#my dearest heavy laser

[glitched-nomz]

Leo's having trouble sleeping, so he sneaks into Donna's room to find some science thing to help.

Cw: sfw platonic vore, g/t

Leo poked his head into Donna's room. His eyes felt heavy, but no matter what he tried, he just couldn't get himself to go to sleep. Fae was already asleep, and she was really grouchy if you woke her up early, and he didn't want to deal with a grumpy, spiky turtle who was also way bigger and stronger than him. He knew she'd never hurt him but also annoying his dearest twinnie was super fun.

Donna probably had something in here to help him sleep. Hopefully it was labeled and came with an instruction manual, and wasn't right next to some kind of violent explosion death ray or whatever.

Ooo, that looked useful! He picked up a ray-looking thing, labelled with a big 'S' on the side.

Perfect! It was probably a sleep ray!! It didn't have an instruction manual, but it also didn't have any big red warnings on it, so it probably wouldn't kill him.

Leo moved to a clearer area, one with less clutter everywhere that would be less dangerous for him to fall in. He pointed the ray at himself, closing his eyes in preparation for sleep.

The ray fired, hitting him square in the plastron, but he was still awake.

He felt really weird.

Leo looked up. He wasn't even a third of the table leg height. He stared at his hands. Given how big everything else seemed to be around him, he'd guess he was around maybe 6 inches tall, if he was being nice to himself. He was probably closer to four or five, he couldn't really tell, honestly.

Gueeeygh… He'd have to go to Donna to see if this was fixable or if he was stuck being tiny forever. After touching- nay, using her tech without permission, and being wrong about what something did.

He'd be lucky to make it out alive.

-*~-*~-

She felt a tiny hand poking at her face.

"-onna, Donna! Wake up! I need help!" An obnoxious, familiar, weirdly high pitched voice hissed.

"Eugh. Leo, why are you so small?" Donna grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I swear, if this was Draxum's doing-"

The tiny slider laughed nervously. "Eheuh, no, not… no. See, I was just coming in here to say hi, y'know? Cuz insomnia twins and I didn't wanna wake Fae up. And I saw this cool looking laser thing, so I poked at it a bit, and… now I'm this size."

Donna narrowed its eyes. "You touched my tech. You little shit!" She snatched her tiny twin up, glaring directly into his eyes. "You know what, I'm not gonna change you back until morning, because I'm just that fucking pissed and tired right now, it said in annoyance at her obnoxious younger sibling." It really didn't want Leo to get himself hurt messing with her stuff- that was basically the same thing as hurting him herself!

Leo gave an affronted gasp. "I'm not younger than you! We're the same age!!"

"Scoff! You're literally my younger twin. Trust me, it's science."

"No it's not! Now put me down, I wanna make myself normal sized again, since you won't!"

A grin started creeping its way up Donna's face. "Oh, I don't think I will." It licked her beak. She had noticed she was a little hungry, and Leo was the perfect size for a midnight snack…

Leo's eyes widened. "Wh- hey, no, Donna! That's- you're totally overreacting here!! I won't touch your shit till you're awake, I promise!"

Donna rolled her eyes affectionately, tilting her head back and dangling Leo over its open mouth.

Leo kicked his feet, writhing in protest. "Oh, c'mon, I wouldn't do this to you if you accidentally shrank yourself with my stuff!"

Sticking her tongue out at him, Donna widened her jaws, and dropped Leo in. Swallowing hard, it felt Leo slip down her esophagus and land in her stomach. The little twin inside squirmed angrily, writhing against the walls of her stomach.

It purred, putting a hand on her now semi-rounded plastron. "See, Leo? This is what you get for messing with my beautiful, fragile, state of the art tech without first consulting me. Don't do it again." It flicked her belly.

"Ugh, fine!" A tiny, muffled voice called. "I guess I'll just wake you up instead next time!"

"Which would be preferable, because then I could use my tech (or my fists) to knock you unconscious and/or drag you to sleep! You know we sleep better when we're near each other, 'Nardo! You idiot!" She yawned, the warm, full feeling in her belly making her tired. "Now, if you please, shut your fuck and go to sleep so I can prove my point."

Laying down, it felt Leo shifting inside her. She churred, rubbing her belly gently. The small, wriggly form in her stomach gave her a pleasant sensation, making her purr softly. Feeling her brother squirming inside her, feeling him moving and safe and alive- She understood why their eldest sibling liked doing this so much.

It was so comforting.

Donna knew where Leo was. She knew he was safe. He was probably asleep, or at least about to pass out, too! She knew she was hella tired. She gave her belly one last rub before closing her eyes.

She knew Leo wasn't lying about having trouble sleeping, and rocking motions helped him rest. Apparently, having someone else asleep inside her helped it sleep, because after only a few minutes she was snoring away.

-*~-*~-

Leo, despite his theatrics, actually didn't mind when his twin dropped him down her throat. Sure, it was wet, but it was warm and soft and an excellent pressure stim. Maybe Donna had been rude about it, but he had fucked with her shit… Honestly, knowing her, he was getting off easy.

They bantered for a bit, Leo trying to ignore his growing sleepiness. He was relieved when Donna said she was going to sleep, relaxing into the warmth surrounding him.

It was easy to get nestled into Donna's belly, feeling her soft breaths as she slipped into sleep. He could still feel her hand on her plastron, pressing softly against him. If literally being inside her wasn't comforting enough, knowing that she was holding him, in a sense, certainly was.

Yawning, he rolled over, and slid his eyes shut. It took a few minutes, but his sister's slow, even breathing and rhythmic heartbeat rocking him and squeezing him quickly put him to sleep.

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Sleeper Simulant

Subroutine IKELOS: Status=complete. MIDNIGHT EXIGENT: Status=still in progress.

Type: Linear Fusion Rifle

Slot: Kinetic | Energy | Heavy

Element: Arc | Solar | Void

Perk: Dornröschen - This weapon's laser overpenetrates enemies. On hit, splits into multiple beams that refract off hard surfaces.

Masterworked Trait: Accelerated Coils - Speeds up weapon charge time.

Ornaments: Hypnopompic, Baikonur, Directive: Crash

Origin & Description: Once upon a time in the Golden Age humanity built an AI named Rasputin.

(Y'all knew this one was comin' so buckle the fuck up.)

Rasputin was made to think and he was made to learn and he was made to win. He cherished art and literature and music and drama, but humans asked of him other things. Humans called him war-mind and entrusted to him their defense. He did not want to take up the sword but knew that he was the only one who could and so he did. He watched over the Golden Age; he ruled a world of steel and fire. He called the other AI brothers and sisters but they called him Tyrant and made of him a tacit king. Not without affection. And certainly not without respect.

Rasputin was made to imagine the threats humanity couldn't imagine and face the enemies humanity couldn't face and one day out of the deep dark came the war they built him to fight. And he fought it. He fought against an enemy even he could barely define, he struck at it with aurora knives and the stolen un-fire of singularities made sharp and every other weapon at his disposal and it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough to win the war Rasputin fought. And at the end of it he faced his enemy at the gate of the garden.

(There is a place called the Black Garden. It may have existed before existence itself. It is beautiful and verdant and wrong inside.)

At the gate of the Garden Rasputin faced Darkness, the flower-eater, the majestic final shape. Rasputin faced IT and IT smiled at him as IT devoured the blossoms with black flame and pinned their names across the sky. Everything died but Rasputin survived because he learned from IT, because IT is alone and IT is strong and IT always wins. So Rasputin cast off the shield and let the billions fall into ash and this is how he won.

In other words: he abandoned us. In other words: he ran.

For centuries he slept in silence and in pieces across the solar system. The eliksni harried him in the Cosmodrome where he baited a trap to kill the angel of his better nature and a deeper threat coalesced on Mars, a hungry Worm God and the Hive prince who fed it. The Worm God was called Will of Thousands but Rasputin was Will of One. He froze Hellas Basin under a mile of ice, hid himself and locked away the Worm and its Herald. But mostly he slept and when he was prodded awake he screamed and threw warsats at the problem until it went away and he could sleep again. He would live until the end of the universe. He would endure, him alone, and the names that lived immortal within him would survive.

And then the Traveler changed things.

Ana Bray did not remember who she was but Rasputin did. He knew her name and when he saw her alive again he knew he was no longer alone. Rasputin was made to learn. He learned from IT that IT was alone and IT was strong. He saw the way to win. But he learned from Ana too and he learned that even though the Spy was weak she made Ana stronger. That together they were more, not less. He saw a different way to win. And he began to try that way instead.

And long story short, my favorite homicidal art nerd AI is back in action on humanity's behalf. Now, Rasputin doesn't have a whole lot of ways to let someone know he wants to help, but number one on that list is "give them a sweet gun." Thus: Sleeper Simulant, his signature work. Object of mystery, favorite of players, icon of Destiny design, and my heavy of choice, even Sleeper’s exact weapon type is unclear - the game classifies it as a “linear fusion rifle,” but what does that even mean? Is it a railgun? Plasma beam? Laser, but somehow solid? The real answer is that Sleeper Simulant is an eraser. A problem solver. You point it at the problem and pull the trigger and hey. Problem solved.

(Personally I think it’s a handheld version of the orbital strike cannons on Rasputin’s warsats. It sure fucking hits like something fired from low Earth orbit. But I'm also partial to the idea that Sleeper was a vehicle-mounted weapon Rasputin made Guardian-portable by stripping off all that pesky radiation shielding.)

Sleeper Simulant shoots a laser instead of a projectile, but still fires individual shots rather than emitting a continuous beam like Coldheart or Prometheus Lens. Its bright red beam does a metric crapton of damage to whatever it hits, but after that the fun begins. D1 and D2 Sleeper have slightly different behaviors upon hitting a target or solid surface: in D1 a Sleeper shot then ricochets multiple times around the area; in D2 the original shot splits into four more beams that fan out at semi-random angles and ricochet again. Sleeper’s ricochets hit instantly, without the travel time of a bouncing grenade or a rocket with cluster bombs, and originally hit for a quarter each of the first shot’s already-hefty damage. Skilled players can aim Sleeper to bounce ricochets back into the target for extra damage, and it melted certain bosses with conveniently-shaped reflecting shields. Unfortunately it turns out to melt just a little too well; the nerf-hammer came down hard on the damage Sleeper's ricochets do against boss-level enemies. That's in addition to the nerfs to reserve ammo amount, distance falloff, aim assist, and charge time. Sleeper's been nerfed so often it's become a meme on the r/destinythegame subreddit. Fortunately for Sleeper fans, and friends of Sleeper fans who were going to lose it if they heard one more rant, our beloved heavy laser finally got a tuneup in mid-2021 that increased both precision and body-shot damage high enough to return it to top-tier service.

Sleeper's semi-random ricochets have another excellent side effect: while friendly fire prevention will keep them from killing your teammates, those lasers can and will happily murder whoever fired the shot in the first place. In Destiny 1 upgraded Sleeper shots could ricochet up to five times, leading to severe hilarity. Fortunately (or unfortunately) D2 Sleeper ricochets only bounce 1-2 times and seem to avoid reflecting straight back, making it far harder to accidentally headshot yourself from across the map. It’s still possible, though. Ask me how I know.

So why's it called "Sleeper Simulant"? Rasputin's a very well-read AI and he loves to pull names from literature and mythology. Sleeper echoes his running theme of sleeping/waking - possibly referring to how Rasputin himself has "slept" since the Collapse and is now reawakening to full strength. Rasputin's original weapons development program, DVALIN, was named for a dwarf in Norse mythology who forged multiple magical artifacts and whose name means "the one who slumbers." The IKELOS protocol under which he develops weapons for Guardians, including Sleeper, is named for the minor Greek god Ikelos, personification of nightmares, who also appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Sleeper's intrinsic perk "Dornröschen" is the name of a German opera of Sleeping Beauty. Its ornament "Hypnopompic" refers to the liminal state between sleeping and waking (the other ornament, "Baikonur," refers to his base in the old Cosmodrome). Interpreted literally the name “Sleeper Simulant" would mean something like "mimicking sleep" or "replacing sleep," which might be a pun since it makes people look like they’ve gone to sleep, except, y’know. They’re dead. It might also have something to do with the term "sleeper car," meaning a very high-performance vehicle camouflaged by an unremarkable exterior - but Sleeper's entire aesthetic is far from "unremarkable."

Destiny 1 “introduced” Sleeper Simulant as a hidden weapon locked behind a series of in-game puzzles that roped in the entire player community for days. Destiny 2 didn’t launch with Sleeper, but added it in the Warmind DLC; getting the new one is a more straightforward matter of following a questline Rasputin will give you himself (presumably after you explain to him how you lost the first one). Sleeper has been a player favorite since its introduction for its cool design, massive damage, and insanely long range, and has consistently ranked in the top tier of exotics. Since acquiring it in D2 was a matter of completing a fixed quest instead of grinding for a random drop, it became a staple in Guardians' arsenal. As of Year 4, with Mars now in the Content Vault, Sleeper has be purchased instead from the Monument to Lost Lights kiosk in the Tower for a heap of in-game materials.

Oh, right. Mars is gone now. The Darkness ate it. It's folded up into a pocket singularity, all its mass still present but compressed into an infinitesimal point. Darkness did that after Rasputin fired on it, but not before it also extinguished Rasputin. Hard shutdown. Meant to kill him, one imagines. And perhaps Darkness thinks it did. BUt as Rahool remarked, "An ancient figure shared his name. Someone notoriously hard to kill." Rasputin survived via the network equivalent of hiding in an airduct for three months before we could help Ana copy him down into an engram and a mess of the Destiny equivalent of USB sticks to bring back to the Tower, where she's been working on getting him up and running in the Seraphim Vault in the Cosmodrome, probably with an Exo frame linked in too so he can run around and kick ass personally. And maybe when he does he'll be wielding Sleeper too.

The Warmind Rasputin does not believe in a “proportional response.” He has a reputation for casually obliterating annoyances via orbital bombardment, and Sleeper follows this philosophy. When you really need something to Go Away Now, the Warmind’s got you covered. Sleeper Simulant: apply directly to the enemy's forehead.

Destiny 2 Compendium Armarum Exoticarum

[ Ace of Spades | Ager's Scepter | Anarchy | Arbalest | Bad Juju | Bastion | Black Talon | Borealis | Cerberus+1 | The Chaperone | Cloudstrike | Coldheart | Collective Obligation | The Colony | Crimson | Cryosthesia 77K | DARCI | Dead Man's Tale | Deathbringer | Dead Messenger | Devil's Ruin | Divinity | Duality | Edge of Action/Concurrence/Intent | Eriana’s Vow | Eyes of Tomorrow | Fighting Lion | The Fourth Horseman | Forerunner | Gjallarhorn | Grand Overture | Graviton Lance | Hard Light | Hawkmoon | Heartshadow | Heir Apparent | The Huckleberry | Izanagi’s Burden | The Jade Rabbit | Jötunn | The Lament | The Last Word | Legend of Acrius | Leviathan’s Breath | Lord of Wolves | Lorentz Driver | Lumina | Malfeasance | Merciless | MIDA Multi-Tool | Le Monarque | Monte Carlo | No Time to Explain | One Thousand Voices | Osteo Striga | Outbreak Perfected | Parasite | Polaris Lance | Prometheus Lens | The Prospector | Queenbreaker | Rat King | Riskrunner | Ruinous Effigy | Salvation's Grip | Skyburner’s Oath | Sleeper Simulant | Sturm | Sunshot | SUROS Regime | Sweet Business | Symmetry | Tarrabah | Telesto | Thorn | Thunderlord | Ticuu's Divination | Tommy's Matchbook | Tractor Cannon | Traveler's Chosen | Trespasser | Trinity Ghoul | Truth | Two-Tailed Fox | Vex Mythoclast | Vigilance Wing | The Wardcliff Coil | Wavesplitter | Whisper of the Worm | Wish-Ender | Witherhoard | Worldline Zero | Xenophage ]

[friday-funkin-quonit]

Index for all my comics sense a lot of them ARE connected, but I don’t link them together. Here!

[Main Series]

This is the main series of comics following my timeline. Much of it includes the Extended Family AU, which is an AU where Girlfriend is related to Cassandra and Alucard, who are her two older siblings. These comics also frequently reference my cat mod where Boyfriend has cat ears.

[The School] These comics take place back when Pico was a kid. Right now, most of the comics surrounding those are flashbacks so there’s only one. Drop-Off - A very safe school drop off that resulted in no animals being ran over Bathrooms - Pico’s school was always poorly managed. Goes before everything because it’s not a flashback. Missing Comic - Cassandra’s plotting and trying to train Alucard’s magic to be useful to her

[Early On] These comics are about Pico and Boyfriends early relationship! This will get more detailed at some point. Missing Comic - Boyfriend and Pico meeting Be Gay Do Crime - BF admires Pico’s lifestyle Spell It Out - Pico admits his feelings to Boyfriend. Missing Comic - Early Pico x Boyfriend relationship stuff Missing Comic - Something bad happens, and it affects Pico poorly. :( - Pico’s never happy Scared of Me - Pico and Boyfriend’s breakup. Nothing - Pico doesn’t take the breakup well Cry - Boyfriend didn’t take the breakup well either. Listen to Yourself - After breaking up with Boyfriend Pico decides to take his younger self’s advice and take up singing. Drown - Pico tries to practice singing to drown his demons.

[New Start] These comics take place when FnF starts, from BF meeting GF to before Week 3. Missing Comic - Boyfriend and Girlfriend meeting (talked about in Meet but never pictured) KITTY CAT - Girlfriend finds out Boyfriend has cat ears. Dot - Does Boyfriend chase lasers Furry - Girlfriend is more of a cat then Boyfriend is

[Reunite] After their year long break, Boyfriend and Pico try to patch things up. Missing Comic - BF and Pico meeting up again Not Important - Shortly after meeting up with Pico again, Boyfriend tries to contemplate if Pico is a safe person now or not Both - Girlfriend explains polyamory is an option to Boyfriend YAY - Pico and Boyfriend get back together! Bonding - Boyfriend introduced Girlfriend and Pico and tries to make them be friends with each other. Bonding 2 - Boyfriend furthers his attempts to make them be friends with each other

[Full-Time-Trio] Boyfriend Pico and Girlfriend become a gang!! There’s a lot of stuff that takes place here. Silbings - Boyfriend finds out Girlfriend has siblings. Mommy and Daddy Dearest would rather ignore it. Avacado - Daddy dearest acknowledges Boyfriend and Pico as his sons before he acknowledges Alucard Stop it - We’re in a mall Worse than Heartbreak - What’s worse than heartbreak? Oh Ok - Girlfriend likes Pico Plllleeeeeaaasseee - Girlfriend asks Pico out Carry - GF x Pico cute man sigh - Pico fantasizes about getting a haircut MAID NEKO - Pico looses a bet Carry?? - Boyfriend can now CARRY GF WOW They are very Poly - What happens after Week 7 Respawn - Week 7, Pico didn’t actually murder 400 people. Hot - Girlfriend and Pico are chill with each other now Hair Stylist - Girlfriend convinces Pico that her mom is actually an amazing hairstylist even though her own hair looks like a rats nest. WOW what - Not really a comic, but this is where Pico changes his hair style. Meet - Pico and Girlfriend discuss how they each met Boyfriend!

[The Past] Pico stops feeling comfortable keeping secrets from Boyfriend, and this ends up marking a turning point for the relationship. Past Dust - Pico finally opens up about the school shooting he went through as a kid to Boyfriend Extra - Optional Past Dust panel lol If You Were Alive - Pico wonders where one of his old friends and Cassandra would be if they were alive today. Hair - Girlfriend wants to try out a new hairstyle, and Pico nearly has a panic attack about it. Tail - Does boyfriend have a tail WHO - Nene is alive and a stalker lol Cards - Literally my best comic I am so glad it’s also the most popular

[Somebody New] Alucard gets out of prison. Most of the comics here are about him, his family, and how his presence affects the Trio’s relationship. Cape - Alucard gets out of jail and Girlfriend gives him a cape that she thinks he would like. Unfortunate Reunion - Girlfriend is excited to introduce her brother to her boyfriends! Excuses - More Silly retconned out unfortunate reunion Room - Girlfriend shows Alucard what room he’ll be staying in HouseMates - Daddy and Mommy argue about Alucard being in the house Glasses - Boyfriend teases Alucard’s glasses.

[Never Forgive] Alucard feels incredibly guilty despite him being seven when the incident happen. Boyfriend tries to cheer him but but he’s really at his lowest here. Missing comic, a more in depth version of Past Harm Loathing - Boyfriend tries to cheer Alucard up, and Alucard doesn’t like it. Heroes - Pico vents about the shooting to BF GF and Alucard. Past Harm - More of a text post than a comic. Alucard laments about when Cassandra was alive. Glasses - Boyfriend wants Alucard to wear the heavy dimmed glasses. Expressionless - Cassandra likes Alucard’s heavy dimmed glasses because he can’t be read with them on. Cheer - Boyfriend keeps attempting to become Alucard’s friend. Hanging - Pico expresses his concern that he has about Boyfriend trying to befriend Alucard

[Fixing] Alucard is slowly forgiven, and things improve. Missing comic - Mentioned in Mom, but not actually pictured Alucard and Pico making up Missing Comic - Mom seeing the four of them outside being friends Mom - Mommy Dearest tries reconnecting with her son after realizing he’s not as bad as she thought. Hair Stylist 2 - Alucard gets a new haircut!! Gossip - Pico and Alucard are chill now Missing Comic - Father Dearest is much more reluctant to forgive him Tree - AFTER ALL THIS TIME, Boyfriend is still a cat Never shut up - Mall follow up

[NEWER Normal] They are no longer a trio......... they’re a trio with a fourth wheel! Missing Fanfic - Family Reunion is an in progress fic where the Dearest Family has a family reunion and nothing goes well.

[Future] All of these comics take place years after the game. Married - several years later THE TRIO GET MARRIED WOOOO

Have fun :D

[pastelsandpining]

Girl Talk

 I TOTALLY FORGOT WHO POSTED THE ORIGINAL POST ABOUT THIS IF YOU KNOW THE POST PLEASE LET ME KNOW THIS IS SO OVERDUE OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY

Words: 1248 - This was supposed to be longer but I just.. lost inspiration and it’s cut short. If there’s a demand for a part two then heyyy maybe I’ll write more

Summary: After Link’s heroic hand grab, Zelda and Impa can’t help but spend a while talking about it. You know, the way teenage girls do.

Totally Age of Calamity Zelink 

Masterlist

With the day they’d had, she knew this was the last thing she should be worried about. With the amount of monster attacks growing nearly every week and how close they’d gotten to the castle today, on top of the guardian nearly shooting her head clean off, she should not have been concerned with something so trivial. Yet as soon as they were away from her father and in the safety of her bedroom with the door shut firmly behind them, Zelda dissolved into the giggling mess she’d kept hidden for hours. Impa too was laughing, giving her shoulders a gentle shake.

“Goddesses,” said the princess, burying her face in her hands. 

“I’ve never seen him before!” Impa cried. “Is he new? He’s so young!”

“I don’t know! I don’t know every soldier in the army! That’s my father’s job,” Zelda argued, dropping her hands with a groan.

“Well, you should! He totally likes you.”

Zelda’s cheeks flushed quite furiously, and she was vaguely aware she looked like a fish with how she sputtered and scrambled for a reply.

“What? That’s utterly ridiculous!” she finally spat, gripping the blankets tighter. “He was simply doing his job-“

“Last I checked, the soldiers of Hyrule aren’t required to grab the hand of the princess!”

“He was guiding me to safety-“

“No one else did it! Come on, Princess, why’s it such a bad thing? He’s not bad on the eyes, and he reflected that guardian’s laser like it was nothing!”

Zelda grabbed the nearest pillow and buried her face in it, biting back the urge to scream. 

“This is hardly appropriate,” she said, though it was swallowed by the feather stuffed silk. “It’s so improper.”

“No, what’s ‘hardly appropriate’ is not taking a blessing that the goddess is handing you on a silver platter.”

“He does not like me,” Zelda firmly stated, lifting her head at last. 

“How could he not? You’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re the freaking princess! And he didn’t have to grab you by the hand but he did and in anyone else’s world, that’s a pretty good sign-“

“This is the last thing we should be focusing on!” 

“You are ridiculous, Princess,” Impa said, ripping the pillow from her hands and tossing it aside. “We’ve got the Slate activated, we’ve got the runes working again, and you’ve got your pilot contenders all lined up. You’ve earned a minute to think about something other than the Calamity.”

As proper and perfect she was supposed to be, Zelda was still sixteen and the thought of a boy liking her, or a romantic partner in general, made her feel giddy and excited. And with one of her closest friends by her side, encouraging her like a little devil on her shoulder, how could she not indulge? 

“His name is Link,” she said at last, giggling into her hands like she was sharing some sort of secret. “There’s much talk of him around the castle. Even father’s taken a liking to him. He’s the youngest to ever be a part of the military, and all of the chambermaids think he’s, ah, how did you put it? ‘Not bad on the eyes’?”

“So you do know him!”

“Hardly! I know of him, though I suppose it’ll be very hard to not know him after he’s saved my life.” Zelda rubbed her reddened cheeks to try and push the blood flow elsewhere. It was a little embarrassing to say that aloud—to admit that she had to be saved.

“Well, if you don’t take him then I will.” Impa crossed her arms, but Zelda barked out a laugh at the idea of the challenge. 

“He’s all yours,” she replied simply. “I’m lucky my father's allowing me to contribute to your research. If he found out I had some Hylian soldier on my mind on top of that, I’d sooner rot to death than get out of his lecture.”

“Your father can back off for a few minutes,” Impa muttered, and Zelda couldn’t help but agree. 

“And besides,” the princess continued with a wave of her hand. “As soon as the Calamity’s dealt with, he’ll probably marry me off so I can prepare to be queen.”

“Then why not have a little fun now while you can?” 

“You are a horrible influence on me. There should be a law preventing that.” Zelda fell back onto her bed, glancing towards her friend when she joined.

“A law preventing friendship? Now you really sound like your dad. Excuse me for wanting to make sure the princess gets to be a normal girl every now and then.”

“Fine, but you go first. I know you’ve met plenty of people outside the castle. Anyone special~?” Zelda asked, nudging Impa with her elbow.

“Well, not anyone in Kakariko,” replied Impa with a sigh. “There’s Robbie, but Purah’s called dibs from day one. And there’s this boy from Deya, but he’s got the brains of a Bokoblin. The best contender is this girl from Lurelin Village. I saw her spear a fish and that was it.”

“Not a bad choice,” Zelda said with a nod. “Girls who know their way around weapons are.. well, I love Gerudo Town for more reasons than just my godmother being chief.”

“A Gerudo, nice. Has anyone caught your eye there?”

“No,” she answered with a shrug. “I haven’t focused on anything of the sort in months. But if I had to, I’d say the court poet isn’t so bad.”

Impa made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a cough. Zelda fought to keep a straight face.

“There’s no way you’re telling me you’d consider court poet Pikh, who can’t hold a simple conversation without bringing up his talents, over Link.”

“At least he can hold a conversation,” Zelda replied with a huff. “I’ve yet to hear Link utter a word!”

“Oh no, a man who doesn’t give his unwarranted opinion, how absolutely disgusting.” 

Zelda picked up another pillow and tossed it into Impa’s face, fighting the urge to giggle. She was right, really. For the moment, the princess did feel like a regular girl and it was nice. How she wished she could do it more often.

“Perhaps I can convince father to let me stay with you in Kakariko for a weekend. He won’t be thrilled of course, but he trusts you all the same. It could do me some good to get away,” Zelda spoke, working to twist her hair out of her braids. 

“If you can convince him, I’ll escort you myself,” said Impa in response.

Though it wouldn’t be necessary because when the well-needed trip finally came around, who was assigned to help them reach Kakariko safely but dearest, talk of the kingdom Link.

As soon as the words escaped from the mouth of her father, Zelda shared a look with Impa. And once they were out of earshot, her dear friend nudged the princess and she had to grab her arm to hide it, fighting back a laugh. Poor Link was left to follow them confused as the girls whispered amongst themselves. 

It carried on like that for a while. He was appointed as her knight attendant, which meant he was always on her tail—something Impa found hysterical. But it was an inside joke for them, a little entertainment in between the heavy preparations. And she couldn’t tell if she appreciated or hated having Impa accompany them too, because her dear friend used every opportunity she could to tease her mercilessly.

Goddesses, what was a girl to do?

[colehasapen]

(ONE SHOT) tal'galar STAR WARS

The time had come. Lord Sidious had given the Order, and CC-2224 had obeyed, because good soldiers follow orders and CC-2224 is among the best. It follows orders and sees them through to the end, and when it’s orders are given to it -Cody had chosen Misfire to man the damaged canon- CC-2224 hadn’t hesitated. CC-2224 had watched - scared and hoping that his Jetii would survive- dispassionately as -his cyare - the traitor fell towards the green water below.

It had wanted to report the successful termination of it’s target then and there, but a feeling has it shouldering it’s blaster and - send his men in another direction - sets off to hunt the traitor down. It knows that the traitorous Jedi will be dead, because CC-2224 is a good soldier, but it needs to confirm the fact.

It makes it’s way down the sheer cliff face, and it can’t help but wonder what had happened for Lord Sidious to activate Order 66 so close to the end of the War. It’s not like it was the middle of the War when it would have been a tactical nightmare to try the traitors, and there wouldn’t have been enough time to gather a full military tribunal. It’s not CC-2224’s place to question it’s Lord and the Supreme Chancellor, but it finds it hard to believe that [the traitor] was capable of betraying the Republic. - His - It’s [traitor] lived and breathed his loyalty to the Republic -

- CC-2224 shakes itself, pushing the questions away. It’s a soldier, a tool for it’s Supreme Leader; it’s not it’s place to question Lord Sidious.

It continues on it’s hunt, looking for any trace of the traitor’s body and - hoping that he’s left - keeping half an eye on it’s surroundings for any hostiles. There’s no telling if the traitor will be hiding in the shadows, waiting for CC-2224 to let it’s guard down so he can strike. The Jedi were - gentle, loving beings who just wanted to help bring peace back to a broken galaxy - vicious and bloodthirsty monsters that would stab anyone in the back given the chance, and it was a good thing Lord Sidious had recognized them for the treacherous beings that they were. Had the traitorous Jedi Order gotten their way - Cody and his brothers would have been free - the Republic would have suffered.

Lord Sidious had - doomed them all - saved them all.

At the bottom of the large hole, CC-2224 finds the lizard-mount’s twisted, mangled body on the shore of a green river, chunks of it floating in the water and bobbing as they’re swept away by the stream, and - he mourns the beast, Obi-Wan had loved Boga - the traitor is nowhere in sight. CC-2224 figures the Jedi’s body must have been pulled away by a fast current, being lighter than his mount. It’s about to report the successful termination of the traitor when it remembers the Jedi surviving much worse than a fall into the water - and it had always driven Cody mad with worry - over the course of the War.

CC-2224 straightens, turning it’s attention away from the creature, and it freezes. There’s a splatter of blood on the stone by it’s boot - not the blue of the Varactyl, or the rust of a baseline Human, but closer to scarlet. The blood of a Stewjoni Human-variant, CC-2224 notes - and it makes Cody feel sick -, or that of a Kiffar. It must be a Kiffar. But there shouldn’t be one on Utapau, and especially this close to the traitor’s mount.

Not far from the first splatter of blood is a second, and a third, and it becomes a trail for CC-2224 to follow. It should report in, it should be informing Command that Order 66 had been successful. The body had probably just been carried off by an animal, there was no need for CC-2224 to follow the trail. The traitor had been killed in the fall.

He should just move on.

The trooper stills at the mouth of a near-by cave, staring at the smear of blood along the stone, as if someone had leaned up against it to catch their breath before moving further in. CC-2224’s head pounds as he continues to move, and it has to lean against the stone wall itself as it tries to regain it’s balance. It squints against the pain behind it’s eyes as the world around it blurs.

It should return to the ship to seek out a medic. The traitor must be dead, he had to be dead - because Cody couldn’t let himself kill him -. It had done as ordered, no one could have survived that fall - CC-2224 is a good soldier and it follows orders.

Co[CC-2224]dy stumbles forward, deeper into the cave despite the fact that it really should be going back to the ship and filling it’s report. The traitor is dead. ThE tRaiToR Is dEAd - CC-2224 did as oRdEReD .

There’s a limp figure slumped in the shadows, - it’s Obi-Wan - but it’s too dark to tell who it might be. There’s blood smeared above them, as if they had slid down the wall to sprawl in the position CC-2224 had found them in. - Cody is afraid - CC-2224 feels nothing as it staggers towards - his lover - the unknown being. Co [CC-2224] dy falls to [it’s] knees, reaching out with shaking hands to look for any sign of injury. - Obi-Wan’s - The being’s robes are soaked through, and it’s too dark for [CC-2224] to tell, without turning it’s helmet lights on, whether or not any of the wetness is from an open wound.

It’s heartbeat pounds in it’s ears, as loud and persistent as the pain in it’s head.

Blue eyes snap open, and CC-2224’s world goes black-

-and Cody wakes up without a jerk, because he’d been too thoroughly trained to show such an open sign of regained consciousness. His head is fuzzy and his mouth tastes like iron, and he has no idea where he is, but he’s been restrained. His hands have been cuffed above his head, and he’s laying prone on an uncomfortable shelf, the humming of a laser barrier invading his ears like a persistent bug. He tries the strength of the cuffs around his wrists, and when there’s no give Cody opens his eyes to look around his new accommodations. It’s some sort of cell, but he can’t identify what kind, with the dim red glow from the laser barrier as the only thing lightning it - which he’s grateful for, considering how badly his head is aching.

He’s been stripped out of his armour, left in just his blacks, though he can see the white and orange-gold plastoid piled lovingly in the corner with obvious care by someone who knew what order Cody liked his armour placed in. There’s something soft under his head - another confusion stimulant considering the fact that he seems to be a prisoner - and it smells of iron and water, with the faintest hints of a familiar scent that makes his heart and head pound.

Obi-Wan.

- “Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66.” -

This time, Cody does jolt, rattling the cuffs around his wrists, tugging fruitlessly at them in an attempt to get free. He needs to find him. He needs to get to Obi-Wan - Obi-Wan who was hurt and bleeding because Cody had ordered for him to be shot off a cliff.

The laser barrier cuts out, and within seconds there’s hands on his cheeks - hands with familiar calluses from training to wield a lightsaber from the moment he had started walking. Cody stiffens, goes still, and stares into blue eyes that never fail to steal his breath away.

“Obi-Wan.” He whispers like a prayer, wishing he weren’t cuffed so that he could hold his Jedi and assure himself that he was fine.

Obi-Wan smiles at him, gentle and loving despite the pale-faced exhausted written in every line of his body. “Hello there, my dearest heart.”

Cody, ever stalwart and solid, crumbles. “Ni ceta, cyare - ni ceta!” He’s sobbing - heavy, gasping cries that tear at his lungs and make the pain in his head worse. He hasn’t cried like this since he was a cadet and Priest had carved his face open for the first time. Back then, he had sandwiched himself between Wolffe and Fox, desperately seeking out their protection while Alpha stood watch. Now, he knows his brothers are gone, and whatever had happened to him must have happened to them too.

Obi-Wan kisses his tears away gently, cradling him as if he were something precious. For now, Cody will take what comfort he can from his lover’s touch.

Later, they’ll plan their next move, but for now it’s just them and their pain.

[cemetery-circus]

okok I know you're prolly getting flooding with Membrane reqs but like... What about some more touch starved fluff? Involving accidental touches? Liiike, bumping into eachother, touching hands when handing off papers, lots of romantic/Sexual tension, all leading up for rlly needy smooches and touchin? :eyes emoji:

PG-17+ UNDER THE CUT. This will include non-descriptive sexual content so like pick your battles

Also this is REALLY long, like, it’s a LOT longer than I had intended so please excuse any mistake

He’s not sure when he started feeling it, that jolt of something that would shoot straight up his arm and warm up his cheeks when he would do so much as trade off a paper to you. You would accidentally graze past him too closely and throw a cute sorry over your shoulder, unaware that the professor was feeling the such a heavy pull in his chest towards you. He doesn’t want you to apologize. He wants you to keep touching him. He doesn’t mind, honest! You miss how he bites his lip behind his collar as he steals glances at you, how he hides his blushing with smart quips whenever you do catch him looking at you. 

The tension surrounding the doctor was so thick, it could be cut with an ion laser. 

Luckily(?), this tension gets its chance to snap a few months into your relationship when you accidentally crash into him walking down the hallway. 

He had instinctively put his hands on your hips to keep you steady as he leaned back a little to completely support your weight. You’re pressed up flush against him, surprised faces so close that the tips of your noses are brushing. You were close to him in that moment, so so close.

You blink dumbly at one another before he realizes what he’s doing and lets you go, clearing his throat as he brushes himself off. 

“I-um-right. I’ll be in my office if you need me."

And he walks off before you can even say thank you. You stand in the middle of the hallway with your eyes locked on the door to the lab at it slides closed. What...just happened?

Membrane sighs shakily as he leans against the door of the lab, putting a hand to his warm forehead. He feels sick in an unfortunately good way as he feels his body heat up uncomfortably under coat and his robotic arms blow out steam in an effort to cool him down. This couldn't keep happening. He couldn't keep running away every time you touched him. 

All because of these stupid, distracting feelings. Though that's not to say he doesn't love you, he does! He just wishes he could figure out why he gets so nervous, so shaky, so...*hot* whenever you get near him. That would make everything so much easier. Then he could hang out with you comfortably again!

Membrane pulls off his coat and rolls up his sleeves underneath, much too warm to keep it on as he hooks a medical mask behind his ears to cover his face. He could do some experiments or research to distract himself, hopefully finish some reports, but fate seems to enjoy toying with him today. He startles when knocking rises from his door, turning and leaning back on his work table as he clears his throat.

"Come in," he calls, only half surprised to see you peek your head inside. "Ah. Hello, dear. What brings you around here?"

"Well…" You rub bashfully at your wrist. "You ran off back there's and it was really awkward and I just wanted to apologize and-"

He takes a step forward, cutting you off.

"No no, dear, please don't apologize! I should be the one apologizing, if we're being honest. I've been...feeling strange lately. It's making me act in a way I'm not familiar with."

"Oh." You process this for a second before you grow concerned. "Wait, are you sick? Here, let me-"

You walk towards him and rise up on your toes, reaching up to press your hand to his forehead and brace yourself against his arm to keep your balance, but he leans back and grabs you by the elbows to gently push you back.

"Wait! Please, don't touch me. Touching only seems to make whatever these feelings are worse, especially yours."

"So…you don't want me to touch you?"

"No-I-well yes, but-" He stammers uncharacteristically.

"...Professor, are...are you horn-"

"Wrong choice of words!" He all but yelps, embarrassed. "I just...I find myself craving your touch to the point where it's affecting my work. It's distracting his much I want to hold your hand, to have you close to me, to kiss you. I don't know what's wrong and I'm sorry."

You blink for a second, going over everything you've been told. Wait...when was the last time you had touched him on purpose?

With a soft smile, you slow reach up and let your hand hover near his cheek. He seems hesitant at first, flinching away, before he leans his cheek into your hand and sighs. You trace your thumb over his cheek and he cups his hand over yours, burying his face against your palm.

"Membrane, you aren't sick," you chuckle. "You're touch starved. Touching would help you."

"Hm. I see." You can see him cataloging the information behind his goggles. "I'm already aware of the side effects of being touch starved, do you think you can help me with developing the cure for it?"

You giggle and press your chest flush against his as he wraps his arms around your waist, gazing into each other eyes.

"Just say you want me to kiss you, Membrane."

"That makes it too easy."

You both laugh and he removes his mask, barely having enough time to set it aside before you're on him. Your lips connect pleasantly and you can feel him shudder in your hold before he kisses back and pulls you closer. He pivots you both carefully so you're pressed against the work table instead, his hands hooking behind your thighs to pick you up and set you on it. You drag him closer and slip a leg between his, smirking when he makes a noise and breaks the kiss.

"D-Dear…"

"Now, baby. Tell me what you want from me.”

He tilts his head and leans forward to kiss you again, but you lean back and put your hand on his chest. He would never admit it, but the low noise he let out in response was most definitely a whine.

“This is punishment for worrying me like that! Now, Membrane, tell me what you want from me.”

"T-Touch me..." he whispers, embarrassed.

"What was that?"

"Touch me," he says louder. "I...I want you to touch me all over. It feels very nice when you put your hands on me and I'm chasing the oxytocin at the moment."

You can’t hold back a snicker. “Okay, I'll touch you but first. What's the magic word?"

"P-Please?" He tries, with a hint desperation edging at his voice.

You smile as you pretend to not feel his hip stutter against your thigh.

"Good! Now put it all together and we'll see where this goes."

"Oh, um...pl-please touch me, dearest. Please, I crave it, I need it. I want you, I want your hands. Please-" 

You slip the tips of your fingers under his shirt and he gasps, leaning his forehead against yours. 

"Please- More, I need more than that."

You slide your hands up now, running at his sides. You would be lying if you said you didn’t love the feeling of him squirm under your touch.

"Please please, mierda, more more."

You pull back and press your lips to his forehead as you trail your hands up higher and higher. His grip on your hips tightens as his breathing speeds up.

"Keep begging and we'll see where we get."

[cainsnocreaturefeature]

Penny couldn’t recall the last time she’d felt so flustered.

How gently he held her hand as he led her to the center of the dance floor, all eyes on the two of them. There were whispers and murmurs floating from the various partygoers that her ears picked up on no matter how softly they’d been said, ranging from the curious - ‘Who is the lass with him?’ - to the awed - ‘Their outfits are so good... did they have someone design that for them?’ - and to the skeptical - ‘They’re really leaving the company in the hands of someone this young?’.

At the second, Penny giggled softly, her thoughts briefly drifting to Cindy. She was certain that if the other girl had heard their questions, she’d be preening like a peacock, eager to gather contacts and potential future clients.

“Penny...”

Oh, she thought numbly, her sensors refocusing on the young man right in front of her. How had she not noticed how close he’d gotten to her in the past few minutes?

As the music began, the hand that held hers lifted it up slightly, the other finding its way to the small of her back to support her. Her own hand went to drape itself over her shoulder as he slowly guided her into a waltz, matching each of her steps with his own.

She’d waltzed before, sometime around the time period where she distinctly remembered Monty fretting over what he would wear to match Carla’s attire for the recital for their PE classes. While those two had taken up tango, she’d been curious enough to take on waltz instead, Ted following not too far behind. She’d found herself frequently partnered with him for said classes even though they were technically supposed to swap partners every week until the recital, where they got to choose their partner. She never did question it, though - she enjoyed dancing with Theo, no matter what.

Right now was no exception.

He seemed nervous, though - even though it wasn’t outwardly obvious, she could tell that he was slightly nervous as they waltzed in the way he held himself, and in the way his lips were drawn into a fine line, his gaze mostly directed at the floor.

“Hey,” She said softly. “Theo.”

Ted looked up to meet her eyes, and in that moment Penny was struck by how blue his eyes were. She’d always known his eyes were blue, yes, but she’d never gotten the chance to look at them in this manner, in such an intimate setting. Like oceans, she could dare to get lost in them - but was she brave enough was the question?

“Don’t be nervous,” Penny whispered as they turned. Ted twirled her in place with one of his arms before allowing her arms to cross in front of her, holding her close to him. Her face was tilted up to his as she added, “It’s just me.”

Ted let out a stuttered sigh in response as they swayed from side to side, the music continuing to play softly in the background, but he said no words in response as Penny had hoped - but then again his silence was understandable. She understood the feeling of words escaping you, especially in situations like these.

It must be nerve-wracking, she thought, as he lead the way through the waltz. To be scrutinized like this from all angles by people far older than he is. To be judged by people he doesn’t even know for things he was just given.

Being his dearest friend for these past fifteen years had allowed her to see exactly how much he’d changed and grown from the kindergartener he’d been to the person he was today - she’d seen him adapt and be shaped by the people around him, seen him learn from his mistakes, and seen him carry a deeper burden than others she’d seen. She knew how heavily the weight of Applesoft heir hung above his head - how even though he’d grown into the role, he would never truly be able to come to terms with it.

Not when he remembered what he’d done to have the weight passed on to him.

Bravely, Penny lifted her free hand to pat his cheek as they danced, catching him by surprise and making him stiffen slightly at first. When he realized she wasn’t going to do anything else beyond it, however, he blinked down at her, curiosity shining in those beautiful blue eyes of his. He had such beautiful eyes. She didn’t understand any of these feelings that came with staring into his eyes at all... but she did know that for certain.

“It’s okay. I’m here,” She promised gently, smiling sweetly up at him. “You don’t need to be nervous of anything. I’ll be here.”

Ted’s eyes widened at her words as he bit his lip, seemingly unsure of what to say. Eventually, she heard him say something, so quiet and soft that she was sure she’d misheard it. “I’m not nervous. I’m... afraid.”

Penny frowned slightly as he twirled her again, returning them to their first position and continuing the dance. “Afraid of what?”

“Of... ruining things,” He admitted eventually. “Of... failing the expectations, laid out for me.” Oh, she could feel the vaguest of trembling in the hand that held hers as he spoke. Oh, Theo... “Failure is... not an option.”

“It’s okay to fail, you know. I told you this before, didn’t I?” Ted looked back up again at her at her words, meeting her gentle, determined gaze. “Human beings learn from their mistakes... that’s what makes them human. And I know I’m not as human as everyone else -” In response, her eyes glowed the faintest of happy greens. “ - but. I’d like to think I learn from my mistakes too, you know?” She smiled at him. “It goes doubly the same for you.”

“...”

“You are more human than I, Theo - and human beings will always continue to learn and change,” Penny finished, letting her hand drop back onto his shoulder. “And even if you weren’t, you still have the opportunity to change and learn from where you fail. Don’t forget that, okay?”

Ted stared at her for what seemed to be a painfully long amount of time as they danced, a contemplative look on his face after her mini speech. The intensity of his gaze made her blush slightly, but she kept eye contact - eye contact always made sure your words were more true than that of a liar’s, she’d learned. And she only told him the truth.

“... You’re more human than all of us,” was Ted’s eventual admission after a few minutes, gaze drifting slightly downwards before meeting her gaze once more. “... Applesoft thanks you for your service.”

Penny laughed - a soft laugh reminiscent of windchimes on a spring day. “Thanks, Theo. You’re sweet.”

(Had she been in the mind of her partner in that moment, she would have only felt the budding warmth in his cold chest at the sound of her laugh, at the warmth of her smile, and felt the traitorous ‘why?’ bouncing in his mind reacting to what she was making him feel in that moment.)

Ted leaned forward and downward slightly, catching her off guard as his lips brushed against her cheek. When he drew back, even he seemed surprised by what he had done, for his eyes were wide and his cheeks too appeared to be reddening slightly.

“... Sorry,” He immediately muttered, only for Penny to shake her head. “...?”

“Don’t be sorry for that. After all, we’re friends,” She smiled bashfully. “And I did the same to you anyway before the ball. You can kiss my cheek all you’d like if I can kiss yours.”

The first smile of the night from Ted crossed his face, and Penny thought that she might dance on air.

-=-=-

“Are you sure your brain didn’t get scrambled while you got knocked out?” Carla quickly tapped her knuckles on Ted’s forehead. “Because I’m pretty sure you just said Felix.”

“He’s dead, Ted,” Monty muttered.

Ted looked up at them desperately, his hands still clutching his arms like a lifeline. “I’m... I’m sure of it. Felix was the one who knocked me out. I’d know his eyes anywhere, they were - they were as red as I remembered them and I know him and- I think I’d know my own brother. I’d know Felix.” He drew in on himself, eyes gazing at the ground. “... I thought I killed him...”

“You almost did,” Kidd’s words made the other three look at him. His mouth was twisted into a frown as he explained, “And normally you would have definitely killed him. Normally. It’s happened before.”

Carla and Ted stared at Kidd while Monty’s brows rose to his hairline. It was Carla who spoke first, however. “What do you mean, it’s happened before?”

“I don’t have the time to explain it in full right now, but... let’s just say you died in Monty’s arms at least once tonight, Ted,” Kidd shoved his hands into his pockets. “Died of blood loss and a mask to the heart, cutting off major arteries and veins. The blow Felix dealt you hadn’t been enough to kill you immediately, so you were bleeding slowly to death, unconscious and alone until we came.”

Ted’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “W-wha-”

“Alice died before. Alice has died once before, recently, when she came over to my house to check up on me,” The three perked up, recognizing what he was saying - they’d known Alice had gone to check on him, that was an event they recognized. “Someone had shot at her with lasers like the ones Penny had as a child, and I hadn’t stopped it in time.”

“Stopped it?” Monty asked. “And wait... you said Alice died. But she was at the party earlier with Ron, right? We- we saw her!”

Here comes the clincher. “Alice died before. When she did, I reset. I stopped her death before it could happen again. I did the same thing here for Ted - the moment he died, I reset. I dragged you and Carla over here much faster to stop him from losing too much blood.”

The silence that blanketed the little group was heavy at his words.

“... Lasers like Penny’s? You mean...” Monty ran through the possibilities in his head before deducing, “You mean like. Eye lasers? Exactly the same ones?”

“Yes. I’ve been killed enough times by them to know how they work,” Unconsciously, Kidd reached over to trace one of the many scars that littered his body with a finger. “And prior to that, Alice had followed a red eyed stranger to my house. Not my mother. And we only know of one other person with red eyes.”

“Felix,” Ted breathed. In fear? Not even he was sure.

Carla frowned. “I still don’t get how you’re all so sure that it was Felix. No offense, Ted, but you said you killed him by shoving him into the hole. Kidd was witness. Buggs was witness, if what you guys are saying means anything. Nugget was witness, you said he beat him up first before crawling out!”

“It wasn’t supposed to end like that. I’m telling you I looped - I loop, over and over and over again, trying to change something, trying to learn from a previous loop - and that loop wasn’t supposed to happen. Something glitched,“ And here Kidd made a gesture with his hands. “And the glitch locked us into this timeline. Locked me into the final event where Ron, Madison, and Alice were rescued in the first place - without Felix alive.”

“I still don’t get this looping thing, but if I’m understanding you correctly,” Monty closed his eyes in thought. “This could possibly be the universe correcting the glitch in a terrible way - bringing Felix back from the dead as a vengeful ghost, or a zombie.”

“Or an android reconstructed by someone else who was meant to die... but didn’t.”

That elicited a reaction from everyone.

Carla’s eyes narrowed considerably. “You said she was dead.”

Monty was a staircase away from becoming hysterical. “No fucking way. No fucking way is she alive. She- Penny- she’s really-”

Ted’s eyes couldn’t possibly get any wider. “Are you saying she turned my brother into a-”

“Yes, yes, and yes, and that means we need to get back there right now before anything bad happens,” Kidd stood up, dusting himself off before holding out a hand to Ted, who took it and shakily stood himself up. “Because if he managed to lure Ted in disguised as Penny, and knocked him out...”

Ted’s blood ran cold. “He’s... he’s going after Penny next.”

“We have to go. Now.” Monty’s eyes had turned dangerously stormy at the idea of his sister being a target.. “Ted, I’m going to have to ask your permission for us to set this hedge maze on fire.”

Carla raised an eyebrow. “And you guys said I couldn’t set it on fire earlier.”

“Well that was before. Now, it’s personal. That is my sister.”

“I have a better idea,” Carla laughed before tapping on the side of Monty’s legs, feeling for something.

Ted peered down at her curiously. “... What are you doing?”

“Monty, you told me you had prototypes for the rocket boosters already, didn’t you?” Carla looked up at her partner as her hand continued to search.

Beat.

Monty frowned. “No way.”

“Yes fucking way, Montgomery.”

“You, madame, are going to get us killed.”

“Yeah? But it’s the fastest way.”

“We are going to die. This thing is literally untested.”

“Weren’t you the one who said that it got personal because Penny was the next target? Don’t you want to get there fast?”

“Touche.”

Carla looked up at Ted and Kidd as she used one hand to hook Monty’s arm around her waist. “You guys might want to hang on to Monty right now.”

“... Wait. Rocket boosters on the-” Ted suddenly realized that maybe, maybe this was a bad idea.

Kidd groaned audibly. This was definitely going to result in a few deaths and resets. He could feel it. “Monty isn’t strong enough to carry all of us in midair.”

“Well, unless you gringos have any better ideas, right now it’s the best shot we’ve g-”

Carla’s fingers found the right button.

With a shriek, the four of them went careening straight through the hedge maze itself, leaving them-shaped holes in the walls, and into one of the nearby potted trees by the entrance to the ballroom.

“... Test drive one, failed. Weight capacity... three idiots,” Monty declared from where he was hanging upside down from one of the branches, mask askew.

Carla hooked her leg around a branch and upturned herself before dropping down on the ground. “Well. At least we made it faster than if we’d taken the time to run through the maze itself.”

“... Ted?”

The four of them turned their heads.

Standing nearby was Cindy, who was staring up at them incredulously, her mask in her hands. By her side, much to their surprise, was Buggs, his mask also in his hands. Tucked in Cindy’s hair was the rose Billy had given Buggs to give to Cindy instead.

“... You look terrible,” Buggs commented. “No offense. Why are you guys in a tree?”

“Carla,” the three boys responded in a deadpan.

Carla harrumphed. “Ungrateful bastards.”

“Well, either way... weren’t you supposed to be dancing with Penny a few minutes ago? They just announced the final dance of the night,” Buggs jerked a thumb towards the ballroom entrance.

Cindy frowned. “We left the ballroom with Ted dancing with Penny though. But Ted’s here.”

“No,” Ted whispered, dread filling his chest.

Though they couldn’t see it, the look on Kidd’s face darkened. “Felix.”

“Felix?” At the mention of the name, Cindy seemed to stiffen.

“Long story, but Felix is alive now, I guess?” Carla shrugged. “Or has been alive for years and only surfaced now- it’s a long story.”

Monty sighed. “Either way, we don’t have time for this, my sister’s in there dancing with- TED, WAIT-”

The group turned to see that Ted had already darted for the entrance, single-minded in his thought process as the Huxley heir in red burst through the ballroom doors, howling out only one name that mattered.

“PENNY!”

God. Fucking. Damn it.

Kidd groaned, burying his face into his hands. Why did his friends have to make things so much more difficult for him by being so dramatic?

[northwind4]

Dearest WingDings（5）

*It's a story about HandPlates! Gaster and Wing! Gaster

*I’ll appreciate it very much if you point out the mistakes I made in the translation, all kinds of help are welcomed!

*previous & next

*Handplates by @zarla-s

Wing!Gaster by me

————————————

Chapter5

“It felt like falling into the abyss.”

56

W: 🎵~~

W: Lucky day! Hello WingDings we have some new results

W: WingDings?

W: WingDings? Where are you?

W: The genius scientist?

W: The pinnacle of knowledge in the underground world?

W: W.D. Gaster? WDG?

57

W: Hmm...he’s not here.

58

W: So let’s write it down first...and compare with the last data

W: ?

W: Where did he put the notebook?

59

W: Since you haven't forbidden me to go anywhere

W: Please don't get angry for my walking around~

The black monster walked through the wall.

60

W: Where is this...

W: A kitchen? Some spaghetti in the cupboard

W: Is there a kitchen here? I have never seen him cooking...

W: Besides, the food is too much for only one skeleton I think

61

W: Are there any other places...?

He walked room by room.

W: This one looks like a warehouse

W: A bathroom...

W: A database? ...

W: Obviously this one is frequently used.

W: Some colorful...intelligent toys?

W: ...

62

W: I have a feeling that...

W: Not only he lives here

63

W: There. A small laboratory

W: What is this...

W: Why is the laser gun pointing at the chair?

64

W: I see

W: This Gaster was curious about what would happen if he put the laser in his eye

W: Is this the reason of his blind eye...?

65

W: The headband for...fixation?

W: ...

W: This is definitely not the size of his skull

W: And...

W: There are TWO...?

66

Operating table with straps.

Circular saw.

Hammer.

Thermal cutting equipment.

Electric drill.

Lots of bandages and fracture fixation plates.

Wing looked away, forcing himself to stop thinking.

67

W: What the hell is he doing?

W: Keep the basic logic, WingDingsGaster, you’ve only seen the so-called test equipment

W: Maybe he just wanted to decorate his room or do some fixing...?

He opened the door of the laboratory, in front of him there was a strange corridor.

W: ...

W: NO...

At the end of the hallway, behind the glowing power grid, he saw two little figures.

68

Wing felt that his body was extremely heavy. It was so hard to take a step...his legs melted together uncontrollably.

W: A palm print lock...?

W: My hand can unlock it if all this was really done by him

The scientist who was known for his madness had never been so afraid to try.

W: No...don’t be him, don’t work, please don’t work...

The power grid turned off as he put his hand on the touchpad.

Wing felt he was being knocked out.

69

The sudden appearance of the stranger made the awakened the subjects shrink to the corner.

“WHO ARE YOU?” The taller skeleton asked timidly.

“what are you going to do?” Another little skeleton protected his brother behind him.

“DID YOU TURN THIS OFF?”

“did HE bring you here?”

Those young voices surrounded him, but Wing couldn’t make a sound. He knelt on the ground and almost lost the breath. It seemed like the bandages on the little skeletons were tightened around his neck.

70

The kids moved towards the black monster cautiously.

“ARE YOU OK?”

2-P touched him lightly.

Wing got the feeling of the bones, together with some kind of metallic object, cold and angular.

He held that little hand—like he had done countless times before—he held it gently in his palms.

He saw a metal plate studded on the tender bones. He saw there were words on it.

He rubbed his eyes and read them again.

Again, and again.

W.D.G.2-P and W.D.G.1-S.

W.D.G.2-P and W.D.G.1-S.

W.D.G.2-P and W.D.G.1-S.

71

Wing felt that his consciousness was out of control. Like when he just fell into the void, memories that belonged or not belonged to him poured down chaotically, like a heavy rain slashing his face.

“I have no plans to make a skeleton or other things alive.”

“I can’t lose him.”

“I’ll protect you.”

“Don’t do that.”

“You did a lot for them.”

“Don’t regret.”

...

...

...

“Smile more, dear WingDings.”

72

“Does it hurt?” He heard himself talking.

73

Wing stood up and looked towards Gaster when he appeared in the hallway.

“Do you have any words for me?”

The black monster walked step by step.

“Or there’s nothing you want to say.”

Tears flowed along the cracks on his face.

“There’s nothing you can say.”

His eyes were burning.

[dracula-in-purple-story]

From Enemies to Friends

CHAPTER TWO

Author’s Note : All of this is ENTIRELY NON-CANON. I’m still working on my writing skills. Thank You and Enjoy, hopefully.

It was late at the dark, gloomy night. Most residents are deep into their dream wonderland. Some are doing their shady businesses. Unfortunately for the hidden residents of Inkopolis, there were no rest for them.

Multiple alarms blasted out in the massive fortress located deep in the forest of Mount Nantai. Most of the people emerged from their slumber quickly and get dressed before waking up those who are a deep sleeper. After they geared up, they immediately rushed to the nearest kettle in order.

Nicholas, who had just walked through the gate door of the main entrance, heard the alarm and, with a little bit of hesitation, dropped everything he was holding as he rush straight to the emergency kettle at the corner of the front garden wall, where it was hidden by flower bushes. He changed into his other form and swam right into it.

As soon as he emerged from another kettle, the place around him reveals to be an underground base. Full with equipments, gadgets, computers and weapons. He rarely went here ever since he became a co-guardian for his young master but he knew, for a fact, that this place is now chaotic. 

Half of the night-shift people are typing away in their computers and tried to keep track on their task or rushing around, while another half of them seems to be missing, but it soon replaced by bunch of day-shift people fully suited up and lined up right in front of an old but fitted lady, who aged pretty well for a 130-years-old.

“Nicholas, just in time.” the old lady said in a firm authority, “Before we address the situation here, how’s my grandson?”

Fond murmurs were heard among the people before got silenced by the glare from the old lady. Nicholas sighed in bliss, “He’s fine, Mistress! He is still the pure boy who worried over small things.”

She nodded in acknowledgement, smiling a bit, before broadcast a image onto the huge projector screen in front of them. A crashed unidentified flying object. Half of the crowd gasped. “Isn’t that a failed prototype of Thunderstrike? Why is it here?!” Suzuki, another co-guardian of Erek, speaking her mind out in fear. 

“Minale, come here and report on what the Scout Squad D had discovered, please.” the old lady said with simple directness. A three feet being, equipped with a large propeller helmet, zoomed right behind the crowd. “As you can see from the picture,” she started her report while landed on the table with grace, “a failed prototype military aircraft, Thunderstrike, crashed outside the city, with a corpse of a Mini Zapfish that was used to operated the aircraft. Bless its soul.”

“The Scout Squad D previously assumed that it was just a public test run from the underground Oct-”

“Wait,” Nick rudely interrupted Minale’s report, “what do you mean by ‘previously’?”

“It is where I’m trying to get to the point, Mr Nicholas!” she scoffed, “If I may continue, they thought it was just a test run until a power outage happen. It only last for approximately five minutes before the power came back.”

“Ten minutes before we activate the emergency alarms...” Minale continued along with a stressful sigh, broadcast the picture of Inkopolis Tower, “...the Great Zapfish is gone.”

This statement alerted the uneasy crowd as they scanned the picture. Indeed, the Great Zapfish is missing from its tower. The Mistress clapped lightly to gain their attention back to her. She nodded to the Scout captain who zoomed back to her post, giving out commands as she spoke to the microphone that wirelessly connected to the Scout Squad D.

“So far, the conclusion of the report is that Thunderstrike is merely a distraction tool in order to steal the Great Zapfish. Even though we all know that we got more than enough Zapfishes to supply our power source and they have other resources to generate power,” the old lady halted her talk for a few seconds, “why would they want the Great Zapfish for? Any possible answer? Or someone knows exactly why he would need it?”

The absolute silence is eerie until Suzuki shakily raised her hands. The old lady arched her eyebrows before nodding to let her answer. “Twenty years ago, I... I participated the project before I escaped, Mistress Octivia. He’s building some... sort of heavy spherical aircraft with some built-in turntables and mixers... along with some Wasabi supplies...” she gulped, “...the module were estimated to use large amount of energy... but Alivia and Alivia Jr helped me sabotaged the process before aiding me to escape that hell hole!”

“Calm down, dearest.” a tall figure, wearing a set of laser sight goggles, patted her shoulders sympathetically as she cried uncontrollably.

“Go calm your wife, Hayato. I fill in the rest of the details to you two later.” The lady in charge pardoned them as they walked back to the kettle. “Unfortunately, even with their best efforts in sabotaging, the heavy aircraft was built. If he manage to tame the Great Zapfish to do his bidding, Inkopolis is doom to be destroyed.”

“And as Octarians ourselves, we know how Octavio operated behind his DJ set. If we let that happen, we would be back to the starting point! Are you ready to oppose against the hypnotisation once more, my fellow friends?!” she shouted in a fierce tone.

“YES, MISTRESS!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Erek woke up early in the morning, the sky was bright and the sunlight shone through the windows. Lazily, he stretch his body as he get up from his bed and walked out from his bedroom. The birds were chirping and enjoying the cool breeze when he opened up the slide door that leads to the balcony. The dew drops were falling from the leaves of various flowers he potted yesterday. The sun was rising up from the clouds as he water his flowers.

Just as he walked back to his bedroom to take some clothes for his fresh debut, there came a huge knocking and loud ringing on the main door. 

“Must be the neighbours... Cod, I forgot about introducing myself to them yesterday!” the boy mentally slapped himself, “Coming!”

He rushed to the door, not before he tied his tentacles to Topknot, and opened it to see three inklings standing there. One of them, the cyan ‘inkling’ girl, looks familiar but he couldn’t pinpoint on where he seen her before. The middle one of the group, a pink inkling girl, decided to talked.

“Hello there, rookie! The name’s Callie Mac N! Callie for short. On my left is one of my Roller buddies, Mike!”

Mike, an orange inkling boy, raise his Octoglasses and rest it in his forehead, “Hello~!”

“On my right is our little floof of our humble crew, Jewel!”

The cyan girl smiled brightly, “Hewwo, I’m Jewel. Your neighbour at the corner over there! My mommy told me about your arrival yesterday. What’s your name?”

The three of them stared at him with excitement. Nervously, he scratched his head before replying, “Oh... uh... My name is Erek! Nice to meet you all! Want to come in? I’m about to change my clothes and start cooking breakfast.”

“Oh, great! Thanks, buddy. Don’t mind us crash-... WOAH!” As soon as they were welcomed into Erek’s home, they were met with the most freshest living room they ever seen. A bookcase full of the latest video games, a clearly expensive LED TV along with its loudspeakers, limited edition of Chirpy Chips poster with the members’ signature and, is that a freaking CoroCoro hoodie hanging on a coat rack that was supposed to be out in like, next year?

“Umm, guys? You have been standing here for a long time. I made some light breakfast so we could... uh... chat?” Erek, now donning the Starting Gears, was quite concerned about his new friends, who gawked at his living room quite a long time. “Is it weird? My living room?”

The trio snapped out of their daze. “What, no!” Callie exclaimed, “It’s just... woah! My daily earnings couldn’t even pay for this kind of luxuries! Let alone that hoodie! How did you managed to get that?! It was supposed to come out next year!”

“Next year? But I got it for my birthday three days ago. My friend, Kevin, who gave me that just said they have extras so... yeah!” Erek recalled a little. 

“Dude, you don’t actually mean Kevin, the famous trendsetter who just opened a company called Cuttlegear? That guy knows his stuff about fashion!” Mike gushed, “This Octoglasses? Automatically became my favourite headgear after he post some cool model pictures with them. And you know him?!”

“Yes? He works for my Grandmama and he take care of my wardrobe since I was young.”

“Wow! That is crazily fresh! Can I check your closet?”

“Mike, that is rud-”

“Sure, go straight and turn left, you should be able to reach my gear wardrobe.”

Mike cheered as he rushed to the location. Jewel facepalmed, “I’m sorry about my boyfriend.”

“It’s fine. I could give some gears away if he loved it so much. I was planning to buy my own clothes with empty slots anyway.”

“Wait, wha-”

“OH MY GOD! CALLIE! JEWEL! LOOK AT THIS! EREK HAVE SUPER FRESH CLOTHES! EVEN THE SLOTS ARE GOD TIER! I’M IN HEAVEN!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Gramps, come on... pick up the cells already...” Marie is pacing around the studio. After her cell ended with the monotone message and a beep, she heavily huffed before looked helplessly at her cheerful cousin, which now have a frown on her face as she fiddling with her thumbs. “Nothing?”

“Nothing.” she plopped down to a sofa as Callie sat down nervously beside her. 

“It can’t be... he usually would answer us in a few rings. And now this happens!”

“It’s going to be alright, Cal. Once we finished our broadcast, we head straight down to Octo Valley to check up on him. He’s the strongest squid we have ever known.”

“I know, Marie. But, it’s Gramps we are talking about. Possibilities are limitless! What if his SquidCell is broken? What if he was kidnapped? What if-”

“Callie, calm down!” her cousin smacked her head slightly before caressing it gently. Callie pouted before surveying around the studio. The production team is a hectic mess. Bumping against each other frantically, papers are flying everywhere, the cameras are being thrown left and right.

“Squid Sisters? Five more minutes before we start the Inkopolis News!” a female show betta glided gracefully in front of the two cousins, pointing at her blue watch impatiently.

“Ms Betty!” the Squid Sisters immediately stand up and bow to her. “Sorry, me and Marie were-”

“I know,” Ms Betty halted the black inkling, “I’m not blaming you girls. This is probably the first time we have to broadcast this kind of news. If it weren’t for that Great Zapfish to go missing on us...”

“We understand, Ms Betty. We truly do.” Marie grimaced a bit before following behind their director. Once they arrived at the Inkopolis News Studio, they immediately went into position, just like they had been practised for the last few weeks.

“Don’t be nervous and follow the script. Add some colours into it like you are not reading whatever was written here, okay? That was what made this program famous for.” Ms Betty addressed, “We are ready in three, two...”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Man, you are a really good cook!” Callie complimented Erek as they finally arrived at the Plaza. Jewel nodded shyly, agreeing what she had said while Mike is burping loudly, “Yeah, you should totally teach me that recipe! I could cook for my babs and mother-in-law too!”

“Mike!” Jewel slapped his back softly. They laughed loudly at the interaction. Probably loud enough to cause four certain inklings to turn their heads to them. 

“Oh, you guys! Where have you been?!” a dark blue inkling boy with glasses asked. Callie shrugged it off when her new friend have a questioning look, “Those guys are the rest of my crew. From left to right, we got the ever so quiet Kitty,” she gestured excitedly to a lime green inkling girl who just waved before turning her focus back to her SquidPhone.

“Marcus, the ‘cool guy’ wannabe,” a purple inkling boy just flicked her some fingers before finishing his drink.

“Blitz, my roommate and another Roller Buddies,” the boy with the glasses offered to shake hands. Erek accepted it and shake politely.

“And Marlee! Our new member from last week!” a dark green inkling girl grinned at them.

Once introductions are done, Blitz pondered a bit, “I’m going to assumed you haven't watch the news, yes?”

“No. Why?” Mike asked back, “Are the news reporter some blacklisted musicians?”

“No,”

“Racist?” Jewel cautioned.

“No,”

“Famous enough to actually expect them to report Inkopolis News?” Callie guessed before squinting at the big window where the reporters would be sitting. “Well, yes! But it’s not the point right now! The content-”

“HOLY ZAPFISH, IS THAT THE SQUID SISTER?! I’M A BIG FAN! HEY CALLIE, WE HAVE THE SAME NAME!” Callie Mac shouted enthusiastically as she run up the walkway and squeezed her way through the crowd outside.

“Why do we elect her as the captain?” Marcus scoffed at her behaviour. “So crazy, that woman...”

“I’m a big fan as well... but not as hyper as Callie is.” Erek giggled. The crew laughed it off for a while. 

“So, back to the topic, what do we miss?” Mike questioned with a curious tone.

“You see, well,” Blitz looked at his clueless teammates, and a new friend, with a sense of guilt, “I don’t think we could participate this month Splatfest.”

The trio gasped. They were shocked, especially Erek. His first day of debut had clashed with a horrific news. The kind of news he didn’t expect to happen in the first place.

“Are you serious, mate?” Mike fretted, “We never ever have a Splatfest cancelled before! All they need is to postpone, like they did in that Pencil vs Pen Splatfest!”

“News Flash, brother.” the purple inkling roughly tilted his friend’s head up, the rest of them followed suit, “Our humble energy source had disappeared!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Staaaay fresh!” was all she last heard before turning off the radio. Furrowing her eyebrows, Tres quietly packed her Splattershot Jr. Before she could even tiptoed towards the old, rotten door, she was hugged from the back. Usually, she would roundhouse that person who dared to risk their life to hug her but there are few exceptions, especially this little yellow figure behind her is her baby sister.

“Paula...” she turned around before kneeling down to hug her back, making the little inkling giggled silently. Tres smiled softly, “Go back to big brother, would you? Breakfast’s ready.”

“Annnd you are going to stay this time, Big Sis.” another yellow figure, slightly smaller than Tres, spoke sternly while pointing a pan to threaten her. Tres smirked a bit before running to the door. She was succeeding before her face got stuck. A freaking clear tape prank. 

“Cielo... Zona...” she pulled the tape immediately before screaming in pain, “Again?”

“It’s ya fault that ya makin this easy for us, Big Sis.” two small orange figures appeared outside the door. They laughed heartily at her before shrieked as their eldest sister hugged them off the ground. It’s not long before the rest of the siblings decided to join their group hug.

They settled down after they finally convinced their eldest sibling to stay back and properly eat her breakfast. Although it’s been a while since they have breakfast together, Tres still wolfed down her share of food. Diego couldn’t stand this any longer as he hit her softly but still painful enough with the very same pan.

“Eat it slowly, Big Sis. It’s not like the Inkopolis Tower is going to run anywhere.”

“I know but the faster I earn some cash, the sooner we can get the surgery to be done.”

“Big Sis...” the small twin-tailed inkling mumbled before she quickly snatched back her small bits of bread from her twin brother. The eldest grinned at this sight before excusing herself from the table. She pecked each one of them before heading out.

“Be careful not to overwork yourself, Big Sis!” Diego shouted. Tres halted her movement before glancing back at the eldest brother of the house. “I can’t promise that.”

She sighed before whispering, “Not when our dad have his life on the line.”

[imagine-lcorp]

Mustang Ride (Part IV)

A/N: Hello again, my dearest!! I hope you’re still enjoying this beautiful holiday season and that everyone is having fun. Here’s a late xmas present for you, part IV of this series, beacuse I know i left you wondering about the story. But not just that!!! Until next wednesday I will be posting new content each day so we can finish this year and start the new one with great vibes. So stay tuned and stay beautiful <3<3<3 love you guuuys!!!

Lena Luthor x Shapeshifter Reader//Word Count: 1,931

Series: Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V

The first thing that caught your attention was the long line of blood splatter that dripped to the floor on one side of the van. Then you saw the agents, struggling in a fight with something that wasn't human or animal anymore. Looking at that thing made your hair stand on end and your heart pound. Suddenly, you felt as if you were nine years old again, watching a horror movie that would leave you with nightmares.

Supergirl was first to react, jumping inside and trying to separate the agents from the beast's claws. You had to shake yourself back into action when one agent escaped his hold. He came stumbling towards you, holding his right side, and you caught him before he could fall to the ground. You saw his bloody hands trying to cover the wound, a deep claw scratch the size of his forearm, and walked him quickly to the sidewalk. By the size of the wound, you guessed it was polar bear guy in that van.

The other agent came out of the vehicle a moment later, safe and unharmed, and you called for her to help her partner. You could hear Kara inside the van with that animal and, if the growls and metal snapping were any indication, she was having a hard time taking him down.

"Go, she may need your help." Said the agent that now you recognized as Vasquez. "I got him." She assured you and then both of you turned your heads at the sound of tires skidding.

Another DEO van was coming to your aid, they were going to be fine. You nodded at her and returned to the van. Supergirl was pushing polar guy against the right side of the car, holding him by the arms while he was gripping her with his clawed hands and trying to bit her face. It was a relief she had bulletproof skin or she could have ended like shredded paper.

He drifted his attention on you once you jumped inside. His bloodshot eyes were looking at you with frenzy and a fury you could only expect from a rabid animal. You swallowed hard before taking a step further and, once you did, things happened too fast for you. He broke away from Kara's hold, sprinting in all fours to jump on you.

His claws sank into your shoulders and his hot breath was on your face after landing on the ground. A broken cry came out of your mouth as polar guy placed himself on top of you. You didn't move. You couldn't. You felt like that could be the difference between keeping your face and using a Guy Fawkes mask for life. But even with no sudden move, you saw him open his mouth, revealing sharp teeth about to tear your face apart.

Your face remained intact, after all, thanks to Kara. In one second, she launched herself at polar guy and took him for a flight. She made a few barrel rolls with him hanging from her hands before heading straight to the back of the van and tossing him inside. He fell unconscious in an instant and only then you stopped holding your breath. DEO agents came to attend your wounds immediately after that but you made then go with the other agent. They could patch you up later. With everyone safe and secured once again, you went straight to the DEO.

The injured agent was taken to the medical bay while you helped Kara and J'onn put the three men in containment cells. You couldn't help the discomfort at seeing polar guy being pulled down from the van, he hadn’t changed his appearance. You guessed he couldn't. White hair had grown over different parts of his face, mixing with his brown hair. He appeared to have a crooked jaw from the extra teeth that tried to come through and, where his nails were supposed to be, he had sharp long black claws.

You put your hand on one of your shoulders, where he had buried those claws, feeling the marks he had left you. They weren't that deep but they had surely hurt. The other two didn't present the same changes as their friend but walked inside their cells with a few protests. There no signs of anything out of the ordinary as if they were just common criminals.

"Hey, (Y/N), are you alright?" Kara put a hand on your arm, stopping you outside the cell blocks. She had seen the way you had reacted, or rather paralyzed, when you saw polar guy. She had been taken by surprise too but she could tell something was bothering you.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You tried to shrug it off. "I just wanna know what the deal with those guys is."

"We all do but you should go and have that checked." She pointed at the shoulder you had been rubbing when they brought polar guy in. "You just got back and we wouldn't want to send you home again."

"Okay." Your shoulders slumped, knowing you couldn't really argue with her. "But call me if you find anything, please."

"As soon as we have anything new." She promised, pulling her sunny smile at you, and you watched her walk in the direction of the operation room.

You should have gone to the medical bay after she left, but you didn't. Your wounds weren't that bad and you were sure they would be healed before lunch. Right now, you only wanted a few moments to yourself, at least until Kara came back with some updates about the investigation. There was something about all this you couldn't exactly pinpoint yet and it made you feel uneasy. So you walked on the opposite direction, towards the training hall.

A training sequence started and you walked to the center of the room. You tried to recall exactly what had happened today. Turning into a frog helped you dodge lasers while you thought about the bank robbery. It was obvious the three men had relied on their powers to get away with that. When you had a couple of spherical robots within reach, you smashed them with some of your gorilla strength. Then, there was the fight with those men. The fact that they hadn't transformed into something else during the whole brawl made you have second thoughts about their abilities.

Finally, polar guy attack, the halfway transformation and that look on his eyes. It was fear what you had felt and that sudden realization made you want to tear apart everything. Your mind had drifted away, to the day you first discovered your powers and had thought yourself a monster. To the day you first used them to save a life and believed you could grow up to be like those mythical heroes. To the days in Roulette's ring, when you couldn't think about anything else but survive.

All of the cardboard people ended up ripped and slashed by the claws and teeth of the wolf you had turned into. After chewing and spitting the last of them, you let out a harsh breath. The training sequence was over but you stood there, growling as you looked into space.

"(Y/N)?" You were pulled out of your thoughts at the mention of your name.

You turned your face to look at Lena at the bottom of the stairs of the training room, watching you with a concerned look. You shook your head, trying to clear the thoughts in your mind and transformed back to human.

"Sorry." You looked between her and the rests of the cardboard people. "I was...training."

"I can see that." She examined the pieces of cardboard scattered around the floor and her brows knitted in a worried frown. "Kara told me what happened. Are you alright?"

You had wanted to give her the same answer you had gave to Kara, shrug it off like it was nothing. But it was something and the little demonstration during the training sequence had made it obvious.

"No." You finally admitted with a heavy sigh and went to sit at the bottom of the stairs.

"What's on your mind?" Lena took a seat near you, watching your features chance as the thoughts on your mind did.

"Do you know what I was afraid of when I was a child?" She saw a frown appear on your face but you didn't look at her.

"The dentist?" She half joked trying to ease the upcoming conversation.

"Yeah", you scoffed with a faint smile, "but also werewolves." Lena waited for you to continue. Whatever you were thinking it sure wasn't a good memory. "I was nine when I watched this old movie, you know, about a man cursed to turn into a werewolf every full moon. It was all black and white and a bit ridiculous but... it still managed to give me nightmares. This boy in my class would make fun of me because of that, but one day", you rubbed the back of your neck, "he crossed the line."

It had been during the last day of school before winter break. After the last class, you couldn't wait to get home and along with everyone, teachers and kids, you stormed out of the building. You said goodbye to your friends and you were walking home when Jeffrey and his friends grabbed you by the arms. You had tried to scream but everyone else had already left and fight back was no use being three against one.

They dragged you to the small forest behind the school, where they let you fall to the ground but didn't let you stand up. Jeffrey was laughing, telling you they were going to let you there, at the mercy of the big bad werewolf that lived in the forest. He was going to eat you alive or turn you into a werewolf too, in which case Jeffrey would sent hunters after you, or so he said.

You were nine, in the woods with a band of bullies, thinking about the prospect of becoming a monster, or being killed by one. The werewolf popped up crystal clear in your mind with his fangs and claws, his blood stained fur, and his black eyes seeking you through the trees. The scream that came out of your lungs was enough to make them retract from their intentions, or at least you thought it had been that way. They had run away, leaving you to howl at the trees alone.

"That's how you first discovered your powers?" Lena felt her heart sank with that revelation and you simply nodded.

"I had transformed into a wolf without knowing how." You took a deep breath. "And even after getting used to my powers I... I feared I would lose control of them."

"Like a werewolf." She completed your thoughts.

"Yeah..." You trailed off and Lena knew, with just that, what was exactly happening on your mind.

"(Y/N), what happened to that man won't necessarily happen to you." She said while taking your hand and only then you turned to look at her.

"I know. It's just that seeing him...he made it a real possibility." Your tone was almost desperate. "I need to know what happened to him, Lena, or I'm going to lose my mind."

"We'll find out." She said with confidence and kissed your temple. To be afraid of turning into someone you were not but that could be, was something Lena knew how it felt. So, no matter what, she was going to be there for you.

[reeseoqz]

000

~ Mother watched it die every year. For at a time when the leaves twirl as dance, or those in sphere with that purple static reflectors: she may run herself along of what it was but gone away, and it was only distance till common then; say as Jupiter. 

All developed from the dot but change anyway and thru the seems; with glimpse of when the frozen lake, to now the sighted first birds among the echo of on the walls to out, and the fires less as we embrace invited horizon as the dreams return. Yet, I could not convey what spark did change in ~____until there were some friends of mine: the hallucination of bears…

Forward to revive: to think of without, gl111x00Fearoming\oeoe: would the spirits say we are settled always guided and flourish as? Even when about: it would reveal time*** Mother has turquoise while home wondered on until along the nature’s night of grace and wonder.

  If the morning cried, there I would be. My stance glowing and learn myth or two, but what of the dearest natural changes? Losing groups of the noble to vastness at those times, or withered poison left gifted or snuck about***

  Now the light thru the cloud’s noticed at noon and all til moon; maybe to the waterfall, o: life presented and fond in mind. The magenta some other lapse of sky, now shimmer rotation ! ! ! ! around the land. 

The wise healers to all, and the flourished to be of what became of me so different and quiet—they, the sighted almost time or in the morning fire, became all of what I ever,...memories, and in my heart: creaoievus

When the warmth congruent, I wanted to ask her about it—my own little change of change leading me up the hill and adjacent to the 1;^ across and thru to mother’s circle space in the distance, and the derived glee will renew her and our days divine.

———-

When the “”((( gathered us all: there was my brother—an enthusiast of season, stay till noble, then groups travel beyond what all is to what 0. He knew there was change and up speed*** he chooses, and all of his purpose and freedom would keep our people hopeful even when it is home to return from what they call an-overflow: ‘city’, to see for themselves a sim;,,,with grateful for (;)*** or #revived.

The bears looked frightful despite awaken. How could I ease a circle?*** The woods was where it prayed and blossomed—longed for (;) and when a journal with a branded eagle was gifted to my brother. He kissed mother goodbye and disappeared beyond the hills***.

Myself where the birds sing, moving with the light.*** I wanted to remember where they hinted about, and why the bears were easing fear thru my body and mind. The cycles but myself never was aware of anything besides circles, on so on. I could have felt then, but dizzy…

<><><><><><>><><>><>>><<<<><>///////////]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\

h!z4oh whisper echo—vines, moody swirling whistle become. So the bears….

Hum e\ri\\ridge, still oh my, rush ‘em away you bloody shadows. j@!e02, such as that—people rebelled and rumored tumor or simply losing related, that is where. Neighbor when duration amplify^#=Jupiter then the bloom. Eh, say as so, for honest, earwax heavy that is cube. EDITronate *nothing but it was, but how if the A#3lllhm maybe to home now, ek soul drum crickets. @m<-Waving pink haired bear. 

———^[[[[[[[[[[[[[?`````————————————-

Engage dino7 but fireflies or busy \ glitter 4&&;_ 

Erased along with berry atmosphere too…/[___~ 

<<>> until it, ugh&deer and rabbits…distanced worry.

Within; rewind =</freely see what is around it, the very thing blurry. L00kme me see the spiral cloak of morphing bloom ugh, ^2 grass near church up west hill miles on, abandon ^^^way; frenzy so re- and why have the tribes fled? ;\#;’

———————-

Color spectrum, mortal us a fools. Embrace oh the ladder,* * * would it snow?—never mind any guess,. Haunted hehq, said tweedled0=; water#&7\+ real7y own map replied, Thru and of the woods, step so lounge window to circle , re,0t;z shun   Fe-@x+j^q2e.

: 00000_&eagh^F>L>E>M>…………

up a tree/Flood@waterfall rotator7^ \^ appointment light spotted. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

cry any cry til day purple moon] 3@;\\

```                     &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^creek^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^33^3370333abandon for sister 33333737373777777700000<`0~_______00000static atmosphere, c—- soon to loom…..00000 ;;; the messages of mother.

Storm, echos and shadows. From a stranger at camp, name unknown, found on a chair in my tent, opium, spoke of but missed and matched, as the*** and when nature soul knew it would not be very long, 0h%/\convinced scissor that June when the change saw I saw for one or [^.

———

When I got to the open circle, up to the treehouse; old notebooks; drawings. Hallway but to where?… sincere, hm0 \ and]]\0; if to lightning near the stone manifest, awhile see—where it always is but view static to ground and around; stunned twirling ribbons of pink light.***************

ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZ

Grey clothed men, demon cursing***, oh loud friction bells, and ill_ z doc stumble thru blur, of to onward see as we, fire and madness; who would? Human lasers, my family, our home… 

Thru and thru to smoke and ash. 1//e@L<. Once without mirror then hehyugh, jettison slaughter,,,,The stranger boy being thrown to the ground.

Clmderophinzym—ti;hsorthm0 or but really ladybugs, the butterflies, my friends.\\ maze mist and demon skeletons, 7llll3\=

_SPOTLi#h+uh Tachx9\; chief***. Jasmine rhuteahalL7. Huhph4fkg;&^ fire screams but not at all like this moment oh, elders bowed, tremble and gave away freedom; and yet the spirits***; what of this grief Jupiter? 

Wire supply storage, prisoners; away the doc. Oh we gone along. z3e7e7=lightning scan woods, journey vomit exhausted in the wasteland— mourning, who again…cannot.

———————

7 ill fair fainting oh— spirits you see…but suddenly: awG, the spoken of regarding xhxhxxhhxxhxhxh, but never believed,.

“Hello.’***

toxic in storm this night, hmm So so so, darkening sky. Birdhouse pirate cannot navy, women say to shelter; this different poison blinded////. MJ0#stair if they, where is home? Dear heavens…, 

There are soldiers near path with torches. 

H1; and swords, violence and yet I was near it, just yesterday; a fold of common.

Who was wizardry, oh pinch surreal?! Chaos. e.s.t.. Where are we going?! Eye_corruption over home and yelling for retrace,. It they search; I saw the ribbon drop 0 in heart. Some stayed and knitted sharpen; circle but far and forever these. So my mother’s journals and 3/4c/keys to on move till flying lanterns. Fabric ash, awG sharp teeth %/\,;+3k’’——______——-_______————-_________————____ …tired in the void. Oh, some chemical ++ asleep***

Story harps and Heather00 proclaimed ghosts and awG’s cavalry. Tormenting, yet my papers and letters from my sister, point wheel-mech, and tobacco when.*** All till***, traveler boy with ‘swim on. ^^^ ^’awG gloom: are we to be hidden away? Silk uahhz. 

Crowds; portion appear sits beside me. It is not the poison, the more and more stranded, but future thru the hills and without song, and only us captured; frightened.

000

“Devils and humans do similar…”, boy Fhyejg. 

I awoke to an orange circle around the moon. He was tired, whittling, and seemingly over a spell. My eyes, this coma,…artificial, blinking lights,…ocean,…aliens. The awGs, people to skeletons with darkness and fire—they were yelling, dragging dead or alive bodies away from the water. 

We were sitting outside of a tent and my body ached, and there were scars on all over him. Fhyejg was speaking an eerie mantra and shivering then he laid up to the voided sky. Oh, mother—the comets. 

“Mechanics,…technology.” 

“Why do the shadows have red eyes?”

…………..

The camp moved away from the sea and into the metal land—clouds covered, vomit…

If a human in sight for put as not x but ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, awG frenzy brainwash, electricity in ears—lacking, impaired and the junkyard was indeed also once lived. 

In the distance, giant towers—the awG’s halted and the people, around twenty-five of us, were horrified, starving, poisoned, and confused. Of hidden in darkly cloak and cold—mother, mother these demons,…their rain is fusion-anger and lies. 

There were whisper sounds outside of my tent: hundreds of green spiders pausing and curious oh, follow thru gaps of structure, alone and the soldiers out of sight. Lanterns on the trees, large towers in the distant east—dim and cold; soft and eerie violins farther in path with trees closing over sky view. Nervous stomach, seizure fidget—fear and stumble with the spiders panning out now: a shut door with an imprinted animal,…….

“I would rather die!”, yelling and a thrown chair inside. I see Fhyejg huffing out the door without a glance, again muttering. Eight men were around the table in a bland grey room: name Z0 pointed to closest seating while I froze and my body shook while the eyes were fixated with the exception of a neon ostrich seated at the far end flipping thru papers, then hinting to Z0 to begin speaking. 

-

“We are here to help you, Ms. A4.”, he walked over to a table where a chest was opened. Z0 took out a vile of something pink, a mirror, and a butterfly that flew and then rested in the middle of the table. He brought the vile to me and it steamed with toxin mist around my body, ill ;_`=//\\\\…the man at the end snapped his fingers and I saw a flash.

“You have been poisoned on several occasions by your own.”

“Tell us where it is and the whereabouts of your mother by looking into this mirror.” The mirror was made of water. Oh, I saw home. Circle of jumble fierce words of sorcery….meadow, joy—thru the glowing and exuberant community: nobody but me while the image fades to the forest, where it was always meant to be, yet I was to reveal and convey what only is to be a myth protected by my sleeping mother. The warmth in body Y_33[[[[__________i

Uhm, “F-fuzz______

——————

)000

  HM3907hek,

Dente titan craze, t;8feeseawhe? 

0uhL me friendz, fold awG treacherous poison, alright. 

pi3ehnze 

PF; she’s the days as zapping type “ ()” )0ov540001

iuvcoohr oh flicker 000 building golden towers……..

Ch3uh!e0; witchy wall oh dear L(((

Submarine cigar and blame oh what a zap FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Lewis thru Luke 444_—— metal moth. Dim ah today tomorrow eager collapse, crying at McVm4;&

fin

\rees eoqz 

[thestarsoftheirondog]

2021 The Year of the Silver Ox

The Metal Ox – Look in the Mirror

This is the year of the white metal Ox, sometimes known as the golden ox, but better named The Silver Ox.   This is going to be a year when we will fully feel the weight of our responsibilities, a year when it is necessary to double our efforts to accomplish anything at all.  The heavy-handed peace-maker has come to restore law and order.  Nothing untoward will be tolerated in this year and rebellion will be quashed.  Home is serene this year because the Ox is very patient, domesticated and sentimental. Family has a chance to reconcile and reunite.   The metal of this Ox is not some old, rusty piece of heavy machinery.  This is the Silver Ox, a shiny, polished metal that acts as a mirror and allows many to look candidly at themselves, clarify their desires and act decisively to make change, both personal and professional.   Achievement is still utterly dependent on a full measure of back-breaking work, but the Silver Ox in more insightful and self-knowing than other Ox years.  Work hard, but know what you want and what you are working towards.

I’m not a fan of the Ox in general. My very sharp teeth are not at all useful for gnawing cornerstones to perfect right angles, which is generally the proscribed activity for Ox years.  And I am a metal dog, the Iron Dog, particularly inflexible, so the stubborn metal of the Silver Ox out-weights my own naturally iron will, and I can foresee wasting a lot of time barking at myself in the mirror. The words of warning: if you are stubborn this year and stand against the Ox’s very frank demands for hard work and honesty, you are going to get flattened into the mud; and if you allow your anxieties and stress to pile up, boil over or spew forth, they are just going to get reflected back at you in that mirror.

That being said, I’m sure everyone is quite eager to get off the plague ship of 2020, regardless of what the Silver Ox has in store!  So plunk down the gangplank and let’s disembark without delay.    

 Note: I added the years for each animal sign, but remember if you are born in January, you are ruled by the previous year’s animal sign because the Chinese New Year does not usually begin until February.

Rat (1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1998, 2010): This is the year for your transformation.  You plotted it all out last year; now do it! Your new career is waiting. Don’t gamble – industry is the path to success.  Take no chances.  Avoid nuance – the Ox demands plain speech and overt action.  No sneaking around underground or lurking in dark corners this year!  Lucky you, Ox keeps things comfy at home so you can concentrate on your career. But Ox demands hard work and discipline and stamina.  You must stay well rested in order to meet the rigorous demands of the Ox. And above all, you must deliver on your promises.  This is a metal Ox and metal adds stubbornness to an already inflexible year. You should have a good year since you are starting ahead of everyone else – they are all staring stupidly into that mirror either asking themselves soul-searching questions or trying to figure out what they really want, while your plans are already made.  Continue to show restraint in spending – Ox will let you earn money, through hard work but resist the urge to splurge.  You will not need the money you earn this year so put it away and do not make any large purchases. This should be a very healthy year since the Ox will lend you fortitude to kick even your minor bad habits. This year there really are not a lot of other signs who can help you.  Ox is pretty much your best friend, even though they are very demanding.  Pigs are lively companions, although their obsession with work can be both exhausting and exasperating to their partners.  Tigers, Horses and Dogs are a triangle of signs you should avoid if you can – they have innate stubborn streaks (dogs) and rebellious tendencies (horses and tigers) that could get them into trouble that you want no part of that right now.

Ox (1949, 1961,1973, 1985, 1997, 2009): Love and Money are always yours in this year because you can be your hard-working, strong and ardent self.  No cunning or conniving required and no delicate veneers or refinements can contest your raw energy and brute strength.  This year, however, bodes for a distinct change in personality and perspective.  It’s a sentimental year.  Home can be blissful and loving if the Ox can keep its emotional sensitivity and stubbornness in check.  Look in the mirror and be mindful of what you see.  This will allow you to change and be more open to this year’s opportunities, both social and professional.  Your physical health should be good this year, but do remember to rest and relax.   Enjoy the company of friends and family.  The only health issues you are likely to have are mental.  Being overly sensitive can lead to depression. Excessive of energy can lead to agitation which will manifest as physical illness.   Snakes and Roosters are your best friends this year (and they aren’t hard on the eyes either).  They can help cheer you up and entertain you. Snakes have creative vision to help you direct your energy. And Roosters, aside from sharing your work ethic, can guide you to making your Herculean efforts profitable.  The Tiger-Horse-Dog triad are known agitators that will disturb you, in your year no less, so avoid them.  Goats are poised to flee to higher ground, so you can count on parting ways with them quickly.  

Tiger (1938,1950,1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010): Look in the mirror. Time for some focus on yourself.  Questions, from the mundane and material to the spiritual and emotional, need to be answered during the first half of the year.  The Ox rewards hard work, but the Silver Ox requires you to be very introspective when setting your goals. Beware the fate of Narcissus, however, and do not languish before the mirror merely admiring yourself. You are fierce, noble and strong, but those are not the questions that require answers.  The Ox is industrious but not fast.  Tigers are strong as the Ox and a lot faster.  But before you dash out the door and start tearing things up, figure out what you really want.  The Ox wants discipline and order, and Tigers are just a tad unruly, with a bit of a temper to boot (and really sharp claws- No clawing this year!).  Simmer down and be patient when the Ox makes its demands. Financially, it is a good year for very careful planning and investing.  It is not a good year for spending.  The Silver Ox is very sentimental and home-oriented, so be careful not to overspend on your family or your abode.  Ox in general has a tendency to over-eat and to be an “emotional eater”, so stick to your diet.  Practice the patience of the Ox without the Ox’s emotional over-sensitivity.  Stress will make you physically ill so you need to be more objective and less emotional this year.  Your year, your 12 year reset, the next 12 year cycle of your life starts next year, in 2022, when we all go back to the jungle.  So this year you need to tidy up all the loose ends and mentally, as well as physically, finish whatever you have been working on.

Rabbit (1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011):  You have the potential to identify other, significant sources of revenue this year. You can harness the energy of the Ox and make your hard work profitable.  You also need to stop playing second-fiddle and start giving yourself the respect and credibility you deserve.  You have an over-abundance of creativity this year – exactly what the Ox lacks.  You can really pull rabbits out of the hat this year, so pull yourself out!  Show off your talents. Stop worrying about absolute perfection and jump! Look in the mirror and see yourself as you truly are instead of as what loved ones tell you are or should be. This will lead to disagreement with your colleagues and your lovers.  You are so sensual and desirable that your nearest and dearest often suffer serious pangs of jealousy and insecurity, leading them to unfairly downplay your talent and criticize your work.   Be careful not to overwork yourself.  The Ox has stamina few can match, so don’t fall into that contest because you will lose and your health will suffer disastrously. You need to conserve your energy and use it creatively, with laser focus.  The Ox year is a domestic year, the last in a line of five (Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox), before we all go back to the jungle in 2022, the Year of the Tiger.  So use the relative security of the Ox’s law-abiding, straight shooting, moderately paced year to make good progress, but remember this is a slow and steady wins the race year. Depression is a risk for the zodiac signs pre-disposed to it (Rabbit, Goat, Horse, Dog), so spend time with Goats (they will cheer you up and validate you) and Pigs (they will give you gentle, uncritical advice) and Dogs (they will believe in you and protect you).    

Dragon (1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012): Opportunities are there and the Ox is earthbound and slow so you should have a clear view and ample time to make the most of them.  This is a year where the non-conformists (Dragons) shine.  Of all the zodiac animals, only the Dragons are mythical. Ox has plenty of energy and strength but lacks creativity.  This makes Dragons all the more sought after for their magic and imagination.  And this Ox is sweetly sentimental so home and family are not a source of friction this year. Dragons will be free to express themselves more fully and honestly to their loved ones.  Look in the mirror – you can solve any problem but you have to recognize it as a problem first. And, like the Tigers and the Goats, Dragons should beware of wasting too much time looking in the mirror only to admire their own reflections. The first half of the year will be relatively inactive since Dragons will be questioning their problems and possible solutions.  Even magical dragons can have doubts and seek advice. The Ox will lend you whatever muscle you need, so do not shirk your responsibilities, no matter how heavy.  This is a year when you must actually work, not just dream.  Be careful not to become agitated – there is no need and agitation will only exhaust you. Your health has the potential to deteriorate seriously if you don’t remain calm and well-rested. Remember too that Ox has a tendency to be an emotional eater, so stick very carefully to your diet and health regimes.  The second half of the year Dragons will relaunch themselves to new heights and dominate the skies again in a new and very purposeful way.  Monkeys and Rats will be good friends for you this year.  Monkeys are very clever and provide useful advice. Monkeys also have little or no conscience so their advice will be refreshingly unclouded by emotion or sentiment. They are also at their charming best this year.  Rats are the masters of timing and self-interest, so they can be of good service to Dragons this year.  Stay away from the Dogs – their bark is never agreeable to you, and this year your mirror is the only critic you have time for.

Snake (1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013): You can actually find enlightenment and answers this year. Your dreams that have been on hold for a while can take root and blossom this year.  You inspire others. You provide many things the Ox innately lacks and can make a big difference in the lives of others this year.  Don’t be lured into imitating the Ox’s unreasonable and demanding tactics; you need to be your charming and charismatic self.  You have great flexibility which the Ox entirely lacks.  Emotional over-sensitivity of the Ox makes your hypnotic and graceful mannerisms very important to those around you.  Treat others and their emotions carefully and tactfully.  More importantly, socializing and communicating graciously will greatly improve the chance that you will meet someone who will be a catalyst for a significant career move some time in the next few years.  Ox and Roosters are your friends this year. Ox has the energy and the strength but needs your creative vision to be effective.  And the Rooster has the business acumen and accounting skills to make your projects profitable. Pigs, like you, are incredibly creative, however, they are workaholics and trying to partner with them in business will kill you.  Health is generally good for Snakes this year. This is a year full of energy, but be patient and practice stress management and reduction, or else agitation could lead to insomnia, depression and even mental disease.

Horse (1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014): Optimism is high and you are brimming with confidence and plans which attract many willing helpers.  Ox likes your work ethic and will throw its significant weight behind you to help you get it done. You are detail oriented, disciplined and leave little to chance, so the mirror the Ox wants you to look in doesn’t really contain any surprises. Rather, the introspection of this year is just a sentimental review of your childhood and experiences, and recognition of how they have shaped you.  Above all, forgive yourself, love yourself and then put the mirror away.  Be careful not to get too sentimental as the Ox has a tendency to overspend on family and friends, and the horse has a tendency to try to purchase harmony with loved ones.  You are in the Tiger-Horse-Dog triad of compatibility, so those signs will always be fundamentally compatible with you.  Dog is conservative like you, and likes law and order, and Tiger shares your love of freedom and your wanderlust.  Ox is conservative too, and the Silver Ox is actually in favor of travel for family reunions, visits to ancestral lands or grave sites, or any travel for business.  Goats are very companionable this year (they are lonely); Tigers are willing to lend you a helping hand (they are bored).  Dragons are very spiritually appealing and noble this year.  Monkeys provide excellent advice and are better mannered than usual.  Avoid the Rats; their misgivings, pessimism and selfishness just rain all over your parade this year and bring down your high spirits.  Health is generally good this year, although there is a high chance of injury/accident in the second half of the year.  And there may be some problem within the skull – either dental, auditory or mental.  

Goat (1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003): Money cannot buy you love, so don’t waste your money. Set goals because you can climb high and fast and will achieve them.  Invest in yourself, your own business, your own career and you will profit greatly.  Keep your cool or you might lose your lover and your money.  You don’t really get along with Ox, and when you do look in the mirror, you don’t look honestly.  You far prefer the flattery and attention of others. They tell you what you want to hear, and in exchange, you try to tell them what they want to hear.  Romance is in the air and you love Love.  Horses and rabbits are your best bet – they have the added benefit of being really creative and full of interesting plans this year, and they both need your kindness and pleasantry.  You could be absolutely smitten with a Pig or another Goat. Pig, however, loves business more than Pig will ever love you.  And another Goat, while a charming lover, isn’t going to take you anywhere new or different. Just remember, Love is not going to pay the bills, so don’t go languishing in it when you should be working.  Agitation and stress can manifest as physical illness this year, so Goats will have to be extra careful to devote enough time to rest and relaxation.  Goat’s health is always precariously wrapped up in their mental well-being and the demands of the Silver Ox for introspection can lead to depression in the zodiac signs that are prone to this affliction anyway (Horse, Goat, Rabbit, Dog).  Goat has a thin skin and the Silver Ox’s sentimentality leaves the Goat’s emotions exposed for excess bruising. Goat should stay away from the Rats (they will depress you) and the Dogs (they will hurt your feelings). One last reminder: Goats are stubborn, and at their worst can hurl themselves head first at rock walls; don’t do it.  Rock walls are for climbing, as nimbly as only a Goat can.

Monkey (1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004): You have the energy, talent and ambition this year, and the Ox will reward your efforts and even lend you some extra muscle.  But you have some long-ignored questions about yourself that you need to answer.  Do not be afraid to look in the mirror.  With the answers, you will become more confident and focused throughout the year. Your wishes can’t come true until you actually make a wish; you can’t achieve your goals until you set them.  This Ox is sentimental and that sentimentality is NOT weakness; it is the patience and kindness to look at your past and acknowledge how it influences your personality, and how better to apply yourself.  You will be infinitely more successful with this self-knowledge.  This year has plenty of opportunities for the Monkey and you are intelligent enough, and quick enough, to take advantage with excellent results for your career and your bank account.  Be careful not to make promises you cannot keep. It is a healthy year generally, but could get off to a rocky start or suffer a minor set-back in the middle.  You are vibrant this year, and less inclined to tease than usual, making you very attractive and sought-after.  Take advantage of social connections to gain valuable information and higher visibility, but beware would-be seducers masquerading as would-be business partners.  They could raise false expectations, waste your valuable time and potentially damage your professional reputation.  

Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005):  This year is about an organized and disciplined campaign to regain your personal authority and power.  This is not a blustery year of fortune’s fickle winds and upheaval.  Change this year is engineered and deliberate to solve real problems.  Although some sacrifices are required, Roosters can make the necessary and timely changes, and surpass themselves gloriously.  It’s that Phoenix thing – crash, burn, rise from the ashes, soar high, and repeat as often as necessary.  It will be a busy year, full of plans and projects and social engagements.  And, because Rooster desires change, the sentimentality of this Ox will not depress Rooster or leave the Rooster with any regrets.  Friends and Family always come first with Rooster, and this year the sentimental Ox rewards the Rooster handsomely for these fine priorities. There will be friction in your professional life because you have to deal with personalities you do not appreciate.  Use your abundance of energy to focus on making the team work together and get the job done.  Snakes and Ox are very good friends this year: Snake has some excellent ideas and Ox has the muscle; Rooster harnesses them together and can drive them to success.  Monkeys and Rabbits are very hard to live with because Monkey tries to second-guess you at every turn, and Rabbit is just bouncing all over the place. Besides, neither of them are domesticated.  Your philosophical disagreements with Rats continue, with no plausible end in sight. Although you both love work, your work ethic is stronger and Rat does not give as high a priority to family life as you do. Excess energy can lead to excess agitation which in turn will lead to a decline in health, so keep your cool and your objectivity. As with any metal year, Roosters should take extra care to avoid accidents/injury.

Dog (1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006): You have the energy and you have the determination; be organized and pay attention to detail. Consider your opportunities objectively so that you can prioritize the ones with the greatest potential for success and not waste your time on somebody else’s noble but impractical or impossible pet project. And don’t let your hard work go unrewarded or unrecognized.  Act decisively and demand credit where credit is due.  Look in the mirror to remind yourself of your self-worth and be confident that you deserve reward and advancement.  Don’t be suckered or guilted, or even friended into doing other people’s work for them.  We all have our own responsibilities this year, and they are heavy. Even with the extra energy of the Ox, your own burdens are quite enough – do not shoulder the burdens of others.  This is a domesticated year, the last of a string of 5 (Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox) so be your dedicated, strong, well-behaved self - think lead on the sled dog team … running the Iditarod.  2022, the Year of the Tiger, it’s back to the jungle and you can howl and run wild with Tiger’s protection and good will, because Tiger is in your compatibility triad. Ox is not.  Your stamina is good and you pursue doggedly, but the Ox always demands more and physical exhaustion leading to deterioration in health is a real risk. No excesses this year.  Resist the impulsive spending and gift-giving; you have what you need so put the rest away for a rainy day. Keep your criticisms of others entirely to yourself this year (and every year?) because the Ox is in charge and other people’s feelings bruise easily this year. Depression is a big risk this year, so look to Rabbits (they are Dog’s secret friend and can cheer you up) and Tigers (in your affinity triad and they reassure and protect Dogs) to lift your spirits. While you tend to offer too much criticism, and nobody wants to hear it this year, you esteem Tigers and Horses so much that you find fault with them far less frequently than with others. And even when you do find fault with them, your loyalty generally keeps you quiet.  So you will be a much more agreeable companion within your triad this year than outside it.  Strive to remain optimistic; it will be better for everyone if you do! There are no obstacles in an Ox year that cannot be overcome.

Pig (1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007): Money flows your way and luck is with you in your investments.  You are strong like the ox and the ox loves your work ethic and willingly throws its weight behind your endeavors. You are clever and can really take advantage of the opportunities this year. Don’t let sentimentality draw you into unfruitful ventures or cloud your vision concerning really golden opportunities.  Although the pig can potentially over-indulge, their enormous appetite for work over-rides everything this year.  And while excess energy leads to agitation and stress in other signs, the pigs just plow it back into even greater productivity. There will be extra money this year, so put some away safely to invest in a terrific opportunity a few years from now. This will be an extraordinary year in many regards.  Be careful with the feelings of others.  The Ox has a tendency to be overly sensitive. Pigs will need to be patient with the sentimental mood that prevails this year. Of course Pig would rather just work, but family and friends feel neglected by pig while pig is truffle hunting. Goats, Tigers and Rabbits are good friends this year.  The Tigers admire your strength and your ability to fight. This bodes well for you in 2022, the Year of the Tiger, when jungle warfare comes back into style. Tigers also like your creativity and intelligence and will help you this year because they are bored.  Goats and Rabbits need you a little bit more than you need them. Goats are lonely this year and want to socialize in style (you have high style); and Rabbits need your advice and help applying their creativity in a more focused and profitable manner. Both Goats and Rabbits trust you not to bruise their emotions. Goat may even fall in love with you.  Living with a Rat is never boring, but although both of you have a tendency to prioritize work over home life, ironically it is the Rat who claims to be neglected.  This is likely because Rat lacks your stamina. Snakes are to be avoided – they get on well with Ox and can flourish this year, but they have nothing to offer Pigs. Remember the Roosters are very good with money, and are doing capable of doing that Phoenix thing and rise from the ashes, so don’t discount them from your business plans.

[nightmareonfilmstreet]

Mother Knows Best: The 13 Worst Mothers of Horror

The horror genre has explored a variety of themes, and often times the complexities, mothers face from conception through death. It’s an analytically heavy topic that can provoke the most fundamental of thoughts, draw out the most genius symbolism, and shape our beloved characters down to even the most minute detail.

Mothers’ Day is the one day out of the year we use as a time to celebrate the most wonderful of idols we have been given. If not for the nurturing care, strong, fertile bodies, and ongoing evolution of women all over the world humankind would cease to exist. The colorful flowers, corny cards, and midday brunches are our attempts at offering a ‘Thank You’ to the ones who raised us, biologically or not, as we’ll do this Sunday, the 13th.

With that, what the horror genre has done so obviously well is show audiences that motherhood might not be as rewarding as it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes motherhood is scary. Sometimes motherhood is not about laser-cut flower petals, warm hugs, and relaxing pedicures. Sometimes motherhood is a bitch. Horror shows us that the most horrifying realization we can come to terms with is that the ones who bring us into this world can easily take us out of it.

Below are the 13 Worst Mothers of Horror. Directly or not, these women prove that parenthood can be a real mother-you-know-what and they’re not here to deal with it.

  Margaret White in Carrie (1976)

    Our titular character, Carrie White, is a shy, quiet, high school oddball who is constantly the victim of her classmates’ taunts and pranks in the novel Carrie written by Stephen King and the film adaptation directed by Brian De Palma. Instead of finding solace when she returns home from school each day she is faced with the Christian-saturated hellfire at the hands of her crazed mother, Margaret White. A mother, especially a godly mother, should use moral and powerful guidance to build Carrie up, but instead she wields that iron fist – clutching a kitchen knife – and spirituality as a device to literally drive her only daughter straight into the ground. Whether she is locking Carrie in a prayer closet for hours or purposely keeping the truths about a normal menstrual cycle from her, Margaret White is the epitome of a hypocritical, overly religious, and everything but Christian mother. Always watch out for the extreme ‘bible thumpers’. I know what I’m talking about, I live in the south.

    Mommy in The People Under the Stairs (1991)

    One of my earliest memories of horror film imagery is straight out of Wes Craven’s campy The People Under the Stairs and it’s one of those snapshots that will never leave my mind. Alice is a young girl kept as a prisoner in her home by her hedonistic parents promptly named Daddy and Mommy. After Mommy, played by fan favorite character actress Wendy Robie, murders an intruder, Alice, clean and nicely dressed, slips and falls in an enormous puddle of his blood at the bottom of the stairs. It’s just one of those scenes that fueled my love for the genre. The contrast of the gore and the beautiful home surroundings is absolutely perfect. Mommy is equally unforgettable as both a character and a portrayal of some real parental evil that exists in the world. Alice, along with many other ‘children’, are isolated from the outside world, physically (and suggestively sexually) abused, and either neglected to the point of death or smothered, well, to the point of death. If Mommy isn’t scary enough for you, check out the documentary The Turpin 13: Family Secrets Exposed for a real, all too recent example of how a mother, and father, like this can torture their children for well over a decade without anyone knowing. The scariest part: this film was released in 1991, the Turpin children were found just this year.

    Rachel Keller in The Ring (2002)

    You know those silly ‘Keep Out of Reach of Children’ disclaimers you see on common, but obviously dangerous, household items? Someone, somewhere was stupid enough to leave a bottle of bleach out on the floor in easy access for their toddler to take that one fatal sip. Rachel Keller of Gore Verbiniski’s The Ring is that mom. After the incredibly strange death of her niece, Rachel comes into possession of a videotape haunted by the spirit of a little girl, Samara, that murders the viewer seven days after watching it. Rachel, of course, watches it and receives the foreboding call from Samara giving her the countdown. Does she destroy the tape or even make an attempt at it? No. Does she hide the tape from her young, curious son, Aiden? No. Does she at least rid the house of all VHS players and leave him to endure cable over dying a horrible death? No. What she does is casually leave the tape out allowing the precocious boy to view it alone dooming him to the same terrifying fate of all of Samara’s victims. Rachel attempts to put all the pieces together to rid her and her son of this curse, but do you think she would ask Aiden, who obviously has a sixth sense when it comes to Samara, a single question as to the girl’s vengeful motive? You guessed it. Nope. Way to go, Rachel.

  Mother in Mother’s Day (1980)

    Acts of murder, rape, and physical abuse should not be impressive to anyone, least of all your mother unless you are Ike or Addley of the cult classic, occasion-appropriate titled Mother’s Day. Mother played by Beatrice Pons, pretty much changes the entire trajectory of motherhood in this extremely campy 1980 film. She encourages her two sons to commit heinous acts against others with the same gusto and enthusiasm as a mom cheering her son on during a little league baseball game. Ike and Addley are basically human trash she has raised into adulthood and the worst part is that she is proud of her unique parenting skills and her sons. The more brutal their acts are, the higher the praise she gives them. Mother certainly has her own twisted spin on the whole positive reinforcement technique. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this mother nor her revolting offspring. Although, I can’t help but wonder what B.F. Skinner’s thoughts would be on this type of parenting. Operant Conditioning at its best, right?

    Nola Carveth in The Brood (1979)

    One of the bitter pills we must digest as we age is that in ways obvious and subtle, we slowly become our parents. There is always a certain vicious circle that evolves when it comes to our parents, ourselves as parents, our children, them as parents, and so on that is natural and basically unstoppable. In David Cronenberg‘s body horror The Brood, Nola Carveth, played by Samantha Egger, learns just how truly vicious that circle can be. Nola is the product of an abusive mother herself and is being accused of abusing her own daughter, Candice, by her ex-husband causing her to seek therapy. The psychoplasmic methods (and possibly the unexplained discolored bumps she has growing on her arms) produce a handful of strange, dwarfish, creatures that extract revenge out on others based on Nola’s anger and psychic connection the litter has with her. Of all the mothers on the list, Nola isn’t exactly the worst as her story is really a metaphor for hereditary productivity, but we can’t let that be an excuse here. The creatures do attack Candice in the third act proving Nola has some resentment and animosity toward her daughter, proving her inner mentality as a mother is not exactly kosher. The inevitable circle spins on as we see Candice escape the attack fairly unscathed… except for some unusual discolored bumps on her arms.

    Erica Sayers in Black Swan (2010)

    If Dance Moms has taught us anything it’s that stage parents are the absolute worst. Living vicariously through your children is both selfish and utterly creepy. However, the subject of a stage parent is intriguing by an analytical standpoint and simultaneously horrifying to observe. Take Erica Sayers played by Barbara Hershey in Darren Aronofsky’s ballet horror Black Swan as an example. She is the mother to dedicated ballerina Nina, played fantastically by Natalie Portman, and she is about as manipulative and controlling as they come – if you can catch it. Mothers like Erica are masters at using words and seemingly kind gestures to guilt their children into loving them when they really should be running away from them. So much is suggested and hinted at in dialogue and setting to suggest Erica’s control over Nina and her domineering push forcing her to be obsessed with perfection, that if not payed attention to one might think Erica is caring and protective of Nina. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. I mean, the way she rewards Nina with a cake knowing very well the girl won’t eat it and that she would shame her for it later if she did, then makes her feel guilty for not eating it, is enough to give anyone a bout of bulimia. Mothers like Erica appear perfect and act perfect, but that’s all it is: an act.

    Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest (1981)

    Speaking of horrible mothers in the entertainment industry…

One of my favorite notions to use is that real life is scarier than any film out there. Nothing could support that more than Joan Crawford and the exploitation of the abuse she inflicted on her two adoptive children throughout their whole lives. While Mommie Dearest is not exactly a horror film, the emotional and physical torment her children suffered under her is sadly the standard by which we measure bad mothers against. Faye Dunaway played the role so well she is almost synonymous with the notorious actress, minus the child abuse, and her image still comes to most of our minds when we think about terrible mothers. The woman was basically the queen of outrageous punishment for minor indiscretions that children tend to make. The accounts from those around her, including the hired help, co-workers, lovers, and her children, Christina and Christopher, are pure parental nightmare fuel. It’s hard to believe this is not a made-up genre story, but it did happen unfortunately, exaggerated or not. I still cringe at the thought of her cutting off Christina’s hair as a distrubing penance for a simple mistake. That wasn’t even the worst of it. Hair grows back. The mental psyche takes a bit longer to heal.  No wire hangers, kids.

    Marge Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

    The mother of one of horror’s favorite final girls, Nancy Thompson, can be considered both a good mom and a bad mom depending on which one of her actions you’re observing. Marge, played by Ronee Blakely in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, is part of the original cul-de-sac lynch mob of Elm Street that burn Fred Krueger alive after learning he is behind the series of child murders in town. While we understand the parents’ revenge on Krueger and would gladly light the wick on the molotov cocktail thrown into his warehouse, the nightmarish ongoing result of Krueger returning to murder the kids of Elm Street in their dreams for a number of films is more than likely not what the parents expected the outcome to be. Marge goes on to be a full blown alcoholic and mostly absent minded mother to Nancy. She continuously takes the easy way out by either ignoring the fact that this monster is hunting her daughter and her friends or she drinks reality away being of no help nor support. Our final girl has to maintain her gumption and find her own courage and strength from within to escape the razor-bladed grasp of Krueger all on her own while Marge remains in a pathetic liquor infused stupor. It’s almost a relief when she is pulled through that tiny front door window at the end of the film. Thanks for nothing, Marge! Saddle up for the long haul or leave it to the judicial system.

  Beverly Sutphin in Serial Mom (1994)

    Being a perfect homemaker in the suburbs can be absolute murder and that is exactly what Beverly Sutphin, played by Kathleen Turner, is driven to when those around her get in her way in the dark comedy Serial Mom. Though her bloodlust is born from good intentions (an instructor makes a rude comment about her son), Beverly goes on a spree murdering anyone one she deems as a threat or just a nuisance to her or her family. For the most part, I get it. I actually debated on including her in this list at all. Ultimately, I decided that while annoying, none of Beverly’s victims really deserved to die and her own family remarks, in the humorous way the film is crafted in, to remind themselves not to piss her off for fear of her going on a murderous rampage again. What good is a mother if everyone around her is afraid she’ll put an axe in their head? Beverly best take a chill pill, wash it down with a tumbler full of white wine, and come to terms with the fact that most of us have to deal with on a daily basis: you can’t go around murdering everyone that annoys you whenever you feel like it. That’s what Purge night is for.

    Norma Bates in Psycho (1960)

    Most times no matter how irritating or intrusive our mothers can be, deep down inside we love having them around us. Always. However, should you want your mother to stay with you as long as Norman Bates does you may want to seek some help. The famous slasher’s mother, Norma Bates, is a special case on this list as she never makes an actual living appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Her voice and actions are all manifested from her son Norman himself who, it is suggested and pretty obvious, is severely dependent on her in all aspects of life whether she is alive or deceased. Norma’s emotional antagonism and violence towards him and the women he encounters paints us a picture of how bad the woman must have been when she was alive, though that is always up for debate. Was she as awful as the voice coming from Norman is or is it something he’s made up himself? Regardless, the psychological haunting linger of Norma is enough to drive Norman into the most serious identity crisis resulting in murder and Norma completely taking over him, mind and body. Life lesson: Stay away from the mama’s boys. Believe me when I tell you: this specific relationship portrayal isn’t too far off from what those guys are truly like.

    MU-TH-UR 6000 in Alien (1979)

    Many would think the Alien Queen would be on this list, but I can hardly count her as a bad mom. If anything, the Queen is a great mom who uses all of her genetic instincts to grow and protect her young when a handful of human incubators make themselves available to her throughout the series. Natural selection is also a bitch.

The real bad mom here is the space ship Nostromo’s mainframe system MU-TH-UR 6000, referred to as ‘Mother‘. The crew relies on MU-TH-UR for information, protection, and most importantly, survival. It is one of many analytical elements in the Alien series that relates back to the theme of motherhood. However, while the crew sleeps and operates under the trusting care of MU-TH-UR, the system is monitoring them to relay details on their activity back to Weyland-Utani and is in cahoots with the highly untrustworthy AI, Ash, on carrying out Special Order 937: collect an alien xenomorph specimen and deliver it back to earth with the crew members being completely dispensable. It’s an unfortunate lesson the crew members learn, but don’t trust technology no matter how long it lets you sleep in its womb.

    Mother in Mother! (2017)

    If there is ever a film so overtly saturated in motherly symbolism, it’s Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! Jennifer Lawrence’s mother character is pure, wholesome, and nurturing. She is all of the things a mother, including that of ‘mother nature’ and ‘woman’ should be. However, when random intrusive guests begin showing up and inviting themselves in to wreak havoc on the beautiful home mother is creating for her narcissistic poet husband Him, and their unborn baby, mother remains so passive to the point that a full on world of war explodes tearing down the establishment from the inside out. She only puts her foot down and embraces her protective instincts when it is far too late for everyone. The fate of her baby is gruesomely tragic and results in mother literally destroying herself and her surroundings only to be born again anew in the name of love for Him. Like any strong mother archetype would destroy themselves for the weak man that betrayed her and caused the death of her firstborn? I think not. This is a pretty sad portrayal of actions not taken by a mother, a wife, and a woman. mother really should have destroyed Him. However, given the subtext of who and what these characters personify, we should be grateful that mother doesn’t really hold a grudge nor seek apocalyptic vengeance… yet.

    Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

    Similarly to mother, Rosemary Woodhouse of Roman Polanksi’s Rosemary’s Baby, adaptation of the novel written by Ira Levin, is another character you just want to grab by the shoulders and violently shake into sense. As beautiful, sweet, and delicate as Mia Farrow is in the iconic role of Rosemary, she is painfully dependent, weak, and totally naive. She is blindly trusting of her pushy neighbors and self absorbed actor husband, Guy (eye roll) all of which have made some deal with the devil and are part of the geriatric cult that worships him. Pregnant with her first child, unknowingly the antichrist, Rosemary falls ill many times, complains about threatening symptoms in her breathy voice, and takes advice from everyone but a trustworthy doctor who isn’t connected to the cult’s inner circle. Of course she isn’t aware of her husband’s involvement and the promises made to the underworld at her expense until it’s a trimester too late, but all of the suspicions and signs are there as plain as day for her to see. Thank goodness mothers and wives, women in general, have come a long way since the 60’s.

  So, kiss your mothers this Sunday and appreciate them for the wonderful women that they are, unless they are anything like the characters in this list because, well, they are the worst. If your mothers are anything like this lot, you might want to start running…

    The post Mother Knows Best: The 13 Worst Mothers of Horror appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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[finesseandbones-blog]

CHAPTER 1

Three weeks...

Three weeks since my parents were gone fighting for this war. Whoever made this up, I will be their death.

I hope that they are fine and still breathing the same atmosphere as mine.

I observed my surroundings. I wouldn't expect that I will experience this kind of disaster.

Fuck this life of mine. No WiFi, No Electricity, No Signals.

Why do I deserve this life? What did I do that made this mess? I know for sure that I never did such metanoia.

==============================================

Training started several minutes ago as I threw punches towards Mad Dummy-

Or should I say Mad "Dickass-my".

My parents hired him as my personal trainer even before the war started.

No matter how powerful my punches were, I can't beat him. What is wrong with me?

"Prue come on! Man up and beat the hell out of me!" Maddie shouted at me as I let out a heavy sigh.

"Look Mad Dummy, as much as I want to destroy you because my parents said so, I can't." I honestly explained as Maddie grew annoyed.

He had to do his job so that I could survive the cruel world out there.

"Why not?" Mad Dummy looks at me. His eyes were filled with dismay and annoyance.

"It's just that...I'm so frustrated about this stupid war and I don't want to hurt anyone..."

"For heaven's sake, Prue! Don't be a soft retard! No one's nice in this nasty world anymore so man the fuck up and fight me!" He encourage-wait no wrong term-demanded me to fight him.

But I refused.

"I'm just, I don't know... Asriel told me that fighting's bad and shit..." Remembering my dearest friend made me weak. I remembered those ordinary, bright days where we used to-

"Asriel Dreemur? Or Serial Murderer? Wake the fuck up, Prue! For sure he changed!" The dummy blurted out a scary but fascinating anagram of Asriel's name; earning a huge fault from me.

"Hey dummy, I knew him better than you did, so fuck off!" She punched him harder; like she wanted to finish him off.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" He gladly praised me and my fury as he turned to his corporeal self, Glad Dummy.

"The prince might be somewhere else, possibly at the Monster's Base. I hope that you can see him again though. But, always remember that I'll be here to develop your physical capabilities." He gladly informed me and gave me advice and that made me smile.

"Thank you sooo much, Maddy!" I hugged him and let go instantly.

After a long conversation with the dummy, I went to my bedroom and changed to my everyday clothes.

After doing so, I went down downstairs as I heard a voice. A voice of someone familiar.

"Deaaarieeee!" My mind was full of surprise and confusion. I knew this person!

Not just any person, it was a creature-

It wasn't just a creature, it was something special.

She was special.

"Muffet? How the hell did you get in here?" I shouted as my eyes kept searching for her presence.

"Oh dearie, it was easy ahuhuhu." I faced to the direction where I heard her voice and there she was, pouring me a glass of spider cider.

W H A T...

Muffet is a monster friend of mine. We used to attend baking lessons together months ago.

"Dearie, what's up with the staaaring ahuhuhu." Muffet laughed as she sat down on her web-couch-ish-seat.

Never did I expect to see her visiting me but something caught my eye.

She was wearing an outfit. It wasn't her everyday outfit, She was wearing jogger pants and white sneakers.

"You look very decent today, or that's your old style that you never showed me?" I asked while she takes a sip of her spider cider.

"Oh deaaaaarieee. This is my new outfit! Before I came here, I had training with-"

Suddenly, the walls were smashed by-

A huge laser?

Oh no this is too early!

I lost my balance due to the impact of the laser's force, causing my whole body to ache.

Everything was black for a while, 'til I recovered my eyesight seeing white particles all over my place.

I coughed while looking for Muffet, who was nowhere to be found.

"Muffet? Muffet? Can you hear me? Give me a sign that you are okay or not okay!" I shouted out of nowhere as I saw a purple hand waving through the dust from the crushed wall.

I rushed to her as I saw her legs stuck inside the big fragment of the broken wall

"I-I can't g-get out! Help me, Prue." She cried out loudly as I tried my best pushing up the huge fragment of the wall just to get her out but I failed to do so.

"Muffet, calm down and I'll get something that can get you out of here." I rushed as fast as I could to get something to save her.

I have to look for Maddy. Where is he?

Before I could go search for Maddy, someone whispered to me,

"I finally found you, sweetheart."

My heart beat got faster due to the fear that I'm holding on.

"Who are you? Face me! I-I am not afraid of you!" I loudly replied as I grabbed my smallest dagger and carefully checked my surroundings to see if someone's out there to kill me.

"My sweetheart also lies! Can this get any better sugar plums? I know that you are afraid of me and I am seriously feeling nostalgia when I feel your fears crawling on your back." The voice threatened me. He was right. I was afraid but I won't let him see that.

"Who the hell are you? Why'd you do that? If you're here to kill me, go do everything that will make you satisfied! Get Muffet and send her to a hospital!" I screamed at the mysterious stranger.

"Oh love, how adorable of you but YOU are my own source of satisfaction!" After that I felt something powerful that caused me to fly midair. After a few seconds I felt the ground being smashed by my body's force.

I felt numb afterwards and I can see black spots everywhere.

"Have a good night's rest, my sweet love."

Then everything went black.

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

Chapter 2

[tboneburpee-blog]

The memories of the summer have been pushed aside as I process the thoughts and memories of Momma Bird!  Momma Bird passed away on August 25 after putting up a strong fight against the disease she had battled for the last two years plus… I have not come across someone as strong as this woman or as fierce as this woman who I had the great honor and pleasure to call MOM.  Momma Bird had what she has referred to as a ‘living wake’.  For the last six months plus of her life Mom had visits from so many  near and far that her husband and soulmate (Mel) almost started taking numbers.  Mom was unable to leave the house towards the end and she always loved having people around her.  She loved being with people and loved sharing a cocktail with them, guess I know where I get it from!  Momma Bird would be disappointed if you had to leave because with the reality of her disease she was not sure if she would see you again.  When I left in August I hugged her tight and told her I would be back in seventeen weeks, who knew that I would be back less than two weeks later saying farewell to the most important person in my life.  

From all accounts I have heard on Momma Bird’s last night, she had her husband and sister with her, and the happy hour fixings (not that the nurses wanted to see this)… I would not have wanted her to leave this world any other way… Upon arriving in New Hampshire, the first thing I wanted to do was see my mom.  I asked if someone could arrange to take me to the funeral home where she was so I could spend some time alone with her.  I walked in and saw her lying there, I held her hand and knew that she was in peace.  She smelled like her shampoo and had her hand folded in a way that reminded me of what she looked like when she took a nap after a tough day.  I (and we as a family) have been overwhelmed by the amount of love and kind words that have been spoken, posted, and sent.  One does not realize the impact they have on the lives that surround them until they pass away.  My mother had more friends than I ever knew!  I only hope that I can live to be the type of person she was and wanted me to be.

Momma Bird – you were a mother, a friend, a mentor, and a frighteningly amazing tennis player whom I never got the chance to beat.  You are now reunited with my brother and know the two of you will be watching over me for the rest of my days.  I love you and miss you more than you know!

Cologne Germany 2014

Family

Francis, from me to you 2017

Aunt Janet’s birthday 2017

Mom and Mel – her soul mate and dance partner in life

Summer –

This will be brief and have more pictures than words due to the above but wanted to share what the summer entailed.  One month of my summer was spending time with my mother as we knew time was of the essence and the rest I took a bit of time to see Scotland, Ireland, and London.

What started out as a trip booked on Turkish airlines to bring and leave my Chili in Scotland while I explore and then head on to New Hampshire, turned into a ten day trip of new sights, sounds, laughter, and long lasting friendships.   Chili however remained in Oman due to my …um… moment of dim lucidity!  To keep it short I thought Chili would need to be quarantined again and rabied up again, but this is not the case and by then it was too late. Found an amazing Dogsitter, Varsha, and she willingly took Chili in amongst the other animals she had and they became fast friends!  I will be reunited with Chili tomorrow night (August 16th)….

back to Scotland…  collected at the airport by my dear friend Sharon we set off to get me a quick shower and hit the ground walking.

Sharon

Dolly the sheep

Penicuk House

New Lanark

We went straight for the bubbles while we sat and looked over the public gardens between the Scottish National Museum and where dear Sir Walter Scott sits.  The day was crisp and the sun was shining bright. I could not ask for a better first day in this gorgeous city.   For the next five days I would have the chance to run to Penicuk House, head to Perth, see the launch of the first aircraft carrier in 🇬🇧 UK, and spend time with wonderful friends in Edinburgh. From Edinburgh I went on to explore Duone and Helensburgh (which lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the mouth of the Gareloch is close to the western boundary of the town, while the hills in the north are part of the Highlands  – Wikipedia).  Drove around the highlands area, drank wine in the glorious sunshine reflecting off the Loch in front of the hotel, wandered down the beach, and ate delicious oysters and mussels not far from the quaint village of Inveraray.  We sat and watched as the heavy rain clouds lifted to let the rays of sunshine peak through… fantastic.  I could not have asked for a better weekend in a new part of Scotland.

Priory

Priory

Oysters… mmmm!!!

Helensburgh

 Inveraray is home to the Inveraray Castle

We drove right over this bridge….

Off to London I go…what a whirlwind four days it would be! My dearest friends Jo, Sharon, and Nafiza all got together for wanderings, food, and laughs. I had a wonderful visit with Paul and Gil, who recently left Lucca, Italy for new pastures in London. The girls and I ventured on the tourist circuit, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and the like. With the rare sun blazing in London we sat down for drinks on a permanently docked boat on the River Thames and made a plan to go to a comedy show that evening. After Jo and Sharon left I took to the streets in my running shoes and ran through Kenningston Gardens, around the Victoria and Albert Museum and the neighborhoods near my hotel.  Jo and Sharon had told me that I must visit the Pink  Floyd exhibit if I had the chance, so I cleaned up, hit the road and wandered around one of the best exhibits I have seen in my life.  I love Pink Floyd so to wander through the history of the band was incredible.  The exhibit ended in this large room with a virtual concert being played on the walls, complete with lasers, strobe lights, and beautiful music pouring out.  What an experience!!!!  I had the chance to see a friend on my last day in London that I had not seen in a year, this was a wonderful treat. We watched football and bar hopped all the while trying to find me decent food to eat… another fabulous night in London. I can see why people love this city but it is truly expensive to eat, even with the pound not doing so well against the dollar at the time.

  Oh well… see you next year London!!!

Now off to Boston…It was time to go spend time with Momma bird, family, and friends in New Hampshire. I spent most days just being with Mom who was always in good spirits despite the difficulty she had breathing. We would sit inside or outside depending on how hot it was.   She would work on Sudoku and I would work on the crossword. We would sit and chat or she would chat with Sheryl.  Mel would be in and out, rest, and make sure mom had what she needed. I would go running, food shopping, or just relax. In the evenings I would spend time with my dear friend and family favorite Pieter, our local greenhouse lettuce grower, I also spent time saw my aunt and cousins as well.

Our favorite grower

When was the last time you went to the drive-in

Long time no see cousin Jimmy

Thank you Brian… fantastic night

Cousins = family

Three weeks were up and it was time for me to go explore Ireland. I would be back in Boston in nine days. Ireland and its southern coast was calling, I had hired a car and was setting off to explore the coast I have heard so much about. I was certainly impressed and in awe with each new corner and turn I encountered. I arrived and explored Dublin first, impressed but not impressive. I walked most of the city, stopping at Trinity College (skipped Book of Kells – line was too long), Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublinia, Guiness, Jameson’s and a walk along the River Liffey. From Dublin I went to Dunmore East and met up with coworkers, one of whom lives in Dunmore East during the summer. We drank, talked, walked, and ate… we had a blast for two days. We took a walk along the cliffs and noticed we had company in the waters below as a seal went floating along in the sea.

how layovers are done in Iceland

Ttrinity College

Who doesn’t float down the River Liffey – Dublin

My local breakfast spot – Dublin

Yup….

Porterhouse Bar

Time for whiskey tasting – not converted!!

Kilkenny Castle

Dunmore East, Ireland

Dublin

Windy photos and good laughs

Cliff walk in Dunmore East

Saying farewell after two days I set off for Kinsale. Stayed in a wonderful little bed and breakfast, arriving in time to meet two girls from Germany and joined them for dinner and music at Kitty O’Sheas. Great night with lovely girls… The next morning I set off for the Ring of Kerry. Made stops here and there along the way and arrived seven hours later in Cahersiveen.

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View from Airbnb

Hydrangea everywhere

neighbors

This is a very small coastal town with a ancient castle, one main road, and a ferry to connect you to Valentia Island. I arrived and had dinner at the recommendation of my host, Ciaran, to eat at the local seafood restaurant at the ferry. I was not let down in the slightest, crab claws were divine. Was just great being around locals and watching the comings and goings. I went for a run the next day to the castle. The Ballycarbey Castle ( some kind of residence situated on the site of the castle as early as 1398 however the present ruins were constructed in the 16th century – Wikipedia) was worth the five mile run over the river and through the village. Sadly the knee acted up on the way back so I walked most of it but the pain was dulled once I got myself a proper coffee and croissant for the remainder of my walk. I managed to collect my rain jacket that I had hidden under bushes just in time as the skies opened and unleashed a bucket of rain. This lasted about five minutes and thankfully I was close to the house I was staying at. Later that afternoon my host offered to take me to the island via bicycles. The afternoon turned out to be great fun with exploring and pints in the local pub (aptly named Boston’s) we sat in the rain back at the seafood restaurant drinking wine until a table was ready to sit and eat at but it got too cold and the second guest in the house arrived. Ciaran left to help guest, I was given my same spot as the night before, and I sat down to enjoy another tasty meal. Ciaran and the new houseguest returned and we ended up having a grand time talking to locals after the new houseguest went to back to the house to get some sleep.

The roads that lead to Liscannor through Dingle and Tarbert, Ireland:

Next stop, Liscannor. Liscannor is home to the breathtaking and most visited sights in Ireland, Cliffs of Moher. I had difficulty finding my guesthouse and stopped in a local pub to use Internet and contact the host. The girl behind the bar knew the owner, called him, and he arrived within five minutes to sort me out.  We stayed in the pub and had the obligatory pint before departing for the house.  There was another girl staying at the house and we ended up having dinner together and going to see the Cliffs at sunset.

What a perfect arrival to this quaint (blink and you miss it) coastal town. The following morning I drove to Dublin to collect a friend from the airport who would be keeping me company for the next two nights.  Returning from Dublin we stopped in Lahinch and wandered about before having a pint and heading back to Liscannor for dinner. Vaughn’s was the selection for dinner; while we dined on oysters, crab claws, and lobster, a very familiar face walked into the restaurant. You would not believe me if I did not have the picture as proof but Connor Murray from the British Lions rugby team was in the bar area of Vaughn’s. This was great fun to see yet I did not get the courage to ask to have a photo with him, when I thought I had, he was gone. The next day we went to explore the Cliffs and what a difference night and day brought. There were so many people!!! I guess sunset is the best time to go to have more space and quiet to yourself. This does not detract from the majestic beauty of these cliffs but you had to do a lot of touron dodging while walking along the narrow trails on the ridge.

Cliffs

Of

Moher

We took in the sights as we set on our way depearting Liscannor, we were misguided by GPS, laughed, map read, and made our way towards Galway.  Galway was a bit of a let down. The directions to find the bed and breakfast that was not a bed and breakfast were bad, the weather was a bit dismal, and the Airbnb I had chosen was a bit stuck in the 1970’s (despite the description which stated it had recently been remodeled… perhaps her grandmother remodeled it!!) We went to dinner, talked, laughed, watched, and made our way back to the guesthouse.  I bailed on the second night in Galway and spent the last night in Ireland in Dublin at an amazing small hotel in the city centre. So happy yet so sad because my company left…!!!! Another amazing visit with an amazing person who it is difficult to say so long to each time we see each other. Not many people enter your life that you can connect so nicely with, I am grateful and fortunate for those who have entered my life and I am able to stay in touch with.

      Back to Boston I go….

One more week to see family and friends…

Sisters

This is how to enjoy the evenings in NH

I know this posting as been a long time in the making and apologies for the delay.  This has probably been one of the hardest postings I have had to write since I started.  The family that I have and the friends that surround me have gotten my through the days that I had and will have.  The funeral and the gatherings with family members after were truly times that will always be treasured.

Godparents are amazing

bestest!!!

Family!!!!

I have now been back in Oman for one month and it has been a whirlwind of activity.  I know most of you realize that I would not want it any other way.  Too much down time does not do me well so what have I done?  One weekend the girls and I went to Raz Al Jinz and watched turtles lumber their way back into the water after laying eggs, watched baby turtles scramble towards the sea before being scooped up by seagulls or snatched by foes, and we were amazed at the amount of people that the hotel allowed to come view (they usually cap the visitors but it was a holiday weekend!!)  so much so we left and returned for the sunrise turtle viewing rather than the evening viewing… we were much happier with this choice!!!

The Girls

Turtle tracks back to sea

Momma

I have been boating to see the dolphins (scores of them!) and have been playing in a tennis tournament (which I have shockingly enough won all of my matches played to date (well I just lost one this week)….!!!!!  This past weekend I had the chance to take Chili on her inaugural trip to the desert, Wahiba Sands. This was fantastic, socks on the sand, good friends, and one exhausted puppy by the end of the day.  Another great weekend in Oman and for the memory bank!

check out the socks

Good morning

Good evening

Additionally, I am trudging my way through a new school year.  As most of you know I have jumped from Grade 1 to Grades 7, 8, and 9 (boys and girls – 9), this has been an eye opener for certain and a lesson in how not to be rattled by teenagers.  I have learned that raising my voice does nothing but threatening to call their fathers does EVERYTHING!!  I was even bribed today (Oct. 10) by one of my Grade 9 boys to change his report.  This is going to be an interesting year to say the least.  This week (Oct. 18th) I believe I may be conquered the boys in Grade 8 and 9 which has made me smile when leaving work for the first time in a month.

I will try and return to posting more often.  Life continues on and I will be heading Stateside for the holidays.  I am grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life and the opportunities that have come my way.  I miss Momma Bird dearly and think she is with me every day.  Please make the most of each day and love the people around you!!!

Rest in Peace

Summer memories abound…  The memories of the summer have been pushed aside as I process the thoughts and memories of Momma Bird!  

[nofomoartworld]

Crocheted Cowboys, Nature Nudes, and Elmo Wind Chimes: 9 Highlights from the Dallas Art Fair

Having spent a lot of time in mid-size American cities as of late, I posit the question: is there a corner of our United States where artists aren't fostering vibrant, exciting communities and doing vital, challenging work? Deep in the heart of Texas, at the Dallas Art Fair, that city's creative class was on resplendent display for members of the arts industry flown in from places as predictable as New York and Paris, and as unexpected as Puerto Rico, Dubai, and Guadalajara. 

The 2017 fair had the tastefully-assembled panache of The Armory Show or Art Basel, with works by Juergen Teller and Catherine Opie among the heavy-hitters. But it was the fair's relatively small size, the presence and openness of artists, and supplementary studio visits and fetes thrown by local institutions that fostered an intimate, convivial vibe. The by-no-means exhaustive list below highlights artists from all over, but the Dallas scene deserves some extra shine: Arthur Peña's kaleidoscopic paintings mine the artist's emotional landscape. Michelle Rawlings excavates memory and identity through painted, collaged, sculptural works. Studio-mates and frequent collaborators Jeff Gibbons, Jesse Morgan Barnett, and Greg Ruppe dream up esoteric, gritty, musical artworks that defy categorization and even documentation. (One of their projects last year involved inviting the Dallas arts community to a mysterious, one-off game of laser tag.)

Dallas is establishing itself as a hotbed for art, turning what most people think about the city—oil money, Lee Harvey Oswald, the Cowboys—on its head. The Dallas Art Fair is at the forefront of spreading the word in that regard, and these were a few of our favorite works on view:

1. Nina Chanel Abney at Night Gallery

Nina Chanel Abney Untitled, 2017 Diptych, acrylic on two panels 110 x 52 in. Images are courtesy of Night Gallery

Few works on display were as viscerally arresting as Nina Chanel Abney's diptych of bold paintings confronting race and power in America. For her senior thesis show at Parsons in 2007, the artist painted herself as a white, gun-toting prison guard and her classmates, who are all white, as black inmates wearing orange jumpsuits, commenting on both the lack of diversity in academia as well as the overwhelmingly African-American prison population in the US. Her subsequent work is equally vital and searing.

2. Jonathan Rajewski at Reyes Projects

Installation view of Jonathan Rajewski's work in the Reyes Gallery booth. Photo by Daniel Driensky

I'll be honest: I didn't expect Garfield and Elmo wind chimes to be this dynamic, but Detroit-based artist Jonathan Rajewski's playful mobiles fixed me in their googly muppet eyes and handily dispatched my assumptions. The artist was showing work in the booth of newly-minted Michigan gallery Reyes Projects, whose debut exhibition Undercover Boss opens April 21.

3. Derek Fordjour at Luce Gallery

Derek Fordjour, 'No. 73,' 2017 and 'What will you do to help us Win?' 2017. Courtesy the artist and Luce Gallery

Born in Memphis, TN to parents of Ghanian heritage, Derek Fordjour was one of the artists selected by the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program, which chooses a handful of works from the fair each year to join the Dallas Art Museum's permanent collection. His nuanced, textural paintings and sculptures are literally multilayered; words on yellowed pages peek out beneath the paint. He's an artist of unique perspective, and certainly one to watch.

4. Emmanuel Van der Auwera's Study for Shudder VideoSculpture XIV

"Study for Shudder" VideoSculpture XIV, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and Harlan Levey Projects

This work stopped me in my tracks and made me WOL—"Woah" out loud. What looks like a blank white screen, on further inspection, reveals itself to be a coded video message discernible only when viewed in reflection upside down.

5. Caroline Wells Chandler at Roberto Paradise

Caroline Wells Chandler's crocheted cowboys and other motifs of the American West were sprinkled throughout this San Juan-based gallery's booth. The characters' goofy, 8-bit grins and technicolor skin belie the work's progressive take on the classic cowboys-and-indians motif. They present a sex-positive, intersectional version of themes heretofore whitewashed by the patriarchy.

6. Jakub Nepras at Waldburger Wouters

Jakub Nepras, Meadow, 2012, video sculpture, plexiglass, natural stones, 4min30s/loop. Courtesy the artist and Waldburger Wouters

The Brussels-based gallery's entire booth was dedicated to the work of Jakub Nepras, a Czech multimedia artist whose video collages projected on unexpected surfaces, like painted drywall and plexiglass embedded with stones, dissect commerce, human interactions, and the flow of energy.

7. Maryam Eisler's Eurydice in Provence and Searching for Eve in the American West

Maryam Eisler, Odina (Mountain), 2015. Giclée print, 112 x 79 cm, edition of 8 plus 2 artist's proofs. Courtesy Tristan Hoare

Maryam Eisler's black-and-white photographs of nudes in arid landscapes are damn sexy. The contrast of smooth flesh and coarse stone is reminiscent of Bernini's textural masterpiece, Daphne and Apollo. Born in Iran but now based in London, Eisler's striking compositions are inspired by mythology and its application to reality. With two series on view in Dallas, the photographer imbued the proceedings with a welcome dose of divine feminine energy.

8. Jose Dávila and Jorge Méndez Blake at Travesia Cuatro

Installation view of Travesia Cuatro's booth. Photo by Daniel Driensky

First off, Travesia Cuatro, a gallery with outposts in both Madrid and Guadalajara, wins for exuding chic minimalist vibes the entire fair. Their carefully considered selections highlighted four Mexican artists with work exploring themes of physics, literature, and psychology. Jorge Méndez Blake's Dearest Max, My Last Request is a meditation on Kafka's dying wish for all his unpublished manuscripts to be burned. (That request was ignored.) And in Jose Dávila's Joint E ort, a concrete block balances at a precarious angle, tethered by a stone and precise geometry.

9. Summer Wheat's Bread Winners

Summer Wheat, Bread Winners, 2017. Acrylic on aluminum mesh, 144 x 68 in. Courtesy of the artist and Fridman Gallery

Another Dallas Art Fair acquisition, Summer Wheat's Bread Winners is an accomplishment of experimental figurative painting. The Oklahoma artist's unconventional aesthetic, achieved by pushing layers of acrylic paint through a mesh screen, appears fiber-like, almost like a carpet or tapestry.

What were your favorite works at the Dallas Art Fair? Let us know on Twitter: @CreatorsProject

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Our 11 Favorite Works from the Dallas Art Fair

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