#i miss yuk

[caramello-styles]

stay in your own lane ‘cos I’m about to swerve.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Seongji Yuk x Reader: Treats

G/N. Meeting Seongji for the first time.

"Your teeth are gonna fall out."

The monster of the mountain looks at you, face blank though eyes amused, tanghulu hanging from his mouth.

You've seen him enough times to know there's not much monstrous about him, apart from his overwhelming sweet tooth.

Rumours of this monster were grossly exaggerated.

Maybe you should have had more self preservation than to wander the mountainside when such tales persist. Yet when you found out the monster was a mere man, a mere boy close to your age, who seemed to have a penchant for sugary, syrup covered fruit-

You realised the only thing to fear was cavities and tooth decay.

Still. It helps to have someone with such a reputation on your side, you decide, as you toss over a pack of fruit gummies.

A hand shoots out and swiftly catches it.

(Six. You swore you saw six fingers on that hand.)

"Thought you might like these," you shrug as he gives you an odd look, "See ya!"

.

.

After the fifth pack of candies you threw at him, the guilt sets in.

You make your way through now familiar half hidden paths, searching for the monster.

He's there. Sitting in front of his giant wok, surrounded by freshly made tanghulu. Scents of sugar and caramel fill the air.

"You're here again," The words are spoken so quietly you almost missed them. His voice is softer than you expected.

"I bought you more things," you hold out a small plastic bag. He gives you the same look each time. 

"Open it," you encourage, shoving it more forcefully in his direction.

With little trust - which is somewhat unfair, you think, considering all the treats he has received from you - he takes the bag.

(Six. You know you saw six fingers on that hand.)

He opens it, peers in, face clouded with caution. Then-

Eyebrows shooting into his hairline, eyes widening almost comically, mouth forming an 'o'-

The tension breaks and he chuckles.

"It's one thing if all the tanghulu you eat rots your teeth, that's your own fault," You rub the back of your head self-consciously as he pulls out more fruit candies, as well as a new toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash one after the other. "But if it's because of me then..."

"You're strange," he says, staring at you like you're a puzzle he can't quite figure out.

His words have no bite.

.

.

"Seongji Yuk," he eventually provides his name with reluctance. In exchange, you provide the rest of the banchan and rice to accompany his homemade kimchi.

(Your single braincell stopped functioning the first time you realised he does in fact eat something besides sugar.

It's endearing, this supposed 'monster' making his own tanghulu, making his own kimchi.

You kept comparing his recipe with your own before eventually he asked you to leave out of exasperation.)

"Well Seongji, your kimchi needs more saeujeot," It's not bad, it's just missing something.

"You don't have to eat it," he grumbles, swallowing down an extra big mouthful.

.

.

"So..."  You stall, elongating the word, letting it drift into the night. You don't really know Seongji well, hell you don't know him at all. Maybe it would be intrusive to ask.

You hear a rustling beside you. "So what?"

"So… you live on this mountain?"

"I do."

"Huh." You gaze out at the stars. It's a pretty peaceful existence, or it would be if not for Cheonliang. "On your own?"

"Yes."

"Do you ever get lonely?"

A beat. Then - "No."

Oh.

You turn to him and see his face blank but eyes amused. Messy hair and high cheekbones highlighted by the fire.

"Well I can visit you if I get lonely then."

There's a huff of laughter. Seongji knows he can't stop you anyway. He turns back toward the vast inky sky. Takes in the scattered stars. Feels the heat from the flames, a heat that settles into his cheeks.

A smile dances on his lips when he tells you "Okay."

[verstawppen]

hold me close (cl16)

BLURB (1.2k words)

verstawppen writes: something short and sweet for yall. enjoy!

summary: you comfort Charles after a bad Quali warnings: none. fem!reader, F1 journalist!reader, fluff, comfort, established relationship, secret relationship.

The day was going by at an excruciatingly slow pace, every time you checked your lock screen it seemed only a minute had passed. You sighed in exasperation as the press conference stretched on well past the scheduled timings. You could see the exhaustion on Yuk and Daniel’s faces even from your position at the back and you knew they were dying to get back to their hotel rooms for a day of rest. But here they were, stuck in the media pen answering pointed questions about their Qualifying. And you were stuck too. You’d already done your duties and compiled all the responses from your interviews with the drivers for your tabloid. You were itching to get back to your hotel room. To get back to Charles. He’d had a bad Qualifying, just as he began his fastest lap of Quali, his gearbox began malfunctioning and Ferrari had to retire the car. He was visibly frustrated when he came back to the Ferrari garage. He just wanted to have a good race for once this season without facing any issues with his car and you felt that he deserved that, being one of the best drivers on the grid. Ever since you’d seen him leaving the garage, running his hands through his damp hair, something he only did when he was being consumed with anxiety, you’d wanted nothing more than to wrap your arms around him and soothe his uneased mind. You were his girlfriend, you should have been there for him. But it wasn’t that easy, you knew the implications it would have on both your careers, more on his than yours, to be seen together. An F1 journalist and Ferrari’s golden boy. The media would have a field day, you would know. A brief buzz from the pocket of your trousers brought you out of your thoughts-

Charles <3 When are you coming back?? I miss you :( You I’m so sorry Cha the conference is running past the schedule. I’m stuck here Charles <3 Want me to come rescue you, cherie? You No it’s alright, love. Try to rest until I come back, you’ve had a long day. When Charles didn’t respond after 15 minutes, you presumed he’d taken your advice and had gone to sleep. You felt guilt churn in your stomach. Charles was always there to take care of you after a long day despite his own exhausting profession. He was an absolute sweetheart, showering you with kisses as soon as you came back to him in his motorhome or his hotel room, sitting you down on his bed before taking off your heels for you, nimble fingers massaging your sore, tender feet.

‘Fuck this’ you thought to yourself. “Hey I think I’m gonna leave early”, you informed your colleague sitting beside you. You were friends and you’d told her about you and Charles. She nodded in understanding, “Go, I’ll cover for you.” You got up from your seat, shooting her a grateful smile as you gathered your things and left the media pen. You called yourself a cab to the hotel where Charles and you were staying. The ride felt longer than when you’d arrived at the paddock in the morning, excited to see Charles race. You rubbed your temple, your concern for Charles growing by the minute.

You practically fell out of the cab when you opened the door in a hurry even before the car had fully stopped. You quickly paid the driver and ran up the steps of the hotel entrance. The cool air of the hotel lobby cooled your skin which had gathered a thin layer of sweat from your rushed movements and increasing stress. You impatiently waited for the elevator and immediately pressed your floor number once you were inside.

The elevator opened with a ding and soon you were standing in front of Charles’s hotel room fishing around with one hand for the keycard he’d given you while your other hand held your suit jacket and your bag. You scanned the card and opened the door. You tried to be as quiet as possible and closed the door behind you with a soft click. You removed your heels, set them down on the shoe rack and deposited your stuff onto a countertop near the room’s entrance. But maybe your movements weren’t as discreet as you thought because as soon as the bed came into view, you saw Charles had woken up, sleepily rubbing his eyes. He let out a silent yawn but as soon as his eyes fell on you, his face lit up. He sat upright, a wide grin on his face which you mirrored. You quickly made your way over to his side of the bed and sat down in front of him, feeling his hands wrap themselves around your frame. He was wearing a black hoodie, his favourite one which you liked to steal sometimes. You buried your in his neck, he smelled of aftershave and his characteristic slightly musky cologne. You held him close, your fingers clutching onto his hoodie.  His chin rested atop your head, his left hand tracing abstract circles on your back. It was everything you both needed. You pulled away and looked up into his sparkling green orbs. “Hi, love” “Hi, cherie” Even though he’d been calling you ‘cherie’ for more than 2 years now, the nickname never failed to awaken the butterflies in your stomach. Your hands reached to cup his face, thumb lightly stroking his cheekbone. “How are you?”, you asked. From this proximity, you could see the dark circles forming under his mesmerising eyes, a detail that the cameras thankfully never seemed to capture. And it was good, you knew Charles would hate for the world to think that he wasn’t able to take the heat. But at the end of the day, he was only human. He smiled before replying to you, his voice slightly raspy from having just woken up,” I’m good now that you’re here, mon amour.” Your hands moved from his face into his curled locks and he relished the feeling of your fingers lightly massaging his scalp, making waves of comfort and relief wash all over his tired body as his head found its resting place on your collarbone, lightly taking in the scent of your sweet floral perfume. He unconsciously smiled against your neck. Carding your fingers through his hair just the way you knew he liked, you spoke to him in a low, comforting sort of voice, “You did so well today, Charles. You almost had the fastest lap of the Quali despite having to work with such a difficult car. You got the best you could out of that car and that’s enough for now. Things will get better, Ferrari is working on the issue, right? You’ll soon have a car worthy of your talent and you’ll be back on the podium in no time, love.” He hummed in acknowledgement of your encouraging words. It meant a lot to him, more than you’d ever know. He pressed a small kiss to your collarbone in appreciation. “Thank you, ma cherie” You smiled, your eyes closing to relish the warmth of his presence in your embrace. “Anytime, Cha”

[inthefallofasparrow]

CORRESPONDENCE 1031 – THIRD QUADRANT 6 > NEVADA CENTRAL DISPATCH ~092338 RE: ASSESSMENT REPORT - Officer Yuki de Witt

OFFICER’S NOTES: 3Q6 is one of the more efficient quadrants within the Mining Division. All of Sectors 5 through 9 have consistently run at full or double quota for the last season. CIRCUMSTANTIAL: Successful liaison with 3Q6 Board of Captains (Cpt. SPIEGEL, absent) regarding the sudden death of Unit 23 Cpt. SILTSMEAR from 4Q6. Decision pending. Further info required. INCIDENT REPORT: n/a WORKER MORALE: Moderate

~RESPONSE: Received (211)

DIGGING CORPS - LOG 081/- Hey. I know you’ll never read this, but I guess I don’t need you to. Was only supposed to stay a few days, write up my assessment for Dispatch and then leave, but then one of the captains in a neighboring quadrant fucking died. Nothing nefarious mind you, just dust pneumonia. Certainly, more paperwork than it was worth. Sounds like a lot of weird shit’s been going on over there, so one of the captains went over to assist with the transitional period, and I agreed to stay here at Third Q6 to cover until he could be replaced. That was over a month ago now, and I miss the fucking sun! Never thought I’d say that. Had a few reservations about being stuck underground this long as the only woman for miles in any direction, but so far, apart from the odd leer in the mess hall, I have remained “unharassed”. The worst of it would be one particularly cantankerous geezer called Ira Trask, Foreman of 9C, who insisted on addressing me by my first name until I referred him to the NCD handbook on worksite professionalism, and he relented. I assumed he just wanted to be friendly so I'd help get him promoted, but now I think it was something deeper, more sad and nostalgic. There’s a lock on my door at least, and being exceptionally tall seems to give them second thoughts. But as you’d imagine, height’s not generally an advantage in tight, enclosed spaces with low ceilings. Most shovelmen develop a stooped physique during their time in the corps. Fucked if I’m gonna stay that long.

Yuk

DIGGING CORPS – LOG 94/- Decided if I have to be stuck down here in Satan’s ass crack, twiddling my thumbs, I might as well spend the time processing some individual Worker Profiles. The shovelmen generally alternate between reticent, awkward, sullen or befuddled by the concept of being personally assessed, but if me doing their interview gets them a few minutes to slack off their shifts, they’re happy enough for the distraction. Foreman Trask is displeased by the interruption, but he is welcome to sit on it.

Names seem to be taboo here. I know all the workers’ names of course, because it’s on their file, but that really freaks them out and there’s no point in using them. Share anything of your backstory with your fellow shovelmen, anything that they can tie back to you, and that’s a power they now hold over you. It's like some kind of deep occult shit, but for fucking miners. Everyone gets a new name here, bestowed upon you by your peers. And you only get that so you can tell whose shovel you’re holding.

Met a greenie from Unit 9A named Theodore today. The others call him ‘Mouse’ which he seems to prefer. Whether it’s for his demeanor, his silky brown hair, or, I don’t know, maybe he just likes cheese, he won’t answer to anything else despite having only been here two months. I asked him and a few others what they knew about the late Captain from 4Q6. Common sentiment seems to be that he was mad as a balloon.

Yuk

DIGGING CORPS - LOG 113/- Had a dream about the swing mom never built us. The big tire swing that wasn’t in the apple orchard. I know you don’t remember it, because, well, it never existed, but I feel like I’ve mentioned it before. Anyway, in the dream, I was swinging in the orchard at night time. And the sky was so pitch black, because there weren’t any stars at all. Just a void. Like, the dream was set after the sun had just died, and there was nothing left. Or maybe it wasn’t night. Maybe the orchard was inside a cave. It doesn’t matter. So, the swing was just a regular car tire, but then as I swung higher, I looked down and it was suddenly bigger. Stretching out to the size of a tractor tire. Or something off a monster truck. Then, I swung higher, and the tire grew again, too big for any actual vehicle, and now I could easily fit inside the trough of the tire itself and lie in it like a big hammock. But I couldn’t do that, because the trough was full of apples. Hundreds of these squishy brown apples in various states of decay. And the apples were growing too. Larger and larger, bustling and toppling over each other until they were the size of bowling balls, and then beach balls, and I was sort of half-drowning, half-swimming in these apples. And then I realized. They weren’t growing. I was shrinking. So, I climbed inside of an apple where the pip should be, because I knew deep down that was the logical place to go to die, and then I woke up. I’m pretty sure I know what it means, even if you don’t.

Yuk

DIGGING CORPS – LOG 115/- Random insights gleaned from Unit 9 Review a.k.a. ‘Operation: Peanut Gallery’:

Shovelman ‘Wiles’ - Appears to be the closest thing Sector 9 has to a medic. At least, he says he knows how to saw a man’s leg off without killing him, which is good enough here apparently. I didn’t ask for specifics. There is a constant film of dust covering his glasses, which he seems unaware of.

Shovelman ‘Twoshort’- Tried to convince me it’s common practice for the men to eat handfuls of dirt as a snack, given it’s more nutritious than whatever they were being served in the mess hall. I offered to immediately lodge a formal complaint with Captain Spiegel and the Food Prep team on his behalf, and he backpedaled comically fast, and then tripped on his way out because his foot was asleep.

Shovelman ‘Basher’ – Built like a shuttle truck and functionally deaf after an incident with a stick of dynamite last year. Uses a form of abridged sign language that he and a few others in his unit invented specifically for him. Extremely introverted at first until Wiles came to interpret for me, then he wouldn't shut up.

Shovelman ‘Blessed’ - Recently discovered an injured bat, which he has taken it upon himself to nurse back to health against NCD regulation 58N. He also appears to be deathly allergic to said bat, as his face and hands had swollen incredibly within minutes of handling the thing. A persistent sneezing has overtaken him, but apparently that’s normal and unrelated to the bat. Also allergic to dirt?

Regardless, get me the fuck out of here. Yuk

[edutainer2022]

A cold, vicious cyclone caught me unawares in the middle of the city the other day, right as I decided it was too hot for the coat. So, naturally, Scott gets under the weather in NYC, quite literally (and is being a stubborn doofus about it). It's an Earth and Sky fluff, but in the end, John decided he wanted in, so Earth and Star have a good hearty chat too. Virgil and John are being very good brothers. Absolutely nothing hurts. A greatful boop to @idontknowreallywhy, @astranite and @janetm74 for soft fabrics and Top Gun featuring.

UNDER THE WEATHER

The perks of living on a tropical island included not only it being remote, secluded and perfect to house a state-of-the-art rescue operation. It was also the whole being TROPICAL deal. Whenever one stepped out - it was reliably warm. The downside of living on a remote tropical island was losing the habit to navigate the regular four-seasons weather. Or the fickle New York City climate.

Truthfully, Scott didn't miss it much. Of course, he'd be fondly nostalgic about Kansas and snow slides, or, would occasionally get caught up in the inherent wistful mood of early NYC fall. But he definitely didn't miss THIS - being caught up in the icy torrent and orange warning winds two blocks away from the Tracy Tower. In nothing but his dress shirt and slacks.

They were at Tracy Industries headquarters with Virgil for the better half of the week. Virgil was involved in pre-screening the latest batch of R&D pitches, before they would move on to Brains and John for the final approval and production. Scott was held hostage by the Department of Finance for budget amendments and redistribution.

When the opportunity presented itself, well into the afternoon, to escape his own untimely death by paperwork or premeditated murder of a high ranking employee, Scott ran for the hills, slipping expertly beneath the radar of Kayo's handpicked security detail.

His underlying motive was quite noble - to walk to that coffe-shop Virgil liked and get his brother and himself some decent coffee. Virgil loved coffee and Scott loved Virgil - the rationale for his sortie was ironclad. Of course, pursuing exclusively immaculate fraternal care didn't provide for ditching his earpiece and wrist com. The hasty retreat also meant his designer (and more importantly in his current predicament - woolen) jacket got left hanging on the back of his chair by the bay window. He forgot this wasn't Tracy Island, the sun outside the window and climate control in the offices and their penthouse at the top of the Tracy Tower lulled his vigilance. And now, without a comm to get a timely warning from Eos or to call a cab (or the security SUV with a profound apology, or One from the landing pad on the roof), Scott was caught in the sudden onslaught of a cyclone.

The prudent thing to do would be to go back to the Tower. So, of course, Scott decided in favor of the opposite and broke into a run for the rest of the distance to the coffee place. The relentless laws of physics - speed and resistance - made sure he was soaked through the very last thread of clothing on his body and chilled to the bone by the time he got there.

His hair plastered to the forhead, the supershiny gel having lost the round with the freezing downpour, rivers of water drained down from the top of his head all the way past the suit slacks and dress shoes splashed in muck. There were poodles of water INSIDE his shoes. His socks were wet. His shirt was drenched. The squelching of the fabric as he walked up to the counter suggested he was wet EVERYWHERE. Yuk! That, at least, he didn't know as he was getting numb all over from the cold.

Scott was aware he probably looked like a wet stray cat. It was that or his shirt became see-through in the rain - as a barrista with a cute smile tried to waive his fee for the coffee. Unacceptable! He paid for two extra large, extra strong brews,  and rushed out, stifling a sneeze. Must have been the shirt, since one of the take-away cups had a phone number scrolled on the side. Which was a small consolation, as he broke into a jog again, making his way back through the raging elements.

***

The Tracy Industries front desk in the lobby, thankfully, didn't detain him, so he snuck into the elevator, not making eye contact with anyone. It was getting increasingly hard to hold the coffee cups - his hands were numb and shaking, and his teeth were clattering in time with full body shivers. Scott was sure he had hit the executive floor button, but the elevator made no stop, gliding all the way up to the private penthouse. Figures. He'd probably earned himself a lecture not only from the on site security team, but from John as well.

The door slid open on his approach across an antechember and he was welcomed in the hallway by a wall of flannel presided by furrowed black brows. Scott brandished the procured coffee cups like a shield, instinctively. He would sound more nonchalant if he were not stuttering from the cold.

"Hey, Virg, I got your favorite coffee!"

His face muscles were too frozen for a smile.

Virgil was holding a massive towel, or maybe a full body length terrycloth sheet, like an unfurled banner, and appeared completely unmoved by Scott's heroic endeavor.

"How very kind of you! Now step on the rug and strip. I'm not mopping after you!"

Scott looked down and found himself standing, indeed, on one of Gordon's old bright pool towels. It was already soaked halfway through with all the water Scott was dripping. He felt marginally ashamed as the elevator likely sported poodles too. But it was hard to maintain several self-deprecating emotions at once, being that cold and miserable.

The styrofoam cups were tentatively deposited on the glove table. Scott peeled off his soaked dress shirt and shed the trousers more than eagerly, toed off wet (and probably ruined too) shoes. Francesco the designer would bite his head off. But that could wait. He needed something warm off the rack now! A move off the towel was aborted, however, by the reappearance of the Eyebrows over the terrycloth edge.

"Uh-uh! Everything, Scooter! You're NOT wedging your undies behind the shower stall. Again!"

Scott sighed. That was ONE TIME! He was sneaking back past the curfew and tried to conceal evidence. Unsuccessfully, as it turned out. The moment the last wet cloth on him joined the pile on the floor, he was wrapped head to ankles in the sea of soft blue fabric and steered in the general direction of the shower.

"You know the drill! Try to warm up under hot water as long as you can. If you feel lightheaded - yell, I'll be right here."

The scolding shower helped somewhat. He could still feel the freezing grip around his ribs, but his extremities were not as numb anymore, at least. There was a stack of warm sleepwear waiting for him as he stepped out in the cloud of fog. Scott smiled - it was a motley assembly of his own clean trunks and sweatpants, a well-worn soft flannel shirt and a Denver Engineering hoodie, that swapmed his frame. Hair toweled off and curling every which way, he was mostly ready to venture back out into the colder world, but felt dead tired.

There was a nest of throw pillows and a blanket, assembled on the couch, unfolded to full length, in the living room. Scott made an immediate beeline for it and tugged the blanket around his shoulders, trying to fold his feet beneath as well. The shivers were crawling back. Virgil emerged from a door that was decidedly neither Scott's nor his own room, carrying a pair of fluffy bright orange socks and an extra comforter.

***

After some gentle, yet determined, coaxing, the orange socks were tugged onto Scott's icy cold feet and a second blanket was tucked snuggly around him. Virgil settled by his side against a couple of snatched pillows, pondering idly that they would need to get a spare weighted blanket for the penthouse too. They would also owe John more socks. The Scott-sized frozen burrito shuffled closer and Virgil wrapped an arm around his wayward big brother, offering more of his body warmth. The chills worried Virgil. Scott was fit and healthy, but he was chronically exhausted and hadn't been exposed to cyclones without IR-grade water-proof gear, or at least a raincoat, in a while.

"So... you wanna watch Top Gun?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Scott's face immediately shot up, beaming with a thousand suns. He also did an enthusiastic giant caterpillar wiggle, blanket and all. Virgil thought in that moment his core memory was probably Scott, all bright eyes, gap-teeth smile and dimples, bouncing with excitement and unbridled energy. He wished he got to revisit it more often.

The opening frames rolled on the holoscreen to the sound of the all too familiar Anthem. Virgil finally reached for so hard earned cup of coffee, now reheated, and couldn't contain a snort.

"Aw, Scooter, you actually scored a number for your troubles?"

It was obvious Scott wasn't going to last through the movie - his eyes were droopping and voice slurred, mostly muffled by plaid flannel.

"M'dashin'!"

A smaller hologram appeared at that exact moment on Virgil's comm. John looked way too amused:

"Actually, that's the number of a homeless shelter around the corner from the coffee shop."

Virgil's laughter full on rumbled at that. He raised a hand to ruffle the back of big brother's head:

"Oh yeah, you're a dashing idiot."

"M'cold."

The muffled complain was exemplified by a full body shiver.

"Sure, Scotty! You're a cold, wet, dashing idiot."

There was no protest to that, just a soft, slightly stuffed snore. Virgil adjusted the hold on the now sound asleep biggest brother to snuggle him closer.

***

The F-14A Tomcat was playing chicken with a MiG-28 on the screen. John's hologram lingered. Virgil could tell the space ginger was concerned more than he let on. John finally spoke.

"Is he gonna be alright? Should I cancel his Friday?"

Untamed by the gel, the now dry and fluffy ringlets made it difficult to reach Scott's forhead, but the back of Virgil's hand found the way, careful not to disturb. The skin was cool to his touch, no signs of fever.

"He'll be alright. He just needs to warm up and sleep it off."

He moved to rub a soothing circle over Scott's back as the big brother relaxed deeper into sleep. It was sorely tempting to clear Scott's schedule for the next day and mandate more rest. But Virgil was aware it would pose a risk of Scott, not held down by a cold, hairing off to the island in One, insisting to be back on the roster, if not on TI business. That would be a shame, as a big part of the weekend, Virgil had been looking forward to, was going to see Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera with biggest brother.

John  was still hovering, unconvinced. Virgil siged, but smiled:

"Well, Johnny, unless you want to come down from orbit and join me at the box, I'd rather our reservation to a sold out six months in advance opera didn't fall through."

John looked appropriately appalled and quite earnest:

"I love you more than my life, brother, but I do draw a line at too many people doing too many loud things in a confined space. Call me Johnny and see how often I come down from orbit!"

Virgil stifled a huff of laughter, as Scott shuddered and groaned quietly, but, thankfully, didn't wake up. The warm-up circles over his back and shoulders resumed. Virgil hugged him closer. John shifted attention to the swaddled biggest brother in fond amusement.

"What did you bribe him with, anyway?"

Virgil didn't have the energy to protest.

"Apfelschtrudel from that place Gordon found. And he can preview the R&D projects I selected for Brains, if he gets bored. No call-outs, no reports, no work mail though."

The gazed Virgil fixed on John was full of fair warning. It was John's turn to smile.

"Don't worry. You love watching opera and Scott loves watching us doing what we love. He'll be fine. And locked out of his work accounts, for good measure."

Silence stretched for several moments, interrupted only by Scott's soft snoring.

Virgil looked down on the slumbering brother in his arms, then back at John.

"I wish he did more of what he loves. Just Scott. For himself - not for us, or for the company, or the world."

That wasn't an issue easily solved in a casual conversation through an impromptu movie night. If at all. John knew that too, all too well. The brother in orbit chewed on his lip, lost in thought.

"You could sugget he get coffee in that place again. She's a Hudson Uni postgraduate. Cultural Anthropology."

Virgil was mostly used to John's the Resident Genius thoughts veering in unexpected directions, but the ginger thoroughly lost him there.

"Huh? Who's a postgrad where?"

John rolled his eyes in exasperation commonly reserved to explaining things to the bristling rescuees and a five year old Gordon.

"The barrista that gave Scott a shelter number today. She works part time and volunteers there often. One time she even volunteered at the IR disaster site. Remember, the sinkhole? She seems nice."

Top Gun closing scenes were replaced by assorted social media pages and university profile pages. Virgil gulped.

"John! You can't go doxxing random people!"

John's hologram up in orbit shrugged:

"I have Eos run background checks automatically on anyone who comes in contact with you guys. We can't take any chances!"

There was sound and, sadly, field proved reasoning behind what nearly cost them barely averted tragedy on several occasions. But still... Virgil kept staring at a pretty blond smiling from the holoscreen.

"That gotta be illegal!"

"Only if I get caught."

Turquoise eyes twinkled in nothing remotely resembling remorse. He still didn't cut off the call.

"Do you wanna come down here for the weekend?"

Virgil suddenly felt the need to have more brothers accounted for and within reach. There was hope in the way John actually gave it a thought.

"Only if you don't make me go to the opera. I ordered you pizza, by the way."

A wave of warmth washed over Virgil and he tightened the grip on Scott's frame instinctively.

"You're my favoretest brother not asleep at the moment!"

He was graced with another eyeroll.

"You spend entirely too much time around Gordon. I'll have Eos screen the calls and land the elevator on the Tower tomorrow evening, your time, if there's no major catastrophe."

Virgil resisted the urge to fistpupm in the air. Definitely too much time around Gordon. Another thought occurred to him as he remembered a detail John mentioned when vetting the unsuspecting compassionate barrista.

"Hey, John! Could you..."

"Right ahead of you, brother. An anonymous donation was made to the homeless shelter and free kitchen an hour ago."

And they said Virgil and Scott were uncanny telepathic. Then again, it was to be expected. Anyone who was genuinely kind and considerate to their favorite Idiot, or attempted to course-correct his destruction path, inadvertently gained a lifelong ally in every one of them. Maybe he really needed to nudge Scott to go get more of the good coffee tomorrow. Equipped with an umbrella that time around.

[yuk-tepat]

Diachronic change in Yuk Tepat

Yuk Tepat is often presented here as a fixed entity - “Classical Yuk Tepat” - but beneath that has undergone evolution like all languages. The following sentences both mean “A man I didn’t know came in.” The first represents the most archaic layer of old Tepat, and the second is a relatively modern colloquial version from the late Conciliarity period.

Ci niw yan-uk syow mi-yat ku hyew.

*[tsi niw ja nuk sju me jat ku hjew]

PAST enter person 1P REL NEG know to room

(Alternately: Ci niw yan syuk mi-yat ku hyew. (syuk = syu + =uk)

Hûq-khal yan i-wat ôl-yat mul nt’ôl-nyul hyew-iw.

[hɯʔ kʰal ja ni wɒ ɾl̩ jat mu ln̩ tl̩ nyɬ çø wiw]

one CLASS person of 1P PAST know NEG 3P PAST enter room CIS

Let’s unpack this. First, a couple of very notable things:

The modern sentence is much longer.

Only three words are the same in both sentences: yan, yat, hyew.

Digging deeper….

Ci was the normal particle expressing past tense in Old Yuktepat, but it has been replaced by ôl in the second sentence.

The second sentence begins with a subject noun phrase Hûq-khal yan i-wat ôl-yat mul, which is normal SVO word order. The equivalent subject noun phrase in the first sentence comes AFTER the verb. In archaic language, this is an acceptable ordering for INDEFINITE subject nouns (but actually, it would still have been unusual for a complex noun phrase like this).

The subject noun yan in the second sentence is modified by a numeral-classifier phrase hûq-khal ‘one.’ This kind of specification of number - such as ‘one’ for any old indefinite noun phrase - is more common in later Yuk Tepat.

The first person pronoun. In the first sentence, there is a clitic form -uk. In later Yuk Tepat, everything has been leveled to the invariable pronoun wat.

The subject contains a relative clause. In the first sentence, it is relativized by syow, in the second sentence it is relativized by i. I also means ‘of’ and has been generalized to all kinds of situations, while specific subordinating particles like syow - which is only used to relativize objects - have fallen out of use.

(Additionally, syow and -uk might occur together as a fused form syuk.)

The negative. The first sentence uses mi before the verb, the second sentence uses mul after the verb.

The second sentence contains a pronoun nat (contracted to nt) which follows the subject noun phrase, before the verb. Kind of like ‘The man I didn’t know, he entered the room.’

Niw and nyul ‘enter.’ Niw and nyul are the same verb basically. Niw is an older intransitive form. Most verb pairs of this sort have been leveled to only one form. In Yuk Tepat, the originally transitive form nyul has taken over everything.

The first sentence has a preposition ku ‘in, at, to.’ This is missing in the second sentence. ‘To’ is considered implicit in the verb nyul. Ku is no longer used except in fixed expressions.

The second sentence ends in a clitic -iw indicating motion toward the speaker. This is derived from the verb khiw ‘come.’

These examples are very different, but the reality may not be that extreme. Although only 3 words are identical, most words in either sentence are found in all stages of the language, although their usage may have shifted. For example past tense ci is still used, but it has a very archaic sound. It is used for DISTANT past, or in say, historical textbooks, but ôl is now the neutral past tense marker. Hence, either (written) sentence should be interpretable to someone from the other time period. Through this we also see one trend of the language’s evolution, that of reducing morphological variants to a single uninflected form.

[dragonflylady77]

a royal wedding

Rating: G | 613 words | fluff

C3 - blazing sun for @harringrovesummerbingo

Summary:

Max takes her daughter and her daughter's best friend to the beach and overhears them talking about a royal wedding between a prince and a king with very familiar names...

The fic on Ao3

The Vanity of Devils is a real book, written by Mikayla Rand and you can find it here on the zon if you feel like looking it up. It's a paranormal romance with demons and other creatures. The author is one of my besties and I love that book so very much.

Max leaned back on her elbows, her eyes never leaving the two little girls playing in the sand a few feet away. She was glad she’d remembered the sun umbrella this time and taken the time to slather everyone with sunscreen. She had gotten sunburned one too many times growing up and didn’t take any chances with anyone’s skin anymore. 

She’d picked up the girls from school with the beach bags already in the trunk, and waved at Steve who had to sit through a few hours of parent-teacher conferences before he joined them for dinner. It was nearly four o’clock yet the sun was still blazing and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The girls hadn’t come to ask for a snack yet, but Max knew it was only a matter of time.

She grabbed her Kindle from the bag and turned onto her belly, determined to at least finish the chapter she was on. Mikayla Rand’s The Vanity of Devils had been on her TBR for a while and it was really good, but working from home with a six-year-old and an older brother who kept showing up to ask for advice on his love life did not leave a lot of time for reading.

“...then Prince William arrives on his black horse…”

The girls’ chatter made Max pause her reading to listen. She glanced at her daughter and her daughter’s best friend who had made a sand castle and decorated it with shells and ribbons of seaweed. They were each holding a stick they had wrapped with seaweed and tiny shells.

“Yes, and Princess Rosalinda is so happy to see him.”

“And he gives her a letter from his favorite niece, saying she will be there for the royal wedding. She’s coming soon with Queen Maxine and King Lucas, and they’re bringing presents.”

“Yay, I love presents!”

“Then Prince William gives her a great big hug then lets her ride on his horse with his helper person so he can go find the king.”

“Oh, the king missed him a lot while he was gone. And Princess Rosalinda is glad she’s not in the room when they start kissing because, ew, kissing is gross.”

“So gross. You know, I saw my mom and dad kissing the other morning when Dad was leaving for his work. Yuk.”

Max bit her lip to stop herself from snickering and checked the time on her phone. “Girls, would you like a snack?”

Roscoe and Rosie dropped their embellished sticks and ran to Max, happily drinking the water she offered them before digging into the food she’d packed for them.

A hand landed on Max’s shoulder, causing her to choke on her sip of iced tea.

“Uncle Billy!!!” Roscoe shrieked, jumping into his arms like she hadn’t seen him a few days ago.

“How are my favorite girls?” Billy asked, putting Roscoe down after a twirling hug and sitting next to Max. He pushed his sunglasses off his nose and listened to the two little girls giving him a run down of their day. 

Max noticed they didn’t mention the castle they’d built or the story they’d made up.

“Uncle Billy, can we go for a swim?” Roscoe asked, trying her luck with him since Max had told her she wasn’t getting in the water.

“Yeah, just give me a minute to catch up with your mom, okay? You girls go back to your sandcastle, I’ll be right there.”

The girls happily went back to their game, and Max turned to her brother, waiting for him to take a sip of his water to ask, “So, you and Steve are getting married, I hear?”

[more-cardigan-than-woman]

Just for the Weekend 4/10

Summary: You and Jason check into the hotel.

Pairs: Fem!Reader x Jason Todd.

Words: 2k

Warnings: Crappy men, fluff, fake dating, pet names, mutual pining, swearing.

Part 3.

All too soon you reach the hotel and you don't want to be as pleased with yourself as you are. But you hadn't embarrassed yourself on the beach and you didn't even puke on the bike, your blood was full of adrenaline from the ride and somehow knowing that Jason wasn't going to do anything that would hurt you. Which was probably just the result of fear from what Dick would do to him if he killed his best friend.

You're grateful you don't run into anyone you know while checking in, and you thank Batman when the receptionist informs you that you are the first guests to arrive. Glad that you took the time to enjoy the pit stop, while still managing to miss the wedding arrivals. Jason takes the room key from the receptionist and you can't hide the giddily feeling that is still lurking in your chest. You’re getting along. Even better, you were kind of being friendly which is the last thing you expected from Dicks aloof brother.

"See wasn't so bad, " Jason says as you call the elevator, "told you it'd be fine toots. Didn't even get eaten by a shark,"

"You also promised to drop the pet names,"

"So I did, sorry baby girl. I may have lied."

"You know you can be a real asshole when you want to be," you want to think they're annoying, but really they’re clawing at that part of your brain that keeps reminding you that this is fake. It's not real and the pet names are not helping in selling that to your heart.

"Should've asked Dick to come with you instead, Pumpkin," he says, not looking at you, instead focusing hard on the numbers beside the lift.

"Yuk," you say, drawing his attention to you, "no offense to your big brother. Love the guy, but just no."

"Why me then, honey buns?"

"Why not you?"

"I just thought you always hated-," he's interrupted by a loud squeaking coming from across the lobby and the sound brings steam to your ears.

"Well, if it isn't the Princess of Gotham come to grace us with her holy presence," the vile piece of shit says as he approaches you, "and who's this you've brought with you? Another sucker for you to play with?"

"Hello Jonathon," you sneer through gritted teeth, "didn't realise you would be here," you feel your hand ball into a fist, even if it's just for show. You never had it in you to fight him back before.

He's Sunny's brother, of course he's here. But with all the excitement you had forgotten to ask if her estranged ass of a brother would be in attendance. How someone as kind as Sunny ended up with him for a brother blows your mind. Your fist tightens as he grows nearer, maybe this time you would knock him out.

You're shocked when Jason's long fingers weave their way around your waist, twisting into your hand. His fingers opening yours and ruining your perfect fist. A soothing ease seeps into your bones from Jason’s hand and washes over you and you feel like at least this time someone will have your back.

"James was it? I think you need to check in before entering the hotel," Jason tilts his head at Jonathan and the 2 men coming up behind him.

"Don't tell me what to do. I just want to catch up with an old flame," Jonathan says casually like he isn't dog shit incarnate.

"Oh thank christ," you breathe when the elevator dings behind you. You see the fury in Jonathan's eyes when he notices Jason's arm around your waist and his hand holding yours. You ignore him, moving yourself closer to Jason, you peer up at him, rubbing your forefinger over the tip of your nose.

"Best be off, got a room to break in and all that, '' Jason winks, blowing off Jonathan as he steps closer. He tugs your stiff body back, pulling you into the elevator with him and just as the doors are about to close he shouts "have the day you deserve."

Jason's demeanor completely changes when the doors slide shut. He's standing over you, your face in his hands, looking down at you like- like he's actually worried. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's nothing. I just- I don't like him is all."

"Sounds like an understatement." He says, like he's talking to a spooked puppy, "you were about to hit him."

"Only if he came too close."

"Gotcha, kept away from that guy. How do you know that loser anyway?"

"We dated in college, he was- well he wasn't as bad. But to say he was kind would be a lie. I just,"

"Didn't know he was a jackass?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm," Jason ponders, releasing your face and stepping back to give you some space. "This is us," he says as the lift opens, "let's go see how nice of a room Bruce's money can buy."

"What?"

"Oh yeah, I had the clerk give us an upgrade on Bruce's card."

"Jason," you chide him but secretly excited to see exactly what Bruce Wayne money can buy.

"Holy shit," you both exclaim as you enter the suite. Yes. Suite. It's huge. The whole thing is open plan, covered in marble and the only door inside is what you assume leads to the washroom. Mostly because of its location leading off the open concept bathroom behind the massive bed. The only thing to give you some semblance of privacy is the large frosted glass divider behind the bed head.

The bed, shit, you think. Where are you going to sleep? The couch looks big enough, even the sun beds on the porch appear to be cushioned. You try not to think about it, instead focusing on the window line, the whole exterior wall and a large balcony that looks like it's almost leading into the ocean. "This is too much," you say, wandering around and touching all the fancy surfaces.

"Only the best for the Princess of Gotham," Jason teases, but stops when you turn and glare at him, he raises his hands in defense, "sorry, that's one's a hard no then."

"Definitely off limits,"

"Good to know. So what are we doing?"

"I need to get this chapter finished before the weekend officially starts, so please yourself." You need to keep busy, need to not think about the fact that you may have to share a bed with him.

"I will, '' he smirks, taking off his jacket and throwing over the long leather couch. "Imma take a bath,"

Gathering up your laptop and pouring yourself a glass of wine at the kitchen counter, you find yourself focusing very hard on the colour of the wine, how the marble of the counter weaves together because you can hear Jason undressing behind you and it takes all your willpower not to look. God you wanna look so badly. But no, you need to get this in before your deadline and perving on him would be inappropriate. You move your thoughts, focusing on your editor, Amalie and how she is going to kill you if you're late again.

"What's this one about?" Jason calls, when he's seated in the bath, you turn on instinct, grateful that the tub is so big that you can only see his head poking out.

"This one what?"

"Your book, you're a writer right? Dicks always going on about it. So what's it about? As your pretend boyfriend, shouldn't I know?"

"I guess?" You think it over, should you just lie? Jason might be a secret romantic but he's definitely going to look at you differently when you tell him about the Succubus.

"So go on then," he leans his arms over the tub and you swear you're about to start drooling. His thick arms are soaking wet, dripping onto the door. You've seen them before, at the beach not even 2 hours ago, but not like this. Not knowing that he's just sitting meters away naked in the bath. Shit, this is worse than the beach. You had such a good time, just hanging out. But now it's like someone threw a lust potion in the air and you can't keep your head on straight.

"Right," you try to shake the horny thoughts from your head, "it's about a woman who falls for her captor."

"Like Stockholm syndrome?"

"No, more like, they’re the only one trying to help her while everyone is just using her and when she finds out she-"

"Lalalala," he clogs his ears, "no spoilers!"

"You asked!" You shout, but when you look back at Jason he's laughing.

"Forbidden type romance, got it.” he shrugs, “I'm getting so pruney, want to see?" He says lifting his hand towards you and yes you want to see. But instead you turn around, ignoring him.

"I'll be on the balcony while you get dressed. Dinner is smart casual, I'm sure Alfred taught you what that means," you say, not looking back. Because if you look back he's going to see how flushed you are. So you snatch your laptop and your glass and go and hide on the balcony.

Your phone buzzes and you see a message from Dick.

Dick - how's it going?

You - Good, you're never going to believe what happened?

Dick- you punched my brother?

You- I didn’t. It’s worse than that.

Dick- What could possibly be worse?

You- Jonathan is here

Dick- No fucking way! That asshole. I'm on my way.

You- Jason handled it.

Dick- oh did he now.

You- yes. It was actually very cool of him.

Dick….

You- what?

Dick- nothing. Just maybe be wary of that. You know how you always call me mother hen. Jay's more like a mamma bear. K bye love you.

You- weirdo. Love you.

"That Dick?" Jason asks, coming up beside you dressed in a nice pair of black slacks and a black button up silk shirt. “Checking we didn’t kill each other yet?” He looks, well he looks like a fucking Wayne is what he looks like. Fuck, you forget every time how well these boys scrub up.

"Ah, yeah." You say, trying your best to hide just how his attire is affecting you. "I'm just going to go have a quick shower and get ready. Can you-"

"I will stay out here with my eyes shut." Even if he doubts his ability to do so. Fuck, after seeing you in that bikini he can barely wait to get his eyes on more of you. Knowing your just going to be inside, naked and wet and waiting..fuck, he can't believe he promised Dick he wouldn't get wasted. He doesn't know how he's going to sleep next to you sober and manage to keep his hands to himself. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed, this is a whole new level of torture.

"Cool, thanks." You smile at him and he can't begin to explain how it lights his insides up. Almost as much as seeing you ball your fist at a man much bigger than you and that clearly frightened you. Shit, you were so scared of that asshole, he's almost relieved that you can still smile. But the pang in his chest tells him something else, he got you to smile.

"Maybe before dinner we can go to the bar? Get a few more drinks in you so you're not so tense." He calls over his shoulder, not wanting to turn back. Knowing he won't be able to resist the urge to follow.

"Tense I'm not tense," you huff and puff your way into the bathroom. He can almost hear you loosening your shoulders in an attempt to look at ease, even though he can’t even see you.

You try to be as quick as you can, but you really want to look good. You want to appear put together and like you belong on Jason Todd's arm when you see Claire and her perfect life.

Wrapping the towel around you, you peek about the corner, and see Jason reading something on the deck.

He seems pretty wrapped up in it, so you take a bit longer doing your hair, picking out the little black dress you bought yesterday and slipping it on before approaching him.

"What cha reading?" You say making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Holy fuckin jesus, Sweetheart you trying to kill me?" he throws the book and you notice the familiar cover page as it hits the deck.

"Not at all, just wanted to tell you I'm ready to go. How do I look?"

"You look like I should change into a red shirt in case I have to knock Joel out when he gets to close to you,"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Let's just have a good time, and hope he's already passed out somewhere."

Part 5.

[totaldrama-showdowns]

Submissions for the Non-Human Showdown! Including ones that are invalid!

Fang (x2)

“🦈🦈🦈”

“He's Fang ❤”

Cody Jr (x2)

“Cody Jr! No! Not Aunty Heather!”

Mr Coconut (x2)

“The og. Should have won every season /serious”

vince the alligator (x2)

“SWEEEEP”

“The lore… so immaculate”

the don box (x2)

“bzzz i have a stupid fucking clue for you. ah fuck the interns put me in a lame outfit again”

“what id don on about he's slaying in that shirt”

wt pineapple (x2)

“ALEPINEAPPLE FOREVER!!!”

“👅🐍🐍🐍🐍”

Irene the fish (x2)

“shes so beautiful i’d kiss her too”

“The final remaining member of Team Victory after DJs elimination, Irene went on to win the million and the hearts of many.”

the chrarry baby (x2)

“Goo goo gaa gaa”

“ive got my eye on u chris mclean”

Princess Beth Doll

“I WANT TO BUY ONE SO BAD IRL!!!!! Also, this too is yuri”

Old Jester from reboot S2ep9

“I love when Damien hugged him! That's scene is soooo cute. Also I love fluffy animal!”

Bobo :)

“SEASON 2 SPOILERS Bobo is the name of the bear that had the Raj mask in season 2 episode 12 :) idk I just think he’s silly”

DJ’s bunny

the Chris-shaped cake that Julia's group made

“I wanna eat that thang”

Dramarama Cody

“He's an alien”

Theodore (MK's stuffed unicorn)

(the arts and crafts) Shed (from season 1)

“shed sweep”

that evil little seal from wt

“sooo little and evil. who can hate him”

caleb rock

“possibly the best version of him out there”

the skull duncan carved for courtney

“you cant deny how iconic it was”

eva’s mp3 player

“the most important character in td history”

heather’s various hairstyles

“possibly the most diverse and versatile entity in td historu”

pahkitew island

“The best one”

Myself

“:^)”

ryan seacrests car

“very fast”

chef's car (total dramarama and gen 4)

“MY CAR!!!!!”

alien clone cody

“AAAAAAA*explodes into green goo*”

chris's wig

“wiggin”

heather's wig

“wiggin”

total drama yum yuk happy go time candy fish tails

“You ate it!”

trents five finger shirt

“5”

princess courtney CD

“all the greatest hits!”

owens butt

“fart”

anne maria’s hair style

“Ey im walkin here”

bridgettes surfboard

“BONK”

the fake antlers from the paintball ep

“Duncney”

manitobas fedora

“served!”

beary <3

“it’s LITERALLY beary”

ripper’s world record breaking fart

“he did it”

the portrait of cody as blue boy in wt

“funny looking”

sierra’s pizza box-cum-laptop*

“she uses the internet AND eats witj it. shes a genius”

*Mod Note: this refers to cum meaning: combined with; also used as (used to describe things with a dual nature or function).

waynes accent

“Eh we play hockey eh”

mal ventriloquist doll

“aaah im evil mal doll”

alejandro puppet

“we do a little trolling”

Chef 2.0

“He made him from a cashew”

Mt. Kīlauea

“She has the mercy to have her lava not hot enough to kill Alejandro, Ezekiel, and that random intern like... Everyone say "thank you" or somethin idk. Do you think she feels bad that Alejandro ended up in a robot suit because”

Immunity idol s4-5

“They ruined it's design in the reboot boooooooo”

MK's infernape

“Listen, she's a gamer and she's based. She would totally pick chimchar in bdsp. She probably hates people who tells her to "play platinum" because that was a game made for old people.

Try and exclude this submission, I dare you. There's nothing that says I can't submit theoretical non-humans. There's a non-zero chance that MK has an Infernape and I know it's been raised to have some awesome sneaky move. If you exclude this, I bet you'd allow "Mike's Torterra" because only a grass type fan would be a fire type and MK hater!!

Julia would keep her piplup unevolved and beat her console into tiny bits when she gets to Cynthia btw”

the drone of shame

“[picks up victim and flies away] wheeee”

that giant bowl of rice they fall into in japan

“mm giant bowl of rice”

noah’s dog

“his epic dog”

celine dion cardboard cutout

“love fucking wins #duncney”

the face huggers from Area 51

“rip tyler”

ezekiel MISSING milk carton

“Sad! He died.”

the eagle chris shot and killed

“someone arrest this man. again”

the confessional

“it’s always there for you”

geoff’s splinter

“OW”

the bread from codys pants

“man i need to rewatch island. i fucking love the pants bread”

That ice cream snowman from SMS

“LISTEN. JUST BECAUSE HE IS FROM THE EPISODE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN NOT GIVE HIM HIS RESPECT”

bear

“the one from raptear specifically. let's go lesbians”

that pizza chase threw the challenge for

“clearly he should be with it rather than emma. chemma? chipper? chazee? nope never fucking heard of them”

Momma's Spice

“*sprinkles it on op's head* mmmm tasty”

The Gilded Chris award

WT barf bags

“give a real f to those guys. never appeared after episode 7.”

the toxic marshmallow of loserdom

“killer of staci's hair”

The lavatory confessional

“bitch is iconic. 6/8 is a passing mark!!!”

Courtney's PDA

“why wouldnt they call it a phone idk but its so camp”

The Cassowaries

“Male cassowaries are responsible for raising the young. We love an involved father.”

Fire-breathing winged mountain goats

“You could make an Undertale reference with this (also they're really cool)”

Giant Beetle

“Dott shippers will like this one”

Mutated Maggots

“They're pretty cute!”

Six-Legged Rats

“ADORABLE EEEEEEEP!!!!”

scott bird

“what a beautiful bird”

Chef's car

“It may play a role in mkulia canon”

Gethin

that rainbow porridge in episode 8 of the reboot

“aw hell naw chris cookin up the gay porridge”

The cassowary that fell in love with Zee

“We love an iconic single mother looking for love”

The rat in the cargo hold that appears on screen for 0.5 seconds during Ezekiel's solo in "Come Fly With Us"

“That rat really carried the whole song. Iconic. Astounding. Never before seen talent. Lady Gaga is shaking in her Demonias.”

The Erymanthian Boar

“It wrecked Duncan's shit in Greece.”

The dock of shame

“So many teens walked on her, i think she deserves some recognizion”

gwen's blender necklace

Zoey's hamster (Miss Puffycheeks)

“It's cute and can punch a cat, need I say more?”

[fatherramiro]

So today I was watching part of the Making 1899 documentary on Netflix for some fuckall reason, and there's a part very early on, around the 6 minute 35 seconds mark, where they're talking about casting! And what really caught my eye was around that moment, there were a few shots of how casting had taped up two rows of photos on the wall of the characters in the ensemble and who was playing them (though some were represented by just blank grey silhouettes so I'm guessing not everyone had been cast by the time this was filmed). So what was interesting to me is the order in which the characters were arranged, because if it was by importance to the ensemble/narrative then there's some interesting choices being made. It also isn't in the same order as the opening credits, though there are some similarities, so take that as you will

Anyways the line up was as follows,

Maura

Daniel

Eyk

Ramiro

Ángel

Ling Yi

Olek

Jérôme

Elliot

Clémence

Lucien

Virginia

Yuk Je

wasn't shown on camera during this shot

also not shown on camera during this shot

Krester

Iben

Anker

Ada

Sebastian

Wilhelm

Eugen

The other characters shown start at #25 and are just recurring characters, so there's obviously a couple missing

The rational part of my brain is like "this is completely irrelevant" but given the order in which the characters are arranged I am just making the eyes emoji because it does feel like this is listed in order of importance in the ensemble? So now I need to know the forbidden Olek lore. Also I am just smiling about where Ramiro and Ángel were placed in that lineup as well.

[themultifandomgal]

Will- Wedding

Will and I decided we wanted a small intermit wedding with just our friends since weren't not close to my parents or his dad. So after only a 6 month engagement we decide its time to tie the knot. Ella is super excited to be my maid of honour, I'm sat finishing curling her hair

"You look pretty mom"

"So do you my baby"

"After your married does that mean I'll have a brother or a sister?"

"I hope so Ella. I really hope so. Ok your all done, go and sit with Erin" I look in the mirror at Erin who's sat behind me. Ella runs over to her and sits on Erin's lap

"My goodness your getting big. Have you been eating all of your vegetables?"

"Yup even sprouts" Ella pulls as yuk face making me chuckle. There's a knock at the door making us all turn around

"You guys decent?" I hear a voice I'm familiar with

"You shouldn't be here it's back luck" Erin shouts

"I'll close my eyes"

"It's fine let him in" Ella gets off Erin's lap and pulls Will

"Don't ruin my moms wedding please"

"I won't promise"

"What are you doing?" I ask walking over to him

"I missed you" Will bends down and kisses my forehead "I hate being apart from you and Ella"

"Well the sooner you leave the sooner you and YN can get married and go on your honeymoon. Now go"

"Ok ok" Will puts his hands in the air "I'll see you in a bit" he kisses my head again and then Ella pushes him out of the room. She walks back in shaking her head

"Men" she comments making me burst out laughing.

The time has come for me to walk down the aisle. Since my dad won't be walking me down, Ella is going to hold my hand and walk me down. The music starts playing, Erin walks down the aisle first then Ella and I. We reach Will and I give Ella my flowers

"I love you my sweet girl. I love you so so much"

"I love you too mom" I give Ella a kiss on the cheek and hand her over to Erin. Will holds his hand out and I make my way over to him

"Welcome everyone, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join YN YLN and William Halstead in matrimony. Into this these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together let them speak now or forever hold their peace"

"Don't!" Ella shouts making everyone laugh. I swear she's a teenager in a 8 year olds body

"Ok I have been told the bride and groom have their own vows"

"YN. From the day I met you I know you'd be my wife. I have never and will never love someone the way I love you. You've shown me true happiness and I can never thank you enough for that. I promise I will cherish you and love you for the rest of my life. And I promise that I will always treat Ella as if she were my own"

"I remember the day we met like it was yesterday. You helped me in more way than one that day. You saved me and my daughter. You took us in, showed us your family and now we have the biggest family I could have ever imagined. I know both Ella and I are safe with you. I love you Will and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you"

"Could we have the rings?" the priest says. Jay, Will's best man, comes forward and holds out the rings

"Ok repeat after me" he looks at Will "I William Halstead"

"I William Halstead"

"Take thee YN YLN to be my lawfully wedded wife"

"Take thee YN YLN to be my lawfully wedded wife"

"To have to hold"

"To have to hold"

"From this day forward until death do us part"

"From this day forward until death do us part"

It's then my turn to repeat the priest then finally we are at the end of the wedding

"By the power vested in me by the State of Chicago  I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride" Will's lips are instantly on my mine and he dips me deepening the kiss.

[outofthiisworld]

. ✦ ݁ ˖ @teknah ݁ ˖✦ . "Alright you two, I got a REALLY important task, so you'd better not scuff it up." Nero handed a package over to Arlo and Ophelia. "You gotta deliver a package to Mr. Fuych." Which sounded a lot like Mister Fuck. Nero knew that, and pointed a finger without missing a beat. "WITHOUT laughing! Just get it to him and get outta there and yuk it up after the fact. He's a real important dude. Got it?"

[💜🐰] Double-Trouble’s eyes lit up and as both of them flashed a grin to giggle— they both covered each other’s mouths in a tangle of limbs AS SOON as Nero pointed a finger to silence them both.

Nero should really, really know better than to rely on these two …

With their composure momentarily settled and their hands lowered off of each other’s big beautiful smiles, Arlo began to open his mouth again to say ‘you got it boss-man!’ except Ophelia spoke instead with the most grating, childish question known to all of mankind:

“Why~?”

Ooh … Arlo tilted his head. Yeah, yeah— why them?

[suzieb-fit]

I have to move away from the fasting side, somewhat.

Just very short 13hr times. Three meals a day. Protein and veg. Plain water between. Either black tea or coffee with my meals, or water with ACV. The ACV water is great. I was on that well before starting my recent, new thing. But yuk for the tea and coffee with no milk. Tried it countless times. Hate it. So that means I've also seriously reduced my caffeine.

Apple and walnuts with cinnamon for an early breakfast. Just about half that cup of black coffee with cinnamon, nutmeg, inulin and collagen. Nothing helps. It's just gross.

No fat oil for a while longer, so no bulletproofs.

Short morning walk straight after that.

Then a longer walk for my pre-clinic diabetes checks. Bloods, blood pressure, weight, feet.

My blood sugars haven't been bad at all since yesterday lunchtime or so.

Lovely lunch with mushroom omelette, avocado and salad.

Missing my dairy, but I'm reintroducing it in just over a week. Milk first.

No workouts today. Been otherwise busy, and still need to take things pretty steadily while I'm healing from my injury.

Ooh, and I got my nuts and herbs delivery. This should keep me going for a little while!

Gentle day, and that's ok.

[autistic-writer-angel]

Here are some questions about Angel for the ask thing:

Yum! 🌟 - favorite kelp cake?

Yuk! 🔥 - least favorite kelp cake?

Ship 🚢- Which is their favourite GUP?

Huh❓- Do they have any friends outside of the octonauts?

Yay! My first ask! 😀

🌟 Angel's favourite kelp cake is Neapolitan. Her favourite savoury kelp cake flavour is broccoli.

🔥 Her least favourite would probably have to be mushroom. Although, she's with Kwazii on not liking licorice!

🚢 Angel's favourite GUP is probably either the GUP-A or the GUP-E, simply because she's spent the most amount of time in those GUPs. If she'd ever actually used/been in them herself, I feel like she'd love the GUP-P and the GUP-R. She thought she'd love the GUP-H too, but, unfortunately, her first ride in that one was during the Caves of Sac Actun.

❓ Not really. Angel didn't have many friends before she met the Octonauts (probably just one, a kid in her class), but after she went missing, she lost all contact with other humans. So, the Octonauts are pretty much all she has.

[xaiviah-sinnmoimoi-moi]

Gday. I want to open your whole world to possibilities where the impossible is very real and the person you know now will be no longer just seeker but believer.. my name is Cindy Isabelle Schulter and I now go by The Sinn of His Erotic Pleasure...I have had many names and many roles in life..come on I dare Open your Mind and off the Hay Ride and watch how my insanity my trauma my embarrassing moments my loves in life have helped me to beat death and taxes ..To one creator and the jealous god who retarded ways of making us blind to the pain we feel because they cut your balls through men abd suck dry of our emotions our orgasms abd they die but live on through through powerful through false idealism and why not see how i do that "the other" will always be the death you. the older the person who spits spire and might at you the more powerful you will become..one day you are happy with yoirself then like deja Vu you meet the opposite one the Holy thsn thou too good true..the best eho fuvkover the saughter sonvnever knew you had..the nausea of rejection ..the jealoys father abd mother...don't hide behind the words of bsd manners avd lscknredpect remorse of the guilty ones.. i habe to start one day explainimg my own truth abd what thise who dreams of us and the heros in our lives had to show...i am woman all that want towards the end of middle years was great sex a chance explsin my side of the story a d redemption retribution plus the full karms of what was not just to me or my kids or the Voice of pain whobusevthe voice of reason iny life ...bury head snd stop reading now if you think that tsking msn manhood and suffer ainful sex or being blamed fir other avtions or someone you pive tyrninv aeay ftomabd rdgusing to see that the torturer the cock chopchop orthe woman who jides behind a mask flasehood will never punished like before..I once said I habe harmed or wsnted be involved witb that hortibke way i was taught ti learn to like well dont abd prepared to literally jump thtohh ethers abd strike with vemom she gave me...bare with..lets breathe lets release the binds og a bitch wjo dlrsmt respect snyone jot even herself and me i am in love but i am letting go simce horny fucked i want bitch to disolves and rewch heihht she with using ke as her foothold ..so i challenge tbode eho taught the worse things abd who became with myigtbfor all those in plight. You can dish it but .#......# can you take it without being a pus pus pum pum or the tits of yuk on a person who never gave you the authority nor approval you had my heart and my kids but now after your verysny attempts of murder torture extra I say hahaha I have nothing to be guilty about I have nothing to stone myself too I am allowed to think your scum disgusting and shut fuck but I also coward .so get your purid worming s lf off me tits miss bits....and show me what got as your basic original no humanitarian or human eating persona of professional Hollywood and whoa dude cops robbers batman and shebang..charmed temptation neglect regret and absolution if you didn't want their approval what exactly is your point... you say no..I say yes..you say tomato is yellow belly low...

anyway to all else hold who knows what come next but welcome to second blog on Tumblr I had another one called only-belief...there I had my role I. life somewhat robotic but I now have to say yo you I have to regret or be ashamed until.i get undressedsee what rot of you is in the reflections of eyes..I don't get to nurture with kinds and I guess goodness I have a person who I have major issues with but that ok I didn't chose it's not my bad miss ....hmmm

pum pum

I fell in love so many times twice with born children two men capture my adoring eye and those who hurt me I could find something nice to say even in a rain day

....I wonder when will wake and not be embarrassed by how someone makes me feel like a rotten jealousy old woman and man ..I always when I was what mum is problem with me..well now u have no choice but kudos for ferl so rotren eitb svts and his i wdnted due first for me i sudng care if the ehile blew up..inelove won't firesaje abd you will ve jist memory good day be bless

to all innocent's and those who enter my little Omniverse of dreams are made these and boats below with me and navy ..

loving life despite my inflicted disabilities I tend to find myself evolving a d want yo succeed I. areas I never thought I would ever want to enter..what they I can't do.i will butoy if reasonates abd you nothjbv me get it get it get it..upward dog..pray mantis tic tac toe...chest shot..shut shut shut little retard in a tutu a Broadway play a mascot and a sinking society of more than inhumane acts of ignorance or ommitance or well this far might as well shit the hostage abd myself the foot..

think about i want to be free of beautiful ugly woman who hurt our youngem a d start wars that Argentina can't cry for and Casablanca who say whatever the future will will be we won't see ..oh ah he ha he ho yet someone le says Cindy or Sinn Moi I can see ..more than you..I can rwsvg frk. my place miles even 3500 miles away and touch you in way you deserve my enemies my pet peeves of rapists tortures and those who give the world owes them more the Almighty does..I remember thing why happening to me..then a day so I thoughtwhynot I mean just the rot of the other and my not willing to fuel a fire of shit or. aca or asshole and cads and instead see both or every angle I can and I have listen you with your attitude I just well I won't but today the day I send out what ever fish to.me or anyone since tren till now to further is coming back more than just in threes oflr fds you will if you hit might succeed but the force of it will be a jolly lol on you that why I ask you can dish all you cuts burns and punchs and rape and tortured on me who doesn't really even gave you a home or advice which I could shut or got some to hsrm you fir whst did i could hsbe go more proactively yo couet abiut you guts but no i didn't

so please I going to do it

countdown 19.13 ..by19.25 pm on 31st July 2024 I literally throw all back at you and even though you are hiding in me I will be rid you when I able to see what is still hidden from me..but you s lf now have many options but one that you cling beside k

mine jolly jolly joy joy and gang of boags mors and spilt in-between privacy and evasion you have shock a nation and including

you dishes now it turns abd clings yo you every thing I see right threatening me

..

1, 2 ,3.33= postman sent parcel that wasn't for I didn't even open but now I wish I knew if he really love just even for one day before you fucked it over with your hatred your ugly bloody manners your putrid ony own ugliness when I think of and the men I use care about and my children I hope for till this day but now I am not broken but really say it's coming right for ...#......#

hold on hold on to those orgasms which I love giving me but now hurts for you you lying fucking bitch

I will forget the nor my beautiful now dead me wonderful kid you use

I will remember I am a bit person infected by a putrid other who thought I owed her when I regret to say I don't think so

so now return your favours your so call love for me your nightmarish wonders you give my children and the world will be my witness and I encourage myself to evolve but basically still ok not yet throwing towel but no sweetie I never will marry nor commit to anyone in fear thee hurtingied than have and yes even I was surprised that I am such a stupid bitch yet you always steal thunder my powers my academic achievement my flowering youthfulness yet here I not myself to be awaken to your unholy glory

so be brave those who ga more than the stupid selfish Cindy Schulter we ho is me me me me not you yut for fuck your our of luck lady or not

doiad you took that love from me for obviously he never cared about me but was allowing myself to make a point of you

so I bow I courtesy and I saw oh unholy I am not done with you...

karma is activated in your soul and I move on from you and watch even though even look my chest sc how when being fucked you steal the thunder the fum and give a rjt view if your pint of you but as said to get yourself yih had be me lol I don't think tkoughyou do.rit my to the ping I think.i won't even hate myself unless I remindedysekf or you say I a. like thee no no no

noti moioi I. evil now not good for I am goj g to enjoy despite you killjoy pum pum and uc you be your rwl self and nut takeaway what I have always had and naturaxbless nigyoyagsi you do itagsi. snddtg because face your fucki g esdtiny

well donedhyf gofguck htei now in my whole space of what I want and I patient just fucking fucking stupid murder selfish cunt who hurt my and br er ever looks herself honestly

so I ofcto been at I want and you can hurt me always by hurt children. or what not but at least bi cam say it's not my bad and I glad I was your victim for at least iwad that rude to anyone but hut mys kf

And yeah I hated myself but guess I despise and hope you not only get yourrevking but your karma and I bet only one who feels sorry and pickthe oyeve that shedoff you in shame your acts so please don't be fool IAm not your enemy you are mine

The father thevson and the holy Spirit

Pleaenore people many typos in here I call it the typoslut

.where someone or even your fear or lack of knowledge not necessarily interferseithyour abilitytoexpress yourself eordly on a screen rather than penned down until presentable and neaten

I will state this the first draft and I will update this withahringe or or a laugh

I wish I could literally forget certain but they determined to be presence in my life despite complaining earte utos isn't right mum

..bye for now have great time and I will reite better intro so

But with anything there is no set plan or plot just need to touch base with myself without the social rot I used to think I cpuld you care about and they hopefully stop harming everyone including me...but nah they further and sometimes literally throw at lowest act I see and feel

I wrote more but I was obviously not allowed according to Rotten personi made into by looking at her ridiculous head popping out of my cheek while the man I fell in love with fucked her so what lucky you I am stupid then but hopefully one day I willoce on well and you be satisfied a d I akreafykniwdtipid me can you leave now please says me Sinn

Kudosmym glad ilearnt not be like you at all says your ex daughter Cindy Isabelle Schulter

[omies-odd-writing-spot]

Lifeboat 09 Mirth makes the time go by

[Story also on Ao3] This also was my add to GT july but...day late. good luck it being on time for that <.<

Chapter 09:

It did, in fact, take a longer time to get home for Sesa then she normally would have taken if alone. Talking to someone who she had to keep a sharp ear out for was interesting. As well as challenge to also keep watch over. 

Not that Lana was proving to be the kind of person to get into trouble on her own for the sake of it. Or to just bolt with an opening. No, the semi little beach lizards themselves decided that the Bitta smelled tastier than the last scraps from the fish that Sesa gave them.

“Good gods, what's wrong with them?” Sesa demanded, holding Lana against her front, pulling one of the big sailed males off her hip. And gently tossed it into the water off the dock. Knowing it was perfectly safe for it to swim, not the first she dropped off the dock. 

“I don't want to be eaten by dinosaurs,” Lana whimpered from where she was within Sesa's hold. Being grabbed and yanked away from gravity, let alone from the sail backed creatures in time was… well, at least Sesa did not seem to care that Lana had been sick. Transferring Lana to Sesa's other hand and just shook off the bit of yuk to her.

Really, Lana sees and meets her second clear dinosaur and they try to eat her with no hesitation. At least the ‘birdies’ were very friendly! To the point of demanding to rest with Lana in her spot on the mast. Lana got to pet the creatures and accidentally triggered the ones sitting on the shelf with her into an intensive grooming session. 

Sesa was moving, making sure no other of the lizards were on her before stepping over to her boat. Sail nearly folded up and tied to the dock. The giant reached down to grab and pull the mostly empty crate onto the dock, then stood up. “I hate to say it, but I think you're going to be safer in this while I load the wagon.”

“Yeah…” Lana could only sag against the supporting digits. “I'm… I'm sorry I threw up on your other hand.”

Lana sounded so guilty that Sesa paused to look down at the Bitta. Feeling her own guilt but still glad Lana was safe, “There's nothing to be sorry about Lana. I can wash my hand, but you wouldn't have likely survived missing a limb. I'll get you safe on the wagon here, and you can sit still.”

“Are there a lot of those at your house?” Lana worried as she was carried to the wagon that was just as titanic as Sesa's boat. The tiny human watching with wide eyes as the crate of safety was moved to what looked like the footwell of the riding section.

Lana realized she had no experience with wagons, no idea what parts were called but some basics.

“Thankfully no,” Sesa said as she made sure the crate was secure. In its spot, as well as running her hands over the outside to make sure that none of the beach lizards could get inside. “There's lizards, but not any that eat more than bugs and plants in the garden. They have little sticky feet, but like the outside walls then coming in most times.” 

Lana peered over the edge of the big hand, watching as Sesa nudged a few things inside. Mostly making sure the lifeboat was back on the scarf, and nothing spilled other than the water in the lid but that had already drained. None of the berries seemed tossed from in that boat. Sesa double checked that no beach lizards were on the wagon before lowering Lana inside the crate. “I'm going to put a weight on top for now, just to keep anything from knocking the lid open.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Lana wavered as she slid off. Grabbing at the nearest support of Sesa's hand. Took a breath and got her balance coordination back. “they can't dig in or claw in right?” 

“Only time they've gotten into a box was when I left the lid off it.” Sesa was still checking outside. “It's not fully sealed, I made these to drain water. I'll hear you for sure if you call out, no more open wind like on the boat. Ready?”

Lana flushed and backed away from the hand she was still partly leaning against. “Right, okay. It's loading and safe, right?”

“Loading, home and safe.” Sesa agreed, not minding that she would have to do all the loading and unloading. She fitted the lid and firmly wedged it down, finding something heavy to put on top before hesitating. Hand touching one of the sides, double checking that the few gaps were not large enough for any aggressive lizard heads. Sesa could have sworn she felt something tap her finger, but was not fully sure so drew back. “Call if you need, I'll get everything up and loaded. Maybe distract these brats.”

Sesa sighed and then moved away, shooing some of the beach lizards. Lana called them…dinosaurs? Something like that. They were almost acting normal now, trilling at her on the way back to the dock. “Rude, all of you, why did you try and eat the Bitta? Lana isn't good, and don't listen to those bad fairytales.”

Did the beach lizards understand her? Likely not so much, but it helped that little bit for relieving some stress. Sesa scrubbed her hands in the sand before stepping back onto the boat. Taking time to just unload everything in the late afternoon-evening light into the dock. Gear and supplies, only talking most care with the dry goods and the bolt of fabric to go put in the wagon. Sesa hesitated in some confusion, as it looked like Asin's handwriting on several crates. Like he had put things into some of the returned crates from others? One crate was definitely not her own and instead something that came.from the store shipments likely. It smelled like…baking things? Was there a mix up? Sesa turned the crate, pretty sure someone put that in her boat instead of by the dock. She was about to open it and saw the paper tacked to the other side. This had her drowning and then lifted the paper.

Not a mistake. Don't think of leaving it. Take what's the real value of the fish in trade, you stubborn woman. 

Next time you're in town, Sesa, bring me some fresh and dried mushrooms! I'll find some more mini plants for you.

Loves from Cally.

Yes I told Asin to hide all the goods in your boat. 

Sesa stared at the letter, thinking of the woman that did not come up to her chest. A woman she really did not want to be on the bad side of, or even a grumpy angle of her. Sesa opened the crate and took a shakey breath, startled but also understood why some of the crates were so heavy. Cally had stuffed them full.

Going back to the dock, Sesa carefully opened each crate, double checking now, to find what needed to stay dry. A few were filled with goods from others she had traded the fish for. Sesa was noticing a bit more of a generous amount from the others, and stood to squint over where Lana was on the wagon. Wondering to herself if this was the Bitta’s good luck. Normally people from town were a lot more stingy than this in Sesa's experience.

Sesa paused once.the wagon was loaded, walking over to check on said Bitta. “Are you okay Lana?”

“Yeah, it's a lot more stable now.” The little voice spoke up from inside, “how's it going out there?” 

“Everything is loaded that's going home.” Sesa assured, picking a onle of the beach lizards off the wheel, giving its own sail like fin a run before gently dropping it off on the ground. “Just going to put the gear away. And Buck should be close enough to hear me.”

“Buck?” Lana asked confused from in the crate. “Who's that?”

“He's the critter that pulls the wagon.” Sesa laughed, “I let him graze around the cove when I'm out fishing, good boy that knows to stay near his wagon.”

“Oh…oooh, that's going to be….big.” Lana realized, and Sesa just barely caught the softer words, “Why is everything so big? Is something in the water?”

Sesa grinned, covering her mouth and chuckling as she walked back to the dock and boat. With everything else moved it was not hard or long for the woman to put away the fishing gear in a shed well up off the shoreline. Then the sails, take the mast down and.pull the boat into the bigger shed that John had helped her make a few years ago. 

She paused at finding a note, the other hermit had come down the mountain and stopped by the cove. Leaving a net made bag filled with some good sized nuts inside that she liked. An offering to see when she would be in town next and if he could trade some of his bear hunt for some things. “Pfft, little do you know, you stubborn man.”

There was a low snort that had Sesa smiling more, taking one of the nuts out and offering it in a flat hand. The big creature rumbled happily at the treat, following Sesa back to the wagon. The woman set the bag of nuts on the seat, made sure the brakes were set, “Okay, found Buck. We can get home now.”

“This sounds so weird, but you might want to tie the box?” Lana spome up, and as Sesa looked over the tiny bita was sitting at a corner and peering out of one of the slightly larger gaps. Watching Sesa get the beastie into his gear and lined up.

“I can, had an idea too,” Sesa assured, coming back after judging the weight in the wagon. She paused to pull off the outer layers of shirts, so she just had her sleeveless under shirt, and pulled the vest over top. Checking the pockets. Then finding some line to tie the crate, moving the weight off to open the lid and peer inside, “Didn't spend all my money did you?” 

“I thought that was for me?” Lana asked, having been sitting on the coin pouch to look out. “Should only take  ...two days to move one thing inside.”

“Well, it shouldn't take more than a few months to move the coins.” Sesa grinned wide at the playful tone. She hesitated a moment before offering a hand near but not beside Lana, “Want to see some of the trip? I promise not to pull you around again if I can help it.”

The little Bitta blinked at the large hand. Then looked up, Sesa could have sworn there was a look like Lana did want to but hesitated. Remembering the beach lizards, the giant woman spoke again.

“You'll be riding with me, out of the reach of the lizards.” She started to pull back but froze as a small hand reached out, catching a finger tip. Sesa smiled again, not as big but delighted that there was some trust shown. The woman just hoped she was not forcing that trust as Sesa carefully lifted Lana out.

“Can we look at some of the local… pla…ants… what is that?” Lana started to ask and then trailed off at seeing the big burden beast now attached to the wagon. 

Buck it's name was, he was dosing a bit while standing in the rigging to the wagon. Massive enough that it's, his back came up to Sesa's chest, it had a broad back and hips. It had what looked like plates of natural armor over its back, hips and shoulders going down about half way. The beast had a base color of dart gray and highlights of brown striping down its legs and on its neck.

“This is Buck, he's my bull Parua.” Sesa introduced as she cupped both hands around Lana. Moving to let her see the Parua creature. “He's wagon trained, the cows are back home, they should be giving both here soon in spring.”

“It's amazing,” Lana's soft voice spoke, trying to peek over the edge of Sesa's fingers and look at Buck's legs. It reminded her of something. Something that tickles the back of your mind but just could not be grasped yet. It was almost alike an elephant, the legs and sort of the build but not exactly. Not like any big dinosaurs either. 

The big creature's face was surprisingly soft. It had larger lips like a horse or a cow, or other grazers like that. Large ears flicked and he sighed looking back at Sesa. As if asking if they were going yet.

“Para…?”

“Par-oo-ah.” Sesa sounded the word out as clear as she could. “Parua. Good livestock and working animals.”

“Parua…” Lana managed the name. “They, um, don't eat meat right?”

“Only grazers,” Sesa assured, but did not take Lana coae to Buck's head. This seemed close enough for the Bitta. “Never seen them even bother the garden birds, or anything small..but you don't need to worry about them. Like I said you'll be riding with me.”

“How?” Lana asked, still distracted by Buck it took a moment for her to look back. Blinking and then gave a nervous giggle at seeing Sesa messing with a small, high up breast pocket on her vest. “Really?”

“It's not deep,” Sesa offered, reflex using her free hand to poke a finger into the pocket that was indeed shallow.

Lana stared at the spot with an unreadable expression. Enough that Sesa started to deflate a bit, worried that she ended up with a bad idea after all. Then the Bitta dissolved into giggling in her hand. 

“I'm… pocket sized?”

Sesa blinked and then gave a relieved sigh, smiling a bit at hearing the giggles. At least she did not seem to be offended by Sesa's idea. “You are, I guess. But if you don't like it we can find a different way of…transport.”

Sesa knew everything was going to get shaken up on the wagon. Thus the extra padding that Asin had done for the small things. She did not want to shake Lana up as well, and was at least sure her own pace was smooth. Lana at least seemed willing to try, and it ended up with her standing in the vest pocket and could fold her arms over the edge of the spot. Looking around, the Bitta notably relaxed a little bit after a few paces of the giant walking to pull the breaks.

Lana felt surprisingly secure there. Then blinked and looked all around now that Sesa was moving and walking alongside Buck. Staring up at the trees, many were well over a good hundred feet tall, old growth trees for sure. Or ancient growth? They were definitely on a cleared path that was wider than the wagon, some smaller shoots of trees on the edges of the path.

Then Lana took in the ‘undergrowth’ between the massive trees, even bigger than Sesa. Who had to easily be between thirty and forty feet herself. The young woman squinted, realizing the grass she was seeing was not, in fact grasses. Lana nudged and pushed at Sesa’s chest, “What’s that?”

“Hmm?” the giant woman rumbled a confused sound. Glancing at Lana and then tried to see what she was looking at. “Stiff grass? It's been going wild the last few years, but they help with erosion.”

“Can I see it?” Lana asked, twisting in the pocket to look up at Sesa’s face, brightened when the giant shrugged lightly with her right shoulder away from Lana.

Sesa queued Buck to slow down before reaching up to help Lana. Really just catching the excited bitta from falling. Sesa was not quite sure how she ended up crouched on the side of the path, holding a tiny human between her hands so that Lana could reach for the ‘grass.’ but watching tiny hands grabbing at the thick grass, and then looked started at the excited yell the followed.

“IT’S CORN!” Lana yelled after unwinding a pod. Buck stopped and turned his head around to try and find the new voice while Lana was tossing up her arms in her own shock, “What. The. Hell. Is this place?”

“Cor-en?” Sesa echoed, baffled, but smiling at the excitement expressed. And at a demand shifted her hands closer to the biggest of the thick grass plants that had a bunch of pods from last fall but were not eaten yet by any wild parua. “Are you going to want to see every plant on the way home?”

Lana looked up, eyes wide, “Yes.”

The instant response and the complete lack of any silliness or sarcasm but the clear want to see all the plants had Sesa laughing. Closing her hands around Lana to both buffer the loud sound and to hold her as steady as possible while Sesa’s shoulders shook. “It’s going to take forever to get home…pffft!”

What normally would take an hour and half, took almost three as after so long Lana demanded to see something she spotted. Amassing a little collection in ‘her’ crate, foodstuffs that she readily recognized mixed into the wild weeds that Sesa knew them as. Even though it took much longer than normal, it did not seem like it. Only all at once realizing it was nearly dark by the time Sesa’s home came into view.