#i keep forgetting whales happened once

[thebestsetter]

He has never been afraid of dying.

Death doesn't fright him. He sees it as a natural part of the cycle of life. One must be born, live their life, possibly reproduce so their species can keep on existing and then die. All animals, be it a big magnificient whale or a little insignificant ant, have to do this too. This is what they all have in common (and honestly, it's beautiful how all animals have to experience this. It brings humans and animals closer).

Everyone dies, be it the sinner or the saint, the rich or the poor. Death doesn't discriminate people. It just comes and takes everyone (which is kinda funny, since people think that money or looks make them different from the other. They don't. We're all equal. The bullet that kills the powerful is also capable of killing the weak). And frankly, he's okay with that. He knows it'll happen.

Given his work condition, he knows he's more inclined to die than the average person. Everyday, he has to go out there and risk his life, saving hundreds of people he doesn't even know and sometimes not even getting a "thank you" back. It's frustrating, but it's not like he's giving up. Before he dies, he wants to make this world a little bit better. It probably won't be much, but he still wants to feel useful. He wants to feel like he did something good.

"Oh God! You're okay! You're really okay! I was so worried about you!"

He doesn't fear death. Which is why he doesn't understand why he feels like crying when you visit him at the hospital he was staying at after a mission that went wrong. Death doesn't scare him, so he's not quite sure why his hands tremble when they reach to pat your head. He shouldn't react like this. He's never reacted this way before

"Please, don't ever do that again! Never ever!" Your grip in his waist tightens to the point where his lungs are burning for air, but he still doesn't want you to let go.

"You have no idea how scared I was. When the hospital called me saying you were here, I felt like my mind was going a hundred per hour! Please, don't die..."

How can you ask him this? You both know it's impossible. He's going to die one day, it can't be helped. You can't escape death's claws. No one can escape their funeral. You're torturing him. You know he doesn't like to lie to you. He can't just say "I won't die" cause it's simply not true!

"Please don't die" you repeat, and his hands movement comes to a halt "Because I'll be lonely if you die. Don't leave me alone, please."

And suddenly, it all makes sense.

He still isn't afraid of dying. But suddenly, the mention of death leaves an itching feeling at the back of his throat. It makes him sick thinking about you going on with your life, possibly mourning over his death for a long time (he doesn't ever want you to be sad, especially not because of him. Strangely, a sick, twisted part of him wants you to cry when he dies. To be sad. To not move on fastly. He quickly supresses those thoughts though) and then completely forgetting him and starting a new family (this thought makes him sick to the stomach. He feels like a very bad guy when thinking about how he doesn't want you to find another man to replace him. You always said he was irreplaceable after all).

He will forever be someone who was, not someone who is. He'll be lost in time, a name you'll mention once or twice on a conversation while smiling and thinking about the good times you had together.

He'll never hear your laugh and your voice again, will never take you out on extravagant dates and have movie nights watching silly movies and laughing at the special effects. Leaving you alone in this dangerous world feels almost criminal.

Death doesn't make him feel bad. Having you forget him after he dies makes him feel like absolute shit.

And so, even though he can't promise you that he won't die, he can promise one thing. He grabs one of your hands in his, looking at you as serious as he can be.

"You won't ever be alone." He says, and you feel like crying. He then smiles weakly "I promise. I love you. Our love is too strong to be stopped by death." He kisses your hand and then quotes the same sentence he uttered at your wedding day "Remember? 'And if death do us apart, I promise to find you in every other timeline.'"

And just like he did that day, he props up in the hospital bed and kisses you.

MEGUMI FUSHIGURO, ITADORI YUJI, Gojo Satoru, Inumaki Toge (or maybe I'm just a glazer ☹️), Nanami Kento (idk, I just feel like it fits him), TODOROKI SHOTO, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Ejirou, Izuku Midoriya, Aizawa Shota, HAWKS + any character you think fits this!!

~ A/N: this can be read as a sequel of another fic of mine. It also can be read on it's own though (but please, do check the other one if you're interested!!). Also, you can see some Hamilton songs' references here and there (cause I'm a theater kid 😔) AND this was inspired by a line in "Cowboy Beebop"

Masterlist

[cobaltperun]

Darkest Part - Gives You Hell

Astrid Deetz x female Reader

Summary: You will never, in life or afterlife, if such a thing exists, meet anyone as infuriating, rage inducing, entitled, or frankly awful, as Astrid fucking Deetz. There isn’t a single thing you’d like more than to never be around her, but as your luck would have it, you just can’t stay away from her.

Masterlist

Word count: 4.3k

-If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell-

Four minutes left.

You rushed through the park, cursing that the tiled path wasn’t straight. More than anything you cursed your own refusal to run over the grass just to save half a minute. Damn Miss Harrington for keeping everyone after class.

“I dismiss you, my ass,” you wasted precious air to complain and knowing you’d have to go back if you went for the gate, you just jumped over the fence, wincing as it shook behind you. Someone yelled at you to be more careful, but you just began running again, just barely crossing the street before the light turned red.

You spared a moment to look at your watch, two minutes left, and the library was finally in sight. You picked up the pace, luckily avoiding the crowd. Your lungs were burning, tempting you to stop and take a break. So what if you were a minute or two late for work? The world wouldn’t end if you failed to get there on time.

As if. The world might not end, but you were too proud of your perfect record to accept that. You would be there on time and then catch your breath.

“Watch out!” a cyclist yelled a warning, and you looked to the side and just narrowly avoided colliding with him.

“Sorry!” you yelled back as he cursed after you. Well, you did cross his path, so he had the right to do it. Not that you had the time to contemplate on your reckless running as you skidded to a stop in front of the library and went up the stairs as fast as you could. “Right on time,” you went through the door with less than twenty seconds to spare and were met with the annoyance of the people in the library trying to read.

You chuckled sheepishly and then sighed, hanging your head low as you walked through the library as if it was your personal walk of shame. You could just feel the disapproving glares following you, and though you knew it wasn’t exactly everyone in the library judging you it still felt like that. In reality it was more like three people out of about a dozen currently in the library.

“Maybe next time ruin your perfect record instead of barging in and disturbing everyone,” your co-worker and best friend Alex whispered as you went into the break room to leave your things.

“Leave her be, I think it’s cute,” one of the regulars at the library, a pretty, tall girl whose name you somehow kept forgetting whispered and winked at you.

You just shrugged, nodding thanks out of politeness. You were still not sure if she was trying to flirt with you or if she just so happened to always pick the table closest to the counter you and Alex were sitting behind.

~X~

A bit over six and a half hours later, with your backpack on your back and a small paper bag in hand, you opened the doors of the apartment on the seventh floor. You glanced back at the staircase and then at the elevator that worked once in a blue moon. ‘Guess I’m lucky I’m in shape,’ it was a thought that often crossed your mind. Well, childhood spent playing different sports helped.

You locked the doors behind you. “I’m home!” you exclaimed, yelling over the sound of the TV, some animal documentary from what you could hear. Whales? Probably whales. Your mom liked whales a lot. You looked around, the fading scent of cleaning products grabbed your attention, and you noticed it immediately. The lack of any dust, the clean mirror in the hall, tiled floor being so clean you could probably apply the three-second rule to the food if any was dropped on it. The apartment was too clean for your liking, she was cleaning again. Desperately trying to at least take that off your back. “Mom, don’t push yourself,” you sighed as you stepped into the living room and saw her lying on the sofa.

She looked… fragile… in pain, and you swallowed hard, remembering how healthy she was just a year ago. How did things change so quickly?

“Y/N,” she sat up, wincing and holding her back as she did so. “Hey, Sweetheart, how was your day?” she still gave you a gentle, loving smile as you set your bag next to the table and leaned in to kiss her cheek and hug her.

“Great, don’t worry about it,” you whispered and pulled out the medicine from the paper bag, pain killers, for her. Her back’s been killing her, so much so that she could no longer work.

She still went and cleaned the apartment because you just had no time to do it these past few days. The guilt gnawed at you, even if deep down you knew you physically couldn’t do everything.

You felt her hugging you tighter. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized to you on a daily basis, her voice quivering with regret. You couldn’t even begin to imagine how she felt, seeing you work two jobs to take care of her and try and ensure you could continue your education.

“It’s going to be okay, everything will be okay,” and like always you reassured her, fearing something would break if you didn’t. You let go of her and went into the bathroom to freshen up and then heat the dinner up. You weren’t doing bad financially, with just the two of you and owning the two-bedroom apartment instead of paying the rent you had a comfortable life. The issue was saving money for the future, primarily for your college education, and there was no telling if your mom’s health would deteriorate further.

“Alex said hi, by the way. His parents invited us to come over for dinner if you’d like,” you said as you got the lasagna out of the fridge and set the table.

“He’s a good kid,” your mom commented, and he was. Alex was about a year older than you and working at the library, where you met him. You hit it off fairly quickly, he was easy to be around, easy to talk to, cheerful and always willing to encourage those around him.

“So, will you go with me?” you asked, and she nodded, while leaving the apartment would be a bit of a struggle you knew it would be good for her to go outside and be around other people.

~X~

Astrid Deetz was many things, but here, in the library, she was just another girl. No one but the people that worked here needed to know who she was, so, at least here, she wasn’t a freak. She was just another girl reading books. The library allowed coffee to be brought in, as long as the one bringing it was responsible for any potential damages and wasn’t borrowing one of the more valuable books that couldn’t easily be replaced, which was why she preferred reading here instead of going home.

Summer vacations forced her to spend time at home, with her mother, so, the more of that time she could spend away from home the better. Especially since Rory was often at her mother’s house. She was actually surprised he didn’t move in yet, but maybe her mother wasn’t completely blind after all. Who was she kidding? It was only the matter of time before he manipulated her mother into moving in.

Eventually she felt the need to go and grab a bite, so she got up and went to return the book only to see a rather annoying sight and freeze on the spot. There you were, the one flaw of the library she was currently in.

You were currently talking to a tall, blonde girl that looked ridiculously smitten with you, listening to every word you spoke as if you were solving all of life’s mysteries for her. How naïve did the girl have to be to get fooled by the soft, easy smile on your face and patience as you helped her find a new book. And you? Leading the poor girl on, knowing she didn’t really need help and being completely aware that she was just trying to flirt with you. Cruel pain in her ass, that’s what you were.

Luckily, she noticed Alex, your co-worker there as well and went toward him to return her book.

“Miss Deetz, hope everything was to your liking,” he greeted her politely, though Astrid noticed your mood immediately souring the moment her name was said. There it was, your true face. You hid it well though, and the girl blindly in love with you didn’t even notice the shift in your mood.

“Other than certain someone being here, absolutely,” Astrid didn’t even bother hiding her disdain for you.

Alex brushed it off and took the book back. “Good thing I’m here as well,” he said and Astrid wholeheartedly agreed.

“Chihuahua,” you faked a cough to hide the insult, and Astrid felt a vein pop on her forehead.

“Ignoramus,” she spat back and walked by you as you straightened your back, and she didn’t need to look back to know your eyes widened as you stared after her.

And she smiled, knowing she got a more genuine reaction than the girl a head taller than her ever could, no matter how much she flirted.

~X~

You were running on coffee and spite and simple need for money, otherwise you were sure you could fall asleep on your feet while you were washing the chisels and other tools Delia used. Tomorrow you could sleep in, relax just for a bit and recover from the grueling week. Morning job at Delia’s place, four hours, then summer art classes, preparing you for college. You were going to study architecture, hopefully to pursue your passion and design green and sustainable buildings.

And while working with Delia was helping you with your financial circumstances, it was also slowly letting you meet people, make connections and your life at least a bit easier in the future. Still, between working for Delia, the classes, and then the library you were away from home for roughly thirteen hours, which wasn’t exactly ideal for someone who just recently turned eighteen.

“Y/N, could you go and fetch new carving set I ordered?” Delia asked, well, it was more of an order, rather than a request.

“Now?” you asked as you glanced at the clock. You’d have to run again, and you’d probably still be ten minutes late, but work was work.

Delia must have followed your line of sight because she hummed. “No, pick it up on Monday,” she genuinely surprised you with that, she was usually a lot more absorbed in her own work to notice things like that.

“Thank you,” you smiled slightly.

“Architecture, right?” and she surprised you again, you didn’t think she’d remember a conversation you had several months ago.

You nodded and began drying the tools. “Green architecture, I hope,” you knew your eyes shone brightly as you said that. You loved talking about it, about how that was the future, the way to reach a compromise and protect the environment.

Delia looked lost in her thoughts for a moment and then she abruptly began laughing. “Hilarious,” she commented and shook her head.

You were confused, and frankly a bit annoyed, she didn’t strike you as someone who’d find it funny. Hell, she sounded a bit impressed when you first told her, so this reaction genuinely puzzled you. “What is?” you asked slowly, hoping your voice didn’t give away how you felt.

“Just how similar your views and goals are, yet you bicker all the time,” Delia pointed out and walked back to her sculpture, still chuckling every now and then.

You scowled, knowing exactly who she was talking about. The chihuahua that consumed the thesaurus and forced you to Google several words, ignoramus included. You should have guessed it basically meant someone ignorant. The damn infuriating pain in your ass. And Delia’s granddaughter, well, step-granddaughter.

And now Delia said you and Astrid had something in common.

Your day was ruined.

Beyond saving.

Well, maybe making Astrid Deetz lose her composure or force her to Google something would salvage your day, but how the hell were you supposed to make the walking thesaurus Google anything?

~X~

Work sweet work, well, compared to working for Delia. Sure, working for Delia was closer to your artistic side, but the library just had a charm to it that not a lot of places could compete with. The smell of old paper, layers of dust hidden from passing glances since the place was rarely properly cleaned. Not that you blamed anyone working here, you helped with the cleaning three times since starting to work here in the library, and your muscles ached at the mere thought of those times. Moving shelves upon shelves worth of books was not a fun activity. Still, the next one was still far off and perhaps you’d even be away from this city by then. Going off to study somewhere else, somewhere other than your hometown.

It was a slow day, and you leaned back, relaxing with one earbud in so you weren’t completely mentally absent from your workplace. You could just read, you likely will, in a bit, but you had a long sleepless night last night, studying and catching up on your art projects as well.

Eventually you cracked open a book about Renaissance architecture you meant to get your hands on for a long, long time, and now it was finally available at your workplace. Perks of working in the library, you guessed. Just as you were about to start reading the doors opening and a rather annoying girl walking in made your mood drop instantly. She didn't even look at you, just began looking through the shelves, clearly looking for something you could easily help her with if she wasn't so damn proud. You took a deep breath and walked over to the girl, at least you could get it over with quickly. "Deetz, what are you looking for?"

And she ignored you, completely, she didn't even go around you and instead moved with such certainty that you actually had to step back so she wouldn't walk into you.

So, she chose this approach today. It was either insults or pretending you didn’t even exist.

Infuriating entitled brat.

"This would be so much easier if someone worked here," she had the nerve to complain as your jaw dropped and you simply looked at her, flabbergasted by the girl's behavior yet again.

"Unbelievable," you shook your head as Alex came up to the two of you and you couldn’t be happier to see him jumping to your rescue.

"Hey, could you help me find a book?" she immediately asked him, and he looked between you and her with a raised eyebrow, as if he couldn’t already tell what was going on.

You just shrugged. "You're not invisible, good for you," you didn't leave yet, mostly out of spite. Astrid Deetz would not have the satisfaction of knowing she got under your skin, and she especially would not have the satisfaction of you backing away.

"What the- oh, you two are just playing another one of your games," he decided, completely ignoring the absolute dislike bordering on hatred between you and Astrid Deetz.

"I am not playing any games," you both said at the same time and huffed when you realized that.

"Would you look at that, you're in sync as well," he whistled as if he was trying to tease you.

"Bullshit!" you both denied it, once more at the same time and you just waved him off, though you were really tempted to flip him off, and went back to your desk. Pride and the damn Deetz gloating over her ability to indirectly annoy you be damned, you couldn’t stand being anywhere near her.

Eventually, your teasing, traitorous co-worker joined you. “She really likes reading, doesn’t she? And you’d think she’d be some rich kid who scoffs at the very idea of borrowing books instead of buying them, or even hate having the actual book in her hands instead of reading an e-book,” Alex commented, sounding actually impressed by the short annoyance.

You just grunted as a response, after all, you’d never admit you did notice what he just now pointed out. You noticed that from the moment you saw her, months ago, studiously going through several books seeking something rather specific. The unbreakable concentration impressed you back then, but back then you were blind to her actual personality. Still, if there were two things one could count on as far as Astrid Deetz was involved was that she hated her mother and loved reading. That being said Alex did not need to know you had any positive thought about the girl in question. You’d rather die than admit anything nice about the girl, even if deep down you did admire her love for books and reading.

“You’re not going to answer?” he probed for answers, though he should know better by now.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” you muttered and leaned onto your hand, if you could just avoid Astrid for the rest of your life, you’d be the happiest person alive, but no, you just needed to bump into her almost on a daily basis. Either in the library, or at your other work. Granted, it was mostly at the library, but sometimes she would drop by and visit her step-grandmother. That was, beside Delia sometimes getting ridiculous ideas, the only actual downside of your other work. Imagine your surprise when you went to work one day and saw Astrid there, you nearly quit right then and there.

“Yeah, cause she makes you Google new insult she hurls at you every other day,” Alex snickered, trying not to disturb anyone.

You groaned, facepalming as you leaned back in your chair. She really did make you Google things she said a lot. You still remembered Googling barnacle, her favorite word for you. Leave it to Astrid Deetz to declare you as something difficult to get rid of, when you’d do anything in your power to never see her again.

~X~

Astrid did not enjoy making trips to the parts of the town where her family might be, she seldom wanted anything to do with them, especially her mother, but it also began including her step-grandmother after she went and hired the worst possible candidate. You.

But, she had to go and visit a store a few floors above her grandmother so, here she was, in the elevator and certain she would not run into you the very next morning after your encounter at the library. She wasn’t that unlucky, was she? How she almost always ended up visiting during your shift was beyond her grasp. Maybe there was something in all the bullshit her mother talked about, and she was actually cursed with how often she encountered the one person she despised the most.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, and she nearly didn’t look up to see who was coming in. She should have ignored it, should have stared at the wall or something, but no, no, she just had to look!

Astrid could not believe her misfortune as you, carrying a fairly big box, walked into the elevator one floor above her and so far down from her own floor so she would need to actually be in a closed space with you. And she despised the very idea of that. So, just as the doors were about to close she bolted outside.

"What the- that was reckless Deetz!" she heard you yelling. And if there was even a hint of worry in your voice it was absolutely because her grandmother would rope you into whatever funeral arrangement she would choose for her if Astrid happened to tragically pass away.

"Shut it!" she yelled back.

"Fucking chihuahua!" you cursed, and she could feel her blood pressure skyrocketing as the elevator went up. You and your awful nickname for her.

"Damn barnacle!" she yelled back loud enough for you to possibly hear her. She would have the last word no matter what! Insufferable thorn in her side that she couldn’t get out of her life no matter how hard she tried. And to make things even Delia occasionally mentioned you just to get a rise out of her.

Not that anyone needed to tell her anything, she knew you worked two jobs, for whatever reason. Barely any difference in age, yet such different circumstances. While Astrid could do nothing for the rest of her life and still be fine you apparently didn’t have that luxury.

And in those rare moments Astrid would actually notice you despite trying her best not to, she never once heard or saw you complaining about anything. She was actually the only reason for complaining you ever had as far as she could tell. So, while she could find it in herself to admit your work ethic was somewhat admirable, you still could go right back to whatever hell you came out of.

Because that is exactly what you deserved.

Hell.

Okay, maybe not hell.

But definitely not much better than hell!

~X~

You weren’t just annoyed, you were beyond pissed off. How reckless was that girl? “Yeah, I really need that on my consciousness,” you bit out, knowing you’d blame yourself if she ended up getting hurt just because you happened to get into the elevator when she was already inside it.

How were you even supposed to guess she’d be there?!

You opened the doors to Delia’s studio with your elbow and went inside, closing the doors behind you with your foot. You really should have just taken the stairs, but the box you were carrying would have been a pain in your ass if you went with that. Sore muscles might still be a better alternative to having this encounter with Astrid. “Chihuahua,” you gritted out through your teeth as you set the box down.

“Astrid?” you jumped when Delia suddenly spoke up.

You stared at her blankly, as if she needed to ask. She’s seen several of your and Astrid’s hateful clashes.

“She takes after her mother,” the older woman commented as you began pulling out different art supplies from the box.

You had no idea why Delia would even tell you anything about Astrid. You did not need to know, didn’t care about knowing. “I find it hard to imagine anyone could be as infuriating as her,” you frowned, causing Delia to laugh, almost delighted by the comment. Lydia seemed okay, a bit paranoid and utterly blind to her boyfriend’s true intentions, but otherwise she was nice. You couldn’t imagine Lydia being anything like Astrid when she was younger.

“Oh, you have no idea. I reckon Astrid’s attitude is karma finally paying a visit to Lydia,” she sure sounded certain of that claim and you just hummed, internally feeling sorry for whoever had to deal with Astrid being their karma. That seemed like a rather cruel and unjust punishment.

“Mr. Deetz won’t be joining us today?” you asked, noticing the absence of Delia’s husband, though you asked the question mostly to avoid talking about Astrid.

“No, no, he went bird-watching,” she dismissed and you nodded, knowing just how much the man loved doing so, even if it meant traveling the great distances. It was admirable, really, to see someone as old as he was still being passionate about something to that extent. You could only hope you’d have as much energy as him and Delia when you reach their age.

~X~

That night you stood in front of the canvas, a bit of paint smeared on your cheek, an old white shirt you were wearing and your hand. You held your paintbrush as you observed a fairly accurate painting of the Durham Cathedral. It’s been about a month since you started working on the painting, using what little free time you had to work on it, and here it was, finally complete. You set the brush and colors down on your table and sat down, just looking at it with a smile on your face.

You really wished you could go and visit it. You actually had a lot of places you wanted to visit, to study, to touch the old buildings, feel their history and the flow of time coursing through them. The flyer on your table caught your attention and you reluctantly picked it up. It was an ad, seeking volunteers for planting trees. You sighed, massaging your shoulder and wincing at the dull pain in your muscles. You had two days off, you should rest, but you already knew you’d go, you couldn’t help it, that was how you were.

So, knowing you’d go there early in the morning you went and got ready for bed, hoping the shower would relax your aching body.

~X~

“What the fuck?” Astrid halted in the middle of the park, hoping it was just the summer heat. Yeah, that had to be it. The heat was making her see things. It was your damn day off, wasn’t it? Why were you in the park digging a hole for a tree?

Astrid narrowed her eyes, furious at everything. At your shirt clinging to your arms. At the drop of sweat you just brushed off your forehead. At the concentrated look in your eyes and the focus and the way you still had the energy to come and volunteer despite working two jobs.

“Barnacle,” she hissed under her breath and went to the other part of the park, as far from you as she possibly could go while still doing her part as one of the volunteers.

A/N: So, tell me what you think and if you’d like to be on the taglist?

[heavyhitterheaux]

Butterscotch Harlow

First Lady of Private Garden Instagram AU

Liked by jackharlow, urbanwyatt, neelamthadhani, 2forwoyne, taylorrooks, blancahood, and 1,283,052 others

y/ninsta: A little while ago, I surprised smush with a puppy (even though he said no more pets). the two have finally warmed up to each other and all she does is terrorize him lmao

jackharlow: I like how you find my pain humorous smh urbanwyatt: I still can't believe yall literally have fourteen pets now lilnasx: urbanwyatt you mean fifteen, they have druski2funny druski2funny: what the actual fuck do yall be on for me to constantly get dragged like this?!?!? 2forwoyne: yall might as well open up your home and sell tickets because yall live in a damn zoo y/ninsta: all yall can kiss my ass because who is over here every damn week trying to get fed? not too much on my babies. blancahood: you have 3 real babies, pay them some attention y/ninsta: B, I have 5 children. how quickly you forget. jackharlow: who the hell is four and five?!?!? dualipa: jackharlow you and Urban urbanwyatt: NOW WHY AM I ALWAYS IN IT?! y/ninsta: dualipa you a real one for that softtcurse: urbanwyatt because your ass is always doing something smh jackharlow: dualipa and now here you come terrorizing me too smh dualipa: jackharlow I was nice about it but I can be mean. watch that tone. jackharlow: dualipa you better not start with me. I swear yall want me bald by 30. jackandy/naremyparents: I'm convinced that soon y/ninsta will find a way to buy an elephant. mark my words. urbandjack26: jackandy/naremyparents she probably already has one and just keeps it at the actual zoo in Louisville jackharlow: DO NOT GIVE HER ANY IDEAS y/ninsta: 👀👀👀 jackharlow: y/ninsta baby don't you dare y/ninsta: jackharlow BRB

Liked by y/ninsta, druski2funny, claybornharlow, urbanwyatt, maggieharlow, quiiso, jessicakelce, and 1,943,271 others

jackharlow: your shirt says mother so please come and get this puppy. I have not known peace since you bought her 😭

urbanwyatt: jackharlow let's be real for a second. you haven't known peace since you got married to y/ninsta taylorrooks: URBAN! TAKE IT BACK BEFORE SHE SEES IT! 2forwoyne: urbanwyatt not your wanting best friend to kick your ass jackharlow: urbanwyatt you just asking to die tonight aren't you? y/ninsta: I heard I've been summoned and urbanwyatt don't go to sleep tonight urbanwyatt: y/ninsta not my fault you terrorize my best friend! y/ninsta: urbanwyatt is this about me forgetting to make you spaghetti the other day? because right now your ass is acting outta pocket. don't let that mouth of yours get you hair cut off and weed stolen theestallion: Y/N PLEASEEEEEEE blancahood: y/ninsta if you steal it, save me some yungskylark: why when it's taco tuesday, someone in PG acts like they don't have no got damn sense smh shloob_: urbanwyatt my stomach is making whale mating calls. you better fix this shit so she feeds us. urbanwyatt: I SAID WHAT I SAID y/ninsta: urby, you asked for it smh jackharlow: like not too much on my baby now but urb actually claimed me as his best friend for once so I call this day a win y/ninsta: look at my pookie defending me and you were always the first best friend, he just loves me more jackharlow: 🙄🙄🙄

yungskylark: he need to defend my stomach from biting the rest of my insides quiiso: jackharlow IT'S NOT NO WIN WHEN WE'RE HUNGRY, TF? jackharlow: quiiso oh imma eat regardless. idc what happens to yall lmaoooo saweetie: jackharlow just nasty as hell as usual jackharlow: saweetie HAVE YOU SEEN MY WIFE?!?! saweetie: jackharlow for the billionth time, YES! jackharlow: saweetie just making sure lol

Liked by y/ninsta, saweetie, urbanwyatt, theestallion, privategarden, theshaderoom, neelamthadhani, and 3,281,937 others

jackharlow: you see what she does in my time of need? LEAVES ME 😭

But my wife a baddie 😍😍

y/ninsta: jackharlow you are so damn dramatic! I'm only going to be gone for two days! but love you smush. claybornharlow: oh, so the babies have to eat jack's cooking? maggieharlow come save your grandchildren! jackharlow: HEY! THEY'RE FINE! dualipa: I highly doubt that jackharlow: dualipa hop off the nearest cliff y/ninsta: I pumped enough and there's more in the freezer, along with formula and the baby food I made. they're good! jackharlow: umm y/ninsta...... I think I only have enough for a few more hours y/ninsta: WHAT blancahood: oh good lord smh jackharlow: y/ninsta axel is eating like he has never seen food in his entire life maggieharlow: smh jackharlow if you needed me, why didn't you call? jackharlow: maggieharlow I got it handled! claybornharlow: only thing jackharlow has a handle on is.... hmm.... I'm at a loss saweetie: clay, pleaseeeee lmao urbandjack26: chaos in the Harlow household lol neelamthadhani: and jackharlow has the nerve to want more children smh handle those three first! y/ninsta: jackharlow is a good daddy! but his way of doing things concerns me sometimes jackharlow: y/ninsta I know I'm a good daddy. to my triplets and my wife. y/ninsta: jackharlow I'm taking my compliment back smh

Liked by jackharlow, urbanwyatt, saweetie, estgee, champagnepapi, zackbia, taylorrooks, and 1,928,036 others

y/ninsta: pleading for my damn help, and once I get home, this is what I see 🙄🙄

jackharlow: and that was the first decent amount of sleep that I got since you left y/ninsta: jackharlow I see little miss kept guard while you slept. I told you she loves you. jackandy/naremyparents: are yall gonna tell us her name now?!?!? jackharlow: jackandy/naremyparents I want to protect her privacy urbanwyatt: this man has officially lost it lmao saweetie: privacy? she literally pees and shits outside for the world to see jackharlow: not too much on my baby now! she still deserves privacy! claybornharlow: jack, she's a dog jackharlow: claybornharlow and? she's MY dog and what I say goes blancahood: that man don't know how to act now that he has his own pet quiiso: y/ninsta please get your husband lmao y/ninsta: quiiso he's a lost cause. I tried to come close to him while she was next to him and long story short, she is very territorial of him. she likes me, but he's her go to person. like sis, I was here first. show your mom some respect lmao urbanwyatt: not y/n finally having to compete for jack's heart y/ninsta: urbanwyatt he lowkey might divorce me to be able to have all of his attention on her jackharlow: I AM NOT THAT BAD neelamthadhani: jackharlow who lied to you? smh y/ninsta: jackharlow just tell everyone her name! jackharlow: y/ninsta no. that's her business and no one else's. jackandy/naremyparents: she probably doesn't even have one jackharlow: YES SHE DOES! If yall can guess it, I'll tell you saweetie: wait, what did yall end up deciding because it was down to two names urbandjack26: probably named her alcatraz y/ninsta: urbandjack26 over my dead body lmao allthingsy/n: hmm..... Louisville related? y/ninsta: allthingsy/n no for once lol jackandurbupdates: toffee y/ninsta: getting warmer jackandy/naremyparents: caramel? y/ninsta: getting closer! jackharlow: yall get on my nerves jackandurb26: BUTTERSCOTCH! BUTTERSCOTCH HARLOW! jackharlow: 😒😒😒😒😒 jackandurb26: well?!?!? jackharlow: I'm logging out y/ninsta: 😭😭😭😭

[whispersinthedawn]

Fluttering fireflies (Pt 1)

“You only have one tail,” Triton said in disappointment.

As the first words that his immortal brother could have said to him, it could have been a lot worse. In fact, if Percy considered all the ways it could have gone, Triton could have begun the conversation by picking out all the features that made him young, weak, an upstart god, and undeserving of existing let alone setting tail in the palace.

And so, Percy cheerfully pointed out, “Look on the bright side. At least I have two eyes.”

“Why does that matter?” the god asked blankly.

Well, it mattered because two eyes weren’t always a guarantee when one happened to be born the son of Poseidon and a mortal turned nature spirit. Then again, when the alternative was being a cyclops, Percy would have preferred being the ordinary merman he was pretending to be rather than one of Triton’s beloved two-tailed merpeople.

“He’s perfect the way he is,” Poseidon interrupted before Percy could open his mouth and let a quip fly.

“Of course,” Rhodes agreed. “I didn’t know you and mother were planning to have other kids though.”

Considering the number of children Poseidon had, Percy rather doubted any amount of planning had been involved, ever, but he held his tongue.

He wasn’t a son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, after all.

“Ah well,” Poseidon hedged.

“Not again,” Kymopoleia burst out, slamming her hands on the table. “Once again, you’ve gathered us here to celebrate your virility under the guise of celebrating a new addition to the family!”

Before Poseidon could do more than puff up in offense, Kymopoleia sneered, “Has it ever struck you that you keep having more kids but none of the old ones ever come to visit? Maybe if you put a halt on having more kids and focused on taking care of the ones you already have, you wouldn’t have to keep creating more to hide the fact that everyone but a newborn hates you?”

“Depends on the newborn,” Benthesikyme input judiciously. “Some of them are born with a startling degree of perspicacity.”

“So you have problems with him too?” Percy asked curiously.

That brought his arguing half-siblings to a stop.

“Too?” Kymopoleia inquired after a cautious pause.

Percy nodded.

“What did he do, promise you the world only to end up locking you up on an island?” Rhodes threw a jibe at Poseidon.

“Call you his prince and then treat you like a glorified errand boy?” Triton shot archly.

“Marry you off to a mortal and forget you exist?” Benthesikyme smiled.

“Or was it even worse?” Kymopoleia grinned with sharp teeth. “Create a being in his image only to retroactively realise that he’s really not all that and the kid’s just too destructive to have around his precious?”

“What are you anyway?” Rhodes followed up curiously. “A shark hybrid that has lungs instead of gills, a seaweed creature that requires meat to survive, a whale that can’t digest water? What problems has your parentage saddled you with?”

Percy tapped a finger on his chin, taken aback by the plethora of complaints. “Um,”

“He’s a god!” Poseidon input forcefully before Percy could come up with a palatable answer. “The newest one in the world, in fact.”

So new he was only eighteen years old. Practically infantile, really.

“What are you a god of?” Triton inquired, leaning back in his chair with an assessing gaze.

“Don’t know,” Percy answered uncomfortably. “I just make storms.”

And have disturbing dreams, create volcanic eruptions, and accidentally destroy bridges. Percy was destruction in a nutshell, really.

But even offering a watered-down version of his skillset or lack thereof didn’t stave off the outburst.

“So not only is there a new god in town, it’s also my replacement!” Kymopoleia shouted.

“I’m not a replacement!” Percy burst out, shaking his hands wildly. “I’m not even god of all storms or anything! Just hurricanes. On land.”

Kymopoleia stared at him incredulously. “Wow. You’re not even a subordinate. Just born, and you’re already halfway to dead.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Poseidon commanded. “He’s a god, he’s your brother, and you’re going to include him while carrying out your duties.”

“So … you mean not only do I have a snot-nosed little brother, I have to babysit the kid now?” Rhodes concluded.

“Don’t take it personally,” Percy commiserated. “First I heard of this was when he came to my birthday, for the first time ever, and gave me a sand dollar and a tour around the palace with my family. Funnily, he never mentioned just who was going to be part of this family trip.”

Benthesikyme sighed. “He’s insensitive that way.”

“At least you’re all getting along, even if it’s about how much you resent me,” Poseidon said, sounding unsure whether he ought to be worried about that.

Percy dared to pat his father on the elbow. “Get used to it,” he advised. “That’s how all well-adjusted siblings bond.”

***

An AU where Percy is born the youngest god. Will be ultimately Perpollo but Apollo hasn't entered the scene yet.

Read on Ao3

Next

[firestorm09890]

just some rambling about lcb’s canto v part 3 things vs the source book

It felt like they combined the personalities of Starbuck and Stubb, and then they replaced Stubb’s personality entirely with Flask’s (the third mate), who was always the one described as irritable while Stubb was the jovial one.

Book Stubb was also pretty uncool, despite being so casual. Pip had to be the replacement oarsman in both cases, but the reason Pip’s sanity snapped in the book was because he jumped overboard out of fear once, Stubb told him they’d just leave him behind if he did it again, and then when it happened again, Stubb did leave Pip behind, and those few hours out at sea before the Pequod rescued him were what broke him; here, Stubb saved Pip from a fate worse than death, and then what happened to Stubb after is what broke Pip.

Speaking of Pip, weird choice to make them want to be a landlord. That’sss all I’ll say about that

Also, RIP Tashtego. Constantly got the short end of the harpoon in Moby Dick (basically first to slay a whale on the voyage but Stubb got all the credit, fell into a whale and almost died, saw the White Whale at the same time as Ahab and should’ve been awarded the gold doubloon for it but Ahab insisted he was first) and the trend continues here by giving his incredibly homoerotic moment of being saved from drowning in the whale by Queequeg to Ishmael instead, with him just not showing up at all… actually maybe Tashtego won in this case lol

The flashback with Ishmael going into Ahab’s cabin made me think that they would give her the dilemma of “should I kill her right now in her sleep”, similar to what Starbuck had in the book, but nope.

There’s a huge difference in the way Starbuck butted heads with Ahab in the book vs in Limbus. Book Starbuck definitely had a lot less faith that the captain was steering them right- forget “after we kill the Pallid Whale it’ll all be okay” that Limbus Starbuck thought, no, book Starbuck repeatedly told Ahab to please, turn around, please stop trying to go kill the White Whale, your revenge quest is meaningless because it’s basically just a force of nature and you can’t get revenge on nature, we can just go home, we've had bad omen after bad omen, don’t you see you’re leading us to doom- and he did this from the very beginning all the way til the very end, when they literally saw the beast. However, despite his pleas and disagreements, he did still follow the authority of the captain (can’t have a mutiny when it’s just you who disagrees; can’t shoot a man while he’s sleeping when you have too much of a conscience and a fear of going to hell to justify becoming a murderer) and inevitably helped Ahab get what he wanted. That’s something both Starbucks share.

Overall… it’s probably because they had a different story to tell. They had to make Ahab worse™️ than in the book so everyone surrounding her had to be changed to facilitate the fact that she had such a hold over all of them

The thing with Ahab promising gold coins to the crew (with it being clear to the audience that they’d never get them) was the progression of the book’s singular gold doubloon, which was promised to whomever saw the White Whale first. In the book, it was merely a symbol, with a bunch of different characters attempting to analyze its symbolic meaning in-universe (mostly in an astrological sense) and not really wanting it for monetary reasons (Flask even says that it’s just worth $16 and could buy 960 cigars. of course, that was in 1851, and inflation is one hell of a problem…) Here, that promised money is worth a lot more, both monetarily and as something to keep the crew going.

And then! The cult-like aspects. Kromer had her inquisitors with artificial brainwashing and it’s very stereotypically cult-like, but Ahab’s crew was a lot more accurate to how real-modern-day cults work. The recruitment of Ishmael made that clear. Here, she was at a low point in life, with no idea where she should go, and then boom, Ahab steering her. In Moby Dick Ishmael already wanted to go on a boat, as did every other sailor there. None of them even knew who their captain was until after they’d been out at sea for weeks because Ahab is weird like that. He got all his sailors into a disturbingly powerful fervor one night about the White Whale but for the most part they seemed to be mostly in it for the whales they encountered along the way. Book Ahab even recognized that in order to keep his crew from mutinying, they had to pick up some other whales- and unlike the gold coins keeping the crew motivated in Pequod Town in Limbus, this was an actual, tangible thing. More of a compromise to keep the crew happy than a lie.

Limbus Ahab’s boat was completely Ahab, with desires completely Ahab, completely enrapturing her crew. Book Ahab’s boat was The Pequod, a whaling ship that just so happened to have a monomaniac at the helm. Limbus’s Pequod crew had faith in Ahab until they died by her hands; book Pequod crew eventually recognized how completely fucked up Ahab was and how screwed they were, but to quote the book itself, “their fear of Ahab was greater than their fear of Fate.”

that’s about all the braincells I have for this

[estinininininen]

"Look Me In The Eyes" , FFIV, ~1600 words. Why is Kain an even bigger weirdo after the Giant of Babil? General admission, e for everybody, but mild cw: transformation and body horror.

Kain knew he behaved differently after the Giant of Babil.

This was not unexpected, although how he changed surely confused them. Many things, like flinching when offered a hand, were understandable. But now he never took his armor off in front of others, not even his helm. Before, it had been on him near-constant anyway - the armor's boots and gloves were critical for absorbing impact. It took a few days for them to notice he bathed and changed privately, no small feat in close quarters, and moments before sleep. He even wore a low-fitting cap and gloves in his bedroll, no matter how warm. Just as often he slept in his armor.

As they hurtled towards the Red Moon in the mechanical whale, they told him it was conjured up from beneath the Mysidian bay. Now that he was free, perhaps, of Golbez - no, Zemus - Kain could tell them of Golbez's odd fits and starts that had increased whenever discussing Cecil, even before Zot. Kain had either dismissed these, or, when lucid but still under control, been forced to forget. This being all the useful information Kain had for Cecil, Kain retreated from the conversations.

He heard them talking about him, of course. They would either trust him, or must needs be ready to kill him, so what was one more oddity. Kain sat and thought about what had happened to him during his brief second time with Golbez.

"I had but slackened your friend's leash, waiting for the proper moment to pull it taught."

He could do this. He would have to do this. He was now one of the strongest people on Earth - the Blue Planet, as these Lunarians called it. And Zemus had done this to him, and to a ten-year-old child that became Golbez. He couldn't stand aside. He had spoken truly when he said his mind was his own again.

There were complications. Had he revealed anything, when they met Lugae? He didn't think so. His revulsion for the mad doctor was for cowardice, at first, until they had stumbled upon the . . . the remainders of Edge's parents. He had forgotten something, something important about the holiness he once felt in the frame of a healthy human body. Of the long, waking dream that kept him just a bit asleep in Golb- Zemus's thrall, the eyes of the King and Queen of Eblan had almost shocked him out of it.

Almost.

And now before thinking he had told Edge to kill him if he betrayed them, and so it was not only Kain's own cowardice that kept him from revealing the full extent of his betrayal. Compassion had returned to Kain's heart and head, and ruined him. He did not want Cecil or Rosa to have to kill him, and now he added Edge to that list. What would Kain's eyes look like, if he had to beg for death?

His mind was his own again.

Golbez loomed over him. "I have no others. No one is here but you, Kain. You returned to me. I would reward such loyalty. No matter what failures from before. I . . . I failed you too, did I not? What have I . . ."

Golbez shook his head and his drifting attention snapped back to Kain.

"Did I not promise you power, even that to rival the dragon-knights of old? And I have one scale of the shadow dragon. My oldest friend. Now I have no others. No one but you . . . "

Before they plunged into the lunar subterrane, Kain's focus drifted towards the eastern lunar horizon. He could not say why. "What is in that direction?" he asked.

Among all the lunar marvels was something that had astonished even this intrepid group. They talked over each other.

"I still don't believe it-"

"We turned a corner and he was just, there, Kain, it was amazing-

"Oh buddy, you have got to go see this after we're done here-" Edge said, and Rydia smashed her hands across his face to keep him from ruining the explanation of something important to her. Edge licked her hand. Rydia ignored him. They had settled along the way into annoying each other like siblings.

"Bahamut," she said. "Bahamut lives in the Cave of the Father, over there. I'll take you after-"

"No! No," said Kain, his vehemence surprising even him. He had only ever spoken softly to Rydia.

The four turned to him, Rydia shocked and a bit hurt, Edge at once suspicious, Cecil and Rosa confused.

Kain stammered. "I don't - I don't want to go is all. I apologize for raising my voice." Edge scowled. He needed to give more explanation. "I . . . I don't want to face him," Kain said. "I can't."

They winced and after a moment, even Edge nodded in sympathy.

In the furious, terrible days that followed, his comrades thought perhaps Kain had horrible scarring, from punishment for betraying Zemus. Or perhaps an aversion to touch because that was how Golbez ensared him to begin with. He was lucky Rosa could heal him still, and heal him through armor.

Kain was thankful no one pried. Not even Edge. He showed it as best he could. Sometimes he whispered or croaked and it was not because of awkward contrition. Would his voice leave him, too?

Rydia a few times frowned at him, not with what would be judicious suspicion but with plain curiosity. She was the shortest, and at times could see under more of Kain's helmet than he was comfortable.

They won against Zeromus.

Kain felt less jubilant than just relieved and tired. His friends and his world were safe. Now his personal battle would begin.

Baigan passed Kain in the hallway of Baron. The dragoon noticed the smirk and thought, with good humor that surprised him, that at least Baigan had not changed. Then Baigan's arm brushed Kain and Kain shivered before he even knew to think something was wrong.

Turns out Baigan had changed quite a bit. His smirk grew. "Lord Golbez is sure to reward those truly loyal," he said.

His mind was his own again. His mind.

Golbez asked Fusoya, "Might you permit me to accompany you?" and Kain, pitiful creature that he was, panicked for a moment that Golbez had forgotten him. Forgotten to help him if he could. Or perhaps hated him, for taking the last piece of Golbez's one true companion, the dragon that stayed beside him without mind control.

But then Golbez said, "I cannot return. Not after all I've done," and he looked at the five Earthlings. His gaze hesitated on Kain for a moment, so quick no one noticed. In Kain's thoughts, in the hole at the back of his mind, he felt an awareness of Golbez, hesitating to contact him like this at all. This time though it was as . . . equals in contrition.

He gave the bizarre feeling of agreement in keeping their privacy, wordless, more like a curtain falling, which was why he was touching Kain's thoughts at all. A gift from sinner to sinner, a chance to sort out thoughts alone without revealing how far they had fallen by asking for help out loud.

And Kain had the sudden knowledge Golbez could do nothing to help him.

He had expected this. It was not as disappointing as it might have been. Kain's attention snapped back in time to help convince Cecil he should say goodbye to Golbez.

Very little important to Kain happened while they returned and celebrated. He stayed alone until he escaped from the love and concern of his friends and a thankful world. He climbed Mount Ordeals and looked out over a sacred, isolated cliff, and took off his helmet.

His hair, his one remaining vanity, was still long and blond and - human. It felt good in the wind. So too did the sensitive nubs of bone and frill, growing from the crown of his brow. He had started worrying he would need to file them down. Scales grew along his forehead and were soon to reach to his eyes, crawl down his nose, and bloom where all could see.

Their victory couldn't have come any later. He almost hadn't made it.

Sometimes his eyes hurt, and felt strange focusing, and he knew they had turned to slit pupils. He had not brought a mirror. Were they still his natural color?

Perhaps because he kept his mind, and somebody answered his prayers, the lower half of his face remained unchanged the longest and his outline human. Perhaps it was somebody on this very mountain - it was holy to Bahamut and others long before KluYa's spirit rested here. But under the armor there were no parts of him without . . . spottings of scales. Ridges and spines growing. Aching bones of limb anatomy preparing soon to stretch or shrink into digitigrade. He wondered if he would start walking on his toes.

His tailbone and shoulders hurt.

Golbez had kept his promise about power to rival the dragon-knights of old.

Yet dragons were not evil, not like the monsters that moved among animals and that others had been turned into. If the pain in his shoulder blades was an indication, he was not becoming the literal shadow dragon. It had no wings. And Baigan had been able to change form at will.

His mind was his own again, and after everything, Kain still had hope.

On the day of the wedding he spoke into the wind, wondering if it mattered. "Cecil . . . Rosa . . . I have no right to bear witness to your joy. Not like this.

"I will temper myself here, on Mount Ordeals. And then, when I've become an even finer dragoon than my father- perhaps then I can return. Until that day comes, I can but wish you well."

[five-rivers]

Life's Great Lie 17

AO3

.

“Oh, thank God,” said Tony, “Bruce is here.”  All the other green, angry looking people were secondary, as far as he was concerned.  Having the Hulk on hand meant that he didn’t have to play Jonah again.  That had been.  Unpleasant.

A dart of red broke off the crowd of ghosts and angled towards Tony.  Valerie Gray.  And Bruce, too.  As Bruce. 

“Where do you want us?” shouted Valerie. 

“Take your pick!” shouted Tony, even as he lined up more shots.  He was going to be running out of all but the special anti-ghost ordinance soon.  “But—Bruce, you’re going to have to suit up.”

“Of course,” said Bruce, rubbing his face.  “Yeah.  Okay.  You would call it that.  Miss Gray, if you could take me up towards one of those…  big things…”  He gestured vaguely at the space whales.

“Cool!” said Tony, giving them a thumbs up.  “Now, all we need to do is get a shield around the portals, and we can roll up the streets.  No problem!”

“Sir,” said Jarvis.  “You may want to look at the Ops Center.”

What was going on now?  He turned and watched the shield around the airship flicker once, twice, and then go out completely.  The chitauri, who apparently were smart enough to smell blood in the water, regardless of any other tactical deficiencies, changed direction. 

“Well, that’s not good.  Anyone want to fill me in on what’s going wrong?”

“Well,” started Jasmine Fenton. 

.

“What happened to the thing being self-sustaining?” demanded Natasha as she punched out another mercenary.  Where had Loki even found these guys?  They weren’t even mind controlled.  Who in their right mind signed up to fight for the aliens in a literal alien invasion?

“Listen,” said Maddie Fenton, a little testily, “we quite literally built it on the fly.  It isn’t operating at peak theoretical efficiency, but it’s a testament to Jack’s engineering skills that we got it to work at all, much less while also trying to come up with a workable solution for the shields.  Be glad we have enough power to keep the portal open, even.”

“Forget the shields,” interrupted Tucker, his voice crackling slightly.  The Fentons’ communicators weren’t bad, and apparently they worked through the ‘spectral noise’ associated with ghosts, but they left something to be desired in comparison to the crystal-clear communications Natasha had gotten used to while working for SHIELD.  “Well, no, don’t forget them, forget them, we might still be able to—I’ve got— What’s your name again, dude? —I’ve got Selvig up here, and he says that if we can get Loki’s staff, we can shut down his portal.”

“Great!” shouted Steve.  “Anyone have eyes on Loki?”

.

The answer to that was, of course, a resounding no. 

.

“Oi, Tucker, you want to run by that thought you had about the shields again?”

Under other circumstances, Tucker might have been over the moon.  Tony Stark, asking him about something technical!  It was like a dream come true! 

But between the mind control, the alien invasion, and whatever was going on with SHIELD and HYDRA, Tucker’s enthusiasm for anything was pretty much nil.  So. 

“Uh,” said Tucker.  He and Selvig were standing in front of Loki’s portal device.  Well.  Tucker was sort of crouching, and Selvig was… sprawled.  That couldn’t be a good position for a guy that old, but whatever.  “So, Loki got the startup power for this thing from the, uh, the tower’s arc reactor, right?  So, it’s still plugged in.  The connection is live, and it looks like he used standard connectors.  Not, you know, a twelve-gauge extension cord, but Earth-made.  I think maybe we can use it to charge up the shields and use one here as the centerpiece – the power source – instead of the one in the Ops Center.  If it’s, like compatible.  Is that a thing we can do?  Mrs. Fenton?”

“Well, it isn’t impossible,”she said.  “But those portable shield relays – they weren’t made as independent shield generators, and for them to run on something other than ectoplasm – Jack, sweetie, do we still have those blueprints? – Thanks.  Alright, Tucker, you’ll have to make significant adjustments to the shield relay, probably even cannibalize one of them.  Are you able to do that?”

“Well,” said Tucker.  “Maybe?  I’ve got a lipstick laser and…”  He looked over his shoulder.   “Selvig.  Sort of.  But if it’s anything more complicated than rewiring the Speeder’s main gun to fire from the backseat window console, I’m going to need a bunch of tools and a science guy who isn’t dead on his feet.  No offense.”

Selvig waved him off. 

“You’re the one who—?  Never mind.  It is more complicated.  Quite a bit more complicated.”

“I’ll also need, you know, the generators.  Relays?”

“I’m still on my way,” said Romanov.  She sounded… upset.

“And so am I,” said Iron Man.  “Kid, I’ve got all sorts of tools in my apartment.  And dummy, too.”

Okay.  Cool.  Also, what did dummies have to do with anything?  Was that rich people code for something?

“Okay, want to give me directions, or am I supposed to just start pulling out drawers?”

.

“Hey!  Where’re you going?”

“You need more cover,” said Sam.  “This is what I have the jetpack for, remember?  Arrow boy isn’t going to get all of them, and they do have ranged weapons.”

It was true, one well-aimed shot through the Ops Center envelope could send the whole thing down.  They weren’t using hydrogen gas, of course, but an ectoplasm-nitrogen mix, so there was no danger of becoming Hindenburg Mk II, unless the aliens’ energy weapons reacted really badly with ectoplasm, but there hadn’t been any evidence of that yet, so…

Anyway, it didn’t matter.  Jazz was too busy keeping the Ops Center and the portal steady to do much else. 

“Be careful,” she said. 

“Can’t make any promises!”

.

Fury was having a bad day.  A really, monumentally, bad day.  One that was part of an already awful week but still managed to go above and beyond in terms of how completely awful it was. 

Primarily, he blamed HYDRA.  They were very easy to blame and were, in his opinion, responsible for at least seventy percent of the metric ton of crap he was currently wading through. 

But then, then he got a call. 

The call. 

Which meant that he had to take this boat riddled with snakes to fight off an alien invasion over New York.  Peachy. 

If ever he’d been tempted to give old friends a call…  But he wouldn’t.  Not yet. 

“Sir,” said Coulson, joining him smoothly as he walked down the hallway toward the main bridge. 

“What’d you find?”

“We have problems, sir.  Using the head start we were given, I’ve found no less than seventy problem areas on this ship… and some indications that the World Security Council may have similar issues.  We also have to assume there are unseen variables at play.”

Fury did not miss a step.  Benefit of being a cynical bastard.  The WSC was a shock, and a disaster on multiple levels, but the other number was… livable.  “Are there any particular personnel involved in these problems?”

“STRIKE teams seem to have an unusually high number of incidents.  Upwards of ninety percent.”

Fury strode onto the bridge.  “Tell the STRIKE teams to prepare to mobilize and pilots to scramble.”  Uriah gambits were unpleasant… but if he could kill two birds with one stone, he would, and he wouldn’t feel bad about it.  “What kind of air power are we looking at?”

“Significant,” said a comm. tech who was flipping through different news programs.  “They seem to have biologically based technology of some kind, weaponry is mainly energy-based, propulsion… unclear.”

Wonderful.  Fury scanned the other screens, trying to get a better picture of what, exactly, was happening in New York.  What tactics the enemy was using, what numbers they had, what resistance had been put up so far and by whom. 

“Sir,” said Agent Hill.  “The council is on.”

The council.  The same one Coulson had just told him was infiltrated by HYDRA.  The same one that would probably find a way to make their present situation all the more untenable and Fury’s day infinitely worse. 

It was a pity he couldn’t ignore them. 

“Put them on.”

.

Pandora hissed at the sting of the enemies’ weapons.  They were not ectoblasts, no, but there was the taste of something like magic to them, and energy was energy.  Still, they were not enough to damage her unduly, although they might prove troublesome, dangerously so, for the weaker ghosts of their force. 

But that was the nature of war.  Few battles were won without bloodshed. 

Her warriors should otherwise be a match for the chitauri.  The chitauri had numbers, doubtlessly, but her warriors had experience.  And once Frostbite and Dorathea lead their forces onto the battlefield, well… She could not estimate the number of enemies.  She had been told that they came from the stars, and those lands were numerous to the point of being innumerable.  Even so, there was a limit to passage through a choke point, and even the stars themselves may not turn things in the favor of a commander caught in one, no matter their numbers. 

But the ghosts, too, must pass through a portal.  Pandora eyed the slight waver in the portal’s outline with disfavor.  She was no expert in such matters, but many years of existence had given her some intuition for how portals should behave.  This one was stable enough, but not for long. 

All the more reason to resolve things quickly. 

“Hunter,” she said. 

“What?” snapped the mechanical man, the burnished plates of his armor flashing in the Sun. 

“Your task.  Find Phantom.  Free him from whatever compulsion he is under.”  Although Phantom still had much to learn, he was undeniably powerful.  Returning him to his proper allegiance would

Skulker looked away from the beast he was dismembering with some reluctance.  “Fine.  Dog.  Come here.”

The dog ignored him.  As it was Phantom’s, and Skulker hadn’t made the effort to learn its name, that was really no surprise.  Still, Skulker gestured at it.  It, in turn, bounded away, yipping.

“Are you, or are you not, the greatest hunter in the Infinite Realms?  Find him with or without the dog.”

Skulker grumbled but flew off.  Good. 

Pandora manifested a joint in her neck just long enough to crack it and drummed her fingers on the lid of her box.  It had been too long, far too long, since she had engaged in a proper battle against evil, and the more vicious of the leviathans flying through the air looked like they would, at least, give her a challenge. 

.

Thor had become more open-minded since his short stay on Earth, with Dr. Selvig, Darcy, and… Dr. Jane Foster.  Truly.  But he had to admit, these ghosts were unnerving.  Too similar by far to the draugr that had ofttimes haunted the stories of bards – the ones that made his father glare and try to shoo away both Thor and Loki. 

He had to find his brother.  Soon.  With all that had happened, with how, exactly, Loki had behaved, he believed, truly believed Daniel Fenton’s assertion Loki was being controlled, somehow. 

It was a foul thing, to put such a geas on a prince of Asgard…  Although, to be fair, putting a geas on anyone was foul.  It just seemed especially foul to Thor, that someone should do it to his brother. 

Loki had, perhaps, never been quite so good as one might hope, but he had always been… himself, as vague as that description was.  Even when he’d been consumed by madness, letting jotnar into Asgard, sending the Destroyer after people on Earth, he had still been himself.

Thor did not like this new version of Loki, who was very much…  It was like seeing his brother through a warped pane of glass, or in a reflection.  In fact, he liked it so little that he couldn’t even enjoy the utter destruction he was wrecking on the chitauri, lightning, head-crushing, and all.  Not that he had been enjoying combat quite as much as he once did in general.

The price of being worthy, he presumed. 

Alas. 

A bright green flying dog whipped past him at speed, heading towards the tower.  He narrowed his eyes at it.  Most of the ghosts had stayed concentrated around the portals.  What cause had this one to stray?

But he could not go investigate.  He could still hear the screams of the civilians cornered in the buildings nearby.  He would not leave them to fend for themselves until he had cleared this street. 

.

Danny and Loki would both have preferred to use the elevators.  Unfortunately, significant parts of the main upper elevator shaft had been repurposed for extension-cable-from-hell-powering-up-a-doomsday-device purposes, and no one wanted to mess with that, and the military-type guys they still had with them recommended shutting them off from a tactical perspective of ‘there’s more of them then there are of us, and we don’t want to guard them all.’  So.  No elevators. 

Danny could have just dropped them through the floor instead, but Loki seemed concerned about the effect serially dropping through floors had on Danny. 

Or, well, the effect that the effect it had on Danny was having on him, in any case. 

“I refuse to get stuck in a ceiling again.  I am a god.  I am to be treated with some degree of gravitas.”

“It was one time.  You should’ve seen what I was like when I first got my powers.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Year and a half ago, about.”

Anyway, they were taking the stairs.  Danny wasn’t really upset about it, because it gave him more time to be annoying.  Right now, he was in the midst of a recital of all the ‘annoying younger sibling’ noises he had ever made.  Right now, he was working on ‘long drawn out sighs,’ which had really been a hit with Jazz, when he’d been eight.  Which was to say, she hated them.  A lot. 

And Loki didn’t seem to a have a lot of tolerance, either. 

“What,” he snapped, “are you doing?”

“Nothing,” said Danny, enjoying the way Loki’s face pinched up, as if he were searching for a way to order him to stop without really screwing up his other orders…

… speaking of which, could Danny have interpreted ‘get me out of here’ to mean ‘get me out of New York?’  Maybe.  But at this point, there were plenty of reasons to want them both in New York, including-- 

Danny’s train of thought derailed as he noticed the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairwell.  He looked down and then threw himself backwards as a redheaded woman – Romanov – brought a gun to bear on him.  She fired, twice, in quick succession.  Wow.  Rude.  And pretty brutal, too, but then again, New York was being invaded by aliens.  And she knew about his powers. 

(Hecking Fury, telling people about his powers.)

Although, considering trajectories… no, he was too sleep deprived to consider trajectories. 

He grabbed Loki’s arm, intending to drop them through the floor. 

“No, wait,” said Loki.  “Let’s see what the Widow wants.”  There was a malicious, almost cruel, edge to his voice, but there was a hollowness underneath it.  He did want to see why Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, was here, but the tone, the phrasing, was just to rile her up. 

Or to appear as if he wanted to rile her up.  Danny hadn’t listened to all the things Barton and Loki had discussed – too busy freaking out about the whole situation vis a vis mind control and alien invasions – but he hadn’t gotten the impression she was all that easy to rile up. 

But Danny had his orders.  And he still had to defend Loki.  Ice began to spread out from under his feet.  It was a bit sluggish, but it would give him the terrain advantage as far as maneuvers went.  The Widow kicked open the door on her landing and rolled out, into the floor beyond, staying more or less out of direct line of fire for both Danny and Loki. 

“I have eyes on Loki,” she said, out loud. 

.

“Crap,” said Tony, tossing the box to the Foley kid.  “Sorry, got to go, but hey!”  He was already heading for the edge of the roof.  “Maybe we won’t even need that if we do this right!”

.

Black Widow definitely been looking for them, which wasn’t surprising, but what was she carrying?  The bag was bulky and angular.  A weapon?  If so, why hadn’t she used it? 

Loki stepped out past Danny but stayed well within Danny’s ability to grab – or drop through the floor, if necessary.  Making the floor intangible instead was a valid strategy. 

“What is it you want, Widow?  Natasha Romanov?”

Romanov, meanwhile, had disappeared, almost as thoroughly as Danny could.  He tilted his head to one side, listening.  This floor, it seemed, had been imagined as semi-open lab space.  There were long work benches, empty places for equipment, some kind of robotic arm in the ceiling, and a cart full of plastic-wrapped computers, monitors and towers together. 

It was kind of cool.  There were a lot of places to hide. 

“Is this… revenge?  For Barton?”  Loki’s smile was sharp.  “He told me much about you, and I suppose Stark mentioned avenging this place.”  Two false images split off from Loki to prowl among the lab tables.  “It suits you better than it does him.  But don’t you think it somewhat… hypocritical?”

.

“Okay, Romanov, here’s how it is.  Loki likes illusions?  Let’s give him an illusion.”

.

Danny saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and angled himself to intercept, but no attack came. 

“After all… you’ve done so much… so much that others would be more than justified retaliating for, don’t you think?  All those regime changes, shall we call them?  And Barton’s no better, really.”  He hummed.  “The things you two did together.  Drakov’s daughter?  Sāo Paulo?  The hospital fire?  And you think taking vengeance on me will change anything?  You think it will make you some sort of hero?  Give you peace?  When you—”

One of the doors flew open, revealing Iron Man.  Who plowed through one fake Loki (Faki?  Fauki?  Fauxki?  Meh, he’d workshop it.) and swerved to shoot one of his repulsors at another.  Romanov popped up from behind a table and threw something at the feet of the real Loki, who crushed it with his heel, ignoring the sparks of electricity that flew up off of it. 

Danny batted Romanov back with a shield, straight into the cart of computers, which fell down on her.  Ouch.  But she’d be able to get back up and into the fight.  The important thing was that, right now, she wasn’t an immediate threat, which meant he could ignore her. 

Give her time. 

If she hadn’t wanted something, she would have run, kept hiding.  Just these few minutes – She was a shield agent, sure, but she had to have some kind of specialty in—

Anti-ghost missiles were a lot harder to avoid in such a small place, especially when distracted.  Danny hissed as one impacted his shoulder and splattered green all over his shirt, but he caught the next, and threw it back at Iron Man.  He tried to phase off the green goo, but it wouldn’t go.  It had to be some of that phase-proof stuff his parents had been working on.  Nasty stuff. 

Although, he had to be grateful it had only given him a bruise and hadn’t been mixed with something that would melt him.  It gave him hope for his future relationship with his parents. 

In the meantime, it definitely limited his options regarding protecting Loki and just removing themselves from the situation without getting into more destructive behavior. 

He hoped Iron Man knew what he was doing… for everyone’s sake. 

The missile exploded right in front of Iron Man’s mask, splattering him with green goo.  Danny had no idea what kind of sensor array he had, but that would probably buy at least a little time as he adjusted it to compensate for the eye-holes of his mask being covered up. 

He turned back to Loki, only to see another Iron Man grab the staff from him. 

Only for that Loki and that staff to dissolve into the air. 

Loki, the real Loki, stopped being invisible and laughed.  “Oh, that was good, that was very good.”  Not only was this Loki real, his smile might have been as well.  “But you didn’t think you could fool me, did you?”

Danny flicked invisible, noting with disfavor that the green goo stayed visible when he did so, and moved closer to Loki, fending off attacks.  Two Iron Men – Where did the second person come from?  Was it Barton, in a suit?  Someone else entirely?  The War Machine person?  Danny couldn’t remember his name.  – and Romanov together was a bit of a challenge for Danny to keep track of, given his present mental state. 

Luckily, however, one of the two suits, the first one, didn’t seem to have nearly the tactical awareness of the other.  He’d say it was Stark in the second suit, the fresher-looking one… the one without any form of ghost proofing Danny could detect. 

Danny swiped an intangible arm through the suit, cleaving through delicate wires as he did so, but leaving warm, human flesh untouched.  Several pieces of armor fell away, revealing a band t-shirt, but not the whole thing.  Interesting. 

Romanov threw a Fenton Ghost Zapper at him.  Loki knocked it out of the air, the sharp end of the scepter cutting it in two as he did so.  Iron Man – the one he was pretty sure was Tony Stark – tried to grab it again, even as Loki pivoted to try and catch Black Widow with it.  Danny used that as a pretext to pull Loki back, away from Black Widow.  They did not need her under control.  Nope. 

But… they wanted the staff.  They wanted the staff now. 

Selvig must have gotten knocked free.  He must have told them, one of them, about his safeguards. 

If one of these three could get the staff, get back to the top of the tower…  Then it would be over.  They’d have won. 

.

“Director Fury, the council has made a decision.”

Fury flexed his fingers behind his back.  “I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.”  It’s what he’d say if he hadn’t learned what he’d just learned.  If HYDRA wasn’t threaded through every element of SHIELD like a deadly parasite.  If this sounded more like a simple fear-driven overreaction and less like a way to destroy one of HYDRAs most famous enemies and his new and very powerful allies? 

“Director, despite your shocking negligence, bordering on dereliction, you’re closer than any of our subs.  You scramble that jet—”

“That is the island of Manhattan, councilman.”  Although considering that HYDRA, in the person of Red Skull, had tried to blow it up in the past, he wasn’t sure that would sway them.  Until I’m certain my team can’t hold them—”

“There are two armies of alien origin, emerging from portals above that island.  If we don’t—”

“I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population, much less the densest population in the United States.  And the other army is an ally.”

“Based on what intelligence?  Based on what invitation?  That of someone already suborned by Loki?”

“If we don’t hold them in the air,” added another councilmember, “we lose.  We lose everything.”

“If I send that bird out, we already have.”

.

“Director Fury is no longer in command.  Override order, seven, alpha, eleven.”

“Sorry, sir,” said the pilot, who had just taken his seat.  He watched with some trepidation as Agent Coulson led a pair of his colleagues away.  This was all very irregular.  “I’m not familiar with that code.”

There was a pause.  “What’s your name, son?”

.

Cujo frolicked through the city.  It was loud, yes, but nothing he hadn’t been in training for while alive, and nothing he hadn’t experienced while dead.  So, a non-issue, obviously. 

The actual issue?  His person had just thrown a stick.  Obviously, Cujo had to go fetch it. 

[majosullivan]

When we dive more into Siren’s and Nethimir’s relationship, I will become a different person. The two just have so many well set up parallels with each other that any interactions between the two and the possible development of their relationships is just a gold mine of opportunity. For some examples:

-Both were born into royalty and an unique role that neither wanted and ended up molding them for the rest of their lives: Siren being the prophesied prince born without scars and Nethimir being an Octalia born with three hearts, which immediately made her in line to be the Octalia’s queen once she was old enough

-Both of their castle suffering tragedies that caused major decreases/near wipe out of their castle’s population: the sharks being cursed to become a target of tragedy and despair, which has caused around a 98% population decrease (since Susca said that their population has gone from twenty thousand to a few hundred), and with the Octalia’s castle being destroyed, leaving Neth, Mucku and Mono as the only survivors

-Both the tragedies that their castles suffered being the result of a god: the sharks being cursed by the mini god Neris and the Octavia’s castle being destroyed by Labbu, god of the void

-Both feeling responsible for the well beings and lives of their people, resulting in overwhelming guilt over their fate

-The only child to their respective parents

-Very complicated relationships with their mothers: with Susca covering up the true prophecy in order to protect Siren and all the consequences that came as result of that decision, and with Mucku losing her memories because of her using all her magic to protect Neth from Labbu’s attack, resulting in her forgetting who she is and that Nethimir is her daughter

-A clear shift in their relationship with one of their parents that occurred 10 years ago: with Shoal going off to find an alternative way to break the curse, resulting in him missing over half of Siren’s life, and, again, Mucku forgetting that Nethimir is her daughter (Mucku is pulling double duty in the parallel parental issues here)

-Both shown struggling with suicidal thoughts and whether they deserve to continue living after what happened to their people

We haven’t got much one on one Siren and Neth interactions so far, however, this scene in episode 128 really stuck out to me:

JUST FUCKING LOOK AT HER EXPRESSION!

She can obviously tell that something is wrong and likely has her suspicions, but she isn’t in the position to delve into it, both with her and Siren currently not being close enough for her to easily go into that conversation (the pair being more friendly acquaintances at the moment) and the current conversation being completely open when a topic like that would have to be a more private conversation between the two

I ended up re-reading through episode 117 soon after my first read of episode 151 and comparing Siren’s and Nethimir’s dialogue, with these panels standing out especially…yeah. If you’re in the mood to feel pain, highly recommended doing this.

Like I briefly mentioned in my long ass post about the whales, if/when Nethimir finds out about what Fizz said to Siren in episode 148, I have no doubts she’s gonna want to keep a very close eye on Siren/talk to him as soon as possible. Luckily, with the witches all now keeping an eye out after Kappa talked to them about how he thinks something is wrong with Siren, hopefully she’ll be able to catch on sooner rather than later

[kiichxko]

UNLOCK IT!

Bllk boys playing genshin!

Warnings: some quest spoilers for genshin

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

ISAGI YOICHI (潔 世一)

He's the very rare traveler main! Specifically aether

Mainly uses electro or dendro aether for the elemental reactions

He doesn't understand why people don't use traveler a lot, he thinks being able to switch elements at will is very useful and versatile

SUCKS at dodging, he literally depends on his zhongli's shield to keep him alive

Speaking of zhongli, he lost his 50/50 to keqing on his banner, homeboy later spent hours grinding for primos, he deadass refuses to whale at all

He also might have sacrificed keqing at qingyun peak multiple times

Luckily, the peepaw came home after 30 more pulls

He's pretty netural when it comes to co-op, so long as you don't take his materials without permission (bachira is an exception)

He LOVES the new TCG event, he's got all the character cards and won nearly every single match in a span of a week

He also does co-op challenges with the others, they range from waverider races to stuff like "who dies first while fighting _____" competitions or "beat azdaha without a shield or healing" challenge

Bachira came up with the last one specifically for him

Low key hates fighting the cryo cube, the fruits you gotta hit to break the shield are a pain in the ass (i'm not self-projecting here i swear)

BACHIRA MEGURU (蜂楽 廻)

A hutao and yoimiya main!

He enjoys looking at yoimiya's idle animations and spams her normal attacks just so he could see her do those little flips

Probably learned hu tao's dance and song by heart so every now and then while playing he'll go:

“大丘丘病了，二丘丘瞧～”

“三丘丘采药，四丘丘熬～”

He plays in CN dub but with JP subtitles

Still messes up a little on the pinyin pronouncination but he's trying

He also relates to hu tao since they were both considered weirdos by everyone (bachira's hu tao kinnie era guys)

Has considered cosplaying a character before

Loves exploring! Has every area at 100% exploration rate and all statues at level 10 somehow??

Always forgets that he's a pyro main and that grass exists so he basically almost dies standing on burning grass (can someone please get him a healer or a shield.)

Trolls other people in co-op by doing shit like the "disco disco party party" thing or using jean to yeet people

But other than that, he's actually very helpful with exploring and finding chests

Also steals materials from isagi

Sometimes forgets how to glide and ends up dying from fall damage (me too bachira me too)

CHIGIRI HYOMA (千切 豹馬)

Ningguang main chigiri ningguang main chigiri ningguang main chigiri-

He first got her on the beginner's banner she's been on his team ever since, definitely has her c6

You can't tell me that he wouldn't decorate his teapot bc he WOULD

And it's decorated so nicely too, he's even got a whole area dedicated to the animals he caught

Started playing after bachira said the landscapes were pretty but then he got invested into the lore (he watches those genshin theory videos too)

Enjoys taking photos of the landscapes and his characters, he once accidentally clicked on his diluc's skill while taking a photo and proceeded to laugh at how cursed it looked

Doesn't like solving the puzzles in inazuma and enkanomiya tho so he just google searches the solutions

Randomly makes cracked theories about khaen'riah, it happens so often no one can tell if he's being serious or not

Absolutely hates paimon's voice, he'll throw off his headphones whenever paimon starts talking and go "stfu paimon" like calm down

HATES the spectors with all his heart

He also likes collecting items in the open world, has over 2k of each of them

Might have spent a bit of money on welkin but that's as far as he'll go

Idk why but he strikes me as the type to mainly use bow or catalyst users bc of the range

Is very good at aiming and dodging, has laughed at isagi struggling while they were fighting azdaha

KUNIGAMI RENSUKE (國神 錬介)

The man somehow got a qiqi on the beginner's banner, he read her backstory, felt bad, and decided to main her

And no, his qiqi is not a healer or support, she's a full blown physical DPS

And her build is no joke either, he once made her do 200k damage while fighting the new scaramouche boss like kunigami wtf are you feeding her??

If there's a boss you can't beat, just call him to co-op and his zombie child will carry

Is another lore invester

Chigiri once sent him a video explaining enkanomiya lore and they later spent hours discussing about it

Got emotional at the tsurumi island and kazari quest, maybe at the dainsleif chasm quest too

Also levels up all his character's friendship to 10 to get their name cards

Has read all of his character's stories out of boredom

Completed ALL of his world quests, doesn't skip the dialogue in case he misses something important

Does hangout quests, beidou was his favourite one

Can never see hilichurls the same anymore after the chasm archon quest, all this time he's been killing cursed, innocent people? He feels so guilty

His luck when it comes to the gacha is literally phenomenal, the guy has never lost a 50/50 in his life

He's very skilled at controling his waverider and comes out at the top during waverider races

He's also good in fishing too, he manages to always stay within the moving bar

He plays spiral abyss often and would have 36 stars if it weren't for the last few floors being such a pain in the ass

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[a-minke-whales-tale]

TW Rant/Vent/Probably unreality. If you do not want to read these, block the tag #whale vent

I struggle to understand what happened to me, and how I came to be this way. I think that the humans took me and made me like this. I do not know entirely why, I guess just to be useful to them. That is what I have been taught over and over is my function, and that is all the humans want from me. They made me quite clever, I can solve difficult problems. Though my body does not work, or maybe it just started to break down and degrade very quickly from what they did to me. And though my brain is very good to solve problems, my memory is very bad, and seems to be degrading more and more. The day fades so quickly into the murky water behind me. I forget things so quickly. Even of the day it is just brown silt.

I do not know what all they did to me. At one point my body worked fantastically. It was wrong, deeply wrong, but I could control my limbs so beautifully. Or I must have been able to for I was once a good gymnast. I started turning back at one point and they made me take pills to stop it. To control the transformations and prevent me reverting. My limbs have never been the same. They feel now like they were crudely sewn onto me, like I am Frankenstein's monster. I want to stop taking the pills, so I can revert fully, but the humans would just lock me away if I did. I do not know how long it would take for my body to revert. Plus I would be merely the size of a calf, how could I hope to survive out in the wild? And having been on these pills for so long, could my body fully revert and stay that way? Or will there forever be after effects of what the humans did to me?

I dream so often the humans would return me to the water, even if it is a tank in an aquarium, that I could stay there forever. I would still be captive, and I would still serve the humans, but at least I would be me. I fear the humans will not allow that. That is not what they designed me for. My every interaction with the humans is one of serving them, desperately trying to please them, and hope I am good enough for them. I often hope that if I am good enough, if I do something incredible enough for them, they will let me go, or at least return me to the water, satisfied I have completed my function. It often seems though as a hopeless dream, but sometimes a hopeless dream may be all you and cling to. Perhaps it is hopeless, or perhaps the humans just want it to appear that way and in the end if I keep my faith I will swim free, and swim forever.

~ Kala

[countrymusiclover]

44 - Love is the most powerful magic of all

His Golden Princess

Thank you all for reading ❤️ This is the end of Astrid and Rumple's story

@fanficismydrug @misskitty1912-blog @icefrye19 @lover-of-books-and-tea

Shooting awake up in the bed holding my stomach with my hands tightly. Frantically looking around I gasped. Fumbling over to my nightstand I dialed the first phone number I could think of. “Em, ah! I need your help. The baby…”

“Ast, what’s wrong?” Even though she wasn’t happy I used the sword to save her life and made her a Dark One she still cared about me.

It had been a few months since I had told her and Rumple the truth. Throwing my head back against the pillows I gripped the phone in my hand. “I think the baby’s coming. I….ohhh. I need Rumple.”

“I��ll come get you.” She said quickly.

Biting my lip I drew blood feeling contractions. My heart was beating faster. “Emma, there’s no need. I can just magic there….ah what the hell?” Looking down to my arm I gasped seeing some dark veins rising up through my veins.

“Astrid, tell me. What’s going on!” My sister declared through the phone hearing the panic in my voice. We could always tell the difference in the other person's voice when we were terrified. Before she gave birth to Henry I visited her in jail and could see she was horrified.

Tossing the covers aside I stumbled out of the bed. Standing on my feet I winced holding a hand over my heart feeling it burning in pain. "Emma, I need Rumple. Ohhh! Call - call Ella…call Ashley. Whoever she's going by. Cinderella!"

"Okay I'm calling her right now." Emma hung up where I stumbled down the stairs in my sleep clothes trying to not panic. Leaning against the wall I knew that Ashly or Ella would be there for me just like my sister.

Walking into Ashly’s hospital room Emma said I should be the one to tell her we convince Gold to let her keep her child. Shutting the door behind me I smiled seeing her holding her daughter. “Hey, how’s she doing. What’s her name?”

“Alexandra. Sean came to see her.” Her smile dropped thinking back to Gold and their deal. “Will he be taking her from me now?”

Sitting down on the edge of her bed I placed a hand on her leg. “Nope. Emma and I got him to let you keep her. My sister will owe him a favor but it doesn’t matter as long as you’re happy.”

“Thank you, thank you both so much.” She began crying, bouncing her baby girl in her arms.

Sending her a grin I tilted my head sensing she had more to say. “What is it, Ashly?”

“I noticed Emma, your sister said she had a kid. But you don’t. I just thought that if you ever have children I’ll be there for you.” The blonde grinned and we would later learn she was Cinderella. “You and Emma gave me a chance to raise my child. And that is something I will never forget.”

Sniffing through tears I didn’t expect that from the single mother. “Awe thank you, Ashly. I will remember that. You have my word.”

The blonde princess pulled up outside my house and her husband Thomas came inside seeing that I was holding my stomach. Throwing my head back I winced sharply. “Sean!”

“Did someone call a prince to the rescue? Come on, we'll get you to the hospital.” He wrapped his arms around my waist lifting me up bridal style carrying me out to his truck.

Ashly was in the front passenger seat holding her daughter in her lap. But she reached behind the seat taking my hand in hers. “It’s going to be okay. Emma said she is going to get Rumple.”

“Okay…” I nodded, biting my lip, shutting my eyes as we flee to the hospital which thankfully wasn’t far in the small formerly cursed town. Once we were there her prince came back with a wheelchair and the nurse got a room ready.

Laying in the bed I gasped seeing the dark veins making their way through my whole arm. I didn't know why it was happening but it had to be the reason I collapsed and saw my daughter in a future vision. “Ah Mrs. Gold. I am praying that this pregnancy I perform is actually normal this time.” Dr. Whale came into the room with a set of nurses.

“You and I both…urgh!” I bared my teeth down before the lights in the room flickered off and on like crazy. I had a blood pressure cuff on tracing my vitals that started sounding off like crazy.

Whale came over reading the level my heart was going. “Woah, that isn’t good. Your heart rate is way too low.”

“It probably has something to do with these.” Holding my forearm upwards he caught sight of the dark veins. I coughed some blood on my shirt when the door burst open and I saw my sister and husband. “Emma - Rumple!”

My husband rushed over to my bedside as quickly as he could with the limp and cane. He takes my hand in tracing his thumb over the veins that were growing my palms now. “Astrid, I’m sorry. There shouldn’t be this much stress on the baby. But don’t worry I’ll fix it.”

“Rumple ... .no you take the power back.” I gasped through tears seeing him draw the Dark One dagger from inside his suit jacket.

He shook his head clutching the dagger handle tightly in his hands. He began crying heavily where I could see his brown eyes welling with tears. “I can’t let the darkness kill you and our daughter. You are too important to me, lass. You are my heart and soul. If you die then I won’t have my happy ending. You have changed me to be a better man and know love when I didn’t think I deserved it. So let me take the power back please.”

“But if you take it back it will kill you, Rumple. That’s the whole reason why I took it from you….I don’t want to lose the man I love.” I sobbed heavily through tears clutching the bedsheets in my fingers. “Please don’t leave me, Rumple. I need you….you are my life!”

He placed the dagger in my right wrapping his hand around mine where he winced shaking through the pain feeling how stronger the darkness had become in my bloodstream. “Then we will split the power between us. Together we share a heart. So we can share the power too.”

“How…I thought only one person could be the Dark One.” I croaked, squeezing his hand in mine beginning to feel more scared than before.

Emma stepped forward taking the dagger in her hands raising it up to the two of us all the while Dr. Whale was jumping standing there watching. “I found a way to control my light magic over the darkness that is keeping me alive. I know what to do. You have to each have light and dark magic inside of you.” She focused sternly on us before the dagger glows brightly and we both gasped.

Shifting my gaze to Rumple I saw he was watching me too. Suddenly the dark magic came outside of me and split into two separate strands. The magic shot back into our hearts and the same thing happened with my golden light magic. “That should work….oh my gosh.” My sister sighed with a smile.

“It worked, Rumple.” Leaning my head against his chest I sighed in relief intertwining my hand with his gently. His brown eyes watched the darkness veins disappear from my arms a few seconds after.

Dr. Whale looked at my screen showing the baby getting my legs up and open to push. “Now that your heart is good we need to get this baby out for ya.”

Rumple moved around to the side of the bed so I could hold onto his hand. The contractions started coming closer together when I gave my first few pushes. My heart started banging against my chest and I already felt tired. "It's starting to come out, Astrid. Just a few more big pushes." Dr. Whale said back.

Rumple winced sharply when I squeezed his hand even tighter. My freehand was turning white while I gripped the handle of the dagger. Sweat was sticking to my forehead with the white hair falling over my shoulders appearing to be a mess. "I can't do this, Rumple…I can’t!"

"Yes you can. Astrid. I've seen you overcome things that have been much harder than this. So I know you can do this." He replied, squeezing my hand in his even though I had nearly broken his hand at this point.

Nodding my head slowly I bared my teeth doing one final push that took the last of my energy that I had left. An infant's cry filled the room where I threw my head back onto the pillows. Gulping a lump down my throat I slowly controlled my breathing while the nurse wrapped the baby in a blanket handing them to me once I had sat up again. "Congratulations, you have a baby girl. Have you thought of a name?"

“No….ah what the hell!” I gasped, feeling more contractions breaking through my body.

Emma whipped her head around in panic. “Whale, what is happening to my sister?”

“It’s okay. Uh….she has another baby coming.” He dropped down in his rolling chair frantically getting prepared again telling me to push again. “You have to start pushing again, Mrs. Gold.”

Sucking in a breath Rumple squeezed my hand tightly knowing that I was beginning to panic rapidly. He pushed hair out of my face when I started pushing as much as I could. “Ahhh!”

“There it is. Congratulations again you two. You have a baby boy now too.” Dr. Whale held up the baby in his arms, handing it to the other nurse.

The nurses handed the girl to me and the baby boy to Rumple. He sent me a teary grin and I chuckled, not expecting that we would have two kids at once. “Rumple, I know the name for the daughter. Marigold Ella Stilskin. But you can name the boy.”

“Gideon Baefire Stilskin.” He declares leaning forward kissing me gently. Leaning into the kiss I smiled when he whispered back. “I love you, Astrid. I always will. You are my golden princess.”

Breaking the kiss we both stared down at the infants in our arms. No matter what we had faced, these little joys were all worth it. “I love you too, Rumple. You are my dark prince.” I would never forget that Henry bringing us here to break a curse changed everything for the better.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[alpaca-clouds]

Solarpunk and other Species

Or: Whalecome to the Whale Revolution (I guess)

Kinda going off what I wrote yesterday...

For those, who have not heard: Orcas have started to organize to sink boats and small ships. And they are strategic about it. Attacking the ships navigations system first and then punching holes into the hull.

It started about three weeks ago in the Mediterranean, but the information spread pretty fast among the species, by now having reached the US East Coast. And it seems they have started to recruit other whale species into it.

This kinda sounds like some shit out of a fantasy novel but, well... This is, what is happening now.

And I think this once again shows one thing we humans kinda tend to forget: A lot of animals are actually pretty darn intelligent. I am not saying that they have human intelligence, but they are intelligent and are capable of both complex thought and communicating complex ideas.

There are so many stories like this. Of animals so clearly having been able to convey complex information among them. Just because we are incapable of understanding them, does not mean they do not have this kind of ability.

And it is not just whales, who we at least someone pick as being intelligent creatures. Elefants are capable of this. A lot of different ravens are. Sharks, too. Even though they are solitary animals, we have seen such behavior and the ability to exchange information with one another in sharks as well. Oh, and pigs. We cannot forget pigs.

It is something I keep wondering about, when I consider things like worldbuilding for Solarpunk stories. Right now pretty much the only ones interested in trying to communicate with animals are conservationists and NASA (who have figured that maybe we should figure out how to understand other species, because it might help us communicate with aliens one day). And while we have the vague idea of animal rights, it is mostly stuff about not making them suffer...

See, I am not a vegan. I am not gonna be a vegan anytime soon. Because, again, I very much see humans as part of nature - and we always were a predator species in the end. But I also think that stuff like factory farming, and I do not think that stuff like industrial fishing is right or moral. Some hunting and keeping small amounts of animals though? Absolutely valid. (Also, because some disabled and chronically ill people - as well as people in some extreme environments - are reliant on animal protein.)

BUT... I also do think it is wrong to think as ourselves as something so very different than animals.

People will always go on about not humanizing animals, to which I agree. They are different species and will probably think very differently than us. I have said it so many times and will say it again: No, your cat does not understand the concept of freedom. But that does not mean that there is no animal species capable of complex thought.

I have seen a lot of indigenous folks on twitter joke: "Orcas said: Sea back!" (paralleling the "land back" movement), and honestly: I don't think, they are necessarily wrong about it.

I think that a few species of animals do understand complex ideas like that... And maybe we should learn to listen to them and cooperate with them, rather than seeing ourselves as the one big species.

I don't know. It is just a thought I cannot shake.

[epistrefei]

[FULL] for sender to tell/let receiver see that they're wearing a plug. / ok what if this is an extension of the rosie naked chores meta.

-

Cruelty. It is cruel, the effect that Zahrosa knows she has on Artemis. All too often she takes advantage of the remarkably little restraint the Goddess has when it comes to faculties of the body. It is particularly a nuisance when Artemis is actually trying to get things done like today.

She sits among piles of furs and pelts, string and thread and needles held between her fingers and lips while she continues stitching through the pieces she holds. There is already one large parka fashioned from scratch draped over the chair, but this one looks to be a good deal smaller. Much too small for Artemis, and even too small for the thin frame of the witch. It seemed that this one was meant to be child-sized. What was more, the interior lining was a pattern decorated with minks, Arctic fox and whales.

Artemis just lays down the fabric to give her aching fingertips a rest when Zahrosa walks into view through the window. Her pale skin is nearly luminous with the sunlight, and the Goddess briefly lapses in attention enough to drop and promptly lose one of the needles. She starts cursing, moving around, trying to find it on the floor before it stabs her somewhere inconvenient—and the door to the garden opens and closes.

She stops and forgets about the needle again when her sorceress pauses to refill the watering can. There, nestled neatly between her cheeks, were two lovely plugs. The needles are promptly forgotten about and make little tinkering noises as the rest fall to the floor. Artemis crosses the space quickly enough to press the blonde into the counter from behind.

"Every time I think I have been sated of you—" Artemis mutters while she ducks to bite at Zahrosa's neck, "I find another reason to take you all over again."

She uses her hips to keep Zahrosa pinned in place, chuckling, first biting then licking a downright possessive, lewd stripe up her neck. Her hand first slides just above the blonde's pubic bone teasingly, then around her hip to her lower back where it descends and plays with one of the plugs. She pushes it in further at first, then back out, slowly fucking her ass with the bulbous object. Thick cum slowly leaks every time she moves it from their earlier entanglement. Zahrosa did have a penchant for keeping it inside of her.

Artemis opts to spin her lover around, then, only to reach down once more between her legs. She slowly pulls out the larger plug from the blonde's cunt with a slick squelching sound. The same white, sticky substance begins to drip freely from her open entrance down the length of Zahrosa's legs.

All the huntress does is bring the cum-soaked plug to her lips and slowly lick up the length of it while staring directly at Zahrosa. She continues holding the plug in her hand, wet and sticky, while she presses forward and takes her sorceress into a long, languid kiss.

The plug gets deposited onto the counter. Artemis pulls away and promptly turns, returning to the pile of pelts on the floor. She goes back to sewing, having found the needle, humming and smiling to herself as if nothing had happened.

[random-deepdeanite]

randomly generated incorrect quotes that i selected because they actually fit the characters cambridge crew edition

Amanda: Good morning! Alfred, checking their watch: Correct.

Alfred: I only have two emotions: exhaustion and stress. And I’m somehow always feeling both simultaneously.

Amanda, slamming pots and pans together to the rhythm of "Give it to me, I'm worth it": I didn't get no sleep cause a' y'all! Y'all never gonna sleep cause a' me!

Harold: Hello, I'm Harold. I work at a shop now. Here to help. Look, they gave me a badge with my name on it in case I forget it. Very helpful, as that does happen.

Henry:If I was married to you I would put poison in your coffee. Amanda: If I was married to you I’d drink it.

Harold: Would you like your pizza cut into six or eight slices, Bertie? Bertie: Oh just six, I don’t think I could eat eight.

Bertie: I’ve never smoked marijuana. I ate a brownie once at a party. It was intense. It was kind of indescribable. I felt like I was floating. Turns out there was no pot in the brownie. It was just an insanely good brownie.

Henry: I thought you were going to give me a book recommendation or something. Bertie: *laughs* Book recommendation? I can’t read!

Bertie: You know what bothers me? Bats. Why can bats fly? Amanda: Not again! Bertie: No. Seriously, who gave them the right? They're mammals! Mammals walk on land, no exceptions. Alfred: Just wait until you hear about whales. Bertie: What now?

Alfred: fast-forwards all the way through the movie Harold: You can't just skip to the happy ending! Alfred: I don't have time for their problems.

Alfred: If looking good was a crime, you’d be a law abiding citizen.

Amanda: How was your day, Alfred? Alfred: Yeah, fine, it's anti-bullying week at school. Amanda: Oh? And what does that mean? Alfred: It means I can't bully anyone for a whole week.

Amanda: Any idiot would know that. Bertie: I knew that! Amanda: See?

Harold: Why are you like this?? Alfred: I used too much "No More Tears" shampoo as a kid and I haven't felt a single emotion since.

Bertie: I just had a long talk with Henry and Amanda about hitting and now they are yelling “it’s my turn to perpetuate the cycle of violence” before hitting each other.

Amanda: My aesthetic is "would be suspected of witchcraft by small town citizens."

Bertie: Sleep is the body’s best safety mechanism. Harold: How so? Bertie: It keeps you from screwing up for 8 hours.

Bertie: Yeah, well I've never died so how do I know that god is real.

Bertie: I'm naturally funny because my life is a joke.

[greenbriar-j]

i think this is my favorite piece from the entirety of my mini nano:

Once he puts the phone down, Micah scowls. “You’re so mean to me.”

A sound of indignation emerges from Frankie’s throat. Micah is mostly sure that he’ll never be able to make that sound again. Or else, it’s a sound he makes often but doesn’t voluntarily recreate. “You look cute, don’t worry.”

“That’s what they all say, but I end up looking like a dying whale.”

“Micah,” he scolds. He turns the camera around for a selfie, which she dutifully poses for despite her protests. “We do not speak of dying whales in the aquarium. Anyway, I promise you look fine; I’ll send them to you eventually.”

“Eventually better be- Holy shit, that thing is huge.” 

A whale shark swims slowly above their heads. A collective oooh rings through the tunnel. 

The aquarium, as always, makes Micah feel small. Here she is, complaining about her little sister, but at least she has one. Do whales get lonely in the vast ocean on their own? It’s a silly question anyway, since whales - as far as she’s concerned - are social creatures. Even here, they keep a few of them together. 

Micah logs a mental note to google whether whales experience heartbreak, then acknowledges that she’ll forget by the time she gets home. No time like the present, then. 

Tugging on Frankie’s shirt (which she had already been holding, apparently. When did that happen?), she says, “What happens when whales experience heartbreak?”

“Whales are said to grieve their dead, if that’s what you mean. Or when part of their party gets lost. Some whales spend their entire existence alone, though.”

“Hmm.”

“On that depressing note, let’s go see the penguins.”

[theredwallrecorder]

Let’s Try An’ Settle the Redwall Species Height Shmacka Once And For All Me Hearties

I have a confession.

I can’t imagine a Redwall where the characters are scale to the actual sizes of mice/rats/badgers/etc. I’m sorry. Please don’t ask me to fathom a Redwall Abbey the size of a child’s sandcastle. Please don’t ask me to pretend that a crew of vermin go sailing the sea in a ship with the measurement specs of a hobby model. I’m just... *inhales deeply* I’m not strong enough.

SO WHAT ARE THEIR ACTUAL JACQUES-GIVEN HEIGHTS. Well, according to Jacques’ Q&A page, there aren’t any canon heights; he’d like the creatures of Redwall to be as big or as small as your imagination. Turns out my imagination is pretty big. Big enough to want to scale this out for real. Want in?

I’m gonna need all the help I can get for this so hollaback at me all ya DnD playin’ mateys. @riverdoge @dibbunsagainstbedtime @laflenkenway @kazenoshun @xiphosuras @martin-the-warriorior @ltmacotter @handsome-spud @whoever else can contribute their RPG knowledges

I’m referencing the d20PFSRD for this. I’m more familiar with Pathfinder rules than Core, but much of the race-specific information is similar between the two. Also, here are the Redwall height charts I’m referencing for this: fortunatafox’s chart, byun-blog’s chart, novanocturne’s chart, mongoosefangs’s chart, benalene’s chart, somagames’s chart. (IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE REDWALL CREATURE SIZE CHARTS PLEASE LINK THEM BLESS YOU.)

Blah blah tabletop rolepaying games Pathfinder operates on a generic height system using monikers to denote size. Each moniker refers to a size category that describes the actual height of the character/creature without having to use literal numbers of measurement. The page at this link is a great rundown of size categories and what that means translated into three dimensions.

What I’m attempting to do is place the races of Redwall into equivalent Pathfinder height categories based on the animal’s size in real life. This would allow us to fathom how massive, say, the seals of Hawm’s clan are in Pearls of Lutra. Or how literally insane it is for a mouse (size category: small, see below) to go up against an adult male adder (probably size category: huge, give or take the results of this discussion).

Disclaimer: Believe you me, I’m not sayin’ EVERY member of x species is within a certain height range. I imagine Redwall has its Bandobras Tooks. Mister Jacques specifically mentions that certain characters are noticeably larger than other members of their species (such as Ranguvar Foeseeker), so we’re gonna have outliers.

Let’s take the smallest sentient Redwallers first. It would be reasonable to suggest that mice/shrews/voles/moles/etc, being on the lower end of the Redwall height spectrum, may be considered small (i.e. between 2 to 4 ft tall). A Dibbun or other infantile creature would be considered tiny (i.e. in the range of 1 to 2 feet tall). I don’t think we’d have any other sentient creature smaller than tiny (...or would we?), so for now Dibbuns are our smallest category.

Where would everybeast else fit? I’m especially torn about where to put badgers... maybe huge? Here’s an example category rundown (totally in the works) to help with the visuals:

Tiny: Dibbuns Small: Shrews, voles, mice, bats, moles, sparrows Medium: Squirrels, hedgehogs, rats, crows/ravens, magpies Large: Hares, otters, ferrets, weasels, pine martens, stoats, sables Huge: Badgers, foxes, wildcats, snakes, eagles/hawks, owls, herons Gargantuan: Swans, seals, dolphins Colossal: Whales

Whadya mateys think?