#maybe I should move to north pole

[nina-azarovas-blog]

december 13th. Still no snow

I am.dying

No air to breathe. There isn't even any winter frost in it

[frecht]

i need to give this map of mine the mercator treatment

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Dustin moved to the window by Steve’s front door and pressed his face to it.

"Robin. . .why is Steve talking to Santa?" Dustin asked and turned to look at her.

"Oh, he knows him very personally. He called him over for you guys," Robin said.

"Steve knows Santa?!" Dustin shrieked. "He never said!"

"Okay, do you still bel - ," Robin started to say.

"WHY IS STEVE KISSING SANTA?!" Dustin yelled, his face pressed to the glass.

"Oh, well, Steve’s been a very bad boy this year, and he's trying to work his way back onto the nice list," she replied.

"BY SEDUCING SANTA?!" Dustin yelled. "That's not how you do it!"

Mike, Lucas, Max, Will, and El entered the hallway.

"What's going on?" Max asked.

"Steve knows Santa! He called him over, and now he's cheating on Steve with him!" Dustin yelled.

"What? Is he trying to get on the nice list or naughty list?" Mike asked.

"Fuck this," Max swore.

They all spilled out onto the front lawn with Robin following after them.

"You guys do know that Santa isn't - "

"STEVE!" Dustin yelled.

"Oh, goddamn it," Steve cursed as he pulled away from Santa. "I've ruined - "

"Are you cheating on Eddie?!" Dustin yelled, his hands on his hips. "You're my brother, and I love you, but if you ruin this relationship with Eddie, I'll never forgive you!"

"That's sweet, Henderson, but completely unnecessary," Santa said and pulled his beard down to reveal Eddie. "Surprise!"

"Oh my god!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Don't beat yourself up, Dustin, it's an easy mistake to make!" Eddie said cheerfully.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" He asked.

"Uh, well, Steve wanted to keep it a surprise, and I thought you were old enough to know," Eddie said.

"It makes sense now, Eddie wasn't here last Christmas!" Mike exclaimed.

"And it makes sense why his wounds healed so quickly," Lucas said.

"And why he can drive so fast," El said.

"And why he is so good with animals," Max said.

"And kids," Dustin said.

"He's great with kids and storytelling!" Will exclaimed.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know," Steve frowned.

"He loves elves and Lord of the Rings!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Oh my god! Eddie's Santa Claus!" Dustin yelled.

"I have to call Nancy!" Mike yelled.

"We have to call the rest of the party!" Dustin yelled.

Robin, Steve, and Eddie watched dumbfounded as the kids ran back inside.

"Do they still believe in Santa?" Eddie asked.

"This is the first time I'm fucking hearing about it and we've known them longer than you," Steve said.

"Maybe since they know that the Upside Down exists, they think other things like the North Pole exists," Robin said.

"Makes sense," Steve frowned.

"I am NOT telling them that I'm not Santa," Eddie said, crossing his arms. "You do it, Steve!"

"I'm not doing it!" Steve yelled.

"I'll do it!" Robin yelled and then paused. "After everything they've been through. . .don't they deserve to believe in a little bit of magic?"

"I don't know. . .we would be lying to them, Robin," Eddie said.

Meanwhile, the kids were watching them argue from the window.

"So, how long do you think it'll take them to realize that we don't actually believe in Santa Claus?" Max asked.

"A while," Mike snickered.

"Eddie should have done a better job at hiding the Santa costume," Max said.

As Robin, Steve, and Eddie fought on the front lawn, the kids watched with freshly made hot chocolate and Christmas music playing in the background. Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, dancing around to land on the ground.

"The mood is right. The spirit's up. We're here tonight, and that's enough. Simply having a wonderful Christmastime. . ."

[sseniita]

is it hot in here or is it just you?

“It’s so nice.” The hero’s voice sounded robotic against the fan blades. “So nice.” 

She was kneeling in front of an oscillating fan and moving with it as it rotated back and forth, letting her hair tangle as it moved uncontrollably in the artificial breeze. Despite the air conditioning and lack of decent clothes, there was a shiny sheen of sweat on her body and bright red flush on her cheeks. The villain’s stare couldn’t help but wander to her bare shoulders and sliver of tummy under her top; why the appearance of a woman in shorts and a tank top gave him the reaction of seeing a woman’s ankle for the first time in the eighteenth century- he wasn’t sure. 

“You’ll dry up if you don’t give that a break.” Truthfully, the villain was getting chilly with every fan in his apartment on and at full speed, “That and you’ll be paying for my electricity bill.” 

“My apartment doesn’t have air conditioning and I can’t afford a fan,” the hero spared him a glance. “What makes you think I can pay a bill?” 

The villain's eyebrow quizzed, “Heroism not paying well?” 

“I’m wealthy in applause and honour.” she shuffled left to follow the fan. “Besides, this is you making it up to me after breaking my wrist last month.” 

The villain’s lip quirked. “Right. Oops.” 

The villain took a seat on his couch near the hero and her designated cooling nest. The floor was strewn with water bottles, ice-filled thermoses and damp towels the hero would rotate through in attempts to get relief from the heat. 

“You’d think having fire powers would make you immune to heat. You could be fighting monsters with the power of a million suns” 

“I know. I swear I’m being pranked by some celestial force. I’m immune to my heat- but the sun’s evil 40 degree weather feels like I’m in a preheating oven” The hero groaned with frustration, running a hand through her hair. “It’s so hot! Can’t you turn me into an ice cube or something?” 

The villain’s ice power complimented the hero very well. Maybe too well, this wasn’t the first time they were in this situation. 

“You know you’ll melt it, Hero.” 

“Can you… freeze the apartment?” she suggested timidly, knowing the answer he’d give her.

“Yes, Hero. I’ll freeze my entire apartment so you can stay cool.” 

“Come on!” She’s splayed out on the floor now, Villain cursed the way her shorts rode up. “Do me this one favour. Please!” 

“I think you misunderstand what one favour is.” He gestured to her cooling nest. 

“Can’t you use your powers or something? Villain, I’m literally burning up. Please.” The villain didn’t doubt it. He wasn’t sure what would happen if she overheated, he assumed being overheated was the norm for her. The hero stared hopefully at him, and the villain knew exactly what she wanted, what she had wanted everytime a heatwave made its way to their city, why she had come here in the first place. Dejected, he started taking off his shirt. 

“I should get paid for this.” He mumbled, the hero quickly made her way over to sit on the couch beside him, a large smile on her face. “You’re shameless.” 

“I’m desperate, Frosty.” She inched closer. “I promise I won’t interrupt your heists for a week.” 

The villain extended his arms, inviting the hero. “A month.” 

As if the act were the most natural thing in the world, the hero jumped on his lap, swinging her legs to his side. The villain automatically (much to his own surprise) wrapped his arms around her, as if preparing to bridal-carry her to the North Pole. Her arms wrapped around his neck, leaning her head in the crook of his neck and comfortably setting herself in place. 

“This is demeaning.” The villain said readjusting her for both their comfort, awakening his power to a satisfactory chill. He could feel the hero’s body temperature immediately cooling, he could have sworn he saw steam. 

“No,” she cuddled closer, “this is nice. So nice.” 

The villain rested his chin on the top of the hero's head and leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes and feeling the pleasant warmth radiating off the hero. Yes, this was nice.

[kabie-whump]

❆ Whumpcember Day 7: Kidnapped ❆

Prancer gets kidnapped and used as bait.

⋆❅*𖢔𐂂꙳

Prancer strains against the chains binding his wrists behind his back, grunting through the cloth gag in his mouth. He’s freezing, stripped down to nothing but his underclothes and left with no protection from the biting winds of the North Pole, frigid even in mid spring.

He’s bound to a tree at the top of a hill, shivering hard as the cold seeps in. On a nearby stump sits a cloaked man, his hood obscuring his face from Prancer’s view. Prancer knows who he is though, recognizes the evil wizard who turned him and his friends into humans months ago. They’d just managed to get away then, with Santa’s help, but now Prancer seems to be out of luck.

“Cold?” the wizard asks, disinterest lacing through his voice. 

Prancer nods quickly. His feet and hands have gone numb, barely able to support him. 

“Hm. Your master had better arrive quickly then, no?”

Prancer can’t help but roll his eyes at that. Santa’s not coming. Not for him. If he’s lucky he’ll send some elves or maybe Dasher and Donner to retrieve him, but even then it’s not likely. He’s never been the most likable of his team, and he lacks any real skills that might make him useful. He’s not good with medicine like Cupid or athletic like Dasher and Donner or smart like Blitzen and Vixen. He’s just… Prancer.

The worst part is, he really really hopes someone comes for him. Even though he knows it’s a trap. He’s just selfish like that. Which is exactly why they won’t come, damnit. 

Prancer strains against the chains once more, then slumps against the tree, panting. He should save what little strength he has for a good opportunity to escape, if that ever happens. 

It feels like hours pass before something finally happens. Prancer is officially frozen, his limbs numb and blueish and his body sapped of energy. He’s just about to close his eyes and succumb to a little nap when he catches sight of a streak of light in the sky, a red and white comet. 

He looks up and so does the wizard, shielding his eyes against the sunlight with a boney hand to get a better look at the projectile which is steadily growing to reveal the shape of a sleigh, getting closer and closer. 

“Ah! Your friends are here.” The wizard stands, then turns to Prancer and slaps his cheek, shocking him awake a little more. “Perk up, now,” he says lightly. “Your friends won’t negotiate with me if you’re dead already.”

Prancer squints at the sleigh, catching a shock of messy white hair in the driver’s seat. Gods, who let Blitzen drive again, after the last disaster? The rest of the seats are full too, carrying seven antlered humans.

The sleigh scuffs up the fresh snow as it lands, Dasher, Dancer, and Donner jumping out before it’s even stopped moving. 

“Let him go!” Dasher demands, hefting a club over her shoulder.

The wizard clenches his fist, summoning a ball of blue energy and holding it uncomfortably close to Prancer’s face. “You should put those weapons down if you want your friend here to keep his pretty face intact!” he shouts back.

Prancer flinches, whimpering through the gag. He can’t help it. Without his face, he really would have nothing to offer. 

“Don’t hurt him! You’ll regret it!” Donner’s voice booms across the landscape. Prancer’s never heard him be so genuinely threatening before. It’s sort of… sweet, that his friends are getting so worked up over him. He should get kidnapped more often.

“I won’t, I won’t,” the wizard assures them. “So long as my demands are met. Bring your master to me, and I promise your friend will be just f-”

There’s a light thump and the wizard’s voice stops short. His fingers twitch once, twice, and then he falls stiffly into the snow. Glancing down, Prancer catches sight of a feathered blowdart stuck in his neck. Comet crouches nearby, dressed all in white to blend in with the snow and lowering a blowgun from their lips with a smile.

The team rushes forward then, Vixen searching the wizard’s paralyzed body for the key to the chains and Cupid brandishing a blanket to wrap around Prancer. 

“You… You guys came,” Prancer pants, disbelieving. 

“Of course we came,” Dasher says with a small smile. “We’re family, Prancer. Now come on, let’s get you warmed up before you lose fingers.

⋆❅*𖢔𐂂꙳

Tags: @whumpcember@sapphicccici

(@whumperofworlds used as bait mentioned)

list

[umbraastaff]

"You just bent that man!" Taako shouts, with that sort of loud stupidity that Barry is only just beginning to recognize as feigned.

Barry's face heats up anyway. "I bent the water inside that man," he corrects defensively. His arms sink awkwardly from the makeshift bending stance as their final assailant tumbles down the steep hill, and then, sufficiently spooked by that experience, scrambles to his feet and runs away. "And he was already off balance--"

"You're a waterbender?"

Barry looks at Lup, shocked. He didn't even realize he'd never mentioned it. "It... It never came up?"

"Never came up?" She demands, and he flinches as a breeze whips up around them. "I've been trying to learn waterbending for weeks, and you could've at any point been like, Hey, by the way, I'm actually so good at water that I can do some unheard of shit, but it never came up?!"

"I'm really not that good--" Barry calls desperately, but she's already storming off.

He looks hopelessly to Taako. "I'm-- I'm sorry, I--"

Taako shrugs. "I'm not the one trying to learn every element, my man."

--

Barry finds her sitting under a waterfall, eyes shut tight and meditative position looking very tense under the barrage of water.

"SORRY!" He calls out, trying to be heard over the violent white noise.

"WHAT?" She squints out to see him, and then frowns so intently at his presence that he immediately wants to disappear forever.

"SORRY!!" He tries again, hands cupped around his mouth. He starts wading into the river towards her.

After watching this for a minute, Lup finally climbs off the rock and gets close enough to hear him. "What?"

"Sorry," Barry says, all the courage drained from his frame upon seeing her close up. "I-- I really didn't mean to-- I didn't think I'd lied, I thought you knew."

"What, like, psychically?"

"I guess," he says sheepishly. "I just forgot I hadn't done any bending in front of you, and I-- I figured you wouldn't be interested in... in learning from me, anyway. I'm really not a good waterbender."

"I saw you bloodbend, dude. How can you not be a 'good waterbender'?"

Barry waves his arms at the water they're both waist deep in, but it barely ripples in response. "Water is big, and overwhelming, and I have to give it a shape. When it's inside of something, like-- When it's in a circulatory system, it's always moving the same ways. You really only have to bend a tiny bit of water to trip someone up, and it already has a shape."

He reaches forward, a question of permission in his eyes, and she holds out an arm curiously. Barry points to her shoulder without touching, and traces his hand down her arm to her finger, where she's suddenly compelled to curl her fingers for a second.

"I know enough about waterbending to know that's not normal. It's for sure not the kind the Avatar should be learning."

"Well, I'm the Avatar, so maybe let me decide what I should be learning," Lup says, punching his arm. Barry chuckles with her, still a little embarrassed.

"And-- I'm sorry too," Lup adds. "For just, like, running out like that. I've just been so frustrated with this. I know I'll meet a master at the North Pole and all, but if I can barely even move water before I get there, it's like... Why am I even the Avatar? It's only the second element! Fuck!"

"I hear you," Barry says. "You, uh, wanna get started?"

"Yeah, but let's get out of the water first. Can't be in a river if I'm gonna learn proper waterbending." She grins, and Barry laughs.

[vampire-named-gampire]

COC day 3 - AU

And so she walks in, 3 and a half years later, holding a pathetic little On thin ice update. If there's anyone still in the fandom who was reading this fic back in the day, I promise I'm still writing it and I'm sorry I ghosted y'all 😭 For everyone else, this is a figure skating AU that absolutely consumed my whole heart and soul during the pandemic.

Anyway this is actually not OTI but a sequel! Love writing a sequel before I finish the original fic. Maybe it's a little spoilery, but also I feel like it's pretty heavily implied in the original that this is going to happen. Anyway here's some Baz at the airport

Rated G, cca 400 words

BAZ

“Attention passengers! This is an announcement for passengers on flight 348 to New York. Due to bad weather conditions, the flight has been delayed until further notice. We apologize for any inconv—”

I shove my earbud back in my ear, cutting off the woman on the speaker. In the four hours we’ve been here, the announcement has rolled at least fifty times. New York, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, all delayed. It’s just our luck that we had to travel to the Olympics on the day London was struck by snowfall for the first time in years and Heathrow airport simply isn’t equipped to deal with it.

It would have been a smarter move to have gone with the rest of Ebb’s team two days ago, from Vancouver. But I had to make a stop in England first. Some would argue that it’s career suicide to go frolicking in England two weeks before the biggest competition of your life, but this was really important. And besides, I took Nicodemus with me. There is no way I could have slacked off under his watchful eye. (Nicodemus became my second coach this year, despite it putting him in the public eye, something he spend decades trying to avoid. He said he owed this much to my mother.)

Now Nicodemus, Fiona and I are stuck in Heathrow airport, waiting on a flight to Beijing, when we should’ve been somewhere above Russia or the North Pole by now.

I sigh and pull my earbuds out. My ears are starting to hurt after ten hours of having them in. Everything is starting to hurt. I wish I was in bed. More specifically, in bed in the Olympic Village in Beijing. (Even if they decided to go for cardboard beds again.)

“We should’ve taken the flight from Vancouver,” Nicodemus sighs, as if reading my mind.

“No one could have predicted this,” I mutter.

“Clearly not. Listen, I’m going to get some food. Do you want anything?”

“No.”

“You should still get up. Stretch your legs.”

“Then who’s going to watch over Fiona?” I joke. Fiona is curled up on a bench opposite of us, using her brand-new Great Britain Olympic Team jacket as a blanket, fast asleep.

“Eh, she’s going to be fine. Go on and walk around a bit. You don’t want to be arriving in Beijing all sore.”

[maxismp1]

Could you maybe do technoblade and fem reader? Where the reader is a secret goddess of snow and ice? They could meet on a day where techno is coming back from an adventure and the reader is just there in a clearing? Don't have to if you don't want to. Just tell me if not

-Hauntedfoxinternet

Think you for the request. I could do that, and I will.

The snowy sight

Techno's Point of view

Gathering materials is alright on its own. But. I do not wish to run out again, especially when Philza is visiting. Just one more hill and im home

As I'm walking I stumbled upon a clearing. That isn't supposed to be there.

Tell us about it... let him be.... look... woman... e... kill her...

'Shut up'

There was a woman There, in the middle. First time you guys are corect. Should I investigate or go home. Hm...

Third point of view

As Technoblade was thinking on what to do, his feet moved on there own. Soon he was behind a bush near the clearing. Rather said on the barrier of it. He was crouching and patiently observing the woman.

Creep.... stalker... e...kill it...

His voices were starting to cloud his mind. They became louder and louder until he saw the woman turn and smile. They became quite. That was rare.

'How did she see me?'

The questions started raising in his mind until he felt small snowflakes fall on his nose, then hair, then ears. It fully started snowing. But the thing is. It's only snowing above his head,nowhere else. He looked up in confusion only to find a small cloud forming above his head.

He looked at the woman again. Her hand was swinging in a small rhythm. Left. Right. Left. Right. Her smile never disappearing. He rose. Knowing his cower was blown away. The swinging of her hand stopped, so did the snow above his head. He slowly but confidently started walking towards her.

"How did you do that?"

He asked, if he was animated, there would be an big question mark above his head.

"Do what. This?"

She repeated the motion and the snow started snowing again, just above his head. Like last time.

"Yes. That."

"It's simple. Really. You just have to live long enogh"

The sweet smiled you had became a more gentle then before. His confusion became a frown. It was quite obvious, I can't blame him.

"I lived for 5 centuries... I saw lots of stuff, and lots of weird thing. I read many book and tales. I learned many things. And I haven't stumbled upon a gift like this one."

He said, the frown was replaced with a confident smile. His tusks showing off.

"5 centuries.... what a young lad I must say. You see. That isn't a lot. I lived far more then you my dear. But. Your ramble was correct Technoblade. You have to earn it. Not learn it"

"How did you know my name."

"How could I not know your name. You been living in my forest for quite some time. And I see you having the bear as your pet. Steve. Such a adorable name if I may say so."

"What do you mean your land. This no man's land. Im far from the smp, and other countries."

"This , no man's land, as you called it, it's mine. I created it. It's no one's yet mine because no one claimed it as they did to my dearest friends lands. Or as you call it. The dream smp."

"How do you know him? Who are you?"

"I am y/n, the goddes of snow. The owner of this land. The creator of North and south pole. And a creator of your dearest pet."

"I never heard about you"

"With time. People forget about you. I was worshipped. But now. There's no one. "

"You are a weird person."

"Thank you Technoblade. Now go along, your winged friend is at your house."

With that, the snow started forming in a spiral around you. The wind became worse and worse. Until a slight *fhush& was heard. And you were gone.

Took him some time to realise what just happened. Deciding to shrug it off and go home. He told everything to Philza. Both of them started discussing the moment that happend.

It has been few months since last saw you. But he could tell you were there. Constant feeling of being watch, yet no one around. The weather would always calm down when he had to gather materiel. And it would become worse and violent when a treat was near.

I hope you like what you read. Thank you for the request once again. They are open btw to any new readers out there. Feel free to comment and like.

Have a pleasant day or night my loves. Maxi out.

[teevee-static]

Atreus and Angrboða snippet

This was conjured within the span of a few hours and hasn't been checked for clarity or spelling, but here I am posting it anyway.

This may or may not become a more complete story/fic. Let me know if I should put in the work to make it a more cohesive, fleshed-out story.

Also, I imagined Atreus and Angrboða being late teens here, maybe 18-19?

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

Atreus and Angrboða knew something was wrong the minute they stepped through the realm tear. They were on the way to see Kratos, Mimir and Freya in North Vanaheim for a quest they had planned.

What he hadn't expected was to immediately walk right into an issue as soon as he stepped foot in the realm.

The second their feet hit the ground of the forest, the trees and other flora were screaming "Danger! Danger! Not Right! All Wrong!". The emotions were so immediate and overwhelming that the pair literally staggered in place, overtaken by the sheer force and desperation of the warning, before sharing a concerned look.

Their backs meet as they move into a defensive stance, bow and paint readied for any threat. The trees and plants continue their warnings as they fall into step with each other, moving clock-wise as they scan the forest surrounding them. The closer they looked, the more the forest seemed warped with an unusual fog, as if it were some sort of illusion or a poorly remembered memory. The longer they stared into the depths of the trees the more they noticed the feeling of being watched.

Their magic begins to hum in the air, the force reverberating through each other where their bodies connect. Atreus holds a nocked arrow close to his cheek while Angrboða's hands glow bright blue and violet from her paint, the two tense at the same time.

Then all Hel breaks loose.

All at once Seiðr reavers leap from the depths of the trees in droves. They leap towards the two Jötunns with their swords and massive clubs swung high in attack.

The pair meet the attack with vigor, Atreus shooting sonic arrows into the reaver's bodies with such speed that they're dead before they even hit the ground. Angrboða unleashes a rainbow of color into the faces of the reavers, the explosions knocking them back and into each other.

They continue this way only for a moment before they are nearly surrounded, to which the pair quickly roll away from each other, causing many reavers to accientally kill each other in a collision of their thoughtless swings and attacks.

On opposite sides of the field now, Angrboða and Atreus farm through the droves of reavers, now split in two. Just as Atreus sends his foot through the heads of two reavers and a sonic arrow through the head of another, the ground begins to shake with large incoming steps.

He turns to see Angrboða finish off the rest of the reavers near her, avoiding the poisonous explosion of one dying, before turning to look at him with recognition in her eyes. The fight's not over yet.

--

Kratos knew something was off the moment he stepped through the portal in Vanaheim.

He was not as intuned with the forest as Faye or Atreus, but he could tell something was wrong by the complete stillness of it.

"Somethings wrong here, brother. I just got chills all over my bloody face!" Mimir says nervously down by his hip. Kratos grumbles in agreement.

Kratos feels Freya step closer beside him, looking at the surrounding forest with a disturbed, nearly confused look on her face. "There's… some sort of Seiðr magic polluting the forest, but I don't sense any scorn poles…"

Her voice trails off as the silence of the forest breaks into the sounds of fighting. The clashing sounded loud, as if there were groups of people fighting.

Together Kratos and Freya dart toward the sounds of the fighting, and together they take pause at the sight of who they see fighting. They stand like that for a few moments before Mimir cuts through their silence, "Well? Let me see what's going on, brother!"

Kratos lifts Mimir from his belt and up toward the sight of Atreus and Angrboða clearing through a small army of reavers. The number of reavers attacking them is nearly disturbing, as Kratos had never seen so many all at once like this.

"Well, shouldn't we go join them?" Mimir asks, golden eyes looking to Kratos.

"No," Freya says before Kratos can respond, an intrigued smile on her face, "Not yet. I want to see how they fight together."

A deep part of Kratos wants to ignore her and go help the two of them, but he forces himself to take a breath. He made a promise all those years ago. He trusts Atreus to be careful. He's been exploring the realms by himself for years now, this is nothing the boy can't handle.

And Angrboða is completely capable of holding her own, as she had proven while being pursued by Valkyries and saving them from Ragnarök with Fenrir during the battle of Ragnarök.

So, trust in the two of them overrides his need to help, and so he merely nods and continues watching in silence.

The fight is chaotic and unusual, but at the same time controlled and perfectly in sync. Kratos notes that it almost looks like they're dancing with each other.

It reminds him of how he and Faye used to fight together, though those times weren't many. They worked in complete unison, predicting each other's steps perfectly, most often working together without a single word shared between them.

He sees that now as the pair split apart from each other to avoid becoming completely surrounded, which he praises them mentally for. He watches as they clear through the now split group of reavers with ease, every now and then an arrow or a ball of magic would shoot across the field, stunning an enemy about to attack the other.

They make quick work of the reavers, and theres merely seconds of respite before the ground-shaking steps of a troll can be felt rattling their bones.

With a roar the troll steps out of the forest and into the small clearing, a large stone pillar clutched in it's left hand.

"Angrboða!" Kratos hears his son yell, his bow attached to his back and taking a knee on the ground. For a moment Kratos is confused as to why his son would leave himself so open like that, but his worries are immediately silenced by what follows next.

Atreus cups his hands with a nod, and Angrboða shoots off into a sprint toward him. The second her left foot meets his grip, Atreus throws her over his head and sends her flying into the air.

Airborne, Angrboða switfly lifts her dagger above her head and lands right on top of the trolls head, stabbing gruesomely into the troll's left eye.

The troll mindlessly swings his pillar in a pain-ridden rage, trying to knock her off, but magnificantly Angrboða holds on with the dagger.

"Ulfr hlaup!" She shouts, the air buzzes with runic magic and the bright colorful forms of a pack of wolves howl mightily into existence. They set to work attacking the legs of the troll.

"Blástr!" Angrboða commands again and runic explosion blasts straight into the troll's eye.

The explosion combined with the wolves causes the troll to fall quickly backward, and without second thought Angrboða leaps backward, falling from the troll.

She spins her body in the air and lands right into the arms of Atreus, who seemed to appeared seemingly out of nowhere to catch her.

Together they watch the troll land backward with a mighty "boom!", then both the troll and wolves dissipate into the air.

"Well, they sure know how ta' put on a show." Mimir says in Krato's hand. Kratos can only grunt in proud agreement.

Freya laughs softly beside them, her face beaming in pride, "They are certainly a lethal pair."

They watch the couple for a few more moments as they speak to each other, though too quietly for the trio to hear. They watch as Atreus morphs into his wolf form and dart between Angrboða's legs, lifting her off the ground and facing backward on his back. He sprints around the clearing in circles and sharp turns as Angrboða cackles in amusement, hanging on for dear life.

He watches Atreus shift back into human form, Angrboða falling off his back and landing in a careful roll, then standin up beside his son. She brings Atreus's head down to her mouth and says something into his ear that makes him flush so badly it reaches up to his ears and down his neck.

Mimir clears his throat and bellows down to the couple from where Kratos and Freya are standing, announcing their presence.

The two of them turn, unsurprised by their presence. Atreus's cheeks are still red from whatever Angrboða had said, so Kratos assumes that maybe it had to do with them watching them fight together.

"Kratos, Freya, Mimir, good to see you again. Enjoy watching us whoop reaver and troll be-hind?" Angrboða asks cheerfully, leaning against Atreus's shoulder comfortably.

"You two fight well together." Kratos says warmly, and Angrboða blooms at the praise. Atreus smiles as well, clearly happy at the praise as well, before it dims a bit and he sobers.

"I've got to say, though, even after killing all those reavers and that troll, the forest still seems disturbed." He says, his voice lowly trailing off as if lost in thought as he scans the forest, searching for some sort of answer.

"Aye, something seems off here lad. Something that is certainly worth investigating." Mimir adds pointedly.

[bitchinstrawberry]

Traditional benders vs sub benders

Imagine a world where all the subcategories of bending have become so common, that "pure" elemental bending has flipped over to being more rare. And we've already seen the potential of this. In the og atla lighting was rare (only the royal family was using it) and metal bending was just created, but in tlok both sub bendings were being thrown around like extra boomerangs.

We also saw how people adapted to their environments via sand bending and swamp/plant bending. Which poses the question, did sand benders learn "traditional" earth bending before sand? Or did they learn sand first, and would need to change tactics when asked to earth bend? Was there swamp benders who needed to learn how to move water independently? In atla the North Pole only taught healing to women, therefore there was a whole class of waterbenders that could heal, but not much else.

So by taking in real world experiences, where as groups of people mix in communities, and have kids with each other, cultures and identities get mixed and/or diluted down. (Not necessarily in a bad/evil way, but like how some parents put emphasis on their kids learning the new culture and end up neglecting their own cultural heritage). As the kids today might say, we are losing recipes, it could happen here too. We get the new age of benders, that struggle with learning "traditional" bending. Maybe this is following after a age of benders that "specialized" their bendings to a extreme.

Like if a few more generations in, Toph's family only knows how to metal bend. Some fire benders can't actually bend fire, only lightning. There are some communities where fire and earth nations got so intertwined, they only seem to produce lava benders. Generations down in katara and aangs family we get a self proclaimed cloud bender.

This could lead to a conflict where we have traditionalists that view subcategory benders as lesser than those who align with the original tradition bending. We could get a evil avatar out of this story line where from a young age the avatar is raised with these ideals but later gets their redemption (i could go on another messy rant how this is my favorite possibility) Reinforcing the lesson about how being open minded and learning from others with always improve yourself. Or a story line about how it's no longer just four elements the avatar is representing, and shows the lesson about how representation and understanding is still needed after every one got mixed in (because there could easily be 7+ decently sized, different, yet still comparatively niche, ways of bending/culture along with tons of smaller ways of life)

Another conflict that could happen is how rare "traditional" masters are, so that when it's time for the avatar to learn all four elements, it's become increasingly hard. Then we get to see the avatar and their friends learn bending from the original benders, and the lesson is along the lines of how it's still important to understand your roots, and while its impossible to know every fact about the past, the information should always be available to look back at. Maybe the villain is a organization that views "traditional" bending as dangerous and made people too unpredictable or it's a way to nerf civilians (bc a earth bender could potentially learn BOTH metal and lave bending, but preventing knowledge would keep metal and lava benders restricted to one subcategory)

I have so many half baked ideas that all stem from me wanting to see more of the subcategories of bending. And with all the talk about getting to see a new avatar, we've all been wondering what the story could be. I personally love how aang and korra contrasted each other. it doesn't leave much room narratively for a new avatar. BUT by continuing down the themes of how quickly the world has changed, we already saw people questioning the need for a avatar. This also ties in to the ending of tlok, where the avatar cycle has been restarted. A perfect time to introduce a change of duty.

[beardedmrbean]

Brother, want some news that made me big mad to hear?

In my hometown a couple weeks ago someone shot a California Condor and now the Games warden is tearing ass to get the guy that did it.

Got any fun facts about that bird to brighten the day or do you wanna suffer with me?

We finally got those off the critically endangered list a year or so ago I thought, ain't just gonna be the game warden going after him. Feds are gonna get in on that and not the FBI but one of the ones that actually does its job.

Wrong about the critically endangered, but we're getting there.

Here's a kinda weird infodump that plays in no particular order, except the last 3 images because I noticed they were numbered.

Here's from 2019

Went through like 15 pages to find a good video, birdoftheweek was on the first page.

Looks like there's a bunch over at Pinnacles, used to hike and climb there all the time but there were no condors that I can recall from the mid to late 90's.

Let's see what the Park Service has to say, (they say there were I'll trust them)

California condors once ranged from British Columbia, Canada down to Baja California, Mexico. This range shrank with the increase of European settlers moving west. The causes of the decrease in condors included poisoning, shooting, habitat degradation, and the collection of eggs and feathers. By the late 1800s, naturalists were already making note of the California condors’ declining numbers and in 1967, condors were listed as an endangered species. Despite this protection, their population continued to decrease and dropped to a low of 22 individuals in the 1980s. All wild condors were then trapped and placed in captive breeding programs in an effort to save the species from extinction.

Since 1992, captive-bred condors have been released at five different sites in western North America (Pinnacles National Park, Big Sur, Hopper Mountain Wildlife Refuge Complex, Vermillion Cliffs, and Baja California). Each release site monitors the flock’s behaviors, movements, nesting attempts, and mortalities. Pinnacles joined the recovery program in 2003 with the release of 2 captive-bred condors on December 20th. In 2016, the first condor chick since 1898 (condor 828) fledged from a nest within Pinnacles. Since their reintroduction, condor numbers in the wild have slowly increased thanks to wild nesting and the release of captive-bred condors. As of the end of 2018, there were a total of 488 condors in the world, with 312 of those flying free in the wild. However, condors today are still dying due to lead poisoning, consuming litter and microtrash, and electrocution from power poles. Learn more about what you can do to help condors and other wildlife here.

ones over by Pinnacles might be in the group for your local deal, or maybe there's other groups in the area too.

Speaking of that area, can I just tell you how confusing it was for me as someone who had done the 152 run oodles and oodles of times when the Hollister clothing brand came out and made it big.

All I could think was who in the world would think that's a place that should have a "cool" clothing brand named after it.

Few years later I learned it was a gap thing and most people had no clue Hollister was a real place, lol.

You may proceed to laugh at me now.

[cabinofimagines]

3. Will and the only Solace is killing myself

A/N: Someone had to take one for the team and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Jason -Asnyox & Danny

“This will be easy,” Will muttered to himself while making his way into Camp Jupiter, “Jason is no longer a praetor, so outside of saying hi to Bob I will be free to do what I want.” 

And then he wasn’t. The moment he set foot in camp half a dozen demigods surrounded him and started spouting questions and demanding he handed over the winter planning. 

“The what?” Will stammers.

A girl rolls her eyes. “The winter planning, Jason. You know that list you give us for the things we have to set up?”

Will feels his soul leave his body. Jason never mentioned being in charge of literally everything about the winter activities, but now that he thinks about it, wasn’t Jason something like a pope here? Something something pontifex, right? Yeah. Meaning, Will was screwed.

The Le-Gou-Lash Bash

Will 

Jason, you visually impaired idiot, did you forget to mention you plan all of the winter crap they do around here?

Jason

Oh

Will

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘OH’ JASON I’M ABOUT TO BE CRUCIFIED HERE

Magnus

Imma silence this chat for today I don’t want my appointments to get distracted by the buzzing

Will 

Appointments????

Magnus???

Jason

No I got this I think I kept last year’s winter planning back at my place

Will

I’m there right now i don’t see shit

Jason

should be right next to the nativity script

like a musty leather-bound notebook??

Will

Found it. Your murder has been postponed until further notice

Jason

Not if I can find the floor to knit to the death 101! Man this place has a crazy amount of floors yet i always end up in Magnus’s floor, so weird

Will 

WHY is the nativity script full of racial slurs???

Jason I’m reading the script

what the fuck

Listen I never met this god but this doesn’t sound very joyful and pure

they’re calling the wise wizards a bunch of WHAT??

Jason

Yeah that’s hilarious you can ignore that and write over it

Like a fanfic

We had the grinch added last time, remember?

Will

HOW??

i’m actually trying to forget easter because i value my life thank you for asking

Jason

Well maybe it’ll be harder for you i can just tune that stuff out nowadays

Will

You mean you’ve heard people talk like that??

Jason what??

JasonOh Alex is calling me, gotta dodge.

Jason stops answering, and Will hopes to the gods that he can find something like a tree decorating to the death and just… skip straight to the dying, too bad he wasn’t currently in Jason’s place in Valhalla. At least Jason must be having a worse time trying to stay alive, right? 

Alas, Will sighs as he realizes he has to leave the house to get this party going. Perhaps he can find any of the Bobs that he has to say hello to and make them help him, or maybe Hazel is just hanging around somewhere with good tips. Either way someone must be aware of how Jason usually handles these things- or how the previous years have worked out. Jason didn’t do all of it on his own, right? 

As he makes his way, Will spots Percy hastily crossing the street and half of his brain derails wondering why his friend looks so frantic. However, as Will is having his own breakdown, he decides to focus and move along. 

Percy too was having a breakdown. Firstly he somehow lost the reindeer, then apparently Klaus has had trouble getting the presents ready- there was no snow and Jason had yet to start decorating camp Jupiter! This was the absolute worst- how can he save Christmas when no one is in the spirit for it?  

You see, ever since Halloween Percy had decided to take as much work as possible of Klaus and Hearthstone’s hands- as clearly they were malnourished and stressed because of the melting North Pole. However, luckily, Klaus didn’t ask for funds to cool down the Pole, instead, he had Percy help with some tasks at hand. 

So as Percy was running around with 10 different ideas on how to make sure Christmas would still continue, his top priority was figuring out where the FUCK Jason went and where the people of Camp Jupiter kept their Christmas spirit hidden, would it be at Jason’s place? 

Will meanwhile had found Bob, the one with the elephants, currently on top of an elephant. “Jason says hi.” Will started and Bob just squinted at him.

“Are you not Jason?” he asked, “Sorry, I can’t see very well from up here.” 

Will grumbled, before speaking up. “Do you know how Jason planned Christmas around here?” he simply asked. “No, Jason was very strict on doing it all himself.”

“Why?”

“Something about keeping up the good work, I think he just used it as a way to ignore his other duties.” Of course Jason would not have taken any help. Will closed his eyes in pain— but this would be okay, he can fix this, this is less busy than, for example, the infirmary after capture the flag.

All he had to do was make a list, hand it out and everything would be done for him. He might even put his heritage to good use and rewrite their nativity play into something less problematic. Maybe. But, before Will decided to run off again, he turns to Jason’s good friend Bob.

“Hey, do you know where I can find the other Bobs? Jason wanted me to say hi to all of them as a favour.”

“Other Bobs? There’s just me as far as I know.”  Bob sighed from the top of the elephant, “If you don’t find anyone else named Bob don’t tell him though. I think Jason might have gotten a little confused.”

“Oh,” Will shook his head, “Thanks I guess.” 

Before Will could get far he was once again ambushed, this time by Hazel and Frank. “You’re Jason’s stand in right?” Frank sounded desperate, “Do you have the winter plans? We really have to start building things soon.” Hazel nodded along with him. 

“I, uh-” Will blinked, “Stand in?” Hazel nodded once more.

“Sorry, Nico snitched, for the love of the gods tell me you have them! Otherwise we’ll make it your responsibility and therefore your punishment if things do not go right, Will.” 

“Punishment?” Will started sweating.

“Just mediocre Roman stuff, whipping, wooden shoes, fines-” Hazel winked at him, “No worries, you’ll get out alive!”

“So, you have the plans?” Frank asked one last time.

“I will have them in uh— just have to grab them! See you all in a bit!” Will cursed as he ran off. He needed to fix these plans, soon.

Will locked himself up in Jason’s place and as he took a look around he was sure it was messier than the last time he saw it. Had someone else ransacked the place? If there had been more stuff to actually ransack it might have been more noticeable. Will walked to the desk, only to find a blue post-it with a message on it.

Sorry about the mess! See ya, merry xmas-Percy“Okay?” But worry about it Will could not. As he donned a pen, paper and stress headache he started working on a list, a list to save Jason’s reputation as Winter Organizer.

Hours later blood sweat and tears stained Will’s mind. He had finally finished the first draft and figured that it would be enough. Will stood up from Jason’s desk, shaking. He walked to the door, opened it—he only had to find Hazel and Frank and—

“Jason! Good job at making those plans.” A random camper, wearing a Christmas hat patted him on the shoulder, “You don’t look so good man, you deserve some rest!” It had started snowing, and Will slowly stepped out. There were lights strung everywhere- far off he could see a gigantic Christmas tree. Faintly he could hear carols being sung, and the rehearsal of the horrible nativity play. But he never did this— he… he just spent hours doing work for nothing? How—

“Hey, Will!” Percy suddenly spoke up from beside him, “What were you doing in Jason’s office?” He was wearing an ugly sweater, carrying presents, and overall still seemed stressed but managing.

“I was, uh.” Will sighed, “Christmas or something I don’t know.”

“Oh! I found the Christmas plans a while ago actually. Sorry to keep you looking, but I was in a hurry to save Christmas! If you see Klaus back at camp tell him it’s all in control, when the reindeers are back. And if not, we have the war unicorns as backup. Now I got to go— see ya!” As Percy scurried off he let out a clear ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’. 

Will just wanted to go home, back to camp. Back to his boyfriend. He didn’t even manage to change the nativity play to something good. He just changed his opinions about Camp Jupiter instead, this place fucking sucked. And as he ignored the texts coming in on his phone, sinking to his knees into the snow, he just hoped that Jason and Magnus were suffering as much as he was. The Le-Gou-Lash BashMagnusHey, Jason, just popping in to remind you to be careful! You’re not an einherjar, and if I’m getting Nico’s traumas right, you dying would permanently scar this kid. 

JasonI’ll try my best! I’m meeting Santa soon though MagnusWe have a Santa???

[2a8n]

Addition to "Mini Wolf"

Something caught my eyes about the design of that unnamed character on the right art. At first I couldn't formulate what it was, but then I saw Shiroma's snow witch character's portrait and it dawned on me: their jackets(?) are the same, in terms of the basic model of clothing in general. And the color of their skin, hair and eyes are also the same (all white).

Then I saw a merch on OkegomWiki with this snow witch and Christmas tree. And I remembered that the DSP's artwork I showed earlier with Samekichi and Wadda for the New Year's greeting also had a Christmas tree painted on it. These trees were not seen on Iceberg Isle, which is located in the North, which is one of the reasons for assuming that our loving couple is not on Iceberg Isle. But in this case, can we still assume that the place with the Christmas tree is not on the North Pole, but on the South Pole?

Next we have the snowmens: note that in Shiroma's portrait the snowman has a gray bow tie, the same color as the fur on the sleeves of the witch's jacket(?), and a bucket hat, so to speak, of dark brown colors, the same color as the witch's mittens. Then notice the snowman that Wadda is holding - he already has the scarf, but the bucket hat remains. The color is also different when compared to the snowman in Shiroma's hands. Next we have Suno-san: a snowman that differs from the previous snowmens not only in the color of his scarf and hat, but also in his size (we can safely assume that he is taller than Rock in animal form, whose height is 70 cm). Moreover, his blue-colored outfit is clearly similar to the scarf and hat of the previously mentioned unnamed character (while the drawing of this character itself is made mostly in blue and white colors).

And what conclusions can we come to in the end? Well, my reasoning has personally led me to the following: 1) In addition to the existence of a family of Sea Witches (Meikai, Wadda herself, and Minami), it's quite likely that a family of Snow Witches could also reside in the world of Wadanohara and Ice Scream. At the very least, some similarities between Shiroma and that unnamed character might lead us to think that they are related (perhaps sisters?); 2) Maybe their world has North and South poles, and as such, Shiroma might answer/reside at the South Pole and that unamed character at the North Pole. But since both polar bear and penguins live on Iceberg Isle (they usually live on different poles), we can assume that the author "united" the North and South poles and there is only the cold North, or that the inhabitants of the South and North poles are in contact with each other and are able to move from one cold place to another (remember Aom, the giant river shrimp, that originally was not a resident of the Sea Kingdom, but moved there); 3) Based on the idea that that character and Shiroma are related, then it is also worth noting that their "family feature" is most likely that they have companion snowmen (and they should all have bucket hats ). By Shiroma's is a snowman with a bow tie. By the currently unnamed character has Suno-san (he may not be unique in this regard, but for now I will stick to the assumption that he is "one of a kind", as is the case with the rest of the snowmens). But at the same time, we also have the 3rd snowman, which was shown along with Wadda. Does it mean that there is also a 3rd snow witch or DSP decided to redesign Shiroma's snowmen - it's not clear…

And as a BONUS: the title logo has an emblem with a snowman. At the same time, Shiroma has the same emblem with a snowman on her scarf. The only difference is that the bucket hat hat on the emblem of the snow witch is depicted to our left, and on the logo - to our right. However, we most likely see the emblem on the inside of the scarf, so on the other side of the scarf it will look exactly like the snowman emblem on the Ice Scream logo. :)

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

That's what Christmas means to me

1707 Words | G Rating | Julie and the Phantoms AU

Luke kicks open the door, his keys hanging from his teeth and hands overflowing with bags from the grocery store. “Guys?! A little help?” he calls, words a bit jumbled as they form around his clenched teeth.

Alex appears at the end of the hall and lets out a soft chuckle, “you know you can take multiple trips, right?” He grabs one handful of bags and takes them into the kitchen, leaving Luke to remove his keys from his mouth and redistribute the remaining bags.

“You say that…” Luke replies, trailing after Alex and setting the bags onto the counter.

“How did you even get the door unlocked?”

Luke jazz hands as he answers, “magic!” He’s met with a fond eye roll as they both work on putting the groceries away. “Why’s it so quiet? Where’s Bex.”

“Uhhhh,” Alex hesitates. “You should probably just see for yourself.”

Luke quirks an eyebrow at that but leaves it and finishes up, tying the bags into bows and depositing them in their bag of bags under the sink. 

“Does any of this need to go next door?” Alex asks and Luke shakes his head.

“Nope, not this time. We both know I’ll be here pretty much full time for the next two weeks anyway.” It’s their collective Christmas break and they officially have no responsibilities outside of their strange little family until the new year. “How scared should I be to leave the kitchen?” he wonders.

“I think you’ll be ok. Maybe. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.”

Luke cocks his head with a look of combined confusion and curiosity but opts to simply go into the living room. He’s met with what can only be described as a Christmas explosion and can’t help the laugh that erupts out of his throat. Boxes and totes are open throughout the space, they have a half built tree, decorations trail from box to box and beyond. Reggie and Willie are both wrapped in tinsel and garland, each topped with an elf and santa hat, respectively.

“It looks like you let a two year old loose at the north pole,” he says once he’s regained his composure.

“They kind of did,” Alex chimes in from behind him.

“Where IS Bex?” Luke asks again. 

“Exploding Christmas wiped her out. She fell asleep,” Reggie explains as he works to detangle some beads.

“Ah! Explains the quiet.”

“Mhm,” Alex hums as he moves over to where Willie is, taking the newly fluffed branches and working to add them to the tree. 

“Gonna help or stare?” Willie directs at Luke after a moment.

“Oh, I’m gonna stare. Y’all got yourself into this mess. I’m just here to enjoy it,” he flops onto the couch and props his feet onto the ottoman in front of him, exaggerating his movements obnoxiously. He’s in the middle of reclining back and putting his hands behind his head when he’s hit in the chest with a mass of shimmer.

“You’re going to help,” Reggie tells him, matter of fact. “Detangle those.”

Luke obliges, trying to find the end of the string of baubles that had been thrown at him. “Bex did all of this?!”

“No, they came out of the bin like this. I’m displeased with past me,” Reggie explains.

Luke hums in acknowledgement and continues his task. 

“We’re listening to me when we pack shit up this year,” Alex states.

Willie groans, “ugh, but taking everything down and winding it up to be packed away is so tedious.”

“Future us will thank me,” Alex insists. “And you’re telling me that this,” he waves his arms around the space, “isn’t tedious?”

“Point, Alex,” Luke says and Willie responds by sticking their tongue out at him.

The four of them into their tasks, letting a comfortable silence surround them. Alex and Willie get the tree built and lit while Luke and Reggie successfully untangle everything that had needed it, building neat piles of decorations. They’re just able to start wrapping the tree with garland when they hear a small voice from behind the couch.

“Unca ‘Uke! Unca ‘Uke!”

Luke drops what he had been holding and turns to greet the toddler, crouching down to scoop her into his arms as she runs up to him, “hey, Peanut! You sure made a mess with your dads, didn’t you?”

She squeals as he spins her around. He settles her onto his hip and turns back toward the tree. Bex looks toward it and then back at Luke. “Why don’t we let Daddy, Papa, and Nomy do the boring stuff and then we can help hang the pretty things when they’re done?” He directs a questioning look his friends’ way for confirmation and they nod. 

Bex excitedly agrees, pushing away from Luke so that he sets her down. She leads him to one of the bins that hadn’t already been emptied and digs into it, pulling out some of their other decor. 

Luke offers a small chuckle, taking everything she hands him. “Yeah, we can put these out while we wait.” He trails behind her as she sets out the decorations throughout the apartment: singing animatronic snowmen wind up in the doorway to the kitchen, a dancing snowman is set just outside her bedroom, Luke guides her to place the doormat in the entry hall, and various bells are placed on the first doorknobs she encounters. When they return to the living room lootless, the others are almost done wrapping the tree. 

“You know what we’re missing,” he directs to Bex.

“MUSIC!” she cheers and he laughs.

“Yeah, you know what’s up. Music! You gonna help?”

She nods vigorously, “I help!”

Luke digs through the various boxes until he finds what he’s looking for, their small record collection of Christmas music. He calls Bex over, not that she ever drifts far from his side when she’s around, and her eyes widen in excitement. 

“I pick?”

Luke nods, “yeah, you pick. What should we listen to?”

Bex sifts through the records, as gently as she’s capable of considering her age, pulls out a bright purple album and hands it to Luke who can’t help but laugh.

“When did we get Cee Lo Green’s Christmas album?” 

“Probably Willie,” Alex mutters. 

“Yep! That was me,” Willie readily agrees, “I saw it at a thrift store last year and couldn’t not.”

“Sounds about right,” Luke laughs as he walks over to the record player, letting Bex lead him through the process and stepping in where she needs help. “We’ll get you rocking properly one day,” he tells her softly as he places the record on the turntable.

He was apparently still loud enough to be heard because Reggie coughs out a laugh of his own, “you have her trained on how to properly handle records and operate the record player, what more are you wanting from her?”

“Luke’s in charge of potty training, by the way,” Alex chimes in from the other side of the tree before muttering an addition, “the only person she’ll actually listen to.”

Willie and Reggie utter grunts of agreement, still battling their ongoing bitterness at her very obvious preference for the only one of them who was adamant he was not parent material.

“I’ll laugh my ass off if she grows up refusing to listen to what you like,” Willie directs back toward Luke. 

Luke makes an affronted sound as he scoops Bex into his arms, “she would NEVER!”

She giggles at him as he tries to help form her hand into devil’s horns. “Rock and roll forever! Right, Peanut?”

“Ro’ ‘n roll!” she agrees heartily.

Alex sighs before moving them on, “we’re ready for you.”

“Hear that, Bex? We’re up!”

The five of them work through the various ornaments and candy canes, letting Bex place anything that isn’t fragile where she can reach and the others trying to counter balance her heavy hand through the rest of the tree. They fall into various song and dance breaks as Cee Lo Green plays in the background meaning that their task takes them significantly longer than it might otherwise but none of them mind. Their little family is just happy to have this time together.

When they’ve finally finished with the tree, Reggie crouches down to hand Bex the star. “This is a very important job, Munchkin. Can you handle it?”

Bex nods vigorously, taking the star from Reggie.

“OK, Daddy is gonna lift you up cuz he’s the tallest. You just have to put it on the very tippy top!”

Bex nods again. “Tippy top!” she confirms before running over to Alex who scoops her up and leans her toward the top of the tree. She gives placing the star her best effort but Alex has to help smush the branches together so it settles on nicely. Once they’re satisfied, he props her on his hip as he steps back, letting Willie plug it into the strand of lights.

“You ready? Alex asks Bex and she nods. Luke makes his way over to the switch for the overhead lights and Reggie takes his position at the outlet behind the tree. They are almost in sync as the room goes dark, only to be illuminated by the lights of the tree.

“Ooooohhh!” Bex coos as her eyes widen at the sight.

Willie and Reggie make their way over to where Alex and Bex are, crowding in on either side of them and Luke digs out his phone to take a picture. 

Willie tugs on the hem of Alex’s sweater, pulling harder when they get his attention so that he leans down for a kiss. 

Bex watches them intently, impatiently speaking up when they separate. “Kiss Bex!”

The adults laugh and they each pepper her face with kisses of their own until she’s squealing and pushing them away.

“Merry Christmas, family,” Reggie says wistfully as he takes everyone in.

“Merry Christmas, Reg,” the others echo back.

“Merry Chrismus, Papa!” Bex cheers, reaching out to him. He takes her from Alex and wraps her into a tight hug. It takes less than a moment for three additional pairs of arms to join the hug and they relish in the short moment of peace and togetherness they’ve allowed themselves.

[stormoflina]

Hi my essay for the defense of Dominik 😁

As an Asian-European-Canadian mix, more of Asian %, I completely understand about the cultural difference. It's so hard to understand, interconnect and correlate each other culture. We are just so different. And I'm not sure but I think Hungarian culture feels more like some Asian culture. We are enthusiastic, friendly open, polite, sometimes shy but I think some of our inside jokes and local jokes will be dark and rude in the eyes of others. And the lapses in the use of words. It's the biggest problem I've had all my life. Other than what I intended even though I said it according to the dictionary translation I've learned, from their point of view, it is rude and kind of insults, things like this happen often all the time. And their words did hurt me too vice vasa. Only After living In Europe for long time, I can weigh in on the choice of words. Perhaps that's why I never felt such ego and arrogance things and felt attacked about Dominik. But in last night case I was kind of glad that he got that treatment under not that serious circumstance. He is not arrogant by any means but he needed that humbling at some point like Ali and his early days and that Leicester match I think, right? He is just too young to know all 360° of everything. He is smart and clever boy so he will be fine sooner than others. I have no worry at all. I do believe that it happened for the better.

And other fact, He joked 'he wants to play.' Line to not only Wataru but Quansah as well. And I was kind of love and glad that tbh. I even thought 'aww he and Wataru have such friendship and Wataru is not that lonely and feels left out in the squad then.' because Wataru and him are like North and South poles different in vibes and energy. I even thought they didn't have any connection each other off the pitch. 😅😅 And I'd definitely do that to my friends if I felt close enough to say so. Maybe it's my Asian energy thoughts. 😂😂 i said what I said. Rate my essay out of 10 please. 🤣🤣🤣

Essay rate is 10/10, you ate with this 💅

I do agree, there are a few similarities between the hungarian and asian cultures, I think they are much more direct and blunt in general, than other 'western' cultures.

You are so spot on with the lapses in the use of words! Yes, that is so very true!

Yes, I think this slap in the face came at the right time for him. I mean, yeah, he had a poor game, especially after how the entire week he had all this very confident interviews coming out. It's a bit funny how he had to drop a stinker right after all of those, but still, some people are really overreacting. He didn't make a crucial mistake that lead to a goal or an injury, he wasn't horrible by any means (in my opinion), he was leggy, tired and lacked focus. Just like you said, this might have come in the right time, I mean, it's not realistic to always deliever and so far, ever since he debuted in LFC, he did. A poor performance was overdue, and honestly, in one way I'm glad it happened, so hopefully he can get back to his otherwise fantastic form 😂 It would be the most Liverpool thing ever, if they barely got a 1-1 away against Luton, then would manage to win against City. (I'm manifesting it.)

What is important now, is to move on and react in a way that will silence all those haters, who finally have something to eat after waiting for months, starving for him to have a bad game. I feel like I should make a Hungary joke rn, but can't think of anything funny, so I will close my own essay (😂) with saying I believe in him and I know that he will be back with brilliant performances!

[failing-to-write-again]

Can pure-blood vampires survive in outer space? We already know they can withstand being in freezing temperatures and underwater when Karlheinz dumped Shuu at the North Pole for failing school and Subaru into the sea for breaking his statue of himself. Learning about this information I have to admit, Karlheinz has top notch parenting anyone should follow. (Jk ofc)

ohhh intresting question.

SPACE VAMPIRES!!!

So being in space we gotta figure out what minimum standards we gotta say they hit to maybe be able to vibe in space. If you have any other thoughts or think I've missed something lemme know and I'll edit the post or make a part 2!

Low O2

They can survive asphyxiation...maybe. They "don't have heartbeats" so we know they don't have a human circulatory system maybe I think there's something there maybe just too low to be detected by humans. The Mukamis didn't grow new organs so they must do something. We know everything has a transport system even your cells and I've thought about what could work for a vampire with what I know. You can't have even a single celled organism (e.g bacteria, viruses, yeast) without something in them to move nutrients and waste about. When it gets to multicellular organisms like vampires or humans they can't just drink blood and vibe that blood has to be broken into parts to be used for different things and has to go to different areas....do full-blooded vampires have asses or do they just have urethras because liquid diet? Question for another day.

Diaboys bleed. Full stop, they do it's part of certain changing methods apparently and very obvious in Cordelia's death scene. They can bleed and bleeding is bad for them. We know they die from things other than silver to the heart wounds but revival is more likely to work in those cases. I think we've seen either Laito, Reiji, or both point out how absurd some of the rumours on how to kill vampires are as that would kill anyone. Either that or I'm thinking or Hotel Transylvania. They have to have something moving shit around and the fact the founders had a disease that killed them and the full-blooded vampires have blood, means they use it. And blood can't move off spite there is something moving it. So why could their heartbeat not be heard? It's smaller or slower or in a different position. In my opinion anyway.

If it's smaller that's entirely possible but has some issues. I have yet to look up the minimum size a heart could be to move blood through a 6ft tall dudebro, maybe they have a lot of valves? Not my favorite theory on it's own. Slower has a good backbone. The heart would be large enough to pump effectively but wouldn't need to due to their cells not demanding as much O2. Maybe they're yeast or something and can use CO2? Different position...no. I really don't see this being the case with how you can kill em but I wanted to list it, rule of three and stuffy. For the sake of my headcannons we're going to mix the smaller and slower theory. This doesn't necessarily mean they need O2 at all they could use CO2 already inside their bodies.

So the O2 deprevation may not kill them, unless they need some level of it. BUT pressure.

Pressure (pushin' down on me)

So, first biggy we can't explain off is pressure for two main reasons. Assuming you're human (sorry for assuming your taxonomy like that) when you first are released into space any and all gas in your body expands to match your inside pressure to your outside pressure. Then you go boom basically. If you survive that then the fluid in your body will literally evaporate due to the pressure, swelling you up like you're Violet Boregarde. I don't believe this is survivable for a vampire.

They have blood, they have tissue, they have cells. They aren't super dense metal they're made of tissue, more durable sure but tissue. So their bodies would burst. But what if they were in a pressurized suit, well then they ain't surviving outer space but I'll get to that at the end sit down.

RADIATION!

So vampires don't get cancer, they have advanced healing meaning they are way less likely to get cancer. All healing is, is cell growth. Cell growth that's too fast is where DNA copying mistakes are made hence cancer, basically. So vampires cells have something to prevent mutations better then us like the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans. Radiodurans has a increased DNA stability to radiation so radiation can't kill the cells as easily as it takes much more of it to effect the DNA. And these dudes survive radiation worse then what's already on earth so it is probably not to survive radiation, more so to prevent DNA damage. In theory these bacteria will survive low orbit in space.

So vampires could have this in a stronger form and survive the radiation further out like that maybe? But it's also the burns that could maim or kill them but that's not concrete to me yet.

Temperature

The reason the cold is bad for you is that it slows the enzymes in your cells, an enzyme is what speeds up chemical reactions in your body to a speed that allows you to live so if they go you go.

Shu can survive the North Pole, so he can survive with reduced enzyme speeds which lines up with the slower heart beat thing. But space is colder than that. I don't think they could survive becoming a popsicle or if they do, it's not exactly thriving more so not dying yet.

But space is also HOT, get too close to the sun it's hot, or too close to a planet and gravity pulls you in and you start burning up in the atmosphere. We know heat kills these fuckers via Richter's presumed death and Cordelia's first death shows it.

So they dead on this front to.

So no space suit they're dying. But what about just long term space life in the ISS or something?

Astronaut Vampires?

One of the many reasons humans can't do space forever is largely due to your tissue losing density and getting too weak. With the diaboys faster healing they wouldn't be losing cells and replace them fast. But, the lack of gravity also plays a part in reduced density (I think, my boyfriend does physics so if I've sent this to him after posting I'm gonna be so embarrassed if I'm wrong).

The gravity part is what stumps me. They would lose some level of bone density but how fast? They must be denser to be able to smash in walls like Subaru. So maybe they can lose more before being too damaged?

Plus they still need blood. As much as they'd probably hate to admit they do actually need to somewhat rely on humans.

hmm... I went into this thinking they could live in a space station permanently. But I don't think even that's possible.

Point is space makes everyone their bitch except space bears basically.