#Other notes:

[pallases]

quite pleasantly surprised by wicked movie but i Will say we were robbed of elphaba leaning in close to glinda saying “come with me to the emerald city” followed by glinda’s “i’ve always wanted to see the emerald city” while looking deep into her eyes arms around her shoulders twirling elphaba’s hair

[sillygoose1777]

Chapter 2: First Night Home

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Word count: 2835

Trigger Warnings/tags : mentions of abuse, whumpees kept as pets, multiple whumpees, carewhumper, og characters, supernatural/nonhuman whumpees, supernatural/nonhuman whumpers, mind reading whumpee, guard dog whumpee, muzzled whumpee, dehumanization (from whumpers), drugged whumpee, non con stripping, unconscious whumpee, og ocs, og world, og story, mentions of past abuse, mentions of medical whump, neglectful carewhumper, attention seeking whumpee, defiant (kind of) whumpee, talkative whumpee, quiet whumpee, possessive whumper (kind of), clingy whumpee, rich whumper

Other notes: Btw Kori (the lynx) is about the size of a toddler. Valerian LOVEs Zenith and often needs a lot of attention from him. Hudson is a tursian (og species), Valerian is a harpy, Kori is a lynx (og species), and Zenith is a dragon breed. 

Hudson watched as Zenith went inside the house to finish his phone call. He was still holding the lynx in his arms, not knowing if he should put it down or not. It was a tiny thing, curled up in the crook of his arm with its blanket. He waited until the workers had finished unloading the other pets into Zenith's garage before he took his leave. As soon as he shut the front door behind him, Valerian jumped up from the couch over to him. 

“Hudson! It took you long enough, I wish I could have gone with you guys. Did Zenith find anything? He was on a call just now and completely ignored me. Couldn’t even give me a spare glance,” Valerian rambled on, huffing annoyingly. “What are you holding?” Hudson hesitated before shifting the lynx in his arms to show Valerian. 

“Is that a fox?” Valerian asked, coming close to inspect it. 

“It’s a lynx,” Hudson corrected.

“Close enough.” Valerian reached out and brushed the lynx’s fur out of its face. Hudson tensed slightly but didn’t nothing to stop Valerian. 

“Why are you bringing it inside? Doesn’t Zenith normally keep them in the garage?” Valerian asked.

“It’s Zenith’s new pet.”

“Like us?”

“Like us,” Hudson confirmed. 

Valerian looked down at the lynx again. “Are we not enough?” he whispered. Hudson didn’t answer. Not that he thought they weren’t, but because he wasn’t the one to make the judgment. 

“I’m going to our room,” Hudson said after a moment. 

“What about the lynx?” Valerian asked.

“What about it?” 

“Doesn’t Zenith want to see it or something?” 

“Zenith never took it from me,” Hudson stated, hoping that was enough to keep from getting in trouble with Zenith. Zenith rarely argued against his logic. 

Hudson left the front room and walked deeper into the house. Valerian hesitated for a moment before following closely behind. Hudson led the way in silence while Valerian hummed to himself, letting his wings drag on the floor. When they reached their bedroom, Hudson made a beeline for the beds. He gently laid the lynx on the bed before building a little blanket dome around it. Valerian had takening to jumping up on one of the hanging beds high up that Zenith had installed for Valerian’s benefit. He was watching Hudson work with interest, but not enough to help. 

Once Hudson had finished with building the little fort, he hesitantly left to go look at the bookshelves. Zenith had allowed him to keep a small library, constantly rotating books out for new ones for Hudson to enjoy. There was a small bookshelf where he kept his favorites. He remembered seeing a book about the different species types there were. He found the book and skimmed through the pages. He found the chapter he was looking for and made his way back to the lynx. He sat down on the floor and began reading. 

After a couple of hours, Valerian came down from his bed to join Hudson on the floor. Hudson didn’t look from his book right away, ignoring Valerian. It wasn’t until Valerian started waving his hand in front of Hudson’s face where he looked up, albeit with a glare. 

“What are you reading about?” Valerian asked.

“About lynxes,” Hudson deadpanned, flipping the page. 

Valerian sat down on the floor, resting his head on Hudson’s shoulder. Hudson gave him a sideways glance but otherwise didn’t move. 

“Anything interesting?” Valerian asked.

Hudson sighed and halfway closed his book. “Well, at the market the lynx was being used to create swords. It was able to hold burning red metal without a single burn, and I wanted to know why. It turns out their species is immune to fire, it’s what fuels their mana. The sunlight as well.” 

“Mana? Like what allows us to use our magic?”

“Yes. Everyone relies on mana, you, me, Zenith, everyone. It’s how we are able to use magic. Everyone pulls from some sort of energy source, usually a core element like the sun or the earth.”

“I already knew a lot of that,” Valerian grumbled. Hudson rolled his eyes and opened his book again to read. “But besides that, anything else?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know.”

“Like?” Valerian dragged out the word with annoyance. 

“Like where they’re from and the type of civilization they normally live in,” Hudson mimicked in Valerian’s tone. Valerian huffed with annoyance and seemed to be content with Hudson’s answers. He thought that he might be able to read in silence again. Valerian turned his body where he was still leaning on Hudson but was looking back at the lynx. 

“I feel kind of bad for it,” he said softly. 

Hudson fully gave up on reading and set the book down to look at the lynx with Valerian. “So do I,” he whispered like it was an admit of defeat. 

“I thought they were supposed to be extinct,” Valerian said.

“Why would you think that?” Hudson looked at Valerian. Valerian didn’t meet his eye. 

“I don’t know. I heard Zenith and his business partners talking about it one time. They were saying how some research team made a discovery of ancient history from the lynxes. Said it was a big advancement or something because they couldn’t ask the species themselves.”

Hudson sat back for a moment, trying to remember if he was there for a conversation like that. He couldn’t remember any instance like it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. He decided to take Valerian’s word for it. 

“If that’s what the world believes and it turns out it's not true, that makes this lynx a one of a kind. Or he is the key to what the researchers need to find the rest of them. Either way that makes it very valuable.” 

“How valuable?” 

“Priceless. Enough to start wars over.”

They sat in silence for the rest of the afternoon, staring at the lynx. Trying to comprehend its importance with its seemingly helplessness. 

…

Zenith finally got off his phone call with a potential buyer. It was something that could have been easily handled by his employees, but the man on the other end of the line only wanted to speak to him. No matter, the phone call was over now and Zenith could get back to his earlier tasks. He looked out his window and saw that the sun was beginning to set. He got up from his desk and left his office. 

He had three things on his list tonight. 1, to make sure the pets from earlier had been properly situated and brought to their correct rooms. 2, to have dinner with his personal pets and update them on tomorrow's plan. And lastly, 3, to get the lynx prepared to see the medic tomorrow. 

Zenith made his way down to the basement, where he normally kept the other pets in his house. His basement was split into three sections, a wine cellar, a supply room for his servants, and the rooms for his other pets, which he called the domestic. He had the domestic remodeled a few years ago so that a hallway cut down the middle with four rooms on each side, making it 8 in total. All of the pets would have their own room, never giving them the opportunity to be completely alone with each other. A bed and bathroom were provided, and they were fed twice a day. Sometimes he would let the pets move in with their trainers, and other times he kept them in his basement until they were ready to be sold.  

He walked down the pristine white hallway and looked through each door's window to make sure there was a pet inside. He would then check the corresponding electronic chart next to the door, making sure it matched up. Once all 8 rooms were checked, Zenith gave the go ahead to his servants to have them fed. From there, the servants would take up the routine, only notifying Zenith if the pets were acting unusual. 

Zenith left the domestic to go back to the ground floor, making a mental reminder to jot down all the trainers he needed to contact in the morning. He arrived at the edge of the kitchen to find a cart of food, like there always was, ready for him. He lifted the metal domes covering the plates to make sure it had everything they were supposed to. A greener diet for Valerian to keep up his appearances, and a more protein based diet for Hudson to build up strength. He set the domes back down and pulled the cart behind him to his pet’s room. 

He gently knocked on their door before entering with the cart behind them. The room was one of the biggest in the house, almost the same size as one of his ballrooms. He had many walls knocked out in this room to make sure it was big enough. On one side were his pets beds and their own little areas for their hobbies. On the other was a dining area, a hallway that led to a large bathroom, and a small library. Behind the dining table were large arching windows that lead out to a balcony, though he always kept those doors locked. And above it all was a mini jungle gym that had anything from hanging beds to enrichment toys like stings and perches, all installed for Valerian. Even though it was meant for a harpy, he made it accessible for anyone to get up, though it would take a lot more effort. 

His two pets looked up from where they were sitting on the floor of the beds. Valerian immediately got up and rushed over to Zenith, wanting his attention. He was happy to provide, giving Valerian a very welcoming hug. When he pulled back, Valerian was already talking.

“--your meeting? Did it go well? It seemed really long for just a normal phone call. Me and Hudson were waiting here for you the whole time. Mostly talking about lynxes and stuff. Oh! The lynx you got is so cute!! He’s all curled up in a little ball with his tail tucked, you should come see.”

Valerian was sprinting back to where Hudson was, who hadn’t moved once from his spot. Zenith left the food cart behind to join them, slightly curious on how the lynx was doing. He knew that it would be out till the morning, that's what the technician said. Hudson was watching him warily as Valerian continued to ramble on about lynxes. Behind where Hudson was sitting on the floor, up on the bed was the lynx curled up like Valerian had described. It was still holding its star blanket close, which reminded Zenith that he needed it washed. 

“It’s been out all day,” Hudson informed. 

“I know, I had a technician give it a sedative that’ll last till morning.”

“When are you going to take it to the medic? It looks like it really needs it,” Valerian asked, interrupting their conversation.  

“That’s what I was here to talk about. Let’s discuss it over dinner,” Zenith said. 

As Zenith turned his back he heard Hudson getting up while Valerian rushed ahead of them. Valerian had already begun setting the table by the time Zenith and Hudson joined him. Once the table was set and they had all taken their seats, Zenith began talking. 

“As I'm sure the two of you know, I will be taking the lynx to the medics tomorrow as per my normal routine. That will also mean that both of you will be going as well.”

Hudson grimaced while Valerian groaned. It was common knowledge that none of them liked going to the medics, despite it usually being necessary. 

“I know neither of you like going but not only would it be convenient to do it now, it would also replace the appointment you have a couple months from now. In short, if you go now, you won’t have to go for another routine check up for about 6 months.” 

Valerian still picked at his food like it had suddenly become unappetizing by the statement Zenith had said, which he figured it had. Zenith let the room sit in silence for a moment, letting his words sink in. 

“Do we have to watch the lynx get examined?” Hudson was the first to break the silence with his question. 

“No. I figure its appointment will run significantly longer than the both of yours. When you are finished, I’ll take you somewhere while we wait for the medics to finish up with the lynx. Does that sound fair?”

They both nodded reluctantly, not daring to fight against Zenith’s word. They finished their dinner quietly with minor small talk here and there. As Zenith was loading the food cart with their dishes, he could tell his pets were waiting on him. Normally after dinner he would spend time with them. Usually he would play chess with Hudson while Valerian watched, most often cuddling against him. But tonight he would have to put that off till later in the night, maybe even tomorrow if he had too. 

“Are you staying tonight?” Valerian asked, his eyes making it obvious that he was hoping that Zenith would. 

“I don’t think so. I have to get the lynx prepared for the medics and it’ll be well past your bedtime by then.”

He watched as Valerian’s heart sank, his wings even changing a slightly different color to match his disappointment. Zenith felt pity for him but stood firm by his statement, not allowing a bird to manipulate him. He walked past his pets and over to where the lynx was sleeping. He scooped it into his arms like a kid that needed to be carried inside from falling asleep inside the car. He made sure to grab its blanket. Its head lolled with dead weight and he held it against his shoulder. The lynx’s muzzle pressed against his shoulder and he tried to remember if the technician was supposed to take it off or not. 

He walked back to his other pets, and ruffled Valerian’s hair. He gave him a hug before letting go and turning to Hudson. He gave him a nod, respecting his wishes not to be touched. Then he left his pets in their room. He waved to a nearby servant and told them to grab the food cart he had left behind, then continued to walk on. Once he made it to his own room, he shut the door behind him and gently laid the lynx on the bed. He stepped back out into the hall with the lynx’s blanket and hailed down another servant.

“I want this to be washed and placed on my desk before I leave for the medics tomorrow.”

The servant nodded and whisked away with the blanket. Zenith then stepped back inside of his room and began getting ready for bed. He took a shower and changed into different clothes. He had grabbed another blanket while he was in the closet getting dressed, and brought it with him for the lynx to have. He examined the lynx’s clothes and decided they were too dirty to stay. He stripped the lynx and then covered it in the blanket to make sure it could stay warm. He took the rags that had been mistakenly called clothes, and threw them away without any expectation of needing them again. 

He made a mental note to go shopping with Hudson and Valerian while they waited on the lynx. He was slowly compiling a list of things he would need, which he knew would only grow after the medic would give him some recommendations. Zenith took the bundle of blanket and lynx off of the bed and carried it to the kennel that was sitting not very far from his bed. While he wanted to leave the lynx on his bed, the lynx was not yet trained and there was no saying what it would do. So he left the lynx in the cage while he himself slept in a real bed, waiting for the sun to rise and the new day to begin. 

Taglist: (lmk if you want to be added)

@melopomenelamusa @what-if-i-just-did @user-583 @imtheperkiness

[inspector-montoya-fox]

i was thinking in the shower about how things would have turned out had Bentley managed to break into the Cooper Vault without needing to recruit anyone. for starters, there wouldn't be a Sly 3 lol... i mean Sly and Bentley would definitely have gone after Murray so An Opera of Fear and Rumble Down Under would have happened i guess but for the sake of the post let's say they wouldn't have asked the Guru to join the gang. so no Netherlands and no China meaning no Penelope and no Panda King, and by extent no Dimitri because of no deal in Netherlands.

removing Sly 3's secondary characters kinda puts things into perspective in terms of character development. in Sly 1 we collected Thievius Racconus pages as we got closer to the truth and Sly learned new tricks and honed his skills in preparation for his encounter with Clockwerk. Sly 2 was just a traumatic trainwreck altogether like SP really put the gang through the wringer idk how they survived.

in Sly 3 this development is brought about through the secondary characters and their relationships with the protagonists. Penelope drives a wedge between Sly and Bentley forcing the latter to muster up the courage and step outside of Sly's shadow for a minute; Panda King's return demands Sly to mature and let go of the past; Dimitri tests the gang's patience; both Penelope and Panda King contribute to the Murray van storyline which kinda exhibited that yea! in the long run, Murray might be the dummy of the group as Dr Michael chastises at the end but he is definitely the heart of the gang.

but if all this never happened then how would Honour Among Thieves play out? funny thing is, even if they recruited the extended gang, shit hit the fan almost immediately upon arrival so i'm assuming the same would apply if the original trio had tried to pull it off on their own? no? as a sidenote: i'm also thinking that Sly 2 is the only game in the series that kinda had like the aspect of urgency if you think about it. someone stole the Clockwerk parts and they were going to rebuild him so tick tock bitch. Sly 1 and 3 however don't really have that sense of time pressure. the Fiendish Five were sitting on their asses for literally a decade before Sly popped up for the pages and don't even get me started on the possibility of Dr Michael managing to crack the Cooper Vault open like what a loser lmao. with this in mind, Bentley would have the time to develop his tech in order to do the tasks that the extended gang members would have done. i mean if he managed to build a time machine surely he could make his tech waterproof ?

so the entire heist goes according to plan with the possibility of them tripping that stupid alarm still at play. i never intended to do a full play by play "what if...?" of Honour Among Thieves but suffice to say Carmelita would 100% show up to save the day even with the change of context. i think the most important change would be that Bentley's run-in with Dr Michael would go down very differently. i don't think he'd defend Sly; i actually think Dr Michael would get to him even without Penelope's introduction because she only brought out feelings that were brewing deep in Bentley's subconscious (especially after the end of Sly 2, becoming disabled for a cause that was never his and that dedication arguably never being reciprocated). he might not have shown it in the moment but i think that conversation would significantly shape Bentley's character and if Sly got out of the episode unscathed, the gang would probably split. leaving the Guru behind would also give Murray the motive to go his own way.

it's clear that Sly 3's secondary characters helped the gang get over some unspoken issues they had between them, even if they got resolved behind each other's backs (because Bentley only vents to Penelope about his feelings and doesn't go straight to Sly, who, in turn, doesn't even know there's an issue to begin with). personally, and i feel kinda stupid for suggesting something so simplistic in relation to how this game would be better like 7-8 years after being on this godforsaken website and analysing it to the point where it feels like the bible, i feel like one more episode would help really flesh out the problems the gang had. we never get direct acknowledgment or accountability from Sly and it feels like he's too focused on entering the Vault to care about Bentley's feelings, or anyone else's for that matter (there's like 7 anon asks gathering dust in my inbox about why i have anti-Sly sentiment and that number better not go up). all it takes is a 'you know what guys? you should enter the vault with me after literally sticking by me since childhood and risking your lives fighting my own battles' and they shoot up the van like it's a guest on Wendy.

Sly 2's ending proved that the protagonists aren't Riverdale characters who just go through weekly life-threatening events without any guilt, trauma and anxiety; and then in Sly 3 we get high-stake situations akin to the ClockLa saga, like the Dragon snatching Penelope, but because it's crammed between episodes instead of games, the characters come out of it seemingly unfazed. the complete lack of recognition for all of this makes it seem like Sly is an awful leader for the gang. like i think Penelope would genuinely snap when she got taken hostage by LeFwee after the dragon thing.

i think the internal politics of the gang could have been explored way better but i understand that juggling that and the introduction of one new character per episode would be impossible. i'd love to see Bentley confronting Sly, Murray realising that he's getting more support about what matters to him (the van, the Guru's wellbeing) from the literal strangers they've recruited than his best friends, Sly realising that his lack of involvement in the gang's friendship is what turned Dr Michael against ConnEr. maybe Honour Among Thieves could have been a two-parter honestly. maybe the Dimitri Dr Michael piranha hybrid bossfight should have never made the cut.

[eek-a-tron]

bold the trope you prefer:

slow burn or love at first sight • fake dating or secret dating • enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers • there was only one bed or long distance correspondence • hurt/comfort or amnesia • mutual pining or domestic bliss • canon-compliant or fix-it • smut or fluff • angst or crack • redemption or dark fic • reincarnation or character death • one-shot or multi-chapter • arranged marriage or accidental marriage • college romance or middle age romance • time travel or isolated together • neighbors or roommates • oh no they’re hot or monster s.o. • fantasy au or sci-fi au • apocalyptic au or modern au • historical au or isekai fic

no-pressure tagging: @lokiinmediasideblog, @linearao3, @supervillainarchaeologist, @theladyvalkyrieskyeart, @lavacastle, & anyone who wants to ponder too deeply about tropes

[lagtrain]

:3

[goldensunset]

you! tumblr user!

[sleepygaymerdisease]

[mythtakens]

“these characters should be mentally healthy before they get together 😌” ummm no I actually think we should smash their mental illnesses together like clumps of play-doh and see what colors it makes

[girldraki]

this is insane

[rivetgoth]

It's honestly crazy that discussion around testosterone HRT skews so much towards the beginning stages of it (to the point that you have dozens of guys thinking their transition is "failed" if they don't pass by like a year in lol) and what the initial changes of the first couple of months to years look like, like the classic laundry list of those early basic changes like bottom growth, voice drop, etc, when IMO literally none of that compares remotely to the depth and intensity of the long term total masculinization you start to experience like 3-5+ years in.

[becquerel]

STOP TELLING ME ABOUT HOW SHE DOES SHROOMS SHROOMS AND MARIJUANA ARE DIFFERENT THINGS I HATE ALL OF YOU THIS POST HAS ALMOST 40K NOTES YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL

I KNOW SHE DOES SHROOMS IN THE MAIN COMIC I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY SINCE ITS NEVER DISCUSSED 😭 PLEASE MY NOTES ARE JUST PEOPLE TELLING ME THIS NOW

i really like ryoko kui's dedication to making this elf chick smoke weed in every modern clothing art she appears in

[trainwreckgenerator]

a face you'd find on the side of a milk carton

[nbmudkip]

“how could you have forgotten that” i forget Everything. unless i remember

[celeste-tyrrell]

is it really true that the average person's pain level is a 0?

[astronomical-bagel]

[rainboas]

my upstairs neighbor is so loud and annoying and all he does is yell and play video games but right now he's explaining the civil war and like the entire history of slavery and the prison industrial complex to some guy in overwatch voice chat so