#homebased business

[talkfusionwahm]

(via How To Make Money In Rural Areas In 2023)

Don’t Let Poverty Define You, Build Your Own Rural Riches With A Home-Based Business, Service Or Product!

[annwritesthings]

Benefits of Starting a Home Business and Hacks for Making It a Success by guest contributor Lucy Reed

Photo Credit: Pexels.com If you want to start your own company, think about making it a home-based model. There are many advantages to home businesses, like lower startup costs, no commercial rent, and no commute. Saving time by ditching the commute can also improve your work-life balance, giving you more time to spend with your family. If you’re convinced that a home-based business is right for…

[karlachismylife]

A Spot of Lunch || The Queen of the Clan pt.4

CW: fem!chubby!reader, stalking, animal aggression (no violence)

Paranoia wasn't something you have ever associated with the vast grassy planes of sunlit savanna. An unsettling feeling of being constantly watched, followed, stalked seemed more suitable for the claustrophobic confines of a big city with its tall concrete walls and sleepless eyes of neon signs and late night windows peering blindly into the darkness - or maybe even a cold, isolated cabin among winter woods, with howling wind and creaking floorboards eerily masking the steps of whatever was looking through the frosty glass planes from the other side.

An open space full of busy with their own survival wildlife and sun burning every little patch of shadow anyone could hide in never crossed your mind as a place for a worry of unwanted following.

And yet you felt it.

You've learnt to distinguish this creepy sensation of being watched by something from the constant presense of your crew's cameras and curious looks of the animals. Even coming face to face (from afar, obviously) with the lion pride that was your main target for the documentary and attracting their attention left a different aftertaste - sure, you did feel like prey looking into the big eyes, adorned with a nature-given eyeliner, twinkling predatorily at you from the muzzle of a huge feline partially covered by the tall grass, but it still was just an animal watching you and gauging if you and your weird pack of two-legged companions were a better dinner option than an antilope.

What watched your back when you were sorting through your footage in camp or unloading the rover for another static filming, didn't feel like an animal.

"Well, we didn't even have that much visitors in camp for the last few days, so I'd say we're pretty safe," Kir, the shoulder you're used to rely on at this point, listens to your concerns carefully as he accepts heavy equipment from your arms - you reached a suitable place to have some food, so a temporary camp is being prepared. "Besides, we're always staying together out here, right? I'll look after you for now. Let's see if you still feel this shadow of yours when we get back to homebase, and then we'll look for a solution again. Maybe it's just the savanna getting to you, city cookie."

You scoff and roll your eyes at him, but his reassurance helps shake the unpleasant feeling from your scruff a bit - Kir has a point, the crew is being careful about animals and it's not like there are any other humans in these parts nearby, so you'll probably be alright. Definitely feels nice to have someone who doesn't simply dismiss your concerns and is ready to take more precautions if the initial ones fail to work.

"Maybe it's a heatstroke or something," you mutter awkwardly, now almost ashamed of how serious you make it all sound when no one else is having such problems. Kir immediately turns around, a big duffelbag on his shoulder, skin glistening with sweat, and gives you a disapproving look.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. This isn't a hike outside your hometown, every concern you have is worth looking into. Better be overcautious than become someone's dinner, especially when you're already a total snack," finally having gotten you to smile, he winks and hurries to the main camp. When you reach the others to set up your lunch break, a hat lands on your head - you lift your eyes, almost covered by it, and of course, it's still Kir, wiping his forehead with a smile. "No heatstroke for you, cookie. Go have some water."

The hat is a bit sweaty on the inside, but it keeps the sun away better than the scarf you couldn't tie properly this morning.

As you all sit around in the shadow created by a lone acacia and chew on your not so bad meals - apparently, veteran participants of these trips have experience not only in getting close to animals unnoticed or navigating vehicles through uneven sandy terrain, but also in making quite the unappealing looking canned food taste good - quiet human chatter mixes together with the birds calling each other out and little chirping mice sneaking around your camp in timid curiosity. A fit of laughter bursts here and there. Your worry melts into nothingness in the heat, you feel safe as you look at your crew.

These people are doing what they love, and you notice that the dull apathy that was eating at you to the point of taking a break in your studies slowly steps away. Surprisingly, your impulsive idea turned out to be not so bad - maybe you'll take additional courses when you return, to be able to move here, work at the sanctuary, watch-

"Psst, look," a gentle nudge makes you stop digging into the little bowl you have with your mighty fancy teal spork (your 100% recycled plastic pride and joy), and you look up to where Kir points with his chin and puckered lips. "Even I recognize that snout already."

So do you, of course.

A wide, happily grinning, sniffing vigorously at the direction of your temporary camp, round-eared snout with a thick mohawk of a lush mane.

"Finally brought a friend," chuckles Kir next to you - and he's right, shoulder to shoulder with your old pal Stinky stands another hyena, spotted so generously that its fur seems almost brown, as does its shorter, but even thicker than Stinky's mane. Pure elegance shines through the stance of its long legs and the whole form, especially compared to its bulky mate.

And there they are - the most enchanting, heart-stealing, soul-charming dark eyes you've ever seen an animal have.

"Shit," you nearly choke on the corn you forgot you had in your mouth before swallowing anxiously, and try to muffle your coughing, afraid it might scare the animals away; but instead they only tilt their heads in an adorable way and watch as you scramble to shove your food bowl into Kir's hands and grab your camera.

It takes you less than two minutes to sneak to your bag (not the one that was sprayed - that one is banished to lay alone next to a rover far, far away from where you eat, God) and grab the camera, but when you turn back, both hyenas seem to have lost all interest in you and your camp, rolling around together in the patchy grass and partaking in a ritualistic play.

Subtle breaths of warm wind bring over quiet growls and occasional sassy cackles from the scuffle, nips and paw slaps exchanged in equal amounts. The sight is nothing short of adorable: two members of one of the most dangerous species on Earth tossing each other around like playful cubs, almost as if they're fighting over-

"Hey, look, they've got something!" One of the other camera operators points out gleefully with her spoon and you close one eye, focusing your camera on the pair. They definitely are fighting over some scrap, and just as you zoom in on their scowling mouths, Stinky jumps to its feet, yanking something that looks like a piece of hide in attempt to wrestle their toy from the other one's maw. "Hey, can you see what it's about?"

You hum, squinting as you meddle with the settings - it's quite hard to make out what it is, some brown-ish rug, stretching between two pairs of powerful jaws, clenched and pulling in a simple game of tug-of-war. Just as you take a series of quick shots, that dark, lean hyena also gets up and twists its neck, trying to snatch that thing from his broader mate - and it rips.

In your lense you see loose strings hanging from the ripped edges of the torn toy.

"Huh, looks like a piece of cloth!" Curious, you zoom in some more, taking several fine portrait pictures of Stinky's big, displeased-looking snout. Its ears flatten a bit as it shakes its head, sand flying off the fluffy mane and landing on the dark hide of its buddy. The latter seems to be much more content with the end result of the playfight, already lying back on the warm ground comfortably, long frong legs crossed in an effortlessly graceful way and half of the desired prise being chewed enthusiastically before it's dropped with a yawn. "Maybe someone lost a scarf? No pattern though..."

You point your camera at the unbelievably stunning dark-furred hyena and take more photos, almost holding your breath at the beauty of the animal resting on the dusty ground. Its slightly lazy gaze slowly trails over the surroundings and then lands on you.

And then, you swear, it winks at you.

You press the button on your camera automatically, capturing this moment for you to stare at later, when you'll start doubting your own sanity. A lopsided smirk stays on the hyena's muzzle for a second longer - and then it's gone.

"What the hell..." you mutter under your nose, lowering your camera with a dumbfounded look and stare at the embodiment of innocence the cheeky fluffball is now. Almost as if they both heard you, Stinky perks up too, and you finally notice that whatever they were playing with is now hanging off its pleased snout shoved through a neat round opening in the material. So it's definitely something man-made. A shirt that's been shredded by predators' teeth until only the collar or a short sleeve remained?..

You shudder at the thought about how the hyenas got their sock-clad paws on the thing and what happened to the owner. Maybe it's just been discarded after researchers used it to wrap a hyena's head when they darted and collared one of them. Or it just fell out of someone's backpack on the bumpy road. Or...

A loud whoop interrupts your heavy thoughts and your eyes snap back to the furry menace, only to find it clearly posing for you, slumped over its pal's back and resting its chin between the other's fluttering ears. Surprisingly, the darker - maybe you'll call it Chocolate, it seems almost toothrottingly sweet from afar - hyena doesn't seem to mind much, waving its tail with a black brush on end languidly and laying still until you take a few pictures. Even though the rag Stinky can't seem to let go clearly gets in its eyes no matter how many times it tries to brush it away with an endearing ear movement.

Of course Stinky just drops its toy altogether on Chocolate's head the second something else attracts its attention - the way it perks up and loses that trickster grin, looking directly behind you, startles you, but almost twisting your neck to look over your shoulder proves futile. It's just Kir.

"Sorry to ruin your fun, cookie, but we'll have to get moving in a few, thought you'd want to finish your meal," he sighs with an apologetic smile, clearly not immune to the cuteness of the hyenas himself, and hands you your bowl, immedietely earning a growl.

A growl much closer than you'd expect from where your visitors stayed.

You jump, nearly dropping both your camera and food, and quickly turn back to see both hyenas, tails and manes belligerently fluffed up, just a few meters away. Kir steps in front of you immediately, shielding from the animals, but it seems only to aggravate them more.

Maybe it's not the brightest idea you get, but your adrenaline-high brain offers you a memory of Stinky obeying when you raised your voice at it.

"Stay down you two! Shoo! Get back!" Leaning around Kir's muscular shoulder, you wave with your spork at the unfriendly couple.

Somehow, it works.

They almost look upset, tails slowly hanging down and ears lowered - they even lean their whole bodies to the ground as they back away. Stinky is clearly more reluctant, and you would be melting at the sight if your heart wasn't still racing after the scare.

"You get back too, Stinky. Or I'll sign every picture of you with your nickname in all the wildlife magazines!" Perhaps it's your tone making the animals nervous, but Chocolate suddenly lets out a short giggle. Still feels nice to have someone appreciate your humor, especially when it earns him a nip at the scruff from Stinky, finally distracting him from you. "And you don't laugh at Stinky! What, you think there won't be enough of me for the both of you? I'll make fun of every fucking four-legged menace if you keep growling like that!"

An barely started new scuffle between the two stops abruptly, two pairs of huge wet eyes looking at you with almost human perspicacity. Remembering too late that a direct stare can provoke an animal, you avert your gaze, but it's unnecessary: even from the corner of your eye you see both hunched figures slowly gaining speed as they further away from the camp.

"What, you a hyena whisperer now?" Kir lets out a subtle relieved breath and you par his back gratefully, exhaling yourself. "Probably got scared of me because of my size... well, now that's you've proven your dominance, how about you finish your food? I'll pack everything for you, so don't rush."

Still glancing over your shoulder in case the predators come back, you mutter your thanks to Kir and nod at the other members of the crew who praise you for keeping your cool against the animals again.

"Didn't know they teach you that in school nowadays," jokes one of the older scientists with some canned food juice staining grey stubble around the corners of his mouth. "Good job, kid. Hyenas are all about hierarchy, if you show them you're more dominant, there's little they can do. Just maybe don't get into actual fights with them, you know?"

"Not planning to," you chuckle and finally get back to your food. While you chew absentmindedly, wandering around the camp being taken down, your legs bring you to where your slightly rough (and fluffy too, to be fair) around the edges neighbours left their tattered toy.

Just a weird shaped brown cloth, punctured in several places with the deadly weapon hyenas carry in their mouths and with clearly manufactured seams. That round hole Stinky utilized also has neatly finished edge, like clothing would have.

Huh. Weird. Somehow that chewed up and slobbered snippet looks familiar. Can't really quite put your finger on it though.

Part 3 | Part 3.5 | Part 5

Series masterlist | Main masterlist

A/N: Please, don't use any of this story as a guide to handling any animals, wild or not. Although I try to use real documentaries and stories of hyena whisperers as a reference to how hyena-human interactions can look like, it's still fiction. Use actual guidelines provided by authorities as to how to behave in contact with stranger animals.

Tagging:@elaineiswithyou-blog @creepingeva @my-halo-is-a-little-broken @sillymanjaro @ihatethinkingofnames10 @ravensfeatheruniverse @yaminax @ljh861 @darkangel4121 @ginger-n-coco @grey-shadow6475 @cryingpages @mothsdrabbles @mc-glare-is-king @vixxie22 @aldis-nuts

[justporo]

So, I do have another idea in my head - sighs.

What if Astarion goes to the same taverns to scout for victims. At one of those is this barkeep who's a pretty tough, quick witted woman. She notices the pale elf coming around often, notices too how attractive he is. And Astarion notices her too, how she handles the place and the people. Especially the latter since nightlife is a tough business, specifically for a woman.

Occasionally the two interact. She makes sharp comments about how he always disappears with someone else on his arm and Astarion about unapproachable she sometimes seems. They tease each other, but they don't pry - that's the unspoken agreement between them. But they do like each other, maybe more than either of them would like to admit at the beginning.

Astarion yearns for her. He can't even remember the last time he'd genuinely felt drawn to someone like this. And she's drawn to him because he's kind of a prick but a delightful one, witty and not as blunt as other people trying to get on her good side. They tease each other a lot but don't stick their noses into each other’s business too much, that's why it works out so well for quite some time.

Mutual pining ensues. She would be down for quite anything but stands by her maxime to not pry. And Astarion... He wants her, desperately. But he can't. Because he knows it would doom her. And he just can't do that to her... But still he feels himself drawn back there, time and again, feeling himself dragged down deeper.

But after something traumatic happens he finds his way there to the usual spot, not explicitly knowing what he wants, but subconsciously knowing what he seeks: the comfort he imagines to find in her embrace.

They spend a night, that makes Astarion believe in something that cannot be, even if only for that one night. But he knows that will have to be it.

After he leaves, he never returns again.

She knew that that was what might happen. She doesn't regret it but she can't quite forget him either. Somehow the strange pale elf with the beautiful white curls, glinting eyes and promising smirk stays on her mind.

That is until Astarion reappears a long time later - after he's defeated his master and everything else and he found himself walking to this place again where he hoped he wound find her again.

Because she's never quite left his mind either.

And then what if he does become an adventuring hero. They're not fully mutually exclusive but she becomes his homebase. Letting him roam and explore his newly found freedom but giving him the anchor and supportive love that he deserves.

And you just know that whenever he crosses the threshold to her tavern everything's gonna get dropped to spend a week in bed together.

[hopelessdelusional]

matt sturniolo x influencer! reader

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

reader is grunge! a singer! and on social media (this is very niche i apologize) i will be building this AU more so stay tuned!

｡･:*˚:✧

hey so i’ve hyper fixated onto an CIS. STRAIGHT. WHITE. BOY. someone put me down i cannot do this anymore please this is a cry for help needs to euthanize me-

｡･:*˚:✧

enjoy ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ^)

join the taglist

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ homebase

to start, you have been close friends with jake for a long time, and thru him you met tara and johnny before meeting the triplets

jake pretty much always has you in his videos, so much so whenever you aren't in a video the fans have started to request for your presence on videos that don't have you in them

you're not all that active on social media, only posting random covers of your favorite songs on your youtube channel and random tiktoks

in jake's videos you are always making him laugh, and out of the two you're more calm with a dry sense of humor

'...do you like it?"

"yeah because me immediately spitting it out and chugging my drink after eating it obviously shows how much i love this fucking candy"

OR

"hey jake did you want to get dinner tonight-"

"..."

"why the fuck is johnny in a baby costume."

in tara's videos you and her literally talk for HOURS and the way tara could make four separate videos from one recorded hang out is ridiculous

with Carrington the two of you easily match each other's energy, always giggling in the back of videos

you've also done singing collabs with jake and johnny! there are a couple of songs that just have your background vocals and then others with actual verses

you haven't released any songs though due to stress and anxiety, feeling too pressured to write the

"perfect" song so you settle with being a feature

besides that you really just mind your business with college, your job, and hanging out with friends

tara was actually the one who introduced you to nick

and through nick….you met matt

.・。.・✭・.・✫・゜・。.

matt who was excited to meet nick’s new friend who he was talking abt nonstop

“hey guys! yn is here!”

nick swings the door wide open, smiling widely as he stomps in the house. you follow in quickly, nervous to meet nick’s brothers. your friendship with nick came naturally, having many things to connect with. that being said, you weren’t sure if you could create a relationship with his brothers as easily as you did with him.

fiddling with your clothes you wave politely at the boys, surprised to see both of them walk up to you and hug you. granted it was swift hugs, but it immediately created a softer environment, causing you to relax immensely.

matt who immediately noticed how you looked uncomfortable and took the first step to hug you

“i like your outfit,” matt said after chris broke away from you. he gave you a small smile, making you smile in return. before you could respond however, chris started talking to the group.

nick had already decided on having dinner at home, so you settled in leaning on the kitchen island watching nick and chris argue over what to make for dinner. matt walks over to you, putting his hands in his pockets.

“don’t worry i could never replace you guys,” you tease, when you see him across from you. he giggles in reaponse, his eyes never leaving your face.

“cool tattoos,” he points out which surprised you. looking down at your arm, you smiled admiring the work you’ve gotten done over the years.

“thank you! you also have some gnarly tats.”

matt smiled at you, flexing his arm a little bit to show off his whole sleeve.

“is that the only place you have tattoos?” you question, suddenly curious about his body art. matt nodded, then looked at you with a small smile.

“does that mean you have more?” the question made you laugh because he seemed almost shy asking you, so when you nodded enthusiastically and started to give him a quick tour all over your body. lifting your shirt up was funny for you, because you could tell matt wanted to be thoughtful and not look but when you reassured him he hesitated at first but eventually awed at them. his reactions were so lively, making you appreciate how focused and compassionate. he praised you for your own ideas and for the tattoos that meant something, and still thought your random and silly tattoos were interesting.

after you finished showing him you were practically gleaming, it had been a while since you had been able to speak so much of the tattoos that littered your body. every single one of them had meant so much to you and being able to share that with someone; especially someone as excited and appreciative as you are.

“you’re really cool, i can see why nick enjoys hanging out with you so much.”

you and matt were sitting down in the living room now, leaving chris and nick to prepare dinner for the evening. talking came easily after the tour of your tattoos, matt showing you his and the conversation flowed better than you dreamed it to be.

you chuckled at matt’s comment, finding his eye contact was making you squirmish in your seat.

“nick is so much cooler than me, but i don’t mind i really enjoy being friends with him. plus now i have two new friends so that’s a bonus.”

matt laughed at your response, running a hand through his hair now avoiding eye contact with you.

“yeah, i’m grateful nick brought you around.”

matt who couldn’t take his eyes off of you for the rest of the evening, which did not go unnoticed by his brothers

“don’t steal my new best friend from me matt!” nick yelled out dramatically after yn left, making matt shake his head.

“you should let matt have their number,” chris mumbled, still focused on the game he was playing. nick gasped dramatically before agreeing, making the boys laugh with how quickly he switched up his emotions.

“just don’t steal them!” nick threatened, but matt was already too excited to text you to listen.

matt who got your number and could not stop texting you, and he especially couldn’t stop smiling every time you texted him back

“matt i need backup,” chris said frantically, his eyes glued to the computer and fingers moving at the speed of light on the controllers. when matt doesn’t respond, chris huffs and repeats himself.

“matt seriously dude where the fuck are you?!”

matt finishes up typing and looks up, oblivious to the game that they were losing.

“oh shit,” he mumbled, putting his phone down and picking his controller back up.

“you weren’t even playing?” chris yelled out, frustrated with their status. nick pipes up from the bed, suddenly curious. he peaks his head over and sees matt’s phone light up, watching matt immediately lose his focus to look at his phone. matt straightens up, wanting to reach for his phone before chris cursed loudly, drawing his attention away from the text. nick squints, thankful that he was wearing his glasses and sees the name on his phone to his disbelief. yn sent a text, then another one, and then another one. his jaw dropped, and his gasp was so loud it startled his brothers.

“nick! oh my god,” chris started to laugh when his fear settled down. nick still had his mouth wide open, only causing chris to laugh harder.

“you’re gonna catch flies kid,” matt snickered. nick slowly turned his head to matt, mouth still open, in a very dramatic motion.

“yn? you stole my best friend?”

matt froze, a slow blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks. chris eyed his brothers from his peripheral vision, jaw also dropping.

“that’s why you’ve been so preoccupied? damn my boy has a crush,” chris started to chuckle, causing nick to scream and matt to drop his controller covering his face in embarrassment.

matt who gets jealous whenever you and nick go out like he wants to hang out with u too :(

matt who finally gets the nerve to ask you to hang out with him, after nick decides he’s had enough of matt complaining about how “you never invite me-or chris!” (he has to add the chris part to not sound too obvious)

matt stood nervously at the door, fiddling with his keys in his hands. he finally knocked, immediately hearing rummaging around behind the door. matt couldn’t help but smile, wondering what you were doing right now. were you just as nervous to hang out with him one on one?

suddenly, the door swings wide open, and you’re in the doorway smilingly widely.

“hey! come in!”

matt who had so much fun hanging out with you.

the two of you went to antiques and thrift stores, grabbed some dinner and went back to your place to spend the rest of the evening together. the two of you got along so well he ended up staying until 12AM because you wanted to finish watching the show you started, not that matt was complaining. he was tempted to ask to stay over (and you were tempted to ask him to stay over) but he didn’t want things to be awkward. so he left late into the night, after you gave him a tackling hug, asking to hang out again soon

matt who started to call you every night, and although you two texted all day you never ran out of things to talk about.

matt who is really starting to fall for you

.・。.・✭・.・✫・゜・。.

k bye ily🩶

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Ninjago Groupings Episode by Episode

A.K.A. how much time they spend together

Key

This chart has each of the ninja sorted into who they were with each episode. For consistency, I designate the grouping based on who they're with at the beginning of the episode. So, for instance, if Zane is with the ninja at the beginning of the episode, he'll be sorted as "Gang's all here" even if he spends the rest of the episode in on his own little galavant. I will go through each season, so I can explain my observations and so you can see the chart closer up and come up with your own. First, I must explain each designation as I gave them odd titles for fun.

Purple refers to the main party. There will (almost) always be purple on the chart, even if the whole party's split as I designate it based on where either the majority of people started, or, where the main mission's at. For instance, if we have a party with all the ninja, but they gradually die off, as in Skybound for instance, Jay remains the main party as he has survived.

Busy is the first designation I'll turn to if one or more of the ninja has gone off on a separate mission. If there are two ongoing missions in addition to the main party, I'll use Double Busy. If there are three, I'll use Triple Busy. If there are four, I'll hope one of them fits into a separate category as you'll see with the Crystalized madness.

Homebase comes into play if a ninja is at the monastary, Bounty, or whatever's been designated the base at the moment. Gang's all here and Busies predominate however. This designation primarily applies when the ninja is hanging out with Wu or holding down the fort. Tragically, Nya and Pixal have this designation for much of the seasons.

If one or more of the ninja is kidnapped, dead, possessed, or otherwise incapcitated, this comes into play. For Double Involuntary to apply, at least two ninja must be in two different types of incapacitation. For instance, in Skybound, Kai and Zane were in a sword so they were Involuntary, but Jay was captured by pirates so he was Double Involuntary.

So far, this literally only applies to Jay (during Dragons Rising specifically). I used it because the audience knew where he was but didn't know how he felt about it.

I use this designation when the audience doesn't know the status of the characters long-term. A clear instance is most of the ninja at the beginning of Dragons Rising, the reason I created it. I also use it for those one-off episodes that aren't about the ninja such as "The News Never Sleeps." (This designation is named after an alternate ending for Cole in Hands of Time which my friend and I find hilarious).

Season Breakdown

In these early seasons, we really only have to deal with four categories. We get the occasional side mission such as Kai, Nya, and Lloyd living their pre-Ninja lives, but nothing serious. For the most part, the ninja are sticking together with their missions. If they break apart, such as in episode 5 where they split up to find Serpentine tombs, it occurs only for the episode, and doesn't extend long-term. While she is Samuai X, Nya is primarily on the Bounty doing various man in the chair tasks. Nya and Lloyd are competing for the damsel in distress title and Lloyd is winning. (Going forward, I am going to omit the Arin through Sora rows until they actually appear. Just know that they're toddlers off who knows where doing who knows what.)

Lloyd has joined the party. It's odd because he usually is engaging in the main plot, but in Child's Play, they act like they've always left him at home. Early season trends are continuing. While Nya's still on the move during the late season, she has been turned evil by a substance which is not something she wanted so she's still racking up Involuntary points.

Yay, Pixal's here! The core 4 continues to stick together but Lloyd has undergone on the first mission separate from the party. It doesn't end well as he gets captured, but hey as long as he had fun. Pixal is regarded as Involuntary as, similar to Nya in the previous season, she has been turned evil by hacking. Observe that the whole group gets together for the finale. This will occur nearly every season going forward.

This is our first elimination season, so we start to see even the core four break apart. This crumbling starts with the first episode, as Zane is, as per usual, gone. He's finally thrown his hat in the ring for the damel competition. As Pixal goes into Zane's head this season, I match her color codes to Zane but in a muted tone, as she's there, but she's not really there for anyone but Zane.

It's another elimination season, but they spend a lot more time all together than I remembered. For the first time, no Busy gets invoked as they're all always together or captured, but Double Involuntary does occur twice in two different fashions. With Pixal's designation here, I am presuming that Nadakhan had the common courtesy of returning her to life when Zane wished it all away.

Day of the Departed is really just a Cole solo mission. Zane dies again. Pixal is one again innovating with designations as she causes the first invokation of Double Busy once she's free. You might observe that I technically invoked Double Busy before Busy. I did this because Kai and Nya were the main plotline, while Double Busy was primarily occuring in the background. More characters in play is resulting in more categories of groupings, but, for the most part they all stuck together as has been par for the course during Masters of Spinjitzu.

We have a few little missions and incapacitations here and there, but for the most part it's a team effort. I really enjoy when they spend all season on the ship. Zane dies again. Pixal is gets to be part of the main crew again because while she may be on the Bounty, so is everyone else.

Hunted is in past tense for a reason. The Ninja spent half the time captured. I considered the core four to be the main party as majority rules, not to mention they had the ship and Wu. This is the first time we have a Busy designation last nearly all season. Hunted is sort of our first "splitting the party" season. It may have been accidental, but we'll see a lot of this going forward.

Being a movie, aside from a little father son fishing trip and a death fake-out, the ninja tended to stick together.

The ninja go back to sticking together, as in early seasons but it doesn't last long. For the latter half of this chapter, they split up into alpha squad (Zane, Nya, and Lloyd) and the boys (Cole, Kai, and Jay), which, as I like to point out, Lloyd will nearly always choose when he picks teams. Pixal may have been with the ninja in these first few episodes, but she was doing her own thing at homebase. We have out first side character episode, which is something I really loved about this era. Zane dies again.

As you can see, we're starting to have these long periods of splitting the party. While it's not as extreme as in Hunted, we have Lloyd going off alone and Zane off being evil, while the main party spends some time in the village. Cole even has one of his brief solo missions. Something I'll note about Zane. His evilness was very much involuntary as he needed amnesia, an evil staff, AND an evil advisor to make it happen.

I didn't count Jay entering Prime Empire as Involuntary because he did that on purpose. Pixal's finally off the bench. Or has Zane joined her? Hard to say but I ruled the former as Wu was not there and they very much had their own mission. We have a return of the elimination season, which funnily enough looks near identical to the elimination pattern in Skybound. Despite the fact he didn't enter Prime Empire, Zane insists on racking up his Damsel points.

This season was big on splitting the party, as indicated by the longest Double Busy so far for this many people. Kai and Zane get to be the main party even though they're not majority because when it gets down to a near 50/50 split, the designation is relatively arbitrary and I like to keep it at the top of the chart for pretty data's sake and so I tend to keep it with the core four, mainly Kai. You may observe that even when the entire party is captured, Cole doesn't revert to purple. Once a ninja has a designation, it sticks until they form a new grouping.

Cole and Kai get to chill at home for the first time. The rest of the party sticks together for the most part, which was surprising to me as I remembered Nya going off on her own more. It turned out that, similar to season one, these little solo missions ended up isolated within episodes. That is of course, until the end when she becomes the sea. I marked it as Triple Busy so I could reserve Busy for the main plots in the next season.

Crystalized is so long and complicated. It took me forever because, I mean, do you SEE episodes 22-27. You can see why I had to invent Triple Busy. It got so crazy I had to designate Kai as at homebase just because he was at the Newskids' hideout, which was serving as the current base. Nya is of course the sea at the beginning, but I designated her as Triple Busy, because she wasn't on screen for the most part. The ninja go to jail. Lloyd goes off for one minute and gets captured. Zane dies again. Near the end, each of the ninja spend time with a partner ninja except Lloyd who's alone forever. For the finale, they're all together again.

Welcome kids! This is sort of a reverse elimination season. it looks dismal at the beginning, but gradually we recover (mostly) everyone. Even if we don't see a character on screen, I start categorizing them when the audience knows their status. For example, Kai didn't show up until episode 4 but Lloyd told us he was off on a mission. Despite the spires of maybe dead, in the first part it's relatively simple. However, starting now, ninja, such as Nya, will just go off on solo missions like it's no big deal. The mid-season finale gets into some serious party splitting with Kai at homebase again, the discovery of Zane, and the kids off on their own, but ultimately all the active ninja end up together in the finale. In the second half, they party split into pairs long term. It's a good way to balance such a big cast. Zane doesn't have a little buddy so he spends some time at home and then goes to jail. Interstingly, though he's at homebase we do get some significant feature of what's going on in the monastary. We saw a bit of this with Seabound, but not nearly as much as we're seeing with DR. Lloyd and Arin find Zane (again). Kai and Wildfyre find things in common. Sora and Arin find Cole who goes off on a side quest. The audience finds Jay so he gets his Business Trip designation as we don't know how he feels about it. Similar to Pixal during the Zane's head period, I made this color muted as it's very in the background.

Blood Moon is simple for Dragons Rising standards, but calling it simple really reflects how many different categoriations there exists in these later seasons as compared to the old days. Lloyd, the siblings, and the kids go on an educational field trip. Zane stays at home until Cole visits and gets Zane to join his mission. Jay briefly joins Busy during his Business Trip, but no one knows it except Bonezal. Interestingly, they don't all join together in the mid-season finale, but rather, this time, it becomes even more fragmented.

This is my prediction for the Tournament of Sources based soley on the end of Blood Moon and trailer material. Arin will probably be off doing spy stuff and reflecting. Jay's doing something I may have to make a new designation for. Kai's in the void but I think he may be a suprise last minute addition to the Tournament that saves the day (or not). (Off topic, but if Ras always planned on going to the tournament, was this decade+ long Forbidden Five plan just him drafting people for his team?) It's not an elimination tournament because as far as I can tell, when you lose, you can just chill in the stands. They'll probably go off on their own little sidequests but I expect them to all, at the very least, stay in the City of Temples. I'm very excited to find out the truth in a couple days.

With this, I have now posted all my pre-made charts. I plan on making some new charts based on a few suggestions I've gotten already. I think it would also be cool to tally up the designations on this chart to see what the ninja spend most of their time doing. I'll also be posting the official Tournament of Sources updates for all my charts within the next few weeks. Thanks for reading this far. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas for additional charts!

[wof-reworked]

whats ur opinion on dragons having different houses bc of class or tribe? i love dragon architecture </3

I'm such a fan of dragon architecture oh my god. One of my biggest worldbuilding gripes (besides the lack of clarity around food/cooking) is that the actual housing arrangements of the dragons are so vague????? Like towns are a thing but also Tui seems to imply most dragons sleep in caves even though it makes no sense for any of the other tribes???? like ma'am most of your dragons live in swamps, jungles, or deserts where the hell are they even finding them

Basically, we have functionally no point of reference for anyone who isn't royalty (Winter, Turtle) or grew up in such specific circumstances that don't reflect back onto broader dragon society to the point where their input is rather moot (Moon, the DoD, Peril, Qibli). Qibli is the closest thing we have but the Scorpion Den is a combination of a shanty town and refugee camp that makes it harder to draw conclusions for the rest of the population. (We're also not counting Darkstalker bc. well. 2000 years)

For my writing, my stance is usually that dragons are primarily nomadic. Dragons who live in/around towns stay there primarily for reasons like child-raising, business, injury, apprenticeships, or just laying low/blending into a crowd. Like with how dragons don't need to cook their food to eat it, dragons are not dependent on housing and are able to comfortably sleep and live outside (barring extremes such as the central desert or really the entire Ice Kingdom). So, the exact permanence of a dragon's stay in town is situational and tribe/job-dependent more than anything else.

As far as the tribes go, Icewings and Nightwings are the most home/town oriented tribes- both tribes have the rarest approach to housing in that almost all members of both tribes live and sleep primarily in one home location that they return to for the majority of their life. For Icewings, this usually looks like multi-generational families that split off into new homes/houses only once there's a real need for it. On the other hand, Nightwings living on the volcano lived primarily together in caves/dormitories divided by age- even though this no longer exists, most Nightwing towns and houses involve many shared buildings and resemble something more like tight clumps of houses or caves.

For the majority of the tribes (Skywings, Sandwings, Mudwings, Rainwings), most dragons will have multiple houses that they move between as needed or wanted. While outliers exist, most dragons have at minimum two homes/dens: one in a more populated area that might operate as a job homebase or a place to receive guests, and a more isolated, private home that exists for the dragon in question to stash any items of importance or valuables, as well as eat and sleep. For more nomadic dragons, banks exist in towns to hold treasure, freeing up their secondary/non-work den to be little more than a shack or burrow with sleeping arrangements. More houses usually equals more money/class power, up to a certain point, where you start to see buildings more akin to Vulture's mansion or even the Royal Palaces, where one building or collection of buildings is large/grandiose enough to host other people's jobs and living spaces (on a related note, gardening is a very stereotypical high class hobby to have, as it shows both an abundance of leisure time and of space).

Between these tribes, Skywings are the most town and home oriented- Skywings often live primarily in towns and only leave for what is essentially a nesting den, as without rudimentary flight skills, Skywing towns are borderline unnavigable and occasionally hazardous for dragonets. Even with their relative isolation, nesting dens in the past have often been located near other nesting dens, creating something of a nesting village for Skywings parents to socialize and raise their hatchlings. Queen Scarlet's reign did irreparable damage to this style of collective child-rearing and nesting dens as a whole. With her breeding programs, most Skywings were forced into partnerships for the sole reason of producing more future Skywing soldiers, and the majority of eggs were instead stored in mass hatcheries until their hatching day.

On the other hand, Mudwings are the most isolated and nomadic, in part due to the structure of sib groups creating a situation where most Mudwings hatch into life with a social network already established. The Mud Kingdom is also temperate enough that housing isn't always necessary, and most Mudwings only congregate in towns for business or seeking a mate.

Finally, Seawings are almost entirely nomadic, and will usually move between a territory, with small dens and hoards scattered within. These territories can hold many multiple families, or they can exist for a single dragon- Seawing property laws are almost nonexistent and mostly maintained by honor and frequent patrolling of the territory to maintain order and mark it as lived space. These territories aren't uninhabited land either- Seawings will grow seaweed and herd schools of fish on their territory, and many take a certain landscaper-esque role, shaping the terrain into something aesthetically pleasing or useful to the inhabitant and helping signal to other Seawings that the land is occupied. One of the few times Seawings will settle in one den or space is for a hatching den- this lasts from the laying of the eggs until the hatchlings become able to swim well enough to keep up with their parents.

I've been pretty burnt out on WOF writing for a while, but this was honestly a refreshing change of pace from what I've been working on recently. Thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble about dragon housing !! I'd love to hear what other ppl think, the more headcanons the merrier :>

[jensenackles-daily]

Family Business Beer Company says that while a new taproom is a "work in progress", they will be announcing a new "homebase bar" in the next few days (x)

[gatorbites-imagines]

I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to do John Constantine x male!reader who is like Dean from spn, maybe just a one shot of him meeting the reader and being like “I want that one.” Preferably no smut but if that’s what you’d like go for it! Ofc feel free to deny the request if you don’t want it!

-Crow

John Constantine x male reader

Headcanons

I honestly don’t know a lot about supernatural, the closest I’ve gotten to it has been reading smut about the characters sometimes. So, if the personality is wrong, its cuz I got no supernatural experience.

You were a hunter in the magical world, but you were different from most of the others. That difference being you had no magic or supernatural powers. You were just a guy, with his gun, his car, and his knowledge gained from the lifestyle.

You were well known because you had stopped the apocalypse side by side with your brother and some other allies, some of those allies being angels, demons, and anything in-between. But through it all, you stayed human, which is pretty damn impressive.

After saving the world from yet another apocalypse, you and your friends and family had decided to slow down with the whole hunter thing. Your brother found his other half and got married, they’re expecting their first kid. Your angel allies seem to be out experiencing the world, though you all keep in touch.

You were the only one still active in the hunger community, though you had settled away from the extreme, world devouring demons and beasts and returned to your roots. Those being smalltown issues, like werewolves running berserk, or some fae putting a village under her spell.

It helped settle some of the constant anxiety and paranoia in your bones, as these small things felt like coming home after fighting for humanity for many years.

That was what led you to where you were now. Sitting in a bar in some small village out in the boonies, the kind of place that had one grocery store, one bar, and one liquor store. A vampire seemed to have settled on turning this small remote down into their own personal blood bank, so you’d settled out and gotten rid of the thing.

Constantine had been passing through, headed for the exact same vampire as you. Both to kill them, but also to take their collection of ancient magical tombs. Sadly, for Constantine, you had made a habit of burning down the homebases of the things you hunted, so nothing like it would settle there again.

Constantine had tracked you down using magic, maybe wanting to whoop your ass just a bit for destroying the books he had been after. He expected some green hunter, who’d just picked up their first silver dagger or bottle of holy water, so color him surprised when he saw you of all people.

Constantine would know who you were, because of the whole, saving humanity from the apocalypse thing. Hed think you were a lot more handsome than the rumors told, even with your scars and tattoos. There was something about the way you carried yourself that got under his skin in the best way.

So, instead of starting anything, Constantine would saddle up beside you and start his flirting spiel. You, of course, would also know who he was. What respectful hunter wouldn’t know John Constantine, because anywhere he went, trouble always followed.

You being you though, flirted with him in return in your own way, though neither of you expected much to come out of your meeting, even as you shared numbers after stumbling out of the bar drunk off your asses.

You had completely forgotten about having his number, and Constantine was the same, until one of you found the number and texted the other in a moment of boredom.

It would take a while for the two of you to become close, as this business always came with paranoia and a lot of backstabbing. But your mutual interest grew, though Constantine will never admit it, he fell hardest, and he fell first.

Expect a lot of flirting from him, which you always respond too by flirting right back at him. It would probably take you both a whole to accept that you have feelings for the other, and even longer for either of you to confess because you’re both emotionally constipated and don’t think you deserve happiness.

It ends up being your brother that gets you to confess, or he would probably tell Constantine that you like him on accident or in a passing comment. Constantine wouldn’t believe it in the beginning, until he would mention it around you, and you end up confirming that you feel that way.

You both try to play it cool, not wanting to come across as desperate or too lovesick, but one thing leads to another and you two become a thing.

It doesn’t change your dynamic a whole lot, outside of the fact that you can kiss whenever you want now. Constantine might also be sneaking protective magic and runes into everything you own, just in case, even though you are only taking small hunts now.

In the same way you always find ways to protect Constantine even without magic, resulting in at some point pummeling a demon half to death for trying to demand Constantine’s soul. It just makes your lover even more attracted to you, so win for you.

Your relationship has moments of long distance, as you drive around wherever your job takes you, and Constantine is needed all over the world, but you are both loyal and just make up for lost time next time you see each other.

[jazy3]

We've got some new BTS pics from Ross Duffer from Weeks 28 - 30 of filming! First off we've got a photo of Caleb in costume as Lucas filming in a field. His look is very similar to what he wore last season so no big changes there! We've got a photo of Millie and her dog on set at video village with what could be Brett Gelman in the background but it's a bit hard to tell. They're also filming outside so it looks like we'll be getting a lot of outdoorsy scenes this season.

Next we've got a black and white photo of the Duffer Brothers behind what appears to be a controlled fire. It looks like they're on a sound stage and there's a fence and what could be a telecom or military tower behind them. Next we've got a wall that says ‘Restricted Area’ with blood on it and barbed wire at the top and caution taping at the bottom. Then we've got an upside down photo of a dead looking mannequin dressed in military clothing. Based on what we've gotten so far it looks like by the mid-point in the season that the military will be in Hawkins in full force.

Then we've got an ‘Everything must go’ Radio Shack sale sign above a radio. It looks like Bob's old haunt is going out of business! Next we've got a flyer for radio station 94.5 WSQK with a picture of a bird sitting in a mic booth advertising the Jimmy Fasthands Lee radio show weeknights from 7 - 11 PM. It looks like the radio station is going to be a big location in Season 5 the same way the Creel House was in Season 4! And it looks like the characters are making it their homebase this season so that should be interesting!

We've got a photo of what could be Dustin sitting in a van. The person has a yellow baseball cap on and there’s a WSQK t-shirt overtop of the back of the car seat they’re sitting in and you can see the letters 'HAW' on the van's windshield. Based on everything we're getting I think Dustin must be working or volunteering at the radio station and that's how they're getting access. He seems to be the character with the most ties to the station so far. Lastly, we've got a video of another marble being dropped into the marble bowl next to a tiny prop mold of Vecna’s head and a Lions baseball cap.

[thegildedbee]

Family/Laugh: May 12 & 13 Prompts from @calaisreno

The exterior nowheres that Sherlock inhabits can be charted by his footfalls as he wends his way through the precincts of temporary cities. The silent drift of assimilating interior nowheres, however, seems to leave no traces, even as he feels unseen changes taking hold. His suspension in the January North of a darkness that persists until late morning, and then quickly returns in the afternoon, intensifies his perception that he lives in a shadow-world, a lone dark figure extracted from the frozen rain that curtains his days. 

The patterns he seeks to capture as he hunts amidst the ones and zeros of cyberspace are likewise intangible – extended solitary vigils as his fingers command the keyboard to winnow through the tangle of codes – as well as tangible, of meetings with the technological mix of people here at Tallinn’s crossroads: software developers seeking the leading edge at corporate labs, security experts at NATO’s Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, the underground hackers who traverse the landscape of the digital realm’s hollow earth. Both the intangible and the tangible are intense efforts to spy glimpses of Moriarty’s covert presence in the spaces between the ones and zeros, summoning up the networks and nodes of the intersecting spheres of finance, and energy, and communications, as made manifest in trafficking, and counterfeiting, and hijacking, across the physical and human worlds.

He’s accumulated an abundance of leads, some he’s near-certain he understands, and others he’s yet to decipher – but it’s enough to reveal to him his next move on the chessboard: St. Petersburg. He’ll take the train from Tallinn, without needing to step out for border control, which is handled en route. He’ll be leaving Estonia under a new identity; he hopes to keep Lukas Sigerson in his back pocket for later uses, but it’s time to make his presence difficult to trace: it's time to step away from Mycroft’s grid. He’s left seemingly inadvertent clues to allow Mycrofts’s people to (think that they’re) following him, along a pathway that connects the nefarious doings of Mexican cartels involved in establishing meth labs in Nigeria for the Asian market. Their pursuit of him will be turned to good account in dismantling that nexus, even when they realize he is elsewhere. 

St. Petersburg is a hive of hacking activity, the physical site of the infamous Russian Business Network, which catered to the needs of cyber criminals. It’s not surprising that it is the city where Vladimir Putin lived, received his education, and joined the KGB, as an agent in its foreign intelligence wing, before tunneling his way to Moscow. Sherlock doesn’t believe that there are many degrees of separation between Moriarty and the dark internet of Putin’s hellscape. 

He arrives at the end of Tallinn’s usefulness on a Friday evening. As he packs up his kit in the office space he’s made homebase through a courtesy loan in deference to his Norwegian technology credentials, some of the younger workers have swept him up into their murmurating flock as they celebrate the coming weekend in search of alcohol, bar food, and music. In London, Sherlock would have begged off such a request, were anyone intrepid enough to suggest it, and he would have been unperturbed at whatever anyone might think. But he’s not Sherlock, he’s Lukas, at least for a short while longer, and although his persona is reserved, businesslike and uninclined to make small talk, Lukas possesses an average quantity of affability; and remaining unobtrusive is best accomplished by being amidst the motions of others, rather than making himself conspicuous by setting himself off from the norms of sociality. 

He did not, however, anticipate the karaoke session, which is putting a severe strain on the bonhomie he is channeling to Lukas, as it’s clear that he’s going to need to accede to accepting a turn in the spotlight, lest he put a damper on the good spirits of his companions. He nevertheless protests with a smile, holding out his hands, but any input he might have been able to exert on the decision-making disappears, when two of his impromptu friends conspire to tug him toward the microphone, explaining that all three of them will venture forth together, with a song they insist is dead simple to sing, and that the well-lubricated crowd will be delighted to join in with them in belting out the familiar refrain. Which is how he finds himself being carried along within a punchy, melodic stream that turns out to be excruciating emotionally, as the verses unfurl. He listlessly despairs, marooned, a hollowed-out laugh echoing inside his head in response.

. . . When I'm lonely, well, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you And when I'm dreamin', well, I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you. When I go out (when I go out), well, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you And when I come home (when I come home), I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you I'm gonna be the man who's comin' home with you . . .

He’s exasperated at the universe conspiring to keep him unsettled, to deny him the solace of alone protecting him. He fears that he is fated to have any social contact whatsoever somehow conjure home and reminders of John. The song ends to raucous cheers, and the enthusiasm surges on, and he’s being importuned to name a new song of his own choice before being allowed to return to the table. He looks at the smiling faces helplessly, immobilized by the churning cacophony playing hide-and-seek inside his guts, incapable of conjuring up the simplest of answers. Undeterred, they jolly him along, prompting him to think of a film he’s recently seen, or club he’s been to, or a favorite television show. At the latter suggestion, his mind does slightly slip free, and there is John again, teasing Sherlock into watching another of his favorite shows, Sherlock pretending to be annoyed at being consigned to such a fate. He turns to the young people, and raises his voice to speak into the nearest person’s ear to be heard over the noisy crowd, and says with a question in his voice, Peaky Blinders? He seems to have pleased them, as they fiddle around to pull the selection, bouncing in high spirits and punching their fists into the air, as the music starts, a bell ringing out, and the slithering deep tones speaking of the edge of town, of secrets in the border fires, of a gathering storm -- and a tall handsome man, in a dusty black coat, with a red right hand. 

As Sherlock listens to the song unspool, his mind wanders back to the show's themes, reminding him of a line of thought he’d been considering the last few days – that to focus singularly on Moriarty and faceless confederates is not quite the right way to conceptualize the dead man's web: that there must have also been family members in leading positions, positions of trust. One of the deep divides between himself and Mycroft originated in Sherlock’s refusal in uni to agree to work for SIS. Mycroft knew that he would never be able to trust completely any of the professionals who worked for him – after all they are spies working for money. To be sure, he wanted Sherlock to sign on to be able to appropriate his intelligence, but even more compelling was the fact that never having to question the loyalty of a brother would have made him an asset par excellence. Mycroft considers getting what he wants to be an inviolable law of the universe, and Sherlock doesn't think his brother will ever be able to truly forgive him for the rejection . . . especially given Sherlock's devotion to the inferior endeavors of dedicating himself to a life of metropolitan crime-solving. Family; family is what matters. A Moriarty is gone; but there are other Moriarties yet to be unearthed. ........................................................ @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @friday411 @peanitbear @original-welovethebeekeeper @helloliriels @a-victorian-girl @keirgreeneyes @starrla89 @naefelldaurk

@topsyturvy-turtely @lisbeth-kk @raina-at @jobooksncoffee @meetinginsamarra @solarmama-plantsareneat @bluebellofbakerstreet @dragonnan @safedistancefrombeingsmart @jolieblack

@msladysmith @ninasnakie @riversong912 @dapetty

.............................................................................

[captain-of-silvenar]

Secret or Golden

Day 2 of @tes-summer-fest

Late to the party, but I had a vivid image in my head for this prompt and needed to write it out.

No beta, wrote this in 30 minutes, but I needed to get this out. Enjoy!

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

For all Teldyrn’s gripes about Riften, the natural sights were a sight for sore eyes.

After living decades upon decades in ashfilled wastelands, craggy cliffsides, or snow covered plains it was nice to settle down somewhere with an abundance of green. Not to mention the lakeside home with a personal dock.

It was about sunset, and the sun was sparkling perfectly off Lake Honrich. All around the area were birch trees with their beautiful stark white trunks and glittering orange leaves waving in the wind. The last of the fishing boats were coming to shore, muffled and distant cries of orders as people rushed to get back home. Teldryn throught the nearby fishery would cast this place in a terrible stench but the wind was blowing just right and blowing it far away from this perfect sight.

He couldn’t say that this was his own piece of Aetherius unfortunately. No, that belonged to his patron that was just coming out of the house with a towel over her head.

Freshly bathed and finally dressed in something casual, Yera plopped down on the chair next to him and scrubbed at her hair to get the last of the water out.

“You’ve got a nice place here, boss,” he commented to her. “Can see why you were rushing us to get back here.”

“Mostly that, yeah,” she responded under the towel. “The other half of it is if I don’t come back home every so often, Brynjolf sends every padfoot in the country looking for me begging me to come back. Like a mother hen that one but the sentiment is nice.”

That was another part of his boss he wasn’t expecting. Being Dragonborn was shocking enough, but also being head of a guild of thieves threw a wrench in his image of her. Teldryn didn’t have the highest opinions on thieves and cheats; compared to his life as a mercenary and living a particularly bloody lifestyle it seemed tame and cowardly to sneak away and steal your living.

He still didn’t understand it completely, but what he did understand was that these were her people and they had her back. Just the same that Yera made the effort to come back to homebase and take care of home before being whisked away onto another adventure. They seemed like… ‘nice’ enough people. Teldyrn walked away with all his armor and gold intact after the first meet-and-greet.

These were thoughts for another time. What was more important was he was going to bunk up with his boss in her fancy lakeside house for free. And his own furnished room with a feather mattress! Luxury of the highest order in his opinion.

“What are the next plans, if any?” he asked her.

“I’ve got Guild business to work on, but otherwise I feel like we deserve a break after all that nonsense on Solstheim,” Yera answered. “You’re welcome to anything in the house, within reason, and to any plans you’d like to make. I think you especially deserve it after what I dragged you through.”

“If you ever need help saving another island from an ancient dragon priest bent on taking over Nirn and steal your own soul for power, I need a bigger pay bonus to do it again.”

Yera scoffed at him and threw the towel resting on her head in his general direction. He swatted it out of the air with a laugh that caught halfway in his throat when he looked at her.

Caught in the tangled locks of her hair was the sun. Light caught in her white hair, reflecting it like spun gold.

Her eyes, half lidded against the sun, similarly caught the light and for the barest of moments he thought he could see gold in those eyes.

Teldryn had seen Yera in many different forms; ranging from a wandering stranger into the Retching Netch, to a towering warrior over a freshly burning dragon, to a frightening stillness while recovering in a tent after her final fight.

Never had he seen her quite as relaxed and calm as she was now.

It was a phenomenal sight.

One he had to shake himself out of neigh immediately after that thought.

They fell into a silent lull after, appreciating the ambient sound of the lake and nature around them. The songbirds singing their evening calls, beckoning flockmates to their roosts to sleep the evening away. An occasional fish leaping out of the water, splashing water into liquid gold in the fading sun’s light. 

Teldryn dreamed of retiring to a place like this. Away from the ash and trauma of his homeland to somewhere free of such scars. Somewhere fresh and alive at every turn. The idea of one day finally hanging up his sword and never needing to pull it down again was a goal somewhere in the far, far, far future.

And as he dreamed of how much gold he needed to live that dream, his eyes kept drifting toward his companion. In the final rays of light, the sky was cast in a myriad of pinks and oranges and reds. The birch trees with their orange leaves made for a brilliant background as he gazed once more at the golden visage of his friend, catching the sun with her very being.

For a single moment, he wanted to reach out and run his fingers through her hair. To touch that glimmering gold just once.

Then the moment was lost, the sound of a door opening and closing in the house.

“That must be Lydia back from the market,” Yera said, standing up from the chair. “I’ll head inside and get started on dinner. You’re welcome to stay out here as long as you want.”

“I’ll… stay out here a bit longer,” Teldryn answered back. “I won’t be long.”

With a nod, Yera turned and re-entered her home, calling out to Lydia before the door shut behind her.

Alone on the porch once more, Teldryn finally took the moment to hunch over and cradle his face in his hands.

‘You’re a professional,’ he thought to himself. ‘You can’t be thinking about your boss like this.’

But he couldn’t get the image out of his head of a relaxed Yera. Sitting quietly on a porch in her home, the wind fluttering her hair, and gold in her eyes.

[mcfiddlestan]

Staying the Night Prompts

❝ i don’t have nightmares when you’re there. ❞ (Loki/Bucky)

“We should probably get some rest.”

Bucky managed a lazy grin and an equally lazy nod at Steve’s words, but made no effort to rise from the long sofa in Stark’s penthouse lounge. The tower wasn’t exactly home, but it was the place everyone came to recuperate and get a warm meal, especially after returning from a mission. Bucky and Steve had only come back a few hours ago from their latest mission, providing some not necessarily needed support for Shuri and the Wakandans. Who knew stopping human traffickers could cause so many body aches. A slight shift on the seat to sit up and he knew there was definitely a bruised rib somewhere. 

“I’ll head back in a bit.” He said with a soft groan, falling back against the cushions.

“Aren’t you tired?” Steve questioned from beside him. When he frowned the cut above his eyebrow stung and he tapped a finger to it a few times, pulling his hand back to look at it. Not bleeding anymore. 

Bucky nodded even as he verbally answered, “Yeah, exhausted. I just wanna finish my beer.” He gave the bottle a little shake. “It’s nice to be back within four solid walls though.” And to sit in front of a fire he didn’t have to start or worry about putting out, he thought, as he stared at the flames in the hearth before them.

“Sure is. No rough blankets on the ground tonight. Well,” Steve sighed after a moment. He reached out and clapped a hand to Bucky’s shoulder. “Thanks for covering me out there. You saved my ass.” Bucky lifted bright blue eyes to his, narrowed an eye. “Again,” Steve conceded with that boyish smirk.

Bucky chuckled, nodded, and wished Steve a good night as he brought the Budweiser bottle to his lips. Steve slowly rose with a groan and walked directly into the waiting elevator.

It still amazed Bucky that Stark willingly allowed this ragtag group of vigilantes, spies, a former winter soldier, and others to freely come and go from his tower, using it as a makeshift Avengers Hotel. The billionaire himself kept a small apartment among the smaller bungalows at the place he’d once used as a homebase for his company, but, for the most part, Stark slept in a room off his lab, never too far away from his work — if he slept at all. But everyone left that to Bruce and Rhodey to deal with.

Finishing off his beer, Bucky pushed himself to his feet, careful not to strain any more muscles than he already had, and after rinsing it out, deposited the bottle into the recycle bin. Judging by its nearly full capacity, the tower’s rooms must’ve been equally full tonight. Too wiped to think about who might be milling around in the morning, Bucky headed for the elevator, stifling a yawn. He watched the numbers slowly descend to his floor — the same as Steve’s, but on the other opposite side of the building — contemplating how long he might let himself sleep before he got started on his report the next day.

He was planning it all out as he walked to his door, absently pulling out the key, and unlocking the door. The moment he stepped inside he sensed something was different than when he left it. The apartment assigned to him was larger than the one he kept in Brooklyn, but it was just as sparsely decorated. In his line of business, it wasn’t exactly ideal to plant roots or get attached to anything. The room here and now was lit only by the pale blue moonlight streaming through the tall, wide windows displaying the city and off in the distance, the Brooklyn Bridge.

Bucky wondered if he should’ve just gone home as he scanned the room and moved silently to the bedroom door. It was less than a half hour by subway. Pulling his gun from its strap, safety off, Bucky listened for any sounds even as his eyes scanned the area before pushing the door open and aiming the gun at his bed. 

Seeing the hint of pale fingers rising in a surrender gesture in the shadows of one corner, Bucky locked and re-holstered the gun with an exasperated noise. 

“What the fuck, Loki?”

Dressed in his usual casual outfit of a green tunic and black pants, Loki emerged from the corner and crossed his arms. “I was only awaiting your return. I didn’t realize you’d come in guns a-blazing like — what do they call them? Cowboys?”

Bucky scoffed and began to remove his gear, dumping it on the dark tufted chair beside his dresser. “What are you doing here? How’d you even get in?”

It was Loki’s turn to scoff. “Hello? I’m a god, remember? I can go anywhere I please. Your human locks are like Odin’s fatherly approval to me: nonexistent.”

Bucky jerked his head back. “Well, that got dark fast,” he muttered, finally dropping the last of his weapons. He gripped his shirt, tugging it free from his pants, then reached for his belt. “Is there something you need? ‘Cause I just got back from—”

“A mission in Wakanda, I know,” Loki finished, his voice lowered. “How is Shuri? I’ve missed…talking shop with her. Her technology is impressive. Even to an As—well, a former Asgardian.”

Bucky kicked off his second boot and stopped, watching Loki with more focused eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Loki raised his head, lifting a brow. “Must something be wrong? Are we not friends? Can’t I simply wish to welcome you—“

“Lokes.”

Loki took a long beat before he smirked, chuckling a little, and lowered to the foot of the bed. “Nothing’s wrong. Honestly. I was just…eager to say hello. Thought you might want to talk. Maybe shake off the mission. You must be hurt. I can hear you trying not to groan with every movement.”

Bucky went still then, realizing Loki was right, he moaned a little as he let out the breath he’d been holding. He was really feeling the aches now. As if his body knew the bed was so close. “I’m fine, Loki. It’s just taking a little longer for me to heal, that’s all. But, really, I’m just looking forward to collapsing into bed.” He moved to the dresser behind him to grab a pair of sweatpants and a fresh shirt from the drawers. 

“Oh, well, don’t let me get in your way.” Loki crossed one leg over the other, seemingly planting himself in that spot.

Bucky, with his back turned to Loki, grinned a little to himself, unbuttoning his pants and kicking them aside once they dropped. “We said we were gonna stop,” he said as he slipped on the sweatpants.

The silence was blaring behind him. To give Loki whatever time he needed, Bucky stripped off his shirt and slipped a clean one over his head, and piled his soiled clothes in the corner along with his socks.

“I know what we said,” came the reply finally. 

Tying the drawstring on his pants, Bucky turned to face Loki. He noted how Loki wouldn’t meet his eyes, turning his face away, toward the windows. The moon shone brighter at this angle, lighting up the part of Bucky’s room open to the windows. And Bucky could see Loki’s face now, that it was paler than usual, with dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks a little hollower than usual. 

Sensing his appointment with sleep was about to be delayed, Bucky crossed over to sit beside Loki on the bed. “So what’d you get up to while I was gone?” he asked casually.

“Not much,” Loki answered with a shrug, still looking out the window. “Worked on some spells, conjured up some new tinctures. Avoided Thor.”

Bucky laughed quietly, the bed shaking with the movement. “He was here?”

“Only for a few hours, Hail Frigga,” Loki said with a dry laugh that grew more genuine when Bucky chuckled too. 

“Loki,” Bucky murmured after their laughter died down.

Loki’s smile faded, and he lowered his eyes. “Please,” he all but whispered. 

Bucky grinned lopsidedly, but bit his lip. “You said no more.”

“I know. I lied.”

Bucky snickered and dropped his head on Loki’s shoulder. He was just so tired. “You told me not to let you anymore,” he whispered.

Loki turned his head, nuzzling his cheek against Bucky’s nose. “You shouldn’t listen to me. I’m an idiot.”

“Lokes,” he snorted. Bucky slipped his hand into Loki’s, felt his cold skin cool against his warm palm. “You’re not an idiot. And I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I didn’t listen to you.”

Loki nudged him with his elbow. Bucky only groaned softly and closed his heavy eyes, comfortable enough in Loki’s presence to let his guard down. 

“I’m barely hanging on here, babe. You should probably go back to your room.”

Loki turned his body toward Bucky’s, clutching his hand tightly between his own in his lap. “I don’t want to. Just one more night, James. Please? I know what I’m asking…”

“Do you?” Bucky sat up and released Loki’s hand, so he could balance himself.

For the first time that night, Loki met Bucky’s gaze. Even through his tiredness and the pale moonlight, Bucky could see Loki was equally as exhausted as he. He hasn’t slept, he realized with a spark of concern. Hard as he tried, Bucky couldn’t stop himself from worrying about Loki.

“Look, Loki—”

He held up a hand to cut Bucky off. “No, I know. I know I don’t make this any easier for you.” He uncrossed his legs and turned away from Bucky. “I don’t mean to be selfish, you know. I don’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that…”

Bucky waited for the answer, but none came. “What?” he urged, nudging Loki’s arm with his fingers.

Loki inhaled deeply and turned his eyes to Bucky’s again, and with a quiver to his voice, he said, “I don’t have nightmares when you’re there.”

Bucky swallowed thickly. “Oh.” The revelation was one thing. They’d initially bonded over their shared experiences with torture and brainwashing. Few, if any, of the others could relate. But the tears clinging to Loki’s long black lashes was quite another. Bucky hadn’t seen Loki so vulnerable before. He wasn’t at all sure what to do, but to scratch at his head with the metal fingers, searching for the right words. “Um…”

Loki shifted and Bucky saw the moment he shut down and that cool mask slid into place. His dark emerald green eyes cleared instantly, his lips, already thin, thinned even further. “Forget it. Forget I said anything. Forget this ever happened. I’ll go.”

“No!” Bucky shouted the word, grasping for Loki’s arm as he rose and tugging so hard, the sleeve of his tunic ripping cut into the silence between them. “Shit!” Bucky shot up to his feet, but only stammered out an apology and held out the torn piece of his tunic to Loki.

Loki took it and clenched his jaw. “James, I’m getting rather mixed signals from you.” In one long sweep of his hand, Loki’s tunic was repaired and the ripped piece disappeared. “You won’t allow me to have a restful night’s sleep in your bed, yet you seem eager to quite literally rip my clothes off.”

Bucky slapped the non-metal palm to his face. “I swear, I didn’t mean to do that. And I was going to tell you that it’s fine, you can stay here. I just got a little thrown off by the tears in your eyes.” He started to turn away, but decided he had more to say. “And you know what? Speaking of mixed signals, what kind are you sending to me exactly? I mean, you know very well how I feel about you and you continuously torture me by coming to my room and begging to sleep — just sleep! — in my bed, beside me, all long legs and silky hair, and I’m doing my damndest to be a gentleman and be understanding because we are friends, but it’s fucking killing me when I wake up and there you are, just causally wrapped around my—“

It took Bucky’s brain a good five seconds to compute that his epic rant had been cut short by Loki, and that he was now currently being lovingly and tenderly kissed by the longtime object of his affection. As Loki’s lips pressed against his, Bucky slowly sank into the kiss, taking the opportunity to deepen it and pull Loki’s body against his.

Needing the air to breathe, and realizing what he was doing, Bucky took one giant step back. 

“What is happening right now?”

Loki swiped a finger across his bottom lip. “Well, something that was a long time coming, I think. Don’t you?”

Bucky relaxed, glared. “Don’t be a dick.” Loki cocked a brow, this time in confusion, and Bucky scoffed. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean. You’re practically BFFs with Stark and he’s the sassiest bitch in this place. So I know you’re learning some shit.” He looked up and caught the smile lighting up Loki’s face. “What does this mean?”

Loki’s expression turned thoughtful as he closed the distance between them and ran his hands up Bucky’s chest to wrap around his neck underneath the dark brown strands of his hair. “I think what it means, darling, is that your love is no longer unrequited.”

Bucky gawked at Loki. “Really?” he asked, his voice soft. Loki nodded and leaned in to kiss him again. But just as their lips touched Bucky sprang back. “Is this just because of the nightmares?”

Loki laughed, throwing his head back. “No. Well, not entirely.” He breathed out a sigh, as if a weight had been lifted from him, and kept his hands at Bucky’s chest. “I suppose it took me a little while to realize how stupid I would be to keep denying what I was feeling.”

Their eyes met and Bucky felt his stomach flip at the expression in Loki’s gaze. “But why—?”

“I’m not very good at this, James. Physically, it’s not difficult to navigate. But everything else that goes with it…” Loki turned his face again and nearly stepped away from Bucky. But Bucky was there, keeping a tight grip on him. “I ruined whatever it was between Fandral and I, and I—I ruined him. He can barely stand the sight of me now. I don’t want that to happen with you.”

“It won’t.” Loki skeptically angled his head and Bucky grinned. “I’m not great at this either, okay? Back in my day, I couldn’t do this. Not without major consequences. And I never really knew anyone I was willing to risk it with. Until you.”

“How romantic of you,” Loki murmured with his signature facetiousness.

“Shut up, Mischief. I’m saying, we don’t have to sneak around anymore, right? We also don’t have to rush into anything neither of us isn’t ready for. So…” He ran a finger down the side of Loki’s face. “How ‘bout we just see where it goes, okay, doll?”

Loki fluttered his lashes, swooning. “I do love it when you call me that.”

This time, Bucky let the kiss happen, wrapping both of his arms around Loki and holding him tight. He laughed against Loki’s mouth when the nimble god leapt up and wrapped his legs around Bucky’s waist.

“Um, off to bed then?”

“Hm, I thought you were tired?”

Bucky let out a low growl, near purr, at Loki’s fingers carding through his hair. “I might’ve gotten a second wind.”

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Sorry that took a minute. I had the idea as soon as you sent the ask, I just wasn't able to get it down until last night (Wednesday) and I didn't get to read what I wrote at three o'clock in the morning and edit until tonight (Thursday). Felt kinda nice to write some WinterFrost again!

LMK if y'all want me to post this on AO3. Then I might have at least one fic posted this year, lol.

xoxo

[moderator-monnie]

The Discovery and Ritual (A COTH Story)

After a trip that lasted a few days and a distraction to keep Sonic and his group of friends busy, Dr. Eggman arrived at the destination inside the eggmobile. A large shadow from Angel Island was cast over their heads, and a huge crater was deep in the ground below them.

The doctor soon took in the sight. It was oddly beautiful and absolutely stunning. Buried deep in the ground was a giant golden arch. It had been dulled over time, yet it still remained quite pristine. It's colour was only slightly faded, but there was not a spec of grime or rust anywhere on it.

"This is it... This is exactly what I've been looking for this whole time, and it's in my grasp now to get a closer look and find out exactly what this thing is."

Sage sat next to him, kicking her feet off the side of the eggmobile and humming a tune gently to herself. Eggman soon drove right up to the golden arch, shining a light upon it so it could be seen far better.

"Sage, if you would be a dear, would you mind performing a scan on the artifact, please?"

Sage nodded politely before floating up to the golden arch. She rested her hand on it, and the red accents on her body began to glow blue along with the object being shined brightly with a holographic light of the same colour.

"Calculating, Calculating... Processing... Processing." Not long after, a ding sound was heard, and Sage turned to her father.

"Father, this is not a golden arch; half of the object is buried underground... It appears to be a halo-shaped object of some kind; scans also reveal a vast amount of power buried within the object."

Eggman took what his daughter told him, and he slowly nodded his head. In just a few moments of being here, he had already learned quite a bit; all he had to do was unearth the object, so he clicked a button on his eggmobile, and a comically large shovel appeared out of the bottom of it.

It took a good few days and a few trips back and forth between homebase and the halo's burial site, but progress finally paid off, and sitting on the ground in front of him was it.

The Halo was fully exposed in front of the pair, and after some dusting and cleaning with an industrial power washer, they could see the object in its former glory and properly begin.

"Phew, that was a real hassle to get out of the ground. I didn't expect there to be so many roots holding it down, but, due to how long it's been down there, at least the roots were rather easy to destroy, though a shocking amount of them."

Eggman landed his mobile on the ground, not too far away from the halo, and he walked right up to it, rubbing his hand across it. He slowly began to decipher it with the help of Sage.

"Fascinating! So very fascinating, it would appear the halo itself, along with a few extra tablets we've unearthed, give a rough translation on how we can awaken the slumbering god."

Eggman was about to continue talking, but Sage looked at him worryingly and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Father, are you sure this is a good idea? I'm not certain anymore, based on the translations we were able to figure out together. It's like the ancient echidna's who buried these objects were trying to warn against waking Zepperaith."

"One thing remains consistent among everything we've discovered... They all say, 'This god of the dreaming world has been sleeping for many years and should stay asleep.' Do you really think this is wise, father?"

Eggman sighed before looking at her reassuringly with a small, gentle smile on his face. "Worry not, Sage; your old man knows what he's doing. I wouldn't attempt this if I didn't have a vague idea of what I was getting myself into."

Sage sighed She was worried, of course, but she did trust her father, so she slowly nodded her head. "Of course, father, you are quite brilliant, and I'm sure your plan will succeed."

Eggman soon chuckled with a hearty laugh. "I trust you and your siblings can handle things; if something does go wrong, NOT THAT IT WILL OF COURSE! But thinking ahead, you're a very smart girl, Sage."

"If anyone can get me out of any mess I make, it would be you. Now enough dilly-dallying; let's get this show on the road! Shall we?"

Eggman got out all the necessary supplies that would be needed: candles, a sleeping bag, a very large amount of salt, valerian, and gold powder. A dream catcher, and finally, some water blessed by any religious leader. Straight from the water falls of Angel Island

He carefully combined the salt, valerian, and gold powder into the water, mixing it perfectly before pouring it all around the edges of the halo and along the inside of it.

Afterwards, he put a sleeping bag for himself right in the middle of the halo, and surrounding him around the inside of the halo were seven candles, each of them coloured like the seven chaos emeralds and infused with a small amount of chaos energy.

Taking a deep breath, he put the dream catcher around his own neck, tying it somewhat tight, and then proceeded to lay down. He proceeded to take some sleep medication to help himself fall asleep, but before he did, he turned to Sage and gave her a gentle nod.

Sage took control of the eggmobile and returned it, along with herself, back to the main base.

After making sure she was gone, Eggman slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep. If he had followed every step correctly, he would arrive in the realm of dreams where Zepperaith was slumbering and be able to wake the god up from its seemingly endless sleep.