#at least it’s just arctic fox I can get it out easily

[bloodibambiidoll]

I fucking hate my hair and I am having the worst time finding pink hair pfps that fit my vibe. I literally can’t wait for next weekend so I can go back to blonde I haaate it.

[lunar-archangel]

wait can you share some of your favorite hcs abt the dsmp sometime? unless you already have! then ignore this -🎨

Sure I can. I have never written anything about dsmp or any mcyt in general cus I am not a good fanfic writer or headcanon writer :,D

But I can ramble about some of my personal headcanons for the dsmp and throw in some that I have seen floating around. this might be a long post depending on how hard I will hyperfixate on this stuff!

I’ll go with from my favourite characters to least favourite cus I have most likely thought about other characters more than other.

Let’s start with Fundy shall we? He is my favourite boi and I have a lot of thought about him.

First I’ll go with my personal headcanon which is that Fundy wears an fox mask. You know those japanese fox or wolf masks? yeah like that. It’s colored like an normal fox colors. I like to think it is kind of an compromise between the full fox man and the more human like designs that people have for him. Like he wears the mask; full fox man. He’s not wearing the mask; more human like with just the ears and tail.

I also like to think that he wears black gloves to fill that fox aesthetic. Maybe they have like anti slipping on the palms or something or just for the fashion.

The other personal headcanon kind of crosses over to Wilbur and Philza too since they are all directly related. I have an headcanon that they don’t have any hair in their head, instead it’s feathers that look like hair. If you have seen silky chickens that’s the kind of feathers I’m talking about. like looks like hair unless you really pay attention. And Fundy actually has a mix of real hair and feather hair unlike Wilbur and Philza who have full feather hair.

Also since I have watched way too many nature documentaries about foxes I can just throw all of it at Fundy. Some things I know about foxes and think Fundy does are: using earths magnetic field to track prey/people, Jumping at people from high places, putting his ears down when someone approaches no matter if they’re familiar and when put into fight or flight situation he always chooses flight.

I also like to think that he is extremely smart but often too distracted or easily trusting that people see him as kind of an pushover.

Also saw an headcanon somewhere that was that Fundy could in a way breathe under water cus he’s canonically half salmon and I vibe with that.

I also saw one that was that when he goes to the arctic his fur and hair color change to the arctic fox colors so I’d like to think that the same happens in the desert with his colors changing to that of an fennec fox.

Let’s move on to Ranboo! I have a lot of thoughts about him.

I want to start with an bold one. I don’t think that Ranboo is an hybrid. Big take but hear me out. I think that he is related to endermen but not part one. I have an headcanon that he is an entirely different species of enderman. This ties up with the long eared, human like and tailed Ranboo we see in fan arts. Ranbob my beloved would also fall into this same species and would make it so that the species majorly is black and white in coloration with the previously said traits.

Also do think that the eyes of ender are the souls of endermen and Ranboo likes to collect them and sometimes talk with the souls (or maybe they are the voices in his head but he forgot what the eyes were originally)

Some of my favourite design headcanons have been the mouthless one (mouth will only be visible if he screams. You know, like an enderman) and the one that he has animal like legs (digitigrade) But I do like the human legged one too!

Also saw this one about Ranboo being the Prince of the end relam and I am 100% in on that. Maybe the enderdragon did something to Ranboo to make him so forgetful so he doesn’t remember who he is and take his rightful place as the king of the end. Also DreamXD was sent by the enderdragon to make sure he doesn’t get back.

Also one that Ranboo Is half ghast are amazing too cus that would open the opportunity with him being immune to lava and heat. With this I would love to bring you fire sneezing Ranboo.

How about Wilbur next? He has a very similar persona to me with seeming calm and gentlemanly but once you know him he’s a fucking psychopath.

Jumping back to the feather hair headcanon. I have a head canon that Wilbur wears beanies because he has these 4-6 actually feather looking feathers at the back of his head that hes embarrassed about. He also has some feathers crowing on his shoulders and shoulder blades.

I see the Angel of death Philza and raise you Deity of chaos Wilbur. He was raised in a way that he needed to hide the overwhelming desire to just fuck shit up. This all came crashing down in pogtopia as he started to give in to the chaos side of him and personally I think he wouldn’t have backed down from that button no matter what. It was not that he wanted to rip L’manberg away from schlatt but the fact that he knew the down spiral that would follow after the destruction that kept him going.

Following to that I think Wilbur’s mom was the Goddess of bad luck and he was an entirely an accident child as I’m sure having kids as an death bringer was not Philza’s original plan.

I think Wilbur was more of an dad to Tommy than Philza was and Tommy did call Will dad for the longest time. Wilbur is the main reason Tommy is the way he is and that is because Wilbur taught him as an apprentice to chaos and was hoping that the boy would follow in his foot steps.

I’m gonna stop now lmao! Someone can ask headcanons I have for specific people that want but these are the main ones I think about a lot for now

[udunie]

(anon submission)

hmm more weird omega au brainstorming semi-based off your any-hole-goes Hale breeding program fic =D This got, uh, a little extreme?

At fourteen, omegas graduate from regular school and go to special omega universities where they pick an omegan specialty to study, generally completing their studies by eighteen, when they are then presented to society at a structured graduation/debutante auction

‘Pick’ might be a strong word to use - most omegas don’t pick their area of study, their family alphas do

Stiles’ mom was an endangered species / wildlife advocate and professional, working with reserves and zoos all over the world to help with rehabilitation and re-population efforts. After she died, Stiles’ dad decided that he was going to dedicate their omega son (in this au, you can tell immediately if a baby is alpha/beta/omega) to her work when the time came

Stiles is on board with this idea - he remembers lots of happy times with his mom and some cute baby animal that needed constant watch and regular bottle feedings (Stiles’ mom would tell him it was good practice for when he was older and had his own babies), so when he’s enrolled in a distant omega university that trains omegas for vet, farm, wildlife, zoo, or other animal-centered work, he’s ready. Stiles’ dad selects animal wifery, platinum tier, with a focus on endangered species

Stiles is not ready

Platinum-tier endangered animal wifery is an unusual branch in that it’s a breeding program that utilizes *all* an omega’s resources

Over the next four years, Stiles

1) has his urethra and bladder opening stretched to the highest legal diameter with a permanent hollow sound (really a circle of very thin, rigid ribs with a thin layer of silicon between them so it was as soft as possible while still holding his urethra open) installed that locks into place via a bulbed head just inside his bladder that is equipped with monitoring equipment on one end and a slightly flared opening with two hinged pieces that fold down and around his cockhead, clicking together just under it, and held together with two piercings that screw in to the sound walls but do not go through. A silicon insert hangs on a fine chain from the piercings and can be used to seal the sound opening shut. There are lots of species of snakes, amphibians, fish, and even some aquatic bugs that reproduce in dark, warm, acidic enclosed spaces - spaces that in nature are easily and frequently destroyed by human interference or storms. An omega’s bladder is quite safe, and the monitoring equipment ensures safe and healthy egg development

(Stiles’ final project in this 'class’ was helping facilitate the mating of an extremely rare tropical snake pair - both snakes were first coaxed into Stiles’ bladder, where they copulated and the female snake lived until she laid her eggs. Stiles had to be on a special diet for the duration of the project, as well as strapped to a special bench that held his torso, hips, and legs utterly still with his cock lined up at the ideal angle and his sound opening fitted to the snakes’ enclosure, all of which ensured that he did not hurt or upset either snake in any way. The sound opened up under water in the enclosure, so while Stiles’ bladder didn’t get over-full at any point it also never emptied. The snakes spent a lot of time going in and out of him before mating)

2) has his primary womb rated to exotics - extra large. This took all four years invested in stretching his vaginal canal and uterus without doing improper damage to the supporting muscles, stretching his abdomen, widening his pelvic bone and opening, and several surgeries to remove ribs that would constrict larger babies and reinforce his spine to carry the weight. The hormone treatment that convinced his body this was how it was meant to be shaped came with the added bonus of increasing his sensitivity and pleasure receptors by a lot

(His final project and the reason he was rated to extra large over the more standard large was he successfully carried a pygmy rhino calf to term - an eighteen month pregnancy - despite the fact that it grew slightly larger than it was meant to. Stiles came eighteen times during labor thanks to the hormone treatment, and it was that extra relaxation and lubrication that stopped him from needed a c-section)

3) has his secondary womb rated to exotics - canine and feline. This needs the least work, though he’s given treatment to increase his slick production and strengthen his knot-locking muscles so he can hold the knot of any smaller or distracted studs. For feline breedings, he wears a sheath that protects his ass from their spines. The program also develops eight teats down his front, though when he carries an extra-large pregnancy the bottom four leak constantly due to the pressure

(Stiles interns with a local tiger conservatory during his studies, and whenever possible carries litters for them - apparently not all omegas are able to, making him very valuable to the university and earning him a very good grade at all levels)

4) Warning: super fucked up ahead – has surgery to separate his esophagus and trachea into two separate tubes, stretch his esophagus, install a feeding small tube, and split his tongue - this is actually an elective program that the university gets approval from Stiles’ dad for early on when they realized Stiles was suited to it, and is the only currently known way for a species of extremely rare salamanders to reproduce in captivity. The female salamander lives in Stiles’ throat, head and mating organs (slightly below their head, interestingly) in his mouth. Once a month, the male salamander squeezes into Stiles’ mouth as well, and in the space between the two halves of Stiles’ tongue, breeds its partner. The female salamander cannot lay her eggs without help - Stiles has to swallow until they have all been worked down and into his stomach, where the eggs stay until they hatch and the baby salamanders crawl out of his body via his intestines and ass (one of the reasons his secondary womb is not significantly altered).

Stiles earns his degree with flying colours, and at his graduation/debutante auction his dad decides to enter him under a temporary ownership clause - it’s less money, but this way he can continue to auction Stiles off to whomever needs his omega skills the most rather that him serving a single program. Later he decides to just auction Stiles’ parts - so long as the pregnancies are not competing, difference conservation efforts can use Stiles as he becomes available

His mother would be so proud of all the species Stiles is helping save

*******

Udunie: 

Holy shit nonnie, I love your brain?????????????

I love everything about this, but also, may I suggest (cause while I love the salamander idea, it feels a bit awkward to me):

Ppl don’t actually ‘need’ to have a stomach, meaning that you can be ‘fed’ by enemas, your intestines do the most work in absorbing nutrients anyway. So. What if his stomach was completely removed and instead he was given a third womb??? (lets say, the university’s medical department is able to use cells from an omega to create a womb that wouldn’t be rejected by his body?) his esophagus is still separated. Or even better (for my personal tastes) he has a nasal tube inserted that goes right to his lungs, so he can breath even when his esophagus is clogged. Anyway, he gets his third womb where his stomach is, gets his esophagus stretched as much as they can, and it’s used to breed smaller species (as in, smaller at birth, but maybe at the same time, species with large litter numbers???)

Fun fact I just googled! Arctic foxes have the largest mammal litters with a size ranging from 5 to 25 pups!!! They are pretty small when they are born, small enough that Stiles can just retch them up when they are ready to be born :D

[we-be-writing-bts-stuff]

How To Mend a Broken Spirit Pt. 2

Series Description: Sometimes it takes more than time to heal wounds.

Part Description: You talk to the others for the first time.

Pairing: Eventually OT7 BTS x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Eventual Smut (maybe I don’t know if I’ll do anything more than an allusion to the smutty parts when we get there). Poly and hybrid au. This part is pure fluff and some angst if you squint. No mention of abuse in this part.

Word Count: 1662

A/N: Here’s the next part. I hope you enjoy. I love this and I will keep adding to this series until I am sick of it really. I hope you enjoy it and I always love to hear from you guys. ~Bagel

You meet the other hybrids over the first week in the new house. The first one you met was Jin, a grey wolf hybrid. He was the oldest and was the first hybrid that Hoseok and Yoongi adopted before they were a foster home for younger ones in the house. He was caring and a near parental figure for the other hybrids. That wasn’t surprising considering that most hybrids never knew their parents if they came from a breeding facility so looking to Jin as that parent was almost expected considering their young age. Especially since he was the perfect blend of friend and mentor for the younger ones. You come to find out later that he was the one to convince the couple to start fostering other hybrids. Next you met Namjoon an arctic fox. He was the calm force within the group and who you relied on after Jimin and the humans. He is easily the unofficial leader of the hybrids and would be the official leader if the humans weren’t the technical leaders of everyone. The last two hybrids you met at the same time. They were named Taehyung and Jungkook. A red panda and black-footed ferret hybrid respectively. Both were hyperactive and Jimin quickly fell into a friendship with them. The day you met them, they were rough housing and accidently bumped into you. Causing a cascade effect of you screaming out and jumping into Jimin’s arms. You buried your face into his chest and Jin shooed the two out of there to scold them a bit and let Jimin and Yoongi talk you down from your panic. Taking almost a full hour before you were remotely calm enough to let them back in and have them apologize to you.

The first month was really rough for you. The first week you had the incident with Jungkook and Taehyung and would do what you could to avoid them. Normally going to hide in your room or go to Yoongi if they went into the same room as you. It made things a bit awkward within the house and the two boys felt awful. Often doing little things to help you or giving you small gifts that you would find in your room whenever you were to go in it. Another thing that happened was during the first few weeks you wouldn't talk to anyone except Jimin. Even then it was barely a whisper. Whispering things in his ear when he was near if you needed to say something to the others. If you weren’t by Jimin it became a game of gesturing to try to explain what you wanted and hoping that they would understand. 

It was one of those times with Jimin off playing with the other younger hybrids and nowhere near you when you choose to talk to all of us. You became too frustrated when the others weren’t understanding what you were trying to tell them with your wild hand movements and gesturing so you just blurted it out. Hoseok was standing in the kitchen with Jin making dinner as you gruffly asked Yoongi when food was ready since you were getting hungry. You were frustrated and it came out. Your voice a bit rough since you would barely use it around the others, but the question was still loud and clear. 

Jin freezes in his spot as you speak and Hoseok almost drops the pan that’s in his hands. Quickly turning around and making his way towards you as Yoongi just gapes. Caught off guard by your voice and you speaking. Soon turning into a huge gummy smile as Hoseok brings you into a giant hug before he can think. Causing you to squeak and start trying to break from him. He immediately lets go of you and watches as you run off to your room. Hiding under the sheets and nearly shaking. 

Your ears catch a little bit of Yoongi chastising Hoseok about acting so careless. You pay no attention and just focus on calming down and telling yourself that he isn’t bad. Hoseok would never hurt you. He is just a touchy person and acted before thinking. 

You don’t know how long it is before you hear a knock on your door and a soft ‘it’s me’ that is clearly from Hoseok, but much sadder and tame than what you’re used to. 

“Come in.” You say softly. Hoping he can hear you for a bit before he enters with some food for you. Placing the small tray on the small desk before he sits on the edge of the bed. A soft smile coming to his face when all he can see is your ears and eyes.

“I want to apologize for earlier. I know you don’t like sudden contact. I acted carelessly when I heard you talk and wanted to show my excitement. I promise it won’t happen again until you give me permission. I overstepped my boundaries and I will never do that again.” He fidgets and you feel his nervous energy. Reaching out a hand, you gently place it on his. 

“It’s okay Hoseok. I trust you.” Your voice was barely a whisper and you felt your heart beginning to race as he looks at where your skin was touching. A small smile coming to his face. 

“Thank you. That means a lot to me. I brought you food if you want to stay up here. If not, you can join us downstairs.” He tells you. You nod and slowly crawl out of the bed. Hoseok walks towards the entrance and feels you shadowing him. He smiles to himself as he hears you grab the tray and walk after him. Helping you to place your plate in your normal spot by Jimin and soon beginning to eat. The night going well and quietly.

It’s a few days after your first words to the group when you get called to the backyard. It was dusk and you really just began to feel awake since you woke only a few hours before. You yawn as you are led out to the area and are surprised when you see the fairy lights strung between the trees and the smell of freshly grilled meat. The picnic table was set and there was a small banner up as well with a bunch of pictures that made you smile. The group has since found out about your lack of ability to read and have adapted until you decide to learn (Namjoon has already offered to teach you with enthusiastic support and adamant assurances from Jungkook and Jin to help). 

Jimin is the one to bound towards you as Yoongi follows behind him. Both sporting a smile as the come closer. Your tail flicking with excitement as you see the two approach you.

“We wanted to celebrate this huge step with you.” The younger tells you. His eyes disappearing in his happiness as he holds out his hands for you to hold them. Which you gladly take and start to swing.

“Thank you for trusting enough to speak with us.” The older says. He was clearly chosen since you were closest with him out of the seven besides the one you arrived with. You nod and look up to him.

“Thank you for being so patient.” You tell him. Returning his smile with your own. The soft words and your actions causing his heart to hurt with warmth and a need to always protect you. He just nods and gestures towards the others. 

“Do you want to play a bit as Hobi and I finish the meat?” The human asks. You nod and start to pull Jimin towards the other hybrids. Beginning to play with them as the food gets finished. 

It’s fully night by the time you all have your fill of the dinner that was prepared and even though you only woke up not too long ago, you feel the tug of sleep or at least a nap pull at your remaining senses. The meat sitting happily in your belly and the warmth from the summer night settling into your body.

You sit on the edge of the lawn near the sliding glass doors and watch as the younger hybrids roll around and continue to play with each other. The humans and the older hybrids lazily sitting around and talking at the picnic table and lawn chairs. Looking over to them, you decide quickly what you want to do. Maybe it was your slowly building trust and confidence with them or maybe it was the food and tiredness dictating your actions or maybe it was the small twinge of jealousy and curiosity as you watched Jin get pets from Hoseok or maybe some combination of the three, but you didn’t care too much as you begin to act.

You get up and make your way to Yoongi. Gently tapping his shoulder to gain his attention. Once his eyes move to yours and he says a soft yes, you quickly look down to your feet before asking your question. 

“C-can I get some pets?” 

His heart almost breaks at how soft and borderline scared you are as you ask him this. It’s like you’re almost afraid of his answer and bracing for his rejection. 

“Of course you can. Do you want to sit or lay?” He asks gently. You bite your lip as you think and soon sit beside him on the ground and rest your head against his thigh. He tentatively reaches down gently pets your head and scratches behind your ears. 

Once the initial tensing from the new contact wears off, you lean into his touch and fully relax. Feeling even more sleepy as he continues the careful touches. 

You feel the happiest you have been in your life as you receive the gentle touches and watch as your friends have fun. Feeling safe for the first time and content in your surroundings.

[vannahfanfics]

Could I request a Nami and Bepo friendship fic with the theme "Mittens," please? I'd just love a cute fic starring my two favorite navigators!

Here it is, lovely! I threw some dashes of LawNa in there just because I know you love them so much LOL. Thanks for the wonderful prompts and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

EDIT: This lovely image was drawn by @searchfortheonepiece whom from this moment forth has all my love and affection. 

Even Polar Bears Need Mittens, Too!

Nami was painfully aware of two things upon waking up that morning. Dirst, the ordinarily comfortable warmth of her bedroom had been replaced by a bitter, breath-fogging chill. Second, the soothing rocking motion of the waves beating upon the Thousand Sunny was eerily absent. Panicked, she threw the covers off herself. She immediately hissed in displeasure and flung the warm, soft blanket back on as the winter air leaped forward to dig into the sensitive bare flesh of her legs with eager teeth. 

She rubbed her palm over her legs to find that goosebumps had already sprouted. Treading more carefully this time, she gathered the comforter around her body to serve as a fluffy shield from the cold and eased out of bed. She hopped around, not wishing to touch the icy wooden floors with her bare feet for too long until she found the slippers she always kept at her bedside. 

After a few minutes of digging, she was able to procure a set of winter gear— slim-fitting, dark jeans, black combat boots, a maroon knitted sweater, a black overcoat inlaid with ginger faux fur, and a pair of maroon gloves with a matching beanie complete with a black pom-pom. Dark colors absorbed the sunlight better and made Nami’s tresses of tangerine hair pop all the more (because a girl always had to consider her image!). 

She walked out into the hall, and it was no wonder it was so cold. Snow flurries buried themselves into her hair, decorating her like glitter, while others spiraled down the current into the hall to flutter lazily down to the iced-over wooden floors. Shivering, she carefully walked up the icy steps out onto the Thousand Sunny’s main deck.

The Grand Line’s unpredictable weather patterns had struck again; the Sunny looked like it had ventured into the Arctic. Snow was steadily falling from the cloudy heavens. It had piled up on the deck about half a foot deep and decorated the balustrade in a fluffy layer. Everything else was completely encased in a sheath of fine, crystalline ice. It wove fern-like patterns within the glass windowpanes, the only reference to the green world in this universe of white and gray and blue.

���Zoro?” she called as she tromped through the snow. Sinking up to her calves, Nami had to take extra-large steps to keep from tripping in the thick icy fluff. The swordsman was often awake in the wee hours of the morning. Yet, he was usually taking an early morning nap around the time the others were awakening, and Nami knew that the dense man could easily sleep through a snowstorm and awaken with hypothermia or frostbite— if he didn’t just wake up a solid blue corpse. 

Thankfully, it seemed the chill had roused him plenty. He came stomping through the snow dressed in a coat, though the lout insisted on keeping his chest bared to the unforgiving winter’s bite. Sanji, with a small snow shovel propped on his shoulder and wearing a blue winter coat lined with cotton, came tromping along after him.

“Nami-swan! Please tell me you know when this damn blizzard is gonna end!” 

“Why does that matter? We can just sail out of it,” Nami shrugged. 

“Not exactly,” Zoro grunted and gestured to the railing of the ship. Nami sloughed through the snow until she got to the edge of the boat and immediately groaned in annoyance. The sea was frozen over in a solid block of ice. Even if they attacked it with pickaxes and tried to coax the Sunny to the faint line of warm blue water hovering at the ice’s edge, it would take days to do so. Nami grimaced at the thought. Who knows how long that’ll take, and it’s cold as balls out here! 

“Guess we’ll just have to suffer,” she moaned. Raucous laughter at the end of the deck caught her attention; she turned to see Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy gathering up little handfuls of snow and flinging them in each other’s faces. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; they were idiots sometimes, but it always did do her heart good to see them having some good plain fun.

“Hey, why don’t you make us all some hot chocolate?” she called to Sanji. “I’ll see if Law is okay in the submarine, too.” 

While the cook tossed heart eyes her way and dashed off to cater to her whim, Nami walked the edge of the boat until she reached the place that the Polar Tang moored against the Sunny.

After the business in Wano, the Straw Hats and Heart Pirates’ alliance had decided to appreciate their company a little longer (which was more Luffy’s doing than Law’s). Franky had rigged up a handy contraption to allow the submarine to the Sunny without damaging it when they were fully underway, and by combining the natural sailing capability with the submarine’s engine, they had improved their speed by fifty percent as well. 

“Law? Hey, are you guys popsicles in there?” she called as she climbed down the set of ladder rungs leading to the submarine. The soles of her boots striking the surface of the uppermost deck made dull clunking noises. She walked across the deck to the door, preparing to knock, but was startled when it was suddenly thrust open. She instinctively jumped backward.

She pinwheeled as she lost her balance and tipped back, but before she could land on her behind, the submarine’s captain grabbed her firmly by the elbow and hooked his foot under one of hers to brace her. He held her up by the strength of one arm, which brought a hint of rose to Nami’s cheeks and reminded her once more of how strong Law was even though he hid all his muscles under that long coat of his.

“Careful, Nami-ya. I wouldn’t want you hitting that pretty head of yours.” 

Nami’s relationship with Law was an interesting one; one never knew what would come out of their mouths, whether it be purred compliments or insulting jibes. They yipped at each other like a couple of cunning foxes in a perpetual game that dangerously bordered on courtship; it was not uncommon that their words and looks mirrored those of two individuals in a saucy game of “hard-to-get.” 

Sure enough, his mouth curled in that undeniable smirk that just begged Nami to retort with some minxy jibe, but with the persistent cold seeping beneath her coat to nibble at her skin, she decided to save it. Using Law’s grip as a bracer, she straightened herself up and ensured that she had a solid stance on the ice. It was only then that she could get a good look at him and see that he too was not immune to the brisk weather, as he had zipped his coat up to hide his sprawling tattoos and had white gloves on his hands. 

“So, I imagine that we won’t be escaping this climate anytime soon,” he guessed with one glance at the surrounding ice.

“Nope.” She glanced up at the sky to analyze the speed of the clouds. “The system is moving pretty slowly, so I guess that we’ll be trapped in this ice storm for at least a few days or so.”

“Damn… It’s taking our heating system all it can to keep all the metalworks from freezing over…”

Before the two of them could exchange any more words, a snowball exploded in Law’s face and sent him shooting back into the depths of the Polar Tang. The furry bulk of the arriving Bepo provided a soft landing, thankfully. Nami made no attempt to stifle her laughter as the Surgeon of Death came stalking back out, shaking snow out of his face and hair. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who had flung it at him, either. “Straw Hat-ya, you imbecile, now is not the time for games!”

“Trafalguy! Come have a snowball fight with us!”

“Did you not hear me?!”

“A snowball fight?! We wanna play!” came the simultaneous chiming of Penguin and Shachi from the entryway, and Law let out a strangled urk! as the two boys muscles past him to scamper out onto the deck of the Polar Tang. They slid around on the ice like a couple of buffoons for a few minutes trying to reach the ladder, eventually resorting to easing over on their hands and knees.

“Aw, come on, Law, they’re just having fun. We might as well play in the snow; there’s nothing better to do,” she smiled as she listened to his crewmates’ raucous hoots and hollers of laughter drift down from the Thousand Sunny with the occasional stray snowball.

“I don’t play, Nami-ya.”

“Law! Will you come build a snowman with me?” 

As Chopper’s innocent sing-song voice preceded his little furry form and hopeful eyes peeking over the railing of the Sunny, Nami watched Law’s body stiffen. He flushed pink and pulled down his hat, mumbling under his breath for a moment, before he thickly called up, “I’m coming, Chopper-ya…” 

Nami chuckled heartily as she watched Law Room himself up beside Chopper, who jumped up and down and hugged his arm elatedly. Not even the Surgeon of Death can say no to our sweet little Chopper.

“N-Nami?” 

The navigator turned her head as the polar bear Mink abruptly addressed her.

“What’s up, Bepo?” His watery black eyes could not bear to meet hers but flickered downward to train on the intricate icy patterns adorning the wood. His nails clicked lightly as he tapped them together in a nervous fidget. “Would you mind teaching me more about maps?” 

Nami blinked slightly in confusion. In the time that the two crews had spent together, the talented cartographer had been sharing her knowledge of maps with him. Still, she wasn’t sure why he wanted to do such an everyday activity when the opportunity to do something new and fun had presented itself.

“Wouldn’t you like to come play in the snow with us, Bepo?” she suggested with a bright smile. The poor thing couldn’t blush, but she could tell that he was embarrassed from the way he flattened his ears to his head and twitched his massive body.

“I can’t… My paws get cold.” 

Nami had no idea how a polar bear’s paws could freeze but considering the circus troupe of colorful people she sailed with, anything was possible. 

“Everyone else can play just fine because they have mittens, but we’ve never been able to find any in my size,” he lamented while holding up his clawed paws. Naturally, no market would sell mittens for a bear. Poor thing! He doesn’t deserve to have to sit out while everyone else has fun! Nami thought as a pang of pity pierced her heart. She grinned brightly and reached up to grab one of his furry paws with both of her hands.

“Don’t worry, Bepo! Come with me. I’ll whip up some mittens for you!” she assured him before whirling on her heel and pulling him across the deck of the Polar Tang. The bear just silently shuffled along behind her. 

She trekked back through the snow covering the spacious deck of the Sunny. It was falling so heavily that the small trench she had produced just a few minutes ago had already largely filled, forcing Nami to track a new path through the thick fluff. The layer had already thickened up to her knees. Nami pulled out her Climatact to help shovel the snow to wither side to help clear her way, but only with marginal improvement; very soon, her arms were aching. 

“Jeez! You wouldn’t think snow would be so heavy. I’ll have to get Franky to shovel some of this stuff off before our deck collapses!” she panted. Bepo, despite his bulk, seemed to have no problem pushing through the snow; after a moment of watching her struggle, he let out a nervous mumble before lightly tapping her on the shoulder. Nami paused to turn around, leaning on her Climatact for support. His tiny ears fluttered, and his little nails clicked together as he considered something silently for a moment. Then, to Nami’s surprise, he leaned down to pull her gently into his big furry arms.

“U-um, I thought it would be easier this way…” he admitted shyly while scratching the side of his head with one claw. Nami beamed, wrapped her slim arms around his thick neck, and nuzzled her nose into his fluffy cheek.

“How considerate! Thank you, Bepo.” She felt the bear’s skin warm as he did the Mink equivalent of blushing, and his words were an incoherent gush of mumbles. Feeling a burning gaze, Nami glanced over her shoulder to see Law staring intently from across the deck. 

“Jealous?” she called over while sticking out her tongue. Law snorted in derision and pulled his hat down over his face, but Nami could see the haze of pink over his cheeks. “Don’t worry, Law, I’m sure Bepo would carry you too if you asked him!” she laughed while rubbing the top of Bepo’s head through his hat.

“Ugh, Nami-ya, that’s not what I—” he snapped at her, then flushed further. Grumbling under his breath, he whirled around to instead re-focus his energy on the half-finished snowman that Chopper was molding with his hooves. Nami laughed mischievously again before looking back at the polar bear, who was just trying to pretend that Nami hadn’t been so boldly flirting with his captain.

“Mittens, right? Let’s go!”

Bepo carried her the last leg across the deck in record time. He gently set her down on the steps once they arrived, and Nami carefully picked her way down them, holding one hand against the frosty wall to aid her balance. She would hate to ungracefully slip and tumble down the stairs to earn herself a bruised bottom or sprained ankle on a day that promised a lot of fun. 

She led Bepo to her and Robin’s room. His massive frame barely was able to squeeze through the threshold, and he took up a large amount of space, requiring Nami to navigate around him as she searched her belongings for old clothes that she could retrofit into a pair of mittens for him.

“I’m sorry if I’m in the way…” he sighed apologetically and resorted to his nervous tick again. Nami smiled brightly up at him as she rifled through one of her trunks of sweaters.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Bepo. You’re never a bother!” It was no secret that he was a little insecure, and so Nami always tried to do her best to encourage him. He smiled shyly and shuffled his feet, indicating that Nami’s compliments were warming him a little. 

“Ah-ha!” she cried merrily as she procured a lovely yellow wool sweater patterned with black stripes. “It’ll match your jumpsuit, too!” she grinned as she poked at the jolly roger emblazoned on the fabric as she passed him. She walked over to a small sewing machine situated on a table in the corner. 

With how much Nami loved clothes and saving money, she of course knew how to sew, and with the boys tearing their clothes to shreds all the time, she had invested in the small machine to make quick work of the many repair jobs. Bepo lumbered over to stand over her shoulder to watch her work, ears fluttering in curiosity; smiling, Nami leaned back so that he could observe her handiwork.

“You’re going to make mittens from that sweater?”

“Mhmm. There’s no sense in letting this fabric just collect dust,” Nami nodded as she cut out the patterns of the mittens using a large pair of shearing scissors. Tossing the rest of the fabric aside into a little basket for later use, she turned on the sewing machine and put the fabric in place. She felt Bepo release an awed breath over her shoulder as the needle began punching thread into them at high speeds. 

Nami’s nimble fingers guided the fabric to form the seams. In no time at all, she had produced one bear-sized pair of mittens, complete with holes in the fingertips so his claws wouldn’t shred the fabric. His ears flattened to his head as she whirled around in her little stool to hold them up. “Here you go! Try those on.” He very gently took the mittens in his paws before slipping them on, pushing his claws through the added holes and flexing his hands experimentally. He then gave Nami a huge smile that crinkled his already small eyes.

“Thank you, Nami! They’re wonderful! Now I can play in the snow too!” he rejoiced and jumped from foot to foot. Nami giggled and stood up from her chair.

“I’m so glad you like them.” 

“Nami! Will you make snow angels with me?!”

“Of course!” She grinned, then gasped in alarm as Bepo suddenly took off to squeeze out of the doorway and hurry up the steps. “Hey! Not so fast; you’ll fa—” 

She heard a startled yelp followed by a series of rapid thunks that could only be the polar bear Mink tumbling down the stairs. 

She exhaled deeply with a wan smile, shaking her head before walking out to see if he was all right. She found him on his back at the base of the steps in the process of rolling over; it seemed the fall didn’t do much, as he immediately scrambled back to his paws and went shambling up the stairs with an excited, impatient, “Come on, come on!”

“I’m coming!” she assured with another laugh and carefully followed him back up to the winter wonderland that the Sunny had become. For the next several days, the two crews busied themselves with all sorts of winter revelry, and Bepo made sure he showed everybody the marvelous mittens that the gracious Nami had made for him…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to perusemy Tableof Contents!

[softjeon]

Home | Pt. 2

• Pairing: Namjoon x Hybrid!Yoongi (Platonic!) • Genre: Fluff | Hybrid!AU • Words: 3,5k • Disclaimer: a tiny bit of anxiety and insomnia

written with @cassiavioletblue

↳ Namjoon watched Yoongi strutting after him over his shoulder and sighed. He couldn’t believe he’s really done it; paying too much money for a hybrid that would bite him if given the chance when all he had wanted was a cute, little - very much harmless - kitten to begin with.

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The next few hour went past him in a haze. He was in the shop - and then he wasn’t, the man he had scratched pulling him along. There was cotton filling his mind that kept him from realizing that he had just been bought or else he would have freaked, trying to run or attack Namjoon or gnaw through the leash to get free. Which would have been difficult with the leather on his face that kept him from using his teeth. It smelled awful and because it also covered his nose it was all that he was smelling. He was thankful that he dozed off a few times because although he would have never let himself become vulnerable like that if he had been fully conscious it helped a little to clear his head.

When they finally arrived at Namjoon’s home he was almost in full control of his mind again even though his body wasn’t quite there yet with his knees still wobbly and his tail hanging down lifelessly.

“Where.. where are we?” He said - or at least wanted to say. He had told himself not to speak with humans, but that thought had somewhere gotten lost in the cottony feel in the back of his head. It didn’t matter though because the mask in front of his face turned his words into unintelligible mumbling. So, he trotted along, not really sure if this was some crazy dream or if the man really had bought him. Which couldn’t be because who would be stupid enough to buy him right after being attacked. So, it must be a dream then. Curious as to what would happen he followed the human up the stairs, walking slow and carefully while normally he could have run them up with one breath. Namjoon got out his key, smiling at the hybrid and then opened the door to his little townhouse.

“We’re home,” Namjoon closed the door behind him and smiled at the white fox. “Well…at least this can be your home if you want it to.” He sighed deeply at the confusion written all over the other’s face, well at least over the part he could see. Namjoon tied the leash around the banister that lead further upstairs to keep Yoongi in place but still give him enough space to move.

“Listen, I know this sounds crazy and I really didn’t plan on buying you, but I did and now we’re here.” Biting his lip, Namjoon raked a hand through his own hair, “I’d really love for you to take a look around on your own. Without a leash, nor a muzzle.” Namjoon slowly reached out for him, “I won’t hurt you. Ever. What they did was wrong, and I am so sorry that you had to listen to them talk to you like that. I don’t ask for you to trust me right away. Take your time with it. Take a look around. I have a garden, too if you rather want to be outside. We can figure out where you want to sleep, what you want to eat.” With a smile, Namjoon leaned in even further and slowly untied the muzzle from him. “And if you have a name, I’d love to know it. I don’t want to be selfish and just go ahead and name you. I think they lied to me…about the breeder thing.”

Yoongi just stared at him, a little dazed, a little wary, not quite sure if he could believe anything that he had just heard. As soon as the muzzle was off he snapped at Namjoon, but his aim was off, so he missed him by a hair’s breadth, making his sharp fangs clack together. He tried a growl but it kind of got stuck in his throat, so he shook his head, trying to get himself to function normally. Like hell would he give that man his name. Because if someone had your name they had control over you, right? Both in a dreamworld and in reality.

He licked his lip, trying to get the leathery taste off of them and as he was already on it he started cleaning his ears, to comfort himself. As soon as Namjoon was out of sight he ungracefully plopped down because relying on his wobbly legs made him dizzy and kept on cleaning himself for comfort. The next time Namjoon carefully looked through the door he found his new hybrid curled up on the floor, head on his own fluffy tail as he had fallen asleep mid-cleaning. He had to smile at that, even though the hybrid still was very keen on biting him each time.

Still Namjoon didn’t want him to sleep in the hallway like this.

Just like he thought, the moment Namjoon came closer the hybrids head snapped up again. For good measurement, Namjoon stayed a few feet away from him, hands up in defense with a bottle of water in one of them. “I…I made you a little pillow fort of some sorts, right next to the air cooler,” Namjoon shrugged his shoulders, trying not to give away that he’d quickly read upon arctic foxes and what they like the most, “Thought you’d might like it more than lying on the floor and I got you something to drink.” Namjoon smiled at him softly, “Do you want me to get that leash off of you?”

Yoongi blinked the sleep from his eyes. He had slept off the effect of the drug so now he was fully functioning again - but it also meant that he could feel the fear settling in. There was no doubt now. He had been bought. By the idiot from the store. While his stomach tied himself into knots at the thought of someone owning him he tried to breathe evenly and not let it show how close he was to freaking out. He knew that owners could do practically everything to their pets. Of course, ‘don’t kill your pet’ was a rule that applied to hybrids as well - but you needed to get caught to get punished. So Yoongi didn’t really trust that to keep him safe. The only positive thing in this was that the man in front of him seemed either really adamant on trying to make him feel at home here - or he just tried to lure him in to abuse him more easily. Yoongi didn’t trust him one bit. But he was thirsty. And a pillow fort sounded heavenly. SO, he might as well play along a little bit for now - and then run away later. So, he nodded, letting Namjoon close enough to open the leash and then fixed his gaze on the water bottle to show Namjoon that he wanted it.

Namjoon gave it over to him with a smile and then turned on his heel, showing Yoongi the way into the living room, before he excused himself into the kitchen again. He wanted the fox to have some time on his own, to sniff around and just get used to the environment. Opening his freezer Namjoon got out a pack of meat, humming to himself as he began to prepare a meal for himself and his new hybrid – which he still had no idea if he had a name or would have to think of one sooner or later.

Quickly Yoongi gulped down the whole bottle before putting it aside, then he warily started to explore the house. His first way led him to the front door of course to see if it was locked. Which it was, of course. But Yoongi didn’t despair yet. Namjoon would have to sleep sometime and then he would just go look for the key or find another way to escape. He could sniff mice through ice and snow - he would manage to find a key.

Yoongi was surprised at the way Namjoon had decorated his home. It was really clean, really light, nothing around that looked like he was bragging or showing his achievements in people’s faces. He did find some trophies and what looked like academic distinctions though not in the main room but a smaller one that looked like a room where Namjoon got dressed or stored his clothes. Yoongi fought the urge to rip the clothes from the hangers and pile it onto a heap on the floor - equally to irritate his new owner and see how he would handle disobedience - and also because he would have really liked to make a fox’s den out of it and bury himself under it until it felt as cozy and safe like a home should feel. But they were just clothes and he would only be safe if Namjoon let him so there wasn’t really a point in trying.

He had rarely been inside houses but from what he had seen from looking into windows while he had raided trash cans and biowaste bins was that normally humans had family pictures standing or lying around. He couldn’t find any with Namjoon. There were a few pictures with Namjoon and other people but none of them looked like they were his family. And it also looked as if Namjoon lived completely alone. Which could be good or bad for him. He could overpower a single person more easily than two if he had to - but it also meant that if Namjoon was really just hiding his cruel side to lure him in then he would be fucked because there would be no one else around to stop Namjoon from doing to him whatever he wanted. Yoongi could feel the fear slowly turning his insides to ice again - and then his stomach just growled really loud. He sniffed, getting the first few whiffs of fresh meat and his mouth watered. Even though he knew he shouldn’t he walked closer to the kitchen. It had been so long since he’s had meat and even though Namjoon wouldn’t give him any he just couldn’t stay away. He almost sighed when he was standing in the kitchen door and was fully overwhelmed by the delicious smell, seeing the meat lying on the counter. He contemplated how hard Namjoon would punish him if he tried to steal some, trying to find out how much of it he might be able to grab and swallow down before the other would make him spit it out again.

“Hey,” Namjoon couldn’t hide the excitement he felt when the hybrid chose to come into the kitchen, ignoring that it could possibly just be from the wonderful smell. “Do you want some salad to your meat? Oh, and I also made some fresh lemonade if you want some,” Namjoon asked, turning around to put two plates onto the table and a bowl filled with lettuce and all kinds of delicious vegetables. He sat down, grabbing the can filled with the sweet juice and pour it into his glass. “It’s all I have for now, but you can tell me anytime what you usually eat…I mean I could also give you some of the canned hybrid food, but I don’t know. It smelled weird to me.” He frowned, shaking himself at the thought of that disgusting food.

“W.. what?” Yoongi was so surprised that he forgot his own ‘no talking to humans’ rule.

At first he thought that Namjoon was making a cruel joke on his costs but then he saw the two plates and the two salad bowls and everything else that Namjoon had prepared for two. Which was way too much effort for a mean joke. “Salad… to my... meat,” He repeated, stunned at this unexpected outcome. He still stayed wary though. Maybe Namjoon wanted to bribe him into letting him hurt him or do other uncomfortable things to him. But right now, with his stomach growling and his senses all triggered by the delicious food he didn’t care. It wasn’t as if he had a choice to keep himself from being harmed anyway so he better made the most of it. He sat down, a little stiff on the chair (he had barely ever sat on those things, but he knew humans ate sitting on those) and placing his hands left and right from his plate like he had seen the children do when he had lived behind a day care center. It had been beautiful days without hunger because some of the kids had made it a habit of throwing away their breaktime sandwiches as soon as there was something on it that they didn’t like. Yoongi had ate them all.

He didn’t answer the lemonade question - because he was too proud to tell the other that he had absolutely no idea what lemonade was. He knew that it was something people drank in restaurants because he had seen it on the menu - but apart from that he had no idea if it was good.

Namjoon stared at the other with wide eyes, not believing that he just talked to him. His voice still sounded a bit rough, probably from not using it for a long time but it made a warm feeling spread in Namjoon’s heart, one that maybe told him that the fox could get used to him after all.

It was a quiet dinner, with none of them really talking but munching on their food instead. And only when Namjoon finished his plate did he speak up again, “I know you’re probably scared but again, I want to assure you that you don’t have to fear anything here. Honestly,” Namjoon chuckled softly, “I thought I would buy a cat today…a small kitten. So please excuse the cat tree in the living room. I can put it away if you don’t like it…or maybe you do? And I haven’t said it before but…I won’t bring you to the vet like they would have done. I may ask you to clip your claws from time to time, but only because I don’t want you to hurt yourself…or me, for that matter. I can help you with that.”

Yoongi just narrowed his eyes and watched him closely. Only when Namjoon talked about clipping his claws did he slip his hands from the table to hide them under it. He didn’t believe Namjoon one bit. Declawing was what most owners did because even if it utterly hurt their pets you only had to do it once while clipping meant a constant hassle. He almost huffed at Namjoon saying that he didn’t want him to hurt himself. As if he wasn’t in perfect control of himself. And yeah he had seen the cat tree but in no way would he have thought that it was something he might use. He wasn’t a cat (and yes, sharpening his claws was nice but not on a scratching thing made for pets!)

A smile played at Namjoon’s lips, before he whipped around and tried to reach for the bottom drawer of the freezer, “Oh, do you maybe want some frozen berries? I figured you like the cold?” Namjoon took the bag out and got up to get a bowl, before explaining, “I tried to do this weird diet once. A friend of mine, Jimin, he always drags me into the gym with him and I thought making smoothies would be a good alternative to a breakfast…to you know, get in shape and stuff – but I can’t give up my beloved bacon and coffee in the morning.”

No matter how hard the fox would have tried, Yoongi couldn’t say no to berries though - especially if they were frozen. He just loved the cool sensation on his tongue, letting them melt until the sweetness came out - or crushing them between his fangs to happily munch on them. So, he stayed seated, waiting for Namjoon to be nice and give him some - while still being prepared to run the moment Namjoon would do something unexpected.

Namjoon filled the bowl to the brim with frozen fruit, making a mental note to buy even more the next day and then got up to clean up the plates and putting them into the dishwasher. “I’ll go and take a shower; you can just walk around and explore everything like you want. You can use either the small bathroom downstairs or the one right next to my bedroom upstairs. I don’t care. This is your place now, too.” Namjoon nodded at him, “And if there’s anything else you need, just tell me…” He hesitated and then opened another one of his drawers to get out a pen and a paper, “Or you can write it down. I’ll make sure to get it for you.”

Yoongi nooded, holding tightly onto the bowl with fruits. As soon as Namjoon was out he took the paper and scrawled in his messy barely readable handwriting two words on it: MY FREEDOM

His stomach was already really full because he hadn’t gotten that much in quite a while but he definitely wouldn’t say no to the berries so he ate half the bowl before he really couldn’t eat any more. As he didn’t want the berries to go to waste, he tried to put it back into the freezer by imitating what Namjoon had done. He had never seen a freezer from the inside, so he was in awe when he suddenly was met with actual ice! It smelled totally different than fresh snow and still he held his face into the fridge for a little while simply to sniff the cool, crisp air and let it cool his fuzzy ears. Refreshed and with the taste of freedom on his tongue he went to work. Namjoon wasn’t around but the light was still on so he was absolutely silent on his search for the key, ready to pretend to do some innocent exploring if Namjoon would run into him. But it was no use, because the key wasn’t just lying around, and he couldn’t exactly roam the drawers without making a sound while the other was still awake.

So, he waited for Namjoon to go to bed like humans normally did but apparently not this one. Instead he was lying in front of the TV in his pajamas, nodding off every once in a while but also jerking up randomly again and again. Yoongi watched this from the hallway for a few minutes, utterly confused (he understood this behaviour in Hybrids but Namjoon was a human so what was he scared of?) and then decided that there needed to be another way out. He had been fed well, he had drunk enough water so he would be fine on his own for a few days where he could stay low and fall under the radar - and then he could go back to searching waste bins and dumpsters. There was not enough food in outback where he had come from that’s why he had come to the city. But he had managed to not be seen for months before someone had caught him. So, this time he would just be more careful and make sure that no one ever caught him again and then he would be fine. He wouldn’t get to eat meat and berries again - but he would be his own master, and no one would lay a hand on him or drug him or shock him ever again!

Yoongi ran around the house, getting more and more desperate because he couldn’t just hop out the windows at that height and Namjoon didn’t have a ladder and the front door was still locked - when he suddenly saw a roof window that he had overlooked before in his haste. His heart started beating faster. It was way too high to reach it like that, but he could get one of the chairs from the kitchen and put a box from the living room onto it - or maybe balance a second chair on it. He quickly got to work while his mind kept spinning. Hopefully the window would open. And then he needed to fit through it. And find footing on the roof to really get himself out there. And if there was no tree or anything close by then he had just managed to get himself out on the roof with nowhere else to go because he couldn’t jump those heights. But if there was something, anything, that helped him climb down then he would find his way!

With a bright smile on his face and hope blooming wildly in his chest did he get onto the first chair, then on the second, ignoring their swaying as he stepped onto the outer corner to push against the window. It didn’t move at all. Yoongi could have cried. The window didn’t just open, the screws were old and rusty, and it probably wasn’t even meant to be opened but he needed to, he needed to get out, he would go insane if he had to feel like a prisoner for the rest of his life. So, he climbed down, carefully to not make a sound and then ran back to the kitchen where he took a knife. He would take out the screws and then open the window no matter what it would take.

A/N: What do you think will Namjoon do when he sees that Yoongi might found a way to sneak out? hihihi we hope you liked this new chapter!! :) ❤❤❤

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[dansnaturepictures]

My photos that I’ve chosen to go on my 2021 wildlife calendar: Cover & January-September with some thoughts on each of the photos 

Just over a month ago I tweeted the lineup of photos that I’ve taken that I’ve chosen to go on my 2021 wildlife photos calendar. To those who don’t know I make two calendars for personal use and as my Christmas present each year, one from my wildlife photos another from my landscape and other outdoor photos. I make the calendars in August or September each year and leave it up to my family after that to order the calendars via the website we use, wrap up at the appropriate time etc. Its evolved that I finalise and reveal on social media the lineups for these between late April and June. There are many reasons for this and a key one being the hot, busy and long evenings/weekend mornings of summer are not a great time to be sat at my laptop choosing photos and looking at quality comparisons between photos I’ve taken. I wouldn’t want to be in a position of choosing them in September as I’d just worry if certain things come up I may not be able to get the calendars chosen in the right time frame for them to be made in time for Christmas. With other things happening in the build up to Christmas for me and the time between September and Christmas flying by every year it seems it just makes sense to get the calendar line up choosing done and dusted in the spring for them to be made in late summer/autumn and ordered in time to be my Christmas presents. 

That does then mean the photos I have chose from are any I took within about a year from spring to spring. So for example, the photos in contention for my 2021 calendars were ones I took from spring 2019 until spring 2020. I now operate a system of variety quotas of what types of pictures I want within the 13 pictures (cover and one for each month) of mine making the calendar. As part of that, using the example of my 2021 calendars, five photos on each calendar must have been taken in 2019 and five photos on each calendar must have been taken in 2020. This just makes it fair to ensure both years’ worth of photos that have fed into my selection process are represented on the calendar. So below are my Cover and January-September photos on this calendar, ordered in appearance in this photoset by their month. Below I shall say what and where each one is, when it was taken and a little bit about why I was happy to take it/its journey onto my calendar. 

I must confess I wrote this up the day after I finalised this calendar line up in late April (the choosing was sped up a little by the lockdown this year and the time I had on my hands because of that and with the amount of photos I take really increasing in 2019 and 2020 to previous years I had much higher amounts of photos to choose from so felt I had to really progress my choosing a lot in April to get it all done in time) 

Cover: One of my favourite birds the Guillemot on Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, taken June 2019 

Another reason I chose the calendar final lineups about now is because often in June we have our main holiday for the year which very often involves many photos with lots of wildlife up close and top views so for both calendars I don’t want them to be swamped by one holiday’s photos to give lots of photos at local and further afield places a chance. That can easily happen if when doing the final choosing I am still within the buzz of the many holiday photos not long after they were taken, so photos from a holiday in June 2019 say having to wait until the year after next for their chances to be on a calendar allows me to refine the choices and identify what was my strongest photos from that trip. That being said, six photos from my Northumberland holiday for the Farne Islands last June have made this calendar. This is because it was one of my greatest photography weeks ever, and this picture of a Guillemot sums up the sorts of once in a blue moon opportunities I had to take these types of close up and intimate photos with my very favourite creatures. I like how this one looks good in the sun bringing out the Guillemot’s brilliant colours. Its not only a Guillemot but a bridled one too with the ring and mark around the eye not something too common on coasts down here but there were many in Northumberland’s colonies so I was proud I could capture this in this way. When deciding my cover if felt natural to put a Northumberland one there with many of them on the calendar only one could actually represent the month they were taken in June and this felt like a natural photo to be the face of this calendar for me. 

January: Bewick’s Swan, WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire taken in January 2020 

The Slimbridge trip away to start this year also features multiple times on this calendar, this Bewick’s Swan photo taken on my birthday was one I was so proud of and brings a great closeup but not really needing sun to make it memorable vibe. 

February: Woodpigeon, WWT Slimbridge, taken January 2020

Features of the calendars I’ve made for wildlife the last couple of years have been handing places to photos of species that have never featured on my calendars before; Fox, Arctic Tern and Green Hairstreak among this year’s examples. But so also is Woodpigeon, a species I’ve photographed so much over the last couple of years and this one was such a memorable one for me I really like the colours especially the purple chest feathers and I think this one will look good printed. Common species can make what I feel are strong photos too.

March: Robin, Blashford Lakes, Hampshire, taken in March 2020 

An obvious choice for the calendar. At the time of writing this its without doubt the most pleasing photo in my view that I’ve taken with my new camera so far that I got in January. I’ve rarely taken photos like this for detail and it captures such an intimate moment with an iconic species. It was literally the first photo on the calendar that was taken in 2020 when the time was right to start to selections I knew it was going on. 

April: Green Hairstreak, Magdalen Hill, Hampshire, taken April 2020 

This photo is a week old as I write this and its taken me by storm to reach this calendar within seven days of being taken. Yes the timing was good with me into the very final stages of getting this lineup at this point, but I had to be happy enough with it for it to make it. Its one of the best butterfly pictures I’ve ever taken I think, like the Robin without doubt right now the best butterfly photo or photo all together that I’ve taken with my new macro lens that I also got in January. It sums up perfectly the detail I can get with this macro lens and type of picture I want to take with it. It displaced provisionally qualified photos to get on this calendar which shows how much I love it. 

May: Another of my favourite birds the Razorbill on the Farne Islands, Northumberland taken June 2019 

This was a dark horse as one of the unsung photos of my big Northumberland seabird trip. However in the selecting at all the stages I just appreciated how much I liked this photo and it just seemed to look stronger and stronger to me every time I looked at it, a personal choice I was glad I could make. 

June: Arctic Tern, Inner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland from June 2019 

Compared to trips to Skomer Island and Bempton Cliffs which have had many photos get onto the calendars they fed into in previous years the Farnes had something different, the terns. These Arctic Terns the standout bit of the trip walking through the colony and having them divebomb you so I just really wanted to include an Arctic Tern photo from that trip in this calendar if I could as I knew many of the photos from that time away would be candidates. This one got there on quality merit regardless of its species I feel. But it was another dark horse, at the time of the trip I did not pick this out as my favourite Arctic Tern photo of the trip of the lovely extensive set I took of this a new bird for me at the time on two visits to Inner Farne where the colony is. It soon became apparent it was though as I chose it for my “4 of my favourite ....” (pictures in categories tweets) on my Twitter Dans_Pictures in 2019 in December in a special unqique feature of the year category about the seabirds on that trip and I still loved it enough to carry it onto the calendar for next year. 

July: Brown Argus butterfly, Lakeside Country Park, Hampshire, taken in July 2019

One of my quotas as a big chunk of my wildlife photography is I must have at least one butterfly on the calendar. I am proud this one remained, despite very nearly missing out once the Green Hairstreak was on the scene (another early 2020 butterfly picture had to make way in the end), to represent my butterfly pictures of 2019 which were taken during my greatest ever butterfly year with more species seen than I ever did etc. This is another new species for one of my calendars this lovely butterfly I am getting to really like the last few years. It was one of a batch of my very favourite butterfly pictures taken last year in terms of quality and symbolised one of my best butterfly moments of 2019 as I saw it during a booming ‘Big Butterfly Count’ survey for Butterfly Conservation one Saturday morning. This photo holds so many memories of that summer day which is perfect for a calendar for me I feel. The lockdown has led to many of my strongest photos being so locally to me taken and this is an example of one I took locally under normal circumstances last year.

August: Another of my favourite birds the Kittiwake at Seahouses, Northumberland from June 2019 

This is a second calendar of mine in a row for wildlife to include a Kittiwake after a Bempton Cliffs one taken in 2018 made my 2020 wildlife calendar (It got June as its month so today I turned over the calendar to see it in fact!). But this Kittiwake picture had to be on my calendar for one simple reason beyond everything else, of the photos I took between spring 2019 and spring 2020 this was what I felt was the best one of a bird in flight out of a strong field I must say. I like flying bird photos so much I say at least one must appear on the calendar. So sometimes putting aside species that appeared here and there on past calendars of mine it really is that simple to pick pictures. This photo shows an integral part of the journey I am on really getting to love and know this favourite bird of mine more and more over the last few years. It couldn’t be on the month for the one it was taken as the Arctic Tern took June but I just had to have it for August with that blue sky even if you might not see one that month as its so summery. 

September: Fox at Titchfield Haven in Hampshire taken in September 2019 

Another easy choice for the calendar. This was one of my most magical moments in wildlife watching and photography and the photo was that photo of the species that I might never match again. I just longed for a photo and a chance to be so close to this species I scrambled to get the right lens on to get the photo when the moment came my first Fox of 2019 in fact with the Fox looking right in at us in the hide such an intimate moment with a wonderful species and I managed it, on a variable day for weather that patch of early autumnal sun just came out at the right moment to set this picture up well. With this one I admit there are shortcomings maybe bits of the photo that could have been done better but its one of those I get that I overlook them and I just get them on the lineup this was among the first few photos I chose to go on because I want to see it printed. 

In half an hour I do a post with the photos on this calendar for October, November and December and introduce five reserve photos that didn’t quite make the calendar in case I need them. 

[rorykillmore]

okay a belated holiday gift fic for @tailsthesales! they requested villanelle + draco and their daemons, so i just went all out and wrote a snapshot of a full daemon au rather than just “they’re hanging out in saint denis on denny”

giz!! thank you for another year of good times and wonderful rp! you’re always so quick to reach out to support and compliment my writing, and i’m so grateful for all the times that’s encouraged me to keep going. thank you also for being such a constructive and creative staffing partner on denny -- i feel like whenever i come to you with an idea you’re always ready to help me build on it and fine tune it. even if you’re not always feeling sure of yourself, i want you to know that your kind and supportive presence makes a difference, and i’m grateful as always to call you my friend <3

Draco, Villanelle decides in that moment, will see his daemon settle when he really, actually chooses where he belongs. And decides whether that’s with his family or not.

“When did your daemon settle?”

It isn’t that Draco ever has any qualms with asking exactly what he likes when he likes, but this question feels odd for reasons Villanelle can’t put her finger on. Maybe because it’s the kind of thing nosy kids ask adults, and there are so few moments in which Draco lowers his guard and really embraces the vulnerability of being... child-like.

Villanelle runs her fingers luxuriously through Mischa’s striped fur. “I don’t remember. I don’t think it was for any special occasion. One day, we just decided who we were.”

She’ll spare him the truth as a kindness, she decides easily. Even he would be frightened by it.

Draco snorts, as though that answer doesn’t impress him.  “Fine. Then when did he settle? How old were you?”

Raising her eyebrows, Villanelle finally lifts herself a little from where she is lounging on their living room couch, Mischa laying on the floor beside her, to stare over at Draco. For the past half an hour, he’s been hovering over at the coffee table, practicing some transfiguration trick or another on an old set of teacups he found God knows where (as if Villanelle would ever be caught dead owning teacups). But now he seems distracted.  Libelle, presently in the form of an arctic fox, paces restlessly at his feet as if she is not particularly pleased with the direction of the conversation.

“Older than normal. Older than most of the other kids.”  Villanelle shrugs. She had felt identity-less, like little more than an adaptable shapeshifter herself for much of her childhood and her teenhood, but looking back it hardly seems significant, like it is just another of the many, many ways she is not like everyone else. “Eighteen, I think.”

As if she doesn’t remember with incredible specificity. Sometimes before that, Mischa would pretend to be settled into a singular form whenever they’d meet strangers, and the two of them would have fun by pretending to be meek and delicate and seeing how they might mislead people.

Draco frowns faintly, and Libelle shoots a smug look up at him, and it prompts Villanelle to ask, “Why do you care, anyway?”

For a heartbeat Draco looks as though he might scoff and deflect, but in the end he answers,  “I’ll be fourteen this year.”

“So? That is not so abnormal. I just told you Mischa did not settle until I was eighteen.” 

Draco shrugs, turning stiffly back to the table, until Libelle abruptly calls him out.  “He’s worried what his father would say,” she tells Villanelle, sniffing at her counterpart. “Pureblood families are meant to have their daemons settle by the end of their third year of school. It’s considered proper.”

“Wow. What a stupid rule.”  Then again, Villanelle is sure she hasn’t yet heard one of those Pureblood stipulations that she hasn’t considered stupid at best. But Draco tenses and turns back to her, and not before shooting a sharp, irritated look at his daemon.

“It’s embarrassing, having your daemon flitting from form to form like a child’s after a certain age. I’ve been telling Libelle she ought to just... get on with it, already.” 

Mischa makes a low huffing noise, his ears prickled and his attention focused on Libelle. Villanelle glances at her too, and finds her distaste for the whole situation evident. It is not uncommon, necessarily, for Draco and Libelle to be divided in opinion on things, and in fact it isn’t uncommon for children to argue with their daemons about settling anxiety in general, but...

Still, Villanelle snorts.  “You cannot just get on with it. It just happens. At the right moment.”  She thinks of Mischa’s bloodstained muzzle, his amber eyes alight and alive. She remembers her own quickened breathing. The stench of death in the formerly sweet apartment air. When they’d decided who they were.

 Dismissive, she blinks the memory away.

“And I don’t feel it’s the right moment yet,” Libelle retorts brattily, pointedly trotting away from Draco’s side and sidling up next to Mischa.  She tilts her head, considering, and by now Villanelle recognizes that spark of mischief in her eyes. She watches as Libelle changes form, becoming large and feline and predatory, with golden, tawny fur. “Perhaps I’ll be a lioness. That’d be new and different.”

Mischa rumbles, indulging her, but Draco scowls as though Libelle has made some kind of taunting joke. 

“No offense, but you do not strike me as a cat person,” Villanelle tells Draco airily.  “...Although lionesses are quite stubbornly loyal to their families. So who knows.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Draco demands while Libelle snickers.  Over time, he’s begun to lose some of his sensitivity to Villanelle taking jabs like that, which Villanelle has taken as a good sign, but today it seems like a sensitive issue again. 

“You let them tell you when your daemon is supposed to settle.” Villanelle rolls her eyes.  “That should be her business. And your’s. Your father would have you let him stick his nose into everything, until there is nothing left that belongs to you.”

She hates fathers, she thinks bitterly, not for the first time in her life.

She’s expecting a fired up retort from Draco, but this time he stays curiously silent.  When Villanelle looks over, she finds that he looks troubled. Torn. Libelle has gone back to vixen form, but this time her fur is a deep, defiant red, and her ears are pinned to her head.

Draco, Villanelle decides in that moment, will see his daemon settle when he really, actually chooses where he belongs. And decides whether that’s with his family or not.

Well, she knows Mischa would tell her if he much felt like speaking, He’ll have to discover that for himself, won’t he?

Villanelle amends for the time being, “I am just saying, don’t let that be the reason you stress over it. It’ll make your head all confused. People’s daemons don’t settle when their heads are like that.”

Draco relents with a sigh, unfolding his arms, which had been crossed defensively over his chest. “I suppose there’s no point in getting too worked up about it. It’s not as though I’m at Hogwarts, where anyone can see.”

“Yes, and you know I will judge you regardless of what petty societal expectations you follow, so at least there is that consistency!” Villanelle reminds him cheerfully.

Libelle chitters out a laugh and curls up on the floor near Mischa, finally at ease again. Villanelle marvels at it briefly, the way she always does when another daemon extends that sort of trust. Mischa is as much a killing machine as she is, capable of crushing the throats of most daemons in his jaws if he so chose, and yet the people close to him act as though he is a normal fixture of their lives. Safe to turn their backs on.

They’re both still getting used to that treatment, she supposes.

“As if I’ve ever cared what you think,” Draco is busy retorting, drawing Villanelle out of her thoughts and making her grin slightly.

“Good. That’s good practice for you.”  And before he can process that statement, she continues on casually, “Are you going to show me that trick you were doing with the teacups, or what?”

Never one to pass up the opportunity to show off his magic, Draco pauses to glance over his shoulder.  “Oh -- that? It is a fifth year spell, not that it’s been posing much of a challenge.”

“Wow. You can do things fifteen year olds can do!” Villanelle’s eyes widen, mocking and playful.  “I wish I could.”

They trade jokes and insults for the rest of the afternoon, until Draco seems as at ease at his daemon, as if there’d never been any argument at all. Later, Villanelle is sure they will both remember, perhaps while lying awake at night with their restless thoughts. But she’s not one to worry about the future, and Draco can probably stand to learn from her example.

But then to give him credit, she relents as she steals a brief glance at him, he’s already learned quite a lot.

[maddiebmac]

❝ This battleground is deadly but you wear blood so well for one so gentle. This was always your nature, to give light to the dark, to shatter when needed. ❞

DANIELLE CAMPBELL? No, that’s actually MADELINE 'MADDIE' BONES-MACMILLAN. Only EIGHTEEN years old, this HUFFLEPUFF alumni works as a HERBOLOGIST AT BUZZY BEE'S PLANT NURSERY and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. SHE identifies as CIS WOMAN and is a HALFBLOOD ( WEREWOLF ) who is known to be DISTANT, STUBBORN, and INSECURE but also STEADFAST, KIND-HEARTED, and CLEVER.

STATS | PINTEREST

I. QUICK STATS

name: madeline noella bones-macmillan

nickname(s): maddie, mads

age: eighteen

blood status: halfblood ( werewolf )

current living arrangement: fulham flat

II. WIZARDRY STATS

hogwarts alumni: hufflepuff

favorite subjects: herbology, potions, charms

general grades: O’s in most classes

patronus: arctic fox

amortentia:  spearmint, fresh picked raspberries, the ‘green’ smell of a plant nursery, clover honey, her mother and father’s perfume/cologne, dirt floor of a pine forest, the medicinal smell of dittany, cinnamon french toast with a hint of roasted black coffee.

III. CHARACTER SUMMARY

-- Maddie is, in general, known for her kind disposition and effortless ability to make friends with just about anyone. she isn’t really combative but tends to air her opinions about matters in a way that comes off more constructive than harmful. she tends to have a level head about everything that doesn’t involve her-- like she can easily solve other people’s problems but fails to solve her own.

-- Before the werewolf attack, Maddie was bright, open and talkative. She was more naive than anything else, always expecting the best out of everyone and never really thought about people having less than honorable motives to things. she dated stupidly-- maybe a little recklessly mostly to wearing her heart on her sleeve. she often got hurt by assuming everyone had the same intentions as her.

-- then the werewolf attack happened and she flipped a 180. due to an invite out during a full moon, she foolishly went out to meet her friend only to run right into Greyback himself. the attack was brutal and shook her enough that she could no longer see the good in others as she once had. her sunny disposition turned stormy -- she stopped talking, she withdrew, pulled away from her friends because she couldn’t deal with what had happened and what she’d become.

-- for a long time she would struggle with coming to terms with being a werewolf now. and honestly, though she had come to a mild contentment - neutral - about it she still sees herself as a monster. as something that can only hurt others. though now, out of school, she’s found it hard to be by herself. so selfishly ( at least she thinks it’s selfish ) she’s decided to room with a group of friends from school to help cull that loneliness she tends to sink into. she still tries to keep her distant...more so for them...just in case something happens.

-- she keeps the whole werewolf thing a tightly locked secret, it’s possible that only her parents know ...mostly because she was attacked underage and the hospital would have had to have permission from her guardians. she wouldn’t tell anyone that she was a werewolf on her own accord unless they were in danger..

-- [ BRIEF MENTION OF PARENTAL DEATH TW ] family wise. nothing is known about her birth family just that they were living in italy at the time of their untimely ends. her adoptive parents were forthcoming about her not being biologically theirs and maddie never pressed further for information. she was curious but having no names to connect with she couldn’t possibly find anything out -- so she gave up trying to find out anything. She loved her parents and her siblings-- and she was content with the life she had anyways.

-- on the topic of war, maddie is most definitely fighting for the order. there are manyt imes that she wished that everything would stay quiet...no progress or that the war didn’t exist at all but alas you can’t always get what you want. she does take part in the order and donates a lot of potion ingredients and potions to the order when she can.

[thebandcampdiaries]

Trouble’s Afoot - Looking For Parking

A combination of various alternative and indie influences, converging in a very special way.

Trouble’s Afoot is a music project that was conceived by Jordan Cooper, a musician based in Queens, NY. Jordan has a special fondness for indie rock, folk, and other styles, making for an incredibly diverse attitude. Now, the project is actually a 3-piece band, which means there is more room for different sounds and textures! The line-up consists of Jordan Cooper (lead vocals, guitars, and multiple other instruments), as well as Dave Fox (Bass, backing vocals, some guitar) and Christopher Roberts (Drums). The group has a really unique sense of chemistry, and together, these 3 guys are able to combine many different styles. From alt-rock to indie, to pop-rock, anything goes!

“Looking For Parking” features 12 tracks, each blurring the lines between various genres and definitions. In fact, one of the most notable aspects of this particular release is definitely the sheer sonic variety that you will encounter on this here record. The opening song, “A Boy My Age” is a short track (clocking in at under two minutes). After a quirky acoustic intro, the band chimes in at full blast!

“You Say But You Don’t Know” follows with a really infectious guitar riff. This song makes me think of some of the best early British Invasion bands, including The Kinks and The Who (well, before they turned into 70s stadium rock gods!)

The third song on the album is named “Sarah Made A Serenade”, and it has a really cool alt-rock / post-punk vibe, with catchy guitar melodies and great vocal lines. This one precedes “Every Right Hand,” another song under 2 minutes, which packs a lot of energy, in spite of the small footprint! The song leads to “Don’t Be An Idiot.” The attitude of this song is just as upfront as its title, with memorable melodies and great hooks that won’t get out of your mind so easily. This has a cool punk-garage attitude that makes me think of early Cloud Nothings or Wavves!

“And I’m Gone” has a really cool 60s vibe - this song really makes me think of some early Rolling Stones or The Byrds, with a really organic sound and cool vocal arrangements that match the music to perfection.

Coming next is “All I Ever Wanted,” a song with a personal set of lyrics. This is a song about looking for a change - about wanting to overcome one’s backgrounds and “get out,” hopefully somewhere better. “Cellar” is a song that sort of makes me think of Nirvana, not much so for the sound, but for the intriguing lyrics - I like the child-like energy of the wordplay, and somehow the receptiveness of the later motif really works on favor of this track!

“I Care About You” is the classic boy-meets-girl song. This is a very earnest love song, which reminds me of the way I felt when I was a teenager, struggling to really share my feelings and go talk to the girl I had a crush on! Ultimately, this is a very sweet song, with a really cool arrangement and a nice vocal performance to liven it up.

“The Usual Way” is a really edgy track, which immediately strikes for the catchy melodies and a great intro that makes the main chunk of the song even more enticing!

“Everyone Believes Me” is one of the most poignant tracks on the record, and perhaps one of my favorite ones. I love the combination of quality music and good lyrics, and I can definitely relate to the sense of inevitability of life’s end in loneliness, really exposed in the last two lines of this track: “Like all of you, I’m Lined up to die / No one’s ever on my side.”

Last, but decidedly not least, “Dust Town” is a perfect curtain closer for this release. It brings the record full circle, and it really goes a long way, with a poignant and direct arrangement. This song could almost be a lyrical “Cousin” to “All I Ever Wanted” because the themes definitely intersect!

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed the sound and feel of this release! This album has a fresh, young sound, yet it has a tone that reminds me of some of my best records from the 60s, and from the early punk bands of the late 70s as well! In addition to that, this album also makes me think about some of my favorite modern indie groups, such as Cloud Nothings, Courtney Barnett and legends like The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys.

Find out more about Trouble’s Afoot and do not miss out on this project. You can listen to “Looking For Parking” directly through Bandcamp at the following link:

https://troublesafoot.bandcamp.com

We also had the chance to ask the band a few questions: keep reading to learn more!

I love how you manage to render your tracks so personal and organic. Does the melody come first, or do you focus on the lyrics the most?

I’m a songwriter and my songs were written on keyboard and guitar. Sometimes I write lyrics and the melody kind of forms in my head as I sing them to myself, sometimes I find an interesting chord progression and then work a melody onto that, that’s how You Say But You Don’t Know was written.

My drummer took care of the beat. I could not even tell you what he’s doing!

Do you perform live? If so, do you feel more comfortable on a stage or within the walls of the recording studio?

Answer: I stopped performing live regularly around 5 years ago; I find it a stressful endeavor, though I still like to do it once in a while. Being on stage is incredibly uncomfortable, and being in the walls of a recording studio is also uncomfortable. Being on stage is exciting though, sometimes euphorically so, and being in a recording studio is artistically fulfilling (you feel like you’re working on something special, at least when things are going well.) That being said, the hourly cost of a recording studio assures that you can’t feel too comfortable in one.

I’m probably most comfortable in my bedroom studio, but that environment leads to a lot of laziness and procrastination, whereas recordings from a recording studio have a certain urgency and focus to them.

If you could only pick one song to make a “first impression” on a new listener, which song would you pick and why?

Answer: I Care About You. I struggle to find a flaw in it. It rocks my brains. I love my vocal performance (a rare thing for me to admit to), I love how revved up and energetic the band is, I think the mix holds together the most, and I’m really proud of the lyrics. I also love that I put in a recording of my bass player yelling “YYYEAAAHHH!” at the very end. Easy to miss, though.

What does it take to be “innovative” in music?

Answer: I think more about this in a lyrical sense than on the music side of things. It still amazes me to hear songs on the radio with lyrics YOU’VE HEARD 1,000 TIMES BEFORE. I will not let a song out into the world until I’m reasonably sure no one has heard these words sung before. And to do that, I think of specific things from my life that no one else could possibly know about (see: A Boy My Age) or have said already, and hint at them in the lyrics. I do wonder, however, if the general public is concerned with this stuff, considering who the popular artists are these days.

Any upcoming release or tour your way?

Answer: I’d love to go on tour but I don’t know how to do it! And I can’t afford it! It’s 2018, how can anybody? But I do have exciting new releases coming out very soon. My musical project with my girlfriend, Kristen Gudsnuk, which is called “Sally,” has a three-song EP finished up, which will be released shortly on our Bandcamp page and streaming everywhere. It was made in fancy, fancy studios and sounds like a million bucks!

The next Trouble’s Afoot release is already being worked on, it’s a sort of sequel to Looking For Parking, culled from the same drums and bass sessions of that album (12 more songs.) A little darker, a little more focused too. After that, the 3rd Trouble’s Afoot album, made mostly in my bedroom, is called Party Guy, and is a concept album about having a bad time at parties. It’s the most ambitious, exciting music I’ve ever done. It’s actually almost complete, but my gut tells me it’s a perfect “3rd album” instead of a 2nd one.

Anywhere online where curious fans can listen to your music and find out more about you?

Answer: Oh, you bet. My two Trouble’s Afoot home-bases are Bandcamp and Soundcloud. My Bandcamp has all of my official complete albums (including a children’s album I made a long time ago!), but my Soundcloud is full of live songs, demos, instrumentals, etc. It’s exciting!

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/troubles-afoot

Bandcamp: https://troublesafoot.bandcamp.com/music

My main website is www.jordancoopermusic.com, if you are in need of songwriting or composer services. I’ve done music for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and countless Youtube shows, podcasts, etc.!

[randomwoohoo]

First fiction writing after I moved into Scotland. Trying to adapt myself to all the new environment. Still excited for all new things ahead of me~ Wish y’all doing great

Clawhauser: Ah geez, this looks bad. This looks bad! It’s not good at all!

Finnick: Quiet down, Spots… Seriously, do I really have to do this recap sequence thing?

Clawhauser: Judy and Nick are going through hardships. They aren’t available right now... Besides, I don’t wanna do this alone.

Finnick: Isn’t there somebody else who would like to fill in?

Clawhauser: There is… but I’d rather not work with him… at least for now.

Finnick: Fine… Previously on Zoomorphia, after nonstop teleportation tired our fuzz bunny out, Slick suffered from mysterious hunger. He chowed down so much his belly puffed up.

Clawhauser: Poor thing…

Finnick: I agree. He got so fat I pitied his pants! Hahaha… Just so you know, I don’t have anything against fat mammals.

Clawhauser: Don’t worry. As a matter of fact, I’m not fat… I’m fluffy~ Anyway, thank you for calling Judy. She really did calm Nick down easily.

Finnick: They went out to fight the Savages afterwards. Fluff talked on the phone before they transformed right? Where did her phone go after that?

Clawhauser: That’s what I always ask! But the important issue here is that they two as Hybrid got badly injured by the bull monster. What will happen!? Will Judy be okay!?

Finnick: Find out in this chapter. Chapter 15

Fanfiction.net

.-.. . - .----. ... / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- .

“Judy! Judy!” Nick got off the sofa in haste after Judy, catching him off guard and detransforming, sent his mind back to his own body.

Experiencing fatigued like always, he collapsed on Finnick’s apartment floor, baffling his old pal, Finnick, and the feline friend, Clawhauser.

“Judy… Judy...” He continued calling to her while crawling wearily before he realized how to deal with the pesky tiredness. He then moved his paw down to push the syringe on his morpher, injecting the blood.

“Nick! What’s wrong!?” Clawhauser kneeled down next to Nick.

“You keep saying Fluff’s name. What’s happening to her?” Finnick tried to help the fox up despite his height.

Nick, finally regaining his strength, stood up slowly. Nevertheless, he was still suffering from discomfort in his overstuffed belly.

“We as Hybrid were gored right in stomach and Judy detransformed before the wound can be properly healed. And now, she-... she is enduring all the pain alone...” He said with fear.

“I’ll call an ambulance.” Clawhauser, still kneeling, was dialing his phone.

“How will we explain to doctors and nurses what caused her stab wound?” Finnick jumped and snatched Clawhauser’s phone from his paw, “Hybrid secret would be put at risk.” thinking that others would have doubts about why Judy’s wound looked like she got stabbed with horn and it was the same spot as Hybrid’s, which could lead to drawing connections.

“But Judy’s life is at stake right now!” Clawhauser tried to take his phone back.

Meanwhile, Nick felt that the pain in his stomach cannot be compared with the pain of the stab wound from the bull Savage’s horn. Although he experienced that stab wound pain while being Hybrid whose body was fairly stronger than average mammals, he could not imagine how much pain the doe rabbit felt at the moment.

He was racking his brain trying to think of what he should do, how he could save his dear bunny friend, but he then came up with an idea.

- .-. . -- -... .-.. .. -. --.

The injured unconscious gray European rabbit was lying prone not far from the corner of one building in the downtown, breathing weakly.

“I’ve found her.” Bolt in the Alaskan tundra wolf disguise jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he was able to locate Judy’s whereabouts.

“Retrieve her at once! We can’t afford to lose one or the other of Hybrid.”

Bolt heard Mittens speaking through their private wireless communication system installed in him.

“Tell me about it.” Bolt was going to go down to save the doe. Since he was unable to switch on or change into his silver chrome form, he planned to go down the stairs like a normal mammal.

However, when he was turning back, about to head to a stairwell of the building, he caught a glimpse of a black limousine coming to a halt around the corner. Hence, he turned his face back swiftly to get a good look.

A large polar bear, wearing a dark suit with two vertical blue stripes on each sleeve, got out of the limo. He looked around before he showed a thumb up signal. Subsequently, another similar-looking polar bear charged out the limo to the unconscious bunny. He picked her up fast yet carefully. After both bears got back in the luxury vehicle hurriedly, it departed immediately.

“Mittens!!” Bolt shouted, nonplussed by what he had just witnessed, which seemed as if Judy was kidnapped by the shady polar bears.

“I’m on it.” In the motorhome, Mittens was hacking into traffic cameras in order to track down where the limousine was heading to.

“There’s no way you can catch up with that car unless you transform. Retreat!” She sounded irritated as if she reproached him for not allowing her to check his arm earlier.

Some time later, Bolt returned to the motorhome on the outskirts of Savanna Central as he was told by his wildcat friend. Once he opened the door, he crossed his arms above his head to defend himself from an attack of Mitten’s paper fan because he thought that she would still be mad at him and wait for him.

Nonetheless, there was no loud noise that usually happens whenever she slaps him with her trustworthy fan.

“Come in. I don’t have all day to play around.” Mittens, sitting at a computer, was occupied in tracking down the limousine racing down the road.

As a result, Bolt entered the motorhome carefreely. However, he was then slapped loudly at the back of his head.

“Oh, my stars and garters! This thing is a fantastic stress reliever!”

He looked back at a owner of an electrifying deep voice. The mammal, holding the paper fan behind him, was a black sloth bear in round glasses, a yellow Hawaiian shirt and blue shorts with white linings.

“Thank you for doing me a favor.” Mittens sneered.

“Hi Professor” Bolt smiled sheepishly, believing his wildcat friend must ask the sloth bear to hit him for her.

Professor threw the fan in his paw lightly on a close by couch. “Gimme your arm”

The Alaskan tundra wolf took off his jacket and stuck his right arm out to the bear.

“Voilà” He fixed the stuck zipper in no time.

“Shut the front door!” Bolt got shocked to see how easily he fixed it.

“Go sit at the table.” Professor led the wolf to sit on one of the two couches that were placed opposite each other with the table in the middle. Moreover, these couches in addition to other stuffs in the motorhome were clearly meant for larger mammal. Thus, there was plenty of space.

Rhino the lemmings, who had already sat on the couch that Bolt went to sit on, climbed up to seat himself on the couch rest.

On the other hand, “I can’t leave my computer yet but I’m listening.” Mittens said, working hard on her task.

“Okay, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Professor, sitting opposite to Bolt and Rhino, leaned forward, laying clasped paws on the table.

“Currently, as we speak, we have zero clue whether Ms. Hopps is dead or alive. The worse case is she’s goner by now, which means there’s nothing we can do.” Professor informed.

All three other mammals fell silent. Shortly, he continued. “Conversely, if it turns out she survives…, that would be a great news but!” He emphasized the word. “Can we be certain that next time or next fight, everything’s gonna be alright?”

“Bolt will be there to help-”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but even I ain’t sure if something like this happens again to either of them, I will be able to save them...” Bolt cut in while Rhino was speaking in an optimistic tone.

Professor, who was also thinking the same thing, became less worried when he saw that Bolt himself was fully aware. “We can’t afford to risk that couple’s lives.”

“Couple?” Bolt and others were confused by who professor referred to. Even Mittens turned away from the computer screen to react.

“Y’know, Officer Wilde Hopps”

“As far as I’m concerned, they don’t have… a thing.” Mittens said to professor, taking an interest in bunny fox officers’ affair more than her task.

“See, Mittens! I’m not only one here who misunderstood!” Rhino yelled.

“We don’t have time to argue.” The annoyed wildcat got back to work on her computer, pretending to act mature by focusing on her tracking task.

“Anyhow” Professor got out of the couch, turning to the computer screen. “As soon as Mittens can locate Hopps, go to check on her straight away. And if she’s safe,... you know what to do… in order to diminish the risk.” He looked at Bolt out of the corner of his eyes.

... .- ...- . / - . ... - / ... ..- -... .--- . -.-. - …

It felt as if she was sinking down into the silent and pitch-black ocean alone. Her body also felt heavier and colder to the point that it was difficult to move. She saw nothing but a darkness.

Out of the blue, the light glowed bright above her from a distance. She then reached out to the glow, yet it was too far away.

Subsequently, a warmness touched her right paw before her body was dragged up to the light.

Following that, Nick grinned, holding Judy’s right paw tighter after her fingers flicked. She had been fallen into deep slumber on a sickbed size of which was for someone her size as the IV infusion was put in her left arm.

Once Judy woke up, opening her eyes slowly, Nick “Judy!!” called her name with the greatest pleasure.

At that time, it was late evening in Tundratown, at Mr. Big’s house to be exact. The limo which took Judy away from Downtown and Finnick’s van were parked in a garage belonged to the infamous old Arctic Shrew. Besides, Hybrid Police form’s black hatchback sports car with white doors and a pair of sirens on the top was kept in this garage among Mr. Big’s luxury cars.

Nick decided to contact Mr. Big earlier for help because there were only a few mammals who knew about Hybrid’s secret and gave them support, not to mention had enough private health resources in his house since his men sometimes cannot be admitted to normal hospitals as a result of his mafia business.

Clawhauser and Finnick were sitting quietly on leather sofas while waiting in such a fancy sombre living room for any Judy’s condition updates. The plump cheetah officer in civilian clothing was tense with fear to be surrounded by intimidating polar bears, whereas his small fennec fox friend appeared rather relaxed.

He peeked at a large and probably the most intimidating polar bear who has thick eyebrows and a fat neck and wore a black business suit over a black turtleneck along with two golden necklaces, believing that this polar bear must be Mr. Big, the most feared crime boss in the icy Easternmost district of Zootopia. He had heard of him before but got shocked when he learned that his friend Nick had a connection with the crime boss, wondering why a mafia helped a cop like Judy willingly.

Next, he noticed a golden-brown furred Arctic shrew in a fashionable mint green dress walking in circles worriedly on a well-crafted coffee table, so he moved to sit closer to the table.

“Hi” Clawhauser friendly greeted the female Arctic shrew, “I see you’re having a rough time.” slightly frightened by the stare from polar bears when he opened the conversation with her.

She stopped walking to talk with the cheetah, “Thank you for calling us earlier.” bowing to him.

“No need to thank us.” Clawhauser scratched his right cheek softly. “I mean… Judy is our friend. Of course we help her.”

“I hope she’s safe and sound.” The female Arctic shrew sighed as she was looking down on the table surface.

Swallowing his own saliva, Clawhauser wanted to reassure her, yet he himself was unsure...

“She’s gonna be just fine.” The male high-pitched voice came from Koslov, the polar bear who was wearing the golden necklaces, but he obviously had not spoken any words.

He walked towards Clawhauser with an old Italian shrew in a black suit and bow tie on his paws.

“My child is a good mammal. Good deeds would protect her.” The high-pitched voice evidently belongs to him.

Clawhauser thought this old shrew looked dignified and was really kind towards Judy.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet. Benjamin Clawhauser”

“My name is Fru Fru and here’s my daddy.”

“Nice to meet you Fru Fru and Mr...” Clawhauser supposed that it would be weird to call the old shrew Fru Fru’s dad.

When the old shrew was about to say his name, all of a sudden, “Hopps just awoke.” Raymond, a polar bear wearing a dark jacket with vertical blue stripes on sleeves, rushed into the room. A dollar sign pendant, connected to his gold necklace around his neck, was shaken by his rapid movement.

Consequently, almost everybody, mainly Clawhauser, Fru Fru, her father and Koslov, left the living room right away.

While Finnick was going to follow others out of the room, “We need to talk.” Raymond the polar bear obstructed him.

“If you gonna break up with me, at least, take me out for dinner or something first.” Finnick joked.

“I’m serious.” Raymond used a stern tone. “Did Hopps really get gored in her stomach?” He asked the small sandy fox.

“According to Nick, yes. Why do you ask?”

Raymond kept silent for a while before answering Finnick. “It’s true that she bled when we went to bring her here… However, her body didn’t show a sign of severe blood loss, so there was no need for a blood transfusion.”

“On top of that, her wound was shallower than expected. It even got surprisingly better by the time she arrived on a sickbed. Although it’s wonderful that her injury isn’t serious anymore, this is...”

Finnick finished Raymond’s sentence. “too strange...”

.- -... -. --- .-. -- .- .-.. .. - -.--

Nick returned to Judy after poking his head round the door to quickly tell Raymond, who at the moment acted as a guard standing in front of the room where the bunny was recuperating, about Judy regaining consciousness.

He briskly went back to be at her side.

“Nick...” Judy spoke drowsily “Are you alright? Do you hurt anywhere?” and concernedly.

Nick chuckled in response, “Dumb bunny, you should worry about yourself before others.” taking hold of his precious bunny friend’s right paw tenderly.

Their private moment which felt like eternity did not last very long before other mammals bursted into the room. Nick was letting go of Judy’s paw with intention to allow others to come talk to her but she was still holding on to his paw weakly, which he interpreted as ‘she did not want him to leave her side.’. Nick therefore moved up to the bed, so the others could gather around her.

Clawhauser and Fru Fru, who was standing next to her father on the polar bear’s paws, questioned about Judy’s health persistently. She could only smile due to being unable to follow what both were saying to her.

“Calm down you two. She just woke up. Let her recover first.” The old shrew said.

Getting a hold of themselves, both felt guilty for unintentionally disturbing the rabbit doe.

“I guess you must be the one who saved me. Thank you” Judy thanked the old shrew.

“Don’t mention it. In fact, you should thank Nicky.” He recalled when Nick phoned him, so he could send his henchmen to help her in time.

“Thanks, Nick” She tightened her grip, turning her gaze to him. He could sense her warmness in his paw and sweetness in her eyes.

Smirking, “This’s for making me worried sick, Carrots.” Nick flicked Judy’s forehead lightly with his index finger.

“Nick!!” Clawhauser “Nicky!!” and Fru Fru shouted in a rebuking manner.

“Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again.” Even though Nick jokingly scolded Judy, his words contained sincerity.

Then, a polar bear came into the room panting like he just ran, bending down and whispering to the old shrew on Koslov’s paws. Although he spoke sotto voce, the sensitive ears of a rabbit could hear him saying. “There’s an intruder in the front yard.”

“I need to run an errand. Baby, keep Judy company, okay?” said the old shrew.

Koslov put Fru Fru down on the foot of the temporary sickbed before following the panting polar bear out of the room together with the old shrew.

After that, Judy struggled to get off the bed, so others tried to stop her.

“Get to little Judy ASAP.” Judy told Fru Fru to go to her daughter at once.

“What’s wrong?” The confused cheetah worried that Judy’s condition might get worse if she forced herself.

“I’m having a bad hunch.” She replied.

“Even so, you should have some rest.” Nick suggested her caringly.

“Nick… please...” She begged as she was holding his paw tighter.

At first, the old shrew thought that this intruder must be one of the craziest mammals who dare to beard someone like him in his den but once the house’s owner arrived on the scene, he saw the wolf whose polished silver chrome body was reflecting moonlight. On the snow filled front yard, the polar bears encircled the mysterious wolf rumored to be some sort of vigilantes.

Soon after sending signals to each other, frightening mafia members charged at Bolt all together. The surrounded wolf, arms glowing, dodged the mammals rushing to attack him and pushed them away with his silver chrome paws.

Despite being hit lightly, the bears fell over in the snow, unable to move their bodies as they pleased. The reason behind phenomenon was Bolt used minor electric shock on them, leading to numbness in the whole bodies.

The old shrew grew anxious to see his henchmen were no match for a single opponent but he became more anxious when “Mr. Big!!” Judy showed up behind him with Nick propping her up against him. She was placing a cotton ball on her puncture wound on her left arm as a result of Intravenous therapy.

Meanwhile, Clawhauser stayed with Fru Fru in the house to protect her child.

“What are you doing here!? Go back!!” Mr. Big the Arctic shrew yelled at the duo.

Hearing a yell, Bolt shoved one of the polar bears out of the way. He finally found the bunny cop. “You’re safe! What a relief~ I’ve come to rescue you.” He said.

“I don’t know why you bother to rescue me but you’re the only one causing trouble here, so beat it.” Judy, acting tough, chased Bolt away. She knew well that her condition at the time was far from capable of arresting the agile silver chrome wolf.

“Okay… Well, the thing is...” Bolt spoke awkwardly. “I need both of you to hand over your drivers.” He pointed at Nick and Judy.

“Why do you need them?” Nick asked, darting a glance at Judy wearing her MidniDriver. He admitted that it was a right idea to be prepared against the wolf in spite of his worry for his partner’s health. He consequently put on his morpher, belt of which was a little too tight around his still expanded waist, and “DRAW BLOOD” teleported a portion of his blood to a syringe on the left side of the doe’s transformation gear.

“Sorry, I can’t answer that. It’s confidential.” The wolf, rubbing the back of his neck, looked the other way. “But I suppose no matter what…, you two wouldn’t give them to me willingly.”

While Bolt was talking, one bear sneaked up behind him. Before Mr. Big’s henchman could catch the silver wolf, he “Accel” did a high backflip, then landed on the bear’s left shoulder.

Hurriedly, the accelerated mechanical wolf dashed towards the doe rabbit, passing Koslov and Mr. Big easily.

Lifted up from the ground, Judy was locked in Bolt’s arms. At the time that her transformation belt was so close to getting stolen by the wolf, “INJECT” “IGNITE” she hastily transformed.

“Transform!” When the bunny shouted, Koslov quickly grabbed the fainting fox and then ran away.

The scorching purple mist explosion from transformation blew Bolt the silver wolf away, causing him to drop the bunny’s body.

Subsequently, the flamingo red armored hybrid between a leporid and a canine with color scheme of Nick’s casual clothing, vertical blue stripe in the front middle of light green torso and grayish-tan lower body excluding the feet, appeared among the fading mist.

Hybrid in a crouching position, feet wide apart, right knee and outstretched right fist in contact with the snow on the ground, tilted the head back to direct gaze at Bolt, who fell on his buttlock after the explosion.

The wolf stood up promptly. Both sides were ready to go head to head against one another. Judy felt her body getting better gradually as it seemed that it recovered faster while being Hybrid.

“I give ya 10 seconds for clearing this area. It won’t be pretty if these poor bears get caught in the crossfire during the fight.” Bolt informed.

Accordingly, Mr. Big sent more of his henchmen to bring the paralyzed polar bears out of the front yard back into his house.

Once the area was cleared, Hybrid and Bolt, sprinting, crashed into each other.

“Don’t push yourself too hard!” Mr. Big warned Judy worriedly.

“I’m here with her, so please rest assured.” The fox in Hybrid body told the shrew.

Hybrid was stopping the wolf’s kick aiming at the head, sensing the force exerted into his leg, still Hybrid could withstand even much higher force.

His arms glowing again, Bolt pulled his leg back, making Hybrid lose balance, then “Volt Strike” thrusted one of his paws downward with an intention to give the opponent a electric shock.

Hybrid dodged the glowing arm and hopped up before flipping in mid air to “ACTIVATE” deliver a powerful kick right in Bolt’s occiput.

The accelerated wolf ducked the attack swiftly. Next, he swung his leg and struck Hybrid with the front of his foot in the air, sending the armored mammal to land on feet nearby him.

Seeing that the Hustler form may not be the right choice to fight against the silver wolf, Hybrid twisted the handle on the right side of MidniDriver forth one time, “FORM SHIFT-POLICE” turning into the flamingo red armored mammal in Judy’s blue police field uniform, Police form, prior to instantly “ACTIVATE” summoning the AutoMag.

Twisting the handle back “CRITICAL BREAK”, Hybrid Police form fired an energy ball which shortly exploded like a firework. The burning lights from a mouth of the pistol in Hybrid’s left paw bent to strike down the wolf.

“Triple accel” uttering calmly, Bolt moved from side to side like greased lightning and lowered his body a few times. Thanks to his highly accelerated processor, he was able to see through the attack and avoid all of the light beams hitting him.

Horrified, the united duo was speechless to witness their opponent standing in front of them unscratched.

Bolt cancelled his acceleration in order to avoid overheating, then “Volt Strike” threw a radiant right punch. Due to being shocked, the duo’s response was slightly slow. Hybrid barely blocked the punch in time, falling over and rolling on the snow.

“Even Police form’s finisher...” Judy tried to get back up. Hybrid’s arms shook as a result of the electric shock earlier.

“At this rate, they can’t defeat that wolf.”

The duo overheard the polar bears discussing quietly because of Hybrid’s enhanced hearing. Even though she did not want to, she agreed with them to some extent.

“Judy...” Nick said her name, so she turned her attention to him.

“We should use my body to transform...” He suggested.

Judy paused. His suggestion reminded her of that fateful night… the night that changed their fate forever.

- --- / -... . / -.-. --- -. - .. -. ..- . -..

[nezanie]

The Fox and The Cat

Day 5: AU

Monoweek2018.

This is my own version of what i like to call the skinwalker au, you could say it is set in a similar world of remnant with a few changes and it is by no means an original au. It's pretty much an amalgamation of the fox!weiss au and the au where the faunus can switch to their animal trait form with a twist i've I will not take credit thank you.

Fanfiction.net link (here)

Summary: When Blake had instinctively followed the clumsy fox faunus on a whim she had never expected them to turn into the girl she'd frequently butted heads with.

The ability to skinwalk was as natural to the Faunus as breathing was to every living creature. It was something they could not do without and if suppressed could lead to serious health hazards. Naturally, all Faunus instinctively knew their limits and there were perks to having such an ability. Blake loved stretching out on the grass in her feline form and now that the cat was out of the bag she did it with more gusto and much less scuttling about.

The way Beacon was run, there was a diversity of students enrolled and many would feel safe to shift inside it's walls, at least, when they were in trusted company. Students like Cardin were still a norm however a snark remark out of some dumbass was something many of the huntsmen who happened to be Faunus could live with. As much as it was a sour pill to swallow they were used to it. In the outside world, many of them had suffered far worse treatment and bullies were often easily disregarded although some took their pranks to far and Blake remained vigilant even in her cat form.

The large black feline rolled around the grass observing the surrounding area. Many had mistaken her for a panther when she first came out in the open. It was another trait that identified Faunus from their animal counterpart especially for the carnivore type which tended to remain as close as possible to their actual human size. She noticed Velvet who was jumping around in her other form, even though she was a rabbit Faunus, the girl looked larger than the average hare although not by much. The more herbivorous kind were often the Faunus who could mimic almost perfectly their counterparts. Many hypothesizes existed from experts all over the world, some who linked it their aura and others who claimed it confirmed the existence of just wished they would ask the Faunus instead. Beacon was the hope she had to leave a mark in the world and change that.

It had been a few weeks since she accidentally spilled her nature to the rest of team RWBY and it almost still dazed her. Her team confronting her was a big part of what kept giving her courage to mingle and school life had become less frantic, no longer keeping in check a stray hand that subconsciously tried to fix her bow, less stressing about being found out. She'd found some good friends she could talk to as well like Velvet, an upperclassman who took her under her wing without a second thought. Velvet was a lifesaver and thanks to her Blake came to know most of Beacon's Faunus recruits. However, among the faunus, she couldn't find the one she met on the first day of school, a fox she'd seen running around on campus that she never saw shifting around the most popular of their safe zones.

Blake had noticed them trotting in a frenzy in the Beacon's yard by the forest path and it had bugged her immensely. To the human students the fox looked like a sizeable white puff of fur, the tip of its ears and its paws were black. It was apparent when she asked around that nobody, not even Velvet, knew about any arctic fox faunus being enrolled. At first, when she was hiding her identity she pushed back her curiosity and skulked around the more quaint areas in the school to change and perhaps enjoy a jog for a few minutes, she'd survey the other faunus but Blake was never lucky enough to catch another glimpse of the fox. Now, as she sunbathed ears on guard with any suspicious sound she heard the pitter patter of the foxes lithe paws her hopes not quite dwindling.

From the corner of an eye she opened lazily she caught a fluff of white moving about in between bushes. The black tip of their tail was the last thing she as Blake frantically rolled onto her paws to get a better view. She was certain the fox ran panting towards the trees that lead to the forest path and something pulled her to get up from her nap and follow. No one really passed through that area and Blake had forsaken it as a good reading spot once she knew what students really used it for. She sneezed as the unpleasant memories and mushy sounds of sloppy kissing threatened to resurface. So naturally it was vacant with the exception of a lucky couple of hormonal teenagers. She decided relaying the information was as good an excuse as would come to use to talk to the white fox faunus being as sure as she was that they were not accompanied.

The cat sniffed around wondering if she could catch of something akin to the fox scent or the scent of change as she walked around the small area hoping the other hadn't gone too far in the forest. It didn't take long to hear the sound of rustling behind a set of larger trees by a secluded area in the corner by the limits of the school grounds. Blake's tail flickered as she caught sight of the pearly white skin of a taut, muscled back and her second instinct was to freeze as she realized what she was seeing. She jumping and scampered around almost tripping in her own feet as her eyes shut close. Blake pushing her head down into the grass and holding it with her paws she mewled an apology. She thanked her lucky stars she had not witnessed it in human form as she felt the rush of blood flow into her head.

She couldn't help think about it as her mind replayed the scene of the sight she had been privy to, the fox that had had haunted her thoughts had shifted into a girl with the skin reminiscent of snow and long white hair that cascaded along her back up to her lower back an-

Blake bite into her paw shaking her head to stop herself from going further. She was grateful the girl had her back to her at the time and decided to address the nagging feeling she had met this girl before yet she could not fathom where. Surely, she would have remembered someone so clumsy as this girl who left her clothes outside of a safe zone. Even adults were warned never to leave their possessions so haphazardly or choose dangerous places which were uncommon to their brethren. Yet, the itch to put a name to the person was nowhere close to being fulfilled as none of her friends fit the bill. White hair, petite, soft looking pale skin painted a baby pink with exertion, killer back muscles...a name did come to mind and it was an impossibility. Weiss Schnee was not a Faunus.

'Psssh nice going Blake, we may have gotten closer and sorta got over our differences but that-'

"B-Blake?!" the gasp caused her ears to flatten as she spun round to look up at the fox Faunus. Her eyes widened as she took in the shocked blue eyes and the familiar scar running from her forehead to cheek. Something akin to a mewl and a hiss escaped her lips.

"What?"

Blake made her way to her safe zone in a rush, a bathroom guarded by the surly third year who was polishing his antlers and stopped only to give her a nod. His friend almost slipped on his feet to avoid Blake as she darted past them into the stall she kept her bag in. She dressed as quickly as she could her hands running on autopilot as her mind flipped through a thousand and one questions.

'This had got to be a dream and it better stay pure this time!' She felt her heart was about to burst and a sharp pain in her throat as she tried to suppress her emotions. Blake wasn't even sure what she was feeling at the moment beyond a grave confusion.

When she slipped back towards the corner she had left Weiss, with a little difficulty as the large tree which the heiress had been leaning against greatly resembled a number of others by the forest entrance, Blake was surprised to find her sitting in the shade leaning against it. If she were in the same situation, rather than a confrontation the cat Faunus would have slithered off to seek refuge somewhere.

'I wonder if she's brave or just stubbornly prideful' she thought pushing her elbow against a branch to make way to her.

She was hesitant to disturb the resting heiress but they didn't really have all the time in the world and the more she prolonged the less likely it would end well when she ran off to their dorm room. That didn't sit well with her so she gulped pinching her thigh and took it one step at a time. As soon as she was about a metre away from Weiss all the whole pondering how to politely call out to her, the hand covering the misty blue eyes fell away to reveal them narrowing down on her and Weiss beat her to the punch.

Blake flinched as the smaller girl openly glared and took off to stomp towards her as she scanned the cat Faunus' confused face. She stopped right in front of Blake who instinctively too a step backwards as a finger was darted straight up to her nose.

"Where you following me?" Weiss managed to bark in a low tone.

"N-no, I j-just-?" The accusatory finger stabbed into her shoulder cutting her short.

"Did you catch wind of some rumor? I should've known it couldn't end well,' she grumbled crossing her arms.

"Known what?" Blake stepped forward towering over the other as red hot anger blinded her thought. Blake's heart fell at the insinuation, "That an ex member of the White Fang would make you uneasy?"It was the only thing she could think of that made sense and she felt her stomach churn.

Weiss bit her lip angrily turning her back to Blake."That's not important you've overstepped my boundaries!"

"Fancy that! I thought we were supposed to trust each other,"she spat back walking around Weiss to stand on front of her once more.

"I know what I said and I meant it Blake!"Weiss growled low and threw her hands up in frustration as she spun round once more, "I wasn't expecting to become best chums after one team spirited speech!". Blake opened her mouth with a snarky comeback but a pop in her ears caused her to halt as she noticed a change in Weiss which the latter did not. The surprise cause the cat Faunus to simmer down a little as she tuned out the ranting was difficult to concentrate on her anger as a white tail flickered restlessly right into her face.

"Oh, you're in heat," the comment slipped off without a thought put into it.

"E-Excuse ME!" Weiss swiveled round menacingly looking up to Blake and almost bumped noses with her. If looks could murder she felt Weiss might have been able to push her to spontaneously combust there and then.

"No No No, that's not what I meant, it's what we call it,"Blake raised her hands defensively, hoping the open palm Weiss had ready raised could be stopped,"the heat of the change not the...other one,". It seemed to work as Weiss furrowed her brows and dropped the hand slowly to her side.

"Listen, listen," Blake started licking her lips as she reorganized her ideas and decided to start over, it wasn't going to do them any good if they bickered and she still wanted to believe in what Weiss had told her, "What I wanted, was to help a fellow faunus who seemed to be a bit lost,"

Weiss sulked, her tail twitched downward closing around her leg, "I was not lost, thank you," she mumbled with a dignified huff.

Blake's ears fell to her scalp and the deadpan expression she gave Weiss seemed to bring her out of her lecturing mood. "Okay, let's both stop and listen, screaming angrily at each other has only brought us choas," She shuddered remembering how the last time it happened had almost broke the team apart. Weiss nodded apparently on her same train of thought and her shoulders drooped releasing her tension at the called ceasefire.

"First, you might want to shift your tail back," Blake pointed downwards to her leg and found the heiress amply lost at what she meant as she followed her finger and gasped.

Weiss grabbed at her tail shaking in it and causing Blake to almost choke on her own spit at the scene, "Why does it always just come out when I don't want it to!" She let the offending appendage go as she heard Blake's chortles and placed her hands on her hips disapprovingly, "Would you stop laughing! Give me a second,"

Blake decided to go with the flow as the mood lightened, smiling sympathetically,"You should leave it, it suits you,"

Weiss responded dryly as she closed her eyes to help her focus, "Ha Ha Ha,"

"Does it often happen?"

Weiss half opened one eye and shook her head. "I'm usually very careful in public although I can't deny it hasn't happened before with my sister," Weiss waved her away without further clarification. "Now shush and let me concentrate,"

The cat Faunus had an inkling of what she could be fumbling for her to accidentally shift however she let the heiress focus until her tail was gone in a misty white cloud poof. Following Weiss triumphant nod, they remained as still as statues and merely stood in front of one another awkwardly dawdling and waiting for the other to speak. The only sound was their shallow breathing and the leaves rustling in the wind. Blakes eyes darted from a branch above the fox faunus' head to look back to Weiss as her hand that clutchedat her elbow. Weiss was keenly interested in Blake's foot which shifting and dug into the soil. Ultimately, it was the heiress short temperament that pushed her to give a suggestion.

"How about..." she began before giving a little cough, "We each ask one question at a time?"

Blake looked back at Weiss and mulled over the idea, the compromise sounded fair enough for both parts and it proved Weiss words that she was willingly giving her a chance and her trust were not conjecture. However, their conversation was cut short as a couple of voices coming from a very well known secluded area by the wall. The giggles and breathy tones as they whispered saucy compliments at one another that would haunt them soon followed and Blake took it as their cue to leave.

Weiss gave a disgusted look, "Perhaps we should reconvene, quickly"

Blake mirrored her look and motioned for her teammate to follow, "I know just the place,"

The rooftop was vacant as Blake had suspected and the pair settled by the fencing sitting at each other's side. There weren't many students outside except the ones looking for a quick training session or a relaxing nap in the sun. It always amused Blake how small they look from high up.

"You go first," Weiss murmured looking oddly guilty, "I did jump to conclusions, sorry about that,"

Blake scratched sheepishly at her neck, "Well I did catch you mid shift, I gave you a shock,"

Weiss gaped at the implication and Blake's smiled faltered as she realized her teammate had not noticed exactly when Blake had snuck up on her.

"I didn't see anything! I just saw your back," Blake added defensively but her eyes moved downwards before she could stop them as she completed her sentence. Weiss eyes widened and she placed her hand behind her back covering her bum and Blake was fairly certain she dug herself into an early grave,"I swear I turned immediately," It was a weak addition and the cat faunus was now ready to meet her maker due to her innocent mistake.

Weiss face turned beet red and she looked ready to fume but instead of shouting at her as Blake supposed she would she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "You...should go first,"

"S-sorry," she choked weakly.

"And erase that from your memory," Weiss added hotly

"Right,"

Blake tried to concentrate on her whole lot of questions and she pondered which she should start with. It was easy to exclude the more invasive ones which could be kept for a later stage and when the girl was more comfortable with someone knowing. It took her a few minutes to decide how to start and how to phrase her question that Weiss had started playing with her nails inspecting them in boredom.

"Well the first question I'd like to ask is how? But..." Blake began in a lighthearted tone.

Weiss rolled her eyes before looking her dead in the eye, "I'm not about to explain reproduction to you Blake,"

Blake gave her the best annoyed expression she could master. "Fair enough," Blake conceded placing her chin on her hand,"Does anybody know?"

"My sister, she showed me everything she could but she learned from trial and error," Weiss replied looking forward, "My mother obviously, and you,"

Blake thought it made sense, the fox faunus had seemed clumsy to her and there was a lot of difficulty in learning to shift without guidance. Blake was impressed that the sister's had managed so well by instinct alone. Then again it also explained why Winter Schnee had left for the military following her graduation from the academy in Atlas. It must have been difficult to teach her sister discreetly. She had not mentioned her father either, and Blake joined the dots on many of her presumptions. There had always been rumors revolving around the Schnee family and Madam Schnee's disappearance was always on the front of the gossip.

"My turn," Weiss clapped her hands enthusiatically, "What did you mean by 'heat'?'

Blake smiled eager to explain and happy that the other seemed curious to learn about the another side of her,aside they both shared even if Blake couldn't quite believe it yet. It was natural that she'd want to know, yet in her circumstances, and by the way she talked about the White Fang, Blake had thought of the worst but Weiss seemed comfortable with her own situation then Blake would have thought and rather keen to make sure only the trustworthy knew than disgruntled.

"The heat of change as we call it, is when sometimes Faunus feel this urge to shift and can't stand still until they do," Blake tone entered a monotone lecturing style akin to Port's and Weiss nodded listening intently, "It's less frustrating if a Faunus keeps a steady schedule for changing,"

"That explains why I always feel high strung," Weiss cringed remembering how excruciating it could be and how it always made her fatigued and at times, a tad cranky, "I used to shift every month or so, now I manage every 2 weeks,"

Blake shook her head, "It's got to be at least once a week, or else it can stress you out and bring your heat more strongly and much more frequently," She took a moment to think about anything else she wanted to add and recalled the incident with Weiss' fox tail and added, "Not to mention it's probably why your tail has shifting accidents, it happens if a faunus in heat and big emotions collide,"

Weiss pursed her lips bringing her hand to her chin as she thought,"I'll keep that in mind," She sighed lowering her voice to a whisper and rubbed her fingers into the bridge of her nose, "That's going to be hard,"

"You can always keep to your fox form, no one will think it's you," Blake blurted, "We could say you're an old friend of mine from my old days,"

Weiss snorted pointed at her scarred eye, "This might be a dead giveaway,"

"Not necessarily," she replied bumping shoulders in encouragement leaning some of her weight onto the smaller girl and looking over her shoulder, "Eye scars aren't exclusive to you Schnee, besides it would help you to keep any popping tails in check,"

"Sounds like you've got a plan, I'll think about it," Weiss pushed back tilting her head to smile at Blake. They hadn't noticed how close they were with Blake leaning towards her until Weiss looked up and the pair almost bumped noses. They jumped in surprise flushing at the proximity and sat straight up once more averting their eyes to look forward. Blake glanced at Weiss and felt a tiny bit of elation at the redness colouring the girl's pale neck. It was a nice change of pace to see her smile serenely in her presence, it was something she had been feeling since they came to terms with Blake's past, and she wondered if there was any way she could keep Weiss looking as peaceful and joyous as she did now.

"My turn, although it's more of a request, you're free to decline," Weiss said happy that she avoided any awkward stutter considering the odd palpitations she was having. Feline ears perked right up and she gave Weiss an encouraging smile turning to face her once more. It gave Weiss the push she needed to swallow her pride knowing she wouldn't be chided for asking help in the matter. This wasn't the Schnee mansion and there wasn't anyone like Klein or her sister that could help her out now. Having Blake for an ally, it shook her to the core to notice the wave of hope she felt wash over her.

"Do you think you can teach me some tricks and maybe give me some helpful tips?" she asked trying not to break eye contact with Blake, "Maybe I could offer you a coffee and we could...talk,"

Weiss never had a friend that understood her plights except her sister. And she had always felt like a burden for the already struggling Winter even if she tried to not think about it, if she could have a companion like Blake, whom she could trust, their support for each other could be more equal. It was also pleasant to think there could be someone who liked her for everything she was and still wanted to spend time with her. Weiss felt her heart thumping in her throat and could barely swallow waiting for a reply.

"I'm more of the tea sort but a date sounds nice," Blake grinned sliding her hand on top of Weiss. The latter could barely contain her excitement as she took a hold of Blake's hand.

"Thank you Blake," Weiss said squeezing Blake's hand in between her own, "If there's anything I can do as well, don't hesitate, I-"she swallowed hard before continuing, "I want to learn more about you as well, I really want us to trust each other,"

"Yes, talking would be nice, for the both of us," Blake murmured liking the idea of having a confidant and being one at the same time. The mutual feeling of the arrangement could probably lead them to become closer and the cat Faunus lingered on the possibility of something more. Blake lifted her free hand lightly grabbing at an invisible chalice, "A toast to our newfound relationship," Weiss raised a brow smiling at her poor acting.

"Hear, Hear!" she replied mimicking Blake and bringing their knuckles close together enough for them to touch.

Weiss almost felt like the invisible weight on her shoulders had slackened and she was definitely more confident of what the future had in store. Truthfully,she had been weighing the idea to come clean but years of secrecy and fear of showing any weakness left her stepping back at the last minute. She frowned lightly as she remembered there were still people she wanted to tell, "I hope I get to tell Ruby and Yang without all these hiccups, and without having them see my bottom,"

Blake snorted but ignored the jibe opting to be comforting and rubbed her thumb on the back of the hand she still held, "It's ok, Ruby and Yang will understand, so take it one step at a time,"

"I know, thank you, truly," Weiss said softly, she didn't notice her tail had made itself present once more until felt something slide through it. Her tail had inadvertently spun round Blake's waist and partially settled on her lap. Bemused and slightly elated Blake gently stroked the tail to its black tip marveling at it's softness. Weiss groaned slapping her free hand on her face but she couldn't hide the smile that was forming.

"Maybe we should start with a little bit of a relaxing run to calm your need to shift, cat vs fox edition," She teased settling on the area where they could shift in peace until the other felt comfortable with more inhabited placed. "I know a good route we won't meet people on," Blake giggled under her breath as the tip wiggled every time she pet it and the way Weiss pouted in reaction only caused her smirk to grow, "Then we can have a good long talk about how you keep your fur so luscious,"

Weiss' mood seemed to brighten at the prospect of having her very first lesson not to mention her first run with someone else since her sister took off for the military and decided to take the offer. She couldn't hide forever after all, so she might as well be prepared and most importantly she would not be alone in this, not anymore. It ignited emotions in her heart that had dulled in the years of being a trophy doll daughter very similarly to the time she had defeated the knight and won her right to choose her future. Weiss wondered if it was the feeling of truly being alive and proud.

"That's sounds wonderful," Weiss said taking the next step forward and hoping that one day she could share this feeling of ease that filled her heart with Blake.

A/N: I want to write more of this au...like their first lesson but that will have to wait for 's also many who headcanon fox as Weiss faunus au (I personally hc arctic fox or white wolf) so I won't claim this initial idea as mine (If anyone remembers the original ideas authors I'd like to credit them).

Bonus:

Blake: By the way, what's your actual trait, I've never noticed anything

Weiss: -taps her nails- I file them every night Blake before sleeping

Blake: Oh, my dad has the same problem

Weiss: my sister has it too, her nails get pretty sharp

Yang: Oh kinky

Blake: Yang!

Weiss: HEY

Yang: sooooo what are we talking about exactly?

In the meantime enjoy the rest of monoweek 2018. Until tomorrow fellas!

[aion-rsa]

How a Forgotten Avengers Cartoon Predicted MCU Phase 4

https://ift.tt/3pDpl2G

While it doesn’t quite stack up to its DC counterpart, the Marvel Animated Universe stretched through the ’90s and had some real bangers. Much like the modern cinematic universe, various cartoons were connected as one giant piece of continuity. X-Men and Spider-Man were the biggest hits while Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and others had less of an impact. The closest thing they had to a climactic culmination was the Secret Wars adaptation near the end of Spider-Man’s final season. After that, they kind of limped into oblivion with a few shows that didn’t catch on.

That leads to the biggest difference between the Marvel Animated Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it came to the latter, the real beginning came from the Avengers brand name. Nick Fury appearing at the end of Iron Man to discuss the Avengers Initiative was a sign of what these movies were promising while the first Avengers movie was not only a finish line to the movies before it, but it was also the moment that spring-boarded Marvel’s film universe into the stratosphere.

But for the Marvel Animated Universe? Avengers was the harbinger for the end.

Avengers: United They Stand first aired in late October 1999 and ended in late February 2000. It was the final Marvel animated show in this continuity to be produced and start airing, though technically Spider-Man Unlimited was the last one to air any episodes whatsoever. The quick version is that Fox aired three episodes of Spider-Man Unlimited, it bombed hard in the ratings, they shelved it, and then over a year later decided, “Listen, we have ten more episodes of this on our hands. Let’s just air it already.”

Either way, the double-punch of this Avengers cartoon and the most un-Spider-Man show possible with Spider-Man in the title ended the Marvel Animated Universe. These came shortly after Silver Surfer failed to catch on, giving us three Marvel cartoons that only went thirteen episodes before getting the axe.

It’s fortunate that Avengers: United They Stand is available on Disney+ as for the first time in its existence, the show is actually relevant! Now don’t get me wrong. It’s still not a very GOOD show. I’m not going to treat it like some lost gem. Still, people need content to watch in this lengthy pandemic and this Avengers cartoon is a great way to get ready for MCU Phase 4.

So put on your transforming armor and let’s get this list started!

THE NEXT PHASE OF AVENGERS

One of the reasons the show existed was to follow suit and compete with Batman Beyond. Although it really isn’t well-explained, Avengers: United They Stand is supposed to take place years after the other animated Marvel shows. One of the showrunners once claimed it was 25 years later and that only works if Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye have really good genes, but sure. It’s [some years] in the future.

Even though there had barely been any mention of the Avengers before this show – and keep in mind, we had freaking Force Works as a regular part of Iron Man – the time jump allows for the team to be something that may have already peaked. This Avengers cartoon is infamous for its bizarre intro where the team poses together, the shot pans up to show Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, and it cuts away after a split second. For whatever reason, these guys weren’t allowed to be starring characters on the show, so it played them up as the founders and the shoes that this team needed to fill.

For the record, while Captain America and Iron Man each showed up for an episode, Thor never did.

The basic gist of the show is, “You know how Cap, Iron Man, and Thor are the Big Three of the Avengers? Well, their time has passed. Now you have to deal with Wonder Man and Wasp. Sorry.” There are even shots in the mansion that show paintings of former team members like Hulk, Beast, and Quicksilver.

Yes, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were on different rosters. Then again, she was in Force Works and he was in X-Factor. The lack of codependency between the two is probably way healthier than how they are in other Marvel continuities.

Getting back to the point, Phase 4 of the MCU is at a time when the classic Avengers have moved on. Iron Man and Black Widow are dead. Captain America is an old man. Thor is doing space stuff. Hawkeye is about to retire. Scarlet Witch is…busy.

The MCU has a void due to the big question mark of what the Avengers even are right now. And being 13 years in, we’re due to get the likes of Tigra thrown in at some point. The MCU is naturally what the Avengers cartoon was unnaturally.

WANDAVISION ORIGINS

The closest thing Avengers: United They Stand has to a main villain is Ultron, which is good for someone checking the series out for the first time as he’s familiar enough from his movie appearance. Unfortunately, he’s pretty one-dimensional and he talks just like the “Powered by The Cheat” version of Strong Bad. Say what you will about the James Spader version of the character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but at least he had his moments of being intimidating.

The opening two-parter has Ultron create Vision as his ultimate killing machine and sends him after the Avengers. Vision proceeds to zap Wonder Man into a coma, gets overwhelmed by the Avengers, and is reprogrammed with Wonder Man’s brainwaves as the best available option of keeping Wonder Man alive in some way. Vision’s new personality overrides Ultron’s programming and he joins the Avengers, all while Ultron captures the comatose Wonder Man and holds onto him for much of the series.

Wonder Man is essentially supposed to be the Morph of the Avengers cartoon, but he can’t go five minutes without looking like a gigantic doofus and you get the idea that the Avengers are just better off without him.

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Since Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man already had a thing brewing between them, those feelings continue on in Vision. He spends the series gradually coming to terms with his romantic interest in Wanda. She never really picks up on it, nor does she entertain the idea of getting down with a mechanical man, but it’s definitely a love triangle we’re supposed to be invested in that would supposedly be developed more in the hypothetical second season.

Speaking of Vision, it is pretty funny how he’s easily the most powerful member of the team and he tends to politely hang out in the background so the writers can ignore his powers for the sake of the guy who shoots arrows, the guy who can fly, and the lady who does cat stuff. At least in the Atlantis episode they’re able to get around it by saying the lack of direct sunlight is causing him to fade.

Lastly, there’s one episode based around Agatha Harkness and Salem’s Seven. I’m not saying you should expect to see a delightful, sass-filled Kathryn Hahn performance, but it’s a hell of a thing seeing her in cartoon form and knowing the glow-up awaiting that witch in a couple decades.

FALCON THE REPLACEMENT

From the opening episode, the other new character to join the team (albeit without trying to kill the others beforehand) is Falcon. This is because unlike Hawkeye, Falcon is able to rescue the President of the United States from Vision’s rampage. What’s the President’s name? No idea. The show never gets around to telling us. Even Vision’s robot POV screen just calls him “President.”

Falcon – accompanied by his occasionally-green lips – is the closest thing the series has to a down-to-earth character. In other words, there are TWO moments where we see him doing normal guy things by hanging out with his nephew in public. We never do get to see Hawkeye buying groceries or Tigra returning library books or any other non-superhero stuff.

Unfortunately, despite his introduction to the series, Falcon doesn’t come off as the main character like he probably should. He fades in importance and even when Captain America pops in for an episode, they don’t spend any effort in building up the world’s most patriotic bromance. It’s instead about Hank Pym moping that he’ll never be as cool as Captain America.

To be fair, I’d also be moping about that if I was Hank Pym. I’m moping about that right now!

ANT-MAN VS. KANG THE CONQUEROR

Okay, so they didn’t really pair up Captain America with the Falcon. That’s okay, because we do get to see an episode dedicated to Ant-Man vs. Kang the Conqueror! Granted, it’s Hank Pym and not Scott Lang, but it’s still a nice enough prelude to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania!

One of the big drawbacks of Avengers: United They Stand is that the costume designs are outright terrible. The Avengers themselves have base costumes and various forms of armor depending on what kind of adventures they’re getting into (underwater, arctic weather, space, etc.). The villains, for the most part, also suffer from ugly designs.

As Kang the Conqueror has always looked hideous, his animated appearance is at worst a lateral move.

He gets his own episode, where it appears that he ruled (will rule?) the distant future, only to be kicked out of that era and the only way he can get back is with a powerful obelisk. The Avengers get their hands on the obelisk and Kang decides to threaten New York City to get it back.

Although he’s dealing with someone from centuries ahead, it’s all up to Ant-Man to outsmart him, giving us one of the better episodes of the show. Though it does include the incredibly awkward moment where Pym has to pretend that he’s all right with allowing slavery to happen while arguing with Falcon.

HAWKEYE AND THE SWORDSMAN

Watching animated Hawkeye, it really drives home how blessed we all were to get the X-Men: The Animated Series version of Wolverine. Logan was a ticking time bomb and gruff, but he also came off as badass, sympathetic, and genuinely likeable uncle figure. He’s someone you’d want to hang out and get a beer with.

Hawkeye on Avengers: United They Stand tries to be Wolverine, but is just a whiny asshole. You’d tell him good morning and he’d get in your face and clench his fists while wondering what you mean by that. He’s just the worst.

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But hey, Hawkeye is getting his own Disney+ show down the line and if there’s anything to prepare you for wanting to see Clint pass the torch-arrow and disappear forever, it’s this!

He does get one episode where he leaves the Avengers and reconnects with his old mentor the Swordsman. While Hawkeye is terrible here, Swordsman comes off as one of the more charming and likeable characters in the whole series. Tony Dalton is set to play him on the Disney+ show, and I welcome that.

BARON ZEMO MAKES HIS PLAY

The MCU already gave us Helmut Zemo back in Captain America: Civil War, but he was a bit restrained and sat on the sidelines while we focused on the hero vs. hero fights, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Chris Evans’ biceps during that helicopter scene. It’s in Falcon and the Winter Soldier that we’ll get to see him in his crazy comic book glory, wearing his purple sock mask and trying a little louder to destroy superhero society.

The episode of Avengers with Captain America is all about the Masters of Evil. It’s made up of your usual villain B-listers like Absorbing Man, Moonstone, Tiger Shark, etc. Leading them is, of course, Baron Zemo, who is fairly comic accurate compared to most other characters.

The episode for the most part doesn’t work because the Masters of Evil is a villain team-up group when we haven’t even been introduced to these villains ahead of time (unless you count Absorbing Man popping up in the Incredible Hulk cartoon). They’re no Secret Society of Supervillains, is what I’m saying.

Still, other than the conflict of who should be leading the Avengers between Cap and Ant-Man, the big rivalry here is Cap and Zemo. Granted, Falcon vs. Zemo would be more fitting these days, but the classic clash will have to do. Plus Zemo blames Cap for a death in his family, which goes well with the MCU version of Zemo if you ignore that the live-action Zemo mourns his innocent wife and kids while the cartoon version mourns his Nazi war criminal dad.

The Masters of Evil – especially with Moonstone there – is a stepping stone to Thunderbolts and there’s a chance we might get that plot in the MCU sooner than later, hopefully with Zemo involved.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Speaking of villain team-ups, the finale dealt with the Avengers fighting the Zodiac. Yeah, we…we can go a few more phases before the MCU brings in Zodiac. That’s cool.

The post How a Forgotten Avengers Cartoon Predicted MCU Phase 4 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2ZzOznS

[tomans-darlings-au]

Sig Vs Spike The Sequel

TW: For Violence And Implied Abusive Relationship (Tagging @thesheeplepeople since there’s a certain part I think you’d want to see)

Cold winter air blew hard, Sig’s breath was very visible as they sat on the side of a road. The cold didn’t have much of an affect on them but Sig had been running for days now, exhausted their muscles ached for rest. Pip crawled out of the young adult’s sweater turning into fox with a nice arctic white coat, he’d be sure to keep watch for Spike while Sig rested.

“Don’t worry Sig we’re almost to the next town, we can get some good food and maybe find a bed to sleep in.” The creature said trying to encourage his owner.

Sig nodded tiredly sighing they were starting to regret separating from Jack, it was easier to defend themselves together but the two were separated during one of the attacks. Neither had the opportunity to go back and look for the other being hunted by Spike and his meddling pet, once again Sig was stuck alone. Well not completely at least they still had Pip by their side, pulling the shapeshifting creature close they showed the rare sign of affection before closing their eyes to rest snow slowly falling.

Jack on the other end of the forest continued searching for Sig, after escaping the hotheads wrath the only thing on his mind was locating his friend. The last thing he wanted was Sig facing Spike alone especially after almost no rest for the past few days, the boy called out for his partner countless times crunching through dead leaves and dirt paths.

Sig awoke to a feeling of warmth and the smell of smoke, when the scent hit their nose they immediately jolted up and formed an ice wall just in time to block a wave of fire which shattered the layer of ice. Spike growled obviously he was also taking the effects of lack of sleep though it was his own fault, this made him even more irritable and unstable.

“FINALLY! I found you without that piece of shit asshole, you have me running in circle trying to find you.”

The man growled shouting at the other, Sig’s eyes wandered to find Pip but he was nowhere to be found.

“Looking for this?”

Spike held up an injured Pip now in a smaller form as a Short-tailed Weasel. Sig’s eyes widened but before they could attempt to step forward Spike held out a flame under the small creature.

“One step and he’s fried food.”

“Let him go! Please!”

Sig begged for their small friend in fear, Pip was precious to them.

“Fine I’ll give him back but you follow me back home.”

Spike ordered holding the animal tight, Sig winced seeing their friend squirming for freedom. “Okay! Please just stop!”

The fiery boy grinned and tossed the animal to Sig who dove forward to catch him, clutching the small creature close they sighed with relief that the injuries were minor.

“Sorry I couldn’t protect you Sig.” The weasel squeaked out.

“Shoosh you did your best Pip it’s okay, just rest up I’ll protect you this time.”

Sig began to follow Spike back into the forest like area, for the first time they could feel their blood running cold as if ice was piercing into them. Finally escaping and getting so far only to be dragged back, Sig started to question the entire point of the ordeal now regretting even attempting to escape. Just as they reached the top of a hill leaving the town below a wave of ice blocked them, Spike let out an irritated hiss knowing exactly who was there now.

“Sig!”

Jack’s voice echoed making the other feel a surge of hope again, Spike reached for them but Sig quickly knocked his hand away trying to run in the other direction. Spike was not that easy to shake though and he reached and caught Sig’s hood a scuffle between the two started, Sig let out a choking gag sound being pulled so roughly. Jack tried to fling an icicle at the hothead but he easily dodged it, Sig elbowed the boy trying to escape causing him to get a nose bleed from the impact. Both gasped seeing Spike’s blood drop he was angry before but now the unstable man was livid, wiping his blood away he tightened his grip on Sig pulling him close.

“Fine! You want to leave then go!”

Spike pushed Sig off the steep end of the hill a rocky path beneath them, Jack desperately tried to run to catch them but Sig was already falling. Awaiting impact they held Pip tightly to protect him and readied for pain shutting their eyes tightly but never felt a thing, when they opened their eyes again they were carefully being lowered. Looking around they saw a composite of shadows around them, something about this felt familiar and safe. Jack and Spike both looked confused rushed down, out of the shadows came a tall man with dark hair and sickly gray skin who approached Sig.

“Child what is your name?” He asked curiously.

“Sigmund.... Who are you?”

His question went unanswered as the man embraced him pulling him close and holding him tightly, he was even trembling.

“Sigmund it is you, my precious child. I thought all hope was lost but you’re here you’ve come back to us!”

“I know this is sudden but my name is Baxter Pearce and you are my child.”

He said tears in his eyes trying to explain his behavior, Sig skeptical pulled away not a very surprising reaction to the sudden information.

“Hey get away from them creepy old geezer!”

Spike growled his flames coming out, Baxter was not at all amused having witnessed the scuffle at least the last part of it. His shadows formed a hand like shape pushing him down roughly and pressing into him, he was clearly a powerful man.

“You dare threaten me after you attacked my child, you pushed them and had I not been here who knows what could have happened!! You act as if you care now!!”

Jack stepped in between them quickly.

“Wait please. I know you’re upset but this won’t solve anything, if what you say is true I think you need to help Sig remember you. This boy isn’t worth the trouble.”

Spike was shaking for the first time he felt actual fear toward another powered human. Once released he fell to the ground, Baxter returned to Sig and Jack quickly followed behind.

“Would you like to come back? See your old home Sigmund? Perhaps it will jog your memory.”

Baxter suggested but did not insist as to not make Sig uncomfortable, Sig looked at Jack for reassurement and the other nodded to encourage him.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

[ruffsficstuffplace]

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 9)

A sleek, modern airship cut through the skies of Mistral, the smooth hull, the sharp angles, and the bright, silvery exterior unmistakably declaring it of Atlesian make. Inside the VIP cabin, a man who seemed to be the antithesis of everything his transport was held out a battered silver flask of alcohol to the woman across him.

“You need a drink?” Qrow slurred.

“No, and I’d really appreciate it if you don’t offer again,” Winter replied coolly.

“Come on, Ice Queen: you look even more wound-up and tense than usual,” Qrow said, gently shaking the container. “Take a page out of my and your mom’s book: stray off the straight and narrow for a little while—hell, I doubt anyone will have a problem with it, given what you’re going through.”

Winter narrowed her eyes. “As I said earlier, Qrow: no, and please, stop offering.”

“What, afraid it’s going to be like Vacuo all over again?”

“Yes,” Winter hissed, “I am absolutely terrified and already feeling supremely disgusted with myself all over again at even the hint that we could go through that shit again.”

“Have a little trust in your self-control, Ice Queen,” Qrow said. “We know you don’t fall-off the wagon nearly as easily as I do.”

Winter glared at him, then sighed. “Is this REALLY your idea of making me feel better?”

“Yes. Do you really think I’d be doing this if I were capable of using literally any other method?”

“Fair point,” Winter said as she reached out to take Qrow’s flask.

Suddenly, their airship suddenly ducked, the flask flying out of Qrow’s hand and spilling all over the floor.

“Sorry about that, folks: sudden flock of birds out of nowhere, had to dodge,” their pilot said over the inter-comm.

Winter and Qrow both looked at the flask on the floor, its contents rapidly spilling out and getting absorbed by the nice carpet. “Well, that sure is an omen if I ever saw one,” Winter said as she looked back at Qrow.

“Meh, at least we still got the minibar,” Qrow said as he reached out of his seat to one side, opened the state-of-the-art refrigerator their jet came equipped with. He’d just picked out and opened the glass top of a bottle of whiskey, when the whole ship shifted again, causing Qrow and the bottle to smash against the wall.

“Damn it, another one! What is with today…?”

“And that is why you make sure to wear seatbelts,” Winter hummed as Qrow brushed the broken glass off his hand.

“No, that’s why you tell the bastards that built these jets to build the minibars closer to the seats,” Qrow said as he hauled himself back on his seat, examined his hands.

“You alright, Qrow?” Winter asked.

“As good as I can be, I guess,” Qrow muttered, as he wiped his hand on his pants, leaned back in his seat.

Winter eyed him pointedly, he put his seat-belt on. “Happy?” he asked.

“Yes. Just because your semblance is misfortune, doesn’t mean you have to keep setting yourself up for it.”

Qrow sighed. “Winter, with my luck, this jet’ll probably crash just before we get to Haven, and our seatbelts will get stuck and keep us from escaping the burning wreck it’s become before the engine explodes. Or it falls down a cliff. Or a horde of opportunistic scrappers start putting blowtorches and power-saws to it.”

“Well it’s a good thing my family has a reputation for getting out of terrible situations as much as they seem to keep getting in them, isn’t it?” Winter replied, smiling.

Qrow chuckled, and smiled back. “Yeah. Though I’d call it more a ‘curse,’ really.”

“Tch. ‘It’s all how you choose to look at it.’”

“Nick again?”

“Grandma, actually. She was talking about dust deposits so volatile and fragile they couldn’t be safely mined, so they just blew them up to open the way to the sturdier, much more valuable crystals that were hidden under several layers of solid, nearly impenetrable rock.”

“Coming in for a landing in five. Hope those birds don’t come back for a second pass...”

Winter pressed a button near hear set. “Roger that.”

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Qrow asked, his eyes softening.

“We’re hunters, Qrow,” Winter said sadly. “When we don’t get the luxury of waiting till we’re ‘ready.’”

“True that,” Qrow hummed.

The ship managed to land without further incident, one of the few other human soldiers that were with them knocked on the door, escorted them out of the VIP cabin and to the line of troops disembarking first.

As the air outside rushed in and replaced the interior’s, Winter sucked in a deep breath, and sighed happily. “Haah… already feels like I’m back home,” she said as she and Qrow were about to head down the ramp.

“Well, don’t get comfortable yet, Ice Queen,” Qrow whispered discretely. “Looks like they brought out the Red Queen to meet us.”

“You say that like that’s a bad thing.”

“That’s because it is.”

“For you, at least,” Winter said, before they both put on their most professional faces, and straightened their postures.

Outside, Diana, Ruby, and Freya did the same, the third’s fluffy arctic fox tail and ears stock straight and alert as she spoke. “Cavendish, Rose, please welcome the veterans who you will be coordinating with and assisting for the foreseeable future--”

Ruby gasped, her eyes widening. “UNCLE QROW!” she cried as she suddenly disappeared in a flash of rose petals. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she asked as she reappeared hanging off Qrow’s arm.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Qrow said flatly.

Winter stopped, stunned, her eyes widening, before they darted back and forth between Ruby and Qrow. “Wait… you mean to say this asshole is your uncle?!”

“Winter!” Freya snapped. “He has a name, you know!”

“Sorry,” Winter said to Freya. “You mean to say this asshole Qrow is your uncle?!”

“Better,” Freya hummed.

“Yep!” Ruby said, just before she slipped and fell off Qrow’s arm. “Well, technically, he’s not my uncle-uncle, because he’s actually Yang’s mom’s brother and she and dad divorced a long-time ago, so that makes him just Yang’s uncle, but Yang and I are totally like full-sisters so I call him my uncle, too, anyway!”

“Yeah,” Qrow said. “Like I said: my family situation’s kind of a cluster-fuck.”

Winter stared, her face growing in ever growing horror, before she shook her head, and looked at Qrow. “Oh, dust, how did someone like you ever be allowed near children...?”

“When I’m the only qualified sniper-scythe instructor and/or huntsman around for miles,” Qrow said. “And hey, she turned out just fine, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but there’s such a thing as thriving in spite of an abusive or incompetent family, not because of it.”

“Ouch.” Qrow said flatly. “That really hurts, you know?”

“Agh!” Freya cried as she stepped up to them, barely coming up past either of their waists, her animal ears flattened and her tail wagging violently. “Will you two STOP your bickering for five fucking minutes? We have some actually important business to discuss, and more importantly, you’re setting terrible examples for the children!”

Winter flinched and hung her head in shame, Qrow smiled nervously. “Heh, you say that like I’m ever a good example in the first place...”

The chilly morning turned ice cold as Freya glared at Qrow, who started rapidly shrinking before everyone’s eyes.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“Can we all proceed to business now?” Freya snapped.

Winter and Qrow both nodded.

“Good! As I was saying… Cavendish, Rose,  please welcome the veterans who you will be coordinating with and assisting for the foreseeable future: Qrow Branwen, and my granddaughter, Winter Schnee.”

Ruby returned to Diana’s side and smiled and waved. “Hi Uncle Qrow, hi Ms. Schnee! Or is it Mrs.?”

“Just ‘Ms.’”

“Okay! Hi, Ms. Schnee!”

Diana regained her composure, and bowed. “Welcome to Haven! It’s quite an honour and a pleasant surprise to be working with veterans of the field much like yourselves; I look forward to your guidance as we sort out these recent events, especially because of how exceptional and chaotic they were.”

“Spare yourself the effort of the formalities and pleasantries from here on out, Cavendish: our work will be anything but glamorous,” Freya said as she started heading back to the buildings, rapidly speeding up the path, the bottom of her lab coat constantly flapping about. “Walk with me, please!”

Diana blinked, before she hurriedly joined the others in following Freya, feeling sweat start to form on her brow for how fast she had to move just to keep up.

“My apologies for the sparsity of details in the report that was sent to you two,” Freya said as she walked, eyes straight ahead, people and crowds breaking for her like she was a massive ship making her way through the ocean. “In-between the chaos of yesterday’s initiation, the disastrous aftermath, and preparations the first day of the new school year for all our many other students here at Haven, no one could quite find the time to organize and collate all of the data we had, short of sending you a giant cluster-fuck of everything we had, aerial footage, eyewitness accounts, and seismic data, and all.”

“You could have just sent us the slush pile anyway,” Qrow said. “It’s not like we didn’t just jet straight from Atlas to here.”

Freya’s ears twitched noticeably. “My professional standards aside, it would have taken much more time to clarify and correct any sort of misinformation or incorrect conclusions you had, and conversely easier and more efficient to just tell you everything we now know for sure, along with any events that had occurred in the meanwhile.

“Anything in particular you’d like me to inform you of first?” she said as she turned sharply to the side, headed to the R&D building.

“Yes, what happened to the initiates in batch 7?” Winter asked. “Excluding Rose, Cavendish, my sister and Kagari, of course.”

“Sans Manbavaran, Headmaster Lionheart has graciously allowed them entrance into our school, for mostly acting as professional hunstmen and huntresses should in the face of yesterday’s crises,” Freya said as she went up the stairs.

“And where’s the creepy girl now?” Qrow asked.

“Detained on-campus, for the moment,” Freya said as she stepped through the double doors. “The peacekeepers have been raring to have her transferred into their custody, but myself and a few professors have successfully appealed to Headmaster Lionheart and the Council themselves to let her enroll in Haven still.”

“… Seriously?” Qrow asked. “You’re letting her stay after pulling off a stunt like that? Seems like you’re just asking for trouble.”

“Obviously, we will be putting her under incredibly strict probation and restrictions, for everyone’s safety,” Freya said as she headed down one corridor. “But, when a teenager manages to successfully and discretely manufacture, recreate, and use a formula that once took Mantle’s best and brightest, an unlimited budget, and the most cutting edge facilities at the time, you’d be careless to just let all that potential and brilliance waste away in jail.

“Besides,” Freya said as she climbed up a step-ladder in front of her office, put her eye to a retina scanner, “it’d be hypocritical if we didn’t, seeing as we still keep you around, yes?”

Winter sniggered, Qrow scowled. “Sorry,” she said.

Ding! Click.

The scanner glowed green, and the door to Freya’s office opened. “Forgive me that I don’t have enough seats for all of you, I don’t usually have this many visitors at once,” she said as she stepped inside, grabbed a stick super-glued to the lightswitch and pushed it upwards.

Having been there before, Winter and Qrow just stepped in and made their way to Freya’s desk at the far-end of the room, before standing at the sides of it. Ruby and Diana, however, couldn’t help but slow down, and take a look at their new surroundings, especially since they couldn’t figure out just how they were supposed to get to Freya’s desk.

Haven professors’ offices were normally roomy and comfortable, a place you could entertain guests in or even use in lieu of the guest rooms for long meetings, discussions, and research, but Freya’s was borderline claustrophobic. Dividers, shelves, and racks filled and sectioned off the generous floor space, all the numerous devices, books, and assorted items wedged into them top-to-bottom giving the impression of a storeroom that acted as a dump for everything that needed to be shoved out of sight, but not completely disposed of just yet. The effect was only amplified by the abundance of ladders all around, some of them tiny with just three steps, others stretching all the way up to the ceiling, with a bridge at the top connecting it to its half on the other side.

Diana and Ruby looked at each other uneasily, before they started maneuvering their way through the miniature labyrinth, holding onto each other’s hands, guiding themselves by the sounds of Freya, Qrow, and Winter’s voices.

“What about the other batches of initiates?” Winter asked.

“They’re fine, in the sense that they were far away enough from the incident to either have been unaffected or even totally unaware of it, or given enough time to wisely steer clear of the chaos,” Freya replied. “The Celestial Hills are a VERY big place. Soon as word started to break about what happened, we found ourselves with a different sort crisis on our hands, but that’s getting off subject...”

“And what about the Shiny Rod?” Qrow asked.

Ruby and Diana couldn’t see Freya, but they could feel her scowl, her ears twitch in annoyance once more. “The artifact has been successfully recovered, and is currently here on campus. Before you ask: Kagari has it.”

“You’re letting Akko keep it…?” Winter asked. “I mean, I know she’s a giant fan of Shiny Chariot and all, but...”

“We didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Any attempts to take the artifact away from her, and put store it somewhere more secure, have been met with failure, sabotaged by forces we don’t yet understand. The artifact seems to be rather...” she trailed off.

“Clingy?” Ruby called out.

“Yes! ‘Clingy!’ Thank you, Rose.”

“Define ‘clingy.’” Qrow said.

“Cavendish, Rose? If you please?” Freya called out.

“I attempted to take the artifact from Akko and take it to the vault for her,” Diana replied as she and Ruby finally rounded a corner and made it to Freya’s desk. “As soon as I tried to go down some stairs, I mysteriously tripped, and in my attempts to regain my balance, I ended up dropping the artifact at the top of the steps, where Akko could have easily picked it up again.”

“I tried to borrow it from her some time after that, so I could go study it at the Forge, but as soon I mentioned that, it yelled at me to give it back to her,” Ruby said as she and Diana took the only two seats in front of Freya.

Winter paused. “… I’m sorry, did you say the artifact ‘yelled at you’…?”

Ruby shrugged. “It wasn’t like it started screaming and everyone could hear it. It was just kind of like, you know, this feeling running up my arm, and then it was like there was this yelling in my head, like ‘Give me back to Akko! Give me back to Akko RIGHT NOW!’

“It was awful. Really interesting, but awful!”

“Huh...” Qrow said. “So you’re saying that wherever she is, that’s where we’ll find ‘the artifact,’ and it’s pretty intent on staying that way?”

Freya nodded. “Precisely.”.

“And where is she right now?” Winter asked.

There was a sudden, awkward silence.

Winter’s face fell. “… Ah. I see… I suppose I should have realized that, sorry.”

“You want me to go check for you?” Qrow asked. “Council only said they needed someone to personally confirm it’s here, never specified which of us should do it.”

Winter sucked in a breath, and let it go. “No, no thank you, Qrow,” she said as she shook her head. “I was meaning to visit while we’re still here, anyway. Besides, mission from the Council themselves or not, I doubt they’ll let you in while you’re drunk.”

Qrow snorted softly. “Good point.”

“Do you want us to come with you instead?” Ruby asked.

“No, no, I’ll be fine on my own...” Winter replied. “I’m sure you have classes to get back to, I don’t want to be a bother.”

“We’re actually exempted for the moment,” Diana replied. “The professors thought it would be prudent to, as otherwise we’d be disturbing the lessons for all the inquiries from curious souls.”

“It’s kinda scary actually, how badly they want to know...” Ruby said, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

Qrow reached out and put his hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Ruby: me and Winter will try and make sure there’ll be an official report soon, so everyone will leave you and your friends in peace.”

“And if those answers happen to be the kind best undisclosed...?” Diana asked.

“Then we’ll start making it clear to everyone that they really don’t need to know.” Winter said calmly.

The rest of the debriefing continued, some interjections from Ruby and Diana to fill in gaps or clarify their report about their series of misadventures, what happened afterwards, before the two of them were dismissed, and Freya, Winter, and Qrow lowered their voices as they started discussing more sensitive matters.

Crash!

All of them jumped, Qrow and Winter putting their hands on their weapons, Freya pulling out her submachine gun from her desk, a dust canister from under her seat.

“Woops! Sorry, Dr. Schnee!” Ruby called out from somewhere in the maze

“It’s alright, Rose, it was an accident!” Freya called out as she slowly put her gun down on her desk, before she cast a surly look at Qrow.

“Hey, it’s not like I wanted that to happen...” he muttered.

Freya sighed. “I know. Which honestly just makes this situation even shittier than it already is, because now we’ve got you and four Schnees in close proximity to each other…”

Note: How do you guys like Qrow and Winter’s interactions?

[kansascityhappenings]

Joe’s Weather World: An unusually cold day and the dryness increases (TUE-11/12)

We set another daily record yesterday for snow…up at KCI there was .6″. That set a new record for 11/11 for snow. That’s the 2nd daily record this season. That’s impressive. Of course during this time of the year a lot of the daily records are under 1″ or so…but still.

This cold air mass sent temperatures down into the single digits. At least 8° this morning. Highs today will struggle and it will feel even colder later this afternoon as the winds start to pick up a bit. Those winds will increase overnight as well as the winds above us really get going from the SW. That’s the sign that the arctic air is moving away from the area.

The other issue, despite the snow yesterday, is the continuing lack of moisture in the region. Yesterday’s snow amounted to .05″. There is another possible minor system for Sunday…but overall the next 10 days look pretty dry at this point.

Forecast:

Today: Sunny and cold with highs in the upper 20s to near 30°

Tonight: Clear and windy…it will feel colder as temperatures drop into the low>mid 20s and then sort of steady out or increase a bit towards daybreak. Winds may gust to 20-25 MPH

Tomorrow: Partly cloudy and not as cold with highs well into the 40s

Thursday: Turning chilly again with highs closer to 40°

Discussion:

So far this morning…8° and it may have dropped another degree or so between hours as the sun was coming up. Unusual cold for sure. It would be our 2nd or 3rd coldest start to the day in KC weather history with records going back to the 1880s.

Highs today will be in the 20s to near 30°. Here is a look at the coldest highs.

So likely top 10 cold high for the day.

Finally when you take the high and low and divide by two…that comes out to the average temperature for the day…

We’ll probably end up around 18 or 19° for an average temperature…that would be easily top 5. You can see just how cold that 1911 year was behind the “blue norther” that came through!

There were dozens and dozens of record lows last night…some of the records have short POR’s or period of records. That means the data doesn’t go back that far…at least 30 years though. For perspective the KC weather data goes back at least 130 years. I’m always hesitant to talk about records that contain only 40 or whatever years of data.

There may be some monthly records tucked in that data as well…down towards the Red River and into S IL and W KY.

The coldest air is going to move away overnight. That is a reinforcing shot of chilly weather coming tomorrow night into Thursday. This will be a dry frontal passage…just not enough time to get appreciable moisture back into the region ahead of the front. As a matter of fact this arctic air will have penetrated through the central Gulf of Mexico by this time tomorrow…

The overall pattern though remains rather dry and that won’t be changing anytime real soon…at least for the next 10 days or so.

The model data is showing something towards the 3rd week of November though…close to the 20th. Here is the EURO data…

and the GFS data…

We’ll see about that…

Finally…

I mentioned this last night…and sure enough it happened to me on my way home…the low tire pressure light coming on in your car.\

This occurs when the tire air pressure drops which happens when we get these cold temperatures. Remember we were in the 60s on SAT and today are in the single digits. That’s about a 60° swing…and considering the tire air pressure drops about 1-2 PSI (pounds per square inch) when we drop about 10°…that’s a 5-10 PSI drop and that will usually trigger the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) light on the dashboards.

You just need to get some air in the tires. Sometimes it will go off on it’s own as it warms up but a lot of times it won’t.

So know you know!

Our feature photo comes from Michael Weston of an earlier snow melt off from October…probably about the same as today.

Have a great day and stay warm

Joe

  from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/11/12/joes-weather-world-an-unusually-cold-day-and-the-dryness-increases-tue-11-12/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/11/12/joes-weather-world-an-unusually-cold-day-and-the-dryness-increases-tue-11-12/