#magpie beeps

[littlebluemagpie]

They need to be washed after they were packed away for moving (plus I have two long haired cats) so ignore the wrinkles and cat hair but I pulled it back out to go to ren faire tomorrow and got excited so here's my old Legend LU cosplay I made in 2020 lol

Pls ignore my room also it's a mess cus we just moved a few months ago and I've been swamped with work and school and horses 😭

Pls note I learned how to dye fabric and embroider for this so be gentle lol it was my first try on both!

I drafted the pattern myself and made it by hand over about 2-3 months the summer of 2020, in a tiny town where my only ""craft store"" was Walmart lmao

[many-gay-magpies]

they should invent a microwave that doesn't beep like a fire alarm going off when your food is done. for 3 am mac n cheese in the college dorm

[hawkpartys]

this blog always reminds me of the core memory i have of seeing a raptor of some sort land on a staircase railing in like 5th grade and start tearing open a squirrel in front of my whole class. it was very hype and i spent recess trying to bait one down so i could catch it and sic it on my enemies for a while but it did not work. i wish i had bothered to ID it but i think it was a red tailed hawk. anyways great birds i would spare you from the wrath of my hawk companion had my plan succeeded all those years ago.

i think this is how falconry was invented

this reminded me of how when i was like 8 we had to eat lunch outside in this little pavilion and there were these magpies that loved to divebomb kids and steal their food and i used to try to bait them with crackers from my lunch so i could try and?? grab one? honestly im not sure i didnt think that far ahead. it just made them swoop at me more. the moral of that story is that i ended up accidentally hitting a magpie with my (soft, fabric, empty) lunchbox full on like it was a baseball. that didnt even get them to stop robbing me lmfao

anyway we are brothers in arms and you deserve a hawk companion to sic it on your enemies

[gogoghostie]

Im just saluting any bird i see at this point.

[luvzshy]

pregnant!reader x Billie when she had a traumatic birth and Billie and magpie are there with her 🥹

a/n: hi so idk i feel like this is a little dark or smth but here u go bby, i hope this is what u wanted MWUAK💕✨

Heartbeats in the Dark

The hospital room is a blur of beeping machines and hurried voices. The atmosphere grows tense as the hours drag on. The labor has been long and exhausting, and complications have started to arise. The pain feels unbearable, and it’s mixed with an overwhelming sense of fear.

Billie stands by the bed, holding your hand, but she’s visibly anxious. “You’re doing so well,” she whispers, trying to stay composed, though the worry in her eyes betrays her calm tone.

The medical staff becomes more urgent, voices overlapping. “We need to move now,” the doctor announces, and suddenly, everything speeds up. There’s no time to process as the decision for an emergency C-section is made. As the bed is wheeled away, Billie’s hand slips from your grasp, and for a heart-stopping moment, she’s gone, left standing in the hallway, helpless.

The operating room is cold, sterile. The weight of the situation presses down like a suffocating fog. Numb from fear and exhaustion, her body trembles uncontrollably. When Billie is finally allowed back in, she rushes to your side, her own tears barely held back. “I��m here,” she says, her voice shaky, brushing a hand through your sweat-soaked hair. “I’m right here.”

But the terror is real. There’s a deep, bone-deep fear that something might go terribly wrong. “What if…” The words choke out, barely audible, “What if something happens to the baby?”

Billie’s eyes fill with tears she’s trying so hard to hold back. “I’m scared too, baby,” she admits softly, her voice cracking. “But you’re doing everything you can. We’re going to get through this.”

Minutes feel like hours. The room is tense and quiet until finally, there’s a small, faint cry. Relief rushes in, but it’s fleeting. The baby is quickly taken away, needing immediate care. There’s no chance to hold them, no time to bond. Just a glimpse, and they’re gone.

Left in the silence of the room, Billie squeezes your hand tighter, pressing her forehead against yours. “I thought I was going to lose you,” she whispers brokenly, her voice hoarse. The fear of that moment is still raw, the helplessness cutting deep. “I was so scared. I should’ve done more.”

Your tears flow freely now, the emotional toll of the birth crashing down all at once. “I thought I was going to die,” you confess, voice trembling. “I couldn’t protect our baby. I couldn’t do anything.” The sobs come, wracking your body, and Billie holds on as tight as she can without causing more pain.

“You fought so hard,” Billie says through her own tears. “You’re still here, and so is our baby. You didn’t give up. You were so strong.”

But despite the relief of knowing the baby is okay, there’s an emptiness that lingers. What was supposed to be a joyful moment feels tainted by the trauma of the experience. Both of them struggle with the weight of it—the loss of those first moments with their child, the fear that gripped them for hours.

When the baby is finally brought to them, the room falls quiet. Holding your newborn for the first time, tears stream down your face again, but this time they are softer, a mix of joy and sorrow. Billie sits beside you, gently tracing the baby’s tiny fingers, her own tears spilling over.

“We made it,” Billie whispers, though her voice still trembles with the emotion of everything that’s happened.

But it’s clear things won’t just go back to normal. “I don’t feel okay,” you admits quietly. “I can’t forget how scared I was.” There’s a lingering sense of fear, a doubt about whether they can recover from this emotionally.

Billie’s hand tightens around yours. “You don’t have to be okay right now,” she says, voice steady despite her own pain. “We don’t have to be perfect. We’re still here, and that’s what matters. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll figure this out together, one day at a time.”

There’s no instant relief, no magical fix. The trauma of the birth will take time to heal. But as they sit there, Billie resting her head against your shoulder, their baby in their arms, they find a small sense of peace. It’s not the ending they imagined, but they survived—together. And that, for now, is enough.

[sunsetkerr]

BEFORE A GAME WITH Y/N L/N | s.kerr

summary: netball australia releases a video with you (and sam) before a game. [1k words]

pairing: netball!reader x sam kerr

notes: another netball!reader because I love her

[OPENING SHOT OF Y/N'S HOME IN ADELAIDE. A MAGPIE SITS IN A TREE, CALLING OUT]

6:28AM, Y/N L/N'S HOME

THE MORNING OF ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS VS. MELBOURNE VIXENS

[SHOT OF Y/N'S BEDROOM WINDOW, THE SUN IS BEGINNING TO RISE. Y/N’S VOICEOVER BEGINS]

Y/N L/N: So, it's around 6:30 in the morning right now. Today is game day, we're playing melbourne and I have to be at the stadium by- (Y/N LOOKS DOWN AT HER PHONE, BLINKING A FEW TIMES) -9:30 for strat.

INTERVIEWER: Are you tired?

(Y/N LAUGHS, EXHALING THROUGH HER NOSE)

Y/N L/N: So tired.

Y/N L/N: I like to let sam sleep when I have to be up early.

[CLIP OF Y/N BRUSHING SAM'S HAIR OUT OF HER FACE AS SHE SLEEPS. SHORT CLIPS OF Y/N PULLING HER KIT OUT OF THE CUPBOARD, QUIETLY AS TO NOT WAKE HER GIRLFRIEND UP]

Y/N L/N: She flew in from Brisbane last night. (Y/N PAUSES TO MAKE SURE SAM IS STILL SLEEPING) Got in around midnight. So she needs a good sleep. (SMILES AT SAM)

[Y/N'S KITCHEN; Y/N SITTING AT THE KITCHEN BENCH, STILL IN HER PYJAMAS]

Y/N L/N: Game days I eat a big-ish breakfast. Some times we do team breakfasts if it's an earlier match, but we start at 6 tonight- so I'm eating here.

[CLIPS OF Y/N MAKING BREAKFAST; CEREAL AND YOGURT, MIXED NUTS ON TOP]

Y/N L/N: My grandad, well my Pa, used to have this cereal and when I was in juniors, I would eat it before my games. So now that I'm old (LAUGHING) and live out of home, he misses the cereal with the nuts and drops it off every month.

[PICTURES OF Y/N AND HER PA, OLD AND NEW]

Y/N L/N: He doesn't really like netball, but he watches it for me.

[Y/N EATING HER BREAKFAST QUIETLY AT THE BENCH, TRYING NOT TO LAUGH WITH HER MOUTH FULL]

Y/N L/N: (SWALLOWS BEFORE SPEAKING) I feel very strange with you all watching me eat.

[B-ROLL FOOTAGE; Y/N SAT EATING, PANS TO CREW FILMING HER. LAUGHTER FROM BEHIND THE CAMERA]

(SAM WALKS INTO THE KITCHEN, PAUSES WHEN SHE SEES THE CREW. LAUGHTER EMITS FROM Y/N AND FROM THE CREW]

SAM KERR: Um.. (PAUSES) What the *BEEP* is going on?

(MORE LAUGHTER)

[CUTS TO Y/N SITTING WITH SAM ON THE BENCH, SAM LEANING HER HEAD ON Y/N'S SHOULDER]

Y/N L/N: This is my girlfriend, her name is Sam.

(SAM WAVES TIREDLY AT THE CAMERA)

Y/N L/N: She should be asleep right now.

SAM KERR: I would be, but there's ten random people in our home right now (LAUGHS)

7:33AM

[CUTS TO Y/N IN THE BATHROOM, SKINCARE PRODUCTS SET UP BEHIND HER]

Y/N L/N: Before I go to the stadium, I shower and shave. I always try to remember to shave my armpits (LAUGHS) on the morning of games, but sometimes.. I forget. I keep my hair up and try not to get it wet, because I'll wash it later tonight after the game.

[CLOSE UP OF PRODUCTS BEHIND Y/N]

Y/N L/N: I get out all my stuff to wash my face with and everything before my shower so I don't forget anything.. because.. I will.

SAM KERR: *OFFSCREEN* She will.

Y/N L/N: Let's keep the heckling to a minimum, shall we?

8:19AM

SAM KERR: Y/N takes forever in the shower, so I usually, if I'm here, will try to make sure she's got everything.

(SAM PULLS A THUNDERBIRDS DUFFLE OUT FROM THE CUPBOARD, PLACING IT ON THE BED)

SAM KERR: This is her game bag, she needs her training gear and shoes. Her dress is at the stadium ready for her, which is good- because it would be all wrinkled, like the rest of her stuff (LAUGHS).

(SAM FOLDS AND PUTS Y/N'S CLOTHES INTO HER BAG)

SAM KERR: Uhh, clothes, shoes, deodorant. What else? Body wash. This is her little bag that she brings to shower after, has all her special, fancy stuff in it. And I'll- (SAM PULLS A HOODIE FROM THE CUPBOARD) put this in here, because it'll be cold when she comes home.

[Y/N PEERS AROUND THE CORNER, HER TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND HER. SHE TRIES TO KEEP HER BODY OUT OF SHOT]

Y/N L/N: Can I come in now?

8:36AM

[Y/N'S CAR; SAM IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT, Y/N IN THE PASSENGER]

SAM KERR: I feel like we're vloggers or something

Y/N L/N: No, I know (SMILES)

SAM KERR: Hey guys! Welcome back to our channel!

(Y/N LAUGHS WITH SAM)

Y/N L/N: So now I'm on my way to Netball SA to meet the girls, Sam's driving me because she's a good girlfriend.

SAM KERR: I didn't wanna be left alone.

Y/N L/N: That too. The stadium is in the city and my place is like forty-five-ish minutes away? Thirty-five with good traffic.

SAM KERR: Your phones going off bub

Y/N L/N: It's Georgie (CHUCKLES)

SAM KERR: (BANGING THE STEERING WHEEL PLAYFULLY WITH A SMILE) Georgie Horjus!

Y/N L/N: she wants to know if you're allowed to be driving with how much sleep you've had.

(SAM LAUGHS, ADJUSTING HER SUNGLASSES)

SAM KERR: Probably not, tell her to piss off.

9:17AM

[CLIP OF Y/N KISSING SAM GOODBYE THROUGH THE OPEN CAR WINDOW. SAM PULLS AWAY, BUT HOLDS Y/N'S HEAD CLOSE]

[SUBTITLES APPEAR AS SAM TALKS INAUDIBLY]

SAM KERR: *MUMBLED* I love you

[SAM QUICKLY KISSES Y/N ONCE MORE BEFORE TIGHTENING THE RIBBON IN Y/N'S PONYTAIL FOR HER]

[CLIP OF Y/N WALKING INTO THE STADIUM]

Y/N: So we're at the stadium, heading in to talk strategy with the girls for today's game. After that we'll do drills and warm ups, probably rewatch our last game again- boring stuff really (CHUCKLES). Oh, oh-

[CAMERA PANS TO TIPPAH DWAN, GOAL SHOOTER AND GOAL ATTACK FOR THE ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS. SHE SKIPS OVER TO Y/N, SUNGLASSES OVER HER EYES]

TIPPAH DWAN: Hey!

Y/N L/N: This is Tippah, my starting attacker.

TIPPAH DWAN: Dream-team here really (SHRUGS)

Y/N L/N: Thanks for spending my morning with me.

(TIPPAH PULLS Y/N IN FOR A TIGHT HUG AS Y/N LAUGHS, WAVING TO THE CAMERA)

TIPPAH DWAN: Now get outta here!

6:03PM

[CLIP OF Y/N TAKING TO COURT, TIGHTENING HER PONYTAIL UNDER THE GOAL RING. PANS OVER TO SAM KERR, WHO SITS WITH OTHER THUNDERBIRD PLAYERS PARTNERS. SHE IS CLAPPING, AND CHEERING FOR Y/N AS THE COUNTDOWN TO THE GAME BEGINS]

[THE SCREEN TURNS BLANK AS THE WHISTLE SOUNDS]

[museofthepyre]

hello where do u find ur bones. i am so jealous of your collection. do the bone gods rain bones in your local forest to bless u in particular ……….

EEEE WONDERFUL QUESTION!!! I’m gonna ramble because this is my favourite question!!!!

Generally, the best stuff lies where human feet dare not tread! Which means veering off trail, if it’s safe for you to do so. I’m lucky enough to have a few decent sized forests scattered around my area, and I’ve always had the best luck with the less trailed, more remote, not row-planted, all around less human-populated forests. You’ve gotta dwell where the critters do!!! Which is away from trails, in nice shady areas, under big trees and logs, etc. Bonus points if you can find a forest that’s near a source of water (river, pond, creek, etc), or farmlands— that’s where wildlife tends to really thrive, and where there is life, there will be death! It also helps to get to know the living wildlife— knowing what animals you might run into (alive or not) is quite helpful. Everything I’ve got has been collected over the span of a good few years— you pick up a lot of skills just through trial and error :3 every forest is different, and will have different patterns.

Also, once you’ve been bone hunting for a while, you kinda develop magpie eyes for it… Its like a sixth sense for picking out bone shapes and colours and textures amidst the leaf litter. Only problem is, I can’t turn the sense off now… sometimes I’ll be in a store or something, and I’ll see some vaguely bone shaped napkin on the ground… and I’ll instinctively whip around to investigate, the bone detector beeping in my head. Then I realize I’m in a store. There are no bones here. False alarm. The sensors are a bit overactive.

On a more esoteric note, if it suits your fancy, I like to build a sort of relationship with the forests I explore. I’ll bring little offerings of birdseed, dried flower petals, herbs, etc— and I’ll find a spot to leave them (with love!), as a preemptive “thank you for having me”! I even speak to the forest sometimes. If I see a pretty tree, I tell it it’s pretty. If I see pretty mushrooms, I’ll literally verbally tell them how gorgeous they are. And if I take any bones— I always say “thank you”. Does this have any effect at all? No clue! But I like to think it does.

I encourage complimenting your local natural landscapes! Be nice to them and they just might be nice to you!

[cringefailprincess]

So I needed to go to the hardware store for parts, because my toilets have been leaking for weeks. I have no car and buses don't run that early on sundays, so I had to bike it, a mere twenty minutes trip.

I rose early again and set about unscrewing everything i could on the faulty toilets, put the old and messy parts in my backpack for reference, and i asked my phone to tell me the way to the store.

Now, on paper, that's a straight line, though part of it is a one way road that doesn't serve my purpose on this side of the trip. I already knew I'd have to take a different direction on this portion. I get my bike out of the building, and well. It's a grey, foggy morning. I can barely see to the nearby crossing, and there's no light on my bike, so. I suppose we'll just follow my phone's instructions.

I take the side road.

It starts with a street I've never taken before, so I'm cautious. I am aware that people driving won't see me fast enough, but this early, there doesn't seem to be anyone out yet. The way is easy enough, and with the slight cold that lingers, it's a pleasure to bike. I go on a straight line, which should be parallel to the direct road.

Then I have to make a turn. That's another city street, though more suburban. No one is out here either. It's grey, but it's not that dark ; all lights are turned off. I go on my merry way, take a turn between big buildings that sprouted in the mist, and get to my first snag, because this doesn't look like the map. I must have gone left when I should have gone right ; I do that a lot, and I don't check my phone at every intersection. No matter ; recalculate a route, please !

I get biking. Three streets later, fully stuck in the washed out suburban sprawl, the signs don't match the map I have. I have gotten lost in straight lines before, so I sigh, and ask for a recalculation.

Now, the result I get has significantly more turns, which I don't fully understand, but I'll just focus harder. Luckily, I still haven't crossed path with anyone, so it should be fine if I have to make abrupt turns.

I try to follow the road better, make out street names, but half of the signs are missing. The fog doesn't seem to be lifting.

My phone says to go down the street ; in front of me is no street, but a forest path. I check again, but the map doesn't seem to mention a forest. I stare, and stare, at the grey woods in front of me, and I conclude that, well. Disappearing into mysterious woods, swallowed by the mist, never to be seen again, actually IS one of the ways I'd pick to go. Here's to hoping they never find my body !!!

I go into the woods.

I bike for a while. Actually, we're way over the twenty minutes this trip is supposed to take, but I've gotten turned around so much, who can say ?

I startle a bird that startles me. It's a magpie.

Five minutes into the forest path, a moving shape frightens me, but I think it's only a man. He's gone by the time I reach the crossroad, and my phone tells me to keep going, straight line.

I emerge into a village.

Weird. Haven't seen that church before.

I turn to take a better look at it ; my phone beeps in warning, I am taking a wrong turn again. I can't seem to reach the church, though ; and really, it's weird that no one is out, no one at all. I ask out loud, Well !! Is this the Lonely or what ? But, of course, no one answers.

I recalculate the route. On my right. Straight line.

I try to, but the road keeps twisting.

Recalculate.

Damn, I really can't follow directions, huh !

Recalculate.

How did I miss an entire street.

Recalculate.

I am getting closer, though. And I'm lucky I still have service, though none of the people I messaged replied yet (that's normal, it's early, on a sunday morning), so I'm not really lost.

A car passes me, making me jump and swerve.

Huh.

Rising from the mist, the bulky green of the hardware store glooms and sulks, turning its back on me. I bike around it, legs on fire, get off and tie my bicycle next to the entrance.

I go inside. It's clear, and bright, and noisy. My phone pings with texts. A salesman asks if he can help me.

Huh. Guess I made it.

I look outside, into the grey, into the quicksilver. It's bleak, and it's silent, but it cannot enter.

I turn to the salesman, and I tell him I got a fucked up toilet.

[claypigeonpottery]

Top 5 Birds?

I’m going with favourite birds that I have seen or interacted with because otherwise this would be so much harder to answer

1. pigeons, surprise surprise

(and here’s my favourite pigeon, Albertha)

as a kid I knew all the pigeons who lived on my neighbour’s roof. I gave them names and watched them frequently

2. magpies. they’re playful and silly and smart and I’ve loved them since I was a kid (aaaalmost as long as pigeons)

3. chickens. I saw a lot of chickens growing up, despite not having any of my own. one of my favourite chicken memories is my spouse holding a chicken to catch bugs out of the air lol

4. zebra finches. I’ve had a few over the years. their little beeping sounds delight me

5. ohhh this one was hard, but I’m gonna go with sandpipers. I got to watch them on the beach a few times. so cute, so tiny

really close to coming in at #5: ring neck pheasants, quail, sparrows, grey herons, red winged blackbirds, merlins, flickers and loons.

my grandpa is a huge bird fan, he’d always send me bird identification books and cassette tapes of birdsongs, and whenever we spent time together, we’d go birdwatching

[littlebluemagpie]

Before and after ren fest this year! Finally got ears ✨

[many-gay-magpies]

Y'ALL I WENT TO THE AURORA CONCERT!!!

it was so magical, beautiful, amazing- pretty much every positive adjective i can think of. thanks so much to @amity206 for taking me (even though you couldn't stay to see it lol)!!!

[dark-angel-of-muses]

Little Comforts for @breannasfluff

Wing Au for Linked Universe

Twilight sniffed the air again, annoyed as he trotted through the dense brush as a wolf. Wild had once again wandered off, and the magpie had a terrible habit of finding the most difficult-to-find nooks and crannies to shove himself into. Logically, he knew it was a good survival instinct honed by his adventure, but every time he had to go fish his cub out from under a bush or in a hole that was too small to count as a cave, it took hours.

It didn't help that Wild moved erratically, obviously having zig-zagged to check out every cool mushroom or insect that caught his eye. This meant, naturally, that his trail looped back over itself and was so incomprehensible that Twilight wasn't sure if he was running in circles at some points.

When he finally heard the telltale beeps of the Sheikah slate signaling Wild nearby, he internally groaned in relief, immediately shifting back to Hylian. His cub had perched himself up on a ledge right under the overhang of a cliff. Near impossible to spot if it wasn't for the unnatural noises coming from the tech in his hands.

Twilight beat his wings to help him get up to Wild. It was awkward, Four or Hyrule were much better at controlled vertical movement, but his cub had him trained on flying in tight spaces and odd directions. His wings were too big to get to Wild's little alcove while open. So he overshot to the top of the cliff so he could snap them close and climb down.

He had been mentally poring over of ways to admonish his cub, some other way to deliver the "Don't Go Hiding Without Telling Someone" Lecture that went through one ear and out the other, but on his trip to the top of the cliff, he had spotted something that paused his annoyed train of thought. Wet tracks had been clearly visible across Wild's cheeks, and his eyes were unfocused and hazy.

All thoughts of annoyance fled to be replaced by worry. Was his cub ok, did he remember something, was he hurt, was he safe? If he could reach his cub as a wolf, he would transform just to provide the comfort of a furry body laying across Wild's lap. As it stood, his Hylian form would have to do.

As he swung down from the cliff's overhang, he made sure to move as slowly as he could, as not to spook his protégé. It was clear Wild had seen him and knew he was coming, because the cub had set down the slate and was staring at the ground, looking guilty. Ah, so maybe Twilight's lectures had set in. It wasn't satisfying to see that, not when it was causing guilt to fall over his cub's face as he tried to stifle his tears.

"I'm sorry." Wild's wings were beginning to curl around him, blocking out the world on instinct. "I couldn't- Sky was talking about his Goron friend and then all of a sudden I remembered Daruk and I don't know why it hurt so much so I tried to take a walk but nothing was helping so I tried to look at Zelda's pictures to remember but it hurts-t'" Wild's feathers were poofing, raised as he started working himself into hysterics.

Twilight placed a gentle hand on the top of Wild's wing and pushed it away. With anyone else, they were liable to be punched as Wild snapped his wings open when startled and upset, but Twilight had enough practice to know to make comforting little growls and firm yet gentle pressure that slowly coaxed him out of his shell.

"It's OK to grieve, we've all lost someone." As Twilight pushed away Wild's wings, he crawled into the space next to the magpie. On instinct, Wild pushed forward to bury his face in his mentor's shoulder. Twilight wrapped his wing around Wild in a practiced way while bringing a hand up to run through Wild's distressed feathers in a soothing motion.

He spared a glance over Wild's shoulder, and tightened his hold on his cub when he saw the photo of the five champions, all startled as the goron hugged them close. Twilight knew Wild's pain intimately. When trying to find comfort in a memory suddenly leads it to hurt all the worse. He had days where memories of Midna's sass would help calm him from a storm, and others where it was the wind blowing in the hurricane.

He cooed at his cub, scooching back into the alcove to lean his back against the wall and firmly take the magpie in his arms. He'd give the others a signal that he found Wild soon, his raptor call could stretch for a mile around, but he would wait until his cub was settled. 

After all, by the way his breathing was starting to even and feathers rested from their upset state, it was clear that they were going to be okay.

[paintingsandrecords]

a white-nosed coati; ink and watercolor

last ten day’s listening:

joni mitchell - mingus

the messthetics and james brandon lewis - the messthetics and james brandon lewis

jon snodgrass - barge at will

wesley willis - greatest hits vol ii

the curse - teenage meat (1977-78)

verse - from anger and rage

utah phillips - el capitan

war on women - live from magpie cafe

john linnell - state songs

void - condensed flesh

the vipers skiffle group - skiffle music

q and not u - no kill no beep beep

[midnightcreator12]

And We'll Keep Marching On Chapter 7 - Fractures and Cracks

AO3 Link

Gonna...just establish some stuff here real quick.

Apparently, ‘setting up a signal’ wasn’t as simple as making a phone call to a mother ship.

Because apparently, Raven had tried to do that when she first landed in the woods and she hadn’t heard anything.

Which found Mikey sitting on the roof with her, watching as she hooked Scrap up to the old satellite dish in an effort to make the signal stronger.

“Why don’t you guys just use cell phones?”

Raven paused, frowning over her shoulder, “Use what?”

“Uhhhhh,” what had she called it when Mikey showed her his T-Phone? “Communicators?”

“Oh, we do,” Raven turned back to the satellite. “But all of my weapons, equipment and armor were confiscated when I was captured…and all of it is likely destroyed by now.”

“Bummer,” Mikey said. “Soooo, how does giving Scrap over a hundred channels help?”

“The idea is to boost a signal for him,” Raven explained as she finally managed to get the stem on the dish open, revealing a bunch of wires and circuits. “Every droid has a short distance distress beacon built into it, how short that distance is depends on the model. Scrap, since he’s a BD-unit, has a longer reach than the average droid but, since it’s been two weeks with no sign of anyone, it wasn’t enough to reach the Paragon. So if I can use this satellite to bonce the ping off any other satellites in the system, it should reach the Paragon no matter where they are.”

“Cooool,” Mikey nodded along, not fully getting what Raven was trying to do but, hey, she didn’t use as many big complicated words as Donnie did to try and sound smart. “What’s a Paragon?”

“It is the Venator of my battalion.”

Mikey blinked, tilting his head.

Raven glanced over when he didn’t reply, hands still fiddling inside the satellite, “A Venator is a class of starship, specifically a battleship. They are built to be, in essence, a mobile home base for the battalions to operate out off.”

“So it’s a flying Lair?”

“Sure, yeah,” Raven carefully pulled some wires out, twisting them together with some of the ones she’d brought up before patting the spot next to her. Scrap trilled, sitting himself down like a little bird.

Mikey’s beak wrinkled when Raven opened a panel on Scrap’s back, “Does that hurt him?”

“No, not at all. Giving a droid pain receptors would be pretty counter-productive.”

Scrap beeped, ears wiggling happily.

“Ok,” Mikey was silent for a moment, watching as more wires were hooked up to Scrap. “What’re they like?”

“Who?” Raven asked.

“Your friends. Er, brothers? Are all of you on the same ship?”

“No, not all. The GAR has over one million troopers on active duty, the two-forty-fourth only has roughly five-fifty. And it not uncommon for batch-mates to be split up over several positions.”

“Batch-mates?”

“Clones were usually made in units of five hundred, give or take a few if…something happened. The first-gens formed a lot of the vocabulary for how we all refer to each other and ‘batch-mate’ was among the first thing.”

“So…the brothers you’ve mentioned aren’t on your ship.”

“None are my batch-mates, no. But they are my brothers,” she nodded at the collection of wires before holding out a hand. “Could I borrow your…uh, cell phone?”

“Oh, sure,” Mikey handed it over. “So what are your brothers like?”

“There’s Jay, he’s the battalion Commander,” Raven turned the phone a few times, frowning at it. “He tries to act all serious and no-nonsense, but Magpie’s favorite pass time is dragging us ARCs into trouble and Jay doesn't exactly put up much of a fight.”

She seemed to figure the phone out. Mikey frowned when the screen went black and lines of numbers started to scroll down the screen.

…well, if something broke, he was pretty sure Donnie could fix it.

Raven kept talking as she worked, “And Crow is technically an honorary ARC. He’s a Medic so he can’t get ranks like that but he usually gets put with us since he’s the lead medic.”

“So, he’d fix Leo?” Mikey asked.

Raven nodded and tapped at the phone, “Yeah. Even if he wasn’t the lead medic, he’s the only one who’s done extra training with surgery and post-op care. And General Ader would probably insist that you all stay on the Paragon until Leonardo was back to full health.”

“They’d let us do that?” Mikey asked. “Aren’t you guys fighting a war?”

Raven hesitated, “We’re…technically operating independently at the moment.”

Mikey tipped his head again, curiosity now fully peaked.

Raven paused again, glancing at Scrap before going back to the phone, “About…five years ago, we were assigned to track down a group of mercenaries that had stolen these things called kyber crystals. We…still aren’t fully sure what happened but one minute we’re dropping out of hyperspace to assist Commander Verd, the next we were drifting in unknown space and running on emergency power.”

“Whoa,” Mikey whistled. 

“Yeah, whoa. We managed to fix the Paragon, did some exploring, figured out we couldn’t make contact with the Republic so we’ve just been helping with smaller scale conflicts while we try and figure out how to get back.”

“Why don’t you do the thing you’re doing with Scrap?”

“We did,” Raven nodded to Scrap. “But nothing we tried has made contact so far. So, yeah, you could all stay on the Paragon until Leo is patched up and ready for redeployment.”

“Cool,” Mikey peered over her shoulder to watch the numbers scrolling down his phone screen. “What’s your boss like?”

“General Ader?”

Mikey hummed, “Is she that thing you called April? Force-senative?”

“Yup. She’s a Jedi, all the GAR generals are Jedi. They have this connection to the Force that gives them abilities like telekinesis, telepathy, and heightened awareness just to name a few.”

Mikey gasped, stars in his eyes, “So your leader is a space wizard?”

Raven paused, “...yeah. She’s a space wizard.”

“Cooool.”

Raven chuckled, tapping out a long string of numbers before turning to Scrap, “Alright, send the ping.”

Scrap beeped, antennae flipping straight up in the air and little body trembling lightly.

Mikey watched, expecting to see some kind of indicator that the signal was sending.

But both human and robot sat in silence for a minute.

Raven frowned and put another string of numbers into the phone, “What the kriff?”

“What?” Mikey asked.

Raven hummed, tapping furiously at the screen, then seeming to catch herself and breathe in deeply, “Do you happen to know the range this can get?”

“Uhhhhhhhhh,” Mikey blinked. “That’s a Donnie question.”

“Ah, right,” Raven turned back to the phone.

“....do you want me to get him…?”

“He didn’t seem happy with the decision to let me contact the Paragon. I doubt he’ll want to help me do that.”

“Phs, he’s just grumpy ‘cause he hasn’t slept in a while,” Mikey stood on the roof, stretching both arms over his head until his spine gave a satisfying pop. “I’ll go get him for you!”

“Wait, Mikey-”

Nope! His mind was made up. He didn’t know exactly why Donnie hadn’t voted to call in some help but he’d been outvoted so he had to help Raven set up her cell signal thingy.

So he launched himself off the roof without waiting to see what Raven wanted to say. He landed into a roll down the porch cover, slowing his momentum enough to do a clean flip and land perfectly on the muddy ground. He spun around, beaming up at Raven and waving, “Just hang for a bit dude! I’ll be back in no time!”

Raven didn’t verbally reply…and he couldn’t see her face from the ground. So he gave one last wave before trotting towards the barn.

Donnie had pretty much moved into it, in Mikey’s option, only coming back inside to check on Leo. Which sucked because Mikey wanted all his bros close by…just in case.

He didn’t know in case of what but he knew he felt better when all his bro’s were under the same roof.

Plus, it was a lot colder on the surface then it was in the sewers. He was pretty sure mutant turtles weren’t supposed to stay in the cold for long spans of time.

Maybe he could convince Donnie to come inside after he helped Raven? He hadn’t been kidding when he told Raven that his brainy bro hadn’t slept in a while. Donnie would come in for naps and go right back outside to do…whatever his project was now. Always gone before anyone was up and back after everyone went to bed.

So, get Donnie to help Raven, then maybe Raven could help him convince Donnie to take a nap. Or they could get Scrap to knock him out.

But when he got close to the barn, he frowned.

There was talking coming from the cracked door. And not the usual back and forth that Casey and Donnie had been doing lately.

Nooo, that was definitely April’s voice coming from the barn. Which was odd, since April never went into the barn.

Mikey slowed his pace, almost tip-toeing up to the door to listen in.

“-what is with you? Why did you vote no?” April’s voice sounded mad. “You’re the smartest one here, if anyone should’ve suggested having Raven call help it should have been you!”

“Clearly my option doesn’t hold much weight. I technically didn’t get to vote.” Huh, Mikey wasn’t used to Donnie sounding so…short with April. He usually tripped and tumbled over every other word and wormed in as much terrible flirting and flattery as he could.

Than again…Mikey couldn’t really remember the last time Donnie had gone full ‘heart-eyed babbling dumb-dumb’ when he talked about April.

“Why are you being stubborn about this?” April huffed. “We have a way to actually get Leo help and you wanted to pass it up?”

Mikey peeked into the barn in time to see Donnie spin around to glare, actually glare, at April!

“As much as I hate to admit it, Casey had a point. We are banking solely on you reading her mind to know if everything she said was the truth and we already know she has a way to completely lock you out of her head.”

“I saw her memories, I felt the things she was feeling, I could sense that she was telling the truth! What more proof do you want?”

“Yes, let us rely completely on your powers that you just got a few months ago, which, by the way, have a worse track record than Mikey’s cooking experiments.”

Oh, okay, ouch…but also, what?

“My- you- my powers are not unreliable!”

“Whether or not you can sense danger changes almost everyday, you’ve had random outbursts that break things more often than not, oh, and you conveniently didn’t notice the Kraang in your school until you brought him to our home!”

Oookay, Donnie was doing that thing, the thing where his tone got angrier and angrier the longer he rambled. And…okay, the inconsistencies with April’s powers weren’t fair but Mikey kinda agreed that April never sensing something off about her friend was weird. And she knew the rule about bringing other people to the Lair-

“You’re seriously holding that over me?! I’d known Irma for-”

“I. Don’t. Care.” Donnie gritted out each word, slowly standing up from his chair. “You want me to use my brain? Here’s what I know. We have no concrete evidence that anything good will come from calling down more aliens. Raven is clearly not the Kraang but what if her people are willing to trade us to the Kraang for resources? Or to keep the Kraang off their planet? Or maybe they’ll be just like every other human here and just lock us away like lab rats. Or maybe she just figured out how to trick you so she can escape and leave us high and dry and still in the exact same spot!”

Mikey jaw dropped in shock. Partly because of how harsh Donnie was being but also because he never thought he’d ever see Donnie yelling at April.

Clearly, she didn’t either because she was slowly backing away as Donnie ranted on, “I have been helping Leo! I patched him up and got him stable! I have been handling everything related to his care since we got here! I don’t need help from some random alien person who just showed up out of nowhere that we all suddenly trust for some reason!”

Donnie was breathing hard, glaring down at April and growling, too low for a human to pick up but Mikey could hear it plain as day.

Man, Donnie must be pretty upset if he was growling like that.

April stood, frozen as the silence rang between them.

Mikey almost missed when she muttered, “She figured out Leo’s leg was broken before you did.”

And…no, Mikey cringed when she said that because he knew how torn up Donnie had been about that. Why did she say that?

The effect on Donnie was instant. The anger on his face fell, leaving a slack, shocked expression. It was only there for a second but if Mikey saw it, April definitely did too. Then it was gone and Donnie's face was a mask of indifference as he spun around and sat back at the bench.

April seemed to realize her misstep, because she started to follow, lifting a hand, “Wait, Donnie, I-”

“No, that was fair,” Donnie murmured, dragging a stand full of vials closer to himself. “I was out of line. Now we’re even.”

“No, Donnie-”

“I have stuff I want to do. Alone.”

“I’m-”

Donnie growled again, this time at a tone humans could hear.

It worked because April suddenly jerked back.

Mikey could feel how tense the silence was.

And then she spun around with a sound of frustration and headed for the door.

Mikey squeaked, scrabbling out of the way and diving around the corner of the barn. He listened to April stomping by, peering out to watch her retreating back as she returned to the house, slamming the door when she went inside.

And now, he faced a very serious dilemma.

Raven needed to know the range of her improvised super cell phone, and Donnie probably knew what that meant and what she needed to know.

But Donnie had just had a fight with April. April! If something bothered him enough to snap at her, Mikey didn’t stand a chance.

…unless he pulled out the baby brother privilege!

Mind made up, Mikey stepped out of his hiding place and matched into the barn.

Donnie was bent over the old workbench that was now doubling as a lab table. He’d dug up lab equipment from somewhere, where Mikey had no clue because he was pretty sure Donnie hadn’t brought any of it from the Lair. A few had multi-colored liquids in them and, when Mikey got close enough, he saw a very large canister was also taking up surface space.

“Whhhhy do you have mutagen?”

Donnie startled, head whipping around, “Jeeez, Mikey.”

“Dude, I wasn’t even sneaking.”

Donnie huffed and turned back to his test tubes. “What do you want Mike?”

“Well I was gonna ask you something but now I wanna know about this,” Mikey started to reach out to poke the mutagen canister.

Donnie’s hand snaked out and effectively blocked his hand, “Do not touch.”

“Are you making more anti-mutagen stuff?”

“Nope,” Donnie pulled up a vial, tapping the side. “I’m making something to help Leo!”

“Uhhhh,” Mikey looked from the vial to the mutagen, the back to the tube. “I thought doubling up on mutagen was bad? Like when I got shellacne.”

“You messed around with an experimental compound without any testing,” Donnie muttered. “I am using my expansive knowledge about mutagen and our mutation to create the perfect solution to all our problems! If I can isolate the right chemical compounds in mutagen that regenerate cells and adjust the ratios before combining it with the right cocktail of vitamins, anti-inflammatories and anabolics, I can have Leo back to full health in less than a month!”

“Uhhh,” Mikey reached out to poke at the mutagen again. “With the ooze?”

Donnie smacked his hand away again, “We don’t need anyone else, I can fix this! I’ve already given a list of the medications I need to Casey and he assured me that he would go to the closest town soon. Once I have all the right materials I can create a compound to accelerate Leo’s healing! No unknown alien races needed!” He looked up at the last sentence, grinning widely up at Mikey. “See! I can fix this! I can fix everything so we don’t need to take any risks!”

Aaaand his eye was doing that twitchy thing. The one that happened when Donnie started going full mad scientist because he hadn’t been sleeping enough.

“Dude, I think you need a nap…in a bed.”

Donnie scoffed, turning back to his chemicals, “No I don’t, I need to finish this. Preferably before your ‘friend’ calls down her friends.”

“....why do you not want Raven to call help? She was just telling me about the doctor on her team, he’s her brother! Actually…I think all the clones are technically siblings?”

“Clearly not,” Donnie waved a hand. “She’s a girl, and brother indicates that some of these clones received their genetic material from a man. Ergo, these Kamanoians used a large number of donors to create their army, likey sourcing a number of different people with varying skill sets to cut down on the time needed to tamper with the DNA. Plus, how confusing would it be if they all had the same base doner? You could never keep them all straight if they all looked the same…but then again, she does have tattoos, perhaps that was how they would tell each other apart? Or maybe it’s a ranking system! The stripes could be-”

“Dude!” Mikey interrupted. “Okay, seriously, when was the last time you slept? You’re going off on tangents.” Mikey tugged at Donnie’s mask, making him squawk indignantly. “And you’re trying to make medicine outta ooze? And you snapped at April! Since when do you snap at April?”

The mention of April made Donnie freeze, which meant Mikey had the perfect opportunity to pull his mask down.

He couldn’t help but hiss at the dark circles under Donnie’s eyes, “Dude, just an fyi? I don’t think a few hours every nigh counts as ‘sleeping’.”

“I’ve been sleeping!” Donnie snapped back. “But I’ve also been working! The house needs work before winter sets in, the heating still isn’t working as well as it could be and it’s going to get cold up here. I would also like to add a heating system to the barn so I can keep working in here, then there’s insulating the water pipes or they’ll burst on us, making sure we have wood in case the central heat fails, I need to do a lot more experimentation with the mutagen medicine, especially when Casey gets the things I need, and I have to make sure all the electricals are sealed against any potential water damage-”

“Bro, you already did most of that.”

“I did a quick checks that were, in no way, meant to be long-term fixes. Of course, I can’t do most of those until someone goes into town for more supplies and I still have a few places to scavenge from. So in the meantime, I can work on this!” He gestured to the work table.

Mikey frowned, crossing his arms, “You know, I asked you why’d you snap at April.”

“Did you?” Donnie blinked. Very, very purposely.

Mikey frowned harder, “Aren’t you, like, all goo-goo eyes for her? How little sleep have you gotten that you’re not even thinking about running to make up things?” Not that Mikey thought he should. They both had said things but, honestly, Donnie was always the one reaching out when he and April had spats. It was way past her turn.

Donnie huffed, leaning away from Mikey as he snatched and retired his mask. He crossed his arms, eyes turning down to stare the the floor, “...I haven’t felt like that in a while.”

“Wha- Seriously?” Mikey knew Donnie hadn’t been as star-struck but he’d thought- “But you’re crazy about her!”

“Yeah, I was but-” Donnie sighed, entire body suddenly slumping. “I don’t know. I guess for a while I was just…seeing what I liked about her. But…when she stopped talking to us?”

Oh, Mikey remembered that. Donnie had been super depressed for days when April said she never wanted to see them again.

Donnie sighed again, rubbing his face, “Yeah, well, I don’t know but when she did finally start coming back things were… different? I don’t really know but I didn’t feel the same. I still liked her but the feeling wasn’t as strong. And then when the powers started…”

He trailed off but Mikey nodded. He couldn’t really deny that April had gotten kinda…pushy after they found she had powers, especially with Donnie.

“Soooo,” Mikey tilted his head curiously. “You don’t have a crush on her anymore?”

“No Mikey, I don’t have a crush on April anymore.”

“And you’ve slept in an actual bed in the last seven days, right?”

Donnie gave Mikey a flat look, “I thought we were having a heart-to-heart.”

“We can do that later,” Mikey reached up, poking between Donnie’s eyes. “But your eyebags have eyebags dude.”

Donnie growled, a deep turtle-y growl.

“See? You need some sleep bro.”

He seized Donnie’s arm, pulling his brother out of the chair. Donnie growled again and tried to pull his limb back.

Mikey just tightened his hold. His brothers always forgot how strong he actually was, which worked out great for him in training. And in dragging Donnie to bed when Leo couldn’t do it.

But they both paused when Mikey shoved open the barn door.

Because in the time Mikey had been in the barn, it had started to snow. Fat flakes of white drifted down and, while many melted as soon as they touched anything solid, small piles had started to form on the ground.

And Mikey couldn’t help feeling sad. Because this was their first winter on the surface. He’d always dreamed about it, experiencing a snowfall topside, playing in the snow that wasn’t melted enough to slide down a grate or in tiny drifts.

He didn’t think they’d be able to experience snow in broad daylight…and he wasn’t sure if he liked all the reasons why they could at the moment.

But he had other things to worry over right now. Plus, Leo was awake so maybe he’d be well enough to enjoy the snow with them when it actually started collecting on the ground.

So he kept tugging Donnie along towards the house, intent on making sure he made it to bed and stayed there.

And completely forgetting the clone watching the scene from the roof.

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

Sorry to any Apriltello shipers who thought I was gonna fix this! But the show just kinda....spoiled that ship for me. Plus, I don't think April and Donnie really...click.

[kandidandi]

*gently knocks on door and opens*

Hey, so I know you like birbs, but are there birb calls/sounds you like? Also do you want a Milo? Gonna be makin meself some

*closes the door gently*

-beep boop.

oh oh oh oh yes yes i love milo gimme pretty please sip sip sip

the bird calls i like are

currawong moorhen magpie and the butcher bird!

[autistickaitovocaloid]

Okay whatever fucked up if true Arthur school stories time:

My first proper day there (not counting orientation or the times in primary school made me take lessons there. The latter is a story for another time) an ibis got into the girls' toilets.

The classroom that was used for my homeroom in year 8 Very Obviously had something die in the roof above it and it fucking stank for the rest of the year.

There was this one guy in 90% of my classes who picked fights with teachers constantly and also fucking loved bullying me. One time in Design & Tech he fucking. Held up one of the lego robots we were working with right up to my face while it made a really high pitched beeping sound. If you thought he got better the answers no he was one of the many people who was not normal about my cane.

I've already mentioned it before but the vice principle yelling at my whole year because like 7 kids pissed her off. Something about my specific year pissed her off because like. Multiple times from years 8 to 10 she would make us all go into one place to like. Tell us collectively off at best and scream at us at worst.

Like the ibis one this is more funny fucked up and less actual fucked up but after 2 weeks of holidays me and my friends in year 9 found a dead magpie floating in a pool of water covered in maggots. And then one of my friends blasted it with a hose.

There were multiple times throughout my mandatory HPE classes where I nearly passed out because, y'know. Shout out to the teacher I had for year 9 though I think he's the only HPE teacher I've had in high school who was like. A decent fucking human being.

One year 10 art class I had to take my laptop with me whenever I got up because this guy in my project group kept trying to look up actual fucking hentai on my computer.

In year 11 biology we got to dissect owl pellets which was fun however for some fuck off reason the teacher didn't give us gloves. I was the only one in my group who did any actual dissecting because the girls in my group thought it was gross, which is 100% fair but it did suck because our group was lagging behind. I think I still have the mouse bones I found somewhere.

In my earlier years the IT desk was infamous for taking like a million years to help people with their issues so a popular way of wagging (skipping class) was to go with your friend to the IT desk and just (most of the time) end up spending the whole lesson there.

We had a career expo excursion in year 10 at a big showground in the city. I pretty much did an overstimulation any% speedrun and just shut down within minutes of going inside. The teachers there then dealt with this by leaving in one of the """"quieter"""" rooms of the hall that was brightly lit and had no chairs anywhere. For 2 hours. By myself.

Closing this off with a good story one time for like. Harmony day I think the teachers put out chalk for people to write/draw related things with. Within 2 days the campus was covered in amonguses and iirc some stayed until the end of the year.