#also it ends up getting adopted by Suns' neighbor

[catflowerqueen]

By the way, you know how Pebbles in the DJ Five Pebbles au originally thought the music pearl was a literal genetic blueprint?

Well, I'll give you three guesses about where Inv comes from in the au, and the first two don't count.

[naoutchi]

Sunbaths

We( @thecleanbean ) have decided to ✨grant✨Totchi and Strider an adopted son, P’ryce.

P’ryce was a orphan of war. Totchi found him, crying in the pool of his mother’s own blood, during a rescue mission for survivors. His village, being a neighboring clan to Striders and Totchis, had been massacred by a pack of Bad Bloods.

The suckling and Totchi’s bond had already been established the moment she picked him up.

This might become a short story

They will most likely never have biological spawn of their own, as Striders a hybrid and there for inclined to not be able to produce offspring.

While Totchi has tried to get pregnant before, but it always ends in miscarriages and stillbirth. She’s still too afraid to try and carry a child in fear that it will be like every other time.

But who needs to worry about that kind of things when you are sunbathing on the cliffside. With a plump little pup cuddled up to you?

Bonus:

See the refrence?

Tot also likes to nap like a big cat in the canopy of jungle. Enjoying the warmth from the rays of the sun.

[shakespearefreak]

Samantha and Nellie’s Northwoods Adventures

As I’ve already mentioned, last weekend Samantha, Nellie, Kaya, and I went to my family’s Cottage in Northern Wisconsin! 🌲 Samantha had visited the Cottage with me when I was little, but a lot had changed since she (and I) had last been there; and this was Nellie’s first time ever! Sam described it to her as being like a smaller version of Piney Point, where Nellie had joined her and Grandmary on vacation after being adopted into the family. I already shared photos of what Kaya did up North, so now here’s Sam and Nellie’s Northwoods adventures!

We left in the afternoon, but the drive to the Cottage is four hours(!), so it was already evening by the time we got there. In keeping with Cottage traditions, I rang the loud, clanging ship’s bell 🔔 that’s mounted on a pole near the door to announce our arrival to the forest and the few neighboring cabins. That first night, we really only had time to unpack and get settled before going to bed.

The girls were so excited they stayed up late into the night, snuggled into their sleeping bags, talking in low tones and giving the occasional hushed giggle.

Despite the late night, we awoke bright and early for the first full day.

Breakfast somehow tastes especially delicious when eaten in a cabin by a wide window with a lakeside view.

After breakfast, I was mainly occupied with taking the pictures of Kaya and swimming 🏊, so the two girls were left to their own devices for most of the day, but Nellie did join my mother, stepfather, and me on the pier later on.

Nellie stood on the pier, staring out at the bright blue sky over the deeper blue of the waters.

We also discovered a perfectly doll-sized chair that matched the bigger ones, so of course I had to take advantage of that!

She relaxed in the chair in the warm early evening sunlight, listening to the waves lap at the wooden planks.

The next day, I was so exhausted that I ended up sleeping into the early afternoon, and by the time I woke up the sunshine had been replaced by a wet, cloudy sky. Samantha passed the time painting 🎨 on the deck (Virginia had kindly allowed her to borrow her paints and easel) until it began raining 🌧️ in earnest.

The gray day was a little disheartening, but Samantha made the best of it with Virginia’s borrowed paint set (though she did have to duck inside with the painting still unfinished when the occasional light spotting of rain turned into a regular drizzle).

After it began to pour, we went back inside and made popcorn 🍿 before retiring early.

The last day seemed to sneak up on us before we knew it. It started out gray again, but Sam and Nellie decided to take a walk with Jip 🐕 anyway, and while they were playing ball the sun came out again.

Jip was full of energy, so they decided to tire him out with a game of keep-away. Sam and Nellie tossed the bright red ball back and forth, Jip running back and forth between them, following the ball’s progress and occasionally leaping up in an attempt to grab it out of the air. Finally he caught it and paraded around proudly with it, then sat down to chew it and refused to relinquish it for several minutes until he was convinced the game was over.

After a short rest, it was time to head back inside to pack up again and begin the long journey back home.

The sun had come out during the game, and both girls were feeling hot and winded. They sat down on a fallen birch to catch their breath, grateful that they’d brought along a big jug of iced tea*. Jip already seemed energetic again, wagging his stubby tail and sniffing eagerly through the dead leaves. “I think he tired us out!” Nellie laughed, a little breathlessly. They sat and drank their tea, listening to the sounds of nature (and the occasional sharp bark from Jip when he saw a squirrel), reluctant to leave… but eventually they went back inside to pack and say goodbye to the Cottage. 

“I hope we can come back next year!” Nellie remarked, watching the Cottage dwindle down the road behind them, before disappearing around a bend and being lost to sight.

THE END

*I realized after taking the photo that their mugs of tea look kind of like beer steins, but I promise they’re not 😅

BONUS:

(In case anyone was wondering what Samantha's finished painting looked like!)

I’m thinking of covering my poor attempt at a birch tree in the lower left with something else… a pine tree perhaps, or maybe just re-painting the trunk so it’s brown instead of white with black marks… though then I’d have to make it much darker than the surrounding dirt, to make it stand out. I’m open to suggestions!

[little-cereal-draws]

Button House Dog Rescue au

Alison and Mike get the house and the land like in the show but instead of an event hall, they get involved with the local shelter and turn it into a dog rescue. All the ghosts are dogs that they foster/unofficially adopt

Robin (wolfhound): He's been there the longest. He was given up as a puppy for reasons unknown; his owner didn't specify. He was the first dog that they rescued and even tho they tried their best, they still messed up a lot. He doesn't hold it against them tho, he loves them. He's made a lot of friends over the years but they've all been adopted out; no one wants him because of his size so he's been unofficially adopted by the Coopers and he's 100% fine with that. When he sits by the fire and they scratch his belly or behind his ears, he doesn't need another family

Humprey (golden retriever): He used to belong to a rich family but got out one day and was hit by a car. The accident left him unable to move anything but his head and even tho the family was distraught, they opted to put him down. Alison came in at the very last second insisting that she could help him and she did. It's took many years of physical therapy, learning to use mobility aids, and different meds but he can get around relatively easily now. He still opts to sleep in the sun most of the day tho and only occasionally romps around the garden w his friends. He's Mike's favorite bc Mike likes to squish his face. Mike's his favorite because he gives him way too many treats

Mary (dalmatian): She lived with a family but the house caught fire one night. She was able to escape (as were the ppl, dw) but ran the wrong way and got terribly lost in the dark. She had no tag or identification so she was taken to the shelter. She's got terrible anxiety and was constantly trembling when they first got her so Alison bought her one of those compress vests that acts like a weighted blanket. It was hard to get it on her the first time because she would shy away from any move they made but now she insists to have it on 24/7. Since getting to Button House, she's gone from skittish and hiding from everything to fairly confident. Alison believes it's from socializing with the new friends she's made

Kitty (pomeranian): She was given as a birthday present to a rich girl when she was a puppy. The girl wasn't very nice to her however and used her more as a doll she could jerk around than a living being. She would yell at her a lot too for natural puppy behavior (ex: not coming already housebroken, chewing things, making messes, etc) After a year or so, one of the neighbors finally had enough and was able to take her away. Unfortunately, they were unable to foster her so she ended up at Button House. She's still incredibly sweet, outgoing and loves to run and play with the big dogs. Even tho she can't keep up at the start, she always ends up running circles around them thanks to her unlimited energy when they tire out. When she's not doing that, she's "helping" Alison and tripping her up while she tries to work

Thomas (shetland sheepdog): He also belonged to a well-off family that he loved very dearly but got lost. He's convinced they're going to find him one day even tho it's been years at this point. The other dogs feel bad that he still believes this but they don't tell him. When he got to Button House, he latched onto Alison as his new family --or his temporary family since he's only going to be here a short while-- and follows her everywhere now. Definitely has separation anxiety due to his getting separated from his first family and freaks out whenever he can't see her. He'll cry when she shuts the door to the bathroom or her bedroom. He tries every night to sleep in her bed but the Coopers have a strict rule about no dogs in the bedroom so he never succeeds. Instead he lays right outside the door in the hallway and cries himself to sleep each night. It used to hurt Alison's heart but she's used to it now; she can't let him in bc once she does, everybody will want to come in

Fanny (chihuahua): She's white, pretty fluffy, and has magnificent floofs on her ears. She was given up by her family for being "too aggressive." They had several small kids and didn't do their research before getting her. The Coopers were a bit nervous at first but quickly learned she was all bark and no bite. Now she's Alison's lap dog and even tho she's perfectly capable of walking, she likes to be carried places. She's too old to want to play with the other dogs so instead she sits in Alison's lap and watches. She'll bark her head off at them but never goes to join the game. Alison thinks it's quite funny that when it's one on one, she can cow all the big dogs, including Robin, into doing what she wants

The Captain (german shepherd): He's a retired military dog that was unable to find a home because he didn't adjust to civilian life very well. He was never actually in a war tho, he stayed domestic and helped more with bomb sniffing. He was retired bc he was getting old and had a lot of health complications in his hips/joints. He's enjoying it much more at Button House with the other dogs than the few families he went to before and is slowly learning how to relax/be a dog. But because of his health problems, he can't play for very long before he has to lay down (this makes Kitty very sad). Mike's scared of him; he was nervous at the start because he assumed as an army dog he would be aggressive, but his fear got cemented one time they were out on a walk and there was a squirrel. The Captain lunged for it and pulled Mike face first into the mud. Mike swears he almost dislocated his shoulder but Alison isn't sure

Pat (corgi): He was given up by a suburban family who underestimated how much space and exercise he would need. Their yard wasn't big enough and he was either laying around the house all day depressed or ripping up the furniture to entertain himself. It was a very tearful goodbye when they dropped him off but the Coopers assured them he would be in good hands. He was very upset when they didn't come back after a few days but he's gotten used to it now. He loves running around in the big field and all the new friends he's made. He's Alison's favorite because he actually listens to her. She was surprised by how many words he knew and now puts his herding skills to use almost every day. "Pat, can you get everyone in the car?" "Pat, can you get everyone to the bath?" "Pat, can you get everyone for dinner?" He's very good at it and make's sure no one's left behind (even Mike)

Julian (weimaraner): He was adopted by a politician as a publicity stunt when he was a puppy. As he grew up, he was absolutely spoiled and occasionally got to go to events/parties. His owner liked to take pictures of him and post them on social media to get voters' attention so quite a large number of people knew who he was. As he got older tho, the posts stopped getting as many likes and a new puppy was adopted. Before he knew what was happening, he was left at Button House. There was quite an adjustment period as he got used to not fancy food, having to share, and all that but he's loving it now. He's Alison's least favorite because he's so crafty and always up to trouble. When he teams up with Robin, the two of them can easily break into the pantry and eat as much ppl food as they like. Alison's started locking it but somehow they're still getting in. It remains the most infuriating mystery of Alison's life

The plague ghosts: they are quite a few different breeds that were rescued from a very unethical puppy mill. They’re at Button House because it was the only place big enough to house them all. They’ve all got mange tho and are quarantined to a separate part of the house. Even tho they are loving their new life much more than how they were living before, they still dream of the day they’ll be able to go out and play w all the other dogs

Pt 2 Pt 3

[walkawaytall]

sometimes when you're supposed to be finishing the multichapter you've been working on for a year and a half and you are just so close you can practically taste it, you end up writing the prologue for an Organa Twins AU that's probably not going anywhere?

(But also might be something because I've already thought of how I want Luke, Han, and Chewie rescuing Leia from the Death Star to go down in this AU and it's real fun.)

“Pregnant, she must still appear. Hidden, safe, the children must be kept.”

“We must take them somewhere the Sith will not sense their presence.”

“My wife and I will take the babies. We've always talked of adopting. They will be loved with us.”

*****

When it came to disappearing entirely, Tatooine was as good a place as any. Ben Kenobi harbored no particular fondness for the planet, but it offered the sort of anonymity that was difficult to come by closer to the Core, and being in Hutt Space guaranteed some separation from Imperial officials.

Tatooine was also where it had all gone wrong and, as such, was the only place Ben could hope to find answers regarding how to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

He was running out of time, though he had felt that way for nearly two decades. Two decades spent under the torturous heat of twin suns, searching for a why or a how. Two decades befriending his nearest neighbors in hopes that he would discover something that made what he knew make sense, that he might hear a story or a description preceded by Shmi said he always… that would cause everything to fit together.

Two decades paying penance for every move he had made that culminated in Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side.

It shouldn’t have taken two decades. He was supposed to have moved on, was supposed to have started training the children on some other backwater planet where they were unlikely to be discovered. In fact, Bail Organa had contacted him nearly ten years prior to inform him that, after months of careful observation, he and his wife, Breha, had determined that their daughter, Leia, was exceptionally good at keeping secrets — “not just good for a ten-year-old; good by any metric.” Leia’s twin, Luke, was…improving in that area, and should be adequately trained by the time the school term ended. They were preparing the children for a change in scenery for their instruction. What month did he think was best to begin?

That month certainly hadn’t been a good one, nor was the next. Ben still hadn’t determined what exact course of events had caused Anakin’s fall. He didn’t know if there was something genetically malevolent about the Skywalker line or if Anakin’s surroundings had played a significant part in his embracing of the Dark Side. If he didn’t know what caused it, how could he possibly prevent it from happening to another Padawan? How could he prevent Luke and Leia from turning?

Really, the entire year had ended up being bad timing, as had the next and the next. When Bail contacted him mere days after the twins’ fifteenth birthday, Ben had been fairly certain he would be ready the next time his old friend commed.

But he didn’t comm.

Ben didn’t pay much mind to the silence. He assumed Bail or Breha would get in touch again if they truly thought the children ready, and by then, Ben would be ready, too.

The next time he saw Bail’s face wasn’t through direct contact, but via a galactic news report being shown in a local cantina. The viceroy was announcing the date of his retirement from the Galactic Senate. He confirmed that, after an apparent landslide victory in an election on Alderaan, the pale young woman with big, brown eyes standing next to him would take his place.

Ben could hardly look at her for more than a few seconds before focusing his attention back on Bail. She looked like her mother.

He wondered how Bail could manage having the living, breathing reminder of the loss of Padme stare across the breakfast table at him every day. He could barely stand the mere memory of her ultimate fate. He still had dreams about her sixteen years after she’d breathed her final breaths, dreams in which she lived, dreams in which she died in a variety of ways, dreams in which she joined Anakin as he had wanted her to.

Leia spoke calmly and clearly, with fire simmering just under the surface of every word that reminded him simultaneously of all of her parents, both biological and adopted. Breha and Bail had clearly trained her to communicate well, though she possessed her own sort of easy charm and wry wit that Ben had no doubt had endeared her to the public.

He wondered about the boy, wondered what Luke was up to while his sister shackled herself to the impossible ideal of equitable politics. Bail had mentioned something about him learning to fly larger ships the last time they had spoken, and Ben had briefly wondered if the children were involved in the insurgent activity that he knew Bail continued to engage in.

Surely not. Bail and Breha were devoted to their causes, but they had always been protective of their children. They wouldn’t allow such young people to involve themselves in something as dangerous as the rebellion.

In the more than three years that had passed since Bail’s retirement announcement, Ben had hardly had to wonder what the twins were doing at any given moment. Leia was the darling of the Senate as far as the general populace was concerned, and it was no wonder: she spoke up for the poor and needy, raised the issue of abolishing slavery of all sentient species galaxy-wide as often as she was allowed, and routinely seemed to represent the interests not just of Alderaanians, but of any being who had struggled under the crushing hand of the Empire. They would never say so publicly, but Ben couldn’t imagine a galaxy in which at least two-thirds of her fellow senators didn’t despise her.

Luke’s presence was less obvious, but Ben gathered that the boy was acting as extra security when his sister traveled on her many diplomatic missions. Her transport was sometimes shown taking off or landing on one planet or another, and it was always flanked by a minimum of two X-wing starfighters. Luke appeared to be flying one of them every time Ben saw a report of Leia traveling.

They seemed to be doing well despite their lack of training. As a senator, Leia had no doubt met both Palpatine and Vader, and yet it seemed as if they were none the wiser. She was shielding her Force-sensitivity somehow, and since Luke appeared to be with her most of the time, Ben had to assume he was as well. They were better off without being trained by him, without ever knowing of their familial baggage.

He assumed he wouldn’t hear from the Organas again.

As spring slipped into summer on Tatooine, many locals shifted their habits to align with the evening hours. The days were barely tolerable during less-extreme seasons, but they were unbearable during the summer. Ben took to sleeping during daylight hours, the same way his neighbors did.

He was surprised to be woken by frantic knocking on his door a mere hour before midday. Ben squinted at his chrono a moment longer than usual to make sure he was reading the time correctly. He tried to ignore the knocking, but it only increased in volume and speed.

Something must be wrong, he thought as he hauled his aging body out of bed. Why anyone would come to him for help was beyond him, but he could at least see what they needed.

He swung the door to his small dwelling open and was immediately blinded by the midday suns. His vision took seconds to adjust, and he squinted at the person standing outside his home.

Blue eyes set beneath a mop of sandy hair met his. The young man was sunburned and covered in sand. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

“Uncle Ben?”

[bellaxgiornata]

Safe Haven [Chapter One]

Pairing: Michael Kinsella x Fem!Reader Word Count: 3.3k [Series Masterlist]

Summary: Contracted to work on your next novel, you leave the States and move in with your sister in Dublin in hopes of a quieter, peaceful place to work on your writing. And somewhere safe to hide. But you weren't expecting to meet your sister's attractive and curious neighbor, the one fresh out of prison–Michael Kinsella. And you certainly weren't expecting to become his safe haven, or for him to become yours–especially when your past eventually finds you.

Warnings/tags: 18+ for this series; contains violence, drug use, domestic abuse, smut, hurt/comfort, angst, mutual pining, friends to lovers

a/n: In this series, Reader is American and has a backstory and family (though if you'd like to pretend Reader was adopted at birth to feel more like a reader-insert to fit you, feel free). She will use a fake name as well. This story is also fairly dark at times, but if you watched the show you should be just fine. Though it's not all dark, because I just really want to give our man Mikey some happiness and comfort! You get Mikey in chapter two though, sorry! You can find the chapter list for this series here.

Also I apologize in advance for incorrect terms of things--I'm American but I am trying my hardest to get correct terms/slang/dialect as I go. But I know there will be mistakes. Feel free to kindly point them out to me if you know something is incorrect!

Head resting against the car window, your eyes scanned the row of houses as your sister drove slowly down the street she’d just turned onto. With each passing moment since you’d left the Dublin Airport, you’d felt a weight steadily easing off of your shoulders. You were free. For now, at least. 

Your body was aching from your time trapped in that cramped seat in the airplane for the more than seven hour flight from Chicago to Dublin, and you were certainly worn out from the time change. In Chicago it would’ve been the middle of the night, but here it was just after nine in the morning. Despite the sun shining bright with the promise of a brand new day, you were desperate for sleep. 

As Megan turned and pulled the car into the driveway of the house at the end of the street, you began to unfasten your seatbelt. You were eager to get out of the car and grab your bags before settling in. Maybe you’d manage to grab a nap after your long trip. It had certainly been exhausting.

Your sister turned off the engine before shifting in the driver’s seat, shooting you a bright smile. "Well, this is home," she told you. "What do you think?"

You leaned forward to look out of the windshield, eyeing the white house with the bit of brick on the front. It was the last house on the corner, with a tall stone fence surrounding the driveway and separating it from the one just next door. Your eyes shifted, taking in the sight of the house just beside it from what you could see over the stone fence. They looked almost identical. 

"It's nice," you told your sister, settling back into the seat and focusing on her again. A tired smile made its way onto your face. "Looks cozy. How do you afford it with just a nurse’s salary at Dublin Central?”

Megan’s shoulders sagged at the question, her bottom lip catching between her teeth as she stared at you quietly for a moment. And then her mouth curled into a sheepish grin. “I suppose I can be honest now that you’re here,” she said.

“And what is that supposed to mean, Megan?” you asked her.

“The house actually sold for a bit under value,” she admitted. “Because of the neighbors.”

Your eyes narrowed instantly at her, one brow rising curiously up onto your forehead. “The neighbors? What do you mean?” you asked. “Are they noisy or something?”

Megan’s eyes dropped down to her lap, an awkward laugh leaving her as she fidgeted with her car keys. “I mean sometimes, sure. But no, it’s uh, it’s because of who they are.”

You rolled your eyes with an amused huff, your attention returning to the house before you. “What? Like you live next door to a damn crime syndicate or something?” you teased.

A heavy silence fell over the pair of you in the car. When she still hadn’t answered, you turned to look at your sister beside you. That sheepish smile was still on her face and it immediately had the amusement on your own dying instantly. Shaking your head roughly at her, your eyebrows flew up onto your forehead.

“You’re kidding, right?” you pressed. “This is a joke?”

The sheepish smile didn’t fall off of her face. Eyelids slowly lowering, you muttered a curse as your right hand came to rub at your forehead. 

“The Kinsella’s,” Megan said softly. “They’ve got a house across the street and the two next door to me. Though the one right next door has been empty for a bit. But uh, Birdy was telling me that’s changing. In a couple of days now, actually.”

Your eyes landed back on the house beside Megan’s, the one that looked almost identical. “Who’s Birdy?” you asked. “And why was that house vacant?”

“Her name’s Bridget but she goes by Birdy,” Megan answered. “She’s the sweet lady across the street. The one with the curly, dark hair. She was interested in meeting you, actually. Very welcoming woman. Brought me a nice housewarming gift when I moved in just over a year ago.”

“She’s part of this crime family?” you questioned.

“Uh, well, yeah,” Megan admitted awkwardly. “But she’s real sweet. And none of them have really been any trouble since I’ve lived here.”

Your attention returned back to your younger sister beside you, eyeing her carefully. You gestured your head at the neighboring house. “So why is that one about to not be empty this week?” you questioned.

“It belongs to Jimmy Kinsella’s brother,” she answered slowly. “He lives in the big, fancy gated house just next door to it with his wife and two sons.”

You shot your sister a pointed look. “You’re avoiding answering the question,” you stated.

“Okay, fine,” Megan said with a huff. “The house belongs to Michael Kinsella. He’s been in prison for eight years–and no, I have no idea for what because I don’t really go poking around into their business. So don’t even ask. But I guess he’s being released on Wednesday. Though Birdy was saying she’s not sure if he’s going to even want to stay there anyway, so it may remain empty.”

“Fucking hell, Megan,” you growled, throwing your head back onto the headrest. Two fingers flew up to pinch the bridge of your nose as you squeezed your eyes shut. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me about this before I agreed to move to Dublin?”

“Because you needed somewhere to go!” Megan answered earnestly. “And I just wanted you here and safe with me. I promise you, they’re not going to be a problem.”

“You know I’m trying to keep a low profile out here, Meg,” you shot. “You know that.”

Megan’s hand gently rested along your shoulder as she softly said your name. You bristled instantly, your body tensing.

“I told you not to call me that here,” you warned her. “Not my real name.”

“Alright Grace ,” Megan corrected herself, overly emphasizing the name you’d chosen. “I promise, they’re not going to go digging into you. You’ll remain private and hidden for as long as you want here, I promise. You tell them you’re Grace Moore and you’re my half-sister and no one will bat an eye. I swear. They’re too wrapped up in their own shit to care.”

Holding your sister’s gaze, a frown spread across your lips. “I hope for both our sake’s your right, Meg,” you told her, tone firm. “Because if word gets out that I’m here–”

“It won’t ,” she pressed. 

Your eyes narrowed back at your sister as you continued, “If word gets out that I’m here, we’re probably both as good as dead.”

“Yeah, I understand the situation,” Megan replied. “You can drop the doom and gloom, though. You’ll be fine here.”

A knock on the window just beside you caused you to startle in your seat, a hand flying up to cover your chest, just over your racing heart. Spinning quickly towards the noise, you spotted a dark haired woman standing just beside the car door wearing a dress and heels. A bright smile was spread across her lips. She sent you a wave with one hand, holding up a bottle of wine in the other.

“That’s Birdy,” Megan whispered.

You forced a smile onto your face as you gazed back up at the woman through the car window. Through the smile and gritted teeth you whispered back, “Just remember my name is Grace Moore here, sis.”

Reaching a hand out, you opened the car door as Birdy took a step back, giving you room to exit the vehicle. The smile on your face felt stiff and worn-out, but you kept it plastered along your lips.

“Well good morning to ya both,” the woman said, her bright blue eyes fixed on you. “Your sister told me she was picking ya up from the airport this morning. Thought I’d stop by and introduce myself.” 

She held out a hand towards you, the gesture drawing your eyes instantly at the movement. For a moment your gaze lingered on her offered hand. 

“Bridget Goggins, though you can call me Birdy,” she introduced herself, her accented voice drawing your attention back up to her smiling face. “And you must be Megan’s sister, yes?”

“Half-sister,” you corrected quickly, your hand sliding into hers. “Grace Moore.”

“Oh well that’s such a lovely name, dear,” Birdy said.

The smile never wavered from her lips as your hand returned to your side, but the calculated and scrutinizing look in her eyes wasn’t lost on you. You were going to have to be careful around her, be extra cautious that you didn’t slip up. She looked like the type who’d notice the tiniest detail and store it away for later, all while still displaying the friendly facade. 

What the hell had Megan done keeping her goddamn criminal neighbors a secret from you?

“Oh, and this is for you, Grace,” Birdy said, holding out the expensive looking bottle of merlot to you. “Consider it a welcome to the neighborhood gift.”

Your mouth felt strained with the effort of maintaining the tight smile on your face as you accepted the wine. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you,” you replied. 

“Your sister Megan is such a lovely young lady, I’ve truly enjoyed having her in the neighborhood,” Birdy continued, her blue eyes piercing through you as she spoke. “I certainly expect you’ll be just as wonderful an addition as she has been.”

Teeth gritting together, you felt the edge of something like a threat in her words. A warning to stay out of their business. 

“I’m rather a private person,” you replied, noticing the faint arch to her brow at your words, “but I’m sure we’ll get along just fine, Birdy.”

“Ahh, lovely then,” Birdy said easily. “I suppose I’ll let ya get settled in, dear. I’m sure it was a long flight for ya from the States. Wonderful chatting with you both.”

“You as well,” you told her. “And thank you–” you said, raising the bottle of wine in your hand, “–for the welcoming gift.”

Birdy’s smile somehow only grew, though whether the smile was genuine or still meant as a warning you couldn’t quite decipher. But it had unsettled you a bit.

“Of course, dear," she replied. "I’m sure we’ll chat again quite soon.”

You watched as she turned, her heels clicking along the pavement as she sauntered off down the driveway and across the street. She’d left you with a strange feeling in your stomach, wondering whether she truly was as friendly and safe as Megan made her out to be or not. But there was certainly more to her than just being the sweet lady from across the street.

Spinning on your heel when Birdy had disappeared, you turned and raised a brow at your sister on the other side of the car. Megan rolled her eyes.

"What?" she asked in exasperation. "She was nice ."

You pointed a thumb over your shoulder in the direction Birdy had just left. "That's nice to you? Because to me that screamed keep your fucking head down and stay out of our shit."

Megan shrugged, making her way to the trunk of her car. "So? You'll be doing exactly that anyway, why does it matter?" Megan asked.

"Because I'd like to keep my head," you told her, making your way over to the trunk.

Your sister opened it, grabbing one of your suitcases and pulling it out with a huff. You reached in, tossing your duffle bag over your shoulder before pulling out the last suitcase. As you adjusted the strap of the bag on your shoulder, Megan reached up and closed the trunk. She hesitated, eyeing you seriously as her hand wrapped around the handle of your luggage.

“I’ve already told you, they’re not going to take an interest in you,” she pressed.

“Oh, really? Is that why I’m getting a welcoming gift from what I presume is probably the damn matriarch?” you whispered harshly.

“Good lord you have written too many of those damn mafia books,” she muttered, turning and dragging your suitcase to the front door with her.

“Well I certainly had enough fucking inspiration for them,” you whispered under your breath.

You followed up the driveway behind your sister, coming to a stop as she took a minute to unlock the door. A moment later she opened it and you were stepping inside behind her, your eyes examining every inch of her house. It was certainly cozy, with a small kitchen and table just off of the front little entryway. Everything looked clean and well organized. You spotted a few plants near the big window.

“So, this is the kitchen, obviously,” Megan said, gesturing a hand at the space as she kept walking forward. “Here is the living room,” she continued as she pointed out the big room just past the kitchen and a staircase to your left. “Though here they call it a sitting room.” She paused, shooting you a smile over her shoulder. “You’re going to sound very American for a while here.”

“That’d be because I am,” you replied.

She rolled her eyes playfully at you before gesturing to a door just in the corner of the space. “Half bathroom.” She turned, gesturing to a sliding glass door on the far end of the living room. “The backyard. Or the garden I suppose is the term here. And then,” she said, hefting your bag up into her arms as she began to ascend the stairs, “the bedrooms are up here.”

Getting a good hold on your bag, you followed your sister up the handful of stairs. Eventually you came to a short landing, setting your bag down as your sister tried to catch her breath.

“Feels like this weighs a hundred pounds,” she complained, pushing some hair off of her forehead. “Right, well, my room is just here,” she told you, pointing at the door on the far left. “Full bathroom here,” she said, gesturing to a door in the middle. “And then your room.”

Megan led the way to the room on the far right, pushing the door open with her shoulder as she pulled your suitcase inside. Dragging your other bag behind her, you made your way in and took in the sight of where you’d be staying for a while. The room wasn’t large, just big enough for a queen sized bed and a small, upright dresser in the far corner. There was a big window just beside the dresser too, a curtain drawn across it.

“You like it?” Megan asked hopefully as she set your luggage by the bed’s footboard.

Nodding, you stepped over to the bed, rolling your suitcase up against it before dropping your duffle bag onto the mattress. “Yeah,” you told her. “It’s bright in here. And you always had a knack for decor.”

“It’s nothing extravagant,” she told you as you made your way over to the window. “But it’s big enough for the both of us. And the garden is nice, you’ll love it out there.”

Pushing back the curtain, the first thing your eyes saw was another window directly across from it. It looked like it was barely ten feet away from yours. There were curtains drawn over the window, but despite that you could easily surmise it was probably the bedroom window of the aforementioned Michael Kinsella. A frown settled onto your lips at that realization. 

Great, so the man fresh out of prison could easily peep into your room while you slept. That certainly didn’t make you uncomfortable. 

Sighing, you turned back around towards your sister, crossing your arms over your chest. You sent her a smile, one which she readily returned.

“Sorry I’ve been an ass,” you apologized. “I appreciate what you’re doing, letting me stay here. Really. It’s just been a long trip and the time difference is killing me. And I’m–I’m a little stressed knowing there’s people just next door who’d probably be very uncomfortable knowing a neighbor is living here under a false identity.”

“Not like you’re a threat to them,” Megan said.

You blew out a rough breath, your head turning over your shoulder to glance out the window behind you. “No, I’m not,” you agreed softly, eyes lingering on the neighboring window. “But I know how people like them think. One little thing seems off and then they’re all over you. Wondering if you’re an undercover fed or cop.”

“Guard,” Megan cut in, catching your attention. “They call the garda–the police here–guards. Just so you know. But I highly doubt they’re going to take an interest in some quiet novelist.”

“Well, considering I write ‘those damn mafia books’,” you said, uncrossing your arms to air quote your sister’s words, “and they're under my real name, I’d think they could get curious.”

“You’re already telling people it’s a pen name,” Megan said with a wave of her hand. “No one’s going to bat an eye.”

“Right,” you mumbled. Feeling the weight of your fatigue settling in, you asked her, “You uh, you mind if I just have a chance to settle in? Maybe grab a shower and a nap?” 

“Oh! No, sorry,” Megan said quickly, making her way towards the door. “Get comfortable, of course. I bet you’re beat. I’ve got spare towels under the sink in the bathroom, too. And if you need anything just holler. I don’t have a shift at the hospital until later tonight so I’ll be around. And there’s some food in the fridge, help yourself to whatever.”

You sent Megan a warm smile as she headed to the door, but after a few steps she hesitated in the doorframe. Eventually she turned, glancing at you over her shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she whispered. 

“Me too,” you replied.

You watched as Megan made her way out of the room and across the landing, listening to her footsteps as she descended the stairs. When you finally were alone, you trudged over to one of your suitcases, lying it down on its side. You unzipped it, digging around a minute for some comfortable clothing to dress into before grabbing your bag of toiletries. Afterwards you headed out of your room to the bathroom just beside it. 

You set your clothes and toiletry bag onto the bathroom counter and then bent down, searching for a clean towel in the vanity. You pulled out a soft, fluffy blue towel and then rose to your feet, spotting an extra towel hook by the shower. Walking over, you hung the towel up before reaching a hand into the shower, turning the water on and letting the water warm up. The spray came out loud, the noise sharp to your ears in the silence.

Turning around, you grabbed the hem of your sweater and slipped it up and over your head before tossing it to the floor. You discarded your bra next before slipping out of your jeans and underwear. But before you could focus back on the shower, your eyes caught sight of your reflection in the mirror and you paused.

There were a few bags under your eyes, no thanks to the flight you’d just endured and the stress of actually getting onto that flight and getting out of the States. You certainly looked as tired as you felt. And your hair looked a little dingy, in desperate need of a wash. Inevitably your eyes dropped lower to the sight of the three long, thin scar lines that were drawn across your stomach. Your right hand reached up, fingertips lightly tracing the length of the healed-over skin. 

Exhaling a shuddering breath, your hand eventually dropped back to your side. Forcing your eyes back up to meet your own in the reflection, you reminded yourself that you were safe now. Hidden. And if you laid low long enough, maybe one day you’d truly be free again. 

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Random pokemon episodes i got to watch as a kid bc my neighbor had them on VHS and i still vaguely remember them

1.) kid gets lost is adopted by those dino kangaroo pokemon and then his family finds him and ends up in the kangaroo pouch too. found family!!!

2.) this rock is HAUNTED! and STRAIGHT!!! team ash brock misty and the rockets (buy our talismans!) go to a festival (buy our talismans!) near a rock overlooking the sea (buy our talismans!) that has a shrine dedicated to the girl who supposedly (buy our talismans!) turned into the rock while waiting for her lover to (buy our talismans!) return and now she's a GHOST (buy our talismans!) and brock and james get seduced by her (buy our talismans!) but not ash bc he's like 10 and not misty or jessie bc (buy our talismans!) the gastly pretending to be the maiden is sticking to her character traits (buy our talismans) of being straight while using her story (buy our talismans!) to get tourists to buy it's anti-ghost talismans, which the real ghost doesn't mind at all bc they are besties (buy our

3.) ponyta is so cool and rapidash is EVEN COOLER ash tries not to get burned to a crisp alive while riding them during a race

4.) jessie and james pretend our heroes just won a lottery by being the number whatever people to enter a city, james is in drag for this of course, they capture our heroes, get ignored by them via security cameras, and pikachu hurts them. there was probably more to the episode than that but i can't remember what

5.) this is mankey. he likes "jelly donuts" and ash's hat, which ash sent in like a million postcards to win. this is primeape. primeape is gonna kick your ass forever

6.) uhhhh abracadabra this girl is turning people in to dolls, also she's not real, also we need a ghost pokemon for this, also suddenly i feel like im in an indiana jones movie. also. "it's a STAR~" "ARGH!!"

7.) let's go get some ghost pokemon! Ash and Pikachu are dead now. let's cry over their bodies a bit. no wait. they're back

8.) butterfree goes free and im crying, im crying into the sunset as my tears glint in the last light of the sun and our friendship i just found out about bc im not watching this show in order. the music in this scene is very of it's time and also it's killing me, it's ripping my heart out. is the pink butterfee a shiny or just Girl? there are too many air balloons here. brock ships the pokemon

9.) we're back at the girl who makes people into dolls and it turns out she just needed to lighten up and laugh at bit. I think there's a fairytale about that. anyway, congrats on freeing this place from cosmic horrors or whatever, ash has a new badge which is all we care about. on to the next gym!

10.) get in the pokeball psyduck. stop having headaches psyduck. psyduck sucks. psyduck uses ELDRICH BLAST. misty loves her psyduck and wouldn't trade it for the world (now it can do murder) also i think there was some really weird architecture in this one

11.) can we all be nice to ditto....? can we all PLEASSE be nice to ditto and their eternal ._. face they are TRYING THEIR BEST!!!!!

[vacantgodling]

REN!!!! gimme the oldies!!!!!!!!!!! I need to be not normal about Dave & Estel &c. ~@void-botanist

ROSE!!!!!! god i'm so not normal about estel and dave like good GOD im not normal about them.

so in the spirit of not being normal about them i decided to partially clean up a piece i've had sitting in my notes for a BRICK cuz i was on the bus home and rotating them like crazy. so, for the backdrop: its been about.... 4 or 5 years removed from the end of vdtrt and dave has moved from ny to washington state to be closer to nature and to start taking photos and stuff. darren and olice are both out of the house; darren has been traveling with gabe and spending time with his relatives, friends and the coven tm, and olice has started college but he HAS formally adopted her. so this happens during the semester; dave gets an unexpected visitor that he hasn't seen in about a year :eye emoji: -- i didn't finish rewriting it fully cuz i'm on the bus and i really just wanted to rewrite the beginning part atm, but dave and estel are in a relationship on the DL at this point. darren suspects that he may be seeing someone, olice has no idea, and lizette CERTAINLY doesn't know that her ex is seeing her father-figure PFFFF. when i do get around to finishing this piece i want it to have the two of them talking about making their relationship more concrete, estel spending more time with dave (basically dave asks him to move in even though he knows it won't "tie estel down" and estel makes dave promise that once olice graduates that the two of them travel together because he wants to show dave the WORLD tm and they're also gonna talk about breaking the news to darren, olice and lizzie ehel em ay oh)

BUT IM STALLING ANYWAY HAVE GAYS:

##

An insistent rap to the door of his cabin is what finally roused Dave from his midday siesta on his horribly comfortable couch. He always told himself that he really should make it upstairs whenever he wanted to sleep; it would be better for his back, but he always found himself here around 3pm, watching some show he couldn’t remember the name of, and dozing—sometimes not waking until it was near 9 o’clock and the sun had already bid the jutting mountains and tiny town he called home adieu. And, looking at the clock, whoever knocked had spared him the crick in his neck, since it was only 5:30. Strange however, he wasn’t expecting anyone in particular today, at this time. He rubbed his eyes and located his glasses buried in the fuzzy soft rug just beneath the horrible comfy couch, and dropped his legs down from it to stand, wriggling his bare toes against its softness. 

The rap sounded at the door again.

“Coming!” Dave called, and ambled over to it. He racked his mind to think; had he promised his lovely neighbors Gloria and Darlene that he would come by to play cribbage this evening? Or did Mr. Sawson finally (finally) decide to return his hose—after what, six months of holding it hostage? Dave really should buy another one, Darren said so the last time they’d facetimed, but it was about the principle, dammit. 

But, neither the sweet if pushy elderly lesbian couple nor the misery Mr. Sawson awaited him when he peered out of the peephole. In fact, aside from Darren or Olice, it was probably the person he most looked forward to seeing at any given moment. 

Dave quickly undid the locks and threw open the door. 

“Estel!” 

“Darling!” Before Dave knew it, long arms wound around him and pulled him close, right there in the middle of the threshold. Dave wrapped his arms around the tall vampire’s waist and they swayed there to some invisible song that only Estel could hear. He often talked about how the universe was full of sounds that his human mind couldn’t hear nor comprehend. 

He’d also said that the song of Dave’s happiness was one of his favorite melodies. 

After a long moment, Estel pulled back to see his face. He cupped Dave’s cheeks with long, lithe fingers. “The starlight’s in your beard now!” He cooed sweetly—starlight in this case referring to the streaks of white that were now more often than incidental in Dave’s beard. Dave was honestly surprised it was taking his beard so long to go fully gray; at only 50 his hair was already white like snow, but he could blame his father for that, who started graying at 30. It seemed his beard was only now in the past year getting the memo, and as it was, Dave chuckled softly in his chest, his cheeks growing warm at the praise.  

“Are you going to let me close the door, Es?” He asked teasingly, but it was fond. Estel laughed and it was like wind chimes. But instead of letting go of Dave, he instead let his arms fall down to Dave’s waist, pulled him in tighter and spun them, gently closing the front door of the cabin with one hand while pressing Dave into it with the other. In this position, Dave’s hands slid from Estel’s waist to the planes of his chest—and he’d probably still never get used to looking up at him like this. Estel didn’t waste time and crowded in, looping one finger in the loop of Dave’s jeans to pull him into a mind numbingly deep, thorough kiss—like he was drowning and Dave was the only source of air. 

Dave gasped into his mouth in surprise but easily opened up to his insistent tongue, feeling his knees go weak and suddenly very thankful the door was there to help prop him up. When Estel finally pulled back and gave him a smug, satisfied little smile and Dave couldn’t help but smile back, a bit self conscious, and hit Estel’s chest lightly. The room brightened once more with Estel’s laugh. 

“You always make such funny faces when I kiss you Dave, dear! I can’t help but want to kiss you more.” Estel illustrated his point by leaning in and sucking the soul out of Dave’s lips once more until Dave finally had to push him back to breathe. 

“Es!” He exclaimed with a breathless laugh. “Can’t you tell I’ve missed you dear?” Estel peppered kisses all over Dave’s face and what else could Dave do but let him?

[aweirdoandhisfanfics]

BSAV family AU. Part 0

I've had this idea some weeks ago, but then I found THIS IMAGE:

This is an official image that JD instagram account posted, and when I first saw it I SCREAMED.

I know this image probably its just another image that a corporate account posted, but it made really happy that my AU can become canon.

So I decided to make a quick rundown of my AU.

What is the BSAV family AU

As the title suggests, it's an AU where all the coaches from the "Beach, Summer And Vampires" season and some others are part from a single and big family, the members of this family are:

Felicia (the mother)

Vester (the uncle/father figure)

Lilith (aunt)

Sil (NPC from sacrifice, he is the uncle)

Alano (uncle)

Scarlet (Boss Witch and the daugther)

Scotty (son and protagonist)

Cthylla (family pet)

Jennifer and Agda (Don't Let Me Down coches, and the family neighbors)

But how all of them got united

Well, It all started with Felicia, she once made a deal with the eldritch god, Cthulhu, the deal was that she would receive power, but she would also have to take care of his daugther, Cthylla.

Years later, Felicia was trying to have kids, but no spells that she tried could make her pregnant, so she resorted for the last action that she could make to have kids, she kidnaped Vester and Lilith.

Years later, she finaly managed to get pregnant magicaly, which lead to Scarlet being born, some years later, Cthylla brought her a baby from Sun Horizon called Scotty, she couldn't find his parents, so she ended up adopting him.

Jennifer and Agda they just moved to the house next door.

But how did you get this idea?

Weeks ago, in a JD discord server comented this: "I hc that the NPC guy from Sacrifice is called Alistair (at the time I called him Alistair)"

Then a friend of mine sended this gif:

Becaus Alistair is similar to Alastor, then I responded "I'm imagining Vester and Felicia cheering Scotty up", and that's when this entire AU started to be created.

[hankwritten]

No Fuss No Muss No Coconuts

Soldier/Pyro 1K

Friday (July 7) : Vacation | Relaxation | Holiday

If Pyro wanted to find Soldier, all they had to do was follow the trail of destruction.

Usually. Except this time, when Soldier disappeared from base with no word, no note, no screaming match that could be pointed to as the inciting incident, there was no trail of destruction. Somehow, that was most concerning of all.

Consequently, it took them a while to track Soldier to the off-season beach town, a lonely stretch of coast that had taken weeks to get to by foot. Even then, they’d only happened upon it because a few loose tongues in neighboring areas had been talking about escaped convicts and a man supposedly on the FBI’s most wanted list—and only then because the locals weren’t confident about their assumptions due to his partially covered face. Eventually, one week past the Soldier’s disappearance, Pyro took off after him, despite their teammates warning them strongly against it, claiming the stray dogs always find their way home.

Soldier was no stray dog. Not anymore! The team was his family, and they had adopted him, and if he’d gone off voluntarily then something was terribly wrong.

When they found him, he was facing away, staring into the setting ocean with his fatigues rolled up to his knees. The water lapped leisurely against his shins, damp crawling up skin to turn the balled part of fabric a slightly darker color.

“Soldier!” Pyro called, worry forgotten, replaced by only the uncomplicated joy of seeing their favorite person.

Soldier didn’t turn around at first, so Pyro splashed through the surf toward him.

“Soldier! It took me ages to find you,” they hudda-hu’d.

“Did it?” Soldier replied. “Y’don’t say. Can’t imagine how abandoning my post, disappearing without a word, and marching to the middle of nowhere would make me difficult to find.”

Pyro was mildly shocked. They’d never heard Soldier be sarcastic—his frank, matter of fact way of speaking was one of the reasons they found him easy to talk to. Pyro didn’t do well with metaphors and mincing words, already finding normal conversation to be an exhausting game of Schrödinger’s genuineness. Add on top of that that, since mercenaries tended to be a bunch of surly, grumpypuses that couldn’t say what they were really feeling if Medic cracked them open and pointed at it, it was little wondered they gravitated toward the simple man with straightforward goals.

The anomalism made them uncomfortable. Their hands found their way to one another, wringing close to their chest.

“We all miss you, Soldier. And also we’ve been losing pretty badly without you.” When he didn’t reply to that, they tried, “Why’d you come out here?”

“…Needed a vacation.”

He was smoking. He was quite pretty like that, the ember in the end of his cigar like his own shard of sun, tapping the ashes into the sea that wanted to swallow him.

“Oh okay. Can I go on vacation with you?” they asked.

He paused for a moment, silently wrestling with something. Then he sighed, dropping his stogie into the water. “Sure. Why not.”

They got drinks at the local tiki bar. Soldier had obviously been here long enough that everyone was skittish of him, but not long enough to know that severing alcohol to the ole’ war dog is even worse than trying to cut him off. Pyro got something fruity served in a coconut. Soldier got a plain beer.

“So…” Pyro mused. “These roofs, huh?”

Soldier grunted.

“All made of dried palms and stuff. Looks really…flammable.” Pyro wasn’t so good at winking, but they could wiggle excitedly in their seat.

“I guess,” Soldier said.

Soldier? Not jumping at wanton property destruction? Everything was so wrong and Pyro didn’t know what to do about it. They felt a flush of frustration; at Soldier’s obtuseness, at the fact he made them track all the way here in the first place. And he was being hard to decipher again, which made them feel stupid for not getting what was wrong. They hated feeling stupid at the best of times, but Soldier was one of the few that never made them feel that way.

Usually.

Fed up with all this insincerity, they scooted out their stool with force, curly straw spinning round its coconut.

“If you’re going to be like that, then I’ll just go light all those fires by myself!”

Before they could take another step, they were jolted back, a hand clamped around their shoulder.

“Not so fast, Smokey!” Soldier said. “Do not go getting up to that on your own.”

“Why the heck not?”

“Because you could get hu-” Soldier cut himself off. “Because you’ll get in trouble.”

“So?” Pyro demanded. “Why do you care?”

Soldier’s mouth opened, then closed sharply, his hand ungripping their suit. “I don’t. Whatever. Get to it then.”

Now it was Soldier evacuating his chair, storming out of the bar and forcing Pyro to be the one chasing after him. Which wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t fun, and they chased him with muffled yelling all the way up the beach where the last of the sun had long since evacuated. They couldn’t get him to stop until they grabbed his arm with both hands and dug in their heels.

“Soldier! Tell me why you keep running away!” they demanded as his unstoppable force dragged them along behind him like a child’s toy.

Several feet of sand was excavated before Soldier finally whipped around. “You want to know why I am trying to get away, maggot? It is because this god-forsaken Team weakens me.”

Pyro dropped their arms.

“There is no escape from any of you! No relief in the intoxicating mother’s milk of battle, not when I am watching eight civilians running in blind and getting their asses handed to them! How can a man fight like this? How can a Soldier function when he is worrying if his strategy might get the men under his command killed? He should be able to sacrifice as many blood-brothers necessary! As many Lady Liberty demands for victory, and those blood-brothers should be proud to go!”

Soldier dropped his fist. The helmet pointed at the ground, where midnight sand had gathered on his boots, his whole body slumping to point at them.

“A real Soldier shouldn’t care.”

“It’s…not permanent Soldier. Us dying.”

“I know that, maggot,” Soldier said. “And yet.”

“You don’t have to worry about us. We’re all always fine! Just come back with me and we’ll-”

“With you?” Soldier spat. “I can’t come back with you when you are the worst of the lot!”

Pyro took a step back.

“You never question me!” Soldier said desperately. “Whatever stupid, suicidal thing your commanding officer comes up with in the moment, you go ahead and do it! The others, they at least will stop sometimes when all I’m doing is dragging us into shit. But you…”

“I don’t question you because I trust you.”

“That is my point. You shouldn’t.” Soldier grit his teeth. “I keep trying not to care, and it keeps not working, and the thought of you being hurt…The one person who…”

He reached out, as though trying to take hold of Pyro more concretely, to dig his fingers into their suit and not let go, but he gave up. The fist closed, reaching on to air.

Before it could fall back to his side, Pyro lunged for it, forcing their fingers between his.

“I won’t get hurt, Soldier,” they promised.

“You do,” Soldier said glumly. “All the time.”

“But it’s like you said,” Pyro pointed out. “All those blood-brothers who are going to their deaths because of Mrs. Liberty: they’re doing it willingly. Because they want to. Because maybe because they want to burn some stuff on the way. And even if they die, we have to be okay with caring about people.”

“Easy for you to say. A Pyro can get caught caring. A Soldier shouldn’t.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“Then say different!”

Soldier turned to his grit-cloaked boots again.

“Come home Solly, please.” Pyro tugged his arm. “Loving the team doesn’t weaken you. I promise it doesn’t. And when everyone sees you back, they’ll prove it to you.”

They could see how much he wanted to come back. That being alone out here didn’t suit him anymore. He wasn’t the lone wolf taking bitter relish in his own solitude that he had been when he’d first joined the team.

Still, it was a monstrous relief when he finally relented, loosening his hand enough to let Pyro clasp it fully.

“…I am sorry for going AWOL,” he said. “I will…come back. It was wrong to deprive the team of their lone tactical commander of any skill.”

“Good. And Soldier?”

“Yeah?” he asked as they began walking hand in hand in the vague direction of the closest teleporter hub.

“Next time we go on vacation, can we go somewhere that sells saltwater taffy?”

[amphiptere-art]

I was able to formulate more ideas about this guy. I am using @artoutoftheblue's overseas AU as a reference.

Sun (golden red) and Moon (tempting waters) are Young adults when they find blue moon's egg. (roughly around 50 ft) They basically formed a brotherly pod. So that once they had eggs they could protect each other. Unfortunately their eggs kept failing to hatch. So when they found a strange large egg left out in the open they decided they would try their luck.

This egg was blue moon. I'm not sure how Blue Moon's parent would work but they were definitely developed in a lab first. Pumped them with a bunch of growth hormones that caused them to be so big that they had to be freed at some point. They had an egg but died searching for food before it hatched.

Blue moons genetics caused it so that he enjoys the taste of mer flesh. And despite tempting waters and golden red's punishments for enjoying such a thing there was nothing they could do to get rid of the natural instinct to hunt mer in Blue Moon. Of course they soon realized they were in over their heads as Blue Moon quickly got bigger.

At some point Blue Moon became so big that he was large as his adoptive parents. (Both probably around 65 ft) Despite the fact that he was only an pup. At this point golden red and tempting waters decided that he was big enough to fend for himself. Still acting as his family, but allowing him to venture off more than what most mers would at his age.

This of course gave Blue Moon a chance to seek out his favorite food without his brother's patronizing him. But he never liked eating his neighbors or friends so he would often venture out far for days at a time before returning.

Once he grew into his adolescence faze (his size roughly around 78 ft) he started getting into boating accidents. His family live in a reef that is quite close to the surface of the ocean. And since he prefers live up with his parents he was unfortunately close enough to the surface for boats to Hit him quite often. This made him hate and fear boats. Often roaring at them from afar. Perhaps even throwing some rocks.

This has caused a research team to come out and try to corral blue moon into deeper waters. But of course every single time they drive him off he comes back. They have not quite figured out why Blue Moon wants to stay in the smaller reef. And since he is destined to grow so big, it's not like they can catch him and throw him an aquarium to get him out of the way.

Blue Moon is based off of a ribbon eel and a leafy sea dragon. Meanings that he's fairly good at camouflage But looks almost mesmerizing when he's swimming. In the beast style sketch he cannot close his mouth. His rays are also more leafy like extensions. Although in artoutoftheblue style he can close his mouth. And the leafy-like extensions look more so like his animatronic self. The fins on his shoulder (beast ) or at the end of his torso (theblue) act as his ribbons are and are the largest leafy extensions he has. His tail is also prehensile, despite the fact that leafy sea dragons do not have this ability their cousins the seahorse do. So he got one anyways. He still is just an adolescent. So his claws haven't quite grown in all the way. Although his bite is still heavily venomous.

And that's all I have so far . . . What you guys think?

[renmaniwan]

[ bright vachirawit, cismale, he/him ] - was that REN MANIWAN i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the TWENTY-SEVEN year old who has been in nightrest for SEVENTEEN YEARS and works as a VET TECHNICIAN AT TWO DOGS VETERINARY has a reputation of being KIND-HEARTED, but also RETICENT. they reside in FOG GATE & people in town usually associate them with NERVOUSNESS MASKED BY KIND EYES AND A KIND SMILE, THE SOUND OF KEYBOARD KEYS CLICKING LATE AT NIGHT, & CAT HAIRS ALL OVER HIS SWEATER. let’s hope the killer doesn’t go after them next. [ jia ]

STATISTICS.

NAME: 'Ren' Renrawin Maniwan

GOES BY: Ren

AGE: 27 years old

BIRTHDAY: October 5th, 1995

ZODIAC CHART: Libra sun, aquarius moon, leo rising

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cismale, he/him

FACE CLAIM: Bright Vachirawit

OCCUPATION: Vet technician at Two Dogs Veterinary

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chicago, Illinois

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Fog gate

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

HEIGHT: 6′0″ (183 cm)

BACKGROUND.

Ren was born in Chicago, Illinois to a middle-class family. An only child, he was showered with love and attention growing up. An outsider would think his family was perfect, but it was far from it. His parents grew out of love, but remained married for Ren's sake, up until his dad cheated on his mom, ending their marriage when he was nine years old. After a rough custody battle, Ren's mom won full custody, taking her son and moving to Nightrest so she can be near her own family.

Nightrest was vastly different than Chicago, but given that Ren moved when he was kid, he had adapted quickly, and it didn't make much of a difference. He was a sweet, calm kid, preferring to keep to himself and be around his friends and in his comfort zone. He kept in contact with his father, seeing him during summers and visits. He did good enough at school, but he wasn't a straight A student or anything. He spent the majority of his time gaming, building his own keyboards and such.

For college, he had moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, picking a university in the city where his father—with his new family—now resided. He had wanted to get to know his father better, spend more time with him beyond phone calls and infrequent visits. It wasn't great, especially when he felt out of place meeting and getting to know his step-mother and step-siblings. Seeing his father with his second family had brought on a pang of sadness in Ren's heart, despite his understanding of the situation. His dad asked him to move to Indiana for good after graduation, but he had picked to go back to Nightrest instead, preferring to stay with his mother and it's where he fit better.

PERSONALITY.

He's a kind-hearted, friendly and sweet boy. Depending on the situation, he might get nervous and shy. He's more of an introvert than an extrovert, but if need be, he can put himself out there. His social battery just gets drained pretty quickly and he'll need a week to recharge. He's a big gamer, and most of his money goes on his games and gaming set up. He's a big animal lover, obviously since he works at the vet. He's got two cats that he's adopted as strays, a tabby cat called Luna and an American curl called Ash. Because of his shy nature, he tends to be reticent and escapist with his emotions, dismissive of anything that makes him uncomfortable.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

Ride-or-die

Gamer friends!

Ex (1/2): a high school ex who would have also been his first everything, and an ex after her came back from college

Sibling like relationship

Childhood friends

Neighbors and coworkers

He's a good influence on them

Bad influence

An accidental hook up because he got too drunk lmao, would probably be too shy about it

Family friends

Roommate potentially?

Someone who likes to make him nervous for fun

He usually gets up early to feed stray cats, so if anyone enjoys doing that with him

Unexpected friends

Honestly anything, I want it all ty

[sweeterthanmydreams]

Start of the Second Year (the Hemming-Byrd Legacy)

[Legacy Challenge Rules] [My Legacy Sheet] [Blank Legacy Sheet] [Intro/Previous]

The end of the first Fall marks the end of the first year as well as Ophelia's birthday. Ophelia and wife Lanuola celebrated at their favorite restaurant with cake and strange experimental food that was... not that good; thankfully it was better when they returned for Lanuola's birthday a few days later. The last day of Fall also means Halloween and Halloween costumes: Lanoula wants to be a sexy cheerleader while Ophelia took the chance to break out an old cosplay of her favorite space captain. They have very different ideas on how to pick Halloween costumes. I also forgot to buy Spooky Stuff so no pumpkin carving until next year. u-u

Going into their second Winter, they continued to chug through their careers and aspirations. Ophelia is still working through Bestselling Author; despite being a masterpiece master and having written twenty going on thirty books, she hasn't written a single bestseller yet. After taking a job opportunity from a phone call, Lanuola's been working her way up through the ranks as a Business Investor; I really love the vibes of the massive bright red heels the game decided she'd wear with her work uniform. Somehow the RNG gets what Lanuola is all about. By the end of Winter, start of Spring, Lanuola has since completed the career but is staying on to use up her vacation days for free money. Ophelia has also finally gotten her fourth celebrity star and now glows; sweet! She's picked up the Paparazzi Darling quirk, though it seems Aleki is the only paparazzi that exists to follow her around. (lol)

They had a lovely Kwanza & Karamu with the club over Winter. Ophelia's been making a killing off selling everyone's paintings. Since there's an element of "discovering other artists" mixed into the Painter career, I like to spin it that she's both coaching the club members and helping to promote their work to galleries. There's some weirdness with switching career branches in the Sims, but Ophelia got a lucky call to re-join the Painter career before the branch in career paths so she's working back up it again to become a Patron of the Arts. Since she's been caught on the writing bestsellers part of her Aspiration, Lanuola has gotten LEAGUES ahead of her when it comes to earning Points for the Legacy Challenge; I hope she keeps up her reputation as "Most Powerful Spouse" across the generations. She's finished all the Wellness Aspirations, Nerd Brain, and the Microscope Print Collection. Speaking of Lanuola and power moves…

Guess who girl-bossed their way into the sun space! Lanuola got abducted. I guess forcing your club to pay for yoga classes repeatedly is enough to attract the attention of the aliens? Or maybe it has something to do with half their neighbors being aliens… I like to think she was taken to alien-court because MLM's aren't legal in space (because that's absolutely how her Wellness side-hustle runs) and at least one third of her customer base seems to be citizens of Sixam. (I think that's the trickle down from Alien Night being the first bar event I ran across in this Save.) If I have my MCCC settings right, this means that the first child of the Legacy Challenge might very well be Lanuola's alien baby. Ophelia would obviously adopt Lanuola's surprise alien child making them eligible to be an Heir, but it's not likely they'll land the Child of the Islands trait they need to inherit. Either way, the possibility is there which is ✨spicy✨.

Tune in next time for "Will the first baby of this legacy challenge be Lanuola's surprise alien baby?" & the second half of year two!

[Next Part >>]

[publicevidence]

I used to hate poetry

But I think I’ve changed my mind

It’s awfully hypocritical to start off a post this way when all I do is wax poetic online about my own stupidly small problems

I think my problem with poetry was that I was experiencing it in 2D

A poem is when you’re next to the love of your life, watching the sunset off of her New York City fire escape, 5 months before you’ll even kiss for the first time but so so so sure you are head over heels in love with them

A poem is also consoling your friend over Minecraft’s in-game chat because she was just broken up with; it is poetry that she told her ex she’s blocking her and if she needs to contact her again, she has her email

A poem might be lost in though during a daily smoke break; A poem is definitely the album created of the cats you see watching you through your neighbors windows while you’re on your daily smoke break

A poem is a line your friend says to you so casually they barely notice it, but since that moment, it hasn’t left your head

“These are easy problems to have”

“It’s nice to have another heartbeat in the house”

“I think life does get better”

A poem is a blurry picture I took on my iPhone last night of you because we were so happy we never wanted the moment to end

A poem is looking into your family dogs eyes and seeing years and years of so much love

A poem is looking into your newly adopted cats eyes and for the first time, watching him slow blink back at you

Poetry is in motion. It’s in the moment. It’s an experience more than written words. And I think I hated that I could read all about it, but I’ll never really be in the shoes of the author. There’s no way to go back and capture the last rays of sun before it sets and there is no way to preserve an emotion from reinterpretation and misconception. You had to be there. You had to feel it.

Maybe it’s hypocritical to end this without a conclusive statement of why. Why poetry matters. Why do I even care. But if I did, would this even be a poem?

[palaeophilist]

a letter to the unnameable you

Sometimes I like to write letters and not send them.

It helps to imagine a specific “you” to whom I relay some sweet detail about my day or my thoughts or my life in general. I like the way it filters my thoughts, and I think I also like the fantasy of connection sometimes just as well as I like actually connecting. Just now, as I sit on the patio where she has never sat and likely never will, I thought about writing to her — telling her the things that I will likely never tell her in reality. Twice this summer I reached out, and while she responded, she didn’t respond, you know? I imagine that she is, as she always was, in survival mode, and I happen to know the warrior woman who directs her movements when she’s in that mode, and therefore I shouldn’t take it personally, but it’s hard not to personally feel like my friendship to her didn’t matter, even though I know cognitively that it did.

That’s how it goes, though, sometimes, isn’t it? We love the people we love, and we lose them all the time. We lose them when they move away. We lose them when they get lost inside of themselves. We lose them when they adopt new identities — mother, girlfriend, soldier. We lose them to the ether, or to heaven, or to wherever our spirits go when we die.

In the four months since Scott passed, I wrote him two emails. Especially in the days after his death, he felt so present. The second time I wrote to him, he felt much less so, and even though I told LICM we’d have no regrets, I have a few. I can live with them, so I don’t want to pretend they aren’t there. Whether or not I did the best I could or thought there would be more time, the fact of the matter is the last time we were together, I didn’t even hug him goodbye.

But I suppose “lasts” and “firsts” are much less important that all that lies between. One of my friends recently moved her parenting schedule towards a 50-50 thing, and she wrote about that on a post at the beginning of the school year. She missed the first day of school this year, which was so uncommon for her as a mother, but even as she grieved the loss, she acknowledged that she’d be there for the second, and for so many other moments that aren’t typically picture-worthy or bragged about on social media. I loved that way to frame it. And I still think about something a friend told me a couple years ago: there’s never enough time with the people that we love, which consequently means, "not enough" is the wrong thing to focus on.

When we remember what we had, when we set out our actualities like little mementos on a shelf, we can hold all of it. Each memory can bring, perhaps in turn and perhaps simultaneously, depth and intrigue or drama and joy, can bring the flavor and textures that make up a life, which is maybe all we really have at the end of it all. 

Today I didn’t write a letter to anyone. I didn’t ache for the confrontation of writing to KDT, or the particular ways that I let sentences run on and provide all the necessary context for AH. I didn’t invite the melancholy of writing to ST, whose email account will one day reject my offerings and it will break my heart a little. Instead, I guess, I wrote to myself? But also the invisible and unnameable You, for whatever it is ever worth.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the boys crash their scooters onto the grass again and again. The neighbor takes his clothes out of the dryer. They all get into a kerfuffle with Calvin’s scooter (a conflict which ultimately led to an intervention and an apology, which still counts even if it was explained by “My mom told me to”). Meanwhile, the world turns. The sun shifts its position in the visible sky. It is time for the business of living again. The spaghetti noodles await. 

[hanaxrhee]

   was that HANA RHEE i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the THIRTY year old who has been in nightrest for HER ENTIRE LIFE ON AND OFF and works  as an OWNER OF RHEE'S BAR & GRILL has a reputation of being PROTECTIVE, but also STUBBORN. they reside in ASHMORE & people in town usually associate them with THE SMELL OF FRESH COFFEE IN THE MORNINGS, OVERSIZED SWEATERS DURING THE WINTER & A SMILE AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN. let’s hope the killer doesn’t go after them next.

   tw: abuse

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 …

                     𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄:  hana rhee                      𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒):  han                      𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄(𝐒):  hana                      𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄:  march 3rd, 1992                      𝐀𝐆𝐄:  30 years old                      𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑:  female                      𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐒:  she/her                      𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍:  heteromantic                      𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍:  heterosexual                      𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍:  jia rhee

𝐁𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐘…

       - it all started when her birth mom met her birth dad, and then they had hana. at the age of sixteen years old, the two of them were too young to even keep her. thus, after her birth, the two named her before giving her up for a much better life.

      -the life that should have been good for hana simply wasn't. from one foster home to another, hana rarely got the chance to stay in one place long enough. shortly after her sixth birthday though, she was taken in by a couple. a couple who she thought would end up adopting her.

      - that though came crashing down two months later. things that had once started off well soon turned to hell. her foster father soon enough showed his abusive side. with one smack on the face to her, it was then that she decided she would run away.  seeing the bruise on her cheek that night, it was a sight she wouldn't forget.

      - packing up what clothes the six year old could, she managed to escape out of the window in her room before anything else could happen. with only being six, the most she could do was run to her neighbor. with them taking her in and calling the child protective services on the family she had been with, it didn't take long for them to take hana away and palce her with a family who would protect her. and that was with the rhee's. her now family.

      - the first year alone with them, hana kept her guard up. for her, she was scared that she would end up without a family again. she didn't want to get close to anyone with that fear lurking around her. though after a year to her surprise, the rhee's made her adoption into the family official. it was all so strange to her. to have a forever family now. one that loved her and cared about her.

      - to have a family now, it was a good feeling. one she loved. after the adoption, she finally started to open up. though not about her previous foster family. that was one secret she would keep inside for now. with having a family now, hana began to feel at home. from letting her guard down, to finally smiling again. it was all coming together.

      -the years following all seemed to breeze by. during her high school years, hana took up cooking lessons. within no time, she knew how to make more than a few dishes. come her senior year, she ended up being more skilled. after graduation, she spent the remaineder of her summer with her family before heading off to NYC to attending the culinary institute of america.

   - her time in new york and at the college had been great. it was also in new york that she had fallen in love with a fellow classmate. the two dated for two years before finally marrying. a year after that, her daughter was born. in between that, she finished school before getting a job to save up money.  married life though for hana wouldn't last for long. three years later, she caught her now ex husband cheating on her. doing what was best, she divorced him. to her, there was no way she could stay with him.

   - moving back to nightrest, she moved in with her parents for a little bit while she looked for a house for her and jia. finding a house not too long after, hana and jia soon enough moved in. it was a short while after that, that hana started working at her families bar & grill. seeing how well she was doing there though in a short amount of time, her parents officially handed the place over to her. making her the sole owner of it.

- after the events of what happened at her bar & grill and also the charity gala, heana made the decision to leave for a little bit. leaving the country, she left to go stay with her grandparents in seoul. for a few weeks, she took her time to recover from all that had happened. during that time, she reconnected with some friends who had moved there.  after those few weeks, and with feeling homesick, hana made the decision to go home. though she wanted to surprise her friends and family. which is what she did.

OTHER FACTS…

      - her music taste is a wide range. from kpop to american music like country, rock, pop, and so on. she also loves musicals too.

      - if there's one thing she rarely shares, it a special kind of alcohol she gets imported from korea. soju, her go to drink. she rarely, if any, lets anyone else have it.

   - recently, she did end up finding her birth parents, who to her surprise were still together. while she loves them, she loves her adoptive parents more. through her birth parents, she has two brothers and a sister. through her adoptive parents, she has two brothers and two sisters.

- after the events at rhee's, she let her parents take charge of it. with them deciding to completely rebuild rhee's. hana did have some inputs. like including some traditional korean architecture in it. she was also given complete control over the menu as well.

WANTED CONNECTIONS…  

      her person: a childhood friend of hers, this person knows her in and out. they're also joined by the hip as well. and when all hell breaks loose, these two are always by each others side to help the other get through it. ( can be male or female)

      the one that got away: being close during their school years, feelings formed, and they almost took it further but life got in the way. the two went their separate ways for college and haven't spoken until they both returned to the city.

      friends: plain and simple. friends who she can hang out with at the end of the day. ones she can be herself around.

      childhood friends: a group of friends she's known since she was a kid. ones who will almost always get together once a week.