Sure, it was nice listening to Hunk and Keith when they spoke about their interests, but when Lance did, she just listened completely, her attention solely on him; when she would talk about what she liked, he did the same. She liked how he would go out of his way to explain something and she loved the gifts he brought and would put together for her. She loved the different models he had set up in her cave, finding those to be her favourite ones.

She loved the way that Lance was so relaxed around her, able to fall asleep in her hand or on her chest. She never minded, she even thought he was cute when he did that, and she often would find herself singing to him, letting the music give him good dreams. And he even met Matt! Sure, he was understandably nervous about the much larger mer, but he handled the situation fairly well.

Is it… because he likes me, too? Is that why? She thought, thinking of how her parents had told her before that sometimes others will put up with things that they may not like or that frighten them because of someone they love. Can we even be together? I’ve heard stories about others having once been with humans before our ancestors hid themselves, but… they’re all smaller… I’m… She looked herself over. Large. She was enormous. Sure, she wasn’t nearly as big as her parents or brother, but she was still massive, especially compared to humans. To Lance. He was so small compared to her, she could easily hold him in the palm of one hand.

Pidge looked up, watching as a star… no, it was a piece of debris, a meteoroid she recalled Lance informing her, that fell. She then closed her eyes. “I wish I could be closer to Lance… if anything can grant my wish… please… please… I just want to be with him more. Hold him in my arms, not my hands…” she whispered. She opened her eyes again before sighing. She then dove back down, returning to the ship she had her collection and home in. She went to one of the emptier areas and snuggled down in the bottom, looking to the wing from Shiro’s plane.

It may have been Shiro’s plane, but it was because of that plane and Shiro that Lance went looking for her. Alongside the models Lance had gifted her, this was her favourite in her collection. It may have been simple, but it was this simple thing that helped to start their friendship that she hoped was blooming into love.

I wish… I wish… to be with… Lance… she thought as she drifted off to sleep, smiling for she knew Lance was coming back to visit her.

-+-+-+-

“Quit grinning like that. It’s creeping me out.” Keith commented as he sailed out with Lance. “What’s got you so excited anyway?”

“Probably because he’s gonna see his girlfriend?” Hunk smirked, clearly teasing Lance.

“What?” Lance exclaimed. “She’s… she’s not my girlfriend. Just… you know… a girl… and a friend… and...” He was blushing and did his best to hide it. Seeing that, both Hunk and Keith grinned. Yup. Their friend definitely had a crush on the curious mermaid.

“Oh yeah, he likes her.” Hunk sang a bit.

“Falling in love with a cryptid… actually sounds nice.” Keith hummed.

Lance scowled. He did want to make a comment about this being different than Keith’s obsession with Mothman, but if Pidge could exist, why not Mothman? “Anyway! A crush is… tricky right now.”

“A big issue, you might say?” Hunk inquired. Okay, if Lance was sometimes annoyed by Keith’s obsession with cryptids and conspiracy theories, then Hunk’s puns took the cake.

“Really?” Lance inquired, though Keith was snickering a bit.

“Hey, you opened the door to that one, I just walked through.” Hunk defended himself. “Anyway, so what if she’s bigger than you. Much… much bigger. You can still like her, right?”

“Well… yeah…” Lance nodded. He then looked out to the ocean. “Hmm… odd… Isn’t Pidge supposed to be here by now?” He wondered if her brother stopped her. He was definitely the protective sort. Well, that was to be expected, it just meant he cared for his little sister. Mermaids and humans alike, it was nice seeing siblings look out for each other; it showed that their species weren’t too different from one another.

“Maybe she got held up?” Keith suggested.

“Lance? Lance!” The three humans looked. They heard Pidge, but they didn’t see her. They then checked over the side of the boat where Pidge’s voice was. And there she was… but much, much smaller. She did her best to smile when she saw Lance look over the edge, but she looked so panicked. “Lance… I… I don’t...”

“Holy crow… Pidge is… smaller...” Hunk whispered.

“Hold on, I’m coming down.” Lance assured, getting up on the railing and diving off and near Pidge. When he came up, she was quickly against him, hugging him and crying. “It’s okay, Pidge, I’m here. I’ve got you.” he assured, putting his arms around her. Wow. She was actually small enough for him to do that. It was both amazing… and frightening. What happened? How did she get so small? “Do you know how this happened?”

“No.” Pidge shook her head. “All I know is I went to sleep last night, but when I woke this morning, I was all… tiny. Everything is so much bigger than me...”

And that scared her. Pidge was probably used to being one of the biggest creatures out there, suddenly being so small terrified her. He couldn’t blame her for her emotions. Creatures she probably hunted and ate probably saw her as prey now. The ocean was much larger, she probably couldn’t get from one spot to another as quickly as she used to.

“What about Matt? Did you talk to him about this?” he asked softly.

“No… I… I didn’t go look for him… he goes to deeper waters usually...” Pidge mumbled. Deeper waters. It was probably more dangerous to a mermaid who was so small. “I’m so scared… I don’t know what to do...”

And the ocean was dangerous. “Okay, we’ll think of something… we’ve got to.” Lance said. “I mean, you can probably stay close to my place.”

“Um… voice of reason here.” Hunk got their attention. He missed the part about Matt, the two spoke too softly for that, but Lance’s tone was normal again when he made his suggestion. “But the odds of someone noticing Pidge there are very likely. I mean, I get she’s somehow stayed hidden all this long, but...”

“Quiznak… you’re right!” Lance groaned.

Keith was watching them before he spoke up. “Why not the villa?” he suggested. Lance and Hunk gave him questioning and are you serious looks. “Okay, hear me out. She’s small enough, she should fit in the bathtub, right? And it’s just us who lives there.” Sure, they had family near, but the three were given the chance to live alone and pay rent from their part-time work with AARC and the tasks they do there. It was seen as great training for when they may take off to live alone. Or continue to live there, have their own private place on the islands and close to family and friends at AARC. “She can use your room’s bathtub, Lance; it’s upstairs and out of the way, the odds of even Allura stumbling upon her would be low.”

“What about Matt?” Pidge whispered.

“I’ll find him and explain, but you don’t have to go to the villa if you don’t want to.” Lance responded just as softly. He then nodded. “If you want to go to the villa, we can help you there, help find out what happened, and help keep you safe. If you don’t, we’ll still find a way to help you.”

Go with Lance? To his home? Sure, he shared it with Keith and Hunk, but… Lance lived there. Lance may not have noticed, but her cheeks took on an even darker green as she blushed, the webbing of her ears getting stiffer. “You’ll… you’ll look for Matt at times? And let him know?”

“If he doesn’t find and eat me first.” Lance teased, getting Pidge to giggle. Oh good, he could still make her laugh in her tense situation. “But yes, I will. I’ll try to go out a few times a week at least, just to find him. He’ll probably be looking for you, too, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Pidge nodded. “Okay… because this is… scary.” she admitted.

“We can get the boat to the small dock near the villa.” Lance nodded. “I dock there all the time, no one will think anything of it.”

“I can go in and check, make sure Allura’s not visiting, then let you know if it’s clear, then you guys can bring Pidge up.” Keith added.

“Sounds like a plan.” Lance nodded. “Right, Pidge?” Pidge nodded in agreement, trusting Lance and his friends to keep her safe. “Well, let’s get you on board and get back to the island then; if you need back in the water, just let us know, okay?” he asked, swimming around the boat to the gap in the railing so they could get on board. Hunk met them there and helped get Pidge on board, being careful of her fins so he didn’t get hit or hurt her.

“Um… question, can she even be in a fresh water tub?” Hunk asked.

“Fresh water?” Pidge asked. “Isn’t water water?”

“Oh boy...” Lance blinked. He really hoped they wouldn’t need to find a way to get the bathtub’s water to have the right salinity levels for Pidge. Well, they would find out soon enough. He captained his boat to the small dock, typically used to jump off of and swim in the water, but sometimes Lance used it if he decided to not dock at one of the main AARC buildings.

When Keith gave them the all clear, Hunk and Lance worked together, picking Pidge up and carrying her together. It wasn’t that she was heavy, but rather she was still fairly long and they didn’t want her dragging and getting hurt. When they entered the house, Pidge looked around curiously.

A house. A villa, as they called it, but it was still a home. And it was definitely different from caves used by others in the sea. It was really… peaceful. And she liked seeing the photos lining the wall the stairs went up. She soon found herself being brought through Lance’s room.

Blue. Of course it was blue. It looked nice. And it was a bit cluttered, too, though he managed to keep it as tidy as possible. Video games and plush toys alike, the toys were cute, depicting sea life. He really does love the ocean. She thought, her ears twitching happily. And then came the bathroom, blue definitely being a theme for Lance.

“I got the water started.” Keith said. “Pidge, is it fine? Too warm? Too cold?”

Pidge reached. A little cool but very comfortable. “It’s perfect.” she said. Carefully, Hunk and Lance lowered her into the tub and Keith put in a stopper, letting it fill up. Once it was full enough with Pidge in it, the water was turned off. “It’s comfy. And it feels safe here.” Pidge hummed, making herself comfortable. “It feels different from the ocean, but nice. My skin feels smoother in here. And my gills do just fine.”

“So the freshwater isn’t bad?” Lance asked, sitting on the edge of the tub.

“Not bad.” Pidge assured with a nod before putting her head under the surface. Yup. This was nice.

Lance smiled. “Well, you can stay as long as you need to.” he assured, the mermaid nodding, clearly hearing him. “I’m going to step out for a bit, okay? Want me to go to the market and get some fish? Or go fishing?” Another nod, this time more eager. Ah, she must have skipped eating in her panic. “Okay, we’ll do that.” He stood back up before lowering the shower curtain. “So you can close it more easily if you want privacy. We won’t be gone long.”

Pidge lifted her head back up. “Be safe. Come back soon.” she said.

Lance blushed deeply. “Yeah. Will do.” He nodded before leaving the bathroom, letting Pidge pull the curtain shut. “Holy crow...”

“Your girlfriend is living in your bathtub… have fun sleeping at night, buddy.” Keith patted Lance’s back.

“Good luck.” Hunk chuckled.

“Anyway… let’s go get some food for Pidge, she’s probably hungry.” Lance sighed, nudging his friends away. He couldn’t help but smile, even with their teasing. Maybe… maybe it is possible for us to really be together. He thought to himself. But I need to also help her find out what happened… and find Matt to let him know what’s going on; he’d be worried about her.

Inside the bathroom, happily in the tub, Pidge hummed to herself. Her situation was frightening, but she had good friends. Hunk and Keith were very helpful. As was Lance. Lance was amazing, kind… perfect. I’m his size now, too. She added as a thought. It’s not so bad when I think about that part. And I can be close to him. Maybe… maybe my wish came true? She shrugged before shutting her eyes, letting herself doze off in the safe, cool waters and the room that she realized smelled like Lance. It made her feel even safer.

Just as he trust me to keep him safe in the ocean, I trust him to keep me safe here.

Well, here you guys go. And it’s official that Pidge is small! Though how and why, we’ll find out another time. 😉 But now we know that her fitting in the bathtub is official and it’s not just me making people happy with the same size for Plance moments.

Also, as a reminder, installations most likely will be out of order (as they have been before). I write what comes to mind, so I don’t have a full/actual timeline, though it can be relatively easy to guess.

Anyway! Until the next part!

#Pidge #Pidge Gunderson #Lance #mermaid!pidge #mermaid pidge #mer!pidge #mer pidge #mermaid au #VLD #Voltron legendary defender #alternate universe #plance #pidgance #ficlet #fanfiction

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