#more specifically about birds. lizards. big cats. and sharks)

[realredbanana]

Totally random question but, when it comes to the main 5 Young Royals characters, if they had pets, what type of pets do you think would they have?

[sleepymccoy]

Aziraphale’s demon aspect

As voted by 246 people!

The winner is

Owl

with nearly 26% of the primary vote

many people added in their free form answers that they were imagining a barn owl specifically

Owl was the front runner the whole way through this survey, but most of the time by a very beatable margin. The 40 or so people who voted in the last night really tipped it over, it was a tight race! And the results are crazy split imo, a quarter of votes constitutes a win! I love the different opinions and ideas we all have so so much

Ram/sheep came in a hearty second with 16.5% of the vote

A very regal demon there.

After that it gets a little murky, so I’m going to share the second graph I made when is every animal that got more than 1% of the vote. So it’s the top six animals

Magpie and Lion holding strong! Then Moth and Goat looking very good

The second question let you vote for as many options as you thought were appropriate for Aziraphale! So, there were a lot more write-ins! It’s crazy!

I’m using google sheets so I can’t get it to show you every name, but the raw data will be in a read more so you can scroll through everyone’s beautiful imagination there

Again, Owl winds with a solid 20% of the vote. Ram/Sheep coming in with about 15%, followed by Moth, Magpie, Goat, Lion, then Tortoise.

Tortoise was 11th in the first round, tied with Snake (but pale), and managed to surprise me by coming through so strong in the second. Slow and steady, baby.

Nearly everyone who wrote in about Magpies told me that Magpies hoard stuff, so it’s nice to see the hive mind at work there!

Five people told me they were voting goat because of that one piece of art by @hollow-head​ that shows Aziraphale scaling a bookshelf like goats do cliffs. As an artist myself I found it legitimately moving that this one image had stayed with people so strongly. That’s just beautiful. Here’s an example of just one person’s comment

idk dude i just remember one person posted art of him scaling the bookstore shelves like those goats scale mountains and just eating his clothes while he reads it was so fuckin funny but anyway goat eyes are great or he could have lil stubby horns that r covered by his hair

One moth enthusiast took the time to give me a short essay on their choice of moth. I have included a portion of it, cos it was so great

So if I had to choose an insect, it would be a moth, preferably a Megalopygidae, also known as the Flannel Moth. They are fluffy, white-beige and look innocent and fluffy, but their larvae can cause painful inflammations. A poodle moth would also fit because it's almost pure white.

Here’s a flannel moth for everyone

and a poodle moth, which i honestly thought was a hoax but i looked into it just now and it seems legit? There’s not a tonne of proof, but the og pictures are from a scientists who stands by them, so like, wow

And then a DIFFERENT PERSON put this in;

the moth i had in mind is Acherontia atropos, in polish called Zmierzchnica trupia główka (meaning more or less "dusk death's head"). i have a whole symbolism planned out and stuff 

Fucking, moth fandom come through!!

I’m vaguely scared of moths, fun fact. I don’t like the thick thunking sound they make when they hit stuff.

Here is the second round but with all the animals that got four or less votes removed for ease of viewing

the one segment there at 12 o’clock that google hasn’t labeled for me is Swan at 0.9%

I cannot believe I didn’t put swan in as an option, that’s all write-ins

So, to summarise, I suggest you take a lot of this with a grain of salt. It is not meant as an instruction to fandom or to railroad creativity. I have a narrow corner of the Good Omens fandom that I interact with, and while this quiz was up for a week I’m not sure it reached a great variety of people. About 250 folks filled it out, which was tonnes more than I expected and I love each and every one of you for filling it out!! But I have noticed that Owl was first on my list and in the free form answers the example prompt I gave included, “such as a breed of owl that specifically speaks to you,“ so I think it’s possible I did that unknowing bias thing that practiced survey folk know now to do. So, grain of salt.

I also think that if animals like Swan and Cat were in the list of options they’d’ve gotten more votes because the people who voted for those were coming up with it fresh themselves. I suspect people would’ve voted for them, but it just didn’t occur to them in the moment. In much the same way it didn’t occur to me in the moment I was writing this survey.

So people know, I got the ten or so animals that I put in the survey from searching the demon!aziraphale tag on tumblr, so it was all stuff that other people had come up with. I was trying to avoid my own bias, but i think in hindsight i could’ve done better!

Having said all that, this was all so much fun and the results are clear!!! Love a good owl!aziraphale

Imma continue to draw my boy as a ram, though. Cos this was all just for a laugh <3

numbers and a few more things under the cut

So some of these have half a vote ascribed to them. That’s for people who in their freeform answer said things like this;

ngl, that one post about him being a swan still makes me laugh

Mourning Dove. Though that Scallop answer was fucking brilliant

And I kinda made a judgement call that that wasn’t a vote, but it was kind of a vote. So I gave them half a point.

There were a few situations where people would write in a specific species. If I got more than one vote for the root animal I just grouped them together, but if it stayed the only vote then it kept the species. Cat got the most specific species mentioned, and in the second vote Bat had a few species mentioned (albino bat being my fave), but I ended up grouping them all just under Cat and Bat to give them a better chance of getting on the graph. There were probably a few other examples but I can’t think of them. The one exception to this is the person who wrote-in Duolingo Owl specifically. For that one I figured Owl is already pretty solid, and that’s just fucking funny, man

I was also pretty generous about some stuff. So, this person didn’t vote for Moose but they clearly regretted it so I added a vote for Moose in the second one where you could vote for multiples. They kept their Ram and Goat votes, of course, but I added Moose for them

I get very bastard energy from my demon az headcanons. Like f-ing shit up for a laugh more than anything, but otherwise indifferent. That's kinda why I like the ram/sheep/goat thing so much because it reminds me of indifference and random chaos. Or a moose. Shit, I should have written in moose

So yeah, it’s hardly a double blind study that’d stand up to any real criticism, but it was fun and I think the essence of it is fun!! Scroll through and have a read. Imma pull a few more of my fave write-ins and put them down the bottom cos it’s great. Esp the ones that only got one vote, the reasonings were stellar on some of those

Here is the first vote results, where everyone could only vote for one animal each

Owl 63 Ram/Sheep 40 Magpie 28 Lion 26 Moth 21 Goat 17 Swan 4 Eagle 4 Dove 4 Cat 4 Tortoise 3 Snake 3 Scallop 2 Rat 2 Rabbit 2 Mongoose 2 Badger 2 Shima Enaga 1 Shark 1 Porcupine 1 Orangutan 1 Mouse 1 Long Furby 1 Hippopotomaus 1 Goose 1 Duck 1 Dragon 1 Cow 1 Cereberus 1 Boar 1 Bee 1 Bat 1 Alpaca 1

Second Vote results, where everyone could vote for as many as they wanted

Owl1 82 Ram/Sheep 136 Moth 108.5 Magpie 98 Goat 96 Lion 72 Tortoise 61 Snake 37 Eagle 33 Cat 9.5 Swan 7.5 Lizard 4 Rabbit 4 Badger 3 Mongoose 2 Dove 2 Mouse 2 Squirrel 2 Bear 2 Raccoon 2 Capybara 2 Dragon 2 Bat 1 Long Furby 1 Rat 1 Boar 1 Goose 1 Peacock 1 Pangolin 1 Lindworm 1 Moose 1 Chinchilla 1 Duolingo Owl 1 Cackatoo 1 Crow 1 Cow 1 Alpaca 1  Dodo 1 Shark 1 Big Dog 1 Snow Leopard 1 Scallop 0.5

All voting was optional. To help explain how scallop lost 1.5 votes from first to second, I believe the people who voted for it in the first question just skipped the second cos they’d said their bit.

In terms of how many people engaged with the questions, Q1 had 245 answers and one skip. Q2 had 241 answers and 5 skips, and Q3 where I just let people talk at me if they wanted to had 84 answers and 162 skips.

So please enjoy my selection of free form answers. They all made me smile but putting all 84 in seems excessive to me, so I’ve chosen the ones that are either full blown mini essays or that make me laugh. It’s still a lot, this project brought me so much joy

-

Shima enaga - It's the hair man

Cow (aka golden calf)

Scallop. He is a snack.

Swan. Elegant but very capable of fscking you up. Mates for life.

basically anything that is both gentle in nature and fiercely loyal, territorial and protective (but prone to anxiety). Also hedonistic esp. with food. For all of these reasons, I think a dog would be the best choice.

Dragon with his hoard of books

it’s about the teeth. just too sharp and too many to be human. (comment from op here, this person voted for shark, just for context)

Turkish Angora cat. Magnificently fluffy, incredibly intelligent, love heights and will jump off crazy high things and land on your head, gloriously dignified until they see a string and run into a wall, love one or maybe two persons to distraction and want everyone else to fuck off, will drape themselves over their person’s shoulders and go to sleep, range from “will jump in the sea to hunt fish and has a murder pit full of seagulls they’ve massacred” to “will fall over at the sight of a baby bird”, very particular about food and will yell at you if you get it wrong. Also the breed that some asshole took three cats from and bred parent to child to make Persians. The cautionary tale has been acknowledged and we love our crazy smart, single braincelled children.

I usually imagine him as an owl because they are nocturnal (and we know that Aziraphale can easily stay awake the whole night reading). Also the image of an owl puffed up is kind of ridiculous and reminds me of him, of how an annoyed Aziraphale would look. However the options above have made me think that a lion would suit him very well, too. A lion or just a very BIG cat. I mean, he makes pleading eyes to get what he wants, likes to be confortable, is a bit of a bastard and often puts himself in awkward situations from which he needs to be rescued. He just... acts very cat-like in my opinion. Also owls and cats are both predators, but are usually imagined (or, at least cats are) as cute little creatures, just like Aziraphale is an Angel of the Lord (a Warrior, actually) but looks all soft and cute and huggable. I dunno. Maybe I just want to pet an Aziracat.

I love all the other people's thoughts about demon!Aziraphale, but what about the honey badger? I try to explain why I have it in mind for demon!azi: its name (I think it's funny, expecially in English because 'honey' can make you imagine it's something sweet (it is for me), while the 'bad' in badger can be an alarm bell (like 'be careful! It is not like it seems!')); its face (ok, who can say its face isn't cute? I think, and hope, nobody can, and like the name, it is a misunderstanding: as always, be careful, it's not like it seems!, I think demons can say something about demon!azi as like "you don't seem like a 'good' demon, you can't be, your face (animal and human) is too f-ing disgusting sweet to be a demon!", I think maybe even angel!crowley, at the beginning, can think something like this ("how in the world somebody so cute like you can be a demon?"), then he discovered how demon!azi can be a very talented demon sometimes, but in Crowley's mind azi is still his little cutie angry furry); its furry's colour (black=demon, white/grey/silver/idkitsname= color of demon!azi's wings, because even if he fell, I can't say no to his white wings 😭); it is a snake's predator (and in my mind angel!crowley is still a snake); its solitary life (demon!aziraphale is alone and he doesn't mind it, unless it's angel!crowley we're talking about, then our cute demon minds it); its behaviour (demon!azi, even if he's cute, can be a really very talented demon: honey badger is fearless and dangerous, it can fight bigger animals if there aren't other chances and it can't escape); its skin is very tough (except for a soft/safe spot, behind its neck if I remember well, that only angel!Crowley knows and sometimes he uses it to calm demon!azi down or make azi do some good deeds); its diet (it has a sweet-thooth, for honey in primis, but it can eat everything it wants... Doesn't it resemble demon!azi?); it's smart (search for Stoffle on your browser if you don't know)... Ok,I think I finish, sorry for the novel 😅

I tend to think of animals that meet three criteria: (1) they exemplify “faults” in his character exaggerated to “sins”—gluttony, greed/hoarding, sloth, (2) they are species that favor fawning or flight as a defense mechanism but can also be bold on occasion, and (3) blend very well or have a keen affinity with human society, specifically thriving in urban (i.e., city) environments. This is mostly because I can’t see “Aziraphale” in a reverse AU that doesn’t preserve some of his core traits as an angel (a little hedonistic, hoarding, anxious, etc.). So I like city-dwelling bastard animals with bonus points for relation to scripture, like a rock dove or a fox or an owl.

Owls aren't  smart, and the pedant in me says not an owl. But, thinking on it, demon aspect, owls are perceived as smart, but designed as deadly silent predators, patient and solitary. So actually demon Aziraphale could take on more owlish aspects. I just like cockatoo better, since they are smart, and showy. Or a crow, although that does amusing things with Crowleys name.

god imagining him as a chimera is !!! (comment from op, there was this odd flurry of mythical animals being voted for one night. i think the survey hit a corner of fandom that leans that way. there was also dragon, another chimera, a griffon, and a lindworm all at the same rough time)

Magpies are great because they’re cute and fluff themselves up (go look at Sophie the magpie) and like hoarding their favorite things but also I’ve watched one just straight up kill another bird before because corvids are sneaky little bastards with no lack of a mean streak if they’re crossed

It’s the duolingo owl, I’m so sorry op but it just is. I genuinely don’t mean to clown on your post, but this take was delivered to me in a sleep induced haze and I believe it’s the god given truth. Demon Aziraphale WOULD try to make you learn a dead language and he’d go about it in a vaguely threatening way (comment from op, you’re so fucking right dude. also, shit like this is made for clowning, i’m with you 100%)

When choosing a demon aspect for a Aziraphale, I usually tried to keep in mind the artistic tradition of which animals are linked with demons. The Good Omens team seems to have drawn inspiration from that source because all the animals we do see are either reptilian or insectoid. Those species were often shown inhabiting hellish landscapes in Renaissance and Baroque paintings. However, Aziraphale never struck me as cold or slimy or hard like an exoskeleton. So if I had to choose an insect, it would be a moth, preferably a Megalopygidae, also known as the Flannel Moth. They are fluffy, white-beige and look innocent and fluffy, but their larvae can cause painful inflammations. A poodle moth would also fit because it's almost pure white.

Ok so the only reason I pick magpie is because those bastards are smart as hell but also know how and when to inconvenience the shit out of you, and if you gain their trust then they're absolute darlings but if they decide "nah, dont like ya" then you're basically done and you'll wake up every morning with shit on your car window. I also chose sheep/ram cuz I mean... idk it suits him. I don't remember my other choice but I'm sure I had a good reason.

I feel like a barn owl would suit him well but I'm not really sure why, I also think that a moth would suit him really well because of the whole "moth to a flame" thing and as a demon he would have gotten burned because of that attitude.

I write a reverse AU fic called Lambs to the Slaughter where Aziraphale's demonic aspect is an albino sheep! I imagine him as a mix between a wild Argali ram and the first woolly domestics. I chose an Argali because they're the largest species of wild sheep, but I wanted him to have traits of a domestic breed because he obtains his animal aspect from a sheep in Abel's flock which would be several generations down from the original wild species in Eden. I really think a sheep suits Aziraphale! They're an incredibly common animal and have been since they were first domesticated. Likewise, since the start of human history, Aziraphale has been living side-by-side with humans, providing for them, and protecting them. Due to how common they are, sheep are often unnoticed, which Aziraphale leans into. Crowley wants to stand out. He has a dedicated aesthetic and an obsession with human invention, where Aziraphale leans more towards simpler, known things and creature comforts. He fades into the background, and that suits him fine. He doesn't have to be outstanding to Heaven or to humans or even to Crowley -- it's enough to do his part, to trust in a bigger plan. People associate sheep (especially lambs) with innocence or ignorance which foils nicely to Crowley as the serpent tempting with knowledge, as well as with Aziraphale's own sharp mind and ongoing embers of faith in a system that is failing him, Crowley, and all of humanity. Sheep are, like Aziraphale, soft, cute, and hiding a hard-headed stubbornness and a surprising strength that makes them absolutely fearsome. Aziraphale is very much the sort to put his head down and push relentlessly forward regardless of the pressure and strain. Rams in particular have thick skulls to withstand the brutal force of headbutting one another in displays of dominance. While Aziraphale is clever, he's not above rolling up his sleeves and getting the job done, as messy and unpleasant as it might be (see: pulling a gun on the Antichrist). Also sheep are associated with Pan, a god associated with food, music, theatre, and the criticism thereof, which hit many of Aziraphale's personal interests and hobbies! I like the idea that in a reverse AU, the demon formerly named Aziraphale might be the original basis for Pan!

I wrote in Orangutan for the first question because if I remember correctly they are some of the most violent apes. Although I'd accept bonobo for him too. They fuck alll the time.

mothman aziraphale,,,,, thats it

Snowy owl, speremint's tortoise, and I just adore the goat.

moth - dusty and eats books

Long Furby the way Loni-Capri draws it.

I keep thinking about that Black Philip quote "doest thou wish to live deliciously" because... it fits so much with the general epicurean/hedonism vibe the Fandom has for him ... but in a demonic way and also I think a lot abt that art piece (already referenced many times probably but what the hell) of him climbing his own bookshelves, it's just so good!!

Albino Lion/white lion (matches his hair).  I feel like maybe I should explain why I think Lion would fit him best, lol. Lions actually are rather sedate, inactive for 20 hours of the day (see: Aziraphale reading and unmoving- yes I pulled wiki for this to make sure I didn't spout anything terribly wrong, shhh)  but also there's nomad lions. Lions that range widely and move around sporadically either alone or in pairs (*looks at Crowley after apoconope*) (pairs are more frequent among males who have been excluded from their birth pride)  but also I think of lions as protectors, defenders, and what is Aziraphale if not that? If not an angel who fiercely protects humans, crowley, earth? (When he finally overcomes heaven and it's abuse) lions don't hunt unless they're hungry, don't attack unless they're defending. They've been known to sit directly next to jeeps full of people and just watch them, not attacking or being aggresive.

I saw art once (I have no idea who the artist is) of Demon!Aziraphale climbing his bookcases like a goat and absentmindedly chewing on his sweater while he reads. I felt like the goat aspect suited him perfectly.

Honestly I wrote Az with a rat aspect because, well, it fits who I see demon Az as. He's not super powerful but he is very consequential, like rats carrying plague fleas (this also describes how I see Az tempting). He tries to blend into a crowd, which is arguably one way rats survive, and can get himself into places/situations that should be impossible or super difficult. Like snakes, rats have been unfairly maligned by our culture for a long time, even though they are very social with their colonies, smart, affectionate, and generally good beans. Finally, male pet rats are known far and wide as the lazier of the sexes while the girls are super curious and adventurous.

Somehow his tartan pattern becomes either his colour scheme or his coat/feather pattern.

Eurasian eagle owl. A big, unapologetic grump of an owl that is soft as soft can be underneath. Possessor of the glare to end all glares to be used in such dire situations as being interrupted when reading or being told one has "had enough cake".

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #133

Brought to you by a marine biologist who is the big dumb...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

I am so dumb. I said the trilobite was the last fossil because I evidently forgot we didn’t actually cover this dude yet. Now everything is ruined. Oh well. So, today we will be the last fossil we are covering for real- Eusthenopteron.

It’s a long name, I know, but you can do it. -> yoos-then-OP-tare-on.

At the beginning of this series, when we spoke about the Coelacanth, we talked about tetrapod evolution, which is a wild ride. Chordata, the Phylum we as humans belong, is pretty awesome. We had such humble beginnings, and by now we have consistently been most of the largest organisms to ever grace this planet, right after the plants. Between dinosaurs, whales, and some sizeable fish, chordates, and more specifically, vertebrates, have dominated in size. We also have dominated ecosystems ever since we evolved jaws and began preying really efficiently on everything else, including each other. Although we have almost never been the first at anything major - we weren’t the first predators and we certainly weren’t the first on land - we have done it really well anyway. 

We talked about how tetrapods - four-legged vertebrates - came to be via evolution from the fish body plan. Eusthenopteron is just one species within that transition. It, as well as Acanthostega and the Coelacanth, are lobe-finned fish, fish that actually have supporting bone in their fins, which eventually evolved into the sturdy arms and legs of tetrapods we see today. The fossil in ACNH is most likely based off this one of Eusthenopteron foordi, a really great fossil that preserved the whole fish since the Devonian (some 385 million years ago). 

By Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6532784

Here’s what it might have looked like in life.

By Dr. Günter Bechly - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17059501

Is now a good time to talk about how all tetrapods, including you and me, are just really weird fish? Cladistically-speaking, we are all just fish. These days, it’s easy to separate fish from other vertebrates - they have gills and live their lives restricted to the water. If you look back to the Devonian, however, the line between fish and other tetrapods is blurred. The animals we collectively call “fish” are VERY DISTANTLY related to each other as a whole. You and your cat are so much more closely related than a goldfish is to a shark. Likewise, you and the goldfish are also more closely related to each other than either is to the shark. See where it gets weird? 

In phylogeny, we try very hard to keep groups of animals monophyletic - this is a big word that means a group of organisms includes their common ancestor and every one of its descendent species. For instance, the group “Mammalia” is monophyletic, because the term encompasses all mammals, no matter how derived, like the whales. In contrast, a paraphyletic group is one in which an ancestor is grouped with only some of its descendants, typically with one very derived group simply left out. “Reptilia” aka the reptiles, are a great example of a paraphyletic group, because the term includes all reptiles (crocodiles, lizards, snakes, dinosaurs) except for the birds, who are still dinosaurs, but because they do the flying and feather thing, we’ve set them apart specially. “Fish” as a group, include all fish, except for the very special lobe-finned fish group, the tetrapods. ‘Fish” is, therefore paraphyletic, as a term. Obviously, we can decide that we are fine with the term “fish” meaning only vertebrates that have gills and live in water, for every-day means...but it’s fascinating to just delve into this clusterfuck of terms we made before we knew just how connected life on Earth really is.

And there you have it. Fascinating stuff, no?

[zebraslovescupcakestoo]

My BLUSH BLUSH wish list.

For those who likes the game, fan of the game or anything in between, I wanted to share my thoughts and what I wanted from the game in future updates.

Of course this is just MY thoughts, MY imaginations and just MY wish list so if you disagree, that’s OK! You can just leave what you wanted instead in the comments or in my ask box. I am open to what you have to say. So let’s go right into it:

1. Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Yes, I know I’ve posted this here after I made a screen shots of my conversations in the Steam community, but after the debut and full release of the game, we got up to date 2 DLC characters, voice audios, and a Halloween costume bundles. So if they came up with a special Christmas costume bundle, it would make me up for 2020!

In their older sister game predecessor, Crush Crush, all of their dateable girls have the Santa suit options after you max out their lover levels. (10 diamonds each.) Even though they’ve alternated each of their red Santa style suits, they’re pretty much the same.

Don’t get me wrong! They’re beautiful, but almost the same!

So that’s why if we get UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS instead, it would be more festive and think of how some would match their characteristics like for example: Imagine Nihm with a cute pastel colored sweater or Ichiban with a horror reference video parody. (Or imagine a certain guy with a Grinch vibe with a ‘Merry go f#k yourself’ ugly sweater.) 

2. A new Diamond Boy bundle!

If you have an account with Crush Crush and you played long enough, you already know that there’s the Darya DLC bundle that gives you diamonds on the first run. (The bundle was 15 US dollars.)

So for this, I hope that the Sad Panda team studio would do the same in this game.

I have a few good ideas about what animal forms it could be before you un-curse them:

-A Pokémon knock off of Cloyster and probably friends with that Narcissistic mermaid on the phone fling. They have pearls that looks fabs!

-A dolphin if an Oyster isn’t ‘Shelling’ enough for you nor the others. Think about a treasure hunting dolphin like Ariel who’s collecting human treasures.

-A raccoon thief inspired by the Sly Cooper video games series. This was on PS2 series and had a remake later but this would be an interesting Easter egg reference. (Maybe add some Arsene Lupin reference to ‘compliment’ the detective phone boy fling.) *Wink wink!*

-I found this interesting when I search this topic but an Owl, specifically white barn owls, with ties of Hindu myth symbol of Wealth and Fortune. I’ll leave the link here if you’re interested, but this is like if Sascha was looking for him before scamming...

-A peacock! Think how back in time when you in one of the banquet Henry the 8th hosted and this was served. This was a symbol of pride and luxury so only rich people can have these.

If you have any alternatives references, please let me know in the comments or ask box if you have an ideal diamond bundle manimal and what’s their story. I would love to know and share!

3. Ideal Animal!!!

We all know how a basic Blush Blush dating game is by now: You found their animal forms, you un-cursed them by dates and they’re back to humans again. (For a good humping DLC d!k pic.) We all see that it can be either a real or a fantasy animal like a rabbit to a dragon. So here’s MY idea of the next animal:

-Marine Manimal options!

I’ve said this previously, but all of the guys so far are land animals. I would understand if it’s a bit hard to do, especially with dating scenes, but if it works, I’ll sing Part Of Your World whenever I want!

My personal options are a Dolphin, Shark, Orcas AKA sea pandas, Octopus, Lobster, Crab and Oyster.

-Bird Manimal!

The only bird species we have there at the time is Kelby as a Rooster.

So for the feathered fans of the bird community, MY personal options would be an Owl, Peacock, Hawk, Eagle, Seagal, Ostridge, a Kiwi (bird) (Yes, they’re called like that in New Zealand.) Duck, Parrot, Toucan, Pidgeon or Dove, Crane or any domestic pet birds.

I would like an honorable mention of a crow or raven but since the first phone fling boy winner is the college student goth Poe, there’s a high chances that’s gonna be our second bird at high predictions. But I could be wrong so we’ll see how this would turn out.

-Insect Manimal!

I know that there will be some that would disagree that ‘ThAT’s Not An ANImal CataGory!’ which I could agree. HOWEVER! Since the game creators broke that rule with fantasy creatures like a Pegasus and a Dragon, I thought maybe we can bend that rule a bit.

MY personal insect options would be a Scorpion, a Spider, a Bee, Butterfly, a ‘manly’ Ladybug inspired by Pixar’s A Bug’s life, Praying Mantis, Cricket inspired by Jiminy Cricket  and a Beetle. 

Imagine the last one inspired by either the rock band ‘The Beatles’ or ‘Beetlejuice.’

-Land Manimals!

So going back to land animals, here’s MY personal options that hasn’t been done yet.

A Raccoon, Squirrel, Elephant, Barn Pig, Zebra, Bat, Mice, Fox, Monkey, Turtle (Which COULD have been in the marine instead, but they’re are some in land forms too!) Koala, Kangaroo, Bear, Frog, Donkey, Buck (Adult Bambi) and Lizard.

I would add an honorable mentions or a domesticated Dog or a Cat breed, but we already have a Wolf and 2 Big Cat Boys on the team with DLC. (A Lion would be a nice option, but only if it’s the magical 3 times the charm!)

-Fantasy Manimal.

I’m not entirely sure cause Pegasus and Dragons are already taken, but would think that maybe just a Horned Unicorn, a Loch Nest creature inspired ‘Animal’ or maybe the Eastern version of the Dragon.

Imagine the last one being true and Scales got a rival!

If you have other suggestions, please share if you want.

4. Ideal Manimal characteristics that hasn’t been done yet.

We have some that has characteristic that defines themselves. Nihm’s a shy, cute guy. Eli’s a Bi pride boy. Dmitri is a Smooth talker adult. Anon’s technology attributes.

So for this category, here’s MY personal ones that hasn’t been done yet.

-A Boxing or Kung Fu fighter type.

-Italian Mafia/Gangster or a Yakuza

-Chef or a Baker

-Artist

-Demon (Unless we get Seth or a different guy.)

-Business men or CEO.

-Soldier or Army Officers. 

-Car/Motor/Boat Racer.

-Thief. (Arene Lupin, Sly the thief raccoon or Joker from P5 references.)

If there’s something else that hasn’t been done or that I haven’t posted it, please share with me what you think.

5. Outfit ideas!

I know this would be like a continuation from point numero uno, but here’s a couple of more.

-Swimming trunks.

-Winter apparels. 

-Onesies Animal wear. (Cuz if we don’t get the Animal Options asides resets...)

-Summer apparels.

-Masquerade attire or wedding tuxedo.

-Pajamas.

If there’s more you wanted, again, please share.

6. MORE INCLUSIVITY IN EVERY FORMS!!!

The reason being is when I saw the reviews on the selected winner from Phone vote fling in Blush Blush.

On one hand, there were people who were happy while the rest... aren’t.

I know we all have different taste of either ‘I like cute boys’ or ‘I want a REAL man!’ but that got me thinking... and maybe if we can see guys in different skin tones or different cultures, that could be a nice inclusivity.

Imagine a Native from Southern America with a poncho or a real buff African who’s passionate with animals.

But what would you think? Let me know if this is a good idea or needs to rethink.

7. New dating places.

Like their counter part, they only have 4 date spots. So here’s a few more that would help change the scenery:

-The Beach.

-Theatre (But only showing the front, not the silhouettes.)

-Revisiting the same zoo and meet their counter parts.

-Ice cream shop or cart near the park.

-Their bedrooms. (plausible having the uncensored DLC alternate versions too...)

If you have a separate dating options, share that with me too!

8. Daily spin the wheel prizes.

Hear me out on this one! You probably seen these on numerous Gaming apps in any form, but if you think about it, this could be a nice change of pace!

In each chances, you can either get a boosters from Jobs or hobbies, Diamonds, exclusive outfits, or time skips.

What’s more, you’d get 1 free spin by daily and maybe get an extra 4 more for like 5 diamonds each. (like phone votes.)

9. Decorate your virtual room.

This is only an optional and unrelated to the game. (much..)

If you’d get the option to decorate your in-game room like plushies, posters, BF jackets that was ‘lend’ to you, you’d wanted IT in RL too!!! Also, it would also boost your intimacy's with your manimal such as love hearts intakes or ‘spend less on items with this!’

And this is all I have suggested for now.

If you have other suggestions on what you wanted in that game or update it, please let me know and we can share it here!

Thank you for taking your time to read this and have a wonderful day!

[sickdaysofficial]

Water

Sickdays 3, Day 5: Water

Fandom: My (@lickstynine’s) OCs

Characters: Kit, Violet, and friends

“Nina, if you ask me to play cards again, I’ll shove the whole deck straight up your arse.” Violet snapped.

Kit snickered into his book, watching the confrontation out of the corner of his eye.

Nina whined. “But I’m booooored.”

“It’s not even a long flight, dude. Take a nap. Watch a movie. Just chill.” Leander chimed in.

“No, I wanna playyyy…”

“Fine! You want to play cards? Here!” Violet thrust her tablet into Nina’s hands. “Play solitaire, download a poker app, I don’t care. Just leave me alone.” With that, Violet put her headphones back in and went back to ignoring her friends.

Nina seemed quite pleased now that she had the tablet, and was content to occupy herself with Angry Birds like it was still 2011. On her other side, Isabella was sound asleep. Leander and Kit were sitting across the aisle, occupying themselves quietly like decent functional adults.

After a while, the fasten your seatbelt sign lit up, and Nina started bouncing with excitement. The second they landed, she hopped up eagerly, waiting for her friends to exit the plane with her. They gathered their luggage and strolled out of the airport, Violet leading the group towards the taxi waiting for them.

Nina chattered inanely with her now-awake sister while Violet and Leander debated the odds of a fight between a t-rex-sized goose and a goose-sized t-rex. Kit was still absorbed in his book, trying to finish his chapter before they reached the port. He slipped a bookmark into the novel as the taxi drew to a halt.

“This is so exciting!” Nina chirped. “I’ve never been to a private island before.”

“If I recall correctly, they’re full of parental neglect and sunburn.” Kit replied.

Nina pouted. “Don’t be such a sourpuss, Ruby! This is gonna be fun!”

Kit eyed the tiny sailboat they were about to take to the island. “Yeah. Fun. That’s the word.” Sarcasm dripped from his words, and his heels dragged against the ground as Violet dragged him onto the boat.

Leander glanced around the boat before choosing a seat to plop down in. Nina and Isabella sat with him; Violet grabbed a seat nearby, wanting to continue her debate with Leander, and Kit sat next to her with a dramatic sigh.

“Relax, it’s really not that far.” She gave his hair a playful tousle. “Don’t stress yourself out.”

“It’s not stress, Vi. It’s intense seasickness.” He grumbled, fixing his hair and shifting in his seat.

Violet huffed, giving him a light-hearted shove. “You just need to relax, hold out a little longer. You’ll find your sea legs if you just have a little more patience.”

“No. No, I won’t. We have this conversation every time, and every time, I’m sick and miserable. I don’t have sea legs. I’m a sea paraplegic.”

Rolling her eyes, Violet mussed his hair again. “If you say so. I think you just like to complain all the time.”

Kit muttered something under his breath, sighing and leaning back in his chair. He tried to ignore the swaying sensation beneath him, and the hot, sticky air clinging to his skin. The longer he sat there, the more he felt like he was slowly melting into the chair - before long, he’d just be a puddle of pasty goo with a pile of red hair floating in it.

The rocking of the boat and the smell of salt triggered recollections of a childhood trip to the same island; Kit recalled being horribly sick, and being snapped at by his father for complaining about it. He had managed to get a spectacular sunburn on the same vacation. Ah, memories…

After what felt like hours, Kit finally peeled himself out of his chair, stretching his legs and wiping the sweat off his brow. “Ugh, how much longer is it to the island?”

“Dude, it’s only been ten minutes.” Leander laughed.

Kit groaned. “Ah, fuck me…”

“Maybe later. I don’t have condoms on me.” Leander winked dramatically at the red-haired boy, and the girls laughed at his gay-ass display.

Kit sighed and rolled his eyes, attempting to distract himself by restarting the t-rex and goose debate. “Look, Lea, I appreciate that t-rexes have very sharp teeth, but a goose that big could just fucking step on the little lizard. Besides, geese are horrifying at their current size.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Violet chimed in.

“He’s got claws, too, though…” Leander countered. He had a lot of faith in his goose-sized dinosaur.

“Claws don’t matter when you’re getting crushed.” Kit argued, “That’s like saying a cat could beat a cow. Who cares if the cat is clawing and biting, that cow is going to curb-stomp it into next week.”

“I told you! I fucking told you!” Violet was perhaps a bit too smug about having gotten Kit on her side.

Leander sighed. “Okay. Okay. Fine. New one. Lion-sized turtle or like ten turtle-sized lions?”

“…shit, that’s hard.” Violet furrowed her brow. “The tiny pack of lions could go after the turtle’s fleshy bits, but what if the turtle hid in its shell?”

“How slow would a turtle like that be?” Kit asked.

“I dunno, like… really slow?” Leander replied.

Kit sighed. “You… you need to think this through more. I can’t debate with you if you don’t know the specifics of your giant turtle anatomy.”

“You guys are so weird…” Nina laughed. “Why would you want a turtle that big?”

“We don’t want one,” Leander explained, “we want to figure out if it would win in a fight against ten small lions.”

Nina blinked in confusion. “Why?”

“Because we’re bored.” Violet replied.

“…weird.” Nina went back to playing Angry Birds on Violet’s tablet.

Before long, Leander and Violet had taken the debate on to dozens of other animals. Kit had been chiming in less and less as they progressed, even though the conversation interested him. He was having trouble focusing enough to argue, and after a while, he got up again to stretch his legs and hopefully clear his head. The humidity was still horrendous, and every breath of soggy, salty air made his sinuses ache and his stomach turn. He sighed, brushing his hair out of his sweat-drenched face and leaning against the edge of the boat as he waited for the island to come into view.

“Hey, Ruby!” Leander called over to the moping redhead. “What do you think? Giant jellyfish, or a bunch of tiny sharks?”

Kit blinked, taking a moment to think before finally asking, “How venomous is the jellyfish?”

“Er… I dunno.”

“Dammit, Leander. I told you, you need to put more thought into these for the arguments to have any value.” Kit shook his head disapprovingly. He had been the head of his debate team back in high school, and he put a lot of detail into his arguments, even the stupid ones.

Leander rolled his eyes. “You take this shit too seriously, man.”

Kit shrugged, busy focusing hopefully on a growing green dot in the distance. “Yeah, probably.” He leaned against the edge of the boat, taking slow breaths and trying to ignore the churning of his stomach. Even when he closed his eyes, his head continued to spin, and he slowly sank down until he was sitting on the deck, leaning against the side of the boat.

“You doing okay over there?” Violet raised an eyebrow in Kit’s direction.

“Yeah, I… I think I’ll live.” Kit wrapped his arms around himself, hoping the turmoil in his gut would calm down once they reached land. In his head, he knew it usually took awhile for his seasickness to settle, but he was hoping nature might be a little less cruel than usual today.

“Just don’t puke all over the boat. Do that shit in the water or something.” Isabella’s tone was sharp and unsympathetic.

“As you wish, your majesty…” Kit huffed, his tone scathingly sarcastic. Though he could normally take a good bit of flack from his friends, he certainly didn’t feel up to being harassed right now, and Isabella was fully aware of that. She just didn’t care. Kit scowled at the back of Isabella’s head as she turned to go back to talking to the others. He didn’t even really care if she liked him, but it was annoying how far out of her way she would go just to be a bitch to him.

As the conversation started to fizzle out, the tiny green speck had grown to a significant mass on the horizon, and the others were now drawing towards the bow of the boat to get a glimpse of the island as they approached.

“Whoa…” Nina marveled, “Look at all the plants and stuff… It looks like a movie or something…”

“I bet they’ve filmed movies here.” Leander mused, “I swear I’ve seen that palm tree in about a thousand flicks…” He jokingly gestured to a very generic-looking palm now visible on the shore of the island.

Nina giggled and leaned against him as they watched the sandy edge of the island draw closer. Before long, the boat stopped against a small dock and the group climbed off, eager to explore. Kit was the last to depart, slowly dragging himself and his suitcase out of the boat. He was unsteady on his feet, and his face was completely devoid of colour. Leander grabbed Kit’s bag since it looked pretty close to being dropped.

“You doing okay, man? You look rough…”

Kit shook his head, shuffling slowly towards the beach with the others. “No, I feel awful… I think I might be sick…”

Violet sighed, putting an arm around his shoulders for support. “You’ll be alright. Just try and breathe.”

He shook his head, clamping one hand over his mouth while the other clutched at his stomach. “No, I’m definitely going to throw up.”

“Shite, alright, ah… Away from the bags.” Violet carefully steered him away from the group a bit, knowing vomit wouldn’t do any damage to an empty stretch of sand.

Kit’s shoulders lurched with a painful heave and he quickly pulled his hand away from his mouth. A thin stream of bile dripped from his lips, soaking the pale sand. Violet sighed quietly and patted his back. She honestly didn’t want to deal with this right now, but what was she going to do, toss Kit in the ocean and leave?

Another slightly thicker wave of puke added to the puddle on the ground and Kit groaned in discomfort, his arms tightening around his stomach. His legs buckled beneath him and Violet barely managed to catch him before he fell.

“Whoa, careful, there…” She gently lowered him down to his knees, rather than letting him fall face-first into a puddle of his own vomit. Now much more concerned, she gently gathered his hair back, fastening it in a quick messy bun to get it out of his way.

Kit coughed and spit into the sand, taking a few ragged breaths before he doubled over heaving again. Only a few more mouthfuls of sour vomit came up, but he continued to retch for a while after that, his whole abdomen convulsing painfully. When he finally finished, he was trembling with exhaustion and his stomach muscles were aching. A surprisingly attentive and worried-looking Violet helped him to his feet.

“Come on, you should lie down. You need some rest after all that…”

The sun was beaming down on Kit through his bedroom window in the beach house. He slowly sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. His body felt drained and achy after last night; his mouth was dry and his stomach was growling. Swinging his legs off the bed, he stood up and looked around. It had been years since he’d spent the summer here, but the house looked the same as ever. He could almost hear his father yelling at his second wife downstairs. He shook his head to clear it, sighing and heading downstairs.

“Ayy! Look who’s finally up!” Leander was sitting at the kitchen table, chowing down on a pile of pancakes.

“Morning, Ruby!” Nina hopped up to give him a big hug. He, of course, hugged her back.

“Good morning, Nina.” Kit gave her a quick squeeze before turning to look at the kitchen counter. “Did you lot leave me any food?”

Violet shook her head. “Nope. You get to starve.”

Kit chuckled and rolled his eyes. “And after I brought you all to my beach house! How rude!”

Isabella jerked her thumb towards the fridge. “There’s more pancake batter. You can make yourself some.” Despite having cooked for everyone else, she had no intent of offering to make Kit breakfast.

“Thanks, Isa.” Kit smiled even though he knew it wouldn’t be reciprocated, walking over to the fridge to pull out the batter. He had to dig through about thirty cabinets and nine drawers to find a pan and spatula, but he eventually got started cooking. He was no master chef, but pancakes were easy as hell to make, and before long, he had piled up a stack of delicious fluffy discs.

“There’s fruit and whipped cream to go on top.” Nina offered, gesturing to the cutting board on the counter, where freshly sliced strawberries, mangoes, and bananas sat in neat little piles.

Kit looked over at the cutting board, noticing the single knife sitting next to it. “Did you cut them all with the same knife?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I’m allergic to strawberries, which I’ve told you about a thousand times.” Kit sighed and rolled his eyes, digging around in the cabinets until he found syrup to put on the pancakes instead.

“Right! Damn… I forgot…” Nina frowned.

“It’s not like I remind you every time you make something, and then you bring strawberries anyway. Oh wait. It is.” Kit huffed, sitting down at the table with a pile of syrupy pancakes.

“I’m sorry! I forgot! I really did!”

Kit sighed, “It’s alright. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” He knew Nina had memory issues, so he tried not to hold it against her. He was actually angry with Isabella, who never forgot  anything, but couldn’t ever be bothered to tell Nina not to bring strawberries. He considered confronting Isabella about it, but he didn’t want to start shit right now. Not when he still had a week on an island and a close-quarters plane ride to spend with her. Instead, he just ate his pancakes, asking after a moment, “So what do you lot plan to do today?”

“Probably explore the island, since we’ve never seen it.” Leander replied, “Do you want to come with?”

“I’d rather stay here. The sun and I don’t get along too well.” Kit could vividly recall many painful sunburns from running around the island as a child, and he wasn’t eager to repeat the experience. “I’ll relax here, finish my book.”

“You’re so boooring, Ruby! Come have fun for once.” Nina whined.

“Maybe if the weather is a bit kinder tomorrow. I’ll come out if it’s cloudy. Is that fair?” He offered.

Nina nodded. “Okay! I hope the clouds come out tomorrow.”

“Me, too. Now, go have fun.” Kit waved his friends off with a smile before going over to the refrigerator. He grabbed a lime and a few bottles of liqour, assembling a pitcher of margaritas, which he carried out to the balcony with his novel. He settled into a cushy recliner in the shade, gazing out over the tropical landscape past the balcony.

A cold drink, a good book, and a nice view. This was a vacation. Perhaps his views were a bit skewed, though, as he didn’t considering traveling and vacationing the same thing. Traveling was for exploring, vacation for relaxing. He’d spent plenty of time as of late traveling, and he needed a vacation to just rest and unwind. He was lucky to have the time and finances to waste on travels and vacations. This was the first full week off his friends had had all year, and Violet was only home from her studies for the summer. Kit was spoiled, and well aware of it, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The sun was fading behind the trees, leaving long shadows and a bright orange glow as the adventure crew returned back to the beach house. They were tired and hungry, but in good spirits and chatting jovially. The front door swung open and Nina called out, “Ruby, we’re back!”

“Oh, good. I was starting to think you’d been killed by malevolent island spirits.” Kit walked out of the kitchen to greet them. He smelled like tequila and garlic butter; he’d been drinking all day, and had just finished roasting a chicken. “I’ve made dinner. Sit yourselves at the table, and I’ll have food out in a moment.”

“Thank god, I’m fucking starved!” Leander hurried to the dining room, Nina and Isabella following closely.

Violet stayed behind to speak with Kit. “Are you doing alright today? You were feeling pretty rough last night.”

“I’m fine, Vi. Nothing a good night’s sleep and a lot of margaritas can’t fix. Want a drink?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I’ll pass. The others might, though.”

“Noted. Join them at the table, you must be starved. You’ve been out running around all day.” Kit walked back into the kitchen to grab the food, and Violet joined their friends in the dining room

“Roasted chicken and potatoes, and margaritas if you want them. It’s not restaurant quality, but I promise I’ve not poisoned you.” Kit sat at the end of the table, waiting for the others to serve themselves before grabbing his own food.

The group quickly dug into their dinners, quite hungry after a long day of exploring. After a minute, Leander set down his fork to start a conversation. “We were thinking of going night swimming after dinner. You down, Ruby?”

Kit laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t swim”

“Don’t or can’t?” Leander challenged.

“Both.” Kit replied. He’d nearly drowned as a young child, and that had pretty much put him off from ever wanting to swim again.

“It’s never too late to learn.” Leander countered. “Swimming isn’t hard, and besides, if we go out at night, you won’t get sunburned.”

“Yeah! You should come with us! I’ll teach you to swim!” Nina offered.

Kit paused to think, taking another sip of his margarita. He was getting bored of just sitting in the house alone while the others had fun. “You know what, fuck it. Let’s do it.” He probably would have been more hesitant sober, but he hadn’t been sober since about eleven that morning.

Nina grinned. “Yay! We’re gonna go night swimming!”

“That we are.” Kit nodded. “Finish your dinner first.” He finished off his own food before adding, “Lord, I’m not entirely sure I own a swimsuit.”

“I’ve probably got one you can borrow.” Leander offered. He was taller than Kit, but thin enough that there wasn’t too much of a discrepancy in their waist sizes.

“I suppose that’s it then. Let’s get changed.” Kit cleared the plates from the table before following Leander upstairs.

The moon reflected on the water, a rippling disc of white in a sea of deep inky blue. Kit sighed nervously as he followed his friends down to the beach. He hadn’t been in water deeper than a bathtub since he was a child, and even drunk, he was fairly anxious.

Nina hurried over to him, her braids tucked into a swim cap. “Don’t worry, Ruby. I’ll stay right by you until you get used to it!” She gave Kit a hug and a big smile before gently tugging on his hand to lead him into the water.

Kit took a deep breath, keeping a tight grip on Nina’s hand as he followed her. He expected the waves to be icy as they lapped at his toes, but to his surprise, the water was pleasantly warm. Not being frozen helped him to relax a bit more, and he walked out to about chest height, shivering a bit as the water brushed his bare chest. In the pale glow of the moon, he looked ethereal and ghostly, whereas Nina almost disappeared into the shadows, save for the whites of her eyes and her bright smile.

“See?” She chirped, “This isn’t so bad!”

“You didn’t even melt!” Leander chimed in, earning a chuckle from Violet and Isabella.

“Shut up.” Kit huffed, waving a hand at them dismissively.

Nina giggled. “Ignore them. Come on, a little deeper. You’ll have to paddle, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

Kit nodded slowly, taking a shaky breath before venturing into deeper water. Only his nose and eyes peered out of the depths now, and he flailed his hands experimentally for a minute before figuring out how to properly paddle.

“There you go!” Nina smiled proudly. “Now you can at least keep your head above water.”

“Y… yeah.” Kit smiled a little, seeming reassured.

“Come on, try a breast stroke. It really isn’t too hard.”

After an hour or so of Nina demonstrating and Kit awkwardly flailing through the water, Kit had a solid enough grasp of basic swimming to be comfortable wandering up and down the coast with his friends. They swam around to the far side of the island, where they’d found a neat-looking cove earlier in the day.

Nina took it upon herself to gather as many seashells as she could find. Meanwhile, Leander and Violet were trying to recruit Kit and Isabella respectively for a battle-of-the-sexes chicken fight. It took a bit of begging and goading, but eventually Kit climbed atop Leander’s shoulders and Isabella onto Violet’s, and the battle began.

The game lasted a while, as Kit and Leander tended to be faster and better at dodging, but the girls were on a very aggressive offense. They eventually called it when Isabella yanked Kit by his hair, pushing him off into the water with a more-than-playful shove. The red-haired boy popped out of the water, sputtering and gasping.

“You bitch! That’s not fair!”

Isabella shrugged. “I knocked you off, didn’t I?”

Kit huffed indignantly. “Like a bitch. Let’s play something else.”

“Like what?” Leander asked.

“I have a beachball up on the shore.” Violet offered, climbing out of the water to go get it.

They ended up smacking around the big plastic globe for a while before getting bored again. At that point, the twins ventured off to look for more shells while Leander and Violet floated around and bickered about more fictional animal fights. Kit followed the two of them for a while before starting to zone out, and before he knew it, he had drifted a ways out into the water.

Trying not to stress, he stopped floating on his back to see if his feet could reach the bottom. They didn’t. Now a little more anxious, he scanned the beach, spotting his friends a ways off to his right. He attempted to paddle back towards the cove, but to his alarm, felt something stronger than the typical resistance of water pulling him in the opposite direction. Now he was straight up panicking.

Flailing and gasping and kicking as hard as he could, Kit struggled to swim back towards the shore; however, it felt like the cold, slimy hands of Neptune himself had grabbed him by the balls to drag him to his doom. As much as he was fighting and paddling, he wasn’t even close to being a strong enough swimmer to go against a riptide. It didn’t help that he was absolutely freaking the hell out, shaking and starting to hyperventilate. In barely ninety seconds, he managed to wear himself out, no longer having the energy to keep his flailing, panicky ass afloat. He could feel himself sinking and being sucked out further into increasingly colder water, while the voice in his head shifted from scared to morbid.

This is it. This is how I die. This is the end of me.

He could no longer hold his breath, and a gush of cold water forced its way into his lungs.

Fuck, that burns. I knew I shouldn’t have gone swimming. Has anyone even noticed I’m gone? Of course not. They don’t give a shit about me. Isabella will probably throw a party when they find my drowned body.

His thoughts started to blur a bit more as he felt himself sinking downwards into the cold, inky depths.

At least it’s quiet down here… the cool water feels amost nice… it’s actually kind of peaceful…

Meanwhile, only moments after Kit had drifted away from Violet and Leander, the blond boy looked around, frowning in confusion.

“Where the hell is Ruby?”

Violet opened her eyes, going from floating to standing in the water in about half a second. She looked all around her.

“Shit. I don’t know. Maybe he went with the girls?”

“I’ll go check.” Leander made his way back up to the shore, and he cursed loudly when he found the twins sorting seashells alone. “Fuck. Goddamn. Bloody fucking hell. VIOLET!!!” Leander was now running across the beach yelling and panicking. “He’s not there. He’s not over there. He’s not fucking there!”

Violet smacked Leander in the shoulder. “Calm down. You freaking out isn’t going to help. Come on, follow me into the water. Help me look for him.”

The lanky blond nodded and took a deep breath, paddling out into the waves with her. He finally noticed a speck of motion in his peripheral, and turned to see a flailing red and white mass slowly drifting out to sea.

“Oi! Violet! Over there!”

The dark-haired girl looked over in the same direction, shocked to see how far away Kit was. “How in the bloody fuck did he get that far out?”

“Maybe ask questions after we go get him?” Leander suggested.

“Right! Go get the girls, tell them what’s going on. I’ll get him.”

“Are you sure you can handle it alo -”

“Go!” Violet kicked off in pursuit of her friend, hoping Leander would follow her instructions and head back to shore.

Being a remarkably strong swimmer, it didn’t take Violet long to reach the sinking Kit. She dove into the strong current and surfaced with his limp body in her arms. Knowing no one shy of Superman could swim against a riptide, she kept her grip on Kit while working to paddle them out of the current, parallel to the shore.

Once the tugging force of a very pissy Poseidon was no longer dragging them further out to sea, Violet hurried to shore, the unconscious red-haired boy held tightly in her arms. By the time she got there, Leander, Nina, and Isabella were standing on shore waiting for them. It looked like Nina had been crying, and Leander was pacing nervously. Isabella was just standing there looking bored.

“Well don’t just stand there like a bunch of lemons! Fucking help me. Someone get towels, call a doctor, just do something useful why fucking don’t you!”

Violet barked at her friends as she laid Kit out on the sand. Taking a deep shaky breath, she knelt over him, grateful that she had worked as a lifeguard for many summers. She started with two breaths before placing her hands firmly over his chest. After a second of anxious hesitation, she started compressions, wincing a little as she heard his ribs crack. Even though Violet knew it had to happen, she still felt a deep pang of guilt as she continued to pump his chest. Nina returned while Violet was doing compressions, tearfully offering a pile of towels. Isabella was close in tow, still just observing and disinterested.

Violet gave a terse, “Thanks, Nina,” leaning back down to administer two more breaths before going back to compressions. She went through the cycle of breaths and compressions about three more times before Kit spit out a mouthful of water and started coughing weakly. “Oh, thank god…” she muttered quietly, sighing in relief.

Kit was still coughing and sputtering, bringing up more water and trembling like a leaf. Violet slowly and carefully helped him sit up, leaning him forward so he wouldn’t choke on the water. Between coughs and shaky breaths, he was mumbling nervously. “S…so deep… really c-cold… agh, my chest…” Kit grimaced and put a hand to his torso as a bad cough made his cracked ribs painfully obvious.

“Shh…” Violet slowly rubbed a hand up and down his back. “Just relax. Try to breathe. You’re okay now. Leander went to call a doctor. We’ve got towels. We’ll take you back to the beach house, dry you off, see what the doctor says to do. Okay?”

The shivering, miserable redhead nodded, coughing again and mumbling, “M’kay… feel… feel kinda sick…”

Violet sighed, supporting him as gently as she could while making sure he didn’t fall. “Go ahead. You’ll be okay.”

A deep painful cough cause Kit to pitch forward, turning into a retch as he brought up a mouthful of bile and seawater. Another heave brought up most of his dinner and a good bit of tequila, and one more wave of sick splattered onto the sand before his stomach settled down. He sank back against Violet with a groan. “Christ, I feel like I’m dying…”

“Don’t you dare die on me now.” Violet scooped him up, wrapping him in several towels and heading back towards the beach house.

“Wasn’t on the agenda…” Kit mumbled, burying his face in her shoulder.

For more, or to tell me I suck, go check out @lickstynine.

[variantia]

🦁 for ALL of them because favorite animal is the most important question anyone could ask, ever, clearly

Symbol Muse Asks | accepting!

🦁= My muse’s favourite animal

(( *cRACKS MY KNUCKLES I actually don’t usually do asks with more than three muses but this is a question of the utmost importance ))

          ❝ Man, this is embarrassing. I actually have two favorite                 animals… my iguana, Geode, and my snake, Ramen!                  Haha, see what I did? Takin’ the question literally.                  Score one for Big A and her scaly buds! ❞

          ❝ Dunnae, animals aren’t usu’lly fond o’ me in gen’ral.                  Mice aren’t tay bad, Ae guess. ❞

          ❝ Actually… I kind of prefer plants to animals! Heh. Um –                  I guess if I had to pick, I’d pick ladybugs! They’re really                  cute, and it tickles when they walk on you! ❞

          ❝ Ta be ‘onest – starfish. ‘S funny, ain’t it? Bu’ ever since                  I got Braith, ‘ve been seein’ th’ appeal ta li’l geckos like                  ‘im. ❞

          ❝ All the animals on Earth are really interesting. I suppose                  my favorite would be… hummingbirds, I think they’re call-                  ed? They’re so tiny, but so fast…! ❞

          ❝ I don’t really know enough about Earth’s fauna to have                  a good frame of reference. But my pet axolotl, Nova, is                  very adorable… so… my answer would be axolotls. ❞

          ❝ Don’t actually have one. Unless Pearls count. ... Do                  Pearls count?? ❞

          ❝ Dogs, of course!! More specifically, pugs – like my                  sweetheart Butterscotch! ❞

          ❝ I’ve… actually never thought about that before. Uhm…                  snails are kind of cute? ❞

          ❝ Horses – mechanical and biological. ❞

          ❝ Bats! It’s kind of stereotypical, haha, but it’s the truth.                  I like rats, too! ❞

          ❝ I’m… not much of an animal person. There’s a kind of                  bird that visits me in the winter sometimes… a snow                  bunting. They’re actually beautiful! So… I guess those? ❞

          ❝ My absolute favorites are rabbits! They’re just so sweet                  and adorable. ❞

          ❝ Do you even have to ask? Ponies!! ❞

          ❛ I don’t really have a favorite! There’s something cool a-                 bout all kinds of animals. ❜

          ❝ My definite favorite are frogs. But I really like owls, too. ❞

          ❝ My favorite animal… is Gilbird!! He’s almost as awesome                  as me! ❞

          ❝ Definitely. Not. Birds. I don’t like animals at all. Especially                  not birds. ❞

          ❝ Cats! They’re so cute and sweet, right? ❞

          ❝ Uh. Cats, I guess? Tigers, specifically, but… my little                  tabby runt acts like he’s a tiger, so… ❞

          ❝ Ah… all animals are great. I love every kind of animal,                  really. I guess birds and squirrels are my favorites, just                  because… it’s easiest for me to talk to them. ❞

          ❝ Fish. And birds. I heard of a thing called a flying fish;                  that sounds pretty cool. Right now I’m kind of sick of                  water and stuff, though, so I’m just putting all my fo-                  cus on my pet macaw, Ran. ❞

          ❝ Uhhhh… honestly I’d say Bitties, but they’re not really                  animals, hah! I just love them so much. When I was                  younger, I had a hamster, so… hamsters? ❞

          ❝ Chameleons. I like their eyes. ❞

          ❝ Octopuses! … Octopi?? Oh, and SHARKS! I like the feel                  of octopus tentacles… and sharks are just… cute. ❞

          ❝ Rabbits, for sure. But bears are cool, too. I’m not GREAT                  with real animals, sooooo… I’ll stick to my animatronic                  buddies here. ❞

          ❝ This… may be a little surprising, but… I actually like butter-                  flies. Not moths – butterflies. ❞

          ❝ I don’t know enough about Earth to have a favorite animal,                  unfortunately… ❞

          ❝ Fish tend to be my favorite… mostly because they’re                  quiet where other animals can be awfully noisy. I will say,                  however, Citrine’s dog and Amethyst’s reptiles have                  grown on me a bit. ❞

          ❝ You have to ask?? FERRETS! Not to brag or anything,                  but I’m the best ferret mom ever! ❞

          ❝ Goats are really cool! We have a goat on Sealand. Some-                  times I get to ride him, and he doesn’t even mind! ❞

          ❝ Oh, birds are really cute. When I was little, my mama                  had a parakeet who’d sit on your shoulder and give you                  bird kisses and sing all day long. ❞

          ❝ In the real world? Nothing. But in the Nightmare Realm,                  the eyebats. They’re actually pretty cute and sweet                  when they’re not turning people to stone. ❞

          ❝ Mongooses, all the way! They’re so cool. Snakes are also                  very interesting, too… in a scientific curiosity sort of way! ❞

          ❝ All the animals on Earth are fascinating! Honestly, I just                  love anything that’s alive! ❞

          ❝ Frogs! ❞

          ❝ I don’t think I have a favorite. Hn – well. Anything two-                  headed is pretty interesting to me? ❞

          ❝ Definitely frogs. ❞

          ❝ Ohoho, any colorful animal is bound to get my attention! ❞

          ❝ Geez, uh… sea anemones are animals, right? I like those.                  An’ cats, too. ❞

          ❝ R–R–a———bbits. ❞

          ❝ I like all kinds of animals! Dogs, cats, snakes, birds, fish… ❞

          ❝Huh… do I have a favorite?? Uhhh… koi fish! They’re cute! ❞

          ❝ Psh. I don’t like animals, an’ animals don’t like me. ❞

          ❝ Oh, oh!! Hamsters! I really like the hamsters! Oh,                  bunny rabbits are cute, too, though… ❞

          ❝ Hehe, bunnies, of course! ❞

          ❝ Snakes. Definitely, definitely snakes. ❞

          ❝ LIZARDS!!! Lizards are the best and I’ll punch any-                  one who says otherwise!! ❞

          ❝ Uh, if I had to pick… pigs are pretty cool, actually.                  Lived on a farm when I was younger; pigs are real-                  ly sweet and smart. ❞

          ❝ Oh, geez, I dunno… one time, Sour Cream brought                  home a hermit crab from the beach an’ we made ‘im                  a pet. I liked that little guy. So, uh, crabs, I guess. ❞

          ❝ SPIDERS!!! ❞

          ❝ U-Um… I don’t think I have any f-favorites… ani-                  mals don’t really l-like me… ❞

          ❝ Believe it or not, turtles and tortoises! There are a                  few desert varieties, and I actually still have the                  turtle that I got for a pet as a child. Her name’s                  Sherī, and, hah, that’s what I get for letting Karura                  name her! ❞

          ❝ … Ugh. None. Animals are organic, and they’re all                  disgusting. ❞

          ❝ Ehm… b – birds? Is that what they’re called? ❞