#Like those weird deep ocean fish like what the heck is up with those things

[umbreonix]

I forgot I never posted this outside of discord XD but this was a lil secret santa exchange I did for @ponie-cornious <3

[h2ojustaddmako]

Headcanon: The Origin of Mermaids & Magic

Wooooooo...it’s been a long time since I’ve written one of those. I can truthfully say I’m been sitting on this one for maybe over a year...letting it cook up inside me...like a dumpling of information. Okay, weird image, i get it, but that’s the truth.

Basically today I wanna go over a little idea of mine I’ve had for a long time, and every time I rewatched the show, it was fed and grew larger and larger, with more and more information to help me piece out the puzzle of mermaid powers, and why all you thought you know was absolute garbage.

As I went over in my (pretty popular, if I may) post about how the powers work, mermaids use electromagnetism in a way that helps them alter the magnetic field around them and manipulate water in multiple ways to be able to “control” it. The moon is magnetic, and so is Mako Island, therefore, something in the full moon evokes the powers. But what is it?

While watching season 3 and Mako Mermaids as a whole, you’d realize they are more similar than you’d think. Actually, the lore introduced in season 3 seems to be the base foundation to the entire world-building in Mako Mermaids. One thing that is highly notable is the appearance of the crystals. Moon crystals, as I call them, can indeed release “moonlight”, this blue, hypnotizing energy wave. But that’s not really moonlight, per se. You see, moonlight isn’t a real thing in nature; the moon doesn’t radiate like the sun, it’s just reflective, and it’s surely not deep blue. And so, the so-called moonlight in the show is actually something else. Like the stones of Mako, the crystals in them also originated from the moon, and Mako (and every other “moon pool” out there) is probably sitting on millions of them. Considering how many were inside that one piece Ryan and Sophie tried to grab, the foundation of Mako Island is rich with these blue bitches. Now, these crystals are unique because they store inside them the secret to mermaid magic. 

You see, throughout the Mako show, one of the most valuable items are these little ‘moon rings’. These little rings with a nice, big blue crystal right in the middle. While the show never explicitly reveals that the crystals are originated from the moon pool, or Mako at all, but given the pretty obvious design choice, it’s very clear to us that it’s more than just an artistic design. They also work in a very similar way - they both radiate blue energy that is very strong, and have serious powers. Mako gave us a very big hint to the origin of that, by saying the moon rings need to be recharged in full moons. That’s when the power of the moon is the strongest. Now going back a little, we said the moon doesn’t really shine a light of its own, so what are we talking about? Well, like the crystals on the rings, the crystals on the moon absorb power daily, from the sun and space. The sun uses a strong magnetic field, holding the planets and what-not spinning around it in perfect rings since the creation of the solar system. The crystals on the moon absorb that power, and every night, the moon radiates it back to earth, to its cousin, Mako Island. Simplifying things, the moon absorbs power and in return release it towards Earth, only for that power to charge the entire Mako Island crystal colony. Many have spoken about the weird sensation Mako gives them - electromagnetism, and no wonder mermaids feel it stronger, since they are sensitive to it more than most people. The girls felt the comet getting closer because a part of them is now sensing magnetism in the environment.

So Mako is charged with energy, so what? You see, the moon pool’s shape is very interesting. The decision to place it at the bottom of a volcano isn’t just a creative choice (though it is very cool). The shape of a volcano is that of a cone, of a funnel, if you may. The moon centers around the small opening above and radiates into the moon pool itself. Unlike the rest of the island, which seems unaffected during full moon nights, the shape of the moon pool allows the power to get trapped in the spacious room of crystals walls, awakening the power that is also trapped inside the crystals themselves, probably magnifying the intensity of it by a lot. Add the fact that the full moon is the stronger of the faces of the moon considering all of it is facing Earth and you have yourself a force not to be played with. That means that the moon pool as a room has very strong energy to it, one that apparently can turn someone into a mermaid. 

The mystery of why a mermaid, of all things, and what mermaids have to do with the moon is still a puzzle left to be solved. But one thing’s for sure, mermaids are not natural creatures, despite what Mako Mermaids tries to sell you. They have too many human characteristics to only be relatives to humans and go through such an evolution is a short (evolutionarily speaking) time. Plus, no power in the world can turn you into something you’re not, and for Lewis’ examinations and the medical tests they went through in the “fake sick” episode, it’s pretty safe to say that genetically, mermaids are very slightly different to humans, and it’s not something that can be detected without looking into their DNA. But that tells us enough to safely bet that the origin of mermaids is human, and not another species adapted to live in the ocean.

And yet - sea-born ‘natural’ mermaids are so different from humans. They can siren sing, they give birth to “hatchlings” (whatever that means), and heck, some can even speak to sea animals, what’s up with that? Well, these could all be considered under the umbrella term of rapid evolution. In simple words, rapid evolution is the process a species goes through in order to adapt to a new environment that is foreign to it and different from its natural habitat. While humans don’t really have a natural habitat, we are land animals, and therefore, to live in the ocean we’d have to adapt to different factors. The transformation of the full moon only does about half the work, but a mermaid like Cleo couldn’t live in the ocean forever, as we saw when she ran away. She was hungry, ‘cause she didn’t know how to hunt. She was tired, ‘cause she didn’t know where to sleep safely. And you would be too, if you were to be thrown out of your natural environment and into some place you may have the physical skills to handle, but not the knowledge.

So my theory goes as follows: in an order of events, at some point throughout Earth’s history, a piece of the moon detached and entered our atmosphere. The piece broke off, landing in several places around the world, such as China, Ireland, perhaps the Caribbean as well, but the biggest piece landed off the coast of Australia. The new mass of stone tore through the layers of the Earth, resulting in an active volcano, that eventually cooled down and turned into an island. Million of years later, ancient humans, probably a male and a female, discovered one of the moon pools around the world (probably Ireland), sometime around 3000 years ago, before the first mentions of mermaids in Greek mythology.  Said humans were probably considered as witches, gods, beings of magic and power. It is not far fetched to assume they may have escaped into the ocean. Perhaps more people were interested in getting such powers; maybe it was more than two, maybe even tens of people. Mermaids were considered as monsters, beings of evil to be feared of, and when Christianity rose, perhaps unholy abominations. The moon pools were considered supernatural places. All that led to merpeople being secluded, escaping humans, and accepting the ocean as a new home. They adapted quickly, and with time, the mermadic gene was implemented into their DNA. They were still humans, just highly adapted to life underwater. With the industrial revolution, the stories of mermaids became nothing more than folklore, one with ancient gods, monsters, and myths. Every now and then someone saw a mermaid, like Christopher Columbus, but who would believe a person that saw a being half woman half fish?

this actually started as a whole other headcanon, but go figure

[gerbithats]

A long sims 4 rant

Starting this I can already predict it’s gonna be a big one so if you stick with me, thank you and I’ll try and add pictures to make things feel easier 😆

I was thinking about it and I mean really thinking about these community surveys we’ve been getting and how they speak volumes on the way the game is handled but also also how we position ourselves as a community. I noticed alot more game changers are starting to get pretty vocal about their thoughts since the first community survey came out and that’s refreshing to say the least, but it shows a pattern that we all present: give us what is missing no matter how. We want beaches. We want cars. We want more stairs. We want bunkbeds. Etc.

So these things are probably somehow rushed into production to please the community and then, when we finally get it, it’s like we finally realize that what this game truly lacks is gameplay and not more items.

I invite you to come and think about the packs and the stuff we got throughout these 6 years with me.

🏢 Chapter 1: The apartment issue 

Yes we got apartment buildings with city living, but sometimes it doesn’t even feel like it’s a game feature because it’s L I T E R A L L Y related to living in a city, so it’s not a real feature. We have no possible way to play with apartments and condos outside of san myshuno because for the first time ever we can’t build or own apartments. This was such a missed opportunity of giving us new lot treatments like condos and even rentable properties. I mean, just think about how those 2 features could allow so much new gameplay and stories with it (I can literally imagine being a landlord, having to go fix renters stuff in my their places and doing social events as condo meetings).

The neighbors in that type of lot could also help solve somehow what so many people mention as “boring lot gameplay”. Let’s be real. hardly something ever happens with so little npcs and only the walk by sims (You have to literally run after them to make things happen sometimes and it shouldn’t be like that). But if sims were to live in the same condo or building as yours, sharing common living spaces that’s a whole other thing. Which brings me to the fact that even in the city, where apartments exist, there’s no common area other than the halls. Imagine if we could build laundries, rooftops, basements, patios with pools and all that sort of stuff.

That sort of detaling and really getting deep into the pack’s features is even show in elevators: we can’t use them ourselves (for building) and they’re not even animated, your sim is just teleported (even the modded ones have animations and that’s just awkward).

🌊 Chapter 2: Swimming in shallow waters

“We want a beach”, we said. So they gave us a beach, and a beach only. I’ve never seen so many people call a pack “shallow” as I’ve seen it happen to Island Living and tbh I do agree with them ‘cause... there’s really not much to do in this pack. For the first time ever swimming was restricted to this pack which is already a big let down by itself, but then features like deep diving were added for no reason and of course, as a rabbit whole, not actually contributing with much to do. So how could it be better?

My answer is pretty obvious: resorts. It is a livable world, but that don’t mean your sims can’t take a vacation from work and just stay there if that’s the gameplay you want to go with and resorts match perfectly with that, not to mention it would have great integration with packs like spa day. It also means a new lot type and lot system, that wouldn’t be much new if the city living building condos and sublocating them as I mentioned would’ve already been implemented, but now with the feature of renting it yourself too. Resorts could also have their own event schedules, integrated with the seasons calendar: cava parties every wednesday, yoga lessons on thursdays, etc. And the best thing would be: if you own one, you can make your own events and traditions. imagine just how fun that would be. A feature like this would also mean it’s already done for other packs coming later on, maybe a colder destination where you can ski and build iglus or even another cultural based pack like jungle adventure.

Other obvious resolution would be better mermaids. Make it harder to become one, being only able to get the kelp from a mermaid themselves. Make it less anticlimactic, having an animation of them turning before they just walk in water with a tail all of the sudden, maybe just some scales in their legs. Give them more unique features and powers like vampires and spellcasters have, such as easily persuading people (sort of like the mind control feature aliens have) and maybe even a secret lot, like a grotto where all the mermaids are. Give them curses with the points system to go with it, some mermaids are actually sirens amirite

🥶 Chapter 3: Seasons change, gameplay stays the same

Activities truly based on the season that are specific to that moment create urgency and different moments. Something I can think of is integrating a pack we already have: spooky stuff. It does feel lackluster ‘cause it’s missing opportunities, but imagine going trick or treating but actually going, loading different houses and gathering it while a meter like the active jobs one guided you. Forming groups with friends to do it or maybe for tpeing trees and bushes if you’re on the rebel teen side and destroying their porch jack’o lanterns. It could even be randomly generated, like the game would send you to 3 different houses to do it (that would bring lots of replayability value ‘cause you could end up in houses with neighbors that love you and will give you candy no problem, but maybe also neighbors with family feuds that won’t answer their door or make it harder for you to accomplish the event objectives), maybe one of those could even be a abandoned one that’s haunted or something like that.

The implementing of a better wants and fears system is very essential for this pack. Yes your sims get overheated and a popup message tells you they need some water or lighter clothes, but it’d be so good if they’d actually want to go to the beach, swim in the ocean, take a vacation from work and go to a resort. Heatwaves that would make your sim act weird, not strangerville level of weird, but maybe not obeying your commands.

Blizzards so strong that work and school would get canceled and you actually don’t have the option to leave your home lot anymore until it passes would not only add a different element to the gameplay, but also add value to the weather controler machine.

🥺 Final chapter: The general “more stuff to do” and “more things happening” factor

The game offers all these beautiful secret worlds and yet when you finally get to them there’s not much to do other than searching for rocks and frogs and doing some fishing. I miss going to a community lot hidden somewhere and finding an eremite, goddamn bigfoot, some crazy npc or even just an actual community lot with something to do and people doing stuff in it. Unique community lots would also be a way to make towns more lively and captivating like they did so well with realm of magic and the casters alley section of the world. Maybe forgotten hollow has this abandoned haunted house where people claim they’ve seen the grim reaper walking around. Maybe sixam has a alien station where they clone human sims. Maybe sulani has this beautiful sunken ship beach where a club of people that dress up as pirated meet. Maybe Del Sol Valley has a movie theater where you can watch premieres. Maybe Oasis Springs mine hides actual gold that you can collect and get rich outta nowhere. That kind of stuff.

I can’t stress this enough, but NPCs are so important to shake things up. It was so good to have a pack like realm of magic where the we would have to go to the three sages in order to progress. Having unique sims like this or npcs that change the way your story is going like burglars, firefighters, cops, social bunny, bonehilda and even a fortune teller is so important to keep things impredictable and interesting.

Age groups really need more specific restricted gameplay for better feel of progression. Many people say sims 4 is a young adult simulator and well... there’s not much to show that differs from that. Toddlers are as interesting as hamsters, locked in an object waiting for you to feed, clean and give them attention. Teens really should feel more like a transiction period, and the wants and fears system would really help out with that. I miss being able to participate in more elements that would mark a sims life even if they’re cheesy as heck, like having a prom, graduating, having a midlife crises.

In conclusion

First of all: if you got to this point thank you and I’d really wanna know what you think about all of this.

Some people may find even ridiculous for someone to go about a rant this big on a game and to that I have to say I agree lol I can’t help it tho, honestly, the sims has always been the game I’m most passionate about and it helped me express myself and my creativity so much since I was a kid. I really do care about this game and this franchise.

The point I want to make with this is: perhaps we shouldn’t ask for more and more different stuff, but actually put some effort into showing things we already like in the game and how they can be improved to make it more interesting. At the end of the day I still want spiral staircases, ladders, paintable ceiling, werewolves and all that but does it really matter if they get added to the game following the same patterns as the things pointed in here? Also we really are getting to a point where only a few things are missing as far as cas/build/buy go and I believe it’s time for us, as a community, to give gameplay as much importance as all these things we wanted so bad that got implemented. I probaby forgot to say something here and I didn’t even mention the infamous hamster pack, but anyway, I hope the point got across.

I try really hard to believe that the gurus are here for us and that most of all we, as a community, have a very strong voice, all we need to do is make it clearer and stronger about the things we really wish for this game.

[mackeydoodledoo]

Forgiveness\Pteradon Champion Zord

(Gif not mine!)

Pairing: Izzy Garcia x (FemKnight!)Reader

Summary: It follows a girl: Y/N Y/L/N, who currently owns the "Pteradon Champion Zord", along with its DinoSoul Key, who is currently a Professional Box Fighter. The youngest ever to be a pro. What she doesn't know is that she is a direct descendant of the supposed Mythical "DinoSoul" Tribe. [Equivalent to the Ryusoul Tribe]. Her partner, she calls him, "buddy" as she doesn't have a proper name for him. The two of them embark on a journey to figure out who she is, finding an old flame and developing a new crush in the process.

Warnings: Slight heartache

----------------------------------------------------------

You tap your foot against the floor, waiting for Izzy to show up. Javi called you not even an hour before; saying that he was going to treat Izzy out to breakfast but told you to step in for him as he got a 'last minute call in' for a BuzzBlast report he was tasked with. You thanked him and immediately made you way to where he was going to meet her.

"What are you doing here Y/N?" A familiar voice calls to you

You look up and see Izzy, her face reading confusion mixed with annoyance.

"Javi got a last minute call in for a BuzzBlast report," you explain, "So he asked me to treat you out instead."

"Weird," she sighs, "Well, I have barely have any time for this-"

"Izzy wait," you sigh, immediately standing up and catching her hand in yours

"What?" She asks

"Why don't I take you somewhere else so I can explain, privately," you suggest

"Fine," she sighs, "You have one hour."

Still having her hand in yours you make your way out of the diner and out to your vehicle; a Forest Green 2001 Ford F 150 XLT. It was run down but it got you wherever you needed to go. You open the passenger side door for her, trying to show her that you really like her.

"Why thank you my knight in shining armor," she smiles

You sigh in relief, you accepted the fact she now says that every time you do something chivalrous for her. You hop into the driver's seat and begin driving to one of your favorite spots you like to be in whenever you wanted to be alone.

Once you arrived there, you again, open the passenger side door for her and hold her hand, leading her to a cliffside, a bench overlooking the ocean. You and Izzy seat yourselves and take the view all in until you look over and notice Izzy beginning to shiver. You take off your jacket and put it around her. Not knowing what to do next, you just look back out to the ocean.

"Amelia wanted me to tell you she wants to apologize to you the next time you see her," you break the silence, "She processed the whole situation and felt guilty for what she did. We talked it over and we both agreed she wouldn't do that again, let alone become jealous."

"Does she now?" Izzy asks, monotonous

"Listen," you sigh, scratching the back of your head, "What happened between Amelia and I- we used to date when we were in high school together. However, she broke up with me near the end of sophomore year; I was recruited to train to become a professional box fighter. She feared we would barely have time to see each other, so broke up with me to not suffer the pain of barely seeing each other. But, I guess it donned on her that she wasn't fully over me."

"And you?" She asks, "Are you over... Her?"

"100% yeah," you answer immediately, "I began liking another girl, though I've only known her a couple of weeks to a month, she's one of the best people I've ever met."

"Do I possibly know her?" Izzy asks, having a hunch on who it is

"Try looking in the mirror," you say

You sat back into the bench to let her process what you told her. You look out to the ocean to avoid Izzy’s eye contact out of fear of being rejected once more. Her arm begins slinging around your neck as she makes your head to turn to look at her. You notice how she was the first time the two of you kissed. You could easily see her contagious smile creep across her face.

"Guess that answers my question," Izzy laughs

The two of you were about to lean into each other for a kiss before the both of your communicators go off.

"They really need to stop interrupting us," you say, sighing, but in a joking manner

Izzy let's out a giggle as she gives you a cheek kiss right as you answer your communicator.

"A sporix beat is located near where you guys are, we're on our way right now." Zayto explains

"Okay," you sigh

"We'll keep him busy," Izzy adds

You turn off your communicator and begin running towards the direction of where the sporix beast is located.

"Link to Morphin' Grid," Izzy says as she morphs

"Ryusoul Change!" You say as you morph

You launch yourself into the air, taking Izzy's hand to have her fly with you rather than her catch up to you.

"Can't wait to drain the earth's entire ocean!" The sporix beast says excitedly

"Think again fish brain!" You say, launching Izzy for the initial attack

The sporix beast stumbles back when Izzy slashes him.

"Who the heck are you two?!" He asks, stumbling to stand back up

"Glad you asked," you joke, "We're the ones who will stop you from... Whatever it is.. You're doing."

Before you could really get into the fight, everyone else shows up. With Zayto jumping into the front.

"T-Rex Fury, Red Ranger!" He announces

"Ankylo Fury, Pink Ranger," Amelia announces

"Tricera Fury, Blue Ranger," Ollie announces

"Tiger Fury, Green Ranger," Izzy announces

"Stego Fury, Black Ranger," Javi announces

"翼の騎士, リュソウル シアン!" You announce, not knowing any other role call except your own [Translation: "The Winged Knight, Ryusoul Cyan!"]

"Dino Fury Power!" The core 5 Rangers say

"せいぎつかいえる,いっぽんのつるぎ!" you say, making a knight-like stance [Translation: "The Single Blade that is pledged to Justice!"]

You follow the rangers into battle as Void Knight appears. He raises his blade at Amelia. You hold your blade on its blunt side as his connected with yours.

"I got him!" You yell, "Go! おれの騎士を見せてある!!" You add [Translation: "I'll show you my Chivalry!]

You lift his blade away from you and slash at his armor. You could see the deep slash you made in his armor and you swore you saw cloth on the inside. IT was... Navy, just like your dad’s before he left on some kind of mission, desappearing.

"You really pack a punch kid," Void Knight, he teleports back to his base

You stand there.... You remember those words when your dad used to get knocked back whenever you were play-fighting with him when you were 4.

"Wow, you really pack a punch kid," he says, patting you on your head, "Maybe you'll be a great DinoSoul Knight when you're older."

Then it hit you. DinoSoul... Ryusoul... We're you...

"Y/N!!" Izzy calls out to you, snapping out of your daze as a Hengemen hit you in the head with the butt of their weapon

You slash them, without your body, with he exception of your right arm, flinching. You turn to Izzy who just came up to you.

"You okay?" She asks, placing her hand on your waist

"Yeah-yeah I'm fine," you sigh, meeting back up with the other rangers

The sporix beast suddenly grows; beginning to absorb the water.

"Leave this to me guys," you say, taking out your Ryusoul, "Bud!"

You see him flying around the corner, letting out a battle cry.

"Ryusoul Gattai!" You and your partner yell, throwing your Ryusoul to him

You launch yourself into the air, emerging into your zord, that transforms into a giant winged mech.

"Yokuryu-Oh!" The both of you announce

"Whoa," Izzy says, breathlessly, "This is really her zord?"

"I've never heard of a Pteradon Champion Zord," Zayto says, "Solon, can you do some research on Y/N Y/L/N's zord?"

"I'm already on it," She says

"Okay partner, let's do this!" You tell him

The sporix beast sends out beams to shoot at you however, using your ice abilities, you freeze them, slashing and kicking at them; letting them disintegrate.

"Yokuryu-Oh, Blizzard Storm!" You call out

Your partner launches the both of you up into the air. His head; that's attached to his chest, lets out a freezing breath, freezing the area of water the sporix beast is standing. However, it doesn't phase the sporix beast as it shoots out another beam. You and your partner raise the "Claw-Shield" and it bounces right back at the sporix beast; falling over into the water.

"Yokuryu-Oh, Blizzard Claw Strike!" You yell out your final move, moving your arm out in front of you; the claw-shield piercing through the sporix beast

The powered-up sporix lands in front of Zayto before mucus could get it.

"Hey! That's mine!" Mucus says, pointing at the sporix

You emerge from your zord and slash at Mucus who falls back.

"Not anymore," You laugh triumphantly

You land between the rangers and mucus, ready to fight him if need be.

"Not you again!" Mucus says before teleporting away

You de-morph and watch your partner shrink back into his egg form and fly over to you. In that moment, Izzy runs over to you and immediately wraps her arms around your midsection, giving you a tight hug; you return the same thing. The other rangers catching up with the two of you.

"That was some fight out there buddy," You smile at him whilst still holding Izzy in your arms

"Why are you complimenting me?" He asks, "It was all your moves after all Carly. When we fight together, my soul merges with yours. So I technically follow your every move."

"Come on buddy I was trying to be emotional about this one," You laugh it off

"I see the both of you kissed and made up?" Javi asks, noting how Izzy was still clinging onto your midsection

Your cheeks flush after you felt her lips gently touch your cheek.

"Izzy, you got a minute?" Amelia asks

She nods and the two of them walk a distance away from the rest of the team.

"Listen," Amelia starts, "I really want to apologize for what happened the other day. Seeing Carly again had made me realize that-"

"Your feelings for her never really went away," Izzy finishes, "And you weren't 100% over her either. It's okay Amelia."

"The truth is too," Amelia adds, "When I see her being around you, she looked... So happy. Happier than she ever was with me and it-it made me jealous."

Izzy instantly gives Amelia a hug; Amelia returning it as well.

"Do me a huge favor and take good care of Carly for me okay?" Amelia asks

"I promise," Izzy smiles

After the fact, you join the rangers in their outing to another one of Izzy's competitions. You haven't been to one in a couple of weeks.

"You know, before I decided to become a pro-boxer, I actually wanted to be a musician," You tell Javi, "Well, in my free time, I'd pick up my instrument and self teach. I can give you some pointers if you ever want to learn guitar."

"That'd be great!" Javi smiles

You watch Izzy as she begins prepping herself for her race. She looks away and spots you; You give her a big smile and a wink like you did at her first competition you attended.

[starryviolentine]

Color Me Blue (That’s Me Without You): A Pre-Apocalypse Story

Part 1 (here)     Part 2 (here)

Part 3/10: A Gruesome Twosome

Therissa slaps on her headphones, cranks up the volume on her CD player, and lets herself get lost in her world of mediocre, low-budget nail art. Starting off by removing her old coat with some “peach scented” acetone (which actually smells like pure toxic chemicals and isn’t fruity in the least), Therissa decides to go with a simple basic black and starts with her right hand. Therissa likes to get the worst over with first. Painting her own nails with her non-dominant hand is still a pain in the ass even though she’s done this a hundred times before.

By the time Therissa’s finished with two coats of black and a clear top coat on both hands, it’s been well over an hour. All she’s got left to do is wait until they’re dry. To speed things up a bit, she plugs in her hair dryer and uses the cool setting to assist with the drying process. Curious, she glances over at Violet’s bunk again, just to see if her roommate is still in the same spot she saw her last.

Sure enough, there she is… in all of her gloomy, glowering glory.

Except now she’s sitting upright and watching her.

“You know, if you’re just gonna creep on me the whole weekend, maybe I should stay with my sister after all,” Therissa comments aloud, knowing full well that her voice is being drowned out by the obnoxious humming of her hair dryer. She watches as the frown on Violet’s face is replaced with a perplexed expression, confirming that she didn’t catch a word she said.

Violet mouths something, and even though Therissa can’t hear it, it’s undoubtedly a confused ‘What?’

Once she deems her nails to be dry enough, Therissa shuts the appliance off. “You’re not seriously going to mope around the entire time Brody’s gone, are you?”

Scowl returning, Violet visibly stiffens and crosses her arms. “I’m not moping.”

Therissa rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the mess on her desk, starting to put things back into their proper place. “Whatever you say.”

Hair clips, cotton pads, tiny bottles of dark reds, purples, blues and blacks… The teen haphazardly tosses everything back into her makeup box. So she isn’t the most organized person in the world, but so what? Her fingers curl around her half empty bottle of nail polish remover, ready to put it back as well, but then she stops as an interesting idea comes to her. The corners of her lips twitch with the tiniest hint of a smile.

“Hey, V,” Therissa calls, “come here for a sec.”

Violet is apprehensive, her voice unsure. “What for?”    

“Just get your butt down here before I change my mind.”

Before she can stop herself, Violet finds herself complying with the command. She climbs down her ladder and stops once her feet reach the floor, pausing to stare at Therissa as though trying to figure out her intentions before stepping any closer.

Still seated, Therissa scoots herself a couple of feet to the right and gestures to the space beside her. “Pull up a chair.”    

The younger girl silently obliges, dragging her own chair across the room and placing it beside Therissa’s, but still keeping a bit of distance between them. Violet slowly lowers herself onto the very edge of her chair and keeps on her toes… just in case. Curious green eyes watch the teen, who pulls out several small bottles from a box on her desk and starts to line them up in a neat row.

Oh no.  

If this is what this looks like… and it really, really does… any second now Therissa is going to-

“Let me do your nails.”

Violet internally groans.

“You’ve got nothing better to do… I’ve got nothing better to do…” Therissa leans her head on her hand, looking at the unenthusiastic girl beside her. “Honestly, what have either of us got to lose?”

“My dignity.”

The comeback is timed so perfectly, with just the right amount of snark that Therissa is both amused and impressed. Compared to when she first arrived at Ericson’s, Violet has come a long way in regards to feeling comfortable around others, Therissa included. There’s something rather endearing about the way that she’s gone from never saying a word to Therissa, much less making eye contact, to being able to be herself around her. She can even be kind of sassy sometimes.

For the second time that morning, Therissa explodes into laughter.

By now, Violet can recognize when Therissa’s laughing to be mean and when she’s laughing for real, and this happens to be one of those rare times when it’s a genuine, happy-from-the-inside-out kind of laugh. The younger girl sits up a little straighter, feeling somewhat proud of herself for making her roommate laugh like this. It turns out to be almost contagious, too, because Violet has to try really hard to keep a straight face.

“Relax, I promise I won’t make you look like a fairy princess or whatever. My shades rock,” Therissa says confidently. “Besides, if you end up hating them, just take the polish off. No commitment needed.”    

Violet has never cared about makeup and nail polish and girly things like that, but the fact that Therissa, the teenager who never used to want anything to do with either her or Brody, is extending an invitation to join her is such an unheard of occurrence that it’s kind of enticing. So Violet shrugs and forces out a sigh, sitting deeper into her chair. “Fine.”    

“Pick a color, any color.”

All of Therissa’s nail polish is dark and dramatic, much like the teen herself. Her selection of colors may not be bright and bubbly, but they’re still rich and vibrant in their own way. It’s no surprise that there are two different shades of black in the mix as well. Leaning closer to get a better look at those two in particular, Violet immediately gets the urge to ask what in the heck the difference between “Midnight Misery” and “Satan’s Satin” is, but, before she can, her gaze locks onto one particular bottle at the very end of the row.

Inside the bottle is a gorgeous sapphire blue with swirls of silvery glitter, like an ocean of stars against the night sky. It’s mesmerizing, and Violet can’t quite take her eyes away. She’s never seen Therissa wear this color before. And it’s not that she wants to put it anywhere on herself, exactly… she kind of just wants to look at it.  

She must have stared for a little too long because Therissa, catching on, grabs the bottle in question with a teasing grin. “Did you always like sparkly things or is Brody rubbing off on you?”  

Violet’s ears feel hot. “I don’t! I was… I was just looking.”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone,” Therissa says. “Give me your hand.”

“What?”

The teen raises an eyebrow. “Your hand, so I can do your nails. Duh.”

“R-right…” Violet clears her throat and timidly offers her left arm to Therissa, who takes her wrist and pulls it closer to her face. The first thing that the younger girl notices is that her roommate’s hand is a lot softer and warmer than she expected, and it makes her feel a little strange.

“Gross, Violet, you need to stop biting your nails.”

Now completely and utterly mortified, Violet tries to yank her hand away, but Therissa holds on tight.

“Uh-uh, I’m fixing this.” The teen fishes through her makeup box until she locates what she’s looking for - a pair of nail clippers. “Seriously. Don’t do that. It’s a disgusting habit.”

So Therissa clips the uneven, jagged tips of Violet’s chewed fingernails and only then starts to paint them. The teen works left to right, from Violet’s little finger to her thumb, each stroke smooth, fluid and deliberate. It’s so much easier doing somebody else’s nails than your own. In no time at all, she’s done with one hand and sets the brush down. “What do you think?”

“Um...” Violet moves her hand to get a better look.

“Don’t move your fingers or you’ll ruin them.”

Keeping her digits as stiff as she can, Violet rotates her wrist to examine her nails. The unfamiliar weight on her fingertips is totally new and is definitely one of the most bizarre sensations she’s felt in a long time. She answers honestly. “It feels kinda weird.”

Snorting, Therissa grabs Violet’s other hand so she can finish up. “Seriously, though. Don’t touch anything until they’re dry, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You know, Brody would kill to be in your place right now. Apparently her mom won’t let her paint her nails until she’s sixteen.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve read her diary.”

“You what?”

Therissa holds back a laugh. “It was like one time, I swear. Like last year. And that was before..." She trails off, stopping herself from finishing that sentence out loud. Before we liked each other. Therissa's not in the mood to humiliate herself by admitting that she cares about Brody now and would never read it again. Time to change the subject. "Can you believe that, though? The only thing more ridiculous is the fact that she actually obeys that stupid rule."

For the next several minutes, both girls are quiet while Therissa continues working on Violet’s nails. There’s something about sitting so close to one another, hands touching, that’s making this a little more intimate than either of them expected. They seem to have formed an unspoken agreement to just not say anything else until Therissa is finished.

With one last swipe of glittery blue across Violet’s pinky, Therissa lets out a satisfied sigh and recaps her nail polish. “Done and done. Let’s get these dry and then you’ll be good to go.”

While Therissa gets her blow dryer set up again, Violet holds her hands out in front of her and stares at her new nails, unable to recognize them as her own. It almost feels like a stranger’s hands have somehow been fused to her wrists. There’s only one way to be sure. Violet takes a deep breath, then tries to wiggle her fingers.

And they move.

These are her hands.  

Out of her mouth slips a soft, breathy whisper. “...Holy shit.”

Smiling smugly, Therissa switches on the hair dryer and extends her open palm. By now, Violet knows the drill so she wordlessly gives her roommate her hand. Anything else she said wouldn’t be heard over the noise anyway. As Therissa dries her nails, Violet notices right away that the air is nice and cool against her skin - not warm like she expected. After Violet’s fingertips have been under the dryer for long enough, Therissa shuts the device off.

“Well, congrats. You survived.”

After giving her fingernails another long, hard stare, Violet looks over at Therissa, only briefly meeting the teen’s eyes before having to look away. “Thanks, I guess…”

Therissa quickly waves it off. “Don’t mention it. Ever.”

The younger girl stands and pushes her chair back to her own desk on the other side of the room, then plunks down on the unoccupied bottom bunk, sighing.

“Do you really have nothing to do all weekend?” asks Therissa, leaning back in her chair and using Brody’s empty bed as a footrest. There’s no malicious intent behind the question. Violet can tell by her neutral tone that she’s not asking to make fun of her, but because she truly wants to know the answer. “I mean, like, isn’t there anybody else you can hang out with?”

Violet merely shrugs, now appearing to be a little too interested in one of the scuffs on the floor. “I just don’t feel like it today.”

“Brody’s cool and all, but you really should try to find some other friends.”

The blonde picks her head up and peeks at her roommate, lips pursed in a sort of half-smile. “Did you just call Brody cool?”

“No! Shut up. I meant ‘cool’ in that… you know...” The teen struggles to find the right words to convey how she feels about their other roommate. She thinks back to the other day, the night before Brody left, and she can still picture her stuffing clothes into that gaudy yellow duffel bag of hers while excitedly rambling on and on in her quirky southern accent about all the things her family had planned for the weekend. “Like, in that cute, geeky sort of way.”

Violet’s smile grows into what Therissa would call a blood-boiling, shit-eating grin. “You called her cute.”

“God, Violet!” Therissa grabs the first object within reach - a nail file - and flings it in her direction. “I just meant that she’s a good kid.” Violet has the audacity to laugh, causing Therissa to jump up and lunge at her. “And you’re infuriating!”

“I’m not laughing! I’m not-” Clearly laughing, Violet tries to fight Therissa off her, but the older girl easily pins her to the bed.

“Laugh it up while you can, Blondie,” huffs Therissa, releasing Violet and collapsing onto the mattress beside her. The teen waits for her roommate to get a grip on herself before laying down the law. “Here’s how it’s going to be, so listen up. You won’t mention this conversation to Brody, ever, and I won’t tell her how miserable you are whenever she’s gone. Capisce?”  

The younger girl freezes. There is no way Brody can ever find out about that. Not that it’s true, of course, because it’s not... but Violet can’t have Therissa putting crazy ideas into her best friend’s head. And knowing Brody, she would totally believe her. Seeing as she doesn’t have much of a choice, Violet gives a weak thumbs-up.  

“You’ll live. It’s only four days.”

Violet watches as Therissa pushes herself upright and goes back to her side of the room. The teen resumes cleaning up her desk and Violet, ignoring the slight twinge of disappointment in her chest, takes that as a sign that the two of them are done hanging out. Returning to her own bunk, Violet lies on her back, trying to come up with something to do for the rest of the day… and the three after that.

Four more days...

“The hell are you doing back up there?”

Violet lifts her head at the sound of her roommate’s voice. Therissa’s standing there, hand on her hip and looking at her like she’s an idiot. There’s a stack of CDs and an old boom box on her desk where the nail polish and makeup used to be.

“Come on, I’m going to introduce you to some real music.”

A tiny smile forms on Violet’s face.

Maybe the next four days won’t be so bad after all.

[gosecretscribbles]

MonthofMaybel2019 Week 3: Living with Your Average Nerdbro

A/N: After last week's angst I NEEDED FLUFF so have some mabel/stan bonding over their adorably nerdy nerdbros!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Grunkle Stan

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Grunkle Staaaaaaan

brassknucklegrunkle: what

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Dipper's hogging Anansi and I wanted to get

him to try on a sweater but he's too busy doing 'experiments' with his

webbing

brassknucklegrunkle: the heck is anansi

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): He's this smoking-hot six-inch-tall Spider

Person with little chocolate freckles and a big fluffy spider butt

brassknucklegrunkle: we really need to talk about your taste in boys

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Dipper is hogging him and I'm so bored I

could die

brassknucklegrunkle: YOU'R bored

brassknucklegrunkle: try bein stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean

with a guy who's mostly interested in poking things that want to kill you

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): to be fair you do that too

brassknucklegrunkle: Hey, I poke things and run away

brassknucklegrunkle: HE WANTS TO STUDY WHAT THE

MONSTER LOOKS LIKE FROM THE INSIDE

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Right?!  Last week Dipper found some kind

of raccoon with crab pinchers digging through our neighbor's salami pile

and the first thing he wanted to do was poke it with a stick

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): I man I think it was a raccoon

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Either way it could pinch harder than an old-

timey grandma

brassknucklegrunkle: That's nothing.  Last week this little trash island

bumped up against our boat and it was covered with these little blue

singing things that numbed your face.

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Why would they numb your face?

brassknucklegrunkle: They looked like mushrooms and i was sick of

fish okay?

brassknucklegrunkle: ANYWAY they were the food for this sea serpent

the size of a sky scraper, which was pretty cool until it ate a ton of the

mushrumbas rolled over and played dead

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): LIKE A LITTLE TEN-TON PUPPY?!!

brassknucklegrunkle: More like a conman with a million-dollar mark

brassknucklegrunkle: Ford was like OH LOOK DEAD CRYPTID

PERFECT FOR SCIENCE and leaped right into its mouth, started poking

at its teeth. I stayed on the boat until i saw its one eye rolling, I was

shouting at Ford to get out but he was doing his stupid genius thing and Ii

had to jump in there to save his sorry butt

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): NO WAY DID YOU DIE

brassknucklegrunkle: APPARENTLY BECAUSE IT STARTED

SWALLOWING

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Uh oh

brassknucklegrunkle: Worst part I couldn't even get a good guilt trip out

of it because halfway down the throat got claustrophobic

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Ohhhhh bad

brassknucklegrunkle: I punched our way out and Ford didn't get

flashbacks but he shut up for like an hour and not in a good way.  He

wanted to just hole up below deck with his nerd stuff but I was aafraid his

brain would panic so I gassed him out

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): ew

brassknucklegrunkle: YEAH BABY WHO ATE TOO MUCH CRAB

FOR BREAKFAST

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): I thought the point was NOT to freak him

out???

brassknucklegrunkle: Eh, I brought up all the nerd junk that wasn't

nailed down and some coffee, he was fine,

brassknucklegrunkle: kinda reminded me of Dipper

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Dipper's not claustrophobic tho?

brassknucklegrunkle: Not that part, the anxious nerd part.  For the last

half of the summer sometimes I'd be coming up from the portal, frick that

is weird to say, and he'd be walking around the Shack muttering under his

breath but still asleep.  

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): uhhhh that's probably from bill

brassknucklegrunkle: no, that was way before weirdmag

brassknucklegrunkle: wait

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): uh, yeah, Dipper kinda made a deal with

him? and Bill stole his body and tried to ruin my puppet show? that was

Bill in Dipper's body you were filming, ahaha whoops???

brassknucklegrunkle: WHAT

brassknucklegrunkle: YOU CANNOT CUSS ON THIS WEBSITE

brassknucklegrunkle: YOU CANNOT CUSS ON THIS WEBSITE

brassknucklegrunkle: HE MADE A DEAL WITH YOU CANNOT

CUSS ON THIS WEBSITE BILL CIPHER BEHIND MY BACK AND

NEITHER OF YOU TOLD ME

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): sorry sorry sorry!  

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): I can airlift you brownies!  Full of guilt!  Guilt brownies!!  

brassknucklegrunkle: TOFFEE PEANUT BROWNIES IS HE STILL

SLEEPWALKING

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): It's getting better I think??  

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): I wake up when he does that here because

our bed creaks and he's only done it like twice, I hold his hands until he

wakes up and basically pump him full of hot chocolate with mountains of

whipped cream and so many colored sprinkles it turned into a rainbow

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Although one time I woke up for a midnight

snack of sugar packets, as you do, and I heard Ford call him on Skybe and

they talked for a while

brassknucklegrunkle: I told him not to wake you two up

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): please, Dipper's awake like all the time, he's

practically an honorary vampire

brassknucklegrunkle: he's pale enough

brassknucklegrunkle: i don't get it, Ford knows he can talk to me, right?  

Why doesn't he?

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Aw, Grunkle Stan

brassknucklegrunkle: I mean we are literally the only two people around

for hundreds of miles and he still skybes with someone else, either that or

he's doing more weird nerd stuff

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Maybe that's just his way of coping

sometimes?

brassknucklegrunkle: There are better ways of coping than jumping

feet-first down a sea serpent's throat

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): okay point

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Dipper's like that too sometimes, he's all

obsessed with Anansi and I want to hang out with him but I kind of feel

like I'm getting in the way.

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Grunkle Stan, sometimes I get scared that

he'll obsess over his nerd stuff so much that I'll lose him even when he's

sitting right next to me.

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Grunkle stan what do I do

brassknucklegrunkle: first of all stop stress knitting

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): how did you

brassknucklegrunkle: knitting is fine stress knitting is knot

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Hey-o!

brassknucklegrunkle: That's my girl!  

brassknucklegrunkle: Okay second, that nerd can get so deep in his

nerdery he doesn't even realize he's ignoring you.  So what you need to do

is be as loud and obnoxious as possible to get his attention ,and once you

have it go do something you both love doing!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): OH OH!!!  IDEA!!!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Dipper likes science and I like cooking,

right? I can ask Anansi if we can feed him colored powdered sugar and

see if his webbing turns into a rainbow!  It shall be a perfect smoothie

blend of art and weirdness!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Then Dipper will be like 'uuhhh that's so cool

mabel I should've included you sooner' and i can GUILT TRIP HIM

FOREVER

brassknucklegrunkle: Yes!  YESS!!  

brassknucklegrunkle: USE HIS OWN NERDERY AGAINST HIM

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): GRUNKLE STAN YOU SHOULD

TOTALLY TO THAT TOO!!!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Open a selkie-slash-mermaid dating services

so yu get hot dates and he gets to study weirdness!!

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): And then you can talk about your dates for

HOURS and he'll have to listen to EVERY SINGLE DETAIL because it's

SELKIE SCIENCE

brassknucklegrunkle: GENIUS

brassknucklegrunkle: Mabel sweetie you make me so proud

brassknucklegrunkle: Now go commit emotional blackmail, and don't

forget to make me those brownies

KOALA_PIG_QUEEN))): Yes, Grunkle Stan!!  MABEL AWAY!!!!

[mistiedwagonfyre]

M(erry) Monday: Just Some Get to Know You Stuff...

So I got these from moonysmind so I should probably @ them... 

@moonysmind-blog

Ok, let's get this party started! 

1. Do you prefer writing with black or blue pen?

Blue if I'm writing something, black if I'm outlining a paper. But overall, black pens are my go-to just because I have more of them. I seriously need to stock up on blue pens... Also, who uses a red pen for anything other than corrections just because that's the way they've been taught? 

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or the city?

The Country. Or somewhere in the middle. I just feel like I'd be able to manage less people over more people and get to know them more personally. And, let's be honest, the country has gorgeous skies and sprawling fields and meadows. And it feels like you could take a deep breath and just absorb the atmosphere. 

3. If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?

Balance. It would help in everything because yours truly is a ball of clumsy fluff.

4. Do you drink your tea or coffee with sugar?

Heh, I drink hot chocolate with marshmallows so...

5. What was your favourite book as a child?

Anything I could get my hands on. I. Love. Books. My favorite series as a kindergartener was the Magic Tree House tho.

6. Do you prefer baths or showers?

Depends on my mood. Baths are for when I've got tons of time to just relax  and get my mind off things and showers remind me of rain and I love them too. I take showers more often but that doesn't mean anything.

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which would you choose?

This is a hard one cuz I love all things mystical and magical... 

My immediate thought was a dragon but they get killed a lot in the myths and they're almost always stuck guarding something. Then I was like, ok then. What about a phoenix? So ya, I'd be a phoenix. Don't get me wrong, I'd totally go with all the mythical creatures and just cycle through them all, just if I had to choose just one it'd be a phoenix. Maybe, since I'd technically live forever, I could meet every single mythical creature ever. That'd be pwetty cool...

8. Do you prefer reading paper or electronic books?

Paper. It's what I've grown up with. I know, classy me. Also, there is nothing quite like the smell of a new book. Just sayin'.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing?

Punny t-shirts. All I'm gonna say.

10. Do you like your name? Would you ever change it?

Yes. If I had to change it, I'd love to be Reyna or Luna. Otherwise, I'm keeping it.

11. Who is a mentor to you?

Mostly myself. I taught myself to draw, anyhow. If not me, my mom or my newest art teacher or my neighbor. 

12. Would you ever want to be famous? If so, what for?

Yes and no. I want to inspire people (whether with art or my quirky personality) but don't want the pressure that popularity and fame brings. 

13. Are you a restless sleeper? 

If being a night owl counts as restless, then yes. If being a deep sleeper when I am actually asleep doesn't, then no.

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic?

Considering I like guys who are chivalrous and funny... yes?

15. Which element best represents you?

Water. I'm chill until all my suppressed emotions rush out. You can't hold back the ocean forever. And you can't prevent the inevitable: Me being weird. Just ask my sister, she thinks I'm insane (which is probably accurate). Also, I may seem shallow on the surface, but I can actually be very deep sometimes. I could go on and on about my relationship with water, but that's a tale for another time.

16. Who do you want to be closer to?

Everyone. I love strengthening relationships with people. It makes the group stronger as a whole.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment?

Always.

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory.

I'd love too, but then storyteller Mistie will appear and this list will become infinitely longer. You'll have to ask me in my questions tab if you really want to hear one. 

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten?

Can't decide which is weirder: Watermelon with taco seasoning or raw onion with mustard... Both are equally delicious in the summertime at a BBQ.

20. What can you see outside your bedroom window?

A ladder, some rocks, and a dead vole. My old room had a much better view... 

21. What are you most thankful for?

My Savior

22. Do you like spicy food?

Not particularly, no. 

23. Have you ever met someone famous?

Alex Boyé. He went to a really unsanitary restaurant before he came to our house one time and puked all over our newly waxed floors. I feel bad for him. Everyone but him knew not to eat at that runofthemill A&W on the way up. He still put on a mini concert for us tho and that was pretty considerate of him, because he did it even though he can't have felt like doing it.

24. Do you keep a diary or journal?

Yup. I've got entries from back in kindergarten, amazingly. Granted, back then I wrote in pictures.

25. Do you prefer to use pen or pencil?

Pencil. I'm human, I make mistakes.

26. What is your star sign?

Well, I was a Pisces. But then they discovered that there are more stars in the sky, just like there are more fishes in the sea, and just bunched a bunch of Pisces together so now I'm Aquarius. I'm still a Pisces at heart tho.

27. Do you like your cereal crunchy or soggy?

Crunchy. Better texture. Soggy cereal is oatmeal in my mind and if you want oatmeal, you actually make oatmeal, not let your cereal sit out for who knows how long. 

28. What would you want your legacy to be?

Legacy is a tricky thing. You've gotta know what people are gonna think of you down the line. I want mine to be simple: she wasn't afraid of who she was and what others would think of that. She was herself, and that's all that matters. I feel like that's the best legacy I could have for the future generations who will grow up in a world of trial and tribulation.

29. Do you like reading? What was the last thing you read?

ABSOLUTELY! I just finished Lodestar from Keeper of the Lost Cities. I shoulda read these books years ago but they're still fan-freaking-tastic! 

30. How do you show someone you love them?

I guess my love language is acts of service or whatever. So I'd probably serve them and do tons of sweet things for them. 

31. Do you like ice in your drinks?

No, it makes it all watery. Blegh.

32. What are you afraid of?

Lots of things. I just only realize when they come along and forget what they are afterwards. Sure, it may seem nice, but it makes the terror of coming into contact with them once more infinitely more terrorizing. But bugs are extremely horrifying. And so are arachnids.

33. What is your favourite scent?

Rain with freshly mowed grass and newly printed books at a campfire with Smores by the seashore. No one will ever be able to create this magnificent scent. 

34. Do you address older people by their first or last name?

Depends on how close we are.

35. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life?

Does this mean that everything is free? Well I'm gonna stockpile food and stuff and then ship them off to 3rd world countries. I'd try to save as many lives as possible. Or I could go there in person to deliver said goods... Yup. I've decided that that's what I'm gonna do!

36. Do you prefer swimming in pools or in the ocean?

Pools have a veil of safety but the ocean is much more beautiful and alive. Also, the smell of chlorine is gross. And the taste. Blegh.

37. What would you do if you found $50 on the ground?

If it looks old and worn and dirty like it's been there a while, imma take it. Chances are whoever lost it has been long gone so I can actually take that $50 w/o feeling guilty. Otherwise I'd leave it there.

38. Have you ever seen a shooting star? Did you make a wish?

Heh, I used to wish on airplanes, satellites, and planets because I thought they were 'special stars'.

39. What is one thing you would want to teach your children?

To be kind, even when it is inconvenient. I don't know how many times someone has held the door open for me even when it seemed much more convenient for them to just go inside where it is warm and just let me open the stupid door on my own. 

Maybe I'd teach them that even the smallest acts can have the biggest impact. One of the two. Probably both.

40. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it?

Heh, you're talkin' to the girl who doesn't want her ears pierced. No way in heck am I getting a tattoo.

41. What can you hear right now?

Music and the sound of my thoughts.

42. Where do you feel the safest?

In a book.

43. What is one thing you want to overcome/conquer?

Darkness and fear.

44. If you could travel back to any era, which would you choose?

The one with Michelangelo, Leonardo, and all those other guys that the ninja turtles were named after.

45. What is your most used emoji?

It's not even an emoji. It is literally XD. Either that or (^^) 

46. What is your favourite season? Why?

Torn between winter (snow), spring (life coming into bloom), and fall (all the pwetty colors).

47. How would you spend your ideal day?

On a window seat during a thunderstorm either sketching or reading a book all wrapped up in a blanket. Preferably with a cat. Sipping warm apple cider or hot chocolate with marshmallows.

48. Describe yourself using one word.

Me.

49. What do you regret the most?

Not realizing certain things sooner.

50. Invent your own word. What does it mean?

Crushyblushy (adj. n.)

The general mannerisms an individual enacts around people that they like (specifically in crush and/or love situations).

syn: awkward, quirky, shy, blushy

ant: confident, flirty, aplomb, able

[ducclord-archived]

The Woolyne group has a new prompt up and I’m!! Excited as heck!!! Here’s the first part where Lycra is in search for some help! Story under the read more!

"Land ho!"

Donovan looks out to the island his ship is approaching. Caspian rushes to the side, onto the fence and holding on to the ropes so he wouldn't slip.

The sound of the sea and loud cawing of seagulls almost drowned Caspian's voice, "Is that Corwyn, Captain?"

Donovan nodded, "Aye! We're stopping here a bit to stock up on food and med kits for our next adventure!"

"Hah, you mean you just wanna treasure hunt around the area!" Teased Caspian. Donovan simply laughed. "You know me too well, Cassie!"

Caspian drops from the fence and heads back to the deck and continued to clean up. Donovan walked over to the same spot where Caspian stood, looking out to the sea. He hasn't visited Corwyn is a while, he wonders how Bonnie and her skippers are doing. Donovan could go on with his train of thought but something tickles his whiskers. The sea of Corwyn was acting odd.

For one thing, there's an awful amount of seagulls so far out from the coast and they're louder than usual. Something weird is going on to rile up the birds so much. He held up his paw to the sky, tapping into his lightning lyss to see if he could detect anything.

The ship then rocks hard. Donovan held on to the fence and clutched his hat close. Did Donovan's ship just got breached? Donovan looks over the fence to the sea. Nothing. In fact, he still has quite a distance from port.

Caspian came running up back to the bow "What in the world was that?" Donovan looked hard into the sea, "I-” He could see ripples and dark blobs but that could just be a shark or a really big fish. He turned to face Caspian, "-I don't know..."

They both share a worried look but Donovan shook his off quick. "Whatever it is, I don't think it harmed the ol' gal much." Caspian was skeptical, he thinks Donovan might know something, but a reassuring pat from Donovan made him drop the subject.

Before Caspian went down again, he asked, "...Shall I give the ship a boost, sir?" Donovan gave it a thought. He shook his head, "There's no need, Caspian. We're close to port anyway." Caspian stared back and grunted a quick reply. "I'll check below for any holes then, Cap." With that, Caspian disappeared under the ship. Donovan sighed heavily. He looked down his paw and found a small scar on his paw pads. It glowed faintly and stings with every touch.

Donovan believes whatever is causing a ruckus to the birds have something to do with magic. A smirk crept up his face. He smells an adventure awaits for him in Corwyn.

The Undying Star docks in Corwyn's port. Donovan looks around the port. Familiar ships were docked, which is a nice thing for him. He could go around asking them for their experience when they traveled to Corwyn.

Caspian unloads a few chests off of the ship. He smacks a brown chest with golden filigree, "Hey Cap, I'll sell off this beaut to the shops, yea?"

"Make sure you don't sell less like last time!" Caspian threw his hands up on the air, "YOU PROMISED NOT TO BRING IT BACK!" Donovan laughed at his first mate's antics.

As Caspian drags a bunch of chests to the shops, Donovan catches a glimpse of someone familiar. Chipped ear, shark tail and jacked arms with scars could only be...

"Bonnie!"

The shark-like woolie looked around and turned to Donovan's voice. As Donovan came up to her, she gave him her toothy smile, "Donnie! Long time no see!" Donovan gave her hand a shake but she pulls him into a side hug. She pats him hard on his back, "Well, look at you with your fancy feather hat!" Donovan laughed. It has been a long time since he saw Bonnie. Last time he saw her was before he left back to Lornesse with his family after they got themselves a family Selpie. He remembered how he and Bonnie bonded over their love of Selpies.

The two chatted up on their life. Bonnie wanted Donovan meet a few of her new skippers. Donovan is very, very, tempted to get a selpie of his own and Bonnie is not helping with all her sweet temptations. He nudged her playfully, "You and your skippers, you know how I'm weak to those fellas!" As Bonnie brings Donovan to her beach where she herds the Selpies, that odd tickling feeling kept bugging Donovan. He couldn't even focus in playing with the selpies. Whatever is out in the ocean, it's calling out to him.

Every now and then, Donovan glances at the sea. No thunder clouds in sight, yet he feels it in his fur. He didn't realised he was walking straight into the pool. "Oi! Watch where you're going," Bonnie's gruff voice shouted from the distance. She came up to him and helped Donovan up. "You're a bit out of loop today, something bothering you?"

Donovan straightened his wet coat, "There is, actually." Bonnie cocked her head to the side. Donovan gestured to the sea, "Don't you feel something's up with the ocean?"

Bonnie looks out. The waves crashed gently to the shore. Seems like nothing was out of the ordinary and yet Bonnie nodded. "You're not wrong." They both continued their walk to Bonnie's selpie farm, "It has been like this for a few days now. My skippers are getting restless over it."

"So you don't know anything?"

She shook her head.

Donovan sighed, "Ah, I see."

"You know something though, don't you?" Bonnie raised a questioning brow at Donovan. He gave her a shrug, "I have theories, but I can't really say for certain." She pulled a chair nearby and sat, arms crossed. "Well I don't mind hearing it out."

Donovan scratched the back of his head, "Well, from my very short experience, I think it has something to do with lyss." Bonnie scrunched up her face, "Lyss? Are you sure?"

"Yes." Donovan walks up to Bonnie, "I work with lightning, they don't hurt me."He opened up his palm, where the cut have left a mark. "Yet when I tried to tap my lyss, it actually hurts me." Bonnie gave Donovan's hand a thorough look. It was a small cut, but it stings whenever Bonnie touched it.

"It could be the work of lyss," she lets go of Donovan's hand, "or it could just be you being clumsy." Donovan looked betrayed. "Me? Clumsy? Bonnie, you know that I haven't been a total klutz in years now!"

She smirked at Donovan, "Sure, you haven't been a klutz, Donnie." Donovan jabs her playfully. Bonnie gave a hearty laugh, but when things quite down again, she turned serious once more. "Are you sure it's lyss, Donovan?"

"Well actually, it's more wild lyss to be honest with you all."

Donovan didn't answer that. The two of them stood their ground and looked around to find the source of the voice. From under the waters, an orange woolyne with fins emerged. They had fins running from their head to their back. What shocks Donovan most, however, is the fact that the woolyne in question had a fish tail for legs. Donovan have never seen anything like them.

"You're a Seatouched," says Bonnie.

"Yes, I am." The orange woolyne swims closer to shore, where their tail turns to hooves. Donovan might be hanging his jaw right now.

The woolyne coughed, "I should probably introduce myself." They held out their hand to shake, "Hi, my name's Lycra. I'm from the underwater city of Lathule and I need your help." Donovan would probably still be dropping his jaw had Bonnie not nudged him. He scrambled to shake Lycra's hand. "Hey, I'm Donovan, this is Bonnie. What do you mean by wild lyss and why do you need our help?"

"Ah, straight to the point I see!" He points out to the sea, where a bunch of seagulls fly over a specific spot. "Beneath the waves, my city is under attack by rampant wild lyss."

"It's wrecking havoc, creating golems made of corals and kelps, and attacking my people." Donovan and Bonnie looked at each other. "That's really bad but... how are we supposed to help with that?" Donovan asked.

Lycra looks into the ocean, "There's a magic conch shell that can help contain the abundant of lyss." A sad look came across his face, "But it's hidden deep within a mythical temple and-"

He couldn't finish his words because Donovan cuts him off, "Mythical temple you say?" He walked closer to the orange woolyne, his eyes sparkling, "With treasures hidden deep within it?" Lycra feels awkward with Donovan being so close to him but he nodded, "Uhhh, yes?"

Donovan dramatically turns towards Bonnie, "Sorry to cut our outing short, Bonnie but adventure calls." Bonnie crossed her arms, "That's great and all, but how do you plan on going in an underwater temple, Donnie?"

Donovan pointed at Bonnie to answer, but no words came out. He scrunched up his face to think and realised Bonnie's right. How would Donovan ever go into a temple deep in the ocean long enough to not drown. His ears drooped and Donovan looked sadly at Lycra. However, Lycra waved away Bonnie's comment, "That's easy! With this overabundance of lyss, I can turn you into a Seatouched!"

Donovan's ears perked up again. He's going on an adventure! He's going to go underwater! He grabs hold of Lycra's shoulders and shook him excitedly, "That's wonderful! My good friend, I'll help you out and find that magic conch!" Donovan then gasped in realisation, "We'll have to bring Caspian along!" He then drags the orange woolyne on the way back to port, but not without bidding goodbye to Bonnie.

Bonnie simply shook her head and waved back as she watched Donovan drag the poor Seatouched woolyne.

[petitesimss]

Get to Know Me Tag

I was tagged by the beautiful @timouke to do this challenge so here we go I guess?!

Rules: Post a pic of your simself with your traits and answer the questions! :)

My Traits: Clumsy, Goofball, and Genius 

(According to other people, I swear I didn't label myself as a genius! xD)

Really quick I would like to go ahead and tag of my FAV simblrs: @mmfinds @stardustsim @blushchat @brindletonsims @mochieo @awsimmer92 @fussysim @simplistic-sims4 @tainoodles and also anyone who wants to do it!

1. What is your full name? Megan :)

2. What is your nickname? Meg (Omg so basic)

3. When is your birthday? October 7th

4. Favorite book series? ‘ARRY POTTER!

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Uhm not aliens but I think some form of ghosts exist. Not necessarily the scary ones xD

6. Favorite author? John Green

7. Favorite Radio Station? I don’t listen to the radio oof

8. What is your favorite flavor of everything? Chocolate or Strawberry!! Mmmm

9. What word will you often use to describe something great or wonderful? Amazing or just a *gasp* noise

10. What is your current favorite song? Nancy Mulligan by Ed Sheeran

11. Favorite word? oof

12. What was the last song you listened to? Currently listening to Pentatonix’s cover of Hallelujah

13. What TV show do you recommend? I am currently obsessed with Vampire Diaries

14. Favorite movie to watch when you’re upset? Omg this is weird but those classic like 2005 Barbie movies always cheer me up

15. Do you play video games? Not really other than sims ofc :P

16. Biggest Fear? Dark Bathrooms (especially the mirrors, its a long story)

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? My drive to work hard or maybe just my general compassion for everyone

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? LAZINESS

19. Cats or dogs? CATS I HAVE THREE

20. Favorite season? Fall because of sweaters and moderately cool weather

21. Are you in a relationship? Oui!

22. Something you miss from your childhood? Barbie Movies

23. Best friend? My boyfriend xD

24. Eye color? Chocolate brown

25. Hair color? Dark brown, black at the roots

26. Who is someone you love? My mother xD

27. Who is someone you trust? My mother

28. Who is someone you think about often? My boyfriend (These answers are so basic oof)

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? IM SEEING THE CRIMES OF GRINDLEWALD TOMORROW

30. Biggest obsession? Cats

31. Favorite TV show as a kid? Probably I-Carly or Hannah Montana

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? My boyfriend

33. Are you superstitious? Unintentionally yes

34. Any unusual phobias? Dark bathrooms xD

35. In front of the camera or behind it? Both

36. Favorite Hobby? Sims eek

37. Last book your read? Idk why but I stopped reading and so I have no idea

38. Last movie you watched? Not all of it but some of Pitch Perfect (I’ve already seen the whole thing don't worry)

39. Play an instrument? My voice and also a bit of the keyboard

40. Favorite Animal? Cat.

41. Top five tumblr blogs you follow? ALL OF THEM DANG IT

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Flight!

43. Where and when do you feel the most at peace? At home, sleeping in my bed

44. What makes you smile? Literally life

45. What sports do you play, if any? I’ve been in dance for 13 years

46. Favorite drink? Coca-Cola

47. Last time you wrote a handwritten note or letter to someone? This week actually!

48. Afraid of heights? DUH

49. Biggest pet peeve? SLOW WALKERS JUST WALK PLEASE

50. Ever been to a concert? Yep and I’ve been in several local ones

51. Vegan or Vegetarian? Heck no 

52. What did you want to be when you were little? A pop star xD

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? Just. Hogwarts. Always.

54. What is something you worry about? If I am actually liked by people

55. Scared of the dark? Only in bathrooms dude

56. Do you like to sing? YES (Soprano 1 - Mezzo)

57. Ever skipped school? Nope, I’m a good bean

58. Favorite place on the planet? Bed.

59. Where would you like to live? New York or Paris

60. Have any pets? 3 cats (Bella, Possum, and Ty) and also a fish whose name I don't remember

61. Early bird or Night owl? NIGHT OWL

62. Sunrises or Sunsets? I’m gonna go with sunsets

63. Do you know how to drive? I should but I don't xD

64. Earbuds or headphones? Earbuds but not the ones you get with an iPhone, those suck!

65. Ever had braces? Three years I think total, and I just had to get a 6 week retainer set to close a small gap that came back :(

66. Favorite genre of music? Pop I guess xD Or musical theater!

67. Who is your hero? My stepdad

68. Do you read comic books? No but my stepdad did xD

69. What makes you the most angry? When people make jokes about things like cancer or diabetes (THEY ARENT FUNNY)

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? Definitely a real book, My eyes don't hurt as much plus they smellll soooo goooodd

71. Favorite Subject? English or Science

72. Any siblings? So this is complicated but I have one half brother, a half-step brother, and a half-step sister

73. The last thing you bought? I bought a journal and some bath salts for my friend’s birthday

74. How tall are you? So I used to be 5′2 but every time I go to the doctor they measure me at like 5′1 and I am confusion

75. Can you cook? Yes but I prefer baking

76. Three things you love? My family, my friends, and food (Omg I typed foot at first EEK)

77. Three things you hate? I LITERALLY DONT HATE ANYTHING IM SORRY

78. Do you have more female friends or male friends? Female oof

79. Sexual orientation? Straight But why did you need to know??

80. Where do you currently live? Louisiana OOOF

81. Last person you texted? My boyfriend, specifically “hehehe yess”

82. Last time you cried? Watching “A Walk to Remember” a few weeks ago

83. Favorite youtuber? All of them, rip

84. Do you like to take selfies? Yes but only because I don't like the pictures other people take of me xD

85. Favorite app? BUZZFEED or maybe netflix

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? I love my mom and we are close but me and my biological dad don't talk

87. Favorite foreign accent? FRENCH OR BRITISH

88. Place you’ve never been to but want to visit? Hawaii or Paris

89. Favorite number? 2 but also literally any even number

90. Can you juggle? Who on here can actually juggle cause I want to be your best friend please (so no)

91. Are you religious? I’m supposed to be catholic but I haven't been to church in a while

92. Is outer space or the deep ocean more interesting? The deep ocean because I want to be a mermaid

93. Do you consider yourself a daredevil? No I am the opposite oof

94. Are you allergic to anything? Cats and dogs, pollen, grass, apparently something in the meningitis vaccine (ITS A LONG STORY)

95. Can you curl your tongue? YOU BET I CAN

96. Can you wiggle your ears? No but I can shake my eyes

97. How often do you admit that you’re wrong about something? I am never wrong, ever.

98. The forest or the beach? The beach cause mermaids

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given to you? Do what you love, don’t work for money.

100. Are you a good liar? I am a TERRIBLE liar

101. Hogwarts house? Gryffindor but my hybrid house is Gryffinpuff soooo...

102. Do you talk to yourself? I used to tbh but now I usually just sing to myself

103. Introvert of Extrovert? Extrovert but I love me time

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? No I just deal with my thoughts

105. Do you believe in second chances? Absolutely

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Look for identification in it so I can return it to it’s owner

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Of course!

108 Are you ticklish? VERY

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Yes, I was on one last weekend

110. Any piercings? Only my basic ear piercings

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Ronald Weasley

112. Any tattoos? No but I wanna get a few small ones later in life

113. Best decision you’ve made in your life so far? Care for others is far more rewarding than wallowing in sadness

114. Do you believe in karma? It depends, really

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I used to wear glasses but since one of my eyes is near sighted and the other is far sighted they balance each other out enough so that I don’t necessarily need them anymore

116. Do you want children? YES LIKE 3-5

117. Who is the smartest person you know? My stepdad

118. Most embarrassing moment? That time I asked my bestfriend at the time’s sister if I could wear a pad on a water slide (IT WAS MY FIRST PERIOD OKAY?)

119. Ever pulled an all-nighter? I’ve made it to 6 am xD

120. What color are most of your clothes? Yellow or pink :P

121. Do you like adventures? PLANNED adventures, yes

122. Ever been on tv? A few times

123. How old are you? 16

124. Favorite quote? But without the dark, we’d never see the stars

125. Sweet or savory foods? SWEEETTT

OML THIS TOOK FOREVER RIP

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day #5: Favorite Fish-Man

1.)    Abe Sapien (BPRD)

Good old Abraham Sapien. Been with us since the fist arc of Hellboy. Abe’s come a long way since then; met his mom, found his wife, subsequently lost her, reunited with his old steampunk buddies, got elected as antichrist after Hellboy and Liz, went into a coma, mutated a couple of feet taller, and so and so on. Into Abe is thrown a lot of bigger themes that inform us of the Mignolaverse’s overall composure. On the aesthetic side, Abe always brings the ocean, fish, and water with him. Lovecraft’s fear of the ocean, Verne’s fascination, and Melville’s awe of it are all wrapped up in Abe Sapien. In his past life, he even came from a whaling family, and he was part of a secret society of ocean-worshiping spiritualists. That’s the other aesthetic cue in Abe; Victoriana. Even when in body armor and running across the flooded remains of the Gulf Coast, Abe never loses a certain gentility. But as a character theme, more than anything, I think Abe represents tragedy. He’s lost more than anyone; Even Liz can still say she has her humanity. Abe can’t even remember his past life, and now he’s becoming a little more monstrous every day.

But through all that, Abe is still maybe the most relatable member of the BPRD for me. (Well, the superpowered ones anyway.) Abe isn’t really sure of who he is or his place in the world, and he’s still looking for those connections that root a person. At the same time, Abe sticks to the middle of the road, acting as the voice of reason even in unreasonable circumstances. He’s capable of emotional outbursts and faults, but for the most part, Abe succeeds at being a good person. Abe might be the strangest core member of the BPRD, but that he’s never inhuman. We don’t need to be super heroes; just basically good people are enough to keep the world running.

2.)    Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Man, I just love how cool this guy is. Sea monster octopus pirate; that’s a character description that makes my inner ten year old want to jump and down. Davy Jones’ whole character design is just so nifty; tentacle beard, organic peg-leg, crab-claw hook hand, a sweet pipe and a giant hat. Hat’s also important for the other reason I love Jones; plays into so many mythical archetypes. Costumers for PotC explicitly stated they picked Jones’ hat because it looked like horns, and they really wanted Jones to fit his role as essentially the pirate devil. As the PotC spans out, Jones is revealed to have been even more legendary characters; he’s the Old Man of the Sea that Odysseus had to wrestle to go to Hades, and Charon guiding souls over to the underworld. I’ll be honest, Davy Jones’ pathos with the lost love never really struck a chord with me. Bill Nighy’s performance of it was great, though, so props are definitely in order for that. And last, but certainly not least, I can’t not love a man who keeps a kraken as a pet.

3.)    Deep Ones (H.P. Lovecraft)

The classic. The first. Your one and only. It’s beginning to look a lot like fish-men. The blue-collar workers of the Cthulhu Mythos. H.P. Lovecraft’s fear of the ocean and corrupted bloodlines all wrapped into one beautiful, horrible fish creature. Nothing quite beats Lovecraft’s originals; he goes out of his way to describe them as alien, foul, and horrible. They’re another one of those monsters you can practically smell through the pages. I think it’s safe to say that half the other fish-men on this list wouldn’t exist without the Deep Ones. People are still scared of the ocean and the alien things living in it, and the Deep Ones give that fear a face. All the while they call to some primal part of us, an archaic memory that remembers when our species used to be fish, and they tell us to come home. Just as angels call us to come to God, the Deep Ones call us back to the sea. (Also; fat and hunchbacked Deep Ones only. I’m sorry; I wish I didn’t have to make that call. If it was up to me, all Deep Ones would be valid. But these are the times we live in, and sacrifices have to be made, preferably to Father Dagon.)

4.)    The Creature from the Black Lagoon (Universal Monsters)

Deep Ones lite. There’s actually a lot I like about the Creature on its own merits. It’s such a natural creature, as far as monsters go. It lives in harmony with its ecosystem, and its design really conveys that its simply a fish that has evolved into a humanoid shape. You can say the same thing about humans, though, and that ultimately is where we connect with the Creature. He’s also kind of charming in his own way; wide eyes, smiling face, no big pointy teeth. He’s practically a goldfish compared to the Deep Ones. And of course those underwater ballet sequences are still just absolutely beautiful. I think more than the Deep Ones, the Creature can probably be compared to King Kong; a primal, more innocent creature so strange that humanity wouldn’t leave it alone. Mankind’s desire to know more about the mysterious ultimately destroyed that mystery, conveying the paradox of how destructive discovery can be.

5.)    The Asset (Shape of Water)

We’ve come full circle now, I suppose. Centuries ago, sailors dreamed up half women/half fish creatures to ease their loneliness, and now we’ve made a half man/half fish to do the same for women. The Asset is pretty explicitly a makeover of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, even coming from a distant part of South America. There’s also clearly some Abe Sapien in there, which is only to be expected coming from Guillermo del Toro. This might sound weird, but I think the details I appreciate most are the spines and the fangs. I know this whole movie was supposed to be about how the monster was less dangerous than the Creature, but the spines and fangs just make it feel like a more believable creature.

6.)    The Creature (Monster Squad)

But before the asset, there was another Creature from the Black Lagoon reboot in The Monster Squad. This movie is just the gift that keeps on giving. I’d say that the Creature here is the strongest individual design out of the whole batch. He didn’t really do much in this movie, but he made one heck of an impression. Designed by none other than the late, great Stan Winston, this version of the Creature looks like its ready to kick ass and take names. I distinctly get the impression of a piranha from it, and you can just imagine a mob of these guys rising up out of the Amazon and pulling down a river boat.

7.)    Sahuagin (Dungeons and Dragons)

There are a lot of different fish people to choose from in D&D. Kuo Toa, Skum, Locathah, mermaids, Atlanteans, and the list grow longer every year. But my personal favorite are the Sahuagin; brutal, murderous raiders living in a strict tribal hierarchy, worshiping a giant shark, and prone to mutations. While most fish men draw from Lovecraft, I got the distinct impression that the Sahuagin were more pulpy, a bit more Edgar Rice Burroughs. Even their other name, the Sea Devils, sounds like something Conan or Tarzan would fight in a comic book. Their designs are just so cool; fin ears, bullet heads, shark teeth, long tails. Before ‘scary’, these were sea monsters made to look intimidating. They are the most organized antagonistic force under the waves, threatening everything from merfolk to sailors. Their goal? Nothing short of supreme domination of the sea.

8.)    Shark Giant (Bloodborne)

Another Deep One descendent, and this one hits like a truck. There’s a lot to be said for the shark giant on its own merits. It’s lack of eyes make you think that it senses by scent, and remind you of how a shark can sense a drop of blood in water a hundred miles away. There are, of course, the teeth, and how they seem to take up more space than there is for the mouth. The barnacles on its back are both a crest and a fin. Its paleness makes it seem to glow in the dark, like its bioluminescent. It really reinforces the feeling in the Fishing Hamlet that you’re underwater, like the boundaries between land, sea, and sky have been blurred. More than any other monster in the Fishing Hamlet, the shark giant is what reminds me of Lovecraft’s Dagon; a huge, deformed figure skulking over the mud of a submarine nightmare-scape.

9.)    The Children of the Thing That Drifted Ashore (Junji Ito)

The Thing That Drifted Ashore isn’t even really my favorite Junji Ito sea monster story; that would probably be Gyo. But the things that come crawling out of it are some of the first fish people I find genuinely disgusting, evoking that same feeling Lovecraft wanted from his Deep Ones. The Thing had apparently swallowed dozens of people that fell into the sea over the years, keeping them in its stomach. But rather than being digested, the people changed. It’s subtle, but you can still see it; webbed fingers, widened eyes, transparent skin. Inside the Thing, the people were witnesses to the abyss of the deep sea and driven mad by it. I’m reminded of an old version of the story of Jonah I was read as a child, where Jonah looked through the great fish’s eyes and saw the fires of Sheol and the Leviathan at the bottom of the ocean. The people swallowed are reborn, now children of the Thing, belonging only to the deep sea.

10.)    Otto Aquarius (The Venture Bros)

I just love this cute little guy. He’s only a minor character on the Venture Brothers, but he still made an impression on me. A half Atlantean that became a Mormon missionary, he’s just so earnest and eager. He’s an obvious play on superheroes like Namor and Aquaman, but they can’t hold a candle to this sweetheart. He’s clean, he’s polite, he’s socially conservative, he’s useless in combat; Otto’s just endearing. Dump the Asset and get with the real catch, folks.

[e350tb]

Steven Universe: Ruby Stars - Chapter Ten

(Special thanks to @real-fakedoors for proofreading this!)

Sledgehammer

Two jet fighters roared over Wilmingmore.

Clancy frowned as he watched them soar through the dawn sky. Not having slept well, he decided to get some coffee before Bracknell woke up and went out for an early breakfast. He had just driven back into the factory parking lot when he'd seen the jets, silver streaks against the reddish-blue sky. They were headed due south, and he wondered if they were bound for Beach City. Perhaps they had cameras attached, and they'd be taking pictures for Colonel Bradshaw - he wouldn't be surprised if they were.

He was just about to head inside when he heard another growling roar, this one far closer to the ground. He turned to the parking lot entrance - a convoy of olive drab army trucks rumbled through the gate, pulling up in front of the factory. Shouted commands filled the air as soldiers piled out of the backs, assembling in the empty car park - behind them, a jeep rolled in, pulling up in front of the bewildered agent.

Colonel Bradshaw climbed out of the back, joined by Major King. The major handed the colonel a folder, which he promptly handed down to Clancy.

"What the hell is this?" demanded Clancy.

"The situation's changed, Agent Miller," Bradshaw replied, "We have orders from on high."

Clancy looked over the unassuming manila folder, emblazoned by the golden and navy accents of the Presidential Seal. That, he thought, certainly couldn't be good.

"The gem situation has become untenable," continued Bradshaw, "We've had the fire at the rail depot, an attack on a public mall, the worm destroying our chopper, the assault on Captain Clark..."

"Poor man," said Clancy, entirely unsympathetically.

"...not to mention the abductions and the loss of that Barriger kid," finished Bradshaw.

"Barriga, sir," corrected Major King.

"Yes, thank you, Ernest," nodded Bradshaw, "Point is, we need to bring this situation under control."

Clancy let the words sink in, his tongue soured with the bitterness of their meaning. No, this was not good. Not good at all.

That being said, Clancy had been in the game long enough to know when to argue outright and when to… persuade. Men like Bradshaw don’t take well to defiance, he had learned that the hard way. The only realistic option he had was to try to appeal to reason.

He cleared his throat and feigned something that sounded like deferential disagreement. "With all due respect, sir, the situation is under control. As I advised you, the Crystal Gems have it..."

"The Crystal Gems have hell, Agent Miller!" snapped Bradshaw, "How many more people are gonna be dragged into space while they have things under control, huh? How many more government artefacts are they gonna steal?!"

"We have no evidence that they stole that Ruby, Colonel Bradshaw," growled Clancy, struggling to keep the venom from his tone.

"Well then, who did, Agent?" demanded Bradshaw.

Clancy didn't reply.

"No more, Miller," snarled Bradshaw, his eyes narrowing, "I'm taking control of the situation. That folder details Operation Sledgehammer. I have a mandate to bring Beach City and the surrounding area under military law..."

Clancy opened the folder, reading the contents. His face paled - they couldn't seriously be thinking...

"...as well as to either capture the Crystal Gems," finished Bradshaw, "Or terminate them with extreme prejudice."

Steven laid out the rug and put down the picnic basket.

He and Connie were out in the forest, about a mile away from Beach City. It was a lovely morning - there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sun shone brilliantly through the canopy of trees. While he continued to set up the picnic, Connie checked the weather on her phone. There didn't seem to be any change in the forecast - the sun would shine all day.

It was a good chance to finally scale things back for a day and focus on themselves.

Connie was just about to close her phone when the news app flashed quickly.

No-fly zone enacted over Southern Delmarva due to hijack threat, POTUS says.

As if on cue, the silence of the forest was broken by the dim roar of a fighter jet. Connie looked up, watching it roar through the deep blue of the sky and off into the distance. If she squinted, Connie could just about make out its shape - it had a pointed nose like a dart, and a pair of wings towards the back of the fuselage. It was long gone before she could make out any more details.

"Huh," she muttered.

"What is it?" asked Steven.

"Nothing," shrugged Connie, "Just saw a plane."

She sat down as Steven handed her a sandwich.

"So, things have been pretty hectic lately, haven't they?" she said.

"Mm-hmm," nodded Steven, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

He swallowed, clearing his mouth.

"I'm just glad Sadie's getting used to everything," he added, "But I hope she talks to her mom soon."

"I don't know," mused Connie, "I'd be pretty mad if it was me. I mean, it'd be like..."

She thought back to Stevonnie's dream on the jungle moon base and smirked.

"...if my mom actually was Yellow Diamond."

Steven chuckled.

"Wow, that'd be weird," he said.

"I know, right?" replied Connie, "Can you imagine my mom as an alien dictator?"

She picked up her phone and held it to her ear.

"No, Doctor West," she said in an impression of her mother, "If that patient isn't ready by the time I arrive I'm gonna have you shattered!" She lowered her phone. "Okay, Connie, I need you to be ready for tennis practice in an Earth hour." She raised the phone again. "Shattered, I tell you! Shattered!"

The two burst into laughter. Steven wiped a tear from his eye.

"Aw, I shouldn't laugh," he admitted, "But hey, funny's funny."

Suddenly, they heard a thump and a rustling from the bushes. Steven glanced over - he saw nothing.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Squirrel?" shrugged Connie.

Steven got up, walking carefully towards the bushes.

"It could be hurt," he said, "I just want to make sure it's okay."

Connie's phone beeped. She picked it up; the news app had flashed again.

Martial law instituted in Beach City and Crossroads areas. Army command advises all citizens to return home immediately.

"Uh... Steven?"

Steven wasn't listening. He leaned down next to a bush, carefully pushing the branches aside.

"It's okay, little fella," he said, "We'll make sure you're feeling better, and we'll give you a name! You can be called San..."

He pushed aside the last branches.

"...dy..."

Connie's eyes widened as she took in the tall, blue figure crouched behind the bush.

"...Lapis?"

Peedee watched warily as a column of army trucks rumbled onto the boardwalk. Each of them found a spot to pull up and deposit their cargoes of heavily armed soldiers. It was surreal - it was like one of those old films about America being invaded, but this time, the occupying force was their own army.

A jeep screeched to a halt outside Fish Stew Pizza. Nanefua and her bodyguards were already stepping out to meet the blue-uniformed officer that jumped out the back.

"Mayor Pizza," he said officiously, "Major Ernest King, U.S. Army Air Force. On behalf of the Gem Task Force, I've been asked to inform you that we are taking over the running of this town, effective immediately."

"Under whose authority?" demanded Nanefua.

"Under the authority of the President of the United States," replied Major King, "Furthermore, Colonel Bradshaw would like to brief you immediately regarding the situation with the Crystal Gems. Please be present in your office in half an hour."

He saluted crisply and climbed back into the jeep. It sped away before Nanefua could reply.

The Mayor shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Rude," she muttered before walking back towards the restaurant.

Peedee furrowed his brow and turned on the radio. Perhaps that would explain what was going on.

"...am Lieutenant-Colonel Bradshaw," a voice said, his voice light and slightly Southern, "Gem Task Force, United States Army. As of this morning, the townships of Beach City, Ocean Town, Charm City and Crossroads are being placed under martial law under the orders of the President. I assure you that this is being done in a humane and professional manner."

An ear-splitting crash filled the air. Peedee jumped and looked up the boardwalk.

A tank had sunk turret-first into the boardwalk, which had splintered under its weight. The commander was standing in the hatch, looking sheepishly from left to right.

"Uh... nothin' to see here, folks," he said.

Greg had just finished washing down a car when they came.

Two armoured vehicles screamed around the corner. Greg stepped back in shock as the lead vehicle rolled on top of the car, crushing it beneath the treads. The commander leaned out the hatch, looking at the wreckage - he grinned mischievously.

"Ha! Nice," he said.

"Nice?! That was somebody's car!" exclaimed Greg.

"Yeah, well, you got bigger problems, Mac," shrugged the commander.

The rear hatches of both vehicles opened and a squad of soldiers emerged. Boots clicking loudly on the pavement, they swiftly took positions around Greg, encircling him on all sides. He swallowed - everywhere he looked, he could see somebody pointing a gun at him.

"Uh... I think you've got the wrong guy?" he said nervously.

"Greg Universe?" replied the commander.

"Uh..."

"Yeah, thought so," nodded the commander, "You're under arrest by order of Colonel Bradshaw and the Gem Task Force."

"But... why?!" exclaimed Greg, "What have I done?!"

"Heck if I know, Mac," grunted the commander, "But I hear the Colonel wants you pretty bad."

He smirked unpleasantly.

"Unless you don't wanna come?"

Slowly, Greg put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, okay, I-I'll come quietly..."

Sadie watched from the top of the lighthouse as the army vehicles rolled into and around Beach City. She clutched the rail with shaking hands, listening to the radio.

"With your help, we will see the Crystal Gems apprehended safely. Remember, the army is here to help. Thank you."

The radio switched off, replaced by the tones of the Emergency Warning System. Jenny switched it off and joined her next to the rail.

It had supposed to be an easy day. The band had met at the lighthouse to talk about their next song (Sadie was still pretty into the werewolf idea), and while that meant trying not to trip over Ronaldo and ignoring his 'True Werewolf Factoids', the atmosphere in the old building was lovely. The sun was shining high in the sky, and looking over Beach City in the brilliant sunlight was quiet relaxing.

At least it had been, until the tanks rolled in.

Sadie could see them rolling across the beach, cutting off access to the Temple. They seemed to be stopping a few hundred metres away from the Temple itself - Sadie wondered if they were waiting for the Crystal Gems to surrender. Not very likely, she thought.

"Man, this is surreal," muttered Jenny, watching a helicopter land in the town square.

Sadie nodded.

"Why now, though?" asked Jenny, "The Gems have been here since, like, forever. If they'd wanted to start something, they would've done it years ago. Where were they when that big green hand showed up and we had to evacuate? That at least would have made sense."

"Something must've changed," mused Sadie.

She thought back to the wrecked helicopter in the Beta Kindergarten. Surely that couldn't have been it? It had only been one helicopter, and they'd saved the crew, hadn't they?

Distantly, she heard loud boots on the stairwell. She turned to the window, and moments later a few soldiers entered the lantern room. She glanced to Jenny - they nodded and headed back in.

The leader of the soldiers, a man in a blue uniform, was talking politely but firmly to Buck, Sour Cream and Ronaldo.

"...this lighthouse has been appropriated for use by the military as an observation post," he was saying, "You will need to vacate the premises."

"But I live here!" exclaimed Ronaldo.

"We can talk about compensation when the crisis is over," replied the officer, "But you'll need to leave. We need this building for use against the Crystal Gems."

"Use against the Crystal Gems?"

Ronaldo crossed his arms.

"I'll have you know that I used to be a Crystal Gem," he declared.

The officer and his troops exchanged glances.

Five minutes later, the officer shoved a handcuffed Ronaldo into the back of his jeep. He turned and nodded to the other kids.

"Sorry for the disruption, kids," he said.

He climbed into the jeep and drove away.

"Dang," said Buck.

"So," asked Sour Cream, "What do we do now? I mean, we can go to my place, but I kinda don't think I'm up for anymore song-writing..."

"We can go check in with Nana," suggested Jenny, "She's the mayor now, so she'll know what's happening, right?"

"Unless she's been arrested too," said Sadie darkly.

"I still don't get why they're doing this now," said Jenny, scratching her chin, "It just doesn't make any sense..."

Sadie thought back. She remembered the Delmarva Centre and the incident with the corrupted Quartz...

"OSS! Stay back!"

A man stepped through the dust, carrying a crowbar. Sadie's eyes widened.

It was Clancy Miller.

Sadie narrowed her eyes.

"Clancy," she growled.

"This is Captain Wayne Clark of the Gem Task Force!"

Pearl rolled her eyes.

She, Garnet, Amethyst and Peridot watched as the loud, angry captain bellowed into his microphone. He certainly seemed confident, which might have had something to do with the squads of troops that surrounded the Beach House, backed up by a half-dozen tanks. She wondered if they actually intended to attack the Temple.

"We have you surrounded on all sides!" the Captain thundered, "If you do not come out by sundown and surrender yourselves to our custody, we will be forced to assault your base with extreme force. I repeat, you have until sundown to comply!"

"What does he think he is, a cowboy or something?" asked Amethyst.

"He looks nothing like a cow," added Peridot dismissively.

"He's definitely confident." Pearl turned to Garnet, frowning. "Do they have a chance?"

Garnet shook her head.

"Not in a direct battle," she replied, "None of their weapons could penetrate the Temple door. We wouldn't even have to fight them."

"I get the sense there's a 'but' coming up, G," said Amethyst.

Garnet nodded.

"They seem willing to use our allies to get to us," she said flatly. "The humans in town. Greg. Connie..."

Pearl's hands flew to her lips, covering the tiny gasp that escaped her lips.

"Steven," she whispered.

Garnet only nodded, looking particularly severe as she gazed out of the window.

Beside them, Amethyst fidgeted uncomfortably. "I-I mean, they wouldn't actually do anything to the humans, right Garnet? They're supposed to protect them - like Greg and Connie are both humans! They couldn't just attack them, right? And Steven, too..."

"Steven isn't exactly human," Peridot corrected, though her usually poindexter attitude seemed awfully bitter.

Pearl looked about ready to draw swords, so Garnet raised a hand to stay their worries.

"There's a number of possibilities... I can't know for certain how this will play out. But we need to plan."

"There's a gem who wants to escape Homeworld," said Lapis, "I'm trying to help her."

Lapis' return had been met with laughter and hugs from Steven, which was understandable - but Connie had been less ecstatic. It seemed strange to her - Lapis had left because she was afraid of the Diamonds returning. Why, then, would she come back? And why would she recommend another gem come here? It just seemed too good to be true.

That having been said, it'd didn't look like Lapis was lying. Connie had learned the facial tics that people sometimes made when they weren't telling the truth, and Lapis had none of those; and there certainly wasn't any sign that she was brainwashed or anything. Still, something about this made her feel uneasy.

"Lapis, that's so nice of you!" exclaimed Steven, grinning broadly, "I'm sure the Gems would be thrilled to have her!"

Lapis smiled.

"I hope so," she replied, "I mean, they might not be glad to have me, after everything that's happened..."

"Water under the bridge," chuckled Steven, "You get it? Water? Because... because you do water stuff?"

Lapis laughed.

"No," she said.

"Well, I'll explain it to you one day," shrugged Steven. “C’mon, we’ve got to go back to the Temple right now! Peridot is there, and she’ll be so --”

“No!” Lapis flinched away like Steven had hit her. “N-no, I can’t face her. Not… not yet. We should help this gem first. She stole a ship and is just waiting for a signal to come down to the surface… I didn’t know where might be a good place?”

Connie tapped her chin, thoughtful. "Well, away from the army, at any rate."

She winced as she heard another fighter jet scream overhead.

"How about the warehouse?" asked Steven, "They probably won't look there, right? The only things there are Mr. Smiley's stash of old wrestling magazines!"

Connie nodded.

"That might work," she agreed, "Okay, let's go set it up for... Lapis, who was this gem again?"

"Seraphinite," replied Lapis.

Greg winced as the soldiers shoved him roughly to the office floor. He looked to his left, and found himself next to Doug and Priyanka - he swallowed and grinned nervously at them. Thankfully, they seemed more focused on being angry at the military officers than being angry at him.

"Major King's bringing the last one up now," one of the soldiers said.

"Good," nodded Bradshaw.

He was sitting behind the Mayor's desk, Clancy Miller and Philbert Bracknell behind him. The former looked as though his temper was threatening to burst through the dam of self-control - Bracknell, for his part, just looked confused. In front of them, Nanefua paced angrily, giving Bradshaw a piece of her mind.

"You have no right to detain my townsfolk," she snapped, "They haven't done anything wrong!"

"That's for me to decide, madam," replied Bradshaw, "I have orders to neutralise all threats. Other countries would've handled this in a far more violent fashion, and..."

"That doesn't make you right!" growled Nanefua.

The door opened. Major King marched into the room and pushed Ronaldo onto the ground next to Greg - for his part, he seemed to be slightly less forceful than the other soldiers. Slightly.

"Ronaldo?" quizzed Greg.

"I'm a person of interest!" said Ronaldo excitedly.

"Alright," said Bradshaw, standing up, "Douglas and Priyanka Maheswaran, Gregory Universe née DeMayo, and Ronaldo Fryman alias 'Bloodstone...'"

Ronaldo beamed.

"...you are charged with association with treasonous alien elements," he continued, "You will detained until..."

"Warrant," snapped Doug.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Bradshaw.

"Warrant," Doug repeated, "Where is it?"

"My warrant," snapped Bradshaw, "Is the power vested in me by the President of the United States. My warrant is my oath to the people, who I am sworn to protect."

He turned to King.

"Where are their kids, anyway?" he demanded.

"If you touch a hair on Connie's head," thundered Priyanka, leaning forward, "I swear..."

"...you'll go to prison for assaulting an officer," grunted Bradshaw.

"We couldn't find them, sir," replied King, "I've got men looking for them now. I've ordered them to use discretion to prevent..."

"Discretion?" snapped Bradshaw, "Does this look like the time for discretion?"

"...they're kids, sir," said King.

"They're a national security threat," replied Bradshaw, "I understand it's not easy, but I need Steven and Candy..."

"Connie, sir."

"Thank you, Ernest - Steven and Connie in custody."

Major King swallowed.

"Yes sir," he said, "I'll... I'll handle it myself, sir."

"See that you do."

King saluted and left the room.

"Now, we have a conundrum," said Bradshaw, scratching his chin, "We got a couple of Crystal Gems who aren't coming out of their hole. We need to coax them."

He turned to Greg and grinned.

"I think I know just how to do that," he continued, "Bracknell, take the other three to the town square - I'm sending them to Fort Raleigh for detainment, you're gonna make sure they make it intact."

Bracknell turned to Clancy, who nodded.

"Don't rock the boat, Bracknell," he whispered, "I'll sort this out as soon as I can."

Bracknell swallowed. A couple of soldiers barged into the room, pulling Priyanka and Doug to their feet. Greg watched as they were dragged out - as they left, he just about saw Priyanka mouth something to him.

It's not your fault.

He sighed in relief as Bracknell escorted Ronaldo out of the office. Nanefua shot the agent a dirty look as he left.

"And where," she demanded, "Is Fort Raleigh?"

"West," replied Bradshaw, "Clancy, grab Mr. Universe. We're going down to the beach."

Clancy furrowed his brow.

"The beach?" he replied incredulously, "You're not seriously thinking of..."

"If it gets 'em out, Miller, then yes."

"Sir, that breaks just about every protocol in the book!" exclaimed Clancy, "You can't..."

"What the President doesn't know, won't hurt him," replied Bradshaw.

Watching the malicious smirk play at the Colonel’s lips, Greg felt his stomach drop.

Sadie marched up the street, the Cool Kids struggling to keep up as she purposefully made her way to Barb's house. Her face was set into a deep scowl. They encountered Onion going the other way - he gulped when he saw Sadie and quickly crossed the road.

She opened the fence and marched to the front door. She knocked three times, with a lot more force than was probably necessary.

The door opened.

"Sadie?" Barb gasped, "You came back?"

"I need to talk to Clancy," replied Sadie, her fists clenched, "You have his number. I'm calling him... and then I need to go again."

She sighed, calming down slightly.

"I'm sorry, I just... I'm still not ready to talk."

There was a long silence as the Cool Kids caught up.

"Uh... apart from that, though, how's it going, Ms. Miller?" asked Sour Cream.

Clancy sat in his car, waiting for the soldiers to finish bundling a handcuffed Greg into the back of the Colonel's jeep. It wasn't so much that Greg was struggling - they'd blindfolded him, and he couldn't find his way into the car. The soldiers were trying and failing to direct him, and their sergeant's face was starting to look something like a swollen plum as he watched his troops fumble. It'd have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious.

His phone rang. Clancy grit his teeth and turned on the bluetooth speaker - now simply wasn't the time.

"Agent Clancy Miller?"

"What the hell is the army doing here?!"

Clancy winced. That was Sadie's voice.

"Sadie, uh, this-this isn't the time, I-I'm very busy..."

"Yeah, I noticed. Why are they going after the gems? What did you tell them?!"

"I told them to leave it well enough alone!" snapped Clancy, "It's not my fault they can't listen to their own advisors!"

The Colonel jumped into the jeep and it started. Clancy grunted, driving along behind him.

"Look, this is a really bad time," he said, "I'll get them out of here, but I need time..."

"What, you're just gonna give them the Crystal Gems?" demanded Sadie.

"They can't take 'em in a straight fight," replied Clancy, "You know..."

"So you'll just let other people get hurt! Just like you always do!"

Clancy winced.

"I'm working on it," he replied, "I... it's hard, okay! Talking to Bradshaw's like talking to a brick wall, and if I push too hard, he might... he might figure out I'm covering for you."

There was no reply, so he continued.

"They already think I know where the ruby is," he continued, "One step out of line and they could find me out. They could find you out! I-I want to help people, I want to stop them for from getting the Gems, but... but I won't do anything that leads them to you."

He sighed.

"I don't know if I can save everyone," he finished, "But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I couldn't save you. I've done enough to hurt your family."

He pulled up at the end of the road, just in front of the slope up to the lighthouse.

"Look, I have to go," he said, "Just... lay low until this is finished, okay? I'll work it out."

"Clancy, you... I can't..."

He looked up. Bradshaw had climbed out of the jeep and was walking towards him.

"Sadie, I gotta hang up," he said, "I..."

Bradshaw leaned against the window. He was grinning now, like a shark who had just cornered his prey. Clancy furrowed his brow - what was he so happy about?

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a phone, pressing a button on it and pulling it to his ear.

"You didn't seriously think we wouldn't have bugged your phone, did you Clancy?"

"So, Sadie Miller."

Sadie's shivered as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line. It maintained the facade of military protocol, but there was a hint of grim, sneering satisfaction. She glanced over to her mother on the other side of the kitchen table - her face was set in a frown.

"I imagine you have my ruby," he said.

"It isn't yours," replied Sadie, trying hard not to sound as nervous as she was.

"Oh, but it is, Ms. Miller, and you're gonna deliver it to me," replied Bradshaw, "Or Clancy here is going to be in a bit of trouble..."

Faintly, Sadie could hear a dull thud and a cry of pain.

"And what if I can't?" asked Sadie.

Barb gritted her teeth and mouthed a reply. Don't tell them.

"Oh, I believe you can," said Bradshaw, "In fact, I believe you can take that ruby wherever you want. Ain't that right, 1GK?"

Sadie's blood ran cold.

"How long have you known?"

"I've suspected since the fire at the depot," explained Bradshaw, "But I knew after you drew your weapon in a public mall at Wilmingmore... oh come on, Clancy, you're a secret agent, you wouldn't tell me if you suspected me of something..."

Sadie swallowed.

"So what happens to me?" she asked, "If I give myself up?"

There was a long pause.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

Sadie closed her eyes and nodded.

"If I come," she said, "You leave the Crystal Gems alone. You let Clancy and everyone else you've kidnapped go. You leave Beach City and never come back. Got it?"

"Sadie, no!" exclaimed Barb.

"...deal. Half-an-hour, outside the Temple. Come alone."

The Colonel chuckled.

"I look forward to making your acquaintance."

The line went dead. Sadie collapsed into her chair, rubbing her forehead.

"Sadie!" exclaimed Barb, "You can't give yourself up! I'm not letting you..."

"Mom."

Sadie stood up.

"I've just had dumbest idea in history," she said, "And it's really dangerous, and I'm probably gonna have to wing most of this, because I haven't thought it through..."

She took a deep breath and offered Barb a shaky smile.

"...and I'm gonna need your help."

Barb stared for a just a moment, as if processing what Sadie had said. Then, very slowly, her face broke into a smile.

"That's my girl," she said.

Lapis paced back and forth in the warehouse, occasionally looking up into the afternoon sky. Connie watched her dubiously - she knew Steven trusted her completely, but she couldn't help but feel that something was distinctly off about her behaviour.

Quite suddenly, they heard a rustling outside the warehouse. All eyes fell on the door, which started to groan ominously.

"What's going on?" asked Steven, "Who is that?"

The door flew open with a loud crash. A squad of about six soldiers, led by a man in a blue uniform, burst into the warehouse, weapons drawn. The blue uniformed man advanced on the three, shouting a warning.

"My name is Major Ernest King!" he shouted, "I have orders to take Steven Universe and Connie Maheswaran into custody. Do not resist!"

"What?!" exclaimed Steven, "But we're innocent!"

"Where the heck is your warrant?!" demanded Connie.

Lapis narrowed her eyes.

"No," she said, "You can't be allowed to ruin this."

"This is a military matter, ma'am!" snapped King, "And... wait, you're a gem..."

Lapis raised her arms. The sea by the warehouse began to rise into the air, like a gigantic tsunami in slow motion. The soldiers looked up in horror as the foamy water twisted and formed into a giant fist, ready to smash down upon them; Connie's eyes widened as she realised that she and Steven were also in its shadow.

"Lapis, no, don't hurt them!" shouted Steven, running up to his friend.

Lapis turned to him, her face twisted into a dark scowl. For the briefest moment, Connie swore she saw a speck of white in her pupils.

"I'm sorry, Rose Quartz," she snarled, "But I won't allow anything to stop Seraphinite."

A sonic boom filled the air, shattering windows for about a mile around. Connie would have given it a lot more thought, except for the fact that it was swiftly followed by a much closer boom as the fist of water came down. She heard shouts and scream, a few scattered shots rang out, and then she was consumed by water. For a minute, she struggled desperately for breath, thrashing in the endless blue void.

Then, mercifully, she fell into darkness.

[titenoute]

What are you're headcanons and intepretations for the nymphs in the Rayman franchise? (Including the scrapped nymph)

Well there is the drawing I made about fairies hierarchy that count as an head canon.As for every Nymphs… *crack hands* This gonna be long.

Bétilla :

She’s the Nymph of Nature and Life.In terms of power, she’s the most powerful Nymph with Big Mama .Betilla is a tad naughty, but honestly, she’s a peach. She’s a mom (heck she’s been OUR mom for a while) and a confirmed teacher.I’d think she’s be pretty close to the teensies.She’s a woman who make stuff happen. Gotta help Polokus with his nightmare ? Bam make Rayman happen. Gotta help your weird ass son again Mister Dark ? Here mah boy get some power.Seeing how close she was with the magician, his betrayal must have hurt.

Holly Luya / Aline Louïa :

My fave in terms of design tbh.Nymph of Wind and Music, in term of power I have no idea where she stand.

As a person we don’t know much about Holly, but I think she’s probably among the nymphs who are the calmest. She is gentle, but BOY don’t anger her. I said it before, and i’ll say it again, angering someone who can brew up a storm is a bad idea.Seeing where she is, I’d say she knows Gonzo, and by extension, the other doctors. She’s probably the one who taught them the power of healing music. I’d like to think they play music together time to time.I wouldn’t be surprised that she’d be an amazing singer.She comes and go regularly see her sisters. 

Edith Up/Sandra Misu:

Aaah Edith,Nymph of food, parties, and FIRE. And can make you small or Big, that too.She’s the loud mouth of the nymph family, and a party animal. She’s extremely joyous and easily excitable. She often seeks Holly because what’s a good party with out music ?!I have one specific headcanon for her. It’s been said in the legends in Rayman 2, that the Giant Clark was the one who moved the mountains the way Polokus wished. I can’t imagine Clark having moved the mountains with his current size. Me think that when his job was done, well, the poor giant had nowhere to go and was forced to stay at one place so avoid stomping hazard. Until Edith came to the rescue and made him smaller…Just not too small tho ;) Yeah I imagine them to be bros.(I’ve been meaning to make a comic about that tbh, but i have too many irons in the fire rn)

Annetta Fish /Dora Dodemer :

The Nymph of Water.

Little is known about the fairy of water, just like the deeps of the Oceans.(yeah ok that was stupid)The shyest fairy, yet she’s among those who have the biggest zone under her protection (I mean, she’s the patron of the god damn ocean, how big is that ???)Rarely seen around because she’s the busy type, she’s one of many secrets.And…One who’s completely out of the loop actually.When shit happens, she’s generally in the deep ocean oblivious of the problem.Maybe with the arrivals of the princesses like Emma and Ursula she might start to be more aware of what is happening on the surface.Helena Handbasket/ Ambre Écueil:Nymph of Frost and Meditation, and maybe of gravity ?If all Nymphs know how to meditate, she’s the one who excels at the art.Helena has in common with Annetta that she is a loner. She’s a wise fairy who meditate with the red monks of the Mystical Picks.I actually think that if a Nymph was a teacher for Ly the fairy, she’d be the best candidate for the job.As for other things ?…Well I do think she might like to disguise herself…I’ll give you a reason why i think that later.Big Mama / Mamma Voudou :Fairy of death and curses, and probably a voodoo doctor.Being the Nymph of death , she’s on equal ground in term of power with Bétilla.She’s a big prankster and loves parties. So she’s probably in cahoots with Edith.She’s not a necessarily bad person, but her morals are grayer than her sister’s, having to do with reigning on the land of the dead.The Scrapped Nymph :So… Yeah uh…I think that was Helena cosplaying.Sorry that’s not much but that’s really what I see the most fitting.That or she’s a scrapped Nymph that was meant to govern on the the Moody Clouds.Honestly I got nothing else.Now, here a thing I had in my mind for a while.A question nobody asked, but deserves to answered.Where were the Nymphs when the RoboPirates were around ?

I know, they weren’t actually created (well most of them) by Ancel and his team at this point, but that’s still a mystery, no ? Things were dark at that time.My headcanon about this particular part of the History of the Glade of Dream is that the Nymphs are the reason why the RoboPirates decided to destroy the heart of world.We know Fairies count partially on the heart of the world to be able to accumulate energy to make stuff like attacks and silver lums happens. Ly kind of explained this.Rayman was already a troublemaker at the time, but with Bétilla&co ? Man the Pirates mustn’t have liked their implication.So I think they destroyed the heart of the world and took advantage of the commotion to capture the nymphs.Leaving Ly, a powerful fairy sure, but not a nymph, with the responsibility to arm up Rayman with power.

[thornvale]

What’s on the Outside

For @popandcub, whose prompt created this. Special thanks to @moana-party!

‘MerShark!Maui swimming deep into the ocean to collect lost treasures for a much younger and smaller Tamatoa.’

“The ocean's a pretty weird and wacky place. That's putting it lightly, actually. I mean, you've just gotta sail over that horizon there and you could be faced with anything. You wanna see coconuts that walk around and throw spears like a buncha hairy goofballs? You got it, just gotta cross that sweet line just below the sky. Gods and demons? No problem! Ugly, terrifying monsters? Uh ...”

Maui paused and lowered his hands, which he had since raised and bent to resemble claws. Similarly, his face was contorted into something his audience might have considered formidable and scary, just like the monsters he spoke of, though he had reminded himself mere seconds ago that his audience was composed entirely of monsters.

One monster, actually. The weirdest and wackiest thing Maui had ever stumbled across.

“No offence,” he continued apologetically. “Anyways, I know you get kinda antsy around water, so I made this basket you can sit in. It floats! Or – it should. Just in case we get caught in a storm and thrown overboard, you know? It happens. I have it on the canoe. Why don't you try it for size?”

The monster – a bright blue creature of the eldritch that resembled a coconut crab – blinked his beady eyes up at Maui, claws stubbornly folded across his front. The thing only came up to Maui's knee, and it had about as much intelligence as a human child of a similar age. Unlike a child, however, the creature could snap a palm tree in half and tie it in a knot if it wanted to.

Tamatoa's belligerence swiftly turned into anger. He stomped his legs on the sand in the beginnings of a tantrum, claws snapping threateningly.

“I won't!” the young monster screeched. “Won't go!”

Maui sighed.

'No' had been Tamatoa's first ever utterance, when he still wore shells picked from the sand. 'I won't' had come second. He used those words a lot.

The demigod grimaced in frustration and rolled onto his side. He had opted for a comfortable spot on the beach that evening, given how clear and beautiful the sky was. He had hoped showing the crab the constellations and talking about all of his adventures on far away islands would be enough to convince him to leave the spit of land forever anchored in dark, dangerous waters.

Indeed, this particular part of the ocean was notorious for monsters and storms and mischief. Maui called it the playground of the gods. One day, not a few years past, he had braved a particularly vicious storm in the hopes of discovering magical items of power lost within the tempestuous waters.

Instead, he had stumbled across a little hermit crab with a particular penchant for singing.

Was the monster going to grow up to be dangerous? Certainly. Was it going to submit to its cantankerous instincts and cause chaos throughout the seas? Without a doubt. The problem was that it could talk and displayed an unfortunate degree of sentience, suggesting that the thing could grow and learn and feel and be subject to the heartrending pains of abandonment and loneliness.

Maui had decided to stay. Just for a while.

“You won't?” he mirrored, sitting up to look his young friend dead on. “Look, why not, man? I've told you stories about all your monster siblings. You know something most of them have in common? They're gigantic! You're gonna outgrow this tiny little island and you're gonna be too heavy for even me to lift away. We've gotta find you a bigger place. And, jeez, will you at least keep it tidy? Never seen such a dump in my entire life,” Maui added, gesturing towards the beach surrounding them, which was covered in bones and rags and whatever else.

As Maui spoke, Tamatoa reached a claw far down into his toothy little mouth and pulled out an entire and remarkably intact fish skeleton. He then unleashed a mighty belch, the offensive noise so loud that it frightened away birds nesting in a nearby tree. Completely disregarding the demigod's words, he slung it carelessly to the side.

“Augh, gross, man!” Maui groaned, batting some sand into his friend's face. “Ya little slob. What the heck have I gotta do to get you outta this cesspit?”

That seemed to grab young Tamatoa's attention. Beady little eyes perking up, he scuttled up to Maui and offered a grin so broad that it threatened to pop right off his face. His claws wrung together as if he was forming a diabolical plan – and, well, he probably was.

In response, Maui rolled onto his back and flopped down on the sand, staring indignantly at the sky.

“Why?” he asked the heavens. “Why did you inflict this thing upon me?”

“Maui!” Tamatoa squeaked angrily, demanding the demigod's attention. “Give me!”

Confused, the man reluctantly looked at his devious little friend, feeling a sudden sense of dread creeping over his limbs.

“What? Give you what?”

The crab was holding something yellow and shiny in his claw. Now, just where he had miraculously produced it from, Maui was sure that he didn't want to know, but it was an object pretty enough to grasp his attention. Knowing full well that the monster wouldn't let him hold it, he instead sat upright and stared down at the little shiny nugget.

“What is it? Some kinda rock?” he asked, stroking his chin as he tried to figure it out. The object didn't seem to have any obvious use, certainly no magical qualities, but Tamatoa appeared to love it so much that he actually rubbed it affectionately against his cheek, cooing at the glittering stone. “Wow. You really like that thing, doncha? Why aren't you ever that adorable to me, huh?”

Even more confused when the crab began excitedly pointing along the shoreline, Maui sighed and got to his feet, already suspecting what was required of him. If he had to guess, there were more of the shiny pebble things in a place the crab couldn't go and it would require expert shapeshifting on the part of a certain demigod to acquire more of them.

Minutes later, he was stubbornly following his friend along the beach, arms folded across his chest in an ill-tempered manner.

“What am I to you, kid?” he asked, grumpily kicking a rock across the white sand. “Just a pair of opposable thumbs, huh? Maybe somethin' warm for you to sleep on when it's cold out? I only taught ya every word you know, you ungrateful little -”

“There!”

Further annoyed that he had been interrupted, Maui glanced along the beach and was dismayed to find broken planks of wood scattered along it. These black, rotting pieces were stark against the pure sand, stabbing into the island like spears. They gradually increased in size until his gaze met what looked like part of the fractured remains of a boat. He ran up to it, picking the sorry hunk of wood up to look for any survivors hiding inside, but there was nothing.

Nothing but worthless shiny stones that littered the sand.

Some of them were shaped, flat and round. There were also gems of all colours, necklaces of pearls, and materials of a kind Maui had never seen in his life. This boat was certainly not made by any islander, and whoever had once occupied it had been foolish enough to sail right into a supernatural storm.

The unfortunate souls had been lost long ago, given the condition of the wood. Only now was the dark, broken wreckage washing up on shore, the rest of it left to break apart underneath the waves.

“More!” Tamatoa demanded, perhaps not quite understanding the history of the vessel or the treasure that he so eagerly began collecting into a neat pile. He scuttled about this way and that, speedily gathering the few pieces of treasure until they were either stashed by the trees or he was wearing them. By the time he seemed to remember that Maui was present, he was wearing a pearl necklace around his eyestalks and a grubby silken cloth like a cloak. “More, Maui!”

Bewildered by the crab's interest in the treasure, he knelt down and gestured at the jagged wood of the boat.

“None of this is useful stuff, little guy. There's no magic, no nothin'. Looks like these people died tryin' to ferry it across the ocean.”

“Died?” Tamatoa questioned. As if seeking confirmation, he made a violent gesture with his claws that vaguely resembled a ship crashing into a rock and sinking, but it was only with the accompanying noises he made that Maui was able to determine what he was suggesting.

“Uh, yeah, maybe. They coulda been blown onto a rock, or one of the monsters got 'em. Uh ...” he paused, realising what he had said. “One of the monsters got 'em to, um, help them to safety? 'Cause that's what monsters do, okay? They're helpful, and they listen when demigods like me tell ‘em its time to move to a bigger island. Just like how you used to have to find bigger shells. It's easy!”

Tamatoa stared cluelessly up at him. He then pulled a face, apparently unable to figure out how to vocalise just what he wanted to say (which was probably for the best). Apparently deciding against any kind of argument or acknowledgement, he pointed at the necklace around his eyestalks.

“More!” he demanded.

Maui hit his own forehead with his palm.

“Doncha think you've got enough?”

“Nope!” The crab tapped his chin with a claw thoughtfully. “If Maui find more … I go! Out there!” He then gestured frantically towards the ocean.

Already suspicious, Maui eyed his friend for a moment, trying to detect any signs of deception.

“Is that a promise?”

“Promise!”

“Hmpf.” With a sigh, Maui took his fish hook from where it hung on the branch of a nearby tree, then moved to stand where the gentle line of the ocean moves back and forth to touch his toes. He felt his feet sink into the sand a little way as the moisture set in around them, the tickle of tiny stones and debris brushing against his skin as they swept past with the water. “Let me get this straight a moment. I've gotta pay you to let me help you, but not just with my friendship, no! I've gotta swim down into this really creepy, haunted part of the ocean and pick up all these shiny things, possibly sacrificing myself to some kinda demon along the way, just so you don't get stranded here when you're all big.”

“Yeah, yeah!” the monster agreed excitedly, doing a little jump in the sand. “Sacrifice!”

“Wh- no! You're not supposed to want that, dummy!” Running a hand down his face, Maui mentally ran through a list of possibilities. He could turn into a whale and store the treasure in his mouth, but … no, a whale would surely be too large and cumbersome. He could become a frogfish and use his bendy arm-hand-fin … things, in order to hold the treasure and swim at the same time. But no, a frogfish was surely far too small.

There was only one thing for it. Yet another blight upon Maui's tarnished dignity.

The demigod's form glowed a magical blue as he began his transformation. Then, a bright flash filled the orange sky – though it may not have seemed quite as impressive as usual. The spell was only half complete, and for good reason: he needed to be able to breathe down there, and he needed to have hands, too, something marine animals were unfortunately lacking in.

He laid on the sand, flat on his stomach, glowering. His brand new shark tail flopped agitatedly on the wet sand. His lower half was indeed that of a great shark, gills placed at his waist, while his upper half still resembled his demigod form.

As expected, Tamatoa burst into raucous laughter. He laughed so hard that he managed to end up completely on his back, many legs wriggling in the air as he spluttered and wheezed in sheer mirth.

“Yeah, yeah, that's it, let it aaaaallll out,” Maui shot at him. “I'm just a big ol' freaky fish over here. I don't have feelings.” His dry words largely going unheard amidst peals of laughter, Maui sighed dramatically, then rolled into the ocean until he could use the great strength in his shark tail to start swimming into the somewhat murky waters.

He hated swimming. He sucked at it. His form preferred to sink rather than float, much like a heavy stone being tossed into the ocean and forced to adhere to the will of the tide. A half-shark form certainly made things easier, but not entirely, for it was difficult becoming used to the idea of being, well, half of an animal, and that he wasn't supposed to breathe out of his mouth. The demigod held his breath, holding it and holding it until the flappy gills either side of him finally kicked into gear.

Worse, these were not the clear blue waters of the islands. Everything was all rather grey and difficult to focus on here at this dangerous and lonely part of the ocean. Dull seaweed drifted to and fro in the swell of the waves, sometimes appearing like spirits from the cloudy murk. There was the occasional movement of unknown animals, too, the creatures vanishing as quickly as they appeared and remaining very much a mystery to poor Maui, who only had the debris of the boat to follow for guidance.

Deeper and deeper he went. The water became colder and darker as he trailed the pale expanse below. The only companions he had was the dull, dead coral he swam past. His surroundings were beginning to give him the heebie-jeebies, but he forced himself to stay on-track, unable to even humour the thought of giving up and going back empty-handed. If that annoying little crab wanted treasure in exchange for relenting and parting with the island, then that was what he was going to get.

A dark mass appeared before him. As he approached, the deathly black wood of a decimated boat clawed into visibility. It was partially buried in the sand and partially snagged on dark rocks that littered the ocean floor, meaning that it was subject to the movement of the water. Maui could feel the mighty vibrations the great vessel emitted, and they sounded almost like the moans of a ghost or demon. Terrifying to behold alone, to be sure, but onwards he went, pulling himself into the main body of the boat that had long since cracked in half.

Its build was unlike anything he had ever seen. There were various cavities within, all filled with rotting objects that he didn't recognise. What he did recognise, however, was the treasure piled up all over the ruined remains of the floor. There were impossible amounts of it, far too much to carry, so Maui opted to swim down and pick up the most visually interesting pieces, using a golden platter plate to carry everything on.

It wasn't really stealing, right? Not that that mattered to Maui, per se, but the possibility of vengeful spirits came to the forefront of his mind. He really had no idea what to expect in this part of the ocean, because literally anything could happen. Even here, he could feel the unnatural magic that occupied every drop of water, every grain of sand, every cloud and bolt of lightning.

It hardly came as a surprise, then, when the remains of the boat were firmly nudged by something he could not see on the other side of the wreckage. He froze in his tracks as large pieces of wood broke off and floated down before him. That probably meant that it was time to make tracks before anything huge and terrifying came along to invite him into battle. He wouldn't usually pass up on such an offer, but if he lost any of this treasure, the stupid crab he had gone down there for in the first place would be upset.

Quickly exiting the wreckage and swimming back in the direction of the island, Maui briefly looked back to see just what had caused the sudden tremor.

Oh. That wasn't good.

From his higher perspective, he could see just what had shaken the boat. Just beyond it was a long but thin jagged crevice in the floor of the ocean, but he couldn't tell how deep it was because something huge and bright orange was ballooning out of it like globs of lava. Only it wasn't lava, because it looked disgustingly fleshy, growing and growing in size as whatever the creature was continued to venture out of its tiny hiding place. How had that thing even fit inside such a tiny space?

The thought led him to realise just what it was – and his realisation was confirmed when a bunch of enormous, suckered tentacles popped out of the crack and flailed about in search of whatever prey had just stumbled across its den. Then came the bright red mantle. Then a pair of golden eyes, each of them the size of Maui himself.

Cool. Monster octopus. Great.

In his current form, Maui didn't have much choice but to swim as fast as he could in the opposite direction. His tail was powerful and slung him through the water far quicker than his legs could have. Taking advantage of the fact the octopus was still sliding out of its den, the demigod zoomed back through the murk towards the island until the rough bottom of his tail touched sand. He flopped eagerly back onto the shore, dropped the treasure, then transformed back into his usual self. To have his fish hook in hand again proved a relief, as did the sight of a waiting Tamatoa, safe and sound.

Maui carried the plate of treasure over and dumped it down. Tamatoa yelped in excitement and immediately dived into the shining pile, expertly inspecting each and every thing that he came across.

Sweeping his sodden hair out of his eyes, Maui sat down and carelessly picked up a few odd pieces.

“I just stared death itself in the face for this? It's just junk, man,” he observed flatly, tossing a golden lamp over his shoulder. He then donned a heavily jewelled crown and fluttered his eyelashes at the young crab, momentarily pretending to be a princess of a far off nation. “What's this stuff even for, huh? Do ya just look at it? Look pretty in it? Collect it into a cave and sing about it?”

Tamatoa didn't respond. Now covered in elegant jewels, he was wiping the golden platter free of dirt and then he held it upright in his claws, staring somewhat forlornly at his own reflection.

Annoyed, Maui shuffled closer and gingerly placed a hand on the crab's shell.

“What’s wrong, buddy? Don't you like it?”

Met again with silence, he watched as Tamatoa moved the platter about a bit, distorting his reflection and elongating it so that for a brief moment, he might have looked like a weirdly googly-eyed human being.

Unsure how to respond to his friend's sudden melancholy, Maui awkwardly patted the hard shell beneath his palm.

“It's time to leave this island, Pinchy. I just stole the treasure hoard of the neighbourhood gigantic octopus. We all know that those things don't forget a grudge.”

Tamatoa lowered the plate and slowly began to gather all of his treasures onto it, much like a child would reluctantly begin to tidy way their toys at bedtime. His palpable sadness was so disconcerting that Maui couldn't find it within himself to be angry that his near miss with an enormous monster was being met with little gratitude.

With a sigh, he picked up the creature and held him so that they were face to face. Tamatoa kept his gaze averted, eyeballs and appendages flopping uselessly towards the ground.

“Why don't you wanna leave this place?” Maui asked sincerely. “Look at all this neat treasure ya've got, now. All the other monsters are gonna be so jealous of all this junk.”

“Humans love Maui,” Tamatoa finally responded in a small voice. “Won't love Tamatoa.” His sorrowful eyes met his friend's. “Monsters told me.”

Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, Maui lowered the creature back down to the sand, unsure how to respond. He should have known that sooner or later, Tamatoa would be able to see through his fibs and realise that actually, there was little room in the world for a dangerous creature like him. He should have known that there would be other monsters around to tell him the truth.

Thinking quickly, he tried to think of a way to comfort the poor crab, but Maui wasn't very good at this kind of thing. Anything relating to icky things like emotions were quickly swept under a rug and forgotten about. Now, however, this wasn't about him. This was about a monster that for all intents and purposes was a child in the body of a coconut crab.

With a somewhat nervous swallow, he reached forwards and encouraged Tamatoa to look up towards the twilight sky, where the first few stars were beginning to twinkle in the realms beyond.

“Hey, look at that, little guy,” he said, forcing awe into his tone. “You're gonna shine as bright as those stars one day. I promise.”

Now, Maui hadn't yet realised just how literal of a creature Tamatoa was, and he wouldn't find out for many, many years to come.

The demigod glanced off towards the ocean when he saw something disturbing the surface.

A flicker of orange. He smiled, reaching for his fish hook.

“We've got so many adventures ahead of us,” he continued, rising to his feet. “Looks like there's one heading for us right now: an eight-legged slime-ball who never learnt how to share. What do we do, Crabcake? Do we run for our lives, or do we stay and fight?”

Seeming to forget his sorrows, Tamatoa excitedly threw his claws up into the air and grinned toothily.

“Fight! Fight! Fight, Maui!”

And the adventures of the demigod and his monstrous companion came thick and fast for decades upon end. One thing that bound them all, however, was treasure, and the day Maui swam deep into the depths to find lost gold for his best friend certainly was not the first time.

But, of course, everything had to end, and the coldness Maui felt was no longer caused by the deepest recesses of the ocean.

[takerfoxx]

Walpurgis Nights 5: Part 3

Homulilly surfaced, her head breaking through the gently surging surface of the water. She looked around, checking her position. Good, she was still close to where the cliffs met the beach. Taking a deep breath out of reflex, she dove down again.

The others were swimming around this way and that, checking out the local aquatic wildlife. Candeloro and Charlotte were hanging together, slowly moving over clusters of anemones and searching for the most colorful specimens. Oktavia and Gretchen were near where Homulilly had surfaced, inspecting a school of fish with silver scales and lines of purple streaks.

The ocean around Freehaven had been everything Oktavia had promised. Though not as lively or colorful as the tropical reef represented in the Ocean Enchantment ride, it had more than its fair share of wonders. Oktavia took a certain amount of pride in showing off the types of crustaceans and where to find them, from scuttling crabs to large, lumbering lobsters. They saw large beds of oysters, not the pearl creating kind unfortunately, but still impressive in their size. They saw numerous fish, some small and darting while others were the size of Homulilly’s leg. And of course, Oktavia knew the name of each and every one, from the ones native to earth to the ones that had wandered in from other territories to a few new species resulting from interstellar crossbreeding.

“Over here!” Oktavia called. She really was specifically suited for the ocean, as her gills meant that any sort of breathing device was unnecessary and her tail made her especially fast. Also, for some inexplicable reason, her voice wasn’t muffled by the water. A little distorted, sure, but Homulilly had no trouble understanding her. Homulilly and Gretchen swam over to where she was indicating.

A small grove of some kind of kelp was growing. The roots were dark blue that brightened to lime green in the middle before turning to a yellow so bright that it was kind of hard to look when they reached the top. The leaves were long and broad, and several arms stuck out from the green part that ended with round balls. The balls were apparently buoyant, as they floated up around the stalks, holding the arms up.

“Vitrel kelp,” Oktavia explained. “They’re from the same planet as the botuntikos and the nask, but they grow just fine here. See those floating ball things? They use those to support the stalks so that they can keep growing and growing. When you get real deep out, they can grow hundreds of meters tall. Heck, back on their home planet, they have whole forests of these things that get as tall as a mountain!”

Homulilly thought back to the underwater world she had seen back during their trip on the Magic of the Universe ride and how deep its ocean was. That was impressively high all right.

Oktavia continued to show them around. She showed them anemones and the fish that lived within them. She showed them a family a sea turtles lazily making their way past the shore, though she had to physically restrain Gretchen from swimming over to touch them when they saw several baby turtles in the group. And she showed them where an ancient wreck had been discovered, one so old that it had been completely consumed by coral, so that only its general shape remained.

“Apparently it belonged to some merchants who were coming to Freehaven to trade, way back in its early days,” Oktavia explained. “Nothing left inside it, unfortunately. The sea and scavengers stripped it clean long before the coral got it.” She gestured out into the open ocean, where the water grew deeper and its possessions became stranger. “Out there, there’s a few newer wrecks that still have things worth finding. I’ve found a couple, though it’s usually just tools and fishing gear. Maybe someday I’ll take you to see them.”

After a while of looking at fish Homulilly surfaced again. She was a bit further from shore than before, but fortunately not by much.

“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Homulilly turned to see that Gretchen had also come up for a bit. “It is,” Homulilly said. “It’s too bad that Ophelia is so scared of the water. She’d like all the exploring and…” Then she frowned. “Er, Gretchen-chan? What are you doing?”

Gretchen’s bobbing head was moving through the water in a very odd fashion that didn’t seem to indicate swimming at all. Whatever it was, she seemed to be having a difficult time with it, plus it was making her grimace for some reason. “Ooo, eee, ooh,” she said, her face twisting with each syllable. “Well, I figured that now would be a good time to try out that leg stretching thing, and…”

Homulilly’s eyes boggled. “You’re walking on the bottom?”

“It’s harder than it looks,” Gretchen said as she gingerly tried to move toward her. “My legs are real thin, and I don’t have any feet, so moving forward is…tough. And oh, I keep stepping in things!”

Homulilly stuck her head down just long enough to confirm that yes, Gretchen’s legs were now stretching all the way to the ocean floor, giving her the appearance of some kind of extraterrestrial horror, albeit a very cute one.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Homulilly said.

“Probably not,” Gretchen admitted. “And it’s-” Then her eyes went wide. “Ugh! I stepped in something squishy! Okay, legs come back, legs come back!”

Chuckling, Homulilly went back down again. She wanted to see if there was anything interesting down in the trench.

It took a while to reach the bottom, but when she got there she was disappointed to find that it was mostly just sea grass and more fish. She would have liked to have seen an octopus or two.

Then, as she turned a corner, she found herself staring at the mouth of a dark cave.

It was large enough for two people to swim in with ease, and seemed to go pretty far back. No doubt if there was anything interesting to find, it would be in there.

But as Homulilly gazed into the yawning entrance, she found herself growing uneasy. It was so dark inside that she wouldn’t be able to see where she was going. Maybe there were sharks in these waters, and they were just hiding deep inside the cave. That, or angry eels, looking to take a bite out of the first unwary soul to wander by. Or maybe spiny urchins with venomous quills. Or maybe she would just hit her head on a rock. Besides, the others would probably yell at her for wandering off.

No, no, no. Her curiosity was going to have to remain unsatisfied. No doubt if there was anything cool in there, Oktavia would have found it by now. Backing off, Homulilly turned and swam away, toward where the trench opened up to the wide ocean floor.

Then Homulilly’s breath caught in her throat.

A long, slender appendage had appeared, slinking out from behind the rocks. It was as thick as a pencil and as flexible as one of Gretchen’s legs. However, it clearly did not belong to something like an octopus or a squid or anything else that one might expect to find in those depths. For one, it completely lacked the suction cups that they all seemed to possess, resembling more a worm than any earthly tentacle. For another, it was glowing with a ghostly white luminescence, one that cast eerie shadows in the darkness of the trench. Black lines danced down its length like electric pulses, moving toward its unseen body.

Whatever it was, it made Homulilly cringe back. She had no idea what this new, weird thing was, but she was sure that she wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps her Japanese heritage was to blame, giving her a natural revulsion to anything alien with tentacles.

The appendage continued creeping out, probing the bottom of the ocean inquisitively. Homulilly wondered if perhaps it was just a worm, some kind of extraterrestrial arthropod that had wandered into Freehaven’s waters.

But then a second one appeared, just over the first. Then a third. Then three more, flailing and writhing about. Okay yeah, these definitely were not worms. A monster was there, something far worse than any shark, something bizarre and alien that had no business being there.

Homulilly didn’t have the slightest clue what she was looking at, she just knew that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. It was time to go, to put as much space between her and…whatever it was as possible.

Unfortunately, what followed next could best be described as a perfect cavalcade of “If only.”

If only Gretchen had not chosen that exact moment to go see what her girlfriend was so focused on.

If only Gretchen had not, upon seeing the monster for herself, instinctively jerked back in alarm.

If only there had not been a stone shelf jutting out of the wall right behind her head.

If only she had not, for whatever reason, removed her breathing membrane.

If only striking the back on her head had not caused her to reflexively inhale a mouthful of water.

If only seeing her girlfriend slump lifelessly had not caused Homulilly to panic and, instead of grabbing her and heading straight up for the surface like she should have, instead grabbed her and swam deeper into the trench as fast as she could.

If only she had not, for whatever reason, headed straight into the underwater cave and kept right on going, seeking a place to hide from the monster.

If only any one of these things had not happened, for if they had not, everyone might have been spared a great deal of trouble and worry.

But they did.

…

Homulilly’s head broke the water with a gasp. She fumbled blindly around in the dark, praying that her hand wasn’t going to fall onto anything predatory or poisonous. Fortunately, her bony fingers touched a wet, slick, but animal-free rock shelf. She shoved Gretchen’s limp form up onto it before hauling herself up as well.

She ripped the breathing membrane from her face and pulled off her goggles. A couple of breaths confirmed that yes, the air was breathable. Salty and kind of smelly, but breathable. She groped around the shelf. Okay, okay, didn’t seem like anything was up there with them. In fact, from the feel of things, it might be larger than a shelf. In fact, she might have come across a full-on cavern, one large enough to accommodate the pair. Furthermore, she had not encountered any hungry sharks, biting eels, stinging jellyfish, sharp anemones, or anything nasty on their way in. That was the good news.

The bad news was that to get there, Homulilly had to blindly panic her way through what felt like an endless nightmare labyrinth of pitch-black tunnels, meaning that they were lost and alone far beneath the ocean, far from their friends, far from the surface, with no light or anything that might help them. And to top it all off, Gretchen wasn’t moving.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said, reaching around with her shaking hands until they found Gretchen’s shoulders. She shook her, hoping to wake her up. “Gretchen? Gretchen!”

No answer.

Homulilly felt like she was about to lose her mind. Gretchen wasn’t moving. Her membrane was gone, so she had probably inhaled a lot of water.

Ophelia’s words came stabbing into Homulilly’s mind with the cold precision of a blade. “It was like being held underwater. I tried to pull myself out, but when you can’t even breathe, it ain’t gonna happen, so everything went black.”

Gretchen had drowned. The water had gotten into her soul vapors and was going to drown her over and over and over. It didn’t matter how many times she came back, she would do so in agony. And unlike Ophelia, there was no one around to help her.

No!

Homulilly started pounding on her chest. “Wake up!” she cried. “Wake up! Wake up!”

That did nothing. Unfortunately, being in a world where death was an inconvenience and serious injury being anything but, proper CPR procedures had been omitted from her education.

But Homulilly wasn’t about to give up. Hoisting Gretchen’s body up, she flipped her around and sat her in her lap. Then, wrapping her arms around her and clasping her hands against Gretchen’s stomach, she shoved up and in.

Her technique left much to be desired, but her strength was more than enough to make for it. She heard Gretchen gasp, followed by a violent retching as water exploded from her mouth. Homulilly all but collapsed with relief.

Gretchen doubled over as she coughed up the water in her system while Homulilly rubbed her back. As joyful as she was over her success, Homulilly still found herself wondering why the water hadn’t dampened Gretchen’s soul like it had with Ophelia. Did it have something to do with the way it was absorbed?

Well, whatever. It didn’t matter. What did was that Gretchen was all right, more or less. Finally she managed to cough it all out. From there, she flopped back into Homulilly’s arms and just laid there, shivering.

“Lilly-chan?” she said hoarsely.

“I’m here,” Homulilly responded.

“Wha…What happened?”

Homulilly took a deep breath of the nasty air. Then, collecting her wits the best she could, she told Gretchen the unfortunate series of events that had led to their current predicament.

“A monster?” Gretchen said. “I…I don’t remember that.”

“A scary one,” Homulilly told her. “With glowing tentacles and these black lights running down them.”

“Oh wow,” Gretchen said with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. “Now I’m glad I don’t remember. The last thing we need is a tentacle monster. You know, since we’re Japanese.”

Homulilly sighed. “You’ve been talking to Ophelia too much. Besides, you have tentacles.”

“They’re not the same thing!”

They sat in silence for a bit, trembling in the dark. Then Homulilly said, “Gretchen, what happened to your air membrane?”

“Oh,” Gretchen sighed. “It’s stupid. But I was thinking. You know, since we just found out that I can stretch my legs and never knew that before that I might be able to do other things too. So I saw Tavi-chan swimming around and breathing underwater and wanted to see if maybe I could too.”

There was a significant pause. Then Homulilly said, “Tavi-chan has gills.”

“Yeah. Like I said, it was stupid. I was just about to put it back on when I saw you. Then everyone got all black. I must’ve dropped it when I hit my head.” Homulilly felt Gretchen’s head slump forward. “I’m an idiot.”

“No. No, you’re not,” Homulilly said firmly.

“You’re sweet. But it was pretty dumb.”

“Well, a little,” Homulilly admitted. “But you couldn’t have known that there was a monster out there.”

“It was still dumb.”

Again they sat and waited, the only sound being their breathing and water dripping into the pool. The shivering grew worse.

“Do you think the monster’s gone?” Gretchen finally said.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe it got the others.”

Homulilly shook her head. “Not them. They’re too tough.”

“Yeah. But we’re not, I guess.”

Homulilly didn’t have a response for that.

Then, so suddenly that it made Gretchen squeak with alarm, Homulilly swung her legs around and slipped off the shelf into the water. The coldness of the water made her stomach clench.

“Where are you going?” Gretchen said.

“I’m just going to see if the monster’s still there,” Homulilly told her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Lilly-chan, no,” Gretchen said, sounding terrified.

“I’ll be okay,” Homulilly assured her, though she secretly wondered if that was true. She reached up and found Gretchen’s hand. Giving it a squeeze, she said, “Don’t worry. Just rest. I’ll be fine.”

With that, she slapped her membrane back into place and sank down.

It only took a moment for Homulilly to realize that her plan had a major flaw. When she had come into the cave, she had been so focused on getting away from the monster that she hadn’t paid much heed to where she was going, and had simply swam forward as fast as she could until she had found somewhere to surface. But going back was going to prove to be difficult.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and with no light it was a terrifying experience. Homulilly had to feel her way by hand, and more than one placed her bony palm down on something squishy or slimy. Fortunately, nothing stung or bit her, but her imagination had no trouble in conjuring any number of dark, scuttling creatures crouching mere centimeters from her hand.

Just keep going forward, she told herself. Just keep going forward. She had come in more-or-less in a straight line, so if she went out in the same manner she should be able to find the exit.

However, when she had gone a fair amount of the distance, she was struck by a terrible thought: how was she going to find her way back? She had left Gretchen alone in a dark hole far beneath the ocean, and if the tunnel proved to be part of a network, all it would take was one wrong turn and she would never find her.

Homulilly almost went back then. Better they be lost together than separately, and the thought of Gretchen scared and alone in the dark made her feel terrible for leaving her.

However, before she had made up her mind to turn back, she rounded a corner and saw light.

For a brief moment she thought that she had finally found the way out. But no, it wasn’t the dim glow of sunlight filtered through water, but rather a bright, harsh glare, like that from a flashlight. Furthermore, as her eyes adjusted, she saw that it wasn’t round like one would expect from the cave entrance, but rather longish and-

-and it was moving.

It was all Homulilly could do not to start hyperventilating. The monster was there, prowling the tunnel, feeling its way forward with its many tendrils. It didn’t seem to have noticed her, but if it came much closer than it undoubtedly would.

Homulilly hastily turned and swam back the other way, careful to move slowly as to not disturb the water too much.

If the way forward had been bad, the way back was a nightmare. Every moment Homulilly was convinced that the tunnel would branch off into a side-path that she would take by accident, that she would encounter something just as nasty as the monster. Gritting her teeth behind the membrane, she pressed on, this time following the ceiling with her hand. There seemed less a chance of accidentally disturbing anything that way, and more of a chance of finding the surface of the pool.

She might have finally despaired of ever finding the way when her fingers broke the water. She all but leapt up into the air and was rewarded by the sweet sound of Gretchen gasping with surprise.

Once Gretchen was reassured that it was actually her and not the monster coming for its supper, she helped Homulilly back onto the shelf.

“It’s no use,” Homulilly said through chattering teeth once she had got the membrane off. “The monster’s in the tunnels now. I think it’s looking for us.”

She heard Gretchen sniffle. “What are we going to do then?”

“I don’t know. Hope it doesn’t find us and they send out a proper rescue party, I guess.”

Gretchen let out a small whimper. Knowing exactly how she felt, Homulilly reached out and gently drew her into her lap and hugged her close. From there they sat and waited.

It was impossible to tell how much time was passing. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes passed as slowly as hours, and Freehaven itself would probably end up long abandoned by the time an actual hour passed. In truth, they sat silently for only five minutes, but considering the circumstances they could be forgiven for thinking that it was longer.

“I’m cold,” Gretchen said at last.

“Me too.” Actually, Homulilly was practically freezing. The waters around Freehaven were always pretty warm, but they were far down enough for that warmth to have a hard time reaching them, especially within the depths of the cave. And both of them were wearing practically nothing.

Then Gretchen started to shifting around, turning in Homulilly’s lap so that they were facing each other, her wire legs tickling Homulilly’s stomach through the thin fabric of her swimsuit as they passed. She encircled Homulilly’s middle with her arms and hugged her tight, laying her head against her neck.

Homulilly responded, drawing her own arms in tighter around Gretchen. As a way to keep warm, the improvement was marginal. But in other areas it was exceedingly better.

Still, Gretchen’s trembling grew worse, and soon her small body was violently shaking in Homulilly’s arms.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said, worried that something new was wrong.

“S-S-Sorry,” Gretchen said. Though Homulilly couldn’t see a thing, she could imagine Gretchen’s sheepish smile easily enough. “I’m j-j-just so sc-scared. Big coward, huh?”

“No,” Homulilly said, shaking her head. Gretchen’s salt-water slicked locks brushed against her cheek. “Never. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“N-No I’m not. I’m s-s-so scared I can b-barely move, b-b-but you j-j-jumped right in to go find that monster!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not scared too,” Homulilly said. “Besides, you’re always the one to help me try new things and talk to people. You make it seem so easy.”

“It is easy! I mean, c-comp-p-pared to this at least! I could never have done something like that! You’re way braver than I ever could be, so don’t beat yourself up like-”

Then Gretchen cut herself off. “Oh, forget this,” she muttered. Homulilly was about to ask her what she meant, but the question was both blocked and answered when Gretchen suddenly pressed into her, tilting her head up to touch her lips to Homulilly’s.

The kiss tasted salty, but was not at all unpleasant, and Homulilly found herself responding without thinking about it. They held it for a bit, their mouths softly moving against each other, before Gretchen pulled away with a pleased sigh.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said.

Gretchen left out a soft chuckle. “W-Well,” she said. “Might as well! I mean, we’re stuck here until someone finds us, so…”

Homulilly wasn’t too sure about that logic. It…probably wasn’t the time for this sort of thing, and it certainly wasn’t the place. But darn it, they were stuck there either way, and she needed something to take her mind off the fear. Besides, she had been staring at Gretchen in a bikini all day, and now her body was aching for some kind of release.

They kissed again, deeper this time, with more fire and hunger than they usually allowed themselves. Homulilly felt Gretchen’s legs creeping up to encircle her waist, thighs, and midriff, binding them closely together

Gretchen tasted sweet, so sweet that even the salt went unnoticed. She moved in deeper against Homulilly, this time without hesitation or restraint, their mouths pressing greedily against one another.

The next thing Homulilly knew, she was lying flat on her back with Gretchen on top of her. Groaning, she arched into her, her fingers roving over Gretchen’s back, slipping up under the elastic band of her top.

Suddenly the whole cavern was flooded with light, biting into Homulilly and Gretchen’s eyes, causing them to fall back with twin cries of pain and surprise. At the same time, a familiar voice said in a relieved tone. “There you are! How in the heck did you-Oh. Oh!”

Blinking stupidly, Homulilly squinted as the light was moved just enough so that it was no longer shining directly into her eyes. And though her vision was still blurry, she was able to make out the mess of blue framing a staring face.

“Ok-Oktavia?” she stammered.

The mermaid was floating in the pool, her top half fully surfaced while she shone a flashlight bracelet onto the pair. “Well,” she said. “Huh. Gotta admit, much as I hoped to find you, this ain’t exactly what I was expecting.”

For a moment Homulilly didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about. Then her mind put the pieces together and her face turned bright pink. She exchanged a mortified look with Gretchen and the two of them hastily put their swimsuits back in place.

“Guys?” Oktavia said, sounding more than a little put out. “Can you please tell me that you didn’t disappear into a tiny underwater cave without telling anyone, scare us half to death, and break pretty much every promise you made just to screw around like a couple of horny sea lions? Because if you did, I swear to God-”

“It wasn’t!” Homulilly blurted out. “There was a monster and it scared us and Gretchen hit her head and drowned and I took her here to hide and she wouldn’t wake up and we couldn’t leave so we started kissing because we were scared and didn’t know what else to do and oh God please don’t tell the FIB and get us in trouble, please!”

“Whoa, whoa, hit the freaking brakes!” Oktavia said. “The heck? Gretchen drowned? And there was a monster? What?”

Homulilly inhaled deeply through her nose and breathed it out of her mouth. Her fingers found Gretchen’s and, clasping each other’s hands tightly, they slowly and carefully recounted their misadventure for Gretchen, from when Homulilly first saw the monster to Gretchen’s near-death experience and finding themselves trapped. Overall, they did fairly well, until they got to the part with the kiss. Then their story faltered and came to an awkward stop, but that was okay. Oktavia definitely got the gist.

“A monster,” she repeated. “A tentacle monster. That glows.”

“Yes!” Homulilly said. She felt like she was about to cry. “You…didn’t see it? It was right outside!”

“Oh boy,” Oktavia breathed, burying her face in her free hand. “This is…” She shook her head. “Guys, relax. There’s no monster.”

“But there is! We saw it!”

“I know you did. But, uh, this is just a big misunderstanding. See-”

Then the waters around Oktavia suddenly lit up from below. Homulilly and Gretchen both froze in place, paralyzed with fear as the luminous tentacles of the monster emerged from the water, right behind Oktavia. “Ah…” Homulilly said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

More tentacles appeared, grasping onto the walls and low roof of the cavern, finally pulling up the monster’s body from the surface of the water. It was a round ball of light, where the black pulses from its many tentacles converged together into its core, forming a repeating reverse starburst. The thing had no other discernable features. And from its body, a buzzing, almost mechanical voice spoke. “Did you find them? Oh, you did!”

Homulilly screamed. Gretchen screamed. Their voices bounced back and forth through the cavern, echoing into a deafening roar. Oktavia flinched and covered her ears, while even the monster drew back in surprise.

Finally the girls’ voices gave out, and they were left cringing back, pressing themselves against the wall. “Oktavia,” Homulilly whispered. “It’s right there. It’s right there!”

Oktavia was still trying to shake off the auditory assault on her ears. “Good grief,” she muttered, rubbing her temples.

“Uh, did I miss something?” the monster said.

“Apparently. Guys, calm down already. She’s not a monster.”

“I’m not a what?”

“She?” Homulilly said, now feeling more puzzled than afraid.

Sighing, Oktavia gestured to the glowing, tentacled creature. “Guys, this is Dr. Antercateract. She’s the oceanographer and marine biologist I told you about. Dr. Antercateract, this is Homulilly and Kriemhild Gretchen.”

“Er, nice to meet you?” said Dr. Antercateract, still sounding very bewildered. “Oktavia, what’s this all about?”

“Apparently they saw you swimming around and thought you were some kind of sea monster,” Oktavia told her. “So they panicked and ended up in this cave.” There was pause, and then she added, “Don’t take it personally. They’ve only been here about a year and a half, and Freehaven doesn’t get many nonhumans.”

“What?” Gretchen said, now just as confused as anyone not named Oktavia.

“She’s one of the kotoss interdrent,” Oktavia explained. “Specifically a kotoss witch. That’s why her body does that LED thing.”

Homulilly felt quite beside herself. “Oh,” she said.

“Oh,” Dr. Antercateract echoed. “So that’s…” Her luminous body started to shake, and she made a rasping sound like rusty factory machinery. Laughter. She was laughing. “Ah, sorry about that, girls. Oktavia was going to give me a tour of the local waters the day after tomorrow, but since I had the afternoon free I figured I might as well get a head start. Didn’t mean to scare you.” The rasping laughter got louder.

Homulilly opened her mouth to say something, but then all the fear, worry, and embarrassment suddenly came to the surface and spilled over, and she burst into tears. She couldn’t help it. It had all been for nothing. They had been so scared, and it was all for nothing.

Apparently Gretchen felt the same, as she was set off as well, and soon the two were weeping openly.

“Aw, damn it,” Oktavia muttered. “Er, hey, doc? Maybe you’d better give us a minute. Let the others know we found them and that we’ll be along soon, okay?”

“Of course. Sorry again. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Dr. Antercateract sank back into the water, her glow fading away until the only light was from Oktavia’s bracelet.

Sighing, Oktavia hoisted herself onto the shelf and crawled over so that she was sitting with the two younger girls. “Okay, okay,” she said, hugging them close. “Calm down. It’s all right. It’s over. You’re okay. It’s over.”

Homulilly shook her head. “It’s not just that,” she mumbled. “All this time…all this time I got worried and scared and people would call me a monster because of my arms. But I see just one alien witch, just one, and I treat her worse than I ever thought people would treat me!”

“Come on, cheer up. It happens to everyone. There’s so much weird in this world that everybody gets freaks out by someone sooner or later. Heck, the day me and the other three met, we all scared each other! So it’s not like you’re the only one.”

“Yeah, but…but…” Then Homulilly started crying again, burying her face into Oktavia’s shoulder.

“All right, you’re okay,” Oktavia said, giving her a tight squeeze. “You just had a bad scare, is all. Don’t worry, Dr. Antercateract wasn’t offended. And you won’t get in trouble, I promise. But for now, let’s get out of this creepy place, okay?”

“Okay,” Homulilly muttered.

“Oh, wait,” Gretchen said suddenly. “Er, Tavi-chan? I sort of lost my breathing membrane. I dropped it before we came in here and don’t know where it is.”

“That? Don’t worry, I have it. Found it right outside the cave. That’s what tipped me off that you might be in here.”

“Thank you,” Gretchen said, sounding relieved that she wouldn’t have to hold her breath the whole way out.

“All right,” Oktavia said, giving them both a pat on their shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get back to the others.”

That sounded good to everyone, so Homulilly and Gretchen both donned their swimming gear and headed over to the water. Before they did, Gretchen ventured with, “Um, Tavi-chan?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you…You know, the thing you caught us doing? Could you not tell the others, please?”

Oktavia snickered. “Sure, no problem. But on one condition though: you guys have to wait until you get home before picking up where you left off.”

…

As expected, both Candeloro and Charlotte were pretty upset with them for disappearing, but their relief dulled any anger they might have had, and Oktavia’s explanation turned what was left into pity, so things were all right.

At any rate, nobody felt like exploring the water anymore, so they all headed back to land. Homulilly had never been so glad to step out onto the beach before, though her wobbly legs made it difficult. Poor Gretchen needed to be half carried, as her wires just didn’t have the strength to support her.

It was evening when they came back onto the beach, but it was still pretty crowded, since most of those intending to stick around for the entire day had come in from the water and were now huddled around the firepits, in which blazed a few dozen bonfires. They found Ophelia around one with the same girls they had played volleyball with, toasting hotdogs and marshmallows while chatting away. As it turned out, she had a grand ol’ time by herself, having participated in a couple of dance-offs and earned herself a few new scantily clad fans. However, as much as she apparently appreciated the attention, she had kept her hands to herself, saving them for when Oktavia was finally brought to her, whom she accepted gladly. Upon seeing the pair snuggling happily together, Ophelia’s would-be groupies were disappointed but accepting. After all, how could they hope to compete with a mermaid?

At any rate, upon being told of the kids’ little misadventure, Ophelia had at least enough grace not to rub it in, save for a few disparaging comments about the ocean’s obvious wickedness, and had even provided a fair amount of sympathy. But it was clear that she was trying very hard to hold back laughter. No mention was made of Gretchen having nearly drowned, though Oktavia did at one point mention that they did need to tell the FIB about that. Near death experiences were not something to be left undealt with. Gretchen seemed okay, but she promised that she would, and they left it at that.

As for Homulilly and Gretchen, they were pretty much done with the beach but were also just far too worn out to tackle the uphill trip back up to the FIB, so they put their clothes back on and slumped into their chairs next to the fire, taking in what warmth they could. Charlotte helpfully cooked them a pair of hotdogs and Ophelia made them some s’mores, while their volleyball friends provided a cooler full of soda and water bottles. After absorbing the warmth for a bit and filling their stomachs, the kids started to feel almost normal.

“Don’t worry too much about the FIB,” Candeloro said once Gretchen had regained enough strength to broach the question. “They’re a little overprotective sometimes, but they get it. It was just a misunderstanding, and you guys have a pretty clean record.”

“You’re not going to get in trouble, are you?” Homulilly wanted to know.

“We might get a talking to about keeping a better eye on their wards, but don’t sweat it.” Candeloro smiled. “We used to get way worse from them back when we were still new.”

Homulilly settled back into her chair, watching the fire. All around it, people she knew well and had only just met were talking, teasing, laughing, and overall having a good time. Someone had started playing a guitar, and badly at that, but no one cared. She wished that she were in a better condition to enjoy it with them, but overall she was just glad that she could enjoy it at all. Misunderstanding or not, that had been the second scariest moment in her existence as Homulilly, with the first being the day she had first woken up. Presumably, in her former life she had endured things much worse and better off forgotten.

However, curiously enough, her thoughts soon drifted away from the fright she had experienced and the prospect of getting in trouble with the FIB. She wasn’t even thinking about her old fear of being judged and hated because of her appearance. Rather, her thoughts were on home, and what was going to happen when they got there.

She looked over to Candeloro and Charlotte, who were sitting side-by-side, entwined like before. Candeloro was laughing at something Charlotte had said, and then leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek. Homulilly smiled.

Then she looked over to Ophelia and Oktavia, who likewise were in the same position as they had been during their nap, only having traded places. Oktavia was leaning back in Ophelia’s lap, and the two were making a game of who could sneak a s’more into the other’s mouth. In the end, Oktavia got the better of her girlfriend, and stuffed a gooey treat into Ophelia’s mouth, though it didn’t seem as if she were displeased in losing. This seemed to annoy Cheese, who started nipping at the crumbs on Ophelia’s cheek. He was given an apple slice to shut him up.

There was a lot of opposites going on in their little group, Homulilly noted. Charlotte was more fiery, blunt, and forthcoming, while Candeloro had a calm and patient personality. And while both Oktavia and Ophelia were brash and mischievous, one had her heart given to the sea while the other refused to leave the land. Taking it further, Candeloro and Charlotte’s marriage was comfortable and steady, while Ophelia and Oktavia were all about passion and fun.

Then she looked over to Gretchen, who was lying back into her chair with her eyes closed, lightly dozing in the warmth. The two of them had their own way of doing things, Homulilly thought, but it was no less real. Maybe that was another reason that they all got along so well, even without the theory of some sort of shared past and spiritual connection. There was no judgement between them. Everyone did their own thing in their own way and happily accepted each other in their differences.

Then she felt something tickling her leg. Looking down, she saw that a few of Gretchen’s legs had crept over to gently wrap around her calf. Then Gretchen’s eye cracked open just long enough to shoot Homulilly an affectionate glance before she settled back down again.

Smiling, Gretchen reached over with one bony hand to cover Gretchen’s own. Their way might be different from the others but she liked it just fine. However, she did feel that things were starting to move forward again. A door had been opened in the cave, one that led to a fast and exciting future. They could close it if they wanted, write things off to the stress of the situation and return to their comfortable routine.

However, Homulilly didn’t really care for that. She liked what she saw past that threshold. And she really had been trying to be more daring as of late.

…

Later that evening…

Homulilly emerged sopping wet from the shower, the salt all washed away, and her tiger-lily was now tingling from shampoo instead of seawater. It was a noticeable improvement.

She grabbed a towel and wiped herself down, then she carefully dried out her hair. She was about to pick up the clean clothes she had brought with her when she caught sight of herself in the mirror over the sink.

It was strange to think of now, but she had always been so self-conscious about her arms that she never gave much thought to the rest of her. And Gretchen, the only person in the world whom Homulilly would want to look nice for, had always been so accepting that it never really occurred to her to go the extra mile to make herself look pretty.

But now she found herself very concerned about her appearance and not the least about her arms. Biting her lower lip, she considered her reflection for a bit. Then she picked up a hairbrush and went to work straightening every strand. Her hand trembled as she did so, making it take longer than it would have. After that she carefully fixed up her tiger-lily’s petals. She even put a little makeup on her cheeks, though even she knew that it was unnecessary and a little silly.

Then she looked at herself again. She put her hands on her hips and thrust her pelvis forward, trying to strike what she thought was a seductive pose, but it looked so dumb that she dissolved into giggles. It was so very silly, and between that and the butterflies swarming in her stomach she could not for the life of her wipe the big, goofy grin from her face. Well, it was probably for the best.

Taking a deep breath, she tightly wrapped the towel around her body, just under her armpits, and tucked it into place. Then, with her heartbeat thundering away in her chest, she reached out with one trembling hand to open the door.

Gretchen in the exact same position she had been that morning, lying on her stomach reading the same magazine on her bed. Her legs were even splayed out exactly like before. However, having showered and changed first, she was wearing her pale green nightie instead of her bikini, the one that always rode a little high on her hips. As Homulilly entered the room, she instinctively glanced in her direction with a smile.

Then she saw Homulilly’s state of dress (or rather, undress), and her eyes went wide.

“Oh,” she said, hastily sitting up. “Uh, did you forget your clothes?”

Homulilly wondered how to respond. Several dozen steamy and romantic one-liners shot through her mind, each of them lamer than the last. Finally realizing absolutely no way she was going to be smooth about this, she finally decided to say nothing. Instead, she reached up to give the top of her towel a tug, causing it to unravel around her.

The towel fell to the floor into a heap around her ankles.

Gretchen froze in place, the color of her face now matching her hair. But however surprised as she might have been, the look in her eyes was far from displeased. Taking this as an encouragement, Homulilly slowly made her way toward her. This time, there was none of the sultry walk down the imaginary catwalk she and Gretchen had playfully acted out that morning. It was just her, and that was enough.

Gretchen’s breath quickened as Homulilly sat down on the bed next to her. As for Homulilly, she was now painfully self-aware, though not of her body. Rather, she was realizing that she had no idea what to do now: where to put her arms, where to put her legs now that she was sitting down, where to put her hair, how to proceed, and pretty much anything and everything. She tried sitting with her legs pressed closely together but that felt wrong for what she was doing, and she had to fight the instinct to cover her chest with her arms. She was also very much aware of how Gretchen’s gaze was sweeping up and down every centimeter of her.

“S-So,” she said at last, her eyes fixed straight ahead. “We’re home now.”

“Um…yes?”

“And, well, like Oktavia said, we did wait until we got home, so now that we are home, we m-might as well, um, you know, continue?” She looked at Gretchen then and managed a shy smile.

Gretchen slowly nodded. Then she leaned in, her eyes closing and her mouth moving toward Homulilly’s. Well, this at least Homulilly was intimately familiar with, so she leaned in as well.

“Oh, wait!” Gretchen said suddenly, jerking back right before their lips made contact.

“Huh?” Homulilly said in both surprise and disappointment.

“Just a moment!” Gretchen started to get up, but appeared to think better of it. Instead, she stretched out one of her legs across the room, over to the door. With it, she turned the switch on the doorknob, locking it. Then with two more legs, she closed the curtains over the window.

“There,” she said with a cheeky grin. She reached up and pulled her nightie down around her shoulders. A little squirming and it fell down around her waist. “No interruptions this time.”

Homulilly nodded, and she moved into Gretchen, slowly lowering her down to the bed.

…

Oktavia awoke to the feel of something trashing against her back.

For a brief, confusing moment, as her mind tried to switch gears from asleep to awake, she had no idea where she was or what was moving against her, and she found herself believing that she was struggling against some great sea squid, far beneath the waves.

The moment passed quickly and she remembered where she was. Turning over, she saw Ophelia was moving restlessly, tangling herself up in the sheets. Her eyes were still closed in sleep, but if her contorted face was any indication, her dreams were anything but peaceful.

“Hey,” said Oktavia, who had seen this happen many times before. She shook Ophelia by the shoulder. “Babe. Wake up.”

Ophelia moaned in distress and mumbled something incomprehensible.

“Ophelia!” Oktavia shook her girlfriend’s shoulder harder. This time Ophelia’s eyes snapped open and her eyes darted around wildly.

“Ophelia, are you okay?” Oktavia asked when Ophelia’s gaze finally settled on her. The flame-headed witch didn’t respond at her, instead staring right at the mermaid with her hands still clenched in the air over her.

Then Ophelia relaxed, letting her arms fall. “Aw geez,” she groaned. “Again with this shit?”

“The drowning one again?” Oktavia said, easing over onto her stomach.

“Nah. You’d think, given all the water we had today, but no. It was the other death, the one from the fall on day one. Remember?”

Oktavia shivered. Day one was nothing something any of them were going to forget, Ophelia least of all. “All too well. Weird that you’d have that one though.”

Ophelia shrugged. “Ah, well, Homulilly apparently heard about me having kicked it a couple times and was curious, so I guess that got it lodged in my subconscious.”

“I guess. Are you okay now?”

Ophelia breathed out. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for waking you.” She turned over, her back to Oktavia, and pulled the blanket up again.

Oktavia waited for a few moments. When Ophelia didn’t say anything further, she sighed and sank back into her pillow, still worried.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard Ophelia say suddenly, “Hey, Tavi?”

“Mmmm?”

“You’re gonna still be here when I wake up, right?”

Oktavia blinked. She turned to Ophelia, whose back was still to her. She was shaking.

After a moment Oktavia pressed in close to her, wrapping her arms around Ophelia’s middle and resting her chin on her shoulder. “Forever and always. You know that, right?”

Ophelia slowly stopped trembling. “Right. Sorry.”

“You’re stuck with me forever. Get used to it.”

Ophelia let out a small laugh. She turned in Oktavia’s embrace, facing her. “Guess I am. Sorry. My head’s still all addled.”

“When isn’t it?”

Ophelia laughed again. Then she relaxed, her breathing evening out. They fell asleep together, holding each other in the dark.

…

Welp, that’s game! Hope you guys enjoyed it, even if it did get a little more risqué than usual. But hey, what’s the point of having a super-obscure spinoff story that very few people are going to read if you can’t push the envelope a few times.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to stop procrastinating. Back to work.

Until next time, everyone!

(God, I missed doing that)

[trentteti]

October 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival

We just celebrated a week of Halloween, but the party isn’t over. If you’ve been getting into the Halloween spirit after taking the October 2019 LSAT this Monday, you are invited to the best party of the week. So clear the gunk from your reddened eyes, wipe that melted chocolate off your mouth, rub that Joker make-up off your face, and get ready for our favorite kind of party — a carnival!

As is our tradition — and your right after enduring an LSAT — we are throwing a carnival just for you. Just … uh, don’t get the wrong impression. This isn’t a Carnival cruise ship — there are no under-supervised children or capital-D Dads making liberal use of the all you can eat policy at the buffet line here. Nor is this the Christian liturgical parade that Latin American countries have turned (Or is it turnt? We still saying that?) into the craziest block parties on the planet. Nor is this an animal whose energy and nutrients requirements are met primarily through the consumption of animal tissue — that would be a carnivore ya’ dinkus, but you’re forgiven for being confused, you’ve been partying for a week. Instead, we’re a post-LSAT carnival.

What’s a post-LSAT carnival, you ask, my bleary eyed friend? It’s a chance for you to mingle with all your fellow LSAT-takers, and reflect on the exam. We’ve sifted through all the message board and social media chatter about the October test and we’re bringing the best here, for you to enjoy. We even got some left-over-from-Halloween decorations for the festivities …

That’s right — to celebrate the fact that most-common logical fallacy is forever etched into your mind, we’ve also etched it into a pumpkin. We had a lot of free time to do this … we don’t have many friends. But anyway, you’re here now! So, make yourself at home, mingle anonymously with your LSAT brethren, and take a look back at the October test. Sorry for any profanity along the way … you know how carnivals sometimes bring that out in people.

So, let’s get this partying going with October jams ….

Wait, you’re not feeling some late-period Pet Shop Boys? What about some neo-soul from a gone-too-soon artist?

Nope? 80s art rock?

Dang, well I’m running out of October songs. Let’s chat then. OK, I’ll start … who here thinks they had the weirdest pre-test study habit?

Woah. Not even LSAC’s ignominious watermarked scratch paper would shake you on test day. Speaking of test day, does anyone want to share their test day rituals?

Whatever works for you, my friends. All right, so this is the third digital LSAT LSAC’s administered, so please tell me they’ve definitely worked out all the kinks and now it’s a smooth process–

Wow, three hour delays, unresponsive screens, and a stylus with no integrity. Geez. Reports suggest there were long test center delays or cancellations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Eastern Illinois University, Hawaii, Houston, Liberty University, Los Angeles, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Virginia, Walnut Creek, and Washington. Let’s hope things get a little better come November.

OK, now, I know we can’t get too specific about this test but, just between us pals, what’d you make of this test? Anything fun about it? Any weird LR topics?

What the heck? Does anyone have a photo of this crazy-sounding fish? I have to see that.

Wow, the test writers literally had a scour the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean to find that guy. Speaking of deep, dark places, how’d Reading Comp go?

Sheesh. Sounds brutal. The field of intellectual property law may very well have lost the future services of some very promising people today. At least the Logic Games section was comparatively easy right?

[

OK, well, if this exam is as hard as you say it is, you’ll probably be given a forgiving curve. And, wouldn’t you know — our in-house prognosticator just stumbled through the door, dressed like Johnny Carson doing the Carnac bit. Let’s ask him what he thinks about the curve of this test …

… OK, he mentions that this is a “nondisclosed” exam, so LSAC won’t be releasing the curve, a copy of the exam, or anything other than your score. And this has only emboldened him to make a prediction. He mentioned that this exam reportedly had a hard RC section, at least one pretty tough game, and the LR sections both had 26 questions (making this a bloated 102-question exam). Taking those into account, the prognosticator believes these are how many questions you can miss on this exam and still earn the following scores …

170: -12 165: -19 160: -27 155: -36 150: -45

… But it should be noted that our prognosticator is on just had his fourth cocktail and is now loudly insisting that we play “Monster Mash” — does he think it’s still Halloween?

Anyway, it seems like this party is taking a turn. We’d understand if you have to go. Thanks for coming and for sharing in the festivities. But before we go … who here had the best post-exam plans?

Yep, you win. Congrats on finishing the October exam, everyone. Here’s to happy news dropping November 20th.

Not feeling too confident in your October performance? No worries. Retaking isn’t the issue; it’s retaking without switching up your prep. Our Academic Managers are experienced in helping students identify what method of LSAT prep (be it in-person, live online, on-demand, or tutoring) works best for them. Schedule a free consultation today!

October 2019 Post-LSAT Carnival was originally published on Blueprint LSAT Blog

[kngminho]

      mermaid!au: two different worlds .｡*ﾟ3

minho laid in his bed the next morning, staring at his white ceiling decorated with gold, like he was trying to figure out if what he experienced and saw was real or just a dream. 

he was so tired once he came back after talking to jinwoo, and he had to leave early since he remembered that should be back before dinner. his parents always expected him to dress well for it. and as soon as he got into bed afterwards, he immediately drifted off to sleep. 

he saw him again, in his dreams. it was like a replay of the events that happened, like he was experiencing them all over again. that was the reason why when he woke up, with half of his face snuggled under the thick sheets, he furrowed his eyebrows at his ceiling in confusion. 

he turned his head to look at his window, which was big enough to illuminate the entire room with sunlight. he got up, pushing the white curtains aside to let more light in, smiling softly at the warm sunshine hitting his skin. he looked at the view, only to be faced by the ocean like always. once the balcony door was opened like every morning, minho breathed in the fresh air and smiled widely. he was always happy to see this view, but the thought of something... someone out there he was waiting to see again, it made him happier. he had to convince himself it was real, despite him getting confused with his dreams. 

it was still too early, and once he was changed and done with breakfast, minho made his way to the kitchen. as always, smiling in the direction of anyone working at the palace passing by him, throwing a ‘good morning’ here and there. he always received happy smiles in return. if anything, he was glad that they looked happy to work there. he’d never want for anything to work at his home against their will. that’s why a lot of the servants and cooks felt like friends to him. 

minho stood there in the kitchen, staring at the contents of the refrigerator, stuck in his thought process. “making something new today, minnie?” one of the cooks at the kitchen smiled at him, standing nearby. minho looked over only to see one of his favorite people to have a conversation with, a wide smile appearing on his own face. choonhee, a girl slightly younger than him, had the biggest smile and the most cheerful spirit ever. she is a dessert prodigy, and managed to secure a job at the palace to follow her mother’s footsteps. she always made the best of the best. 

“not today, choonie.” he shook his head, chuckling as he piled ingredients in his arms. “i’m making a sandwich.” 

“oh my goodness, how creative!” she joked, laughing loudly when he playfully pushed her. she ended up helping him pack a lunch for later, like they always did together, knowing that he’d spend his day out during this time yet again. choonhee questioned why he decided to make extra this time, and he could only excuse it with a ‘i might get hungry again, it happens’. the prince kept staring at random objects in thought, and the cook could only look at him with a confused expression before continuing what she was doing. little did she know that minho was having an internal panic, wondering what the heck mermaids ate and what they didn’t. surely they didn’t eat fish... but can they eat bacon? what about tomatoes? jinwoo might find mayonnaise weird... 

all those thoughts and worries floated away when minho picked up his backpack and rushed to the caverns from yesterday. weirdly enough, he found himself having to pause outside for a minute to brush his hair in between his fingers. although a second later, he realized what he was doing and sighed at himself, deciding to finally go in and walk to the particular pool of water he found jinwoo at the day before. 

except he wasn’t there, making minho stare at the water with a frown on his face.

he didn’t want to give up. he didn’t want to accept that it was just a dream. 

he put his things down and sat in his spot like yesterday, legs criss-crossed yet again, and he kept watching the water as if the merman would appear at some point. he eventually got bored and started to throw pebbles into the water.

the prince gasped with surprise when someone emerged out of the water, a bright, wide smile shinning at him. “hello, minho!”

“you’re back!” a wide smile broke out on minho’s face. “i thought you weren’t coming back.” 

“i was down there. i didn’t want to come up and have someone else find me.” he said with a smaller smile and a shrug. 

“fair enough. next time i’ll remember to throw in a pebble for you.” 

“deal.” the merman nodded. 

“i have something truly amazing to show you!” the pink haired boy exclaimed with an excited beam on his face, swimming closer to the rocks minho was sitting on and lifting up a water drenched satchel to drop on them. 

“an old bag?” minho lifted an eyebrow, looking amused. 

“nooo, wait for it!” jinwoo pouted at him as he undid the button that closed it. before minho could question it any further, jinwoo opened the satchel and poured out the many shells that it contained. minho was surprised to see the giant amount of them, and definitely surprised to see how unique and more beautiful they were compared to shells he finds on the beach. “this is my collection of sea shells.” jinwoo giggled cutely, seeming excited to show him. “i found them all, and... and i thought you might like them...?”

minho picked up one of the pieces, admiring it between his fingers. he’s never seen sea shells as pretty as these ones. “they’re lovely.” 

“surely there are shells on the shore, but not as pretty as these!” 

“oh, i definitely agree with that.” minho chuckled. 

“i can make them into jewelry! k-kind of like my necklace...” he trailed off, hand fiddling with his shell necklace, obviously seeming nervous about his little offer. “i-i can make you one if you’d like.” 

“of course you can.” minho smiled encouragingly, not wanting him to get nervous over anything that obviously made him so excited. “it’s so pretty, i’d love to have my own.” 

that answer made the smile on jinwoo’s face return, and minho was so surprised to see him emerge out of the water to sit beside him on the rocks, glimmering fin still half in the water, lightly splashing here and there. minho simply couldn’t stop staring yet again at the boy’s tail, obviously in a bit of a trance. meanwhile, jinwoo was busy happily taking out his little tools to make the necklace for minho. he was about to say something when he noticed him staring yet again, making him giggle softly as a blush appeared on his cheeks. “you aren’t used to seeing me yet, huh?” 

minho snapped out of it, looking up at him since he seemed to be a little taller when he was sitting next to him. “how can i ever get used to this? you’re a half fish person, for god’s sake.”

that response made jinwoo laugh loudly, hands busy stringing shells together, and casually measuring them to minho’s neck before going back to work. “fair enough.” 

“uhh... just wondering...” minho started, watching jinwoo’s hands work as he spoke. “will you be okay being out of the water for so long?” worrying was part of his nature, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be dangerous for jinwoo to get dry overtime. 

“it’s okay, i won’t be out for long.” he reassured him, giving him a sweet smile. “no need to worry, minmin.” 

“minmin?” minho’s wide smile returned, his heart weirdly enough doing a little flip over the nickname coming from the merman. 

“y-yes... is that okay?” 

“yes, of course it is... i like it.” he hesitated at first, but he reached up a hand to gently ruffle jinwoo’s hair, which didn’t seem very affective, since it was wet. it seemed like the merman couldn’t stop smiling, and minho found that very contagious. “you know, when i woke up this morning, i thought yesterday was all a dream. i thought i wouldn’t see you again, but i’m glad i have.” he admitted with a tiny, shy smile. 

“really?” minho nodded in response. jinwoo took a deep breath. “i’ll be honest, i felt the same. i’ve never met a human before. i thought you wouldn’t be back while i was waiting for you.” 

“well, you can trust me when i tell you that i’ll always be coming here to see you.” minho reassured. “although sometimes i do get busy working, so... i apologize if i do come here late or miss a day. i’ll do my best for you.” 

“that’s alright. i’m glad you told me.” jinwoo truly appreciated it, because he knew he could easily get anxious if the prince promised to come and didn’t. “it’s finished!” he exclaimed, holding up the necklace he made. 

“that was quick.” minho giggled, looking at the pretty shell necklace jinwoo had made for him. before he knew it, the merman was gently putting it around his neck and hooking it from the back. minho’s hand reached up to fiddle with it, taking a proper look at it. “it’s really beautiful, thank you. i’ll make sure to wear it as much as i could.” 

“we match now.” jinwoo giggled. “it’s like... it’s like we’re best friends!” 

“like?” minho raised an eyebrow at him. “come on! we are best friends.” 

the look on jinwoo’s face was priceless, although minho could relate with it. “i’ve never had a best friend before...” he trailed off, looking like he was about to cry. minho chuckled, gently patting jinwoo’s cheeks. 

“i haven’t either. that makes you my first best friend too.” 

“what is that?” 

“it’s... a sandwich?” minho answered slowly, surprised that the boy didn’t know what a sandwich was. although it took him a moment to realize that bread couldn’t possibly exist underwater. 

“a sand... witch?” jinwoo’s eyes widened, and he swam back like he was afraid of what was in minho’s hands. “is it evil?! is- is it going to attack me with sand?!” 

“oh my- no! no, not at all! it’s... it’s a type of food? i guess?” he laughed, not knowing how to explain. “it’s like... bread, with different things inside... i don’t know. but it’s really good, trust me.” 

“it looks so weird...” jinwoo tilted his head slightly.

“fine, then, i guess i’ll have it myself.” minho shrugged, smiling in amusement as he took a bite, sighing contently like it was the best thing he’s ever eaten. “hmmm, delicious.” 

“... can i try it?” the merman frowned, staring at the sandwich in minho’s hand. the prince chuckled, nodding at him and holding it out for him. all while telling him to be careful not to drop it in the water, otherwise it won’t be as good anymore. he swore, the look on jinwoo’s face when he’d taken a hesitant bite was the best he’d seen. his genuine reactions to normal human things were priceless in minho’s opinion, and definitely adorable. “woah!” 

“is it good?” 

“it’s amazing!! 

“it better be, i made it.” minho chuckled. 

“i need more of that!” 

“okay, okay! slow down there. i did get more for you, in case you liked it.” minho laughed, taking out another for jinwoo, who once again got out of the water to sit next to him. 

“this is the best thing i’ve ever tasted in my entire life. is this really what humans eat?” he questioned with a mouthful of food, his eyes wide and bright with genuine curiosity.

“well, it’s not the only thing we eat, but it’s one of them. i could get you something different next time.” 

“please! i’d love to have more delicious food.” 

how could minho say no to that face? the boy really was the cutest minho has ever seen. there was a glimmer of sparkles in his wide eyes, almost like stars. so captivating and pretty. minho nodded. “i’ll definitely get you something different next time.”

at that, jinwoo shrugged his shoulders up to his ears excitedly as he continued to eat, making minho’s heart flip yet again at how adorable he was.