#also anon im hoping it goes well so you can HOLD! THAT! BIRD!!

[hellsitegenetics]

I applied for a research assistant job in the arctic this year and I am wailing and crying and shitting because I won't know if I even got an interview until the end of february. please give me a lucky organism, I want to go to Nunavut so so bad. I want to lick a rock from a place where trees are basically physically incapable of growing. I want to take a selfie of me soyjack pointing at a seal. I want to Hold a Bird because that's what the job is. pray for me

String identified: a a ac atat t actc t a a a ag a cg a ttg ca 't gt a t t t a. a g a c ga, at t g t at a. at t c a c a ac t a aca ca caa gg. at t ta a ac tg at a a. at t a ca tat' at t . a

Closest match: Vanessa atalanta genome assembly, chromosome: 12 Common name: Red admiral

[actualbird]

Oh god!

I really love the poly headcanons they are so sweet.... (or don't but that's part of it and i think the tot boys+MC deserve all the love the world has to give).

But, liking it or not, our 4 beloved boys are kinda complicated (that's what makes them perfect). Plus I never thought about how people get in poly relationships. So i was thinking, how do you think they all get into a polyrelationship together?

(I really have no idea of how that would happen)

hi, two anons!! im glad you guys liked my nxx team polycule stuff!! i'll answer these in one go, my "headcanon" (in quotes because i think this kinda turned into a character analysis/minific of sorts HAHA) being what first anon asked, How They Get Together.

heads up, wc of this is 1.9k words long so buckle up for a bit of a read jfsjdfkjbf

because first anon, youre right!!! the boys are stupendously complicated which i love so so much but canon has also shown us clearly that each of the boys' quirks and habits and tendencies causes a lot of (mostly played for laughs) friction. the bickering, the backhanded insults, the "im the best one here" preening contests. theyre all SOOOO RIDICULOUS and it is hilarious but yep! the boys r complex!! and that means this beautiful ship, imo, has a lot of phases to get to the actual romantic relationship bit.

how they get together, in my opinion, starts because of mc.

not in the sense that she matchmakes them all, but like.

phase 1 of the nxx team polycule is this:

through being in love with her (which we all know the boys 100% are), each of the boys come to terms with their own flaws and weaknesses. it's very apparent to me in all the story thus far that these boys are flawed as hell, it's very compelling but even more compelling to me is how all of them also do intense mental gymnastics to Not Confront Those Flaws. like, marius is a dickbag always teasing and toeing the line of insincerity, vyn is a controlling mf who always tries to sway situations to his benefit, artem is so repressed to the point that he has genuine trouble with emotions, luke is a self sacrificial bastard and also a huge hypocrite about how no, actually, hes the only one that should be hiding his pain and being dishonest, no dishonesty from other people!! in the beginning of the story, all the boys have their flaws and seem to have just kinda...not addressed how those flaws are harming them and the people around them.

and then mc rolls around and they all fall in love with her. and she sees those flaws and she doesnt let them slide. she challenges the boys in her own ways to see another side of the situation, to acknowledge what theyre doing. she doesnt want to get rid of flaws, thats impossible and also not cool. she just has this beautiful hope for like, all of humanity, that goodness can prevail with the right work. so when she sees her beloved nxx boys, she believes that for them as well.

which leads to phase 2 of the nxx team polycule:

the boys, more aware of themselves, become more aware of each other.

they werent Unaware of the others of course. it's just that they didnt like...truly connect on a personal level just yet. they saw the other teammembers with their emotional armor and flaws and saw a wall that wasnt worth looking past.

but after mc makes them realize that hey, flaws arent the end of the world actually, it's alright and the person behind them may just be worth it, the boys like. end up understanding the others. A LOT OF THIS BIT IS UNINTENTIONAL, ON THEIR PARTS KJDSBFS. like they stumble into understanding each other by accident, they didnt plan it, but over the course of nxx investigations, it's inevitable that they end up seeing the depths of the others. i delve into this a little bit in my fanfic "filler eps of the lost gold" where the boys are just going thru their actions and then trip over another boy's fears or desires and through that, gain a deeper understanding mutually.

and with understanding, sometimes, comes trust.

phase 3 of the nxx team polycule goes like this:

everybody in this team, whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not, has a heart that wants to give love so desperately.

marius lives in a world full of snakes so he cant have his heart on his sleeve for his own protection. vyn wants to be seen as perfect and the heart is inherently messy so he holds it back. artem for a very very long time was focused on work and success and achievement that he neglected his heart. and luke has been giving love all his life in a sense but in a way thats hidden.

all these tendencies that are brought upon their life circumstances results in this: they want to love honestly but they havent been able to do this

until mc. and all of them want to push back whatever fears or patterns their life has instilled in them because they see her and see somebody so unwaveringly good that all their hearts begin giving love to her to make her happy and to make themselves happy as well.

but heres the thing. the boys dont just see mc. by this point, they have connected and understood and come to trust each other as well, and the consequence of that is that They Can See Each Other Now Too, Truly.

and heres the thing. all of the boys are unwaveringly good as well.

one by one, each of the boys realize that what they feel for the other boys in the team starts to...change. yeah theyre all friends, they pick on each other a lot of the time, but the bedrock of the relationship is solid and strong now. but when marius is with luke, marius sees a light inside of luke so bright that he seems unaware that he gives off. when artem is with vyn, artem sees a goodness inside of vyn that hesitates to make itself obvious and known because vyn is scared of getting hurt thanks to it. all of them see the other and their goodness and, unbidden, their hearts want to give love to each other as well.

and because theyre all a bit stupid in their own way theyre like, huh, weird! wonder why this feeling is so familiar! and yet i cant seem to name it...and then they all independently compare these feeling with the feelings they have for mc, a feeling they do know the name of, and theyre like.

WAIT.

THESE FEELINGS ARE...VERY BASICALLY EXACTLY WHAT I FEEL FOR MC.

which only means one thing: theyve fallen in love with everybody else

marius: //goes to his studio to Think and sees that a bunch of his recent art actually had little crumbs of these feelings already, etched into the brushstrokes and scenes. has an emotional crisis about it

vyn: //records a 1 hour long entry in his audio diary to examine and gain control of his feelings but by the end of the hour all he knows is that he wants to hold these people and be held by them

artem: //quite literally just bluescreens, artem.exe has stopped working, sits at his study and slowly, slowly, thunks his head down onto his desk, valiantly trying to ignore the fast pulse of his heart

luke: //manically vents about it to peanut who, by virtue of being a bird, doesnt get it. just keeps talking at peanut to get a grasp of it all and then lies down on the floor, overwhelmed

mc, sitting in her apartment watching some netflix: ...why do i inexplicably feel as if something very, very important has just happened?

phase 4 of the nxx team polycule is basically:

pining: extreme difficulty level

because pining is already hard when ur pining for one person. what more for an additional 3 more people. and those additional 3 more people are pining back.

and all these boys are SOOOO OBVIOUS with their romantic feelings, in their own special way. the way they show their affection to mc starts to bleed into their interactions with the others and everybody can CLEARLY SEE WHAT IS GOING ON, LOL, but also all the boys are too chickenshit to confront it, because if they confront it, what will even happen??? being in love with each other, all of them, thats going to be such a complicated fucking relationship, holy shit. it's 2030, yeah, being a polyamorous group relationship isnt completely unheard of, but sue them, theyre scared.

but mc (who i forgot to mention already knows of the boys' romantic feelings for her, shes just hasnt made a move yet on any of them because SHES IN LOVE WITH ALL OF THEM AS WELL and shes been trying to figure out how the hell to make that work, she cant bear to choose just one of them, she'd be heartbroken over leaving the rest of them behind) sees that the nxx investigation team is now all pining for each other FULLY and she kinda wants to laugh when she realizes whats going on because like, what are the chances? that this would happen? that they all found each other and their feelings fell into just the right place for nobody to be left behind?

theyre all scared, she can tell. and she is as well, she wont lie.

but shes always had a belief that goodness can prevail with the right work.

and love is one of the greatest goods out there.

phase 5 of the nxx team polycule:

It's Time For Communication, Baby!!!!!

the exact scenes of how this happens is a bit vague to me. it could go two ways: mc going to each of the boys independently to talk about feelings, hers about everybodys and his about everybodys as well. OR they have a fucking meeting about it all together and artem literally schedules it in his google calendar, or something.

either way, they like, actually talk about this. starts casual, maybe over a chill date, maybe over dinner at a nice restaurant, maybe over a walk in the park as the sun is starting to set. but where ever it happens, the end result is the same: a heart is laid out bare and it is taken in gentle, grateful hands.

marius: OKAY, NOW THAT THE FEELINGS ARE OUT OF THE WAY, CAN I PLEASE KISS ONE OR ALL OF YOU, PLEASE, IVE BEEN WANTING TO KISS U GUYS FOR FOREVER

vyn, laughing fondly: has anybody ever told you patience is a virtue? we quite literally just talked it all out.

marius: //needy whining noises

artem, embarrassed: ive...never kissed anybody before

luke, embarrassed but trying to play it Cool: ....same here

mc: kissing is great, you two will love it!

marius: awesome, awesome, so is ANYBODY going to give me a go ahead or WHAT????

phase 6 of the nxx team polycule:

i dont want to say it's happily ever after, once they all get together. thats not really realistic.

they all have their quirks and tendencies and habits. and those will inevitable clash against each other. theyll have their arguments, theyll get upset, theyll sulk and be angry, sometimes. but also...

theyll see each other smile and feel like their love shining so brightly. theyll reach out for another's hand and be held in such a way that makes them think that their heart is in a safe place. theyll love each other and theyll put in the work to continue loving each other. because goodness will prevail.

and they all see each other as the most good people in the world.

so whatever happens, theyll get through it together.

[stovetuna]

would you ever consider,,,,,,writing a fix it fic,,,,,,for endgame,,,,,,,pls im starved but also I love you so fuckin much your writing brings me joy

HEART EYES oh my gosh, thank you, anon. I hope this is sufficient. 

full disclosure, I’m absolutely useless when it comes to the “logic” of time travel, so a lot of liberties are being taken here for the sake of story. 

- - - 

Moments after the bright blue light of Tony’s arc reactor goes dark, Steve knows what he has to do.

He grieves, at first. He could hardly do anything else. Hell, it’s everything he can do not to let a howl out, the one clutching at his throat right now that’s equal parts devastation and rage. He swallows the raw, unholy sound and he weeps instead, like he’s never wept before—not for Bucky, or Peggy, or the Commandos, or Natasha, or Sam, or anyone—and then he falls to his knees in the ash and mud, everything that’s left of Tony’s last act of defiance. 

The words echo across the years like the worst kind of phantom pain as Steve looks and looks and looks at Tony, Tony’s corpse, Tony’s unnaturally lifeless body that doesn’t make sense to see, I think I would just cut the wire. 

Always a way out. 

Steve wishes he could go back in time and punch himself in the teeth, just like Tony said. 

Around him, heroes kneel, silent. No one talks about what has to be done, what the world will be like without Tony Stark, how they’re supposed to go on—for the moment, everything is still, and just as the blue light of the arc reactor had flickered out moments ago (wrong wrong wrong it should be shining like a solar flare he should have lived it should be him against that rock) Steve feels something flicker to life inside his own chest. It’s faint, but glows steady. Only he can see it, feel it; only he knows what it means. 

It’s a choice, an easy one, that Steve’s already made. 

*

After the funeral, Bruce sends him back with the stones. Clipping branches takes time, but it’s hardly tedious: First he returns to Morag, walks past Quill’s prone, snoring figure, and returns the Power stone to its place in the timeline. Like something out of Indiana Jones, Steve thinks to himself as he does it, but it’s not his voice he hears. It’s Tony’s, because only Tony would see a dangerous, precarious situation like this and make a pop culture reference. 

They watched that one together. Just him and Tony, early on, when things were still good. Tense, maybe—brittle, but good. Before Steve knew about Bucky, or HYDRA, or Tony’s parents; before Steve realized he did in fact know how to lie, but only when it came to Tony Stark. They’d drank good beer and talked gingerly around the subject of Steve’s adjustment to the 21st century; Steve couldn’t help but think of Tony when Indiana shot the swordsman, remembering what Tony had said on the helicarrier with startling clarity, the opposite of how he’d been thinking in the moment: I think I would just cut the wire. 

Now, Steve pushes the orb back through the energy barrier, mouth pressed in a firm line. The burns will heal, in time. He has plenty of it, after all, and the pain is a cheap price compared to what he felt watching Tony die, and it’s a price he’s more than willing to pay if this works.

• 

The Soul Stone is hard, not because of the climb, or the Red Skull (although, in fairness, it does throw Steve for a moment), but because he has to watch the soul stone plummet to the earth knowing it won’t bring Natasha back. There are only so many things he can fix, and this isn’t one of them. 

“What’s done is done,” Schmidt says, sadder than Steve ever heard him in life. Turning around, Steve looks at the cloaked figure floating, weightless, a few inches above the ground. He doesn’t feel pity, per se, but there’s a misery to Schmidt’s expression that looks deeply carved. Earned. Painful. He looks the way Steve feels, standing there in the place where Nat died.

“What was it like?” Steve asks, meaning the moment when Schmidt held the cube and disappeared. It doesn’t even register that he’s spoken until Schmidt is looking at him and speaking back. 

“Death would have been preferable,” comes the reply. Steve doesn’t have to go far to remember Tony’s slack, expressionless face, how sickeningly wrong it felt to see death in a place it didn’t belong. It would be unbearable to even imagine that moment for more than a second if Steve didn’t have an extra vial of Pym particles tucked away in his belt. 

“Yeah,” Steve mutters. “I know what you mean.”

Natasha would be proud of him, the way he punches Skull clean through the side of the mountain on his way out. 

* 

Returning the Reality stone is…complicated. 

Rocket and Thor had conveniently forgotten to mention how they got the stuff out of Dr. Foster—maybe Thor didn’t even know, since he’d been having a conversation with his mother at the time, according to Rocket’s later recounting of events—which means Steve is left standing over a sleeping stranger with a syringe filled with dangerous miasma with no clue what to do. 

He can hear Tony in his head again, a welcome rupturing of the tension that’s making it hard for Steve to even breathe, let alone think his own thoughts: stick ‘er with the pointy end. 

It’s solid advice, actually. But for a moment, all Steve can think about is how dearly he misses that voice in his ear, his head, his life, even though he’s lived less than seventy-two hours without it, but that’s seventy-two hours (plus/minus seven years and change) too long. He’s getting impatient, putting things back the way they were just to get to where he should have been all along, and he doesn’t want to waste a minute watching Dr. Foster sleep when he knows he could be spending that precious time getting back to Tony. 

Life, Steve’s learned too many times in too many devastating ways, is too goddamn short. Tony didn’t hesitate, in the end, so Steve won’t either. Not now.

Holding his breath, Steve sticks Dr. Foster with the pointy end and then runs like hell.

* 

The Sanctum Sanctorum is remarkably unscathed despite being surrounded on all sides by Chitauri carcasses and broken alien tech. Dust from the rubble and ash permeates the air so thickly it’s like trying to breathe plaster of Paris without a mask. Steve coughs as he knocks on the front door, grateful all over again to be cured of his asthma. 

The person who opens the door is far from expected, but like Nat told Scott that fateful day back at the compound, nothing’s crazy anymore. 

“You’re not who I was expecting,” they say, lackadaisical like they’re not surrounded by dead aliens that just fell out of the sky. Bruce and Stephen had told him the Ancient One was a bit, well, strange, but Steve certainly wasn’t expecting this much archness wrapped up in sunflower yellow. 

What, did Big Bird suddenly decide to take up transcendental meditation? Tony’s voice snarks. Steve bites his tongue for a second to hold off the snort threatening to escape him. The Ancient One raises an eyebrow (or lack thereof) at him with a smirk. 

“Is he close, still?” 

Steve’s thoughts go silent so fast his head spins. “I’m sorry?”

The Ancient One steps forward. “I’m sure you are,” they say. It feels dangerous, standing out here on the front steps like this, but if the Ancient One doesn’t flinch at being exposed, then neither will Steve. They hold out their hand with a beatific smile. 

“I won’t ask how it all went,” they whisper conspiratorially, “but do tell me one thing: is Bruce alright?”

The Time stone flashes a vivid green from the safety of its cradle of dense foam inside the carbon steel suitcase, which Steve holds out to the Ancient One like one would a box with an engagement ring inside. 

“Bruce is fine,” he says. The but goes unspoken. One look at Steve and the Ancient One knew exactly what his plan was, apparently. He’s still reeling from their earlier comment. He watches the stone float up from the suitcase and drift toward the amulet resting against the Ancient One’s stomach; their hands flicker and move as it opens with a whisper of metal and gears that reminds Steve poignantly, painfully, of Tony. 

There had been a couple of years there, the good ones, when he’d spent a lot of time watching Tony in his workshop, learning the ways in which Tony’s genius applied itself to the world. Everything from DUM-E to JARVIS to the suits to their comms to the reactor powering the tower to proprietary satellites to pasta carbonara, Tony’s mind was capable of it all, and then some. And it all lived inside a man who drove Steve crazy with anger and frustration and awe and lust and who gave Steve so unbelievably much without asking for anything, anything in return except Steve’s friendship and trust and instead Steve had given Tony the awful truth about his parents two years too late.

After Siberia, Steve spent most nights awake, standing on balconies and rooftops just holding the flip phone and thinking back to those earlier days with the kind of bitterly pitiful regret of the truly stupid: of course he’d been infatuated, back then. Of course he’d run away from the very thought. There’d been Pepper, obviously, and it was Tony. More to the point, it was them: Steve and Tony, oil and water, north and south, futurist and idealist, stubborn and stubborner still, always opposite in all the ways that mattered. 

Of course he’d used that as an excuse. God forbid Steve Rogers ever admit to being afraid. 

The Ancient One closes the amulet with a slow, gentle glide of their pale, steady hands. Tony’s were darker, bigger, stronger, more. Not capable of this kind of magic, but to Steve, Tony’s mind was magic. And his heart was made of pure light. He’d placed it in Steve’s hand. Steve never told anyone how it burned him to hold it, or that he’d prayed for the wound not to heal. 

He’d cried the next morning—for their losses, yes, but mostly because he had healed. It was torture, feeling one way but appearing the opposite. It was one of the ways he and Tony had come to understand each other, over the years prior: sometimes what appears on the outside isn’t the truth of what lives on the inside. 

Looking up into the Ancient One’s eyes feels like falling headfirst into time, itself. 

“I would caution you against your choice,” they say, wise and mischievous at the same time, somehow, “but I know you will set things right, when the time comes.” 

Steve closes the suitcase and nods. He tries not to think about Tony’s funeral. The way the first arc reactor Tony had ever built floated off on a wreath of flowers across the surface of the lake, quiet and all heart, the way Tony had been at the last. 

He has to go back there, one day. 

But not yet. 

* 

His past self is still lying unconscious on the glass walkway where Steve left him when he returns. Arms and legs akimbo, that charmingly ridiculous uniform stretching to compensate for the awkward splaying of limbs, Steve Rogers of 2012 looks like a child who went down for a nap, hard. In so many ways, he was a kid, back then, and yet so old. Too old, too soon. 

You’re just a little unstuck, Billy, Tony had said to him once when he’d found Steve awake in the communal kitchen at 4 AM, too riled by a nightmare to go back to sleep. At Steve’s confused look, he’d smiled—kind, soft, caring—and two days later gave him a first edition signed copy of a novel by someone named Kurt Vonnegut. 

Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.

He read it cover-to-cover twice before he went looking for Tony in the workshop to thank him with a hug. One of the few they’d ever shared, and all the more precious for it. 

Steve Rogers of 2023 knows this kid won’t hesitate to seize the opportunity he’s about to be presented with.

“Look alive, soldier,” he barks. Rogers coughs and splutters and springs to his feet like something stung him right on the ass. As soon as he registers Steve, his copy, standing in front of him, he falls back on his heels into a fighting stance. It’s wobbly around the knees, but Steve doesn’t bother correcting his stance. This isn’t what he’s come to do. 

“Listen to me, and listen carefully,” he says, and then he tells him everything he needs to know. 

Bucky is alive. You can save him.

Peggy, too. You can be with her.

The war is over. You can live without it. 

You can go home. You get to have one.

Imagine it. 

Rogers looks at the time-space GPS with a degree of skepticism Steve forgot that face was capable of. After talking trees and raccoons and living Norse gods and alien armies from outer space and Titans and time travel—after Tony Stark—nothing seems impossible anymore.

Finally, finally, Rogers holds out his hand, palm to heaven. Steve’s stomach tightens painfully to remove the device from his hand, but he thinks of what’s waiting for him downstairs, and letting go has never been so easy. Rogers holds it like a bomb waiting to go off, wary and fearful, but excited, too. 

Then, he looks at Steve, lit up the way a child whose parent has just given them a whole dollar to spend might be. 

“Are you sure?” 

“More than I’ve ever been.” 

Rogers’ face tightens. “What about—” he glances down through the glass. “The others? Will they know? Will they be alright?” 

“I’ll handle it,” he says. He’s taking a page out of Tony’s book here, winging it where he’s used to planning. Bucky was proud when Steve told him his half-cocked idea to go back in time to be with Tony Stark, however Tony would have him. 

How’re you gonna figure out being both Steves at once?

I’ll handle it. 

And if they figure it out?

They’ll handle it.

Rogers is hesitating. He doesn’t want to be selfish—that’s not in his nature. Steve smiles and reaches out, cups his hands around the one with the device and closes Rogers’ fingers around it. 

“It’s okay,” he says. You’re allowed to be selfish, when it’s the right thing to do. 

Looking at his younger self is dizzying, like vertigo. Tony once mentioned having a huge crush on Jimmy Stewart when they watched that movie as a team, which is how Steve learned Tony Stark liked men, too. That was the night his world really turned upside-down. 

Steve reaches into his belt and hands Rogers the extra vial. Enough for one trip. He’ll never get his dance with Peggy, but she’ll get hers. 

Steve will just have to dance with Tony, instead. What a hardship. 

He’s smiling, looking vaguely downwards where he knows Tony is, when Rogers looks at him and asks, “Why?” 

Steve dials the date and time and coordinates from memory. 

A week from Saturday.

The Stork Club.

Eight o’ clock, on the dot. 

The past is past, except when it’s not. Rogers is unstuck, but Steve isn’t. Not anymore. He hasn’t been for a long, long time. 

He shrugs. Smiles, easy, the way he couldn’t when he was Rogers’ age, fresh out of the ice and soul-broken, hopeless. 

“I’m home.”

*

The last test is the hardest. Steve goes down to the lobby via the elevator, carrying the scepter in one hand and the suitcase containing the space stone in the other. He’s dressed in his 2012 uniform again, and he didn’t miss the way it rides up his ass, but he’s got more important things to think about. 

There’s still a commotion happening in the lobby, the fallout of Tony’s self-inflicted heart attack diversion, but Steve manages to force himself away from where he knows Tony is to walk right up to Alexander Pierce. He would dearly love to drop the man right here and now in this lobby, audience be damned, but he has a part to play, yet.  

Steve tamps down the urge and rage long enough to present Pierce with the last stone. The look that flickers behind Pierce’s shrewd blue eyes is telling enough—Steve could punch himself, it’s so obvious. Glee, hunger, intent, all there, malicious and toxic. HYDRA, right out there in the open.

He’ll deal with it later. With extreme prejudice. 

“The cube was just a housing unit,” Steve explains, slipping back into his old by-the-book tone of voice like one slips on a pair of well-worn leather shoes. Pierce takes it with an eerie smile. 

“Very good, Captain.” At Pierce’s nod, Steve straightens, looks back with a knowing smirk, and nods in return. Rumlow would have already updated him about Steve’s words in the elevator; now the rest of it—rescuing Bucky, infiltrating SHIELD, destroying HYDRA and Pierce with it—is up to Steve. 

But first.

“If you’ll excuse me, sir,” Steve says deferentially, already moving away from Pierce toward the circle of black suits hovering around Tony and Thor like expectant vultures at the feast. His heart is in his throat, racing.

“Get your hands off me!” 

Tony.

Thor is running interference on the suits, pushing and holding them back, Mjolnir in hand. He clears a space for Steve to walk through with a nod. Steve nods back, but his eyes are elsewhere. 

Tony.

“I said let go of me, Mall Cop! I’m fine, I don’t need your help.” 

Pepper always says I’m the best at taking care of others at the expense of myself, Tony had told him once. They’d been sitting on the edge of the landing pad near the top of the tower at sunset, going over what went wrong with whatever battle had happened that day. Steve had spent the entire conversation with one hand shoved under his thigh to stop himself from reaching out to hold Tony’s, who’d put himself in the line of fire—unnecessarily—and had nearly given Steve a panic attack. 

A panic attack. How quaint, compared to a shattered heart. 

She’s right, Steve had replied, but then Pepper’s right about everything. 

Most things, Tony said. I’m still not sure if she’s right about me. 

Steve still remembers the way his hand had clenched under his thigh at those words. What do you mean? 

Tony had looked out over the city, not gloating or smug the way Steve had assumed he would be when they first met and Steve learned billionaires were a thing that existed—quite prevalently—in the 21st century, but wistfully, like he couldn’t believe he had the view at all. 

Most days I wake up expecting her to be standing by the bed fully dressed, waiting for me to open my eyes so she can tell me it’s over, he’d said, quiet so only Steve could hear, like the whole city was listening in and Tony wanted to keep this moment between them. I don’t think she’s right about choosing me. 

Steve could have painted Tony in that moment: vulnerable, eyes and skin and hair glowing like fire and honey and whiskey in the light of the setting sun as it glinted off the cityscape. He was handsome, small but strong, nervous but brave, and so unbelievably worth choosing it took every ounce of Steve’s strength to keep his hand under his thigh. To not reach out and take Tony’s face in his hands and just—

Tony, he’d said softly, urgently but without force, waiting until Tony looked him in the eye to say what he’d been holding back for years and even then it was only the tip of the tip of the iceberg: You are worth choosing. 

The way Tony had stared back at Steve then is not unlike the way he looks up at him now: from the floor of the lobby of Stark Tower, roughed up and shellshocked from the battle and his brief introduction to outer space and a minor cardiac episode, but relieved and inarticulately happy to see Steve there among the suits. 

“O Captain, my captain!” Tony crows, wheezing slightly on the last syllable in a way that is far too endearing for Steve to handle, especially given his own fragile state. When Tony reaches a hand up, Steve doesn’t hesitate to take it and haul him to his feet.

Tony is alive. Standing there, in front of Steve, alive. Younger, smoother around some edges and sharper in others, beautiful like a sunset and a sunrise rolled into one—an astronomical anomaly of the rarest kind. The Black Sabbath t-shirt is singed but mostly whole, and Steve wants to linger on that detail, except he can’t. 

“You alright there, Cap? You’re looking a little blue around the gills…”

Blue. Blueblueblueblueblueblue. 

The burning light at the center of Tony Stark is so blue, a glowing circle shining out from behind that silly threadbare band t-shirt like a beacon in the night, guiding Steve home. How is no one else marveling at this? At Tony Stark, alive? 

He’s staring. At Tony’s chest. He knows he is, but there’s no helping it. Just like there’s no helping the way he reaches out and pulls Tony into a hug like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. It wasn’t long ago he’d carried this same body, suit and all, off the battlefield, crying himself hoarse even as he laid Tony out on a patch of grass in the sun away from the smoke and desolation. He’d watched this man die not seventy-two hours ago, and here was Tony, in his arms the way Steve should have held him years and years and years ago, alive. 

It shouldn’t be possible. But as he’s learned ten times over, when it comes to Tony Stark, impossible is only a matter of perspective (and a little bit of elbow grease).  

Steve muffles his hitching breaths against Tony’s shoulder, trying desperately to compose himself even as he falls apart. He’s failing, but can’t bring himself to care. Tony returns his embrace haltingly, like he can’t believe it’s happening, but then neither can Steve. 

“It’s alright, big guy. Party’s over,” Tony chuckles into his ear, nervous, patting Steve on the shoulder from under his arm in an awkward bend. “I’m fine, I promise.“ He does the unthinkable, then, Tony: he steps back and takes Steve’s hand and lays it flat against his chest so Steve can feel the strong thud of his heartbeat and the low, steady hum of the arc reactor at the same time. “See?” Tony says with a quicksilver smile, “alive and well.” 

Steve knows his eyes are wet. His hair is a mess and he’s still grieving his Tony, and that grief is a ten-ton weight in his stomach. And yet, standing here looking into this Tony’s big brown eyes, faced with that benevolent (if teasing) smile and generous heart, Steve feels young and limitless, weightless, like he’d float off the floor if it weren’t for Tony, who’s still holding his hand against his chest.

Steve knows this is selfish and reckless and his staying here could break the fabric of reality itself, but he would choose this—he’d choose Tony, warm and alive and smiling at him—every time. There are battles to be fought and truths to be told and lives to save, and he may never get to have Tony in all the ways he wants him in this or any timeline, but he’s willing to wing it and see. 

Who knows—they could very well end up married. 

Crazier and more impossible things have happened.

“Alive is good,” Steve says, locking a sob away behind a smile so big it strains his cheeks. “It means you can still pay for shawarma.” 

Tony’s face goes slack with surprise, and then he’s laughing so hard he’s cackling, leaning into Steve’s steady hand for support. Steve can feel Tony’s laugh as much as he can hear it: it feels like home and sounds like rock music and looks like sunlight spilling out between his fingers, bright blue. 

- - -

also on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/22299358

[system-of-a-feather]

I hope your hiatus goes well! As for a more interesting ask tho, if you could have any bird in the world be your pet(with no limitations, like u could fulfill all their needs and everything), what kind of bird would you choose?

(TW, animal welfare; animal neglect, animal SH, infodump; Putting that out there because uh, I went on a tangent cause I am passionate; Short caps)

Man that is such a controversial topic for me XD Because I’m very firm in the sense that raptors and sort shouldn’t be in captivity beyond conservation purposes (and falconry for conservation) and if they are, they should be given maximum range - and for parrots that are in mass bred in environments not suited for them and its a large issue that we’ve kind of dug a whole into, so parrots shouldn’t be pets, but if you have to they should be companions with almost the entire time out of the cage so like XD

I have a reactive response to birds as pets but the theoretical “could fufill all their needs and everything” does cover some of that - though I also would still have to sit and question if the dynamic between a human and a wild bird could ever simultaneously exist with having all their needs fufilled so I’m sitting here rubbing my chin as a overly complicate an otherwise relatively simple question.

In leu of the honor of the original question and what I get the intent to be (aka, if there was ABSOLUTELY no issues and it was 100% possible to maintain both a human-bird bond with said animal while having their full life) it would probably be a toss up between a Harpy Eagle, Barn Owl, Secretary Bird, and California Condor.... maybe a penguin or cormorant if I had a really nice water bed. OR A RAVEN SINCE THEY BRING SHINIES BACK. It really would be a different answer to who you ask in the system though. I probably would go uh.... I actually really don’t know. I might actually go Snowy Owl..? Maybe? Aesthetically I’d go Secretary Bird but personality wise I’d like a Raven hmmm

I really can’t put a finger on a favorite bird. Raven I feel would probably be the easiest to both have a fully wild and free relationship with but also an individual bond that would be enjoyable, but I dunno. Its really hard of a question to answer

As for the more technical - I would probably take the question and warp it to the alternative loop hole question of - hey, you are saying I could provide for an animal’s needs entirely?

I would take in the honest to god most torn up - feather plucking - self mutilating - anxious depressed bird; probably a cockatoo breed, and take it in.

I actually have a habit of trying to take in really anxious, sad, or mistreated cockatiels in and trying to bring them up and let them behaviorally adjust to people and other birds a lot and its actually a dream goal to help parrots get a renewal on life since some live just as long as we do, but often are much much much more neglected throughout their entire life as dependents.

Like I can go on and on about it, but a lot of the longer living birds (cockatoos, african greys, etc) can be bred for money, bought for aesthetic, and treated poorly, abandoned or put for adoption and bounce from home to home to home that was not prepared for them and getting so many behavioral issues and “bird mental health” issues as I put simply and some really just dont get the chance to have a happy life. Some have a good owner until they are 30, then their owner dies and their owner’s family doesn’t want to care for them so they are sold or abandoned or put up for adoption and after living a great life are put into the cycles others do so like

One of my dreams if I ever get the money would be to legitimately have an Aviary and / or be a part of a parrot rehabilitation and rescue center XD I was actually up front with my fiance when I started dating that my future with caring for birds and adopting / fostering ones in need is something he would have to accept as my package / baggage or I will not under any circumstances proceed with a relationship XD

AND IM RANTING SO AT THE ANON THAT SAID RANT GO AHEAD I WISH I GOT THIS DONE FOR YOU BECAUSE I HAVEN’T FOUND A TOPIC TO RANT ABOUT FOR YOU AND HERE I AM RANTING ON THE WRONG ANON

But like, since I’m part ways on this tangent, lemme share one of my princesses that I’ve been caring for. (Quick photo below the keep reading)

[cue Riku gushing about their bird]

We got her from a previous owner that really couldn’t care for her and named her “Crash” because she kept crashing every time she flew (which is btw very dangerous - even if I noticed she seemed to learn how to “crash safely) and I really didn’t find the name cute cause it clearly was an issue - so I renamed her to Avery Rose - Avery being like Ivory + Avian and Rose cause I like Rose; but she also was REALLY terrified of hands and people and if a hand was within like 2 feet of her she’d panic - fly (or try to) and crash - and if you got her she’d bite like, right through your hand. I figure (vet wasn’t sure and didn’t want to do unnecessary invasive procedures to be sure) that she either has some joint / motor issue that makes it hard to fly or she has poor vision that makes her anxious. 

She also would pluck a lot out of stress and anxiety and isolation and stuff cause cockatiels are social birds and they need a lot of stimulus form their owner and/or other birds. She ALSO really didn’t get along with other birds either and would pretty much kinda avoid them. Even until today she kinda seems to miss the social cues of the other birds or not meld in since like, most birds get excited when small treats or “cookies” are brought over and they start pacing and heading to the food dishes, but she just kinda like.... waits or shows no interest XD

She’s a really unique personality. But anyways, my mom took her in originally and uh... as a typically kind of neglectful mom does, just kinda found her “too difficult” and just gave up on her, and I saw that and was like OH HELL NAH JUST CAUSE SHES REALLY ANXIOUS, SOCIALLY ABNORMAL, BITES HARD AND CRASHES DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET TO ABANDON HER so despite technically not signing up for it I was like “Mom she’s mine and I am taking over her care what you are doing is kind of cruel” 

And like, one of the flock members we have is the son of my first cockatiel who I helped raise (aside from his parents who primarily raised him) and socialized as he is now a bit of my personal emotional support birb, but with insistent help from me and I’m guessing bird support from a slightly younger and annoying boy birb that really liked her, she actually managed to learn out to fly REALLY well (like my boy, my son here literally like, kept doing small loops around and following her around until she got it and literally repetitively flew up and down to help her figure out how to land it melted my heart) and she actually really likes me specifically holding her and coddling her or hugging her, which I think might be because it might give her security.

She still plucks as it is one of those things that can follow a bird for life (though its getting better) and she is still anxious and really odd in social behaviors to the other birds, but she really seems to function in a happy life and she has a bird partner and a human mother and unlike before she can fly like any other bird and crashes rarely ever and like

She’s one of the things that I am most proud of seeing and lights up my world and I am SO god damn proud of her and she has LOWKEY been an inspiration for my recovery sometimes cause GOD do I love her XD

Her and her partner / “my boy / son” are the two birds that follow me to and from college and they seem to actually like car trips now? XD But they are my roommates and I love them immensely ;w;

Anon: What bird would you have if you could have any of them and treat them perfectly to their need

Me: DID YOU ASK ABOUT BIRD WELFARE, TECHNICALITIES AND PROBLEMS WITH BIRDS AS PETS (other than typically domesticated ones), MY DREAMS ABOUT SAVING ALL BIRDS IN THE WORLD AND THE STORY OF ONE OF MY BABY GIRLS AND HER MENTAL HEALTH JOURNEY?!

I apologize I do this sometimes :v I hope you enjoy my infodump / ramble

-Riku (Host)

[cupofbrownsugar]

I know you probably haven't thought about this fic (post/89591163637) in a really really long time, but I was wondering if you could do a summary or something of what was going to happen next? Just an explanation of where Jim and Spock were and why they didn't respond, or maybe how they eventually made up? It's such a good fic!

oh wow! thanks anon!! i actually was thinking about that fic not too long ago ahahaha (i hope this is the right one im thinking of as i don’t know how to access the post through that; the one where bones is going away on the bus?), never thought anyone else would have any interest in it. yeah no problem, i can give you a quick summary (from what i remember, it was a while ago):

(i found the post, here’s the link to the first part)

bones ends up staying in a tiny beach side town, for a few days, maybe a week? two weeks max? he doesn’t want to check his phone, so he doesn’t notice that the tiny town gets cell service, in like, only one tiny spot. so when he finally goes to the one cafe with wifi in town to send a message to his mom (he promised to check in, didn’t mention any of the drama with his besties/bfs though), he notices a baJILLION messages from jim and spock, ranging from super worried to super apologetic to crazy pissedbones has no clue what to think about it, he’s just been feeling like shit mostly the whole time and trying to figure his head out. there are pages of texts from them too, and all he responds is “wat” and jim texts back SPOCK SAYS YOU NEVER TURNED OFF ‘LOCATION SERVICES’ LIKE HE TOLD YOU TO AND NOW WE’RE COMINGim thinking that jim and spock weren’t there because they were running an errand and fucked it up. maybe even thought that they themselves were supposed to have leonards ticket and freaked when they found out they only had two, so went off to try and correct it cuz emails and calls and whatnot weren’t working. and then jim’s phone died (leonard always told him to bring his charger but he wasn’t there to remind him) and spock got caught up arguing with the vender with semantics (bones usually was able to nudge him with a look that cued him to cut to the chase), so thats what left bones all alone.

anyway, jim and spock show up before bones can arrange another bus out of town (it’s tiny. like, one bus comes a day. he doesn’t want to just keep running but he doesn’t know what to feel either and still wanted to escape from everything for a while). they pretty much kidnap him into their rented car and drive off, spock cold and silent behind the wheel and jim fuming in the front seat

jim is trying to cover his hurt by acting like he’s mad that bones left on some sweet beach vaca without them, but his cheeks and ears are red and ruddy like when he’s hurt and his smile is sharp and his eyes wet. spock says that bones was being irresponsible and illogical but he’s only looking at the straight ahead and his hands are clenched on the wheel like when he can’t hold himself together.

bones, so used to feeling nothing but sad and empty for the past few days, blows the fuck up like “are you fuckers fucking kidding me??? you abandoned me, you fucks, you don’t get to be mad, what the fuck” and then his eyes are wet too and jim and spock are like fuck and know how much they fucked up and verbalize it and apologize and explain the whole fuck up sitch, and they’re really like

“the funny thing is, if you had been there, none of this would’ve happened. we wouldn’t have fucked up with you there, and now we may have fucked up everything with -you-”

and bones is shocked but not convinced and like “why do you care, you know you’re better just you two together…” and then goes and lists off the differences he notices between how they act with each other

and jims like “what?? what about you and spock huh?? when you both just, make some inside joke without saying anything, or go to those gardening things together. i… you guys mesh so well like that..”

and spock’s like “the both of you… you are fine with intimacy, both physical and emotional. it is so natural for you. i feel.. i know it is more difficult with me…”

and pretty much they ALL had thought they were the odd one out at some point, but bones is the heart of the three of them, so of course it got to him worst.

and jims like “bones… of course we love you. we’ve all got our insecurities to work on, but i guess we need to work on making sure you know how we feel too.” and he turns and glares at him “especially now that we know how ready you are to fuck off into nowhere with no warning.” jim huffs but he can’t help but sound impressed “fuck, you were hard to track”

“agreed” spock adds in, looking at leonard through the rear view mirror “perhaps if we hold onto you tighter it will make it harder for you to slip away from us”

“well…” bones is blushing now, eyes still wet but he’s starting to grin “you can try, but this bird knows how to fly when necessary”

and jim whines “bonnnnnes” and tries to jump into the back seat to kiss his cheeks and Leonard yells at him about road safety and tries to playfully push him away, and spock keeps his eyes firmly on the road but also gets a handful of jims ass

anyway. they end up driving to the next little town and having their own lil getaway week together (and from then on, learn to actually communicate their feelings, and try to include whoever is the third man out during those moments they all worried about)

there you go, anon! hope that was a satisfying conclusion for you! i really don’t mind giving the endings of what was gonna happen next for fics i started but didn’t finish, so if anyone else is interested in a diff unfinished story, just shoot me a message!

[yeoldontknow]

Hiiii! I read on here that you’ve been super busy so I hope you’re doing well

hi sweet anon!! im so so sorry for the delay on this. i took a big step back on tumblr during the month of march because i had so much happening. it was difficult and so im sorry im behind on this cute ask. YES I ULT CHAN WITH THE FIRE OF 1000000000 UNIVERSES. hes literally my heart and soul. AND YES SWEET HOSEOK IS MY SUN AND STARS OF THAT UNIVERSE. im so excited to match my mutuals. i love these theyre so much fun. i got lots of rest, thank you so much bean

yoongi + @daegusoftboys: ive said it before and i will say it again: joongi is my otp. i know she has other biases in other groups but like...theyre passing fancies. joongi is the moon that hangs in the night sky. they are such a strong yet soft power couple. like the coolest couple in the room. delicate and pure and sweet, while also so deeply intense in the way they communicate and understand each other. theres a lot of earth and air energy in their partnership, and i just get so delighted knowing they would be each others rock. together there is literally nothing they cant do. SO with that said, joongi are going out on their 5000000000000th date and i guess are engaged at this point? they are going to a dog park, where they are going to sit and play with doggos and hug them and then have a picnic on the water with a lot of cheese and wine and laughter and i and all our friends will sit 100 yards back crying about how much we love them

taehyung + @from-dae-do-dae: i have also said this before and i will say it again: fei and tae are going on their third date to an art museum. its starting in the morning and its going late into the night. i imagine them at the met in new york, looking at classical art and moving between movements until they get to american mid century pastorals. this is where they discuss light and the movement of light in the styles of paintings. then they move to the photography hall where they spend FAR too long, discussing filtering, development techniques and mixed media. then they go to the hall of instruments where they both shed a few tears, and fei goes on to discuss how caravaggio, as amazing as he was, was mostly a painter of music and tae swoons so hard he almost goes blind. at 5 the museum is about to close so and they realize they havent eaten, so they go to dinner at a nice restaurant to have tapas and seafood fare with wine. they talk about the art they saw, and then move on to discuss deep thoughts, hopes and dreams. they expose each other raw but in a gentle fashion, the kind where you ask a series of questions no one can follow until they arent even sure why theyre discussing the reasons its difficult for them to accept and receive love, but there they are - two bottles of wine in and still they dont want to stop. so they walk through central park along the water and for some reason they dont need to talk anymore they just want to be together. /this got out of control/

jimin + @yeol-stole-my-soul: these beans are going to disney world and universal. fight me about it. jimin needs to loosen up and have fun and maria sleeps even less than i do, and needs to be somewhere she can bang pots and pans as loudly as she wants and no one will mind. i fantasize about them running around, going on all the rides, eating everything, screaming at everything, and then staying out until the park closes. the park empties early of kids around 10 so thats two hours of no lines and running around the park doing everything twice. fun. pure fun. FUN AND - romantic. dont think so? jimins face lighting up at the fireworks over the castle - thats fucking magical. marias face when she realizes not only is the food in epcot delicious, but it tastes just like how her mother makes it. trust me. thats magic, and thats real shit. no one is ever as vulnerable as when theyre delighted because happiness is difficult to hold and this is something they get to hold together. when joy and nostalgia mix, that is when you really learn a person. its easy to see them scared and angry - see a person caught pure delight and that is when you see their soul. 

jungkook + @queenoftheimpala: these shy beans are taking a painting with wine class. sure, kook probably wont drink and if he does hell be super slow about it. but ali, my delightful beautiful best friend, will take to the bottle like shes drinking gold and will finally let herself open up. when she lets herself go, hes done for. truly, you cant see ali being herself and NOT fall in love. his ass will swoon so hard hell fall through the floor, covered in paint. together, theyll make art. see why they pick the shapes and colours they choose, learn why they make lines different from one another. ‘my hand is shaky,’ hell say without any confidence, even though his lines are perfect. ‘ive always been terrible at art,’ ali will laugh, sheepish, even though she gets it right without trying. they dont really need to say anything to one another, they just need to exist in one anothers orbit and they will realize 1. they are so incredibly similar 2. they are both the most adorable messes and 3. they were made for one another. again, ill be standing in the back crying saying ‘this is my favourite movie.’

namjoon + @joonbird: these brilliant beans are going to a pottery class. theyre going to make something with their hands and then they are going to dinner with wine and cheese and theyre going to have conversations that range from personal history to metaphysics to philosophy to the weirdest shit theyve seen while traveling. joon will be amazed by her intellect and her wit, amy will be impressed he manages to make a mug that looks more like a bird house. she doesnt ask questions, just admires his artistic intent. at dinner the conversation carries over, though this time theyre mostly silent - making yummy noises as they eat their food and smiling across the table. this is when they start talking about places theyve been, things theyve seen, food theyve tried - experiences - delighted that now they get to experience each other.

jin+ @2seokforyook: this other power couple are going to take an improv theatre class. kim is shy and sometimes so is jin, but this is where he shines. hes delighted to show off and engage, to open himself a little and, by proxy, watch kim open up by impressing her and making her laugh. kim will be tentative at first, but the comfort and warmth he radiates on stage will be infectious and soon, with a few laughs and awkward pauses, she will find her flow, playing games and enjoying being free of any real focused thought for at least an hour. for a while, its light hearted, laughing so hard they cry a little, but then, at the end, its time to get vulnerable. its seemingly impossible, but again, theyre together, warm and in a bubble of comfort created simply because theyre together and theyre learning to have fun without any restrictions. and so they talk - really, truly talk - without words or a script about everything and nothing. and when its over, when they finally get to leave, they realize that they werent acting. not even for a second. 

THANKS ANON!!! THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!

[rvb-junior]

Anonymous ask: do you have any pets? What are their names? Why do you keep them? What got you into keeping them? Do you have any future pet plans? 💖💖

Ok anon do u really wanna get into this convo? Itll take a while.

Okay so im at college so rn the only pets with me are my fishb a male halfmoon plakat named Cosmos Florence the second, a nerite snail named Nertb and a black mystery named Onyx. I keep them because god man i just. I just love em so much ya know? Its like. I have this little ball of hate and rage in my dorm who has such a beautiful personality and then to complement that i have these chill snaild who r just trying really hard. Back home we have even more pets and oh man oh man i love them?? They are what love and joy looks like?? We have my dogs, cat, turtle, lizards, birds, hairless guinea pigs, fish, and chickens.

The chickens are named Short Bread and Oreo bevause of how they looked when they were younger. Oreo is a little spunkyer that Short bread while i think short bread is a little…. Confused? Yeah just generally confused by everything.

We have Mr. T, our full grown, healthy red ear slider who lives in a small pond in the back yard with a few feeder fish he never ate. Those fish have grown to be his pals and he just. Hase never eaten them.

Then we have the birds, Able, who likes to tell at you if u look at her to long. Her hobbys are chewing through toys as she is hanging from them and being suprised when she falls. We then have Birbank, named after the airport my dad found him at, who lives very closely with his bf Ruby. Birbank is a grey and white cockatiel and Ruby is a green Indian Ringneck. They had being more than 2 feet apart for longer than 2 seconds and often u will find Ruby yelling when Birbank flys somewhere he cant go (ruby doesnt know how to fly) and birbank screaming when he realises the mistake he made. Ruby likes to give people kisses and is a lover, not a fighter. Birbank likes to hiss at peanuts and ignore everything besides Ruby. Next we have our Canary, Mango whos fav food is blue berrys and kale. He likes to sing when he hears trumpets and my flute. He has a club foot so when we adopted him the bird rescue we got him from was relived because no one else would take him. He is the most graceful flying bird i have ever seen! Finally we have the zebra finch named Shimmy. When we first adopted him he had a super bad plucking problem and was almost completly bald but hes doing much better now, aggressivly peeping when he hears the canary.

Okay now we have 2 lizards, a leopard gecko named Romeo and a crested gecko named Gargoyle. Romeo is a sweet boi with a chubby tail who loves his crickets fast and his meal worms slow. He has one of those reptile hammocks but he prefers climding his cave more. Gargoyle is a sweet girl who will only eat her food when it starts to harden again for some reason. We dont know why but she does and shes kinda a butt. But ya gotta love her!

Our cat’s name is Figaro and she’s currently bald. She had to get shaved, the vet said shes getting up in her years so when she stopped grooming for a month and got matts in her long fur they said she had basicly cat arthritis. Shes doing good and her hobbies are (well atleast when i was home) meowing in my mouth at 3 am to tell me she ate all her food and wanted more.

Wr have 5 dogs so just get ready for that. All our dogs but 1 is a rescue. Coal is a chow/black lab mix. She was adopted as a pup from a local animal rescue and she kniws the mist tricks. Shes a good girl who likes hugs, treats, and when u massage her face. Her favorite toy is a yellow stick that she will bring to you when asked. Shes the second youngest! Lily is the youngest, i sometiems call her satan but only because she is a trickster! You will turn around and shell be on the table eating food, stealing anything from coal, and trying to think up world domination. She and Coal are super close, when we got her Coal went all MaMa dog and now they are inseparable. What makes it better is that Lily is a half Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix so shes tiny next to Coal. Our third youngest is Scarlet, wr think shes the product of a long hair Chihuahua and a deer head Chihuahua. Shes a primadonna who enjoys her alone time and pets. She also like to be held, mainly like a baby so u can hold her and tub her tum. She also REALLY LIKES CAR RIDES like man even going to the vet shes jazzed. Second oldest is Vinnie, a pug my bro ham adopted. Hes super sweet and good he likes face squishes and whrn he naps his tail uncurles. He stands very proper like hes a gentleman and likes to sit on ur feat. He has a grain allergy so he eats special grain free food. Next we have the oldest of our dogs MY SWEET BABY GIRL GIGI. shes my sun and moon. We got gigi when i was 8 and when i was 10 my sister went to college, leaving her for me to takr care of. And well, shes literally the most important thing in the world to me. My sister got her from a breader (which i dont like cus dogs in shelters need homes) but shes a Brussels Griffon so the breader croped her ears and tail. I DO NOT CONDONE THE PRACTICE OF CROPPING AND PART OF A DOG UNLESS SUGGESTED BY A VET, SOME DOGS GET THEIR TAILS CROPPED BECAUS ETHEY BREAK BONES IN THEM AND THAT IS THE ONLY CROPPING I CONDONE. Her ears were cropped lopsidedb and improperly which brought many problems to her later on. She developed many ear infections that have caused her to scratch her ears until they bleed, has had medication for 3 different ear infections, and has almost no ear canal left. Her vet has told us she is almost deef. Also as she got older she got chronic dry eye and takes medicated eye drops for it but shes fine as long as she has those. She needs loud or sharp sounds to get her attention so i trained her to respond to clapping, whistling (which i do very loudly) and snapping fingers. She is a sweet heartb adn a super velcro dog! I cried for three days after i had to go to college and they drive her up to visit me. When im home she goes looking for me if im out of site for 2 minutes, will wait at the bathroom door for me, stare up the stairs when i go to shower, and press her face against closed doors she knows i went through. Whne she does the last thing i have to drum my fingers on the door so she knows to move back before i open it. I miss her horribly and i skype her almost every day, she gets super excited! The first few days i was gone she actually wouldnt stop barking at night. Shes also a cuddle baby and she doesnt sleep unless she is touching me ao it was probably rough for her. I miss her but ill be able to see her in october when i go to my sisters wedding.

The fish! Okay so my mother has a 75 gallon gold fish aquarium and a 30 gallon in the garage with nithing in it yet (shes thinking tetras). The gold fish tank has 2 butter fly tails and some bristle nose plecos. It also has many a snail rn! A friend of ours dismantled a large aquarium of his own ( he is going through a very hard time financially and im hoping everything works out for him) and gave us the plecos and snails. The snails are 3 rabbit snailsb one nerite (he gave us 2 but the other is with my betta) a few black mysteries, and a golden apple who i named Big Mama.

Lemme tell u about big mama real fast. I call her this because, first of all shes a full grown golden appleb second of all because shes a mama. He had a live planted tank thich included a moss ball he has been taking care of for 5 year, its the size of my head and when we put it in the 75 gallon it because the main pice of the tank. What we found out later was that Big Mama had made her family in ut and we have abou 20 BABY GOLDEN APPLES IN THERE ALONE!! He also gave us an anibius fern which i put in my betta’s tank and after getting to college and living hear for a few weeks i found out there were eggs on it because I KNOW HAVE MANY A BABY GOLDEN APPLE. these ones tho r much smaller than the moss ball ones, mine being hatchlings and those being the size of a finger nail. But anyway they have grown large enough where i can tell they r not pest snails and i will be rehoming them to other fish keepers in my dorms once they get a little bigger.

My mom has 3 hairless guinea pigs. Did you know that at petco people tend to walk in and drop off pets they “just dont want any more”? Well it hapoens a lot and my mom fell in love with them instantly. We have Billy, the oldest, Piggy, the middle in age, and sweet baby Bear who is small and young. They are all good boys and are doing very well so far in their new home! My mom had already owned billy and was looking into getting him friends, (guinea pigs live friends! They actually should be kept in atleast pairs but we were not aware at first, now we know better) all three of them are being slowly introduced! Bear and Piggy already live together but we dont want to rush this process and put billy right into the mix, that would probably be the worst think. They are slowly beibg acclimated to eachother.

I guess you could say i love pets because they are sweet and wonderful. I keep most of them because i know i can care for them, that i have the space, and the resources. I have the time and the will to foster a loving home for all my pets, and so does my family. Animals are a big part of my life and i love all of them with all my heart.

My future plans? Well nothing soon! Im in a dorm so Cosmos and his snail friends are all ivr got planed rn. But i hope to, onece in the distante future, get a tank with a school of danionella dracula in it, they are tiny fishb only getting half an inch in side. But id need a good tank for them since they school about 12 and id like to do the whome thing live plants (i also want one of those rimless aquatiums hnnnnnnnngh) i hope to upgrade cosmos to a larger aquarium b currently hes in a 2.5 which is enough for a betta, sure, but id rather he be in a 5 gallon. But really? I just wanna go home n be with GiGi more than anything.

Thank you for the ask!