#do you all remember that one otter who hangs out near the window?

[rexonalapis]

Consider: adult Wrio meets kid Neuvi au (neuvi is still a reincarnated dragon) (not really a romance material i just find the potential entertaining)

it would've been so cool ngl. wriothesley the remuria fanboy would sometimes see something resembling dragon through that big ass meropide glass wall and dismissed it as him hallucinating due to being an overworked warden or something, until one day he saw little half human half dragon floating outside meropide.

[jessbakescakes]

random prompt: donna’s niece/nephew has to stay with her for some reason and josh drops by her apartment randomly so they all end up spending the day together :) thanks!

This took me an age and a half, but here it is. Let’s call this sometime post-snowballs, pre-finale Season 4 Josh/Donna. Also, it got ridiculously long and I have no idea why, but... yay?

Josh tries to be productive on his first Sunday off in recent memory. He gets a few things done around the house, and then he finds himself feeling bored. That feeling is rare; he hasn’t been this bored since he was recovering from his injuries after Rosslyn. There’s no shortage of things to do in the office, but Leo has banned him (and Donna) from the property for the day after a 38-hour shift. Soon the feelings of boredom propel him out of his apartment, and he finds himself standing outside of Donna’s place about fifteen minutes later without a plan. There’s a part of him that wonders if she’d even want to hang out with him on her day off, but all the other people he would invite are at work. 

So, Josh knocks at the door. 

They could always go to the movies; Donna’s been mentioning a new movie she’s been wanting to see. The thought of the two of them sitting in the back of a darkened movie theater while she gets invested in some sappy chick flick isn’t exactly his idea of fun, though, so his mind wanders to other possibilities. 

The plan is almost formulated in his head when she opens the door, but it all goes out the window when he notices a little girl run toward the door and wrap herself around Donna’s legs. “I can’t come into work today,” Donna insists.

“Hi, Josh, it’s so great to see you,” Josh says in his sarcastic ‘imitating Donna’ tone.

She sighs. “Hi, Josh. You shouldn’t be going into work, either.”

“I wasn’t gonna ask you to come in today. Who’s this?” he asks, glancing back and forth between Donna and the little girl, who looks like a miniature version of Donna, but with brown hair instead of blonde.

“This is my niece, Caitlin.”

“Francesca’s daughter?” Josh confirms, ensuring that his memory of Donna’s conversations about her nieces and nephews was correct. He vaguely remembers Donna telling him something about a political argument that her sister Francesca got into with another parent while she was chaperoning a trip for Caitlin’s kindergarten class a few weeks ago.

Donna nods. “She had a last-minute meeting with a client she’s trying to land for the D.C. branch of her company. So Caitlin and I get to spend the day together. Caitlin, this is my friend Josh.”

Caitlin gives Josh a toothless grin and a giggle. “Hi.”

“Hey, Caitlin,” Josh says to Caitlin, giving her a wave. He turns his attention to Donna. “I was thinking about how I owed you a new shirt after the coffee catastrophe. Figured I’d come by and ask if you’d like to collect on that today. But...”

“Well, you can help me babysit, and we’ll call it even,” she says, motioning for Josh to come into her apartment.

“Your sister won’t mind?” Josh asks, crossing the threshold and taking off his coat.

“She’s met you,” Donna reasons. “You work for the President of the United States. I think you’ll pass muster. And besides, I’m here for when you inevitably screw up.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he sighs. 

He looks toward Caitlin, who has abandoned Donna in favor of what she’s working on at the coffee table. There are art supplies everywhere; markers are scattered across the table (and a few have rolled onto the floor), a pair of child-sized safety scissors sits on the corner next to some tape, and tubes of glittery glue in several different colors are gathered in a pile in the middle. “What’s your favorite color, Josh?” she calls, without lifting her gaze from her project.

“Uh… blue, I guess,” Josh answers, approaching the couch and taking a seat.

Caitlin reaches for a blue sheet of construction paper and begins to cut an unrecognizable shape into it. She pauses after a moment, then lifts the paper and wraps it around Josh’s wrist, attempting to ensure that the piece she has cut is big enough. “I’m making a superhero bracelet,” she declares, making a face when she realizes it’s too big. “You can shoot stuff out of it and get the bad guys.”

Josh glances toward Donna, suddenly conveniently busy in the kitchen, and then back at Caitlin. “Sounds… interesting.”

He’s never been bad with kids. In fact, kids seem to like him, as a general rule. He’s just never been entirely sure what to do to replicate that experience from one kid to the next. This is Donna’s niece, so there’s a little extra pressure to seem impressive and interesting.

Donna is a natural with kids, at least from Josh’s perspective. Working in the White House doesn’t really give them a lot of opportunities to spend time with kids, of course, but the few times he’s seen her interact with them, it seems to come easily to her. They’re drawn to her in an inexplicable way.

Caitlin returns to her work. “This can be your bracelet. I made Aunt Donna a crown. Wait! Do you want a crown or a bracelet? Boys can wear crowns, too. They can be princes.”

“I’ll take the bracelet,” Josh says, motioning to the mangled piece of paper she has in her hands. “Did you say you made Aunt Donna a crown?”

He says the last part loud enough for Donna to hear in the kitchen, so Donna looks up at him and shrugs. “I’m a princess, apparently.”

“Don’t you think you should be wearing it?” Josh teases.

“It’s drying,” Donna says, motioning behind her to the counter, where she’s placed a crown made of pink construction paper covered in glitter.

Josh darts into the kitchen and gingerly lifts the crown, poking at various spots with his index finger. “Hmm, seems dry to me. What do you think, Caitlin, should she wear it?”

“Yeah!” Caitlin agrees enthusiastically. 

“You want to come in here and put it on her?” Josh offers, holding out the crown.

Caitlin shakes her head. “You do it.”

Donna slides a finished grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate and turns around. “Don’t you dare squish it on my head,” she warns under her breath, her arms crossed. “If you get any glitter in my hair…”

“Donnatella, this isn’t my first coronation,” Josh huffs.

She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling at him. “Where was your last one, Burger King?” 

“Medieval Times, actually,” he says, gently securing the crown on Donna’s head. “There.”

Donna reaches up and pats her head. “He didn’t give me a bump in my hair, did he?” she asks, turning around to allow Caitlin to check.

“Nope,” Caitlin confirms, approaching Josh with his superhero bracelet and about a dozen long pieces of Scotch tape. She attaches it to his wrist and steps back to admire her handiwork. “Now you both have something!”

“We certainly do. Come wash your hands and we can have some lunch,” Donna instructs.

Caitlin, Josh, and Donna chat over grilled cheese and tomato soup. When they finish, Donna clears the table while Caitlin pulls Josh into the living room to clean up the crafting supplies. Caitlin is entertaining to talk to, as far as six-year-olds go. Of course, she’s not about to debate the intricacies of domestic policy with him, but she asks questions about the President - she seems primarily interested in the idea of him being funny. Caitlin also wants to know if the President has a dog (she seems disappointed when Josh tells her he doesn’t) and if he intends to get a dog (she seems even more disappointed when she hears this answer). 

Soon there’s a lull in the conversation. Caitlin seems to be focused and hard at work, slowly gathering the art supplies to clean up. 

“Your Aunt Donna told me that you went to the aquarium a couple of weeks ago,” Josh says tentatively, unsure of what topics are interesting for six-year-olds, but making an effort anyway. 

“I got to pet a stingray. You do it like this,” Caitlin explains, holding up her index and middle fingers together and sweeping them in the air.

“Oh, yeah? That must have been cool. What did it feel like?”

“He was kinda slimy. But there was an otter that was swimming up near the spot where I was standing at the otter place,” Caitlin says, shoving some markers into their box. “I love otters.”

“Oh, really? Otters are nice. What do you like about otters?”

“Otters… the otters hold hands while they’re sleeping so they don’t float away,” Caitlin explains as she clears the last of the paper off of the table. “Then they would be sad and all by themselves.”

“That’s smart of them,” Josh answers. “Don’t want them to be lonely.”

Josh discovers that Caitlin knows a lot about otters. She explains that she checked out several books from the library about otters after her trip to the aquarium, and has done some extensive internet research. By the time the living room is clean, Josh has been informed that otters have the thickest fur of all mammals in the animal kingdom, and baby otters are not able to swim on their own. 

Caitlin is about to explain the ins and outs of keeping a baby otter safe and secure while its mother goes out hunting when Donna enters the living room with a bowl of water in one hand and a Ziploc bag in the other. “What are we up to in here?”

“Otter discourse,” Josh says, stacking the newly collected art supplies in a pile. 

“They hold hands,” Donna says with a knowing nod, as though she’s heard this piece of trivia before. “Okay, Caitlin, you wanted to look through my stash of tattoos, right?”

Caitlin nods and takes the bag from Donna’s hand. She dumps out the bag and looks through the temporary tattoos that Donna has acquired. There are flowers, hearts, butterflies, and various animals and characters to choose from. Caitlin flips over each tattoo, grouping them by color as she deliberates. 

Josh looks to Donna. “Does this sort of freakish organizational skill run in the family?”

Donna pokes him in the arm and Josh yelps, rubbing the spot as Donna moves to expedite the process by flipping over the tattoos. 

Caitlin finally selects several different tattoos, sliding one in front of Donna and another in front of Josh. “Those are for you,” she says.

Josh shoots Donna a look, but Donna rolls up her sleeves. “Where should I put mine? On my hand, or on my arm?”

“Hmm,” Caitlin says. “Your hand.”

“Do you need help with yours?” Donna asks. 

Caitlin nods. “The last time Mommy and I did these, mine got all messed up ‘cause I pulled it off too fast.”

“Oh, well we can’t have that,” Donna insists, dipping a washcloth in the bowl of water. “Josh, start thinking about where you want your tattoo.”

“I think he should do it right here,” Caitlin says, tapping the inside of her forearm.

“You think so?” Donna asks. 

“You have to do it on this arm though,” Caitlin says, grabbing Josh’s left hand. “That one has your superhero bracelet.”

Josh sighs. “Do I get a say in this at all?”

“No,” Donna insists, turning his arm over so his palm is facing upward. She grabs his left hand in hers and pushes up the sleeve of his sweater with her right hand.

“You’re holding his hand. Kind of like the otters,” Caitlin points out.

Josh is certain that what Donna was doing was entirely platonic, operating on instinct under the watchful eyes of an observant kindergartener. But he wonders if she can feel his pulse hammering the same way it did outside her apartment in the snow a few weeks prior. 

“Well, we wouldn’t want him to float away, would we?” Donna teases before letting his hand go and removing the plastic cover of a purple butterfly tattoo.

Caitlin approaches them and supervises as Donna applies the temporary tattoo, impatiently waiting for the reveal. Donna is about halfway through peeling the paper backing away when Francesca walks in the door. 

“Mommy!” Caitlin shouts, launching herself at Francesca.

“Looks like I’m interrupting the makeover portion of the afternoon,” Francesca says. “Hey, Josh, it’s good to see you.”

“Hey, Francesca,” he says. “It’s good to see you too. I didn’t know you were coming to D.C. this weekend, or I’d have given Donna a chance to spend some time with you.”

Francesca waves her hand. “It wasn’t planned. I had a thing come up, and I was going to leave both the kids with Chris, but Caitlin heard me mention D.C. and all bets were off when she remembered that’s where Aunt Donna lived.”

“I made Josh a superhero bracelet,” Caitlin says. “And Aunt Donna has a crown.”

“I see that,” Francesca smiles. “Why don’t you and I head back to the hotel for a little bit? I’ll take you swimming at the hotel pool before dinner if you want.”

Caitlin darts across the apartment, gathering all of the things she brought over earlier in the day. “Can Josh eat dinner with us?”

Francesca grabs Caitlin’s pink backpack that’s sitting by the door and turns to Josh. “You’re welcome to join us, I was taking Donna out to dinner as a thank you for spending some time with Caitlin while I was in that meeting.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll let the three of you spend some time together,” he says.

“Next time,” Francesca says. “Caitlin, what do you say to Aunt Donna and Josh?”

“Thank you!” she says, nearly knocking Donna over with a hug and climbing onto the couch to give Josh a hug with equal enthusiasm.

“Thank you again. Both of you. Six-thirty?” Francesca asks Donna.

Donna nods. “Perfect. You don’t have to run off, though, I don’t mind --”

“No, no, I know,” Francesca interrupts. “It’s totally fine. We’ll see you at dinner.”

Francesca helps Caitlin get her coat on and Donna sees them out. As Donna says goodbye and Caitlin and Francesca leave the apartment, Josh can hear Caitlin chatting to her mom.

“Aunt Donna was holding Josh’s hand, like the otters.”

Donna shuts the door and turns to look at Josh. Her cheeks turn pink and her eyes dart to the floor. “She really likes otters.”

“I gathered that.”

“Probably should have warned you about that.”

Josh laughs. “You could have warned me that I’d be peeling pieces of tape off my arms, too, but you just threw me to the wolves.”

“Hey, now. You survived!”

His forearm is still stretched out as the temporary tattoo dries and becomes less sticky and more prickly-feeling. “I also wasn’t exactly planning on getting a tattoo today. Or… probably ever.”

“Not a tattoo guy, huh?”

“Why, are you a tattoo girl?” Josh pushes his sleeve down over his forearm.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Donna says, a hint of teasing in her voice. 

Josh stands up from the couch. “Want me to, uh…” he gestures around the living room, not sure where to dive in to help clean up.

“I think I can manage,” Donna says. “Thanks for today. Caitlin had fun.”

“Yeah. It’s no problem. Just remember that next time when Aunt Donna isn’t the favorite anymore and she goes on and on about how great Josh was,” Josh teases.

Donna crosses her arms and lets out a laugh. “Like that would ever happen.”

“You underestimated me before,” Josh points out. “You’ll see how popular I am when Caitlin asks you about me at dinner tonight.”

“And you think if she did, I would actually tell you about it?” 

“I know when you’re lying, Donna. Your mouth does this weird thing.”

“A weird thing?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I know it when I see it,” Josh insists, putting on his coat. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Donna says, opening the front door for him.

Josh stands there for a moment before he leaves, looking at Donna. The pink crown is still on her head, and her shirt has spots of pink glitter on it, presumably from aiding in the decoration of the aforementioned crown. For the briefest of moments, he wonders if this can’t be their future - if it can’t be their kid who tapes a superhero bracelet around his wrist with too many pieces of tape or insists on giving him a butterfly tattoo.

He pushes the thought out of his mind until later in the shower when he attempts to scrub the tattoo off his arm. He’s had more moments like this since he took a cab to throw snowballs at her window -- or more accurately, ever since Commander Wonderful and his thirteen buttons showed up. The images, oddly domestic compared to most of his fantasies, play on a loop in his brain.

He knows he can’t indulge them, can’t enjoy these fantasies. She’s his assistant; he’s her boss. They’re friends, and that’s all they can be for another four years. Of course, that’s assuming that some gomer doesn’t sweep her off her feet and give her what Josh can’t, at least not yet. But he doesn’t know how to stop them, and they’re coming with more frequency than the nightmares he’s grown accustomed to having.

The idea that she could have all this with someone else is more terrifying than the nightmares.

[hexalene]

What's your wildest cruise ship story?

Oh shit I meant to post this sooner whoops

Uh

I have less “ONE BIG THING” stories and more of like, a series of surreal Events that happened to me over the course of the years and years I went on cruises (my family could go on cruises for free, so we abused the shit out of that for reunions and vacations for a long time)

So here’s a few of those, and I SWEAR TO GOD they’re real, and I might have photos buried somewhere to prove some of them, but idk, that’s like effort.

-I loved wandering around ships super super early in the morning. Like, crack of dawn early. I’d usually go hang out on one of the open floor restaurant areas around the middle of the ship, which had built in window seats you could curl up in. Pillows n shit too. Super comfy. I’d draw and listen to music, ect. One morning, I looked up and saw the Black fucking Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean sailing by. Did not believe my eyes. It and four other ships, two of which were for non-pirate movies, were being sailed into a bay on the island we were headed to. I did manage to get a distant shot of it when I got on land.

-In 2006 (date relevant) I met two men in two different families, who were not related and had never met, named Tony Stark. As this was before the movie came out, I was left tragically alone with no one to be awed at this strange coincidence with me. One of them was even a dark haired man with a nice goatee.

(The other was a cute chubby grandpa type)

-Given the opportunity to demonstrate how corporations rig the system against the consumer, my father brought me down to the casino level and sat down across from a very fancy claw machine that dispensed iPads and other expensive tech prizes. He told me, “some people will win, and I’ll tell you when they will.”

I was like “okay dad sure” but we sat there for HOURS, and dad would say “okay, this guy will win if he goes for this prize” or “this guy will lose” and finally, “that woman will win an iPad.” Of course, most were losers, but he was DEAD ON every time someone would win. After a while he explained that the machine would only dispense prizes after collecting the money to pay for two more of whatever was won. He’d just sat there and done the math on the people playing the game and when it added up, he’d wait to see what they went for and let me know if they won. It had absolutely nothing to do with skill.

To make his point, he waited, counting out loud the money being put in, before standing up and slapping the button randomly on one of the lower rank prizes. He won an otter box phone case and told me that no one will ever give you the chance to win out at a loss to themselves, so don’t make a bet unless you’ve rigged the game to win. I was 14.

-uhhh what else

-The dance troupe arranged to do shows suffered a tragic undisclosed accident, so the short term bullshit to entertain people in the theatre was an honest to god passenger led talent show. Surreal on its own, but one of the passengers was a contortionist, and ran off to get their suitcase.

Now, they did a lot of fun bendy stuff, very weird, very cool, but they asked for volunteers at one point. I, my sister, our cousin, and two other kids were asked to come on stage. I was the oldest, maybe 12/13ish, my sister and cousin were 9, and the other two kids were between 6-9.

This MADMAN, without straining any of us to bend in any weird or uncomfortable way, managed to fit all five of us into his empty suitcase. I was in the damn thing and I have no idea how he managed it. He then zipped us all up inside and walked around the stage a bit. And it was fine, like not uncomfortable or hard to breath or anything!

I remember getting out of the suitcase clearest of all. We’d all been fit inside so snugly, in this order:

Me, stranger kid 1, cousin, sister, and stranger kid 2. To get us out, he lay the case flat and lifted my sister up. Somehow this like??? Was like those monkey in a barrel toys, we all just neatly unfolded with her, no tripping or falling or anything. That feeling, where one moment I’m staring at my cousins’ feet and some other kid’s elbow, and then I see the dude lift my sister and then all of us just RISE WITH IT and unfold like a flower blooming I have no idea if this makes any sense at all but it felt magical.

- Something bad happened back home, but we didn’t know what. My dad had a business meeting but mom wanted to see the beach. We got off the ship, and like, HARDCORE struggled to find a way to get to a beach, any beach. We were in....Mexico, somewhere in the neighborhood of Chichén Itzá, maybe an island nearby I think? There were some massive ruins somewhere, I remember that much.

While mom hunted down a beach, my siblings and I sat under a giant box fan, near a TV. Something was happening, the employees were changing the channel, trying to find the clearest signal to the American news. I remember looking over at the grainy footage being interrupted by commercials and other signals and piecing together through the static and the employee trying to translate that back home, the 2008 financial crash was happening and that mom’s insistence that we find a beach and have fun was because that business meeting dad had stayed behind to deal with was him trying to make sure we’d still have a house to live in when we got back to the states, and she didn’t know if this would be the last truly carefree time we had before we went home to face the music.

-However, mom’s eternal struggles to find a beach didn’t begin in 2008. The previous trip we’d taken had another Beach Adventure.

That time, it was also just mom and the siblings. I don’t remember why dad was staying behind, maybe a poker tournament or something?

We disembarked and the struggle began. Nothing was in English, other than the scant few signs the cruise ship put out to guide passengers off the docks. However, THIS was not a problem, as I was about as fluent in Spanish as a third grader restricted to the present tense, and this worked well enough to get us around.

There was a massive bus to a beach, just PACKED to the gills with Americans. As we waited in line, a nondescript man came up to us, and said, “that bus will go to a very crowded beach with many other passengers of other ships. I know a better beach, and cheap! I’ll charge only half of what that bus will charge you and my beach is much much nicer!”

You might be thinking that common sense would tell us not to get in a random unmarked car with an un-uniformed man offering an amazing half off deal to a perfect isolated beach in broken English on a largely rural island, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong.

My mother is a sweet devout catholic lady with a hidden core of raw chaos. Her idea of a nice day out in the snow with her tiny children was to strap us in the back, drive to the massive Schnuck’s parking lot, gun it up to 90mph, and hydroplane/drift like a fucking drag racer across the ice, laughing. Common sense does not exist in any normal capacity in this woman.

We spent an incredibly tense, silent, 45 minutes driving into the wilderness packed into a tiny car with no AC, sweating with heat and nerves as he drove us out in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly the driver pulls over. There is literally nothing but trees and cliffs for miles and miles. Mom is clutching my hand, my baby brother, and her knitting needles. The driver runs quickly to the center of the road, leans over, and picks up a huge tortoise that had frozen up when his car approached. He carried it over to the grass, and pat it goodbye.

Before he comes back Mom turns and looks at me and says, “a serial killer probably wouldn’t save a turtle, I think we’ll be okay.”

[polar534]

Hockey AU: The First Shot

As I posted the overview, I realized I should probably give y'all a taste of what this AU will eventually turn into. So have the first shortish chapter of the fic:

Amity didn't have to guess where Luz was headed. She could hear her girlfriend's thundering, excited, footsteps race up to their room from up on the second floor. Mentally counting down, she gestured lazily at the door just as Luz burst through it, grinning wildly.

"Annnd there she is." Amity pointed out casually, turning back to her book.

"Amiiiiiiii!! Guess what I got us!" Luz said excitedly, practically teleporting to the witch's side as she leaned dramatically onto her girlfriend.

Amity chuckled, rolled her eyes and set the book she was reading aside.

"Hmmm. Is it some personal space?" She teased, gently elbowing Luz in the stomach, prompting a small giggle out of the human.

"Noooo. Besides, you love it when I hang all over you." Luz teased back as she climbed up onto the bed with Amity and sprawled across her lap.

Amity giggled as she leaned forward rapidly to give Luz a peck on the lips.

"Mmmmmm, I guess I don't mind." Amity smirked as Luz recovered from the unexpected kiss.

"What'd you get us, dork?"

Luz blinked as if just remembering the reason she came barreling into the room in the first place. Amity lifted her hand to hold back a laugh as realization struck on the human's face.

"Oh right! I got us 2 tickets to... 'Sport'!" She grinned, sitting up and pulling two pieces of paper out of her pockets. Luz waved them dramatically in front of her face as Amity frowned.

"Another sport? Luz you've taken us to 5 different ones already. Just how many human sports are there?"

Luz's face took a serious expression.

"Probably hundreds." The seriousness slipped off her face and was replaced by a dorky yet excitable lopsided grin.

Amity felt herself blush.

"But trust me, you're going to love it! I mean it's got violence and elegance and it's one of my favorite sports ever! Plus, I've never known anyone who doesn't like Hockey."

***

“Luz?”

Amity’s voice came muffled from inside the thick sweatshirt her girlfriend had just shoved over her head. The witch wiggled her way through it, popping her head out to stare as Luz wrapped herself up in a similar heavy sweatshirt and grinned at her.

“Yeah?”

“You have been outside today, right? I really don’t think we‘ll need these.” Amity pointed out kindly.

Regardless of the confusion as to why, Amity pulled her arms through the sweatshirt anyways and went to grab the tickets Luz had left sitting on the desk.

“Haha, yeah. But the game’s indoors, and trust me, you are going to want the warmth when we get into the arena.” Luz smiled at her as she snaked an arm around the witch’s torso and snatched the tickets out of her hand.

“Really?” Amity groaned as Luz smirked.

“If you want them back, you gotta catch me!” The human called out over her shoulder as she disappeared down the stairs, pulling her shoes on as she ran.

“I don’t want to waste any time! IT’S HOCKEY SEASON!!” Amity heard her shout excitedly as she heard the front door slam.

Making sure to grab her phone, Amity rolled her eyes. Whatever this ‘hockey’ was, Luz was more excited then the witch had seen her in a long time. Her girlfriend had told her all about how Camilla always got tickets to the local college teams games. How every year her and her mother would catch at least 2-3 games. She neglected to mention, however, just what hockey was, how it was played, or pretty much anything about the sport at all. Just that Amity would ‘love’ it.

Looking out the window at the girl waving excitedly back up at her, Amity smiled. Of course she would love this ‘hockey’, how could she not if it made Luz light up so much?

***

“ANNNNND THAT’S ANOTHER GOAL FOR YOUR LOCAL GRIFFONS!!” The announcer boomed excitedly as the players made a victory lap around the ice. At the ends of the rink, two parallel sets of fire-spitting machines lit up along with the crowd and the music.

Amity. Was. Transfixed.

Hockey, she had found out, was the exact opposite of everything she had grown up learning about ice and skating. Instead of the absolute perfection of elegance her parents had drilled into her, these players skated with reckless abandon. It was about speed and it was about power. They crashed into one another and the walls more frequently then they spent chasing the round goal scorer. Or at least that what it appeared like on the surface. It only took a single quarter for Amity to appreciate the level of complexity of the ‘checks’ Luz had called them. It was about defense more then offense when the other players attacked, and every movement, every rapid turn around, took extreme precision and handling of your skates and body on the ice. The game was fast paced and unapologetic and it wasn’t long before Amity found herself launching out her seat right beside Luz as the players made passes towards the goal.

***

Shortly before the game ended Luz had them both sneak away from the bleachers and into the school itself. The Griffon's were up by 3 and it was almost assured that they would win. Amity was about to protest, wanting to see how the game ended, but she saw a mischievous twinkle in the human’s eye that she recognized as trouble.

It was because of that very glint of trouble that Amity now found herself approaching the ice, hours after the game and everyone had gone home, with her girlfriend who had "borrowed" a stick and puck to practice with.

Luz wasted no time and practically vaulted herself up and over the small railing that seperated the ice from the arena. Within a millisecond of her landing, she promptly disappeared, her body collapsing towards the ground.

Amity dashed forward. "Luz!"

She heard a low groan from the otherside of the railing as the witch vaulted over it as well.

Whipping around she found Luz struggling to get back on her feet. Every time the human would get her limbs together enough to attempt to stand, something went wrong and she ended up sprawled out on her back or stomach once again.

Amity practically had to carry Luz back to the railing. Helping her climb up it and sit, her girlfriend frowned deeply.

"Alright. It shouldn't be THAT hard to walk on ice right? I must've just had a bad start."

Amity looked her over. On her legs and arms there were small nicks and scrapes from the ice and the beginnings of a dark bruise on her chin and elbow.

"Here, let me try again, besides I still got to get the stick and puck back." Luz concluded, shifting to get off the railing.

Amity reacted without saying a word, sliding in front of her.

"Nope. You're already injured, I'm not about to let you hurt yourself more trying to prove a point. You stay here and I'll go grab the stuff we borrowed." Amity explained sternly, looking Luz directly in the eyes.

Luz wilted and Amity felt only slightly bad as she saw the acceptance in her eyes.

"We can try skating another night, preferably when we aren't sneaking into the rink." She offered gently.

Luz lit up once more. "Sounds like you're asking me out on a date, Blight." She smirked as Amity rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Holding you up the entire time sounds more like a work-out then a date." Amity teased back with a grin.

Squeezing her girlfriend's hands one last time, the pale witch pushed herself away from the railing and looked out over the dimly lit rink. The stick had skidded to a stop about near the center of the rink, while the puck was still slowly making it's way to the home team's goal.

Walking on ice was quite a bit different the skating, but Amity had been groomed from a young age to be perfectly balanced at everything she did. It made her only slightly sick as she made her way with ease over to the stick, remembering the countless days her parents forced her to be out on the ice. When she bent down to pick it up however, something changed. It rested almost perfectly in her hands, just as she had seen the players earlier hold it. Looking up at Luz she saw a spark in her girlfriend's eyes as she stared back, mouth hanging open slightly.. Amity faintly made out her mouthing something before her voice echoed across the rink.

"TRY AND MAKE A GOAL!" Luz egged her on.

Amity didn't think, her body took over. Half emulating what she had seen the players doing earlier and calling upon her own training on the ice, Amity skated over to the puck that was in motion. She gained more and more speed as her eyes locked on the target. Raising the stick back she let it rip, connecting to the puck with a satisfying CRACK as the black object sailed directly into the goal.

Luz went crazy, her cheering shattering the silence of the abandoned arena.

Amity was breathing heavily, her adrenaline running high.

It felt good.

***

Later that night, as Luz was snoring softly on her chest, Amity found herself following her girlfriend's advice and looked up some local rec teams.

There was something she respected about all human sports. The lack of magic or auto-win conditions made every match a true struggle, one that had the players relying on hardwork and skill to come out the victor. It was fascinating and thrilling to watch. Hockey was the first sport she felt was different. Amity didn't just want to watch. She wanted to learn, and she wanted to experience it.

She wanted to hear Luz cheer her name more.

It didn't take her long to come to her decision as a familiar name popped on her screen.

Looking down at her girlfriend's sleeping face, Amity smiled.

How perfect would it be if she joined a hockey team called: "The Otter's."

[karmanticmoved]

1-85 uwu

j esus okay

1. describe yourself.

uh,, emotional ig, dumbass, quiet, exhausted all of the time, v queer, healthy mix of feminine and masculine, insecure, and not tha t great tbh. kinda a pussy ass b itch

2. if you could go anywhere for a week all expenses paid where would it be?

idrk. maybe somewhere like a hella nice beach in another country, maybe somewhere in europe. i like travelling but i hate the travel to get there and have no money so i havent put thought into it. maybe hawaii or somewhere like that.

3. do you have siblings?

the one thats still alive is my half brother

4. what is your favorite constellation, why?

orion maybe bc i don't know a lot but i can see that one from my bedroom window even in the city n idk. its comforting. or scorpius cause i'm a scorpio

5. favorite color.

yellow, pink, or blue.

6. what kind of music do you listen to?

almost anything. whatever catches my interest.

7. favorite flower. (you can name as many as you want cause flowers are awesome)

forgot what i said last time but those

yellow carnations i think?

8. if you could do magic, what is the first spell you would learn?

maybe smth to put myself to sleep immediately bc f uCk

9. favorite childhood memory.

my summer camp memories are pretty great. also memories of my dad and i going fishing are good.

10. have you ever been cheated on?

i mean in theory i couldve been bc online relationships but no. n im polyam and have identified as such for a majority of my relationships so no.

11. if you could describe your perfect room, what would it be?

big but not too big, yknow? like big enough that it can be filled and have room to walk around and lay on the ground or whatever but not Empty. and a pretty big bed to stretch out on, n a closet in the room. multiple windows w blackout curtains so theres light but it can be blocked out. n fluffy rugs or carpeting but preferably rugs in case smth spills so we can get it out of at least Remove the rug. and probably a cat tree thing in corner for dipper. n a computer desk and actual lights that light up the whole room. but probably,, fairy lights too bc full lights too bright. and i kinda want a pink room but blue or yellow work also. a nd pride flags on the walls + posters and various other stuff bc plain walls are boring. and tons n tons of b ooks too.

12. favorite animal.

river otter

13. what was the last photo you took of?

cat

14. do you believe in soul mates?

i'm not sure. i do kinda think there are people who you will like. really really click with and who become so important in your life that they're like. apart of u yknow? but i don't think that anyone as an individual needs to keep those people in their life forever. they arent destined to stay with them, and they shouldnt force that relationship (platonic, familial, romantic, or whatever) even if they were close for years and years. screw destiny. youll have people you care about, and sometimes you have to break that bond to save yourself, and thats okay. there will be other people who can and will be just as important. that got kinda off topic skbsks. i don't think theres really like Destiny soulmates. but there could be like. soulmates in the sense of for however long we're together, we're soul bonded. even if its not forever. does that even make se nse skbsns

15. do you hang toilet paper over or under?

over is the one thats socially acceptable right

16. your go to place to eat & your favorite thing to get there.

idk theres a place near a movie theater closeish to my house and its a nice little cafe and i dont eat there bc i dont eat much in general but i get their bubble tea and i love. raspberry bubble tea w rose popping bubbles. its comfort drink.

17. do you believe everything happens for a reason?

no. sometimes shit happens for no reason, and its bullshit, but you can't reverse it, so you gotta figure out how to move on from it.

18. guilty pressures?

im assuming thats meant to be pleasures

umm,, idrk. i don't know what exactly i like that would count as a guilty pleasure so,,

19. favorite mythical creature, why?

merpeople are s o cool i fuckin. love funky aquatic pals hell yeah. maybe im just Water babey but. they're rad. dragons are also hella cool bc like dragons???? theyre scaly and prett y and can breathe fire or have wings and kill u?? also like selkies bc again. water. but i used to hear a lot of stories abt them and theyre so nea t

20. something most people don’t know about you.

i have the potential to be a huge asshole and also kinda Wish to fuckin murder someone sometimes but. i act nice most of the time anyway.

not murder murder but i can get angr y enough that i just wanna Stab smth

21. where did you grow up, what was it like?

grew up kinda near the edge of the city, still in it but not like the main city area. in western washington. it was kinda rly boring, i used to spend a lot more time outside or just by myself playing with leaves or toys or whatever. when i had friends i played make believe w them even when outside of school. so yeah. boring id say.

22. do you believe aliens exist?

sure.

23. what was your last google search?

other than names for some actors n stuff, i was looking up various star wars things

24. what did your last relationship teach you?

the one that like. ended? i guess thatd be. be careful with your own feelings and try to figure them out before jumping into anything, and also don't try to force smth that in reality isnt really working.

25. would you relocate for love?

honestly yeah

26. do you hold grudges or forgive easy?

both. it just depends on how badly i or someone i care about was hurt by it. more likely to hold a grudge if a friend was hurt by someone d eep enough to leave a lasting impact or if they don't get a genuine apology i will be 🔫🔫. or if the person keeps hurting them. even if that person is also my friend.

27. favorite book.

favorite graphic novel is bloom by kevin panetta

favorite books in general are autoboyography, more happy than not, and what if its us. all gay. i know. its okay. im a kinnie.

28. do you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert?

introvert by far

29. have you ever kept a journal, do you now?

i tried once. i probably will have to once i go see a therapist, or at least one for my Bad Thoughts

30. top 5 favorite movies.

in no particular order

little shop of horrors, love simon, coco, it (2017 and 1990), and shazam! ig? maybe others but i definitely Forgot all the shit ive watched

31. do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

no

32. what is your greatest fear?

definitely gotta be all of the people i love hating me and abandoning me or secretly hating me and then leaving me without saying anything. and the worst part is im always afraid its gonna happen babeyy

33. favorite alcoholic beverage.

im baby

34. most embarrassing thing you’ve done.

im embarrassed by my own existence. i don't remember the Most embarrassing thing

35. do you believe in ghosts?

not until i have proof that i can actually trust and believe in

36. what is the best and worst part of your personality?

idk ig im nice. but im also. very easily set off on certain emotions especially the bad ones which sucks like especially jealousy bc i dont wanna!! feel jealous!! tho i think that ties into my greatest fear bc my brain immediately tells me im useless to everyone and they hate me. but. sometimes i get jealous and then feel bad for that and then hate myself for all of it. bc my friends deserve to hang out w other people and care about other people im just fucking stupid babey !!

37. should you split the dinner bill?

i rly don't get why you wouldnt tbh like if u both wanna be there u should both pay. but if one person gonna pay it should be the person that asked.

38. are you a good liar?

most of the time. when it comes to my mental health i can either lie great or im literally breaking down in front of the person so

39. what keeps you up at night?

depressing thoughts. anxiety about everything. wishing i could cuddle and fall asleep w jay. sometimes i just cant sleep bc im too restless.

40. would you rather go without your phone or music?

music. i need my phone to text my friends and i Need my friends

41. do you believe in god?

what god would let the world get to the point its at. what god would allow people to do such fucked up shit.

no. i don't.

42. how do you relax when frustrated?

cry, take a nap, take a shower, listen to music, cuddle dipper

43. what’s something that offends you?

when people go "oh yeah i support gay rights but im still gonna eat at chick fil a bc its good" like i get so fucking. pissed off by that. youre not gonna fucking s ta rv e without their goddamn chicken. i know a bi person who goes there and says its okay bc they dont Directly Give Their money to Specifically anti gay organisations but im just. ugh. fucking pissed bc there are other places to get food just avoid the one place for fucks sake. their food is good it doesnt matter. its like saying yeah pewdiepie is a bad person and nazi and a racist asshole but his videos r funni haha so im gonna watch him anyway

44. favorite food

i hate myself whenever i eat food

45. if you were on a 10 hour flight and could sit and talk to any person the entire time, who would it be?

@destinedformuchmore or @pinaplelee

46. when do you feel the most confident?

never? but ig i feel confident when working on tech construction during theater tech. as long as i know what im doing.

47. what do you do in your free time?

sleep. draw. cry. play video games. talk to my friends.

48. is there anyone who has completely lost your respect

matpat did for being a dick abt neopronouns and making a transphobic joke and only apologizing when a cis person told him to. not when hundreds of trans people did. and also other jokes that are inherently offensive to various groups. a n d for making extremely not Child friendly jokes in his videos which are very much targeted towards kids. say what you will about the target audience, there are a lot of children who watch them. please stop making creepy nsfw jokes if you won't even swear, sir.

49. have you ever broken someone’s heart?

i guess so yeah. but she also broke mine first.

50. did/do you play sports in school?

i did. i don't anymore bc highschool sports are bullshit but. basketball, ultimate, and soccer.

51. when are you happiest?

talkin 2 jay prolly

52. coffee or tea?

tea

53. what is one possession you own you wouldn’t want to live without?

my binder. or my stuffed cat puppet thing ive had since i was 7

54. what is the first thing you notice about a person?

their general emotions, mostly. like if theyre in a good mood or if theyre bored or distracted or whatever. or if they seem interested in actually talking to me

55. what is your favorite season, why?

fall. my birthday, the atmosphere is nice, it's pretty, its hoodie weather.

56. what makes you laugh?

stupid little comments or jokes my friends make tend to make me laugh a lot harder than i should but jabdn

57. are you a clean or messy person?

a mix. i Cannot have some things messy or i will ksjqkd. Die but i don't make my bed too often bc its ha rd when its against 3 walls.

58. what is important for a successful relationship?

communication communication communicati

talk about ur goddamn problems n keep talking to each other.

59. what was your upcoming like?

if thats supposed to be upbringing

idk, very relaxed. pretty easygoing and kinda boring.

60. favorite holiday?

any holiday in december rly. i don't celebrate a Lot but the atmosphere and others celebrating is nice to see. i kinda wish my parents did more to embrace the jewish part in our family blike. whatever. christmas is fun.

61. what is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?

give half of it to my parents. and then probably use it for plane ticket

62. what’s the best pizza topping combination?

hawaiian pizza. pinapple n canadian bacon ty

63. favorite outdoor activity.

frisbee

64. how are you? honestly.

not great. i want highschool to end.

65. would you rather go camping in the woods or stay at a beach resort?

idk. camping is fun but if i get to stay at the resort for free i would rly love 2 stay at a resort tbh ive never done that

66. what is the most beautiful thing in nature?

waterfalls. or rivers or just. water in nature. and very green forests. aNd snow.

67. favorite type of candy?

none

68. if your life was a book, what would be the title?

i can and will do arson, an autobiography

69. what movie quotes do you use of a regular bases?

i quote john mulaney and whatever my obsessions are pretty regularly

70. what was cool when you were young but not cool now?

silly bandz. pokemon cards. these weird unicorn figures i collected

71. what’s the craziest conversation you have ever eves dropped on?

im mostly the one having the weird conversations

72. what’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

i watched one about dogs and cats and their evolution which was lit

73. what’s the worst hairstyle you’ve had?

when i let the lady just go fuckin ham on my hair bc i was watching spirit that horse movie and didnt wanna stop so it was. rly bad bangs and hella short in back but not the sides

74. what do you like to cook?

whatever im hungry for. i don't have the energy to cook a lot

75. what’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?

really pretty tropical fish

76. what’s the funniest tv show you’ve ever seen?

idk. i rly like schitts creek its pretty amusing

77. do you usually follow your heart or your head?

heart at first but my head if things get bad

78. what is your favorite quote?

"i have a splitting headache and i think i'm dying. how are you?"

or a character just saying "try harder" when another failed to do smth.

this is supposed to be deep or whatever but im in a Mood

79. what’s the weirdest crush you have ever had?

once had a crush on a character in a minecraft parody lmao

80. what’s your love language?

sending shit that makes me think of them. n just. making tons of stuff for them both online and irl like bracelets.

81. do you ever feel alone?

oh yeah. all the time. im not but it feels like i am which sucks

82. ever been bullied?

yeah

83. are you usually early or late?

late bc of my parents rip

84. what kind of art do you enjoy most?

drawing, or writing. also theater.

85. what do you wish you knew more about?

i just wish i could remember everything ive learned more about. i know a lot i just forget all.

id like to know more about forensics tho

[cutegirlmayra]

I came up with a random and slightly terrible idea for a prompt. Amy starts dating Shadow to make sonic jealous, and at first Shadow goes along with the idea out of pure spite, but something triggers a "Maria Moment" and he ends up becoming overly protective/attached of her. What do you think? Terrible right? XD

(x) Please don’t judge, I made this one >x

Oh, so terrible~ just enough so… that it might actually work! :D (that’s a compliment, lol)

Prompt:

With Amy watching Comedy Chimp interview Sonic for a ‘Comedy Ship’ special, Sonic is asked if Amy’s ever dated anyone, “After all, she’s a good looking girl, am I right? Charity-worker, perfect house-keeper, even got a top 80 for ‘can you wield a hammer and still look cute and totally not intimidating?’! What are your comments, Sonic?”

“Well, Chimp. Honestly? There’s not a lot of guys out there looking for someone like Amy. But hey! I guess it’s a little intimidating… that’s why she didn’t make the tippy-top of that chart, you know what I’m saying?” Sonic winks and relaxes with his hands behind his head, making the crowd laugh.

Amy squirms in her seat with anger, “I lost to an Otter and an Koala bear! That’s tough competition!” she threw the remote and started smashing around her house.

When she wore off, she saw something pass her window and quickly looked out it, getting an idea when she saw Shadow talking about something on his communicator.

“Remember, all you have to do is plant one last bomb in any location Sonic may pass through!” Eggman hollered, as Shadow seemed pretty serious about that command.

“Like I said, Doctor. I work on my own terms. Don’t worry about where I place it, only that you have it go off when the time comes.” he turned off the communicator and kept walking when Amy jumped up and in front of his way, smiling from cheek to cheek.

She giggled oddly, as if being shy, and having her hands behind her back, nervously hunched down a bit.

“…Out of my way,… strange… pink.. woman.” he gestured his arm out, trying to get her to move but looking confused on how to address her.

“Amy. And I was just wondering if you’re alone right now..?” She peeked over his shoulders and then chuckled nervously again as she pushed her fingers in on each other. “haha..ha..”

He rose an eyebrow, ‘Did she discover my true plans with Eggman? Is my cover blown?” he held a hand over his communicator and stepped back, “I don’t have times to deal with Sonic’s pathetic friends…” he was about to race off when he felt something grab at his arm and pull him back.

“W-what?” he looked back and saw her clinging to him. “One walk around the town, then you can do whatever you want!”

“One walk?” He was confused, but the directness and weird surprise of it left him unable to fight back as she pulled him into town.

“Promise it won’t be long! It never is to start up rumors…” she grinned mischievously, before giggling randomly as people walked by, and placing her head on Shadow’s shoulder.

He would flinch away before Eggman called again…

“Uhh… hmph.” he pushed Amy away, secretly taking the call on his wrist communicator.

“Shadow! Why are you-? … are you seriously on a date with Amy?” Eggman looked annoyed.

“What? I’m trying to escape her-emm!!” he was cut off by Amy grabbing his face, turning him to her and pointing to her friends.

“They’re here! Okay, act natural!” She put her arm around his waist and his arm over her shoulder, and giggled once again in her silly, nervous way. “This’ll teach him to tell me I’m not wanted!”

“What?! Unhand me! Let me go, you crazy-!”

“Woah, is that..? Shadow?!” Sonic stepped back.

“He’s captured Amy!” Tails cries out, pointing.

“Against her will!” Sticks got on all fours, growling and biting at the air.

“With no understanding of how to properly pull off that move!” Knuckles punched the air, and then posed with the rest of them, ready to fight.

Amy pretended to laugh at something Shadow said, snorting slightly and confusing him more, before walking on her merry way with him being dragged along as he stumbled in his steps.

“Uhhh…” the gang watched in the same amount of confusion as Shadow had portrayed.

“…Was she… happy?”

“Laughing means happiness.” Sticks replied to Tails’s question, getting up and stroking her chin. “Hmm.. Looks kinda like she’s moved on.”

“Aww.. does this mean we can’t trash Amy’s place anymore?” Knuckles leaned down, arms draping over and dangling in front of him, looking like a sad puppy.

“M-moved on!?” Sonic was startled, to say the least, and shook his head and hands, “No, no, no- NO. She’s clearly been… been… brain-washed! Yeah, that’s it!”

He watched as she sat down at Meh Burger with Shadow, trying to feed him as he struggled to get away from her.

“…She… she’s just messing around is all.” Sonic folded his arms, looking away, almost offended.

The gang looked at each other before he threw his arms up, “Stop looking! It’s weird! She’s clearly only going out with my mortal enemy to make me jealous!”

He pouted and peeked out to the two again, as Tails sighed.

“Well, maybe she’ll convert him to our side?”

“WHAT?!”

“Love is a powerful thing. Who knows? They may make some lovely hedgehog babies together.” Sticks shrugged, walking off with Tails.

“You guys! We can’t just let this happen!” Sonic frantically turned to them, gesturing to the two, “She’s clearly being used! He’s using her! Going to break her heart to try and get to me- I-I-I mean us! The team! He’ll be our Yoko!” he gripped his head, clearly desperate for them to help stop this mess.

Knuckles yawned, “But that would mean ruining their date, right? That’s a low thing to do, Sonic. Amy’s our friends. If she wants to go off and hang with other dudes at Meh Burger than we have to respect her decision.” He then twitched and held his chest. “Ouch! Was that what I think it was? Ah! Tails! I need ducktape! Fast!” He then booked it to Tails, who also looked down a moment, turning around.

“Hey, that’s right. If Amy goes off with Shadow.. doesn’t that mean we won’t see her anymore?”

As the gang got wild up, Shadow planted the bomb in Meh Burger, under the table as he noticed them coming to approach the two.

“Mind telling me why you insist on making a fool of yourself?”

She giggled nervously again before sobbing and slamming her head to the table. The impact made him worry about the bomb as he sneakily glanced down to check on it.

It wasn’t activated… he let a quiet sound of relief calmly pass his lips.

He then glared back at Amy. “You’re wasting my patience. What’s going on-!”

She plugged his mouth, leaning back up.

He swiped it off, “And stop doing that!”

“I need you to act like you like me!”

“What?!”

They were holding hands now, not on purpose, as Sonic and the gang flinched from a distance.

“They’re already holding hands!” Sticks blurted out.

“They’re moving too fast! This is getting serious!” Tails gripped his head, panic now setting in as they had recently decided to confront Amy about this. “Even me and Zooey haven’t reached that stage! I-I’d be too embarrassed!”

“He must be stopped!” Sonic hollered out, and the team moved faster. “Wait!” Sonic stopped them, “Stealth… be cool guys… be cool…” They straightened up, being casual and speed walking over to them now.

“You’re insufferable! Why would I fancy you?” “You could if you tried! Honest! I’d be a cute girlfriend!” Shadow was pushing her away from him, but Amy was moving more towards him.

The team sped up again, their heads lowering down and Tails spinning his tails as it looked a little… different from their point of view…

More couply.

“Why are you so insistent!? Tell me the truth!” He threw her hands down and she sighed in annoyance, giving up.

“Fine! I wanted to make Sonic jealous!”

“What?” Shadow looked at Sonic’s face, coming quickly over to them, dodging people and stopping for the old monkey man to pass, growing impatience and growling at having to wait.

“Heh. If that’s your goal..” He pulled her closer and leaned his head back to whisper in her ear. “Quick, giggle. Like before.” He needed to get her to lure the team over there way anyway…

She did so since his breath tickled her ear anyway. She covered her face though, hiding the blush as she realized she actually liked that feeling. ‘That's not supposed to happen.’ she thought to herself.

Sonic moved faster, helping the old monkey across the street before continuing to ‘play it cool’ towards the two, but growing more and more aggressive in his steps and his expression.

Shadow smiled, “Closer…” He moved his finger to the communicator for Eggman to receive his signal, waiting for the perfect moment…

“You know, Shadow… I really am grateful you’re playing along with this.” Amy looked away, her hands on her lap. “I mean… It just means…”

She smiled up at him, and his eyes suddenly widened, distracted.

“That you do have a heart, after all!” she tilted her head and his memory of Maria triggered, his eyes shook while her image was replaced over and over with Amy’s.

He flipped the tap, standing up and shaking his head in his cry, “MARRRRIIIAAA!!!” he then kicked the table away and grabbed Amy, jumping away as the table exploded near Sonic and the gang, who guarded and looked up to where Shadow had jumped to a nearby building and then continued on with trees.

“He really is using her!” Tails looked at the bomb, “He was going to explode us all to pieces!”

“Amy!” In worry, Sonic gritted his teeth and ran after her.

Shadow grew protective of Amy, only because his mind was associating her with Maria, having his PTSD kick in, Amy became Maria in his mind. He would shake his head and declare to Sonic, “I’ll never let anyone take her away from me! Not again!”

“Again?” Amy was confused, but after a little chase, she figured out Shadow was having an episode, and helped comfort and calm him through it.

“T..Thank you… but why are you helping me?” He had snapped out of his mental breakdown, clutching his head.

“Hehe, cause you- for a moment anyway before being a bad guy again- totally helped me out with getting Sonic to notice me. But I would have done it regardless, shadow. You really should talk about this more… It may help with your emotions… talking about your feelings..” she put a hand delicately to his back, as he twitched under her kindness.

“Hmph!” he paused a moment, before swiping her hand away from him. “I don’t need your sympathy.” he spat out and took off before Sonic had a chance to catch him.

“Wait!”

“Sonic!” Amy stopped him and swung his arm she caught back to her.

“B-but he’s getting away!”

“And?”

“H-he took you!”

“And?”

“And!? Well, and now you're here and not… in… his clutches… oh.” Sonic calmed down, looking back and forth to where Shadow went and where she was now.

“What’s the deal, Ames? You know he’s a bad dude! What… are you … y-you into that sort of t-t-thing?” He folded his arms, getting nervous and looking away, shy again.

She giggling into her hand, making him upset cause he’s heard that giggle too much already today.

She then put her face close up to his cheek, “I was just making you sure you realize how it feels to lose me.” She teased and walked to the gang coming up behind them.

“Amy!” they shouted for joy, thinking Sonic had caught up first and saved her.

“I think I’m done with the dating scene for one day.” she grinned, embracing them as they welcomed her back.

Sonic couldn’t help it, he studied the ground before glaring to Shadow’s direction, and then his eyes softened, and he rubbed the back of his head.

“I guess…” he muttered to himself, before losing the tension in his body and looking tenderly towards Amy, “I never knew how that would feel…” he admitted, but only to himself.

With a smile.

Shadow stopped a moment from walking, taking off the communicator that Eggman was shouting out from- wondering what had happened, and accusing Amy of having changed his heart on him.

Shadow looked over his shoulder, seeing Amy so happy with her friends.

He clutched his chest. “…Maria… Forgive me. I seem to still…”

He watched her closer…

“Have weakness…”

He honed in on Amy’s cheery smile… reminding him so much of Maria’s…

(Augh, I kinda want to make Shadow crush on her but that would mean certain doom for keeping this canon lol. -though I think it’s possible for his character… *cough cough*-)

[mrandyzavala]

The Middle Flipper Is...(Part 16)

…a dolphin who helps herself to her lunch.  And maybe other people’s lunches.

STOP IT

This has got to be something anyone training animals has experienced with any tangible reinforcer*.  I wrote about this a while back, featuring an amazing lady sea lion named Tina.  It may not surprise many people that animals who can easily move around the land occasionally pull some lightning-fast ninja moves and wind up with their face in a bucket, cooler, pouch, whatever.   Also can we pause a moment to just acknowledge how STRONG Asian small-clawed otters are when they are using their tiny alien hands to grab their food bowls?  You’d need some kind of industrial-grade lever system and/or a nuclear bomb to loosen their grip before they are good and finished.  ASCOs are undoubtedly the masters of bucket-diving.

But I mean, their hands can be used for good, too.

BUT, perhaps the wild card of the Bucket Diving World Champions are dolphins.  Yeah.  

If you work with dolphins, you get it.  But if you don’t, you are probably sitting there wondering a) how stupid the trainers are for leaving buckets close enough to the edge of the water for a dolphin to nab OR b) you are trying to imagine how it is physically possible for a dolphin to let themselves into a closed container of food but your brain keeps flashing the THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE message.  So let me shed light onto both of these points.

People who work with dolphins tend to keep fish in one of two types of containers: stainless steel buckets, or Igloo-type coolers**.  Because dolphins are ginormous animals and eat a good amount, these containers usually contain around 3 to 10 pounds of fish, depending on the facility, the animal, and the type of session.  Many facilities feed lots of capelin, or smaller fish like mullet or the dreaded silversides (Godspeed to those of you feeding those little MFers).  

This is the feeling of gazing into a bucket full of silversides.  HOW MANY ARE IN THEREEEEE

What that means is there are like 67,000 fish in a bucket (plus or minus), not to mention lots of ice.  That means the buckets are pretty heavy and not easily wielded (although have you seen a dolphin trainer’s arms? STACKED).  Unlike animals whose training food requires something cute and simple like a little belt, or clip-on pouch, dolphin trainers do not typically move their buckets around as often as THEY themselves move.  You leave it somewhere, do your thing, and come back to it.  

And this is where the problems begin.

When I was at Marineland, Roxy was the known bucket-diver (I’m assuming she is still doing this).  Now, Roxy was not really a risk-taker when it came to helping herself to snacks.  That is to say, if you carelessly left your bucket/cooler on the edge of the habitat, she was going to come up a foot or so out of the water, use her rostrum to knock the bucket into a free spin resulting in it crashing into the water. 

Roxy (photo cred to Jess Aditays, an amazing human being with endless talent)

This is usually how dolphins (in my experience) take their buckets.  They see a perfect opportunity, and take it.  Usually, it spills a good amount of fish into the water (67,000ish) and the other dolphins zoom over and chow down, regardless of what else is going on.  This is annoying for a few reasons: 1) You have to figure out how much food each animal got, so you can get everyone’s daily diet back into equilibrium.  This is basically impossible unless you have really slow dolphins (ha ha!), or if there is less than three, because otherwise you basically have a maelstrom of marine mammal eating fish and there aren’t enough eyeballs in your head or neurons in your brain to keep track of that much stimuli. 2) Depending on what kind of session it is, or how long you have left in the session, you may have like zero snacks left over.  This really sucks in interaction programs, because you can’t get people out quickly.  You can barely get them out of the water for an emergency, like HEY THERE IS LIGHTNING AND ALSO THERE IS A SERIAL KILLER STANDING BEHIND YOU WITH A LOADED SHOTGUN SO GET OUT OF THE WATER RIGHT NOW.  And the guests are like “BUT I PAID TO SWIM WITH DOLPHINS” 3) It is yet another reminder of how stupid we are and how smart the dolphins are.

I've been looking for that everywhere!

So what do we do? Well, we have our obligatory Staff Meeting where we declare that Never Again Shall Roxy (or whoever) Steal The Bucket, and we come up with training plans and make a blood oath that we will not leave our buckets within one foot of the pools’ edges.  And Roxy just waits until we screw up, because SHE knows we will (but we humans are still in denial about this).   Sometimes, you get REAL smart, and you close the lid to your Coleman cooler nice and tight after every time you use it, so when Roxy knocks it in, she just gets a floating cube impenetrable to her handless body.  And you celebrate how intelligent and cunning you are as a human being.

….until you meet Delilah.  

The Grand Empress herself

Delilah, she knows how to open coolers.  She removes lids in ways that I still cannot understand.  She eats all the snacks.  And then she brings you back the empty cooler, and the lid (if she completely removed it).  I don't have anything else to add to this, because her methods are a mystery.  All I know is that she figured this out and acts calmly, almost bored, because she is that effing smart.

But there is a dolphin who gets buckets no matter where they are.  And her name is Spirit.

Remember this photo

Spirit lives at National Aquarium (Nani’s daughter) and is one of the sharpest women I have ever met.  She is a keen observer of human behavior, she is always 10 steps ahead of any training plan you can come up with, she figures out your games and exploits you.  GOD I LOVE HER.

I was told Spirit was a bucket diver when I started working at the aquarium.  I figured at that point, with 10+ years of experience, I had seen lots of bucket divers.  I also figured that after watching Delilah dismantle coolers, I couldn’t be surprised anymore.  Now, don't read that as me saying that I somehow thought Spirit would never grab a bucket during one of our sessions.  I had learned that lesson long ago; it was just a matter of time before I experienced that.  But I figured I wouldn’t be surprised by it.  It would just be Another Smart Dolphin Taking What She’s Owed.

HA! My hubris was steamrolled yet again by a slippery critter.

This is now my permanent facial expression

The first time Spirit took her bucket (a stainless steel one), it was 100% my fault.  It was on the edge, I left to get some toys, and I took my eye off of her for a second.  Rookie mistake, and boom, she got it.  She got a couple other trainer’s buckets in other sessions over the next couple of days, becoming bolder and bolder at how far she would come up out of the water to get it.  But again, this wasn’t surprising to any of us.  We just tried to be more vigilant in keeping our buckets away from her.

So this one session, I was standing on a slide out on the side of the main habitat during a presentation.  I was about shin-deep in the water, loving on Spirit and another dolphin named Jade.  It seemed like we were having a jolly time, with both dolphins soliciting rubs and playing wildly with their toys.  I placed their buckets high up on the wall, at the end of a set of stairs leading into the slide out, because Spirit would basically need to re-evolve her legs or defy the laws of gravity in order to reach it.  Therefore, I felt perfectly comfortable moving to the front of the habitat, near their underwater viewing windows.

Everything is fine, I got it

I did this because it was part of our plan to bring the dolphins to the windows so our guests in the amphitheater could see the animals better.  I brought Jade’s bucket with me, after putting some of Spirit’s food in there, so I didn’t have to schlep two big buckets back and forth to the windows, especially because I wasn’t going to be there longer than a few behaviors.  Oh…oh Cat.

We did a few behaviors, having a great time.  Spirit and Jade got a good amount of snacks for it, since we didn’t do it super often.  I also figured it would be a good idea to give Spirit a heavier ratio of reinforcement at the windows because she was away from her bucket and, even though she couldn’t reach it, she was not over at the slideout trying to get it.  THis is something I am sure most of you trainers out there would’ve done, because it is, according to the books, What Works.

Suddenly, Spirit shot away.  Towards the slideout.  Towards the stairs.  

Me. Dolphin (not Spirit).  Stairs are behind me, bucket in the place I am describing.  You get the picture.

Oh god, I thought.  She is going to try in vain to get that bucket.  What a mess, I thought as I watched her make her way to the bucket.

Then, with the grace and agility of a freakin’ killer whale, she somehow CLIMBED UP THE STAIRS WITH HER FLIPPERS, grabbed her bucket, then threw her body, which was now well over 1/2 way out of the water, back onto the slideout.  And a dolphin party ensued, ruining the presentation segment, leaving me standing mouth-agape at what I just witnessed.

She tried to turn back into this thing

The best part? None of the staff who knew Spirit well was surprised.  They calmly informed me that really, the only way to prevent Spirit from getting a bucket was to secure it in a bucket rack on one of the decks of the habitat, or hang it 35 feet from the ground like a freaking camping trip where bears hang out.

In fact, they further informed me of Spirit’s ability and Little Mermaid-esque affinity to Be Where The People Are in ways that do not make sense for a bottlenose dolphin.  My favorite story involve a trainer in The Pit, a small (and AMAZINGLY COOL) observation area located below the main pool’s deck.  The entrance to the pit is like nine feet away from the water’s edge, and is up on a low grade “hill” of sorts. 

The pit is in the middle of this photo; its roof-top door is open.  That is how far back it is.

The trainer was watching animals in another pool, when they felt drops of water falling on them.  This wasn’t unusual, because if the animals splashed a lot, you might feel a couple of droplets as a result.  But for some reason, this trainer looked up.  And there, peering down at her, was Spirit. 

This dolphin had slid up well over a body length UPHILL, and scooted herself so that she could literally crane her head over the edge of the pit to see what was happening down there.  Like NBD. 

AHHHH

Despite the momentary anxiety bucket diving can cause, it ultimately is a really cool thing to witness.  As animal caregivers, we need to be humbled by the animals in our care.  We have to have reminders that no matter what stage in our career we are at, or what kind of day we are having, we ultimately work for the animals.  It cannot be any other way.  If they want to exploit our momentary lapse of judgment regarding food receptacle placement, so be it.  Let them feel free to do so.  Let them always remind us that humans are not the be-all, end-all.  And let them eat their snacks. 

_________

If not, you need to start your own workshop and charge like $500 per person and maybe give me 10% of your earnings for you know, a founder’s fee.

** I know some of you guys wear fanny-pack pouches when you are in the water, but no one is impressed with a dolphin who steals fish from a container UNDER water.

from The Middle Flipper http://ift.tt/2tEgGo0