#OR the kids sizes wont go up big enough!!

[unnonexistence]

off-the-rack clothing sizes make me want to bite someone

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Miscellaneous Sea Creatures

It's the penultimate* Bestiaryposting, and we have sea beasties! Yarrr... okay that's as much as I'm doing of that.

*Strikethroughs explained in the Aberdeen Bestiary section.

Anyone not sure what this is about can consult https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting, which I have fallen terribly behind on updating, but at least after next week I can't possibly fall any more behind.

To read about these Sea Beasties, click here:

For our next and, as I've alluded to repeatedly (assuming I've been counting correctly), last Bestiary Post, click here:

Without further ado, art below the cut.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has all eight here, and has made the majority of them Not Fish to give us a good oceanic variety. The reasoning behind the Alrittraes (see the linked post) is pretty good, I think, and I'm fascinated by the design of the Radwahrekh.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has given us a similar top-to-bottom oceanic scene in a different style -- these are making me nostalgic for those big illustrations of All The Different Sea Critters I enjoyed staring at as a kid. The Alrittraes is very good in this one too -- I swear I've seen that critter on an old-fashioned Map of the Ocean somewhere. I also like the verging-on-draconic design of the Blochmokan.

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn all eight and attached naturalistic descriptions, as is their wont. Honestly I'm always impressed by how well those descriptions scan as Probably Real Animals. I think the designs of the Alrittraes and Blochmokan are particularly charming here, which is becoming a theme.

So, the Aberdeen Bestiary. No illustrations at all in this section, which is extremely disappointing. Probably due to the author's terrestrial bias. After the above list of creatures, the author goes on an extended digression about fish in general, their feeding and mating habits, and... and apparently Past Me was lazy enough to just skim this whole section on account of each folio just being labeled "Of fish, continued".* Which was a mistake, because it does transition back into talking about specific animals (a number of which are 100% not fish).

*I believe the folio labels are based on the manuscript's rubricated headings, so I can't pass off the blame on them for not making note of this.

So next week isn't the last one, because some of these critters are pretty good, and I can't let Past Me's laziness deny them their time in the spotlight. Once I've typed up this post, I'll go queue up another one to be the actual final Bestiaryposting. A Bestiarypostscript, if you will.

Anyway, the critters from this post.

Alrittraes

I think the water-spout thing flagged to many that this is the whale. Here's the unredacted end of that entry:

Whales are beasts of huge size, so called because of their habit of drawing in and spouting out water; for they make waves higher than other sea creatures; the Greek word balenim [balein] means 'to emit'. The male is called musculus; for it is alleged that the females conceive by intercourse.

In fact, the Ancient Greek phállaina just means 'whale'. (Its original etymology is apparently obscure.) I checked into what balein and balenim might mean just to be sure -- the former is Dutch for 'baleen', which makes sense. The latter is apparently the Czech word for 'package' in either the singular instrumental or plural dative form. So... I don't think this etymology is correct, is what I'm saying.

The bit about conceiving by intercourse, I think, is because they're mammals. Someone either made some observations about genital anatomy or actually observed whale sex out on the high seas somehow, and this was noted as unusual because fish aren't supposed to do that. (The medievals were fully aware of the external fertilization process, they just didn't think it counted.)

I have no idea why this means it is called musculus, and the Oxford Latin Dictionary is not helping.

I was about to continue with this and make some suggestions about the specific design of a mantlet, but honestly I think it's just the author (or, more likely, Isidore of Seville) making up nonsense etymologies.

Update: here I present the entirety of the entry for "mussel", from several pages later, which I think sheds some light on this:

Musculi are small shellfish; oysters conceive from their milk. They are called musculi, meaning, so to speak, masculi, 'males'.

So... maybe. Still weird.

Blochmokan

So this one confused me a bit, because the translator of the Aberdeen Bestiary simply calls it "flying-fish", but that seemed wrong to me because the heading says:

De belua que dicitur serra: Of the monster called the flying-fish.

And I think to myself, (a) why is it a monster? and (b) there's no way serra translates literally to 'flying fish', what is that word?

In an obvious-once-you-see-it moment, serra means 'saw' (whence English serrated). The definition 'sawfish' is also presented, but this is clearly not the same animal we call "sawfish" in English. Nor is it, I strongly suspect, the same one we call "flying fish". (Not least because bestiaries often have a very hierarchical order to them, and why would the flying fish be number two right after the whale?)

Hoping there is an explanation available on the great wide Internet, I Google "serra" "flying fish", and... who should I see as the number one result but the inestimable @a-book-of-creatures. They explain it better than I can.

Kearmoltir

So this is the dolphin, which is quite odd because apparently it means the "certain kind of fish" described here is not actually this guy like we assumed but instead a species of dolphin. Which is wild.

Meldilragg

The translator just renders this as "sea-pig", which I'm not really sure about, because as far as I know sea-pig or mereswine is an old word for 'porpoise'. Maybe they didn't translate it that way because they know something I don't.

Olnranming

This is of course the swordfish.

Radwahrekh

This might be the sawfish, but it does say serra again, so... who knows.

Shikwaewik

This one is the pike, which tracks; I don't think that needs to be elaborated upon.

Gurnwatlea

This one is the mullet, which I was surprised to see. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just because it seems like such a mundane and commonplace fish. But of course we also had some pretty mundane and commonplace mammals in that miscellany, so it's not really that weird.

Anyway, that's... a portion of our sea creatures.

[darkniters]

omg i loved the girl dad schlatt short you wrote,

could you do more, maybe of them two and reader, appearing on stream?

Thank you, it’s ok if you don’t want to!

jschlatt whos a girl dad

two

“boys, we got a crazy stream lined up for you all today.” schlatt grinned at the camera, leaning back in his chair as he looks towards his right.

off of the side of the camera, is you! sitting with your young daughter in your lap. she’s old enough to be speaking, but in this situation that isnt really the best thing.

she can run her mind a lot, yappin about whatever comes into head and just saying anything and everything all at once. i mean, its a GREAT sign, your kids healthy, but johns bright idea of bringing her on stream to play city skylines with him isn’t something that is sitting right with you.

“may i introduce you all, to the specialist guests of all time…” he reaches his arms over, and she jumps into them. he then lifts her up and over, and onto his lap with great ease. “you boys remember small men dont you?”

a codename came up by schlatt to keep her identity fully concealed. she’s also sporting a pair of sunglasses and a mask, which he ripped directly from ranboo with absolutely no shame.

“SMALL MEN?” she whips her head around to stare at her father, shes so much smaller than him that he’s had to lower the camera, the top of his head cut off. “i thought i was UTKA?” she sounds offended.

schlatt stares down at her, his hand holding her back in place as the other rests on the table, as he lets out a hearty chuckle, “these losers wont be calling you utka, sweetheart. thats what we call you!” he explains. you can see through the side of the sunglasses that her eyes are shining up at her dad.

“speaking of ‘we’ as the collective,” he looks over at you, a giddy smile again finds it way on his face. you roll your eyes, before rolling your chair into frame as well.

you make an explosion noise from your mouth, making small men giggle loudly. schlatt pulls your chair as close as possible, before he rests his hand on your arm rest, making sure you dont move out of frame.

“family reunion, baby! like a big ram family right infront of ya.” he cheers, small men starts frantically waving at the screen.

“small men wave up at the camera up there, they cant see you when you wave to the screen!” you tell her, her heads moving around as if its a chickens, quickly jutting around in every direction like she’s never been in the room before.

she finds the camera and leans forward, waving frantically and crazily, and schlatt starts waving too, copying her to the best of his ability. you let out a much more relaxed wave, just lifting your hand and moving your fingers.

“alright, small men. you ready to make a city?” schlatt gently grabs her hand and brings it to the mouse. she grabs ahold of it, her hand looking pathetic compared to the size of it.

“daddy im gonna make… the BEST city. in the whole. ENTIRE world.” she beams, excitement taking over her to become a character.

he has chat and view number invisible, meaning whatever chat is saying, none of you will see. overall being a good thing for your anxieties, you dont want to know what everyone is saying.

after an entire explosion and the new monument “BIG MAONTIN” in the city “the hOuse,” you leave the room briefly.

you notice how quiet the house is outside the room, it feels almost alien to have a house so quiet. but you know that your daughter, and your lover are going to have a memory to cherish forever. and that means so much more to you than anything else you could be doing right now.

[calciumdeficientt]

Hey, Bif headcanons *slides a 503737494 dollar note* keep the change man

Gee thanks! I can’t wait to *checks smudged writing on hand* buy aguaburdy with this!

BIF TAYLOR HEADCANONS

Bif Bif he’s our man he’s our man who… cannot tan. It’s really sad, all the other preps can lounge freely in the sun and get various levels of luxurious tan while Bif… he just burns. If he doesnt apply countless coats of factor 50 suncream every hour or so he will go from milky white, to red, and then to blistered. There is no tan to be seen. Under the right conditions he does develop a smattering of cute little freckles but he never actually tans.

Bif prides himself on his boxing, in fact for a long while he put all his eggs in one basket and focused purely on the noble art. But he also plays a mean game of basketball, given his imposing stature. He doesn’t play often because there’s little to no preps that would even consider touching a basketball, let alone playing with it. He’s been told its improper for him to play more modern sports like basketball, so he doesnt bother with it much. He can only thrash Justin in a shootout so much before he actually feels bad for the guy.

He has to get all his pants tailor made. Not even out of a desire for them to be bespoke, they’ve got perfectly decent pairs of trousers at aquaberry, its more out of necessity. Bif’s height is oddly distributed, he’s got far more leg than torso, so most pants in his waist size when pulled up become capris. He had growth spurt after growth spurt as a kid so he’s no stranger to having things tailored (if you’ll excuse the pun), but now he’s a little older he does feel mildly left out when the other guys go out to buy their schoolwear and he can only purchase the top half of all his outfits.

Bif has a frequent flier card for rhinoplasty, he’s had countless nose jobs but just can’t seem to stop getting pounded in the face and wasting another 10 grand of his father’s money. Between surgeries, Bif does his best to draw attention away from his nose, not that anyone can really see that high anyway. It’s usually crooked, often tilted to the left but dependent on who he was last fighting it can sometimes skew right.

Derby wont be seen with him until he gets his nose fixed AGAIN so Bryce takes over as right hand man and Bif can get some much needed rest. He’s a very tired young man, especially as he spends most of his time following Derby around like a lapdog. And from all the boxing too, he trains seven days a week, often for up to nine hours a day. All that and school is enough to tire anyone out.

He has a shrine of his own achievements in his room at Harrington house, he doesn’t need to keep them, they’re also displayed at glass jaw, where he spends most of his time anyway. But he feels he has to keep them in his room to remind him that he is not, in fact, a failure and has accomplished many great things. Hanging around a guy as effortlessly self assured as Derby Harrington puts a lot of pressure on you, this is doubled by the fact that Bif has been the title holder for so long, he can’t relax, he can’t seem sure of his position, or he’ll lose it.

Collector and documenter of all things rap, well maybe not all things but he has a catalogue of a good few artists. His interest is mostly in the rap scene of the late 80’s to early 90’s with artists like The Notorious BIG, Ice Cube, Eminem and MF Doom as staples of his collection. He wish the preps weren’t quite so snobby about music, Bif genuinely believes that if they just tried to listen to some of the artists that they might genuinely really enjoy it. It’s all just poetry… often, violent poetry. Like war poetry, y’know?

Bif all likes to collect watches, they’re so effortlessly classy to him, and they can really elevate an outfit. It’s not often he gets to wear his watches, he’s fighting and training so often that he sometimes forgets to put one on in the few hours he has spare before he’s back in the ring. But for special events like parties, galas and other such fancy gatherings, he takes a good amount of time (heheh get it) to search for the perfect timepiece to go with his suit. The one he wears most often is a white gold rolex that Derby bought him for. Christmas when he was a Freshman, a ‘welcome to bullworth’ gift, if you will. They’d been tots together but up until then no one had really ever taught him to appreciate watches in the way Derby had.

[crushedsweets]

ok ok ok ok so i feel like,m idk. hat do you think the creeps are like when they laugh or smile. like full on snorting sobbing out of breath red tomato face laughing or just lik "haaha" or what

HIIII i love this ask its so cute. again, applies to my au, so if i mention smth weird its cuz its smth deep in my brain.... LOL

tims a chuckler... its like a deep, almost raspy chuckle. if its ever funny enough for a full laugh, he's wheezing.

brian also chuckles, but he has a huge smile and it sounds a lot more genuine than tim half the time. we all know what his smile looks like it is very pleasant .

toby's always cheesing. ok jk no he's not but he likes to laugh, it feels good. he'd start with a closed mouth, trying not to smile laugh cuz he's also annoying and doesnt want to give ppl the satisfaction that theyre funny, but he can't hold it in and will literally throw his head back laughing at random shit

kate has a cute little smile, those little crescent smile lines at the corner of her motuh - she has a quiet laugh most of the time, she's really not the type to go HAHAHA...

natalie snorts. if smth is funny she's snorting and u know it. not even laughing she'll just snort n nod along

jack just has a very normal like. hahah. like if its funny he's gonna bbe like haha. IDK HOW TO EXPLAIN like theres litetally so many guys in my classes who just laugh like hahaha and thats jack.

sally giggles, obviously . shes like lol. hehe. haha. HEHE. she has those over-sized big ass teeth that kids have when they havent grown into their adult teeth yet, so it looks rlly cute when she smiles. always smiles w her teeth

ben wheezes, snorts, rolls his head back, fucking grips his stomach, he goes the full mile. it is never that funny but wow will he laugh.

jeff also wheezes but it sounds like he's a chainsmoker,closer to tims wheeze rather than bens wheeze. its ugly. he smiles w his teeth too, and its fucking. his teeth wont even be touching his smile is just huge idk like hes ugly idk bro omfg. im sorry. no. he always sounds like hes laughing at you, rather than with you

liu wheezes too, runs in the family i guess. he just sounds like a much more pleasant, genuinely happy version of jeff. laughs with you. will put a hand on ur shoulder if u made a joke and laugh and tilt his head down and shake his head n shit.

jane has a quick sudden "HAH" type of laugh. it kinda surprises people cuz youd expect more of a gentle "haha" thing but its so sudden and loud and its cute fr.

nina fucking giggles she wont shut the FUCK UP she will keep going and snort and slap her knee. her and ben r the same theyre so annoying. shes so cute though.

ann has an annoying ass sultry laugh. like it almost seems like shes forcing it to be sexy. its terrible. she smirks too. its awful

lulu has a very light, airy laugh. never smiles with her teeth. it almost echoes when shes in fog

sadies laugh sounds like shes crying like the amt of time shes been laughing hella hard and someones liek RU OK and shes liek YEA ... then covers her face to laugh its so bad

dina has a sinister ass laugh idk how to explain that one either. a mix of HEHEHE and HAHAHAH like its never that serious but shes laughing like idek.

[fleurrypoet]

Hi can you write a few headcannons on how James Wilson would comfort reader if she’s just recently married to him and pregnant(she hasn’t told him yet) and she’s worried about his infidelity to other women affecting their relationship? Thank you 😊

This is a good one thanks for the request 🥰 hope you enjoy

If their already married I feel like the reader would have been different to James's other wives as from like the minute they started their relationship she would've told him that she did not want it ending how the the rest of James's marriages had ended. so like James would have reassured her multiple times that it wouldn't end up like the rest. This is why it does take them awhile to get to the marriage stage not because they don't love each other but because Wilson is afraid of messing it up and the reader is afraid of what it will end in.

though they do because they love each other and no doubt they have talked multiple times about children and it is clear that they both want kids. like all the reader has ever wanted was to be a mother and she can't wait to see James as a dad. though lets face it their both busy and recently married so I think they put it at the back of their minds figuring they will have the conversation again in a couple months or maybe a year.

though then the readers period is late like two months after their honeymoon and she puts all the symptoms such as sickness and fatigue all together and realises that she is pregnant. She is over the moon the one thing she has always dreamt of is coming true and it's happening with the man she loves. though then it washes over her the fear of James leaving, of him finding comfort and love in another woman and leaving the reader and baby alone. their is a big part of her that is telling her she is wrong and this is what James wants. But then the other part is referring her back to the fact that he cheated on his previous marriages ended in him cheating.

i feel like this goes on for days Wilson doesn't notice her pregnancy symptoms probably because they are masked by her pulling away from him which he can't understand why. she starts to spend longer hours at the hospital and going in before James so he basically hasn't really seen her in a couple days. considering the fact that James's third marriage ended in his wife cheating on him he starts to get a bit worried that maybe this is happening again. so it all boils down one night after dinner the reader has barely spoken all night and he just comes out and asks her if she's cheating on him.

the look of shock on her face tells James instantly that he was wrong and she's not but she's upset questioning why he would even suggest that she was the one cheating when he's the one prone to it. James explains why he though she was and it just led to her breaking down into tears realising that her being distant led to her husband questioning himself good enough for her.

so in the midst of it all she just tells him she's pregnant quickly followed by her spewing out what she'd been thinking about him leaving and cheating on her now that she is pregnant. James is overjoyed at the fact that he's going to be a dad but it pains him to think that his past mistakes have put his wife through all this stress so early in her pregnancy.

at his point all he can do is hug her and remind her that he loves her. then once the crying from both of them has subsided James leads her over to the couch and reassures her that he will never cheat on her. she half jokingly states that she will look awful when she's the size of a whale or when she's all tired from a crying baby keeping her up. though James reminds her again that he wants to be a dad and he loves her, stating that she wont look like a whale and he will also be tired from a crying baby but nothing will change the fact that he wants this and he wants her.

they both just end up spending the night on the couch as close to each other as they can planning their future and feeling relieved that the finally talked about what was bothering them.

[cattonicdragon]

Hey love your stuff could you do mantis tigress viper po shen and tai lung x a camel spider reader that can manipulate wind.

Mantis,tigress,viper,po, shen and tai lung x camel spider reader who can manipulate wind

I'm glad u like my stuff!

Also here a reference image for those of you who didnt know what a camel spider is,bc I'm going to be honest I never what it was until now and I both love and hate it

Proof read-ish

My tumblr isnt lagging to much for once ☺️

Also ty for requesting some kfp villains 👹

^camel spider

Mantis

Now I'm not sure how big camel spiders are but I assume they're possibly a bit bigger than a mantis so

Mantis is happy that someone is around his height

He finds you very menacing though,hes not going to lie about that

Hes actually surprised when you tell him your fangs arnt poisonous,they do still hurt but arnt venomous

This makes him feel abit better but hes still abit weary

You make for a good opponent,considering your size and everything it makes a fair fight for mantis

Your both really small,fast and talented so you make for a powerful duo.

You scare of quite abit of people,If you dislike this mantis will do his best to comfort you

The fact that you can manipulate and control wind is so fucking cool

If people thought you were a hard opponent to beat before,well they'd be in for a surprise

One time you managed to trip monkey with your wind manipulation,mantis found this hilarious,after making sure monkey was okay of course

Your a dangerous and menacing enemy and mantis is all for it

He likes cuddling you alot

He wonders if you can spin silk

Tigress

She has alot of respect for you

Despite being small you make a worthy opponent

Your also one of the only ones who's able to beat her

Shes impressed with how much raw strength you have despite being so small

Your wind manipulation plays into how easily your able to best her

She likes to train with you and push your limits

She wants to improve the both of you,pushing the limits of your powers and pushing herself beyond her own limits

If shes ever a little to hot she can feel a small breeze come her way

She likes picking you up and placing you on her shoulder

She'll never let mantis on her shoulder but she will absolutely let you

Should anyone ever threaten to step on you they're going to be stopped immediately

Tigress wont let disrespect like that slip past her

Shes also surprised your fangs dont hold any poison

She likes to softly pet your fuzz

Viper

She loves your fuzz so much

She likes to slither around with you on her head

The fact that you can manipulate wind is so fascinating to her,your so small and yet you can controll such strong air currents

Shes weary of your fangs at first till you disclose that they arnt venomous

She dosnt find the fact that your a spider scary she loves it

She likes to spar with you every so often

You help her put the flowers she has on her head

She wonders what the world looks like from your pov

Shes incredibly sweet with you and softly pets you with her tail

She finds it adorable when you put your front legs up when you try to be menacing

She honestly finds you more cute then menacing(probally because shes a snake)

She likes to put little things on your head like acorn tops and small flowers so you can match her

If you let her dress you up she'll happily hold you up like a kid who just dressed up a cat

Po

Hes thinks your cool but finds you abit scary

Keep his distance from your fangs

He had a hard enough time beating mantis and you have wind powers?!

He dosnt spar with you to often(probally bc he knows his ass is gonna get kicked)

He likes picking you up and putting you on his shoulders or head

When you use your wind it can actually be pretty peaceful aslong as hes not getting flung around by it

He likes to softly brush you fuzz with a finger

Will try to handshake with each leg of yours

When sparing he trys to be as careful as possible

He trys to see things from pov

He trys to learn wind manipulation as well,let him have his fun

He likes to play with his action figures as you watch

He likes to ramble about the things he likes and just talk in general

He tries to make a tiny house or dummy for you,they either end up to big or to small but it's the thought that counts

He likes to learn about what you can and cant do as a spider

Shen

Hes surprised how a little thing like you is so strong

He loves to spar with you and push your abilitys

He dosnt learn for a long time that your fangs arnt poisonous

Hes surprisingly careful with you,dont mention it though

He will sit you on his shoulder and will almost forget that your there

If anyone stares at him or you when you are he'll glare at them harshly

He makes sure your as respected as him

He sees you as his equal no matter your size

Hes fascinated by your wind powers and will constantly ask about it and try find out how far you can go with them

If you ever need help getting up somewhere he'll hold out his hand so he can help you get up

He's affection deprived so he dosnt know how to ask for it,he'll give subtly hints though

If hes annoyed with someone in the room theyll suddenly be escorted out by a sudden strong wind,how strange

Tai lung

He has a tone of respect for you

He sees you as one of his worthy opponents

He loves sparing with you way to often

He finds you wind manipulation interesting and sometimes hes a tad bit envious of it

Needs reassurance sometimes of how great his is

He also likes to pet your fuzz

He asks you to watch or join him train

He likes to make accomplishments with you

Hes fascinated by the fact your fangs arnt venous and even thinks that you had your venom switched out for your powers 💀

He likes to put big things on your head just to watch you pull it off with an annoyed expression

When you hold your arms in the air he finds it funny and actually has a hard time believing it's a defense mechanism

Holds you close to him as a makeshift hug

He will try not to hit you with his tail

It can be hard though since your so tiny

[alastyr-not-alastair]

*breaks through your window*

Have you ever wondered how steves are born? i mean like, we all have our headcanons and many of them are pretty similar but who wants to hear mine now

well if you're still reading you probably want to

So this one i'm making specific to my fanfic Sins of the Forefathers (i promise guys im still working on it, i jsut wrote the first chapter without making an outline and now i actually have to write a whole story) just because I think it’s silly, there’s no real reason and I don’t think that it’ll end up being some major plot point or anything so I can share without spoilers!

currently there are 2 big headcanons around, 1 of them being from a bit that states that steves reproduce using diamonds, and the other one being that the energy around the place can gather into one spot until theres so much that it creates a new steve

theres also... mpreg but i'd rather NOT

so naturally i combined them

To create a child you will need a diamond and at least 2 parents that are (preferably) of the same colour! the parents need to pour in a considerable amount of their energy into the diamond to create a new steve, while the diamond acts as a sort of vessel to hold onto their power. if this was tried WITHOUT the diamond, the energy would just dissipate into the air.

This ritual leaves the parents depleted of their own energy, which is why sometimes there will be more than 2 parents, just so that the load is lighter for them. Typically, the energy split isn't 100% even, so one parent may have put in a slightly larger amount of their own energy, this usually leads to the kid being closer to that parent in shade and power type/level.

When theres a third parent introduced for the sole reason of allowing the first 2 to not have to lose so much energy, they typically only gve a small amount of their own. Not enough to influence the child but enough that the parents wont be left EXHAUSTED afterwards. When theres a third parent because they also want to be a parent and have a kid, its once again a mostly even split between all of them

This all continues no matter how many parents you introduce into the mix

now the diamond! as the energy is put into the diamond, the core of it starts to become almost like a star, a core that is keeping the energy circulating and moving inside of it until it starts to create a living being. From then on, the diamond acts as an egg.

the kid inside will slowly use up the diamonds carbon from the inside out, as the energy poured into them combines with the energy that the diamond is absorbing from the general area as well. The diamond will slowly start to slightly change colour and go opaque.

The closer that the diamond egg is to people, the faster it'll hatch simply due to it absorbing energy left in the air that people give off.

The core continues to eat away at the diamond from the inside as a steve forms in there. At this point of their lives they don't need to worry about any food or water or anything because of the fact that they're still only feeding off the energy in the universe.

Once enough energy has been absorbed, the diamond shell that's left over will start to crack and fracture. The cracks will be more like something is expanding out of it rather than just breaking out. The first crack will always be the loudest as it is when the most energy is let out. At that point the kid can come crawling out the diamond and BOOM! you have a child!

A couple thoughts more that i have that im not sure where to put in:

the steves are a carbon based race due to the fact that diamonds are entirely carbon

a new hatch will be like, the size of a large hand. They grow fast once they're out

the way they're made is quite literally like a new star, and that first crack is their supernova. they basically go through the life cycle of a star before they're even born

different colours can technically have children together but it doesn't always have the intended result. Most times the energy they pour in isnt compatible so it... makes the diamond blow up....

if they do manage to succeed, the kid will be one colour or the other, as the energy of the parent who poured less energy would slowly get converted into something the other parents is more compatible with

In the case of Rainbow Steve:

So he’s an unnatural abomination of a Steve, we all know that, right?

If you didn’t, you do now bc he’s canonically made of like 5 people

Rainbow Steve was in fact made the traditional egg way, but the outputs of the energy put into the diamond had to be made so precise it wouldn’t go one way or another. He would also then have been required to be put in an environment where all the outside energy would not influence what colour he turned out to be.

The way this was done was it was completed one person at a time. Each person first had to learn to manipulate their own energy into a spare vessel with a measuring tool in it, and once it was measured to be exactly 1/7th of the total energy they would all put in, they would have to carefully manipulate the energy in an environment where there’s no extra energy swirling around, and put that into the diamond

Rinse and repeat the process 7 times and you have a rainbow egg hopefully, which would then be carefully fed equal amounts of all energy in a sealed off room. Eventually Rainbow Steve would hatch from it and all the scientists would breath a collective sigh of relief

A pretty normal way to make him honestly, but the constant feeding of the egg exhausted the scientists pretty fast, so eventually they just made a filtering system that would store the energy they let off naturally and use that to give to the egg

Also all the scientists fell in love with each other during their time there, it’s canon I said so

[evilgabe29]

Working Title(working title) chapter 1, second draft

alright its finally done, this was a very long process, and i still don't trust that i got everything right, especially the punctuation. but now with this done i can go work on the second chapter, that hopefully wont require over a week's worth of work to get right. now please enjoy:

The streets of Artagan were a pretty sight, well for me at least. Buildings stacked upon buildings creating spires of rust stained brick and concrete, white painted metal doors leading to escapement ladders providing the only method for scaling these monoliths. shops with neon signs glowing a beautiful cyan in what was a feeble attempt to attract customers, corporate government buildings alight with a lovely magenta. both providing the only sources of light for the streets of the city. 

Rats that wore coats of muddled gray skittered across the streets of black rock looking for what little they could find to survive. kids covered in gray dust, living out of cardboard boxes, indefinitely waiting for their parents to come back from the front-lines of bureaucracy. The clear dark sky hung above with a horrifying indifference, thousands of eyes, all different colours.

A boy ran through the streets, he couldn't have been more than ten half-feet and some slivers tall. his coat, made of synthetic cotton that he’d pinched off a Keno mine worker flapping in the wind. well it was wind relative to him at least. There wasn't much in the way of wind in Porthos cities except minimum to keep the air circulating. 

The boy ran, his legs were barely able to keep up with him as if they were there more for keeping him off the ground rather than pushing him forward. His left hand rested on what looked to be a railroad spike made of a white stone tinged with cyan. his right holding on to the shoulder strap of his yellow canvas bag that made a clink every time he took a step. The boy glowed a faint but vivid yellow. Once he got close to the job centre his glow faded from him like a light tube being switched off. Now while he may have stopped accelerating. his momentum still planted his face into the concrete wall of the building.

“Shit!“ The boy cursed, stumbling back clutching his nose with rose tinted fingers."I am not used to that yet.”

The boy took a second to right himself before entering the small corporate job centre. It was a cramped room, buildings in Artagan were never big enough to have large rooms. But the centre's space was small even by Artagan’s standards. thirty people waited in line in front of the terminal. It was a relatively small contraption that had many number plates cycling through different characters as it was being used. It was less than he had been expecting, most of his visits to the centre had resulted in all the jobs being picked clean by the time he got to the interface. 

When it was his turn to use the terminal, a large number of the jobs had already been taken. Thankfully there was still one left that was looking for a dasher. sure it's a scouting job but he'd take any excuse to get off this dump. 

The boy left the job centre paper in hand. looks like he would be working for a Mister Wayne, no first name given. Who would be waiting at landing pad twenty eight. Since the boy already had all of his personal effects on him he began making his way towards the port.

—its the line break! your favourite character! …right?—

The port was the biggest building in Artagan, sure it wasn't the tallest building with some residential complexes reaching up to 5 half miles in height. But its footprint more than made the difference. Despite its size it only had one entrance, marked with a large yellow neon sign. 

The boy stood in front of the port entrance tapping his foot. He had already rang the buzzer a few times now but no one had answers yet. 

“What in the eight trials is taking them so long?” the boy mumbled to himself. “Well if I'm gonna be waiting i might as well..” he trailed off, taking his job paper out of his bag and began reading.

It had all the basic information like date and time the job was accepted, name of the employer although it once again did not include their first name, wasn’t the first name the most important of the two? Well that's what he’d heard at least. The boy didn't have either so he wasn't in a position to comment. 

The Door behind him opened suddenly, making the boy, who had been leaning on it, fall into the building. The guard who’d opened the door jumped back reaching for her gun before seeing the job printout still clutched in his hand. She visibly relaxed and helped the boy up. He squirmed under her touch but appreciated the help. The guard, Melka, according to the small nameplate on her Yellow uniform, smiled at him, an uncommon sight for the boy. 

“Sorry about that, that door does open quite suddenly don't it?” Melka said taking the job form and reading it over.

“Yeah, even a bit of a warning would have been nice,” the boy muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his head, more embarrassed than he was hurt.

“Okay, looks like you're looking for landing pad twenty eight. But I'll need your name first for the log. Even just a first name will do, our system allows for that”  

“Uhm i uhh… dont… have one?” the boy said, blushing.

“Oh you poor thing here i'll give you one, how does Viktor sound?” 

“Oh um i uhh could i go with just Vik?”

“Of course you can! Here let me just write it down” Melka said, bringing out her clipboard and pen writing what the boy assumed to be his "name”. It didn't sit right with him that some random person he’d just met could just give him a name based on nothing at all. But on the bright side, it's not like he’d had anything else to use. And it did sound quite nice.

Once Melka was done with whatever she was doing, she handed Vik his papers and pointed him towards his destination. It was the landing pad that had what looked to be a pile of scrap on it.

The main area of the port consisted of giant square landing pads, arranged into a grid pattern, each with a corresponding hole for the ships to enter through. The landing pads themselves were of a light blue painted steel. each of the pads were marked with their corresponding numbers using white paint. 

Vik was frozen by the glare as he approached, an individual wearing a light blue dress shirt standing straight as a drain pipe, hands behind his back. Vik moved his hand to the ring spike at his hip, but it wasn't there, dred engulfed him as he padded his pockets before remembering he’d put it in his bag. Vik took another look at the man in the blue shirt realizing that he was not in fact staring at him but at the entrance. Vik let out the breath he didn't know he was holding trying to get himself to relax. 

Vik approached the man with his hands in both pockets, getting a good look at him up close, turns out he wasn't in fact wearing a dress shirt like he’d first assumed it was actually a thick coat. How did he not burn up in that? The man jumped, finally noticing Vik. 

“You are Mr. Wayne I assume?” Vik asked the man, he knew the answer but it never hurt to be sure.

“Um yes that's me i'm la- uhm yes, wayne, yes, uhh  what's your name?” the man responded scratching the back of his head.

“My name is uhh Vik? i think, they just sorta just gave me one at the door” Vik said, uncertain

“Well it works well enough for me, so are you the dasher or the heaver, oh! and can you cook?” 

“Uhm im a- the…dasher i guess?” Vik said fidgeting with a sliver in his pocket.

“Ah! Yes! I see that makes sense, ah here, let me see your hands.” 

Vik reluctantly took his hands out of his pockets revealing the light magenta stains on his fingers that faded even more as it went along the finger, blending with his tan skin seamlessly. He’d gained them after stealing a Ring Spike off a drunk Ring Guard a half month ago, who’d passed out in the same alleyway Vik was staying in. he’d used the thing sparingly since there wasn't much Athos left in it when he swiped it although it did seem to hold much more than he’d expected.

“Ah I see, that's not too bad. I was expecting no Kenek stains at all, we can definitely work with that”  the man said, slapping Vik on the back, Almost making him fall over. “oh by the way you never answered me, can you cook? Nell and I can't cook anything more than reheating some rations” 

“Uh i cooked some rats with a lighter i found once unfortunately it ran out of fuel after a couple of days. The rats tasted great though!” Vik said, proud of his skill in the culinary arts. The man though gave him a look that Vik could not quite discern it seemed to be similar to ones he’d see mine workers give him when they’d saw him but his eyebrows wrinkled as if in confusion, but that would make no sense, all the words he’d said were actual words and they all made sense to Vik.

“So… that's a… no on that front then…” the man said slowly. “…Anyways let me show you to the ship, Nell will show you around, Athos propulsion methods are pretty intuitive so don't worry.” the man began walking toward the big rectangular mass of rusted metal behind him. Vik, not having much choice in the matter, followed him.

As Vik approached the ship, it coalesced into a shape that he could wrap his brain around. It looked like two packs of playing cards glued together with unnecessary metal bits that would only introduce drag when flying. This last thought gave Vik pause, how did he know about the concept of drag? He wasn't taught that at his mandatory compulsory classes. How did he know about this? Vik moved on, figuring that he might find the answer later. It was a skill Vik learned to hone on the streets, given how effective curiosity is at murder.

“So what do you think? She’s a beauty ain't she?” the man as if he was proud of his pile of garbage, he continued “we call her Theo after a document of the old world, before the collapse of the Deathmaker’s guild. Basically this dude, Theosunis had replaced every single part of his seafaring vessel over a very long and treacherous journey. But once he arrived back at his home port someone tried to claim that he no longer owned the vessel since it was not made up of any of the same parts as when he filed for ownership. There was a long legal battle, lots of paperwork, before eventually settling that people owned the idea of the object…eh what am i saying you're probably interested in those kinds of things,” 

“no, this is pretty interesting. Why name it after him specifically though?” Vik asked, genuinely interested in the conversation, he wasn't taught much about pre-deathmaker years, or really much of history now that he thought about it. and the smile the man wore while he was explaining made Vik feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. well Vik wouldn't have used those words specifically but you get the idea.

“Ah! Yes, that is a very good question!” the man exclaimed, clearly not used to people taking interest in what he had to say. “Well you see all of that complicated legal paperwork survived the fall of The Guild, Despite the archives being burned. we would have a much harder time reading the old script, and Ian’s journal would be a complete mystery to us” 

Vik really wanted to ask some more questions but they had just arrived at the door to the ship and he didn't want to interrupt anything that he might say. A white metal door stood in front of Vik, it seemed to be of the same style as those he'd seen used for the residential buildings in Artagan. There was no way those were space-grade right? But what did Vik know? The door opened as the man knocked on it a few times, revealing a big brawny man who was also wearing a big puffy coat though this one was green. Despite the large coat the man was still shivering as he spoke.

“H-hey L-Lan, this the n-new kid?” the new man asked, stuttering on every other word. “Heaver or d-dasher?” the green coated man asked the blue one, Trials Vik really needed to learn their names. let's see, The blue coated man had mentioned someone named Nell that must be the man in the green coat, and Nell had referred to the blue man as Lan, Vik decided to mentally use these names until he could get confirmation. of course asking for their names never occurred to him.

“This would be the Dasher, about grade 1 or so,” Lan said, patting Vik on the back.

“That's not too bad, we can work with that,”

“exactly my thoughts, anyways i gotta keep a lookout for whenever that Heaver gets here, can you show them around?”

“Sure dude” Nell said as Lan began to walk away. “You can call me Nell, what's your name kid? And how are you not freezing out there?” Nell asked, turning to Vik.

“I don- uhhm i mean uhh, Vik, i think,” said Vik stumbling over his own words, still not used to having a name yet. And maybe a bit intimidated by the large man.

“Well alright Vik, let me show you around Theo here” Nell said, inviting Vik inside the odd vessel.

As He entered Vik was struck by how open the interior was, sure it was quite big on the outside but he had still expected the inside to be small and cramped. The interior was made up of the same steel plates that were on the outside. What really drew Vik’s attention though was the large White rock that seemed to be on fire? A brilliant yellow aura danced around the boulder while also not burning anything around it. he couldn't tear his eyes off the majestic sight.

Nell chuckled beside Vik.“first time seeing a Keno engine? they are quite the sight eh?”

Vik just nodded.

“well you can do your gawking later, let me show you around the place and then we'll get you settled into your quarters” Nell gestured towards a set of tables off to one side of the ship where a couple appliances sat, to the left of the Keno engine as Nell had referred to the fiery boulder. “That's our kitchen setup, everything is bolted down because of inertia and all that, but we've got a small oven, a coffee maker, and a stovetop. Which are basically the three essentials when it comes to sustenance on a ship, we uhh also can't afford anything more than that. And over there,” Nell gestured to the other side of the ship.

“We have our couch, that …isn't bolted down so uhh don't sit on it during takeoff” both sides of the couch were unsurprisingly beaten up to the point you could see the metal frame under the padding.

Nell gestured to the back of the ship where four rooms sat, two on either side of the door “and those are the quarters, Lan and I are on the left there so you'll take one of the ones on the right.” 

Vik stood trying to process all of that information then gave up, figuring he’d learn anything he would need to know in due time. Vik let Nell drag him over to one of the rooms on the left. 

“Get comfy in there while we wait on the heaver. How are they always late? you’d think they’d be better at getting off their asses” Nell mumbled the last part under his breath as he walked over to the couch and sat down, keeping a casual eye on Vik.

Vik opened the door to his quarters, made of the same chaotic steel plates as the rest of the ship, revealing a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a small extra room at the back which Vik assumed to be the toilet. Vik put his bag on the desk and collapsed onto the soft bed.

tags:

tagging mutuals:

@ohnoitsslime @caligusabs @beloveddawn-blog

@illarian-rambling @theeccentricraven @kaylinalexanderbooks

@leahnardo-da-veggie @ratedn @weird-dork37

and per request:

@mr-orion

[thefactsofthematter]

you know me bruh

“just once.” and “i thought you were dead.” ily!

-💥

omg ok here we go @jack-kellys 👀

this is, in fact, longer than a drabble. but hey when there’s two prompts and a fun idea, you just have to go for it!

here’s some jack + race brotherly shenanigans!! tw for graphic violence - it gets a little intense for a bit there.

pls enjoy!!

-

January, 1900.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind, Higgins!?”

Jack is chasing him down the fire escape on the side of the Lodging House, and Race knows he brought this upon himself, but he’s still going to be an ass about it.

“Have you?” he counters as he darts down the stairs as fast as he can, not looking back. “Christ almighty, you’re hollering like you’re trying to wake the entire goddamn neighbourhood.”

The steps are icy and it’s dark out, so just as he slows down a moment to catch himself and keep from sliding all the way to the bottom, Jack manages to nab him with an iron grip on his upper arm.

“Get your ass back inside,” Jack hisses. Rarely does he get mad like this, much less at his own boys, but Race has apparently done just the right trick to piss him off. “Right fuckin’ now. I’m not messing around.”

Race twists his arm, but Jack doesn’t let go.

“What, a fella can’t even go for a walk anymore?” he snaps. “You ain’t my father, Kelly. I’m grown. Let go of me.”

“Grown?” Jack all-but roars. “You’re fourteen goddamn years old!”

“And you ain’t that much older, so you can’t tell me nothing!”

Race wrenches his arm away and continues down the stairs, but he doesn’t get far. Jack grabs the collar of his coat and yanks him back.

“Where the hell are you going, huh?” Jack demands, a fire in his eyes that’s almost genuinely intimidating. “Ain’t no way you’re headed to Sharkey Athletic Club, is there?”

Race feels himself go pale. Jack wasn’t supposed to know about that. How the fuck did he find out?

As if to answer the question, Jack pulls a little card from his back pocket— the very same one that one of Race’s regular customers handed him a couple of weeks ago, inviting him to come check it out and consider joining.

“We’re short a few featherweights these days; our boys keep gettin’ too big and movin’ up classes,” the man had said, with a wink. “You look like you got some pep in you, kid. Come find us if you want a shot in the ring.”

And it’s not that Race had ever considered prizefighting before then, but it had been enticing— he’s wont to finding trouble and getting in scraps anyways, so why not get paid for it? Or at least, even if he loses, have a few fellas around to pull the guy off him before it gets too hairy? Fighting in a club is safer, as far as he’s concerned, because it’s controlled.

He hasn’t been in a real fight yet— the man who’d invited him had money banked on him and wasn’t about to let him go in completely blind— but he’s been there once to watch a few fights and practice on a punching bag. Tonight is going to be his first time in the bareknuckle ring, against another newcomer who’s close to his age and size.

He must’ve dropped his invite somewhere in the Lodge. Jack found it, obviously, and he’s probably been waiting all night to catch the moment Race tried to get out after curfew.

“I never even heard of that,” Race lies through his teeth. “I’m going to meet Spot.”

“You’re walking to Brooklyn at this hour, in the snow?” Jack scoffs, unconvinced. “Don’t think you can pull a fast one on me, kid. How many times you been to Sharkey’s?”

Race swallows. Jack is genuinely angry, and there’s no use in lying anymore.

“Just once. I only watched.”

“Who invited you?”

“A fella I sell to, down at the races. I dunno his first name, but folks just call him O’Connell.” He pauses, suddenly feeling a little twist of fear in his gut. “I think he’s one of them Five Points fellas, Jack. He’ll stomp me if I don’t show tonight. I gotta go.”

Jack slaps him. It catches Race off-guard enough that his head snaps to the side with the force of it, but he steels himself enough not to react.

“Five Points? You’re in with a fucking gang!?”

“I ain’t knew it was a gang thing until I was already there,” Race huffs, rubbing at his stinging cheek, “but yeah, I guess. I’m not in the gang or nothing, but I’m fightin’ for real tonight, and I don’t wanna know what trouble I’ll be in if I miss it. I’ll come straight back when I’m done, alright?”

Jack is silent for a moment, his stone-cold expression utterly unreadable.

“Fine,” he snaps. “Let’s go.”

Race recoils a little.

“You’re coming along?”

“Ain’t no chance you’re going alone," Jack sighs. “And someone’s gonna have to drag you home when you get soaked.”

Race swats Jack on the ear, and Jack finally cracks half a smile.

“I’m gonna win. Just you wait and see, Kelly.”

-

They get stopped at the door.

“Who’s your pal?”

“My brother,” Race replies, and it’s only half a lie. Brothers don’t have to be blood. He offers the bouncer a wry smile. “Says I’m too young to come alone, so I thought I’d let him come watch.”

Jack has the good sense not to speak, just stays tight against Race’s side. There’s a chance this could blow up in their faces and get them turned away, but Race is hoping he’s got just enough youthful charm to pull this off. Everyone he met last week seemed to like him, so the odds should be good.

“You’re a keen one, kid,” the bouncer laughs, “bringing a babysitter to the fight. Get in here.”

Thank god that worked. They walk into the crowded club, hazy with smoke and almost too dark to see.

“I ain’t heard you talk so Irish before,” Jack chuckles, practically under his breath. “That’s new.”

“I forgot to tell you,” Race mutters as subtly as he can, “my name’s Conor when I’m here. Half-Italian ain’t a good look around all these Irishmen, so Antonio’s off the table, and they wouldn’t believe I was really just called Racetrack neither, so I stole my old man’s name and his accent.”

“Good god,” Jack sighs, “I can’t believe we’re really doing this.”

Race rolls his eyes.

“Just have some fun. I’m gonna go find O’Connell, but you should grab a drink. Stick to the story if anyone asks— you’re here keepin’ your little brother, Conor Higgins, outta trouble. Folks’ll get a kick outta that.”

Jack, while obviously not too enthused about the situation, is a good sport and an even better liar, so Race isn’t worried about him. Even if he’ll get an earful in the morning for how reckless it was to even be going here in the first place… for now, Jack just gives him a quick hug.

“Good luck. You better win that fight and make this worth all the fuss.”

And then he’s off towards the bar, and Race is headed to the back to get ready.

-

He realizes, once he’s in the ring, that O’Connell has decided to have some fun with him.

He’d been told he was up against another new kid, who was right around his size— it was supposed to be a fair fight.

That’s not who steps up to face him.

The kid— Murphy Gallagher, he’s been called around the club— has to be at least Jack’s age, and twice as broad as Race himself. He seems rather amused by the slight panic that Race is well aware his expression has just given away.

“Surprise. Initiation ain’t fair, kid,” Murphy laughs. “Give it your best shot, alright?”

Race swallows.

Shit.

He wants this. He knows it’s trouble to be getting involved with this scene, but it’s a leg up in the world for when he gets too old for papes, isn’t it? He can read, but he can’t write too well, so he doesn’t have much shot at a respectable career; poor and uneducated folks like himself end up in factories, and that’s the absolute last thing he wants. If he can get good at fighting, he might have a shot.

He offers Murphy the cockiest smirk he can muster, as they shake hands in the centre of the ring.

“You’re on.”

-

For two rounds, Race holds his own. He goes down each time, but the rounds are decently long, and he lands a lot of good hits— the biggest problem is just that this tougher, older kid can last longer. When Race starts to tire out from the effort of fighting someone twice his size, Murphy can easily rain a few more solid hits on him until he’s winded enough to hit the floor.

“Get it together,” O’Connell warns before the start of the third round, as he wipes some blood from Race’s face. “Don’t make me look like an idiot for bringing you in here. Show us what you’ve got.”

“I’m trying,” Race huffs, exhausted.

There’s sweat in his eyes, and his ribs are screaming in pain. He’s sure he’s busted up enough that even the kids back at the Lodge will question it— he gets in his share of fights, but he usually knows when to give up and beat it. That’s not really an option here.

“Try harder,” O’Connell teases. He slaps Race on the shoulder. “Get back in there.”

And so he does.

Murphy hits him in the side as soon as the whistle blows, and Race stumbles. He’s so tired. The crowd is laughing at what’s turning into a disappointing but amusing fight— Race obviously has nothing on his opponent, and there’s no chance he’ll be invited back here. He’s getting soaked for nothing, isn’t he?

His back hits the ropes when he’s struck again, and for a moment, he considers giving in right there and then.

“Come on, Racer!” he hears Jack shout from somewhere in the room. “You’re faster than that! Get up!”

Something suddenly clicks.

Race is faster than this guy. Of course he is. He’s been too stuck in a boxing frame of mind from the fights he’d watched last week, but standing strong and taking hits isn’t how Racetrack Higgins fights. No, he keeps people on their toes, and the fact that he’s in a ring doesn’t have to stop him, does it?

Just as Murphy steps back, clearly thinking he’s won this laughably easy round, Race springs off of the ropes and launches himself forward. He punches Murphy in the face before he’s even got time to react, and then he’s off to bounce against the ropes on the other side of him.

The crowd goes wild, and Race finds himself smiling. Murphy lumbers towards him to throw a right hook, but all Race can think is keep fucking moving, so he darts out of the way and lands a hard jab at the guy’s exposed ribs. He comes around the back before Murphy can even spin, and in what might be a rash decision, opts to jump onto his back and try to pummel him from there.

If there are rules to this fight, he’s not following them anymore… but it wasn’t exactly within the rules to throw him up against someone well out of his weight class, was it?

They end up on the floor somehow, Murphy having twisted onto his back, with Race’s legs locked over his hips. Race rains punches down on him while he’s still disoriented, taking a sick satisfaction in the way the bigger kid has started gasping— the wind has been knocked out of him, and there’s blood all over his nose and mouth.

For one glorious moment, Race thinks he might’ve won this round… until Murphy gets his bearings, grabs him, flips him over onto his back, and promptly knocks his lights out with one brutal punch.

-

Jack is in front of him when he comes to.

He’s sitting on the floor, propped up against the outside of the ring, surrounded by people. Someone is wiping up the blood from his shirtless chest, and another set of hands are holding his head, obviously trying to inspect some kind of damage. There’s someone else waiting next to him with a glass of water, ready to hand it to him when he wakes up.

Jack is there, though, knelt in front of him, looking absolutely terrified.

“Don’t gimme that look,” Race laughs, his words coming out a little slurred. There’s blood in his mouth, and one of his teeth feels a little wiggly. “I’m fine.”

“I thought you were dead,” Jack snaps. “When you just laid there and ain’t even twitched, I thought that fucker killed you. You ain’t never allowed to do this again, Conor, you hear me?”

One of the guys cleaning him up— a lackey of O’Connell’s— laughs quietly at that.

Jack is probably right, at least. After that miserable defeat, any shot Race might’ve had at a prizefighting career is good and gone.

“It was fun,” Race grins. He takes a sip from the water that’s been given to him. “At least I tried it.”

“Atta boy,” the guy who’d been holding his head chuckles. “You seem fine. There’s just a scratch up there but they bleed like hell. Nothing to worry about. Good hustle, kid.”

He leaves, and Race lets his head loll for a moment as the exhaustion truly hits him. Hopefully he can at least grab a drink before he’s kicked out of here— he deserves one, he figures. He fought hard.

Jack seems about to say something else, but before he can, they’re interrupted by O’Connell himself striding over. He takes a knee next to Race; he’s grinning, a cigar between his teeth, and a little bundle of something in his hand.

He holds it out to Race— it’s a membership card to the club, and four whole dollars.

“Welcome to Sharkey Athletic Club, Higgins. Here’s your prize.”

Race’s eyes go wide.

“But I lost.”

O’Connell shakes his head and laughs.

“Course you did. You had no shot. You weren’t supposed to win.” He holds his cigar between two fingers to gesticulate with it. “You gave us a show and you fought dirty— that’s what initiation’s all about. I knew you had it in you.”

Race takes the card and the money, still sort of stunned.

“Your brother’s a real live-wire, ain’t he?” O’Connell continues, patting Jack’s back as he stands back up. “If you wanna try your own fight sometime, let a fella know. Maybe there’s something in Higgins blood, eh?”

Jack is obviously pissed at this outcome, but he pulls himself together and nods, so as to not break his cover.

“I think I’ll let Conor handle the fighting, sir,” he chuckles. “He gets in enough trouble for the two of us. Someone’s gotta drag him back home at the end of the night.”

Race grins. He’s always loved watching the way Jack can effortlessly sell any lie he needs to; he even slips his voice into the Irish lilt that he probably picked up from his own father, just like Race. They’ve got a lot in common, the two of them.

“Better he fights in here than out on the street somewhere, hey? He’s got a good head on his shoulders. This kid’ll go far.”

O’Connell walks away. Race and Jack are left alone in a crowded room.

“Was I good?” Race asks. His head is still spinning a little. “Like, actually?”

It seems Jack can’t help but nod.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I was impressed. I ain’t happy about it, but you were damn good.”

Race grins.

“So you’ll let me come back?”

Jack considers it for a moment.

“There’s no stopping you, is there?”

“Nope.”

Jack sighs.

“Fine.” He reaches a hand out to help Race up. “But you owe me a drink or ten with that prize money of yours.”

Race laughs as he gets to his feet. Everything hurts, but he’s satisfied.

“You got it, boss.”

[nerves-nebula]

You do not have to answer all of these but these questions have been circulating my mind and I have been writing them down.

What would a gorilla shifter look like in human form, maybe just like a human but really hairy?

Do women moose shifters have beards?

Do women hyena shifters have pseudopenises or would that disappear because the biology has to translate to be human?

Can fish shifters become merfolk so they dont drown 500 ft below the surface?

Can all species have kids together and would they be hybrids or instead it would be a 50/50 chance between one of the 2 species of the parents?

Do they lay eggs in human form?

Would a pregnant person's fetus shift into an egg and then they can lay it early? Or would it not shift with them so they have to wait until they give birth before they can shift again?

Do they ever shift in the sleep and then like die because they were crammed into a tiny hole as a roach or something?

Does their human size relate to the species size? (As in msot elephants would be tall as humans)

Are the human body shapes always going to resemble the animal so that you can kind of guess what species they would be broadly?

Can anyone turn into a bacteria colony?

gonna adress these in order

a gorilla shifter in human form would look like a human. ive prolly done a bad job of showing this cuz i like giving characters animal traits, but their human forms are 100% human, and are only affected by their animal traits if they choose it to me. so wells in his human form would only have a tail if he decided he should, similarly Avin has simply decided to keep his sheep eyes at all points of time

some women moose shifters would have beards because some women have beards period, but i can see it being a cultural thing to keep some aspects of your animal form like that. so really it depends.

see above answers, they would be 100% human in their human forms and if a shifter had any genital differences in human form it would be unrelated to their animal forms

fish shifters can become mermaids if they want to, but they wouldnt look like fantasy mermaids and it would be kind of culturally weird. its not uncommon for shifter to mix human and animal traits, but living full time as a mermaid would definitely be seen as a strange alternative lifestyle

all species can have kids together in human form, and there's no chance of mixing the species unless you're animal forms could mix. so for example, a wolf and a coyote could have a coywolf kid, but a panther and a sheep could only possibly have panther OR sheep kids. about 50/50 is probably right.

i dont know. maybe if they really want to??? it's not a solid NO from me tho lmao

you do have to wait until your not pregnant again to shift, unfortunately. most people choose to stay in human form, especially if they're a mixed species couple. but if you were both dogs i think you could stay in dog form for however long dog pregnancies last. and some ppl chose to do that cuz the birth is easier that way.

no, your body would wake up or stop before that happened. though you can shift and partial shift in your sleep, its just not a sudden enough process to kill you.

not really? i mean from a design perspective i have a habit of taking inspiration from their animal forms to design them, but canonically i dont think the correlation is 100%. like you might have spots if your animal form does, but i dont think being a big animal necessarily means your gonna be a big human and vice versa.

also not really. sometimes they will, sometimes they wont. i think originally when i made this, they kind of did, but now i think itd be more interesting if the body types were more varied.

SADLY no. nothing that small

anyway, THANK YOU FOR BEING INTERESTED FASHDFSADFHSDAGA i was obsessed with this story when i was like 12 and i thought no one would ever care about it agsdhugshd

[lowlaif]

Konpeito

never seen a star up close.

kinda wanna eat one.

and no, not one of those starlets hanging out in ridiculously overpriced LA villas - now finally available in "sustainable" minus an ecological footprint rivaling the size of their range rovers. the owner will fly in from two towns over so they get there early for their yearly yacht trip and ill activate adblock so palantir cant pester me with 50-euro airline ads to the maldives because shit, money is going to be a bit tight this month

i want to eat a star. actual heaps of gas and space dust and heat and whatdoiknow, im not a scientist, id rather not belie my words by googling the exact chemical configuration of something thats just bright and pacifying to me, something thatll melt on my tongue. 'm not even gonna chew. just gonna swallow it. the way i ate chocolate as a kid because relishing in something meant enough time for it to be taken away. the way i drink medicine because - if you gulp it down really quickly, it doesnt have time to taste bitter: anything can be honeyed milk if you clench your teeth hard enough

did you know thats what galaxy means anyway? milk? i wonder what galactical honey would be, then. whether id think its sweet or spicy, whether id like the taste or want to spit it out. if itd go down with well-rounded corners or lodge itself into my throat and stay there. fishbones. i also wonder whether astronauts ever feel scammed when they set foot on the ISS and realize theyre not going to bear witness to a sky made out of sparkling lights and silver threads and golden spots and rainbow clouds but rather just a sea so inky black it's going to make breathing difficult not just by lack of oxygen alone. earths much too reflective for any other luminescent object to be visible to the naked eye, ive been told, hence why youd just be looking at a planet so bright it surely hurts to stare at it, and i wonder what it feels like, being up there and gazing down only to be blinded when youre so used to looking up and squinting?

im homesick thinking of kids drawing earth into the upper right corner of their drawings. i dont actually know if theres stars up there though everybody tells me those pinprick lights are, and i cant breathe when im busy trying to figure out what exact level of depression the stale air around me tastes like. but something in my brain clicks when i think of shiny things and theres no empirical evidence that grabbing the sparkly stuff up above my head wont cure me so i want to, i want to, i want to. wanting always boils down to sinking your teeth into it and ive filed my canines far too often to fear the force of my bite now

people dance on the moon and i mimic their steps in my bedroom and though these are just small steps i dont know the names of the poor sods stuck on the ISS either, even though there's only been like 500 of them and they're all way better at living life than i am. my hands ghost over where i instinctively know the light switches of my flat are and wonder if up there somebody's got a nightlight, cheap plastic stars attached to their ceilings, one of those little projectors that put constellations on your walls. whether they ever have trouble sleeping and if yes, what the hell do they look up at then? who do they cast their wishes to?

never seen a star up close. never held one. but the concept is so familiar, so ingrained into whatever our shared consciousness is made out of, that i want with my molars. i itch to keep it in my tummy so it keeps me warm on the cold days and i only trust what i see so i want to look at it until my retinas burn, until the sound of the big bang echos in the confines of my brain. itll drown out all other unwanted thoughts and itll sing in the genetic make-up of my descendants long after my neighbours cant hear me sing in the shower anymore. ill cup my palms and pray into them. begging is easier when youre in position and im on my knees and i swear ill never run out of things to whisper to the radiant little ember in my hands because it is beautiful and because i like shiny things and because stars have always made us look up at them and

When I finally get my teeth on it and swallow it whole I'm sure a piece of the star will get lodged in my throat like. fishbones. in a last-ditch effort at vengeance. I'll spend the rest of my life attempting to choke it back up.

"I made it with love," I'll say after I finally managed to do so.

"Careful, it's hot."

[gyubby99]

Does your OC have someone they want at their side when they are scared? Who?

All ur kids pls

Yay

Song ocs:

Lily - she wished she could have her bestfriend but she's miles away.

Alex - her older sister

Zach - his best friend (that he's also inlove with)

Jane - her dad. But now that we know her story, it's now a teddy bear that her dad gave her.

Melody - a person? She's utterly alone in this world and the only thing she wanted was someone else's (i kinda wanna make a melody redemption arc)

Charlotte - Edward.

Edward - Charlotte

Rosella - Lily

Emmy - her father

Story draft ocs:

Adam - Victor and Adira

Adira - Adam. She loves her brother more than anything.

Valerie - Leo, or if not a person, her snake Raven

Leo - Valerie

Alexandra - Victor. The only thing she lives for is her brother.

Victor - his sister he would admit. What he wouldn't admit, Adam.

Ill-fated reality:

*cracks knuckles*

Marianne - Noah. 100%. Like, I would say Damian, and he would want to be by her side if she's scared, but Noah.. he's been there longer than him. So I'm going with Noah.

Damian - Anne. Not even Jake is an option. Jake IS the one that scares him. 100% Anne. He wouldn't allow himself to be vulnerable around Marianne because he wants to protect her. He wants to be her bravest soldier.

Jake - he has no one to have when he's scared.. he wants someone, but he can't have anyone. He keeps his fears to himself and puts on a brave face.

Selene - Elizabeth. I wanna say something but I'm saving it. For.. purposes.

Elizabeth - Marianne. She feels like with her she can take on anything. As long as she's there. As long as her big sister was there for her.

Frederic - uhhh... his son? He can just manipulate damian to be on his side. His only fear is failing so-

Catherine - surprising, but Marianne. I think she loves her daughter but.. in a REALLY fucked up way. Like how maleficent's love for mal in descendants shrinked into the size of a lizard.. idk. It's so little a microscope wouldnt be enough to see that she cares but she does.

Mary - Damian. She bravely faced her death because she knew Damian would be okay. And that she was never going to leave him. She'll be there. The thought of him alone gives her comfort.

Anne - she wont admit that she was scared, but Damian.

Noah - He also won't admit that he's scared, but Marianne would want to be at his side.

Ava - hmmmmm idk she wasnt that developed much but.. probably not a person.. but a pet. A pet gives her comfort.

Hellaverse:

MAL WANTS VOX BY HER SIDE WHEN SHE HAS NIGHTMARES ABOUT HER PAST LIFE OR ABOUT ELISE

Like- Vox hates it when she's upset. Like the only ray of sunshine in his life? Upset? A crime to humanity.

Like he's a big douche 24/7 but he's HER big douche and she loves him.

Frozenverse:

Ivy - I'd like to say her brother.

Ethan: his family.

Philippine folklore:

Dalia and Amelia want each other idk what to tell you.

Lesbians.

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

Next song=Colors. I've done this one before but never just with Dallas. Presenting how the two kids met.

Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so You said your mother only smiled on her TV show

Just a little peek at Dally's backstory in my opinion. We've heard about his father but nothing about brothers or mothers. I think his mother started out kind but years of marriage to Dally's father kinda messed her up. Distanced her and made her hate Dally cause he looks like his father. He has a little brother he cares about but wants to avoid because he doesn't want to set a bad example. Meanwhile all that his brother wants to do is hang onto Dally. So he is spending less and less time at home. One night when he was hanging around downtown getting into fights and drinking to forget his home life he meets M/C.

You're only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope I hope you make it to the day you're 28 years old

This is something M/C says to him when they meet him. One thing he admires about them is their honesty. If they see him acting a fool they will say so regardless of whether or not Dally is wont to get mad and/or violent. M/C isn't scared of Dally and its kind of refreshing.

You're dripping like a saturated sunrise You're spilling like an overflowing sink

Dally is pretty messed up right now. He's been drinking and the adrenaline high from winning fights isn't helping. M/C is worried he will end up hurting himself or others so at first they try to convince him to go home but when it becomes clear that he is not willing to do that they bring him to their place in the wealthier part of town.

You've ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink

Even drunk and covered in bruises M/C can tell how attractive Dally is.

Everything is blue His pills, his hands, his jeans And now I'm covered in the colors Pulled apart at the seams And it's blue And it's blue

Everything is grey His hair, his smoke, his dreams And now he's so devoid of color He don't know what it means And he's blue And he's blue

the chorus is the inner monologue of M/C as they walk with Dallas through the streets.

You were a vision in the morning When the light came through

Switch to Dallas's point of view and he is waking up in a strange bed in a big room that screams wealth. M/C has done their best to tone it down, painting the tiled floor yellow and covering the walls with posters but just the sheer size of the room is enough to disorient Dallas, who is used to waking up beside his brother in a room just big enough to fit a twin sized bed and the boys clothes in piles on the foot of floor space surrounding it (note the lack of a dresser.) While he is still trying to catch his bearings M/C walks in, passing in front of the big window covering half of the space on the east wall. Dally was too drunk to realize it last night but holy shit this person is gorgeous.

I know I've only felt religion when I've lied with you

M/C gave Dally their bed and went to sleep on the couch. Just want to clear that up, they didn't actually lie together.

Dally has never really thought about god and religious stuff. The only reason he wears his St. Christophers is because his mother gave it to him before she went downhill. But when M/C walks in Dally's groggy mind immediately assumes that they are an angel. Clearly no human being can be this attractive.

You said you'll never be forgiven 'til your boys are too And I'm still waking every morning but it's not with you

M/C is talking with Dally about all the stuff he is involved in (gang stuff and the like) and they mention that he should really stop. Dallas responds that his fellow gang members are his family and "I'm not gonna leave and be forgiven for the stuff I've done with my gang till the rest of my boys are too."

I'm actually really proud of this one. I think it really works given the plot and everything.

Oh, how I love. Oh, how I adore. This is simply adorable!!

[thats-just-life-i-guess]

I sure as hell know I’d be a hell of a lot happier having a huge money cushion so I don’t have to worry about money.

Money worries is one of the main things that stresses me out a lot these days, and as someone with a chronic illness that’s exacerbated by stress, that’s super not fun.

I’m pretty happy in life at the moment, but a shit ton of money that I can use to outright buy a house so I don’t have to worry about a mortgage; use to go on nice trips and holidays; use to help out my friends; would certainly make me waaaay happier!

I want to be able to afford to move into a house with my boyfriend that’s big enough that we wont have to move until we’re old and want to live in a bungalow without stairs or something. I want to not have to worry about the mortgage repayments, and not worry about no longer being able to get benefits by living with a partner. I want to not need benefits in order to live and afford basic things like paying bills and getting food that I can actually face eating.

To be able to not have to worry about money, while living in a good size house that I won’t have to move out of, that I can raise my kids in, while being able to continuing to work on my small business but not worry if I never break even would be a dream. With extra money I’d be able to afford something that helps me figure out how and where to market my stuff and be able to get my own website to sell it so I wouldn’t have to worry about scammers sending me messages insisting they pay by PayPal when I don’t accept it. Being able to market my products properly would probably help get me more sales as well anyway, so I’d probably still be able to actually make money.

Knowing I have enough money to support myself and my family, and then support my kids while they’re looking for decent jobs themselves and knowing I could help them out of financial jams and leave them a really great amount of money for their future would sure as hell make me even happier…

This rant really got away from me, I’m sorry. It’s like 6am and I have a lot of feelings on lots of things so I end up ranting a lot even when it’s not the early hours and I should still be asleep

[the-firebird69]

and our son says it the ship out and he grows and the macs want it and due to his absurd plan. and it is to borrow" money and from patrons. adn other. and it is illegal but not greatlly done a lot here and he had it done tohim a lot. and he wants to return the favor and you want him to lol. and he will never pay you back wewoul like to see that with garth and trump and others. and tons of money too a few know about it hand out a fifty or twenty. and he asks nicely. and says it. need it almost have enough. and ok. and then well it is almost there, it isgigantism. i cant help it. painful syndrome. and walks to them mostlly is three times their size. and he said it ins pace meet me in the parking lot and i need to borrow money she is about 4'-0 and our son is only two feet taller she got fat fast. ate juiced. showed up. yes. he had about 180 pounds on her yes. and a big fella and she said no i have to. and great work and she laughed good i hope we ar even well i dunno lol ahhahah and of course and good. she smiled it is easy huh. nt bad i can help ok got it paid already. ad she sees. good. and this is it he wants to and does. they do it ok. finally they said but no was is. now this can work too. he will get oxygen soon. the macs want it and want them out. he needs it soon. no now. tons of issues and we figh like hell daily. money too draaws in morlock. they wil try it...and tons see it. we need it and shortly badly. they wont come too fst or too good. and it is trump and bja. and will ask for work lol. home depot too. walls fences. and stuff. erect framed walls. they look and see ok lol. and at 6'-2 is like the norwegian express he was 6'-3" is out ok. he will post an we see it o2 and soon. and michael meyers did it and showed all faaster bigger smooher and they want him to hit. lol ahs but ok

Bitol and Goddess Wife

Thor Freya hets us up the say we are big and or giant sized. and seek big folk and we hit and ohters like macs

it is function a bit soon but needed. and oxygen arriving now and wont stop it is now at 18 at night. 16 day. and up, several points on both steady though. spikes at 25 nightly and 20 daily but in the am or eve. now we expect it to increase shortly to 25 at night 20 in the day ship still here. and we know why it is the bloom. and huge. now. all round florida too. soon it will grow and be all over the planet y es. theln it willb e 25 at night 20 daytime. ship moves and it is 27 at night and 23 or so daytime. ad shortly. will ramp up over the next three weeks to the 20 at day. 25 night. slowly. ad they planned this yes and macs and others. forg to force infiltration take over studied the morlock vs macs see stuff. we do see that yes. and are readying for the real crowd. these out shortly. john remallord left the apartment there, is still around. has two spots on him. soon one. dan pushes hm out and the kids. terry too has one. then out. clones diminish. and then this you did it have our stuff today. and on and on. and then he said what woudl you do really. and they werer pissed hit adn took and war now on new zealand. and they are going to nh now. will get chewed up but seek intel and it will be much harder. and on macs bunker and yeh he tried. missed. and sponsored the dad death scenario but almost and tons say it seems like he is gone. and they do ck cant see it. he did a switch. was the statue. and is there. held. at the mortuary in nh and they flood it now need it they say. the evacuatino of big ships on hold they seek equipment that is huge cant get to it trump blocks they load up adn in. empty cities to get to it. and there in the midwest. tons of ftroops pour out. and ten cities will close this coming week. out of thirty. but are smaller yes but it has an affect then we put bases there on top. tons of space ok. we need this now too. right now. and for great reasons and ours out and freed. and yes we are in danger here yes. the case is not cut and dry no it is clear. and we use it. and in mass. and starts movies for real. tons of them and for moeny and stuff so macs dont get at it. further they want her out so she does not inherit stuff she wants out and trump says no. and it cointinues. but we shall do this. and sue. and tons of money and stuff. tons. and he will be exposed tons of times. and teh macs will try here. and for the witness testimony. tons of times too. ad fail.

Bitol and Goddess Wife

and we present the case shortly

good work and are all in it and helping but good work. and it is a process and helps save lives and is stepped and he sys it too

Thor Freya

it is very powerful and turmp abuses judges and other wont in mass. and is wanted for high crimes they try fo him the whole time there.

Bitol and Goddess Wife

i do see it. and want it and this is insluting okhe is not one of us and this sucks. im not to. and they all say it too.

bu t macs ok this sucks

trump

youi drew the short straw no i see it we are villians and tons say it out and we cant shit

ok

dan

we have a scehdule and yes emily not in yet. tehy signed for a certain date. and he is curious but it was iwth erry c and yes. now she will enter it shortly. clean and mop and paint mb and fix the smell and other. tons ofdamage n but things dotn work will ge prmisin to repair wiht qualified help and they will alllow it too. tons say ti we had to. moreover it beginsnow. and within a few days. and then dan will get teh boot. and it was eviction yes by stan by letter and by the state. the notice handed to cheeseman. he geave it to him he set it down said war thenon jasona nd his tribe. and they wrote it dwn. and it is real. so we say. and then this they pulled out. for some reason. dave was up the hill rearely came by are heroes. and was not stalking our son. helped get stuff and they want the role. so try and that is why.

Thor Freya

Olympus