#blue gemstone poll

[all-the-polls]

Blue Gemstone Poll 2

[gemsbuild]

All Kinds of Sapphire available at Gemsbuild.com

[coffehbeans]

Sinking Chips Chapter 1

Okay I'm done editing, new story aaaaaahh

This is the story written after the result of this poll! Thanks sm for voting and for your patience! It took a looong while aaaaah

These two characters are very dear to me. They're one of my oldest g/t ocs alongside Juhren and Sunflower, and I've even made art for them years ago. (funny how I said back then that I'd write about them soon and it took me SIX FREAKING YEARS)

Anyway, I'm very happy to finally share a snippet of their story! Enjoy! <3

Summary: Caytlin Brooke, a sophomore marine biologist student gets stranded in the middle of the sea, with no hopes of rescue. But a chance encounter challenges all she knew about marine life, and a bond is formed in the proccess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The whales’ singing blasted like trumpets in the cave, a sign that a new Heir was about to be announced. With King Freyr’s last breath on the day before, it was a matter of time until the Ocean declared a new protector for the North Atlantic.

Merfolk swam and gathered at the center of the plaza; a large outdoors space made of polished stone. Bioluminescent creatures illuminated their path in a spiral shape, and a large crowd formed as they cheered with clicks and whistles. In front of them laid a magnificent castle, bigger than the length of two blue whales, and with towering, pointy towers. It was made of the same dark blue stone material as the vast cave, and if it wasn’t for the glowing plankton and the blue gemstones decorating the walls in spiral patterns, the intricate carvings of the castle would merge with the walls of the cavern.

Inside the palace, Queen Haliae watched her tears float upwards, the pain of losing her King like a fresh wound in her heart. On each arm, she held a baby, non-identical twins that would never meet their father. One had pale blue skin, as light as the sand on the seabed at night, and dark turquoise hair that flowed like the ocean waves. His tail was a greyish shade of blue, mimicking the pattern of a blue whale, just like his mother’s. The baby cried as the light of the Ocean’s Oracle shone like a chandelier on the ceiling, a ball-shaped crystal filled with flowing, glowing water. It was too bright for the little mer’s small, fragile eyes. The other twin on Haliae’s arm had shorter, unrulier hair as light as the sand with a distinct turquoise undertone, and his skin was a darker shade of blue. His tail was a deep blue like his father’s, mimicking a humpback whale. Unlike his brother, this baby was transfixed by the glowing orb over his head, giggling every time light pulsated from it.

The mother swam up to that crystal with unwavering determination in her eyes, eliciting a prayer to the Ocean, which flowed as easy as a whale’s call. She finished it with a personal supplication, one she whispered so only Mother Ocean would hear.

“May whoever you choose be a beacon of guidance in this kingdom, much like their father were... And may the other find his footing as the New Heir’s shadow.”

As if answering her, the Ocean’s Oracle shone a light as bright as the sun, blinding the mother, her children, and all merfolk gathered inside the palace. The crowd waiting outside whistled and twirled, knowing that the time for a new Heir was soon to come.

When the light dimmed and the Queen opened her eyes, one of her kids was glowing.

It was not the giggling child, no, for Mother Ocean chose the crying, screaming child, who now sobbed louder while glowing a vivid blue. The teardrop-shaped necklace he wore filled with cerulean, fluorescent water, a sign that he was now the New Chosen Heir.

The mother smiled, melancholy shining in her features. So, this was the one that would carry her husband’s legacy. She kissed the unchosen child on the forehead, giving him to one of the servants so she could present the chosen child to the people.

The glow dimmed from her son as Queen Haliae swam towards the outskirts of the castle, and the crowd praised their Majesty with louder cheering. She raised her kid up high, swimming further above her kingdom, and the whistling of merfolk and sea creatures alike shook the foundations of their cave. She cradled her small son in her arms, who was looking at her with pure, round eyes, unaware of the reason for the commotion around him. It was customary for the royal merfolk of the North Atlantic to name their children after the Heir was chosen, and so she thought of a name much fitting for him:

“Your name will be Aegir Sonhavet.” She whispered to his tiny ears.

…

Warm temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit. A soft breeze by the sea, no sign of storm in sight. No prediction of wild waves today either.

Today, Caytlin would go cruising.

She shot up from her seat at yet another cell development class, huffing as she shoved things inside her bag before waving bye to her friends and hurrying outside. Pushing her strands of light brown, shoulder-length wavy hair aside and fixing the collar of her white and blue stripped shirt, Caytlin searched for her house’s keys in her jean shorts pockets. Her hand curled around a cute dolphin keychan and she sighed in relief. Putting her keys away safely in her pocket, Caytlin walked out of the university with wide steps.

She walked, no, dashed away from the building, saying hello here and there to the people she knew in her hurried way, until arriving at the bus stop. She recovered her breath as she waited anxiously, pacing left and right, and celebrated when her bus finally arrived.

A few minutes later and Caytlin was close to her home by the harbor. She walked on the sidewalk, glancing to the calming sea to her right, the view of its gentle waves and its deep blue color filling her excitable heart with absolute joy. There it was, in the distance, anchored by the harbor: her, oops- their, well-kept cabin cruiser.

‘Dad is definitely not home today. Soo, I will definitely come back before he arrives!’ She thought, a mischievous smile on her face.

Caytlin checked the inside of her house, which was on the way to the port, to confirm her suspicions. Yep, he wasn’t home. The winds were sure favorable today.

Passing by her house to pick some lost supplies, which she piled on her arms with hurry, Caytlin strode towards the awaiting ship she and her father had for over ten years already. He had taught her everything about the ocean, from how to maneuver the cruiser to curious facts about sea animals, all of which cultivated her deep passion for marine life to begin with.

Loading the ship with supplies, Caytlin boarded it and steered out of the port, giggling with excitement.

And off she went, towards the open sea.

…

It’s jammed.

The engine is jammed.

Caytlin pushed the lever again. Nothing. She tried kicking the engine. No results. She tried opening it with a screwdriver and seeing the inside, and her body ran cold.

The wires were burnt. Completely burnt.

And she had forgotten to bring the reserve components.

“W-well, it was an old boat, after all…”

Caytlin’s heart hammered full swing. She’s in the middle of nowhere, for she cruised too far away from shore, way ahead of the safety margin she and her father had stablished. There’s no land in sight, no signal on her phone and no way of returning back safely.

“I-it’s fine! I-I’ll find a way. Dad will notice I went to the sea. Yeah.”— She said in-between panting breaths.

She’d be rescued safely, that’s it. She’ll just have to wait out in her pretty little ship until help arrives.

That is, if the ship doesn’t topple over or break down when that huge, dark cloud in the sky reaches her.

Caytlin gasped and dashed outside of the cabin to look at the storm that was nearing her location. She gripped the railing tightly.

“No way! The weather forecast said there was no rain today!”

‘But the weather isn’t always predictable’, her father had said once.

Caytlin groaned and clutched at her hair, sucking in a breath. She had to find a way out. She had to.

‘The radio! Maybe the radio would work!’ She ran back inside the cabin and pressed a number she memorized all too well – her father’s.

“No signal. Why there’s no signal?!” – Caytlin flailed her free hand while bouncing on her feet and begging under her breath, as the phone ringed in her ear. – “Please work please work please work plea – “

A heavy slamming of something against the bottom of the ship sent Caytlin flying to the ground with a scream.

“AAH! What was that?! —”

The perturbation made the ship swing side to side, as the ocean waves rolled under it. Caytlin got up, clutching her head, and left the cabin, looking for the source of the sound.

What she saw underneath sent shivers down her spine.

There was a huge shadow under the water. Bigger than two to three times her cabin cruiser, and it was moving.

Despite being knowledgeable of marine life, Caytlin’s heart still hammered against her chest.

“Must be a curious whale. Yeah! Just a whale… But…”

Realization set deep within her, heartbeat rocking inside her ribcage.

“But whale season hasn’t arrived yet –”

The shadow hit the ship in the bottom and Caytlin fell with a shriek. Supporting herself on her hands and knees, she turned around, out of breath as she feared the ship toppling over and making her fall into the cold depths below.

Just as she was reaching for the railing, a shadow covered her frame.

Caytlin hugged the metal bar and closed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the splash of a humpback whale but, nothing came.

Instead, all she heard was breathing, like the creature was right by the crook of her neck.

With wheezing breaths, Caytlin clutched the railing with clammy hands. A huge droplet of water fell to her right, hot, humid air blew on her back, making the hairs on her skin turn up to their end.

She turned around.

The visage confused her. Something light blue covered her field of vision everywhere, but it moved, no, it contracted like muscle tissue. Adorning it were dots of bright blue and teal-colored spots, trailing up the fleshy surface and towards a –

A face. There was a billboard-sized face right over her. White, round eyes covered her field of vision, the cerulean blue irises staring down at her. Its unnaturally grey pupils alone must be bigger than a basketball, massive eyelids covered them. A blink.

Caytlin screamed from the top of her lungs and tried to get up, only to slip and fall hard against the floor. A clicking sound reverberated above her and the ship swung under the creature’s blunt force. She scrambled back with wide eyes until she hit something soft and wet and – Oh gosh, it was the creature’s hand, a gigantic hand brushed against her back, claws longer than her head hovering above her.

Caytlin screamed until her throat went hoarse and the creature backed away, rocking her ship with it. She skidded over the slippery surface until she managed to stabilize long enough to sit still and stare at whatever was staring back at her, a few feet away.

The creature was more distant than before, but very much there and not going anywhere. Only when her screams subsided did Caytlin manage to try and process what the hell was going on with panting breaths.

The ocean got eerily silent, the only sound being the ripples on the sea, the huge creature’s breathing, and Caytlin gasping for air. She attempted to calm her racing heartbeat with deep breaths, one after the other, to process whatever was it that was floating right in front of her, glancing at her small frame with widened eyes.

Directly in front of her field of vision, there was a human-looking chest wider than her boat’s length. Three slits laid on top of its torso on each side, which looked like gills, as they opened and closed under the water. She looked up, and up, at something that resembled very much a male chest, blue in color, with those same splotches of bright blue adorning its – his, vast shoulders and —

That face again. Human-looking, too human and not human at the same time, with almond eyes, no visible crease on its eyelids, blue irises and translucent pupils. There were two thin lines over the eyes in the shape of eyebrows. A flat nose that resembled nothing that could be found in a human, as its nostrils opened and closed like the blowhole of a whale. The spots on his face were like freckles, a darker shade of blue than the blotches on his shoulder.

Despite the foreign appearance, he looked… Beautiful, Caytlin exhaled, lost in wonder. Wavy hair flowed from his head like waterfalls, a dark teal color with light blue tips, which curled at its ends just like waves that crashed on the beach. On one of his pointy ears, which tapered on their ends like a fin, adorned three purple jewels, made of a crystal she couldn't recognize. Around his neck there was a glowing, teardrop-shaped necklace with purple beads, while one arm had a silver-colored arm ring. His arms had dark blue spots and stripes scattered in a random fashion, and Caytlin wondered if they were natural markings or painted on.

He looked like a mermaid out of a fairytale. Except the 80-something-feet in height.

“I-I… Am I dreaming?” – Caytlin whispered.

The creature chirped in return in what sounded like a very loud whale call over the water, way louder than any whale she has heard. Caytlin yelped and covered her ears.

The creature sank itself lower in the water, sending ripples through the ocean, but not taking its huge eyes off her.

Such a creature shouldn’t exist. She must be hallucinating. Yup. That must be it. And yet, why did it look so real? Caytlin looked up at him with widened eyes.

“Y-you’re not gonna eat me, are you?”

She only received a confused noise in return. The creature didn’t open its mouth, yet the sound coming from its throat was just as loud as if it was from a speaker. It must be its way of communication, similar to that of whales and dolphins. That was…

Fascinating.

With buckling knees, Caytlin got up, maintaining eye contact with the creature while clutching the nearby railing with all her might. The merman stayed on its place, observing Caytlin with what she guessed was mighty curiosity. The expressions looked so human… It was like she could see what it – he – was thinking. He widened his eyes as he watched Caytlin get up, sucking in a breath and closing the gills on the side of his neck.

“H-huh, looks like you aren’t going to eat me. Phew.” She sighed and gave the creature a crooked smile.

The creature, however, looked down at her with a confused, but curious expression.

And then it got closer.

“Oh gosh, no no no –! “

He raised himself more above water, waves crashing as he loomed over her with a long shadow and – yep, definitely bigger than 80 feet – Caytlin made a note inside her head. She had swum next to blue whales before and what was before her was certainly bigger than a blue whale, so pretty much over 100 feet tall. When the creature noticed she was shaking and backing away, it raised its eyebrows and sank a little to the ocean, with only its face at view.

It came closer to her, anyway.

Caytlin gasped and sealed her eyes shut when the merperson got so close she could feel his breath – and oh, he was carnivorous alright – her heart racing as she gritted her teeth, pressing herself so hard against the wall outside the cabin she thought she would merge with it. It seemed to be observing her, looking her up and down with a curious expression, moving closer and leaning his large hand over the boat, which was on the verge of capsizing as the metal groaned under the heavy weight.

His eyes observed her just like she has seen whales do before. Was this creature intelligent? Was it a fish? A mammal? Caytlin had so many questions…

She slowly got up again, not taking her eyes off the creature, and sighed shakily, calming her accelerated heart.

If she wasn’t hallucinating right now, this was the greatest discovery human kind had ever seen. And she was its first witness!

Caytlin took one step closer towards the merperson – ‘Yeah, I’m really going crazy’ –she thought, raising her hand with a nervous expression. She knew she had to be calm but, it was so difficult! His face rose far above her and she had to crane her neck up to meet his eyes. Taking a deep breath and closing her own eyes to disperse her fear, Caytlin reached out with a trembling hand, little by little until –

A gasp echoed from above her and she opened her eyes.

She had touched the creature’s nose and he looked at her tiny hand with widened eyes. Caytlin raised her eyebrows. For that moment, time had stopped, her green eyes lost in his. It felt so…So out of this world. She smiled, noticing how both were so curious about each other.

And soon the creature acted the same way.

Caytlin yelped when a wet appendage – the mer’s finger, she realized – caressed her arm up and down as it peered at her with those glossy, cerulean eyes. A sigh ruffled Caytlin’s hair, and she gulped down her nervousness as the creature touched her arm, claws grazing her, heartbeat rocking loudly in her chest.

Satisfied, the creature backed away from her and started lowering his head back to the ocean, with a frown on his gigantic face. ‘Was he sad…?’

When the creature sunk his face completely, Caytlin realized with sinking dread that it was leaving her alone.

“Wait!” she shouted, reaching out towards the ocean.

The merperson raised his torso up again, surprising Caytlin as she fell on her back towards the floor with a yelp. ‘Ow, I really have to stop falling down.’ – she thought. He sunk his body again, whistling and clicking with an apologetic expression, and left only his eyes visible. Caytlin got up and sighed in relief when the merman returned. An impulsive idea lightened up in her head: She could ask for the merman’s help!

But… How would she do this?

“I’m, um, you see, I need help!” – she said, waving her hands around. The merman only tilted his head in confusion.

“Oh, u-um, how am I going to do this…” – Caytlin looked down pensively until an idea popped up, and pointed to the vast horizon behind her with her hand.

“Um, shore, land! I need to get back there! See?”

She made a motion of sea waves with one arm, while cupping her other hand over it, mimicking the vague shape of a boat.

“Boat, um, crashed!”

She ran to her cabin, which made the merman raise his head above water, and tried to turn the engine back on, which failed with loud noises.

“S-see? It’s not working! And, and –” Caytlin ran back to the railing, where the creature looked down at her with a puzzled expression.

“So I need help! Got it?” she gave him a tentative smile. The merman’s frown got deeper.

Yeah, he didn’t seem to have understood a thing. Caytlin groaned and sat on the floor, holding her face with both hands.

“This won’t work…”

And just as she lowered her head, loud splashes sounded all around her. The merman was probably going back to the ocean. It was better this way. Help would arrive soon, anyway.

But when Caytlin kept hearing the sounds, she opened her eyes and looked around. What resembled a blue whale’s tail appeared in her field of vision, splashing gently around her. The creature was swimming around her boat, looking it over. As if analyzing it. Her eyes widened in wonder. Yeah, there was no way he didn’t have similar human levels of intelligence. His behavioral patterns were unlike any other animal she has seen. The merman swam back to be in front of Caytlin, with his eyes lit up, as if he had understood something. He covered her once again with his shadow, looked down at her and nodded.

That was the only warning Caytlin got.

The creature’s heavy hand collided against the bottom of her boat with a loud thump, sending her sliding backwards with a yell until she hit the wall of her cabin again. The boat moved towards the direction Caytlin had pointed before in her previous attempts to communicate. She got up on shaky knees, supporting herself until she entered the cabin, and looked straight ahead, widening her eyes in realization.

The creature was moving the boat back to shore. It was helping her. It had understood what she meant!

Caytlin giggled, leaning over the front window with a gleeful expression on her face. The boat glided quickly on the ocean with the help of the merman’s hand, and from the distance, loud splashes resounded from the powerful flaps of the creature’s tail. Caytlin walked out of the cabin and looked up to the merman, who blinked down at her.

“It’s working!” she raised her hands in triumph.

And then, just when Caytlin thought she could not be more surprised, the creature glanced back at her, and the corners of his lips tilted up.

He smiled.

Her jaw went slack. She could not believe this. This mermaid-like creature, despite his gigantic and intimidating size, not only was intelligent enough that they managed to communicate somehow, but was also helping her get to shore. Not to mention his many human-like mannerisms. She was so… So mesmerized. She gazed at his focused face.

‘I need to know more about him.’

But the rocking of the boat followed by a complete stop made her leave her blissful moment. The merman had stopped swimming, so Caytlin turned around, realizing why. She could see the shore in the distance, close enough so she could be seen and rescued, but far enough so that the creature could slip back into the ocean unnoticed. She looked back up at him, who answered with a sympathetic frown, as if to say “That’s as far as I’ll go.” Caytlin looked down.

“Right, guess this is it, huh?”

She approached his face once again, capturing every single detail in it, hoping to write it all down on her journal later that day. Caytlin reached out a hand for him, who complied, leaning his face against it, as she felt the wet and smooth texture of his skin.

“Thank you… I just hope I can see you again.”

Caytlin looked up, and backed away, leaving space for the creature to dive deep into the ocean again. It lingered by her company for a few moments, as if to also capture her every detail, and with a nod, he dived back into the ocean.

…

The rescue team didn’t take long to find her, even in the pouring rain of the heavy storm. When she stepped safely onto the beach, soaked from head to toe, her dad Charles hugged her tightly, scolding her right after. He was mad, but that was understandable. She wasn’t a teenager anymore, but she sure acted recklessly like one. Caytlin took her dad’s sermon with a saddened but understanding expression, nodding at everything he said, even if her mind drifted somewhere else, back to that encounter by the sea.

Later at night she wrote everything down, from the moment the engine got jammed to the time the merman swam away, as well as observations regarding the creature’s fascinating behavior and appearance, all in precise detail.

Caytlin plopped into her bed, looking at the ceiling with longing and determination.

‘I’ll definitely find you again.’

…

Looking up at the vast stone ceiling of his room. Aegir’s mind drifted back to that excitable, fearful yet curious human face. He remembered the way her tiny hand touched the tip of his nose, how her dry skin brushed against his fingertip.

Humans were, fascinating. She was fascinating.

‘I want to see her again.’

Aegir raised his body up, and secretly swam out of his room towards the dark of the night ocean. He left the cavern, where his kingdom resided in, with a silent whoosh of his tail, swimming up to the surface. Taking in the moonlight, Aegir closed his eyes, opening his nostrils to breathe in the fresh air, and leaning on his back over the ocean’s surface, letting the relaxing currents drift him away.

Dread sank heavy in his mind.

He had just made a grave, grave mistake.

And he did not want to go back on it.

Aegir looked at the moonlight, lost in the recollection of that human’s face, yearning to find her again.

‘Mother Ocean, what am I going to do now?’

[valiantstarlights]

Trinket Poll Game

tagged by the lovely @carnelianmeluha 🥰

tag game: pick stuff from your room and have people vote on which one they want to take home.

No pressure tagging: @teejaystumbles @janimoon @mallory-x @sleepsonfutons @lenreli @gabessquishytum @beauty-of-nyx

[louiesselfshipramblings]

Green & Blue [Personal]

Okay okay OKAY! I know based on the poll next one up is Monika origin story...but I ended up getting brainworms for this ship so I wrote. This. I dunno I'm proud of this one. More to come.

This is my first post I'm making where those from my taglist will added! If you want to be tagged in all major selfship posts I make from here on out, just fill out my google form and I'll make sure you're tagged for future commissions, personal work, and things of note. The link can either be found in my previous post or right here!

Word count: 3392

Taglist: @moondane-lovers, @moxanji-real

Alana couldn’t believe this. Did her months of tutelage under the original Green Ghost mean nothing to them all? Was it not enough to be handpicked by both the man himself and the alien gemstone that granted her her powers? Is all that she was good for now as the All-New Green Ghost was patrol work until she could be considered ‘experienced’ enough to properly be on the Guardians of the Globe? Incredibly ridiculous.

Perhaps she was being a bit harsh. After all, Darkwing, Martian Man, and Red Rush all vouched for her right away, and even if she could tell Aquarus was not fully on board, he at least had the courtesy of keeping it to himself. No, the real sticks in the mud were War Woman and the Immortal; from how they composed themselves, she could tell neither were particularly pleased in the sudden swap going on. Even when they did agree to let her in, she could tell there was going to be some growing pains. Last thing she expected was for her end of the arrangement to be consistent and repetitive patrol work, day-in and day-out.

Come on, girl. Look on the bright side, she thought to herself, flying over the city. Least you’re doing hero work, finally. Making a difference. Seeing that justice prevails in the…calmest damn city you’ve ever seen…

She sighed, pausing in her flight and pinching the bridge of her nose. Oh, please. They just want the new kid out of the way. I can end anything in like, five seconds by pushing their feet into concrete. Hmph, maybe a better use of my powers would be getting that stick down out from Immortal’s—

CRASSSH!!

Her musings were suddenly interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Glancing down in its direction, she saw a large building with a broken window, only for objects from around the building to start floating up around it. Commotion started to build up around it, primarily in the form of screaming civilians. 

Sheesh, finally! She exclaimed, and quickly zoomed down towards the building. As she came closer, she could feel her sense of balance be thrown off for a brief moment. Gravity powers, she reasoned, as she saw several cars and lampposts wiz by. Her eyes locked onto one car, as she could make out a few figures still within them. Dashing over, she made herself intangible, and poked her head through the windshield.

“WHOA!”

“Hey, don’t worry!” Alana assured the startled woman. “I’m the Green Ghost! With the Guardians! Here, grab on!”

She reached out and grabbed hold of the woman, who in turn became intangible herself. Scooping her up, she zoomed out from the car, and out to where the gravity field was no longer in effect. “There you go!” She nodded, setting the woman down. “Everything alright?”

“Y-Yeah. Th-Thank you,” she replied, looking back up at the hero. “W-Wait…I thought the Green Ghost was a man?”

“Oh! Well, there’s been a change,” Alana responded, striking a bit of a hero pose. “I’m the Green Ghost now.”

“Huh…not bad,” the woman noted with a half smile. In that moment, Alana felt a sense of pride deep within her, before her attention turned back to the swirling building. Checking around, she relieved a few more pedestrians from their suspended vehicles, and even one who was still clinging on desperately to his scooter. Soon, from what she could tell, everyone had been evacuated from the area.

“Alana!” She heard a buzz in her ear. “It’s the Immortal! Gale force activity was picked up in your area! What’s going on?”

“Uhh, still trying to figure that out?” She responded, sizing up the building. “This building has got some weird gravity effect going on.”

“I see. Martian Man is nearby, I’ll get him to—”

“Hey, did I say I needed help?” She snapped, somewhat huffy. “If I need it, I’ll call. I can handle this, for crying out loud.”

“If you insist…but don’t go in over your head!”

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes, and zoomed into the building’s bottom floor. It looked to be an abandoned supply warehouse, though none of the massiver printers or filing cabinets seemed affected by the altered gravity. “Hmmm…” She looked up, and began to phase up between floors, taking note of how each floor became more and more affected by the field, until eventually she poked her head up to the top floor.

“AH-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!” The cackling came from a man dressed in a white lab coat, with what looked to be a cross between a fishbowl and plasma ball on top of his head. “You blue buffoon! Give up now, for much like gravity itself, not can fight the powers of Professor Mind-Blown!!”

“Ugh, that name is still so gross.” Opposing the professor was a man who appeared dressed in a blue morph suit, not unlike…actually, very not unlike Alana’s own suit. “Maybe you can think of something better when I turn you into the psych ward.”

Mind-Blown went to say something, but Alana wasn’t quite paying attention to him. Her eyes were instead locked on the man in blue. She knew for certain this was the first time she’s seen someone like this before, and yet…he seemed familiar somehow.

“Alright, enough yaps,” the blue man grumbled, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s make this quick!” He started to rush forward, turning intangible as he did.

“Gravity need not make contact to take effect!” The villain smirked, as a ball of energy built up in his bowl. “Horizontal surge!” He cried out, extending his arms outward, generating a massive shockwave that sent everything around him flying—including the blue hero as well.

“Woah!” Alana yelped, suddenly coming to and zooming out in the direction the other hero was flying. She quickly managed to get behind him, catch him, and bring him to a stop. “Gotcha!”

“Phew…hey, thanks for the…”

Suddenly, for a brief moment, the entire world around the two disappeared. Alana floated in midair, holding the blue stranger in her arms, the two staring back at each other. At first, both seemed confused, unsure of what exactly they were dealing with. Then, the blue faded from him, for all of five seconds, but in that moment, she saw him: the man underneath. Her eyes widened, and she could tell from his reaction, the same thing was happening to her. Deep within him, she could see a blue core, beating from within; at the same time and rate, she could feel her own green core pump in tandem. As the suits returned, both reached a simultaneous understanding.

“You’re…like me.”

Alana blinked. “Uh, G-Green Ghost. Guardians of the Globe.”

“Oh! Sapphire Shade. Um…independent hero? I’m…new to this, kinda.”

“Same here…”

The two stared at one another, before a loud crash brought them back to reality. Returning their gazes to the building, they could see Prof. Mind-Blown cackling like mad, as his powers began to tear the building apart. “Oh, right,” the Shade nodded, pointing over to him. “We gotta take care of him.”

“Y-Yeah,” Alana nodded, letting him leave her arms. “What’s that guy’s deal, anyways?”

“His real name is Micheal Bowels,” he explained. “Actual professor, taught at my college, apparently. That fishbowl on his head can disrupt and unleash gravity, but it does turn him into a magnetic pole. If we make him perpendicular to Earth’s gravity, his powers should nullify.”

“Knock him off his feet? Sounds simple enough,” she responded, scoping out the field. “Then again, he was able to push you back even when you were intangible…”

“Yeah, but you can see his charges. Plus they’re like telegraphed a week in advance,” he explained. “Strafe wide and move fast, and you should be able to reach him. Bring him down to the lower floors, and I’ll keep him in place with something.”

“Sounds good!” Alana agreed, watching as the Sapphire Shade took off into the building’s lower floors. She then turned her attention back to Mind-Blown, took a breath, and shot off ahead. Just as she was told, the mad scientist started to fire off more surges, but she could clearly see where the change in gravity was happening. They were also infrequent enough that it was no trouble to weave between them, though she still made sure to hang back for a second, waiting until he fired off one last shot before making her move; she zipped right him, grabbed his legs, and quickly began to drag him down through the floors. “Gotcha!”

“Gah!” The professor cried out. “Hmph! So you are like that blue moron! And I see he taught you what gets my goat. But let’s see if you expected this! Reserved surge go!!”

“Wait, reserved wha—?”

Just as they entered the third floor, a powerful gravity surge split the hero and villain apart, with Mind-Blown cackling and flying one way, while Alana cried out and flew the direct opposite, sending copiers flying across the room. “Ah, so so close,” he chuckled, as objects in the room began to float again. “Trust me, I understand the feeling. Being just on the cusp of success, but failing. It’s why I am the way I am today. With these powers of mind, all shall cower to my greatness.”

“Hrmph…” Alana coughed, as she rose to her feet. “I’ve only been a hero for a month now, but the amount of times I’ve heard that same rant…if I had a quarter each time, I’d have ten bucks.”

“Enough from you!” He scoffed, crossing his arms. “You jest now, but you too shall bear witness to the might of Professor Mind-Blown, as I defy gravity itself!! AHAHAHAHAH—!”

“Hyup!” Suddenly, from right behind Mind-Blown, the Sapphire Shade popped back up, a copier in his arms. Then, to even Alana’s shock, she witnessed the copier split open like gel, to which he then wrapped it around the still startled professor.

“Whaaat!?!”

“And now harden!” He called out, gripping the copier as it appeared to stiffen. “And down ya go!” He then simply pushed him over, and gravity returned to normal. 

“No! Foiled again!?! By a mere copier!?!” The professor struggled in place, yet could only shake his head and kick his legs. “This one doesn’t even have its ink refilled!! I deserve some respect!!!”

As he continued to mumble, Alana slowly flew over, eyes glued to the man currently ensnared in a printer. “H…How did you…do that?” She asked, clearly confused.

“With my powers?” The Shade responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I made the copier gooey to trap him, and then made it rocky to keep him there. Worked well, right?”

The two looked down at the still rambling professor, and then back at each other. Alana tilted her head at him. “Can you…not do that?” He asked, unsure if that was the right thing to say.

“I…don’t know?” She responded, looking down at her own suit in bewilderment. “But first…we should take care of him.”

“—and to have claimed otherwise would be the greatest travesty ever to befall the great state of New Hampshire!!” Mind-Blown looked between the two heroes, each baring a confused expression. “Were either of you even listening!?!”

The hero duo watched as the armored van took off, while several agents remained around the building to assess damages and injuries. “Huh…I think I finally stopped hearing Mind-Blown ramble,” the Shade remarked. “That guy can just…go on.”

“Oh, please,” Alana chuckled. “You think that’s a lot? Just wait til you meet Doc Seismic. I think he called me something along the lines of ‘affirmative action’ once.”

“Christ, not the racist villain.”

“Honestly, I think he’s just weird. Always going on about the wrongdoings in America’s past.”

“You’d think he’d choose something more appropriate than Doc Seismic, then.”

“Oh, no. He’s got earthquake bracelets. I think they rattle his brain.”

“Golly, a packaged deal!”

The two laughed. “Hey…you did pretty good out there,” he told her with a smile. “But then again, it makes sense with you being a Guardian and all, huh?”

“Heh, yeah,” she nodded, blushing a tad. “Don’t think we got a good enough introduction. I mean, we already know what we look like under these, so what more for our names, right?”

“If I can trust to go into a fight with ya, I can trust ya with who I am,” he smiled, and extended a hand. “Name’s Luka, the Sapphire Shade.”

“Alana, the Green Ghost,” she shook his hand. “Well, the second Green Ghost, actually. I inherited the position from the last guy, and I’m still kinda new on the team, so…”

“And I can see you are already an amazing attribute to them,” Luka responded confidently. “I’m sure those Guardians consider themselves lucky to have someone as skilled as you on their team.”

“Hah! Laying it on a bit thick there, huh?” She beamed, scratching the back of her head as she blushed a bit brighter. “Trying to get something out of me?”

“Aside from a bit of your time, not much,” he shot back. “I’m interested in your powers, Alana. I’d love to chat about them. Maybe over some food, hm?”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “Like a…a date?”

“Yes,” Luka responded simply, before his eyes widened. “Wait, I mean, no! NO! Not a date!! Just an uhhhhhh…debrief! After a successful mission! Right? That’s the word for it?”

She belted out a laugh. “Yeah, sure…I’d love to.”

Luka sighed in relief, a slight blush on his face. “Awesome. Come on, follow me,” he gestured, as he started to take off, Alana following right behind. “I know this great pretzel place just up the street…”

A few minutes later, the two were seated on some random highrise, both de-suited so they could indulge on some fresh soft pretzels. Both of their colored gems sat between them as they chatted.

“He didn’t tell me much on specifics,” Alana went on. “Just that…it appeared to him one day, and granted him these powers. Flight and density manipulation. He worked with the Guardians for years, but eventually he wanted to retire and start a family. The gem apparently just…chose me as his successor.”

“Wild,” Luka nodded slowly. “And you had like, no superhero experience prior?”

“I was a photographer. Still am. Closest I got were some clients having dresses themed around some of them. No idea what it saw in me, but here I am.”

“From what I saw today, I could wager a hunch,” he smiled.

She gave a half smile in return. “What about you? Where’d you find yours?”

He thought for a moment. “There was a crash just outside my house,” he explained. “It was like a skeleton for a moment, before it disintegrated before my eyes. All that was left was this.” He held up his blue gem. “Kept it, cause it looked cool. Then, and I still don’t know why, but one day I just popped it in my mouth. Didn’t even realize it til I started chewing it. Then the suit came on and I just kinda…understood? Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, no, totally,” she nodded. “It all just clicked the first time I used it.”

“Exactly,” he nodded along. “So, I tried being a hero. Been at it for like…few weeks now? Probably coming up on a month, if not already.”

“Not bad,” she praised. “But…what about your powers?”

“Same as yours, least I thought. Got flight and density manipulation, but I can also change the properties of objects. Like, I could make this pretzel as tough as steel. Or make a rock as fragile as a bubble, and pop it like one. That’s honestly my favorite trick, always catches them off guard. You sure you don’t have that?”

“Unless I’m not being told I can,” Alana shrugged. “Far as I’ve used it the past couple of months, I just have the density powers.”

“Wow. And here you continue to impress me,” Luka chuckled. “Spending all that time getting those people down from their cars, phew. Must have been a lot on your shoulders to carry them down one at a time.”

Alana stopped herself from taking another bite. “I…took them down in loads, though? Like I usually do.”

He blinked. “What?? But, I can only make one thing intangible at a time. Even when I make myself intangible. How can you…?”

She thought for a moment, realized something, and then leaned back and grinned. “Maybe that’s what I have over you. You can change how matter behaves, but I have a stronger density manipulation than you. How about that?” She took a hefty bite from her pretzel.

Luka blinked again, and his smile quickly returned. “Well, Alana…I’d say what I have been saying this whole time: you impress me greatly. And…I hope to work with you again in the future. Alien gemstones should stick together, right?”

“Wanting me to put in a word for you at the Guardians, is that it?”

“Oh good lord, no,” he remarked with a laugh. “Nowhere near ready for such a responsibility. But around this city…I think so! I could be like, your cool sidekick, yeah? Like how Darkwing has Night Boy!”

“You’d want to be my Night Boy?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Well…maybe a bit more equal standing,” he corrected himself. “Green Ghost & Sapphire Shade. Huh? Huh? Sounds great, right?”

She thought it over for a moment, and slowly nodded. “Sure. Why not? Could always use an extra hand.”

A wide grin came over Luka’s face. “Awesome! Crime fighting partners! Hell yeah!!” He took a celebratory chomp out of his pretzel. “Feel free to brag about me to your fellow Guardians all ya want.”

“Yeah, I’ll see if—oh, shit!” She exclaimed, slapping her forehead. “I’m still supposed to be on patrol! And I needed to get back—okay, I got some time, but I gotta go now!” She quickly began to scarf down the rest of her pretzel. 

“Whoops, my bad. Didn’t mean to keep ya…”

“Hm? No, you’re fine!” She insisted, gasping as she swallowed a big hunk of pretzel. “I just…need to manage my time better.” She scooped up her gem and rose to her feet. “But it was really great to meet you, Luka. I look forward to working with you!”

“Yeah, same here,” he replied, grabbing his own gem and standing up. “And uh, hey, since this got cut a bit short…maybe we could go out again?”

Alana paused, just about to pop her gem in her mouth. “You…you mean like…another date?”

“Yes—WAIT!” He yelped, before rolling back. “Well, I mean, this wasn’t one, but uh…maybe we could just see each other again? Lunch, dinner…another pretzel? These ones, they deserve to be savored, ya know.”

Between her day job and her superhero work, Alana didn’t have a lot of time for herself. Sure, most of her downtime wasn’t anything specific, but it was nice to have personal time. Sure, it was joked that being a superhero attracted people to you, but this soon? And a guy she just met? A guy so sweet and encouraging…who actively wants to spend time with her…who has powers as well and can understand her hectic life…well…

She smiled, her cheeks flushed ever so slightly. “Sure…that sounds great, actually. Here, give me your number and I’ll call you later, okay?”

Another big grin of his came over him, and he quickly read off his phone number to her. As soon as that was dealt with, she popped the gem in her mouth, and soon her body was covered in the familiar green suit. “Hey, don’t sell yourself short either, okay?” She brought up, as she floated into the air. “You were a big help in taking him down too. You got him caught up, after all.”

“And only because you successfully brought him down and distracted him,” he playfully retorted.

“That kinda partnership is what you want, huh?”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“Hm…if you say so,” she chuckled, waving goodbye as she began to fly off. “Take care, Sapphire Shade.”

“You too…Alana,” he responded, waving back.

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise as she felt her face heat up under her mask, prompting her to turn quickly and soar off into the distance…

…but not without a smile on her face.

————

Critiques and feedback are welcome, but please keep it constructive! If you have nothing additive to say, please keep it to yourself!

[arcielee]

OMG for ur WIP, may you tell about all of them? 😍🤤

Oh my goodness, of course. 💜 I will give a snippet for three of them, but the But you came over me like some holy rite, dark!Aemond x Reader is just a continuation of that "one-shot" I did: Only if for a night. I have not actually started that one yet, but I have an outline for it.

Anyway, the snippets are a bit long, so read more to help with the clutter.

This will not end well [Aemond x Stark]

“I have a gift for you, my dear.”

She was leaning against the balustrade and watching how the sun rose above Gods Eye. Its rays shone against the blue-green gemstone surface that shimmered from the rippling effect as it met with the shoreline and to to where the Isle of Faces jutted from its center; the weirwoods shifted with the breeze, its red foliage broke away and littered the laketop, dots of blood.

My twisted passion to be your world [modern Aegon x Reader]

More than anything, Aegon wanted a drink. 

No longer was he plagued by the tremors that once rendered his hands useless with how they would shake from the anticipation of his next drink, but right now he wished for the comforting burn of whiskey down his throat, something that would distract him from this moment. He wanted that bitter taste to seep into the cracks of the cemented anxiety in his chest, just an ode, a toast to his old escape mechanism.

Darling, I would do it again. [Osferth x Reader]

It was a quiet exhilaration when it was announced that Uhtred and his men had returned. It felt too long since you had last laid your eyes on his motley crew, in particular the monk tagalong that you were increasingly fond of. 

Anyway, that's what I have.

Osferth won my last poll, so my idea is to finish that, but goddamn I love the pending story title This will not end well, only because I don't usually do angst, like, ever. 😂

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

What JLA Members Could Koriand'r, Princess of Tamaran, trained by the Warlords of Okaara, defeat in a fight

The rules are simple: this fight is presuming that both parties had time to prepare, are at full power, and that they are fighting in an arena designated for it. Kory has access to sunlight, open air to fly, and her battle staff.

There will be rounds like a usual tournament, and the first polls are going to start with the JLA lineup that was active at the time of her introduction in 1980 - meaning Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, Firestorm, Zatanna, and Elongated Man.

Yes teen titans fans already know that as a group, the NTT can take this JLA lineup, but this would be in one on one combat :)

I will be updating this post with a link to each poll as I post them

Image Description The top of the page has "Starfire" written in orange, all capital text. Below it shows a young woman with long curly/coily orange hair, bright orange/yellow skin, and green eyes. She is flying with her arms spread, pink flashes (her starbolts) glowing around her hands. She wears a purple bodysuit which wraps around her upper chest before splitting into two strips to cover her breasts, and then reunites in a purple leotard-esque bottom. This body suit features two gold, gemstone laden pendants - one on the top where it splits and one where it reunites at her navel in a bursting star shape. Behind her in a faded blue are a series of pictures depicting her time with with the Titans. In order these are - a close up shot of her face with a bow in her hair - a picture of her blasting a cityscape with her starbolts - a close up of her and Richard (Dick) Grayson in an embrace smiling at each other.

Kory vs Bruce Wayne - Status OPEN https://www.tumblr.com/thetrashthatsmilesback/781735113703718912/kory-vs-the-jla-bracket-koriandr-vs-batman?source=share

Kory vs Diana Prince - Status OPEN https://www.tumblr.com/thetrashthatsmilesback/781735381193359360/kory-vs-the-jla-koriandr-vs-wonder-woman?source=share

Kory vs Clark Kent - Status OPEN https://www.tumblr.com/thetrashthatsmilesback/781735630711504896/kory-vs-the-jla-koriandr-vs-superman?source=share

[science-lings]

Now that the poll is over I'm going to share my headcanon for this.

So it's essential to consider a few very important things: Miles is extra as hell, and Phoenix was an art major. Of course, they design rings for each other. Edgeworth buys several blue gemstones to get the right ones to match Phoenix's suit, and in return Phoenix obsessively sketches ring designs for like two months. They all end up vaguely frilly.

Before the wedding, it's all about creating something that shows their love for the person wearing it and incorporating colors and features that match them. At the wedding, they switch so that they can have a part of each other on them at all times, also because both of them got attached to their own designs and didn't want to admit it.

I need to consult the gay counsel

[dyxtd21]

Masterlist (Part 2):

The Creations (Simply said. Gemstones who were created by the Elites):

Pyrope:

1. Introduction

2. Zebra Jasper X Pyrope moodboard

3. Ametrine X Pyrope moodboard

4. Shipping Pyrope with Two-Face (Meme)

5. Pyrope meme

6. Pyrope's trivia

7. His unique trait and quirk

8. His preferred Pokémon

9. Fanart

Ametrine:

1. Introduction

2. Ametrine X Pyrope moodboard

3. Thought about an interaction between Ametrine and Two-Face

4. Ametrine X Zebra Jasper moodboard

5. Ametrine's trivia

6. His unique trait and quirk

7. His preferred Pokémon

Hematite:

1. Introduction

2. AU

3. Meeting and interaction with Peter Dunbar from Your Boyfriend (Meme)

4. Individuals Hematite has a "crush" on

5. His unique trait and quirk

6. His preferred Pokémon

Cotton Candy Quartz:

1. Introduction

2. Her unique trait and quirk

3. Her preferred Pokémon

4. Dessert moodboard (Part 1)

Iolite:

1. Introduction

2. Iolite's trivia

3. Her unique trait and quirk

4. Her preferred Pokémon

Amethyst:

1. Introduction

2. Her preferred Pokémon

Nephrite:

1. Introduction

2. Her unique trait and quirk

3. Her preferred Pokémon

Bi-Color Fluorite:

1. Introduction

2. His preferred Pokémon

Strawberry Quartz:

1. Introduction

2. Her preferred Pokémon

Green Zebra Jasper:

1. Introduction

2. His preferred Pokémon

Angel Aura Quartz:

1. Introduction

2. Her preferred Pokémon

Chrysocolla:

1. Introduction

2. His preferred Pokémon

Leopard Skin Jasper:

1. Introduction

2. Her preferred Pokémon

Yellow Zebra Jasper:

1. Introduction

2. Her preferred Pokémon

Sunshine Aura Quartz:

1. Introduction

2. His preferred Pokémon

Red Phantom Quartz:

1. Introduction

2. His preferred Pokémon

Mexican Fire Opal:

1. Introduction

Mexican Matrix Opal:

1. Introduction

Ice Jade ("Bunni/Bun Bun"):

1. Introduction

Egyptian Zebra Jasper:

1. Introduction

Shattuckite:

1. Introduction

Alexandrite:

1. Introduction

Blizzard Stone:

1. Introduction

Bi-Color Citrine:

1. Introduction

Serpentine:

1. Introduction

Smoky Quartz:

1. Introduction

Sardonyx:

1. Introduction

Cherry Quartz and Strawberry Aura Quartz (The Twins):

1. Introduction

Jelly Opal:

1. Introduction

Citrine:

1. Introduction

Imperial Topaz:

1. Introduction

Moss Aquamarine:

1. Introduction

Zoisite:

1. Introduction

Purple Zebra Jasper:

1. Introduction

Prasiolite:

1. Introduction

Ammolite:

1. Introduction

The Nine Tales Council:

(Parti Sapphire, Cornflower Blue Sapphire, Padparadscha Sapphire, Purple Sapphire, Pink Sapphire, Black Star Sapphire, Green Sapphire, Orange Sapphire and Yellow Sapphire):

1. Introduction

Pyrite:

1. Introduction

Jet:

1. Introduction

Blue Goldstone:

1. Introduction

Milky Quartz:

1. Introduction

Ruby:

1. Introduction

Emerald:

1. Introduction

2. His likes via a moodboard

Amazonite:

1. Introduction

Black Onyx:

1. Introduction

Calcite:

1. Introduction

Turquoise:

1. Semi-introduction/Poll

2. Official introduction

Tanzine Aura Quartz (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves):

1. Idea

2. The Forty Thieves

3. YouTube vlogger Tanzine Aura Quartz (Ft. Calligraphy Stone) (Meme)

4. Official introduction

[all-the-polls]

Blue Gemstone Poll 1

[which-qsmp-egg-would]

OH SHOOT I FORGOT THE TAGS. I hope you all dont mind me tagging you like this--

Poll - Pink Flower crown By: @Which-qsmp-egg-would

Elven circlet By: @Lilliancdoodles

Relta - Purple & white flower crown By: @hellownik

Brown overalls w/ pink flowers By: @v01dw4tch3r

headband w/ butterfly By: @qsmp-extraordinaire

Dirt covered By: Anonymous

Eddie - Purple Scarf By: @lofms

Lavender - Purple sweater w/ horn & cracks By: @Someidiot-withadhd

Irish Cap hat By: @54625

Strawberry hat & plant sprout By: @squishmalloe

Red tropical flower By: @Keezers

Soup - soup bag By: @grapesintomatosoup

Phoenix - Black hoodie, & Gryphon - sunflower By: @Phoenixtfc

Dark blue coat w/ cracks By: @iminyourbookshelf

Hermes - Green scarf By: @Pragmatic-but-eepy

Dario - Yellow sunhat w/ purple paint & Gemstone - ??? By: @Wackytheorist (Sorry, I haven't added gemstone yet)

Here's everyone's eggs so far!

look at how many different kids we have! This canvas is going to be "colors of the sky" length so we definitely have plenty of room.

I'm going to take an ice cream break now -w-

[rock-swag-tournament]

Mineral Swag Round 2: Shades of Blue

After expectedly close races, aquamarine beat emerald and sapphire beat ruby. Y'all must really like blue, which like, same.

As mentioned previously, sapphire is a (commonly) blue variety of corundum. Ruby only refers to red corundum, but sapphire can refer to corundum of any color (like white, which is also in this tournament). However, for this poll let's say we're talking mainly about blue sapphire.

Blue sapphire is also the September birthstone and the prominent gemstone in Princess Diana's (and later Kate Middleton's) engagement ring.

However!! Princess Diana also had an aquamarine ring, which was eventually given to Meghan Markle by Harry.

(Both of those gemstones are too big for my taste, but they are royals, so yeah. Link)

Aquamarine is also a birthstone, the one for March. It is named for sea water - literally aqua marina aka "marine water."

Both corundum and beryl form hexagonal crystals. Beryl is a cyclosilicate mineral with beryllium, silicon, aluminum, and oxygen. Corundum is an oxide mineral with aluminum and oxygen and has a slightly higher hardness. Beryl is of the hexagonal crystal system while corundum is trigonal. Both come in many colors.

To me, they're about as evenly matched as it gets so I guess the real question is: Do you like light blue or dark blue?

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

Ruphire vs Rosemary!

Conditions:

Speed Equalized. Garnet starts the fight unfused. Pre-Rainbow Drinker Kanaya is used, but she is allowed to come back as one if killed. Rose is not Grimdark or God Tier.

Scenario:

Ruby and Sapphire happen to be going on a date at the same place Rose and Kanaya are. The two couples strike up conversation, but when Kanaya mentions how much she loves her "diamond", or moirail, Ruby takes it the wrong way and punches her, starting a brawl.

Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize for posting this before the polls finished. When I saw the "week" option on the poll creator, I was thinking school week, I intended for the results to be in by now and that just didn't happen. I'll add those results to this post when the poll actually ends.

Analysis: Garnet

To anyone in the audience who is currently in a stable relationship: how did it feel to fall in love? What was it like to look at someone and realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with them? Because today's combatants know first hand that love is strong enough to change your life, and your future, forever.

Thousands of years ago, long before nearly all of human history would come to pass, the Earth was visited by the genocidal Gem Empire, headed by the Great Diamond Authority. Mankind would've been wiped out right there, if not for the revolution of Rose Quartz. Faced with a genuinely capable opponent for the first time in its history, Blue Diamond herself was forced to go to Earth to confront the threat directly. With her, she took a seemingly insignificant Ruby and Sapphire, completely unaware as to how the events that transpire there will change their lives forever.

Blue Diamond had intended to use Sapphire's precognitive abilities to outwit Rose Quartz and indeed, Sapphire did forsee a future where exactly that happened. The problem is, that future relied on her being put in harms way, and Ruby would not have that. Just as Sapphire was about to be struck down, Ruby lunged in to save her, inadvertently fusing with Sapphire in the process.

Thus was the fusion known as Garnet born. Of course, Blue Diamond would never show mercy towards an "off-color" fusion, so Garnet had little choice but to sign up with Rose Quartz's rebellion. Since then, she's become the defacto leader of the Crystal Gems, following Rose Quartz's death, saving the world alongside her two fellow surviving rebels, Amethyst and Pearl.... and Steven.

Individually, Ruby and Sapphire are among two of the weakest gems out there. Sapphire is an aristocrate not built for direct combat, while Ruby is a disposable foot soldier. Despite that, both of them are still clearly superhuman. Sapphire herself is strong enough to hit a baseball into the atmosphere, parting the nearby clouds with a force equivalent to 485 tons of tnt. And Ruby should be easily comparable to if not superior than her, being an actual soldier.

Source:

Moreover, their abilities, while basic by gem standards, are still far above an average humans. They have all the basics (hard light bodies, can only be destroyed by breaking their gemstone, automatically adjusts to gravity, etc), as well as a few unique perks. Sapphire, for example, can freeze things on contact and even create winter storms, while Ruby's fire and heat can vaporize an entire pool in seconds. Scaling to other rubies, she should be capable of withstanding extreme heat as well, such as Navy tanking atmospheric re-entry.

Of course, they truly shine when they're fused together as Garnet, taking all of their abilities and increasing them exponentially. For example, Sapphire's future vision only saw one possible timeline, which meant that her visions aren't always accurate and can be thrown off by outside factors she can't possibly know about. Like, well, Ruby. Garnet's future vision, however, gives her a whole sea of possible futures, allowing her to steer the ship, as it were, and try and guide herself towards the best possible outcome. It's still not perfect, she's precognitive, not omniscient, and it can still be thrown off by outside factors she simply doesn't know about.

Moreover, she's easily far stronger than Ruby and Sapphire combined, capable of breaking Peridot's escape pod in half with ease. The same escape pod that survived atmospheric re-entry, generating a kinetic energy of over 142 kilotons in the process.

Source:

And that's on top of being able to no-sell lightning, fire her gauntlets like a homing rocket, and even conduct electricity through her hands.

All that said, she's not unstoppable. As a fusion, Garnet basically is the relationship between Ruby and Sapphire, and a major blow to their relationship can unfuse her. And, as a result of being fused all the time, Sapphire and Ruby can be rather codependent at times, needing to literally put their heads together to solve more seriously problems or realize when they've screwed up.

Still, Garnet's one the Crystal Gems' heaviest hitters. Even if she's not the strongest, she's easily Stronger Than You.

Analysis: Rosemary

So, who was the first crush you had when you were younger? A classmate maybe? Or maybe something more... fantastical? There is most definitely a demographic of teens who have crushes on monsters and magical creatures, so what was yours? A vampire? An alien?

Well, Rose Lalonde is not your average teenager. Why have a crush on an alien or a vampire when you can date someone whose both?

On the surface, you'd be forgiven for thinking Rose Lalonde and Kanaya Maryam would never even meet. One is an alien troll from a colonialism empire while the other is a young girl with a love for psychology and eldritch horror. But, fate finds a way. See, when Kanaya and her friends play a little game called SGRUB, they wound up creating the human universe that Rose and her friends live in. The team's leader, Karkat, was so enraged by the comfy life style that the humans led, that he commanded all his friends to harass them over the internet.

Well, I say commanded. Karkat didn't really have any of the respect or authority necessary to do that, so most of his friends just ignored him. This did, however, get Kanaya and Rose to start talking to each other and the two hit it off pretty well from there. What certainly helped was, due to the time space fuckery of Paradox Space, Kanaya had been reading about how Rose's SBURB playthrough long before she ever met Rose, so she did hold a certain amount if respect for her going in.

As Kanaya watched Rose progress on her journey, their relationship deepened and eventually blossomed into something more.

As people who were predestined to play SBURB, Rose and Kanaya excel far beyond the norm of their species. Firstly, both of them are immensely superhuman, even relative to other trolls. Not only can both fight building sized monsters with ease, but they were both able to survive being born as SBURG Players in the first place. See, when SBURB Players are born, they're actually cloned in a lab, before being sent to their home planets on the backs of meteors as infants. Rose's meteor in particular hit with enough force to complete annihilate the Crocker Corp building, roughly 567 tons of TNT.

Source:

And, as players of a video game, they both have a video game style leveling system and inventory. The Echeladder allows them to level up by fighting or even just by doing random things, ensuring that they'll always be getting faster and stronger all the time. Meanwhile, their Specibus gives them a hammerspace inventory that lets them store a wide array of fantastical items and weapons on them at all times and pull them out of absolutely nowhere.

In Rose's corner, we have two knitting needles, which she has tied to string so she can use them as a pair of makeshift whips, hooks, and chains like a 13 year old lesbian Kratos. She'd later enhance these with straight up magic to turning them into razor sharp magic wands, allowing her to caste giant death beams, fly, and curse pieces of technology to explode even when they're in a completely different universe. And in Kanaya's corner, we have a tube of lipstick that transforms into a giant chainsaw. Perfect for all your imp slaughtering and fish gutting needs.

And as SBURB Players, they both have, or rather, had access to Sprites. Summonable helpers ment to guide Players through SBURG as vaguely as possible, these glowing orbs absorb anything and anyone who touches them for too long, taking on all their attributes and combining their minds. These critters can go intangible at will and freely fly, as well as use all the powers of whatever they've absorbed. Kanaya's sprite died long before she ever met Rose, but Rose can still summon hers with the Pendant that all Players get after reaching a certain level on the Echeladder. This gives Rose access to Jaspersprite.... Jasper as in her cat, not the Steven Universe lady.

Their deadliest tool does not come from their SBURB weapons, however. It comes from Kanaya's biology. If Kanaya dies, she will come back to life as a Rainbow Drinker, an alien vampire! As a Rainbow Drinker, Kanaya is completely immune to Alternia's blistering sun, which otherwise incinerates any troll that steps in its sun light, and becomes strong enough to kick Gamzee Makara in the nuts so hard he goes flying fifty feet.

Gamzee is considerably stronger than Sollux, as he did more damage to the Black King in one attack than Sollux could do with a constant barrage. Sollux was powerful enough to redirect meteors just as big as, if not bigger than the one that crushed Jade's island, which had a kinetic energy of 3 exatons of tnt. After all, The Reckoning throws bigger meteors the longer it goes on, and this meteor was an early one in the barrage. By this scaling chain, Rainbow Drinker Kanaya should be immensely stronger than said meteor.

Source:

Of course, this power couple isn't invincible. Kanaya can be a bit of a doormat at times, someone who struggles to confront her friends on their issues or behavior. Rose, meanwhile, has a lot of pent up emotional trauma stemming from her drunken mother, which would result in her resorting to alcholism later in life.

Despite this, though, Rose and Kanaya are Homestuck's original power couple. May the Horrorterrors have mercy on your soul.

Throwdown Mashup:

Throwdown Breakdown:

This is a fairly complex matchup with a lot of moving parts to it, so let's dissect this.

I think it's pretty open shut that Rose and Kanaya beat Ruby and Sapphire. While the Gems are considerably more skilled and experienced, Rosemary is stronger and more varied, and they'll only be getting even stronger as the fight progresses. And while Gems can always just come straight back from most substantial injuries, I don't think they'll be abled to come back from inside a Sylladex. After all, Rose and Kanaya come from a video game world where enemies disappear and drop gem like loot all the time, their first instinct would probably be to pick it up.

Garnet is a different story though. Fusing into Garnet is likely to be one of the first things Ruphire would do in any serious fight scenario and she is much too strong for Rosemary to straight up hurt. One kiloton is one thousands tons, so she's literally thousands of times stronger.

Granted, Rainbowdrinker Kanaya is even stronger (that meteor calc is stronger than where most calcs put the Diamonds mind you, let alone Garnet), but that would require Kanaya to die and she won't. Garnet would just lightly tap her on the head to knock her out, it's completely against her character to kill someone and she has enough control and discipline to not do so accidentally. The problem is Rose.

Simply put, Rose can fly. Garnet can't. And while Garnet has ranges options, being in the air gives Rose infinite directions with which to dodge her rocket fists and shapeshifting, as well as the range to just stay out of her reach entirely. If she can cast curses from universes away, she can fly back however far she needs to. And while she can't directly hurt Garnet back, she does still have a win condition. Jaspersprite.

While Garnet is strong enough to knockout tao Jaspersprite too, she'd have a hell of a time doing that to something that can phase right through her fists. And if she ever does make contact, she runs the risk of unwittingly becoming GarJaspersprite. Which is something that she wouldn't know about and her future vision wouldn't predict because she doesn't know anything like Sprites exists, similar to how she got hit by Jasper's (the gem, not the cat) destabilization weapon because she didn't know what it was and her future vision didn't warn her.

So Garnet is defeated by forced fusion. The cruel irony is laid on thick. I guess this time Jasper was Stronger Than You.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Rosemary!

[mayakern]

one more poll before the design survey goes live tomorrow:

gemstone skirt in classic (black bg with multi-color gems), friend (blue bg), or cave (black bg with purple gems)?

please vote in the twitter poll!

[spriteandnicotine]

Haikyuu Drag Race- Contest 1

A/N: Hi so I’m gonna write using a little bit of a different style, but I hope everyone enjoys! Link to the poll will be below. If you would like to be tagged, let me know. A big thanks to @strawbirb @megalodon-writes @spicyness and @bokutokoutarou for helping me hash out ideas <3 (these are based on their actual favorite foods)

Kozume: Hiya! Welcome to Haikyuu’s Drag Ra- hey Tendou! The chocolate bars aren’t for eating!!! 

Tendou: *quickly hides the bar in his shirt and wipes the corners of his mouth*

Kozume: Which brings me to the first challenge. As you can tell there is plenty of fabric and food in this room. You must make an outfit out of the materials here. Good luck. You have five hours. The time starts.... now!

Kuroo: Aw man! They don’t have ramen here.... and I was hungry.

Tsuki: *glares* Well maybe if you aren’t going to take this competition seriously, you shouldn’t be here. *pushes glasses up*

Outfits (and their fav food)

Kuroo (grilled salted mackerel pike)

Makes a mermaid-style dress with a grilled mackerel pike headband

Tries a long black wig, but it fits kind of awkwardly due to his bedhead

Goes with a wedged sandal to complete the beachy vibes

Akaashi (boiled rapeseed plants with karashi mustard dressing)

Goes with a greek tunic-type dress with a belt made of salad leaves and a rapeseed plant headpiece

Uses a curly brown wig and natural colored makeup

Decides to go barefoot (Scandelous)

Sugawara (super spicy mapo tofu)

Makes a caramel colored dress with green accents

Wears a medium length wavy red wig

Uses a silver 2″ heel with emerald gemstones

Tsukishima (strawberry shortcake)

Goes with a cute pink summer dress with a white belt (cut short enough so he can show off those legs)

Uses a short white wig with loose curls and has a little hat he made out of a piece of strawberry shortcake and a pink plate

Wears pink 6″ heels to make his legs look even LONGER

Terushima (pigs in a blanket)

Makes a tan colored dress with red down the middle to accentuate curves

Wears a half white half red wig styled into space buns

Uses one white and one red heel, opposite of the hair

Nishinoya (Gari-gari kun soda flavor)

Goes with a light blue iridescent dress that is just long enough that he won’t trip

Wears a white wig that goes to the middle of his back

Wears glass slippers (like the ones from cinderella)

Bokuto (yakiniku)

Wears a deep red dress with a train that is bordered in white feathers

Uses a short curly grey wig with a golden crown in it

Wears heels that match the dress

Oikawa (milk bread)

Goes with a pure white dress with lace sleeves

Uses a dirty blonde wig with beach curls

Wears white heels with light blue trim

Iwaizumi (agedashi tofu)

Wears a tan lace dress with a white slip underneath

Wears a light green wig shoulder length with tight curls

Uses light green matching heels 

Tendou (chocolate ice cream)

hot glues chocolate bar wrappers onto a dress, covering it completely

sprays temporary brown hair dye onto cotton balls and glues them into a cone, placing it on top of his hair which is a brown bob w/bangs

Glues m&ms to black flats

Atsumu (fatty tuna)

Wraps a black fabric around him and does the skin he shows look like the inside of the sushi roll peaking out

glues sashimi onto a headband placed on top of long black hair

makes seaweed heels

Sakusa (pickled plums)

Wears a plum colored dress with a brown braided belt

Uses a leafy- green long wig and adds a green leaf to stick up out of it

Wears plum-colored heels

A/N so below is a link to where you can vote. You have until midnight EST on friday June 08 to vote on who you want to see eliminated

Link to the poll: https://awrootbeer1234.typeform.com/to/i6DH2H