#I think it might be a green iguana

[slushi-chan]

Bill Paxton as Graham Krakowski in The Vagrant (1992) LEEZORD EDITION

[kaenith]

I'm still making my way sllllooowwwly through Tears of the Kingdom (so please don't mention any spoilers in the tags other than the one I'm about to mention here!) and the dragons are, no surprise, one of my favorite things about it.

Once I got the the bit about the Light Dragon being [spoilers], it was definitely only a matter of time before I designed the FS boys as BotW/TotK style dragons :3

I'm still very much in the early planning stages - I'm not entirely satisfied with Green or Shadow's horn shapes yet, and I'm still working on things like their different face shapes. I like the idea of them each being based off a different real reptile/bird - Red as a ball python, Vio as a raven. I haven't settled on animals for the others yet, so for now I just put in generic-ish dragon head shapes for placeholders. I was thinking snapping turtle for Blue, but it wasn't really working for me. Might try marine iguana next?

[justawritterwithideas]

Who's your daddy? | s.r

summary: After a long day's work, the BAU returns to the head office where they find a stroller with a small baby sleeping and a child very determined to surprise his father… But who's his father?

warnings: too much fluff, spencer!dad, my best attempt at Spencer dad because it's 24/7 on my mind. I REALLY ENJOYED WRITING IT, AAAAAAAAAAA. This story is not spencer x reader, i wanted to try something different so i created a character. I hope you guys like it.

words: 4,241.

a/n: I decided to surprise myself and try the family/family found challenge from one of my favorite writers in the whole universe, @imagining-in-the-margins. I used, I think, one of my favorite concepts which is "secret family/spouse/child" for this little au.

i want to remind you that English is not my first language, so if there are mistakes I hope you will forgive me :( I hope you like it, plus I really enjoyed being able to try something new and outside of what I usually focus my writing on. THANK YOU, TQM.

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Catching criminals is a good way to kill time.

The BAU team knew this perfectly well, that's why they were dedicated to it. Every day was a new experience trying to find and capture the worst of the worst of humanity. Even though sometimes they just wished those freaks would take a day off.

The last case had sent them all the way to Silicon Valley, successfully catching the unsub and making it safely back to the FBI offices.

What they didn't expect was to find their technical analyst and friend, Penelope, gazing in amazement at the inside of a stroller.

"What is that, Penny?" asked Emily, walking up to the blonde figure who was totally engrossed by what she was seeing in that baby carriage. The group approached silently, after seeing the woman's signal for them to come as quietly as possible, and saw inside it.

A small baby was sleeping comfortably inside. They estimated that he was about eight months old; they could see a few strands of thin brown hair that were tousled falling down his forehead, his little nose was puckered and his little hand clenched the tail of a fluffy lion. His outfit was as cute as possible: his body was adorned by a white long-sleeved T-shirt with an iguana on it and a leaf-green overalls, but much of his body was covered by a gray blanket.

"Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Penn looked up, feeling her heart stir. "I went out to greet you and found this beautiful creature. He was sleeping and alone, so I decided to keep him company until someone came to claim to be the father of this beautiful peach." J.J couldn't fall for the charms of that baby, after becoming a mother her Achilles heel was children.

"Was he alone, Penelope, are you sure there was no one with him?" Luke couldn't help but wonder how it was possible that they had left a baby, alone, in the middle of a hallway in a federal building. "Positive, I've been there for about ten minutes and I haven't seen anyone approach him."

The team brought their full attention to the mysterious stroller, looking for some sign of what would be the perpetrators. Hanging there was a gray-colored bag with a small giraffe keychain; inside it was the necessities for any kind of emergency that might happen. Diapers, change of clothes, some food, powdered milk, a bottle, everything necessary for a baby.

"We should check the cameras to see who brought him here" Matt suggested, feeling his nose being invaded by the smell of baby cologne, a very mild and almost hypnotic one.

"It's a blind spot, Matt." Tara replied, noticing how the little guy rolled over and let out an adorable yawn, falling back asleep. "He's too cute." Penelope's eyes seemed to shoot hearts.

"We should move him out of the hallway, it's drafty and he might catch a cold." J.J brought her hands up to the carriage and began to push it, being followed by the rest of the people back to their cubicles.

Despite the movement, the little boy, who was now nicknamed "peach" thanks to Garcia, remained in that deep sleep.

"I wish I had that deep sleep" Emily smiled, looking at peach's features.

He looked like someone.

Who was it?

"I want to go back to those times where my only problem was sleeping and eating" Rossi commented, causing his colleagues to laugh.

"I don't understand how a baby could have gotten up there without anyone seeing him. It's a building full of federal agents, there's no way no one saw anything." Matt nodded at Luke's words. "Let's jump to conclusions, how did a sleeping baby get here? There's no way he pushed his own car to get here." J.J peeled his gaze from the car, feeling a light bulb in his head turn on.

"In the bag there were juice boxes, it is unlikely that they are for him. It is recommended that at twelve months they can only have juice, so they may be from the parent or he has a brother or sister accompanying him" Rossi smiled, nodding at the words the young woman was saying. It was quite logical coming from the mother bear.

"If that were so, where is this responsabl-"

"Excuse me," A high pitched voice interrupted Luke's sentence "I believe you have my brother."

The group turned to see where the voice was coming from. A small figure was standing behind them, he looked quite calm and was running his hands down his brown pants.

The small glasses were drooping down the bridge of his nose, his hair was disheveled just like his little brother's and his hands were arranging the sleeves of his blue hoodie.

"I-is he your brother?" Emily stood at the height of the youngest, who was nodding before he approached the baby carriage and took to watching the little one, inwardly thankful that he remained in his deep sleep.

"I just went to the bathroom and when I came back he was gone." The little boy drew an elongated smile, taking in the faces of everyone around the stroller. " You're federal agents, so I didn't panic too much when I didn't see him."

The boy settled on the floor, taking off the backpack he was carrying and pulled out of it a book, which had in golden letters the title of "The Little Prince." Apparently, it was in French.

"How do you know we're federal agents?" Luke seemed just as surprised as the others, who didn't understand how the youngest could remain calm after taking his brother away, and besides, he knew they were federal agents.

"It says so on your badge, sir" The small hand pointed in the direction of the badge hanging from his pants, causing everyone to turn their gaze to it. "Besides, my mom told me."

"And where is your mom?" Rossi was the one who took the word, smiling at the confidence the young man possessed.

"That's a good question, sir. I'd like to know where she is, too." He shrugged, trying to remember what the woman had told him before leaving him in the hallway of the BAU office. "I know she told me, but at the moment I can't remember. It was too noisy when she said it."

The rest were silent. The little boy was handling a rather formal vocabulary, one that is very strange for his age, plus he looked quite interested in reading his book than paying attention to the rest of the stares.

"Excuse me, sweetheart… But how old are you?" Penelope smiled friendly towards the young man, who took his eyes off his interesting book.

"Five and a half, but many say from the way I talk I'm older."

Luke opened his mouth, surprised at the young age he possessed and that, moreover, he was in charge of his brother.

"What about your brother, how old is he?"

"He's eight months and two weeks old, he's still not close enough to say he's nine months old, so I'd rather be exact."

Emily was increasingly sure that he looked like an exact copy of someone she knows, but she couldn't associate it.

"Even so," Continued the young boy "there's something you guys haven't asked me" the book took a step back, closing it and setting it down on his lap.

"What's that, kiddo?" Tara asked.

"My name or my brother's" The group looked at each other. He was right, they had been so preoccupied with finding out about the person in charge of them or their age that they had overlooked asking his name.

"You're right, that was rude of us, what's your name?" Matt fixed his gaze on the young figure, who was giving them a smile where one of his front teeth was missing.

"I'm Alex, well… Actually my name is Alexander, but my mom and dad call me Alex, except when they're mad." A small giggle escaped Jennifer's mouth. "And my brother's name is Oliver, but we call him Oli."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Alex." Matt's hand extended in the direction of the little boy, who shook it with a smile. "What about you guys, what are your names?"

The group smiled, introducing themselves to each other so that the young boy could remember each name without a problem. After this, the little boy began to repeat the names, making sure he could remember each one well and be able to get each name right.

"Okay, Alex. Now that we know each other, I want to ask you a question" J.J addressed the little one, who gave him his full attention.

"Shoot, Miss J.J" His answer caused everyone to laugh, letting the little guy's charisma win them over.

"What are you doing here? I don't think you decided to come here at nine o'clock at night with your brother and mother just to see the place."

"Well, we actually came to see my dad." Admitted the little boy, adjusting his glasses.

"Your dad? And where is he?" Penelope searched with her gaze, as if she were on her computer looking up the information on her servers.

"It's a surprise! Dad doesn't know we're here, it's the first time we've come to see him at work. I wanted to surprise him so I asked Mom if she could bring me here, and since I've been good, she agreed." Proudly, Alex reached into his backpack for a neatly folded piece of paper. He opened it and held it out to J.J., who was surprised at the grades on that slip of paper.

"Wow, I see only A's here" The printout passed from hand to hand, noting that every course had been passed with the highest grade.

"Yep, even sports! Mr. Adams, my teacher, said I'd been the fastest in the class. Even though I prefer literature, I got along better with letters than balls."

Emily was sure she was a clear copy of the youngest on her team, Spencer Reid.

Wait, where was Spencer?

"Where is Spencer?" Emily turned her gaze to her buddies, who were handing the paper back to Alex so he could put it in his backpack.

"He said he was going to do some stuff on the fourth floor, then he'd be on his way here." Tara replied, turning her attention back to the little boy. "By the way, what's your dad's name? Maybe we can help you look for him, we're the best profiling group in the whole FBI, so we can find him fast."

"His name is Dad!"

"And what's your mom's name?"

"Mom?"

The group went blank. It was clear that a five-year-old wouldn't know what his father or mother's name was. Despite being quite intelligent, to him his parents were called "Mom and Dad."

But it seemed they had managed to summon something, for after mentioning the progenitor of both, little Oliver interrupted their conversation with a whimper announcing that his bedtime was over, plus his beloved mother figure was missing.

"Oh no…"

Alex moved in the direction of the backpack, opening it to look for his brother's pacifier.

The longer they lingered, the louder and louder the little boy's crying got. J.J tried to cuddle him, trying to soothe him while Emily rocked the stroller back and forth and Tara hummed a lullaby.

Luke and Matt were trying to distract him, waving their hands in front of him and making funny faces. Rossi was trying to help Penelope and little Alex with the search for the pacifier, who would occasionally bring his hands to his ears to stop the sound of his brother for a couple of seconds.

But silence came in surprise, causing everyone to stop their actions. Their gazes turned to the baby, who was giving a giggly laugh and wiggling his feet, babbling something. It looked like Oliver was feeling something.

"What's going on here?" a female voice interrupted them, again directing their gaze back.

A tall woman, who was wearing a simple beige sweater and black pants plus black converses, was approaching the stroller. The group of people moved away from her, who was leaving a plastic bag with a box in it on one of the desks and holding the baby in her hands.

She made sure to settle him on her shoulder, stroking his back slowly. Alex smiled, moving closer to the young woman and hugged her side, letting his glasses lift a little from being so tight against her.

"Mommy! Where were you, I thought you'd left me alone forever! Well… Not alone, I was with Oli but you know what I mean." The woman let out a giggle, bringing her free hand to the younger one's disheveled hair and stroked it, feeling the younger one squeeze tighter and tighter.

"Alex, love, I told you I was going to the store to buy Daddy's donuts, don't you remember?" She pushed little Oliver away so she could kiss his forehead and settle him back into the stroller. Her hands, now free, went to Oli's side and took a small pacifier, bringing it up to the baby's mouth, which he immediately accepted to begin sucking on.

"Oh… That's what you told me."

Thewhole group let out a laugh, noticing the little one's rosy cheeks. The woman, now recognized as "mommy", turned to look at the group who had taken it upon themselves to care for her two children.

"Gee, sorry for ignoring you guys." The girl giggled, giving them the same look Alex had given them a few minutes ago, fixing on each one. "Thanks for watching them, I know Alex is responsible, but I'm glad to know there were older ones around."

"You don't have to, Alex was a sweetheart. We were nosy and took his little brother, it was our mistake." Emily admitted.

"That's right, Mommy! I went to the bathroom and they had taken Oli" The young woman simply laughed, kissing the younger boy's forehead before speaking again.

"It's okay, kiddo. They did the right thing, they did the reasonable thing."

"We tried to find out who his parents were, but he told us their names were mom and dad" Alex nodded, looking at his progenitor who seemed quite amused by the whole situation.

Alex took her mother's hand, motioning her to come closer to tell her something. The female complied, listening intently to what her young son was saying before she let out a giggle and nodded, returning to her position.

"Well, actually called me mommy. But before I was called mommy I had another name, pumpkin. My name is Amanda, but at home they call me mommy or baba." Alex opened his eyes, surprised that his mother had another name besides "mommy."

"It's a pleasure, Amanda. I see all your names start with a vowel." Rossi was the first to speak, reaching out to shake Amanda's hand. "Your husband's too?"

"No, he's the exception." The femme admitted, beginning to wave to the round of people standing there.

For a couple of minutes, the group began a pleasant conversation where they talked about the time she was missing. They had jumped to the wildest conclusions, but they knew that at some point they would meet the mother of those two angels.

"Oh, I bought a lot of donuts now that I remember, do you like them? They're my husband's favorite." The woman walked over to the bag, from which she pulled out the box and smiled.

The group appreciated the gesture, beginning to receive and distribute the pastry among those present.

A chocolate-covered doughnut with sprinkles on top was received by each person.

Wait… Her husband's favorite?

Emily looked at the two little ones, then her gaze went to the young woman, then to the doughnut and her eyes went back to the little ones.

Emily could feel her head smoking from the way she worked.

No, it wasn't possible.

Spencer would have told her if it was.

"Excuse me, Amanda…" The mentioned one looked up, fixing her gaze on Emily as little Alex took small bites of his donut and shared it with his mother. "What-what did you say your husband's name was?"

"Oh! I didn't say it, actually." She admitted, taking a bite of the donut she was sharing with Alex. "His name is Spe-"

The answer interrupted by the shout Alex gave, turning away from his mother to run down the hallway for the new presence.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Spencer peered down the elevator, noticing how the small little man ran into his arms and pounced on him.

"Alex! What are you doing here, little one?" He carried the little guy, leaving a resounding kiss on his cheek and looked him in the face. His cheeks were covered with chocolate and his glasses were drooping gracefully down his nose. "Are you alone, who brought you?"

"Mom did!" The youngest was smiling happily, playing with his progenitor's hair. "Dad, did you know Mom has another name besides Mom, her name is Amanda!"

"Yes, buddy. I knew mommy's name was Amanda, but I affectionately call her Mandi."

"I thought you called her Mommy, not Mandi."

Spencer carried his little boy over to the cubicles, finding his work group/friends staring at him with stupefaction on their faces. He was sure their faces were perfect for being part of a surreal painting.

"Spence, surprise." Amanda approached the man, leaving a kiss on his lips and received her husband's kiss back.

"What are you two doing here?" Spencer looked at his family with some surprise.

"Three, daddy. Oli's here too" The little hand pointed toward the stroller, where the movement of the youngest of the Reid family could be heard.

Spencer walked over to the baby carriage, leaving the eldest of the Reid brothers on the floor and peeked out so he could see his little boy, his newest devotion.

"Hi Oli, are you awake yet? Daddy's here." Oliver watched his father with his big hazel eyes, moving his hands so he could reach one of his father's curls. "Hey, buddy. How big are you." The man took the little guy in his hands, drawing him into his body so he could carry him, smiling at the feel of his son's movement stopping as he began to pet him.

The whole group was silent, unable to believe that the youngest of their team had such a well-kept secret.

A wife and two children! How was it possible that even Emily hadn't known about this?

"Spencer…w-what is this? When did you intend to tell us? About your wife, about your children, about-about this!" Emily waved her hands around trying to take in the situation, feeling the pieces of the puzzle coming together on their own.

"I thought Hotch was going to tell you before he left." Spencer looked at the group of people, stopping his gaze on his wife who lifts her shoulders, trying to tell him "don't even look at me, I didn't say anything."

"Clearly he didn't say it" Jennifer looked at her best friend, trying to look as relaxed as possible, but it was impossible, I guess no one was trying to "act cool" at that moment.

"Well, I guess it's time to introduce you to my family." Amanda smiled, leaning against one of the desks as she watched Alex approach her. "This is Amanda, Amanda Reid, my wife" The young woman waved her hand, crossing her arms again with a smile on her mouth. She loved that he said my wife. "This is Alexander Reid and Oliver Reid, Alex and Oli of affection." Little Alex smiled, again waving to everyone with his hand and took what was left of the donut his mother offered him.

"How long have you been married?" Next to speak was Rossi, who felt Hotch had betrayed him by keeping that secret so long.

"Well, married… we've been married for five years. Dating we've been dating for seven…" Amanda turned to look at her husband.

"Seven years, five months and thirteen days." Spencer nodded, looking down at the baby who had just fallen asleep in his arms.

"So…" Matt looked over at Alexander, who looked amused eating the sprinkles on top of the donut.

"Yeah, Alex was a surprise. We knew we wanted to be parents, but we wanted to live together first, and well… The first night of living together caused Alex's arrival." Amanda laughed with her cheeks flushed, noticing how Spencer's cheeks were also filled with that crimson red. "Oli arrived after a couple of tries. We didn't want Alex to be alone and have to read all the books to himself."

"Now he reads Oli to sleep, like the good big brother he is" Spencer smiled, placing little Oliver in the most comfortable place to sleep.

After that confession, the pair settled in at the desk where the woman was sitting.

"I have so many questions I can't process, I really don't understand. So…how come we didn't see this in your apartment when you went to jail? We'd be completely blind if we hadn't noticed." Penelope had gotten to a good point, causing the friends to nod and the pair looked at each other before they could respond.

"It's because you guys went to Spence's old apartment." Amanda replied. "When we had Alex, we outgrew the apartment. We tried to look at an apartment in the same building, but they were all the same, so we pooled our paychecks and managed to rent a slightly larger apartment down the street from there. After Oliver came along we had to move to a bigger place." Spencer nodded, wiping the corner of his son's lip, which was full of chocolate. "But when Spence needs to focus, he goes to his old apartment to work. Diana was living there for a season and then she came to our house." The young woman pushed her hair back, feeling her husband's warm hand wrap around her hip.

The group was attentive to what they were saying, nodding at every word and concentrating on the story they had for them. Like little children, they formed around the young couple to follow their narrative.

"When Mexico and jail happened, it was really an ordeal. Hotch called us to get into the program with him and Jack, we had to go into hiding because we were Spencer's immediate family. Before Diana could hide she was kidnapped and, well, you know the rest of the story." Amanda's hand went to her son's hair, playing with the unruly locks of the scalp. They were exactly the same as his father's.

"But we would have known, I would have figured it out! H-how did you…?" Penelope was utterly convinced she would have found that information.

"It wasn't in the system." Spencer admitted. "I begged Hotch not to release it, it's manually, on paper. But online it's not, it was more likely to endanger my family." The young couple looked at each other and gave each other a smile. Sighing, Spencer continued. "Something like Foyet and Hotch would have happened, it was too dangerous. I wasn't willing to lose them and place them in danger."

Finally, the group of people began to understand, nodding at what he was saying and relaxing after that news.

"Spence had intended to tell them, but after Cat Adams, Scratch, Mexico, jail, Diana… I don't know when the time was right, to be honest with you." A collective chuckle filled the room echoing at that moment.

"Wow Spencer, you sure had this secret well hidden." Luke smiled, patting the younger man on the back, who was grinning broadly after breaking free of that secret that had him gnawing inside.

"Well, it's never too late to throw a welcome home party for the new family." Rossi smiled, moving closer to Amanda so he could hug her.

Mandi smiled receiving greetings from everyone, feeling like she was home.

"Good, then I'll start buying presents from now on. For both Oliver and Alex." Penelope smiled, receiving a wide smile from Alexander, who was the most excited to receive gifts. "I've missed so many birthdays and Christmases already."

"So…" Alex stole glances at everyone, who looked quite intrigued by his words. "Can I tell you aunties and uncles?"

That was the straw that broke the excitement level in the entire group, causing everyone to nod and smile broadly, feeling their chest heaving with joy.

"Did you see, Alex? Now you have lots of aunts and uncles to share, plus cousins." Spencer fell into step with his son, who was hugging him by the neck with a smile.

"That's right daddy, lots and lots!" The little boy turned to look at them all before stretching his arms out to hang around Luke's neck, who was greeting him with a smile that went so far as to make his cheeks ache.

The entire group stayed talking for a couple more minutes before deciding to head home to relax after a full day full of excitement.

Before she could get on the elevator, Emily smiled in the direction of the group of people.

"I think we know who his daddy is." Tara's whisper caused Emily to laugh and step onto the elevator, letting the doors close and signal the end of the work day.

The day had closed on a high note, not only for the capture of a criminal, but also for the discovery of a new family.

And Spencer couldn't be happier to finally reunite their families.

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If you like it, don't forget to like and repost it.

kissesssss, bai. 💕

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Sotetsu Off Day 4* Card Story

chapter 1 -subway-

sotetsu: Yo, Saki. Out shopping on your own are you? Or are you just drifting about because you have too much free time on your hands?

saki: Sotetsu-san? Fancy meeting you here.

sotetsu: I guess you could call it fate. C’mon, let’s go.

saki: Huh? Wait, where are we going?

sotetsu: Interested are you? Well then I might just sweep you up and take you someplace far away.

saki: What??

sotetsu: I’m just messing with you. It’s cause I don’t actually have a destination in mind but admitting that is boring right? How about we just go window shopping for now and see if we come across any interesting shops.

-sotetsu’s phone rings-

sotetsu: —Ah, excuse me, I’ve got to take this call. 

sotetsu (on phone): Hey, it’s me. Right, you’ve finally got one there huh. Still, that took you quite a while, was it that hard to obtain one? Of course, that much is expected, no? I’ve been waiting too after all.

saki: (Got one? Hard to obtain? Just what could they be talking about…?)

sotetsu (on phone): Yeah, I’ll be right there. I won’t be satisfied until I can check it out with my own eyes.

-hangs up-

sotetsu: Alright, shall we get going then?

saki: Hm?

sotetsu: I have business with a store that I frequent, want to come with?

saki: S-sure. But um, just what kind of store is it exactly?

sotetsu: (smirks) You’ll find out when we get there.

-

chapter 2 -cramped shopping district-

saki: You frequent a store around here, Sotetsu-san?

sotetsu: Come to think of it I haven’t told you about it yet, have I? I like reptiles so I have a pet green iguana… So partly due to that connection I’ve been indebted to this store for a long time now.

saki: I see, so that’s what’s going on.

shop clerk: Hello, welcome! We’ve been expecting you.

sotetsu: Yeah, thanks for the call. I know it’s jumping right into it but could I hold them?

-cg, sotetsu with the iguana

sotetsu: That’s it that’s it, what a good little one you are. Oh? You’ve got some weight to you, and your size too… Could you be a young female? What, do you want me to pet you? Alright then, there you go.

saki: W-woah… She’s already so friendly with you.

sotetsu: At first glance people might just say they look like dinosaurs, but they’re actually a lot cuter than you’d think. Aren’t iguanas great? They’re well behaved and best of all they’re friendly towards humans.

-cg gone

sotetsu: Once I started keeping one as a pet I couldn’t help but love them. They eat a whole lot and look really cute when they’re eating too. Sometimes I take home the leftover vegetables in the Starless kitchen to feed my one back home. Well, taking home leftover ingredients is actually prohibited. So, none of the other guys know about this, let’s keep it a secret between you and me, ok?

saki: Fufu, of course.

shop clerk: I have some mustard spinach prepared if you’d like to feed her.

sotetsu: Oh? Sounds good. This one’s pretty attached to my back right now so would you like to feed her, Saki?

saki: Is that ok? Then, I’ll give it a go…

-saki feeds the iguana-

saki: Uwah, the way she’s eating it makes it look like it must be delicious. It’s so cute just as you said, Sotetsu-san.

sotetsu: Yeah, she’s cute alright.

saki: …Sotetsu-san?

sotetsu: The iguana too, but I think it’d be pretty fun to keep you as a pet as well.

saki: Pet…!? Excuse me!?

sotetsu: Ku- Hahaha! I’m obviously joking! You’re so gullible and easy to tease that I can’t help myself. Thanks to you my day off has been lots of fun. (smirks) Will you come by here again sometime? If you don’t dislike the idea, that is.

—end

[ivory--raven]

9

AYYY YAYYY

9. If you could keep any aquatic animal as a pet, with all the space they need and perfect care, what would it be?

I'm very tempted by Glaucus atlanticus because they're beautiful and cool and I could watch them for hours but I think I might be going Amblyrhynchus cristatus for this one. I've always fancied having a big chonk of a lizard, I used to think about getting a green iguana or a tegu (but I don't have the space) and I an absolutely enthralled by marine iguanas.

They're spectacular. In their presence I feel I am floating on air. What glorious creatures.

[fearless-stormclaw]

To celebrate me starting the last chapter of the main part of the first book of my Owl House HP AU here are some sketches of some of the kiddos!

I might put colored versions of these drawings into the final draft.

(Fair warning, I do not claim to be an artist. Headshots are about the extent of my abilities.)

First up, our protaganist, 11-year-old Luz Noceda! She wears her hair in pigtails most of the time. The image on the right is a possible design of her with her hair down. (or a possible Vee, whose design I haven't fully pinned down yet) And I realized I forgot her scar whoops She's also supposed to have a scar across her left eyebrow which I forgot to draw but please imagine it's there.

Next up, 11-year old Amity Blight! Her little ponytail was an absolute pain to figure out how to draw. I think I managed it passably though. Her hair is dyed green, like it was in season 1 of the show.

12-year old Willow Park! Poor girl, she is haunted. Sorry, eyes are still a weakness. She's a year older than the others but still in the same grade because her birthday is after the first day of school. For Willow, this adds to her feeling of being behind everyone else.

9-year old Gus Porter! I should mention that the witches in this AU have normal round human ears, just like the wizards in the Harry Potter books. I imagine little Gus to have quite large ears that he will grow into some later. Again I apologize for the eyes.

11-year old Boscha Malphiday! I'm really pleased with how she turned out, although I struggled with her third eye and I'm still not 100% satisfied with how it turned out. Her surname in this AU is a play off of Malfoy--Malfoy comes from the French for "bad faith" (mal foi); Malphiday comes from "mal fidei", Latin for "bad faith".

13-year-old Hunter! He only appears as a cameo in the main storyline of Book 1, but he has a big part in one of the bonus epilogue chapters (which I haven't really written yet). In this timeline, he has only recently officially received his Golden Guard title. He hasn't gotten his cheek scar, ear notch, or eye bags yet (they will all come in due time) but he does have his tooth gap. He got that from getting his face punched in during training. I drew his Golden Guard uniform with only the one pauldron on his left shoulder as in the show, but I'm thinking of giving him a second one on his right shoulder like in the storyboards.

Meet 15-year-old Oliva Che'! She's one of my OCs. She's basically the Oliver Wood character--the captain of the Owl House grudgby team. She is a very spirited and gung-ho type and very enthusiastic about grudgby. She is in the construction track, although she is not a huge fan of the coven system. She's kind of a fun big sister to the younger Owl House students. She is of Yucateca Maya descent. She has brown or gold eyes. Her hair is naturally black but she dyes it a different color every year and usually keeps it in braids. This year it's pink. Unfortunately Paint did a weird thing when I cropped this picture and made her blurry I am so angry Her Palisman (not pictured) is a black spiny-tailed iguana named Toloc.

Meet 16-year-old Saka Katu! She is another OC. She is a cat demon girl and Oliva's girlfriend and also plays on the Owl House grudgby team (mostly because Oliva insists). She is in Potions track and believes deeply in the Coven system. She's a little uptight, some might call her bossy, and big into following the rules. She's kinda of a strict big sister type to the younger Owl House students. She keeps Oliva from being too reckless while Oliva keeps her from being too stiff. Saka is Malagasy for cat and Katu is Basque for cat so her name is literally "cat cat". She may or may not have a Palisman; if she does, it's some sort of fish.

Last but not least, 11-year-old William Myrtus Warthorne! His design is based off of Ser William from the audio tests/pilot. He is described as a handsome boy--broad-shouldered, with blond hair and blue eyes and a hooked nose which I swear I fixed but somehow it's still wrong ORZ. He is in Goat House and is friends with Boscha, but he doesn't participate in bullying (he doesn't do anything to stop it, though, he's just sort of there). He has a friendly, laidback personality and can get along with just about anyone. It's not discussed in this book (it's more of a plot point in book 2), but his family, the Warthornes, are a cadet branch of the Clawthornes which is why he has Clawthorne and Wittebane features.

[outsideyourhousewithaknife]

Featured in my notes app, in no particular order:

The Children are in Guatemala

You are going to die but not before oscillating wildly between numbness and great despair like a yoyo

Kill cashier

If I am predestined to die then I might as well nail my own coffin shut

SOON HEE MOTHERFUCKING NEWBOLT

If I am predestined to die then I might as well live first

Wear green tomorrow or I'll shiv you, bitch. I did it in gay prison. Wait. Is shiv a verb. Is it shank

The devil? Why would I fear the devil? The devil is my homoerotic guy pal and we go fishing on Lake Michigan when it rains. But do I fear Chihuahuas? Ooh, baby!

How many times will I have to die before it means something?

What's the name of that one celebrity that looks like my old therapist. You know the one.

When I die your name will be the last on my lips

You little fucker

Oh what a world, chicken itza, roll the bones

I am sick and tired of living my life between obligations

Penis? I THINK NOT

Penis? Decidedly so

Meatloaf. The President. Kevin. Your Honor. Dave. Calculus. All great cat names.

Who are you and where did you get all these iguanas

[tarnishedxknight]

Do you have any pets?

What is your favorite color(s)?

What song is stuck in your head right now?

Favorite movie?

What is your favorite candy?

{out of dalmasca} Omg you asked the song one. I feel like I'm gonna rant about that one haha. Okay, here we go... under a cut for length as usual haha.

Do you have any pets?

Not currently, no. I haven't had another since my hamster Smudgie died a while ago. My life situation and having my grandmother living with is making it very hard to get another pet. But over the years I've had all sorts of pets. A cat, four rabbits, fish, several iguanas, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, even shrimp, snails, and a Madagascar hissing cockroach, haha. Oh, and water fleas. Listen... they are a lot cuter than you might thing. They have tiny black beady eyes, lol. They're not actually fleas, they're crustaceans, and to me they look more like shrimp from some angles, but... on a much teenier scale. You can learn about them here. Sorry the science geek in me is hanging out, lemme tuck it back in, haha.

What is your favorite color(s)?

Black. I just... love black. I'm a witchy goth girl, haha. But I also love purple, gray, blue, and deep forest green.

What song is stuck in your head right now?

The piano theme to "Cigarette Burns," an episode of the Masters of Horror show. I recently decided to start watching Masters of Horror again because there are some really great episodes. Not all are good, but some are amazing. They're one-hour horror stories done by all different influential horror directors. If you watch the free streaming service Tubi, they have the full two seasons of the show all for free. Just be warned, many of the episodes contain a lot of triggering material, such as gore, body horror, and extreme violence. The point is for the horror directors to show off what they can do, so there's a lot of very convincing makeup jobs and special effects, heh, so take care.

"Cigarette Burns" is my favorite episode. I don't know how many times I've seen it. I love the story, but I also watch it for how it makes me feel. For some reason, every time I watch it, it inspires my creativity so much as a writer. I've never done anything with it, really... as far as being inspired to write something from it or about it or inspired by it, but someday I'd like to. I'll blab a little about it below, but if you want to watch it yourself, be warned. It does have a lot of triggering material in it such as: suicide, self-harm, drug addiction, amputation, disembowelment, gore, body horror, mental illness, and obsessive behavior.

As far as the song, you can listen to it here, but that video is the entire soundtrack to the whole episode, so you only have to listen to the first 1:22 minutes to hear the song that's stuck in my head right now.

Okay so... a little more about "Cigarette Burns" and why it inspires me so much as a writer. The basic concept (don't worry I'm not going to get into too many details of the story or anything too triggering here) is that, in the world of underground snuff film making, someone set out to make the snuff film to end them all. He wanted to make the worst film anybody had ever seen and have the prestige of saying he had made the most viscerally heinous film in existence. So, I think it is implied that some occult worship was needed to accomplish this, but basically what he and other people who helped make the film did, was to capture an angel (something I love is that the episode never once using the A-word, heh, but it's so obvious that the creature is an angel), enslave it, torture it, and amputate its wings... and film the entire thing.

What happened was that the angel's I guess spirit became bound to the negative of the film (it was shot old-school style on a reel). The concept was that... the evil of torturing and mutilating this holy being produced so much evil and so much bad karma, that the film negative itself became evil. People connected with the making of the film dropped like flies. Anyone who watched it to completion was driven to murder others or harm themselves. Anyone who sought to find the original negative of it, or who started to watch it but then chickened out and couldn't finish it, became obsessed with it for the rest of their lives in various unhealthy ways. Theaters that screened the movie ended up burning down or were otherwise destroyed. If you had any demons, guilt, weaknesses, desires, vices, obsessions, etc., the film would "know" and exploit them somehow to drive you slowly insane.

The plot centers around an eccentric and rich collector who collects oddities, specifically of a shocking or terrible nature. He keeps the original angel (wingless still, he has the wings hanging on a wall like hunting trophies) as his slave, shackled to a turntable that can rotate when the guy pushes a button. It's... so depraved that you so want this guy to get it in the end, haha. But that's not enough for him, so he commissions a private investigator type but for locating movie artifacts, heh, to find the original negative of La Fin Absolue du Monde, a.k.a. the Absolute End of the World, which is the name of the film. Various creepy and violent things ensue as this guy searches for the movie and then eventually brings it to his client.

I won't ruin the rest of the plot or the ending in case you want to watch it for yourselves, but the concept to me is so interesting and inspiring as a writer. Imagine doing something so terrible to a completely pure being that the evil of it permeates the very film your making and then radiates out through everyone the film touches? I love the creative concept of semi-sentient evil without a form, like... evil that just... is. It's not a creature or a ghost or a being of any kind... it's just evil that came about as a result of the actions of people. I think the metaphor there is incredible to ponder, how our actions have far-reaching consequences, and one evil act can affect the lives of many for generations to come.

I also loved the angel aspect of the story, because... well, I do love me some fantasy or horror angels, heh. But yeah, the word "angel" was never used, but I mean obviously the creature was an angel with the wings, the white coloration, the way it referred to itself as "we", the odd shape of its head and its larger-than-human eyes. I love, though, that they didn't overexplain what it was, or how it was captured, they just left it mysterious. Less is more with both writing and movies, folks, I've learned this over the years. Also, showing not telling. I was able to know it was an angel without anyone having to tell me, and that means it was portrayed well.

Alright, I've blabbed enough about this. On to the next question, haha.

Favorite movie?

Kaze no tani no naushika (風の谷のナウシカ), a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. It's a Miyazaki film from Ghibli Studios that was released in 1984. I adore it with every fiber of my being for the animation style, the story, the characters, and honestly the environmentalism and anti-war themes that are still so relevant today as they were in the 80s. Plus it has an adorable fox-squirrel named Teto based on the Fennec fox, and large riding birds that remind me of chocobos. =)

I have a funny story I'd like to share about this. And I may have already told it on this blog, honestly I don't remember, so if I did, just ignore me right now, haha. When I was little and watching this movie, I hadn't studied Japanese yet. My parents knew nothing about anime or the Japanese language, they just... bought me a VHS tape (yes I'm THAT old) of a movie called Warriors of the Wind. I KNOW, I KNOW... I'm sorry to everyone who knows a lot about this movie and who is now offended that I just spoke the name of The Movie That Shall Not Be Named, hahaha, but my childhood self didn't know any better. I didn't know there was a Japanese version, or that the version I fell in love with was 90 minutes long when the real movie was 210 minutes. I didn't know the American version removed all the environmentalism and much of the story.

Even the cover of the VHS tape is utterly ridiculous and honestly insulting to the movie. There are characters and monsters on the cover that aren't even in the film, and the main character, Nausicaä, is riding... a... a pegasus or something? If I remember correctly? Not only was there never a pegasus in the movie, but she flew a little glider, not even a living thing, heh.

ANYway... so I grew up watching this movie and loving it, and as a child, I looked up to and idolized the main character, Nausicaä. She was like... my hero, heh. My badass girl who could do anything. As a child, I loved playing with pill bugs, who were the inspirations for the Ohmu in the movie, one of the creatures Nausicaä had a natural rapport with. She was kindof like a post-apocalyptic, anime Snow White, in that she had this natural connection to nature, animals, and the environment, and was just the purest soul. But I grew up watching the 90-minute butchered version of the movie, so I didn't see any of the childhood flashbacks of her playing with a baby Ohmu and then having people take it away from her to kill it. Or anything to do with the environmentalism, which I'll get to now...

Fast forward 20 years, and I'm going to college for biological sciences, specifically environmental microbiology. More specifically, using bacteria to clean contaminated/poisoned water, soil, and sediments. Contaminant remediation using bacteria and plants, basically. I would study how the bacteria could facilitate either the breakdown of contaminants before the plants could take them up through the soil into their roots and harm them, or if the plants already took up the contaminants into their cells, how bacteria can "talk" to plants and stimulate the plants' own immune systems to break down the contaminants themselves. It was a fascinating field and I wish I had been able to do research in it for a longer time.

I was knee deep into my research, a degree under my belt, when I started getting into anime a lot more and studying Japanese and I found out... that my favorite movie had a whole other Japanese version that had an extra half hour I haven't even seen before. Needless to say I got a copy as fast as I could and couldn't wait to watch it, and I was blown away by what I saw.

All the scenes that were deleted where all things that I was doing, or doing similarly, to the main character. She had her own laboratory and was conducting research using spores she collected from a forest that had been contaminated long ago by the industrial activity of civilizations past. She was trying to find a way to cure the plants of their poisonous nature, and found that it wasn't the plants, but rather the soil and the water that was poisoned. When the spores from these plants were grown in clean water and soil, the results were not toxic to humans.

Guys, I cried. I honestly cried, haha. I had this moment of like... did I just end up in the same field of research as this fictional character I idolized as a child? Without even knowing it because the version I grew up watching had deleted all those scenes? I don't know why that hit me so funny, but it did, and it's only made me love the movie even more. I haven't seen it in a while and that needs to be rectified, heh.

Here is an amv that I have loved for so many years of footage of this movie set to a song from what is probably my second favorite movie, Loved By the Sun from Legend (1985). SIde note, if you want to know what started my love for and inspired me to create my own angels (like Aryx on my multi) and demons and write original books about them, check Legend out. It's... an admittedly corny fantasy movie by most people's standards today, but I adore it and if you can give it a chance, it's amazing in my opinion. But anyway, the song combined with scenes from Nausicaä... *chef's kiss*.

What is your favorite candy?

Hmm... I don't think I have a favorite candy, but I have a favorite flavor of candy. I love... everything mint. Preferably with chocolate as well. So... thin mints, Andes candies, York Peppermint Patties, peppermints, candy canes, etc. Just gimme all ur mintz. *grabby hands* XD

[the-firebird69]

They had an article before this one and it had this chunky algae but there are a lot of green chunks that look like lizard poop Gator poop looks different it doesn't float and it's not green and people noticed it and her son said those lizards must be pretty big although the one is 3 ft or 3 1/2 ft in their yard what about an inch in length and about a half inch in diameter but these are Big some of these are about 4 in with an inch in diameter so it'll be twice as big it's about right there about 7 ft long and they look like gila monsters and they're dangerous as hell they're deadly they're by this venemous and full of bacteria it would kill people with one bite, they also have a venom so they're going and looking for them and she just called Brian Gerard and he went out there right away cuz they're big and he wants to know why and they're inland and they're inner waterway it's a great place to check it out and her son says be careful so it might be pretty big so those chunks are big like really big there was something a foot long and it could be like a 12 ft wizard they're fast and a deadly and they don't let you know they're coming so he said okay so I'm going to bring some kind of armor and he has something that looks kind of cheesy but it works and people see him out there he says he's a licensed lizard Hunter and her son says you probably need it he and I asked me at 4:00 to 12 ft and the average length might be 5 ft on the regular iguana which one it gets bigger and gross teeth and more in his bite is deadly just like the gila monster but it really is just a very large iguana and they started puking and said he thinks it might be gila monsters themselves which are deadly and you've seen them fight and they kill cattle and so they got mad and said we need you out of here he said I'm going to get some proof and I'll send the police and he wants to know why the growing but I said give him a chance to waited this long and so they're going to wait and give a chance because really they have nothing to call about so he found evidence he took pictures and he's testing the water and he's sampling it real quick and he knows that there's something nearby and he's tracking them and he found some big footprints and they look different than alligators so they went out there looking for them it says it's very important to go out one way and if you're stepping not to step on them and if you find them to take pictures and to walk back that came with the way you came and they said wow this is good professional trackers and still so you don't ruin the evidence and they went out there and looked at someone found one the compared it to alligator and croc and ostrich and it doesn't look like them then they compared it to a lizard and it looks like a lizard they sent it to the police and said we have people looking at it now and it was not BG out there and he's on the case and he's actually tracking one now it's a good God it's real so I estimate maybe 12 ft are the biggest and they are very fast at that size they may even be healing monsters they don't have to be iguana I told him to be careful she's wearing armor it just looks kind of cheesy but it works she said big teeth to that size so they're going out there to look down cows. He says the cold blooded so they get that it still need night vision and they might be able to see the eyes so you can see the eyes with light and start getting mad and said you're right about something we haven't hunted these in a while so look it up and they got the right gear and also they started speeding out there in a panic and with light armor and can't help it sit there was a huge one see that stupid movie it started laughing at that a little because they see it lizard sits there it's like we can see you you're huge

Meanwhile BG is out there and it's dark and he's still tracing it and he found a bunch of them he backed out a little is looking around him and they're all around him and it started running and the chasing him and he sent to the cops BG is being pursued they're going like real fast and BG is moving it and he's running like 30 miles an hour and then right on his tail and it's on the homeowners if you have a shotgun or a rifle or a pistol get it out I guess he found them, the BG is heading your direction so he's running and he's yelling help and they got weapons out and they can see them a little cuz you need flashlights you need slugs I don't know if you penetrate the skin with shot and you need rifles and you need pistols and flashlights and if you have armor some have armor like real armor and they're out and they have guns and they saw the lizards and they stopped when the lights and it started turn around and said you should probably hit one so hit one and they all fired and they hit like three so that's what's going on and it happened just now I committed to go and the three lizards are not gila monsters they're giant iguana that's why it's killing them but he says you need them for bugs but you have to stop them when they get big and they were about 10 ft okay they came in to see what he was the other one's called him so this guy is falling as soon so bad man ran right into us since you're s******* in the river like stupid people inside the expression too and it sort of get it and they ran out and said we can't help the Indians for Christ's sake and then they're looking for Indians to help so just calm down I get that too so it seems Spears and stay away but really they sort of get it don't poop in the river don't and they dragged off the lizards and they are heavy they're like 500 lb each no they like about 1500 lb each at 10 ft the very big and very chunky and they were very fast they're running about 25 miles an hour with Bruce about 40 and he had to run out of the jump to the side and our son boosted him and he went up to about 50 and they're the people that are amazed they said he's going to need some health and treatment he needs some help because he's probably exhausted and so they got cops and they're hunting them out and they're searching and scanning and finding bugs nearby and they're not small so you're scanning everywhere including here

Thor Freya

Hey this is in Cape Coral but they're going to scan here and shortly already going on nearby, up the canal only one mile in the scanning down it and the skin all over the place and they try and scan under the house too and they have to these bugs are everywhere and usually they're under houses there's a way to tell it's what sound and they're sending crews out too and right now

[davisexplainableart]

My 19th Birthday TF

If anyone remembers, last year for my 18th birthday, I decided to spend a whole month as a completely different character just for fun.

I kinda wanna do that again this year. But this year, there’s more to it.

So, the crew that helps me with my TFs has recently created some sort of “pregnancy serum.”

The idea of the serum is simple, not only does it make someone pregnant, but instead of feeling miserable and in pain, it makes them feel very comfortable and (especially) often horny. Basically, it’s the same as the mix of blue and green potions that I used back in May (except for the ‘horny’ part).

How does it work? Well, I wasn’t involved in its creation so I don’t know.

Anyway, I wanted to try out the serum myself, but not AS myself, however. Instead, I’d like to try it out as one of the characters from my 18th birthday experiment.

The crew said that they could alter the duration of the serum so that I can start out looking well into my pregnancy. That’s how I’ll be able to get this to last only a month.

You may think this will hurt, but considering that this tactic was already used on me back in May, I’ll hopefully be fine.

Anyways, for those who don’t know, here’s the list of characters (as well as my stance on if I’d want to end up as them for this experiment):

*Amethyst (From SU) - Same as last year, she’s my friend and that would just be weird.

*Madame Broode (From Super Mario Odyssey) - Even though I’ll mostly be staying in a test room for the experiment, I’d like to at least get some fresh air, and her massive body, while definitely a turn-on for me, might be a bit difficult for me to move around in.

*Eloise (From Animal Crossing) - I wouldn’t mind changing into her. Sure, I’d probably ask for some more hair on my head, but then I’d realize that I’ve allowed my hair to fall out when becoming an elephant on more than one occasion.

*Salazzle (From Pokémon) - I’ve been thinking a little about whether or not I’d be okay to transform into a Pokémon like her. On one hand, the crew has made it clear that I won’t be able to speak English, so that’s a turn-off for me; also, there’s the problem with her poisonous gases. But on the other hand... I mean, hey... Those gases shouldn’t be THAT hard to manage, right?

*Jessica Kendrick (A teacher from GO! City High School) - Same exact stance as last time. It just doesn’t feel right.

*Alphys (From Undertale) - I think this may actually be the one I want to change into the most (again, it’s a MAYBE). Maybe it’s because I wear glasses IRL, or maybe it’s because wearing a lab coat (which the crew says they’ll let me wear if I want) while pregnant sounds funny.

*Isa the Iguana (From DURAH TEH EXPLURAH) - Yes, I know if I end up as Isa, my form will be aged up to 19 like me, but I was Isa last year. I’d like to be someone else this year.

*Margaret (From Regular Show) - I’m not exactly sure about this one. On one hand, a chubby female robin it’s seems like an appearance I’d like to take on, especially with a design like Margaret’s. But on the other, I’m aware that plenty of people dislike her, so I’m not sure.

(I’d also explain how my character will be decided on for the experiment, but it’s very ina-pro-pro)

Alright, see you guys tomorrow night!

[fandomsandfeminism]

I am not going to dig into the cat-hating drama on that post any more than I already have.

But I do want to voice a thought related to it-

Feelings are valid- not all reactions to those feelings are acceptable.

I honestly don't care if a person dislikes cats, or dogs, or birds, or snakes, or tarantulas, or ferrets, and I don't particularly care *why* someone dislikes them. There's plenty of animals that I'm like, yeah, don't want to own that. There's even animals that I don't particularly think people *should* have as pets at all (green iguanas, I'm talking about you.)

But it is a red flag if a person loudly, repeatedly, and with vitriol proclaims their hatred of animals - especially to owners of that animal. It's just basic fucking manners.

If someone tells me that they don't like snakes, then yeah. Some people don't like snakes. That's fine. If someone then spends 15 minutes telling me how evil snakes are and about times when they or someone they know has intentionally killed snakes- that's really fucked up and I don't like that. *Obviously*

Like, if the person told me that they are afraid of snakes, and then I spend 15 minutes INSISTING they look at pictures of my snakes and talking all about snakes- that would be rude and inconsiderate, and if I did that every single time someone mentioned being afraid of snakes, you might be like "damn, this person really doesn't consider the feelings of the person they are talking to."

Again- you can feel however you want. That doesn't mean you can just act however and say whatever to the people around you.

So yeah.

People who will turn any mention of a pet cat (or any other animal) into a pissing contest of animal inspired vitriol and hated? 🚩🚩🚩

[deluxewhump]

Oh, that is a Carlo AU I would DIE to read!!!

Martin Olson

CW: pet whump, general creepiness. Mention of underfeeding whumpee. Past minor whump implied by timeline. eye whump mention

Summary: Erik hits some legal trouble and gives Carlo to his friend Martin Olson for safekeeping.

-

Martin Olson met Erik Holstrom over fifteen years ago, in a mutual friend's parlor. It was a champagne and tie event for their friend’s gubernatorial race. He later lost it to a democrat whose son’s left leg had just been crushed in service to his country— a rolling armored truck in Fallujah with impeccable timing. Martin and Erik had stayed in touch, their circle of mutual friends growing over the years.

Erik was a well liked and even better respected man, a businessman to his core and a bit of a pessimist. Which is why Olson was a touch surprised at the hot water Erik found himself in presently. It was one thing for the government to deal arms internationally and lie about it later. It was another for them to be supplied by someone in the private sector. Quite another. Erik had bitten off more than he could chew.

While he prided himself on being a little more low-key in his endeavors, Olson did admire Erik’s calm in the face of his proverbial ship going belly up. He sounded busy— mildly inconvenienced on the phone. “Do you want him? I’d prefer he stayed somewhere I can find him again. I’ve had him since he was only a child.”

Olson opened the plane’s plastic window visor with two fingers, looked out on the rainy tarmac. Baltimore. Local time 10:52 pm.

“Do I want him? Did I not offer you an outlandish amount of money for him just six months ago?”

“You’re always doing that. This is serious. And fast. I don’t need your money. This is a favor, really. A favor to me. Just don’t let him talk to any feds, lawyers, or journalists, and he’s yours.”

“I wouldn’t let my daughter’s iguana around feds, lawyers, or journalists, Erik,” Olson teased, though privately he was already imagining that beautiful boy-pet in his mind's eye.

Something about that one. Carlo. Something always made him look twice.

“It’s done, then. Keith will bring him to you?”

“I’ll be watching for him. I’m flattered I was your pick.”

“Martin?”

Olson hummed an upward inflection.

“He’s… he’s very sweet. Eager to please. You won’t have to apply much pressure in any direction, if you understand me.”

Olson smiled at the stewardess as she took his glass, vodka on the rocks that was now just rocks.

“Are you asking me not to go rough on a pet, Erik? Have you gone soft?”

“Don’t worry, prison will cure me of it, I’m sure.”

Olson winced. “Keep your head up. I hear you’ve got a dream team in the works.” 

In truth, he didn’t know what earthly good the best lawyers in the country would do with a rap sheet like Erik’s. 

The cabin lights came on as the seatbelt light chimed off. Olson checked his watch. Erik’s man might just beat him to his own front gate with his new pet.

- 

“You’re frightened,” Martin said, turning on another light. 

The house felt still and cold, impersonal as a hotel room despite the tens of thousands he’d spent to have it comfortably furnished. He didn’t think he’d slept in the master bed more than twice. The sheets were still stiff.

“I bought this house when my wife and I split,” he explained, looking into the shapeless shadows of the high ceilings. “It doesn’t quite feel like home yet. Sit down, love, it’s okay.”

Carlo moved quickly to the end of the bed, sat there obediently. Martin could see the tips of his dark curls giving away his shaking, no matter how well he tried to keep his composure. 

He’d never wanted a boy before, not as a personal pet, but from the moment he’d laid eyes on this one some five years ago, he knew he’d take him in a heartbeat. And he’d only grown more beautiful.

“But why on God’s green earth does he keep you underfed like that?” Martin mused, more to himself than the boy.

Big, dark eyes flew to his. He had the audacity to look insulted. Olson laughed and Carlo dropped his gaze, terrified.

“That was rude of me. Forget that. Tell me why you’re afraid. Are you worried for your master?”

The boy nodded.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Nothing.

“Speak. I don’t want to communicate with you in nods and silences.”

He went closer, meaning to lift Carlo’s chin. He flinched, turning his face to the side. Olson sighed and squatted down to eye-level.

“Erik’s going to be just fine, Carlo. Knowing him, he’s already planned for every contingency. Now as to why you’re so unsure of me… Did he tell you unflattering stories about me? Perhaps the one where I blinded my pet for looking at another man? Or was it the one where I cut off her eyelids so she’d have to keep looking?”

Slowly, reluctantly, the boy pulled his gaze from the bedroom wall and met his.

“Tall tales. Fantasies. I used to tell her similar stories about my friends and colleagues, to keep her safe. She could be too trusting. I’m guessing that was Erik’s fear with you, too.”

He could see the doubt cross the boy's pretty, smooth face. He was still trembling like a leaf.

“Do you know what Erik asked me to do?”

Carlo answered with a small shake of the head.

“He asked me to take care of you. He said he wanted you somewhere he knows he can find you later, when all this nonsense is done.”

Despite a valiant effort, the boy blinked at tears, his tightly held lips finally parting to choke back a sob.

Martin reached up and did something he’d wanted to do so badly in Milan, the last time he’d seen him. He ran the back of his knuckles over his soft dark hair, taking a piece between his fingers and petting the pad of his thumb over it. 

He knew he could not own someone like property, for people were not things. No slip of paper from the state of Maryland could undo that truth. But that didn’t bother him. Defiance and human error from a pet didnt bother him either, like it did some. It was not ownership he wanted. Only access.

“I know you’re scared. And homesick. Hell, I'm homesick. This isn’t home for me either.”

His heartbeat quickened pleasantly as he traced a finger over the boy's cheek, reveling in the intimate wetness of tears.

“But you’re a hell of a housewarming gift, aren’t you?”

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

I don't think this is a good idea for the cat or iguana

Nope! Nope nope nope!

Rating: NOT CUTE, potentially HARMFUL

Multiple things here. I'll leave the ethics of keeping a pet green iguana until another time for now, but just know that I firmly believe, if they must be kept at all, they're only for advanced keepers.

Now. This is extremely dangerous for both the cat and the iguana.

Cat saliva, not to mention scratches, are incredibly dangerous for lizards (and all reptiles). Their saliva is toxic for reptiles, and their scratches and bites can easily cause a life-threatening infection even if they're not super deep.

The iguana is also a huge danger to the cat. In this image, you can see it closing its eyes and holding itself tensely - this is an important way lizards express discomfort. It's not happy about this situation, and might lash out to defend itself if this continues. Lizard bites and scratches are no joke. They have very sharp teeth, and people often need stitches for iguana bites. This cat could be seriously hurt.

This isn't even considering the transmission of disease between the two - all lizards should be assumed carriers of salmonella, which you don't want the cat picking up.

A very dangerous situation for both animals involved.

[dragoncityinteriordesign]

The green iguana in the SID main room is another one of those things I spent the whole show expecting someone would at least acknowledge? Like, I don’t know, maybe we’d see Wang Zheng giving it a new bowl of iguana kibble, or have a scene were Lin Jing tries to explain to a completely befuddled Sang Zan why its name is Spiderman Freddy -- or maybe we’d get to the end and realize that this is just a clever disguise for the Guardian Lamp, which has been happily spending the last decade or so chilling and getting fed fresh fruit.

But no, it’s just another one of those mystery set pieces, like the SID workout equipment and Zhao Yunlan’s not-sex swing, where you’d think it’d be easier to talk about it than to not talk about it, but apparently not. This one just has the distinction of being alive -- and, for that matter, being the occasional establishing shot. The camera loves a pretty reptile.

You think Zhu Hong ever gets weird about it? Or maybe it’s the opposite -- she and the iguana are cold-blooded buddies. When she gets overwhelmed, it won’t mind if she wraps herself around one of those branches and just hangs out, python-style, for a while.

Near the end of the show, the iguana cage also gets a NO TOUCHY sticker slapped to it. I guess the Haixing agents are afraid it might be an alien iguana.

[bamf-jaskier]

Who the fuck is Keira Metz - a Primer

Keira Metz was one of the youngest sorceresses, a member of the Lodge, and a fierce fighter who sided with the Northern mages at Thanedd. She is mentioned in Blood of Elves and appears in Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, and Lady of the Lake.

If you are interested in Witcher book content and have questions or just want to chat about them, I made an 18+ discord server here for anyone to join :)

With that, Hi! I’m Aaliyah and this is Part 9 of my WTF series --- a crash course in subjects from The Witcher Books.

Book Spoilers (duh)

Okay, so let me start out by saying Keira has a special place in my heart because she is one of the most ready to fight and crass sorceresses. She is ready to tussle at any given moment and I love that about her. If this was an anime she is the shonen protagonist.

While she’s mentioned in Blood of Elves, we first meet her at the Banquet at Thanedd. Which, if you don’t know a lot about you can read a summary here. 

I’m trying not to just put long quotes in these posts but I have to just show y’all this scene where Marti and Keira are talking to Geralt because it shows so much about her character:

Before the Witcher had regained the power of speech, a short, slim sorceress with long, straight, straw-coloured hair came over to him. He recognised her at once–she was the one in the horned agama skin slippers and the green tulle top, which didn’t even cover a minor detail like the small mole above her left breast.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘but I have to interrupt your little flirting session, Philippa. Radcliffe and Detmold would like to talk to you for a moment. It’s urgent.’

‘Well, if it’s like that, I’m coming. Bye, Geralt. We’ll continue our flirting later!’

‘Ah,’ said the blonde, sizing him up. ‘Geralt. The Witcher, the man Yennefer lost her head over? I’ve been watching you and wondering who you might be. It was tormenting me terribly.’

‘I know that kind of torment,’ he replied, smiling politely. ‘I’m experiencing it right now.’

‘Do excuse the gaffe. I’m Keira Metz. Oh, caviar!’

‘Be careful. It’s an illusion.’

‘Bloody hell, you’re right!’ said the sorceress, dropping the spoon as though it was the tail of a black scorpion. ‘Who was so barefaced… You? Can you create fourth-level illusions?’

‘I,’ he lied, continuing to smile, ‘am incognito. Do you think Yennefer would bother with an ordinary witcher?’

Keira Metz looked him straight in the eyes and scowled. She was wearing a medallion in the form of an ankh cross; silver and set with zircon.

‘A drop of wine?’ he suggested, trying to break the awkward silence. He was afraid his joke hadn’t been well received.

‘No thank you… O fellow master,’ said Keira icily. ‘I don’t drink. I can’t. I plan to get pregnant tonight.’

‘By whom?’ asked the fake-redheaded friend of Sabrina Glevissig, who was dressed in a transparent, white, georgette blouse, decorated with cleverly positioned details, walking over to them. ‘By whom?’ she repeated, innocently fluttering her long eyelashes.

Keira turned and gave her an up-and-down glare, from her white iguana slippers to her pearl-encrusted tiara.

‘What business is it of yours?’

‘It isn’t. Professional curiosity. Won’t you introduce me to your companion, the famous Geralt of Rivia?’

‘With great reluctance. But I know I won’t be able to fob you off. Geralt, this is Marti Södergren, seductress. Her speciality is aphrodisiacs.’

‘Careful,’ chorused Keira and the Witcher. ‘It’s an illusion.’

‘So it is!’ said Marti Södergren, leaning over and wrinkling her nose, after which she picked up a goblet and looked at the traces of crimson lipstick on it. ‘Ah, Philippa Eilhart. I should have known. Who else would have dared to do something so brazen? That revolting snake. Did you know she spies for Vizimir of Redania?’

‘And is a nymphomaniac?’ risked the Witcher. Marti and Keira snorted in unison.

‘Is that what you were counting on, fawning over her and flirting with her?’ asked the seductress. ‘If so, you ought to know someone’s played a mean trick on you. Philippa lost her taste for men some time ago.’

‘But perhaps you’re really a woman?’ asked Keira Metz, pouting her glistening lips. ‘Perhaps you’re only pretending to be a man, my fellow master of magic? To remain incognito? Do you know, Marti, he confessed a moment ago that he likes to pretend.’

Basically, Keira is a menace and I love her for that. She makes up this entire excuse about why she can’t drink as a reason for her to be sober during the Coup and won’t stop taunting poor Geralt who didn’t ask to be here and just wants to support his goth wife.

During the Coup, Keira is once more an absolutely violent menace.

The light which made the details visible emanated from an orb suspended above Keira Metz’s head–a sorceress with whom Geralt had been chatting at the banquet the previous evening. He barely recognised her; she had exchanged her flowing tulle for severe male clothing, and she had a dagger at her side

‘Handcuff him,’ she ordered curtly. A set of handcuffs made of a bluish metal clinked in her hand.

‘Don’t you dare put those on me!’ yelled Terranova. ‘Don’t you dare, Metz! I am a member of the Chapter!’

‘You were. Now you’re a common traitor. And you will be treated as such.’

‘And you’re a lousy whore, who—’

Keira took a step back, swayed her hips and punched him in the face with all her strength. The sorcerer’s head jerked backwards so hard that for a moment Geralt thought it would be torn from his trunk. Terranova lolled in the arms of the men holding him, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. The sorceress didn’t strike him a second time, though her fist was raised. The Witcher saw the flash of brass knuckles on her fingers. He wasn’t surprised. Keira was very lightly built, and a blow like that couldn’t have been dealt with a bare fist.

She punches Terranova in the face with brass knuckles on. And it gets even more wild. Because later in the coup Geralt runs into Keira again.

‘He managed to get to the foot of the palace wall undetected and had been looking for a way in when Keira had fallen on him, and the two of them tumbled into some blackthorn bushes.

‘I’ve lost a tooth,’ said the sorceress, gloomily, lisping slightly. She was dishevelled, dirty and covere in plaster and soot. There was a large bruise on her cheek. ‘And I think I’ve broken my leg,’ she added, spitting blood. ‘Is that you, Witcher? Did I land on you? How come?’

‘I was wondering the same thing myself.’

‘Terranova threw me out of a window.’

‘Can you stand?’

‘No, I can’t.’

‘I want to get inside. Unnoticed. Which way is it?’

‘Are all witchers,’ said Keira, spitting blood again, groaning, and trying to prop herself up on an elbow, ‘insane? There’s a battle going on in Garstang! It’s kicking off so badly the plaster’s falling off the ceiling! Are you looking for trouble?’

‘No. I’m looking for Yennefer.’

‘Oh!’ said Keira, giving up her struggles and lying on her back. ‘I wish someone would love me like that. Carry me.’

‘Another time, perhaps. I’m in a bit of a hurry.’ ‘Carry me, I said! I’ll show you the way into Garstang. I have to get that son of a bitch Terranova. Well, what are you waiting for? You won’t find the way yourself, and even if you did, those fucking elves would finish you off… I can’t walk, but I’m still capable of casting a few spells. If anyone gets in our way they’ll regret it.’

I cannot stress how wild this series of events is. Geralt is looking for his goth wife. And then Keira FALLS on him from a window, breaks her leg so much so that the bone is sticking out and proceeds to convince Geralt that he has to carry her back to the battle while she shoots off spells. This is a woman who lives for the fight, who will not quit.

And this love of the fight is seen through the rest of the books as well. In Lady of the Lake, when talking about hunting down Vilgefortz, Keira gets quite a bit more crass than most sorceresses often do:

‘Thus, we’ll have a perfect opportunity,’ Keira Metz called in an excited voice, ‘to rescue Ciri and strike at Vilgefortz at the same time. We’ll scorch the ground beneath the rascal’s arse!’

And the visual of this scene also from Lady of the Lake:

Keira Metz appeared standing behind Sabrina’s back, looking like the purest hell with camouflage painted on her face.

Let’s just say if the Lodge has a fistfight, no magic, my money is on Keira.

Then, of course, she ends up joining the Lodge in Baptism of Fire and this is where I want to mention the narrative ties between Keira and Triss. Because they are both the youngest of the sorceresses and they are constantly paired together whether that’s on mission or sitting next to each other or being grouped together. 

Even in Blood of Elves, when Triss is talking about the war while visiting Kaer Morhen, she brings up Keira as her contemporary.

‘That’s why I’m on Foltest of Temeria’s council and sit with Fercart and Keira Metz. We deliberate on how to stop war from breaking out and, should it come to it, how to defend ourselves. Because war is constantly hovering over us like a vulture. For you it’s an adventure.’

Her and Triss both judge Assire, a Nilfgaardian sorceress, together:

‘Bloody hell,’ Keira muttered, wiping her forehead. ‘Haven’t they heard of glamarye or beautifying spells down in Nilfgaard?’

‘Apparently not,’ said Triss out of the corner of her mouth. ‘They don’t seem to have heard of fashion either.’

Rita flat out states they are the youngest:

“Rule me out, rule out Keira and Triss even, the youngest among us.”

As I said, they often sit next to each other:

Opposite Fringilla Vigo sat Triss Merigold in a bright blue, high-necked dress. Next to Triss sat Keira Metz, who remained in the shadows. Her large earrings held faceted citrines that flashed again and again with a thousand twinkles, attracting the eye.

And are assigned missions together:

“No, I have not forgotten. If there is going to be a legend, one must have the proper version and one in our favour. I’ll entrust this task to you, Sabrina. Take Keira and Triss and take care of it. See that no trace is left.”

I am mentioning this because when I made my Coën post back before S2 came out I talked about how Lambert and Coën have this sort of narrative foil vibe where they are both witchers of similar ages but vastly different temperaments and people did not seem to see it. And then S2 came in hot with the Lambert and Coën so I’m just saying don’t be surprised if a similar thing happens here. ((I felt SO vindicated by S2 because no one listened to me when I talked about hose those two have untapped potential and I was RIGHT)

Keira ends up voting against Ciri when the Lodge is voting on whether or not they should let Ciri go after Geralt in the last book --- because she doesn’t think Ciri has any real interest in The Lodge -- and she’s fairly correct, but Keira doesn’t really have any personal connection to Ciri. From Lady of the Lake:

‘I’m against it,’ said Keira Metz. ‘For purely practical reasons. I also like the girl and Geralt delivered me out of the hands of danger on Thanedd. It is a sentiment that I long ago got rid of, but I do not deny that it was pleasant to me. I could repay him this way. But will not. Because you are wrong, Sabrina. This girl is a witcheress and is trying to be smarter than us. In short, she is just trying to get away.’

She’s never as passionate about Ciri as many of the others such as Triss, Philippa, and Rita. Keira really is with The Lodge because she wants to kick some ass and come out on top. 

I think Keira is a very fascinating character because she’s much more crude and excited to get her hands dirty than Northern sorceresses are expected to be. She doesn’t have the extremely high femininity performance of the others but at the same time she stills judges Fringilla and Assire and is still very shallow.

Overall, she’s a really spunky and upbeat character with brass knuckles she is not afraid to use. 

Another post for one of my fav artsist @thence-we-came-forth may all your dreams of Lodge character art come true!!!

[amesliu]

Since you said it’s fun here’s my art of Percy and Annabeth as dragons. Dragons are what I’m most confident drawing but I’ve been working on my people. Feel free to give some constructive criticism.

Percy does have wings of course I just thought the full thing would get in the way.

Wow okay so first of all very interesting concept. Creature design is it's whole field so definitely don't downplay your abilities in that. There are people who's entire careers is just designing dragons and mythical monsters.

What I'd love to see is more of the actual abilities, environments, and the lives of these dragons integrated into the design. Creature designs are usually pulled from the adaptations of real animals.

For Annabeth, it seems like she's based off an owl and you say she can turn her head 180 degrees. Well what anatomy in the owl allows that? Well if you look it up google says "Unlike a human whose arteries tend to get smaller and smaller as they branch out, the owl's blood vessels at the base of the head get larger and larger so that blood reservoirs form. This allows the owl to “meet the energy needs of their large brains and eyes, while they rotate their heads" and also "Owls are more flexible than humans because a bird's head is only connected by one socket pivot." Well from there I would start taking a look at owl skeletons and anatomy and study that and find a way to translate it into my designs. I'd love to see even more of the owl motif in the dragon, for example, maybe the feet are more talon-y and the face is shorter and rounder. Maybe she has more of a short neck that extends situation. Maybe instead of spines on the back she's more feathery. I'd also ask what other animals could you pull from? You say she can turn invisible so what if you pulled in inspiration from an octopus? Since they're very good at camouflage. What environment does she live in? If she lives in somewhere that has a lot of tall grassland the stripes would make a lot of sense like a tiger. Is she an ambush predator? Is she more of a chaser (haha)? Etc. Maybe she's a bit of both like an owl.

Here's an unbelievably quick sketch where I basically just pulled the shape of an owl skeleton and threw on some skin and feathers.

if you like dragons you probably already know but HTTYD has incredible dragon designs (except the light fury, god i hate her design so bad). cloudjumper is an excellent example of an owl-based dragon design.

For Percy I would basically apply a similar logic. I can tell that you're already thinking about to some extent because of the different spines you gave him. I think you should push it even further though. Overall I think you should break out of the basic dragon body plan.

I don't know how aquatic you intend for him to be but I think it would be beneficial to go with very aquatic. How would a giant, lizard-y, aquatic animal look like. Well we have a lot of reference for that both prehistoric (mosasaurs, spinosaurs etc.) and also current (marine iguanas, well this would mostly be for if you're looking for something thats not fully aquatic). What adaptations helped those species adapt to their environment? Adapt to their niche? How is he controlling water (is it telekinetic, does he have to move at all etc.)? I just found this while looking for examples for aquatic lizards, but did you know Anolis can make a bubble on their head to breathe underwater? Maybe take something from that? If he spends a lot of time in water he probably has flatter, webbed feet with limbs that aren't as mammalian as you have it right now. He probably has less horns and flourishes to keep him streamlined. Maybe he has countershading? If he's a glowing sea green does this mean he spends a lot of time in darker waters/at night where bioluminescence could be helpful?

I know sometimes it might sound absurd to entertain the practicalities of fantasy creatures and certainly not all aspects of a creature design needs to be completely plausible but it's one of the things that makes fantasy incredible and believable and easier to suspend disbelief. Taking the things that are real and tangible and understandable from our world and turning into something fantastical and mythical.

Plus I think it's just a lot of fun to think about small things like that.