#but what I love is that he mimics calls of sea animals

[jack-o-phantom]

I didn't expect the curiosity but sure

I'll use this post as a small art dump for my favorite fella

Mind you that this is older art!

And ofc there's the larva stage

[afro-hispwriter]

The Outsider and The Cheifs Daughter(To): Part 2

Neteyam(20) x Metkayina!reader(20)

Summary- Jake and Neytiri know this love story all too well. The outsider falls in love with the Chief's daughter, who's promised to someone else.

Song- Bound by Ponderosa Twins Plus One

Warnings- fighting, sexual tension, horny!y/n

Parts- 1

-

"Are you ready for your first lesson?" You ask the Sullys now being informed of all their names. 

"Yes!" Tuk screamed and started bouncing up and down. Neteyams braids swished around as his eyes found you. You smiled at him and he smiled back. 

"We will go first and you follow," Tsireya says.

Tsireya, You, Aounung, and Roxto all dove into the water with ease. You were all pretty deep by the time Sullys dove in. You swam in sync with your siblings and friend. When you looked back you saw Kiri, she was almost at the bottom and was interacting with all the life. Tuk was close to the surface trying to swim down but struggled. Lo'ak and Neteyam almost reached the bottom but they suddenly swam up. 

Aounung got your attention and started signing.

"What is wrong with them?" You raised an eyebrow. 

"Don't bully, they still learn." He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Swim together with us." Tsireya signs to the boys and you watch them look in confusion. You simply just waved at them to come closer. They dived back in but only got to the same point they were in and swam back up.

Aonung caught your attention and started signing.

"What is wrong with them?" Tsireya shook her head.

“They are bad divers.” Says Roxto.

"They are learning let them be."

"Come, let us go back up." 

Neteyam stuck his head in the water ready to try again but the four of you were already close to the surface. He was entranced by how softly you swam, swishing your torso and hips side to side. You gently pushed through the surface and took in a breath. 

“Are you alright?” You ask them. 

“You’re too fast, wait for us,” Tuk says and wipes her eyes.

“Just breathe.” Says Tsireya and Aonung surfaces.

“You are not good divers, maybe good at swinging through trees, but-.” Tsireya pushed his head making him stop. 

“Come on bro,” Lo’ak says.

“We do not speak this finger talk, guys,” Neteyam says and raises his hand to mimic the movements you’ve done. “We don’t know what you are saying.”

“I will teach you.” You say and smile at him. He smiles back and nods. 

“Where is Kiri?” Says Roxto and you all look around.

“Who?” Says your brother. 

“Kiri.” You all just shrug.

-

“Nice of you to join us Reykxu.” You say as you stand in the shallow waters. 

“And miss the newcomers on their first skimwing and ilu rides?” He says and you roll your eyes. Neteyam watches from his place holding Tuk in his arms. You didn’t seem pleased with Reykxu’s presence. 

Aonung begins calling out and clicking. Not long before many skimwing and ilus appeared. 

“These are Skimwigs and Ilus. If you want to live here, you have to ride.”

“Neteyam.” You walk up beside him and he lets Tuk to the floor but she grabs his hand tightly. “Would you like to try a skimwig?” You open your hand out to the large sea animal splashing around. 

“Sure.” Neteyam tried to act smooth but he couldn’t doubt the nerves that built inside him. You nodded over to some of the others and they secured a skimwing and brought it over. Tsireya pulled Tuk away to a safe distance.

“Skimwigs are a warriors mount, not easy to master, so it is alright if you need to start with an Ilu, son of Toruk Makto,” Reykxu says with a smirk. Neteyam side eyes the man then got closer to the creature and hopped on. 

“I am the mighty warrior, this will be easy.” He says and winked at you. He struggled a bit but sat down on the saddle. 

“Hmm okay mighty warrior, make the bond gently.” You say and place a hand on his thigh. His thigh flexed under your hand and you squeezed slightly. He took a deep breath and then reached behind him to grab the large braid to bring forward. As he did that your eyes followed his body as he slightly leaned back, abs tensing as well as his biceps. Your mouth instantly felt like it was over-salivated.

Luckily Reykxu was behind you so he couldn’t see you practically undress the man in front of you.

You grabbed the queue of the skimwing and helped it out to Neteyam. The tendrils danced against each other before sealing. Both of their pupils dilated and Neteyam gasped loudly. You could not deny it was a thigh-clenching noise. 

“Hold here.” You say and grab the handle to show him. He grabs immediately, fingers brushing against each other, you drew your hand back and put it in the water as if it burned. “Remember good position of the back. Go!” Neteyam took off, he stumbled slightly almost falling off but regained his posture. 

Reykxu, Aonung, and their friends all chuckled and started whispering things to each other. 

Neteyam started going into the air and you clapped loudly, not caring about the odd stares you just received. He seemed to glide over the water gracefully and then dove into the water. The skimwing came back up to the surface with no Neteyam, but he appeared and smacked the water. You giggled and he looked back, you clapped for him with a big smile. 

-

They eventually did get the hand of riding a skimwing. Tuk even got to ride a small ilu. You all called your mounts and dove into the water. You met up with Kiri who had been missing for a bit, it surprised you to see her riding an ilu already. 

Neteyam shot past you and looked back mischievously. You patted your skimwing and took off after him. You ended up speeding past him, putting a great distance between you. He still chased you, and you ended up circling with each other closely. You stared into each other's eyes, completely ignoring everyone else. You scrunched your nose at him and then stuck out your tongue before peeling off. Neteyam laughed and shook his head and went to chase after you but Reykxu stopped him.

“Get your own woman, she is mine.” He signed, and even though Neteyam didn’t understand one thing he said he could tell Reykxu was angry. So Neteyam just shrugged and swam past him.

You went up to the surface and took a deep breath. You could not feel this way, not for someone you met a mere day ago. And besides you and Reykxu… you and Reykxu were to be the new leaders of the Metkaynia soon, you had a duty and had to honor. But Ewya you couldn’t help but think about Neteyam.

-

You sat next to Neteyam as Tsireya gave her lesson on breathing. His tail seemed to have a mind of its own because it kept ticking yours or trying to wrap around yours. You tried not to giggle so you hit his tail with your own. He elbow you in the side gently and suddenly his tail wrapped around yours tightly. You sucked in a breath and shut your eyes tightly. You open them to see Tsireya placing her hands on Lo’aks chest and stomach and telling him to breathe.

“Lo’ak your heartbeat is fast.” She says.

“Sorry.”

“Try to focus.”

“Okay.” He says lowly and you and Neteyam share a look. He then turns to Roxto and they smirk at each other. Kiri just scoffs and rolls her eyes. 

-

Over the course of a few weeks, Neteyam has taken more private lessons with you to better his techniques. He has also decided he would practice for his rites since he would bit be living there for who knows how long.

“Today we will only be talking with our hands, as you know it is a big part of the rites.” You tell him and he nods.

“How are you?” You sign and he stares at your hand.

“Good and you?”

“I am doing well, how has your stay been?”

“I miss home, but there are enjoyable things here too.” Your ears twitch. 

“Like what?” Neteyam chuckles.

“More someone.” Your eyes slightly widen. 

“Oh, who?” Neteyam shakes his head.

“Does not matter.” He avoids your eyes now.

“Oh come on.” You hit his arm and he just shrugs.

“Who is Reykxu to you? Sorry, I’ve just never asked and I am curious.” You sigh and your shoulders drop.

“He is my betrothed.” 

Neteyams heart froze. He had a suspicion that was the case but never asked for in fear of the answer he did not wish to hear. 

“But I wish I was not marrying him, I wish I could be the Tshaik without having to marry someone.” You speak this time and you shake your head. “I mean I am the Chief's daughter, I have worked hard for this. It should be me leading the clan regardless.” Neteyam knew he had to push the feeling of hurt down. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you in tightly.

“I understand your stress, it is not easy being the first child of the Ole’keytan.” You smile.

“It is nice to have someone who understands. But who am I to say, you mighty warrior. Are the son the Great Toruk Makto and an Ole’keytan at that.” You say exaggerating your words playfully. Neteyam pushes away gently. 

“Is it bad that sometimes I am happy my father left those titles behind?” He questions and you purse your lips together.

“Not at all.” You stared into his yellow eyes and slowly leaned in. He looked into your left eye, then right, down to your lips, and back up to your eyes again.

“Y/n I-.” He cut himself off when his attention was brought to Lo’ak who was surrounded by some na’vi men being slightly pushed around. In the group, he could see Reykxu and he stood up.

You waited for what he had to say but he looked behind you and stood up. You looked in confusion b it when you turned around to the direction he was going to follow him too. 

Neteyam pushed Reykxu away from his brother with a hard shove. 

“You heard what she said, leave them alone.” He pointed into his chest. 

“Ahh big brother come-.” One of Aonungs friends started but Reykxu stopped him.

“Back off. Now.” You could not deny, that even in this situation. Hearing Neteyam almost growl practically soaked your cloth with slick. 

Reykxu held his hands up in surrender and took a few steps back. 

“Smart choice. From now on I need you to respect my sister.” One hisses but was stopped again. Neteyam places his hand on the back of Lo’aks head and pished him away from everyone. You walk next to the sully siblings and start to apologize.

“Please excuse their actions, they still act like babies.” 

“It is alright Y/n.” Says Kiri and that's when you bear their whispers.

“They're such freaks.”

“Why is your sister hanging out with them so much, she might become a freak if she does.”

“Watch it that is still my sister.”

“Hmm seems like my betrothed likes the freaks more than her people.” That was Reykxu at that time, making your fists clench. Neteyam brushed his knuckles along the sides of your arms, trying to soothe you. Suddenly Lo’ak turned around and started walking back to the group. He started talking to them and held up both his hands, your brother was hit in the face, stunning him once and knocking him down with the next. 

“Aonung.” You gasped and went to try and stop the brewing fight but Neteyam stopped you. 

“It's called a punch bitch, don’t ever touch my sister again,” Aonung growled and charged at Lo’ak knocking them to the ground. Aonung was a big man as Lo’ak was leaner but it seemed no trouble for him as Aonung was thrown off. Lo’ak got dragged by others and slapped harshly with someone's tail. 

Neteyam scratched his head and mumbled some about it not being a fair fight before running towards it. You tried to grab him but failed. He went straight for Reykxu who was trying to join the fight. He was hit hard by Neteyams fist, what Lo’ak called a punch. He got tackled by Koro but was pushed off, Reykxu then jumped on Neteyam and they started fighting on the ground. Neteyam flipped them over and started laying punches repeatedly to Reykxu’s face.

“Oh stop this!” You tried but knew they would not be here. “All trained warriors and they fight like children.” Kiri giggled at that. Tonowari and Jake stomped past you and it was suddenly not funny. They roughly separated the fight and instantly went to scolding them. They got sent to the Tsahik tent but Jake took his sons with him. You wanted to follow and make sure they were okay but your dad sent you to help your mother. 

-

Reykxu kept wincing and complaining as you cleaned his wounds. 

“You’ve been acting like a child all day.” He scoffed and pushed your hands away.

“I do not like you hanging out with that forest freak.” He says and stares at you, you just roll your eyes. 

“I am his teacher.”

“Then get someone else to do it, I do not like the way he looks and acts with you. You are mine.” 

“I am nobody’s,” you say and start throwing bloodied supplies away. 

“You like him.” He scoffs and grabs your arms but you shrug him off.

“So what if I do?”

“I am your mate, your future-.” He starts pointing at himself and you push him harshly with your fingers

“Oh please you did not want this union, my father watched you do a few good things and thought you would be a good match for me, a good leader. But he does not know what an asshole you are.” Reykxu’s fists clenched but then cocked his head to the side.

“Who taught you that strange word?” Before you spoke someone else did for you.

“I did.” You both looked to see Neteyam standing there with his arms crossed. You smiled and your heart fluttered.

“Hmm of course the demon boy knows demon words.” 

“It is time for you to leave Reykxu.” You say. “Your wounds are good.”

“We are not done with this.” He says.

“Yes, we are, now go.” You instruct the man, Reykxu mumbles something before walking away. Making sure to bump Neteyams shoulder.

“Let me check you over.” You say and Neteyam walked in and sat down. You went down to your knees in front of him and inspected his swollen lip. “You came out looking much better than everyone else.” He didn’t respond, he just stared at you. “What?” He shook his head, a slight smirk on his face. You brushed your thumb over his lips, swiping some of the blood off, before letting the tips of your fingers drag slightly down his jaw. 

“You’re so beautiful.” He says and your face burns purple. 

“I-I Neteyam?” 

“Hmm?” 

“How much of my conversation with Reykxu did you hear?” 

“Enough.” You sat back on your heels, feeling your heart start to race.

“Oh.” He grabbed your hands and held them in his. He practically covered them completely. 

“Just know I feel the same way.” You gasped softly and looked at him. He starts to lean forward and close your eyes and kiss you but you pulled back.

“I-I can’t.” You say and bite your lip in fear of what he would say. He just chuckled and gave you a teeth-full smile.

“It’s alright, I know the feeling of duty you feel right now.” 

“I'm sorry.” Tears slightly welled in your eyes.

“Do not apologize.” He swiped the tears with his thumbs. 

-

You cleaned Neteyams lip and brought the swelling down in silence. 

“Thank you for fixing me up.” 

“Anytime.”

“You’re not mad at me for beating up your betrothed.” You chuckled and shook your head.

“No just mad I didn’t do it first.” You both let out loud laughs.

“Im going to go, turn in for the day if I can.” 

“Okay get some rest, because we will be starting your hunting lessons tomorrow.” 

“Yes ma’am, thank you again.” He grabbed your hand and placed a long gentle kiss on the back of it. He left after that leaving you stunned. 

-

Jake and Neytiri watched the interaction from their place on the beach. 

“Ma Jake.” She says and he looks at her. “You must speak to our son.” 

“Hmm what, why?” 

“Because he is trying to pursue Y/n, I can see it.” 

“Is that a bad thing? We always tried to get him to mate back home.” He tried to joke but Neytiri didn’t react.

“Yes it is a bad thing, she is promised to another. If Tonowari and Ronal found out our son is pursuing their daughter who is to be Tshaik. Who knows what they would do, we have nowhere to go if they kick us out.” Jake sighed and nodded in agreement. 

“You’re right I will talk to him.” Jake stepped behind his mate and wrapped his arms around her. “But you can’t deny that they’re cute together.” 

“Jake.”

[rhetoricandlogic]

Whale Riders

By Austin Grossman

Nov. 5, 2009

Scott Westerfeld’s “Leviathan” is a tightly paced young adult novel set in an alternate version of the First World War and a welcome addition to the steampunk genre: a neo-retro period adventure. Just as cyberpunk reimagined science fiction with computers, steampunk reinvents it through a fantasy of the technological past. Its signature style is a whimsical Jules Verne-ian, 19th-century take on high technology — gadgets, gauges and goggles take the place of circuits and fusion reactors. Its genteel heroes and heroines display both the pluck of idealized Victorian adven­turers and their understanding of formal dress.

Westerfeld is best known for his sci-fi Uglies series (“Pretties,” “Specials,” “Extras,” etc.), about a future society in which people have a surgical procedure at age 16 that makes their faces beautiful but their minds frivolous and easily controlled. “Leviathan” is different. If it poses a big question, that question would be, Wouldn’t it be cool if the First World War had been fought with genetically engineered mutant animals, against steam-­powered walking machines like the ones from “The Empire Strikes Back”? And the answer is, Yes, it would.

The book begins the night the Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated and his son, Aleksandar, flees his home near Prague to escape being made a target or a tool as the potential heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. (Aleksandar is an invention, but like Ferdinand’s real children, he is not a fully legitimate heir to royal lands or titles, since his mother has “common blood.”) At the other end of Europe, a working-class Scottish girl named Deryn disguises herself as a boy to join the British Air Service. Intrigue and political instability sweep the teenagers out of their normal lives and into a world at war.

It’s not quite our world. In this version of history, Europe is divided between two rival technological cultures, a Mac-versus-PC contest on a geopolitical scale. The British, the “Darwinists,” have mastered the science of bioengineering. The Central European powers are the “Clankers,” and they use airplanes, zeppelins and walking machines that tramp through forests and fields. (We aren’t told what the French do, and I think that’s for the best.)

“Leviathan” shines when it lets us inhabit these cultures. British society is permeated by its signature technology, an inventive living infrastructure of a thousand elements, from lizards that can mimic and record voices to tigerlike beasts of burden to the leviathan of the title, a living dirigible grown on the genetic chassis of a whale. This marvelous creature makes a lovely entrance:

“The Leviathan’s body was made from the life threads of a whale, but a hundred other species were tangled into its design, countless creatures fitting to­gether like the gears of a stopwatch. . . . The motivator engines changed pitch, nudging the creature’s nose up. The airbeast obeyed, cilia along its flanks undulating like a sea of grass in the wind — a host of tiny oars rowing backward, slowing the Leviathan almost to a halt. The huge shape drifted slowly overhead, blotting out the sky.”

Westerfeld’s imagery is enhanced by Keith Thompson’s old-fashioned black-and-white illustrations, which lend an extra dimension of reality to this world. And the Darwinist and Clanker jargon crackles with an authentically techie feel. Who wouldn’t want to go up in a “Huxley ascender” or pilot a “Wotan-class land frigate”? If Westerfeld has a signature foible, however, it’s a weakness for vintage slang that ends up being more distracting than colorful. No amount of repetition made “Barking spiders!” feel like a natural exclamation.

I also wanted to like Deryn and Alek more. There’s something a little mechanical (or bioengineered?) about this pair; they resemble something called a “young adult protagonist” more than they do actual teenagers. It’s not that they’re not pleasant to be around, and each one passes a dramatic series of trials, overseen by a mysterious British lady scientist and a cranky Teutonic fencing master who both possess a charisma that makes you miss them when they’re offstage. Deryn and Alek lack the psychological sloppiness that makes for a living presence rather than an expert piece of craft. Where their feelings are concerned, the prose is a little vacant, as if scrubbed of the messiest and most personal aspects of growing up.

And then there’s the unpleasantness of fighting in World War I. The Great War in “Leviathan” is a little too picturesque, a little too much of a lark. As novels like “The Red Badge of Courage” show, it’s possible to reach young readers without editing out the catastrophe and confusion of wartime.

This isn’t to say that “Leviathan” is a superficial book. As Westerfeld writes in his afterword, the novel is “as much about possible futures as alternate pasts.” Its larger themes are less apparent and more deeply buried than in the Uglies books, and are the more powerful for it. The novel is a study in opposites, of boy versus girl, working class versus aristocracy, British versus German, and its overlying thematic division of Darwinists and Clankers gives all of these a distinctive torque, while avoiding mapping neatly to any specific agenda. The novel’s concluding set piece features a grand, elegant and very satisfying hybridization that suggests that opposites can meet, collapse and mingle, and that this story has natural sequels, which I will undoubtedly read.

LEVIATHAN

By Scott Westerfeld

Illustrated by Keith Thompson

A correction was made on

Nov. 22, 2009

: 

A review on Nov. 8 about Scott Westerfeld’s “Leviathan,” a young adult novel depicting an alternate version of World War I, misstated the nature of some of the language used in the book. It is vintage vernacular appropriate to the period, not “invented teenage slang.”

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Obvious focus this time is seemingly the end of the broadcast. Maybe there's a coda, maybe it's done here. This was a weird chapter and potentially the hardest one in Egghead to write about. Bring honest, it's a common complaint these days but this was the first time I felt it was just spinning its wheels a bit. I'm also really confused. I think it'll flow better reading as part of a binge later but parts of this feels like they may have worked better before stuff last week.

Otherwise...Vegapunk's climax. It's a perfect microcosm of how I feel about this segment. It's kinda like how "Roger Laughed" told us about the One Piece without telling us about the One Piece. A big theme here, part of what Wano and Egghead share, is setting the stage for the finale. We've used the phrase separating the wheat from the chaff. I've made the comparison to how Wano acts like a lot of school play arcs in slice of life anime, that little bit of distance allowing you to narrow down on what's really important. Tie off your loose ends that don't need to be here anymore. This chapter really does that.

Heh, I love this joke with the reactions. Skypiea has continued to grow over time. It makes sense serving as somewhat of an overture to this main thrust of the series. They have nothing to fear from sea level rise but their plight was very much the results of that. Nice to see Conis again. But we have a more important reaction.

Hey Marco! You can call it a reach if you want but I think this one is a little sneakier than some of the fluff reactions. Part of doing this is nudging you what some of these characters are doing. Marco alone here does tell us one thing, Bakkin seems to have moved along. It's also kinda interesting he's lumped in with this more functional scene. A lot of them have just been seeing a character listening, Marco is used more as a tie to the content and it's here with Pudding who is also one of the oddballs at the periphery of this arc.

I still wonder about these two. So their placement here together is intriguing. We could just be checking them off the list, we could be nudging they still have threads in this arc. It's tricky right? The line between reactions to this broadcast and scenes we're seeing around it.

...Cmon Robonosuke. *Nudges with stick.*

This robot's a trip. Really felt like he was about to do something cool. Maybe we get it next time but it's weird how this was such a non entity. Let me put it this way. I with these two chapters would have just done a full split on the two levels the main cast has coalesced around. It almost does that. But it doesn't.

Special note for the title too...very cool it uses part of Roger's classic speech. The destiny of an age. All in all it does frame this message in an interesting way. It's good for pulling back on the image of Luffy as a unique chosen one, same with Bonney learning to mimic his ability. I love the big splash with the main players at the end. Now can we please get to the fireworks factory and draw out a clearer point to all this?

[demonprincezeldris]

Happy Mermay!! I've been enjoying you and your anons’ siren au so much and am writing a little spin off based on it. I wanted to get your opinion on something. The au has Estarossa and Gowther and the sins, but what should I do with Nadja and Gelda?

For Nadja, I am tempted in several directions. One is a scenario where Mel and his pod ‘steal’ her from her maneater pod. Gowther would earn his “commandment of selflessness,” so to speak, by singlehandedly facing off against the managers until the rest of his family arrives (could not return that to “maneeaters” after the autocorrect, that's too funny to me). Mel taught him well and is so proud, and exhausted from the anxiety. During this altercation, the maneaters go to gouge out his eyes but fail, leaning him with scars that mimic the shape of his glasses in the original manga. I'm not too familiar with the manager lore but I think that upbringing will be an interesting element to put with Nadja’s personality (though understanding that will take some more research. I feel like I barely know the gal).

The second idea I have is to make her a voyager who knows she was born in the sea but can't bear to see foot on land or in the sea. She travels all along the coastline as the top advisor/navigator of a ship, but due to her constant refusal to acknowledge she is half (?) magical creature and all that comes with it, weakens until her crew has no choice but to seek out a magical creature who could help her save her own life somehow. Third is a classic mermaid x human scenario, with Gowther meeting Nadja at the same place as the Original Gowther met Glariza, a massive library off a coastal city. In this scenario he would be accompanying Estarossa on his crazy personal quest to get Meliodas some help with his mental state. Long story short Mael and Esta end up trying to get their two brothers to learn something from each other. This little adventure might be in the prologue to the spin-off. I've written a bit of it, with how Estarossa meets Mael. In this event, Mael would basically uses himself as leverage, jumping in the water to play with Zeldris. Ludociel feels he has to be civil with Mel now or risk his baby brother being drowned by Mel’s brothers. I made Mael chaotic, felt that Ludo deserved that mental stress in this au lmao.

As for Gelda, I am considering making her a runaway princess. I can see her having the time of her life as part of their pod, crushing on Elizabeth and Zeldris and Arthur, having a lot of peaceful yet exciting days where she's making her own way in the world and relishing in having people by her side as she does so. I adore so many of your fics with Arthur, Zel, and Gelda that I'm going to have to pair the three together here too.They're all such wholesome sweethearts and I love their potential dynamic. These mer are going to do a LOT of falling in love <3 and snuggling. I think they would cuddle pile for comfort

Also beginning to think that me making this spinoff is just giving the sirens as many wacky friends as possible. They are all kids and should not be unsupervised running / swimming around an island like this.

Ban and Arthur and Merlin are going to have SUCH a fun time convincing them that no, they are not “just chilling over here,” half-starved and battered from storms and constant shenanigans with sea life and island life is not actually better than “a proper life on land,” whatever you called “a proper life” before was clearly bs. Please give this a chance. And Elizabeth you KNOW sirens are supposed to live in groups with many adult caretakers stop arguing on this point- you can’t girlboss your way out of not having resources. What do you mean you’ve done it before. yes Mael I know you raised some chickens, I can see them now, honestly the fact you somehow take care of 30+ animals on this island is more concerning than you NOT getting creative, and why are they stare- is that a 4 foot tall pig

“The name’s Hawk!”

Merlin: this is 100x more concerning than you two dating mer and… ah…

Elizabeth: harpy! Also called a sky devil :D

Gelda: Gelda

I am having so much fun with this au. Hope you had fun reading this and if you’d like to see anything specific for this, I’d love to hear about it!

Hi there! Happy Mermay to you as well! First off let me start off by saying thank you so much for rekindling the flame of my Siren AU! It's so amazing to see other users be motivated by the chaos that the anons and I have created a few years ago. I'm so glad you're enjoying reading it.

I love the idea of Nadja as a voyager. I definitely see her as someone, in this AU anyway, who wants to travel and be out adventuring. Never staying in one place for too long. After all, in the original meeting, she was underneath Liones was she not and found Gowther. So kind of drawing a very loose parallel to the idea that she's an adventurer.

I also am in love with the idea of Gelda being a runaway princess! Maybe her life was drab and dark in the castle she lived in and wanted an escape from it all? Causing her to run away from it and seek out a better life for herself. Cue her running into Arthur and Zeldris and letting them show her a new life that she never even hoped to see in her lifetime. And you know that those three would be the cuddliest couple ever and would definitely cuddle pile for comfort.

Thank you again for sharing this wonderful spinoff with me! I'm eager to see the final product!

[vennilavee]

sunkissed

pairing: levi x reader (moon/stars universe) ft kaiya and rina

summary: rina peach's beachy birthday weekend!!

warnings: none at all, just a cute summer drabble

word count: 1810

Kaiya has never been very fond of the beach. She is very much like Levi in that sense- they both would prefer to either stay home or go to the park rather than allow the potential for sand to hide in the crevices of their bodies. After all, seagulls are a nuisance and it’s not like you can even see animals other than those pesky birds.

At least according to Kaiya’s speech about why she did not want to go to the beach last weekend. But it was Rina’s birthday, and unlike her older sister…. Rina loves the beach. She loves poking her feet in her sand and feeling the salty ocean water brush over her chubby legs. Her specialty is building sandcastles and she had sneakily asked if she could bury her daddy in the sand.

To which you had said maybe. And Levi had sent you a sneaky glare.

You can vividly remember the first time you brought baby Kaiya to the beach. She’d been a year old, after you and Levi had done extensive research on what sunscreen would be best for Kaiya. She looked so cute that day, in a bright orange bucket hat with blue starfish on it, a blue swimsuit and tiny orange crocs.

It took you nearly fifteen minutes to get out of the house, because you were too busy showering her with kisses and taking photos of her first beach day.

While she had been all smiles on the way to the beach, her expression had quickly turned sour when you had tried putting her feet in the water. Her lips parted ever so slightly to let out a stream of wails and her eyes leaked tears. She was trying her best to avoid her feet touching the water with all of her tiny might.

Kaiya hated the sand even more, if that was possible. She glared at the sand stuck in between her toes and Levi had only looked smugly at you. As if to say ‘I told you so’.

And he had.

But today, Rina is tugging Kaiya’s hand impatiently, wanting to splash around in the water with her big sister. Kaiya is hesitant, warily eyeing the water and looking at Levi and then Rina.

“Oh, fine,” Kaiya sighs, “Only for five minutes.”

“Yay!” Rina cheers and does a little dance before running off towards the water (with Kaiya and Levi on her heels).

You can’t help but watch Levi’s golden skin glisten in the sun as he gets farther away from you. His shoulders flex as he jogs after his girls, and you sigh happily before rubbing sunscreen on your arms.

You had rubbed sunscreen into Rina’s skin while Kaiya had insisted on doing it herself. Levi had wordlessly asked you to rub his back, which you had gladly done.

But not before squeezing his bicep indulgently, because damn, your man looks good.

You brought a book with you to read (and Kaiya had as well. She had stated firmly that she plans to read on the beach during this weekend trip.)

Your gaze travels from your book to immediately zero in on the girls and Levi from the tops of your sunglasses. Rina’s giggles are contagious and filter through the salty breeze, tucking away in your eardrum and you can pretty much hear Kaiya grumbling from all the way out here.

Setting your book aside, you decide to join your family in the water. You adjust your baby blue swimsuit, making sure all of your bits are covered, and make your way over. Your jumbo sized umbrella, beach towels and cooler are close enough that you can keep an eye on it from the water.

“Mama! You come,” Rina beams, reaching for you from Levi’s arms.

“I did, peach,” you reply, scooping her up. She’s getting so big, she’s already four. Rina is no longer the small baby who used to waddle around the house clumsily, she’s now old enough to run through the water and splash her older sister.

Levi pecks your lips in greeting while Kaiya dramatically gags.

“On Rina’s birthday weekend? Ugh, gross,” Kaiya rolls her eyes. Levi splashes her playfully with his foot and Kaiya gasps.

“Wow, watch out, daddy.”

“Ya, daddy, watch out! Watch out!”

“Oh, alright. I surrender,” Levi says, holding his hands up.

“It’s nice out here, isn’t it?” you murmur, nudging Kaiya’s shoulder. She tries to scowl, but she can’t hide her smile from you.

“Yeah, it’s nice. I guess.”

“Oh, you guess? How lucky for us,” Levi teases, ruffling her head of dark hair.

“Daddy! I did my hair and you’re making it messy!” Kaiya pouts, messing her hair up again.

“It not messy!” Rina protests, “It nice!”

Kaiya gives her a toothy smile in response, to which Rina mimics.

“Mama, can we have some drinks? You brought those peach ones, right?” Kaiya asks with hopeful eyes.

“Of course I did. You think I’d forget?”

You and Levi had taken extra measures to hide the cake that you both had baked for Rina’s birthday in the mini-fridge of the cottage that you were staying in for the weekend. In fact, it was Kuchel’s little cottage by the sea- Levi came here as a teenager and a young adult. And you can remember the first time he brought you here, too.

Kuchel will be arriving tomorrow to join the celebration, but tonight it was just your little family.

“Kiki,” you whisper from the corner of the kitchen, “Kaiya. Kaiya!”

“Yes, mama?” she whispers back.

“Will you please get Rina and your daddy and bring them outside to the deck? The cake is ready,” you reply and Kaiya nods, running off to find her sister and her dad.

The small deck has been decorated with shell themed balloons and streamers of gold and green (Rina’s current favorite colors) in the last two hours, while she was napping and while Levi had kept her entertained before that. You can hear her peals of laughter approaching closer and closer and you make sure to have your phone ready when she sees the setup you and Levi created for her-

And she gasps with wide eyes before squealing happily and running around the table decorated with teal lace to stare at the carefully curated mermaid themed cake that took hours for you to finish up.

“Mermaid! For my birfday, mommy?” Rina gasps, bouncing on the heels of her feet.

“Happy birthday, Peachy,” you beam at her and kneel for her to run into your arms for a big hug.

“Thank, mama,” Rina says, “Daddy, Kaiya! Wook cake! Come hug!”

She’s always been very affectionate. Levi says she gets it from you.

“Happy birthday, Rina Peach,” Levi murmurs, kissing her hair, “I’m so happy that you’re happy and healthy.”

Rina only looks at him with your eyes.

“Happy birthday, Peachy peach,” Kaiya says, jumping with her, “We gotta sing Happy Birthday! And then you blow out your candles and make a wish!”

“Make wish! Make wish!” Rina says excitedly, her dark hair shining with the sunset. Kaiya leads the charge in Rina’s birthday songs while Rina smiles brightly at you and Levi. It brings a few tears to your eyes and Levi tugs your fingers in his subtly.

Your girls are getting so big. Levi still remembers when Rina barely fit in the palm of his hands, when she came into the world so quietly. When fear filled his heart.

Seeing Rina blowing out her candles (with some help from Kaiya) makes his heart warm. Kaiya is getting so tall- he can tell she might be taller than him someday soon. Kaiya’s eyes glisten and shine, reflecting bits of his own steel grey when she looks at him.

He’s feeling contemplative. You can tell.

Once you finish with your pictures of everyone, Levi cuts slices of cake for everyone to eat. Rina most definitely stuck her fingers into her slice of cake but now, she is seated in his lap as she tries to feed herself (but ultimately leans back against his chest for him to feed her). Kaiya sits in between you and Levi.

It’s quiet, the sound of the waves against the shore vibrating around you as the close of Rina’s birthday draws close. The summer breeze drifts into your hair and you spot goosebumps on Kaiya’s arms.

“Gonna get some blankets, my little fruits. Be right back,” you murmur, patting her leg.

“Hey! I’m not a fruit!”

By now, the moon is shining brightly in the night sky and the stars along with it, and Rina is fast asleep in Levi’s lap while Kaiya is laying across your lap with tired eyes. You’ve all moved inside the cottage once the summer chill settled in to watch a movie.

Rest assured, you’re dozing off, too.

You hear Levi call your name. You hum in response and open your eyes blearily. It appears you’ve been asleep for longer than expected, because Kaiya is no longer in your lap and Rina is not in Levi’s arms.

“I put the girls to bed,” Levi murmurs, “C’mon. Let’s get to bed.”

“You gonna carry me or what?” you joke, but before you can get your feet on the floor, he scoops you up in his arms and pecks your forehead.

“How romantic,” you murmur, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Yeah, alright,” Levi rolls his eyes.

“Did you check the locks?”

“What do you take me for? An idiot?”

“I’m just making sure, okay-”

“Yeah, yeah,” you murmur, patting his cheek adoringly, “Hurry, I’m tired and my feet ache.”

“How lucky for me.”

“The girls had fun today,” you murmur, rubbing lazy circles over Levi’s chest, “Did you?”

Levi hums, fingers trailing up and down your arm tiredly. “I like the sea, despite what you think.”

“You don’t like the beach. You hate finding sand in your-”

“Yeah, I hate the beach, but the sea is nice.”

You chuckle, pressing your lips to his throat.

“I’m surprised Peach went to bed so quickly. But she must be tired from running around in the sun with Kaiya all day,” Levi muses.

“Probably. Your mom can run around with Rina and Kaiya tomorrow at the beach. We should do boozy brunch in the meantime.”

“Why? So you can get drunk off your ass from two mimosas while your daughters are in the ocean?”

“Okay, first of all, that was a joke. Second of all, two mimosas? You think that much of me?”

“Am I wrong?”

“I’m going to sleep,” you huff dramatically, “Give me a kiss goodnight.”

Levi gives you a little more than a kiss goodnight when he pecks your lips, licking into your wet, warm mouth until your eyes flutter shut and he presses himself on top of you to envelop you in his embrace.

tags: @simpingmaize @kentobean @captainchrisstan @alrightberries @celestidarling @regalillegal @castellandiangelo @bakuhoesworld

[it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream]

Opposites Attract (Paul Lahote x Reader) Chapter 3

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Warnings: Swearing

Word Count” 2.1k

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-Your POV-

They were running at a speed that seemed impossible, their size alone, impossible. The shear beauty of the animal, breath taking. This wasn’t the first time you’d dreamt of giant wolves. They visited your dreams frequently, leaving you with all sorts of un answered questions, leaving you the next day, searching “What does seeing giant wolves in your dreams mean?” Yup, you were that kinda girl. You thought there was an answer for everything, and there probably was, but you weren’t going to find the answer on google search. 

You don’t know how long you’d been in the car for. All you knew was you were in pain, then it seemed to ease and a sense of comfort washed over you. Your head felt as if it were floating, snuggled into something warm and soft. A pillow perhaps? You didn’t open your eyes to check, the pain in your abdomen and now across your whole body blinding, you’d woken a few times with a jolt, and then you passed out again. 

The next time you woke up you weren’t moving at all, which you were grateful for, the pain mixed with the motion of a moving vehicle didn’t do anything for your stomach, travel sickness was the bane of your life. Instead you found yourself in a room, the blinds drawn closed, the door shut, your body, in different clothes. A mens t-shirt? When did you get changed? Where were you? You looked around in a daze, sitting up slightly from the comfort of the pale yellow duvet set. Wooden log walls, photo frames scattered on every surface, subtle lighting and a wall lined with books, the smell of home cooking wafting through from the kitchen. You were in Emily and Sam’s guest room, how did you know this? Well for one all of the frames had pictures of the happy couple in, two, you’d stayed over once before, back when you’d been caught in a freak storm with Leah while on the beach. You vaguely remembered the place. You didn’t come over often, what with Leah and Sams history, that and as much as you liked Paul, sometimes you’d be nervous to bump into him. Paul! Speaking of Paul, you groaned and flopped back into the fluffy bed sheets. Paul was at the hotel when the pain started… where was he now? Did he drive with you back home? 

You were about to get up when Leah came bounding through the door. “Oh good I thought I could hear you awake in here.” She grinned at you. “You look like you’re feeling much better!” You pat the space beside you and Leah climbed in snuggling up to your side. 

“So, on a scale of one to ten how bad was it.” The big ‘It’ being how bad was the show in front of your long term crush. Leah shrugged as she looked at you. 

“Nothing was baddd… everyone was just worried about you, you seemed to be in some serious pain, hence why we thought it best to cut the trip short, it’s probably better that were home, it was early hours when we got here so Sam said we could just crash at his.” You raised your eye at you best friend. She was being awfully calm about the whole situation. She said Sams name in a sentence and didn’t get herself worked up. You looked down at yourself. 

“And the clothes? Or lack there of….” That’s when Leah grinned. You didn’t like the way she was looking at you. You inhaled the scent that was on the shirt. Sandel wood and aftershave, a hint of sea salt probably from the misty air outside. 

“That’s Pauls t-shirt Y/N” Your eyes went wide and you knew you were blushing.. did that mean he had undressed you. Leah noticed the panic in your eyes.

“Before you get worked up he just leant the t-shirt knowing you’d be uncomfortable in your dress, I changed you.” You audibly gave a sigh of relief, not knowing how you’d react if the guy you’d been in love with since second grade had finally seen you in your underwear. “He stayed in here with you last night you know, to make sure you were okay. He wouldn’t leave.” Leah was now proper up on one arm looking at you. You didn’t know what to make of it. You didn’t think Paul had even known you existed… You were taken from your train of thought when something started dinging. The mobile on the bedside table started beeping as texts came through one by one. Oh god, you hoped Leah hadn’t told your parents about your episode at the hotel, the last thing you needed was for them to worry. However, you realised when you picked it up, it wasn’t your phone. 

The screensaver was a picture of the guys from the res, all goofing around, it looked like it had actually been taken in Emilys kitchen. It had to be one of the guys. You realised it was Paul’s after remembering what Leah had said about him staying for some of the night. He must have forgotten it when he left. You didn’t mean to see the message but it automatically came up on screen when you tilted the Iphone in your hand.

“Such a shame we had to cancel our date last night handsome, still on for tonight?” There were a bunch of emojis next to the text, the purple devil, aubergine, water droplets. You didn’t have to be a genius to figure out whoever this girl was motives were. At first you were embarrassed, to the point where your mouth was kinda slack and Leah was asking you what was wrong. Then you were pissed. 

“He’s such a dick, honestly. I don’t know why this makes him a dick, i’m just so mad. I know I’m not the prettiest, or the funniest, or most talented or anything but jesus christ I wish he would just notice me for once instead of these girls who will put out at the drop of a freakin hat!” Leah had taken the phone from you to see what you were talking about. She groaned and then noticed your whole body was shaking, in a flash she was at the door calling for Sam and the others. All you could see was red. Your vision totally blank, the covers under your hands balled up in your fists tight, your body shaking, heating up. Somewhere in the background you could hear someone shouting at you to calm down, but this time you couldn’t. You heard the sound of ripping and then all of a sudden the world around you changed. For one, everything in the room seemed to get smaller, or maybe you got bigger? You were still angry and started lashing out, only to be tackled by something from the side, leading you to smash through the wall of the wooden house. You still didn’t understand what was happening, until you heard them in your head. 

“Y/N CALM DOWN! We know this is scary but you need to calm down.” It was Sams voice. In your head. Or maybe, the voice was coming from the 8ft black wolf hovering over you. You didn’t scream, you didn’t even seem scared, and it’s because you realised, you were a wolf too. 

-Paul’s POV-

Y/N was safe, sleeping soundly in the room next door, or so Paul thought. It wasn’t until he heard the shouting that he knew something was wrong. Leah called for help and before he knew what had happened there was a bang and Sam was tackling a wolf on the ground outside the house. 

A white wolf. Small, slim, bright, with a single grey patch of fur around an eye. Paul shifted instantly, realising the unknown wolf in front of him was in fact his imprint. He let out a low growl to Sam, even though he was the Alpha, Paul didn’t like the fact he’d just tackled his girl. He looked her over, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth almost comically, all the while Y/N stood staring and the grey wolf now in front of her, he could hear through the bond that she’d just imprinted, feel it too. Now she knew. 

-Your POV-

“Hold the fuck up.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Part of you couldn’t tell if you were in a dream or had just gone plain crazy. The other part of you knew that everything was real but you just couldn’t process the information quick enough. “So you’re telling me, that our ancestors were these shapeshifters and the gene was passed down to us to allow us to shift into giant wolves and hunt down vampires. You know, Vampires, ‘I want to suck you blood’, creepy pale strong immortal beings with no soul? And werewolves, I mean, Shifters..” It was insane. 

“Anddd to top it off, the man i’ve had a crush on since 2nd grade is my imprint, the person I’m supposed to be with for the rest of my life?” You glared at Paul who had the audacity to wink in your direction. Looking around you noticed the other faces, all amused at your outburst. Okay, so this wasn’t a joke, it was some sick reality you were now a part of. You hadn’t looked in Leah’s direction yet, pissed that your best friend had kept such a massive secret from you. Obviously you knew it wasn’t her fault, she wasn’t aloud to tell you the tribes secret, they didn’t know that you would be another female shifter, apparently your kind were rare. It still stung a little. 

“What really sucks thought Y/N, is that you’re gonna have to cut you beautiful hair short, our human hair mimics the length of our wolf hair, hence why each of us one by one cut it all off.” Quil sat back and shrugged and Paul growled lowly, not lowly enough for heightened hearing. 

“Why now. Why. I-I have school and I have things I want to do with my life.. I can’t be a shifter..” Reality had started to sink in and you found it difficult to breath. It felt like everyone in the room was staring at you and it didn’t help that you could also hear what everyone was basically saying. Your chair was pushed back with a screech, falling over and hitting the wooden floor. 

“I-I need to get out of here, I need a minute..” You were out the door in a flash, Leah and the boys running after you. Somewhere in the distance you could make out Sam telling Paul to calm down and then heard what sounded like wolves shifting but you’d already made it to the tree line, being able to run faster than you’d imagined still in your human form. 

The air was colder the higher up you got. You didn’t know how long you’d been running for but it had been a couple of hours before you finally stopped. In the middle of nowhere, high up in the mountains you let out a scream, one that sent flocks of birds fleeing from trees, the notes of your anguish scattering in the breeze. Everything would be changing now, life as you once knew it was gone. Part of yourself would never be yours again, having to follow a pack system. Another part of you was giddy at the thought that the man you’d been in love with your whole life turned out to be the one destined for you all along, it only took shifting into a wolf for you both to realise just how compatible you were.

You’d been alone with your thoughts long enough when you heard a twig snap in the distance. The hairs on your arms stood up and your heart started beating rapidly, turning, you calmed when you noticed a familiar figure walk out into the open. 

“Paul.” You could feel the bond running through your veins, seeing him helped you breath better and the physical need and urge to be in his arms was too strong. Like he sensed it too, he was over to you in a flash, taking you in his arms, your body pressed against his, his nose buried in your hair breathing in your scent, like he was saving it to memory. 

“Y/N, it’s all going to be okay, I promise, nothing bad will ever happen to you while i’m around, I know it seems scary now, but it won’t be like this forever. You’re already so strong, and I’m lucky that fate paired me with you.”

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Yoooo. I hope you liked this chapter, I’ve had some writers block recently, just trying to keep going. I’m still not sure what direction I’m taking this fic, I do know however that this is set at the beginning of eclipse! So watch out for some vampire action!

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If you want to be added to this tag list please let me know, sorry if I missed anyone off! <3 Please re-blog/like/follow <3

[dwellordream]

“Besides Thracians, Greeks encountered many other tattooed people among their neighbors around the Black Sea and in Pontus, major Amazon strongholds. Numerous authors reported tattooing among Scythians. Hippocrates, for example, remarked that the Scythian nomads “branded” figures on their shoulders, arms, chests, and thighs to “instill strength and courage,” suggesting a magical function of tattoos. Herodotus wrote that the Thracians thought plain skin signaled a lack of identity. Elaborate tattoos were considered beauty marks of nobility for both men and women in Thrace; even ordinary folk had a few small tattoos. 

Some four hundred years after Herodotus, the Greek orator Dio Chrysostom remarked that the women of Thrace were still covering themselves with tattoos as marks of high social standing. Herodotus also described the tattoos of the Iranian-speaking Scythian-Thracian people called the Agathyrsi. According to a story he heard in Pontus, the Agathyrsi claimed descent from a Scythian woman and Heracles. The Agathyrsi were one of the tribes that had repelled Darius I of Persia (sixth century BC). Later (fourth century BC) they would migrate north to the Sarmatian steppes. Agathyrsi women especially favored tattoos, noted Herodotus. The higher their status, the larger, more richly detailed and colorful were their skin designs. 

Ammianus Marcellinus (fourth century AD) reported that Agathyrsi tattoos were checkered designs in blue-black ink. When the Greek general and historian Xenophon led his army across Pontus (ca. 400 BC), the land of the Amazons, he observed that the skin of the men and women and children of the Mossynoeci tribe was covered with colorful tattoos of flowers. Pomponius Mela also reported that these people completely marked their entire bodies with tattoos. The Sarmatians, strongly associated with Amazons, received their first tattoos as children, according to Sextus Empiricus and Pliny; Pliny also reported that among Sarmatians, Dacians, and Britons, the women “wrote on their own bodies.”

Clearchus of Soli explicitly stated that Scythian women—the historical counterparts of Amazons—taught the art of tattooing to Thracian women who lived on the northwestern frontiers of Scythia. A Greek philosopher who traveled widely and wrote extensively about Thrace, Clearchus reported that Scythian women “used to decorate the Thracian women all over their bodies, using the tongues of their belt buckles (or pins of brooches) as needles.” After several generations, Thracian women began to add their own embellishments and other designs to the Scythian motifs. 

Ancient accounts of tattooing by the Thracians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Agathyrsi, Mossynoecians of Pontus, Illyrians, Dacians, Geloni, and Iaopodes are compelling evidence that many of the women known as Amazons also practiced tattooing. Because the Greeks thought of tattoos as marks of degradation instead of signs of nobility, courage, and beauty, they sought to explain why women would choose to endure pain to decorate their bodies with indelible designs. Clearchus implied that tattoos were initially inflicted violently by Scythian women and then later embraced by Thracian women, who cleverly transformed “shameful” tattoos into lovely body ornaments. 

Scythians did invade parts of Thrace, intermarried with Thracians, and influenced Thracian culture. Forcible tattooing of captives is certainly attested in ancient and modern times. But sharing tattoo motifs and techniques among cultures is also well known. What was the historical context of Clearchus’s report? Did some Scythian women once tattoo captive Thracian women? Or did they simply teach their Thracian neighbors how to tattoo? Other literary evidence for tattooing customs among steppe cultures comes from sources far removed from Greece. 

…Tattooing is often associated with women in many of the ancient and modern examples. Tattooed Thracian men are not represented in Greek art, although Herodotus, Xenophon, Cicero, and others included men in their descriptions of tattooing. Archaeological evidence hints that female tattooing may have an extremely ancient history across Thrace and western Scythia. Neolithic sites of Cucuteni culture (4800–3000 BC) in the forest steppes of Romania and southwestern Ukraine have yielded hundreds of clay female figurines inscribed with lines and spirals; some scholars believe they represent tattoos. Along with the clay figurines, archaeologists also unearth caches of inscribed horse phalanges (toe bones). 

The bones’ natural shape suggests a nude female torso; the distal condyles resemble breasts or shoulders. The four-inch-long bones were smoothed and polished and then incised with geometric designs (sometimes nipples were indicated). One obvious interpretation of the decorations is that they signified tattoos. Similar incised figurines have been discovered at sites of the same date near Lykastia, Pontus (a region known for women warriors, according to Apollonius of Rhodes; chapter 10). Painted spiral patterns also decorate similar figures of the same time frame in Turkmenistan. Yet another region long associated with Amazons, Gobustan in Azerbaijan, has about seven thousand ancient petroglyphs (Neolithic-Bronze Age) depicting symbols, animals, and people armed with bows, axes, and spears, some riding horses. 

One composition shows eight females (carrying bows?) whose body markings could indicate tattoos. The curious practice of creating decorated female torsos from horse bones was very widespread, from Romania and Pontus to Kazakhstan, the heart of ancient Scythia. Troves of these incised female forms, along with vast collections of horse remains, were recently excavated from sites of the Botai culture of northern Kazakhstan (ca. 3700–3100 BC). These seminomadic people were among the first to domesticate horses. The archaeological evidence shows that they also made human skulls into bowls, drank fermented mare’s milk (koumiss; chapter 9), and apparently enjoyed a high level of gender equality, prominent features of Scythian-Amazon life reported by Herodotus and others.

The archaeologists interpret the geometric markings on the Botai horse-bone figures as some of the earliest representations of ancient clothing construction. Based on their assumption that the marks on the Neolithic female forms, incised with tattoo-like designs, indicate stitching, belts, and necklines of clothing, the archaeologists suggest that Botai horsewomen wore stiff, loose-fitting, ankle length dresses of homespun hemp. If the incisions on the torsos do represent clothing, a close-fitting tunic might be indicated, since nothing below the hips is shown. (Wide skirts could be modified into trouser-like garments for riding; see below and chapter 12). 

An alternative possibility, not mentioned by the archaeologists, is that the lines on some of the female torso shapes represent tattoos. As we have seen, it can be difficult to distinguish tattoos or body paintings from garments in ancient artifacts. The Botai patterns that the archaeologists interpret as stitched seams call to mind the ladder/fence tattoo designs that mimic the seams of sleeves along the edges of the bare arms of Thracian women on Greek vases. Similar stitching/seam patterns appear on nude female clay figures from Turkmenistan (2600– 2100 BC); they also appear on Bosnian and Kurdish women’s arm tattoos.

The deliberately smoothed surface of the horse bone to make it look more like a shapely female torso—sometimes with dots around the pubic region or nipples—conveys an impression of nudity. If these objects had some ritual purpose, as argued by the archaeologists, a naked female form seems more appropriate and powerful than a clothed one. It is interesting that the dashes, zigzags, cross-hatchings, ladders, triangles, and chevrons prefigure some of the patterns on both the exotic attire of Amazons and Thracian tattoos in vase paintings. At any rate, the mysterious female forms created from horse bones point to a strong, very ancient relationship between horses and women in Thracian-Scythian lands. 

Tattooing traditions among women persist in many locales associated with ancient Amazons, both mythic and historical. As in the Balkans, in Dagestan between the Caucasus and Caspian Sea (where the Amazon queen Marpesia was active) women still tattoo their arms with geometric symbols. Their traditional marks include dots (coded love messages), moons (for happiness and luck), and bird-tracks (thought to make a girl a fast runner). Ornamental tattooing is also practiced by Aghach Eris women, Turki-Persian-speaking nomads of Iran, and by Turkmen people. Kurdish women of northern Iraq and the southern Caucasus, thought to be descendants of Bronze Age Hurrians who spoke a Caucasian language, still tattoo themselves with rayed circles and half-circles, dots, chevrons, and stitch, fence, and comb shapes. 

On his journey across Central Asia in the thirteenth century Marco Polo described how women and men used needles and ink to engrave the “strange likenesses” of raptors, lions, and dragons on their bodies. In many cultures, tattoo designs are repeated in clothing, textiles, and other objects, which helps explain the similarity of motifs on barbarian clothing and the skin of Thracians, Scythians, and Amazons in ancient Greek art. Some modern scholars argue that Athenian vase painters drew tattoos on Thracian women to brand them as savage “barbarians” who failed to conform to the classical Greek feminine ideal. 

Likewise, the exuberantly patterned clothing worn by Amazons and Scythians in Greek art is thought to be an artistic convention for signaling “Otherness.” But the artfully rendered tattoos of the Thracian women on Greek vases were grounded in fact: such tattoos were a daily sight in Athens. The specific forms of the Thracian tattoos—repeated in the patterns worn by Amazons—were not simply invented by Greek artists in pottery workshops. The same abstract and animal designs appear on leather, wood, and golden objects and textiles excavated from tombs of Thrace and Scythia, and they also match traditional tattoo motifs on once-living inhabitants of ancient Amazonian territories.

Tattooing methods, like tattoo motifs, are extraordinarily conservative, unchanged over millennia (needles, pigments, and stencils have been recovered from Scythian graves). First the design was drawn or traced on the skin. A bundle of three to seven needles punctured the design into the skin and then pigment was rubbed in (carbon paste from charcoal ash). The paste was variously mixed with other substances, such as tallow, honey, wild berry juice or indigo (for blue pigment), sap, ox bile (to set the dye), saliva, or the breast milk of a woman nursing an infant girl or, in the Balkans, a son. The colorful flower tattoos of the Mossynoeci of Pontus suggest that colored pigments were known in antiquity. Tattooing equipment was recently excavated in 2013, next to a skeleton dressed in a richly decorated tunic and trousers, buried with lavish grave goods in a Sarmatian-Scythian kurgan on the steppes between the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea. 

The tattoo kit consisted of pigments and spoons for mixing them on two stone palettes, gilded iron needles, and other tools. Many Scythian burials contain similar items, which had been mistaken for women’s cosmetics by earlier archaeologists. Plentiful evidence makes it safe to assume that Greeks were familiar with tattooing practices of Scythian and related Eurasian tribes, and that they would expect the women they called Amazons to wear inked designs. The most powerful proof is frozen in time—inscribed on the skin of mummified bodies recovered from icy graves in the Altai. Thanks to some extraordinary recent discoveries, we now know precisely what sort of tattoos were worn by real horsewomen of the steppes.”

- Adrienne Mayor, “Tattooed Amazons.” in The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World

[pirate-kwazii]

Watching Ring Of Fire now so here’s more of my thoughts

Is that a fence in the water

Is everyone groaning about the sea urchin and crab or yawning? I can’t tell

Okay I’ve had the Vegimals song stuck in my head for awhile now

Kwazii’s alarm clock shoots tennis balls at him- same

And Dashi starts the day with yoga

Tweaks fell asleep playing video games mood

Shellington what the fUCK

Tf is that- is that lava?!?

Oh ring of fire like the volcanoes- I feel stupid now

They’re doing their role call out of order

What the fuck Kwazii why did you eat 17 kelp cakes

Is the only thing you eat is seaweed

VIDEO TRAINING VIDEO TRAINING

*terrible accordion playing* *everyone winces*

How many cousins do you have peso?!?!

Kwazii: I’m going out and FAST!!!!

Captain: *eyebrow raise*

Kwazii: I mean I’m checking the engine

MORE GUPS?!?!

“Don’t push the Z button” Kwazii is definitely going to press it I bet all 3 of my dollars

Wait why did Peso and Barnacles need a Gup if they were taking the octopod?!

How much time does Tweak have to keep making all these gups?!

Aw Kwazii loves that Gup so much

WHAT IS BARNACLES WEARING WHAT THE HELL NO

Kwazii’s copying it omg-

Shellington and Dashi are such nerd friends it’s actually adorable

Tremors those are probably important

Ring-shape? Like the ring of fire-

Oh no comms are down

A TSUNAMI?!?!

Mateys you should’ve stayed at the Octopod

Kwazii saved Tweak’s life and now it’s flooding

Why don’t they know about the Ring of Fire if they LIVE in the ocean

Oh no the comms are down they can’t reach them!!!!

Damn at least no one is alone...

Of course the Chinstrap Penguins live on a volcano

Well at least Shellington and Dashi are alright and above water so there’s a lower chance of drowning

“How does he know I’m an octonaut?” Maybe it’s because you’re wearing the octonauts colors and the logo all over it

Wow itd be faster to push the stupid thing

Last time you guys followed the screaming sound there was a tsunami

Well at least you found the whales you wanted to find

“I’ve always wanted to see a whale but not like this!” I’d sure hope so Shellington

Of course the volcano erupts

Tweak Kwazii are ya okay?!

THEY DONT HAVE AIR TANKS ON THEM OH NO

TWEAK!!!

Now is not the time to copy Barnacles- holy shit it worked

She just noticed that?!

Shit you guys are stuck

Kwazii beggars can’t be choosers

Why is that the only way to get across Tweak

No Tweak pay attention

ITS ON FIRE

I really hope you guys can hold your breath

She’s pulling a Ladybug and the things she looks at glow now

Improvised fire extinguisher

WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE ARENT YOU UNDERWATER

Eww they landed in seaweed and a banana peel

Why does everyone end in the garbage disposal- sorry compost

Oh he almost fell in-

*opens door and floods room* Guess we’re swimming after all

Tunip leave him it’s natural selection

Grouber just sits and eats during a panic- same

“Lesson Nine- dealing with disasters” what

Why is the background of those videos so bad

I mean it’s rad but also bad

Tunip: *hands the Vegimals a bunch of shovels* good luck

Mateys how did that dirt pile work-

*quickly unplants all the seaweed*

*vacuums the animals*

LEAVE THE SEAWEED YOU HAVE ENOUGH

“You gotta save us!” Why didn’t you get their attention sooner?

Why do none of them notice the volcanoes that they live on/near

We’ve seen the rafts it won’t work

How the hell did you think of that

Is that even possible

They only leave Inkling in charge when legit no one else is there

Kwazii and Tweak: *mimic pirates, rabbits and Barnacles*

Peso and Barnacles: *mimic penguins*

How was the lava that aLMOST COOKED YOUR EGGS NOT A WARNING SIGN

Wow Inkling is not good at this I see why he’s never in charge

Even Kwazii and the Vegimals have managed the octopod better than that

Why is there is Disco Ball

Why does it always switch to the training videos

“Dashi’s so good at this” yeah it’s almost like it’s her JOB

There was a BUTTON FOR THAT EXACT REASON AND YOU DIDNT THINK TO PRESS IT FIRST?!?!?!

Took you long enough jeez

What is they fall off of the “slide”

“Mothers and babies first” anyone else can perish

Well that egg is dead

Oh never mind he got it

WHY DIDNT YOU TWO GET ON THE SIDE TOO TWEAK WOULD UNDERSTAND

I mean she and Kwazii are trying not to be set on fire so I’m sure she’d get it

“I just hope everyone else is okay” well shellington and Dashi are stuck on a volcano that’s exploding trying to get a beached whale out on a very slow Gup, the Vegimals are trying to evacuate the garden, and Tweak and Kwazii are trying to get out of the burning and flooding repair area so no I don’t think anyone else is okay

“This isn’t working” no really Dashi

Oh the crabs know Kwazii that explains so much

Another Training Video?!

The crew all look so nervous when they appear in a training videos

Oh now Dashi and Shellington are mimicking Tweak

Poor Shellington he’s clumsy

“I have to say I.. really like that plan” yea cuz it’s the one that doesn’t involve you burning in the lava

Shellingtons getting a workout in oof

He’s about to fall into the lava

Now the crabs about to fall into the water

Oh god he’s screwed

Crab jump on the whale- now he’s flying

Shellington get out of the lava!!!

Alright some people are safe

Oh never mind the other volcanoes are erupting too

That water level is dangerously high are they gonna be okay

Kwazii don’t phrase it like that it sounds like you’ll die

KWAZII!!!!!

Oh god oh no his tail

Mimicking Barnacles saved the day

TWEAK!!! KWAZII!!!

Oh they are alright thank god

They’re gonna be traumatized from this- *angst time*

“And how will we get up there” Kwazii making good points again

Kwazii with a grappling hook is a terrifying idea please get one

And now they find out the comms are down

Kwazii trying to be helpful

WHY DOES SHE HAVE AN EMERGENCY CARROT STASH

KWAZII GOT ONE TOO

Another video but this ones useless-

TWEAK YOU TURNED OFF THE POWER

They sounded the octo alert together!!!

Babies

EVERYONES OKAY!!!!

OF COURSE THERES ANOTHER ONE

Kwazii and Tweak: ya we’re good

Also them: *trying to not to drown or burn*

They are all gonna connect to each other like Voltron aren’t they

KWAZII DID PRESS IT IM NOT LOSING MY $3 TODAY!!!

Tweak: I got a plan

*crashes through the hatch*

Kwazii: *excited cat sounds*

Yeah they’re going together naturally

“Mega Gup Z” epic naming skills Tweak

“Seat swap” “wait a minute- WHOA”

“It’s completely covered in sea creatures” there’s no way you get all of them

Oh good some are swimming away

“Sit tight” they can’t really do anything else Captain

Do we know where they go after being S U C C E D into the mega Gup z?

And now rocks are everywhere

Kwazii’s excited cat noises are giving me life

Couldn’t the crabs walk away?

Oh no they’re getting stuck in the volcano-

Oh they’re good thank Neptune

Dashi: yea it’s bout to erupt we gotta go

Peso: I saw something inside there we gotta go look

Does Peso want them to die

Of course the animals sound snobby

“Why ever would we do that” CUZ ITS ERUPTING i swear all the creatures have the IQ of a walnut

“I didn’t even make a button for it” bruh

Yeah just like Voltron

Kwazii: *even more excited cat noises cuz he gets to destroy things*

Why do you all name the moves with the word “mantis” in front of them?

They all share one braincell and Barnacles and Peso have it 90% of the time

Tweak gets the other 10%

Everyone else runs on pure chaotic energy

“Tweak Status Report!” Tweak: WE ARE FUCKED

Let Tweak say “Fuck” 2k21

Kwazii: *e x c i t e d c a t n o i s e s*

*throws sea creatures at whale*

*blows up into five gups in massive explosion in front of erupting volcano*

Is all that sea urchin thinks about is food

“You know what I’d like? Dinner” “you know what pal, that sounds great”

“Have the eruptions stopped” “yea but that’s not what I called about”

Is Inkling trying to be more than that guy who sits in his library all day?

Yea it’s not hatching because of the bandage all around it

Please say the egg doesn’t die

Oh it’s alive good

Octonauts: remember that island that got destroyed by a volcano? Would you like to live on an island that volcano created?

Penguins: not really

Octonauts: too bad

Vegitoa? Wow

ITS THAT STUPID SONG AGAIN LAST TIME IT WAS IT MY HEAD FOR TWO WEEKS

“It still felt like we were working as a team” maybe cuz you were all copying each other the whole time

“You really, really need to update those training videos” yeah fair enough

Of course the Vegimals still remember the dance

I see what the hype was about that was a fantastic movie mateys... though everyone’s probably gonna have some problems after that

[shyrose57]

Oooo maybe some real life plants! but they are .. off somehow, I think that the end should mostly keep its dull very color drained vibes so the colorful things just seem more. So the greens are so gray you could barely call it green, and for subsitute water? Maybe liquid magic. Becasue this place has to run off of magic, they are floating over a void...

SPACE WHALES! Flying Rays, JellyFish! A lot of deep sea horrors fit very nicely into space horrors (and wonders bc I'll cry if the whales are mean :( ) and would do nicely to fill the endless stretches of just void with no land in sight. and Anglerfish... maybe not a fish, or floating in the void like the others but something land bound that uses a hypnotic lure? It lures you in with the feeling of safety and home. There is a reason that the abandoned cities where off the ground :)

Anyways floating over a void, the end (in my head canon) is the source of all magics in Mc (all the planes are connected and it diffuses into the other dimensions, but it is SATURATED in everything in the end, the dragon is pure magic, a manifestation of the end itself, so a lot of things there are magic or sustain themselves on magic (things that stay there (live over generations n stuff our group is fine) get warped by it which could be how over world plants got in there and established themselves, they would not survive in the over world any longer, the sun would kill them, their roots would thirst to death on water. they have magical properties, some of them glow. ) Though there are a lot of End Native plants too (the trees that are only trees when you stretch the definition, that thing that Moves, and has what you could only call teeth but it is not an animal, so it must be a plant) Oooooo maybe the warped fungus ;) I mean everything in the nether is terrified of it, so maybe it doesnt really belong there, and hitched a ride on fleeing endermen

A lot of things glow, (its how we have those stars in the end, they are creatures off in the distance, and whenever the wastelands that stretch on for miles give way to not-trees or shrub-lands, something is gonna glow, which gives the areas eerie shadows that make the wide vulnerable wastelands they came from seem safer than whatever is found in there. The magic running in the rivers sometimes spill out into the abyss and dissipates to start the cycle anew. Things lurk everywhere and kind things are few and far between. The End is full of Life, and That Is Horrifying

Endermen are nomadic and travel in haunts (Im taking this from Human Error :D), and are generally friendly until you look into their eyes (Eyes are windows to the soul, how can they bear to look at you? You are so bright, so Warm. It Sears their eyes, It Burns their very being. Stop looking, It Hurts. Stop Stop Stop-) They are willing to trade and talk Enchanting (So All 3 Dimensions have a Sentient Race :DD) and are very magically inclinded. A lot of mages are endermen or have ender blood in them. The end is very deadly, and Haunts keep eachother alive because their death could mean death of the group (they are very close knit and that leads to very protective (what Im saying is when Tubbo gets back his Husband is going to smother him and fret over one of the 3 members of his Haunt (Tubbo, Michael, and Tommy :) )) when One finds themself without a haunt, many try and find safety in the other dimensions as they will not survive alone in the end.

( I Have more ideas, but the more I think the more I make more and I already think im dumping a lot, so sorry if I wrote too much. I tried to break up the text wall to to make it easier)

Oh, that's a good idea! Mainly dull colors-especially for the more dangerous plants, they'd need to blend in to catch their food. I feel like there'd be some more colorful ones though-the chorus fruits are pretty saturated, after all. Maybe purple colors are brighter, and others are more dull? Or no?

So many space creatures, oh gosh. There'd be very few grounded ones, with so much of the End being void, so sea-based creatures are definitely a good call. That'd be so pretty too?? And we've gotta blur the line between space wonder and eldritch horror for at least a few of them, of course!

The jelly fish are absolutely huge! Massive and glowing through transparent skin, they mainly hang out far from the islands, being mistaken as stars, and their tendrils glow so faintly you can only see them up close. From a distance, they're beautiful, but up close they're terrifying.

Flying rays the size of horses that can be used to cross the void between islands like striders for lava?? Flying rays that's tips fade into an abyssal black so deep it looks they merge into the void? Flying rays with a possible relation to phantoms? Seeking out the sleepless, but only watching, merely drawn to lure them to sleep with the mesmerizing patterns that run along their bodies.

Space whales!!!! Titans so ancient and old, parts of their bodies are overgrown by End islands and forest, making them for all purposes, living, breathing islands. Magic so deeply tied to them that even when they pass, they remain afloat, creating graveyards of still islands, that even still seem to breath when stepped upon. Gentle giants in that they are untouched by anything, and so curious of the new wonders the void welcomes.

A thing that stalks the islands it inhabits, singing out a call that seems ripple across the starry expanse-it sounds like love and warmth and understanding, and it says i love you, the universe loves you, in the same way the poem must rung in your ears, must nestle under your ribs. Love, love, love, it croons. Except then you get too close, and it catches you, and the sound is empty and hollow, and it's grip is tight, and nothing leaves it's arms or island alive, drained of life and magic.

Safety is only in that it is bound to the land, and no creature dares approach it, instinctively knowing of the danger. The islands that even the stars avoid...

Magic dragon?? Yes! Manifestation of the End?? That means it must somehow know how to take the appearance of one. Maybe smaller little space dragons, that play among the bones of the long-gone giant ones. The Ender Dragon isn't as large as they might've been, but it mimics the appearance as best it can-I wonder why. How long has it had that egg, again? How long has it waited for it to hatch?

So we can totally have some of the minecraft plants end-ified! Ooh, and since some adventurers probably brought them there to maybe try surviving in the End, there'd be things like crops and weeds and grass, long mutated as they grow along the ruins of what might've been a home once. E N D M O S S. It glow.

Warped fungus!! But more! Because this one wouldn't have ever been to the Nether, never mutated in such a way. It's home, but somehow, it still feels so very alien to those that look upon it. Maybe no orange?? Orange is Nether-color. Darker blue, or more purple-ish, possibly.

Everything is luminescent. The things that aren't are much more dangerous than the things at are, don't stare into the dark for too long-it might start looking back, and trust me, you don't want that :).

The Endermen Know they are not supposed to be here, even if the newcomers do not Stare with all of the heat and warmth and burn. One may bear the Wings, and two may speak their language, but they are too soft, and colorful, and bright, but not glowing. They are Outsiders, and Outsiders must go home.

Because nothing good comes from those that stay-how do you think that thing knows the universe's lullaby?

They ally with the four, if only to save themselves, but the Outsiders grow on them. Maybe they will visit, but the Outsiders must stay out.

(Ranboo does not let his Haunting out of his sight for awhile. Tommy and Michael too yes, but mainly Tubbo and Phil. They could have strayed too far, they could have not come back. He doesn't Know in the same way the others do, but even he is aware of what he could lose, and what could become)

(Tell me A L L of them, I beg of you)

[frostmarris]

Jailbreak

KakaSaku, KisaSaku, ShikaSaku - Fantasy Au

summary: A witch, a knight, a dog trainer, and an apprentice mage. Great minds think alike.

notes: gift fic for petrikore for the Sakura Haruno discord server's 6 month anniversary exchange!

there's uh,,, a lot more lore and world building that I thought up that I didn't end up including in the fic lol. Maybe I'll continue one day?

Enjoy!

: :

The hall is silent except for the crackling of flames and the whispers of onlookers. The torches perched equidistant along the polished stone walls of the grand hall hold their flickering fires behind fine metal cages, twisting and curled in elegant loops that glow red when kissed by the flames. The court is full, fine silks and satins and lace and pearls crowded together between the towering columns that lined either side of the main path from the entrance to the throne. The noblemen and women keep clear of wide path, necks craving to see over each other and the occasional muffled tap of tailored shoes against marble floor joining the crackling and whispers. Royal guards are placed periodically down the sides of the wide walkway to hold the line, either to keep the members of the court back or to protect them from something else.

All eyes are on the pair of grand doors opposite of the throne, the carved wood aged but well-maintained and the metal lining reflecting the light of the torches. Dancing shadows are cast over the painted carvings of forest creatures - foxes chasing rabbits, a mother doe grazing with a fawn, wolves running as a pack, birds soaring overhead, a hunting party on horseback following a lone stag. In the center, standing atop a green hill, every blade of grass meticulously carved, is a white silhouette of a strange beast - the single horn in the center of its forehead pointing to the heavens and touching a fallen star. The paint and carvings mimic the light radiating from the star, stretching out over the other creatures and bathing them in its ethereal glow.

A chorus of footfalls grows steadily louder from behind the carved wood and the whispers fall silent, leaving only the crackling flames to accompany the low groan of the old doors as the unicorn is split in twain.

The metallic ringing of armor scraping against armor and the sturdy thuds of leather boots against the marble floor soon drowned out the flames, but the entourage of royal guardsmen is ignored in favor of the woman  trapped in the center of the pack. Two men stand on either side of her, just a step behind, with their hands on their hilted swords and their keen gazes never leaving her profile. Ahead of her walks the Captain, holding the iron chain attached to the heavy shackles encompassing her delicate wrists.

Her skin is rubbed red and raw under the sharp edges of the cuffs and her gown is torn and stained along the hem. A long sleeve ripped up to her bicep and a straight scratch along her left cheek, but she might as well have been dressed in all the finery and jewels of a queen with how the court stares in awe. 

She radiates… something. 

Something unseen and powerful and glorious that has breaths caught in lungs and eyes unblinking as she strides forward, the chain slack and her back straight. She stands with all the power and regal air of a royal lady of the court, as if she were here as a guest rather than a prisoner in chains. 

The deep green of her gown, velvet and hemmed with silver threads, sweeps over the marble like a curtain of moss, silent compared to the footsteps of the soldiers. Beaded starlight dappled lightly over her skirt gathers together in larger clusters towards the bottom hem, gradient of silver and white sparkles that catch the crackling flames with every movement. Her skirt trails behind her, tattered and torn, and the guardsmen take care not to step on it. 

They keep a wary distance from the woman, even though they must remain close - as if afraid to touch any part of her.

Hair the color of flowers only found in the royal garden cascades down the open back of her dress, brushing over unmarred skin and twisting in loose curls. Her head is held high and remains facing forward even as her eyes pass over the awed faces of the court. Eyes like the emeralds lining the King's crown and a face that is both hard edges and gentle curves, her stern expression unwavering and the smallest downward tilt to pink lips is the only inclination to her thoughts as she is led towards the raised dais of the throne.

The guardsmen and their charge stop at the first step of the platform and the hall falls silent once more, except for the soft rustling of fabric as the King shifts in his throne. Hard, aged, brown eyes stare into sharp green and the hall is filled with bated breaths, no person daring to speak or draw breath too loudly lest they draw the ire of either the King or the woman.

She stands tall and unwavering, refusing to break her gaze from the King's. Neither of them speak and the tension in the air grows heavy and thick, the crackling of the flames falling to a soft hush as well.

Then, her eyes flicker upwards and green-stained fingertips curl as her hands fist against the fabric of her gown.

The flames lick and rage against their delicate metal cages, growing bigger and brighter and hotter as her gaze falls on the single opalescent, spiraling horn mounted at the top of the King's throne, the jagged ivory base still stained red.

: :

Kakashi sees a ruby. 

It is placed in the center of her forehead, pressed into her skin rather than the metal of a circlet or crown, and it catches the flickering flames of the torches as she passes by.

The Guardian of the Forest, he'd heard them call her - a strange woman inhabiting the mysterious woods just at the edge of the King's claimed land. She kept the creatures of the forest safe, allowing neither hunter nor soldier to enter and discover its secrets. Tales of magical beasts mingling among common animals and an ethereal being dressed in leaves and moss who wandered its hidden paths.

They were bedtime stories and lullabies that all children who lived near the woods grew up hearing, their dreams filled with creatures of legend and fae that would whisk you away into the darkness if you walked too close to those tall, tall trees.

He couldn't recall any mention of pink hair and eyes like green fire, however.

Kakashi stands at the edge of the crowded court, one of his hounds sitting obediently his side while he stands mesmerized, catching glimpses of the strange woman as she is led towards the throne. 

He rarely ventured inside the castle anymore, preferring to spend his time in the kennels where he trained and tended to the royal hunting dogs. He'd had his fill of the court and politics and retired some years ago from his position as the Captain of the Guard. No more bloodshed, no more fighting - Kakashi had seen enough battles and men dying to fill several lifetimes.

Now, he took his place as the kennel master, making sure the hounds were kept happy and healthy between hunts and training pups for their eventual roles in the King's hunting parties. He spent a fair amount of time in the woods, but specifically those near the castle that were used for game and sport. Occasionally he ventured to other forests where townsfolk and noblemen hunted for their meals, but never to the great forest to the West, where white stags and black wolves and something otherworldly roamed.

Kakashi had been checking up on an order for new leather leads for the pack when he'd heard the whispers amongst the castle servants.

"A strange woman in chains caught by soldiers."

"A witch was being bought to the castle."

"The Guardian of the Forest had been captured."

So, he'd slipped into the throne room and kept to the edges of the great hall like many other curious members of the palace staff, unable to resist.

And he sees the woman, standing so tall and strong despite how the shackles dwarf her wrists and she barely reaches the shoulder of the guard next to her, soft and lovely and out of place in the court, and Kakashi insists to himself that there must be some mistake.

But then his hound whines and cowers and the flames lick at the metal cages of the torches, nearly grazing him as they seem to reach out in their rage, and the air grows cold, heavy and thick in his lungs.

And he knows that a mistake has been made, dire and dreadful.

: :

Kisame sees a sapphire.

It reminds him of his homeland, where the sea met the land and great waves crashed against towering cliffsides, carving back the rock and stone as it tried to reclaim what had once been under its care. Ocean spray and salt on his tongue, weathering his skin well before calluses and scars from training and combat. His gaze reading the horizon and tides and stars and the grand forests to the West only a legend for the children of seafarers and fishermen. 

He'd always wanted to see those green, green woods and trees as tall as cliffs, even though his heart sang for the water and seafoam. 

Kisame trained and worked and eventually found his place in the castle guard for the royal palace itself, his ocean home and those rocky shoals seen now only in his dreams. His heart yearned for both the sea and the woods he'd yet to witness, caught between both and unable to choose whether to return or venture onwards.

Now head of the King's personal guard, he dreams of both the past and the future - of before and more.

The Lady of the Woods, he'd heard whispered. 

First as a story-creature when he was a child - a magical woman who'd never seen the ocean or horizon or sky, only trees and their reaching arms that hid away the stars and clouds with their canopies of leaves and vines. A being that spoke to the forest and bade the plants to follow her commands. Both a prisoner and a warden, where life was so unlike that of the coast and the inhabitants sounded alien and strange.

And now again, as he stands at his post to the right of the dais, armor glinting under the flames and his hand resting at his side, always just a moment away from reaching for his sword.

Kisame sees her as the grand doors open and the procession of guardsmen enter and his heart stops.

He sees the sunsets over the horizon that he misses, pink and lovely and breathtaking, and the greens of the great forest he yearns to see, cloaking a body with pale skin that had never known ocean spray or the harsh coastal sun.

Her eyes are more green than any leaf and they travel over the staring faces as she passes, unreadable and intense. The sapphire in the center of her forehead seems out of place amongst the greens of her eyes and gown and fingertips and the pinks of her hair and lashes and lips and Kisame stares like everyone else, something thrumming in his chest and in his ears.

Her eyes meet his own and he takes the smallest, sharpest breath, holding her gaze for what feels like hours, but he knows is only an instant, before her attention is turned to the King. Her anger is palpable and sweat beads at the nape of his neck and he doesn't dare take his eyes off of her.

Kisame is privy to more information than most, as he is always at his King's side, and he knows this woman has been brought here for heinous crimes - murder of soldiers, destruction of royal property, defiance against the King's will - but he finds himself unable to believe it.

She seems so delicate and frail, despite the strength behind her gaze. How could one small - lovely, beautiful, otherworldly - woman destroy an entire battalion? How could this woman have possibly uprooted a small fortress and crushed stone into rubble?

And then her gaze moves away from the king and to the horn mounted overhead and Kisame feels a chill unlike anything he's experienced in years.

The bite of ice in his veins and the suffocating pressure of water and drowning, no air left in his lungs and his heart heavy in his chest. 

His hand is on his sword before he even realizes it and he's stepped forward, just the same as all the guards and soldiers present. The flames behind him grow wild and unruly, but he feels no heat from their lashing tongues. 

Kisame's hand is on his blade but he can find no true desire to draw it, lost as he is in the Lady's gaze.

: :

Shikamaru sees an onyx.

He'd been restless all morning, a heavy pressure at the back of his skull and an unsettling feeling under his skin. He knew what would be happening today, had known for the week leading up to it, but he had no idea what to expect. And not knowing is one of his least favorite feelings. 

The Witch of the Moors.

She was a legend - an enchantress, a sorceress, a shapeshifter - who had only ever been glimpsed through trees and branches of those daring few who entered her woods. Ruby hair, onyx eyes, golden hair, topaz eyes, diamonds and sapphires and pearls and emeralds and so many conflicting stories that encompassed years and years and years. Wearing the forest like a gowns and cloaks and hallowed by starlight, the very earth listened to her command and the creatures of the forest both feared and adored her.

She wasn't supposed to be real.

If anything, it was just some reclusive witch hiding in the great forest to the West, driving away people who tried to enter.

But then the King had taken a hunting party to the forest and returned with the most glorious trophy, exposing his sins to anyone who looked upon the opalescent horn he'd mounted.

Shikamaru had been on edge ever since he'd seen the horn, still bloody and shining though slowly dimming as the King laughed and regaled his grand story. He'd wanted to leave, to lock himself away in his study and beg for forgiveness as he knew there would be dire consequences. But his teacher had a place on the King's council and, as his apprentice, Shikamaru must remain at his side. To learn and listen so that one day he'd be able to take his place as a royal advisor and mage to the King.

His fingertips were numb and his shadows restless, flickering at the edges and twisting underfoot as he stood perfectly still, hands clasped behind his back and his expression tired and every fibre of his being screaming for him to run.

The first omen came the next morning, a dark storm reaching across the sky like a clawed hand, the castle its final mark. Reports claimed that the storm stretched across miles and miles, no break in the black and charcoal clouds. Lightning crackled just under the surface, never striking the ground but filling the air with static and energy.

The storm originated from the great forest, with its massive trees and otherworldly legends, and reached all the way across the kingdom for the King himself.

He had the horn mounted to his throne that evening.

And during the night, he claimed someone - some thing - had slipped into his bedchamber and tried to kill him.

(Reports from the guards claimed that they had rushed to the King's chamber at the sound of his screams, to find him waking from a nightmare and a manic look in his gaze.)

The next day, he sent a small battalion of soldiers to the forest. 

Only one man returned, half dead upon his horse with reports of a bloodbath and screams and a witch standing on the rubble of what had once been an ancient watchtower.

The King consulted his mages and magical advisors and they came back with a potion, iron shackles, and a plan.

And now the Witch of the Moors had been brought to the castle to answer for her crimes and, again, all Shikamaru wanted was to run away.

The air is electrifying in the hall well before the doors finally open, the hair on his arms standing on edge but no one else seeming to notice the unrest in the atmosphere. Shikamaru stands to the left of the dais, at the back of the council and behind his teacher but with a clear view of the path to the throne.

The grand doors open and his blood sings.

A powerful force rushes through his veins, both chilling and burning all at once, and he hasn't seen her yet but he k nows she is there. There are whispers and hushed voices calling feather-soft into his ears, drawing patterns against his bare skin under his clothing and making him tense. His shadows writhe and twist and it's the only movement from him as he finds himself standing frozen-still, gaze straining as he waits for her to come into view.

Shikamaru finally, finally, sees petal-pink hair, green eyes brighter than any gem, and an onyx stone in the center of her forehead and he tries and fails to breathe.

Something is so terrible wrong and he can tell that his teacher feels it now as well as he tenses and inhales sharply through his teeth, but Shikamaru doesn't dare look away from the woman - he never wants to look away.

He feels her anger under his skin and in his veins and he knows she has every right to tear the castle itself down around them and rip apart anyone who stands in her way. He knows the only crime committed has been against her and, then and there, he resigns himself to whatever destruction she desires and knows that he will be leaving the castle by daybreak.

The flames roar and scream and rage and after things are calmed to simmering rather than overboiling and the woman is led away in her iron shackles, three minds simultaneously come to the same conclusion.

Tonight is the only night she will spend as a prisoner.

: :

Kisame brings her food.

He swipes the meal meant for her from one of the prison guards to hand-deliver it himself, using his authority as the head of the King's personal guard and claiming he wants a closer look at the witch, sharp steel in his gaze and his jaw tense.

The hardness of his expression melts away as he faces the door to her cell, high up in one of the tallest towers and far away from earth and soil. He meets her with a hushed voice and light steps as he enters, finding her still shackled at the wrist and kneeling at the far edge of the dark room. There is a single hole high above her, allowing a single ray of light from the setting sun to enter the cell.

She pauses in the midst of singing in a language Kisame doesn't understand and looks up at him, those emerald eyes practically glowing in the dark.

He carefully approaches her and slowly lowers to one knee, setting the food in front of her. Though her meal had originally only consisted of stale bread and water, he'd added a few fresh pieces of fruit that he'd swiped from the kitchen to the platter.

She meets his gaze and Kisame feels as if she is staring into his very soul, reading every thread of his being and slowly taking him apart, piece by piece.

And then her stern, indecipherable expression melts away and she offers him a near-smile, reaching out to touch his arm with her cuffed hands. He's never felt such soft skin against his own and he freezes, breath caught again before he bows his head in reverence and promises his return. Kisame unwillingly backs out of the cell and and doesn't look away from her until the door is closed.

He swipes the spare ring of keys mounted at the guard station after passing the original back to the prison guard, already making plans for a pair of horses and supplies.

: :

Kakashi brings her a blanket.

It's old and from his own home, so he's inwardly apologetic for any lingering dog-smells, but he would rather she have something of his than something belonging to the castle. 

It's still fairly early in the evening and he distracts the prison guards with Pakkun, the small dog grabbing their attention as he makes off with someone's coinbag and they chase after him. Kakashi slips through the shadows, unseen and unnoticed and well practiced at getting where he wants to go without being spotted.

He curses as he finds the spare ring of keys missing from its usual spot in the guard station and resigns himself to picking the lock, using skills that have gone unused for some years.

The sound of muffled singing stops just as he manages to unlock the latch and carefully push the door open.

She's kneeling in front of the far wall, hair he longs to touch and run through his fingers cascading down her shoulders as she watches him warily. Still slightly crouched, Kakashi stares at her for a long moment, forgetting why he'd come, before he's startled by a soft bark in the distance.

Pulled from his reverie, Kakashi glances over his shoulder before silently slipping into the cell. Her eyes narrow and he holds up his hands as a show of peace, smiling behind the cloth covering the lower half of his face. Green eyes stare and stare and he holds his breath for almost too long, relaxing when she finally seems to find what she's searching for in his gaze.

Kakashi speaks, softly and lightly and her tense shoulders lower, her head tilting and sending those soft tresses in further waves down her arm as he procures the blanket from under his belt. He holds it out to her and she hesitantly reaches for it, his boot brushing an apple core as he takes another crouched step forwards.

Soft, delicate hands touch his rough, weathered fingers and she gives him the smallest smile as she accepts his gift.

His heart is pounding in his chest and he nearly lets out a small laugh, but then he hears more barking in the distance, grimacing behind his mask. Kakashi promises to return and slips back out of the cell, listening to the click of the lock and casting the door one last look before disappearing into the shadows.

: :

Shikamaru brings her a candle.

He stashes it away in his pocket and heads towards the tower used as a secondary prison with a lie on his tongue and conviction in his veins. He claims that the other mages sent him to see the witch, showing off a vial filled with shimmering black liquid that, in reality, is just metal shavings and ink. 

He's led to her cell and watches as the door is unlocked for him, one of his shadows slipping into that of the prison guard to inspect the key as he enters the dark room, the sound of singing suddenly stopping. The sun has set and the sky has been dark for some time now, with the only light coming from the torches lining the hall outside the cell doors. The guard places a torch temporarily in one of the wall sconces and closes the door behind him, leaving Shikamaru with the woman.

She's bundled under a blanket and watching him with curiosity, something tickling the edges of his awareness and making him shiver, a buzz of energy under his skin. He stands there for a moment, holding her gaze, before walking forward and slowly dropping to his knees in front of her. Removing the candlestick from his pocket, Shikamaru gathers some of the energy in the air into his hand and passes his fingers over the wick, a flame lighting to life and flickering between them. The light dances across her face, catching in her eyes and the onyx on her forehead, and he waits with bated breath.

Then she chuckles and Shikamaru finds himself smiling, holding reaching to her left and using some of the melted wax to anchor the candle to the stone floor. When he looks back up at her, he's caught off guard by warm lips on his forehead and a spark of energy that rushes through him and makes his hair stand on end, his blood racing and roaring.

With hushed whispers, Shimamaru promises to return, retrieves the torch from the wall of the cell, and returns to his room to pack only the most important of his possessions.

: :

The next evening, after a tense day full of anxious thoughts and restless bodies, the commander of the King's personal guard, the kennel master, and the apprentice mage return to the prison tower.

Kisame and Kakashi arrive at the same door at the same moment.

They balk at each other, both searching for their next course of action and unwilling to harm each other. Kinda-sorta-friends and all that.

"Commander Hoshigaki…" Kakashi says, shuffling awkwardly with his lockpick hidden behind his back.

"Hatake…" Kisame answers back, just as stiff and tense.

A long stretch of silence passes between the men, muffled singing heard from behind the door next to them, and Kisame just barely shifts, the ring of keys hidden under his coat jingling at the movement and slipping out of their place in the picket he'd hurriedly stuffed them into. They hit the ground with a dull thud and both men look down, sweat beading on Kisame's brow as Kakashi’s eyes widen.

The knight grimaced, wondering if it would be quieter to knock him out by punching him in the face and knocking his head against the wall.

"...So that's where the spare keys went." Kakashi mumbles after a moment and Kisame's confusion is just long enough for the silver haired kennel master to sheepishly hold up his lockpicking tool and let out a nervous laugh.

Kisame opens his mouth to speak but is too dumbfounded to find words. They both silently shuffle their feet for a moment before a tired groan from the shadows has both men suddenly turning towards the source, a sword raised and a knife in hand within seconds.

Shikamaru steps out of the shadows, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and holding up the copy-key he'd made with the other. 

"Man, did we all have the same jailbreak idea..?"

The three would-be rescuers all stare at each other for a moment, Kisame resheathing his sword and Kakashi slipping his blade back into its spot on his belt as there's a chorus of awkward grunts and murmurs.

"One horse or two..?" Shikamaru asked after a moment, looking up at the much-taller Kisame. He'd only been able to get a single stallion, since he rarely left the castle anyways, and he doubted Commander Hoshigaki would be as unlucky.

"Two," Kisame admits, scratching at his cheek. "I've, uh, got them saddled and ready over by the West wall."

Shikamaru nods in approval but then Kakashi lets out a tired chuckle.

"Cart for me."

At their stares he sighs and shrugs.

"I've got dogs I'm taking with me, alright?"

The air is eerily quiet for a moment as the three men discuss their plans in hushed tones before Shikamaru suddenly tenses, static under his fingers as he sends the door a startled look.

All at once there's a rumble and a crash, the ground shaking and the sound of thunder filling their ears, coming from behind the cell door. The three men share startled looks before scrambling forward to unlock the door, a rush of fresh air meeting them the moment they throw it open.

The far wall of the cell has been blown apart, tree roots and branches digging into the floor and reaching into the room while the light of the moon dappled the darkness through the leaves. 

Kneeling on the thick roots with one leg outside of the tower is the witch, who looks back at the men for a long moment. Then, she grins, waves, and hops off the ledge, sliding down the length of a massive tree that had reached up toward the tower, branches and leaves curling away from her as she makes her escape.

Kakashi, Kisame, and Shikamaru stare at the place she'd been for a long moment before the latter finally speaks up.

"S-so, uh… do we follow her or take the stairs..?"

[before-the-black-pearl]

I made those modern Jack and Fitzy headcanons over a year and a half ago. I started writing a modern!AU fic since then so I developed the headcanons more and I wanted to share some of them. Keep in mind this may be a little different than what I present in the actual fic. I’m making some shit up on the spot.

So picture this: The young Jack Sparrow books taking place today and all the characters are in high school in Tampa, Florida, and the school is called...

Barnacle High School

Jack the “I was at the door when the bell rang” Sparrow:

He’s one of The Boyz🥶🥵😎 But like the stupid kind who thinks they’re better than everyone else.

He’s a troublemaker and creates a lot of mischief around campus.

Mischief includes but not limited to: pulling the fire alarm multiple times, drilling holes between the boys and girls gym locker rooms, defaced a bunch of textbooks with The Boyz drawing dicks on every single page, one time he snuck into the office and played pr0n on the schoolwide intercom speaker, a time he gave everyone “shits and giggles” (laxative and weed) brownies at a school dance and caused everyone to shit and puke all over the gym floor and it made the news,..... How tf isn’t he expelled?

Unsurprisingly he gets in fights. The fights are half of the time started by other students, but gets in trouble anyway.

Constantly interrupts the teachers to the point where they write him up or kick him out.

Sometimes fucks with the quiet kids like “Hey, mate, do you know what we’re doing?” “Can you like teach it to me?” “You can do it for me, right?” “Why don’t you ever talk, mate?”

He’s actually pretty smart but the teachers don’t like him and home sucks so he gave up.

Probably has ADHD.

Wears layers, like leather, denim, flannels, t-shirts, hoodies, jeans of various “tightness”, studded belts, many pairs of combat boots or knockoff timbs. Half his shit is from Goodwill.

Undercuts for dayyyzzzz. Think Coming Storm cut but the bottom is shaved off.

Still wears his nasty ass bandana even though the teachers always tells him he can’t wear it in class.

His makeup literally always slaps.

He likes to collect random things and sometimes puts them on his clothes or his backpack or in his locker.

Obsessed with dead things (furs, pelts, bones, stuffed animals, etc)

Has a fascination with the sea and likes the nautical aesthetic.

Bonus: Yeah he totally vapes.

Arabella the “Shut up and let me work” Smith:

She’s the “good kid” and sometimes the “quiet kid.” Jack definitely fucks with her in class sometimes until she pops off and they both get written up.

She’s an honors student and exceeds well in her classes.

She’d rather blend in with the crowd and not many students really notice her. She keeps herself contained in a small group of friends.

If she’s not with her friends, she’s probably in the library.

She’s really into Art and History.

Kind of a conspiracy nut and likes reading into urban legends and stuff.

Infodumps about her interests to Jack and he gets hella annoyed.

Jack sometimes follows her around and she gets hella annoyed but she gets sad when he’s not around.

Mediates between Jack and Fitz.

Jack and Fitzy fight over her. Jean has shown a little interest in her too.

She ate the “giggles” from Jack’s brownies. She got so fucked up she had a panic attack and left the dance really early before all the chaos began in the gym.

Kinda looks like she hasn’t really left 2015...like basic white girl with knit sweaters and cardigans, t-shirts and tanks, leggings, boots or sandals, etc. Sometimes also wears hoodies and jeans.

Headbands and beanies and cottagecore-like bandanas.

Yeah her makeup slaps too.

She works for her father after school at the Tortuga Tavern, formerly named Faithful Bride before it was forced to change to something more “PC.”

Fitzwilliam the “My uncle is the principal” Dalton (the third):

Basic snobby rich kid.

President of every “snobby kid club”; the Chess Club, the Key Club, the Student Council, and Yearbook.

Also an athlete and is in the school’s track team and soccer team.

Is in a clique with his equally snobby friends.

Yeah but he’s like hella proper.

He’s well educated and knows several different languages.

Hella ignorant about certain shit tho.

Big fuckin FLEXER with his expensive name-brand clothing and tech.

Lies about being friends with celebrities and online influencers and shit.

Ate one of the “shits” brownies....Just leaving that to the imagination until I make a one-shot.

Drippin’ Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, Coach, etc... Literally like full fucking tracksuits, knit sweater over button-up combo, fancy coats, name-brand t-shirts, jeans over hundreds to thousands of $$$, shoes costing almost as much as rent.

The pocketwatch from the books is a fancy golden $30,000 Rolex wristwatch.

Jack keeps taking his watch.

Wears his hair up in a manbun like it’s still 2015 and Jack keeps teasing him about it.

Yeah got like a brand new iPhone and and iPad and a really expensive laptop and an iWatch even though I already got a regular watch on my other wrist.

Jean the “I swear to god she’s like my sister” Magliore:

Y’all know it, he’s in the Anime Club.

Jean and Tumen are best friends, and in my story, foster brothers.

Likes video games and always has his Nintendo Switch with him.

Internet memelord and low key has “band kid” energy.

Always be sending Tumen or the “Barnacle Crew” group chat memes.

Being from New Orleans is a personality trait and is very enthused with his Creole roots and loves creole dishes.

He runs a foodie Instagram account with a large following. Self proclaimed foodfluencer.

Sometimes sells candy and chips at school. Gets in trouble for it.

Yeah he ate multiple brownies at the dance....

Jean has a cat Constance, named after his deceased sister, he brings to school hidden in his backpack.

Constance will literally eat just about everything, mimics human noises, and her expressions are very human-like according to Jean. Her traits are so much like his sister, Jean believes she is his sister born as a cat in a new life.

He made Constance her own Instagram account.

Jack HATES Constance. Constance LOVES Jack.

Hoodies, jeans, headphones, beanies.

His hair is the same but a bit shorter.

“Suspiciously quiet kid” Tumen:

The quiet kid sitting in the back of the class and drawing while listening to music.

He is also in the Anime Club with Jean.

Since Jean is into video games, Tumen is a weeb.

Jean is the only person he really hangs out with at school.

Tumen doesn’t have a phone in my fanfic but for the purpose of this headcanon and the group chat, he does have one.

He’s more of a “lurker” in the GC.

Jean’s #1 meme reactor.

He watches anime crack videos.

Tumen is the most “immature” than the others since he’s the youngest.

The only one who didn’t eat the brownies. Got interviewed on the news.

He takes pride in his Mayan heritage.

Has a random interest in geography and wants a career as a cartographer.

Anime t-shirts and hoodies galore.

Always has his hood up in class.

Teachers always telling him to put his hood down.

Tim “the newbie” Hawk:

He eventually transfers to Barnacle High.

I don’t have a full headcanon written for him yet.

Principal Lawrence Norrington:

Principal of Barnacle High.

Fitzwilliam’s uncle.

HATES Jack Sparrow.... Again how tf is Jack not expelled?

Brings his kid James to work sometimes even though the kid should be at school himself.

Jack sitting in the principal’s office in trouble again and James keeps bugging him. “Do you play Fortnite?” “No. Beat it, kid.”

Tia Dalma:

The school nurse.

Jack is buddies with her and he goes to her and pretends to be sick when he wants to ditch class.

Has crab parts in jars in the cabinets. No one questions it.

Joshamee Gibbs:

The janitor.

He’s in the Navy but he’s on off-duty employment.

Jack is buddies with him too.

He writes Jack fake doctors notes or signs permission slips or covers for Jack when he’s ditching, in exchange for booze Jack has at home.

He had to clean up the gym after the brownies incident ☹️

I don’t know how to write Davy Jones into this.

For the sake of this headcanon, it would be funny if Torrents was like a science teacher or something. Or if Madame Minuet was like an economics or math teacher. Or if Silverback is an English teacher. Or if Left-Foot Louis is a PE teacher and he’s all running in circles because he’s got two left feet lol.

Btw all these teachers HATE Jack 😂

[asexualzoro]

list of reasons i find Brook ridiculous

for brook’s birthday, ive decided to follow up my other two posts of this genre by dragging yet another idiot swordsman. i have everybrook open on my phone next to me. here we go

- first and foremost his most ridiculous crime is existing. as he’s already so ridiculous as a character, im going to talk only about things hes done

- i want to know, did Brook make a conscious effort to change his laugh to sound like his favorite song? how long did it take? what was the in between period like? what did his crew have to say about this? the rumbar pirates were big on playful teasing, did they let Brook live this down? 

- ALTERNATIVELY: was brook’s laugh already like that? is that why bink’s sake is his favorite song? is that why it was York’s favorite-- oh we only made it two bullet points before i made myself sad

- relatedly i cannot make fun of anything Brook did in his backstory it will make me too sad. hes spared for now

- i DO want to say from a writing standpoint its so fucking ridiculous to me that he mentions twice being a convoy captain in the past and it never comes up again. oda?? why even bother to include something that cool if you weren't even going to do anything with it?? you could have said hes just always been a pirate but no. oda?? oda

- there was that bit where a bunch of people thought Brook was satan and addressed him as such (i think Satan-sama in the original, and the translation i read was like... Lord Satan or Lord Demon or something). not only did Brook never correct them, but he also ran with it and later used this case of mistaken identity as a reason to threaten to eat a man’s heart 

- also both men and women were showing him their underwear in that bit. bi rights

- those satanists let Brook get kidnapped while saying they would try to summon him back. do you think they're still at it

- Brook is older than... basically every old man in the series. Garp, Whitebeard, Rayleigh... all of them. something about that is so weird to me and i cannot place why

- Brook has seen and can prove the existence of an afterlife in One Piece canon and its then never addressed again

- Brook missed so many huge events while being dead. im looking at a timeline rn and these include the obvious, like, roger’s execution and subsequent effect on in-world culture and society and whatever. but also things like the destruction of ohara (which was in his home sea), the founding of the world power known as the revolutionary army (which was about 20yrs ago), and the births of every other member of his crew. wack

- he seems to know about stuff related to the pirate king post time skip, and i wonder if thats because someone told him or he’s just playing along now. maybe he just thinks Luffy made up the term pirate king cuz it sounds cool and he wants to support his captain’s interests

- if he DID ask though, like, who did he ask? his managers? did he pull aside some fan asking for an autograph at a concert like “hey, you look like a knowledgable young lad, mind helping me out?”

- i would love to be there when someone takes the time to explain roger, the pirate king, raffle, the One Piece.... and Brook asks them “what is the One Piece?”.... and someone has to look him in the eye (...or not) and tell him “i don't know” 

- Brook has technically died of fright (his soul left his body), like... at least once? it was luffy’s fault

- Brook was an urban legend on the florian triangle and i doubt he even knows that about himself

- when they're heading to fishmen island Brook gets all scared when they encounter a possible ghost ship and Usopp slaps him

- when captured by big mom he sleeps so godamn soundly and securely that he is harder to wake up than she is and this fact nearly gets a bunch of his crew killed

- Brook is the only character i can think of who has ever broken the fourth wall. he only did it once. maybe seeing the afterlife means he now knows hes in a manga. or maybe being isolated for 50 years just made his head be not screwed on right

- speaking of, there’s a bit in WCI at the wedding where Brook is decapitated. i don't know how it goes in the anime, but in the manga like... no one is shown to have decapitated him. his head just pops off. maybe he was just having fun

- also the bit where he rips the fake face off in wci. when someone calls him gross he cries

- there’s a bit in fishmen island where Brook is trying to ask Nami if he can see her panties (disgusting bastard) and he inadvertently protects her from being dehydrated by some guy they were fighting. except the panel setup reminds me a lot of / mimics ace protecting Luffy from Akainu, and it haunts me

- speaking of bits from fishmen island that haunt me, there's a page where it’s strongly implied Brook fucked a mermaid (maybe two). i will of course include the page here

- yeah. sorry. 

- when Brook first meets the strawhats he invites himself inside because “it’s cold out!” but he later admits in punk hazard that he cant feel cold. he was just lying

- no one introduces himself to Brook except Luffy for the entirety of thriller bark

- half related, Franky cradles Brook in his arms / carries Brook around for like a full scene in thriller bark 

- there's a link two second bit in film gold where the crew is just relaxing while they're planning for how they're going to get Zoro back and they're all shown eating burgers from pirate mcdonalds or whatever. and Brook is eating a burger and hes so messy that hes got burger on his forehead, and Franky is next to him just looking at him

- Brook also wears fake skin in that movie

- Brook has a running gag where he gets upset when things refuse to eat him and i was going to make a joke about it but im wondering if maybe hes just afraid of being left behind........ made myself sad again

- he cries when a dragon won't eat him tho

- Brook admits to reading monster hentai when talking to Sanji and Kin’emon and if i have to be burdened with knowing that so do you

- when hes trying to figure out the weakness of the zombies on thriller bark he overhears one ate a salted fish and lost its shadow and immediately assumes “oh, must have been the fish!” idiot man

- where does his sword cane go when hes not using it. it just appears. where does he store it

- there's a bit where the strawhats all use a combo attack at thriller bark and the first step is firing an electrically charged Brook in a slingshot through oars/oz. he ends up in a wall and no one ever pulls him out. i don't even think the manga shows how he got down

- enemies post time skip regularly assume Brook is dead when they manage to knock the crew out and it makes me wonder how popular of a rock star Brook actually was

- Brook goes on a mini rant to no one while they're descending to fisherman island where he wonders aloud how he sees without eyes and it makes me lose it

- this isn't Brook technically but Nekomamushi is based on a song Brook’s voice actor wrote about his cat.

- Brook literally doesn't have a brain. like i know we all know that but its so fucking funny. we make jokes about other strawhats only having one braincell or whatever but Brook straight up 100% just has a seashell where his brain is supposed to be 

-  why does he have rubber glove looking hands when hes haunting the castle at wano i fucking hate them

- relatedly, there’s a bit where Brook mentions he’s been, at kinemon’s interaction, sitting in a well for like... possibly days? is he okay

- honestly i love everything about Brook’s actions as a ghost in wano bc its so fucking funny but my FAVORITE fact is that Brook is in the wikipedia article about starving skeletons

im leaving you with that. appreciate ur local skeleton today

[cupidcreates]

akdsfjkdksj I wasn’t expecting you to churn all this content out so quick (´∀｀)♡ omgosh you went above and beyond with the love language ask!! I love to see your interpretation of these characters so what do the cast consider the perfect date to be? low key vs high key? local vs out of town? -😌✨

Thank you! I’m glad you liked the love language post, sorry it took so long lol. As for their favorite dates I think I’ll do the same characters here:

Katsuki Bakugou

Rock Climbing/Hiking Dates

Canonically one of Katsuki’s favorite things to do is go rock climbing so he’d definitely want to bring a SO along every so often. If you’re an athletic person and enjoy being outdoors this will be a very fun date! If you’re not a very athletic person (as many of us aren’t) Katsuki will settle for just going for a short hike along a trail. Katsuki gets super talkative on hikes as well, as you’re walking he’ll just be talking about literally anything! From Hero work to his friends/family, to things that have been bothering him lately. Whatever is on his mind he’ll share with you while you’re both out, which is incredibly helpful as he doesn’t ever discuss his feelings at any other point in time. Plus it gives him a chance to show off how fit he is in front of you, which you both always consider a plus.

Izuku Midoriya

Movie Dates

A Classic, perhaps a little plain even, but Izuku absolutely loves to take you to the movies. He loves everything about the date, from discussing what you’re about to watch, to getting the snacks, to whispering in the back row (if you’re the type to get annoyed by talking during a movie he’ll keep this to a bare minimum). He loves being able to snuggle up next to you and hold your hand while discussing the finer points of the plot (If you’ll tolerate talking of course). Don’t think he’s being innocent here though, he definitely uses the darkness surrounding you as cover as he runs his hands up your thighs. Unbeknownst to most, Izuku is actually very much a horndog. He conceals it very well but he’s only barely capable of keeping his hands to himself when it comes to his SO. Any chance he gets to touch you he’ll take it, more than likely this is why his second favorite type of date is usually a stay-in date...

Shoto Todoroki

Dinner Dates

Another Classic, Shoto loves to treat his SO to expensive treats with his favorite being food-related dates at lavish restaurants. Not a week goes by that he doesn’t take you out on the town for the night at some place you’re sure you couldn’t even afford a glass of water at. It’s almost never the same place twice either, Shoto is actually a foodie and enjoys trying new types of cuisine whenever he can. He’s got a whole list of places he wants to take you, and if they require reservations he’s already got them locked down. If you love eating Shoto is your man, he’ll make sure you’re set with a wide variety of foods to choose from and always remembers any place you happen to be partial to.

Denki Kaminari

Amusement/Water Park Dates

Denki is a fun-loving guy through and through, he knows how to have a good time and wherever you happen to go he makes sure you do too. That being said, his absolute favorite place to take you is to an amusement or water park. It’s not often you two get to go, as you’re both very busy with your respective hero work most days, but when you do it’s a day-long affair. You’re there from the minute the park opens to the second it shuts down, riding as many rides as you can manage, eating greasy garbage food, and making sure to strike the dumbest poses for any rides that take pictures. You’ve got a whole scrapbook of these photos by now, their ridiculousness increasing with each new one added.

Eijirou Kirishima

Beach Dates

You wouldn’t expect Eijirou Kirishima to be a Thalassophile (Def. Person who loves the ocean) but he is. He adores being on the beach and it’s his preferred location for a date. You’ve spent many a sunny afternoon seaside with Eijirou, building sandcastles, chasing crabs, and just enjoying the ocean. One memorable afternoon you found yourselves right next to a sea turtles nest and you got to watch the babies pop out of the sand and scurry towards the ocean, assisted by Eijirou as he chased off the seagulls looking to make them a meal. Eijirou also enjoys surfing, and if you know how to do so he’ll get you matching boards so you can ride the waves together. If you’re not partial to surfing he’ll be sure to pull out all his tricks while you watch him, he’ll even let you onto his board with him so you two can just float together by the shore. Of course you two can’t go to the beach year round, but when you can you’re both sure to make the most of these sunny days, even if he does get an awful sunburn by the end of it. 

Hitoshi Shinsou

Gaming Dates

Hitoshi isn’t what one would call ‘social’ when given the choice between going out for a night and staying home he’ll almost always choose the latter. So it’s expected that his favorite type of date is one where you two can stay inside and enjoy each others company. You both work so hard as Heros, why not spend your days off relaxing with one another? He can spend hours alone with you, preferably kicking your ass at Mario Party or some other multiplayer game. He doesn’t need anything except you, his consoles, and a pile of your favorite snacks to have a good time. That being said, if you want him to go out for a date the best way to convince him is to take him to some kind of arcade, especially if it’s a VR arcade. He feels a kind of nostalgic joy for these places and won’t hesitate to return and feel like a kid again. Plus it’s always nice to repeatedly prove to you that yes he is the champion of Dance Dance Revolution and you will never usurp this title from him.

Tamaki Amajiki

Park/Picnic Dates

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Tamaki loves spending time outdoors; surrounded by and in awe of nature and it’s complex inner workings. He enjoys just taking time to appreciate the world around him, so dates where you can both relax outside and enjoy each other’s company are his favorite kind. He has a specific hill at his favorite park he likes to take you, bringing a lunch of all your favorite foods he sets you both up under the biggest shade tree for an afternoon. You both lay back on your worn picnic blanket and just cloudgaze, talking for hours about anything and everything. Much like Bakugou, Tamaki gets very talkative on these dates, discussing his week with you and anything new he might have learned over the course of it. He’s so very endearing on these dates its easy to fall silent and just listen to him for hours.

Mirio Togata

Crafting Dates

Mirio likes to have memorabilia from your dates, so you can expect a lot of dates to center around making things. More than just your average painting classes Mirio has also taken you to sculpting, woodworking, and glass blowing classes to name a few. At the end of your dates you both exchange what you’ve made and Mirio absolutely adores anything you craft, regardless of its quality in your eyes. He puts his heart and soul into making you something and more often than not it turns out spectacularly. Mirio wasn’t as good with the ceramics class, but you love the warped vase he made (even if it was technically supposed to be a cup at the start, we’ve all been there). Mirio’s kept everything you made him and even has a shelf in his house just dedicated to what you’ve made, it makes him so happy to come home after a hard day of work and see physical memories of his time with you.

Keigo Takami

Aquarium/Zoo Dates

Underneath Keigo’s charming and charismatically upbeat personality lies a bitter and broken man, drained by his role in Hero Society and left an empty shell of his former self. Underneath that personality lies a kid who never got to have a proper childhood and desperately wants to make up for it. He now uses his dates with you to do just that; not that you mind of course, dates with Keigo are always fun and lighthearted and you love to see him truly enjoy himself for once. Keigo’s favorite places to go are definitely large and intricately designed Zoos and Aquariums. He loves to look at the painstakingly accurate and detailed natural habitats, make fun of the stranger animal names you find, and learn new information about foreign bird species. Loves to mimic their calls too, much to the irritation of the birds and the zoo employees. He makes it a point to always get you a stuffed animal at the end of the date, ensuring that you now have a massive collection of them sitting all around your room. You’re always kept up to date on any Zoo or Aquarium events thanks to Keigo, as he has a calendar dedicated to all the unique events they have going on throughout the year.

Touya Todoroki

Crash Dates

Dabi is...well he’s unpredictable at the best of times and it’s very rare that you two have time for anything even resembling a date (being an S class villain does make it hard to exist normally in society and do normal couple things but it ees what it ees). However, when he can take you one a date --well the term “date” is generous here- it’s never a dull one. You’re not sure how he does it but when you go out you always manage to end up somewhere Dabi could never get into naturally. From sold-out concerts, to stand up shows, to parties at lavish houses belonging to people you’ve never even heard of let alone met before; dates with Dabi are always somewhere you two definitely shouldn’t be. One memorable morning he took you to a country club where you got to each fancy exclusive rich people food and play a horrible facsimile of golf before you were eventually found and chased out. It’s always fun to see how long you two can crash an even before being found out.

Tomura Shigaraki

Cemetery/Haunted Places Dates

Tomura Shigaraki is a man who enjoys his space from other people, in his opinion the only good person is a dead one (unless he’s talking about you, of course). So it’s not abnormal for your dates to be in a place far away from others. Again the term “date” is being very generous, more often than not he’ll approach you, tell you to follow him, and you’ll wind up in some abandoned building or graveyard. Normally this would be cause for concern, as this is exactly what happens in horror movies before someone gets killed, but Tomura has a soft spot for you so your safety is ensured. Tomura loves to see a place reclaimed by nature, vines growing over a run down house or worn out gravestones breaking apart into chunks of marble with barely legible words on them. He doesn’t talk much on your dates, but will often give you a random bit of insight about him; like on one date where you both walked alongside abandoned train tracks at dusk and he told you about the dog he had as a child. He seeks no pity from you, and these dates are not the conventionally romantic type, but you enjoy being able to be with Tomura in a way no one else ever has or ever will.

[spookybias]

pairing: park sunghoon x gender neutral! reader

genre: slice of life ─ fluff

synopsis: coming up with halloween costumes is harder than you and sunghoon thought.

warning: a very brief description of dolls hanging by their throats.

word count: 1.5k

note: for @enhypenwriters 7 days of fright. i don’t think there’s trick or treating in south korea, but this is just for kicks. also, i kind of cringed while writing this LMAO.

THE SHOP SMELLED LIKE PUMPKIN SPICE AND COLD LEAVES, CANDY CORN AND BLACK CATS IN GARDENS; both the scents of four days till Halloween. Fake skeletons climbed the store walls, and creepy dolls -blood stains and scratches spotted on their porcelain bodies- hung from the ceiling by the string wrapped around their necks. Much cuter and playful knick-knacks littered the display tables throughout the store.

“Do you two already know what kind of costume you’re looking for?” Sunoo asked. It had been his idea to visit the shop on a hunt for last minute costumes, for a last minute planned trick or treat outing.

“Something unique. I don’t want us to be dressed like any of you guys or have a common option,” You responded.

“Something simple,” Sunghoon stated. He had been particularly cranky about last minute shopping, as he was one who preferred to get things out of the way before a big event. Sunghoon would do anything for you, though, and that included suffering through something he despised the most.

“Ni-Ki, let’s go as scarecrows,” Jungwon suggested. He tossed a straw hat Ni-Ki’s way.

Sunoo snatched the hat before Ni-Ki could grab hold of it. “No, Ni-Ki is going as a vampire with me.”

“You always hog Ni-Ki,” Jungwon complained.

“That’s because I’m a good hyung who helps him flat iron his hair” Sunoo replied, rolling his eyes. “What do you have to offer?”

“Just pick something all three of you can go as together.” You grabbed Sunghoon’s wrist and dragged him passed a display table with smiling jack-o-lanterns and fake tombstones, and into an aisle of capes and robes.

The lanky boy leaned against a clothing wrack of animal printed tops, trying his best not to sigh in irritation. “Any specific idea on what you want to dress as? I’m down for whatever you want.”

“So if I said let’s dress up as fairytale princesses, you’d be okay with that?” You joked.

Sunghoon chuckled. He thought to himself. If you oh so desperately wanted to go as princesses, he might just do it. Your happiness was his top priority, which proved just how whipped Sunghoon was for you. But you didn’t need to know that. “Okay, maybe I wouldn’t dress up as just anything you choose.”

“That’s better.” You gave him a mischievous smile, rubbing your hands together as if you had just come up with a devious plan. “I can’t be trusted with that much power.” You headed off further into the aisle.

Sunghoon gazed from behind. He loved your playful attitude. It never failed at making his heart flutter, and there was never a dull moment. Although he found last minute shopping to be quite frustrating, he knew that with your pure heart and gold soul, he would at least be entertained.

And maybe a bit flustered.

Your sudden interest in the trick or treat outing did leave him puzzled, though. When he asked you if you had plans, you had simply stated that you didn’t, and wanted to have a movie night with him.

You sauntered through the shop, bags of chocolate candies and witch hats being the most apparent items, before a red cloak caught your eye.

“Sunghoon, do you wanna-” You turned around to find that your boyfriend was no longer behind you. “Sunghoon, where are you?” You had been so absorbed in the store’s decorative contents that you had lost your boyfriend in the sea of costumes and collectibles.

“Can’t we just go as ghosts?” Sunghoon groaned, appearing in front of you with a white sheet over his tall body. He had hoped to pop out and scare you, but he didn’t seem to have the energy to put it in the effort. The boy flailed his arms under the blanket in what was supposed to mimic a ghost’s eerie floating. “Boo. Spooky." Sunghoon reached out to you.

You snorted, looking him up and down. "This is the lamest costume I've ever seen. We should put a little more effort, don't ya think?" With an playful smile and an eye roll, you continued through the aisle.

“It’s not like we’re going to a costume contest, doll,” Sunghoon said as he pulled the blanket off and rolled it up in a ball. He tossed it over his shoulder unaware of the maknae that had been tailing him since the two of you parted ways.

Sunoo scoffed. “Hyung!”

“I know it’s just a little Halloween party, but I want this year’s Halloween to be really, really fun.” You sighed in annoyance. You weren’t feeling irritated by Sunghoon, but instead by the idea that you might have been getting too far ahead of yourself.

This was the first Halloween you would be spending as Sunghoon’s significant other, and it would be your first time hanging out with your boyfriend and his brothers as a whole group.

Earlier in the day while hanging out at the boys’ dorm, the maknaes had questioned what you and Sunghoon would be doing for Halloween, and when you had replied with, “Nothing, just watching some scary movies” they invited you to come along with them trick or treating, announcing that staying in would be dull. You were instantly reminded that you were kind of lazy when it came to socializing. A small thought creeped out from the back of your mind. What if Sunghoon thought that movie night was a lame idea? You just wanted to prove to everyone that you were fun and free-spirited. You feared that Sunghoon’s friends would deem you as Sunghoon’s boring lover, or just as someone who never wanted to do anything.

Sunghoon grabbed your hand and gently pulled you back. “It will be fun. I promise the others and I aren’t as boring as you might think.”

“It’s not you guys who I’m worried about is boring.” You rolled your eyes again.

“Then who?” Sunghoon was inexperienced in relationships, so there was no doubt that he wouldn’t get what was bothering you unless you told him yourself.

“I don’t want the other guys to think that I’m boring.” You felt your face get hot. The two of you were still new at being a couple, and so telling Sunghoon this made you feel embarrassed.

“Ah, you’re not.” Sunghoon turned you so that you could face each other. “Why would you think that?”

“I guess ‘cause my idea of fun is staying indoors all the time.” You lowered your head. Your boyfriend was quite close, and your face just kept getting warmer.

“You’re not boring, ____.” Sunoo stepped in. “Sunghoon-hyung is the boring one. Look at his shoes.”

Sunghoon awkwardly coughed. “Sunoo, can you at least pretend to be doing something other than tuning into our private conversation?”

Sunoo rolled his eyes dramatically and sauntered off.

Sunghoon cupped your face. “Look, we’re both still new at this relationship thing, so I actually don’t mind when you choose to hang out at the dorm or at your house. We should take things slowly and move out of our comfort zone at a steady pace. We don’t have to go trick or treating with those clowns if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to.” You nodded your head, determined. I do prefer to stay home and watch scary movies with just us. But like you said, we’re both still new at this relationship thing. I think this is the push that we need.” Your mood eased up, and you smiled brightly at your boyfriend. “Plus, I think it’s too late to back out now since we’re already in a shop filled with Halloween stuff, and that ghost costume is calling my name.”

Sunghoon looked at you with a faint blush on his cheeks, while you looked around in amusement. He turned you to face him once again, and leaned down, pecking your lips. It was only a second long, but the notion didn’t go unnoticed.

“Why are you guys kissing in the store?” Ni-Ki’s eyebrows furrowed at having witnessed the short kiss shared between you and his hyung.

“You’re too young to understand.” You stuck your tongue out at the youngster and ruffled his blonde hair.

“So I guess we’re all going as ghosts then.” Ni-Ki looked around.

“I thought you were matching with Jungwon and Sunoo?”

“Well-” Ni-Ki said began to say, turning to face the other end of the aisle where two familiar voices could be heard.

At that moment, Sunoo came around the corner of the aisle, Jungwon in tow.

“Jungwon, you are insufferable!”

“I’m not putting a unicorn horn on my forehead!”

Sunoo instantly turned around to the other maknae and snapped, “It’s called an alicorn.”

“Doesn’t matter what it’s called, I’m not wearing it!”

“Well I’m not wearing a straw hat. Scarecrows aren’t cute or attractive.”

“So, we’re all going as ghosts then?” You turned around to see Sunghoon once again covered by the white sheet, arms raised to mimic a ghost’s spooky stance.

“I guess there wasn’t any point coming here,” Ni-Ki spoke up. “We already have white sheets at home.”

[cloudhayato]

I’ve decided to live in the woods now so here are some animals I associate with the KHR characters.

Tsuna: Spotted hyena. They’re the most social of the carnivora and Tsuna loves and thrives around his friends. :) The males also tend to be less aggressive because hyena clans are matriarchal and they’re low in the social hierarchy. Just like Tsuna at school, maybe? 0_0

Gokudera: Oh, so very Chihuahuacore. Only likes one person and is super attached to them. Bites and snarls at everyone else who tries to approach them. Gets upset when someone else joins the family or enters his house. Loud. :/

Yamamoto: A capybara! They’re semi-aquatic animals that are super chill and friendly. They’ll get along with a wide array of animals because of how they’re very social animals, are very calm, and also benefit some other animals like birds for example, though that’s mostly for eating ticks and insects from their fur. A chill friendly guy who helps others? Yamamoto.

I also can’t find more information on this picture, since caiman, another crocodilian, will eat capybara, but it makes me think of how Yamamoto will befriend villains first. Like Byakuran and Squalo for example <:3c

Ryohei: A grizzly bear really does fit him best in my head. They big and powerful animals, associated with the kind of toughness that Ryohei strives for! Also while most animals play fight, bears being no exception, I felt the need to mention this because Ryohei violence moments <3. They’re also known to stay with their siblings for awhile, even after leaving their mother, when they’re usually solitary creatures. They’ll den together, though food is not shared, and while circumstances can cause them to separate, the fact that they stay together at all is charming. Just a big strong animal that can be close to their siblings... That’s just adds to this in my opinion ówò

Hibari: A chicken. They have violent social hierarchies that involve fighting in order to get to the top of the pecking order. This can get really bad sometimes, and they can also get a taste for blood. What is Namimori if not a giant chicken coop? What is Hibari if not the head honcho establishing his place through aggressive pecking?

I rest my case.

Mukuro: Another more predictable animal here, but Raven. They’re birds who work in smaller social groups than crows, which fits better with him and the Kokuyo gang. I mean, apparently adolescent ravens will join teenage gangs with one another. They can mimic the sounds of other birds and animals, like Mukuro and his fucked up possession. Ravens are clever and will trick one another, like if the know another raven is watching them, they’ll pretend to hide food while actually hiding it somewhere else. They can also remember the faces of humans who wronged them and will hate them forever. <3 Fun fact: A group of ravens is called an ‘Unkindness.’

Chrome: She’s like a poorly socialized cat who’s really anxious and is suddenly put in a new environment. She just hides and doesn’t approach anyone, not even coming out for food at first. Slowly you have to try and get her comfortable around you, including the use of food, and now she just follows you around and sits with you.

Lambo: Ferret. Hear me out here, ferrets are mischievous and playful creatures. They love to hoard things and drag them into hiding places, like Lambo hiding things in his gross hair, they can dead sleep, which Lambo does throughout the series but the most prominent example I can think off is in Ciao Ciao!, and lastly, I think he’d do a weasel war dance.

Fuuta: He’d be a red fox. They’re associated with being sly and clever, which is a trait Fuuta displayed when he was running away from the men pursuing him, and throwing them off his tracks with little tricks. They live in small, familial social groups, like how Fuuta prefers to stay home with Nana and his siblings. I also wanted to choose an animal featured in The Little Prince, and the fox was the animal that gave him sage life advice.

I-pin: Hey did you know hares are born precocial and are able to fight and fend for themselves immediately after birth? That’s why I chose them for I-pin, who is already a very successful hitman as a young child. They’re also prominent in Chinese folklore as living on the moon (also interpreted as a rabbit) which then spread to other Asian cultures.

(It’s important to note that I-pin’s design is a bad caricature, but I do want to take into account that she is Chinese and instead focus on displaying that respectfully. That’s why I wanted to include an animal from Chinese folklore/mythology since even though her portrayal is shit and so much shade towards Amano for ever thinking that was okay, it doesn’t sit right either to completely erase that part of her.)

Byakuran: I want him to be some kind of bird. Probably a cockatoo because while they can manipulate you to believe they’re sweet, loving, funny birds, their souls are tinged with evil. The only thing they crave is total destruction and chaos, but also tasty fruits and get sad if they’re the only one left and alone. :(

Shoichi: Rabbits can die from stress. Shoichi gets stomachaches from stress. Checkmate atheists. Spanner also thinks his out of place anger is funny, and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a rabbit temper tantrum but that shit is so funny. Another characteristic I thought about is how closely rabbits can bond, to the point where if their bonded partner or friend die, they grieve and get depressed, even potentially passing away from it. Byakuran was a horrible person, and Shoichi knew he had to be stopped, but when we see his face after his friend’s death, it’s a hard expression to forget. It’s a small moment, but one that comes to mind often when I think of Sho-chan.

Xanxus: Okay so hippopotamuses are seen as goofy, dumb looking creatures, but they’re actually super fucking dangerous. Agile and surprisingly aggressive, they are literally one of the most dangerous animals because of this. You are more likely to get murdered by a hippo than a lion out in the wild. They’re so fucked up, just like Xanxus.

Squalo: I bet you thought shark but nope! Killer whale. Orcas fight in pods, like how Squalo is a squad leader in Varia (almost made boss too), and these creatures are murder machines. They’ve actually been documented killing great white sharks and fucking whales. Like how Squalo is the strongest swordsman orcas are the fucking apex predators of the sea.

Fun fact: I was also considered sperm whales for Squalo because they’re the loudest animals on earth.

Okay this post ended up getting much longer than I intended I’m done now I’m leaving the range of the cell towers goodbye everyone.