#might try to make this into a longer one-shot HMMMMM

[the-bar-sinister]

Sandstorms and Starfall (27070 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 7/15

Summary: When Vivi makes a midnight escape from the palace of Alabasta and flees the country in an attempt to get stronger and rejoin the Straw Hat pirates as a full crew member she finds herself unsure of her path forward. That is until a chance meeting brings her face to face with her former enemy, and former hero, Sir Crocodile who agrees to help her on her quest to find a devil fruit for herself.

It's surprisingly easy to make peace with the former warlord, if not to forgive or trust him. But the longer she spends around him, and the former Baroque Works agents helping her find her way through the Grand Line, the more she finds that the troubles in her heart are not the simple ones that she expected to be facing.

catch up here

-

Unlike the secrecy of Sabaody, they docked– for lack of a better word– at Fishman Island without incident, and it was a fairly active port.

As they disembarked to resupply, Vivi saw Daz looking over the other ships that he could see.

"Doesn't look like anyone we'll have to be too concerned about."

Vivi peered out at them as well, curious what sorts of ships made it out of the supposedly dangerous and deadly trip from the surface. She wasn't surprised when she realized she couldn't really recognize any of the flags.

Marianne hopped off the boat with her pack on her back and her hat back on her head.

"...Captain?" She asked in her soft spoken and deadpan voice.

Zala stretched, seeming much more comfortable on land as she looked around with a whistle. "..never had the pleasure of making it down here…" she murmured to Daz. 

Captain Crocodile strolled down the gangplank with his cigar in his mouth and puffed out a long breath of smoke. He put his hand briefly on top of Marianne's head and smiled.

"It's been a while. Alright, crew. Saobody was a nerve wracker but we can relax a little around here. No marines, and the slavers won't be moving in yet even given the chance in… situation," he snorted. "We're here for a resupply, and to see if we can find any good information. I have a contact in the New World we can lean on if we don't find anything— but we'll be putting feelers out."

"So you want us to gather information while we take a little R&R is it?" Zala purred, "Now that, that I can do."

"I wanna see the Mermaid Cafe," Marianne chimed in.

"Mermaid cafe?" Vivi asked in surprise. "...so, Crocodile, is this place safe? We can actually enjoy ourselves a little?" 

"Safe enough for a bunch of pirates," Crocodile grinned widely. "We can enjoy ourselves. And yeah, you know what. It's been too long since I saw the mermaid cafe myself. Can't stop here without a visit."

"We still probably don't want to split up too much," Daz said. "But it's not the kind of worry it was in Sabaody by a long shot."

"Then what is the worry? That some pirate might try to start a fight?" 

"Bingo, Viv," Crocodile nodded as they headed into the city together. "Port towns that attract pirates attract pirate brawls. Everybody's drunk and it's a big machismo contest."

Zala snorted softly through her nose. "Meaning most of the idiots who start a fight are going to lose one."

Marianne put her hand to her chin with a soft sigh of 'hmmmmm' before she murmured. "Calming yellow, I think."

With a laugh, Vivi shook her head. "Well. That does sound like trouble, but I think we should probably be alright. We're a lot tougher than we look, after all!" 

"Damn right," Crocodile chuckled. "Which is exactly why it's safe to relax a little. C'mon we'll get a drink in you— you do drink, right, Viv? Outside of when you're making shady deals with former enemies?"

Vivi huffed, giving him a little sidelong look, thinking of the drink they'd shared in the basement before the voyage. "Of course I drink, Crocodile. I used to drink all the time with the Straw Hats."

It wasn't like when she was younger, where she only could take a glass of wine or two before she had to excuse herself from the party.

She'd become rather experienced the last few years, even. Still, she felt a kind of giddy excitement. Here she was…on the bottom of the sea under the light of some strange tree that cast the depths in sunlight. Among fish men and mermaids who were frolicking about and going about their day to day, and all of it as a pirate on a grand journey.

She shivered in excitement. "So let's get that drink in me!" 

-

It had been a hell of a long time since Crocodile had visited the island's infamous mermaid cafe– something on the order of 20 years. A wave of nostalgia washed over him like surf as he stepped inside and found it virtually unchanged from his memory. The so-called 'cafe' was styled more like the jazz lounge or club that it actually was, with tiered seating along swooping, curling mezzanines with different degrees of privacy and views of the stage for the floor show. The best seats for privacy were up in the top mezz, tucked in the back of the cafe behind flowing curtains. The best seats for the floor show were of course the several handsome round booths and tables on the floor itself.

It was decorated in a style that Crocodile was told, from a Fishman perspective, was incredibly kitschy. Bordering on tacky, even. Everything was done up in mother of pearl with gold colored brass edgings and the decorations were sea themed– lots of clams and pearls and statues of fish and things like that. Even a lot of the seats were clamshell themed. Apparently plenty of locals hated it— but it was a hell of a tourist magnet.

They were informed when they entered that there'd be a show in about 20 minutes, and since they weren't going to be discussing anything sensitive anyway, Croc opted to have them seated at one of the booths.

He glanced over at Vivi, curious what their first timer thought of the whole thing as the mermaid waitress accompanied them to their seats.

-

"Woooow…." Vivi whispered as she followed the mermaid waitress along, her eyes wide and curious as they flitted from seashell chairs to the grand stage, to the mermaids and the shining tables. "Nami would love this place."

Nami would frankly, especially love the mermaids even if she'd protest about it. Which certainly wasn't to say Vivi didn't either.

It was glittery, it was shining— and it was packed to the gills with beautiful women and the smell of fine food. And there was to be a show on top of all this?

Vivi couldn't help feeling a little excited as she practically vibrated. She loved the sea theme, honestly, and while it did seem, maybe a bit overly themed? Probably tacky to the locals, it certainly caught the eye.

Marianne walked near her, deadpan stare locking eyes with some of the mermaids as they passed with a little nod.

"I wonder what show set they're doing this time. Heard rumors." she murmured.

Daz cocked his head as he shifted toward the center of the long, curved booth they were seated at, on Crocodile's left. "Rumors, huh?"

Currently the cafe was filled with the soft strains of piano music, or similar, piped in through shells. A soft, bubbly tune.

Vivi hesitated, not sure what seat to take. She did notice Zala took one of the seats closer to the stage proper, leaning on her hand as she grinned lazily. Marianne dropped down beside her, opening her pad and starting a sketch of the interior.

"Rumors," she said with a nod. "Saucy rumors."

"...Saucy rumors?" Vivi asked with a flush, still awkwardly standing. 

Crocodile chuckled, and Vivi watched as a mermaid offered him a fresh cigar from an expensive looking box. He took it and replaced his own with it, lighting up. 

"They've had a few racy shows here from time to time. What's on the stage today, pretty miss?"

The mermaid giggled coyly. "Actually, we have a special guest today. It's a lounge show. It's only been running for a couple of weeks and it's very popular."

Vivi eased herself down on the other side of Crocodile, tilting her head with a curious smile. "Wow, then we really lucked out, didn't we?" 

She couldn't help but look at the mermaid. She was a beautiful woman, that was for sure. Vivi had always had a deep appreciation for beautiful women as much as an appreciation for beautiful men.

"Lounge show, huh?" Marianne murmured. "Who's the singer?" 

"Our special guest!" she cooed, swimming away. "I'll be right back with your menus!"

Crocodile puffed on his new cigar, which had a curious sweet smell to it, and smoke that burned faintly blue. He slipped his arms relaxedly over the back of the booth, one of them dangling just over Vivi's shoulders.

"This place hasn't changed a bit."

Vivi felt the hot flush roll through her once more as she sat just under, but not quite touching, Crocodile's arm. She took a breath of that new cigar's secondhand smoke, before turning her eyes to the stage to distract her.

"N-no? Not even a little? What kind of show did you see last time?"

Zala packed her pipe with a hum. "Likely something burlesque. I heard they often are." 

"Yep. It was this whole little tableau about sushi with a naughty song to match." Crocodile's grin curled across his face.

"Sushi," Daz chuckled. "That's cute. I don't remember what they were playing last time I was here, but uh, I was pretty drunk. So that's not unusual."

"Tsk tsk, Daz," Zala waved her finger back and forth teasingly as she put her pipe between her lips. "They certainly get creative with their innuendo don't they?"

Vivi caught the glance of Crocodile's grin, and felt her face flush more. "Okay that's sounds like it was pretty fun actually."

The table chattered away, looking at the menu and ordering a round of drinks. Crocodile told a story about the first time he had been there, with his first mate, Mihawk, who had initially claimed to have little interest in the Mermaid Cafe but indulged Crocodile anyway. That seemed to all change during the show, of course. Crocodile had heard one— very rare— short laugh from his first mate's lips during the sushi number, before becoming rather enraptured with the follow up act. A mermaid swordswoman had been performing a dance, and he'd absolutely insisted on meeting her to discuss technique in a display of uncommon excitement for the man. He'd practically stormed the stage.

Vivi had seen Dracule Mihawk. She could NOT imagine him excited over anything. 

Crocodile had a deeply nostalgic smile painted across his face as he told the story, puffing away at his fresh cigar. He looked honestly relaxed— perhaps for the first time she'd ever seen him. She realized that even during those pleasant times at the parties years ago, Sir Crocodile had been wearing a tension, a tightness through his whole being, stiff and guarded. 

Some of that had dropped now, for whatever reason. Seemed to have been dropping as their voyage continued, and unless she missed her guess, had finally melted away.

Even back in the days of Alabasta, before 'Mr. Zero and Baroque Works', he'd always carried that tension. But now…he looked content. That contentedness was well worn on his handsome face, and almost made her heart skip a beat when she saw him smile.

She distracted herself instead of thinking about it– she reached up and gently plucked the cigar from his fingers to take a puff "sounds like it was a real blast."

Zala was mid laugh at the story when she froze , glancing between the cigar and Crocodile as if hoping nothing bad came of it.

Crocodile gave her a dubious look and slipped his arm from the back of the seat to over her shoulders instead, picking up his glass. 

"Oh pardon me, doll, I should have asked if you wanted one," he drawled. That low chuckle echoed out of hips.

Daz covered his mouth, smothering a laugh of his own as he side eyed her.

Marianne snickered into her hand. "Hope you're ready, those aren't tobacco…least not all tobacco."

Vivi coughed a little, the smoke leaking from her lips as she already had taken a long pull.

"R-really? Oh ah. Huh." she looked down at it, before taking another puff and letting herself lean a little— just a little, against the weight of the arm.

The taste of the cigar was much sweeter than tobacco alone, like the smell was, and it tasted somehow fresh in her mouth, tingling the back of her nose. Along with the usual rush of a puff off a cigar, she felt a swooning thrill of giddiness move through her.

Crocodile shook his head, grinning. "Don't worry, they're not that strong or anything. I'd have warned ya if you gave me half a chance, Viv."

She wriggled a little bit in her seat with a flush, before she shrugged, took another puff and handed it back to him with a giddy grin. "Well. Now's the time for it, isn't it? I'm on an adventure, embracing the pirate life…might as well have some fun with it!"

"That's the spirit," Zala purred as she took a draw off her own very much not tobacco pipe.

"Damn right," Crocodile agreed.

Vivi was feeling very pleased indeed by the time they'd ordered their food. Crocodile's arm was warm around her— he seemed loath to move it— and they all started in on their drinks, the ice clinking in the glasses.

She wouldn't deny that she was loath to have him move it either. In fact, she found herself leaning almost against him as she reached for her glass, catching and choosing not to get flustered by Marianne's knowing little smirk as she continued her sketching and drinking.

She felt warm, and cozy, and his arm was a weight over her shoulders that shouldn't have made her feel as pleasantly comfortable and safe as it did.

If Crocodile was finally relaxed, maybe she was too. Even if they used to be enemies, even if things were complicated she still melted into his touch with a pleased murmur and a sip of her drink.

And then the floor show started. The lights dimmed and turned cool colors shot through with pink spotlights, and rather jazzy, sexy music started to play as the curtains lifted.

That snapped her attention right to it, wide eyed and curious as the lights flitted around the stage in preparation for the 'special guest'.

The curtain parted on the mermaid chorus, some of which were positioned on shelflike tiers and some in a clear pool at the center stage swirling in an underwater tank. 

But it was a minute into the song and dance before the 'special guest' came out, rising from a trap door in the stage just in front of the pool. The gorgeous singer strutted across the stage– and then their face changed— and then it changed again.

Vivi was speechless. First, at first it was just from the beautiful mermaids and their entrancing dance.

But there was only one person in the world she'd seen a party trick like that from.

Marianne nearly fell out of her seat as she slapped her hand on the table with a near-silent sputtering sound. Zala looked like the pipe was going to drop from her lips.

Vivi had to be the one to say it— she pointed and squeaked out. "Is that fucking BON CLAY?" 

She was probably the only one capable of saying it— Crocodile had nearly choked on his cigar, and Daz might have actually spit out his drink.

With one more wave of the dancer's hand, there was no question about it. Bon Clay– Mr. 2– strutted across the stage, crooning. He turned his long, beautiful face toward them and blew a kiss.

Crocodile slapped the table with his hook and started to laugh. "Well I'll be damned!"

"He actually survived…" Zala said with genuine joy. "I'll be damned. I was worried he'd been locked away for good."

Marianne blinked. "Gotta say sorry for leaving him behind."

Vivi glanced at them, and back at the stage where she waved limply back in response to the blown kiss.

This was one hell of a coincidence. 

Crocodile raised his glass. "Well, better enjoy the show or he'll really be pissed off."

Vivi grabbed her glass again with a laugh "I remember, actually. From that time back on the Straw Hat ship– anyway, I don't think I could not enjoy it if I tried!" 

It was a hell of a show, and it would have been hard to take her eyes off of it even if Crocodile had told everyone to pay attention. The show was great, the food was great, the smokey, boozy atmosphere of camaraderie cradled the whole table.

She'd all but fallen into Crocodile at one point, head swimming with the cigar and the booze and the party atmosphere. She was happy, giddy and excited. The show was fantastic, the food was amazing, the drinks were strong and the company was…

The company was amazing. She never thought in her life that she'd somehow wind up partying , genuinely partying, with the agents of Baroque Works like old friends. Like she was one of them, instead of the traitor in their midst.

She laughed, she joked around, she watched the show in all its beauty and excitement. She even allowed herself to indulge in a little light flirtation that she hoped would go unnoticed in the morning. 

Eventually, after the show had ended and the lights raised back up, and the room was once again filled with gentle, bubbly piano music, Crocodile finally slipped his arm away from her shoulders. He touched her cheek playfully with the curve of his hook, and gave her a heavily lidded look that made her worry that flirtation might not be forgotten after all.

He straightened up and tugged at the hem of his vest. "I'll be back, crew. Gonna go see if I can say hello to the 'special guest'."

Vivi felt the lingering sensation of his smooth hook on her cheek, blinking slowly before she sat up with a smile. "Do you want company, Crocodile?" 

He seemed to consider it for a moment, looking on the verge of saying no, before he barked a laugh and extended his hand. "What the hell. Big surprise to see him here, might as well surprise him in return, eh?"

"We'll keep your seats warm then, boss," Daz said, shifting to where Crocodile had vacated.

Vivi grabbed Crocodile's hand and helped herself up with a laugh. "Turnabout is fair play and all that, right?"

Zala laughed, sliding across and closer to Daz as Vivi left her seat "Tell him we say hi, and he better not vanish before we chat." 

"Oh don't worry about that, Zala, I'm hoping to drag him back to the table." Crocodile smirked slyly and slipped his hook around Vivi's waist, tugging her away.

She walked with her hand against his side, cradled by his hook in a way that took her back to Alabasta again, both the good times, and the bad. His hook holding her in two very different circumstances flashed through her mind as she smiled up at him.

"This is quite a surprise isn't it? I mean, who'd have thought we'd find Bon Clay here." 

He laughed roughly as they strolled through the cafe up toward the hostess' table. "I mean if we were gonna fucking find him anywhere, it'd be here. But I really thought we'd lost him in Impel Down. He gave us all the chance to escape– for Straw Hat, really."

Vivi felt a ping of surprise, glancing up at Crocodile with wide eyes. "Him and Luffy? He helped save Luffy at Impel Down?" 

"Damn near gave his life for him," Crocodile growled. There was something deep in his expression– grief, maybe. Worry. "We really weren't sure if he was gonna survive."

Vivi felt tears sting her eyes. Bon had been an enemy during their raid on Alabasta, but at the same time, he was an eccentric and kind hearted man willing to do anything for those he had gotten close to.

And it seemed he very much did for Luffy in Impel Down. "He's a brave man, and more importantly…one who's still alive and well." 

"And thank fucking hell he is," Crocodile grumbled. He paused in front of the hostess station and his manner changed, smiling, again, but commanding. He told the hostess to let Bon Clay know that his friend Crocodile was here to see him.

Crocodile was imposing enough— maybe even famous enough— that the woman didn't even question it. She said she'd give the message, and to wait there.

Vivi leaned very slightly against his side before she caught herself and straightened up with a smoothing of her hair and a deep breath.

"He used to play sometimes at Rain Dinners," Crocodile said as they waited. "You ever catch any of the shows?"

She shook her head as she thought back to the past. 

"I missed them, I'm afraid. Before I left Dad wasn't altogether happy with the image of the princess going to a casino and it was a bit far for me to make the trip without causing a stir, and after, well. I was a bit busy with stuff in your organization…"

She smiled thoughtfully. "Though if tonight was anything to go by I was missing out." 

"Yeah," he chuckled quietly and shook his head, looking distant for a moment. "I loved that place. Oh well."

VIvi felt a sting of sympathy. 'If things could have gone differently, he could have kept the casino'. 

The real surprise is that she wasn't surprised. He seemed to have fun managing the casino; he and Miss All Sunday had created an impressive business and consolidation of Alabasta's vices into one handy location.

"If only, right?" she murmured, leaning into his hook.

The hostless came back a moment later and told them that they were welcome in the VIP lounge. Once more, Crocodile tugged Vivi away.

She stumbled along to follow him into the depths of the VIP lounge with a smile to the hostess. 

[sweetbitterpdf]

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

send me a 🌈 for 100 words of elu fluff uwu

the best part about life drawing class, in eliott’s opinion, is that it’s acceptable to stare. 

that’s why he had gotten into art in the first place, in fact. more than anything, he loved looking at beautiful things. and— frustrating as doing them justice may be— bodies are his favourite thing to draw.

especially when they look… well, like that.

like the boy stretched out on the platform, his tan skin tinted various colours from the lights shining down on him. this module of the class is focused on the way colours change the appearance of the body, of the face. and eliott tells himself that his desire to see what the model looks like under normal lighting is purely artistic, for the sake of comparison.

not because he’s been looking at him for what must be nearly the whole three hour class, at this point, and certainly not because every time the boy’s eyes meet his— briefly, before they continue their lazy path around the room, watching all of the students work— it sends his limbs abuzz, a full-bodied shiver down his spine.

he’s having trouble getting the right blend of colour for the way that the pale yellow light meets the boy’s hip, making it look like his entire lower body has been set in gold, from the dip of his waist, across his stomach, down along his hips and all the way down to his—

“alright everyone,” he nearly groans aloud as his prof comes to the center of the room. “that’s our time for today! finish the portion you’re working on, and then pack up.” he turns back to the model. “lucas will stick around for another fifteen minutes or so, and then he’ll be back the same time next week.” all of a sudden it’s as if the world around him falls away. lucas, his brain chants, lucas lucas lucas. it’s fitting, he thinks— he looks like a lucas. the fluff of his hair— a task that eliott couldn’t dream of tackling until he has the body done— the way his nose juts out just so, the gentle arch of his upper lip…

“— eliott, you there?” he blinks, hard, shaking his head a bit to ground himself back in reality, before looking at his professor, stood beside him. “you done for today?”

“oh— yes, of course, sorry. just lost in thought.”

“all good. trust me, you’re not the only one who feels the effects of this being an evening class.” his prof chuckles, before continuing onward to his other classmates, seeing them off for the day. a few minutes later he has all of his supplies safely in his bag. as he turns to leave, he has half a mind to wish lucas a good night, to find some way to talk to him.

“have a good night, lucas,” is what he decides on. when lucas looks over at him, that same shiver from before rushes over him, and he has to put in an effort to keep his composure. the smile he receives in return is sweet, and he internally delights in the way lucas’ eyes crinkle at the edges when he does.

“you too, ah…” it takes him embarrassingly long to realize that lucas is implicitly asking for his name.

“oh! eliott, i’m eliott.”

“well then, you too, eliott.” he’s ready to pass out, at the sound of lucas saying his name. “see you next week?”

“yeah— yes, you will! of course.”

“great.” another smile that makes him weak in the knees. eliott leaves with a quick wave before he can do anything he’ll regret.

[maddogofshimano]

Apology Ring: Rikiya Scratcher Event

A new Rikiya event! I was very excited about what nonsense this one would be and it did not disappoint. 

I couldn’t tell you why Kuze’s a reward, but I sure did get 6 of him, so I can’t complain. Let’s get started!

Summary: While Rikiya has come to adore Kiryu as his aniki, Haruka is still cold and distant towards him. In his desperation to win back her favor, he learns that Haruka’s after a prize from the scratcher event happening at the local grocery store, and is determined to win it for her no matter the cost

2008 Shimabukuro Rikiya had been charmed by Kiryu Kazuma, and his yearning to have him as his aniki has led to him often visiting Morning Glory.

Rikiya: Aniki! Let's go get drinks together! Standing by for your answer!

Kiryu: Rikiya...... I already gave you an answer earlier. I'm busy today. You should get back to work. <Kiryu walks away> Rikiya: W-Wait for me anikiiii~!

Rikiya: Haaa.... Alone again..... Though, that's just one of the things that makes him so cool. (Tl note: overwhelmingly tempted to use the "attractive/good looking/handsome" meanings on かっこいい instead of cool lol) Rikiya: ....Oh? Haruka: Ah..... Rikiya-san. Good afternoon. ...............Bye. <She leaves>

Rikiya: Ah, Haruka-chan.... Rikiya: She sure didn't look happy to see me... Guess she still hates me.

Rikiya: Well... I guess being hated by her can't be helped. She was real scared I was going to evict everyone in Morning Glory after all... Rikiya: Kiryu no aniki swore an oath of brotherhood though... So I can't just leave things like this. Rikiya: If I apologize from the bottom of my heart, maybe Haruka-chan will forgive me... Rikiya: .........Hn? Koji: I want to get Haruka a gift for always working so hard, but I can't think of a single thing to get her.... Koji: Have you thought of anything Taichi? Taichi: I got this! Isn't this rock pretty? I found it out on the beach! Koji: ....A rock, huh. Well, Haruka will still be thrilled to get it. Now what am I gonna do.... Taichi: What about the scratchers down at the shopping center? Koji: Scratchers? What's that? Taichi: Haruka said she wanted to the prize from them, and wouldn't doing scratchers be fun? Koji: No way. I don't trust that it won't be a total bust. Taichi: But think about how happy she'd be. Rikiya: ....Scratchers at the shopping center? Hmm, come to think of it I was supposed to go to the super market. Rikiya: ......If I can get that thing Haruka-chan wants, she might forgive me, so it's worth a shot. Rikiya: With a little bit of luck and money, let's take a gamble on scratchers! <He runs downtown> Manager: Hey welcome! Right now we're running a scratcher campaign~.

Manager: The top prize, a trip to Tokyo, has already been claimed, but we still have a ring from a brand that's very popular with women, a coffee maker, an electric razor, and a 100kg of rice among the fabulous prizes jostling around! You can't miss this opportunity! Rikiya: (.....The only thing he listed that a girl her age would want is that ring. That must be what Haruka-chan is after!) Rikiya: Sir! Give me a scratcher! Manager: Ah, Rikiya-kun. Ready to have some fun? One entry for every 1,000 yen you spend at the store! <scratching noises> Manager: Annnnd... no luck. For the bottom prize, here's your free pack of pocket tissues. Rikiya: Damn... Totally drained, huh. I really don't have any more cash to blow on scratchers. Manager: That's a shame, Rikiya-kun. I'll be here with the scratchers for a while longer if you change your mind and want to try again. Rikiya: ....Say, mister. I really just gotta get my hands on that ring. Is there any way we could make that happen? Rikiya: ....I beg you! Truly!! Manager: No, and the answer stays no no matter how many times you ask~. Manager: Right now the odds are stacked in the customer's favor with how many scratchers have been pulled, so good luck. Rikiya: ....Man, that's really how it is, huh. I getcha... Gimme a bit to scrape up some cash. <Rikiya leaves, makes a phonecall> Rikiya: ....I'm all out. Mikio's broke too. I guess I could try getting a loan.... hmmmmm.....

Rikiya: What am I gonna do... My plan to show my sincere apologies to Haruka with that ring is turning out to be a huge bust. Rikiya: I gotta get more cash to do pulls with... If only there was some way to do free pulls...... (Tl note: Rikiya is the prime target for gatcha games) <he moves on> Rikiya: ....I ended up walking all the way around Ryukyu without getting a single idea. What am I gonna do.... Hm? Blond Chinpira A: Hehehe, look at all these scratchers. I'm a almost afraid I'll get sick of doing scratchers from this.

Blond Chinpira B: Mhm~! Hey, did ya see that employee's face? He was so scared, it was hilarious! Hehehe. <they leave> Rikiya: ....What were those bastards up to? <Rikiya returns to the store> Rikiya: !? Manager: Uughh.... Rikiya: Hey, hey..... you're not looking good. All your merch has been scattered and all the shelves are all smashed up....

Rikiya: What the heck happened while I was gone? Manager: Ah, Rikiya-kun... The truth is.... some blond haired chinpira came and stole all the scratchers..... Rikiya: Blond haired chinpira...? You mean those assholes just a minute ago did this? Manager: When they found out the top prize had already been claimed... they flew into a rage and started smashing things.... Manager: They stole all the scratchers and remaining prizes and said "You better have that top prize restocked by the time we're back".... Rikiya: What the hell? Manager: I don't know if the police could do anything, and I have no idea how I could get another trip to Tokyo lined up..... Manager: Rikiya-kun, I'm sorry. I really did want you to have fun with this scratcher campaign... Manager: Haa... I started this up intending to give back to my regulars... but now it's going to end like this... I guess it can't be helped. Rikiya: ..........It's just like you to still be thinking about your customers. Even at a time like this they're the ones you're worried about.... Rikiya: ...Sir, I'm going to crush those assholes. I swear it. Manager: Eh? Rikiya: I can't stand cowardly civilians like that. ....So I'm gonna kick their asses. Rikiya: While I'm at it I'll get back all the scratchers and all the prizes and return them to you. Manager: R-Rikiya-kun.... but.... Rikiya: Don't worry about it. This is my job as a member of the Ryudo Family. My boss would yell at me if I turned a blind eye to this. Rikiya: So, I'm off! <Rikiya leaves> Manager: Rikiya-kun..... <EVENT START>

Blonde Chinpira A: Ughhh......

Rikiya: ......Hand over the scratchers and the prizes.

Blonde Chinpira A: W-Who the fuck are you....

Rikiya: Ryudo family captain, Shimabukuro Rikiya. Chinpira: R-....Ryudo Family!? Y-You're... a professional....... Rikiya: ......We good? I don't think ya want this again.

Rikiya: If I ever hear that you're causing problems for that shop again then I'm going to silence you myself!!!! Chinpira: I-I got it.... it won't happen again. <back at the store> Rikiya: There you are, manager. The scratchers and the prizes. With this, you should be able to continue your campaign, right? Manager: R-Rikiya-kun...... Rikiya: I really nailed those shitheads, so you shouldn't need to worry about them coming after you for revenge. Rikiya: Of course if they do show up, just give me a ring. I'll handle 'em for you. Any time you need. Manager: Th-Thank you Rikiya-kun.... What can I ever do to repay you...... Rikiya: Don't sweat it. This is just the job of a member of the Ryudo Family. <Rikiya begins walking away> Manager: Ah, Rikiya-kun! Rikiya: ......I'm up shit creek here. What about Haruka-chan's present....

Rikiya: What am I gonna do..... I'm outta cash......... I got it. I'm sure I got some pachinko balls tucked away.... ???: Rikiya-kun! <manager runs up> Rikiya: Manager? Manager: Ha... Ha.... This.... I wanted to give this to you. Rikiya: This is..... the ring that was one of the scratcher prizes!? Manager: Yep. You said you wanted it. So I figured to repay you somewhere... I'd like to give this to you. Rikiya: Manager..... But isn't this a real major prize? Manager: It's fine. Without you the scratcher campaign wouldn't have continued at all. Manager: Oh, are you turning this down? I know this doesn't remotely make up for everything you did, and I'm truly sorry. Rikiya: ....I ain't turning it down! Thank you, manager! Manager: Hehe, that makes me glad to hear. Well, I'm heading back to the store now. See ya. <Manager leaves> Rikiya: Hell yes... Now I can give this to Haruka-chan as an apology! Rikiya: Finally we'll be able to wrap this whole thing up and move past things with one big gesture! Rikiya: Wait for me! Haruka-chan! <Rikiya runs off> Rikiya: .......Pardon my intrusion.

Haruka: Ah...... Rikiya-san.

Rikiya: (....She's still so distant. Guess she still doesn't like me one bit....) Kiryu: What is it? Rikiya. I can't get drinks with you today. Rikiya: Nah, I'm actually here for Haruka-chan this time. Kiryu: To see Haruka? Rikiya: Yes... Um, Haruka-chan. I actually have something to give to you. Haruka: Something to give to... me? Rikiya: Here, this. It's some kind of ring from a famous brand. Haruka-chan, this was that thing you wanted, right? Haruka: Eh!?

Kiryu: A ring? What's this about Haruka?

Haruka: N-.... No. I, don't really like rings...

Rikiya: Right. As soon as I heard you wanted this I rushed out frantically to-........ Rikiya: .......Eh!!??

Rikiya: What do you mean, you don't really like rings...... But.... Isn't this the ring you said you wanted? Haruka: ...N-No. I don't remember ever saying I wanted that..... Rikiya: That's.... B-But, you wanted one of the prizes from the scratchers....... Haruka: Scratchers.....? Oh, of course.... Rikiya: Of course....? Haruka: I wanted the rice so that everyone could have it to eat. Is that what you were thinking of? Rikiya: R-Rice!!?? <flashback to the manager talking about all the prizes they had> Rikiya: The thing that Haruka-chan actually wanted..... was the 100kg of rice.......... Rikiya: I was so sure it was the ring.... Seriously, man......... Haruka: I-I'm so sorry. Kiryu: ....Say, Rikiya. What's with the sudden present? Haruka's birthday's still a ways off, right? Rikiya: .........I wanted to give it to Haruka-chan as an apology. Kiryu: ....Apology? Rikiya: Yes. When I came to Morning Glory and threatened to evict everyone, for kids that have nowhere else to go, wouldn't that have been terrifying? Rikiya: Since then, Haruka's hated me. But I wanted to earn Haruka's forgiveness... Rikiya: That's why.... I thought I could give her that ring as an earnest apology. Rikiya: But then I went and got her something she didn't even want, so instead of being happy she's bothered by it... I really am a fool, huh. (Tl note: we might not have gotten to hear Rikiya sing bakamitai but he did at least say the phrase here lol) Haruka: .....Rikiya-san. Even though I never said I wanted it..... I really am happy to get it. Rikiya: ....That's sweet of you to say, Haruka-chan. But you don't have to lie like that to me.... Haruka: No, it's true. Rikiya-san, you picked out that ring to give me because you thought it'd make me happy, right? Haruka: The fact that you were thinking about me like that and working so hard to make me happy, well, how could I not be! Rikiya: Haruka-chan.....

Haruka: Really though.... I don't hate you, okay? Rikiya: Eh? Haruka: I... think you're a good person, Rikiya-san. So I don't have a reason to dislike you. Rikiya: Wait, but... Earlier when you saw my mug you looked real upset and ran off immediately, didn't you? Haruka: That was... sorry... I think I was trying to hold in a sneeze. Rikiya: .......a sneeze? Haruka: Right. Honestly I was dealing with a cold earlier.... I didn't want to get you sick, so I was trying really hard not to sneeze..... Rikiya: --Which explains why you were keeping your distance..... What the hell. Have I just been totally overthinking this........ Kiryu: ...Heh, I'm glad for you Rikiya. Your worries were misplaced, and this is all settled now. Rikiya: A-Anikiii.... Haruka-chan's.... a good kid....... Rikiya: I horribly threaten her and she doesn't hate me...... I don't even get her the present she wants and she's still thrilled..... Rikiya: Even if it was my job to scare her.... She's... She's such a good kid, that Haruka-chan.... <Rikiya drops to the ground> Rikiya: I'M SO SO SORRYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Haruka: R-Rikiya-san!? Kiryu: H-Hey. Rikiya, quit grovelling!

Rikiya kept his head bowed in apology for a long time, until Kiryu and Haruka were both troubled by the excessiveness.

<END EVENT>

Bonus stuff: 

I was so sure Haruka wanted to trip to Tokyo to give to Kiryu so that he could go visit. The rice was my second guess, but I was so ready for the emotional pain. Shout outs to @agentshilonglang​ for correctly guessing it though! 

This one wasn’t as long or a fraction as difficult to translate as the previous Rikiya board game event, but I am thrilled to have more Rikiya content. This card also has a new character story, and I pulled it so I’ll get that translated sometime soon-ish! I’m actually thinking of holding a poll on which story to do next when I hit 300 followers.

Finally this was the song that played on the main page of the event, tho they skipped the intro portion:

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #827: Golfing (RWBY)

12:12 p.m. at Mistral's Country Club's Golf Course.......

Ruby: (Sitting on the Back of the Golf Cart While Looking Up at the Blue Skies in a Very Exhausted like Fashion) ('UGGGGGGHHHH') Why is it have to so freaking hot today? I feel I can die at any moment here!!

Oscar: (Starts Looking For his Ball He Just Hit While Holding his Golf Club Around) We'll get back to the cart as soon as I find where the ball is.... Couldn't be too far from here.

Ruby: (Turns to Oscar) How are you not as hot and exhausted as I am right now? (Starts Pouting at the Farm Boi While Pointing at Him) Did Ozpin taught you some kind of heat protection spell that I don't even know about?

Oscar: (Starts Rolling his Eyes a Bit Playfully) Trust me, Ruby. If I'd knew a spell like that would existence right now, I would've told you all about it a long time ago. But to answer to your first, real question, the heat doesn't really bother me as much as it used to. I guess being raised in a farm really does has it's quirks after all.

Ruby: I envy you and your farming life style sometimes....

Oscar: (Chuckles Lightly) I envy your lifestyle more. Enrolling to Becon to become a full fledged Huntsman like with you......It would've been nice.

Ruby: (Smiles Brightly) It would've been amazing!!~ We would've been best friends a lot earlier, do crazy missions together, I would've even taught you everything I know about the boring school life.

Oscar: (Smirks Playfully at Ruby) About how to be Chaotic Troublemaker like you were?

Ruby: (Glares at Oscar Again) Hey, I wasn't that terrible of a student!!!

Oscar: Then how come you started a Food War in the Cafeteria?

Ruby: I didn't start the whole thing! Nora did!.....Or was it Yang? I don't remember. The point is, I was a simple bystander defending my rights to eat peacefully.

Oscar: Uh-huh....

Ruby: You can "Uh-huh" me all you want, mister, but I know I'm speaking the truth! (Starts Sighing While Wiping the Sweat Off From Forehead) Anyways, can we pleeease do something else besides golf right now?

Oscar: (Turns to Ruby) You sure you wanna stop now? We only have like eight more holes to complete left.

Ruby: Yeah. I'm sure. (Slouches her Head Onto the Top of Both of her Palms) The heat is already killing me as we speak, Oscar.

Oscar: ('Sigh') Alright fine. We can always go back inside and hangout with Ms. Goodwitch the rest of the day.

Ruby: Nah. It would get boring in there real quick. And besides, I bet she's already having a lovely chat with her lady friends as we speak.

Oscar: (Place his Hand on his Chin) That is a possibility.....(Turns to Ruby) You have any ideas?

Ruby: Hmmmmm.....(Takes a Look at the Golf Kart She's Sitting on Right Now Before Smirking Mischievously) Wellllll~

A Couple of Minutes Later......

Ruby: (Excitedly Riding The Golf Kart Around the Course in Fast Speed With Oscar Sitting Next to Her) ('WOOOOOOOO!!')

Oscar: (Nervously Holding the Side Handle a BitTightly) Damnit, Ruby! Could you at least try and slowing down a little?

Ruby: No can do, Oscar!~ This is a perfect way to cool ourselves off! And don't you think it's a lot more fun to do this than playing golf under the sun all day?

Oscar: I'm more worry about the damages we'll cause than any of those things...Speaking of which...(Turns to Ruby) Do you even have driver's license?

Ruby: (Giggles Awkwardly) About that... I've..... never got the chance take the permit test....

Oscar: (Immediately Gives Ruby a Deadpinned Look on his Face) Seriously?

Ruby: Hey! Don't get moody at me, mister! I was too focused on being a Huntress at the time! And last I checked, YOU were the one who flew a Atlas Airship at Argus without flyer's permit!

Oscar: That because we were all in a do or die situation at the time. There wasn't anything else I could other than that.

Ruby: ('Sigh') Yeah. You do have point ther- (Suddenly Starts Gasping Loudly Before Putting the Golf to a Immediate Halt)

Oscar: (Confused by the Sudden Stop) What happened? Why did you stop?

Ruby: Oscar. Look...... (Points at a Small Hill in Front of Them) A-

Oscar: (Went Back to Having a Deadpinned Look) Don't tell me. You wanna try drive up to that hill with a maximum speed velocity....

Ruby: Yep.

Oscar: Knowing full well that there might be a 50/50 chance of not only getting ourselves hurt, but also getting the kart itself totaled.....

Ruby: Pretty much.

Oscar: Yet you still wanna give it a shot anyways because you're name is Ruby Rose.

Ruby: (Immediately Gives Oscar the Puppy Dog Eyes) Please?~ I promise to get the both of us out if there as soon as we start flying~

Oscar: (Stares at Ruby For a Brief Second or Two Take a Deep Breath) Bring it on.

Ruby: (Gasps Happily Before Turning Back at Front of the Grassy Road With a Determined Look on her Face) Yes sir!~

As the engine begins to roar loudly, Ruby starts driving the golf kart towards the hill quickly..... Except....the kart itself is suddenly not moving anywhere.

Ruby: What the- The engine's still on! Why are we not moving!?

Oscar: (Turns Around Only to Have his Eyes Widened a Second Later) Uhhhh, Ruby.....(Points at What is in Front of Him) I think we found our culprit.....

Ruby: (Turns Around) What is it, Osca- ('GASPS')

Much to the kids surprise, the culprit was none other than Glynda Goodwitch herself, using her wand to stop kart from moving any forward at ease.

Glynda: (Gives the Duo a Stern, Motherly Glare) Children.

Oscar: (Starting Chuckling a Bit Awkwardly While Slowly Waving at the Woman) H-Hey, Ms. Goodwitch.....

Few Minutes Later Inside the Country Club.......

Glynda: I cannot believe you two! Recklessly driving around the golf course with that kind of speed, without any supervision. What on Earth were you thinking?

Ruby: ('Sighs in Utter Defeat') We're sorry......We got so bored and hot outside that we-I mean...I thought about taking the kart for a ride.

Glynda: ('Sigh') Ruby, if that's really the case, then why didn't the both of you just come back in here and spend more time with me?

Oscar: You see, we thought about that. But.... We'd figured that you would be too busy spending time your friends some more. So we decided not to bother you at the time.

Glynda: ('Sighs Once More') I suppose I can understand where you're coming from of this....Our conversations have gotten quite longer as of late.... Regardless, I would rather have the both of you with me than seeing you two get yourselves hurt on a golf kart. I mean, seriously, do you have any idea how much that cost alone?

Ruby: Uhhhhh.....Three or....four hundred dollars?

Glynda: Thousands.

Ruby/Oscar: (Eyes Widened in Complete Shock) THOUSANDS!!!?

Ruby: For one stinking Golf Kart!?

Glynda: I'm afraid so. These karts are exclusively made in this Country Club for as long as I can remember. So it makes sense on why it would cost a high amount. You'd be surprise on much this membership actually cost by itself.

Oscar: You......want us to guess what the price of it too or.....

Glynda: No. That won't be necessary, Oscar. All I ask for the two of you right now is to stay here and not get into any more trouble. (Gives the Duo Another Motherly Glare) Unless you want me to inform Mr. Xiao Long and Ms. Valkyrie about the reckless actions you've made today.

Ruby: Nononononono! I-It's fine, Professor Goodwitch! You don't have tell them!

Oscar: Yeah! We'll stay out of trouble this time. Promise.

Glynda: (Stare at Oscar and Ruby For a Brief Second Before Sighing Once More) Very well. I suppose I'll take your word for it. In meantime.....(Gets Up From her Seat) Get us some refreshments. Anything you need specifically?

Ruby: Do they got anymore Chocolate Chip Cookies in this place?

Oscar: I'll just get water.

Glynda: (Simply Nodded) Done and done. I'll be right back. (Walks Away)

Ruby/Oscar: 'Kay!

Ruby: ('Sigh') Well....That was a day.

Oscar: Tell me about it.... I'm just glad we didn't any actual trouble from any from another else besides Ms. Goodwitch. Was she always this stress to you guys?

Ruby: Yeah. But we mostly asked for it. She was Ozpin right handed woman for a reason after all.

Oscar: (Chuckles Lightly) I can tell.....(Turns to Ruby) Sorry the day gotten boring for you?

Ruby: (Smiles Softly) Are you kidding? You don't need to be sorry for that. If anything, I should apologizing for dragging you into this mess in the first place.

Oscar: Don't be. I don't mind get dragging along with your antics every once and a while (Starts Blushing a Little) If anything....It made enjoy spending time with you a lot than before, you know?

Ruby: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) You really mean that?

Oscar: Of course I do. You mean a lot to me, Ruby and....I lov-(Eyes Immediately Starts Widened as His Blush Turns Bright Red) LIKE! Y-Y-Yeah! Yeah! That's what meant to say! Like! I like you, Ruby. Just....like.

Ruby: (Stares at Oscar For a Brief Second Before Giggling Softly) Oho Oscar~ (Pulls Oscar into a Loving Hug) I love you too, dumb-dumb~ Always.

Oscar: (Sighs Heavily Before Smiling Softly) Thanks.

@keyenuta

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

@albion-93

@roz-ani

@miki-13

@maripr

@oscarpineprotectionsquad

@neale-47-rwby

[procrastinatorproject]

Fic writer review, thank you to @thelaithlyworm  for the tag <3

how many works do you have on AO3?

Ten? Oh no, it’s actualy 12 now!

what’s your total AO3 word count?

86,468

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Grand total of 1: Star Trek: Picard - although my latest offering might branch a bit into other Trek as well.

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

“Passengers”

“And a Barrel of Gagh”

“CMO’s Log”

“Preparations”

“Game Night”

Which is actually kinda interesting. I wrote Passengers, Preparations, and Game Night while the fandom was still a lot more active (especially in the Aramis in Space corner), so that makes sense. The CMO’s log has had chapters added every few months, giving it probably the most exposure of any of my fics. Barrel of Gagh, though? I think I’m gonna attribute that to Thimblerig turning it into a truly, TRULY brilliant piece of podfic. Also the fact that it’s whump involving a character played by Santiago Cabrera. ‘tis A Thing..... :D

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love talking with people in the comments and just... thanking the people who found the time and energy to leave comments. But especially in the last few months I have gotten very bad at keeping up with the comments and now there’s about two dozen that I have neglected to reply to for a painfully long time 🙈

But I will get there! Because I love that kind of interaction!

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

So far, none of them have had angsty endings. Angsty middles, yes, but not endings. I’m just a sucker for everyone being happy in the end. Or at least on the way to being better, and supported and cared for on that way.

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven’t yet, but I’m definitely not opposed. One of the threads of my 200k unpublishable whump scenes takes place in a continuity that has existed in my daydreams for... I wanna say six years at the very least, probably longer. It’s mostly straight-up Star Trek, but with the twist that it involves the Wraith, the telepathic, hive-minded alien race from Stargate: Atlantis that suck the life force out of you with their hands? Or, well, at least a variation thereof.

I once typed up the world building for that particular setting and it took me three hours to try and make it all make sense. So it’s... involved. But not necessarily “crazy”. And I’m not sure I’m ever actually going to publish any of the stories I have set in it (not least because that would envolve finishing any of them and bringing them into a form that is interesting to read for anyone but me...)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nope.

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Hm, not yet. I do enjoy reading smut, but only under very specific circumstances. I think I may eventually try my hand at smut, but the inner prude is still very strong. Writing about Rios and Xyr making out (which, honestly, was really tame, all things considered) made me melt in a puddle of blushing embarrassment, so full-on smut is probably beyond me at the moment. One day!

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Though litigating that in a fandom like ours would be... tricky. ST:Pic is way too small to steal stories outright. But similar or the same ideas pop up all the time. And it’s a complete coincidence. Reading the book that recently came out and that has a kinda similar setting to a lot of my stories (pre-season 1, early in Rios’s history as captain of Sirena, dealing with original characters, holo shenanigans, friendship with Raffi, etc.), I was struck by just how many elements, both scenes or story beats and little details, were similar to things that have cropped up in my writing. And it is entirely coincidental, because I am beyond certain that the author doesn’t read fanfic. Just... for legal reasons. Not to mention I wrote a bunch of the things I saw parallels to while the book was already in production, and some of them are only in my drafts.

So there is a ton of convergent evolution going on in this particular section of the fandom, and trying to litigate who came up with certain plot ideas or character beats when would be a sysiphean disaster. Some things are clear and whenever I use any of them I give credit where I can, but people will have very similar ideas. It just happens. So no, I haven’t had either a full-on story or “an idea” stolen, and I might change my tune if it ever does happen, but so far, I’m trying to practice equanimity, so I’ll be better at it should I ever need it.

have you ever had a fic translated?

Sadly no. My dad keeps complaining that all my fic is in English so he can’t read any of it, but honestly? I’m kinda glad for this very convenient excuse. Maybe if I ever feel like I want to practice my interpreting skills, I will give translating the stories into German a shot. We’ll see. Otherwise, if anyone feels inspired: Have at it! Just let me know, okay?

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not quite. I have a draft of off-the-cuff worldbuilding that I wrote on Discord with @curator-on-ao3 and that I would love to turn into an actual short fic (letters from a conference on holo-ethics), but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

what’s your all time favorite ship?

I don’t really do shipping.

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I WILL NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT!!!! One day, I will write the next installment of Star Trek: La Sirena! I have so many ideas for that continuity and those characters. I’m not going to abandon them!

what are your writing strengths?

Hmmmmm. Probably detailed worldbuilding? Ask me something about, say, a technological or cultural aspect of Star Trek and chances are, I have thought about it in the past or will come up with three different sets of intricate lore within half an hour. (Things like... the architecture of San Francisco, or Will there still be taxi drivers? or the treaty between IKEA Intergalactic and the Borg Collective, or the Universal Translator, or Emergency Services or Why There Are Very Few Ambulances On Earth Anymore etceterah etceterah...)

I’m also good at slapping together off-the-cuff plot ideas (if, say, you need an explanation for how Seven and Agnes ended up stranded on a desert island, I could probably give you three different scenarios pretty quickly. Just don’t ask me to make them poignant or actually write them.

I’m also very, very good at beginnings.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Everything that isn’t a beginning. Especially endings, or rather: finishing something, but also just... keeping momentum.

I think my dialogue is somewhat samey and not distinct enough between characters. (Also my witty banter is... let’s just say it doesn’t come to me naturally...)

And I also struggle with keeping things brief and to the point. I can write you 30k of whump covering a span of three hours, but fitting a whole story in the same space? Much more difficult!

I have also avoided writing full-on action so far, but where it has crept in it has always been a struggle and been workshopped a lot with the indefatigable beta.

Otherwise, I don’t know. My self-perception is always a little warped, so I’m not sure what other people would say my weaknesses are.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oof. Well. I have used Spanish sentences in my fic and done the thing where they’re translated in the end note, but I’ve mostly done it sparingly. I’ve also done the ‘“What do you want?” he said in Spanish.’ It’s tricky. But I will likely keep doing it in some instances, even if it’s a bit annoying.

(It also really helps to have a native speaker of Spanish as a beta, even if it’s Spanish from a different region than you’re character.)

Speaking of regional: I’m also torn about the whole “phonetically writing out accents” issue. Some people love it, some people hate it, I’m really unsure because I’m not a native speaker of English, so I’m not even sure I’m consistent in my narrative voice’s regional quirks. So far, I’ve mostly gone with describing that an accent is happening, and only writing out when phrasing actually differs from standard English. Like Ian (Scottish) saying “dinnae” but not writing “I” as “ah” as you’d see on, say, Scottish twitter.

Though it can be a very useful tool if, for instance, you want to indicate a characters accent getting stronger as they get tired or upset. 🧐

Anyway, I don’t think there is one right or wrong answer here and everyones milage will vary.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Published? ST:PIC

Actually first? Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Pretty much simultaneously, though I did write more for LotR. On graph paper, mind, with my fountain pen turned upside down so I could write smaller. I still have folders worth of those stories that I urgently need to digitize before they fade and I lose them forever...

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I’m going to quote @thelaithlyworm here: I Love All My Children Equally! I honestly couldn’t say. They are different and I love them for different reasons but I love them all.

Thank you for the tag! ❤ I’ve kinda lost track of who all has done this already or has already been tagged, so feel free to ignore me! But I tink I’m tagging @curator-on-ao3, @aini-nufire, @29-pieces, @flowers-creativity, @highfunctioningflailgirl, @cristobalrios and @the-goofball. And anyone else whom I forgot or who feels inspired to do this!

[themadauthorshatter]

I've been planning on doing these, but never got around to it because of the 'how' aspect.

Now I got it

This will be more fanfic-y than the other rewrites, too, so bear with me

PG-13 NINJAGO PILOT: EPISODE 1!!!

Like before we start with a shot of Four Weapons and hear metal on metal as Kai works at a sword, which we cut to and zoom in on.

Every now and again, though, Kai looks at the entrance with a worried look before returning to the forge, continuing to work on the sword.

We get him looking back and forth between the shop entrance and sword before he quickly finishes up and just sits, staring at the shop entrance, which gives us a good hint towards his separation anxiety.

Nya walks into frame and tries to stifle a sympathetic smile as she practically lets herself in, groceries in hand.

She asks how long she was gone and Kai, trying to joke away his nerves, says she's been gone for an hour and a half, rather than the whole hour, like she said. Nya counters that she WAS gone for the hour, and not a minute longer. Kai disagrees, because he counted on the exact minute, and asks what took her.

Nya offers an apologetic smile and shows Kai a surprise she got for him while running her errands: a couple steamed buns with red bean paste inside, just the way Kai likes.

Kai's quick to accept the apology, but also asks where and how she got the pastries, because they're expensive for the two of them, and Nya simply shrugs and says it was on the house because a customer cancelled an order, though a montage shows us the audience that Nya actually got them via a favor for the owner, i.e. fixing a few broken lights and the ovens.

Kai takes the offer, though he's still a little suspicious, and Nya goes to put the groceries away, though she does compliment Kai on his work with the sword, saying he did well on getting a good bwvel on it and keeping it straight. Kai thanks her and admits it's not bad for a 25 minute sword.

Nya, from her place in their makeshift house connected to the shop, yells to Kai to be more patient and take his time, so he can produce a better blade, almost as good as their father.

Kai yells back that he doesn't want to be better than their father, he's going to be better.

Nya walks back out and takes Kai's free hand, saying he is better because of all that he does, and their father would be proud of him for it.

That's when someone walks in, an old man in a robe, straw hat and with a long white beard, and says he should be proud, because the craftsmanship on the helmets, armor, and swords is incredible for someone so young; Kai is 16 and Nya is 14.

The two freeze and watch as the man continues to look around, Kai asking Nya who this geezer is. Nya shrugs and says she caught a glimpse of him before he asked her about the shops, namely shops selling weapons.

Kai, not really sure of this, offers to sell a few things to the man, seeing as he's interested. The man only examines some helmets and clucks his tongue, because the heavy, clunky armor in the shop is better for samurai, and there's nothing here for a ninja.

Kai chuckles and apologizes because there aren't really any ninja in Four Weapons, at least not in a long time.

The man turns his attention to Kai and sort of studies him, noting the light smoke that's on his face, the callouses on his hands, and a few scars(less than Lloyd, just saying that now), and then some red bean paste on his mouth.

Uncomfortable, Kai backs up and explains as politely as he can that he and his sister run a shop, not a museum, so he should either buy something or go somewhere else, please and thank you.

The man nods and both apologizes and thanks the siblings for their time, even if it had been possibly wasted.

The two watch him go and, once he's out of ear shot, Kai wonders what that was all about. Nya is equally confused, but doesn't elaborate on it, because they've got a shop to run. Kai agrees and hands Nya a bit of the bread from the bun she got him; she's not a fan of the paste.

In the distance, on top pf a building a figure in black watches the siblings work, Kai making another sword as Nya deals with a difficult customer. We get Kai seeing this figure, what looks like a thin male in black, and stares back at him

Guess he can't say he's never seen a ninja anymore.

Kai looks over at Nya, making sure she's okay, before looking back to find the ninja has vanished

Cut to the old man from before as he walks over to and takes a seat by a large rock, asking if there's any trouble coming their way, seeing as dawn's approaching.

TV perspective, the camera would pan up to reveal the ninja crouched on the rock as he watcges the horizon. At the sight of clouds and the rumbling in the ground, he nods.

The man sighs and wonders if the saying is true, if there really is no rest for the wicked? The ninja's shoulders drop, but he perks back up at the sight of a falcon flying over head.

Just as he goes to follow it, the man says very much like a warning, "Stay."

The ninja returns to his perch on the rock and sulks, because he's dramatic and bored.

Good thing he saw those clouds because they roll in as night falls.

Kai notices and watches carefully, Nya joining his side and asking what's up.

Neither know until skeleton automobiles race over the hill, carrying the skeleton army, and Samukai, who stands on the tallest of the vehicles and commands his army to attack, and tells his two top soldiers, Ktuncha and Nuckal, to head to the blacksmith shop and find the map.

The villagers, who are mostly farmers, flee and take cover and/or shelter. Kai, however, arms himself and yells for Nya to stay in the shop as he races out, seeing a few villagers get jumped by skeletons.

Wu and Zane, I'll just call them by their names now because WE know who they are, also leap into action, though Zane is told to protect the people while Wu goes for the skeletons.

Zane does just that, inadvertently joining Kai in fighting skeletons, though Kai doesn't notice as he fends off a mod of bone heads.

Kai gets swarmed by skeletons, and gets his ass handed to him, but still manages to get a few hits in, thank goodness. He does well enough, but snaps out of his battle rush when he sees Kruncha and Nuckal racing to the shop. ("No. NYA!")

Just as Kai goes to run back to the shop, but is struck by a skeleton and knocked back as Kruncha and Nuckal go inside the shop.

Inside the shop, Nya goes to grab a weapon, but hides when she sees Kruncha and Nuckal walk in and start rummaging for the map.

She does start to go for a staff, but is stopped by Zane, who carefully holds a hand on her mouth. Zane gestures for her to keep quiet and stay as hidden as possible as he sneaks up on the two skeletons.

Like the original, they argue, but this time, Kruncha spots Nya and starts approaching her, because she might know where the map is, only for Zane to hand stand, on hand kip up, jackhammer kick him in the jaw and knock him back and almost out.

Nuckal steps up and the two fight in the cramped shop, Nuckal grabbing random things to attack or throw at Zane and Zane blocking or catching them and them putting them down somewhere so nothing's broken(there's always so much destruction in fights and it really bothers me, tbh, ngl.). Eventually, Nuckal gives up and they go hand to hand.

As they do, Nya shrinks toward a staff as Kruncha comes to and grabs the hammer Kai was using, Nuckal blocking Zane's hits and trying to make room for Kruncha.

Nya stops that with some strikes of her own that save Zane.

As grateful as he is, Zane pushes Nya towards the exit and points outside, where she sees Kai struggling to hold off some bastard skellies.

She nods and we follow her as she sprints outside in time to save Kai and help him fight.

Kai shouts at her to go back inside, but Nya calls him crazy and won't let him steal all the fun.

The two approached by sickle-nunchuck wielding skeletons and they race toward them, which transitions/cuts to Zane as he pulls his signature move, or what will be if this was the first post I made😅, and drop kicks Nuckal before Kruncha grabs the back if his hood and knocks his head against the charcoal forge and punches him in the face and knees him in the stomach.

Nuckal gets back up and notices the forge is still going a little bit, poking at it as Zane and Kruncha keep going.

He stops when he kicks Kruncha back and is grabbed by the wrist by Nuckal, who pulls him down and smashes his arm into the burning charcoals.

He hisses, but seems to otherwise ignore the pain as he tries to kick them away. Kruncha solves that with a hand on Zane's neck.

Both demand to know where the map is hidden, but Zane glares at them, remaining silent even when Nuckal grabs the hammer and brings it down on Zane's upper arm.

It hurts, but Zane was sneaky and grabbed a shuriken from his pocket and jams it into Nuckal's side, making him stumble back as Kruncha smashes him against the forge by his collar, loosening it enough to reveal Zane's chest and a folded piece of paper.

Back with Kai and Nya as they're more successful, but still getting worn down; that's just fine because their nimbers are dwindling as well(hmmmmm?). Nya looks around in the fray of skeletons and wonders where he is. Kai snaps that he's right behind her, because they're back to back, and Nya reiterates that she didn't mean Kai, she meant the other guy, who is quite literally thrown at them as one more skeleton approaches, one with four arms and bored of watching: Samukai.

Kai charges in, shouting at Zane to keep Nya safe, and the two clash, Samukai blocking with two of his four hands as Kai swings his sword and lands a few good kicks on him.

Samukai, glad to know Kai's not holding back, decides to return the sentiment and reaveals all four of his arms.

Zane leads Nya toward the shop, but that flips around when Nya helps him there instead and goes to tend to his wounds. Zane stops her and shakes his head before getting back up and looking for a high up place to look for Kruncha and Nuckal. Nya sees this and asks what's going on and why thise boneheads are looking for a map, and Zane freezes before he shrugs, leading Nya to an empty barrel, helping her inside and putting a makeshift lid on it so she's hidden before he runs out to rejoin the fight.

Good thing because Samukai disarms Kai and holds up by his wrists with two of his four arms, one of his free hands holding a knife, and Kai bloodied and beaten from this whole fight.

"Pesky little brat. You're just like your father."

Before Samukai can carve Kai to ribbons, Zane sweeps his legs as Wu steals Zane's move and performs a dropkick of his own, but adds some spinjitsu for added distance and actually lands it and stands back up rather than just yeeting himself and falling down.

"Sensei Wu. You look a little too rusty to fight

Zane, triggered, goes to fight with Wu, but Wu holds him back; "Some blades need a stone to be sharp. I only need bone."

The two go at it, but Zane rushes in to help, because he's caring like that, and Kai follows suit.

Zane goes for a long distance approach and throws shurikens at Samukai, which slow him down enough for Wu to manage, while Kai goes in with a rock, because he lost his sword.

Samukai, fed up, kicks Wu back, grabs and lifts Kai by the neck, steals his rock, throws it at Zane, and he's hit on the head, and then throws Kai at a water tower, Kai hitting his back and going unconscious.

Zane sees this and races toward him, especially as the tower falls.

Unconscious and in his armor, Kai's heavy as hell and hard to carry, so Zane tries to wake him up as the tower starts falling.

He does, but isn't 'there' enough to register he's about to die, muttering, "Oh, no," as the tower falls.

Thank goodness Wu saves them both.

Samukai returns to the Skeletons as they start to roll out, but stops when he sees Nya race out and toward Kai, screaming his name.

TV perspective, we get slow motion shots of Kai and Nya reaching out for each other as the skeletons fire a claw/hand at Nya. Just as they're about to grab each other's hands, it grabs her and rips her away from Kai, who's relief shatters into pure terror.

The skeletons drive off, Nya screaming and fighting off the Skeletons as they restrain her, and Kai races after her with Zane behind him.

"NYA! LET HER GO! NYAA!"

The skeletons only race ahead and open a portal, leaving through it as Nya reaches and cries out for Kai.

In a flash of light, they're all gone, Zane stopping, but Kai continuing to run and ahout for Nya until he stops at where the tire marks end.

Seeing them, he drops to his knees, guilt, sorrow, and many more feelings washing over him.

Wu and Zane catch up to him, Wu apologizing to Kai for his loss.

Kai only charges at Wu, who simply steps aside as Zane grabs Kai, rolls to his back, and throws Kai to the ground, flat on his back.

Wu barks, "Enough," and tells Zane to check around them, so they're not in dager and so Kai and Wu can talk alone, and without worry of Zane killing Kai.

Kai demands to know what all of that was, why the skeletons attacked, why they took Nya, why they were living skeletons, why they took Nya, what they wanted, why they took Nya, where the hell they went, and WHY THEY TOOK NYA.

Wu tells Kai to calm himself, but Kai snaps that he can't calm down,and he won't until he gets Nya back, so Wu had better start talking or Kai will make him. Wu sends him to the ground for this, taking his wrist and arm and twisting it so Kai rolls back down on his back,it doesn't hurt him as much as the throw Zane did, don't worry.

To keep him down, Wu holds his staff down on Kai's chest and asks if he's ready to listen, because his sister's as good as gone otherwise.

Kai nods, and Wu gets to explaining:

The Skull Boys were Samukai and his undead army, who work for the real Dark Lord in the Underworld, which us where they went with Nya. Kai can try following as much a he wants, but have fun getting there without a 'gatekey;' something that's powerful enough to open the 'door' the Underworld and let you get in undetected. Either that, or die and hope for the best, which is probably the last thing Kai wants.

Kai, calmer, looks over at a bored Zane, who's blowing in some reeds, and turns back to Wu, asking why he and the ninja were there.

Wu removes the staff and holds out his hand. "You."

Kai accepts and asks why, and Wu plays a total dick move and says he'll explain more, if Kai comes with them. If he does, he'll know everything and become strong enough to save his sister and will never have to worry about lising her again. Hell, he can be strong enough to turn Samukai into bone broth, if he wants, but only if he comes with.

Kai's floored by the offer, but asks, "What if Nya come back and I'm not here? What if-"

Wu holds Kai's hands, settling him as much as he can. "They won't be coming back. They already have what they came for. We will get the map back, and your sister."

Kai falls silent and Wu backs off, saying that this is a hard decision, which he understands, so Kai has until sunrise to make up his mind. Wu will be waiting for him at the village entrance.

They part ways and Wu orders Zane to run ahead to the monastery, to make sure the road is easy to trek back.

He hestitately nods and does so, Wu taking a seat by the village entrance and meditating, calm as can be.

Kai, however, is still reeling from Wu's words. Nya's gone, the shop is a disaster, and Kai is alone. He wants to get her back, but that damn separation anxiety kicks in and he starts to panic.

Wu seems to know a lot, so the best bet qould be to leave with him, and possibly miss Nya returnjng to the shop. Kai groans as he sits qith his back against the wall and cries as he rubs his eyes. He should've kept a better eye on Nya so this didn't happen. He sighs and drops his hands, looking around and evaluating his options: stay and possibly never see Nya again or leave and possibly save Nya. Kai fights a sob as he rests his head against his knees.

Cut to sunrise and Wu still meditating. TV perspective, we hear footsteps approach off screen and Wu looks up to see Kai standing before him, eyes red rimmed, armor gone, a katana or other sword on his back, and a bag of clothes, food, and supplies on his back. (Guess he made up his mind.)

Wu half jokes that he won't bs asking if Kai's ready, but Kai has none of it and tells Wu to lead the way.

Wu stands and says they have a long walk a head of them, and that gives Wu enough time to answer all of Kai's questions.

The episode ends with Wu and Kai walking out of Four Weapons, Kai looking back at the only hime he's known before taking a breath and catching up to and following Wu, the camera panning up to the horizon and the path ahead of them.

[husbandograveyard]

Family beach day - Shanks x Reader

One Piece of summer challenge - week 5

part of the challenge hosted by @doctorgerth​ & @laws-yellow-submarine​ I’m attempting all 11 weeks, 11 different prompts and 11 different characters! This one is a little different, because I am a SUCKER for domestic fluff and I just really needed to make this happen, cause well, I am allowed to write something self-indulgent every once in a while UwU. Enjoy some actual dad Shanks! 

Prompt: Sandcastles - Character: Shanks - Word count: 1.5K 

modern AU. 2nd person. female reader. Some swearing and some sliiiiggghtt suggestive themes if you squint a little. Very fluffy and domestic otherwise and very much still SFW! 

You frustratedly honked the horn multiple times. 

“Don’t cut me off you ass....absolute.... stupid person." Benn, in the passenger seat, chuckled at your choice of words. After Shanks had accidentally taught your four year old daughter the word 'dickhead', the two of you had decided to keep language in mind whenever your little angel was around. And right now she was in the backseat, counting cars with her dad, as you were trying to advance through traffic, as if everyone had decided that today was a perfect day for a trip to the beach.

Shanks and Benn were more often than not busy running their business and days off were rare. But this summer your red-headed husband had made a point out of taking a few days off, leaving the business in the hands of Benn, who now had a very rare day off that he had agreed to spend with your family. Your daughter had been asking to see ‘uncle Benn again’ and since it was summer and super hot, you had decided that a beach day might be the best way to get some stress relief for the two men, and a nice adventure for your toddler.

But unfortunately, the whole world had concluded that today was a wonderful day to go to the beach, and thus you were a little stuck in traffic, with the air conditioning not working as you wished it would and the road seemed to be filled with people driving for the very first time. It was frustrating you to no end, and Benn’s well-intended advice on where to drive or what to look out for was not received as well as it would be if you were more relaxed. 

One glance in your rear mirror made everything better: your daughter giggling in her car seat, excitedly pointing out things and telling her dad about all the things she sees, with Shanks replying to all her stories in pure amazement, asking questions and just generally making your  daughter feel like she was being the world’s best storyteller right now and it just melted your heart. 

After plenty of childproofed curses, aggressive honking and some more unnecessary advice from Benn you finally had made your way to the beach, and picking a spot close enough to the water that you could keep an eye on whoever stayed with your stuff, but not too close so you wouldn’t have to move too far when flow tide came around. 

You whipped out the sunscreen, putting a generous amount on your daughter’s arms, legs, shoulders and face before rubbing some on yourself and handing it over to your husband who just shot you some puppy eyes.  “y/n, my love, you know it gets a little difficult to reach my right side like this?” You chuckled at him, knowing after years without his left arm your husband was perfectly capable of applying sunscreen everywhere but his back, but he was just using it as an excuse to get a little massage from you. And who were you to say no?

‘Uncle’ Benn was already walking towards the sea with your daughter, excellent at reading the room, and left you for your little bit of quality time. You faked a deep sigh and rolled your eyes, but that went completely ignored or unnoticed by your other half, who was too busy enthusiastically already pulling his shirt over his head. You couldn’t keep the fake annoyed face any longer and laughed as you ordered him to lay down on the towel for a bit.

“Usually it’s the men giving the ladies a nice massage”, you joked as you squirted some cold sunscreen on his back, making him flinch a little bit at the sudden coldness.  “I never said I’d not give you one.” He relaxed the moment your hands started working the product into his skin.  “hmmmmm, I’ll keep you to that then” you chuckled. He was just about to retort with something that would probably be one of his trademark suggestive comments when two tiny -and very sandy- hands came to assist yours in rubbing the sunscreen on. Benn didn’t even look sorry as he said your daughter saw dad laying down and wanted to help get him up. You laughed even harder, at Benn, at your lovely darling who was now giving her father an unnecessary back scrub and the man in question, who was for sure pouting that his dirty talk would have to wait for a later hour. 

Benn watched your stuff, smoking and reading a nice book he brought along as the two of you too your daughter into the water, Shanks hellbent on teaching her to float already -”never too early to learn how to swim”- and your daughter giggling like crazy cause she was a natural, and the hand helping her float was mostly tickling her. 

After some time in the water, you went on to collect seashells, keeping the most pretty ones to spend a rainy day crafting something out of them. You had to physically stop your daughter from overfilling the bucket and nearly adding a jellyfish to it. You picked her up before she could grab the potentially stingy creature, which triggered some tears of course, like any toddler would cry for you not allowing them to hurt themselves, but the crisis was averted quickly by your husband and some ice cream. She nearly forgot about the bucket all together, and the three of you made your way back to your stuff for another round of sunscreen and dropping off the bucket when you noticed Benn was fast asleep, book on his face, probably to protect him from the sun. 

It was quite the funny sight, but you actually felt a little bad for him, he was probably beyond tired from overworking so much in Shanks’ absence. You quietly put your stuff down and led your daughter somewhere a little further so she could play without disturbing uncle Benn’s sleep.  “Let’s try and make a sandcastle okay?” 

You and your daughter spent more than an hour perfecting the sandcastle, Shanks watching with a grin on his face how you painstakingly tried to carve small windows in the towers, only for your daughter to try and help and accidentally reduce the tower to a formless pile of sand again. After about the third attempt, you were getting a little frustrated behind the encouraging smile you were flashing your daughter, and Shanks decided to come to your aid. He motioned your daughter over and started whispering something in her ear. The way she so eagerly nodded made you suspicious immediately. 

“Yes! Special Sandcastle!!”  

You narrowed your eyes at your husband, who just innocently told you you could finish the fancy castle in peace while the two of them would make an easy yet special castle. Of course, you were more interested in whatever that meant and followed them as they made their way back to where Benn was still comfortably snoozing. Shanks motioned for both of you to be very very quiet as he started piling sand on Benn’s legs. He must’ve been completely out of it, because he didn’t wake up. Your daughter started immediately helping, you’d almost never seen her so quietly playing, and you weren’t sure whether you should be scolding your child and manchild of a husband, or laugh quietly and help them out. You opted for the latter, but not before whispering to your favorite redhead that he’d take the blame when Benn woke up. 

“Only if you give me another one of those massages tonight”. 

He cut you off with a kiss before you could even protest or say something about using such a tone in front of your daughter. You decided to ditch the conversation and focus on burying Benn. 

The three of you had reached his shoulders in the making of your ‘extra special sandcastle’ when the soft snoring stopped coming from under the book, and your eyes widened.  “I swear to god, if this was your idea Shanks...”  “Yes! Daddy wanted to make an extra special Sandcastle!” 

You laughed, sitting back a little so you could deny involvement and gently removing the book from Benn’s face who was in between an angry glare and an amused grin, the latter mostly put on to not worry your daughter. 

“Uncle Benn is my favorite Sandcastle” “How about you help me get out of the sandcastle and then we can completely bury Daddy?” Your daughter nodded eagerly at ‘her favorite sandcastle’ who was already getting up and dusting the sand off of his form, and you saw Shanks get up in order to run away.  “Wanna help y/n?” Benn said as he picked up your daughter, ready to run after Shanks.  “Ehhh... I think I’m sitting this one out, someone’s gotta watch our stuff after all” You giggled as they ran off. 

You grabbed the book Benn was reading earlier and made yourself comfortable, grinning as you listened to the playful shouts that weren’t entirely acted from the members of your little family. A day to the beach had been a good idea. 

[lost-in-sokovia]

It’s a... Blue?

it’s time we revisited our favorite reindeer and gave him some attention, yes?😂 well you and loki are about to be parents and its not quite going to turn out as planned🥶... stay tuned!

Warnings: birth, lil angst

How much longer until this child was going to make their appearance??

Nearly nine months ago you found out you were pregnant with the God of Mischief’s child, and you had signed yourself up for another big adventure (the first, of course, being the fact you were married to a god).

That had also signed you up for nearly nine months of pure pain.

This child was strong. Not only with the blood of a god, but the blood of a jotun.

And that fact purely scared Loki to death.

This small human being located inside the love of his life was purely stronger than her, and he had no idea what that could mean. What would that bring when it came time for birth? What was that doing to you right now? Why don’t you hate him for this, again?

Though you experienced so much pain and complication, you never blamed Loki and never became less excited that you were going to be a mother.

Your body ached. You felt like you were carrying around a boulder. You said you always looked like crap. Hot flashes? Try freeze flashes. You were constantly tired and clingy, never wanting Loki to leave you.

Loki claimed you were glowing and still looked beautiful, but that would lead to a snarky “Yeah maybe it’s the ice reflecting off the light” and a flip of the middle finger.

Aw man, did I not mention how Loki-like you became?

The annoyance with everyone except (for the most part) him, the quietness, always seeming to creep around...

This kid was going to be completely Loki.

Every night you laid in bed with Loki, no matter if you were sleeping or awake, he would rub his thumb across your belly as he whispered Nordic lullabies to his small, liten, baby.

One night as you laid in Loki’s arms, you could not fall asleep. The baby wasn’t the issue, no, you just laid and stared at the ceiling with no emotion. You felt tired but couldn’t fall asleep. Your eyes demanded to stay open. After laying there with no progress you began to cry in frustration.

Loki’s blue eyes fluttered open and looked at your sad face as tears streamed down the sides, a few plopping onto his arm.

“What is wrong, my darling (Y/N)?” he asked softly. You looked at the concerned god next to you and shifted so you could look directly at him.

“I can’t s-sleep, and I-I just f-feel so empty,” you stuttered as your crying began to pick up. Loki grabbed your hands to hold them and brought them up to his lips to kiss them.

“Well for one I know you are not empty, you have a baby in there,” he gestured to your stomach with a small smile. You smiled back, knowing he could make you feel better. You sighed as one of his hands reached up to play with your hair.

“Loki I haven’t felt nervous at all during this pregnancy, but now as I feel like the end is coming closer, I begin to freak out,” You confessed quietly. He looked into your (Y/E/C) eyes, flooded with tears.

Loki’s heart was shattered. He hated seeing you in pain like this, all because of this tiny baby inside of you. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen when you two decided to have a baby.

Without another word, Loki whispered something and a spell to drift you to sleep came upon you. He watched your teary eyes begin to close, heard your shaky breaths become more stable and regular, and waited until he felt your light breath on him. Loki frowned and sighed; he wasn’t sure how to respond to a situation like this. What was he supposed to say? Instead of taking a risk of saying something innapropriate to the situation, he played it safe by luring you back to sleep.

Still with a sad frown, he gently placed his hands over your stomach and sighed. He felt a small movement but knew you were going to be peacefully sleeping the rest of the night. Loki sighed deeply, brushing through a lock of his black hair with his fingers.

“Hello liten one,” He whispered. The baby kicked and Loki smiled, glancing up at your sleeping face to make sure you were still asleep and admire how beautiful you are.

“Your mother and I love and cherish you...” he paused. Tears formed in his eyes and he lightly chuckled. “But you already frighten me so much!” He confessed to the baby. For a moment he imagined what this baby was going to look like, what their personality would be like, and how the Avengers would react.

“I know you and I are quite similar already, and I ask to please grant your mother some mercy. She is a warrior, just as I hope you will be. Please be kind to her, and in return I will do my best to be as good of a father as I can be,” he reasoned, wiping his eyes. He gave your belly a soft peck and the sides of your mouth twitched upward for a moment.

Closing his blue eyes, Loki counted down the days to your due date.

One down, twelve to go.

~•~•~•~•~

After waking up the next morning, you made your way down to the main area of the compound where you could sit on the couch and watch some TV.

You closed your eyes as the bright morning sun shined through the grand windows and warmly embraced your body, making you shiver. You breathed in and out deeply, feeling at peace with yourself at that exact moment.

And in pure God of Mischief fashion, that baby decided this wasn’t the time to be calm and stable. They wanted out and they wanted out now.

You grasped your stomach and moaned loudly, as passerby Tony ran to your aid. He kneeled down beside you as you grit your teeth and clenched your eyes shut. His brown eyes were wide and filled with concern.

“Hey, cool it for one minute Pixie Stick,” (Tony’s nickname for you from when you first joined the team, when you were younger and always hyped up) Tony said. You let out a small cry.

“T-Tony... I- AH!” You mustered out painfully, barely opening your eyes to look back at him. Tony started nodding and looked behind him.

“Hey Bruce? Bruce!” Tony called as Wanda and Clint began to join your other side, holding your hand and beginning to understand the situation.

“No-, n-no I... Loki!” You cried loudly. Wanda began to help you to Bruce, who Tony had flagged down to take you to the medical room. You shuffled over in pain, tilting your head back and clenching your fists.

As you entered the medical room, Tony swallowed all his pride and decided (for your sake) to run up and get that clueless idiot down to you.

Tony could head you crying and whining as he ran and burst into your room.

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “Stark I know you think you can-“

“No time for your bratty complaints Reindeer Games, your wife is downstairs and about to pop your kid so get the hell down there before she kills us all!” Tony yelled.

Loki’s blue eyes widened and he stood up before disappearing in a flash of green light.

You laid in the cold, white hospital bed about to break Thor’s fingers from grasping too hard as Loki appeared in the room. Nat and Pepper had helped you change into a hospital gown so when the time came it would be easier to pop the sucker out.

Thor let go and shook his hand, switching places with his brother as he gave Loki an exhausted look and you gave Loki a look of desperation.

“Brother this child is more you than you know,” he muttered. Loki quickly kissed your head and tried to look over your gown to see what was going on.

“My love, I am so sorry I was not here earlier,” he apologized with sincerity. You looked into his blue eyes.

“I-It’s alright, you’re here now,” you exhaled tiredly. He rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb as Bruce walked over (with a slight look of fear because did Loki really want him over there? Not really.)

“O-Okay (Y/N), we need to get this baby out quick so I need you to start pushing,” he explained quickly. A switch flipped inside you and you were no longer all sad and pitiful from the pain, you were angry and fired up.

“What the HELL Loki!!!” You roared all of a sudden, your (Y/H/C) hair flipping you in the face. Loki did a double take as he looked at you with a questioning stare. “Why can’t you- ARGH- get this-...-stupid-... OW!”

You began to push and put all of your might into getting this little god baby out of you. Loki looked over your gown again to see the progress, and could see a small bit of... blue?

“(Y/N)...” Bruce began slowly. “Is it possible for this thing to be... frozen?”

You stared at Bruce blankly for a moment before squeezing Loki’s hand the hardest yet.

“HOW IS IT FROZEN?” You shot your angry look to Loki, and hit him upside the head.

“Ow!” Loki yelled as he pushed his black locks out of his face. You grimaced at him.

“It’s... YOUR FAuLt...- this- baby- HMMMMM- is fRoZEN!” You groaned out. Loki was glaring at you for a moment.

(Tony, Thor, Nat, Clint, Pepper, and Wanda all stood outside the door and listened to you yell.

“Poor girl,” Pepper muttered. Tony shrugged.

“She sounds like she’s having the time of her life in there,” he said. That earned him a solid slug on the shoulder from Nat.)

Before he said anything impulsively, Loki decided to make a good decision and move where he was next to Bruce and could see his child.

Everything completely stopped for a moment when you looked up at the ceiling. You couldn’t feel anything, and you were lost in your thoughts. You suddenly pulled all your strength together, giving yourself a pep talk as you glanced at a worried Loki. You could do this, people do it all the time.

Loki stared. Yeah, that kid was frozen. Loki felt a bit of guilt but what could he do now? You resumed pushing and growled, grabbing onto the sides of the hospital bed as you yelled. Loki progressively saw more and more blue as the ice began to melt the more the baby came out.

Loki’s eyes widened as this blue little masterpiece finally made its way into the world. He began to cry and make his way back to you, crying and slowly hyperventilating.

Bruce laid the crying blue baby on your chest, laying a towel on top of the baby to try and dry them.

“Congratulations on the girl,” Bruce said as he backed up and watched you and Loki marvel over this baby.

The blue began to fade to a pale tone as your little girl continued to sob. Your teary (Y/E/C) eyes met Loki’s flooded blues and he kissed you lovingly. You looked back down at the now pale baby, as you gently wiped her off and quieted her crying.

“Loki, look at her,” you cried quietly, smiling and sniffling. He kissed your cheek and gently stroked the little black tufts on her tiny head. You leaned your head against his, not taking your eyes off this beautiful creature the two of you made.

“...Kari,” Loki breathed. You looked at your husband, carefully studying the now sleeping baby on your chest. You smiled. “It means ‘pure,’ and this small baby is the purest being in the universe,” Loki explained with a small smile at his daughter.

You kissed his black hair and looked down at your sleeping daughter. “Hi Kari,” you cooed. Just then the rest of the team came in with smiles all around.

Thor made his way up first, his blue eyes widening and his smile expanding at the sight of his niece.

“Brother, (Y/N), how gorgeous she is!” He exclaimed. You smiled up at Thor.

“Everyone,” You breathed deeply. “Say hello to the newest member, Kari.”

You would never forget the moment you talked yourself into doing one of the best things you’ve ever done in your life. You were so proud of yourself for getting your baby girl into the world, and Loki couldn’t thank you enough.

In that moment everything was pure. Yet still, not as pure as your special girl.

i hope you guys liked it🥺 i really liked the meaning of the name and thought it was cute. it’s pronounced (car-EE) and is norwegian, incase anyone was confused :) you are welcome to request kari in any loki fics from here on out💚

[rawiswhore]

Various WWF Wrestlers, Sable x Fem Reader- “We’re All Together Now”

It's a good thing that in the late 1990's, the WWF is letting wrestlers be themselves and create their own characters and personas, though even before the late 90's, they let wrestlers create their own signature gimmicks (i.e. Razor Ramon).

Why is this a good thing?

Because then you're being yourself and you mean really be yourself.

Though, considering this is the late 90's Attitude era (the most shocking, oversexualized era the WWF/E has ever had by far), they probably even would've given you this character/gimmick.

Speaking of the Attitude era, it's also a good thing that by the late 1990's, the WWF is becoming increasingly more adult oriented, adding more violence, profanity, shock value and especially sexual content.

Why?

Because it fits with how you are.

If pro wrestlers, specifically WWE/F ones, were mental illnesses and disorders, D Generation X would be oppositional defiant disorder, Kane during the late 90's and early 2000's would be antisocial personality disorder, Flyin' Brian Pillman would probably be intermittent explosive disorder, and Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger in 1993, and the Ravishing Rick Rude would be narcissistic personality disorder.

And you?

You'd clearly be histrionic personality disorder.

Why?

Because of you entering the ring wearing slutty outfits, two of which being wearing nothing but wrestling belts as a top and miniskirt and black leather outfits with your barenaked breasts exposed (with no nipple pasties covering your areolas), seducing most of the male roster (and even sometimes female), copying most of what you do from Madonna (yes, the pop singer who also might have histrionic personality disorder), and doing plenty of attention seeking moments, including this up and coming one.

They say people with histrionic personality disorder are seductive, act slutty and provocative, are easily influenced, ask others for advice, and are attention seeking.

Hmmmmm, does that sound familiar?

On a December 1998 episode of "Monday Night Raw", arguably the most popular woman of the WWF's Attitude era, Sable, had beef with you.

Why?

When she saw you dressed in that Vampirella outfit trying to seduce Christian from the Brood, she accused you of copying her swimsuit she wore at the 1997 Slammy Awards during a bikini contest.

Not just that, but she was also salty that you were stealing all of her attention, you're the one who makes headline news, causes so much controversy and appears on the cover of non-wrestling magazines, but she doesn't.

Sable was standing in the middle of a ring dressed in an evening gown, rambling on about how she's pissed off at you and why.

The titantron suddenly cut to you, sprawled out on a white bed in a hotel room completely stark naked, not a single stitch of clothes on your body.

Your legs were spread eagle wide open, however, the back of Val Venis' head was covering up your twat, censoring and concealing any nudity.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels were sitting across from each other, the back of their heads censoring your naked breasts and nipples, looking like they're sucking your breasts.

Billy Gunn and Christian were sitting next to the sides of your neck across from each other, their faces buried in your neck, kissing the sides of your neck.

Your hands were behind their heads, sliding your fingers down their hair.

Test was sitting on his knees behind you, his hands placed on your shoulders, where your head was arching back and he was busy kissing your lips.

Despite you could see the back of Triple H's, Shawn's and Val's heads, you can tell it's them by their bodies and the outfits they're dressed in.

The audience's eyes popped out of their sockets seeing this, their jaws dropping down and covering their mouths in shock, some parents even had to shield their kids' eyes.

Many of the people in the audience, both men and women, got out of their seats and cheered for you, a few men even let out some of those silly "wolf whistles" at you, whereas a few other men in the audience were chanting "we want puppies!", "pup-ies! pup-ies!", and "show your puppies!" at you.

Puppies is Attitude era lingo for a women's breasts.

Speaking of puppies, Jerry Lawler sitting at the commentary table was going absolutely nuts, shrieking his head off like the pervert he is.

Sable, meanwhile, pretended to be shocked, but she really shouldn't be all that shocked at you considering she (and everyone else) knows what a whore you are.

"There she is in her natural habitat!" Sable stated, pointing at the titantron "Showing us how she got famous in the first place!"

This got a major reaction from the male audience, who got out of their seats and were on Sable's side, cheering for her.

Christian and Test debuted in the WWF 2 months ago from this episode and 2 months later, one's sucking your neck while another is kissing you.

Your lips pulled away from Test, even though you didn't want to pull away from him, and your face looked at the camera.

"Whatever you say, whatever you are!" you snapped back at her, saying that rather sly and matter-of-factly.

Your hands switched from behind Christian and Billy's heads to behind Triple H and Shawn's head, sliding your fingers through and down their long, golden locks, pulling their heads into your tits.

Some men simping for Sable were booing you, but they can shut the fuck up.

The people that were on your side got out of their seats and cheered for you.

Test, meanwhile, was kissing behind your neck as well as massaging your shoulders.

Val, Triple H and Shawn were really trying to censor your private parts with the backs of their heads, the camera trying not to show any nip slips or shots of your crotch.

"Looks like you're jealous of me" you said to Sable "Because I have all of these men and you don't!"

You raised your voice when you said "I have all of these men and you don't!", lifting your hands from behind their hair and letting the palms of your hands sit up, as if to say "look at all of these men I've got!".

"Are you just gonna forget when Shawn and I spoke a few months ago?" Sable asked, "And danced with him in the ring?"

"Touché" you replied. "But look at who I've got right here!"

The women in the crowd were cheering for you, they were jealous of you too.

"I'm not jealous of some STD infested slut!" Sable snapped at you "Who's probably infected all of those men!"  

This got a huge reaction out of the audience, the audience shouting "ohhhhhhhhhhhh!" as if to say "oh no she di'int!".

"Hey Val!" Sable shouted at the titantron "You enjoying tasting that crab cake?!"

Both men and women in the audience were roaring their heads off, sounding like the audience on the Maury show when hearing something shocking.

"Does she taste and smell a little fishy?!" Sable added and asked. "I can smell that nasty vaj over here!"

Again, this got a huge reaction from the audience and even Jerry Lawler sitting on the commentary table, some of them were even cheering on Sable's side.

Val turned his head to the audience, grinning at them.

This got a massive pop from the women in the audience and even a few men.

"She's like an all you can eat buffet" Val stated "Creamy, juicy, salty and sweet!"

He grinned after he said that, licking his lips, not to flirt with the women in the audience, but to indicate how delicious you taste.

This got a huge pop from the audience, typical Val Venis innuendo.

"You really shouldn't be on Val's side" you said to Sable, pointing at Val's head with your index finger "He steals people's girlfriend and makes a few...adult films".

This got a major pop from the audience, many of them were on your side.

"He's probably had a few STD's too!" you fired at Sable.

"Then why are you sleeping with him?" Sable asked, sounding furious.    

This is like "The Jerry Springer Show", with you and Sable bickering back and forth at one another, insulting each other about being a slut, while the audience roars and shouts their asses off.

Then again, in the late 90's, trashy redneck pop culture was all the rage, and the WWF decided to join in on that, hell, even in the late 90's, the most famous writer of the Attitude era, Vince Russo, admitted he watched "The Jerry Springer Show" to get ideas for this new WWF.

Sable had enough of insulting you, so she then began rambling on about how she wanted a match with you, and you agreed to have a match with her.

But you ended that promo with how she really shouldn't be salty (though you didn't use the word "salty" since it's 1998) because you wore that Vampirella costume in October and she's already having a beef with you in December.

You did this in December, because not only were so many hot men in the WWF that month, but they got hotter and sexier that month.

Triple H didn't have facial hair and Billy Gunn's hair grew longer, and Shawn Michaels had returned in the WWF!

Later on that night, you and Sable had an evening gown match because Attitude era.

You managed to cut a wrestling promo while Val Venis looked like he was eating your twat out, two other men looked like they were sucking your tits and two men were kissing your neck while another man kissed behind your neck.

People watching this, be it in the audience and on TV, were wondering and asking each other, is he really eating her pussy? Are they really sucking her tits?

You wish that Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy could've been in on this orgy and maybe even pretended to eat your twat out and kiss you, but Rob was over in ECW and Jeff was almost never in the WWF this year except for in October.

It also probably would've been better if this was Christian in the year 2000 when he wasn't a vampire, and in 2000, you cut this promo while having Val Venis, Test, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, and Billy Gunn surrounding you like they did tonight.

Thanks to you, the WWF might end up being rated TV-MA because of some of the shocking things you've done on television that have made massive news and teeter on pornography.

________________________________________________________________

If OnlyFans.com had existed in the 90's or even the early 2000's, I've imagined my wrestling original character I've created would've most definitely had an OnlyFans account, even if she probably never joined the WWF or any other wrestling company.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Alright 5x19 let’s DO THIS.

(Warning: This will probably be long.)

WE BEGIN...by visiting Leviathan’s underground speakeasy.

The shot of Lex in the glow of the Kryptonite is great, 15/10 iconic Kryptonian Killer.

But SPEAKING of things that are green and bad...Gemma’s outfit is stage magician meets Mera from Aquaman and WAIT, WAIT, I’m just now remembering that the character in the comics was linked to Atlantis. Is that why they’ve gone with a green motif for her all season?

Probably not. Either way, still gives me knockoff Mera vibes. (*whispers quietly* I don’t like Mera’s outfit either.)

(I’m reading the Wikipedia entry for Gamemnae and did you know: she was exiled from Atlantis for being blonde?)

Anyways!

That’s just a very long-winded way of saying that the costume is kind of a weird choice.

Then we’re back in Kara’s loft and finally, FINALLY...someone tells Lena that there are BIGGER FISH, STOP REMINISCING.

And then the Superfriends arrive on the scene and they are ready to throw down.

Honestly same bro, same.

Also M’GANN IS ON THE TEAM I love it please, SG, please, hire Sharon Leal full-time. 

What is the current door-kicking tally--how many front entrances have the Danvers girls destroyed?

“Well the joke’s on Rama Khan and his big dumb gladiator outfit because I already defeated him once.” THIS. IS. WHAT. I. HAVE. BEEN. SAYING.

THE COSTUME IS SILLY AND NOT IN A FUN WAY.

Leviathan just has terrible fashion sense, is basically the theme of this season.

Oh my gosh M’gann being the one to suggest the multiple Karas and the WINK I love her, I love her so much.

PLEASE NOTE: That J’onn was like ‘the skirt is surprisingly comfortable’ but his response to the pants is, ‘they’re gonna chafe.’ 

J’onn J’onzz, Skirt Supporter. 

Then the Alex suit reveal and ooof, ooooof, probably the wonkiest of the scenes, unfortunately. (Can’t decide if I appreciate the effort of the CGI Alex or if it’s simply too uncanny valley.)

Also, put a pin in the Alex suit reveal. We’ll circle back to it.

(Oh wait and also: Kara’s scream and J’onn’s reaction all A+.)

Breaking chronological order here to just touch on the highlights and maybe discuss particular chunks in detail SO...let’s get right toooooooo....

Rooftop scene with Alex and M’Gann! Nice! But also I was like, ‘Alex just...has a bazooka? ...Yeah that tracks.’ And then I remembered that she has the martian weapon...honestly kinda prefer my accidental headcanon that she just owns one. 

Then back to Lena and Kara and we’ve come full circle because folks...they figuratively flew to Luthor-Corp...on a bus.

Oh if only that was the actual goal of this entire plot. I would applaud it.

SG writers, always: REAL threats come in groups of THREE.

I actually don’t mind it. They aren’t given a big introduction and amount of screen time, so it’s pretty unobtrusive. 

Then we get a Luthor-Corp lab scene AND a good look at Alex’s suit so LET’S CHAT.

Okay first and foremost: not opposed to vigilante Alex! Especially if it means she can work with Kara a bit more directly.

Love the color scheme! Love the hood! Love that the boots are no longer the stealth wedge heel but are just...heels. Good, yes, good! Also love that you can see it’s basically built on top of her DEO suit which totally makes sense, as...I guess Alex is building the suit mentally, not physically, technically, but she’d still be using stuff she’s familiar with to put it together in...her...mind?

I also think the top portion sits better than the DEO suit, which had that awkward...square-ish portion that covered the front of the torso.

But hmmmmmm the eye makeup is...a statement. 

Confused as to why they didn’t go with a domino mask...maybe it was an actor comfort thing but HMMMMM not my personal favorite, admittedly. (Also don’t love the lace up look on the front portion but that’s because it’s reminding me of some of the terrible costumes from Arrow.)

And then the hair clip, which. Okay. As someone who has been struggling to find a way to pull back short hair during this time of no haircuts...can’t be mad about it.

In fact, catch me over here, taking notes.

Alright, costume rambling OVER sorry for the tangent but, you know. New super suit, it’s always exciting. 

I like that Kara had to deal with not being able to be out fighting the threat! That’s a good bit of character stuff there.

“William went after Eve ALONE?!?!?” “No super hearing!” 

“Please, be careful.” “You know me.” “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I’m worried about.” And then a HUG and they’re just the best.

 Dunno if I’ve mentioned it yet but I love the effects they use for Gemma’s ‘true form.’ Very cool and creepy.

Does Andrea just...not question Gemma’s evil villain outfit...or...?

Much like Alex’s super suit we’re puttin’ a PIN in the Brainy plot we’ll get there but FIRST...

THE KARA AND LENA CONVERSATION.

Do I think it should’ve come earlier in the season? Yes! Do I care at this point? ...Okay, still yes! But that’s another pinned point I’ll get back to, right now let us just bask in the beauty that is specifically, verbally laying out all the CRAP Lena put Kara through, and Kara making sure Lena understands THAT is what hurt her, not ‘working with Lex.’

“You never understood.” BINGO. “I know I hurt you by waiting so long to tell you my truth but what about all the ways you hurt me?” EXACTLY. 

“I made one mistake, one mistake that was only ever meant to protect you and in return, all you did was hurt me in every way imaginable.”

Then Lena finally apologizes. For, you know, the stuff that was actually upsetting Kara. So. We got there. ...Eventually.

Then it’s off to save William and he’s talking down Eve! We love a noble journalist.

Kara cauterizing the bullet wound and William being like ‘DO IT no wait DON’T DO IT’ and Kara’s just like, ‘TOO LATE, IT’S DONE.’

RETURN OF THE POWER RANGERS SUIT NICE.

And theeeeen a lot of scenes that are fine but it’s mostly just legwork to get us to the bigger parts of the episode sooooo we’re jumping to...

Andrea! Pleasantly surprised with her part in the action of this episode. Had that nice moral conflict we saw in the front half of the season. It’s a little crammed in here, at the last minute, but. Still enjoyed seeing it.

A personal quibble on the visuals: I prefer the simple elegance of the season one hope speech, (Just a lone camera, in a rundown radio station XD) but I understand they had to convey ‘scale.’ Still think it’s a little much.

Oh man, totally forgot to mention, loved Nicole’s line read for, “Maybe you should’ve been meaner.” It was GREAT.

So there’s the fight against Rama Khan and his buddies, and Kara’s trying to talk people out of a MMORPG, AND Andrea shows up ready to kill somebody. 

The drama! The suspense!

THE SCORE.

I have another quibble with the cutting back and forth on the hope speech and it’s largely to do with perhaps inadvertent implications regarding who has to grow from pain and what pain in particular, but that might just be a ‘me’ thing, reading the scene a particular way, so I’m just gonna move on and say LOVE TO SEE A HOPE SPEECH.

Also:

Supergirl: “I believe in you.”

The VR peeps and us, the audience:

Alright time to talk about BRAINY.

Admittedly haven’t loved double agent Brainy, which felt more like a, ‘let’s add some drama’ move than anything else.

I do still stand by my assessment that Brainy being a few steps behind Lex made sense given his distress re: Nia and the Superfriends.

But also...was a little wild, IMO, that he didn’t have...some way to at least circumnavigate the radiation shield? Or at the very least limit it.

But again. DRAMA.

All that said...wow. Loved the two Brainys at the end, there. Genuinely touching.

“Will you stay with me?” “Till the very end.” 

BRAAAAAAAIIIINNNNNNNNY.

How do you make another Luthor reveal work when you ALREADY pulled the, ‘It was Lex all along!’ like, twice before?

You MAKE IT LILLIAN.

Like, dang it, I enjoyed it. How dare you, SG.

But THAT’S IT. NO MORE SECRET LUTHOR REVEALS. 

The terminator look and death shriek for Gemma was fittingly creepy very nice.

But also WOW, she never interacted with Kara. I am DISAPPOINTED. 

So anyways, that second Lena and Kara conversation! 

It was fine. It’s fine. This is fine. It’s...it’s fine.

(Except that it highlights a problem with the way this whole thing was set up and it’s not something unique to SG! It’s a problem I’ve noticed with a lot of redemption arcs--which seem to be all the rage, as of late--and that is a disproportionate amount of bad things done by the one character, and putting off the turn until like, the last possible minute to increase the drama factor and thaaaaat...is not a super satisfying conclusion because it’s a HUGE amount of build up for a relatively small pay off. Like, as Kara is listing the stuff that Lena’s done, it’s kind of a stark reminder that Lena physically and emotionally hurt Kara on purpose which. Is a glaring red flag. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be unpacked, maybe! Given some space!

Which isn’t to say that characters should never be forgiven, or that they need to be excessively punished. It just needs time. So saving the ‘redemption’ part for the very end where the characters NEED TO BE HEROES RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO HELP OUT it’s...hmmmmmm. Too rushed.)

AND SO, SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS, THE SEASON FINALE, AND THE SEASON AS A WHOLE:

Wow but I did not like the focus on Lena. Not fun. No thanks.

Which is only made worse by the trashfire that is the SG fandom. 

Loved the moments of growth and agency for Kara, though. 

Loved the big crossover! It kinda made for a wonky set up of Earth-38 plot vs. Earth Prime plot but honestly anything the writers set up in the front portion of the season was going to be at the very least interrupted, if not completely derailed simply given the nature of what they intended to do with the merging of the earths.

Like give me SG’s approach to handling the front half of the season over Flash’s any day. 

Still too many characters! Still too much plot! Still weird pacing issues! XD

Forget it, Jake, it’s Supergirl.

Oh, honorable mention: The handling of Kelly! She was integrated so well into a nice intersection of plot points and characters that when she’s there to hack into the Obsidian stuff in the finale it’s like, ‘well naturally she’d be here.’ EXCELLENT WORK. 

William and Andrea win ‘most improved over their intensely unlikable introductions.’

To be clear: I liked this season finale! And the fact that it all came together as well as it did is a testament to the skill of all the folks involved, considering the awful extenuating circumstances.

Though, upon further introspection, I think I really do dislike the CGI Alex. Too far into the uncanny valley, sorry. 

IN CONCLUSION: Very, very sad that it’s gonna be a whole year, or possibly longer, before we get new SG content but, glad that the actors will have a little more time off than they usually might, and I’m all for holding off the production as long as possible, in order to keep folks safe.

WHAT are Lex and Lillian up to, like, specifically, and WHAT is Alex’s superhero name??? WILL the folks in charge of the new Superman show remember that it’s a Supergirl spinoff?!??! Find out NEXT YEAR only on SUPERGIRL! (And Superman & Lois!)

EDIT: I used the word ‘quibble’ twice which feels like one time too many, but also it IS a fun word to say. ‘Quibble.’ Ha. XD

[neriad13]

The Dororo manga is something that has been very dear to me for a long time. The entire time I was watching the anime, I was mentally weighing it against the manga, trying to decide on which one I thought was better. For the most part, it was a pretty even competition...but then an inciting event happened which significantly tipped me in favor of one over the other. But first, a comparison!

Plot Arcs

 - Bandai: There’s a bit more intrigue in the manga, but on the whole, I think it’s about even here. Bandai’s monster form is freaking beautiful in both of them.

 - The Cursed Sword: The anime wins, by a nose. The mood, the tension, the symbolism, the much more obvious love of Tanosuke for his sister - I think this is one of the best put together episodes in the series. 

However, what it was missing from the manga was Dororo’s anger at the world in general and the reason that he wanted a sword so bad. Anime Dororo picks it up by accident, isn’t following Hyakki around to steal one of his swords to begin with and isn’t a person who gets terribly angry. It’s more of a matter of differently written characters.

Would I have liked to see Anime Dororo get angry though? ...maybe. But that wasn’t what the episode was about.

 - Mio: Point goes to the anime. I love how Mio’s story is expanded and how much more personality she’s given. Hyakki’s rampage is my favorite bit of animation in the entire show. 

It’s also interesting how the placement of Mio’s arc affects what Hyakki’s character is like too. In the manga, by the time he’s telling the story as a flashback, he’s world-weary and his heart has turned to ice. In the anime, his heartbreak is fresh.

 - Dororo’s Backstory: Point to the manga by a wide margin. Dororo’s parents are much less complex and interesting in the anime and the whole episode felt a bit rushed. Of course, that’s a lot of backstory to fit in one episode though.

 - Banmon: Hmmmmm. This arc serves a much different thematic purpose in the anime, though it (somewhat) follows the events of the manga. 

On one hand, the sequence in which Tahoumaru dies is one of my favorite in comics, period. It feels so dreamlike and disconnected from reality and in a manga which doesn’t shy away from showing fountains of blood, it’s shocking in that it doesn’t show a drop. 

On the other hand, OH MY GOD Nui’s near-suicide was heartbreaking, the fact that they gave a backstory for Tahoumaru’s eye was phenomenal and I was utterly shocked and elated that Sukeroku actually found his family.

It’s a draw.

 - Fair Fudo - The anime. The fact that I’m having a hard time remembering how it went down in the manga says it all. Also having Dororo be the one to rescue Hyakkimaru this time was an excellent decision.

 - Sabame: Oh my god, the manga. Bad. Bad anime.

 - Shiranui: Gonna go with the manga here. I am forever salty that the anime left out the “I’m a boy” line.

However, the anime also gets half a point for ACTUALLY PUTTING TREASURE IN THE TREASURE HOARD and not rendering that entire storyline pointless. -.-

 - Nue: There’s not really a point of comparison here. It’s the same monster transplanted in a totally different storyline. But, with that said...

Do I give a single shit about Manga Nue?

Nope.

Do I give a shit about Anime Nue?

Yes.

 - Midoro: Hmm. Another toss-up.

I found Midoro’s death in the manga much more affecting. The image of a dying horse, riddled with arrows, spending her last moments wandering among the fallen - that says something more about the grimness of war and the innocents caught in the middle of it than turning her into a horse bomb ever could.

However...I was so freaking THRILLED that Hyakkimaru got to ride her in the anime. My desktop’s background still contains a screenshot from the episode 22 preview of him doing that. Their stories are not so different and in this adaptation, it felt so eerily natural for them to end up together. Their partnership was utterly horrifying and glorious to watch.

Characters

 - Hyakkimaru: There’s a lot to unpack here. The differences between characterizations are like night and day. So, I’ll start by taking you on a journey.

I loved Manga Hyakki’s snark. I loved his aloofness, his sarcasm, his arsenal of ridiculous weapons, his terror at the thought of having a mother who abandoned him, his rage at the thought of other children being abandoned, the way he hated the fox for telling him who Tahoumaru was more than he hated himself for killing him. 

Watching the first few episodes of the anime was kind of difficult for me. It felt like the snark had been surgically removed and thus, was not there to lighten up the intense drama of the rest of the story. 

But, as time went on and I got to see more of who Anime Hyakki was, he grew on me like nothing else. The stark contrast between his gentleness and his seething hatred of all beings who would take advantage of another, human or demonic. His insistent desire to be heard, to be listened to, even if he has to scream to get the point across. His unshakable resolve in the face of an entire world against him. The fact that his disability is something that actually limits him - that he can’t read minds or use telepathy and that learning to speak is something that takes the entire runtime of the show to accomplish - that is compelling. And so amazingly refreshing.

This one’s a draw.

 - Dororo: The World’s Greatest Thief really doesn’t do a whole lot of thieving in this anime (once. literally once. offscreen. unless you count the attempted theft of Hyakki’s reforged swords). But then again, Dororo is also a way different character in this adaptation.

In the manga, he’s much more of a little snot. He’s furious with the world and constantly looking for ways to get back at it. He travels with Hyakki because he wants to steal from him. He’s not welcome in some villages because he’s such an awful kleptomaniac of a child. I do not have trouble believing that this Dororo has a demon in him that Hyakki has to kill if he wants his arm back.

Anime Dororo...is the complete opposite of that. He’s the kindest, most loving character in the entire show. He looks at a horrible world and doesn’t shake his fist at the sky - he tries his damnedest to make it better. 

Both characterizations have their high points and their low ones. Manga Dororo is an entertaining little monster. Anime Dororo is an angel and the prevailing voice of reason. I think it would have been pretty interesting to end up with a character somewhere in between those two extremes, but, alas.

Manga Dororo’s arc is about taking responsibility and figuring out how to be someone better.

Anime Dororo’s arc is about raising someone else up to be better.

Also calling this one a draw.

 - Tahoumaru: THE ANIME, by a mile. Or more. Way more! It’s not even a question. His depth and complexity, his compassion and anger, his deep love for his land, his people and his friends - HOT DAMN IS THIS A WELL WRITTEN CHARACTER. Manga Tahoumaru looks like a missed opportunity compared to him.

 - Jukai: I wasn’t terribly fond of Anime Jukai at first. My first thought upon seeing the Jukai-centered episode was “Jukai’s an asshole =(”

Like, Jesus Christ, please give him a leg. He limped so far looking for you.

But, over time, I came to understand him better. He is a character in stasis, one who has “given up all power”, responsibility and desire. If he does nothing, if he devotes his life to pointless pursuits for those who can no longer benefit from them, then he can hurt no one. 

Anime Jukai is one of my favorite characters now. The kind, fatherly figure of the manga who was delighted to know that Hyakki loves him has his place, but the point goes to the anime here.

 - Nui no Kata: ANIME. Another character whose role was fantastically expanded, to great affect. Her story feels like the chapter that was left out of the manga.

 - Saburota: Anime Saburota is Saburota in name only. Can’t really compare here.

 - Daigo: To be honest, I don’t find either version of Daigo to be particularly compelling. He’s more important as a plot device than as a person. It’s a draw...unless Daigo’s ending from the stage play makes it to the anime, at which point Anime Daigo would win. 

Stage Play Daigo gave me chills, man.

 - Biwamaru: Our resident cryptic shit and spirit guide might be the only character who made the transition unchanged. He’s exactly like his manga self personality-wise and is the only character whose design was not significantly changed.

 - Shiranui: I really like that anime Shiranui actually fed his arm to the sharks! It’s like he took Manga Shiranui’s desire to be eaten by them and actually acted on it. Anime wins.

 - Itachi: Manga all the way. His sole redeeming features were that he felt badly for stripping Dororo and how he subsequently chose to respect his gender identity. Lacking those features...he’s a much less sympathetic and interesting character. He also went down screaming battle cries at the samurai who were attacking him and defending Dororo. 

Overarching Themes

 - Manga: I believe that the overarching theme of the manga is that of otherness and how the world reacts to it. The hardest hitting scenes for me are the ones in which Hyakki and Dororo are thrown out of a village they saved by villagers unable to understand that they’re just as human as them. Hyakkimaru doesn’t struggle to regain his body because it’d be better than a prosthetic one (acid gun leg! c’mon! the heck would you need a flesh one for?? if it gets shot you can just build another) - he does it because he wants to be seen as human, however long he has to fight to do it. 

 - Anime: Individual vs. collective responsibility. Anime Hyakki actually suffered long term harm because of the demon deal. His prostheses and abilities have considerably more limits. He wants to regain his body because he wants to live and experience all the things he’s been missing. But...in this case there’s a cost. The fact that his actions directly cause calamities in Daigo - that’s a fantastic choice that makes the story bigger than just one person fighting to be human. As much as I love the manga and its themes, I think the anime’s central conflict is slightly more compelling.

The Tipping Point

It was this scene specifically.

The desperation, the futility, the love so strong it destroys - these aren’t things that happen in the manga. 

Manga Hyakki is constantly trying to get rid of Dororo, belittling him, forcibly reading his mind and fighting over something stupid more often than not. He cares about him, in his way, but would his heart crack in two if Dororo died and there was no way he could have prevented it? Probably. For a bit, anyway. Then it would harden again and he’d go back to doing what he was doing without Dororo. 

Their bond in the anime is something else. It is the beating heart of the entire story. It’s the reason why Hyakki is so desperate to get his final pieces back. He wants to be able to save Dororo with hands that can lift a rock. He wants to see the fall colors with him. 

Episode 20 was the one that pushed me over the edge into finding the anime superior to the manga...which is an amazing accomplishment, considering how dear the manga has been to me for so long. 

I cannot believe how excited I am for the final episode.

[fox1656]

Shadow Chronicles 10

10

ANOTHER JOURNEY

“So,” Cassandra said, “Did you have a good time living the game?”

“Yes,” David said, “Very interesting, can we play another game sometime?”

“Please, please!!!” Kathy begged.

“I have another mission for you first, sweetie, and it involves hunting,” Cassandra said, with a bland sound to her voice.

Cassandra explained their new task. Their task was to find seven artifacts, and to bring them back to Cassandra to be destroyed.

“There are only seven artifacts, and they are all in this state,” Cassandra further explained, “These items are also all within the Asheboro city limits.”

“Well, that’s a very small area to search,” Kathy said.

“Kathy, this is no time to be sarcastic,” Eliot said.

“Shut up, Jerk Boy,” Kathy said in return.

“Kathy is actually right,” Cassandra said, “The artifacts are actually hidden inside some of the bigger stores in Asheboro.”

“Great,” David said, “We can go shopping while we are hunting.”

“Got any money?” Brian asked David.

“No,” he admitted.

“Then it’s settled,” Brian said, laughing, “No shopping for you.”

“Guy’s,” Sam exclaimed, “Stop fighting! We’re all friends here aren’t we? Besides, you’re giving me a headache.”

“We aren’t fighting,” Brian said, “We’re just talking. Sorry about your head, by the way. Why don’t you get some medicine when we go out?”

Sam Turned away from Brian and David, and from what they heard from Eliot, Elizabeth, and Kathy later, he rolled his eyes, and mumbled, “They are fighting,” and he walked up the stairs, and into the kitchen.

“Hey, stupi— I mean Sam, wait up!” Kathy yelled after Sam, “I wasn’t fighting.”

Not five minutes after Kathy ran off after Sam, they both came walking down the stairs, smiling and holding hands.

“I thought that you two hated each other!?” Elizabeth said.

“NO!” Kathy exclaimed, “After Eliot went cuckoo, I dumped him, and then I went to Sam.”

“But . . .” Eliot said, “You broke my heart.”

“Get over it,” Kathy said, “Besides, I don’t like you anymore.”

“Of course you do,” David said.

“What did you say?” Kathy asked.

“You’re still in love with Eliot, I can see it in your eyes,” David said.

Just then, Kathy picked up a blue plastic bat that was leaning against the stairs, and hit David on the head with it. The bat was hollow, and it made a hollow bong sound when it hit David’s head.

“Ouch!” David exclaimed, “What was that for?”

“Did it hurt?” Kathy asked.

“A little,” David said, and just then, Kathy picked up a metal bat. “Oh, snap!” David said, and he ran up the stairs, with Kathy hot on his heels, yelling, “YOU’RE SO DEAD, DAVID PARKS!”

They heard David yell, “Why don’t you just use one of your shoes, Kathy?”

“YOU ARE DEAD, DAVID!” Kathy yelled after David.

Kathy was notorious for throwing her shoes at people that made her angry. To see her do it was very comical, and it always made Brian and Sam laugh.

“Have you ever noticed how she doesn’t use last names, when she is very annoyed?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah,” Brian said, “She never uses my last name, so she must be annoyed at me all the time.”

Just then, Kathy and David both came walking down the stairs, smiling and laughing. The others stood there astounded at what they were witnessing, and then Elizabeth said, “Kathy, are you a pimp or something?”

“NO!” Kathy exclaimed, “That was all planned out.”

“How could all of that been planned out?” Eliot asked.

“I thought it up,” Cassandra said, “I thought that the three of you would try to stop her.”

“THAT WAS A TEST!?” Elizabeth exclaimed, “We knew that Kathy wouldn’t hurt him too badly; that’s why we didn’t try and stop her.”

“Well then,” Cassandra said, “Now that the testing is over, you may begin your hunt.”

“But I want to play another game,” Kathy said.

“You can play another game when you get back from your hunt,” Cassandra said, laughing.

Kathy lowered her head, and she walked up the stairs, and into the kitchen.

After Kathy was gone, Cassandra said, “Off you go!” and the rest of the gang followed Kathy up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Cassandra turned to Brian, and she handed him a piece of paper, which had a list of places that they should search.

Brian looked at Cassandra, and said, “This list doesn’t tell what kind of artifacts we are supposed to be looking for.”

“You will know the artifacts that you need when you see them,” Lady Cassandra said. “Now, you must be off. The items can only be seen at night, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep the sun from rising and hiding the items. Oh! I almost forgot,” Cassandra turned around, and when she turned back to face the gang, she had a large silk bag in her hand. “This will hold the seven artifacts.” She handed the bag to Brian, and then she said, “Off you get,” and the gang headed out the front door, and to their first destination.

The first place they went was the Randolph Mall. There were people in the mall, and that made Brian feel better. The curse of darkness was lifted, but Brian also noticed that all of the people in the mall were moving in slow motion, and that bit scared him, but he was happy to see people just the same.

“This is weird,” Elizabeth said, speaking what Brian was thinking.

Lady Cassandra had given Kathy some money before they left, and Kathy wanted to spend it.

“I have two hundred and fifty dollars,” Kathy said, “I wonder if this slow motion thing will interfere with my shopping? I wonder what games I should buy.”

“What games do you want to buy,” Sam asked, “There are hundreds of games at Smart Games.”

“I don’t know right off hand. Let’s go look,” Kathy replied, with a slightly puzzled look on her face.

“You two go and look in there,” Brian said, “And we’ll go look in the other stores,” and he waved his hand to indicate that he and the others were going to go to other stores to look for the missing artifacts.

“YIPEEEEEEE,” Kathy exclaimed as she took Sam’s hand, and ran to Smart Games, Sam with a look of utter distaste on his face.

The rest of the gang laughed, and Elizabeth said, “She is so weird,” and she shook her head slightly.

“Darn straight,” Kathy yelled over her shoulder, as she entered Smart Games, still towing Sam, and the rest of the gang laughed.

They searched for about thirty minutes, and then as Brian, David, Eliot, and Elizabeth walked out of The Music Store, they caught sight of Kathy and Sam running out of Smart Games. When Kathy and Sam caught site of the others, they ran over to them, and Sam said, “We found the first artifact. Let’s go get it and put it in the bag.”

“Here,” Brian said, and he handed the silk bag to Sam, “We’ll start searching another store, while you snag the artifact.”

Kathy and Sam ran into the store, and when they had crossed the threshold of the store, all of the people in the mall disappeared. Just when Sam had snatched the artifact, they heard a scream come from the middle of the mall, and the gate to Smart Games slammed shut, and the others ran over, and started tugging at the gate. Kathy and Sam ran over to the gate, and they were pulling on the links, when they heard a voice from the middle of the mall say, "Give us the artifact, or they die."

Brian turned around, and Billy was standing there, in the middle of the mall, holding a silk bag, and smiling at them in a malicious way, and then he waved.

"What if we refuse to give you the artifact?" Brian said.

"Then I’ll kill you," Billy said curtly, and a grin flashed across his face. "I already have the first six artifacts. Hmmmmm. Who should go first?" Billy grinned as he looked at each of them in turn, and finally his eyes alighted on David, and he seemed to make his decision, and he smiled in that malicious way.

Billy sent a surge of electric blue psychic waves at David, but Brian held out his hand toward David, and blocked Billy’s attack with some sort of invisible force field.

“You’re better than I thought,” Billy said with a wry smile.

“I don’t even know how I did that,” Brian said, and he looked down at his hand in disbelief.

“Great,” Billy said, “You’re moving on instinct," and he rolled his eyes, but grinned.

“What’s so bad about that?” Brian said, a little nettled by Billy's words.

“If you move only on instinct, then you might not know how to control your powers later. Try to control your ability,” Sam said, with an air of authority.

“Since when do you know so much about this stuff?” Kathy said, looking at him astonished.

“I learned it off of a video game,” Sam said, and he shrugged.

“Now we have proof that he is addicted to video games,” David said, and he smiled.

“I am not addicted to video games,” Sam argued, and he had a sullen look on his face.

Billy shot another blast of waves, this time at Brian, but once again, he repelled it, and then he held up his hand and shot ice crystals at Billy. He dodged them easily, and he retaliated with more waves of psychic power. Brian felt something welling up inside him, and he took hold of it, and shot black matter at Billy. It was neither solid nor liquid, or gas. When it hit Billy, he stumbled backwards, and fell to one knee. He looked out of breath, and he said in a pained voice, "Fine. Keep the artifact. It's not worth dying over," and then he disappeared. The people re-appeared and started walking about again, and the gate to Smart Games clattered open.

“Yahoo!” Kathy exclaimed, “We won! We won! I mean you won.” She said, as she and Sam ran over to Brian and the others.

Brian picked up the bag of artifacts, and he said, “Let’s get these back to Cassandra.”

Kathy picked up her bags of games, and they headed out of the mall, down the road, and back to Cassandra’s house. When they got there, Cassandra greeted them with a puzzled look, and she said, “You’re early. What happened? Did you get the artifacts? Did you have trouble?”

“One question,” Eliot said.

“We found and snagged the first artifact with no trouble," Brian said, holding up the bag of artifacts, "But then we met Billy. He had the last six artifacts. I fought him, and I beat him. He gave us the last six artifacts in return for beating him.”

“Good,” Cassandra said, smiling.

“How do we destroy them,” Elizabeth asked.

Cassandra took the bag from Brian, and she threw it into the fireplace, where a fire was lit. “That’s done,” Cassandra said, smiling.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Elizabeth said, also smiling. “I love fire.”

Kathy ran up to Cassandra, and she said, “Can I play another video game?”

Cassandra seemed to consider. The wait seemed to almost kill Kathy, and then Cassandra finally said, “Okay, but remember, stay away from the TV screen.”

“Okay,” Kathy said, and then she bolted through the kitchen, and down into the basement.

“She is crazy,” Eliot said, as they walked into the kitchen.

“Shut your mouth, Eliot Parks,” Kathy screamed up the stairs, and they all burst out laughing. Even Cassandra laughed. A beautiful long laugh. When the laughter subsided, Elizabeth said, “How does she do that?”

“I don’t know,” Kathy yelled up the stairs in response, and at this, new laughter broke out.

When the laughter died, they all looked at the basement door, and Brian said, “Kathy! Can you really hear us?”

“Yes,” Kathy answered, “This is getting really annoying, people. Why don’t you all just come downstairs, if you want to talk.”

“To tell you the truth,” David said, “We really don’t want to talk. Least ways to you.” Cassandra slapped David on the back of the head, and the others laughed.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to talk to me,” Kathy said up the stairs, “I just don’t want to keep yelling up the steps.”

“Fine,” Sam said, “Kathy, can I come play a game with you, so that I don’t get on your bad side?”

“Sure,” Kathy said, “I want to beat all of the co-op games down here by the end of tonight.”

Sam walked down the stairs, and right once he left the bottom step, the others heard five hollow bongs. After the hitting sounds, Brian heard Kathy say, “One down, and four to go.”

“I think that she’s trying to kill the five of us off,” Brian said.

“No I’m not,” Kathy yelled up the stairs, “But I might kill one someone off if he doesn’t shut his big mouth.”

“If you aren’t trying to kill us all off, then what are you trying to do?” Eliot said, and he grinned.

“I’m just trying to get some peace and quiet,” she yelled, with what sounded like hurt to her voice.

“She must be a spoiled brat,” David said. Brian put his hand over David’s mouth, but he was too late.

Kathy came running up the steps, carrying her plastic bat, and when she saw Brian holding his hand over David’s mouth, she screamed, “YOU’RE DEAD, DAVID PARKS!” she started running toward David, and he ran off into the other room, with Kathy hot on his heels. They ran upstairs, and after five minutes, they heard five more hollow hits. Kathy dragged David down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the basement.

“She keeps her victims in the basement,” Elizabeth said, “She’s like a spider.”

“Darn straight about the first part, but the second part is way off. I don’t even look like a spider,” Kathy said. “This is my fortress, down here.”

“She is overly obsessed with those games,” Eliot said.

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said, “She is probably even making the basement look like one of the fortresses on one of her games.”

“She’s like one of those spiders that can carry more than their own weight,” Brian said.

“That’s an ant,” Elizabeth said.

“Whatever,” Brian said.

“You two are being ridiculous,” Eliot said.

“She is strong for her size,” Cassandra said, “I’m surprised that she can drag those two down there.”

“At least she is getting her peace and quiet,” Elizabeth said.

After this was said, a silence fell, and it was only broken by the sounds of the video game that Kathy was playing.

[carrotcouple]

@akatsuki-no-yona-angst-week

Day 6 - Abuse (AO3)

Warnings: (I think the prompt speaks for itself, but can’t be too careful.) Abuse and strong language.

“Hey, you. Yes, I’m talking to you, you imbecile. Do you know what it’s like to fly?”

And endless expanse of sky, the world rushing beneath you and the wind in your face.

“There’s less food again,” Garou muttered as he carried the food for the day to where his responsibility was. He kicked the door open with his left foot. He’d kicked the door open with his right one once and the door had broken. The village elders had given him hell for that. 

Jaeha sat curled up in the corner, his eyes trained on Garou. He looked like a caged animal and Garou wanted to laugh at him. He was indeed a caged animal. Garou put the food down and sat down to eat. Jaeha watched him, his gaze like a burning flame. Garou didn’t care. He finished eating and shoved what little was left at Jaeha.

“This is too little,” Jaeha told him dryly.

“Shut up,” Garou snapped. “You’ll eat as much as you’re given. I’m bigger so it only makes more sense that I would eat more.” 

Jaeha rolled his eyes and picked at the food. Garou studied his wrists that looked like skin and bone. Then he looked at his own. Jaeha’s wrists weren’t that different from his own.

Hilarious.

“Of course I know what it’s like to fly. You think I haven’t tried?” 

“You’re an idiot,”

“I’m done,” Jaeha said. 

Garou glanced at him and then picked up the frayed basket and headed back out. One of the village elders was there to take the basket from him. Garou fidgeted for a moment.

“There was less food,” Garou said quietly. 

“Huh?” the elder hissed at him and Garou nervously wrung his fingers together. 

“He’s at the age where anything he eats gets put into his growth so it’s doing nothing to fill in his-” Garou started anxiously.

“We gave him enough!” The elder growled. “We’re already short on food and you want us to give him more?” 

“Well, I’m already cutting down what I’m eati-” Garou fixed his eyes on the elder’s shoes.

“Hah?” The elder sounded condensing. “Whoever said that we were giving you the normal amount of food? You’re going to die soon anyways. Do us a favor since the village is struggling enough already.”

“I’m not an idiot. You’re the one that’s dumb for asking a Ryokuryuu if they can fl-”

“You don’t know what it’s like to fly. Trust me. None of us do.”

“Ah, I see,” Garou nodded and then went back to that shabby and pathetic hut that he had been forced to call home. He slammed the door open and Jaeha looked up from whatever he was scribbling on the straw mat with his nails.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jaeha asked.

“Don’t talk to me!” Garou shouted. 

“Right,” Jaeha muttered.

Garou crouched down in a corner of the hut, his fingers in his hair and his nails digging into his skull, his body throbbing with the feeling of punishments that were long gone. The previous Ryokuryuu was dead. He had died. He no longer kicked Garou half to death just because he felt like it.

“You’re going to die soon anyways,”

Garou dug his nails harder into his scalp and almost whimpered in pain.

------o------

“Is there anything else you need me to do?” Garou asked.

“No, we don’t need you anymore,” the man waved Garou away as if Garou hadn’t just carried all of his things for him from one end of the village to another, twice. 

Endless skies, the world so big, unimaginable possibilities spread out before him. A couple more jumps and he would be in a place he would have never even dreamed of.

“That is,” Garou said slowly, “you said you would give m-”

“Ah! Damn that useless caretaker! Can’t even take care of one brat! Rokuryuu’s loose again!”

The man that Garou was about to ask for the promised pay gave him a look of disgust. As if to say that Garou was useless anyways, why would he pay him when he couldn’t even take care of one child? Garou nodded and walked away. He saw Jaeha soon enough. The little brat shot out between two buildings like a blur and Garou raised his right leg and slammed it straight into Jaeha’s face. 

Jaeha went flying backwards and crashed into a house. Garou marched up to him, grabbing him by the back of his neck and lifting him off the ground. Garou dipped his head towards the villagers who had gathered to watch this spectacle.

“I’m sorry, I’ll take him back immediately,” Garou mumbled and then carried Jaeha back, kicking and cursing up a storm. 

Garou threw Jaeha as hard as he could and the child slammed into the wall. Garou grabbed him by the neck again, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to strangle him. 

“Don’t make things difficult for me, you damn brat. I was about to get some money for some food. But no, you had to try and save yourself.” Garou spat. He kicked Jaeha one more time for good measure and then dug out new chains. They had an endless supply of chains in this village, but a shortage of food. Garou didn’t know what that said about them.

After shackling Jaeha again, Garou threw him against the ground and went to his corner.

They remained silent in their respective corners until it got cold. There was draft, a crack in the door and it was so cold.

“Garou,” Jaeha spoke up from where he was curled up on the ground.

“What do you want?” Garou grumbled, turning to look at the boy.

“Do you know what it’s like to fly?” Jaeha asked.

Endless skies, a world of possibilities. 

So close. So, so, so close.

“Don’t even fucking think of leaving me here! I’ll kill you!”

Blood in his mouth.

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” Garou said. 

“It’s not a stupid question,” Jaeha said.

“You’re going to die soon anyways,”

“Shut up,” Garou muttered.

“You didn’t answer,” Jaeha said.

“I said, shut up!” Garou snapped, getting to his feet. 

“I’m just asking you if you know what it’s like to fly,” Jaeha said, his voice dull and sarcastic.

“Shut up!” Garou threw a stone at the boy, his chest heaving. “Don’t speak to me! Don’t talk!”

His village was far behind. He had run. Jumped. Flown. Gone as fast as he could, the moment he had the chance. The world in front of him, hell behind him.

“What kind of Ryokuryuu doesn’t know what it’s like to f-” Jaeha started, his voice a bored drawl. Garou flung himself at the boy in fury, hands digging into the boy’s shoulder and screeching in rage.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! What do you know? Don’t you dare even think you can pretend to know!” Garou screamed.

Blood in his mouth, blood dribbling down his chin, one eye swollen shut, a handful of broken ribs and as the leg of the dragon slammed into his side again, he knew that he probably had another handful of broken ribs.

“Do you think you know anything? You think just because you’re a Ryokuryuu you know what it’s like to fly?” 

Hands squeezed around his throat and cut off his air supply. 

Maybe he would die like this, unable to see the sky.

“You might try to fly, but you won’t be able to. You won’t! You can’t! I won’t let you! Even when I’m gone! I won’t let you! I’ll curse you for making me die without knowing what it’s like to fly!”

His one open eye rolled back as his breath was squeezed from him.

“You think there’s some kind of miracle out there? There is-”

“-Nothing!” Garou screamed. “There is nothing out there! Nothing! You can jump all you like, but there is nothing!”

He stood there. The world in front of him and hell behind him.

But he couldn’t move. Couldn’t fly.

There were chains around his legs and he couldn’t fly.

Blood in his mouth and no sky.

Garou wished he had the strength to strangle Jaeha the way his predecessor had strangled him. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t fly. He couldn’t do anything.

He dug his fingers into Jaeha’s shoulder painfully and bent his head, body shaking.

Jaeha said nothing.

“There’s nothing out there. Not for me.”

Only chains.

------o------

Hmmmmm. Abuse comes in many forms. Some are obvious, like the way Garou's predecessor treated him and some aren't obvious at all, like the way King Il tried to cage Yona inside this perfect world he had created (do I count that as form of abuse? Yeah, I actually kinda do). There's a lot of people I could have written about for this prompt. For example, I could have written straight from Jaeha's point of view. But the moment I saw this prompt, I instantly thought of Garou. Getting into the abuser's head to write is an experience. I pity Garou and I get where he was coming from. I wish he could have had a much much better and loving life. And Jaeha pitied him too. Abusers are human. And I think that's why I liked writing this. But, although they are human, abuse is never OK. No matter what kind of upbringing someone had, abuse is NEVER OK. It's a strong subject to go over and talk about. And writing Garou for this prompt was frankly amazing. I hope you guys enjoyed this.

[thedarkestdragonknight]

Shur Kha for the ultimate ship meme because why not :3

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs (Honestly, I’m all for the ship though it’ll def take some plotting because the obvious Jacques being 99% into the dudes |D Mostly in part because male characters are easier for me to work with ;v;)

How long will they last? -  For how long they’d last... that would be up in the air I feel >> depending on how many times they butt heads and such. I could see it lasting a long time but at the SAME time I could see it lasting briefly >>

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - With Jacques being how he is, it would no doubt have taken quite awhile to forge any relationship (romantic or otherwise) because he tends to be very guarded when it comes to letting people in. 

How was their first kiss? - One word: Awkward... >>

Wedding:

Who proposed? - It wouldn’t be Jacques that’s for sure *SHOT* Honestly, who WOULD be the one to propose between these two >_>

Who is the best man/men? - No doubt it would be Shur’s brother Khara as well as P’shali and Swath >>

Who is the brides maid(s)? - I... have no idea |D Though one character could come in mind but she’s played by @talechaser-ffxiv​ >> and that would be Mana.

Who did the most planning? - Between the two of them, I’d likely lean towards Jacques but honestly... both? LMAO

Who stressed the most? - Jacques hands down... then again I could also see this as another both sort of option |D

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - PFFFFTTTTT I dunno? (These are hard okay >>)

Sex:

Who is on top? - While Jacques has his moments where he’ll gladly ‘bend over’ for people he’s generally the one on top ;)

Who is the one to instigate things? - I mean... Jacques can be pretty forward when it comes to certain things so... more than likely him >>

How healthy is their sex life? - When you’re with Jacques you no doubt have a very healthy sex life >v>Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Jacques is obviously no stranger to the kinky stuff (He loves his Bondage and stuff like that) so... |DStraight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - SERIOUSLY THESE QUESTIONS LMAO Ummmmmmmmmm Jacques has stamina for days so... >_> I’d say fairly long?

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - Jacques is always the sort to make sure his partners get a decent amount of... ahem... times, equal though... that’s hard to say |D Jacques tends to be a hit or miss on that mark >>

How rough are they in bed? - If something doesn’t get clawed up then it’s not a good time! XD Not really but...Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - Jacques is certainly a cuddler and snuggler when he’s in the right mood so... >>No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - If Jacques had the choice he’d say none... but at the very least they’d have one |D

How many children will they adopt? - If it gets him passed the poopy diaper stage then he’d gladly adopt at least one child. More if said child is you know... decent >>

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Sorry Shur but this is your field, Jacques is obviously not going to be dealing with any poopy/dirty diapers |D

Who is the stricter parent? - Jacques would likely be the stricter of the two but that would probably be because he is worried for his children. Overprotective papa would be extremely over protective.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Jacques would be there watching them like a hawk, though he would also no doubt be the person to let them make their mistakes and hopefully learn from them >>

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Jacques is a natural cook, so obviously he’d be the one to likely remember them the most |D

Who is the more loved parent? - Both? I couldn’t see one or the other getting more love honestly >>

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - Both again, I could see Jacques being the one to go there but also Shur as well. Both going because they want to make sure their kids aren’t up to no good >>

Who cried the most at graduation? - Another one that I like feel both would have the equal amount of crying here. Jacques would try and hide it though XD

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Not Jacques >> he’d let them stay in there just so that they could learn their lesson... and if they don’t well then he’d just let them keep getting in trouble until they learn.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Jacques, he wouldn’t let anyone else in the kitchen unless he trusted them >>

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Hmmmmm I don’t truly see either being picky about their food but at the same time possibly Shur?

Who does the grocery shopping? - Jacques would be the one to go out and get everything, whether it’s through shopping or straight up gathering it from the wilds

How often do they bake desserts? - Jacques would be doing it all the damn time, he loves baking >>

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Jacques doesn’t MIND salads but he’s more the meat lover type... so yeah |D it would be a healthy diet but mostly meat >>

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Jacques, he would easily be the one to make any sort of surprises happen. Whether it’s an anniversary or a birthday or any special event.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - This would likely fall on Shur because Jacques doesn’t really like going out all that much. You know... Introvert and all that |D

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - I mean it wouldn’t be Jacques |D

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Equal sharing of the cleaning, Jacques would do his part and I can see Shur also potentially helping out as well. Maybe it’s something along the lines of just one cleans one day and the other cleans the next.

Who is really against chores? - Honestly... Jacques wouldn’t be against it so... I DUNNO 8D

Who cleans up after the pets? - When you have a massive Behemoth, a Fenrir puppy and a honery Chocobo you learn to clean up quite frequently... *COUGHS* So Jacques more than likely |D

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Jacques would stomp on anyone who hides stuff under the rugs so... Not him >>

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Depending on the guests it would probably be Jacques. He doesn’t do good with people obviously >>

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Free Gil is Free Gil so either of them would likely be the one to find money in the couch while cleaning |D

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - This one is a toss up, Jacques would likely be the one that takes the longer baths because of his scales and he tends to ‘shed’ them every so often. So the hot water would help with that, long soaks = very pleasant for him as well.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - Probably Jacques, especially if it means he can just go out into the forest or something to ‘get away’ and unwind a bit :P

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Jacques would certainly get into the spirit of things but he wouldn’t go WILD so to speak. He’d put up a tree and such with lights and that’d be about it. He’d likely decorate for the major holidays of Eorzea and that’d be it.

What are their goals for the relationship? - Hmmmmmmmm, a healthy one would be the biggest thing that I could think of. I DUNNO I’M BAD AT THIS OKAY ;v;

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Jacques, he rarely gets enough sleep so when he does he’d be out like a light and no doubt sleep until noon or past it >>

Who plays the most pranks? - Obviously Shur :v she’d prank the shit out of poor Jacques day in and out to the point that he’d likely be looking for the traps/pranks the moment he gets home XD

LORD THIS ONE WAS HARD 8C I hope I did a good job though! But I leave you with this gif...

ULTIMATE SHIP MEME!

[bobbybobertson]

hmmmmm, sooooo I think I will explain the short falls of the portrait by comparing it to the reference I used. 

I think there are quite a few errors you will notice right away, the angle of the face, the tones used and to a lesser extent the background. First lets explain the problem with the angle of the face

The face in the reference and in the first sketch do share the same approximate turn of the head as well as slight diagonal tilt. The major problem comes when looking at how upwards the head is. The reference face has a slight upwards tilt, while the first sketch is more angled downward. To correctly display this that would require the sketch to have less of the bottom planes of the brow ridge and of the nose revealed. This correction is not seen. The next problem that occurs because of the lack of an upwards tilt is just how wide and how long the face appears. The sketch appears to have a longer skinnier face when compared to the reference, which would be accurate to what happens when you point the face more parallel with the camera, this would be fine if it was carried though out, but it wasn’t. It appears that in the second progress shot there was an attempt to widening the jaw. This probably occurred because I was comparing the painting to the reference and noticed a difference in absolute width between the two. Instead of trying to correct the angle it appears that the painting just had the width of the jaw increased instead. This has many concerning implication to the overall painting. It means that either the painting has a large jaw or that it has a very long forehead. The long forehead is explained because most of the elements suggest an upwards tilt. Because of elements like the nose plane, the eye ridge, and even the ears to an extent  (though they are mostly covered) the viewer might accidentally believe this face is angled upwards, even though the existing jaw does not agree at all. This upwards tilt makes the forehead look even longer, an error that doesn’t seem like a purposeful decision when looking at the reference. This error appears to be mostly corrected with the final painting, as the jaw appears to have shrunk once more. The eye ridge is still suggesting an upwards tilt, but the nose lacking any definite bottom plane doesn’t do much suggesting. The “correction” with the nose seems more accidental than anything as it just appears that it was left unfinished. There are very few egregious errors with final painting in terms of angle, other than an obvious delineation from the reference. Now the next most obvious error is the over tone of the painting compared to the reference.

The tones used throughout the painting are less saturated for sure. There could be an argument made that the desaturated look of the skin is simply because of the reference fair skin tone. This argument though misses the entire point of the tone study, which was to capture the natural/seen tones of the reference. This study wasn’t simply to do a painting with a skin tone, this study was done to recreate the skin tone of the reference. There is an obvious failure to meeting that criteria. The closes match in tone appears somewhat in the hair and barely under the neck but overall the painting lacks the matching tones needed to really replicate the reference. The tone of the painting is more neutral, closer to grey, and if anything needs to be closer the more orangish tone found in the face. The lips scream dead person as well with there lack of any pigmentation. The painted hair seems to capture more of the overall tone of the reference, but it lacks the actual shape. This is fine when the point of this study was to capture tone. The clothing in the painting and the reference are extremely far apart in tone though I will admit that the study is a study more on flesh tones than on capturing the entirety of the tones found in the reference. Another note is the lack of discretion in choosing warm shadows versus cool shadows. It should be noted that cool shadows in skin occur because of cast shadows. This is what happens when light doesn’t even reach the surface because it was blocked well before reaching the subject. Warm shadows occur when only part of the flesh is hit with light but one area doesn’t get hit. One of the most used examples of this is what happens when you hold a light bulb with your hands. Your hands appear to have a red glow. War shadows frequently occur on flesh, this is because of skins translucent nature. Skin has a great level of sub surface scattering that needs to be taken into account when showing shadow areas. The level of light hitting the subject depends on the source of light, the subjects own reflective nature and from the environments reflective nature.

The lack of a background could effect how well lit the painting appears. The reference has these large whitish tiles behind the subject. These tiles would be very good at reflecting light meaning that one could focus on how these tiles impact the lighting of the painting. This would be interesting to think and work on in later paintings. The lack of these whitish tiles might have even influenced the viewer on how saturated the subject appears in the painting. But overall including more of the background details doesn't seem like a change that would have much impact on the painting other than increase possible likability.  

yep yep that my analysis on my painting that i felt like doing in order to better understand its shortfalls. Its not that its a horrible painting its just that it could of been better. The real thing to take from this all is that these are things that i should look into when i do later paintings. Also i mean i posted my face so like there it is. Also if you read this i mean jesus, uhh, you should of not honestly. It was more of a me thing than a you thing tbh. I hope you feel like you wasted your time because thats all you got from this. Like thanks i guess but uhhhhhhh you probably shouldnt read through all my trash like this.

[windycityparrot]

The Ultimate Guide To How are African Grey Parrots to Keep as Pets

The question “How are African Grey Parrots to keep as pets?” came from Quora “Come on, fess up! You’ve done the unthinkable. You've actually thought of getting an African Grey but the horror stories of screaming, biting and plucking keep you "centered" or "sane". What if you had a mentor?  That's why you have me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQvsjgrJoak I love Quora. I love to argue.  I love setting the record straight. The single most important lesson I learned in outside commission sales over 20 years was, God gives you one mouth and two ears that should be used in the same proportion. Regarding that first answer on Quora, Don't you find it unnerving to hear some one dictate the actions you should take based upon a question asked of you, without knowing your life’s skill set? Him: “Do you have an avian vet? No”   Me: I didn't have an avian vet - until - I knew I was certain to be getting a bird.  Board certified Avian vets are hard to find. According to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation there were only 114 in the US in 2016. Which begs the question do you really need a board-certified avian veterinarian?  To be a board-certified avian veterinarian you must know about almost every species of bird on the planet which is about 10,000.  You need to know about chickens, seagulls, raptors and so forth. A veterinarian that specializes in exotics can be very well equipped to care for a mere several hundred species of hook bills, wax bills, horn bills and soft bills. Our veterinarian  Dr Byron DeLa Navarre Is not a board-certified avian veterinarian but he does travel around the globe teaching other veterinarians the latest exotic trends and surgical techniques on species like geckos and snakes.  He's a pretty bright guy and I trust him explicitly with our birds.

Editors note. You would think human doctors have it easy dealing with only one species and not having to guess about their sex. At Windy City parrot we are very sensitive to knowing your bird's species. Telling me you have an African Grey is only half the information I require. Congo Grey Parrots vary in weight between 400-650 grams depending on the diet of individual birds. Timneh Greys vary in weight between 275-400 grams. Thus some Congo Greys can be almost twice the size of some some Timneh greys. Timneh African Grey parrots have deeper shades of dark charcoal feathers – gray color on their wings and back while sporting maroon tails. Congo Greys have a red tail and possibly even more red throughout its feather system. The red factor (video above) stretches things a bit don't you think? When I interact with "Grey" companions they are more often than not caught off guard when I ask them "what kind of African Grey"? They usually have to stop and think about the fact that there is more than one species of grey parrots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thGFpnt6LBo To put things in a more granular perspective, an Alexandrine parakeet can weigh almost as much as a Timneh African Grey. The patagonus sub species of Pategonian conure weighs 315-390g making it almost the size of a small Congo Grey. Yes that’s right, a conure the size of a grey. Once we know the sub species of your grey parrot we can more accurately talk about nutrition, bird toys, cage accessories and bird cages. Depending upon the size of said grey parrot, you have two stories to tell about the maintenance of these two distinct grey subspecies. Let's start out by talking about Timneh Greys. In that birds are flock animals, they enjoy a social setting. We advocate putting a new bird regardless of history, in the most active area of the home so that they can enjoy human interactions and participate with their human flock as much as possible (this holds true for any new bird). Even if the bird came from an abusive home or poor environment (basement/garage) let him or her see that interactions with other flock mates is a positive experience and nothing to be afraid of. Contrary to popular belief I feel that it is wrong to let a bird quietly settle into his surroundings. Isolation will only make the bird more skeptical and skittish. I shot the video below after getting peaches our Senegal. I put her on multiple stands and in a few birdcages including a travel cage and took her to work. It keeps a bird off balance but keeps her interest up while looking to you for stability. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfHID6m4Aqw Fast forward nine months later and Peaches has settled in quite nicely both at home, weekend home and work in a small part to the constant interaction between the two of us and others in the household as well as customers who come into our bird supply store. Cages can be purchased new, or used on Craigslist for pennies on the dollar) and you can buy lots of expensive toys or make your own. We give you some ideas here in with a couple of videos below. As far as FaceTime I think as long as you're in the room with the bird and the bird knows you're there, you're golden. I don't know a bird or human who really wants six hours of FaceTime with someone else. Personally, and please take no offense to this (my readers) but at some point during the evening I need to shut down and not talk to any of you. The noise of the several hundred thousand people we interact with on social media and email and on the website can be deafening throughout the day. So I like to binge watch Netflix and Amazon or read from my Kindle Fire. Getting back to the point, I used my good friend Kim for a brilliant example of a new Timneh African Grey pet bird keeper. I spoke about her in another recent post about the pros and cons of having a pet bird.

It is said that having a pet bird is the equivalent of having a two or three-year-old autistic child in a feather suit who speaks another language which could be quite trying. Kim has been running a daycare for 25 years dealing with two and three-year-olds en masse. Her words to me were “who better to care for an African Grey parrot”? I recently wrote Kim with a quote from Mark Twain that really explains her: “She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.” Yes, digression is my middle name :-) Point is wouldn't a mother who spent 5 or 10 or 20 years raising children be an ideal candidate for keeping a parrot? Or did I miss the memo that children are no longer noisy, messy and require socialization? The world is about supply and demand. Worry less about the origin of the bird and more about the care of the bird. Think about how you tortured your mother for all those years. A bird just might be a cake walk for anyone with parenting skills to draw from. We strongly encourage adoption. We work with local rescues here in the Chicago area. Unfortunately there is not always a bird rescue near you with a particular species of bird that you are seeking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG-4fxBeF9g sorry about the dubbing but this was the best vid (so far) illustrating the differences between the two African grey sub species There's also the universe is too complicated to be arbitrary method of bird acquisition: We pulled Popcorn from a bush after a call from a woman two blocks away from the Birdie Boutique. Bacon was found in a tree across from the shop. When we decided to get our next big bird, I casually mentioned a Senegal would be really cool. Three weeks later one showed up at my door delivered by a rescue volunteer (who has known us for many years). Peaches is 111 g, the term big bird is relative. "hmmmmm" As one reader pointed out, "it's not the fault of breeders which everyone likes to blast". If there wasn't a demand then there wouldn't be any breeders. Saying breeders should be banned is like saying porn is disgusting, evil and should be censored - and everyone agrees, yet Pornhub is the 38th most visited website on the Internet. Visited more than Wordpress.com (41st), MSN.com (42nd) and Microsoft.com (48th). Once you've made the decision to acquire a bird be it an African Grey or any parrot for that matter it's time to seek out an avian veterinarian. You want to interview him or her getting insights on their current avian patient base. Their views on the use of Lupron to treat bird hormonal issues? How they feel about light affecting circadian rhythms? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cTdSGVMZ4I Veterinarians are also a good source for "sourcing" your future pet bird (or cat or dog or gerbil). They know where the good and bad birds come from. They have insights into people looking to re-home animals. Editors note: There is only ONE species of dog. Don't look at your (potential) veterinarian as simply a source of veterinary advice and care.  If they can't help you holistically with regards to nutrition, housing, foraging and enrichment, perhaps they are not suited to be your bird’s veterinarian. Veterinarians can also be a great source for finding your next pet. They know the patients and the breeders. If you're looking for a bird and you can't find it at a rescue, or don't have a bird rescue reasonably close, start your pet bird (or any pet) search with local veterinarians. Editors note: If you live in a rural area with no access to a veterinarian competent in avian species, a bird may not be your best choice of pet. There's always the problems of medical emergencies, questions of day-to-day nutrition and housing. You are going to need a go to veterinary authority especially with animals that live for decades.. We can help you out with just about all of your birds environmental needs inside and outside the bird cage. We can't and won't answer veterinary related questions because we're not qualified. Think about it in terms of having a team - veterinary - environmental - day-to-day caregiving as necessary to maintain the equilibrium of an animal that's been evolving for 99 million years - literally. Circling back to the original question, we never really touched on Congo African Greys. Our simple advice is bigger bird bigger brain. Congos are going to be somewhat more demanding, louder and a bit more complex than Timneh African Greys. Bird toys need to be bigger for Congo's Greys over Timneh Greys. The size of the food has to be offered accordingly. Cage size might be based upon the bird’s wingspan and/or lifestyle. Other than that we’re back to having a three-year-old autistic child in a feather suit that's entire lot in life is to make a mess. Birds were put on the earth to spread seeds across the land. Unfortunately they don't understand the difference between the waterholes on the Serengeti Plains of Africa, the ground under the rain forest canopy and your new Pergo floor. They don't know the difference between a $200 play stand and a $5000 armoire, both offer wood to chew. It's all something to be tongue tested and tasted. It's up to you the captive bird keeper to guide the bird towards right decisions. Place in front of them the right things to eat, chew and land upon (should you choose to keep them flighted), much like teaching a child who doesn’t know what hot is until they burn themselves. Thus keeping a Timneh or Congo African Grey, an Eclectus parrot, an Indian Ringneck, a Caique or a Sun Conure will always have its nuances but will have a similarity of experience that one must be prepared for in order to keep any kind of parrot is a pet. Something to ponder:  It takes African Greys longer to mature than many other species. Young African Grays may be part of the family group for many years before entering the flock as a flock member seeking a mate. And this is where it gets really interesting: This would explain the African Grey parrot re-bonding with another human in the household out of the blue. Remember - there's 99 million years of DNA at work here, literally. So maybe, just maybe, African Greys are not being irrational but are moving away from whoever brought them up first (mom/dad) in their search for a mate to grow old with. In the bird's mind, instinctually this helps prevent inbreeding and keeps the gene pool strong and deep. In other words, the initial caregiver human is seen as a parent while the next human to bond with, is a flock mate. written by mitch rezman approve by catherine tobsing your zygodactyl footnote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnnOx178Z64   Click to Post