#like if someone feels like they were meant to be an orca but don't know much about orcas at all then what are they truly longing for??

[cicadaland]

the brain is very interesting also I just procrastinated for like five hours at least I sort of got half of the outline done on this essay but man this day really sucked I hope tomorrow is a lot better. I feel awful it's already going to be two days late and I don't even know if he accepts late work PLUS there's other late work I have to finish tomorrow and Thursdays are such busy days for me. I seriously need to log off but then I'd get distracted by like the wikipedia talk page for the article on the Haudenosaunee like I did last night

[penandswords]

@heroic-endeavors | Starter | Rima Origins

Rima could FEEL the way her feet stung with every step she took. Her calves ached from the amount of running she'd already done on the way to Endeavors agency.

He wasn't THERE, which meant he was already out. She didn't wait around for his staff to get ahold of him either.

She had to find him NOW, and before someone realized she left her position.

She skidded to a halt inspecting the area around her. There were so many directions to GO in a city like this. Nothing like her home town. When she tried to start moving, her ankle twisted in just the right way sending her straight to the ground.

"I don't know what to do..." Fear made her shake, and she had to take a second to pull out her gang orca keychain.

Remember what she was doing, Remember WHY she was doing this.

"I'll find him."

[jurakan]

Fun fact please?

Alright friend I'm sorry it took me so long, but my computer was throwing a fit and I couldn't get to this as quickly as I wanted. I apologize.

So Today You Learned about Pytheas of Massalia.

Pytheas was a Greek geographer and explorer from the 300's BC. Okay, well sort of--Massalia was a Greek colony in what is now France (Marseille, in fact), but the man was a Greek. His accounts were widely known in his own times, but sadly, they haven't survived into the modern day. Like many ancient texts that were famous, we have excerpts, and we have other authors referring to the things he'd written, so we have an idea of what he saw and talked about.

Also, he discovered Britain.

I mean, kind of. There were already people living there, obviously, but they weren't really known to the Greek world. You have to understand that the Romans considered the British Isles, like, the furthest edge of the known world, so hundreds of years before that the Greeks didn't even think of that as a place, though they had legends about distant lands. But he went there, apparently talked to people there, and brought back descriptions as well as complained about the cold weather.

His first written reference to Scotland calls it 'Orcas', from which we get the name of the Orkney Islands off the northern coast of Scotland.

Pytheas also described Thule, a place far to the north, which has been warped into being a lot of weird things by people over the ages. We're not clear what he meant. If this was Scotland, an island north of Scotland, Iceland, Scandanavia... unclear.

He also discovered the Baltic Sea for the Greco-Roman world, interacted with the Germanic peoples there as well. He went far enough north that he's the first recorded writer to mention the midnight sun and polar ice.

[Again, there were legends in Greece about frozen northern lands at this point, so presumably someone had been up there before him, but they were that--legends. Pytheas actually went and checked it out.]

Also! He made the connection between the tides and the phases of the Moon, the first scholar we know of to do so.

I don't know, maybe this sounds boring to you, and if it does, I'm sorry. But this blows my mind that in an ancient Greek colony, a time that we mostly think of as insular and not really interacting with the outside world, at least, not outside the Mediterranean, some guy hopped on a ship and started discovering different parts of the world, completely alien to his own home temperature and culture. And he hopped off the boats and talked to some of these people, trying to get a feel for what their lives were like. In the 300's B.C. And that these records were famous in their own day, but this isn't something that comes up in your history classes now (which isn't a complaint, I don't know how to work it into the curriculum).

And he's got this dope statue in Marseille:

[hold-your-applause]

A commission for the lovely @tater-tati, thank you so much for your undying support. I do hope you think of this whenever you need to catch your breath

Reformation

You wished human spines were more efficient.

You could feel yours starting to go stiff from all the hunching over you were doing at your desk, which was made worse by the poor quality of your office chair. You hadn’t stood up for hours; you could feel your knees waiting to crack when you would eventually rise from your seat, and you knew your ankles wouldn’t be any happier.

You didn’t even want to think about your neck.

You blinked your tired eyes slowly, trying to make sense of the words you had reread for the eighth time.

Or was it the ninth?

You sighed in aggravation, forcing yourself to sit up straight so you could lean back in your chair, wishing you could yell out all the tension in your body.

It’s not like anyone would hear you. You were the only person left in the building.

For the last two weeks, villains had been popping up in record numbers, so much so that many agencies were forced to work beyond their means in terms of staff, meaning countless extra hours and fewer days off. Not only that, you worked in the accounting department, and with your other coworkers feeling burnout and calling out, that left you on your own to handle the numbers. There was a serious influx of information regarding insurance, supplies, wages…

It felt like it was never ending.

The timing couldn’t have been any worse, either, seeing as you had arranged to end your employment at your current agency to move to a new one at the end of the month.

Before the workload began to overwhelm you, you had started to feel that your boss may have been taking advantage of your work ethic. You had a knack for finishing your tasks in record time, which meant you had time to spare to either get ahead of schedule or do the work of someone else who had fallen behind. It didn’t take long for everyone to catch on and hand off their work to you instead of doing it themselves, but ever the team player, you took it on without complaint. Not once in three years did you complain, committing yourself to the company as much as you could.

Which was exactly why you had ended up stuck here with more than you could reasonably handle.

You leaned forward, resting your palms on your desk to try to stretch out the knots forming in your back.

One more week, and you’d finally be working for Gang Orca instead of stewing at this dump.

You had heard wonderful things about his agency; there were far better benefits than you were currently receiving and an employee turnover rate so low it was almost too hard to believe. Your friend had gushed to you about how much she enjoyed working there and even managed to get you the interview that landed you a spot on their financial team.

Unfortunately, that light at the end of the tunnel felt farther off than ever before with the amount of stress you were accruing with these late nights at the office.

You winced as you felt a satisfying pop in your lower back, bringing you some short-lived relief before you felt your shoulders protest and force you to sit straight again.

You heard a door open and close somewhere on your floor, making you curse to yourself.

The janitorial staff was here, meaning it was past 10.

You jumped when you heard a low rumbling come from your right, making you whine at your muscles complaining at the sudden movement. After getting over the initial shock, you realized it was your phone, which you kept in your drawer lately to keep yourself from getting distracted.

You were surprised the battery wasn’t dead yet.

You fished it out of your stuffed drawer, glad you were able to catch it on the final ring before it went to voicemail. You didn’t even check to see who was calling before answering.

“Hello?”

You internally kicked yourself at how tired you sounded.

“Hey.”

You felt some of your fatigue disappear at the sound of the calm voice on the other end.

“Shoto, hey. Is everything okay?” You asked, unable to even pretend you weren’t exhausted.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just got home.”

A relief, truly.

Being the son of the former number one hero of Japan brought Shoto a lot of attention, both good and bad. With crime on the rise, that meant his own work hours had increased, and while the extra money brought some comfort, you worried that he might overwork himself and get hurt.

Like you were one to talk.

“Good! That’s good.” You said, smiling tiredly as you quietly waved to the janitor that passed your desk.

“Yeah. Is everything okay with you?”

You paused, thinking of a way to answer that.

Shoto was a pro hero, and his job was infinitely more dangerous than yours. You knew that whatever difficulties you faced didn’t compare to anything he handled on a given day, so you tried to keep your complaining to a minimum. He knew about your job transfer, but you hadn’t been honest about the reason why. Your reasons felt trivial compared to a hero who goes out into danger most days.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just the usual. There was another call out today so I was the only one in the department. I’m just finishing up these balance sheets and then I’ll be home.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, but you thought nothing of it. Shoto was the type to think before he spoke, so these pauses were frequent.

“That’s really unfortunate, but I’m glad you’re almost done. How much longer do you think you’ll be?”

You looked over at your computer’s clock, squinting to try to see the tiny numbers on the illuminated screen.

10:17

“I don’t know, maybe another half hour? And then the drive home will be another fifteen minutes, so probably close to an hour?” You estimated, rubbing your tired eyes.

“Alright. We’ll get started on dinner then.”

You tensed, feeling guilt wash over you.

You had planned to make dinner for you, Shoto, and Hitoshi when you arrived home, hoping to surprise them before they got off their own shifts. You hadn’t told them about it, but you felt awful that you didn’t get to do your good deed for your boyfriends as you had wanted.

“You guys don’t have to wait up for me, if you’re hungry, please go ahead and eat, Shoto. And if you’re tired you can just go to bed, I’m sure you had a long day.” You insisted with a roll of your neck.

“It’s okay, we don’t mind. I won’t keep you any longer. Just be safe on your way home, and we’ll see you when you get here.” He said.

You nodded, hiding your sigh. “I will be. I’ll see you when I get home.”

With some quick affectionate words, you hung up, groaning as you forced yourself to get out of your seat.

You were grateful that the elevator in your apartment building was functional again as you leaned against the wall, not paying attention to the number climbing with each floor you passed like you normally would. Your eyes were instead closed, listening to the familiar humming of the electricity running the car instead of the soft music playing from the speaker overhead. You had almost fallen asleep during your ride home in the cab, and you wanted to at least try to stay upright until you got to your floor.

Which seemed to be taking an eternity, if you were being honest.

You forced your eyes open, pulling out your phone to check the time.

11:08

You couldn't catch the heavy sigh that rolled out of your throat just before the door opened. The quick reprieve from walking had caused your legs to feel less like lead and more like concrete, which you tried to ignore as you fished for your keys in your pocket when you finally reached your door.

Your day was almost over.

The sound of the door unlocking was music to your ears as you pushed it open, dropping your bag on the floor so you could hold onto the counter to slip your shoes off.

You gasped when you felt something slide across your shoulder blade, jumping and whipping your head around to see a familiar pair of mismatched eyes looking back at you.

"Welcome home."

Your shoulders dropped along with your guard and you leaned forward, resting your face in the crook of Shoto's neck.

You could tell he'd already showered.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

You felt him shake his head, his arm moving down to trap you in a gentle hug that seemed to make the heaviness of your eyes disappear.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." He assured you, letting his thumb rub absently against your back. He made no move to pull away, and even though you felt like your ankles were going to give out at any moment, you weren't in any rush, either.

You moved your arms to wrap loosely around him as he tilted his head to kiss you briefly.

"How was your day?" You asked, pulling back to look at his face.

"Better than usual. I think things are getting ready to calm down." He responded.

That was good news.

"That's great. That means you'll be a little safer." You said, blinking as he turned you around and began pulling your coat off for you.

He hummed in affirmation as you pulled your arms out of the sleeves, allowing him to hang the coat up.

"And hopefully your workload will be lighter."

You made a face as you attempted to turn around to face him, but his hands on your round hips kept you rooted in your spot as he pulled you back to lean against his firm chest.

You tilted your head back to rest against his shoulders, feeling him tug on your blouse so it was no longer tucked in the waistband of your skirt. He slid his hand under the light fabric, resting his warm palm against the skin of your stomach.

You could tell he was using his quirk, and you weren't about to complain.

"The bath is ready."

You blinked and turned your head, seeing Hitoshi standing near the hallway, suspiciously still in his work clothes.

Shoto reluctantly pulled away.

"Come on." He said, leading you away from the door. "You need to get off your feet."

Hitoshi had refused to leave you alone while you bathed, and at first you thought it was because he was worried you'd fall asleep in the water, but you understood the real reason when he climbed into the tub first. He'd put off taking a shower in order to join you, which made you feel guilty for just a moment before he assured you that he was glad to finally have a calm moment with you. Your schedules didn't exactly line up lately, so more often than not, one of you was asleep when the other came home. 

Hopefully, that would soon come to an end and things could go back to normal.

You allowed him to comb his fingers through your hair as he worked the conditioner through it, doing your best not to doze off as they massaged your scalp. He'd been adamant about doing all the work, and you didn't have it in you to argue with him on a normal day.

"You're taking tomorrow off."

Your eyes snapped open, turning your head to look at him in disbelief.

"What?" You asked dumbly, looking at his calm face.

"I called your boss and let him know you're not going in tomorrow." He said casually, looking unbothered as he moved you so he could rinse your hair without getting the water in your eyes, but you gripped the side of the tub to stop him.

"Toshi, I can't, we're understaffed right now. I'm all they have right now." You protested, feeling your stomach churn anxiously. "Everyone else is sick."

"And you'll be next if you let them keep taking advantage of you." He said, unimpressed. He gently pried your hand off the edge of the tub, carefully tilting you to try to rinse your hair again, and this time you didn't fight him. "They all called out because they know you'll pick up the slack, and this is their last chance before you leave. You're starting somewhere else soon, and you're not going to make a good impression if you're too tired to move the day you get there." He lifted you back up, moving some wet hair off of your face. "So you're taking tomorrow off, and all three of us are going to be unproductive on purpose."

His tone left no room for argument.

You swallowed, still feeling unsure.

"Also, what's he going to do? Fire you? With a week left?"

You let a nervous laugh escape you, the last of your anxiety disappearing.

"Thank you, Hitoshi. I wouldn't have done it myself." You said, resting your back against him and letting your hands gently sit on the edges of the tub again.

His own hands moved to settle over yours.

"We know."

The sound of the bathroom door opening pulled your attention away from Hitoshi and towards Shoto, who was wiping his hands with a hand towel.

"Dinner's ready."

The blend of being in clean clothes, well fed, and Shoto's warm hands working on heating your sore joints made you wonder how you had managed to stay awake. It was well past one in the morning, and somehow all three of you didn't seem close to sleeping. Instead, you had all made your way to the couch to get a headstart on your lazy day.

Your legs were currently draped across Shoto's lap, his hand currently rubbing at one of your knees, melting the stiffness away with almost no effort. Hitoshi had assumed the same position he had in the tub, arms caging you against him.

It felt like it had been a lifetime since the last time the three of you were in the same room together like this.

You were glad to be able to breathe again.

Your train of thought was effectively derailed when you felt heat crawl up your leg, making your leg jump instinctively. You tried to sit up, but Hitoshi's arms tightened around you, refusing to let you move. Your eyes darted up to look at him in confusion, and for a moment he looked back at you, but before you could ask him to let you get up, his mouth was on yours, and your request died in your throat.

You closed your eyes, sitting still as you felt warmth glide over the skin of your thigh before ducking under the hem of your shorts.

You counted yourself lucky to have found people who would take care of you when you couldn't.

[commander-orca]

SPOILERS COTW VOL 18, skip this post if you mind them (#1)

Everyone, would you like to scream with me? ehem. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. aaaa.

Overall those are my feelings about this. Anyways. So, this book starts with a confrontation on Rochalizo and Orca and I think I can say for sure it was expected by all of us. Certainly, Orca's sudden switching of sides seemed a tad suspicious to the general population since they didn't have this talk with him on Karkarias neither did they get to see his version of the story and experience his past in the vision. Also, most civilians know him for being the orchestrator of the attacks and for being the general cause of them losing family members or friends, so it's no wonder he isn't warmly welcomed. I think in this scene, Rochalizo serves as a spokesperson for the entire Mud Whale (although he is not from here) but he definetely expresses the discontent with which Orca's venue is greeted.

On my part, it was a distressing scene to read through because of course Rochalizo is right; Orca's stolen lives, he had planned to steal some more and they don't want someone like him to be sharing their spaces and predominantly can't trust him. That's the point Rochalizo really raises up: can we trust him?, although he made us go through hell. I thought the little something which made this scene even more difficult was that, it's delicate coming from Rochalizo to make such a remark, because he has been in this position before: he's been the enemy for some time, so I wonder if it wasn't his insecurities talking in this scene too. He might wonder if the people of the Mud Whale are willing to forgive anyone or perhaps the opposite, if they accept everyone but never really forgive them. Or because Rochalizo can never forgive himself for what he has done and that he is furious to see Orca obtain grace so easily.

So I said Rochalizo was right, but it still made me feel really bad for Orca. Not playing the apologist on his case, but he still got traumatised when he was only a child, which perhaps led his growth to become fragmented. I'm thinking Dissociative Identity Disorder mostly but also in my opinion, might have kept a child's mind and and a child's emotional maturity to protect himself which prevented him from really weighing the impact of his actions, after all he was really so indirectly involved with each attack (except the last one). And he genuinely meant to do good, he wanted people's happiness above all else; he thought really would've succeeded in changing the world and if you start with such a mindset of not caring whether you live or not, for sure you're being selfless. A part of him knew he did bad things, but unfortunately, he came to the conclusion that if he wanted to be redeemed for the bad things that he'd done (Kitrino), he needed to dirty his hands all the more. And it's done almost a full loop, because although Orca is convinced that he now needs to protect the Mud Whale, the Mud Whale still needs him to go back to dirtying his hands and ending the soldiers of the Geraki. Can he really stop killing in the end?

A line of his that absolutely killed was when they were hesitant about letting the Karkarias' equipage board the Mud Whale and he said "Those are my crimes, not theirs". It really hits to see him acknowledge it and especially cover for some of them by lying and saying "They were all my puppets, they had nothing to with that". He looked so broken and his face so gloomy it made me want to cry. Because recognising finally that he's done wrong and that his schemes were fatal errors on his part is in my opinion the final step of giving up on his dream AND also giving up on the hope to live in his sister's dream. His squad was manipulated all along and he was the one pulling at the strings, which is what he tells Suoh and by saying this, he is guaranteeing a happy life for everyone. Everyone but him.

[monstergalsbeingpals]

Hey, I'm an introvert pan girl, who love to learn new things, watch movie, draw and play games. I love all sea creatures, but orcas are my ultimate fav. I like when my partner is taller than me :3 The ideal date could be either stay at home or go out, as long as we having fun I don't mind. The ocean is beautiful for it's scenery. Sunrise or sunset, the colors mixed together so beautiful! The infinite horizon and the serenity it provides. -aghostwholovemonsters

Neato! Glad you’re dropping in! mermaids are pretty gosh darn tall with those tails and all

Ha, I have to stop making these intros so long probably lol but here we go!

And just a ps to others, sorry if I don’t turn these around super fast. I guess I tend to be pretty wordy and I’m not the best writer. I’m also trying to do these cute little sketches because I thought they might add a nice little touch:

You don’t know how this happened. You don’t know why this happened.

You somehow ended up on a boat trip, four days out on the sea to enjoy the air, watch for animals, and fish. It’s not that it isn’t fun and the scenery is beautiful, it’s just a bit jarring. You had brought a sketchbook and a few games with you just to help you pass some downtime and recharge. On the second day, the water had been rough, which meant no fishing and more company below deck. Of course with most of your fellows below meant there was more room open on the deck. You watched the water’s surface for a while sketching passing gulls and rough waves. You were hoping to spot whales still but you knew it wasn’t likely. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glint of something and ran over to look over the railing. Hopes rose for a moment but nothing, but you could feel something out there.

That night after most everyone else went to bed you stayed awake. Usually, the rocking motion was actually quite soothing but tonight it was just too much and you couldn’t fall asleep so easily. You headed above to breathe in some night air and look out watching as a sky full of stars meshed with the shine off the waves. You brought a game above with you, just as a distraction but again, you catch something, just a glint, faster this time you barely can make out a long form just below the surface. You lean out trying to get a closer look, maybe if you just gave yourself a slight boost…slip

You expected your fall to be longer, to feel a slap of cold water and to be engulfed. But someone caught you “hey, hey! Be careful!” you were going to turn and thank them when you realized you didn’t recognize the voice. Back on your feet firmly on deck, you pull your arm from their grasp and to your chest it feels slimy. You come face to face with a lithe figure a good foot taller than you, truthfully kind of androgynous. Their skin was almost a pale lime color and a long deep green mohawk was plastered down covering part of their face.

“Ok, like, don’t freak out” They held up their hands trying to keep you calm.

But like, you freaked out. Quitely, mostly internally, but a freak out nonetheless. You opened your mouth but nothing came out for a moment. You stared more, examining this person with a strange skin color and, would you look at that, a long smooth tail coiled beneath them. You took a deep breath

“Right. What are you?” You were surprisingly calm.

“It’s not obvious?” Judging by their tone they feigned hurt

“Some sort of snake-person?”

They dropped their shoulders and shook their head with a sigh they said: “yeah,yeah..no I’m not a snake…” They looked back up and forced the biggest grin they could and shouted “I’m a mermaid!” and spread their arms in a ta-da like fashion

“Don’t shout! You’ll wake everyone up! Aren’t you supposed to be like a fish then?”

“Hey, there’s more than one kind of mer. I’m more of an eel myself” This was an energetic person, to say the least, they don’t stay feeling down for long it seems.

“Right…uh, I’m (y/n)”

“Oh! OH! I’m sorry! Wow, I spaced on that! I’m Moray! Get it?” They laughed at their own joke. “It’s nice to meet you” Moray extended a hand to you which you grabbed, it wasn’t as slimy as you thought it might be, cold but nice.

“Soo…what brings an eel-maid like you onto a boat?” You asked

“I just thought it was interesting, what brings you out to sea?”

“I thought it would be interesting” You smiled at each other and at the same time realized you were still holding hands. You both pulled away blushing and looked down awkwardly.

“So um, what’cha got there?” Moray asked shyly gesturing to your handheld which had been almost forgotten.

“Oh! Um, just a game, do you want to play?”

The mermaid’s eyes lit up mesmerized by the glow of the colors “yes please” she whispered.

Before you knew it you were both curled up on the deck, you almost in the mermaid’s lap, as you showed Moray how to play. You stayed up most of the night laughing and grumbling over more challenging levels. When Moray lost their last life they sighed and handed the game back and you’re most certainly in their lap at this point. “Looks like the sun will be up in a couple of hours and I think your other friends may freak out, won’t they?” Moray smiled but seemed a bit sad.

“Probably” You lightly laughed “but um, this was fun, and this trip still has a couple of days left, if you want to come back, maybe?”

Moray broke out into a smile that could be barely contained on her face “Yes! I would love that! Date number two! You’re on! Oh! And I have a great idea”

“What do you mean? What idea? Date?” you asked surprised.

The energetic mermaid climbed up onto the side of the boat and dropped most of her long tail into the water and turned back to you. “You’ll see, you should probably get some sleep in” With that Moray gave you some finger guns and dropped herself into the water. You decided to take the advice, more tired than you realized. Of course later that day you were woken by a friend “Hey, (y/n) get up here! Quickly!” They sounded excited, and for good reason! A whole pod of whales surrounded you and you had the feeling a certain mermaid had something to do with it. You grabbed a sketchbook and enjoyed the show, looking forward to your next date.