#all the watering systems are so bad there are a thousand better ways to water and care for crops

[atlas-affogato]

I know I reblogged this yesterday but I'm reblogging it again because its important. If the Salt Lake dries up everyone in Salt Lake Valley, which is about 2 MILLION people, are all fucked. Its been getting worse for years and conservationists have been trying to tell the government for years that this is a serious problem, but state and federal officials couldn't be bothered. They let Morton Salt keep mining there even now when we are in serious danger. Yeah that blue tub with the person with an umbrella? All that salt comes from the Great Salt Lake.

All the rich people that will be affected can just up and move but what about everyone else? What about the thousands of people being fucked by the housing market in Utah who can barely afford rent let alone a move? What are they supposed to do? You expect 2 million people to just move or die?

And it's not just the people, thousands of species of birds, mammals, fish and amphibians rely on the Salt Lake water shed. Millions of birds stop at the Salt Lake as part of their migration route, the shrinking of the Salt Lake has disastrous consequences for every part of the ecosystem of the American Rockies and farther across the country.

And what have government officials done? Fuck all.

Republicans are garbage.

[inthepeakymidwinter]

Cruel Summer (Thomas Shelby x Reader)

Summary: Y/N tries to move on after seeing Thomas with another woman. Thomas comes back after weeks wondering where Y/N went.

Based on this anon ask:

“Hello! Can you please do Tommy is jealous that Y/N is moving on after having a crush on him for years but he was too focused on Grace? He realizes that he loves Y/n more than Grace after seeing her with another man”

Word Count: 2718

TW: drinking, alcohol

(Sorry it took me sooo long! Hope you all enjoy!)

————————————

It’s been weeks since I slept after finding out that Tommy was with Grace. It shook my nervous system in ways I didn’t expect it to. I shouldn’t care as much as my heart actively does. I stopped going outside to water my plants. I stopped eating breakfast and lunch. The only thing I could hold down was tea. It took many days to feel like a person again. The night I caught them kissing at the derby my heart shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. I hadn’t seen Tommy since that day, and I swore to myself that I wouldn’t plan on it. I ran out of that stadium and never looked back.

Strangely enough as one door closed another began to open. Thomas’ brother John had knocked on the door to my townhome one early morning. I answered the door in my pajamas, with my hair messy and wild, sipping a cup of tea out of one hand. “John?” I asked him, looking ahead of him to see if anyone else was with him. He stood there with a perfectly dry-cleaned suit on and his hair slicked back.

“Have you seen Tommy around?” He questioned; his demeanor was so serious that it almost felt like an interrogation.

I turned furious in an instant. “You really think I’ve seen him? I haven’t been out in weeks. What makes you think he’d be with me?” I shouted.

“Aye come off it. I didn’t mean anything by it. Last time I saw he was off to the woods for some gypsy thing. No one's seen him since…are you okay Y/N?” John asked sincerely.

“I’ll be fine John” I mumbled, looking down at his shiny black leather shoes. I took another sip of tea before I felt John’s hand on my cheek, slowly lifting my head up with his thumb so out eyes would meet.

“I know yer not” He sighed. I shook my head slowly and he rushed himself through the door, making his way into my kitchen. “Y’know Y/N if i had known any better I would have come by sooner…just haven’t seen you around…i thought you’d be coming by the betting shop any day now” He admitted.

“John, I barely make it out of my bed most days what makes you think I’d even make it to the betting shop?” I hissed.

John smiled, then realized what i said and how severe it was. His demeanor changed into a melancholic look, and he walked over to me. “Don’t tell me that” he said with his lips trembling. “Why have you done this, Y/N what happened?” John questioned me.

I looked down at the floor and then back up at him. His brown eyes stared me down until something came out of my mouth. “I just…saw him with her” Tears started to form in my eyes.

“Oh, fook me Y/N, him? You have feelings for him?” John asked. “You deserve so much better than my sorry excuse of a brother. He may be my brother, but he has flaws Y/N. Flaws that you are nowhere near” He told the truth and I believed him for once. I always knew Tommy had big dark secrets. I just didn’t know how bad they were and maybe that was for the best. “We’re going out tonight. You and me, eh?” John insisted, holding my hand as he spoke. I smiled for the first time in a long time. I wasn’t ready but with John i felt like i could take a leap. “Put a nice dress on, I’ll pick you up at 8” John said and kissed my cheek. I blushed involuntarily as I watched him walk out of my townhome confidently. He always had this charisma about him, all of the Shelby brothers did. It was effortless to them.

At around 6:30pm I started getting ready. I put on winged black liner on my eyes, and slipped on a tight black dress with lace trim.

At exactly 8pm just like he said, John arrived in front of my house to pick me up. I decided to walk out of my home and saw John get out of the car immediately. He raced up to the passenger door and opened it for me. “You know I would’ve knocked on your door” He stated.

“I figured, but I was impatient” I smiled back at him.

“Well you look absolutely stunning tonight” John complimented. I nodded in his direction and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear.

“So where are we going?” I asked him with a smile.

“You’ll see very soon” John stated and shut the door once i got in. He drove us to a bar that i had never been to. We went in and he got us drinks right away. I sat quietly in a booth with him as we giggled about old times and drank beer to our hearts content. After a few hours John cursed out of nowhere. “Fook me I forgot to pick up Arthur from the Garrison. Linda’s gonna have my arse” He groaned as he got up from the booth.

“I-It’s okay John I can go with you” I sighed. Maybe John was right. Maybe Tommy didn’t dare show his face in this town anymore.

John nodded at me and went up to the bartender to pay his tab, then we went back to his car and drove to the Garrison. John turned the car off and turned his attention to me. “Are ye sure you want to come in?” He asked politely.

“I’ll be fine John” I placed my hand on his and gave him a small smile. He held my hand for a minute in return before letting go and getting out of the car. He walked to the passenger side and opened my door, letting me get out before he slammed the door shut. We walked into the Garrison with our hands intertwined and John yelled out for Arthur. He was drunk off of his face, sitting at the bar and laughing with a random man I’ve never seen before. And by the looks of Johns confused face, neither did he.

“Alright Arthur come with us. Don’t wanna keep that Linda waiting do we” John spoke, trying to coax Arthur out of his drunken state.

Arthur looked at John and back to his drink then guzzled his entire glass of dark liquor in one go. “I’m waiting for Tommy. He said he’d be back” He slurred.

John groaned audibly, “Arthur, Y/N and I are taking you home. Tommy’s not coming he-“

“He what” Thomas spoke from the bar’s entrance. My stomach turned and I no longer felt happy from all those drinks like I did a minute ago.

Thomas and I exchanged quick glances before his gaze went back to his brothers. John stood in shock for a moment but it quickly faded to anger. “You don’t get to just leave us without an explanation Tom” He growled.

“I never left. Did I Arthur?” Thomas asked and walked up closer to the two brothers.

“Aye. He’s been out with his woman I reckon” Arthur raised his empty glass in support but Thomas grew furious.

“Never said anything like that you drunken bastard” Tommy growled.

“You didn’t have to” John huffed and walked towards me. He motioned to go out the door and i nodded my head in agreement, taking his hand once more.

“Where the hell are you two going?” Thomas roared from behind.

“We’re leaving for the night. You enjoy Arthur” John smiled before leaving the bar with me. I walked out of the garrison with John and felt myself crumbling. I walked the cobblestone street to get to his car and stopped.

“John…I need to go home” I croaked out.

“Y/N Please tonight was supposed to-“ He pleaded.

“John I need to go right now” I huffed, nearly running to the car at this point.

I made it to the car and opened the door myself, hopping in as fast as I could. John got in and slammed his driver side door, turning the car on angrily.

“I didn’t want this to happen” He sighed.

“What?” I asked grumpily.

“Just all of it. Fuckin Tom” He growled.

“Just take me home, John” I mumbled. Completely over seeing Thomas in person. I just wanted to climb into a hole and die.

The ride home was silent. Nothing but John’s breathing and cursing under his breath. It took us 15 minutes until I finally made it home. I made it home and rushed out of the car, slamming the door and storming into my townhouse after unlocking the door. I closed the door behind me and locked it, making sure no peaky ever got in.

I stepped into my kitchen and ran to the cupboard beside my refrigerator. I opened it and took out the bottle of red wine that had been sitting there for months. I went to fetch a bottle opened from the drawer beside it and heard a loud knock at the door.

“Leave me alone John” I shouted and proceeded to open the bottle of wine. I twisted the cork and it popped out of the bottle. Then yet again another knock. “I told you to leave me alone!” I yelled. I sighed deeply and got a wine glass out of my upper cabinets, pouring wine into my glass and taking a large swig.

Suddenly the knocks on my front door grew louder and i couldn’t take it anymore.

I cursed under my breath and stomped to the front door, unlocking it and about to curse out the person behind the door.

“I told you to leave me-“ I yelled until I saw who the person behind the door was. Thomas Shelby in the flesh.

“You can hate me all you want but do NOT get revenge by using my brothers” He argued with his baby blue eyes and perfectly styled dark hair.

“I wasn’t getting revenge anyone. It's something called moving on” I huffed and tried closing the door on him. Thomas held the door open and stared me down.

“Then why go out with John” He asked me with hurt in his eyes.

“It’s none of your business, Tom. Go home” I stated and tried to close the front door again, but it was no use.

“What the hell are you doing, Y/N?” Tommy asked angrily. I wanted to curse him out but instead I took a deep breath and stepped outside on the front stoop with him and shut the door behind me.

“Thomas I’m trying to move on. The same as you did weeks ago with that blonde girl. I’m tired of you being in my life” I huffed and nearly cried. Just a minute later rain started to pour onto us. I felt cold drops trickle down my shoulders and looked down at them sliding down my arms.

When suddenly Thomas asked me, “…Why don’t you want me in your life, Y/N” This time with a fallen face and broken-down demeanor.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I wasn’t prepared to tell him anything about what I saw those past weeks ago. “You need to go Thomas…I-I can’t handle this right now” I croaked and tried to pull myself together.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on” He raised his voice and stared at me deeply with his light blue eyes. The rain had trickled down his head by now, making his dark hair completely wet and straight. He looked good and it just pissed me off even more.

“I never kissed anyone in front of you! Never fucking liked…anyone other than you. And then you go off with other people disappearing for weeks” I cried out and avoided his gaze.

“I didn’t think you wanted me. You ignored me every time we all went drinking. That’s why I went for Grace, but she was using me. Trying to find our guns. Trying to end our company. That’s why I had to leave. I was off the grid” Thomas explained. I sighed and sat on my front steps. Not caring if the rain made me wetter, I just needed to think properly.

“I can't let you go Y/N. Not like this. Nothings started between us. I’ve never got to tell you how I felt” Thomas spoke from behind me.“Y/N look at me” He ordered. I turned to face him, and he stepped down a stair, sitting beside me with his body turned fully towards me.

“I rather die than hurt you. I wish I never did. I don’t want to lose you Y/N” Thomas confessed. I stared at him completely breathless, my hair dripping wet with rainwater. Thomas placed his hands on either side of my face. My eyes closed as I fell into his caress. “Please Y/N” He begged. I started to cry softly, and he wrapped me into his arms. Hugging me with an urgent tightness. I’ve never felt so comforted by anyone like that. “Tell me what you want…be honest, me or John” He gave me an ultimatum. My cheeks flushed a vibrant red color as I left his embrace and stared into his inviting gaze.

“You really don’t know who I like do you…” I asked him.

“I really don’t Y/N…you’re driving me insane right now. Waltzing in with him” He spoke with frustration.

“Me? Like you didn’t drive me to insanity weeks ago? You’ll be fine” I laughed in his face as the rain fully poured down onto us.

“I need you” He spoke, his voice much deeper than it was before.

“And I need a mental vacation but we don’t always get our way Thomas Shelby” I sighed and placed my hands on the stairs, holding myself up.

“Why are you doing this? You just figure when one person finally moves on that you can just come back, and everything would be normal again? You don’t understand how miserable I was because of you. John had to get me out of bed just to be a person again. And you think you can come over once and propose an ultimatum and make everything fine. I’m sick of it Thomas Shelby” I confessed with anger making my blood boil.

“Y/N…I’m sorry. For everything. I didnt know what happened to you. I didn’t even think you cared. No one told me where you went and i had to lay low. I wrote millions of letters i never got to send. I promise I will make everything up to you. Just tell me who you want the most” He pleaded and shuffled closer to me.

“It’s never been John…from the start you were the only person I wanted” I admitted. Getting near his familiar ocean blue eyes was enough for me to become lightheaded. He placed a hand on my wet cheek once more, staring back into my soul like he saw right through me. Rain drops trickled down his forehead making his jaw look even more chiseled.

He carefully placed his thumb on my bottom lip and swiped over it softly. “I’d really like it if you were all mine…permanently” Thomas growled.

“I’ve only been waiting for months” I mumbled out before he leaned in close and kissed me roughly like he yearned for this moment for centuries. The rain came down so hard i couldn’t think straight. I kissed him back. Tasting a mix of my own salty tears and rain water diluting them. I locked my lips against Thomas’ with him repeating back the same way. We shared sloppy, compelling kisses that didn’t stop until we both had to come up for air. When we did, Thomas pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

“I’ve wanted you for so long Y/N” He breathed.

“Me too.” I smiled. “Let’s go get warmed up. I have wine waiting inside” I offered.

“Sounds like a dream” Thomas spoke and stood up off of the stairs, grabbing my hand and pulling me up in one go. The night ended with us lying in bed without clothes, overly drunk and tangled in the sheets. His big arms holding me tight as we drifted off into a good night’s sleep.

[cyren-myadd]

Can you write a snippet of Quaritch following through with his version of “an old school ass whipping”

Nothing too serious because I don’t think he’d abuse Spider but I do think he’d be the type of parent to resort to physical discipline if pushed enough.

In the exchange between him and Spider, Spider does not seemed alarmed with fear and is actually a little cheeky. I think he’s used to adults just letting him get away with things.

I think it’s be interesting to read Spider’s reaction to an adult/authority figure disciplining him (whether physical or some other punishment) for not following instructions rather than just checking to see if he has not been harmed.

It doesn’t have to relate to him running off which is where Quaritch uses the threat. It could be anything.

Okay, so I know you requested me to write about Quaritch disciplining Spider, but I’ve seen that explored a bunch of times before, and honestly, after what I wrote in Blood Is Thicker Than Water, I’ve kind of gotten a bad taste in my mouth for writing disciplinary scenes involving Quaritch. Idk why, but your ask gave me inspiration for a scene of Jake disciplining Spider instead, and it ended up taking a pretty different direction than your request. Sorry that this isn’t exactly what you requested, but I wanted to write something that I haven’t seen explored by other writers before, so I hope you still enjoy it!

Lucky Number Five (6k words)

One.

Two.

Three.

Jake counted the children in the marui, and then he counted them again. Tuk napped in the back corner of their home, nestled among her blankets. That was one. Lo’ak stood at the entrance of the marui, waving goodbye to Tsireya. That brought the count up to two. In the center, by the cookfire, Kiri helped Neytiri chop fish and vegetables for a stew. That made three.

It had been a week since the battle at Three Brothers Rock, but Jake still had to bite back the instinct to look for number four. His heart told him to count again; told him that if he checked just one more time he would see Neteyam tucking the blankets tighter around Tuk, or playfully teasing Lo’ak, or asking Neytiri if she needed any more help with dinner, but his mind knew better than his heart. No matter how many times he counted, there would never be a number four.

However, he was still missing a number. Jake didn’t know when exactly he started doing this, but at some point in his parenting career, he’d assigned a number to each of his children, and that number was the order in which he would always check on them based on the likelihood that they would need adult supervision. Maybe it was just his way of keeping track of so many kids, or maybe it was some leftover instinct to “sound off” from his Marine days. Whatever the case, the system worked for him. As the youngest and most delicate, Tuk was always the first child he checked on. Coming in second place was Lo’ak, the resident trouble-maker. Number three was Kiri, more responsible than Lo’ak, but still prone to making trouble of her own on occasion. Neteyam, as the oldest and most mature of the bunch, was number four, the last child he checked on because he was the least likely to be in trouble.

One, two, three, four. Jake had sounded off the mental count thousands of times over the years whenever he needed to make sure all of his children were accounted for. But the count didn’t always stop there. Sometimes, not most of the time, but sometimes there was a fifth child on the list, tacked onto the end more out of courtesy than anything.

Jake counted again just to be sure.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Number five was missing.

“Where’s Spider?” He asked the question so suddenly, that it startled everyone. Tuk peered out sleepily from her blankets, and Kiri and Neytiri gave him confused looks from across the cookfire.

“Huh?” Asked Lo’ak as he came to sit down next to Tuk.

“I asked where Spider is. I told all of you to be back home before sundown. It’s almost dark, so where is he?” He directed his question at Kiri, figuring she would be the most likely to know, but all she did was shrug.

“I haven’t seen him since this morning. I’ve been helping Mom and Ronal in the healing marui. I think he said he was going to help Lo’ak with his chores.” She said before turning her attention back to chopping vegetables.

The casual way she answered the question irritated Jake. If Spider wasn’t back by now, it either meant he was willingly disobeying Jake or he was in some kind of trouble. Why was Kiri acting like it was no big deal? His tail started to twitch in frustration as he rounded on Lo’ak. “Have you seen Spider?”

His question came out harsher than he intended it to, making Lo’ak jump slightly. “Uh… yeah, I hung out with him earlier, but he went off with Rotxo in the afternoon. I think he was gonna teach him to spearfish or something?”

“You think?” Jake repeated exasperatedly.

“I dunno, I wasn’t really paying attention.” Lo’ak said, sheepishly playing with the beads on the ends of his braids.

“Yeah, cause you were too busy looking at Tsireyaaa—“ Tuk giggled in a singsong voice.

Lo’ak threw a blanket at her. “I was not!”

An irritated huff left Jake’s lips as he got to his feet. “I’m going to go find him.”

“Ma Jake,” Neytiri’s voice stopped him in his tracks, “dinner is almost ready. Stay and eat with your family. I’m sure the boy is fine.”

“No, I told everyone to be back here before sundown. It’s sundown and he’s not here, so it’s not fine.” Before Neytiri could get another word in, he left the marui, tail lashing behind him with anxiety.

He rushed through the peaceful village, passing Reef Na’vi settling into their homes for the night. The setting sun painted the sky a deep orange, and a chorus of insects created a soothing symphony for the evening. Everything was so calm, surely nothing was really wrong, right? Despite what he tried to tell himself, images of Spider hurt or dead kept flashing through his mind. He was so consumed with his worries that he nearly ran right into Rotxo.

“Oh! Hi, Jake!” Rotxo greeted him cheerfully once he recovered from nearly losing his balance.

“Rotxo, sorry, didn’t see you there. Have you seen Spider?”

“Yeah, I was teaching him how to spearfish by the diving hole. I think he’s still there—“ Rotxo had barely finished pointing in the direction of the diving hole before Jake was off, making a beeline for it.

The longer it took to reach the hole, the faster he went, so he was practically sprinting by the time he reached it. Jake skidded to a stop on the rocky edge of the hole, startling a few small marine ikran into flight. He frantically looked around for any sign of Spider, but the whole place was deserted. The hole was dead still except for the steady undulations of bioluminescent seaweed dancing in the current, and the swaying of the mangrove branches up above. All he could hear was the gentle sound of waves lapping against rock and the occasional cry of a marine ikran. No sign of number five.

“Dammit!” Jake hissed under his breath. His ears flattened against his skull and his tail thrashed like an angry snake. Now he didn’t know what to do. None of the other children seemed to have any idea where Spider was and Rotxo was his last lead. Awa’atlu’s atoll was a massive area full of hiding places, and Spider was one little human. He could be anywhere.

Just before he made up his mind to start searching somewhere else, a soft sound drew his attention. Down the side of the hole directly to his left, a familiar dreadlocked head surfaced amongst the bioluminescent seaweed.

“Spider!” He called, sprinting across the rocks towards him.

At the sound of his name, Spider turned. Underneath the sheen of his mask, his face split into a wide grin and he started swimming to meet him, a child-sized Metkayina speargun in his hand. “Hey, Jake! What’s up?”

Jake knelt on the edge of sea rock and hauled Spider out of the water by the strap of his exopack as soon as he was in reach. He quickly checked Spider over for any sign of injury or damage to his equipment. As far as he could tell, there was none.

“You alright? Where the hell have you been?”

Spider’s grin faded as he took in the panic in Jake’s body language. “Yeah, I’m fine, I was just practicing the spearfishing stuff Rotxo taught me.”

Jake’s shoulders sagged and he let out a deep sigh as a surge of relief overwhelmed him. It lasted for a grand total of five seconds before it was replaced by a rush of anger. He hadn’t been this scared and angry since Lo’ak had gotten lost beyond the reef.

Jake seized Spider by the shoulders and shook him. His voice came out in a low snarl. “What the hell is the matter with you, boy? Have you just been fucking around out here this whole time?”

Spider’s eyes went wide and he tried to recoil, but Jake’s grip was too tight. “Jake, I— wait— did something happen?”

“You almost gave me a heart attack, that’s what happened!” Jake snapped as he got to his feet.

“Jeez, relax, I’m fine, see? Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Spider said as he gathered up his speargun and stood. Before Jake could get another word in, Spider turned on his heel and started walking away.

Jake’s ears went flat against his skull in a mix of shock and anger at the blatant disrespect. Not even Lo’ak in his most rebellious mood would dare to walk away from him when he was being scolded. It took a lot of effort to keep his voice level. “And where do you think you’re going, young man?”

Spider stopped and glanced back at Jake with a bewildered look on his face. “I’m getting back in so I can keep spearfishing?”

Jake crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, are you now?”

“Yeah?”

“And what about dinner?”

“I’ll eat later.”

“And when were you planning to go to bed, huh?”

Spider shrugged. “I dunno. Whenever I guess.”

Without another word, he turned his back on Jake again and got ready to dive into the water. The sheer disrespect almost made Jake laugh. He ended up hissing through his teeth instead. “Get your ass back over here. Now.”

Before Spider had a chance to disobey him again, Jake crossed the distance he had put between them in a single step and seized him by the arm.

“Jake, what—“

“I don’t want to hear it.” Jake cut him off by roughly steering him in the direction of home with a firm hand on his shoulder. The action was familiar to him. He’d done it to Lo’ak a hundred times after his troublemaking escapades. In fact, he was already mentally planning the lecture and accompanying punishment for disobedience he’d give to Spider once they got home. It was going to be nearly identical to the one he’d given Lo’ak after he’d scared everyone by getting lost outside the reef. Maybe Spider’s attitude would improve after a day of being stuck inside the marui doing chores. “You’re gonna march your butt back to the marui and—“

His eyes widened in surprise when Spider jerked his shoulder out of his grip and twisted away from him.

“Get the hell off me!” Spider yelled. He backed away from Jake, one hand covering the shoulder he had grabbed.

For a moment, all Jake could do was stare at him in shock, mouth slightly ajar. Then he closed it, tightening it into a sharp, angry line. Never in all his years as a parent had one of his children dared to use such language at him, especially not when they were already in trouble. “What did you just say to me, boy?”

“I told you to get the hell off me.” Spider repeated boldly, heedless of the hole he was digging himself into.

“Alright, that’s it!” Jake stormed towards Spider with a snarl. “I was gonna go easy on you, but since you want to have an attitude, we can do this the hard way.”

Spider scurried back to stay out of reach, but his retreat wasn’t a sign of submissiveness. If anything, Spider puffed up just as angrily as Jake. He hopped up onto a nearby mangrove root so he could better look him in the eye. “Attitude? I’m just minding my own business and you’re all pissy at me for some reason!”

“Minding your own business?” Jake repeated with a scoff. Even when Lo’ak got in trouble he had the sense to own up to it instead of lying about it. He jabbed an accusatory finger towards Spider’s chest. “You know damn well what you’re doing. I don’t know why you think you get to stay out past curfew all of a sudden, but the rules haven’t changed just ‘cause we left the forest.”

Spider threw his hands up in frustration. “Bro, what are you talking about?”

“Playing dumb isn’t going to help you! You’re out past your curfew and there’s going to be consequences.”

“What fucking curfew?” Spider yelled so loudly that it made Jake recoil. His voice cracked hard mid-sentence, and Jake suddenly realized that the tone he’d mistaken for disrespectful was actually scared and confused. 

Jake's first instinct was to yell right back, but he forced himself to take a deep breath. He put his hands up in a calming gesture, and when he finally spoke, he managed to keep his voice civil. “Spider, this morning I told you and Lo’ak and Kiri to come back before sundown, remember?”

Spider’s brows knit together in confusion. He was still on edge, but he relaxed slightly at seeing Jake calm down. “You told Lo’ak and Kiri to come back. You didn’t say it to me.”

“Spider,” Jake had to take another calming breath to keep from losing his cool again. He couldn’t tell if this was genuine confusion or some bizarre attempt to get out of trouble, but either way he figured more yelling wouldn’t solve the situation. “You were standing right between Lo’ak and Kiri when I said it. Why would you think I wasn’t saying it to you too?”

“Why would I think you were? I’m not one of your kids.” 

“I— well— no, you’re not, but you still have to follow the rules. Back when you lived in Hell’s Gate with the McCoskers, could you just wander off whenever you felt like it?”

Spider squinted at him in confusion. “Uh… yeah, I could? I did that all the time.”

Now it was Jake’s turn to squint. “You didn’t have a curfew with the McCoskers?”

“I mean, maybe when I was like, really little, but not that I can remember, no. And besides, I haven’t lived with the McCoskers since the RDA came back, remember? It’s been almost two years since then.”

For a moment, Jake was almost stunned into silence, but he recovered from his surprise and changed tactics. “Okay, forget the McCoskers. Think about when we lived in High Camp. You had a curfew then.”

“No, your kids had a curfew, but I didn’t. Don’t you remember how Lo’ak was always jealous?”

“I—” Jake frowned. Now that Spider mentioned it, he vaguely remembered Lo’ak begging Jake to extend his curfew because of something to do with Spider. “But Norm and Max and everyone, they made sure you got home and ate dinner before dark, right?”

“Norm and Max were always super busy. It’s really hard to keep human life support running out there. They didn’t have time to babysit me; they had to keep the lights on.” Spider shrugged like it was no big deal. He must’ve noticed the shocked look on Jake’s face because he quickly added. “Jake, relax. I’m a tough kid, remember? I know how to get my own dinner and I know when to go to sleep. I was fine.”

“Oh, Eywa…” The realization finally hit Jake. Spider’s confusion was one hundred percent genuine; he really didn’t understand why Jake was angry at him for staying out at night. Jake pressed his hands to his lips and took another deep breath. He sat down on the mangrove root and patted the spot next to him. Spider still looked a little nervous, but he sat down next to Jake anyway. His legs were far too short to reach the sandy ground below, so they swung in the air halfway down Jake’s calves, making him look much younger than he was.

“Spider,” Jake began. He put a hand on Spider’s shoulder and turned him so they were face to face, “you’re not one of my kids, but while we stay in Awa’atlu, you’re living in our marui. That means I’m responsible for you just like I’m responsible for Lo’ak, Kiri, and Tuk. So you have to follow the rules— that includes the curfew.”

Spider made a face. “I really have to have a curfew now? But why?”

“The same reason Kiri and Lo’ak and Aonung and Rotxo and every other kid has a curfew. It’s to keep you safe. If you don’t come back at sundown, I won’t know where you are or if something bad happened to you.” Jake ruffled Spider’s hair the same way he did to Lo’ak all the time.

“Nothing bad’s gonna happen to me,” Spider shoved his hand off with a scoff. “I can take care of myself. I never had a curfew before. Why do I gotta have one now?”

Jake's patience started to wear thin again. His irritation started to leak into his voice. “Because I said so, that’s why.”

“That’s bullshit!”

“You do not speak that way to me, young man.” Jake scolded.

Spider shrunk under the reprimand, but still held his ground. “Well, it is…”

Jake threw his hands up in exasperation. “What is so important that you need to stay out at night anyway, huh?”

“Uh, food? You know, that thing I need to survive?” Spider drawled with so much venomous sarcasm that for a split second Jake felt like he was talking to his father instead. “Do you think I’m out here freezing my butt off for fun? I’m trying to catch some dinner. I know it’s been awhile since you were human, but remember that humans need to eat too.”

“Alright, first of all, lose the attitude, kid.” Jake snapped. “Second of all, what are you talking about? Food? We have food at home. Neytiri made dinner for everyone.”

An ugly sound that was half-scoff, half-laugh escaped Spider’s throat. “No. Ms. Sully made food for your family. Not for me.”

“Spider, is that what this is about?” Jake’s voice softened slightly with pity. “Neytiri? Listen, I know things are… complicated right now, but Neytiri doesn’t mind if you eat what she cooked.”

“Oh, I bet she’d love it if I ate some of her cooking,” Spider said bitterly. Seeing the confused look on Jake’s face, he added, “she never cooks things humans can eat. This morning Kiri warned me she was making pincer fish stew. Do you know how toxic pincer fish are to humans? If I ate it I’d probably puke my own brains out.”

Jake cringed. “Oh… I’m sorry, kiddo, I didn’t realize she was making something that would hurt you. Why didn’t you say something?”

“Why would I? It’s not the first time she’s cooked poisonous food when she knows I’m staying for dinner.”

“Don’t talk like that. Neytiri wouldn’t do that on purpose. She’s just been so distracted since… since everything. I promise it was just a mistake.”

“Yeah, a mistake.” Spider scoffed. “Maybe it was this time, but didn’t you ever notice that every time she heard me, Kiri, and Lo’ak were planning a sleepover that she’d make something I couldn’t eat? It’s not like she’s in the habit of making human-friendly food.”

“What— no, but that’s not—“ Jake spluttered as he tried to think of a rebuttal, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t. Since they’d gotten Spider back, all their meals were sympathy gifts from the Metkayina or were prepared by Jake. Neytiri had been too bereaved to cook, so Jake had picked up the slack. Tonight was the first night she’d cooked since the battle. Even thinking back further, back to when they lived in the forest, Jake couldn’t recall a time Spider had stayed over for dinner when Neytiri cooked. It was always when Jake cooked or when they ate a feast prepared by the clan.

Now that he was really thinking about it, he vaguely remembered an ugly argument between Kiri and Neytiri that had happened a long time ago: Kiri accused Neytiri of cooking food that was poisonous for humans on purpose so Spider couldn’t spend the night with them, and Neytiri argued back that it was too hard for her to modify every recipe she knew to make it human-friendly.

“Okay, maybe she did do that, but that was before. She always knew you could get food from somewhere else. Things are different now. Today really was just a mistake.” Jake tried to get Spider to look at him, but Spider stubbornly kept his head down and let his thick locs hide his face.

“Yeah, whatever. Can I go now? If I don’t catch a fish soon I’m gonna go hungry tonight.” Spider started to slide off the root they sat on.

Before he could slink out of reach, Jake grabbed him by the shoulders. He knelt on the hard sandy ground in front of him so they were face to face. “Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? You’re coming home with me. Now. I’ll let breaking curfew slide just this once since you didn’t understand the rules, but this is the last time you’re going out by yourself at night. If I ever catch you breaking curfew again, you’re gonna be grounded, you read me?”

“What? But how am I supposed to feed myself?” Spider cried. There was so much genuine panic in his voice that it made Jake cringe with guilt. Did Spider seriously think he would let him starve? “During the day I have to help everyone out with the chores. I won’t have enough time to find food if—“

“Spider!” Jake cut him off with a gentle squeeze to his shoulders. Once he was sure he had Spider’s full attention, he continued in a slow, clear voice. “Look, here’s the deal, kid: as long as you live under my roof and follow my rules, I will make sure you have plenty of food. You don’t have to hunt for yourself after dark. From now on, you will come back home and eat dinner with us every night before sundown. How’s that sound?”

Spider stayed quiet for a long moment, a furrow in his brow. Jake gave him a reassuring, fatherly smile, the same smile that always seemed to help his children when they were scared. He hoped that Spider was finally getting it. After a long moment of hard thought, Spider shook his head and said, “no thank you.”

Jake stared at him incredulously. “What do you mean, no thank you?”

“I mean, I’m good.” Spider grabbed Jake’s oversized hands and carefully peeled them off his shoulders. “That whole deal thing you’re offering me? No thanks. I’d rather keep my freedom.”

He tried to slink away again, but Jake stopped him with a hand on his wrist. “Spider, the deal isn’t optional.”

“So you’re forcing me to follow this stupid curfew?” Spider tried to twist out of his grip, but Jake wasn’t budging. “What? Like a prisoner or something?”

“A prisoner? Jesus, Spider, I’m not imprisoning you, I’m taking care of you! Why can’t you just—” Jake cut himself off. He was going to ask Spider why he couldn’t just trust him, but considering everything they’d just talked about, it felt stupid to ask him to do that. With a deep sigh, he gently took both of Spider’s hands and lightly squeezed them.

“Okay, look at it this way. Lo’ak and Kiri have a curfew too. Why do you think they have a curfew?”

Spider stopped trying to squirm away from him, but he wouldn’t look him in the eyes either. He kept his gaze on the ground, where he nudged a small rock with his toe. His begrudging answer came after a moment, “so you know that they’re safe.”

“Yep, that’s right. We give our kids curfews because we love them.” Jake nodded. “A curfew isn’t a punishment. It’s just a rule to keep you kids safe.”

Spider kicked the rock, sending it flying into the diving hole with a small splash. He still wouldn’t look at Jake. “I’m not a kid. I’m older than Kiri and Lo’ak. I don’t need this stupid rule to stay safe.”

“Yes, you do. You’re sixteen. Sixteen-year-olds have curfews.”

Suddenly, Spider looked up at him, his dark eyes shining with an emotion Jake couldn’t identify. “So why didn’t I have a curfew when I was fifteen? Or fourteen? Or— hell, I don’t think I’ve had one since I was like ten. You say that kids need curfews, but I never had one. And it was fine. If it wasn’t fine, you and Norm and everybody wouldn’t have let it happen. So it was fine, right?”

Jake’s ears twitched downwards and it became a struggle to hold Spider’s gaze. The strange look in his eyes was almost pleading, silently begging Jake to confirm what he’d said; that it was perfectly fine that all the adults had let a teenager run around with no guardian looking after him. Jake licked his lips. It would be easy to agree with him; just tell him that the way he’d been treated was fine and come up with some bullshit excuse for why things had to change now. Spider had always gotten enough food and rest; it wasn’t like he was wasting away while the adults ignored him. Sure, he didn’t have anyone looking out for him the way Jake and Neytiri looked out for their children, but there was a war going on. They had bigger things to worry about. Spider wasn’t their problem.

It was fine, right?

“No.” When Jake finally answered, he couldn’t look Spider in the eyes. He kept his gaze trained on the stony ground beneath his knees. “No, Spider, it wasn’t fine. A kid’s not supposed to live like that. A kid’s supposed to have somebody making sure they come home and eat dinner and go to bed every night. You shouldn’t have had to look out for yourself like that.”

In the edges of his vision, he saw Spider’s dreadlocks sway as he shook his head. “No, it was fine. I was fine. I mean, I always knew I wasn’t treated the same as the other kids, but it wasn’t like it was bad or anything. Kiri and Lo’ak and Tuk are your responsibility, ‘cause you’re their parents. I don’t have parents, so I’m nobody’s responsibility. It wouldn’t be fair to make somebody else look after me when it wasn’t their fault I was stuck there.”

Hearing Spider frantically try to rationalize his treatment only made Jake feel worse. He shrunk into himself as Spider continued.

“That’s just how the world works. You know, like, if something ever happened to you and Neytiri, Lo’ak and Kiri would have to look out for themselves too, ‘cause it wouldn’t be fair to make somebody else have to look after them.”

“No! Eywa, no, Spider! That’s not how this works!” Jake cried. Just the thought of his children living like Spider —having no one waiting on them to come home at night, staying out late to get food for themselves because they couldn’t count on anyone else to feed them— was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach. “It doesn’t matter if a kid doesn’t have parents. They still need somebody taking care of them. That’s why you had your foster parents.”

“Yeah, I guess I needed them when I was little, but I pretty much just slept in the same house as them by the time I was, like, ten or so. And they’re long gone by now. I was fine without anybody looking out for me for the past year and a half. You don’t need to start now.”

“Spider, I was…” Jake hesitated, struggling to find the right words. He forced himself to look Spider in the eyes. “I was wrong, okay. I was Olo’eyktan. When your foster family abandoned you, I should’ve done something— should’ve appointed somebody or— or I don’t know. I just shouldn’t have done nothing.”

“Jake, I was fine.” Spider protested weakly.

“No, you weren’t. Not if you think it’s normal to get food all by yourself at night.”

“It’s not?”

“No! Jesus, if something ever happened to me and Neytiri,” Jake’s voice cracked with emotion at the thought, “I would never want my kids to live like this— so it’s not right to let you live like this either.”

“Jake,” Spider seemed taken aback by the emotion in his voice. “It’s okay.”

“No, kiddo, it’s not. But I’m gonna make it okay now.” He got to his feet and held a hand out to Spider. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Instead of taking his hand, Spider backed away. His eyes darted between Jake’s hand and the spearfish he’d left lying near the edge of the diving hole. The wind picked up ever so slightly, and Jake caught a whiff of the human stench of fear coming off of Spider. He frowned. Did the thought of letting himself be dependent on Jake scare him that badly?

“Look, Jake, don’t take this the wrong way, but I think it’s better if things stay the same as they’ve always been.”

Jake’s frown deepened. “What? Do you want to be out here in the dark catching food by yourself?”

Spider grimaced. “Not really, but I just think it’s for the best. It’s really nice of you to offer to take care of me, but I know how the world works. You can make promises now, when things are peaceful, but they won’t stay peaceful forever. Once things get tough again, you’re going to put your family first. I’d rather keep taking care of myself so that when things do get tough again, I’ll already be used to it.”

Jake didn’t know what to say to that. The diving hole went silent save for the waves lapping at the rock below and the occasional hiss of his exopack. Alpha Centauri had long since sunk below the horizon, leaving them illuminated by the soft blue light of Polyphemus and his moons. Spider took his silence as an answer. He knelt and scooped up his child-size speargun before turning back towards the water.

“I’m sorry I scared you today, but just forget about the curfew thing, okay? I can take care of myself.”

The breeze picked up, sending another wave of human-fear towards Jake’s nose. Spider was doing a good job of hiding it, but he really was scared. It reminded him uncomfortably of people he’d known back on Earth— people who had been let down so many times that the thought of trusting someone else to care for them was terrifying. If you give someone the power to feed you, you give them the power to starve you, someone had told him when he decided to join the Marines. The Marine Corp kept him fed as long as he was an able-bodied soldier, but the minute that changed, they’d let him starve. Clearly, Spider thought he would end up starving too if he let Jake have the power to feed him. Jake had to prove to him that he meant what he said. Empty promises wouldn’t be enough.

“Spider, wait,” he called just before Spider could jump into the water. Spider looked back at him warily.

Slowly, telegraphing his movements so Spider could clearly see what he was doing, he unsheathed his knife and held it up to his dreads. Spider’s eyes widened as he carefully severed a lock of his hair.

“Jake, what are you doing? You don’t have to—”

“No. I wasn’t just making an empty promise. I’m going to take care of you from now on.” He approached Spider and knelt so they were on the same level again, and offered the lock of hair towards him. “I want to take you on as my mll’an’eveng.”

“Mll’an’eveng,” Spider echoed, staring at the hair in disbelief. It was rare a Na’vi custom done whenever a child ended up orphaned and was too old for parental tsaheylu with adoptive parents. To the Na’vi, if a child and adult never made the parental bond in infancy, then they could never truly be child and parent, but they had an exception for children who were orphaned later in life, after they’d already established a parental bond with their birth parents. Taking in a child as mll’an’eveng wasn’t the same as adoption, but it was more like a wardship or foster home, acknowledging that the child had already bonded with other parents and their new ones could never replace that bond. An adult would be bound to take care of a mll’an’eveng with steep consequences if they failed, just like there would be consequences for neglecting their own child.

“But I’m human—” Spider protested.

“I don’t care. We don’t need tsaheylu to make you my mll’an’eveng.”

“Neytiri won’t—”

“Let me worry about her.”

“Jake, I don’t know…” Spider put a hand to his own hair and wove his fingers through it anxiously.

“It’s your choice whether you want to do this or not,” Jake said, “but no matter what your answer is, I’m still going to watch out for you. I just want to prove to you that I mean it.”

Spider’s fingers knotted so tightly in his locks that it looked painful. The stench of fear was so strong that Jake didn’t need the breeze to smell it coming off of him. Jake was just about to take his lock of hair back when Spider suddenly moved. He slipped his own small knife from its sheath and sliced off a dreadlock. With slightly trembling fingers, he handed it to Jake.

The two locks of hair rested in his giant blue palm, one smooth, neat, and uniform black, the other uneven, unkempt and mottled in shades of bronze. With all the solemnity of any other Na’vi ritual, Jake took the two locks of hair and wound them around each other, joining them into one strand. Jake then used some stray string stowed away in his loincloth pouch to tie the strand around his wrist. As per the custom of the mll’an’eveng ritual, Jake would wear the hair on his wrist for the next four days as a visible declaration of wardship over Spider for all to see.

Spider let out a heavy breath as Jake finished tying the hair to his wrist, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His bottom lip trembled and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut to fight back tears.

“Hey, it’s okay, bud. C’mere.” Jake pulled Spider into a hug, letting him bury the smooth surface of his mask into the crook of Jake’s neck.

“I’m not crying.” Spider mumbled into his shoulder.

Jake tried not to laugh as he patted him on the back. “Of course not.” He gave Spider a minute to pull himself together before giving him one last squeeze and standing up.

“Alright. Are you ready to go home now?” He offered his hand.

Small, pale fingers slipped between large, blue ones. “Yeah, I am.”

Na'vi Vocab:

Mll’an: to accept

‘Eveng: a child

I combined these two words together to create “Mll’an’eveng” or “accepted child,” a Na’vi term for a child an adult is accepting as their responsibility, but not formally adopting, similar to a ward or a foster kid. This is not canon lore, just something I made up for this one-shot.

💙Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments and reblogs, and if you want to see more from me, feel free to send me a prompt in my ask box 💙

[daenysthedreamer101]

TVD - Season 4 Ep 12

"A View to a Kill"

Do I even have to say it? Elena and Jeremy killing Kol was the stupidest, most nonsensical thing I've seen on this show so far and that's saying a lot. There is no way in hell that Kol, an Original, was killed by Jeremy, a 16-year-old human (I know he's a hunter but still), and Elena, a baby vampire who's been a vampire for a couple of months at most. Kol is over a 1000 years old!

How? Like....Ughhhh! He didn't even want to kill Jeremy, just cut his arms off (ok not saying that's good but he said "I'll heal you with my blood" so...). He easily could've killed Elena, but he didn't. When he stabbed her, he stabbed her in the stomach, not the heart.

Also, it just felt OOC for Elena to be so willing to kill someone. Like "Oh yeah let's just kill him and by killing Kol we'll kill thousands of other vampires" ...Wasn't Elena supposed to be this really compassionate person because I don't see her anywhere. 😒😒😒

.....NO! THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE! There's no way Elena was able to hold Kol for that long. Also, very convenient for her that she saw that Kol had the white oak stake with him cause his jacket was open (smells like plot convenience to me hmm...). And ofc they put vervain in the water system the day Elena decided to kill Kol...🙄🙄🙄

DAMN IT, I LIKED HIM! I know they bring him and Finn back for TO but that's irrelevant rn. Ever since they introduced him back in s3 they just kept on nerfing tf out of him. He's an Original damn it, he is more powerful than all of them. It shouldn't be possible for Damon to snap his neck and it should definitely not be possible for a human teenager and a baby vampire to kill him!

What tf was the point of making the Originals so powerful when a baby vampire and a human were able to kill one? Like who wrote this nonsense? 💀💀💀

Klaus and the others better take some revenge! Like, there need to be some repercussions for this!!! We saw Bekah cry when Stefan told her but like, that's not enough? I need revenge!

Also, Bonnie is kind of annoying me? Ever since that stupid professor showed her expression or whatever it's called she's been on my nerves idk. Literally, everyone rn on this show is annoying me lol 😭

Why didn't Kol compel Elena to stay put when he stabbed her? Like, don't tell me she was on vervain? There's no way she drank the water or did she? Or he ofc just didn't think of it.

Klaus's reaction to seeing Kol's body on fire and the way Elena flinched when he yelled "He was supposed to suffer on MY TERMS! "...yeah someone pls give my man Joseph an Oscar cause that was acting! Klaus better keep his promise and burn their stupid house down!

Where is Elijah? PLS COME BACK WE NEED YOU SO BAD! 😭😭

RIP MY BABY I'LL MISS YOU! YOU WERE SO CUTE AND SASSY AND CHAOTIC I LOVED YOU! 😟😟💔 (also how do we feel about the bangs lol)

[xxxg0ryygurlll13xxx]

i feel reallllllly bad abt this

so some backstory my bf plays a lot of military video games (war thunder esp thats his fave) and loves military boats and planes and wants to go into the military via an academy.

i have a complicated relationship w the military and military men. a lot of the men in my family (my grandfathers, uncles, cousins etc) were at one point in the military and it didnt go well for any of them. they all have major issues cause of their service. my grandfather developed a drinking problem after vietnam, my great uncle extreme PTSD after fighting in Iraq and all have or had been abandoned by the govt esp my uncles. so needless to say i have a weird relationship w the us govt and military systems.

so my bf wants to go into the military and while im well aware that high school sweethearts usually dont work out weve been dating for over 3 years straight and bros been talking abt marriage lately so i kinda have a feeling well last so his military dreams scare the SHIT out of me. not just the possibility of having him come back in a casket, or not coming back at all but him coming back so different, angry/violent or a drunk or an addict or sick or all of the above. i want him to be happy but i dont want him to come back blown to bits or missing limbs.

hes one of those people who wants to do it for the glory. the love of country the idea of coming back a hero. the way the current politics are going in america were probably gonna have a huge war soon maybe even on 2 fronts, WWIII. that scares me too just in general and add someone i love so much so far for so long going years w/o seeing him, sometimes not knowing if hes dead or alive. scares me but thats so selfish. thats my problem im so selfish about it. ive told him my concerns and it makes me feel like a bad person cause ik he wants this pretty bad tho he did say if he doesnt get into an academy he wont enlist hell go somewhere else for engineering and work for the govt that way. but i just feel so selfish. i want him to be happy but i also want him alive and safe.

also while im being honest here i really dont think hes military material. hes not very uh fit (i doubt hed pass the physical test), his grades r pretty average the academies r really hard to get into, hes EXTREMELY stubborn which the military would not at all approve of he only does one extracurricular, and he has some other problems i wont mention that wouldnt go well in the military. so his chances at an academy arent very high but just enough to scare me.

and i know its selfish which is why i feel so bad about it. its so complicated. on one hand i really dont want him to go and i just want him to consider the pros and cons, he has a very video game propaganda-y watered down "glory" view of the military that they can do no wrong and i know the other end the trauma, the abandonment, the fear, ive heard the stories the stories of men watching each other get blown up, watching civilians struggle to breathe cause of the chemicals we used, my grandfather had to watch his best friend get his legs blown off. the coming back different, changed and not for the better. sure the glorys nice the honor is amazing but at what cost? i have relatives who have purple hearts and were abandoned by the system that gave it to them. on the other hand tho i know its so selfish to not want him to follow what he wants to do. to tell him he shouldnt, that its a bad idea, that its not worth it, that the risk isnt worth the possible reward, to think abt how once u sign on that dotted line u cant quit till ur contract is up. im gonna follow my dreams of being an artist so why should i let him follow his?

i feel so conflicted abt it. i cant tell where the line between caring and selfishness is. i feel guilty and selfish and scared all at the same time. i hope and pray he changes his mind but i know i cant make him no matter how many times i not so subtly mention the possiblity of death, disability, PTSD the thousands of things that can go wrong. i feel so selfish but i cant help my fear. i think i care too much. thats my problem. i care too much abt his physical safety i overlook his happiness. i apologized to him abt my selfishness over this like a half hour ago and havent heard back.

[therealvinelle]

Hello. The dome above Forsk was already there, but what about the dome over Volterra? How will the Volturi cope with the situation?

"Gentlemen, it seems we'll have to amend a few rules."

The people of Volterra are no longer off-limits.

The good news is, there's 10 519 of them.

The bad news is, there are ~35 Volturi.

If each vampire eats one human every fortnight for a year (35*26) then 910 humans are sacrificed to the blood gods. That's 9% of the population total.

That is not all, however.

In a normal year, Italy has a mortality rate per thousand people of 10 people, that is to say, of these 10 519 people, we can assume 100 of them die of natural causes.

However, that rate is going to be significantly higher under the dome. Everyone dependent on medication is cut off, the hospital is going to run out of supplies fast, you have people dying of easily preventable causes.

I imagine the very first thing Aro does, after ascertaining that nobody is getting out and they're going to have to start living off the humans of Volterra, is dismembering all but Caius, Marcus, and the wives, and those in his guard who can help with crowd control. The twins, Heidi, Corin, and Chelsea get to stay online, the rest are stored in separate boxes in the basement, hopefully to be put back together someday in the future. We are now down to ten vampires, making it so 260 people are killed annually.

(Though I imagine Aro uses gamification to lower the rate even further. "Funny hats to whoever goes the longest without feeding!" "Praise and brownie points to he whose eyes are the blackest!")

There are, however, some good news.

Tuscany is a very fertile region, even if Volterra is a city and on top of a mountain hill there are large swaths of green areas that could be repurposed for farming, at least in theory. The people of Volterra are luckier yet in that there happens to be a very powerful man whose only interest is to keep as many people as possible, who could easily take control and allocate the resources in whichever way he found most constructive.

Said man also happens to have superpowered people who will never grow tired by his side, people who could easily take care of the farming.

Water is a concern, but with a sound filtration system that should sort itself out.

Would people still starve, yes, and there's the question of where Aro would find the seeds for farming (here's to hoping the local flower shops come through, or else that Aro has a seed bank in his palace. You never know with that guy), how long it would take for his efforts to bear fruit (pun intended), and how long the rations already in the city would keep.

Feeding is done as strategically as possible, the Volturi kill only the sick and the dying in a bid to keep the mortality rate as close to normal as possible. Fertile and pregnant women and children are cared for the best, in the hopes that humans won't stop procreating.

(... I imagine the fertile women with chronic illnesses or other health problems hurry up and get pregnant so they won't be the next sacrificed to the blood gods.)

They have a chance of achieving sustainability, is what I'm saying. The population will be significantly reduced and their standard of living will plummet, but it's not as bleak as with the dome over Forks, mainly because Tuscany allows for farming in a way Forks doesn't, and Aro can take control of the city in a way the Cullens can't.

The irony, I imagine, is that without the Volturi the world outside that dome is tearing itself to pieces, making the humans within the dome better off than those without.

[annaizscribbling]

Ch 8.

Wordcount: 2095

Content warnings: choking. Suffocation. Mutilation. Self hatred. Hallucinations. Suicidal imagery.

Virgil can see through the walls.

Slowly, it seems that he is rising above the illusion of captivity. He is more than what the fake tunnels and passages would have him believe. The waters show him who he truly is, what he truly is.

Pure instinct is what keeps people alive. The split-second decisions to fight or flee is what makes even the softest person capable of living to breathe for another day. The pure power of adrenaline, motivated by a strong enough panic, that is true survival. That is a very powerful gift.

And that is Virgil. Before there were ethics, there was terror. Before there were carefully crafted systems to manipulate, there was panic. Before there was understanding, there was the urge to flee. Before there were dreams and nightmares, there was the urge to bite and scratch until freedom could be achieved.

Survival is older than anything else, because without the tools to secure another sunrise, there is no civilization to see another sun set over them.

Some part of Virgil knows this to be intrinsically true. Some part of his nature is ancient and untamable. That part awakens in the cave down by the water.

His mind grows stronger, stronger than he ever thought it possible to become. Virgil is learning and growing, like an ant hill, buzzing and wriggling as the mound expands. Above, below, all around. Come too close and a thousand insects descend upon your skin to bite and burn like fire in your veins.

The water knows this to be true. The water wishes to grant Virgil the mercy of sight.

And Virgl is beginning to realize that he may just be strong enough to take it on. For the sake of his person, himself, his loved ones. The gift of truth and understanding is a heavy weight to bear indeed, but who better to understand than Survival? Who better to know and protect through an unclouded mind? Beautiful water, how you know best for him. Wisdom may never be his forte, but truth is what matters, is it not?

Virgil doesn’t remember where he is. In and out of the cave is all beginning to feel the same. Two worlds are bleeding together like watercolors on a wet page. His mind stays with the water even when his body moves about, but that makes sense, doesn’t it? None of it is real flesh and bone, nothing is real save his mind and the truth.

He runs his hand over the floor beneath him. He’s on the floor somewhere. His room, maybe. The dark shadows are not wet enough to be the cave, and he is too at ease to be elsewhere. Another caress of the floor reveals it to be carpet. Yes, yes, it is his room. His little haven away from his haven.

Blink.

The water is not as cold, this time. It was more gentle. Virgil’s eyes and arms were open, ready to receive. Because of this inner posture, the water was not a chilly blast like being hit with a tidal wave or attacked by a heavy storm. It was a cool, soft mist, like being at the zoo and getting one of those animal themed fans that spray water to keep you cool. It was gentle, almost playful. The water felt no need to fight for his attention.

His mind was open, listening to the sweet song of truth.

It’s been a long time since he had seen Logan. The thought to check on him crossed his mind a few times, but he never quite went through with it. There was so much else going on. Anger and solidarity were stronger emotions than just … neutral. How oddly fitting, in a bit of a sad way.

He’s heard nothing bad, which was good. So everything was good. Logan may not have been taking a stand, or picking a side, but he’s making things run, keeping Thomas in one piece. It’s fine. They are fine, he and Logan.

Well, Virgil is fine. He is quite well, actually. Perhaps the same can’t be said for Logan.

Virgil stares up at his ceiling, but he is not on the floor. He is not staring at his ceiling. His stomach flipped, as if he were upside down. He can feel his damp hair hanging forward, like he was on his hands and knees.

The ceiling is not the ceiling. The floor is not the floor.

Virgil feels like a spider crawling up a wall, unblinking eyes spread out to see everything around him unceasingly. He is comfortably perched with his limbs to anchor him upside down. A spider on the ceiling. A spider watches without moving, without malice nor compassion. Just a bug, just a little thing that sees what you do when nobody is looking.

Logan is sitting on his bed. The bed is black with tiny, subtle constellations dotting it. It is probably accurate to the night sky, as Logan would probably refuse to display something inaccurate so blatantly in his space. It is strange to see him sitting on his bed at all, he never uses his bed for anything but sleeping. Logan says that the bed should be left alone unless sleeping, as a best practice. It is one of those things that Virgil remembers quite well but never actually does.

Another thing Logan never does is try to kill himself, but that’s happening too now, apparently.

Virgil twists where he’s stuck to the ceiling, wishing to get closer, to see better. It’s hard to make very much out from where he is. But there are other ways to See without the use of eyes. He strains his ears and stretches to get just a few inches closer to Logan. Regret flares as his ears recoil away from the newly found sound.

 Virgil makes out the distinctly foreign stifled sobbing noise from below.

That … that is not normal either.

Logan has both hands around the end of his striped tie. He is pulling. He is pulling very, very hard. Virgil can hear his muscles straining. He can hear the sound of his tendons stretching and flexing as he tugs harder and harder. He can hear Logan’s throat constricting. He can hear the air having a harder time getting up and down his windpipe. He can hear the trickles of sweat going down the side of Logan’s temple. He can hear the tears welling up in his eyes as one drop at a time runs down his face.

They are sounds not meant to be heard. Virgil begins to feel like he’s violating something here. He should not be watching this, he does not want to watch this.

And yet he cannot look away.

Every new tear that runs down Logan’s face seems to anger him. Each one makes a fresh heat flare in Logan’s rolling gut. His knuckles are white from how tightly he’s gripping the tie around his neck. Every single tear, each barely unrepressed sob, he pulls harder at his own neck for every new offense. His heartbeat is wild in his ears, yet it’s growing weaker.

It isn’t working. This exercise in self-discipline isn’t working and he is angry. He is seething. How dare his own body betray him? How dare he fail at his own purpose?

Logan has strange tears. The tears are too thick and glossy, tinted like olive oil. They stick to his skin and move unbearably slowly. They mock him. They are not real water. It is very unfortunate.

Virgil can only watch where he’s stuck to the floor that is not the floor, looking down at the ceiling that is not a ceiling. It is so very uncomfortable. Logan isn’t supposed to cry…

It is then when Logan’s anger burns hotter, he releases one of the hands gripped around his tie, yanking his soft throat to the side. He holds his free hand below his face, staring at the way he’s holding it like an animal claw, fingers bent and ready to scratch.

Logan holds his tie at a sharper angle, pulling his head around like a bad dog on a leash. He seems to make a decision.

Logan plunges his free hand into his chest, it goes through with a loud squelch and a squirt of something hot and viscous.

Virgil finds his eyes blurring, from what he isn’t sure. His face feels wet and hot and salty.

In the foggy mist that Virgil’s eyes seem to be producing, he can only hear the fleshy sounds of a body being torn to pieces. It keeps going. Logan’s shadowy form is aggressive and jerky as he uses his dull nails to shred what is imperfect into imperfect ribbons.

The floor is being stained with far too many colors. The constellations on the bed cover are being tarnished, becoming very scientifically inaccurate. Very, very inaccurate.

Virgil’s throat hurts watching. It all hurts. He finds himself mouthing Logan’s name weakly, as if he could change anything, as if he was seen at all. He has all the right words to say, but no way to say them. Nobody to listen to it. It is a painful thing to be anything at all, and more painful still to be an invisible thing.

It keeps going, the bloody, self-induced one man massacre. And by the end of it, Virgil can’t see Logan. Logan never left, but there’s no Logan in front of him.

Blink.

Virgil shoots up from his bedroom floor with a loud gasp, as if he’d been saving the opportunity to inhale for far too long. He scrubs at his face, finding it slick with tacky tears. He nearly loses his balance as he stands up in a tizzy.

That one hurt. That one felt horrible. That one wasn’t okay.

He rakes his sweaty hands through his crusty hair, making it to an even frizzier mess than before. He paces the room, trying to catch a feeble breath. He’s lightheaded. He’s scared. He needs to do something.

Run a mile? Hit something? Hide under his bed?

He chooses the first option, flinging open the door and sprinting down the hall at full speed. He needs to outrun the fucking heebie jeebies flowing through his skeleton. He’s all backwards. Without so much as tying his untied dirty shoelaces, he takes off down the hall.

“Woah! Virgil! Pardon me, what are you doing?”

Virgil narrowly avoids tackling the person in his way. He dodges, tumbling against the wall, nearly knocking a mirror to the ground. His soul seemed to take a few steps without him before colliding with him again, leaving him with a nauseating vertigo.

“Uh—” Virgil is about to give a hasty apology, but he can’t quite get the words out, he feels pale. His heart drops into his legs.

“Virgil?” Logan frowns, tilting his head in that curious, almost robotic manner he does so often.

“Logan…” Virgil says weakly, staring at the decidedly not mangled and mutilated Logan standing in  front of him alive and well. Still, he feels lightheaded seeing the real thing. It’s been so long since he’d seen him, but only moments since his vision.

“Yes, that is indeed my name,” Logan nods awkwardly, clasping his hands behind his back. “Are— has, ah,” he pressed his lips into a line. He’s struggling. “Well. It has been some time. How … How is everything?”

Virgil can’t stop staring. “…sick.”

“As in the good sick or the bad, illness sick?” Logan squints his eyes, pursing his lips.

“Yeah.” Virgil nods distractedly, staring at Logan’s eyes. They were red, a little swollen. His glasses were a little smudgy. Not normal. Not right. Not right at all.

“… I see. That’s good, I suppose, right Virge?” Logan tries slowly, still baffled, and a bit twitchy, but clearly trying something. It isn’t working. Is he okay? Is something wrong? Virgil’s gut tells him that he’s looking at the remains of tears, but Logan doesn’t do that. That can’t be right.

It’s fine, it has to be. Logan is fine, it’s all fine. He just needs to get back to the cave. His cave. It will all be okay.

“I gotta run, Logan,” Virgil finally says, tearing his eyes away, down to the ground. He can’t look anymore, it’s making him feel bad. Guilty. Angry. But it’s fine.

“Oh. Right. Of course, later then.”

Virgil can’t remember whatever hasty goodbye he gives as he leaves. It’s back to the cave. Back to the water. It’s safe there.

Ch 7. Ch 9

[thateldribitch]

A Red Sky's Interlude

Chapter Two: Local Lure

TW: Horror, Yandere (and everything that comes with it), mostly implied gore and murder. (For once lol.)

Totally forgot to post this chapter here; here's the link to the AO3!

Truth be told, Floyd hates towns like these.

Kitschy little tourist traps with a thousand neon items and a thousand different stores with those same items. Houses in absurdly tropical colors that look good nowhere else —lime green and tangerine orange, cyan and banana yellow. Ugh. Beaches and bitches and weirdly rude, weirdly… entertaining magicians. Scammers. Tourists. But Shrimpy took them to a hole-in-the-wall, local little place. Ugh, taking Shrimpy on land is anxiety-inducing enough. They have a safe cove, good food, strong mates. What more could they ask for? Cold. Fries. Yeah, of course it’d be cold ass french fries—but then again, he craves stuff from home sometimes. And he can’t judge them too much. Dive bars always have the best fries; they’re not just stopping for carnival food or something. This shit’s actually good. 

Not as great as they could be, of course. He pops one in his mouth, rolls it around on his tongue. Mashing it between the points of his teeth, he nods after a moment. Yeah, he should make them french fries. Doesn’t fit Azul’s ‘adjustment to the water’ plan , but clearly that shit isn’t working. He can make better french fries, obviously.

Floyd’s claws dance to the tune of his trepidation. Shrimpy’s taking too damn long. He needs to check. Are they okay? Were the fries bad? He’ll fucking kill the line cook if they were bad…. But there’s a clatter in the bathroom. A distinct click.

His eyes slither to Jade’s, finding his mirror looking right back at him. Gold-olive eyes hood in amusement, a sharp flash of a smirk. Such a sneaky little shrimp. Should they let them wander a little? Get it out of their system? Aw, but what would they do for, like, twenty minutes? Well, he did see their eyes linger on a few of the colorful stalls on the way in…. 

So what does Floyd get out of this little runaway act? A few brightly colored, stupid little knick knacks. He hates the little snowglobes and the best knit ‘save the turtle’ he found in each store is horrifically mutated. But the idea of his Shrimpy smiling at these makes him grin like an idiot. He even has to pull a Jade and hide his teeth behind his hand. He’s already distinct enough. He doesn’t need people getting wind of merfolk in the area. 

“You look like me with bad posture,” Jade rolls his eyes, hiding his smirk behind a hand.

“You look like me with a resting bitch face,” Floyd smacks at Jade’s shoulder with a goofily colorful sign. It’s wooden; a solid knock off. The brothers lock eyes, a brief spark of a potential tousle. But they both decide to save it for later. That being said, Jade steps just centimeters in Floyd’s way; Floyd keeps bumping their shoulders too close as they walk. The little spites make up for the fact that they both know a straight-up brawl would bother their Shrimpy. 

He’ll just hog Azul later. That’ll teach his preppy ass of a brother. 

“No it won’t.”

“Bitch—”

He kicks his ankle. Jade dodges and does his weird polite giggle. Fuckin’ weirdo. Same face, different brain— yeah bitch, get insulted. His brother’s annoyed brow twitch makes him snicker, feeling a slight rush of joy as he sees a human jolt at the sight. Then his joy turns a little more genuine as he looks at the souvenirs again. Just little silly island things. Shrimpy will like it.

“You are such a dork,” Jade sighs.

“Uh, I can’t hear you over the mushrooms in your ears,” Floyd sneers.

“We’ve probably spent enough time away for them to calm down—”

“Don’t change the conversation, Prick.” And yet he falls into step anyway. Much as he’d like to dick-kick his brother, Shrimpy’s the most important. That cute little smile. When their cheeks get all pink and dimply. Hehe, so cute. His smile turns a touch more intense, the whites of his teeth contrasting with the pleased heat of his blush.

Twenty minutes are up.

Ready or not.

“...They’re not as close as I thought they’d be,” Jade’s voice cuts through the pretty picture of Shrimpy’s smile. Floyd feels the hairs rise on the back of his neck. 

“Shit, I didn’t think they’d be that bold,”  Floyd’s lips tug down into a panicked frown. “We miscalculated.”

“You think, brother fucking dearest?” Jade lands a kick on his ass. That’s fair. Vengeance later, shrimp hunt now. Being on land is no different from when they’re underwater. They move as one. Drifting apart, but always within eye shot. Less suspicious if two big guys aren’t seen together in the water. Easier to approach prey. Carefully zipping through crowds, looking for any fond trace of their newest. Smallest. Cutest. Floyd won’t even be mad. He hopes he catches their smile. A sneaky little grin, at having evaded them. They haven’t done that in a while. He wants to see it again. 

Please let them be okay.

Please please please let them be okay.

But then, if they get hurt…. No, that’s unacceptable. Not on their watch. Never on their watch . Jade nods shortly. Floyd follows after him. Can’t be that hard. Just harder than expected. What a good, sneaky shrimp, that’s a good undersea skill, he’ll have to tell them later. His heart pounds.

Fuck, fuck, fuck , where are they?

Floyd’s eyes dart through the streets, teeth gritting a bit tighter every time he doesn’t catch a familiar flash of their Shrimpy. A bead necklace they liked from Azul. A particular birthmark on their neck. Nope, nope, nope— none of these are his shrimpy, none of them have that sweet smell, that blend of him and Azul and Jade and it’s too weak anyway. They’re not even marked.

Not that they’d even consider asking them yet.

But his teeth itch.

A red scarf. A set of cracked glasses. The limp of one woman, the strut of a man, the gait of a person loping their way into a bakery to order a sweet. Not his shrimp, not his shrimp, not our shrimp . He clicks his teeth together. Jade clicks his. Okay. No sight of them. Shit. Jade taps his elbow; Floyd lightly checks his shoulder into his. They’ll find them. They’re good hunters. Shrimpy’s fine; they’re stretching their legs, they’re fine, they’re fine. What if they’re not?

The thought burrows into his skin like a bobbit worm. Spines claw through his veins, scratching at them and setting an itch to his skin. The teeth snap at his ankles, driving him to walk faster, look harder— a scent. Sweet. Jade-Floyd-Azul-Shrimpy. The musk of their cave. A tiny hint of perfume. Shrimpy . His mirror pauses, catches the scent as well. Oh thank fuck, they’re close by. That’s fresh. A very, very fresh scent. Okay, okay, okay. Shrimpy’s not in the best part of town. Shit, he wished they’d gone into the thousand-replica stores. Bright colors and a goofy smile. Not this. But Shrimpy’s fine. They’re fine, they’re fine. Shrimpy. The unspoken nickname catches in his throat, chokes him as he hurries along the trail. Get the Shrimp, protect our Shrimp, my Shrimp, my Shrimp.

They’re close and he’ll get them and hold them and who the fuck is that?

Doesn’t matter. He’s going for Shrimpy; Jade’s got the bastard. One, two—Jade yanks the guy away; Floyd steps in to hold their little mate. A relieved, dry sob escapes him, more akin to a wheeze after a punch. He needs to make them better. They’re scared, so scared. Small in his arms. Small. Small sobs…. His heart aches and he squeezes them closer, face burying over their throat. Floyd’s only half aware that he’s flipping between babbling reassurances and trying to see how aware they are.

He gets closer and takes a big whiff near their mouth—and he can taste it. Big sparks of pleasure-pain-panic spike through their sweet scent, bursting into an intoxicating ichor that burns like bile in his throat. Something in their drink . They said someone put something in their drink. The worst kind of thing in their drink. Poison isn’t as cruel, and no other drug can be quite so painful as the panic in his littlest lover’s eyes. 

His teeth part before he clicks them shut, and he squeezes Shrimpy closer. Jade’s got that asshole’s… remains; he’s got their Shrimp. Their poor, hot little shrimp. Squirming in such pathetic terror in his arms, as he achingly clutches them close. 

If things were simpler, he’d take them home and curl them into a soft bed. They’d all take care of their smallest, their newest, their cutest. Reassure their Shrimp in all the best and proper ways. Show them that he’ll keep them safe; that all their mates would. But they don’t ask. All he can do is hold them tight and get them home. He buries them in his arms as they swim, still tasting it. Still tasting that awful, bitter alcohol— fuck, they let this happen. He can’t make up for the fact they let this happen. His heart hurts. And he wants to tear someone’s throat out.

Things aren’t simple.

And it fucking sucks .

Fun fact, based a lot of the locale on a vacation to Florida I took.

[scarabsinthestardust]

Better in the Morning // Ch. 14

MASTERLIST

word count: 2900+

CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language; pregnancy; pregnancy tests, doctor's appointments; anxiety; mentions of depression; a tiny mention of abortion and archaic Tennessee state laws regarding it; bad news and a cliffhanger (please forgive me)

I rarely get sick. I sometimes say it’s because I inherited my father’s immune system. When everyone around me got COVID, I somehow got away scot-free. So, when I woke up feeling extremely nauseous, I brushed it off as the aftereffects of something I ate. Maybe the Chinese food from last night didn’t agree with me. But when it hadn’t faded by the next day, I resigned myself to accepting that I caught a stomach bug.

I scoured the cabinets for any kind of nausea medicine, but the only one I found expired six months ago. I groaned and threw it in the trash. I didn’t bother changing out of my pajama pants, just threw my hair into a messy bun and headed to the drug store.

I grabbed a Sprite and went hunting for the medicine. I found it without too much trouble, but as I cut through another aisle to head towards checkout, I froze. I stared at the shelves, eyeing the pink and blue boxes wearily. There’s no way. I don’t know why it even crossed my mind. I’d been on the birth control shot for a while now. I haven’t really had a period, but that’s normal for the type of contraception I’ve been on. Other than the nausea, I didn’t have any symptoms. So why was I suddenly worried? With a sigh, I grabbed a random one off the shelf. Just to be sure.

~

Sitting in the bathroom, I stared at the test. It’s crazy how a stupid, tiny piece of white plastic can hold so much power over someone. I debated throwing it away, that it was a stupid idea and there was no way in hell that’s what was wrong with me. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “This is so dumb,” I said to myself before grabbing it off the counter and popping off the cap.

I waited however long the instructions specified before picking it up again. I’d talked myself into believing I was just being paranoid, pushing my anxieties down and telling myself to quit worrying, and that I could laugh about it later. After all, the shot only had a one percent failure rate. I was fine. Probably. But when I saw those two parallel lines, my breath caught in my throat and my heart sank into my stomach. Fuck me.

Because I don’t know how to be cool, calm, and collected in the face of certain situations, the next logical step was to panic. I grabbed my keys and drove, probably way over the speed limit, back to the store. I tried to convince myself it was a faulty test, a false positive. I would just try one more. But the anxiety won out. When I dropped eleven different boxes on the checkout counter, the clerk raised an eyebrow at me.

“Don’t ask,” I muttered.

~

Positive. Every single one was positive. Fuck. Me.

I wanted to throw up, but couldn’t tell if it was nerves, the large amount of water I consumed in such a short period, or the fact that I had an actual human in my stomach. Between sobbing and hyperventilating, I eventually did manage to puke. I sat on the bathroom floor, my mind going a thousand miles a minute. I had no idea what I was going to do.

Jake and the guys went back on tour a couple of weeks ago and wouldn’t be back for almost another month. I couldn’t call Jake; it wouldn’t be right to drop that bomb and cause a huge distraction. He needed to focus on their busy tour list and countless shows they were playing around the country. Finn was in Colorado for the week. I could call Richie, but how much help would he be in this situation? I didn’t have any girlfriends I was close enough with to help me out with this. I had one more option, though.

I opened my contacts and found the name. I stared at it for what seemed like ages while I got my breathing under control before I finally pressed ‘DIAL.’

The line was answered after a few rings. “Hello?”

“Hey, Karen. Um, are you busy?” My voice sounded raw from crying.

“Not at all. What’s going on, sweetheart? Is everything okay?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I’m kinda freaking out. I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s okay, honey. Just breathe, tell me what happened. Is it Jake?”

“I’m pregnant,” I blurted out. I wasn’t ready for the weight of those words and how scary it would feel saying them out loud.

Karen gasped. “Oh my God, that’s… you haven’t told Jake yet?” I could hear the excitement in her voice.

“No, I can’t tell him while they’re on tour. We… we didn’t plan for this. What if he doesn’t want a baby? What if he’s not ready? What if I’m not ready?” I was fighting sobs as I spoke, and it was a losing battle. “I don’t know how to be a mom.”

Karen’s voice never faltered as she talked me off the metaphorical ledge, calmly pulling me back. “Honey, just breathe for me. I know you’re scared, and that’s okay. It’s a big change, and it can be difficult. Trust me, I know. But you have to remember you aren’t going to be doing this alone. You always have me and Kelly. And you’ve practically got the whole rest of the village there with you.” She let out a deep sigh. “Jake loves you. I think he’s going to be so happy. You guys will figure it out as you go, but you’ll do it together.”

I sniffled and rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. I knew she was right, and that I was surrounded by wonderful people that would be more than willing to provide support. Of course, I worried about my dad’s reaction when he inevitably, eventually found out. But my biggest fear, the one I couldn’t quell the anxiety of, was Jake. Despite Karen’s comforting words, I was terrified he would be disappointed. The little voice in my head told me it was going to ruin his life, his dream, and I struggled to silence that voice.

“Did you see a doctor yet?”

“No. I just took twelve drug store pregnancy tests.”

“Twelve…? You know what, I don’t want to know,” she chuckled. “The point is, the first step is to make an appointment with your OB. Do you have any idea how far along you might be?”

I involuntarily snorted a laugh. “Sorry, no clue.”

“That’s okay. They can tell you that. They’ll do an ultrasound and bloodwork to check for a bunch of different things, make sure the baby’s healthy and everything.”

A whole new collection of worries and fears rose up in my chest. What if I passed down whatever illness made my mother take her life, then Luca’s? Would the baby inherit Jake’s issues too, making it a double whammy in the depression department? I wouldn’t bring any of this up to Karen, so I forced it back down as far as I could. One thing at a time.

~

The earliest OB appointment was a week out. It gave me a chance to catch my breath and plan things out in my head. Once I got all the tears out, I started doing my own research and gathering questions I wanted to ask the doctor. I tried my best to pretend everything was normal when Jake called. I know it was for the best right now, but hiding this from him was so much more painful than I imagined.

I decided to hold off on telling Finn, on the off chance he accidentally let something slip to Josh. Richie was suspicious the second I told him I’d be out of work for a doctor’s appointment. He eventually coaxed it out of me, staring at me in shock when I told him. I made him swear not to say a word to anyone, and he offered to close the shop and come with me to the doctor’s, but I declined. I needed to do this on my own. Part of it was just me being stubborn and not wanting to ask for help, but another part was stuck on a dark road, telling me I needed to figure out how to do it myself, just in case. I hated thinking like that and feeling like I had to prepare for every worst-case scenario, but it was ingrained into me, and nothing I did could rid myself of those thoughts.

By the time the appointment rolled around, my nerves hadn’t settled at all. I sat in the waiting room, trying and failing to focus on a book, my knee shaking so hard I was receiving pitiful looks from others in the waiting room.

I apologized profusely to the phlebotomist who did my bloodwork and the ultrasound tech for my nervousness, who sweetly assured me that it was perfectly normal to be anxious about it all, especially since it was my first time. She asked me some routine questions as she set everything up for the ultrasound. She did warn me that the gel would be cold, but I still jumped when it touched my stomach. Cold was an understatement.

“Okay, you ready?”

I nodded quietly before she put the handheld scanner against my skin (I learned later that it’s called a transducer). After some movement and uncomfortable silence, she spoke again. “There we are. Do you want to see?” I gave her an inaudible ‘yes’ and she turned the screen to face me.

“I’d say you’re just barely over six weeks. There’s the embryo, and we have a heartbeat.” She pointed a few things out, explaining as she went, but I stopped listening. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I stared at the screen that displayed the tiny, bean-shaped thing I was growing inside of me, the little bundle of cells and life that would eventually be a whole baby. I could see it now, and that made it real.

When this all first came to light, I considered all possible options. Just to be prepared. Not that abortion would have been an option in the state of Tennessee, what with all these old white men creating laws about women’s bodies, but it stopped being something I was considering before I even made the doctor’s appointment. Now that I was actually seeing it, and it was a sure thing, it hit me that this was my baby. Jake’s baby. The idea that we were going to be parents was so surreal to me.

I didn’t even realize I had started crying until the ultrasound tech called my name, pulling me from my racing thoughts. “If you need to look into what your options are, I can get you some brochures and phone numbers.”

“What? Oh, no. I’m sorry. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m okay. My boyfriend’s just out of town for work.”

She almost looked as though she didn’t believe me, but I couldn’t blame her. I was a mess, and I’m sure women lied to her all the time about their personal situations.

I thanked her and she directed me to the checkout desk to schedule my next appointment. As I walked back to my car, I kept repeating to myself, as if I stopped saying it, I would wake up and it would all be a dream, “I’m gonna have a baby.”

~

The entire day before Jake returned home, I cleaned the house top to bottom. It kept me busy and kept me from panicking too much. I wasn’t going to put it off any longer than I already had to; I was telling him tonight. Everything was ready, now I just needed to wait.

I sat on the couch to relax, and I must have dozed off, the day’s business catching up with me. I didn’t hear the front door, or the sound of Jake’s boots as he lightly treaded across the hardwood floors. My eyes fluttered open at something lightly brushing my cheek, and I smiled when my vision came into focus on Jake’s face.

“Hey, you’re home. Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s all good, baby. You want to go to bed?” He kept his voice low and soft, and I could tell he was tired, too.

I just nodded in agreement, sleepily following him up the stairs. He made sure I was tucked into bed before he disappeared into the bathroom for a quick shower. I almost fell right back asleep, but my eyes shot open when I remembered my news. I opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out the little black box, something I threw together that might help me make the announcement. I concealed it under the blanket.

Jake came out of the bathroom, sporting messy, towel-dried hair, and threw some clothes on before joining me in bed. “Thought you were going to sleep. You okay?”

“Yeah, uh… I know you’re probably tired, I am too, but I have something for you, and I need to do it tonight.”

“Okay,” he gave me a concerned look. “Is it another tattoo?”

I laughed nervously. “No, but this is also one hundred percent non-returnable.”

He eyed the box suspiciously when I brought it out and into his view. He tried to ask me what it was, but I just handed it to him and gestured to open it. I held my breath as he examined the contents, trying to process what he was looking at.

The box contained a plush baby toy that resembled a cartoonish, green moth, and right next to it was the tiniest pair of black Chelsea boots I could find on the internet. Jake didn’t speak as he studied them, his brain only starting to put the pieces together. At the bottom of the box, I placed a purple envelope that held the sonogram. I heard his breath hitch when he pulled it out. He stared at it silently for what seemed like hours, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Jake? Say something, please.”

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

Another minute passed, his eyes not leaving the photo he held in front of him. “We’re gonna have a baby?” I couldn’t quite read his expression. It was almost as if he was in shock.

“Yeah, we are.”

When he finally looked at me, there were fresh tears forming in his eyes. “I’m gonna be a dad?”

I could only nod as I fought back my own tears. He blinked and his breath quickened before his hand was on the back of my head pulling me to him, his other still holding the sonogram. “Fuck,” he muttered in between kisses. “Fuck, we’re gonna be parents. You’re gonna be a mom.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I laughed dryly. “I’m fucking terrified, Jake.”

“Shit, me too. But Kya,” his hand on my cheek now, he kissed me again. “I’m so fuckin’ happy. This is so… I’m gonna be a dad,” he repeated. “Do you know how long…?”

“I’m at about 10 weeks now. I have my next appointment next week, if you wanna-“

“Yes. Of course I want to be there. I want to be there for everything.”

I felt a huge weight lift off my chest. Jake was happy. He was excited about this journey. He wanted this. And it all didn’t seem so scary anymore.

“I cant wait to tell everybody. Mom’s gonna be so excited.”

“Actually, your mom already knows.” I smiled sheepishly. “I called her when I found out. Almost four weeks ago. I was panicking and I knew she’d handle it better than Richie.”

He chuckled. “That’s reasonable. Shit, I can’t believe you kept it from me for four weeks.”

“I’m sorry, Jake, I-“

“No, don’t be. I get it, I know why you did.” He took another thoughtful look at the sonogram and placed it on the bedside table, putting the box next to it. He wrapped an arm around me, his hand lingering on my stomach before pulling me gently to lie down. “I love you so much. Both of you.”

~

The next day, we arranged plans with the guys for dinner, pushing it out a few days to plan everything out, and give them a chance to rest up from tour before dropping the news. I had gotten a few copies of the sonogram to give to them. They were all my family now, and I wanted them to be involved as much as possible.

But the night before we were supposed to see them, some more unexpected news brought everything to a screeching halt.

Jake and I were just starting to get ready for bed; I was putting my hair up in a loose braid, Jake doing something in the bathroom when his phone rang from the top of the dresser. He sighed in annoyance as he walked over to answer it.

I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but the way Jake’s expression changed, I knew something was wrong. “I’m on the way,” he said before hanging up and rushing to put his shoes on. I started to ask what was going on, but he beat me to it, and my heart sank at his words.

“Sam’s been in an accident.”

///

I'm so sorry for the things that I've done here. I hate cliffhangers as much as the next person, so the next chapter may be out a little quicker than the weekly schedule I've been trying to stick with.

TAGLIST Let me know if you want to be added!

@hollyco @fleetingjake @musicislove3389

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Thor: Part Two

Pairing: Loki x Female!Reader, Thor x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~3k

Warnings: canon violence and angst, smut, fem!receiving

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

When you enter the prison, your hopes are crushed. Each cell is sectioned off with a golden shimmering wall that looks like it will hurt if you touch it. The guards throw you into the cell before putting up the golden walls. The room is white and bare, and you're all alone in it. Anger bubbles inside your chest as you throw a ball of fire at the wall. It only explodes, and there is no damage to the wall. You walk over to it and put your hand on it, only to jerk back in pain.

"Shit," you whisper and fall to the ground in defeat.

The cell you're in is dipped to the ground so that there is a raised border around it. It's a big enough border that you can rest comfortably on it without touching the walls. How the hell are you going to get out of here now? There is no one who is going to help you, and no one knows where you are. Natasha saw you get ripped away from Earth, but who did she tell? Fury and Tony wouldn't know where to look for you because they don't know life exists outside the Solar System. Fury does, but how is he going to know you're here? You could fight your way out, but then you'd be no better than Markus.

All kinds of creatures are locked in their own prison cells--some with roommates and some alone. At least they have someone to talk to. What are you going to do in a prison cell that has nothing in it? Your question is answered when Thor and Loki come to visit you. They take a seat on the steps leading up to your cell, and you look at the brothers sadly.

"Come here to berate me and tell me how bad I am?"

"No, I'm here because I need more information," Thor answers.

Loki doesn't answer you, just sits down next to his brother. You look at Thor and raise one eyebrow dismissively.

"What kind of information?"

"After the battle, I did my best to research Xenia just in case they came back for another fight. How are you alive? The battle happened a thousand years ago."

You look at Loki and he squirms slightly under your gaze. It's like he's uncomfortable with you being here.

"How are you alive? You must be thousands of years old." You pause and take a deep breath before continuing. "The serum they injected me with slowed my aging rate close to zero. Xenians live for three hundred years, maybe four. I am going on a thousand, and I still have a lot more to go."

"Father says Xenia is a bad planet. I remember the battle well."

"The planet is a beautiful one with calm waters, a thriving ecosystem, and good nature. It's the people who were bad. Markus was bad. He had everyone wrapped around his finger because he was the CEO of a very well-known company that practically bought out all the others," you say, but pause with a sigh. "I'm sorry Markus took the Tesseract. As far as I know, it's--" You can't reveal that it might still be on Earth because then they might wage war to get it back. "I'm just sorry, okay?"

"What are your powers?" Loki asks. You and Thor look at him, and he shrugs. "I'd like to know what threats might come our way."

"I'm no threat to you or your home. I am a shapeshifting Avatar. I can control the four major elements--fire, water, air, and earth, and shift into any living creature. I can also create portals to anywhere in the world. I was tested with the Tesseract and have gained that ability. This whole thing is a pain in the ass, but it's my duty to do right by it. I mean no harm to all Asgardians. I wasn't meant to be here. You have to believe me."

"I will do what I can," Thor declares.

He gets up and leaves you and Loki alone. Now that his brother is gone, Loki doesn't have him to fill the awkwardness between you two. You don't know why it is, considering you remember a lot more about him than you thought. Apparently, you two were close. You're not going to mention that now because you don't know Loki now. He could get angry or something, and you don't want more shit piled on your shoulders.

"I remember you from the battle," you reveal, and his eyes snap to yours. He seems scared at your confession, but you don't know why. "You were in the vault when Markus stole the Tesseract. You look exactly the same. You must not age normally, either."

Loki doesn't answer because he is busy processing your words. When he realizes the weight of your words, he visually relaxes at the relief. Why does he feel relief? Would he feel relief or fear when you tell him you know about him after Markus left you on Asgard? You're not sure if it's a memory or a dream, so you're not going to say anything to him. Instead of answering you, he gets up without a word. He leaves your side, and you watch him go with a frown. 

Now it's just you, and all you have left to rely on is Thor. You're not even sure he can get you out of here, much less get you out of Asgard.

Thor must have some pull on Asgard because he managed to get you out of your cell. You stand before the King and Queen of Asgard in the throne room with Thor by your side. Loki is nowhere to be found, but you're not going to dwell on it.

"I will allow you one—and only one—chance to leave Asgard and never return."

"Yes, sir. I will be gone in the morning. I never meant any harm to you or to your people. I have no quarrel... I never did... not even before. I was kidnapped and stolen from my life to serve Markus. I'm truly sorry for the pain he has caused."

"Why don't you stay the night?" Frigga offers, wrapping a welcoming arm around your shoulder.

"That's not necessary. I don't want to intrude."

"It's not intruding if I ask you, my dear. Come on. I will show you to your room." 

You take one last look at Odin before you leave the room. Thor stays behind to talk to his father while Frigga takes you to your room. The guest room is also golden with sheets made of the finest silk and curtains that shimmer in the light. Everything inside the room is either marble or granite, and the bed is king-size. It's too fancy for you but you have a feeling Frigga won't take no for an answer.

"Please make yourself comfortable. There are fresh pajamas in the drawer for you to wear."

"I really do appreciate all of this, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Frigga."

"Okay... Frigga. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see you in the morning."

She leaves you alone in the room. You thought you would never come back here, and here you are staying inside the castle for the night. All you wanted was to go home and you can't even accomplish that. The pajamas are in the second drawer of the dresser, so you take those out and quickly change into them. You're folding your clothes when you hear a knock on your door. 

"Come in."

Thor enters your room carefully as if he doesn't know if he should be here or not. You give him a kind smile and put your own clothes away.

"I'm glad Father allowed you to be out of those cells."

"If you're glad, I'm ecstatic," you chuckle. You take a seat on the edge of the bed, and Thor joins you. He's sitting so close to you that his knee touches yours. "I just want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For being so kind to me. Knowing our history, and you still fought to keep me out of the cells. I don't even know you."

"It's alright. You didn't cause the war. I remember it quite vividly. Bodies were everywhere--some of Asgard and others not. I remember--"

He stops himself, and you move in closer as if that will get him to tell you what he was thinking.

"What do you remember?" you whisper.

"I remember you and how lost you were. What Markus did was unforgivable, and I'm truly sorry that you got caught up in the middle of it."

Thor turns his head to look at you, and it registers in your brain just how close you two are.

"I'm okay now," you mutter.

Maybe it's how close you two are. Maybe it's the way he's looking at you. Maybe it's the fact that he saved you from spending all your time in the prison cells indefinitely. Whatever the reason, you feel a sudden wave of lust wash over you for the God. Humans have studied Norse Gods all throughout the world to various different degrees. They all describe Thor as being this mighty and powerful God, but they never describe just how attractive he is. He has dark blue eyes, a neatly trimmed beard, bulging muscles, and such a soft voice for someone so powerful.

"Good," he mutters back.

The attraction between you sparks heavily, forcing one of you to make the first move. There is nothing going on between you emotionally. You have no idea who he is or what he's done in his life, but there is a physical attraction between you. All it takes is being at the right place at the right time, and then everything else falls into place.

Thor makes the first move and he presses his lips on yours. All it takes is that one little action and the rest of the night is laid out perfectly for you. It might be cliche, but you feel sparks of passion as soon as your skin makes contact with his. Considering he's the God of Thunder, it makes sense you'd feel this way. You wonder what Loki's lips would feel like. Wait, why are you thinking of him when you have Thor right in front of you?

You reach up with your left hand to cup his cheek, but he grabs your wrist and pins you to the bed so that he is hovering over you. Damn, if he's going to play it this way, then you'll gladly submit to him. He grabs your right wrist to join your other one, and he slots himself in between your legs.

"Damn, you're really going for it, aren't you?" you chuckle when he pulls away from you.

"Don't pretend like you don't love it," he mutters.

He's right, but the last thing you're going to do is tell him that. He licks along the vein on your neck, latching onto the base of it near your collarbone. His hands slide down your body, hooking them underneath your legs. One of them grips your thigh and the other one slithers up your body underneath the nightgown that Frigga let you use. Since she only gave you a gown to wear, you don't have any undergarments on. Thor can practically feel how wet you are from where his hand is on your thigh.

Thor smirks and kisses down your body through the thin fabric. His lips ghost over your breasts, and your nipples stand to attention. He sinks to his knees right in front of you, but you're too far away for his liking. Grabbing your legs tightly, he pulls you into him so that your legs are dangling over the side of the bed. He bunches your nightgown around your waist so that your pussy is exposed to him.

The feeling of his eyes on your most sensitive area causes you to clench around nothing. You squirm from his gaze, and all he does is let out a low chuckle.

"So pretty and pink," he mutters.

"Thor, please do something," you beg.

"I like it when you beg," he grins. "Do it some more."

Arrogant men like him turn you off, but it sounds so sexy coming from his mouth. It's definitely the accent, but you give him what he wants just so he can give you what you want the most.

"I need your mouth on me, Thor. Please... I want to come all over that tongue. To watch you lick everything I have to offer."

Your words turn him on, and instead of teasing you like how he planned on doing, he dives right. He hooks your legs over his shoulders so that he can have better access to your dripping pussy. He licks one thick stripe up your slit, gathering the juices that have leaked out of you. He wraps his tongue around your clit and sucks hard, causing you to let out an unexpected squeal.

"Fuck!"

He moves his tongue back down to your entrance and shoves his tongue in without warning. One hand keeps your thighs open while the other rests on your lower stomach so that his thumb can work over your clit. You don't want to be too loud in fear that anyone in the castle can hear, but it's hard to be quiet when Thor's doing what he's doing. 

He licks you from wall to wall, swirling it around to taste every inch of you. He has a longer tongue than you thought he had, but it's a most pleasurable assumption. You've never been so happy to be so wrong about something. His thumb rubs hard circles around your clit, feeling the small nub throb from the pressure.

You must not have had sex in a long time because he can feel you approach the edge by how you're trying to clench around his tongue to keep him in longer. Either that or you orgasm quickly. If you're going to stay in the castle for more than a day, he definitely wants to see how much he can get you to orgasm in an hour. 

After all, he's never been the one to disappoint.

He pinches your clit and rolls it around between his fingers, feeling you right at the edge. He gives a single swish of his tongue, and you're toppling over the edge.

"Thor!" you drag out his name, arching your back.

Your hand flies to the back of his head, and you hold him there while you ride out your orgasm. Your legs shake from how intense it is, and he licks every drop you have to give him. When he pulls away from you, his beard is glistening with your orgasm. Shit, he looks so hot grinning at you like that.

"Fuck," you whisper. 

He crawls up your body and kisses you hard, shoving his tongue into your mouth so you can taste yourself on him. He rips the nightgown off you and tosses it behind him, not caring where it landed. He's hard as a rock in his pajamas, and you roll your hips over him to egg him on.

"Naughty girl. Do you want more?"

"Yes, please," you beg. 

He stands up to his full height and grips your waist, flipping you over so that you're now laying flat on your stomach. He pulls your hips to meet his, your ass now sticking in the air for him while the rest of your body is smushed into the sheets below. He strips himself free of his pajama bottoms, his hard cock bouncing free. You peek over your shoulder to see him stroking himself, and your pussy clenches at the thought of having his cock inside you. Thor is a big man in general, and even his hand can't fit all the way around him.

You're going to have a lot of fun with this man. Maybe staying on Asgard isn't going to be such a bad thing. You spread your legs further to entice him, and he takes the bait. He runs the tip of his cock through your folds before sliding himself in. He doesn't exactly take it slow, but he isn't slamming into you. It's the first time you two have been together, so he understands he needs to give you some time to adjust. 

However, he isn't waiting too long. Your pussy flutters all around him, and he begins to move. In and out, slowly at first. When he knows you can take more, he picks up the pace. You're mewling and clawing at the bedsheets below you, pushing against him to get him to go deeper. He feels your need and lust for him, and he's going to give you exactly what you want. 

He grips your hips and holds you steady before slowly pulling all the way out and slamming right back in. 

"Fuck! Thor!" you scream, pushing your head into the sheets deeper so that your voice is muffled. 

He keeps the brutal pace, pounding so fast that the only thing that can be heard from inside the room is both of your pants, your drawn-out moans, and skin slapping against skin. Pleasure stems from your pussy and shoots out in every direction, numbing your whole body in the most delicious of ways. You can't come without some sort of clit stimulation, so with the hand you can move, you rub your clit hard and fast to try and keep up with his pace.

"Fuck," you groan, "I'm going to come. Please don't stop."

"Come for me Lady Y/N," he orders.

You don't know why but hearing that name come from his lips is the hottest thing you've ever heard (or at least, at the moment). You clench hard around him, but he still finds a way to shove himself deeper into you. He taps your g spot from behind, and the dam breaks. You and Thor come together at the same time, feeling both of your orgasms mix together inside of you. Your body shakes from how intense it is, reminding you for the next couple of days of where Thor has been. 

His thrusts begin to slow down until he is finished, stopping completely. He pulls out do you and watches as the evidence of your night drips out of your pussy and down your thighs. He scoops what he can with his index finger, and you roll over tiredly. You haven't had a man tire you out like this in a while, and it shows. Thor presents his finger to you, and you eagerly take him between your lips. You suck and lick every drop of both your orgasms, smirking when he pulls away.

"How many orgasms can you have in a night?" he asks cockily.

"Why don't you find out?"

You're thankful you don't have to leave until the morning.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[futurebird]

The Best of Earth (A short SF story)

In 100,000 years an alien ship enters our solar system. The Earth has no remarkable intelligent life, but it's a beautiful biodiverse planet recovering from some bad extinctions. The aliens don't notice the traces left by humanity right away, this is just a survey trip and not much monumental remains.

But, they do pick up a signal, coming not from Earth, but from Mars. "How strange?" they think. Mars is obviously the inferior planet for life. Earth is incredible. But, someone must go to investigate.

In fact, most of the aliens do not go to Mars, the least senior members of the team are sent, since tracing such signals is core to their mission…but also not much fun. Everyone else wanted to stay on Earth taking in the vast herds of wilder-beasts, the insects and plant life, the remarkable coral reefs.

The junior members of the team lament being back in space suits on a cold dead planet-- but such is the lot of a new explorer. They make their way to Olympus Mons where the signal originates.

At the summit they find a pit. A vast strip mine where robots labor to build more robots. Some of these robots maintain a building, patching and repairing it endlessly against the storms of the Martian surface. The junior research aliens enter the building. Inside they discover smaller more specialized robots and these too are set on maintaining the building in a perpetual shape of a human home, a large one, a mansion of the 21st century. 

Though there is art on the walls and books on the shelves, everything has been replaced thousands of times: All this effort, the vast strip mine, the fleets of machines have only one purpose: to prevent change.

Inside the house there is no air to breathe, the residents do not need it.

"Greetings Alien visitors! We always knew you would come to find us some day!" Say the three figures seated at the table in the dining room. "Who are you?" Ask the junior alien researchers. "We are the people of earth!" The machines proclaim. "It is sad, but we are all that survives."

The aliens share a look of skepticism between them. They saw an awful lot that survived better than this in the little time they got to spend on Earth–  (and speaking of earth they want to get back very badly. So, they try to rush through their interview with these weird machines.)

The machines tell of a civilization, an environmental crisis. How they, the very best of Earth went to Mars so all would not be lost. The alien researchers listen and nod along.

The machines of Mars tell the aliens how they "uploaded" their minds.

"Oh no." Says one alien involuntarily, but his friends nudge him to be quiet.

The machines of Mars do not notice. They have a great deal to say about themselves, and their inventions, and achievements, but the aliens are growing bored. (They just saw a video on their ship's social feed of senior officers diving & swimming in jewel blue waters with sea turtles & colorful fish. And there are the photos of the remarkable birds, and glaciers cooling at the edge of a boreal forest– The Earth is full of so much beauty… )

"Uh. We are honored to meet you and all!” Says one of the junior alien researchers doing her best to sound formal and commanding as an alien ‘ambassador’ ought to. She isn’t certain what an ‘ambassador’ is, but probably it’s some position of importance and ceremony and it's what the Mars machines keep calling them. “Yes we are honored– But- uh- now we must go." 

Somehow, they manage to extract themselves from the house Mars machine men... who happily cannot leave their compound– even though they try to follow the junior researchers, but the machine men of Mars need their maintenance machines, and they can go no further than the edge of the quarry. The alien researchers look back at the perfect incongruous house and the great mining pit beside it, and the machine men who are probably still talking of their achievements and memories.

"Do you think these count as gray goo? Do we need a quarantine?" Asks one alien as they make their way down the mountain. (And once the machine men are well out of earshot.)

"Nah! That's only if it's nanotech. I can't believe you almost told a group of immortality AIs the truth about uploading!"

"They would have never believed me!"

Having done the least desirable task in the mission, the junior alien researchers go back to Earth and they have a wonderful time. They never go back to Mars. And other than wondering how anyone could be so clueless, they never even really think about "The best of Earth" again. 

[babydxhl]

it's like we aren't human, aren't animal even, like we're something else entirely.

( * sighs * obligatory... arkham sentence starter, perhaps? )

american war sentence starters | still accepting.

Mary hummed a little, as if the multicoloured slush that passed for food and the flimsy plastic spork that passed for cutlery were far more interesting than the conversation.

In a way, they were. She found that in Arkham her tolerance and capability for outrage were limited only to herself and the things she could change — she could yell and scream and spit and claw for books, for a different doctor, for hair clips and extra snacks and a shower before the hot water supply had run dry, but she could not change the simple nature of the asylum itself, and didn't care to.

"You know they used to put lepers on islands, back in the day?" she said instead, her tone conversational, even as she shoved the tray away across the cell floor.

Lockdown. Like kids made to eat lunch in the classroom on a rainy day. The alarms had blared and the lights had flashed for the better part of 20 minutes, but then they had gone quiet; no news was either good news or very, very bad news. Mary folded her arms over her knees and looked into the glass box opposite her own.

"Just thousands of people, all shipped off for the rest of their lives. so nobody had to look at them ever again." A long pause. She wondered if it was the cocktail of drugs in her system or just who she was that made it hard to summon empathy for the faceless throngs of diseased dead. "Arkham is an island," she added after another beat, almost as if the two things were unconnected.

[sapphic-scylla]

I’ve done a lot of Soulsbornekiro posts but I don’t think I’ve ever written a Game ranking. So here goes. Reminder that this is opinion based on the thousands of hours I’ve sunk into these games. Enjoy!

All Souls Games Ranked from Best to Worst

Dark Souls 3- This is a no brainer for me. EVERYTHING I love about the Souls games were on full display in DS3. The scale of the fights, the lore, the weapons, the environments, the aesthetic. DS3 will always win for me in every regard.

Sekiro- A spin-off, sure, but such a creative presence in FromSoft’s anthology. The combat was unique while still having the classic Souls flair. It also forced me to learn its combat system and when you learn it, it’s such a satisfying victory. My only gripes were that it didn’t have DLC and that it wasn’t a longer game.

Dark Souls 1- Where it all started for me. Looking back on it, it’s probably the easiest on this list for me, but it’s still a very solid entry. I love the nostalgia it brings me as well as it setting the pace for a lot of lore and moments we see in future games. I wish it had gotten a little harder in the remastered version, but I can’t complain past that.

Elden Ring- A lot of my moots are probably surprised to see this down this low. Mommy Malenia is a shining star and definitely tops a list of my favorite souls bosses, but looking at the rest of the game, it fells short in some respects. A lot of the bosses are either way too easy or brutally difficult and not always for the best reasons. The lore and boss scale is great, but a lot of solid play styles get drowned out by the rising difficulty and it becomes a cheesefest fairly easily. Also, I’m annoyed by a lot more bosses in Elden Ring than most of the games on this list and it’s not because they are difficult.

Bloodborne- This is where I will lose A LOT of people. People rank this at the VERY top of their lists for a lot of reasons and are probably gonna be completely lost as to why this is down this far. Don’t get me wrong. The lore is great, the environment is good, Lady Maria is perfect, the weapons are fantastic, and people know I love cosmic and eldritch horror stuff, so you would think I’d love this game. But for me, what really shafts this game is the balance, the combat, and the walk back. One of the first weapons you get practically makes every other weapon in this game meaningless if you let it, my favorite weapons come at the END of the game (#rakuyobitchfolyfe), the combat and dodge system bones me about as much as it helps, and the fact that blood vials are a consumable? Not my favorite design choice. I don’t like having to refarm my healing options after having to trek through Cainhurst or the Fishing Hamlet and if I’m slamming my head against the Orphan of Kos, it dampens the experience to have to go back and refarm blood vials because I ran out. There were a lot of things that could have been executed better and it probably wouldn’t have been as bad if these issues weren’t so blatant.

Dark Souls 2- It’s the design choices. I don’t hate DS2 as much as a lot of people, but I’ll admit the game did not come off good to me when I first played it. The hollowing system actively frustrates me to this day, the quantity over quality bosses leaves a lot of nebulous memories, the open-ish world hurts me a lot more than it helps, and the weapons were really meh compared to the rest of the list. It’s definitely not as bad as people say, but there were some questionable choices here.

Demon Souls- The walkback hurts in this game. The system is great, but again consumable healing is brutal. It also is a lot of punishment unless you know the gimmicks that each boss has and once you know them, it kinda waters down the experience in an unsatisfying way. At least in DS2, you have Estus and can always have a healing option, but Demon Souls’ LOOOONG walk back to boss rooms and exhausting areas really wore me out of love for this game quickly.

[pcttrailsidereader]

How Your Backpacking Meals Are Really Made

By Emily Pennington (excerpted from the July 14, 2024 article in Backpacker)

A faint whiff of cumin and cracked black pepper serenades my nostrils, reminiscent of the Indian spice markets I once visited in my mid-twenties. Only, I’m not in South Asia, or even the back storeroom of a hip Thai restaurant; I’m in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, touring the massive factory where Backpacker’s Pantry meals are made.

My host for the morning is Soraya Smith, the company’s president and recipe-development chef. Smith, who had always been involved on the recipe side of American Outdoor Products (the parent organization of Backpacker’s Pantry) took over as president after her husband, Rodney, died in a tragic ski accident in 2020. She’s been the face of the family-owned corporation ever since.

“I’m from a foodie family,” explained Smith. “My mom is Spanish-Italian, and my father is from Iran, so we’re very multicultural. I also went to Culinary School of the Rockies before stepping into this role.”

Our first stop was the test kitchen, where Smith pulled different dry ingredients together to experiment with new recipe ideas. To be totally honest, the various plastic bags she grabbed out of a large bin looked more like the Parmesan cheese packets you’d get for free with your pizza delivery than high-quality foodstuffs. But therein contained the secrets to my favorite post-hike meals: proprietary flavorings and mixes, which Backpacker’s Pantry makes with freeze-dried ingredients.

As we entered the factory’s enormous storeroom, I asked Smith for a refresher: What exactly is freeze drying?

Freeze-drying technology was used extensively by NASA during the space boom of the 1960s. Since freeze-dried food retains more than 90 percent of its original nutrients, it’s the best way to keep astronauts stocked with nutritious food. Better yet, the food can last for years without going bad.

When an ingredient is freeze-dried, it’s brought to an inhospitable -60°F, then back above freezing multiple times while inside a vacuum chamber. That way, only the ingredient’s water content is removed. “Some companies make a large sheet of, say, lasagna, cook it, and then dehydrate it,” Smith said. “We, on the other hand, mix each of our freeze-dried ingredients into the bag, so that when you add that boiling water, most of them are getting cooked for the first time. It’s fresher, and I think it has a better texture.”

Once workers grab individual ingredients from the palettes in the store room, they go to the dedicated mixing room, where seasonings and starches are stirred together in large tubs. The room looks like a sterile, high-tech scene out of Willy Wonka.

Here, Smith points out that the brand adheres to a strict allergen separation system. For instance, a recipe with gluten won’t get run through the machines on the same day as a gluten-free recipe to protect customers with gluten intolerances. Ditto for dairy products. (Workers clean the machines thoroughly at the end of each day by passing them through a chrome-covered, bedroom-sized industrial dishwasher.)

After mixing, the meals are mechanically portioned out by category—sauce, starch, meat, and vegetable—then sealed by hand. Workers sample the meals throughout the day, preparing a baggie to taste-test at the beginning, middle, and end of each run. The goal is to ensure the flavors remain consistent throughout. Forks and counter space are set aside in the test kitchen for this specific purpose. If something doesn’t taste right, they ditch the batch and correct it.

The Backpacker’s Pantry factory produces thousands of meals each day. Once the day’s meals get sealed, boxed, and quality checked, they head into a gigantic storeroom, which then ships the products to big retailers, like REI, as well as directly to consumers.

As I closed the huge warehouse doors behind me and concluded my tour, I was surprised to feel tremendously better about all that just-add-water food I’d been eating. The ingredients were both fresher than I’d imagined and more rigorously quality-checked. Ninety percent of their original nutrients, huh? Heck, maybe I’ll toss a couple under my desk to eat in the office.

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

All Of Me {Part 11 of 13}

Pairing: Robby Keene X Reader

Chapter word count: 2 K

Summary: Being the new girl in the Valley wasn't as bad as you expected, and you were finding your place when the dynamite you were living into exploded. You were kicked out of your house by your stepfather with nothing but a backpack with a few pieces of clothing. There was nowhere to go, and you were preparing yourself to spend the night in the streets when a guy finds you. After being invited to crash at his place, you didn't know the war you were walking into. A war you became determined to end.

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{Cobra Kai Masterlist}

A Thousand Promises

“I thought they only did cars here.” You say as Robby pushes the bike. There's a weird noise coming from who knows where, and he brought it to the LaRusso Car Dealership.

“They do. But they might have what I need. Bring me a bottle of water in the back?”

“Sure.” You say and go in through the front door as Robby takes the bike straight to the back, where the workshop is.

You've been here a couple of times, so you know your way around. One of the employees waves at you, and nobody stops you when you go into the office area. You get into the first one you find. The walls are a pastel pink color, and the desk is full of papers. Piles of it, you count four before going to the small fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.

“(Y/N)!” The voice startles you, and the first instinct that comes to your brain is to fight. So when you turn around, you're already in a fighting position when you realize it's Sam. “Whoa, slow down, Cobra Kai, it's me.” She walks fast to the desk, puts down another pile of papers, all looking very old, and opens her laptop. “You scared me. I'm overwhelmed.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

She looks at you with a relieved face, but then, she shakes her head. “I don't want to bore you to death. I'm sure you have something far better to do.”

“Actually, I'm here because Robby has to check on some weird noises from his bike. So I'll have to wait for him anyway.”

“Alright, but you have to promise you won't start hating me in the process.”

She giggles, and so do you. “I'll take this to Robby and I'll be back in a sec.” She nods and off you go, to give your boyfriend his water, get a 'thank you' kiss, and go back to Sam, who looks so stressed out you wonder how her laptop is still alive. “Okay. First of all, take a deep breath, and tell me what you're doing.”

“Mom and Dad want me to learn how to run the business since it'll be mine and Anthony's. And that's fine because I do want to learn but this-” She gestures at the papers. “-I'm trying to understand how they put in the sales, how they categorize everything and I even wanted to implement a new system that will make things easier, keep it better organized... But I can't even understand how things are now.”

She sounds tired, exhausted even. And you can tell this is important to her. “By the bags under your eyes, you've been here since early morning.” She nods, rolls her eyes, then sits down on the chair behind the desk. “Can I look around the papers and see what exactly we're doing here?”

“Please, be my guest. There are some Excel tables I tried to put together. But good luck trying to understand it.”

Walking around the desk, you take drag one of the chairs with you and sit before her laptop. You go through the tables she made first, finding them very confusing. Then, you check the software they had made for the company, and then the papers. It takes a while for you to put all that information together, and you did have to ask Sam to explain some terms and names. But after some time, you take a blank sheet of paper and start writing it down. Then, you open a new Excel document and start recreating the tables.

You only realize you've been at it for some time when the door opens suddenly, and Robby comes inside, followed by Sam's mother. “We've been looking for you everywhere.” The woman says, looking confused.

“Yeah, I even thought you grew tired of waiting and left,” Robby says, coming to stand next to your chair, eyes on the colorful table you have on the laptop screen.

“Sorry.” You look for your phone, lost among the papers. There are two missed calls from Robby.

“You scared me, princess.” He bends down to place a kiss on your cheek. “But what's all that? This place looks like a war scenario.”

As he speaks, Sam drags her chair closer, looking at the laptop. “You color-coded my idea?”

You turn to look at her. “Yeah.”

“Both on Excel... And in our software?”

“Yeah. You didn't know you could do that?”

She ignores you, takes the laptop, and walks over to Mrs. LaRusso. “Check this out. That's what I told you about.”

Mrs. LaRusso takes the laptop and sits down on the couch near the small fridge, going through the pages. “Yes, now I get what you mean. It would take some time and we'd have to rewrite our forms to apply it but... It's very good. I'm a bit jealous I didn't think of it myself.”

“It was my idea, but I've spent the entire week trying to put it together. (Y/N) came in here and made it happen in two hours.”

Both women look at you, and you shrug your shoulders, taking your phone and getting up. “I just created a new form instead of altering the old ones.”

“You took one look at our software and created a new form?” Mrs. LaRusso asks.

“I needed Dad to sit and teach me how to even go through that thing,” Sam adds.

Again, you just shrug. The software is quite complicated and has a lot of different functions. “I just found my way around it.” You simply say, taking Robby's hand. “We have to go now. We need to clean the dojo again, and the Senseis, your Senseis, want to meet with us later today so we better get going.” You say as you let Robby guide you outside. His bike is good as new, he tells you, and he also promised to come back tomorrow to teach some new guys how to take this car thing out, fix it, and put it back again.

Back at the dojo, you put on some old clothes and start the cleaning. It was supposed to be a chore, but with Robby and some music, it's not that bad. You clean, dance, and make out. On and on it goes, until you're late for meeting Lawrence - who you're getting used to calling Johnny since you're dating his son - and LaRusso. So you fight Robby for the bathroom, he let you win, and you shower first. When you're coming out, already dressed, you're about to say something sassy when you see his face, as he talks on his phone.

“Alright. Thanks, but we won't be able to take it.” He says, and the expression on his face when he looks at you is of defeat. “Ok. Thanks.” And he hangs up.

“Who was it?” You ask, walking over to him and touching his jaw, fingers caressing his chin.

“That house with the white fences, the one you liked,” Robby mutters, putting the phone in his pocket, sad eyes locked on yours. “They want too much upfront, or else they won't rent it. So I can't afford it.”

Sighing, you nod, biting the inside of your cheek. Houses in the Valley are expensive. At least to you, with only Robby working, and on a part-time job that pays him less because of his backstory. “I'm waiting for some places to call me. The kind lady from that restaurant said I'll probably get the job.”

“Even if you get the job, it's too much, we'd have barely enough to pay the bills.”

There's nothing left to say, so you just hug him, your head on his chest, the beating of his heart everything you hear. “If we have to stay here, we could make some adjustments. Separate it from the dojo.” As Robby speaks, you can feel he's not happy about it. He wants to grow, but things aren't always easy, not in the beginning.

“We have time. We don't have to rush.” You assure him, pulling away just enough to kiss him.

“Just stay with me.”

“I will. It doesn't matter if we're in a mansion or in a kitchenette. I'm with you.” When Robby smiles, all the sadness is gone, so you kiss him once again. But you break apart when his phone rings.

“It's my Dad. We're late.”

“Go shower, babe.” Another peck on the lips and he gets into the bathroom as you wait in the living room.

Fifteen minutes later you're getting on his bike, and in some more minutes, you're pulling into the address LaRusso gave you. Robby takes his phone as he waits by the curb, checking LaRusso's text. “Is it right?” He asks, showing you his phone.

“19223 Saticoy St, Reseda.” You read in a low voice, looking to your right. “South Seas. 19223. It's here.” Getting off the bike, you take a better look at the building. The walls are painted a pale blue, and there are palm trees and bushes framing the facade. It's pretty. “Let's check if they're in there.”

Robby raises an eyebrow at you. “You just want to see how it is on the inside.”

“You know me so well.” Giving him a sassy smile, you start walking to the front gate.

“(Y/N), wait,” Robby says, holding your arm gently. “I checked this place already. We can't afford it either. And it's really nice, it has a pool and everything.”

Smiling, you step closer. “Robby, I just want to see it. It won't make me sad that we don't have a pool or whatever.” A kiss and you take his hand, walking to the gate.

It's open, so you just push it and walk in. There's an entrance, with small boxes on one side for the mail, but what gets your attention is the pool, straight ahead. As you move further inside, you see stairs and apartments on both sides, and there are more in the back, beyond the pool.

“Super cool.” You say, getting closer to the pool and smiling to see two kids on the kid's pool, build as a round, smaller pool next to the big one.

“It's a nice place, yeah.” He comes to stand next to you, a hand on your waist. “I know a crazy kid when I see one. And those two will grow up to be trouble.”

That makes you giggle, and you start laughing when the two boys start fighting, making a blonde woman get up from her place in the shade to pull them apart.

“(Y/N)! Robby!” The yell comes from the balcony upstairs, and both you and Robby follow the sound, finding both Senseis up there, looking... Weirdly happy. “Come up here,” LaRusso says, and you exchange a glance with Robby before moving to the stairs.

“Do you think it's part of the plan?” You ask Robby.

“The plan is settled, We just need the Tournament to happen.”

Then you just shrug, following the Senseis through the balcony, and follow them into one of the apartments. You wonder if this is a surprise party. But it's your birthday already passed, and Robby's too.

“I'm a little anxious, so if you could just tell us what this is about already...” You say when you get inside the apartment. The place is neat, bigger than your place, with simple furniture, ready to live. “Did something happen?”

“What do you think?” LaRusso asks, gesturing vaguely at the place.

“About what?” Robby asks right back, shrugging.

“About my newest investment.” He replies, looking through the window. You take a peek, and from here, there's a beautiful view from the pool. “When I came to California, I lived here. It was a mess, and it was abandoned a year ago. So I decided to buy it and turn it into the amazing place I wanted it to be when I first got here.”

Still, you don't get it. “It is a nice place. Has this California vibe about it.”

“And what about your new apartment?” Johnny speaks, crossing his arms and walking around the living room. “I really like it.”

At that, you take a step back, and then a laugh erupts from your throat. “Oh, yeah. Nice try.” You say, chuckling. “But we can't afford it. Your reformations were probably what raised the price, Mr. LaRusso.”

“Did I ask for anything?”

“Mr. LaRusso, I don't get it”, Robby says, and when you look at him, it's clear he's as confused as you are. “What are you-”

“I wish I had a little push when I was your age. So now that I can, I'll give you that little push.” Again, he gestures at the whole place. “I set this apartment for the two of you. No rent, nothing. It's a gift, for as long as you want to live here, and don't even think about saying no.”

Saying no? You don't even know what to think. You're frozen, speechless. “Mr. LaRusso, I don't even know-”

“Don't say anything. Just start getting your things here.” He cuts Robby off. And there are tears in your eyes, so you turn around to hide them.

Robby comes to hug you, pulling you tight against his chest. “Do you want to do this?” He asks in a low voice, and you nod.

“I think we should give the little doves some alone time,” Johnny says, and you hear as they leave the apartment, your apartment, and close the door.

“So...”

“So...” He mutters, and you can hear the smile on his face. “When we find good jobs, we'll force him to accept our rent.”

“Can I be the one to throw the money over his garden gate after he insists on not taking it?” You ask, and you both laugh. “This is good, Robby...”

“This is great.” He says, looking down at you. “I love you, (Y/N).”

His words take you by surprise, and they make you cry, even more, wrapping your arms around his neck. “I love you too.”

The kiss that follows tastes like a thousand promises. Like future. It's long, passionate... It's the best kiss you had. Until now.

@eddiemunsonsbattoo @craftytrashprincess

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

The only good thing that will have come out of this park job fiasco is that two weeks from tomorrow I should get a direct deposit of around $100 for my single day's work.

Should.

Problem is, I worked 8 full hours, but I was only on the clock for 4½. My boss had me come in at 11:30, but didn't add my name to the punchclock system until it was time for my lunch break at 3:00. I punched in at 3:00, immediately punched out for lunch (paid, luckily), punched back in at 4:00, then punched out for good at 7:30. My boss said he would go into the system and change my start time, but I don't think he ever did because I called to quit the very next morning. I did 8 hours of work at $15.06 per hour, so I should have made $120.48 before taxes; at my old job they took out between 12 and 13%, so I should take home around $105 for the day. If I only get paid 4½ hours, that'll be less than $60, and I'll complain to the labor board if they don't honor the remaining $45.

I'm in a low point in my life right now, so I could REALLY use that $105.

Well, no, it's not really that low. I have my own apartment, so I'm not trapped at my parents' place in the cultural wasteland of the Keys. I have my own car, so I can go wherever I want. I don't have any money, but I got food assistance for the next three months (there was a bureaucratic hiccup last week, but I resolved it and got my benefits reinstated), and my parents can help me with my rent now that my little sister got a job and they can stop paying hers. I'm seeing a new psychiatrist and am back on antidepressants for the first time in over 2 years (though they don't appear to be helping at all, so I'll need a new prescription next month).

Things are bad, but they could be much MUCH worse. I'm actually doing better than a lot of people; I still have a right to complain, but it's not as bad as it could be. Not yet, at least. My life sucks, but there's somebody out there who would kill for the position of relative stability I have now. I'm not gonna starve, I'm not gonna wind up homeless, I have a safety net if I need it.

I feel like a leach... Not on society, I mean a leach on my parents. I will never feel bad about being on foodstamps; the program exists to help people like me, and I will take full advantage of whatever pittance the state is willing to offer me (the Florida government sucks ass, and I deserve the assistance after all the taxes I've paid over the years), but I hate asking my parents for money. The only way I can justify it is that my dad consistently borrowed thousands of dollars from me when I Iived at home. He would borrow money, pay back a portion of it, then borrow more; he usually fluctuated between $500 and $1000, but his high water mark was over $3000. I was an interest free bank to him for years, so helping me with rent for however long it takes me to get back on my feet seems fair to me. I feel less bad if I think of it that way...