#i also had a frog named froggie
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youaremysunshine-court · 2 years ago
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Accidentally creating second book lore when I've barely written the finstead book
#i know how to link these two now tho lol#arty dart#who is the most adorable girl actually#which means that shes xanax abd ill have to find a suitable name for zinc#also yes my character naming skills are as dogshit as my dog naming skills#thats where we got gems like charming (prince) and wolfie (he has wolvish eyes) baloo (he looks like a bear) simba (he looked like a lion)#puppy (she grew up before we named her so puppy stuck) bergy (hes burgundy) wriggly (guess why) and bicky (shes biscuit coloured)#clearly i should never be allowed to name a child#theyll get stick with a name like arty dart or zinc#i once had two pet fish i named goldie and boldy (one was a goldfish and the other was bossy)#i also had two angelfish named peter and paul (i assumed all saints became angels when they died) (they dont sainthood is a myth propogated#by the catholic church) (i also thought canonising someone had smth to do with cannons so)#i also had a frog named froggie#and my favourite stuffed toy is named fluffy#idk how i became a writer with this brain that cant produce names#i literally put placeholder names from the periodic table#bc then its easy to find and replace#how many time am i going to write the word zinc in a story might as well name my mc that#whereas if i put a placeholder like anna it will actually stick and ill hate it like naming a dog PUPPY who does that#arty dart for fucks sake#but i named her artemis in the first book (as a placeholder) and that stuck#and then dart happened in the second books plan and it was like okay my nickname for you is now arty dart you terrible girl#but you cant name a character palladium which is why its a good placeholder name#come here einsteinium#ruthenium pick up your sword#argon you little snake#i think if i named a character carbon it would stick tho#like carbon is a good person name in a way plumbum is not#but plumbum is a good fucking insult you plumbum head you#damn ran out of tags but for posterity: you have wronged me lanthanum and i hope you get what you deserve. LANTHANUM!
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synthetickitsune · 5 months ago
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Hi!! I love your work sm and I was wondering if u could write a minghao drabble with the prompt “you don’t count- I love u” thank u 🤍🤍
The8 (SVT) | "You don't count - I love you" fluff | 0.8k | gn!reader A/N: thank you for requesting! also inspired by @hanniedream's froggy ring post and bibi being a menace feeding into all of my delusions
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“Absolutely not.”
You pout at him, whine his name, whisper into his ear how cute it would be to have a matching jewelry - a silly piece, the exact opposite of the classy necklaces and rings and bracelets you already had plenty of. But nothing gets Minghao to change his mind, and so the little froggy faces can only watch as you leave the store without them.
You sulk about it only a little. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Your relationship matters, and it’s loving and wonderful, and Minghao is the best partner you could wish for. What would be the point in wearing a matching ring if you knew he hated it? He always makes sure you don’t lack anything you want or need, silly or serious. You let it go and truth be told, the entire thing slips your mind.
Until today.
Until today’s afternoon, to be exact, today’s very ordinary afternoon when your boyfriend suddenly told you to close your eyes before putting a little box in your palms.
“Open it,” he smiles at you as he sits down next to you.
You feel a lump in your throat. There are two rings staring at you. Matching rings. One with a little black frog, its limbs spread as if it was swimming, and the other with little lily pads and a white blossom. Minghao must’ve had them made, you don’t think he could find rings like this in a shop somewhere. 
“Do you like them?” he asks with a small smile. His hand slowly rubs circles on the small of your back. You look at him in disbelief.
“Why Hao?” you take a shaky breath. He frowns, sitting closer to you and putting his other hand over your knee. 
“What do you mean why?” his brows are knitted together, “Do you not like them?”
“No, I do - I love them,” you sigh, “But you hate things like this.”
You look at them again. The sizes make it pretty clear which ring is his and which is yours. He’ll look even more like he came out of a fairytale with the tiny blossom adoring his finger. You truly love them. You love the cute little frog. And you appreciate the gesture, but…
“I wouldn’t get them if I hated the idea - or if I didn’t like these rings themselves,” he assures you patiently.
“But you hated the silly frog rings I showed you,” you argue back, making Minghao smile and pinch your cheek.
“And I didn’t get those, did I?” he watches you laugh and loosens up a little himself.
“These are still silly,” you shake your head, “More… tasteful and elegant, but silly.”
“I’m good at compromising with you,” he grins. His thumb strokes your knee absentmindedly. It’s good to see you relax again, good to see the tender look in your eyes as you study the rings.
He looks at the box resting in your hands and carefully takes it from you. He slides the frog adorned ring on your finger before handing the now half-empty box back to you. Suddenly he feels shy when you take his hand in yours. You stroke your thumb over the ring once it sits on his finger, tapping the little flower. 
“You know you can tell me if you don’t like them or if I hurt you before and you no longer want silly matching rings. I won’t be upset,” not at you anyway - but he doesn’t say that.
“I’m really happy, Hao,” you lean in for a kiss that he’s more than happy to give you, “I just don’t want you to do anything you don’t like.”
“I’m not,” he threatens the doubts in your mind with a slight pout on his lips.
“You always shut everyone down with things like this though,” you don’t give up, stubborn as he is.
“Well,” he smirks mischievously and leans closer again to steal another kiss, “You don’t count - I love you.”
“That’s so corny,” you scrunch up your nose, pushing at Minghao’s chest without any force. It’s only natural that with every push comes a pull, so you don’t struggle when he pulls you into his side.
“But I won’t wear mine all the time, just so we’re clear,” he says softly yet firmly enough to let you know it’s not up for debate. Still he looks at the ring with a smile.
“I guessed you don’t have that many fits to match it,” you tease, “But I’ll wear mine all the time just so you know.”
“I’ll wear it when I’m not running around schedules. And when I’m with you. We shouldn’t leave the frog without its home for too long, hm?” he laces your fingers together. You gasp when you see it - like this it indeed looks like the frog is swimming towards the lily pads. You can’t help but laugh and snuggle closer to him.
You guess it is a little like that - Mingao is your home.
And you’re Minghao’s whole life, giving his existence a purpose. Even if that might be too much for a little frog to convey.
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luv4georgie · 11 months ago
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stream interrupted.
dad!Lando Norris x mum!reader
in which formula one star, Lando Norris, and his girlfriend, Y/n Y/l/n, have a child and sooner or later… she’s definitely gonna want to be in his streams. right?
“what was i made for?”
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you and Lando have been together 7 years and when you were 21 you had gotten pregnant unexpectedly. 3 years later and you had a daughter, Lillia.
-
Lando was currently streaming and you were watching Tangled with your beautiful 3 year old daughter in the living room. she was sitting on the floor colouring a picture of your little family she had drew. you were on the couch watching the film. “NO!” you heard Lando shout. wondering what he was getting up to you decided to stand up quietly and tiptoe out of the living room.
you had gotten to the door of the room he was streaming in. you quietly opened the door. watching him and making sure you weren’t in view of the camera. you cracked open the door slightly so you could see him. before you could leave and go back to watching the film the door opened a little bit more. it wasn’t until about 2 seconds later that you realised that yoy weren’t touching the door at all.
before you knew it you saw a small figure waddling into the room. her beautiful coloured hair swaying as she did so. you saw her get closer to her dad’s set up. she stared wide eyes at the colourful screen above her. she reached her hand up to tap Lando. he didn’t realise she had tapped him until he saw people’s comments.
f1luvrfl: LILLIA!
charlesbae2: OMG LILS 💖💖
landoxy/n: SHES SO CUTE HELP 🫧💖💕💞🌸
he looked down to the side of him after reading the chat. “hi froggie” Lando said to the small being next to him. he picked her up and placed her on his lap. chat went wild talking about the nickname. she smiled brightly at everything and everyone behind the screen. “daddy!” she giggled hugging his neck. he smiled and swivelled around in his chair to face you. ‘sorry’ you mouthed. he smiled and swivelled back around.
“where did you come up with the nickname” he mumbled squinting at the fast moving chat. “well chat… obviously her name is Lillia so she has other nicknames like Lils and Lili so just thought that Froggie was nice because she loves frogs and because Lili, lilipads-” he said confidently. he stared down at his little girl. she began to hide in his chest when he started talking. he stroked her hair and answered a few more questions like ‘how did you handle the pregnancy?’ and ‘how is she so well behaved?’.
he was so proud of his little girl and loved her so much. she was a daddy’s girl. but also could be a mummy’s girl at times. she went to almost every race and enjoyed it. when she couldn’t go she would watch them. cheering her father on and always cuddled him when he got sad about not winning. he really did love her and she loved him just as much. but you loved both of them the most.
he didn’t care when she interrupted anything. if anything he loved it. it was adorable.
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aclowntiny · 1 year ago
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A Date Like No Other- Basketball Player!Mingyu x Female!Reader (College AU)
Inspired by the famous tumblr post 😄 also I’m quite tempted to do a part 2 for this one if anyone is into that hehe
Word Count: 3600 | College AU, Basketball Player!Mingyu, Humor, Fluff | Warnings: drinking mentioned, one suggestive comment, one minor swear
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He was the guy on campus everyone would have sold organs to go on a date with. The sports guy. The really tall guy. Handsome, plays on the school team, movie love interest guy.
You were the weird girl hardly anyone talked to, and you just liked him because he drew on your notes with you.
History was boring you- you’d already answered the questions and they read the pages out loud at a snail’s pace, sending your eyes diving into the pages lest you want to rip your hair out and coat your long thin institutional table in it. Saving that, you reached into your backpack and pulled out a green ultra fine marker, popping the cap. You reached over and doodled a frog sitting in his funny little amphibian hunch on one of the multitudinous papers strewn about the table before the guy sitting next to you glanced over, a huge smile spreading across his face before he suppressed laughter.
"I've been frogged!" That, of course, had him almost snorting in aborted amusement.
Wait...did that mean? "Oh, sorry, those were your notes, huh?" You asked in response, hand hitting your head lightly. "I got them mixed up, sorry for defacing your property. I can get you a new sheet if you were going to turn that in-"
"Nah," your neighbor, whose name was Mingyu if you remembered from roll call, held up a hand of both restraint and reassurance, "it's fine! I'm going to keep it. I love him. I think he needs a hat, though."
"Oh, I got it." This time, it was a brown marker you grabbed, quickly outlining and filling in a tiny cowboy hat for your creation. "There we go, how's that?"
This time, a full snort. "He looks handsome to me. What's his name?" Mingyu whispered as your professor drew a tad bit closer.
"Uh, Clint Eastwood?" You shrugged, having not exactly thought that far- in fact, not at all, the whole shindig starting at full zero thoughts, head empty.
"Well, I'll take him with me to every class I have," Mingyu replied, glancing fondly at the doodled frog before taking his pencil and drawing a fly between two pieces of bread, "and feed him, too."
At that, you exhaled a quietened laugh, smiling back as wide as he'd done.
"What? Wouldn't that be what a frog eats?"
You had to admit that it would be.
From that day on, you two added one or two things onto Clint Eastwood's page every class session. He had a top hat at the ready for dressing up, a little garden of flowers, a very badly drawn horse to ride, a soccer ball to play with, and a plate of the takeout Mingyu had just really wanted that day. You didn't even know what his major was. Maybe it was just sports. Could one go to school for simply basketball? Who knew? You guys didn't really talk, just drew and whispered and laughed about your froggy little world. Either way, to your simultaneous amusement and annoyance you found yourself really able to see the hype behind the legendary Kim Mingyu. For all the popularity, he was a good guy. And you know what, he was cute. But, like, heart cute. The face cute was just a bonus.
~
"Hey (y/n), do you ever go to any games? I've never seen you at one," Mingyu mused as you strode out of class, backpacks loose over your shoulders.
"Well," you paused, letting your expression be cut by a half-joking, half-serious wince, "no offense, but I'm not a huge sports person? So I haven't gone because I don't have anyone to go with and it hasn't seemed worth the money. Not because of the game, just because of how much they charge for the ticke-”
"Hey, don’t worry, I get it," he laughed, "well, my little sister could use someone to go with, and the ticket would be on me. I save on buying them for myself because, well, you know."
"You're too busy slamming dunks or whatever it is basketball players do," you supplied.
"Depends on your position," Mingyu just chucklef in response, pushing the big silvery-painted fire exit-esque handle of the history building's double doors open.
"Basketball has positions?" You burst out incredulously, squinting both in confusion and at the onslaught of sunlight assaulting your eyes as you emerged past the threshold.
Another laugh. "Come and find out."
~
The game was made more fun by knowing a player- it gave you something to care about as your eyes followed Mingyu's run along the smooth floors, the way he leapt to toss the ball to some guy just as tall or even taller than him. He really played with passion, passion and a clear sense of fun if his remarks on the court were any indication. His sister was pretty cool, too. She looked like a fashion model straight out of Seoul, but she was fun and sassy, not afraid to tease her big brother about the shot he missed when he ran up and greeted you at the sidelines or shoot a questioning look between you two as you told him to do it for Clint Eastwood, whom Mingyu replied was his good luck charm before shuffling back off on sneakers that squeaked against the floor.
Even though you didn't actually hang out with him the whole time, just at celebratory victory ice cream after, you came to history lecture the next session feeling closer to Mingyu, and he must have felt the same as he started talking to you instantly. You rarely initiated conversation, but always welcomed it.
He thanked you for coming to the game as if he hadn’t paid for it, then asked what your major was. You told him and bounced the question back. Turns out it was business, not sports. That history lecture was just GE you both had to get out of the way. The most interesting history lessons to you weren't generic national history or war maps, but all the odd sideline stuff like how some people believed huffing toilets might have helped them during the Black Plague.
"They what?" Mingyu asked, eyes widening and mouth agape as class commenced.
Maybe that was why people didn't really talk to you.
Such reflection was inaccurate, however, as you mindlessly doodled a ridiculous-looking bug-eyed dog on the now-shared note paper and Mingyu chuckled and gave it a collar, smiling when your glance upward met his eyes.
The moment you rose from your seat after lecture, notebook shoved back into your backpack and pencil case into one of the side water bottle holsters or whatever they were called, Mingyu started talking to you again, this time about how glad he was that he didn't join a fraternity like his teammate Johnny.
"Yeah, because see, this one guy just got so drunk he didn’t know where his car was and his girlfriend lost her nose ring, then another guy was sick and they threw him outside and he woke up in the cold locked out of the house, and the houses stink, too, like they smell so bad…”
"Yeah," you muttered, taking each of your bag straps in your hands this walk, palms sliding over the rough fabric, "dude, you couldn't pay me to live in one of those."
“…they’re practically taking after those Black Plague people!” He joked, bringing a smile to both your faces as he mimed taking a sniff, waving his hands in front of his nose and bursting into laughter.
“Except they should know better,” you added, shaking your head in amusement, “they need to get smart like you and I.”
He didn’t laugh, just nodded in approval. "Right? And everyone there has already hooked up with each other. I'm so tired of all that, too. That's not the kind of date I've been looking for, you know?”
In a sense, you did not know, being that none of your classmates had even hardly made conversation let alone a risqué pass, but you got it. Being as popular as Mingyu was, you’d seen how fellow students threw themselves at him sometimes. Had to get uncomfortable, especially if his facial expression at a few of them said anything. They weren’t usually very original, either, poor guy. He was just a clear end goal, and someone who loved his sister and his little drawings and celebrated with ice cream as often as cocktails and laughed at toilets didn’t deserve that. Mingyu wasn’t an ideal, he was a real person. Someone who just needed to have some damn fun for once.
“Sure. You need some- no, you deserve some- creativity. If it was up to me, I’d take you on a date like no other,” you joked, chuckling as your gaze rose back up to his eyes.
“You would?” At the sight of Mingyu’s eyes widening, you wondered if your phrasing had inadvertently crossed a line. Sure, you were totally willing, but- “Alright, just name a time.”
“Wait, really?” This time it was your turn to gape, one hand dropping off your backpack strap to fall to your side. Your heart picked up its pace. Never in a googolplex of years would you have thought Mr. It Boy K. Basketball would want a date with you. Being his friend was surprising enough.
“Yeah, of course. I think it’d be fun,” Mingyu beamed at you, “and I trust you. My sister likes you, too. If…if you really meant it, that is.” He added that last bit as his own gaze dropped and one hand reached up to rub the back of his neck.
Giggling shyly at his sudden sheepishness as well as the situation’s sheer absurdity, you tilted your head his way, smile melting back out of the shock. “Well, thanks, that actually…really means a lot. Get ready for an epic time, then!”
He cocked a brow, turning down between a row of potted trees toward the food court. “Have something in mind already?”
Actually, you did have something you always wanted to do if you could get someone else- it would look too weird to be the only one. Why not do it with Mingyu?
“Be afraid,” you nodded, smirking in satisfaction.
“Well then, how should I dress?”
“Just casual is fine,” you shrugged and teased, “we can’t all afford black tie, Mr. Business Major.”
“Fair enough,” he chuckled, still giving that wide smile you’d come to anticipate seeing, “Friday night?”
“Friday night,” you repeated.
~
“Get ready for Friday Night Showdown!”
“Um, (y/n), this is the grocery store.”
Your lips turned upward proudly as you rotated from a fist pump into a Vanna White pose before the mart. “I know.”
“Are we…” Mingyu paused, clearly searching for words. “Fighting in here or something?”
“We are not,” you replied cryptically, looking all the more satisfied as you passed between the automatic doors, Mingyu at your side.
“Am I doing your shopping?” He looked at you with still-raised eyebrows, though amusement colored his expression.
“That would be messed up!” You denied, shaking your head. “Though admittedly funny.”
“Don’t get any ideas for date two!”
Your heart flipped at Mingyu’s easy smile, how casually he said that…the way he flushed and looked away the moment the words left his mouth. He was already thinking of your next date? Hope he likes seafood, you internally joked.
“Yeah, no shopping tonight unless you wanted some snacks. Because tonight,” you skipped over all the central aisles of kitchen supplies, soap, and dry goods, making a beeline for the meat section… well, more specifically the fish counter, “is all about the face-off.”
In a split second you caught Mingyu’s eyes dart down once more past rows of cans, bottles, jars of just about every color you could ask for, dancing over their numerical markers as if to say farewell to actual shopping. Then, his gaze was back on you, your gestures, over your shoulder to the tank at the end of the fish counter. The tank full of lobsters with big claws and small patience. His eyes met yours again. He knew. You could see it.
You nodded. “Oh yeah. Pick your champion.”
He twisted his cap around backwards, revealing his face, those big, innocent brown eyes, once more. “Uh, quick question: how do you suggest I keep mine straight from the others?”
He was asking in earnest. That was another thing you liked about Mingyu: not only did he possess childlike wonder beyond what somebody in his age and station in life probably should, he was also a bad liar in the purest, kindest of senses. He really, truly, had never had a grocery store lobster beatdown date, and he couldn’t fake interest if he tried. So now he wanted tips, advice you could give him as if you had already had loads of grocery store lobster beatdown dates. All you could do was smile back at the tall basketball player and every small kindness he’d shown you thus far. The way he’d simply seen you.
“Good question. Don’t they have different colored wristbands?”
He arched a brow, clearly fighting a snicker. “Different what?”
Pantomiming a band with one hand grabbing the other, you stuttered. “You know, the… the claw restraints! The wristbands!”
“I don’t think they have wrists, (y/n),” Mingyu teased, reaching over and ruffling your hair.
Well, of course you realize this means war. “Alright, you are on,” was all you said, eyes narrowing.
He perked up at that. “What’s the bet?”
“Winner gets to pick the next activity,” you reply, sauntering a few steps closer to the lobster tank and pointing to one with a purple band over its claws that was clearly ready to throw- well, for lack of better terminology- hands, “and I choose this one.”
“Well, in that case,” Mingyu returned to your side, arm pressed against yours as he peered into the tank, “the logical choice would be to pick the one in red in front of yours. May the best crustacean win.”
And at that, his competitive stare melted back into that boyish look as he turned to you. “…did that sound cool?”
It almost came out as a snort, you burst out laughing so violently. “That was legendary,” was all you could wheeze out.
~
“Ha ha! I can’t believe it!” Mingyu grinned and bobbed up from his bent tank stare like an excited puppy, pumping the fist that wasn’t holding the mart beer can he’d bought as his lobster shoved yours away in victory.
The pair of crustaceans had been locked in claw-to-claw combat, tussling very slowly over nothing in particular but their proximal frustrations, and Mingyu’s had apparently vented harder, shoving yours back after some aggressive minutes. Mingyu had gotten into the fight, nudging you when something extra exciting happened and even providing commentary on sideline fights between sips.
First drawing a fly sandwich, then that. Truly, who'd've thunk?
“Neither can I," you mock-pouted, crossing your arms, "purple always wins."
"Says who?" Asked Mingyu, who leaned down closer to you, face mere inches from yours.
"Says me," you shrugged, feeling warmth spread across your face.
"Well, you know what?"
You could feel warmth of his breath ghosting faintly over your cheeks, your lips. "Wh- what?"
"As much as I enjoy a good bar," he leaned back a bit, clapping, "I did need something else. Something new. This was fun! Wanna go play basketball in the park? I bet we'll have the court to ourselves!"
There it was again. The reason everyone liked him. Movie love interest vibes, even beneath the oddly-tinted fluorescent lights of commerce. A smile like a boy on the body of a man. Probably not something they usually imagined to see over a lobster tank. Over hoops in the park, though? That tracked, even if it was a bit of a one-eighty from his breath fanning your face.
Beside any of that, he had won the right to choose.
"Sure," you smile, "let's keep your winning streak up."
And with a hand clasped around yours, that athletic strength was tugging you out the grocery store door to a rush of evening wind and the sound of mutual laughter.
~
Basketball really was that man’s passion. Just about the only thing about it you knew about the sport was what a slam dunk was, but what different shots scored different points? You wanted to throw a three-pointer, but what was a three-pointer?
You learned what it was, what an assist was, that elbowing was illegal or something like that because every game had a reason to send the players to sports jail like grown-up cops and robbers.
You got the ball in the basket twice with no help, and that was achievement enough. Mingyu had ran across the court to high-five you both times as if you’d just won him a game. When you messed up the angle of another throw, he got behind you and, trying your best to focus with his chest flush against your back, you tried again and sent the ball sailing without the betrayal of the previous throw’s dramatic arc.
“So can we give Clint Eastwood a basketball now too?” Mingyu asked out of the blue, dropping to the concrete at your side, legs crossing and knees brushing.
“What,” you chuckled, “do you have him with you or something?”
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled a small white square out and unfolded it to reveal the piece of lined notebook paper with margins full of marker and pencil scratch, most notably your hatted frog friend. He kept those notes in his pocket?
With the one not holding Clint, he ran a hand through his short black hair. “I do like to have him with me,” he answered with a tentative smile.
You twisted slightly, feeling your spine pop from its prior exertion, and remembered his words from the basketball game as he’d visited your seat, making you laugh with a failed attempt at spinning the ball on his finger. “As a good luck charm?”
He shook his head. “I think we’ve added something almost every time we’ve been together. He’s like a log of all the memories we share.” With that, he scooched closer to your side, his jacket falling over the folds of your own clothes slightly. “And I like our memories, Frog Girl.”
What could you say to that? “Frog Girl?” You just giggled, eyes on his.
“That’s right,” Mingyu nodded, “I can’t believe I would never have talked to you if you hadn’t drawn a frog.”
“Ah, college,” you sighed, tilting your head, “the golden years, and yet it’s so easy to ignore everyone else.”
“Well, no longer,” Mingyu shot back, gaze honing in on…well, you weren’t sure, but you liked it, “I figured out what I want to do with my victory wish.”
You smiled at the phrase ‘victory wish’, a term that was just so him. “I thought that was this.” For emphasis, you waved a hand along the court, feeling the night breeze that much more on the skin of your palm.
“Nope,” he shook his head, smirking as his eyes fell back on yours, “I didn’t say I was using it then, I just asked if you wanted to come out here and you said yes."
Well, coat you in flour and call you a biscuit. "You evil genius, you." At that, you gave a grin and a shake of your own head, unable to resist feeling a bit impressed. Man plays games, he picks up some strategy. You'd have to remember that.
"I prefer to think of myself as a nice genius," Mingyu said, and then, switching tones completely, doing another one-eighty to one sweet enough to make your heart swell, he continued, "and about my wish: can I kiss you? I can't think of a better way to end Friday Night Showdown."
Deathly afraid of saying something stupid, you answered by shifting from your crossed legs, folding them to the side as you sat up, knee resting slightly on the edge of his leg as you pressed your lips to his. The slick of his sports jacket between your fingers felt cool as you gripped it to hold both yourself and Mingyu in place as he surged forward into you. For his speed, his eagerness, his kiss was surprisingly soft, not digging too deep but just firmly holding you, treasuring you as if the feeling of your lips was about to fade. Oh, buddy, I'm not going anywhere, you murmured in your head against the feeling of his ever-so-slightly chapped lips.
And as he pulled away, separation painfully slow, deliberate, Mingyu looked you dead in the eyes, blinked at the sudden return of hazy park streetlight, and said “Wow.”
You nodded. “Wow.” Can’t believe how well those lobsters worked, you wanted to say. "You're full of surprises, Mr. Basketball."
“Mr. Basketball,” he mused, gaze briefly drifting from yours, then back. “I wasn’t sure you were going to be that into me, being so funny and smart and artistic and stuff, but I just couldn’t help myself. And boy am I glad for that,” he grinned.
For that, all you could do was kiss him again.
No more hoops were shot that night, only words tossed out with new glee as you, now wrapped in Mingyu’s jacket, pointed out lesser-known constellations, like the Dutch giraffe one or the Poop Deck. After all, you had a reputation to keep up on that date, and everyone had already seen the Big Dipper.
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icarusredwings · 2 months ago
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hey!! do you think wade would like princess and the frog (2009)? it's my all time fav movie and i absolutely love rewatching it every once in a while (when i start forgetting it again 'x3)
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All of them absolutely LOVE this movie. This is an all ages kind of movie. He asks for it by name most times calling it "Princess Tia" or "The froggies"
Older wade is completely obsessed with the way Naveen flirts with her, stares at her, tries his best after getting to know her. He's pointed out the wedding scene SO many times to Logan that it started making him a little nervous. It's quite obvious what he wanted and he was in the part of their relationship where he was scared because the last time he had a wife she betrayed him and died. He doesn't want to feel like hes replacing her either so he just swallows and silently nods. "Y-yeah.. pretty, huh?" Wade will nod with the biggest smile "Mhm!!"
He loves everything about it! He loves how Tiana came from a poor household and yet was still so full of love (he wished he had that) he loves the princess aspects of it, all of it, he thinks lottie is funny, he likes the shadowman to the point Nessa's wade giggles when ever hes on screen, logan's wade loves Mama ooni even though she's kinda weird and blind but any blind character in his head is Al and it makes him so happy when she helps the frogs, He likes that Naveen would give up his royal life just to dance and play music, he LOVES Raymond's and Evangeline's parts, he knows shes the moon and sometimes after watching this, he'll stick half his body out the window to tell her (the moon) goodnight.
"Wolvie says it's bedtime. Night night Evangeline!"
"Get in here!! You're going to fall out the damn window!" (Which has happened before)
"Oh- I have to go. Kitty's mad at me again. Night night! Don't let the bed bugs bi-"
"WADE!"
"Bye!"
Its also a little uncomfortable for him to talk about their relationship while he was like this. It felt unfair and the idea of him being intimate with a kid who was clapping and giggling over Tia finally getting her business made him feel like Lottie in that one scene where shes dancing with Naveens younger brother. "How old are you again??" "Im 6!" "Ah-..."
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th3-0bjectivist · 3 months ago
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Face # 7: Baby Frog ruminates
To recap once more, this year (2024) I have been trying to draw faces, all year long. Being an outsider artist, I never had anyone teach me how to do it. So once again, I will just teach myself by doing it over and over in different variations. Recently I went out on a few dates with this single mom, her name is Britt. No spark, no problem, we kind of became friends instead. I’ve been over to her place a few times and met her infant boy. I won’t give you the boy’s name, but I call him Baby Frog because he’s got a bit of a froggy face going on. He’s like all other babies. He loves to laugh, and he gets fussy sometimes, but he also makes this stone-cold face when I’m talking to his mom, like I owe him money, or like he knows something about my mother.
Out of any of the drawings I’ve done for this series, this one was by far the easiest. Babies have these fat, lumpy faces that basically have no definition. This kid has eyes that are deep brown, and they're HUGE, so when he’s just kind of passive and staring at something he kinda looks like he’s a possessed stone golem. Britt puts him in funny hats that make his head look like a big, chubby mushroom stalk. He drools uncontrollably all the time. When I’m over at Britt’s place I sometimes wish I could get away with an infant’s social behavior and fashions. I often wonder if the Baby Frog is in deep thought when he just stares away like he does, and I wonder if he’ll have the same steely glance as an adult, because it’s somewhat intimidating even at his age. I’ve come to like Baby Frog a lot, and he has enjoyed my company as well. I’m around few babies these days, and despite their awkward mannerisms, I still like them better than adults. Infants are just honest. Drawing faces has been generally difficult, next time I’ll try an adult face at a dynamic angle. I’ve got to keep challenging myself, and I’m still not VERY good at this. More to come!
Face # 1: Click here
Face # 2: Click here
Face # 3: Click here
Face # 4: Click here
Face # 5: Click here
Face # 6: Click here
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dullgecko · 3 months ago
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Some random childhood Bad kids headcanons
Riz was incredibly small, even for a goblin kit, like concerning tiny ears were so absolutely massive compared to his body. He also didn’t start walking on two legs until really late in his development.
Gorgug was taller than his parents at 2, but he was also very interested in their work and would randomly hand them tools to learn the name. He didn’t talk until he was 3 and his first word was “Tree.”
Adaine’s first word was “Aelwyn” who had been secretly coaching her to say the word. She also had a fascination with frogs from a young age, and at every chance she got, tried to look for them in puddles.
Fig didn’t trance as a kid (cus not an elf) but she didn’t say anything because she thought that this was normal. She used to try to sneak onto Baxter and get him to fly, but Baxter knew better.
Riz stunted his growth a little bit as a small child by being incredibly picky with his food. It was mostly a texture thing and even if he was starving he would refuse to eat, it brought Sklonda to tears sometimes because he was just so small and so skinny because the only thing he could keep down without gagging were basically smoothies. He still got all his vitamins though, in the form of WAY too many supplements. He forced himself to eat things he found physically gross once Pok died, mostly because he had to force himself to eat whatever they could get their hands on so it wouldnt be wasted once they went down to a single income household.
Gorgug might not have talked until he was 3 but he fully understood everyone when they were talking to him. He wasnt dumb, just quiet, and once he said his first word he was saying full sentences the same day. Wilma and Digby had to excuse themselves from the room a couple times because they were crying in releif and didnt want to freak him out.
Adaine was also a fairly quiet child but it was mostly because her parents were horrible and neglectful and didnt talk to her very often. Aelwyn did, because as small children they got along fairly well, and used to take her outside when it was raining to look for frogs in their garden. Adaine splashing in the puddles wearing her froggy raincoat while her big sister held her hand.
Fig, when she was small, once asked her mum why she tranced so much longer than the other elves she knew. Everyone else only needed four hours but she always felt awful unless she got eight. Her mum just told her that sometimes people need more and it was totally normal and changed the topic. Fig totally beleived her right up until her horns started coming in and she realised that oh, actually, i wasnt trancing i was just straight up sleeping this whole time.
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mirrortouchedsea · 3 months ago
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HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY @transactinides MWAHHHHH here's 4.7k words of a Shinobu character study just for youuuuu.
CW for bullying. I also would like to note that the appellations are not quite what they are on the wiki just because it is pre-canon so I figured it would show the original distance between him and everyone else so do naught @ me about this one. It was intentional. I did post it on ao3 in the link above but you can also just read it under the read more :3
---
He clutches at his froggy plushie as his mom walks him down the hall. It’s Shinobu Sengoku’s first day of elementary school and he is so nervous, but his mom says it’ll be okay. He can make friends here! Maybe they’ll like frogs too. He wonders if there will be any frogs on the playground he saw outside. 
Okay Shinobu-kun, it’s time for me to go, are you going to be okay? His mom crouches down in front of him and Shinobu wants to cry. He’s never been without his mom before. He would have to go to school…alone? He shakes his head. His mom laughs and pulls him into a hug. It’ll be okay, Shinobu-kun, I’ll pick you up at the end of the day, okay? Okay… 
His mom ruffles his hair before standing up to leave. Shinobu just stands in the doorway until the teacher pulls him away and shows him to his seat. His froggy plushie is still in his hands and he pulls it closer to his body. Are the other kids looking at him? Oh no…they’re judging his froggy… 
He looks away from the rest of the children in the room and puts his plushie in his backpack. He’ll still be there, he tells himself. Mr. Froggy won’t leave him alone. Of course he wouldn’t! Shinobu had to be brave for Mr. Froggy and his mom, so he gets back in his seat and listens to the teacher as class begins. 
--- 
By the time the fall holidays roll around, Shinobu knows that the other kids don’t like him very much. It took two weeks before someone stole Mr. Froggy and another three weeks for someone else to start calling him names. Shinobu wasn’t sure what the names meant, but the other kids would laugh at him and it wasn’t the type of laugh people did on TV when the hero slipped on a banana peel. He’s stopped trying to talk to the other kids during recess. 
When his mom asks if he’s made any friends, he finds that he can’t tell her the truth. He doesn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings, after all. Of course he has friends. He starts making up stories of him and his friends’ exploits on the playground, but it feels hollow and lonely. What was he doing wrong? The other kids ran around and screamed on the playground but Shinobu is a quiet kid. Maybe being quiet was wrong…? But he felt bad when he yelled if he wasn’t excited. Why was it so hard to make friends (and why can’t he tell his mom he doesn’t know how to make them)? 
Around the winter holidays, Shinobu discovers ninjas. It’s one of the tokusatsu shows where they get saved by a lone ninja. The ninja never revealed his face but Shinobu felt a strange sense of sameness with the character. He was alone so much, just like the ninja. He could be cool too! He starts begging his mom for ninja stars or at least a cool headband like the ones on TV. On the playground and around the house, he does ninjutsu moves and his mom and teachers smile at his antics. 
He gets a ninja costume for Christmas and doesn’t take it off for days. It’s his favorite gift under the tree and he wants to show it off to everyone who will look. In January a kid on the playground shoves him in the mud and Shinobu no longer wears it to school. 
--- 
When he enters the next school year, Shinobu hopes things will be different. Maybe his class will be different and he’ll be able to talk to someone about how cool ninjas are! He’s running down the hallway, hands in front of him in one of his ninja arts poses. He was still learning what they meant but he was pretty sure this one was for stealth. Well, as stealthy as he can be running down the hallway at school. The teacher still yells at him for running in the hallway. 
Just like last year, Shinobu tells himself he will be brave and make friends! The person sitting next to him wasn’t in his class last year, so he introduces himself and does his ninja hand signs. The other kid smiles and says they should play together at recess! Mission: success! 
Shinobu can’t stop grinning as he eagerly awaits for class to end and recess to start. Does this other kid like ninjas? Or maybe he likes tokusatsu, which was okay because Shinobu liked tokusatsu too! He’s practically bouncing on his way to the playground before remembering he should wait for his new friend. He skids to a halt next to a slide and has to keep from looking too excited. 
The other kid arrives quickly and Shinobu quickly finds himself asking so many questions about ninjas and if they liked them. Did you know that real ninja weren’t like what they show on TV? Who’s your favorite ranger? Mine is the yellow one. She's so cool! The other kid places his hands on Shinobu’s shoulders to get his attention. Was he being too overwhelming again? The other kid says something about how Shinobu seems nice but…he doesn’t think they’d be good friends. Sorry about that. 
Shinobu wipes the tears from his eyes but says he understands. The other kid says thank you and apologizes again before running off to the playground with his other friends. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. At least this kid was nice to him about it. It could always be worse. 
Shinobu starts bringing his froggy plushie to school again, talking to it like he imagines normal people talk to their friends. Mr. Froggy has such interesting answers, telling Shinobu about the pond and the other animals that live there. There are even frogs who are ninja and protect the little pond community! Shinobu promises Mr. Froggy that he’ll protect the pond too, and he starts catching small bugs and feeding them to the frogs on the playground. The other kids tell him that it’s gross to hang out with frogs. At least the frogs listen to him talk about ninjas. 
--- 
Second grade! Shinobu knows by now that the other kids think he’s too weird to talk to. Some of them are nice to him when they do group projects but he knows they try to keep their distance. Between naming the frogs that lived on the school grounds and running around pretending to be a ninja, it wasn’t hard to understand that people found him… odd. He couldn’t understand why, because running around like a ninja was super duper fun. It wasn’t any different than his classmates pretending to be pirates or superheroes from their favorite anime series, was it? 
For a few months that year, there was a popular ninja anime series everyone enjoyed but even then, nobody would play with him. He watched them attempt the ninja arts and tried to correct their form but they just made a face and told him to go away. Was he wrong…? Didn’t they want to make sure they were doing the right signs for what they wanted to do? 
He had even been excited to talk about the anime with the other kids, he tuned in to the new episode every week as soon as he got home from school even! But still, everyone avoided him. Sometimes he could tell one of them would feel bad for rejecting him for the millionth time and would let him play but they never seemed as into it as he was. They always did ninja art: invisibility and ran away after a few minutes. 
--- 
Three more years go by and Shinobu is in middle school. He’s used to the loneliness now, often sitting in a corner at lunch by himself, going over his secret ninja skills and talking to the frogs he’s taken care of over the years. It hurt but over time he found ways to push it down and he managed to make it to middle school. Being almost 11, his parents stopped indulging his ninja obsession and tried to introduce him to other things but nothing could ever replace the great and wonderful ninja! He’s been poring over every book he could find at the library about them, and even started to talk like them. It is most befitting of a noble ninja to speak properly and clearly, and so he does. 
The librarian was the closest thing he had to what one would consider a friend. She laughs at his jokes and plays along with his imagination, she even shows him how to make paper throwing stars, which are very difficult to aim but very fun to throw anyway. He fills his room with paper ninja stars and turns them into all sorts of things, even giving them to his classmates to try and make friends (despite telling himself that he was okay by himself, he still longed for someone to connect with). He often found them in the trash at the end of the day. 
At night, after a particularly rough day at school, Shinobu cries. He doesn’t know why, but the tears start running down his face and he can’t make them stop. Who can he even talk to about this? Mr. Froggy, why is it so hard to be alone?
---
By the end of middle school, Shinobu is telling everyone he wants to become an idol and inspire other people to love ninja as much as he does! Even though ninjas should stay in the shadows, he’s willing to go on stage and represent them to the world! He’s even been accepted to Yumenosaki Academy so he has a real chance to make it as an idol! 
His classmates and teachers tell him it’s a pipe dream and to keep his expectations low. Yumenosaki has been on the decline for a while now so what good would it be to enroll there? Maybe if Shinobu had been born thirty years earlier (but someone like him would never make it as an idol anyway. A ninja idol? Who would care about that?) then he’d have a chance, a small one, but a chance. Well, it’s not like any of them would stop him from applying to Yumenosaki, and Shinobu would finally get to meet some new people, maybe he could make some friends too! 
---
Shinobu’s first day at Yumenosaki is…well it was interesting, to say the least. It was very overwhelming, seeing all of the different idol groups, and so many of them didn’t seem interested in him. There were Knights, which were too cool for Shinobu (he decided to maybe admire them from afar, but they were not people he could see himself getting along with), fine, which seemed to be the leader of the school and way out of Shinobu’s league, and Trickstar, which were not actually recruiting members, but they were on stage performing and showing off the things they’d learned about being idols and what was in store for the prospective students. Compared to how his middle school classmates had talked about Yumenosaki, it seemed like it was anything but falling apart. Which was great! But… 
Shinobu clutches at his ninja stars, holding them close to his chest. He wants to try and talk to someone at one of the booths, but it was too intimidating! Everyone is so loud and the music from the speakers makes it hard for Shinobu to gather his thoughts. He knows he’ll have to get used to it if he wants to become an idol, or learn to deal with it, but the auditorium was not doing him any favors right now. 
Someone grabs Shinobu by the shoulder and he jumps. What’s going on?! 
Are you okay, they ask, and Shinobu looks up at the stranger, dark red eyes creased in concern at Shinobu. Oh, I’m fine, please do not worry about me, uhh… Morisawa, Morisawa Chiaki. Thank you, but please do not worry about me Morisawa-dono. You looked like you wanted to sit down, do you need some air? Shinobu thinks for a moment. If this Morisawa was offering, well Shinobu was not going to deny that getting away from the crowd would be nice. He nods and Morisawa guides him out to the hall, the music becomes quiet and Shinobu feels like he can breathe again. 
I don’t think I caught your name, you’re one of the new first years correct? Yes, my name is Sengoku Shinobu. Nice to meet you Sengoku! Have you figured out what unit you want to join, I’m the leader of Ryuseitai and we’re looking for members, our audition is next week if you want to try out? Oh, that would be… There’s no pressure, Sengoku, but I think you’ll make a great idol! 
Morisawa leaves and Shinobu stays in the hallway, almost awestruck at the older boy’s statement. Did someone…other than his parents believe in him? Well, Shinobu did get into Yumenosaki to begin with, so he has that going for him, but still. He isn’t used to the feeling in his chest, his heart flutters and his thoughts running a mile a minute. Someone who didn’t even know him believed he could make it as an idol. 
Shinobu makes up his mind to attend the Ryuseitai auditions next week. He should go find Morisawa and ask what he needs to prepare, but he freezes as his hand hovers over the doorknob. What if Morisawa was lying? Plenty of kids in Shinobu’s middle school did that to him, inviting him to play and then chasing Shinobu off when he tried to join, why would Morisawa be different? Shinobu wants to curl up in the corner, but he really should go to the Ryuseitai table. Maybe there will be someone else there he can talk to. 
Okay Shinobu, you got this! Just open the door and look for the Ryuseitai table! Shinobu opens the door and tries to shut out the rest of the noise. He doesn’t want to get overwhelmed again and have to leave. If he wants to be an idol, he needs to get used to the loud venues! Despite his whole body shaking, Shinobu spots the Ryuseitai table in the corner, Morisawa is sitting with another boy with blue hair (why does it look like the other boy just walked out of the shower?). Shinobu breathes in and tries to slow his heartbeat down before making his way over to the table. 
Oh, Sengoku! Are you feeling better? Yes, thank you very much Morisawa. Ah, chiaki is this who you were ‘talking’ about? Yes it was, Sengoku, meet Kanata Shinkai, Kanata, this is Sengoku Shinobu! It is ‘nice’ to ‘meet’ you shinobu, are you ‘thinking’ about ‘joining’ ryuseitai? Y-yes, I was just wondering about the audition process! 
Morisawa digs around under the table for a second as Shinobu tries not to make eye contact with Shinkai. Shinobu thought the other boy being there would relieve his stress a little, but something about him feels strange (the irony here is lost on Shinobu). 
Alright! Here we go, you’ll have to prepare one song from this list and tell us why you’d like to join Ryuseitai specifically! Don’t worry, it’s nothing difficult so you should be fine! 
Shinobu looks at the list and notices that many of the songs are theme songs from various tokusatsu shows. Well, at least he recognizes several of them, but they’re certainly strange choices for an idol unit. Shinobu takes another look at the table, looking more closely at the unit logo and decorations. The table is covered in tokusatsu merch; stickers, buttons, pencils… that makes sense actually. Shinobu goes back to the song list and scrolls until he finds the theme song from his favorite ninja anime as a kid. That would be the best option and he can show off his ninja moves for it! 
Did you find a song you know? You have a week to prepare, we’ll have auditions here next week after school so don’t miss them! Shinobu nods and makes a mental note of that. He should actually… it’s in his phone now so he’ll definitely remember to show up. Now for his practice! 
--- 
It takes Shinobu too long to figure out how to sign out a practice room for himself (so many of them are already booked for unit rehearsal it’s hard to find one for audition practice) and he’s trying to catch up on his lost time when another boy knocks on the door. Huh? I thought I had the room to myself…de gozaru. A-ah, sorry if I’m interrupting, I know I’m such a loser but I’m lost and someone pointed me this way…were they lying to me? What are you looking for, I’m just practicing for an audition so you can sit down if you’d like. The other boy is tall with light brown hair and looks so nervous Shinobu feels bad for him. The brown haired boy trips over himself as he sets his bag down on the floor. I’m not even sure how I got into this school, I thought I applied to the general course but I couldn’t even do that right… sorry that’s not your fault at all I should just shut up now. Oh, it’s alright de gozaru, would you like to practice with me, maybe we could join the same unit? I’d rather die than be an idol, the attention is too much for me and I’d just look like a fool. 
Shinobu thinks for a few seconds on what the boy said. He can’t exactly drop out of the idol course but Morisawa seemed like he would be accepting of anyone who joined Ryuseitai, so maybe Shinobu should invite this boy to auditions. At least, maybe Morisawa could guide him in the right direction. He finally speaks, I think you would be great as an idol uh… Midori, Takamine Midori. Right! I think you’d be great as an idol T-takamine-dono! You don’t need to lie to me, I really just want to curl up in a ball right now anyway so I’ll leave you alone and you can just pretend like I’m not here. Uhm, my name is Shinobu Sengoku by the way! De gozaru. It’s…nice to meet you, Sengoku-kun.
Shinobu doesn’t really want to be watched while he practices (though he knows at least Morisawa and Shinkai will be watching his audition… he should get used to people watching him), but Midori doesn’t seem to want to move from his spot on the floor. Shinobu turns his music back on but turns the volume dial down to where he can just barely hear it and maybe it won’t disturb Midori. And one and two… 
Shinobu pants, the last note barely registers in his mind as the music is so quiet but he’s happy with how his performance went! He’ll be ready to hit the ground running tomorrow at this rate! He looks over at Midori, who fell asleep on the floor some time during Shinobu’s rehearsal. What time even was it? Oh, it’s quite late his parents would be worried and Midori’s probably were too. Hey, Takamine-dono, it’s late and you should probably go home. O-oh, I didn’t realize I fell asleep, now how am I going to sleep tonight, and what about my parents, oh I’m really worse than garbage, sorry for intruding on you uhm, do you know the way out? Shinobu slings his backpack over his shoulder. I think I remember where the exit is de gozaru, we can walk together if you want, I don’t mind. I’ve already wasted enough of your time, just give me the directions. We’ll be going the same way, it’s really not a big deal if I walk with you. 
Shinobu turns the lights off and makes sure the door is locked before turning back to the hallway. So, you didn’t mean to be in the idol course, but do you have any units in mind that you want to join? The silence is awkward but Shinobu wants to try and make friends this year. He will make friends at Yumenosaki Academy if it kills him (well, that might be a bit too much, but he would like to have someone to talk to at lunch at least). Ah, I got overwhelmed at the sign up event, so I didn’t get a good look at any of the units that were recruiting… Oh, it’s okay I did too, but this nice senior at the uh, I think it was called ‘Ryuseitai’ booth helped me calm down, maybe you’ll like him, and he said the audition would be pretty easy too. Did he, well I haven’t sang before so I don’t know if I could even pass that, let alone dancing, it’s just too much for someone like me. Don’t talk like that, you can practice with me, we can audition together, like friends! I really wouldn’t want to impose on you any more, Sengoku-kun, it’s fine I’ll just get kicked out and go back to being a normal student somewhere else. Shinobu frowns but doesn’t say anything back. He really wants to be friends with the other boy, but it seemed as if Midori was trying to keep his distance. 
Before Shinobu knew it, the two of them had made it to the front doorway of the school. I know you don’t want to be an idol but I hope you’ll consider my offer, de gozaru, I really want to be friends with you Takamine-dono! Midori turns away from Shinobu and doesn’t say anything, just walks away. Well…they’d see each other tomorrow, right? Shinobu sighs before heading back to his own home, going over how he’d tell his parents that he was late (he wonders if they even noticed how late he was coming home from school). 
---
Midori comes back to the practice room the next day and mumbles under his breath that he wouldn’t mind auditioning with Shinobu, if they were doing it together it wouldn’t be so embarrassing. Shinobu smiles wide and they start talking about what each of them will be preparing for the audition. Midori isn’t familiar with the types of tokusatsu shows that Morisawa put on the audition list, but after spending some time listening to them on youtube, they find one that sounds easy enough to learn in five days. Shinobu is already pretty confident in being able to sing his selection, so he starts by finding the lyrics for Midori and going over them section by section. They spend most of the afternoon just learning the song, but by the end of it Midori has it down with only one or two slip ups. Shinobu’s stomach growls and the two decide to call it for the day and go home for dinner, but Midori promises to come back so they can learn simple choreography together. 
As the audition draws closer, both Shinobu and Midori are making decent progress if Shinobu can say anything! They can do simple choreography, steps and light movement while singing and not losing their train of thought. It should be good enough for the audition, at least Morisawa didn’t seem like the type of person to be mean if they did get rejected, which was about all Shinobu was going to ask for at this point, but he had a good feeling about everything! Takamine-dono, I think we’ve got a pretty good shot at our audition de gozaru! You think so Sengoku-kun, I keep stumbling over that one part before the chorus, I don’t know if they’d accept someone as clumsy as me, maybe I should just give up now… Don’t talk like that Takamine-dono, you’ve made a lot of progress, and I’m sure they’ll recognize your potential! You don’t have to hide how much you hate my performance, Sengoku-kun, it won’t hurt my feelings. I’m being honest though, I really think you’re doing great Takamine-dono. 
--- 
The day of the audition arrives and Shinobu is shaking. He’s been practicing so hard for this moment and it’s finally here! Midori is next to him, and Shinobu can feel Midori shaking a little bit too. It’s nice to know that he’s not alone. The judges are only Morisawa and Shinkai, the two Shinobu met on the first day, and the only other person auditioning with them was a boy with black hair and dyed red streaks who was bouncing his foot in a way that just made Shinobu’s nerves worse. The boy with black and red hair was called in first (Nagumo Tetora was his name. Shinobu wonders if they’ll be able to become friends too) and then it was just Midori and Shinobu in the hallway. I’m so nervous, Takamine-dono. You’ll do great Sengoku-kun, you are way better than I am, I’m sure you’ll get in. Don’t talk down about yourself Takamine-dono, you’ve put in a lot of work too and I’m sure Morisawa-dono and Shinkai-dono will see that! 
The door opens and the black haired boy steps out, sighing in relief. Good luck, you two. Shinobu hears his name called from inside the practice room and Shinobu gives Midori’s hand a squeeze for good luck before walking in. He’s shaking, but takes a deep breath. This is what you’ve been practicing for, Sengoku! You can do it! He hears Morisawa’s voice cheering him on in his head (Morisawa’s mouth isn’t moving when Shinobu hears the encouragement, but Shinobu can sense the words coming from Morisawa anyway). Shinobu begins his song, trying not to forget his choreography as he goes, but there’s still a misstep halfway through that causes Shinobu to stumble. Don’t let it get to you, Sengoku, just keep going, Morisawa’s voice echoes in Shinobu’s head. 
By the time Shinobu finishes, he’s panting and his legs could just give out at any moment, but he did it! He made it through with only a few mistakes! Morisawa and Shinkai clap and stand up, congratulating Shinobu on a job well done and Shinobu feels his heart soar. His efforts paid off! Morisawa and Shinkai tell him to send Midori in, which Shinobu agrees to do. 
Takamine-dono, it’s your turn! Shinobu has to drag Midori into a standing position. I don’t know Sengoku-kun, I don’t think I’m cut out to be an idol, I should just go lay in a hole outside, at least I wouldn’t be bothering anyone. Takamine-dono, I believe in you, I think you can be an idol de gozaru. Shinobu all but drags Midori over to the door and pushes him into the audition room, giving a smile and a thumbs up before gently closing the door again. He sighs and sits next to the black haired boy who is twiddling his thumbs. 
I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, but my name is Sengoku Shinobu, it’s nice to meet you! Nagumo Tetora, the other boy says without even looking at Shinobu. Well, that’s fine. If they get into Ryuseitai together, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to know each other so Shinobu doesn’t worry right now. Why are you auditioning for Ryuseitai, Shinobu asks to fill the silence. He can tell exactly where Midori should be in his routine despite the wall muffling some of the sound. They have a minute or so left. Tetora’s face flushes. Well, I uh, I got rejected from the other unit I auditioned for, and this one was the only one still doing auditions, and you? Morisawa-dono invited me to after helping me out with something on the first day. Tetora laughs and the door opens, Midori calling them both inside. 
Shinobu stands in between the other two boys as Morisawa and Shinkai go over their notes from the auditions. Despite being first years, they had so much potential and all three of them were accepted into the unit. Shinobu feels lighter than air (he knows that a unit can have a maximum of five people and only the three of them auditioned, that doesn’t go over his head, but still) and when Morisawa and Shinkai pull them into a big group hug, Shinobu thinks he’s finally found his place. Even if Midori and Tetora protest against the gesture, Shinobu wants to frame this memory forever. Practice starts tomorrow. 
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lil-space-king · 7 months ago
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Adaine, if she had a pokemon team. She's such a little guys guy now.
Burmy (Sandy Cloak Form) - to represent her dust mephits, The Dry Guys. I'm just in love with them. Delphox - because it's very wizard vibes with that wand it uses, it has psychic powers and it's name is based on the ORACLE of Delphi. Honedge - i mean, she uses her father's sword, it's a living cursed sword - it just makes sense to me. Poliwhirl - The roundest frog pokemon I could find to represent boggy the froggy Primeape - Mainly just for Adaine's Furious Fist, also it's a cute pomeranian looking thing just like moggy the doggy Snubbul - Okay, here's the real Moggy substitute I came up with. It's small and angry, adorable as hell, and it's British just like Adaine is.
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moonchild-in-blue · 9 months ago
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📦 PACKIDGE TIME 📦
Okay, everyone gather round and look what the tides have brought to my doorstep. If you recall, a few months ago I started to make those silly Banana Peeled Vessel fanarts. Well, my beautiful friend @sleep-token brought Banana Vessel to life, and crocheted a Peeled Boy 🍌🥺
Because Dani is just a gem of a person, Banana Vessel sent on a long adventure, along with some other soft friends 🥺
After a LONG, STRESSFUL journey of 7751 km / 4816 miles, I am finally able to get my hands on our potassium son and his friends 🥺💙 🍌🐸🦫
Meet Pipi, the cutest shimmery blue froggy ever, and Bucky, a Texan CELEBRITY??? HELLO??? 🦫🤠 ALSO, very important to note that Pipi and Banana Vessel smell very nice?? Like love, sunshine, and rainbows 🥺💖🌞🌈
Banana Vessel and Pipi - look at the detailsss!!! Bucky has the cutest tail ever 🥺
Pipi came with photos from his visit to the aquarium with his froggy mint friend (DANI NAME YOUR FROG 😭🥺).
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And yes they have all been hugged and kissed 🥺 Banana Boy had a little maternity shoot when he arrived 😌
Once again, thank you so much so much for these - I am cherishing them forever and ever 💙🥺💙 Pipi and Banana were sleeping right next to me, and Pipi's cute scented butt lulled me right away to honk shoo land 😪😴
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fictionkinfessions · 2 months ago
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canon nicknames.
coming back for happier 'fession since the other one i did was kinda sad i think </3. anyway!
i'm pretty canon divergent and outside of class had extremely casual relationships (platonic) with my students. and i was also autistic like i am now, so i gave all of them at least one childish-sounding nickname (mostly used in my head), i think? everyone i cared about had at least one. i don't remember them all but i'll list ones that i think might be correct.
midoriya (something akin to "problem child," but was easy to say quickly. unsure!). uraraka was 'chako! bakugo's had something to do with anger (like, angry boy/etc.). asui (similar to frog/froggy). nemuri was nem, sometimes nemma i think. present mic was usually mic or hiza/zashi.. possibly other nicknames similar to loudmouth. i actually called ashido "mina" constantly, sometimes accidentally in class. kaminari was.. i think either pikachu/pichu or some other anime character. there were a lot of cute-sounding brand names i called people (like tsumtsums for example? not that specifically but similar), i just don't remember specific ones.
hard to remember anything specific BC i haven't interacted with source in a while, and don't know any Japanese now.
also, nem and mic called me "ai" sometimes! it was cute but i was always embarrassed when they called me that in front of a student. and i think eri called me "waza" a lot before AND after learning my name (she was younger in my canon, i think?). a lot of friends my own age or older called me "shō" (including all might? don't remember).
aizawa shōta / erasurehead (my hero academia), #🍻🍤
x
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squeiky · 7 months ago
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More Metaos interactions (Metal Sonic x Chaos0 )
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I like to think that when Chaos is more "solid" hes just very squishy, like jello and Metal likes to poke and prod him because the squishyness is so amusing to it. (If Chaos is annoyed he just puts his weight on Metal like those cats in funny videos who just sit on the other cats and turns them into a pillow cushion for a few minutes)
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Also this is just a continuation of the top one, as i think Metal Sonic gives really quick, rapid "pecks on the cheek" juxtasposed to Chaos's more slower, big ol' wet smackers.
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I had a scene in my fanfic, where they were dancing. I wanted to think of what they would wear, so i made some outifts for them.
+obligatory metal sonic photo op (more designs) because of course its going to have 100+ outfits because why not?!
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Cant help the fact i cannot unsee Chaos as the yippie autism creature. Also metal sonic, by default, is autistic to me. No reason, it just is.
Also theyre both trans in a weird, very strange way. (I say this cause by default chaos are kinda.. genderless? And sexless?? So i like to think that Chaos is just the "one with blue hair and pronouns" type thing going on because im pretty sure Tikal just wipped out the "he" and i like to think Chaos just went with it. )
(they are yuri to me.)
Small little comic strip below the cut:
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Btw, "Talon" is the nickname Chaos gave to Metal Sonic. It combines the "Tal" in "meTAL" and "on" in "sONic". Its because Metal Sonic reminds Chaos of a bird, and its hands are sharp like a bird's claws or "talons".
On a personal note, i dont like writing just "Metal" as metal sonic isnt just a peice of "metal" but nor is it just "Sonic". Metal Sonic is its name, because it is its own individual being. Thus, a shortend version would incoorperate both sides of its name, hence "Talon".
(Plus they hold hands a lot, so it makes sense Chaos would notice. Also, i doubt Chaos is incredibly familar with the innerworkings of robots or machines, so the closest comparision is a bird.)
(In that case, Chaos's nickname would probably be something cute. Though i haven't thought of one yet.)
(P.S. it meant eat as in literally eat. Consume. Devour. Dine on. Chew. Yknow, that kind. Thats why this is funny to me.)
(P.P.S. this is a continuation of my headcannon that chao (and by proxy, Chaos), "eat" the animal freinds and gain their abilities. Chaos and Metal are very alike in this sense as they both "copy" others "biodata" and apply it to themselves (think Chaos turning into a frog bcs he swallowed Froggy), the only difference is that while Chaos "eats" them to gain their ability and looks, Metal sonic does not. )
Bonus zoomins of my favorite doodles:
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princess-of-the-corner · 4 months ago
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Neo-Gen Sonic
K, honestly, this is just random bits that didn’t fit anywhere, that I need to share so they’ll stop spinning in my head.
- the Neo-Gen kids share a dormitory. Like, they double up for rooms, but share a general living space. The bedrooms are Nikki and Trip, Ora and Sunny, Kicks and Dark. There are other cadets in similar groups of six or eight, each with a code name based on an Emerald colour, being trained in teams. The Neo kids are Team Verde/Green Team.
- Dark walked into said dormitory, and was actually handling it ok. Then he saw Nikki (remember, if Sonic had an identical female twin) and Sunny (Maria with brown hair), and promptly left to go have a panic attack in the bathroom. He at first believes Nikki is at the centre of the conspiracy he’s certain was the reason for Knuckles death. (He isn’t exactly incorrect)
- It took Kicks less than a week to realize Dark was Shadow, from his Granddad’s stories. He kind of dithered over whether to actually bring that up, since Shadow was clearly working on something. Eventually, he does bring it up, if only to reassure Shadow that Boxer is NOT going to recognize him, his big sister is one of the ones who think Grandad’s stories are a bit exaggerated. (“… Knuckles was over a thousand years old due to an ancient magical gemstone, and they all think-?” / “I KNOW!!”)
- Sage has VERY complicated thoughts on Sunny. Like, on one hand, family! Sage might have living family! On the other, Sunny HATES OG Eggman ( or at least doesn’t like him). Also, Sunny looks like Maria, which is causing Dark to act weird, and is making Sage worry she’ll be “replaced”. Don’t worry, they sort this out eventually.
- Officer who recruited Nikki is head of training recruits in general. I’m thinking a big cat, named Goliath. If anyone is thinking it, yes, that is likely who he’s descended from. And yes, he does like fishing. His 2nd-in-command is a Tree-Frog Mobian, Leggeirius “Froggy” Fortescue. Froggy is no nonsense, strict, and the one in charge of the Neo-Gen kids. Goliath is the only one who knows about Nikki’s super speed. He is trying to convince her to come forward on her own, but is otherwise respecting her choice to keep it on the down low as long as she can.
- the incident where Nikki got sighted using her speed, was when Nikki ran a Chaos Corp agent to the hospital for emergency treatment. She was hiking, came across an emergency landing that had the agent in SERIOUS need of a hospital. While said agent was unconscious (it was Boxer, by the way) and wasn’t aware, the agent was wearing a sensor that tracked location, so Goliath, who was monitoring it, saw the location go from a secluded mountain to a hospital in about five minutes. Nikki, not aware of the sensor, admitted to bringing the agent in. Goliath confronted Nikki about it, and after calming her down, assuring her he wouldn’t tell anyone she didn’t want him too, managed to convince her to join up. 
- Nikki is, actually, going to hide her speed pretty well from her commanding officers at first, in part because Goliath is covering for her. From the others? Yeah, less so, though it’s quickly kind of an unspoken agreement they don’t talk about it. Again, Nikki panics about it, but will use it in emergencies. The first time it happens, someone asks, “how’d you get here so fast?” and Nikki just says “oh, haha, Adrenaline! :) crazy what that can do, am I right?”. So, the whole group notices a) Nikki is clearly hiding something, b) she’s terrified of talking about it, c) she just moved WAY too fast for that training exercise, but also D), if she hadn’t done … whatever that was, Trip might have gotten crushed, so ya know what? Yep, that was absolutely adrenaline if anyone asks. But also, keep in mind, none of them really know WHAT it is she’s doing, just that she seems to be able to get places very quickly in emergencies. Ora and Trip think she might have teleporting abilities. Sunny wonders if she has mechanical prosthetics (what the Kintobor family is famous for patenting) and is self-conscious about them. Kicks wonders if she’s from an offshoot of the Rose family that picked up the clearly latent speedster gene. Dark wonders about his conspiracy thoughts. But NONE of them ask her about it.
- Nikki does eventually blow her own cover when the group gets attacked by Eggman Jr, and Ora and Trip are about to be killed. At this point, Trip and Ora would be her best friends, so she takes exception to EJ trying to blow them up. It’s the first time she ever Spin Dashes, wrecks a bunch of bots, saves a whole lotta lives. Goliath calmly responds to any uproar from others that he “lied” about a potential recruit, that he DID put those abilities in her file. Which he did. On page twelve. Size four font. Hyper-explained so that, unless you understand a LOT  of technical jargon, it won’t register.
- Trip’s older sister, ya know what, fuck it, her name is now Merlyna. Ora’s big bro is now “Thorn”, nickname. So, Merlyna is actually kind of ok taking over Prower Tech, but mostly as the public face, ya know? She’s good at marketing, public events, fundraisers, things like that. Thorn, her childhood bestie/eventual sweetheart/current fiancé was always better at actual management, and he was always helping her out. The parents are actually unaware of this. They were all for the pair getting married, but when they find this out, are abruptly going to develop some reservations. Apparently, the thought of anyone being on their intelligence level, who isn’t related to either of them, makes them uncomfortable. Eventually, the other kids are going to shout them down. It is NOT going to be pretty, but they’ll get there.
- the Emeraldeer thing was a play on “Musketeer”, if someone has a better name, call them that. My other idea was Emerald Knights?
- current ideas for the Big Bad: random guy (no name currently. Or species) who ALSO took Knuckles stories seriously, but in the “power corrupts” kind of way. Is currently trying to figure out how Sonic and Shadow (Silver currently isn’t known about as well, government managed to keep that bit quiet) used the Chaos Emeralds to go Super. The inventor of the Emeraldeer Medallions that let people use them as boosts. Wants to either take over the world, or be worshipped as a god. Set Knuckles up, to have him killed. Has been using the G.U.N rivalry to further his own agenda. Has a few “private security” firms working for him, was the one who raided Eggman Junior’s lab. Suspects Dark is Shadow, but doesn’t have any proof. Is currently trying to figure out how to give himself a super form. Might end up with a mindless, unstable “clone army”. Maybe there’ll be another Sonic!Clone at some point (make him green, has enhanced speed, strength, whatever, but can’t actually go super-sonic on his own? Like, built on the process that made Nikki, but guy. “Modern” Sonic v. Shadow all over again, now with Clone Angst).
- Nikki’s parents, originally I was going to make their last name Northstar, have it be a direction thing “always know where you’re going”, but that felt kinda eh, so. Stella and Geary North. Armadillos who live on Christmas Island, adopted Nikki when she was two or three (No idea if they are related to Mighty). They love Nikki to pieces, and would kill for her in a heartbeat. Very ride or die. Geary used to be a mechanic for the Chaos Corp, knew Goliath pretty well, which made him more open to Nikki joining up. Stella and Geary own a mechanics shop, work mostly on boats and biplanes, what people use to get to and from the island.
-Kicks and Nikki will probably end up as love interests, cause Dark is not into romance, neither is Sunny, Ora and Trip are quickly slotted into “family”, and Kicks and Nikki end up bonding a LOT over legacy shit. Also not knowing your own strength. And then just a bunch of little shit. They somehow end up the “token straight couple”.
- on that note, Ora is demisexual, while Trip is pansexual if we want to get technical, but is attracted to geniuses and geniuses exclusively. 
- thought about it more, there is a super smart prodigy raccoon/tanuki about Trip’s age working for the Chaos Corp, tablet auto corrected Tanuki to Tama, that’s their name. They and Trip get into super competitive arguments and tech building that will eventually end with the pair of them making out over an engine or something. Their love language is expensive presents, and bickering about fuel reduction.
- to AS BRIEFLY AS POSSIBLE EXPLAIN SILVER AND THE TIME TRAVEL: we are accepting Sonic 06 as a thing that happened. I know. But part of the plot is that by travelling back in time, they ensure the whole thing doesn’t actually happen. But Silver still travelled through time, and that left a mark or “path” in the time stream, that Current Silver was connected to. The Time Travel Program was basically founded cause part of the Neo Government saw the weird shit in the time stream as a result of the 06 thing, saw it was kind of connected to Silver, so recruited him to send back and deal with it. They hoped he could fix whatever the thing was, but eventually realized that by sending Silver back, they were actually making the whole thing worse. Once Silver stopped travelling, it slowly began to right itself, and the organization became one dedicated to making sure NO ONE time travels, ever, and fucks it up more. Though, the damage did cause one major instability, which. I mean.
- The Neo-Gen kids, at some point, ABSOLUTELY time travel back to Sonic Era, meet their ancestors. Dark/Shadow included. (OG Shadow is pretty weirded out by this future version of himself - first thing the guy did was HUG Rouge, Omega, fist bump Sonic. He cried a few times. Shadow was confused, until they had a long talk about the fact it’s been, ya know, over a THOUSAND YEARS, and Shadow looks the same, and is still alive. After that, he gets it better.)
Sonic challenged Nikki to a race (which took a while to actually happen, she was still working on her Trauma™) but it does happen. They “tie” (or tell everyone they did). Nikki, for her initial reluctance, promptly challenges Sonic to about fifteen more races. They just go running every where. Much fun and mental healing is had.
Tails is thrilled to hear about Prower Tech, horrified by Trip being forced to take it over. He writes her a note. Trip’s parents are baffled.
Silver somehow misses that Ora is clearly his kid. 
Knuckles, at first, is HIGHLY suspicious of the orange echidna claiming to be his grandson. There is arguing and a few fights. Eventually, he acknowledges Kicks as his family, says he’s proud of him. Kicks, of course, bursts into tears.
Sage has a straight up break down on seeing her dad again, refusing to be separated from Eggman for two hours while she sobs all over him. She also refuses to sync data with her younger counterpart, not wanting the younger her to feel that level of grief. By the time they leave, though, she feels more settled, having finally gotten to properly say goodbye, and tell her dad how much she loves him.
When the group finally goes back, their Silver has no clue what incident they are referring to. Despite being in the past they visited, he has no memories of it happening. He does a bit of digging, turns out that trip resulted in a split time line, cause Eggman decided he was going to throw himself into making himself into a digital being like Sage, so he didn’t leave his daughter alone. This eventually leads to a timeline where Eggman and Sage are permanent good guys, working with Shadow and Knuckles to protect the Emeralds.
(Again, thoughts, feeling, opinions?)
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YES
YES YES YES
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gemmahale · 5 months ago
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The better part of today has been playing “Finish or Frog”.
If you’re in the knitting/crochet communities, you’ve probably heard of this concept.
If you haven’t, well, basically you decide whether you’re finishing or frogging (tearing out/disassembling) a project.
So far: 4 frogs, 2 finishes 🎉 It feels good to let things go.
Note: I think it’s named “Frogging” because you “rip it, rip it” which sounds like a froggy noise. 🐸
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Also I have found a *plethora* of mini skeins I had either forgotten or selectively ignored that I had. Pshew. Good news for me trying to plan projects, bad news for my inventory list lol.
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nanathott · 6 months ago
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favorite frog species? My favorite is the amazon milk frog
idk enough abt them to have a fav but i like froggies ^.^ i had a couple blue ones when i was a kid, and i had aquatic frogs for a few years when i was a kid, i took care of them like i was their mother
also that’s such a cute name for a frog HELLOOOO
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grubloved · 1 year ago
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A couple of summers ago I was walking along the edge of the island to see what I could see in the water, and mainly to scare frogs. Frogs have an inelegant way of taking off from invisible positions on the bank just ahead of your feet, in dire panic, emitting a froggy "Yike!" and splashing into the water. Incredibly, this amused me, and, incredibly, it amuses me still. As I walked along the grassy edge of the island, I got better and better at seeing frogs both in and out of the water. I learned to recognize, slowing down, the difference in texture of the light reflected from mud bank, water, grass, or frog. Frogs were flying all around me. At the end of the island I noticed a small green frog. He was exactly half in and half out of the water, looking like a schematic diagram of an amphibian, and he didn't jump.
He didn't jump; I crept closer. At last I knelt on the island's winter killed grass, lost, dumbstruck, staring at the frog in the creek just four feet away. He was a very small frog with wide, dull eyes. And just as I looked at him, he slowly crumpled and began to sag. The spirit vanished from his eyes as if snuffed. His skin emptied and drooped; his very skull seemed to collapse and settle like a kicked tent. He was shrinking before my eyes like a deflating football. I watched the taut, glistening skin on his shoulders ruck, and rumple, and fall. Soon, part of his skin, formless as a pricked balloon, lay in floating folds like bright scum on top of the water: it was a monstrous and terrifying thing. I gaped bewildered, appalled. An oval shadow hung in the water behind the drained frog; then the shadow glided away. The frog skin bag started to sink.
I had read about the giant water bug, but never seen one. "Giant water bug" is really the name of the creature, which is an enormous, heavy-bodied brown bug. It eats insects, tadpoles, fish, and frogs. Its grasping forelegs are mighty and hooked inward. It seizes a victim with these legs, hugs it tight, and paralyzes it with enzymes injected during a vicious bite. That one bite is the only bite it ever takes. Through the puncture shoot the poisons that dissolve the victim's muscles and bones and organs-all but the skin-and through it the giant water bug sucks out the victim's body, reduced to a juice. This event is quite common in warm fresh water. The frog I saw was being sucked by a giant water bug. I had been kneeling on the island grass; when the unrecognizable flap of frog skin settled on the creek bottom, swaying, I stood up and brushed the knees of my pants. I couldn't catch my breath.
Of course, many carnivorous animals devour their prey alive. The usual method seems to be to subdue the victim by downing or grasping it so it can't flee, then eating it whole or in a series of bloody bites. Frogs eat everything whole, stuffing prey into their mouths with their thumbs. People have seen frogs with their wide jaws so full of live dragonflies they couldn't close them. Ants don't even have to catch their prey: in the spring they swarm over newly hatched, featherless birds in the nest and eat them tiny bite by bite.
That it's rough out there and chancy is no surprise. Every live thing is a survivor on a kind of extended emergency bivouac. But at the same time we are also created. In the Koran, Allah asks, "The heaven and the earth and all in between, thinkest thou I made them in jest?" It's a good question. What do we think of the created universe, spanning an unthinkable void with an unthinkable profusion of forms? Or what do we think of nothingness, those sickening reaches of time in either direction? If the giant water bug was not made in jest, was it then made in earnest? Pascal uses a nice term to describe the notion of the creator's, once having called forth the universe, turning his back to it: Deus Absconditus. Is this what we think happened? Was the sense of it there, and God absconded with it, ate it, like a wolf who disappears round the edge of the house with the Thanksgiving turkey? "God is subtle," Einstein said, "but not malicious." Again, Einstein said that "nature conceals her mystery by means of her essential grandeur, not by her cunning." It could be that God has not absconded but spread, as our vision and understanding of the universe have spread, to a fabric of spirit and sense so grand and subtle, so powerful in a new way, that we can only feel blindly of its hem. In making the thick darkness a swaddling band for the sea, God "set bars and doors" and said, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." But have we come even that far? Have we rowed out to the thick darkness, or are we all playing pinochle in the bottom of the boat?
Cruelty is a mystery, and the waste of pain. But if we describe a world to compass these things, a world that is a long, brute game, then we bump against another mystery: the inrush of power and light, the canary that sings on the skull. Unless all ages and races of men have been deluded by the same mass hypnotist (who?), there seems to be such a thing as beauty, a grace wholly gratuitous. About five years ago I saw a mockingbird make a straight vertical descent from the roof gutter of a four-story building. It was an act as careless and spontaneous as the curl of a stem or the kindling of a star.
The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing from a limb and not falling, accelerating thirty-two feet per second per second, through empty air. Just a breath before he would have been dashed to the ground, he unfurled his wings with exact, deliberate care, revealing the broad bars of white, spread his elegant, white-banded tail, and so floated onto the grass. I had just rounded a corner when his insouciant step caught my eye; there was no one else in sight. The fact of his free fall was like the old philosophical conundrum about the tree that falls in the forest. The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.
Another time I saw another wonder: sharks off the Atlantic coast of Florida. There is a way a wave rises above the ocean horizon, a triangular wedge against the sky. If you stand where the ocean breaks on a shallow beach, you see the raised water in a wave is translucent, shot with lights. One late afternoon at low tide a hundred big sharks passed the beach near the mouth of a tidal river in a feeding frenzy. As each green wave rose from the churning water, it illuminated within itself the six-or eight-foot-long bodies of twisting sharks. The sharks disappeared as each wave rolled toward me; then a new wave would swell above the horizon, containing in it, like scorpions in amber, sharks that roiled and heaved. The sight held awesome wonders: power and beauty, grace tangled in a rapture with violence.
We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at millions of typewriters, then what is it in us, hammered out of those same typewriters, that they ignite? We don't know. Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.
At the time of Lewis and Clark, setting the prairies on fire was a well-known signal that meant, "Come down to the water." It was an extravagant gesture, but we can't do less. If the landscape reveals one certainty, it is that the extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation. After the one extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the universe has continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging intricacies and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on profligacies with ever-fresh vigor. The whole show has been on fire from the word go. I come down to the water to cool my eyes. But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn't flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames.
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
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