#electric zoo 10

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - September 8-14

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1. Pair of rare Amur tiger cubs debuting at Minnesota Zoo are raising hopes for the endangered species

“[The Minnesota Zoo’s] Amur tigers have produced 57 cubs, [… 21 of which] have gone on to produce litters of their own, amounting to another 86 cubs. […] “They’re showing a lot of resiliency, which is something that we work hard for in human care. We want these animals to have a lot of confidence and be able to adapt to new environments just as they’re doing today.””

2. Powered by renewable energy, microbes turn CO₂ into protein and vitamins

“The team designed a two-stage bioreactor system that produces yeast rich in protein and vitamin B9. [… The protein] levels in their yeast exceed those of beef, pork, fish, and lentils. […] Running on clean energy and CO2, the system reduces carbon emissions in food production. It uncouples land use from farming, freeing up space for conservation[… and] will help farmers concentrate on producing vegetables and crops sustainably.”

3. JCPenney Launches Apparel Collection Aimed At Wheelchair Users

“A major department store is rolling out a new line of clothing specifically tailored to meet the needs of women who use wheelchairs featuring options for both everyday wear and special occasions. [… The clothing have] modifications like zippers located for easy access, pocket positioning and extended back rises optimized for the seated position and shorter sleeves to limit interference with wheels.”

4. Snails bred in Edinburgh Zoo sent to re-populate species in French Polynesia

“Thousands of rare partula snails bred at Edinburgh Zoo are to be released in French Polynesia to restore the wild population of the species.The last surviving few of the species were rescued in the early 1990s[….] 15 species and sub-species [are being bred in zoos for repopulation], the majority of which are classed as extinct in the wild.”

5. [NH Joins 19 Other States] to Provide Essential Behavioral Health Services Through Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams

“[CMS] approved New Hampshire’s Medicaid State Plan Amendment for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. […] The multidisciplinary team provides screening and assessment; stabilization and de-escalation; and coordination with and referrals to health, social, and other services, as needed.”

6. Recovery plan for Missouri population of eastern hellbender

“It is expected that recovery efforts for the Missouri DPS of the eastern hellbender will reduce sedimentation and improve water quality in the aforementioned watersheds, which will also improve drinking water, as well as benefit multiple federally listed mussels, sport fish and other aquatic species.”

7. How $7.3B will help rural co-ops build clean power—and close coal plants

“[The funds are] serving about 5 million households across 23 states [… to] build wind and solar power, which is now cheaper than coal-fired power across most of the country. […] Some of it will be used to pay down the cost of closing coal plants[….] federal funding could help co-ops secure enough wind, solar, and battery resources to retire their entire coal capacity by 2032, cutting carbon emissions by 80 to 90 percent and reducing wholesale electricity costs by 10 to 20 percent[….]”

8. Native-led suicide prevention program focuses on building community strengths

“[Indigenous researchers have] designed programs that aim to build up a community’s endemic strengths, rather than solely treating the risks facing individuals within that community. By providing support and resources that enable access to Alaska Native cultural activities, they hope to strengthen social bonds that build resilience. […] “In a Yup’ik worldview, suicide is not a mental health disorder, and it’s not an individual affliction, it’s a disruption of the collective.””

9. Another rare Javan rhino calf spotted at Indonesia park

“A new Javan rhino calf has been spotted in an Indonesian national park, the facility's head said Friday, further boosting hopes for one of the world's most endangered mammals after two other […] calves were spotted earlier this year at the park, which is the only habitat left for the critically endangered animal.”

10. Transparent solar cells can directly supply energy from glass surfaces

“[Researchers have] unveiled a method of supplying energy directly from glass of buildings, cars, and mobile devices through transparent solar cells. […] It has also succeeded in charging a smartphone using natural sunlight. It also proved the possibility that a screen of a small mobile device can be used as an energy source.”

September 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[prettygirl-gabi]

Count Down To Us

happy new years bitches!!

Thanks for the plot @chrisscoraline ily!

The energy in the room was electric. Music pumped through the speakers, people cheered, and the countdown to midnight was just minutes away. The whole UConn team had gathered at one of the team captain’s houses for New Year’s Eve, and it was packed to the brim with laughter, champagne flutes, and way too many people trying to show off their dance moves.

I stood by the snack table, popping a mini meatball into my mouth as I scanned the crowd for Paige. She’d been whisked away by some of her teammates for photos, leaving me stranded with nothing but a plate of appetizers and a desire to be wrapped in her arms before the clock struck twelve.

“Where is this girl?” I muttered to myself, balancing my plate on one hand while smoothing down the oversized sequined jersey dress I’d paired with glittery sneakers.

“Looking for Paige?” Azzi smirked as she appeared beside me, a bottle of sparkling cider in hand.

“Obviously,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “She’s the only reason I agreed to come to this zoo of a party.”

Azzi laughed. “She’s somewhere over there,” she said, pointing toward the living room where a crowd had gathered.

“Thanks,” I said, abandoning my plate and weaving through the throng of people.

The closer I got, the more chaotic it became. Someone bumped into me, almost spilling their drink, and I shot them a glare before continuing my trek. The countdown clock on the TV screen read 1:45, and my heart raced.

“C’mon, Paige,” I mumbled, craning my neck to spot her.

“Ma!” Her voice cut through the noise, and I turned just in time to see her towering figure trying to make her way toward me. Her blonde hair was slightly tousled, and her blue eyes sparkled as they locked onto mine. She looked ridiculously good in her fitted black turtleneck and gray slacks, but I didn’t have time to admire her.

“Paige!” I called back, waving my hands to catch her attention.

The clock hit 1:30, and she started pushing through the crowd faster, her long legs making it easier for her to maneuver than my much shorter frame.

“Hold up, mamas, I’m coming!” she shouted, laughing as she sidestepped another teammate trying to hug her.

“Move, Bueckers!” I yelled playfully, laughing as I tried to squeeze past a group of people who were oblivious to my urgency.

1:15.

I finally broke free from the crowd, and there she was, just a few feet away, looking down at me with the softest smile. “Hey, baby,” she said, her voice cutting through the chaos.

“Don’t ‘hey, baby’ me,” I said, grinning despite myself. “You almost made me miss my New Year’s kiss!”

She chuckled, reaching out to pull me closer by my waist. “Wouldn’t let that happen, ma,” she murmured, her lips already inching toward mine.

10.

The countdown started, and the room erupted into cheers.

“9!”

“You’re really cutting it close,” I teased, my hands resting against her chest.

“8!”

“Worth it,” she replied, her voice low.

“7!”

Her hands slid to my hips, her thumbs brushing the sequins of my dress.

“6!”

“Paige…”

“5!”

“I got you, mamas,” she whispered, her forehead resting against mine.

“4!”

I couldn’t help but smile, my heart racing in anticipation.

“3!”

Her blue eyes locked onto mine, and the world seemed to slow down.

“2!”

“I love you,” she said softly, her breath warm against my lips.

“1!”

And just like that, our lips met. The room erupted in cheers, but it all faded into the background as Paige kissed me with all the tenderness in the world. Her hands held me steady, grounding me in the moment as I melted against her.

When we finally pulled away, her smile was soft and adoring. “Happy New Year, ma,” she murmured, pressing another quick kiss to my lips.

“Happy New Year, P,” I replied, my cheeks warm as I grinned up at her.

She held me close, her arms wrapped protectively around me. “This year’s gonna be amazing, baby,” she said, her voice filled with promise.

“With you? Always,” I replied, resting my head against her chest as the party roared on around us.

---

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

-Thank You For Reading!🩵🩶

-prettygirl-gabi🎀✨️

[marcsburnerphone]

And they were roommates

(Captain John price x F!reader)

Summary: the captain wants somewhere more homely to settle down and when an offer like yours comes alight on Zillow he must take up on it.

Warnings: separation, flirtatious commentary, mentions of sex (lmk if anymore

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6- part 7 - part 8 - Part 9 - part 10 - part 11 - part 12 - part 13

--------------------------------------------------------------

“There’s our love stricken captain.” Gaz says as John finally appears through the heavy compound doors. As they all look at him it's very noticeable he’s in love, their captain looks well, the boys all assumed the bags under his eyes were permanent but looking at him they seem to be fully gone and all his features look brighter. 

“Come on let's debrief.” is all he says while walking to his office, the three men immediately rise from where they were sitting and follow behind him.

“Pants looking extra snug captain.” soap mutters.

“Yeah it's called happiness son, ever heard of it?” John swifty jabs back, swinging the empty room door open.

“No, unfortunately I have not.” 

“And stop looking at my ass.” John says while sliding manilla folders across the table as their hands each reach for one.

“Yeah Johnny, stop looking at the captain's ass.” gaz adds.

“I wasn't!” soap says flipping the folder open harshly.

“Back to business.” John says as he begins speaking through their plan of attack.

—------

“How’d the missus take it?” john likes the term simon uses to refer to you, gives him hope that one day you will be his Mrs.

“Good, at least that's what she made it seem like.” Simon  reads right through the soft frown that covers his captain's face, it wasn’t easy for him.

“Did she cry?” Simon says as the both come to a halt scanning their access cards to the armory.

“A little, felt like a fucking bullet to the chest.” 

“At least you know she actually likes you.” Simon was never good at comforting people but that outright made his captain laugh.

“Yeah at least, not like sharing moments of intimacy in our own world and exchanging words of endearment was enough.” John's smile creases at the side of his eyes as he lightly shoves Simon's shoulder.

 —------------

Back at home you slept until late in the evening only waking up from your buzzing phone vibrating under your pillow. Not checking who it is because quite frankly you don't care, you press the phone to your ear with a sigh.

“Hello.”

“Doll?” you sit up looking at the name on your phone it’s an unidentified number then you realize immediately pressing it back to your ear.

“John!” 

“Yeah, everything alright?” he worriedly replies.

“Yes I was just sleeping.” you say softly smiling tears already filling your eyes.

“Alone I hope.” 

“Want a picture?” you say seductively. 

“On this government issued phone? Absolutely.” He cracks a smile at the sound of your laugh, his task force stares at him like he’s a zoo animal, inspecting closely, especially the soldiers who don’t know him as anything apart from brutal.

“I'm actually calling to let you know I'll be on a helicopter for the next couple of hours and don’t know when I'll be able to contact you again.” he says, turning around to view the sunset, the same one he knows cascades your guys’ room in a beautiful shade of orange.

“Okay, stay safe, call me when you can, and I love you a lot and I don't even know what to say.” your charm travels through the phone like electricity and he just wants to kiss your face.

“I love you, keep safe till then. I left my card on top of the kitchen table for anything and everything. Please use it.” you sigh and he can practically see you shaking your head. He couldn’t promise his safety when he basically sold it once he began this occupation.

“John you slick man, you don't have to do things like that.” you say as the helicopter rotors start spinning.

“Yeah but I do, gotta go doll talk soon.”

“Bye hon.” With that he hears the click, biting the inside of his cheek as anxiety creeps its way up his neck, he’ll be far from you further than ever and can only pray for your safety instead of ensuring it and it makes him sick.

—-----------------

You moped, and good god was it humiliating, you'd been a single independent lady for years before meeting john but now it was like being put into an isolated home after living in new york city. There was nothing to do, you cleaned, cooked, painted but nothing was curing the pure ache of boredom and yearning. 

The morning after his departure was single handedly the hardest, the weight of his body creased beside you, keeping you warm even in little clothes, his breathing that'd softly blow atop your head had not been there.

Still no call you disappointedly noticed when you hurriedly checked your phone when it had started buzzing, just a spam call you sigh rolling out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

“I should call my sister.” you say to yourself in the mirror with a small nod. Happily walking back to bed you dial the phone.

“Hey stranger, been a while.” she says with subtle amusement.

“It's been like four days?” you smile.

“That's a lifetime ago.”

“Want to come over, stay for a bit?” you ask for the first time in a long time.

“I don't kn-”

“Please.” 

“Yeah, I'll try to catch the next train. Let me pack some clothes and I'll call you back.” when she hangs up you sigh in relief, nothing in this world could cure loneliness like spending time with her.

—------------

“So you’re trying to tell me YOU HAVEN'T HAD SEX!” soap exclaims.

“I didn’t say that I said I'm not disclosing my personal intimate life with you.” John says while huffing on a cigar tired of being in this goddamn helicopter with a four year old.

“Same thing.” 

“Johnny shut up good grief.” Gaz says, rubbing his forehead in defeat when Johnny starts up again.

“You guys are so boring, how much time do we have left anyways.” he sighs out dramatically.

“An hour.” Simon replies.

“Oh so he speaks.” Johnny happily says looking at Simon with wide eyes waiting for a response. Pindrop silence overtakes the cabin.

“Or maybe he doesn’t.”

—-----------------------

thank you for the love and support <3

@beebeechaos @ttsbaby01 @arminarlertssword @quakeroaksguy @rafaelacallinybbay @bumblebeesfromvenus @glitterypirateduck @midnights-song @lovelythingsinternal @fruitymoonbeams-blog @kkaaaagt @kit-williams @enfppuff @kythefangirl25 @eviltheleon @here4thespice @dclore22 @raethethey @waves-against-a-cliff @novausstuff @darling006 @vampirekilmerfic @Dreams-of-qian-qian @spngingerbread21 @thepumpkinqueen93 @copiasratscheese @youdontknowe @spyderdoll @angels-gonna-play @viisgrave @lieutenantlashfaz @sunndust @beckythecatqueen-blog @aoioozora @o-birdseed-o @mothmothmothmothmothmoth @ihateuguys @oversensitivitea @spicyspicyliving @maladptivedaydreaming

[dandylovesturtles]

kids are about 8/9 here. idk what this is. happy 10 days to Halloween?

cw: violence, blood, gore (not the turtles'), cussing

-----

Later, Donnie would say going to the surface was Leo's idea, but really, it had been an unspoken joint decision. He wanted to search the trash in the alley for building materials, Leo was just annoyed at being treated like a baby. Sure, it made sense why Mikey wasn't allowed to go to the surface without Raph, but why were the two of them subject to the same rules? They were a whole year older!

So when Papa fell asleep in his chair, and with Raph chasing an uncooperative Mikey around, begging him to take a bath, Leo looked at Donnie, then at the exit to the tunnels, and Donnie followed him right out.

At first it was exhilarating. He and Leo had been to the surface several times now, but it was always with Raph or Splinter, and that meant it came with rules. Don't touch that. Stay where I can see you. Don't run off. There's too many humans that way. No you can't take that back to the lair, it's dangerous. On and on and on. But this time they were alone, and Donnie wasn't going to stop Leo from climbing the fire escape and petting the cats sitting on windowsills as long as Leo wouldn't tell him to put the old, broken electronics and jagged pieces of metal he found back in the dumpster.

And Leo didn't say a thing about it, other than to call him a nerd. Of course.

It was a cool night, but not so cold that it made Donnie shiver. It had rained recently, so everything was damp and there was a fog that held in the air. The only noise besides what the two of them made came from an old pair of vending machines right by the entrance to the street, buzzing and humming with electricity. Leo had already asked Donnie if he could "hack it" to get them some drinks and snacks, and Donnie had shooed him off so he could get back to his scavenging. But he was seriously considering giving it a try once his work was done.

Leo dropped off the fire escape and wandered closer to the street. It was deep into the night, but when Donnie looked he could still see Leo in the glow from the vending machine, so he didn't worry too much. He'd just found a perfectly good toaster that someone threw out, and he absolutely planned to take it back with him.

He'd just ducked down to tug at a box sticking out of the mound of trash, when he heard a voice echo off the bricks of the buildings.

"Yooo, dude. Did you see that!?"

"Shhh, shhh, hold on," said another voice, followed by some quick footsteps.

And then Leo yelped.

Donnie's heart was pounding against his plastron as he slowly and carefully peeked above the rim of the dumpster. Two big humans stood in the light of the vending machine; one of them had Leo, holding him by the lip of his shell where it opened for his head.

"The hell is this?"

"Looks like some kind of fucked up turtle."

"I knew the Hudson was radioactive, man."

Leo squirmed in their grasp, but they were way bigger and stronger, and they kept him from escaping. He didn't have his weapons, because Dad only let them have them when they were training ("You'll poke your eye out," he'd said). Fat lot of good that did them now.

"What do you think we could sell it for?" asked one of the humans.

"Who would even want it?"

"Dude, someone's gotta. A zoo or something!"

"Damn, you're right. It's worth a try, right?"

Donnie's blood ran cold. They were going to take Leo away. They were going to take his brother away, and he'd never see him again, never get to talk to him or play with him again, and Donnie

couldn't

let

that

happen.

Before he himself even knew what he was planning, he'd jumped out of the dumpster and shot straight toward the humans. They'd only just noticed him when he launched himself at the one holding Leo and bit, directly into the hairy, exposed flesh.

An agonized scream filled the alley.

The leg Donnie was biting began to shake and kick, frantically trying to dislodge him, but Donnie only bit down tighter, sinking all his teeth into the man, his jaws locking and refusing to let go. There was a thud as something hit the concrete beside him; the man was still screaming.

"GET HIM OFF ME! GET HIM OFF GET HIM OFF- OH SHIT-"

Human hands grabbed at Donnie and yanked, but he didn't let go. A disgusting, metallic taste filled his mouth, and something chewy and unpleasant was coming loose between his teeth.

The men were both yelling now, kicking, hitting, but Donnie didn't let go, he wouldn't, he couldn't-

Until he felt a hand wrap around his. Small, three-fingered, and as familiar as his own.

Donnie yanked back. The chewy thing between his teeth came with him. The man was still shrieking in pain, blood pouring down his leg and staining his socks and sneakers, snot and spittle hanging from his face.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" yelled the man.

Donnie and Leo scrambled backwards, hands locked tight together.

"Dude, we gotta get you to a hospital," said the uninjured man, grabbing the other human's arm and tugging. For a moment, the injured man fought back, waving his fists at Donnie and Leo.

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT THING!" the man screamed. A light came on in a window above.

"Come on, man, it probably has rabies," said the other human, still tugging. "Let's get out of here. Call animal control."

For a second, Donnie thought he would keep coming, even with a limp, but eventually he relented, and went with his companion. They could still here the man yelling as they disappeared from sight.

Donnie and Leo watched, still and silent in the shadows beyond the vending machines, for a very long moment. The only sounds in the alley were the electric hum of the vending machines, but it was louder now, somehow, louder and more annoying and pressing in on Donnie from all sides.

He suddenly became very aware of a sticky substance on his hands and arms and shoulders and face. The unpleasant taste was still in his mouth, as was the squishy thing, and it filled him with revulsion. He spat it out on the ground, and saw skin and hair and red stuff and-

He wanted to gag, but he couldn't. He could feel his muscles shutting down, the way they did sometimes. He hated this feeling, but he knew from experience he couldn't stop it. It was out of his control now.

The whine started at the back of his throat and built in intensity until it drowned out the sounds of the vending machines. His hands moved to clutch his head against his will, and he sank to the ground, curling up over his knees and pressing himself against them in a desperate bid to get it all to stop.

"Shoot, Dee," he heard Leo say, and then he moved away. Donnie couldn't open his eyes to see where he went, but a moment later he heard the sound of glass breaking.

A few seconds later, he heard a soft fizz, and then something cool was being pressed against his arm.

Slowly, he squinted his eyes open. He could barely stand it, but he had to do it, to see Leo in crouching in front of him, holding out a bottle of cola and signing at him to drink.

Clumsily, he took it. The mix of cola and the metallic taste in his mouth almost made him gag again, and he spat that out, too. Somehow, it helped. He repeated this action several more times, until the bottle was almost empty and his mouth was free of that terrible taste.

Then, slowly, a little at a time, he drank the rest.

The world backed down to a manageable level. Leo was still in front of him, looking worried. His eyes and face were wet, and Donnie didn't think it was from the mist.

Still, he met Donnie's eyes with a wobbly smile and asked, "Ready to go down?"

Hesitantly, Donnie stood up. When he didn't fall over, he nodded. Leo nodded back, then went to the manhole cover and opened it up.

Donnie didn't go back for the toaster. He didn't even remember it, really.

Leo gestured for Donnie to go down the ladder first, then covered over the hole behind them. They made their way to the bottom more slowly than they ever did with Raph, neither of them feeling up to any tricks tonight.

They walked back towards the lair in silent for a few minutes, while Donnie got his voice back. Leo waited for him to talk first, and Donnie appreciated that.

"...Where'd you get the soda?" he asked, when he could.

"Broke the glass on the vending machine with a rock," Leo explained. He gave Donnie a playful grin. "It's faster than hacking."

Donnie rolled his eyes at that. He could have done it if he'd had time!

They walked a bit further. Donnie was still covered in the sticky, gross substance, but when Leo reached for his hand again, Donnie took it.

"Thanks," said Leo, quieter now.

"I didn't want them to take you away," said Donnie honestly.

Leo's hand squeezed his. "I didn't want to go away," he said, his voice sounding strained.

Donnie stopped, and so did Leo. They turned to look at each other, as best as they could in the dark sewer tunnels.

Then Donnie launched himself at Leo, wrapping him in the tightest hug he could, and Leo hugged him back, burying his face in the soft place against Donnie's neck and shell. Donnie could feel something wet land on him, but he didn't mind because it wasn't sticky like the other stuff.

He just held Leo tight, and Leo held back, for a long while.

(They were still like that when Splinter and Raph found them. The blood freaked them out, and learning it wasn't Donnie's hadn't reassured them.

They were grounded for three weeks, but they still got to be together and read comics, so really, it wasn't too bad.)

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - May 15, 2023

🧲 - Magnetic Marvels: Researchers Flip the Switch on Depression

1. New Zealand Government announces prescriptions charges will be free.

The $5 prescription fee at pharmacies will be scrapped in July. This is set to save about 3 million people a year money, and in particular 770,000 people aged over 65. It will make most prescriptions in New Zealand free.

Free access to medicines is also hoped to ease pressure on the over-burdened health system by helping people get medicines sooner.

2. Platypuses return to Sydney's Royal National Park after disappearing for decades

Platypuses have been relocated to the Royal National Park in Sydney, after they disappeared from the park's waterways about 50 years ago. A joint project by the University of New South Wales, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the World Wildlife Fund has reintroduced five females to the Hacking River, with a group of males to follow next week.

3. 74-year-old musician Otis Taylor gets Denver high school diploma decades after being expelled for hair

A musician who was expelled from a Denver high school over 50 years ago received his diploma. Otis Taylor was kicked out of Manual High School in 1966 because of his hair. This was decades before laws ending racial hair discrimination. Denver Public Schools wanted to right a wrong.

4. Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals traveling the wrong way (with magnets)

A new study led by Stanford Medicine researchers is the first to reveal how magnetic stimulation treats severe depression: by correcting the abnormal flow of brain signals. Powerful magnetic pulses applied to the scalp to stimulate the brain can bring fast relief to many severely depressed patients for whom standard treatments have failed.

The FDA-cleared treatment, known as Stanford neuromodulation therapy, incorporates advanced imaging technologies to guide stimulation with high-dose patterns of magnetic pulses that can modify brain activity related to major depression. Compared with traditional TMS, which requires daily sessions over several weeks or months, SNT works on an accelerated timeline of 10 sessions each day for just five days.

5. Electricity generation through solar, wind and water exceeded total demand in mainland Spain on Tuesday, a pattern that will be repeated more and more in the future

The Spanish power grid on Tuesday tasted an appetizer of the renewable energy banquet that is expected to flourish in the coming years. For nine hours, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., the generation of green electricity was more than enough to cover 100% of Spanish peninsular demand, a milestone that had already been reached on previous occasions, but not for such a prolonged period.

6. RI Senate passes bill making lunch free at all public schools

Free lunch for all public school students in Rhode Island is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Tuesday night the Rhode Island Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill by a vote of 31-4 that would do just that. If the companion bill in the House were to pass, that takes effect July 1. The bill would make breakfast and lunch free for all public school students in the state, regardless of their household income.

7. Critically endangered red wolf pups born at North Carolina Zoo

The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro celebrated the arrival of “not one but TWO litters” of the world’s most endangered wolf – the red wolf – in late April and early May.

A total of nine pups were born – three to parents Marsh and Roan, and six to Denali and May – the zoo announced on May 9.

----

That's it for this week :)

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[cyanbugremix]

✨Cyanbug's Redacted Headcanons Pt.2✨

(Once again, some of these may be used or were used in fics, but some are just there and I want to share them)

1. Morgan Kyne has near-sighted glasses (he can't see far away clearly), but he wears contacts when he's out and about, because when he was younger he got teased for needing glasses.

2. Sweetheart despises mint toothpaste because of the spice (Hot spice = good. Cold spice = bad). So they get fruity flavors instead.

3. If Doc and Hush are going to watch a movie together, Hush always suggests to watch How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

4. Speaking of movies, Huxley likes to watch FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) whenever he's sick.

5. Angel's side takes up the most space in the closet. They have their usual work clothes hanging up, and their casual clothes in a dresser, but most of the closet is filled with costumes + cosplays outfits and pieces that they've made or collected over the years.

6. And to add to that, Milo and Angel would totally help their friends and the pack make costumes for ren-faires. Sometimes when the two hang out they go to craft/fabric stores together. (Angel comes back with too many jewelry pieces and Milo comes home with yards and yards of different fabrics. They'll trade items if he needs some jewelry or if Angel needs a specific type of fabric).

7. I feel like Elliott's favorite zoo animal would be red pandas or spider monkeys. (Idky he just gives off those vibes).

8. Aggro adores green beans. Milo thinks it's one of the weirdest things a cat would want to eat. Sweetheart came over one time to Milo's apartment for dinner, and thought that Aggro was going for their chicken, but instead stole their green beans off the plate.

9. Darlin' could play only one actual song on the guitar for the longest time. They are/were musically gifted when it came to instruments. In middle school, they picked up the clarinet really fast, and then eventually switched to bass because Darlin' got bored (their parents made them promise that they'd stop switching instruments because buying/renting different ones costed a lot). Their parent's had gotten them an electric guitar for their birthday one year, but they only learned how to play one actual song on it (American Idiot by Green Day). Not because they didn't want to learn more songs, but because they found it more fun to make up random songs with friends when they hung out. They did stop for a few years when they moved to Dahlia and they didn't pick it up again until they were in their later teen/early adult years. They do know more songs now and have played for Sam.

10. Anton likes to hand carve small wooden animals for My Love. He mostly likes to make them tigers, elephants and bears, but at this point he has made an entire forest or zoo of different wooden animals around their home.

-

Part 1 of headcanons

[xo-zozo]

libby grambs headcannons •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

a/n: and zoey rises from the dead once again... she's literlly the cutest patootie but she's also kind of hard to write headcannons for sooo if some of this is out of character please ignore- enjoy!

tags: @your-mommy-ems @arqbella @reminiscentreader @x-liv25-jamieswife @inmyheaddd

@alwaysthefangirl @clarissaweasley-10 @off-to-the-r4ces @annamatix @lyrakanefanatic

@123letsgobestie @hathorneheiress @midiosaamor (comment if you want to be added or removed)

let's get one thing straight, you can not tell me her body is not TEA

she watches animated tv shows from her childhood instead of anything else any other full grown adult would watch

she has an "i heart cowboys" tshirt and she is not afraid to wear it in public

tried to pick up electric guitar (it's up to you whether of not she was successful)

she likes goldfish (she just gives me the vibes idk)

one of her favorite movies is coraline and it's where she got the inspo to dye her hair blue

in general loves any tim burton movie (I KNOW CORALINE ISN'T TIM BURTON OKAY)

drags nash with her to the mall almost every weekend to buy new clothes that she doesn't really need

her babies are always either dressed like her or nash. do i need to elaborate?

back when they didn't have a lot of money she would go to trift stores and buy clothes for her future kids, this was inspired by a tiktok that i saw

she has a bunch of ear piercings but whenever she goes to get a new one she gets scared and needs to have someone there with her

she probably got into at least one fight in her high school days

hannah is the person who inspired her to work at the hospital, not only the fact that she was one too but she also wanted to be able to help people like hannah

she has one necklace that she never takes off

she's definitely a silver jewelry girl too

i know my girl can rock a good pair of black cowboy boots from time to time

she owns multiple pairs of crocs

she likes going to the zoo, and she was super excited to be able to take her kids there

sometimes her and avery hang out and all they do is play episode

nash is her number one hype man so whenever they go out he makes sure to get good pictures of her

she has an insane collection of cute pajamas

kinda a little question of the day but who do you think would walk her down the aisle on her wedding day?

[thecreaturecodex]

If I Ran the Zoo: Energy Types

"Experimental Overload" © Wizards of the Coast, by Lie Setiawan. Accessed at Art of MtG here

Pathfinder 1e is built off of the chassis of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition. And early in the game’s life especially, backwards compatibility was a priority. Which means that some bad decisions that D&D 3e made were grandfathered into Pathfinder 1e, and then were revised in PF2e. Energy types are one of them.

The canonical five energy types in PF1e are acid, cold, electricity, fire and sonic. Sonic damage is very rare, as is sonic resistance. There are other effects that deal damage in ways that are similar to energy types, like positive and negative energy and force damage, but are not defended against in the same way.

And then there’s poison. In previous editions of D&D, poison did hit point damage for the most part, unless it just instantly killed your character. There’s a lot of instant-kill poisons in AD&D. So it might have seemed like a good idea to change that, and to showcase the new concept of ability score damage, by making most poisons deal ability score damage. In actual practice, this means that characters have to recalculate a lot of their statistics every time they take damage from poison, slowing down play. And for low level characters without access to lots of lesser restoration spells, a fight with venomous monsters may result in days of downtime to recover. Not so great for the story driven heroic fantasy model that most D&D and PF games default to.

Both Pathfinder 2e and D&D 4e course corrected from this model, and made poison a type of energy damage. In PF2e, flat penalties to particular rolls are inflicted with status conditions like weakened and stupefied. In D&D 5e, penalties to abilities are very rare.

So, in the same spirit as PF2e and D&D 5e, I am going to make some revisions to the energy types. The Codex is going to use these energy types going forward, and I intend to go back over some older monsters in order to apply them retroactively. Mostly in terms of using the terms “mental” and “radiant” on previous monsters, but also changing some monsters that deal acid damage to poison (because that was already a change made in adaptation, so I’m changing it back) or changing the poisons of some monsters, particularly low CR monsters, from dealing ability damage to hit point damage.

Homebrew Rules: Expanded Energy Types There are eleven energy types, split into two categories. The five energy types that are the most common in nature are referred to as the primal energies—acid, cold, electricity, fire, poison. The six energy types that are more common in the Great Beyond and are controlled with magic are the esoteric energy types—force, mental, positive, negative, radiant and sonic. Positive energy typically heals the living and negative energy typically heals the undead.

Spells in PF1e that grant energy resistance, such as resist energy and protection from energy, give their full protection against the primal energy types only. Against most esoteric energy types, they give half of their normal protection. For example, a resist energy spell cast by a 3rd level caster can grant resistance 10 to acid or fire, but only resistance 5 to mental or radiant damage. These spells grant no resistance to force damage. Spells that only protect against specific energy types, such as draconic reservoir, are unchanged.

Dwarves and other playable species that gain a bonus on saving throws vs. poison gain resist 5 to that energy type as well. The breath weapon of green dragons deals poison damage, not acid damage.

[astroboots]

EVERY YOU EVERY ME #10

COLLABORATED WITH @THIRSTWORLDPROBLEMSS

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x female reader

Summary: Miguel tries to rob a superhero and you try to stop him.

Word count: 5,750

Series Masterlist | Spiderverse Masterlist | Astroboot’s Masterlist | thirstworldproblemss’ Masterlist

[Previous] [Next]

It’s another mundane morning in your office. You’re hiding away in your cubicle with your breakfast croissant and coffee, scrolling the news on your phone. 

Ever since the cosmic murder attempts have started, reading news hasn't been the same for you. It’s no longer a case of innocently keeping up to date with current events. Because now you can’t read the sensationalist headlines without a small pang of guilt that you may have been the unwilling root cause for so many of them. 

‘Apocalyptic blizzard in August.’ 

‘Stampede escape from Brooklyn zoo.’ 

‘Freak electric storm causes wide city blackout’. 

It’s all just too macabre for you this early, it’s not even 10am. Your eyes flicker down, only skimming to make sure that there has been no casualties involved with each incident before scrolling away again. Then you opt for the technology section instead. Hoping it is a little bit less catastrophic and kinder on your nerves. 

‘Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor Returns Home to Stark Tower.’

Your fingers pause at the headline. Stark always makes for a good read and good gossip, you think to yourself as you take another sip from your morning coffee and start to read:

‘Tony Stark, the notorious billionaire philanthropist and avid Star Wars memorabilia collector, has announced his decision to move his iconic arc reactor back to his home in New York City. The self-sustaining fusion power source kept Stark alive during the infamous hostage incident where he was captured and detained in Afghanistan by the Ten Rings terrorist organization’.

‘Self-sustaining fusion power source…’ you repeat the phrase in your head, parsing over the words. Why does that sound so familiar to you? 

You read it again, and this time instead of your own voice, the memory of Miguel’s sleep husked voice fills your ears: 

“Your world is not technically advanced enough for me to build an upgraded self-sustaining fusion power source that would be needed.” 

Adrenaline buzzes bright in your brain, and you stand up from your desk so fast you nearly knock over your chair.

Finally! It’s the Eureka moment you have been waiting for all this time. 

You peer over the cubicle wall, scanning the room for Miguel. It doesn’t take you long at all to spot him; his oversized frame is hard to miss. Besides, even if you couldn’t see him, you’d be able to sense the anger vibrating off of him a mile away. 

In the corner at the far end of the open-plan office, Miguel is abusing the poor printer again. He’s cramming a fistful of papers into the feeding slot like it’s a duck he’s trying to force feed to make foie gras, and judging from the vein straining on his forehead, the man is about two seconds from lifting the 50 pound machine and launching it out through one of the building’s windows.

You shake your head at the scene. You don't understand how someone so smart, so intelligent, so apt with technology—he built an A.I. so advanced it would make the most high tech of Stark Industry's prototypes look like a kindergartener's chicken scrawl—can be so inept when it comes to dealing with a basic printer. 

“Miguel,” you whisper loudly, and despite the fact that he’s on the other side of a bustling office, he immediately turns to look at you. 

You beckon him over, practically bouncing with excitement as you wait for him to cross the room, and as soon as he’s within reach, you stand on the tip of your toes and cup a hand around his ear so you can covertly whisper the news of your discovery. 

“Stark has an arc reactor.”

You’re beaming with pride that you’ve found a solution to your dilemma, and look up at Miguel expectantly for him to celebrate with you and maybe even praise you. 

Instead, he looks down at you without reaction. “What’s Stark?” 

"Wait, are you serious?" 

You almost think he’s doing one of his sarcastic comedic bits with you, but the angle of his right eyebrow, raised in cluelessness tells you otherwise.

"How do you know so much about Dr. Strange, but not know who Tony Stark is? He’s like the main Avenger."

Miguel merely shrugs at you. "Avengers aren't really a thing where I'm from."

You shove your phone into his hand and watch as his eyes flicker over the screen, reading through the article in a matter of a few seconds. When he’s done, he places the phone back on your desk, then grabs your left hand, leaning down as he lifts it up towards him. For a second you think he’s about to kiss your hand.

"Lyla," Miguel announces, and the watch buzzes warmly against your wrist as Lyla's hologram reforms in the small space above.

"Give me the layout of the Stark Tower, identify vulnerabilities in the security system and outline the most optimal entrance points for a break-in."

Did he just say break-in?

"Wait, wait,” you interrupt quickly, trying to defuse the situation, before he gets too far ahead of himself. “Miguel, we are NOT breaking into the Stark Tower."

"How else would we do it?"

“We could just talk to him.  Lyla can hack into his schedule and book us a meeting with him, right?”

“And then what?”

“We’d ask him to help us?” you suggest, not understanding why he skipped straight over the most obvious answer and went right to breaking and entering. Though from the way Miguel is staring at you in blank confusion you may as well have spontaneously grown horns on your head. 

“...Nicely,” you add, in case that wasn’t already clear.

“Because that would require us to talk to him. He would just say no, Cielito. I’d prefer to break in. Cleaner that way. More efficient. Easier.”

You can’t believe this man just admitted to being so socially awkward he thinks committing a felony is easier than having to hold a conversation with a stranger. 

"Asking is pointless. No scientist is just going to hand over something like an arc reactor to a couple of strangers because they asked nicely. Besides, even if we arrange a meeting with him by hacking into his calendar, he’ll know something is up the moment he sees us. You’ll just wind up getting thrown out by security.”

Ok maybe he has a point there. 

"What if we tricked him? Made him think we have something he wants?”

"Like what?"

"Stark collects rare Star Wars collectibles. We can lie and say we're collectors with a rare piece to sell like the Kenner Star Wars Boba Fett prototype?"

His right brow raises at a skeptical angle and he’s staring at you like you’re speaking a foreign language. 

"Cielo, that's insane."

You bristle at that. 

"How is your idea any better?" you demand.

"A break-in wouldn't require much effort or rely on the goodwill or stupidity of someone else. It’s much easier–"

“You’re talking about breaking into the personal home of an Avenger!” you interrupt because you’re not listening to any more of his madness, “He’s arguably the smartest member of a team made up of the mightiest heroes on Earth, and you want to try to steal from him, Miguel!? That is not easier!”

The office has gone alarmingly quiet around you. You look around to see that your heated discussion is gaining unwarranted attention from the rest of the office. All of a sudden, the endless click and clack of the keyboards stop. 

You give your curious coworkers a strained smile, then lean up close to Miguel again, muttering under your breath. “We’ll discuss this when we get home.”

Miguel doesn’t say anything else, but you can feel his eyes pinned to your back as you walk to your chair and sit back down at your desk to finish your croissant in two mouthfuls, chugging down the remainder of your coffee. 

An hour before noon, Miguel comes to your cubicle. He sets down a lunchbox and from the logo on the plastic grocery bag you can tell that it’s from your favorite Bodega round the corner. 

“I have a quick errand to run for work at lunch. I’ll be back within the hour,” Miguel tells you, “Lyla will guard you, and if something happens she’ll alert me immediately. Don’t go anywhere.”

You look up from your screen to see him stand over your desk with that passive expression etched onto his stoic face, as if there is nothing out of the ordinary. 

In the last month, Miguel hasn’t let you out of his sight for longer than a handful of minutes (primarily to get more snacks when they run out).

Miguel thinks he’s being so slick. It’s insulting to your intelligence that he thinks you don’t know what he is up to: he’s obviously going to spend his lunch hour trying to rob Tony Stark. 

But that’s fine, you’re not going to openly question Miguel on his suspicious behavior. If he’s not here that means you are free to get up to whatever you want. 

… Including approaching a certain multibillionaire that has the one item in his possession that could save both your life and the universe as you know it from collapsing.  

It’s why you wave at him as he makes his way to the exit and pay close attention to him leaving through the front glass door and take the elevator down to the ground floor. Then for good measure you wait another five minutes to make sure that he will fully be out of hearing range with his super-senses before you raise your wrist to your face. 

“Lyla,” you whisper. 

“Hello, boss girl! Wasssuuuup,” she greets, elongating the word sassily for comedic effect, and you can’t help but smile. 

Lyla, as entertaining as she is, is an enigma to you. You don’t understand how Miguel with his short patience-span and entirely lacking sense of humor would have programmed this A.I. to have this kind of personality. Not to mention a deep archive of a millenial’s pop-culture media reference from this dimension.  

“What can I do you for?” Lyla asks, shooting you gun-fingers with a cheeky flare. 

You part your mouth, but hesitate to make the request. 

This is illegal isn’t it? Hacking into someone’s calendar to arrange a meeting with them under false pretenses. God, what if you get taken away in handcuffs within the first 30 seconds of entering the building, featured on Deuxmoi as a crazy stalker fan. 

So far the only “illegal” thing you’ve used Lyla for is to generate Netflix passwords and hack into HBO Max to watch Succession. This is a significant next level step. 

Maybe you should run downstairs and catch Miguel before he leaves the building? You could plead your case again. Try to reason with him that breaking and entering isn’t the way to go about it and the two of you should approach Tony Stark by having a mature and adult conversation. 

Yeah. Right. You snort even as you think it. Miguel is never going to be persuaded on this point and you are quickly running out of time. There’s only one thing to do: 

“Lyla, can you please arrange a lunchtime meeting for me with Tony Stark today.”

The lobby of Stark Tower is much like any other commercial buildings you’d find in the Financial District. Heck, it's not that much different from the one you navigate every morning at the Chrysler building. If anything, the only surprise is how ordinary the Stark Tower is.

When you enter the main lobby, you have to sign in with a stern but clearly bored security guard, then use the guest security pass you’re given in order to access the elevators.

Once you reach the 90th floor, there is a distinct lack of staff up there. Only a single, sweet-looking old man, with a well trimmed mustache above his upper lip. He's swathed in a soft-knitted cardigan and wearing gigantic vintage-styled sunglasses indoors that make him appear bug-eyed as he peers up at you and walks with you to another set of elevators using a retinal scan for security and sends you on your way. 

The door closes around you in the metal box, with a swift jump to the 91st floor.

When the door finally slides open it feels like you’ve entered another world. Minimalistic opulence is the keyword for it. There are windows along the entire space. A 360 view of the New York landscape and you almost feel like you are at an Aquarium with the amount of glass surrounding you. There’s pieces of half-built tech and prototypes everywhere. Imagine having so much money that you can allocate a whole floor of a manhattan skyscraper to essentially be your garage workshop. 

“So you’re my 1pm that magically appeared today,” a happy-go-lucky voice sings out. 

You jump in your skin, breaking your concentration from the view, as you turn around to see the infamous man of the hour standing behind you. 

“Gotta say, when I was envisioning the sort of person who might be selling me a Kenner Star Boba Fett figure, I did not imagine a gorgeous knock-out,” he says, with an outstretched hand as he greets you.  

Tony Stark is shorter in real life. Less formal than in the gettymarked photos you’ve seen of him at red carpet events and fancy galas, dressed up in the most tailored fit suits that money can possibly buy. He’s also a lot more charming than in photos. All big brown eyes, and pouty lips. He might be half the size of Miguel, but Tony Stark has more than enough charm and confidence to make up for it

“Let’s go somewhere we can talk.” 

He is quick witted banter and dazzling diamond smiles as he shows you the residential suite of the Stark Tower. His hand rests on the side of your waist as he guides you through the long hall, making strong eye contact all the while down the hall. 91 floors up and you cannot hear a hint of the chaotic traffic noise downstairs, it’s oddly quiet save for the faint scratching noises you hear from the ceiling. (Guess even Stark towers cannot escape the city’s rodent issues). 

“Anyone ever told you, your eyes really sparkle?” Stark says, as his hand slips from your shoulder to rest at the small of your back. “You’ve got this whole Disney princess thing going on. I dig it.” 

Wait, is he flirting with you?

Tony Stark, Chief Executive Officer of Stark Industries. One of the top 20 richest men in America (according to Forbes). A man who can afford to buy the whole of planet Mars is flirting with you. 

God, you are already seeing dollar signs. Lobster. Caviar. All the rare exotic and poisonous puffer fish sushi you've only dreamed of eating. You've always wanted to be a gold digger, you've just never been close enough to a gold mine.

Maybe this will be easier than you thought. If he likes you, maybe you can just flirt your way into getting the arc reactor. Ask him to lend it to you. 

The two of you make your way past the glass doors and into another imposing large room, bare and minimalistic. Oddly, it feels dimly lit, given the size of the windows in the room. 

It’s the size of the front lobby of your office building, and you realize halfway through that this room serves no other purpose except to store more of his junk. There are half built machines piled up in every corner. Boxes and boxes of tools haphazardly strewn across the room. It’s an outrageous waste of prime New York real estate that speaks to the man’s wealth. 

In the middle of the room, there’s a silver medal that glows an eerie blue in the middle, encased in a display case. With the way it sparkles, you could almost mistake it for a precious aquamarine gemstone the size of your fist. 

“Wow, is that the arc reactor?” you ask. 

Stark doesn’t answer. Suddenly his chattiness is nowhere to be found, and as you turn to look at him you notice he’s not paying any attention to you. His eyes are fixed on the ceiling behind you. 

You whip your head around and follow his gaze to see the familiar blue super-suit trailing behind you. The unmissable angry red spider embellished across his wide chest, as he hangs upside down like a cat burglar. 

Has he been trailing behind you since you got here? Was that what the noises were?  

Air whizzes through the space and the force of it reverberates across your cheek. A piece of red armor flies through the air and attaches itself to Stark’s arm. 

You’ve seen enough highlight reels of Iron Man on the news channel to know what it means. 

“Wait wait wait,” you shout out as you step in front of Stark in mid-transformation. 

You fling your hands up high in a gesture of a white flag to de-escalate the situation. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

Stark’s eyebrow quirks up, tipping his head sardonically. "So your costumed sidekick hasn't been stalking us this entire time? Breaking and entering, not just into my tower–which is private property, by the way–but also bypassing security to access my private office? Yeah, I'm sure your intentions are entirely on the level."

Despite the sarcastic hostility in his tone Stark hasn’t summoned the rest of the armor. The rest of his iron suit is suspended in the air on standby two feet away. He’s only got the arm piece strapped to his arm as insurance and is clearly willing to give you at least a few seconds of a benefit of a doubt. Long enough to hopefully explain yourself and not start a Superhero brawl.  

“He’s not dangerous,” you say, and the moment you say it, you want to kick yourself because of how suspicious that makes you sound. 

You turn your head around to Miguel who’s done an aerial somersault with the grace of a ballerina despite his build and soundlessly landed back onto his feet on the ground. 

“I can’t believe you went behind my back! We agreed to put a pin in this and wait to deal with Stark until we agreed on a plan. You said you weren’t going to break in!”

His masked eyes narrow into accusing slits, “Yeah? And what are you doing here then?” 

“Stopping you before you do something stupid!” you hiss. 

Before Miguel has a chance to retort, there is a loud clap from behind you that redirects both your attentions to Stark. 

“Jarvis, how did our lovely Disney princess make it onto my calendar and how did Hulk Spiderman over here manage to slip past every layer of your security net?”

The voice of a posh British man sounds out across the room but there’s no person attached to it. 

“I can find no record of these events in my logs. Performing internal diagnostics now, Sir.”

“Huh, interesting…” Tony hums to himself in consideration before he turns his attention back to you both. 

“I have to say I'm quite impressed, but I’m hoping for an explanation. Is this a Bonny and Clyde situation? You two lovebirds here to rob me?”

“No!” you both shout in unison. 

“Not lovebirds, got it.”

“That’s not–” Miguel starts, whipping down his head in your direction. 

At the sight of your face, he seems too flustered to continue his train of thought and he quickly looks away from you. “None of your business,” he snaps at Stark. 

You don’t know why, but that dismissive glance from him hurts. Like the very idea that you two would be in a romantic relationship is off-putting to him. It’s kind of insulting. You turn from him, trying to ignore the sharp stabbing ache somewhere in your chest that makes it hard to breathe. 

From across, Stark observes the two of you, whatever he sees makes him tip his head in curiosity. The intense pinch between his brow relaxes and the subtle shift in his expression is like witnessing the moment a shark senses blood in the water, then he grins and turns his attention towards you.

Stark grins, turning his attention towards you. "So you're single then?" 

You peer up at Miguel and hesitate because that’s a damned good question. You of this dimension is certainly single, but there’s another version of you (a dead one) that’s married to the man next to you. 

But that’s not you. 

You turn to Stark, "Yes," you answer.

Miguel whips his head to you, eyes wide. "No!" he bellows. 

"The lady says she is, big blue."

"And I say she's not!" Miguel growls, the last word ends on such loud volume it could break the sound barrier.

Miguel isn’t the best at reading cues. You’ve known Tony Stark for all of five minutes, and even you can tell that the man enjoys riling up people, Miguel is feeding right into that. 

Stark acts like Miguel is speaking at a decibel that he is unable to register. He saunters up to you, with the most carefree gait you’ve seen anyone carry around Miguel. 

"So are you free tonight?" Stark asks.

You spot Miguel’s bristling expression and hesitate for a second time. 

It’s mean, you shouldn’t rile Miguel up like this. His entire back is curved up like a hissing cat. The man looks like he’s about to blow a casket, acting like a jealous spouse. And somehow under Tony Stark’s attention you feel like you are the adulterous wife. 

Except once again, you’re not. Because you are not Miguel’s wife. 

… Why exactly are you pining after a man still grieving his dead ex-wife who happens to look like you? 

You're currently homeless. Your take-home salary as an insurance adjuster can’t afford you a new apartment in New York, not with the rising inflation and the current state of this economy. This is your highway express ticket to the charmed life of being a billionaire ex-wife. 

Bye bye to 9 to 5’s and having to manually enter data into thousands of excel sheets everyday. Jeff Bezos' former wife, Mackenzie Bezos was awarded 25% of their Amazon shares valued at over 38 billion dollars. Stark is twice as rich as that.

You slide closer to Stark. "Maybe? Where are you gonna take me? Somewhere fancy?"

"Yeah, no! Absolutely not!" Miguel interjects. 

He steps forward to drag you behind him, until his mountainous body blocks you from the man. 

“We need the arc reactor.” Miguel announces brusquely, with no fanfare and even less by way of explanation. “If you won’t give it to us, I’ll just have to take it.”

“What do you need it for?” Stark asks curiously. 

“That’s none of your business,” is the blunt reply. 

Stark tilts up his head, gaze pinned to Miguel’s mask. “You know, I’m not really minded to give away proprietary technology to a man wearing a wrestling mask in broad daylight.” 

There’s a stalemate between the two men as they stare each other down (or up in Stark’s case). The showdown is silent, you can practically feel the tumbleweeds rolling by, waiting to see who’s going to draw first. 

“He can take his mask off,” you interject. 

At your offer, Miguel’s eyes narrow, nose turning up in the air in a put off gesture, refusing to do as he’s told. 

“Mig,” you warn, and despite the clear scowl etched onto the features of his mask, this time, he complies. 

The blue and red fabric recedes into nothingness, until the fierce cut of his bare jawline is revealed. Eyes glowing an angry crimson. 

The scowl on Miguel's face is so ferocious, you can see his fangs in clear view. But instead of scary. Instead of intimidating. He looks... almost cute. All you see in front of you is a teething puppy with no real bite. He's harmless.

Stark makes a low whistling sound at the dramatic reveal of Miguel’s face. “Didn’t expect the fifth member of One Direction under there.” 

Miguel glares at the man, even though you know fully well that he doesn’t understand the pop-culture reference that’s being made. 

“So let’s take this from the top,” Stark says, and he starts to pace the length of the room until he reaches the arc reactor and gives the display case a light smack like he’s tapping the rear of a mare. 

“You need my arc reactor, but you won’t tell me why, and you’re not offering me anything in return, except for El Tigre over here not trying to kill me, is that about right?”

“What’s your price?” Miguel asks, voice in that low growling tone that always precedes a threat. 

“I’m a multi-billionaire, cash doesn’t really interest me, and I can’t exactly have this fall into the wrong hands.”

“We’re not bad people, and we’re not going to use it for anything nefarious. I know this sounds absolutely nuts, but we need your arc reactor to save the world,” you say. 

Stark chuckles at you, the way an adult would at a naive child. “That’s not really much to go on hon, you’re gonna have to give me more than that.” 

“Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, he can vouch for us.”  

Stark considers you for a moment then tilts his head to take an appraising look of Miguel, eyes dragging from the sole of his suit-clad heels and up to his neck where the suit ends. 

“The unstable molecule fabric you have for the suit is interesting. I’ve been meaning to give my suit an upgrade, and having it disappear into thin air would be convenient. Wouldn’t have to constantly lug around 2,000 pounds of metal everywhere I go with me. Hand me a sample of the tech along with full intellectual property rights and we’ll talk.”

“No.” Miguel says. 

He straightens up his posture and crosses his arms over his chest with a haughty expression on his face. “My suit is technologically superior to all the technology you’ve got in this building combined. It’s a bum deal. Your arc reactor has palladium in it and would be poisonous for long term use. It’s practically defunct and I only need it for a one time use.”

God, this man really doesn’t know how to endear himself to anyone does he. 

“He doesn’t mean that,” you step in. 

“Well if it’s practically defunct, I wouldn’t want to pawn this junk off on you,” Stark responds, throwing up his hands in feigned defeat. “Besides, it has sentimental value to me. Not sure I’m willing to just give this away to some random guy who broke into my house.”

Miguel’s lip twitches in irritation until you see another flash of those fangs like they’re itching to sink into Stark’s throat. 

That only seems to entertain Stark further. “Look, you clearly need this reactor for something big, and for some reason you’re not able to build it yourself even with your advanced tech on display here. You’re obviously in a hurry, and in a desperate situation. Desperate enough to break in, and you know the saying: beggar’s can’t be choosers. I wouldn’t be much of a businessman if I didn’t take advantage of that.”

Miguel narrows his eyes, glancing around at the electronic equipment stored in the corner of the room. “I need you to throw in the laser scalpel along with the 3d printer and genetic sequencer,” he says, cocking his head in its direction. 

“Wow, toots, your boyfriend has real expensive taste,” Stark teases. 

Your cheek warms at the term boyfriend, but you don’t correct him. 

Neither does Miguel. Instead Miguel looks him squarely in the eyes and juts up his chin. “I want the Sonic disruptor too.”

“Fine,” Stark announces, holding up his hand in the gesture of a time-out to stop Miguel from listing out more expensive items. “You drive a hard bargain, Blue, but what the hell. It’s a deal. I’ll even give you a newer palladium-free model of the reactor so I can keep old sparky here for myself.” 

The sun is setting against the skyline of the city, washing it in strokes of warm amber-orange hues. Miguel is still grumbling next to you as the two of you stroll along the Brooklyn bridge. 

“Supergenius, Ha! Si los zombies comen cerebros, él sería invisible para ellos. What do you see in that guy anyway?! He’s not even good looking. He’s like what? 5 feet tall? He was wearing built in heels, you know! Es más corto que las mangas de un chaleco–”

"Can you pipe down?” you say, cutting off his tirade, “Just let it go, please. It's been hours! I didn’t see anything in him. I have no desire to be the next notch on Tony Stark's bedpost.” 

That finally seems to end his rant, or at the very least slow it down. Miguel shuts his mouth, staring out over the river. “Then why did you tell him you were free?”

“Because I wanted the arc reactor! I figured letting the guy flirt with me might help. Catching flies with honey and all that.”

He folds his arms over his chest, with a skeptical furrow in his brows. “You wanted him to take you somewhere fancy; that’s what you said,” he points out. 

Damn him and his super-genius memory. 

“Well, maybe I also wanted to eat at a Michelin star restaurant one time in my life. Manila Social Club is supposed to have a golden donut made with champagne jelly and actual gold on their dessert menu. 

“That doesn’t even sound tasty,” Miguel mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets. His mouth settles into an unhappy frown. 

“It would have been if I didn’t have to pay for it!”

“I could’ve gotten it for you,” he says, and it’s not until you take a better look at his face that you realize it’s not so much as a frown he’s sporting. It’s a pout.  

Oh, is he… ? He is, isn’t he!

“You have nothing to be jealous of, you know. I’m not interested in Tony Stark,” you reassure him. 

In front of you, the rigidness in his shoulder seems to melt at your words.

That surprises you. You’d have expected him to deny the accusation that he’s jealous. Adamantly object that he wasn’t, and why would he be, you’re nobody to him. Just a random stranger that happens to look like his wife that he cannot leave well enough alone. 

He doesn’t do that though. Instead, his only response is a quiet, “Okay.” 

His docileness takes you by surprise. 

Is he admitting that he was jealous? 

You'd be lying to yourself if you said that you didn't take even a morsel of enjoyment in the comical way that Miguel is getting himself riled up over you. To have him flustered and openly jealous of Tony Stark flirting with you. 

As if Miguel had anything to worry about. 

As if Tony Stark, a man who has ‘philandering philanthropist’ as a description for himself on his twitter bio, isn't known to be so indiscriminately flirtatious he’d eagerly court a voluptuously shaped tree. 

As if that man of 5 foot 6 (with platform shoes) would ever hope to occupy every one of your thoughts the way Miguel does.

Immature and childish and inane as your behavior back at Stark Tower was—and you feel mildly ashamed of it now—you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy it in the moment. Not because Tony Stark, multi-billionaire, GQ's Most Eligible Bachelor five years running, was flirting with you. 

No. Because for a moment you got to experience what it was like to have your rude protective Spiderman treat you as his girlfriend. Someone he was possessive of. Someone he treasures. Someone that is his. Instead of your current reality, where you know he belongs to someone else entirely.

“If anyone has anything to be jealous of, don’t you think it should be me?” you say, the words slipping out of your mouth before you can reign them back in. 

Miguel tilts his head, regarding you like a cute, confused pup, so you continue. 

"Because I could never compete with her, right?" 

"Her?" he asks, seeming genuinely puzzled.

"Your version of me," you say, "your Nena." You try to smile, try to keep it light-hearted, like the funny joke you had meant it to be, but it hurts even just to hear yourself say it. Because you know it's not a joke. 

It's true. You’re in love with a man whose affections aren't yours to win.

Miguel stops in his tracks, and that makes you stop as well. 

"It's not a competition," he says seriously. "You're two different people. You can't compare like that.” 

You feel like you’re being scolded and probably rightly so. You’re being childish and unreasonably trying to compare yourself to his dead wife. But that doesn’t mean that it makes it hurt any less to hear you don’t compare at all. Your heart fissures and cracks, and  the first sting of tears starts to well up behind your eyes. 

"You're important to me too," he continues. 

The words stop your heart, your eyes dart up to his face. The look on his face is gentle and soft, and it soothes the pain in your chest away, a gentle warmth rising to take its place. 

“Oh,” you say. You can’t help but smile up at him, squinting against the bright sun behind his back. 

“You’re important to me too,” you tell him.  

His lips quirk up into a small but genuine smile at your response. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

You nod, and then you have to turn away, feeling bashful under his attentive gaze. Embarrassed heat prickles your cheeks, and you need a second to catch your breath and let the evening breeze cool you down. 

There are cyclists and pedestrians going past you as the two of you continue to walk in silence. You sneak a look at him to see that, like you, he’s turned away. He’s gazing out over the bridge as he walks and against the amber sun, you see a faint flush riding high on his cheeks. 

Your fingers lightly brush against the side of his hand, and he turns back to you and smiles, sliding his pinkie to hook around yours. 

You walk all the way home this way, heart feeling full, and you think to yourself that maybe, this time, things really are going to be okay after all. 

~ Next issue

Author's note: So for fellow marvelheads checking, wouldn't Tony be dead after Endgame when Wong was made Supreme Sorcerer? This is another version of earth -- Thanos and the snap never happened. My baby Tony isn't dead how dare you!

The Spanish in this chapter has been left untranslated on purpose, so that it’s left ambiguous whether reader speak/understand Spanish. The idea is that if you as a reader understand it, then so does the reader, and vice versa 🥰

Dedication & Credits: To @guruan for her incredibly kind help and donating her time to check the Spanish used in this chapter.

And to the kind @forwantofwill and her generosity for doing this beautiful fanart of Miguel Folding Origami that has stolen my heart!!

And finally to @thirstworldproblemss I love you and hope you're eating all the yummy sukiyaki that you deserve. Thank you for coming with me on this wild ride.

[thetulparnurse]

Hi, I've been made aware you do not know of the hit singer and song writer Will Wood? Hes only the mom awesome, talented, and most amazing song writer ive ever heard. He had a band called Will Wood and the Tapeworms but now posts all his newer songs on his personal account (Will Wood). He has a very unique style of songwriting that fits into the Alternative song genre. He has also written the soundtrack to a podcast Camp Here and There which is a story podcast (I recommend listening to it 🙏 its on Spotify)

His top album has been The Normal Album which came out a few years ago. His top song being Love, Me Normally. Hes collaborated with Human Zoo once to make Aphrodite, your electric sexiness.

Overall his songs are well made and can either be loud, fast(mostly his Tapeworms songs), or soft and slow (his album In Case I Make It). Some of his songs remind me of you guys really. Especially “The Main Character” I wont elaborate much on that. But check him out! Hes a 10/10 recommend choice for me

Wow. Its not often I get to see someone writing so passionately about this! It sounds very interesting, and I might as well listen to something to pass the time.. consider “Will Wood” to be listened to! If anything catches my eye, I’ll make sure to post about it!

[angelloverambles]

Hunger Games au HC's 1/?

PSA: character death, a little nongraphic SA(Simon)

Task Force 141 + Friends

Simon Riley is from District 12, the mining district. He purposely went into his game, wanting the rewards that came with being a victor for his mother and brother. He became known as Ghost in his game, using mud to like face paint to keep the sun from his eyes. Almost seeming to appear out of nowhere, from the shadows. No one warned him what happens to winners in the capital.

Johnny MacTavish is from District 2, the masonry and defense district. Born and raised to get into the games, to win, to impress. He's a showboat by personality, learning exactly how to defeat a target in so many ways. He prefers louder finishes, learning how to make something that will minorly explode with resources lying around. He made it to the final two, he got too cocky. Throwing knife to the temple.

Jonathan Price is a capital citizen. Born into a lap of luxury, watching games even if he knows they are wrong. He tends to find a way to talk to tributes if he can, in the early days it was the zoo but the capital got smarter. John got distracted with the academy until he was given a tribute to train himself.

Kyle Garrick is from District 10, the livestock district. He loves animals and loved raising them even if he knew they weren't anything more than food for people higher than he is. He was selected for his games by a vote rather than the lottery, the Capital thought it was a fun enough idea to do twice after the Quarter Quell. He wasn't voted in because he was disliked, his district thought he was strong. He made it into the top five, betrayed by his teammate, a career, who pushed him from a ledge.

Kate Laswell is from the capital. She didn't hold an interest with the games particularly but how excited it made people. She became a reporter and a talk show host just to be able to interact with the other side of the games. Meeting tributes, feeling for them. Trying to make them look better on screen for sponsors.

Alejandro and Rodolfo are both from District 4, the fishing district. They grew up together. Rudy was picked by Lottery for the game, Alejandro volunteered instead, not wanting to watch his best friend possibly be hurt and killed. He didn't make it far, didn't take the alliance with the other Careers and it costed him. Spear through the chest in his sleep, at least it wasn't painful.

Farah Karim is from District 5, the power and electricity district. She never went into the games. She had to watch friends do so but she never wanted to put her name in the lottery. Smart girl.

Alex Keller is from District 2, the masonry and defense district. He volunteered for his game and fought hard. Killed because he had to, as a status symbol. He was raised to believe it was an honor to be apart of it. He didn't believe that after his win, after losing his leg.

Gary Sanderson is from district 9, Grain. He didn't survive his game. he tried to copy Simon's win by "roaching" out. Keeping his head low. He was almost successful, if it wasn't for a nasty clumsy streak. Sliding down a hill, twisting his ankle and then trying to hide to recover in a tree. That tree held a Tracker Jacker hive he didn't see. He was in the top 10.

Nikolai is from District 6, the transportation district. He only put his name in the hat once and someone got pulled. His goal wasn't to win, but survive for as long as he could. Staying mobile, never hunkering down long enough for the Game makers to stop him. It made for a very long and boring game that year.

Part 2 with more coming soon!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - April 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles! Last month’s Doodles are free to the public, so go take a look :D

1. Galapagos tortoises at Philadelphia Zoo become first-time parents at nearly 100

“Mommy, the female tortoise, is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ species survival plan. [… T]he zoo said it is “overjoyed” at the arrivals of the four hatchlings, a first in its more than 150-year history.”

2. Massachusetts home-electrification pilot could offer a national model

“In total, the program is providing free or heavily subsidized solar panels and heat pumps to 55 participating households, 12 of which also received batteries at no cost. […] It’s a strategy that program planners hope can help address the disproportionate energy burden felt by lower-income residents of the region[….]”

3. National Park Rangers rebel against queer erasure on Trans Day of Visibility

“[… A] group of over 1,000 off-duty, fired, and retired National Park Service employees launched Rangers Uncensored, an online archive that restores and amplifies LGBTQ+ stories quietly scrubbed from government websites since President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.”

4. World's largest wildlife crossing reaches critical milestone

“Over the next few days they'll be adding 6,000 cubic yards of specially manufactured soil to cover the crossing, a mix of sand, silt and clay inoculated with a bit of compost and hyperlocal mycorrhizal fungi, carefully designed and tested to mimic the biological makeup of native soils around the site.“

5. Bipartisan bill to boost green building materials glides through House

“[B]ipartisan legislation the House of Representatives passed in a 350-73 vote last week would give the Department of Energy a clear mandate to develop a full program to research, develop, and deploy clean versions of the building materials.”

6. Tribal Wildlife Grants Funding Announced

“Tribal Wildlife Grants are intended to help Tribes develop programs for the conservation of habitat and species of traditional or cultural importance[….] Typically funded projects include: conservation planning, fish and wildlife management and research, habitat mapping and restoration, inventory and monitoring, and habitat preservation. […] A total of $6.1 million is available for this round of funding[….]”

7. Germany adds another one million PV arrays to take solar total to 104 gigawatts

“Following a rapid rise in household solar panel installations, Germany’s total number of PV arrays has passed the five million “milestone[.…]” Solar systems already cover almost 15 percent of Germany’s electricity demand, BSW-Solar said. […] The total capacity of all PV systems installed in Germany surpassed 100 GW at the start of the year.”

8. Stronger together: Bilby conservation efforts enhanced by Indigenous knowledge

“Ms. Geyle said the results showed combining [conventional science and traditional tracking methods] more accurately estimated bilby abundance than using either technique individually[….] "[… ensuring] that Indigenous people remain central to decision-making about their lands and species that inhabit them," Ms. Geyle said.”

9. Lennar will build 1,500new Colorado homes with geothermal heat pumps

“The homebuilder is partnering with Dandelion Energy to install the tech, which is efficient but expensive — unless it’s built into new homes from the start. […] And by eliminating the need for new gas pipelines and reducing the peak electricity demands on the power grid, subdivisions built on this model could save a bundle on utilities as well[….]”

10. New strategy launched to protect Tanzanian biodiversity hotspot

“Conservationists have launched a 20-year-long project to protect what is arguably Tanzania’s most biologically rich landscape: the Udzungwa Mountains. The strategy places notable emphasis on communities living here, with more than half of its budget allocated to social and economic projects and managing human-wildlife conflict.”

March 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[hasturs-fanboy-number-one]

ok so my friends and i spent a large amount of time discussing whether the invisible creature can pass the harkness test which led to a discussion of what other non-humans in the podcast can ethically be fucked which led to us categorizing stuff

so i present to you

malevolent fuckability tier list

full transcription, tier explanation and stuff below

MILFS tier - gotta pay respect to the lades: shub, the witch, mother darkness (will add lilith once she gets some action)

there are basically no not fucked up humans on this tier list cos it's a) boring and b) this is a creechurs, places and concepts tier list

everyone above grey area passes the harkness test so they can be ethically and consentualy fucked

onto the tiers!

KIY tier - he's a mandatory entry on everyones sex tourism, seeing as he's being fucked over for four seasons straight, also i'm biased towards my dear wife

FUCK YEAH tier - can give enthusiastic consent and be into it: larson, the moss cave from ep 15, horig, prison guards (if they can be employed they can be fucked), lorick, yorick, grand vizier from ep 40 (the tentacle-face thing that was parroting john), scratch, kayne, the three soldiers, mr faust, the dancers (mentioned in ep 20 as the kings heralds, same logic as the prison guards), malam, the creature from the labyrinth in ep 17, the hand of malevolence (can not speak but is literally a perfect toy and is an object), the trader from the dreamlands, that person that was hiding in the mines on the rafters in ep 27

ZOO BUT IT'S OK ACTUALLY tier - butcher is a dog but that won't stop anyone

HEAR ME OUT tier - it's hot if you're not a coward: the forest from ep 14, the dreamlands desert, the big cave, the ship in the desert from ep 15, the dreamlands as a whole, hyadies, greystone, blackstone, the sandstorm, the plateu, the a-frame ceiling from maries house, the wallussy (ep 41 and whatever glory hole in the tavern arthur was looking through at his past self when kayne was explaining the malevolent cinematic universe in intermenzzo), the fog from ep 8, the crystalizer of dreams

HARKNESS TEST GREY AREA tier - we could not determine if they'd be able to consent due to the states of awareness they're in being unclear: uncle (does not speak and seems to have a child-like behaviour at times), the invisible monster from the mines in s3 (can speak but poorly, might be larsons daughter, unclear if it retains speech once disconnected from the people it feeds on), the wraith from s1 (seems out of it mostly), the things arthur said were similar to the devils from the bible in ep 14 in the forest (not clear on what intelligence they poses), the eye tentacle monster from ep 9 (also unclear)

ZOO tier - creatures that have intelligence closer to that of an animal: the widow from ep 8 (she was a mindless ghoul at that point), the two policeman from ep 9 (and all policeman in general), the thousand young, the hound of tindalos from ep 5 (the fucked up fractal dog), the rats that chased arthur in the hotel in ep 10, the spider from that same hotel, thhe snake-electric eel thing from the boat in the dreamlands ep 15, the maggots (season 5), owlexander (he's sus but until further notice will remain in this category), the worm things taht burrowed in oscars arm in ep 37, the tadpoles from the river/lake from ep 11

NECRO tier - frank (more specifically his corpse in ep 18), mr faust again, the prince (dead and delirious). excluded from this tier were arthurs corpse and parkers corpse for the lack of screenshotable transcriptions

[vanfleeter]

Matched: Chapter 10 - The Little Family

Characters: Jake Kiszka x Thea Foster Warnings: 18+ as always. Fluff. Pregnancy. Mentions of child birth. Smut. Allusions to sex. A/N: Final chapter is here! It's a shorty but a goodie. Thank you for tagging along on this journey, but we ain't done with this world just yet! ;)

A couple months into the tour, we found out we would be expecting a boy to which everyone was thrilled about, including myself. Henry Francis would soon be coming into this world. My dream is slowly coming true. I’m married to the love of my life and having a baby boy, the first boy of the trio that we both want.

As her pregnancy progressed, we were all taking extra precautions. One of us, if not all of us, were constantly checking in on her and making sure that she and the baby were doing alright. Most days she spent on the bus or the hotel room to rest due to back pain or swollen feet.

And it wasn’t until we made it to New York when things started to change.. The tour ended the night before with an electric send off. Today all of us decided to head out to the zoo, do something fun before we head back to Nashville.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask as I help her tie on her shoes.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Thea sighs as she rubs her stomach. “He’s just been moving so much, it’s making me highly uncomfortable.”

“And you’re sure walking around like this is also okay?”

“Yes, Jake,” She giggles. “I need to move. I’m getting tired of being cooped up in here all the time. I’ve missed half your shows because of the nausea and back pain. I’m sick of it.”

I help her stand from the bed and she straightens out her clothes.

“Plus, if I stay here any longer, I’m going to go insane..”

I chuckle and kiss her forehead. “Alright then come on.. The guys are waiting downstairs in the van.. Josh is way too eager to go see the monkeys.”

Thea giggles and slides on her sweater. “That’s because he is one..”

That he is..

On the elevator ride down, I can see her holding the side of her stomach as she winces. “Are you okay?” I ask.

She nods her head. “Yeah.. He’s just testing out his soccer skills apparently..”

I chuckle and press my hand to her stomach. “Hey little man, relax there. Mama’s not your soccer ball.” She smiles and rests her hand over mine.

The doors open and we step out to join the guys in the lobby of the hotel. “Hey pretty mama!” Josh exclaims as he gives Thea a hug. “Finally getting out for some fresh air.”

“Yeah, finally.. I don’t feel like my back is going to break every time I stand.”

“Well I’m glad you could join us today. How is the baby?” He asks as he leads her out of the hotel.

“Forget the baby, how are you?” Danny says as he steps beside me. We walk out of the hotel together with Sam following close behind with Rose. “Getting much sleep at all?”

I blow out a breath and roll my eyes. “Here’s a little tip for you, Daniel.. Don’t get a woman pregnant.”

Danny laughs and slaps me on the back. “Not for a long while,” He says. “I’m still in my prime brother.”

“Shut the fuck up..” I say rolling my eyes.

“But seriously, how are you?”

“I’m exhausted.. She wakes me up in the middle of the night to get her food.. Food we don’t have.. And then because I told her we don’t have it and the hotel kitchen is closed–and half the city–she gets so angry with me, as if it’s my fault.”

Danny chuckles, shaking his head. “You’re a married man now, it will always be your fault.”

We made it through the whole zoo and back to the van before Thea started getting uncomfortable. “When we get back to the room, I’ll start a warm bath and give you a massage,” I tell her as I let her rest her head on my shoulder.

“I’m next after her,” Josh jokes from the front seat.

Suddenly Thea sits up, her hand clutching my thigh. “Jake..”

“Hmm?”

“We might not be making it to the hotel.”

Josh turns back around in the front seat to face us. “Why are we not making it to the hotel?”

“Umm.. I think..” She swallows and looks up at me with nervous eyes. “I think my water broke.”

Sam and Danny lean forward behind us. “You think?” Sam asks.

“Have you been having any contractions at all?” I ask as I turn in the seat.

“No.. But if I peed my pants, then it was a lot,” She nervously laughs.

“We’ll take you still,” Josh says. “Just to be sure.”

A couple hours later after arriving at the hospital and getting her looked at, I’m heading back out to the waiting room. My heart is pounding but a huge grin is plastered on my face. Josh is the first to see me when I walk through doors and he stands to his feet. “What’s the verdict?”

“Guess we’re having the baby today,” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “But we have absolutely nothing with us here. It’s all back on the bus.”

“Don’t worry, we’re on it.” He says.

“Oh hey Sam,” I say, grabbing his arm. “Do you mind calling Mom and filling her in?”

He smiles and nods his head. “Of course,” He says. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “Congrats brother.”

I chuckle and hug him back. “Thank you. But I gotta head back to the room.”

“Hey Jake?” I hear Josh call as I start heading back to the room. I turn around and he’s running up to me and throwing his arms around me. “I’m so happy for you,” He says over my shoulder before pulling away. “Now go have a baby.”

“Thank you.” I say before pulling away completely and going back to the room.

Labor went by quickly and before we both knew it, she was ready to push. “Don’t make me do it.” Thea begs as she holds tightly to my hand.

I smile and kiss her forehead. “You can do it,” I say. “I know you can.”

“I’m scared, Jake.”

“I know you are, but I promise, everything is going to be okay.”

And the birth followed quickly after that. Just as we both predicted, we have our baby boy. His cries filled the room as they placed them on her chest. “Are you crying?” Thea giggles as she looks up at me with tears in her eyes as well. I couldn’t form any words so I opted to nod my head. “You have your boy, Jake.” She says.

Standing by the nursery window, I’m joined by Josh. He wears a proud smile and pulls me in for a hug. “Can’t believe that you’re a dad!” He exclaims. “Now show me which one is yours.” He says, turning us back to face the window.

“Second row, third one from the right.”

“Shut up..” He gasps when he spots the blue cap on the baby’s head.

I eagerly nod my head. “Henry Francis. A whopping six pounds exactly.”

“Damn.. I owe Danny twenty bucks.”

“You were betting on my son’s weight?”

“As if you and Thea didn’t.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I was off by seven ounces.”

Josh chuckles and shakes his head. “Can I hold him? Or do I have to wait?”

I tap on the window, catching the nurses’ attention. She smiles and nods her head before going over to the bassinet. She picks up Henry and carries him out to us in the hallway. She hands him off to me and I turn to face Josh.

“Uncle Joshy,” I say. “Meet your godson, Henry.”

“You made me godfather?”

“Seems only right to do so.”

I carefully hand Henry to Josh. “Six pounds is so tiny.” He chuckles. Henry grunts, his face twisting. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Too loud? Yeah, I get that a lot.” Josh looks away from the baby and at me. “How’s Thea doing?”

“Pretty good, super exhausted.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Josh chuckles. “Is she asleep?”

“Yeah, I told her I’d keep an eye on Henry while she sleeps. She’s afraid of bringing home the wrong baby.”

“Can’t say that I blame her.” Josh says.

Seeing him standing there and holding my kid just doesn’t feel real. None of us imagined us with kids anytime soon. I sure didn’t, until I met Thea. I thought all that was gone for a while there. Believed it. But I finally got her back. And this is where we ended up. Married and building our own little family.

“Besides, you can’t deny that he is your kid,” Josh continues. “He’s got your nose.”

“I spy a tiny, little guy,” I hear Sam say. Turning around, I see him and Danny coming down the hall with a few balloons. “Hi buddy,” He coos as he tickles Henry’s side. Henry squirms slightly in Josh’s arms.

“Knock it off, you’re upsetting him.” Josh says as he swats Sam’s hand away.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Both of you knock it off.” Danny says as he sets the balloons on the floor and removes Henry from Josh’s arms. “The last thing we need is for him to learn on his second day of life that you two are nuts.” He cradles him in his arms and fixes the hat on his head. “He needs at least one stable uncle.”

“And what makes you think you’re the stable one?” Sam quips.

“I’m not the one arguing over upsetting him.”

The nurse comes back out to the hall. “It’s time to be fed,” She says as she scoops the baby out of Danny’s arms. “Pops, are you ready?”

Sam opens his mouth to start saying stuff but I immediately stop him. “With a bottle, dumbass.” I say before following the nurse back into the nursery. I pop my head back out into the hall and sternly point my finger at them. “Do not bother Thea.”

–Three Days Later–

“Is it really safe to have a three day old baby on a tour bus?” Josh asks as he lugs a couple bags onto the bus.

“Probably not but we have to make do with what we got,” I say as I help Thea to the back of the bus.

“Baby is officially on board!” Sam exclaims as he steps onto the bus.

“Would you keep quiet?” Danny scolds. “Last thing we need is for your big mouth to wake the baby.”

I step out of the back room and carefully take the carrier away from Sam. “You wake him, I’ll kill you.”

“Language,” Sam playfully gasps.

I roll my eyes and carry the baby to the back and already Thea is fast asleep. I chuckle and set the carry down on the floor to grab a blanket to cover her up. Hearing little noises coming from the carrier, I look down to see Henry stirring, his face scrunching up. Bending down to unbuckle him, I carefully lift him out and rest him against my chest.

“Welcome to the tour bus buddy,” I say as I gently sway from side to side as I gently pat his back. “We’ll be home soon and then you can sleep in your actual bed–after I get it put together.”

After a day on the road and a very sleepless night, we finally made it back home.

“Jake, are you sure I can’t help with anything?” Thea asks from the front door.

“Nope, I got it.” I say as I carry our suitcases up to the front door, including Henry’s suitcase. Apparently Josh decided he needed his own. He’s not even a week old yet, why would he need a suitcase?

“Jake..”

“I’ve got it,” I say as I stumble through the front door. “See?”

Thea rolls her eyes and goes back to the living room. “If your back hurts tomorrow, I don’t want to hear it.”

“As if it doesn’t already..” I grumble as I follow behind her. “He’s not even a week old and he’s already taking up space.. I was so far up against the wall of the bus the whole night. Felt like I was sleeping on a board.”

“Well now he’ll be in his own bed,” She says. “Once you get it put together.”

“Why do I have to put it together?”

“Because you volunteered.. And because you’re the daddy.”

I sigh and lay my head back against the couch. “Right.. Superdad,” I say, throwing my fist in the air. Pushing off the couch, I head upstairs to the guest room that we decided would be Henry’s bedroom. I stare at the box of the unassembled crib pieces and place my hands on my hips. This is going to take a while.

“I thought you were "Superdad".” Thea smirks as she leans against the doorframe.

“I was.. Until I started reading the instructions.” I hold up the instruction manual. “So I called in the brains.”

Sam pops up from behind the crib with a screwdriver in his hand. “That would be me.”

“And I see you stole the baby too?”

I look down at the sleeping baby in my lap and sucking on his pacifier. “Can’t steal what’s mine,” I wink at her. “Plus he was crying and you were asleep.”

“Kid’s got a set of lungs on him too.” Sam says as he steps out from behind the crib. “Alright “superdad”, help me with the mattress.”

Gently standing to my feet, I hand off Henry to Thea before going over to the mattress and helping Sam lift it into the crib. He proudly stands off to the side with his hands on his hips. “Well, I say we did a pretty damn good job, brother.” He says.

“Shall we test it out?”

“Well, I guess but I’m a bit big-”

“I meant the baby!” I quip as I slap my hand across his chest.

“Oh, right, the baby.”

Rolling my eyes, I turn back to Thea and take Henry back. He grunts a little, his face scrunching up. “Shh, shh, it’s alright,” I say as I rock him back and forth. “We’re gonna try out your new bed.” I carefully lat him inside the crib and watch him as he settles down and goes back to sleep.

“So I take it he likes the new bed.” Sam chuckles.

“This might be a good time to slip out.” Thea says.

The three of us quietly leave the bedroom and head back downstairs. “All of that crib building made me hungry.” Sam says as he heads for the kitchen.

Thea starts to follow after him but I grab her hand and pull her back to me. I looked around the corner to make sure that Sam was out of sight before I pulled her in for a kiss.

“What was that for?” She asks when we pull apart.

“Just wanted to show you how much I love you,” I say as I wrap my arms around her. “A lot’s changed in the last year between us and I couldn’t be happier. I’m married to the love of my life and we have a beautiful baby upstairs that we created together.” I pull her closer to me, pressing my hips into hers. “What if we left Sam to his own devices and went back upstairs?”

Thea laughs and straightens out of my shirt. “I just gave birth, Jacob. Give me some time.”

“Six weeks?” I wag my eyebrows.

“Stop your research.” She says, pointing a finger at me. “More than that.” She pulls away and starts going towards the kitchen.

“So how much time?”

She shrugs her shoulders as she turns back around. “A year.”

“A y–What?”

“You heard me.” “No sex for a year? That’s torture.” Thea only winks before turning on her feet again and going into the kitchen. “Dorothea!”

Thank you again for following along on this journey! Like I said, we are not done yet! Coming soon to devices near you, is the prequel? sequel? to Matched:

Jake kept a this journal for the six months left of his boat trip, recounting his adventures and writing them as if he were writing to Thea. The "letters" and postcards that were never meant to be sent. Now he gives them to Thea, wanting to be honest and open about his past as he fought to get over her and the love she never reciprocated at the time.

Release date: TBD

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If you are missing from the list, I do apologize--I may have missed you or tumblr won't let me tag you! But please reach out and let me know if you do not see yourself and I will work on getting that fixed!

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

⚡ - Goodbye Fossil Fuels, Hello Renewables: The Energizing News You Need

1. Fungi discovered that can eat plastic in just 140 days

Australian scientists have successfully used backyard mould to break down one of the world's most stubborn plastics — a discovery they hope could ease the burden of the global recycling crisis within years. 

It took 90 days for the fungi to degrade 27 per cent of the plastic tested, and about 140 days to completely break it down, after the samples were exposed to ultraviolet rays or heat. We really see a solution within five years, according to environmental scientist Paul Harvey, an expert on global plastic pollution.

2. Topeka Zoo welcomes new African Lion as female sprouts mane

The Topeka Zoo has welcomed a new African Lion to its pride, a male, as one of its females started to sprout a mane following the 2021 passing of the pride’s last male.

The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center announced on Thursday, April 13, that Tatu, a 4-year-old African Lion, has arrived in the Capital City. He comes to Topeka from the Denver Zoo and his arrival marks a time of growth for the zoo.

3. This barber opens his shop on his day off for children with special needs – and all of their haircuts are free

On his day off, Vernon Jackson still goes to work, opening up his Cincinnati barber shop, Noble Barber and Beauty, for VIP clients: children with special needs. 

It's something he's done since 2021. "I was hearing so many horror stories that parents were going through with other barber shops and just the barbers or stylists having no patience with their child," Jackson told CBS News. "So I figured I would compromise by coming in on my day off so there were there would be no other barbers or stylists in the shop and I could give them the full attention that they need."

4. Renewables break energy records signalling ‘end of the fossil age’

Experts are calling time on the fossil age as new analysis shows wind and solar power produced a record amount of the world’s electricity last year.

The renewables generated 12 per cent of global electricity in 2022, up from 10 per cent the previous year, according to the report from clean energy think tank Ember. Last year, solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity for the 18th year in a row, rising by 24 per cent from 2021.

5. New nuclear medicine therapy cures human non-hodgkin lymphoma in preclinical model

A new nuclear medicine therapy can cure human non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an animal model A single dose of the radioimmunotherapy, was found to quickly eliminate tumour cells and extend the life of mice injected with cancerous cells for more than 221 days (the trial endpoint), compared to fewer than 60 days for other treatments and just 19 days in untreated control mice.

To explain it in simple terms because this is so freaking cool: There is a radioactive atom attached to a drug. The target cell eats the drug and the energy coming off of the radioactive atom kills the target cell

6. Colorado passes first US right to repair legislation for farmers

Colorado farmers will be able to legally fix their own equipment next year, with manufacturers including Deere & Co obliged to provide them with manuals for diagnostic software and other aids, under a measure passed by legislators in the first U.S. state to approve such a law.

Equipment makers have generally required customers to use their authorized dealers for repairs to machines such as combines and tractors.

7. When a softball player falls after hitting a grand slam, this is how her opponents reacted

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[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Accessibility: In the last 10 days I visited the San Francisco Zoo and Safari West.

Surprisingly, unlike the rest of the city, the SF Zoo was relatively flat. I used a wheelchair the whole time with no issue. There's a bit of a slope at the entrance but that's basically it. They even have lower unobstructed viewing areas for people in wheelchairs (or kids I guess). I do think it's fucked up that places are allowed to charge to rent a wheelchair, though.

Safari West you're carted around in a vehicle, so as long as you're able to get into the vehicle it's accessible. There's a small walking portion at the end, including through an aviary. It was on a slight slope but nothing crazy. Personally I didn't have any issues getting around it, and I have a lot of mobility issues.

I have been to both of these places, and agree with your assessments!

Some of Safari West - near the cabins - is a dirt road, but unless you’re staying overnight there most guests won’t encounter that. What I don’t know is if/how the safari carts are for people in wheelchairs (I assume you have to transfer), because I didn’t end up going on the standard vehicles.

San Francisco was pretty easy to traverse. Some of the current construction made navigation a bit messy, and it’s also a big site, but pretty flat with good path maintenance iirc.

Yeah, I wish wheelchair and electric scooter rentals were cheaper or subsidized, but it’s the reality of running a business. They get damaged and need to be repaired and replaced, and paying for them I think encourages people to be more careful. Some of the prices are feel like extortion though, and zoos rarely have enough of either available on a given day. (Shoutout to The Living Desert for having the most ECVs I’ve ever seen at a zoo, and they have shade canopies!).