#and jay would show her her toys that she was always tinkering with and sometimes when they had responsibilities they would sneak away

[artist-regardless]

Anyone else think jay and kira is a good ship

[s0lar-ch3ri]

oh i am READY (starting with chip then jay then gill) (spoilers for some headcanons) (its not all of them because i dont wanna be here forever so yeah)

because i am firmly a believer that chip has had plans before (aint no way the bullshit hes thought of isnt slightly mapped out) he somehow fucking lied in the block. bro juked them all

chip has so many pimple marks because he didnt learn proper face washing and just would pick at them and yeah

kinda angsty but like since chip grew up without a parental figure for a while (assumed by how chip just sobs when arlin asks about where his family is) and was on the streets, hes less concerned with falling ill as hes had to teach himself how to cope with it

he also struggles with asking help in an autism way because i said so

(inspired by a fic thing someone wrote on tumblr about how chip handles his prostetic and just take part one and part two please im insane on them) chip literally isnt even well physically because he plays around with the pinkie way too fucking much (anxious boy). jay has had to fix it so many times its insane

the thing that surprised chip about the ring from the block is that it fit his fingers so well and his fingers arent the same as gills so where tf was his finger size taken

i think i like to hurt so maybe chip wield the blades at a young age but like by choice. like they hurt his hands because they were so heavy and stuff and drey or arlin would tell him to not and they had smaller swords but chip wanted to grow up already to hold these (he also had a lot of malnutrition still so that added in) blades and help the crew (i wrote this as a chip and gill comparison but it fits ollie and chip too well too fuck)

i think itd be kinda funny if either a; gill believes he caused the scars under chips chest during the duel or b; gill actually gave chip impromptu top surgery because thats so fucking funny

cane user chip (he probably would needed it since he was born but since he was born without parents basically he never knew what he needed for his leg and the crew never thought much of how silly chip walked around) because yes lol

--------------------------------jay ferin time-------------------------------

jay was not at all fucking sneaky with the navy thing much until gill came along because chip does mention knowing/suspecting something in the block

shes had ollie help out with a couple of the projects (sometimes its just to keep gill away from it) and it brings her joy for no reason when he gets distracted with like some other toy or even better starts trying to put the pieces together like legos

shes very good with birds and can act like a bird whistle (shes been trying to teach ollie her secrets)

jay did sea lemur research for a mission in the navy and fucking fell in love with them

she purposefully hangs by gill during her tinkering time because even if he most times causes it to fuck up he encourages her and is always pretty interested in hearing about her creations

she remembers exactly what that doll looked like (for fic idea maybe either she or drey or them together work on making it again lol)

she learnt to sow from chip and the clown costume was one of her most worked on (she didnt make it the costume but she did like to add fabric patches to it)

she has journals for different things (separated by categories like drawings, blueprints, research, etc) and when she noticed chip showing interest in gills magic, shed let him "steal from her blind eye" (shed let him take it but he was too prideful to ask her) and read about the magic shes researched

jay has a different writing and weapon hand (writes with her left and shoots with her right, but her left can suffice if necessary)

i feel like each of the captains have their staying up late arcs and during jays goobleck appears randomly around the room like five nights at freddys

---------------------GILLION TIDESTRIDER BITCHING------------------

absolutely has the intimidation factor but he barely uses it

mind telepathy with pretzel because i said so

loves ollies drawings of sea life (gillion gets to share his studies and ollie practices drawing from descriptions)

has brother vibes with ollie

gill and jay for sure took more note of how chip like limps (i havent done my full research on the usage of a cane so this is what im going with PLEASE correct me when im wrong) and gill held onto like the cane sword thing because chip is way too prideful to admit he needs it

is it silly to imagine gill taking estrogen or something before he trains thus why his tits are huge (like the elders ask and hes like "its my power up dont worry!" and its actually [unknowingly may be funnier but up to you] edyns girl pills (TRANS TIDESTRIDER SIBLING(S)!!!!)?

bigender gill. thank you for your time

you know how gill stayed up for several days so theyd make it to canela or zero? 2 ideas for it 1) gill brushed it off because "my training from the elders sadly could be seen as worse" or 2) he kept it up because of the thought of training with caspian late at night was perfect for him

gill has always thought himself in a positive light. im not saying hes never thought himself to be weak or stupid, im just saying the good thoughts on himself never left (source of how this can happen, me! i had some struggle like that)

gill doeant think of the elders in such a high and mighty light but rather "the attemptors of making a tool out of the wrong parts, no matter the cost"

ill probs reblog when i remember more or create more lol

you guys should rb this with your albatrio headcanons. i wanna hear them.

[fanfoolishness]

a world for the birds (2/10)

Andy DeMayo took up birding years ago, but his favorite hobby takes on new meaning when shared with his nephew Steven.

A series of looks at Andy and Steven’s growing family relationship.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

 ***

Chapter 2: complicated

Andy tried not to get his hopes up too much.  After all, Steven was a teenager, and Andy himself had been in his late twenties before he’d really started paying attention to birds.  Just wasn’t an activity you saw a lot of kids doing.  Most of the people he ran into on his travels with binoculars were older than he was.

He tried to prepare himself for the inevitability of Steven having lost interest since last month, for him to cheerfully admit he hadn’t cracked open the Sibley’s at all and would rather go to the arcade or hang out with his friends.  And that would be okay, the kid gave it a shot and he didn’t like it, and that was still pretty good, right?

He was utterly dumbfounded to walk up the steps to the beach house and see Steven sitting there, binoculars around his neck, the Sibley’s flipped open to hawks.  “Uncle Andy!  I’m glad you’re here.  Is that an osprey?”  Steven pulled off his binoculars and handed them to Andy, pointing out a ways beyond the surf.

It took him a moment to adjust Steven’s binoculars, but Andy grinned once he got the bird in sights.  The osprey hovered above the waves, white wings with black patches stretched wide, large keen eyes in a clever face watching for signs of fish below.  “Sure is.  You really been keeping up with this stuff?  I mean, you don’t have to if it’s not your thing.”

Steven smiled up at him.  “Well -- I mean, it’s something you really like, right?  And it’s something we can do together.  I dunno, I think that’s cool.  I love playing music with my dad, or helping the Gems build Little Homeschool, or training with Connie -- it’s something you and me can share.  And it’s fun.  I always thought animals were really cool, but I’m really getting into the life list thing.  Like collecting G.U.Y.S. and G.A.L.S. toys, but real.”

“Yeah, that makes sense, kid.  I think,” said Andy.  “Huh.  You’re a very positive person, you know that?”

Steven laughed.  “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“So what’s this Little Homeschool thing?  You guys building something?”

Steven looked guilty for a second, a furtive wince.  “You remember Garnet's wedding?"

"I remember runnin' for my life when a spaceship showed up," Andy snorted.  "Yeah."

"You know we lost the barn then, right?”

"Nah, I just got outta there as fast as I could.  Didn't get a chance to reconnect with your dad until weeks after that."  Andy sighed, gnawing on his bottom lip with his teeth.  “I did notice it wasn’t there the last few times I’ve flown out this way.  Meant to ask about it at the wedding, actually, but something distracted me... don't remember what...."

"Aw, come on, Uncle Andy," Steven said, raising his eyebrows.

"So what happened to it?  Some magic stuff?”

“Yeah… my friend Lapis kinda ran off with it to the moon, then she dropped it on one of my Mom’s relatives.   They're the ones who were attacking us at the wedding.  The barn didn’t make it,” said Steven, looking sheepish.

“I don’t even wanna know how she took it to the moon.  The actual moon?  I mean, I know your space family, y’know, comes from space, but I thought they used spaceships and stuff. Not barns.”  Andy shook his head.  He had to figure out how to stop being surprised by the stuff that came out of this kid’s mouth.

“She has water powers and can fly,” said Steven matter-of-factly.  “Gems don’t need to breathe in space, so all she had to do was surround the barn with water and fly it up there --”

“Yeah, when you put it like that, it sounds so easy,” Andy chuckled.

“I know it’s weird,” said Steven in a rush.  “Who just flies off with a barn to the moon, right?  But anyway, since the barn didn’t survive the fight we had with my mom’s relatives, the land was free.  There’s a lot more Gems living on Earth than there used to be -- I mean, it’s complicated, but that’s the gist of it -- and they needed somewhere to live.  So they’ve started building a little colony near Beach City.  Mayor Nanefua did some complicated government stuff to make it all legal and it’s going really well.  We could go on a tour, if you want --”

Andy didn’t know why his chest felt so heavy so suddenly.  He’d known the barn was gone for a few months, didn’t know what had happened, but knew it had to be something related to the blue and green ladies that lived there.  He’d already made his peace with that.  So why did Steven’s explanation make him feel a little bit like crap?  He thought of his mom and dad tinkering in the barn, the smell of grease and metal, summers with Greg and the other cousins running around in the fields, and he blinked hard.

“Are you okay, Uncle Andy?” asked Steven uncertainly.  “Maybe we should have asked you first--”

“Nah, it’s fine,” said Andy.  And it was, or at least, it would be.  “I don’t have a lotta time this visit, but maybe next time we could go check it out.”  He shrugged.  “Why are there more Gems now?”

“Oh!  Well, there actually were a lot of Gems on Earth, but they were corrupted -- jeez, how do I explain that -- they were sick and that made them act really weird and look like monsters.  They didn’t know who they were.  But the Diamonds and I -- my mom’s relatives -- we healed them.  They’re just like Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl now.”  He considered.  “Okay, maybe not exactly.  They still look a little different and they lost thousands of years of memories, but they’re trying the best they can to get back into a normal life…”  His voice trailed off.

Andy stared, raising an eyebrow.  “That sounds, uh, intense.”

Steven held his hands out, shrugging.  “I guess it kind of does.”

“Why’d your mom’s folks help you with that?  I thought you guys were fighting so bad you dropped the barn on them.”  Andy leaned back against the railing, crossing his arms.

“I mean, that was Lapis, not me,” said Steven, laughing, but the sound seemed forced.  “It’s, uh,  really complicated.  They didn’t know I had my mom’s gem yet, and then when they did they didn’t realize that I wasn’t her just shapeshifting, and we -- they -- um, the important thing is they came around.  Eventually.”  His hand dug into his shirt over his stomach, like it hurt him.  

“I don’t know what any of that means,” Andy admitted.  “But family’s complicated.  Sometimes it ain’t easy, dealing with them.  You know?”

“Yes,” Steven said in relief.  “Yeah, that, exactly.”  He let out a long, shaky breath, lowering his hand and resting it in his lap.

Andy gave the kid a worried look.  He didn’t like how he’d looked almost… scared, talking about his mom’s family like that.

“So,” he said brightly, changing the subject, “you still wanna check out some summer birds?  Thought maybe we could find some nests around the woods.  It’s a good time for it.”

“Sure!” said Steven.  He scrambled to his feet and leapt in the air over the edge of the deck, and before Andy could cry out, he floated gracefully to the ground.  Oh, yeah.  The floating thing.  Andy knocked a fist against his chest, trying to fight back against the burst of adrenaline that had flooded through him a second ago.  Phew.

He took the long way down, bringing Steven’s binoculars with him, holding the handrail down the stairs, careful not to slip.

***

“Uncle Andy!  What’s this little fella?” Steven asked in a whisper, staring hard at a bird a few feet away, perched boldly on a log in the open.

Andy glanced at the bird, neat gray body, jaunty black cap, rusty rump.  “Gray catbird,” he said softly.  “They’re close to mockingbirds.  Not nearly as good as mimicking as they are, but they do their best.  Mostly they just meow.  Mew, mew. ”  The catbird flicked its tail, cocking its head at them.

“That is adorable!” Steven squealed.  “Aww, hey there, little buddy.”  The bird hopped off of the log, strutting around in the loam, bold as you please.  “I like this one.”

“They’re pretty common.  You’ll see ‘em all over.  Even in cities and towns.  The only place you don’t really see ‘em is out west.”

They watched the catbird for a moment before it flew off into the trees.  “You said they can mimic things?”

“The mockingbird’s the best at it,” said Andy.  “How do you think it got the name?  The males’ll sing anything they think might get a female’s attention.  They can sound like hawks, jays, shoot, I’ve even heard them sing car alarm songs in Southland City.”

“It’s kind of like shapeshifting, but for birds,” said Steven.  “That’s pretty cool.”

“Steven,” said Andy seriously, “all birds are pretty cool.”

“Ha, of course, Uncle Andy.”

***

(Bird photos from the Cornell Lab's All About Birds site.)