#planet earth birds of paradise

[surgeratesfucko]

thinking about how got to go on a wholeass kayak this summer and i could see all the rocks and fishes and reeds at the bottom of the lake it was like an aquarium in real life

[azen13]

100 Follower Special: The Starlight Pawnshop

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Welcome to my 100 Follower Special, The Starlight Pawnshop! For a brief period of time, I'll be holding a special sale on ten items. Each item corresponds to a oneshot about a certain Honkai Star Rail or Genshin character; through the item's description, you may receive some hints as to which character and what themes will be present in that oneshot.

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Rules for Purchasing

Please leave a request through my ask box mentioning the Starlight Pawnshop, as well as which item you would like to purchase.

You cannot request to purchase an item if you are asking anonymously, as this sale only allows for one purchase per person. To prevent any such incidents, please make sure the "Ask anonymously" option is off.

Only the first five orders will be taken. After the fifth order, all the other items will not be for sale and cannot be purchased.

After making a purchase, please wait five to seven days for your item to ship.

All oneshots will contain yandere themes, so please keep that in mind.

For Sale Items

Aquamarine Ring: A dazzling aquamarine ring enchanted with the power of the seas. The silver band has tarnished from the previous wearer's sins, though they were brought to justice and cleansed through rehabilitation.

Dragon's Scales: A small pile of sepia-colored scales that hold the power of the earth. Rare and valuable, the dragon they came from was hidden away from the world by a god for eons to protect them from hunters and other dangers.

Flowers From Another Era: Four flowers, tied in a bouquet by a scarlet ribbon. Between the lavender and violet petals lies tainted knowledge that destroyed a fruitful love between gods on a distant planet eons ago.

Grass Ring: A small, shoddily-woven ring made from dead grass, containing echoes of childhood promises uttered in a land of frost. Maybe the ring’s maker, after disappearing from the world for three months before returning, acted on those vows.

Painted Teacup: A small teacup with floral designs hand-painted by an artist. A jagged crack runs down its side, severing the stem of a crimson carnation.

Wanted Posters: Two wanted posters for the same criminal. The two people who were tracking this target crossed paths, and in doing so drastically altered each of their fates in radically different ways.

Purchased Items

Avian Necklace: A silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a bird mid-flight, imbued with a strange energy strong enough to shackle its wearer in paradise forever.

Chess Pawn: A finely-carved chess pawn. If life is a chessboard, then so too are people pawns in other's games. Based on this pawn’s pristine condition, whoever controlled it loved it quite dearly.

Double-Sided Coin: A coin where both sides show the same pattern, allowing its desperate holder to not need to rely on luck to win this bet and secure their prize.

Fool's Mask: A red and white mask with an eerie smile. When the clock strikes twelve, its wearer shall don it and dance with his love for their affection.

Grass Ring: A small, shoddily-woven ring made from dead grass, containing echoes of childhood promises uttered in a land of frost. Maybe the ring’s maker, after disappearing from the world for three months before returning, acted on those vows.

[battle-of-the-birds]

Remember to read about the contestants before voting!

Superb Bird of Paradise!

This little dancing bird should be recognizable to most internet patrons. Their distinctive dance, in which their feathers form an elliptical disc around their face with the vibrant blue popping against the dark black as they hop about the female, is mesmerizing to say the very least. The female to male ratio is considerably different, and with there being less females to woo, this gives the males a better incentive to have an elaborate dance. Learn more!

Vampire Finch

The Vampire Ground Finch is an unassuming little finch, who mainly feed on seeds and insects. But, when these resources are scarce… they feast upon the blood of Boobies! They even have a similar microbial biome to a vampire bat in their stomachs. They will also feed on eggs and guano (nasty). What a resourceful little fellow. Learn More!

(Superb Bird of Paradise footage from BBC Planet Earth)

(Vampire Finch photo by Simon Pierce)

[plutowon]

[blessing]

pairing: jungwon x reader

genre: angst, slight fluff, vent, comfort post

warnings: depression, anxiety, feelings of self doubt and worthlessness,

synopsis: drowning in an ocean of pain, jungwon is there to pull you up (a reminder that you are loved just incase you’ve forgotten)

0.7k words

it’s often that you find yourself on the floor of your bedroom, soaking into the carpet, drowning in your own anxiety and self pity. with your mind racing 100mph, it’s hard to not question your worth in the world.

have your friend’s not contacted you to give you space, or had they forgotten about you? or do they simply not care? does anyone miss you? does anyone notice you’re gone, drifting into the floor of your bedroom?

truth be told, you wouldn’t blame your friends for not caring, you’ve never been a very memorable person. you’re sure that if your presence was dusted off the face of the earth, no one would care. you’re as forgettable as the dust bunnies sitting under the bed. you’re sure the sun would shine as always, the earth would orbit as always, birds would sing, children would laugh, lovers would love, everything would move on without a hitch, not a single spare glance to disappearance of your burdensome presence.

it’s always at these moments that jungwon comes through the door, a worried look painting his face because he knows when he calls your name downstairs and you don’t answer you’re probably sulking in the bedroom.

you wonder if jungwon would be better off without you.

you, his below average girlfriend that he has to take care of because she’s emotionally unstable. he’s out of your league, you’re undeserving of him. you’re not pretty, you’re not special, you’re not a star in the sky shining brightly down on him, you’re just you, a speck of dust on the earth’s surface.

you wonder why he loves you.

you wonder how he could love you, someone as pathetic as yourself.

“that’s not true” jungwon looks down at you, aghast at what you’ve just said. the words had come to your mind and tumbled out of your mouth so fast you hadn’t even realized you were talking. and there’s no point in taking it back now, he knows you mean it.

“how could you say that? you’re so special to me…you matter to me more than anything” he pulls you in his big, warm arms so tight, as if he’s scared that if he lets you go you’ll disappear forever, which is, perhaps, a valid fear.

gently pulling you into his lap, he rests his head in the crook of your neck, pressing his nose into your shoulder and leaving tiny kiss on your neck.

“you know i love you so much, i don’t know what i’d do without you…nobody on earth means as much as you. every star could fall from the sky right now and i’d be fine, i have my star right here”

you chest begins to shake as your eyes gloss over and you look at yourselves in the mirror across the room.

“you’ve touched so many people, angel, i know. you’re a blessing to many, who could ever forget something as magical as you? don’t ever question your place in the world. there’s nobody else like you, that’s why people love you, and they do, truly. no matter how lonely it feels, there will always be someone who loves you unconditionally.”

he holds your shivering figure as you cry uncontrollably, turning around and hooking your arms around him as your hands cling to the back of his shirt. he carresses your back and leaves gentle kisses on the top of your head and he hopes you can feel it, the uncontrollable love he has pouring out for you and you only.

only for a blessing like you.

to jungwon and to many others, you’re an angel amongst the sea of humans one usually sees everyday. you’re a once in a lifetime experience, a sight to be fought over, a beauty to die over. meeting you is like discovering a new planet, a brand new paradise. you’re as refreshing as a cool and crisp summer breeze, as sweet as strawberry lemonade. you’re prettier than a diamond, and cuter than a kitten, your only flaw is how blind you are to how amazing you are. how people marvel at you, how they’re enchanted by you. you’re a national treasure, a once in a lifetime experience, an angel,

a blessing.

[burialcloth]

[ID: A poem written in a black arial font on pure white background, formed as a bullet point questionary. It reads:

(Title, bolded:) Endocrine gland necrosis

(bolded) Select a sentence which applies to you:

You are a creative person. 

You try to be an artisan of your own fortune, even if it is a hard task.

You have been mentioned at least once on TV and / or in the news.

You probably have more friends on the internet than you do in real life.

You are similar to a bird of paradise, inside and / or out.

You are unwelcome in your environment because of your clothes and / or the way you describe reality.

You are seen by some as a new fashion; you have heard at least once that normal people want to be like you nowadays, and that is upsetting.

They say that you and your friends – people like you – were created only in this century.

You understand that most things on this planet are neither black nor white.

You are [___] in appearance, but you have [___]. It is funny.

You are described as an epidemiological threat at national level.

You are described as a tourist attraction.

Corpses and zygotes (both animal and human) have more autonomy than you.

You understand what social constructivism is. You can analyze certain human behaviors (including your own) and explain the reasons for them.

People do not want you to talk with their children.

You have thought about taking a self-defense course at least once, or that knowing it would be useful due to your life situation.

You have come to the conclusion that pepper spray is good as well.

You cannot take care of some of your basic physiological needs without surveillance and supervision.

You often wonder what happened to your life. So, what happened to you?

You are statistically susceptible to premature death due to (cross out as appropriate): acute poisoning; asphyxiation; wounds: slash wound, stab wound, laceration, blunt trauma, ballistic trauma; severe internal injuries.

You can see that I have depicted death here as a phenomenon beyond human control. I’m sorry. It is such, because I don’t want to worry you unnecessarily.

��

But you know what?

If I am to — after almost two decades of latency — end up with my skull split open in an alley somewhere, thanks to metal-winged warriors — then so be it. Your stories, your spied-on-me gestures and your laughter are a monument stronger than any mass grave I could be thrown into.

Your voice is the most beautiful sound, that has ever resounded on Earth.

You are immortal – your legacy is forever imbued in all who were made in your example.

You are built from the same dust as I am.

Just stay here to watch sunrises for even a little while longer.

Please.

/end ID]

wrote this little thang when i was seventeen going on eighteen and experiencing about five life-altering personality changes in a row and i guess im in a similar place rn so . here it goes

[cometchasinglove]

Heya! Here's a little fic I wrote for a dear friend of mine, @kaijus-love-zone, featuring her Sona and TFP Ratchet! I had such a fun time writing this!

Ocean Wonders

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,046

As the two lovers passed through the swirling, green portal from the Autobot base, a smile blossomed across Kaiju’s face. Once the ambulance exited the ground bridge and rolled onto the pavement of the road, she could barely contain her excitement as she wiggled in his front seat. 

They arrived at the coordinates of the secluded beach. There, no one could find them or bother them. As Ratchet led the way to the white, sandy paradise, he noticed her cheery demeanor quite swiftly. 

“Excited, Kaiju?”

The woman nodded.

“I am! I can’t believe this is your first time seeing the ocean.”

Ratchet hummed.

“Well, none of our missions ever directed us here.” His alt-mode shifted. “Besides, I never saw the appeal.”

Kaiju thought for a moment, feeling her heart flutter inside her chest. She winked at his dashboard, giggling a little.

“I think you may change your mind on that, Ratchet.”

Several moments later, the two made it to the field of sand. Ratchet allowed Kaiju to step out onto the ground before he transformed with mechanical clicks and whirrs. Kaiju sighed happily, running her fingers through her mohawk as the setting sun glowed across the freckles on her skin. Eventually, she caught Ratchet staring at her with an almost fond look, his cyan optics bright with silent adoration.

“Come on!” Kaiju waved at him. “It’s right up ahead.”

She walked alongside him, trying to match his speed as best as she could. The ocean shoreline was only a few feet away, and she couldn’t wait to show him its unyielding beauty.

...

Frankly, Ratchet didn’t understand why Kaiju wanted to show him the ocean. It couldn’t have been more exciting than other locations on the planet, surely? Nevertheless, he knew that it was important to her, and that was enough for him to join her.

The mech felt the environment around him, acknowledging the salty, sea air on his olfactory sensors as well as the cool breeze against his plating. As he approached the ocean, his pedes sinking into the sand, he wondered if it was more pleasing than other sites on Earth he personally witnessed. Once the two reached the shoreline, he watched as Kaiju gasped and smiled out into the grand, blue expanse of water.

“We made it!”

Ratchet turned his gaze from her, focusing out into the sea. His optics widened and his digits gave a slight wiggle at his sides. He took his time, soaking in the sight before him. His audial receptors picked up the sound of crashing waves against the sand while his optics noticed the birds soaring in the distance above the water. The sun glistened across the ocean, turning it almost orange. It seemed endless, just as his love for Kaiju. He appreciated it; he admired it. Ratchet smiled.

“Oh.”

Below him, Kaiju lifted her phone and showed it to Ratchet. Before the trip, she asked him if she could take pictures of his reaction. He said that it was fine before, and it was certainly fine now. As she took photos, she kicked her leg as she watched him absorb everything into his processor.

“The sea is so calm today. It worked out perfectly for us.”

Ratchet tilted his helm, curious.

“Is it…normally not calm?”

He supposed that it made sense as Kaiju nodded, her loose hair flowing in the wind.

“Oh, no. The ocean is both dangerous and beautiful. It’s-” 

She paused, and then, she shook her head, noticing how Ratchet kept his gaze steady on the sea.

“Well, I’ll tell you later.”

Ratchet turned to face her, sharing her smile. Her knowledge made him joyful, her passion almost contagious. 

“I would like to know.” He rolled his shoulders a little. “As for now, may we lie in the sand for a moment?”

Kaiju nodded.

...

Soon after, the two found a secure spot on the beach, resting there together. The sand was warm but soft as the two sat in silence, enjoying the world around them. Occasionally, she glanced up at his large form. Kaiju was delighted to witness Ratchet’s appreciation for Earth. It may not be his home planet, but it still had much to offer.

After some time passed, Ratchet fidgeted and complained about the sand finding its way into his plating.

“How irritating.” 

Kaiju smiled, feeling sympathetic. 

“Yeah, sand does that to us, too. I can give you a detail clean soon, if you want.”

Ratchet shook his helm.

“No, no. It’s fine. I can manage for now.”

Kaiju hummed as the two continued to relax as one. Gradually, Ratchet pointed out into the sand, his curiosity lifting.

“May I ask what that green substance is on the shoreline?”

Kaiju was more than happy to explain. 

“It’s kelp! It’s getting washed-up by the waves!” She crossed her legs, gesturing with her hands. “The spots where it’s all clumped-up on the shore is where the tide reaches during high tide. At low tide, the water goes out and you can find sea creatures like crabs and clams!”

Ratchet appeared puzzled.

“And how can the water rise and lower in level?”

Kaiju smiled.

“The moon! Its gravity pulls the water around a bit.”

Ratchet thought to himself, lifting a digit to his mouthpiece. 

“Hm. Well, in that case, could we visit a low tide someday?”

Kaiju nodded, excitement bubbling in her stomach.

“Sure! We can go right now.”

And that was when Ratchet stopped her with his voice. Kaiju turned towards him, witnessing a slow grin draw itself across his faceplate.

“It’s tempting. But, seeing as we’re alone together…I have other plans that I would like to offer you, Kaiju.”

...

The medic felt a rush of warmth in his chassis once he noticed his lover’s reddening face, matching the glow of her dark, brown eyes. He smiled, gently pulling her closer into his servos. He cupped her tiny body, protecting her and cradling her near him. Tenderly, he drew his digits down her back in a soft but sensual manner. Ratchet heard her breath hitch and he smiled, lifting her higher to his helm.

There, he pressed her forehead against his and vented with a blissful sigh.

As long as he still functioned, no force on Earth or on Cybertron could ever bring her harm.

Divider Credit: @/thetaey

[flailypichu]

husband is watching Planet Earth and we've arrived at the birds of paradise section - I now very much need a revalink fanfic where the Rito court with fancy dances and drums, omg.

[therealraewest]

Honestly my memory of the Planet Earth series is so grand due to all the hype and all the first of it's kind footage and watching it back a lot of that is true, but watching the film diaries along with it is wild in retrospect bc instead of these hyper-funded crews with infinite time you get like...

Here's Jeff he sat in a hut for 8 days waiting for a female bird of paradise to arrive so the male he's been stalking will do a dance for her. Here's a dude we made him climb a giant guano hill with bugs in it and he's begging the director to say their shot is okay so he doesn't have to climb it again. We put this guy with a fear of heights on a hot air balloon with a Frenchman and they promptly crashed into a tree.

It reminds me that all this amazing one of a kind footage was made by a crew of nerds with awful luck and just makes it better tbh. One of their tents caught fire one time. Their car broke down while following some hunting lions and they realized "oh hey it'd be pretty easy for the lions to eat us right now". Incredible.

[kivaember]

starting that sulla oneshot i'd been thinking about writing for a while.... the one that'll eventually become sulla/walter... turned sulla into a farm boy that became a pilot BECAUSE WHY NOT

anyway wip under the cut hehe

Despite being a Rubiconian born and raised, this was the first time Sulla had ever stepped foot within the vaunted halls of the Xylem. 

It had a legendary history, one that had likely been embellished after a thousand retellings over the course of nearly two centuries. While its glitzy high-rises and cutting edge laboratories would make most think otherwise, the Xylem had once been a dingy, beaten up old colony ship that had landed on Rubicon-3 by mistake, its trajectory altered by a defective navigational AI while the human colonists and crew were placed into stasis for the decades long journey. No one had complained, though, as their original destination had been a planet deemed barely habitable, whereas Rubicon had been a lush paradise from the moment the colonists had stepped off their junker of a spaceship. 

That was all ancient history, though, and the Xylem Sulla visited definitely wasn’t the original colony ship. That had been built on a starvation budget, with inferior materials that shouldn’t have survived the journey, according to science and had basically fallen apart the moment it had (crash)landed. This Xylem had been rebuilt from the ground up, modelled after the original but improved and scaled up by a hundred, with its internal stasis warehouses replaced with laboratories, hydroponic farms and other amenities that the intellectual elite enjoyed in the technocracy that ruled Rubicon. 

After all, while Earth still toiled under its outdated and cannibalistic corporate oligarchy, Rubicon enjoyed an enlightened and liberal society where scientific and technical achievements were exalted, and the greedy chase for profits scorned. 

(Or, so they said officially. Sulla knew that in reality they weren’t much different from the UEG and its corporate vassals - they just hid it under a bright and pleasant veneer.)

It was certainly different to Sulla’s hometown of Ebla, which was less of a town and more of a very ambitious village, surrounded by great fields of rye and barley, and vast, rolling plains of grazing grass. The ‘breadbasket of Belius’, Ebla was known as, and Sulla could’ve continued the family business along with his two brothers, but he had wanted more for himself, had looked up at the vast blue skies and wanted to soar, so had joined the Pilot Corps for the Rubiconian Militia. He’d returned to Ebla a few times since then, but not as much as he should’ve. 

Either way, it was the polar opposite to Xylem’s urban skyline. The only patch of nature to be seen were aggressively organised parks or pavement trees, and there weren’t many birds either, anything that could serve as a perch adorned with cruel metal spikes. It made the whole thing seem rather unsettling to him, but Sulla supposed that the scientific elite probably didn’t like being reminded overly much of nature. They were violating it on a daily basis after all. 

Which circled back to the reason why he was here in the first place.

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch - Incubator, 3x11

I love the fact that Farscape did a whole episode about Scorpius, and made me understand exactly what makes him tick, and revealed his complexity even further, and yet never descended into ‘poor and misunderstood’ is a brilliant miracle. His back-story is horrific, but he is not any less horrific himself, for it.

Before I get into the lengthy, and Scorpius-centric meta, I just want to say that I want to write love-letters to the continuity of this show. We see the Bird of Paradise flower not only on Scorpius’ desk, but also on the planet which was the goal of Sebacian colonists and where Scorpius’ mum ends up. That so makes sense that Scarrans attacked the convoy: they wanted that planet for the flowers. Considering this need for these flowers only comes out at the end of S4…I am speechless. Whether it was thought out from all the way back then, or just incorporated so brilliantly? I am amazed in either case. And of course, Scorpius s is more Scarran than he wants to believe. He prizes control and intelligence above all, and that is what that flower represents to Scarrans, after all. I have realized something: Scorpius is a sociopath. What I mean by that is that he is someone who has no conscience, only the goal he wants to achieve. Unlike a normal person, he does not need to justify himself to himself by ‘this is good, this is nice etc.’ His goal being his goal is justification enough for anything. Unlike a regular person, he does not feel bad about doing bad or good about doing good (unlike a psychopath, he doesn’t feel good about doing bad, either). He does not have a conscience and related emotions, just the goal. What differentiates him from a good person, from someone like Crichton is not his actions, but the reasons for them, and how he feels about them. After all, if you rip an unconscious woman’s clothes off because you are a rapist, you are a monster. If you rip her clothes off to perform an emergency procedure to save her life, you are a good Samaritan. Crichton has done bad things, there is no doubt about it, but he tries them for good reasons or loving ones, or because he has no choice (to save Earth, to protect Aeryn, or because Scorpius clone forces him to). And he feels horrible when he does something bad, and he strives to do good. Scorpius feels nothing, only whether the action was expedient to his goal. Due to his beyond messed up upbringing, Scorpius has only one goal: revenge on and eradication of the Scarrans. This is what makes him so ruthless, so efficient, so scary. Most people have more than one goal, of varying importance. See Crichton, for example: Aeryn, Earth, friendship, wormholes etc etc. The fact that most people have multiple goals is what prevents them from true ruthlessness in pursuit of any one goal: they always have countervailing considerations and motivations. Scorpius has none. And of course, Farscape is very clear sighted on the whole horrible childhood as reason for his behavior, and an explanation for it, but not an excuse. Ultimately, what you become, what you make of yourself, is your responsibility. Torture is horrific but it is what you let it transform you into, that matters. It’s not trauma, it’s your response to it that makes you. Scorpius became a monster. John, however broken and sharp-edged he becomes, does not. It’s interesting that Scorpius’ mind is full of smoke (symbolic). But his attempt to convince the ‘bleed-over’ imprint of John is doomed to failure. He is clear sighted in some ways but it some he is remarkably obtuse. Because he is a sociopath, because he is incapable of emotional connection in a true sense, he does not know how to deal with John. It’s the cost of solipsism. He just does not understand that John has different motivations. Scorpius needs to change not just the rules but also the playbook.

What Scorpius thinks is that if the motivators are strong for him, similar motivators are strong for Crichton: as John is not a PK, just replace Sebacians with ‘Earth’ and John will ‘see reason’ and want to eliminate the Scarrans before they do something to Earth. But John doesn’t play that way. John is very different: something Scorpius begins to learn in S4 and PKW, but it’s a mechanical learning of which levers to push, not a true understanding. In a way, Scorpius would have a better sell if he did appeal to emotions. Different emotions, not logic or revenge. In a way, Scorpius is emotional (revenge and hatred) but affectless. He believes he is purely rational and in a way, even his childhood trauma, or horrific story of his mother, is not something that evokes affect in him: he is cold. He is not even hurt remembering the childhood nightmare of his life, but is using it the way he would use any instrument, to get a result. He is not repressing, he truly has killed in himself any such capacity (the way Xalax had, only for him it’s huger, more permanent. She has kept some torment, he is clinically clean). With John, it would have been better to appeal to emotion, to pity. To show that he still cared about the past. But Scorpius does not understand this. Scorpius is trying to make the same argument, only with different phrases. He doesn’t understand that his basic argument is incompatible with John’s psyche. He really does not get that you need different arguments for different people. In part, its his traumatic upbringing, and in part because it is he never met a person whom he had to convince: he was always so superior, he could manipulate, he felt no unfulfillable need for results. Of course, any results would have been unlikely no matter what. I love that even ‘bleed over’ Crichton is sarcastic and mad. And if you think about it, this is the worst version of John to try to convince. This is the John of the end of S2, on the operating table, who believes Aeryn is dead. Is there any chance Scorpy could get through to him? And how significant it doesn’t even occur to Scorpius to inform this John that Aeryn is alive. It might make a difference to their interaction, but Scorpius is so fixated on what he thinks should appeal, on the reason, he completely overlooks that. You know the biggest difference between John and Scorpius? John will offer anything, wormholes included, for Aeryn. For Scorpius, such emotional response is unthinkable. For him, nothing is higher than abstraction, no other person is higher than his goals.  I think knowing Crichton actually makes him appreciate the fact, somewhat, that having cares for others is not just an automatic sign of deficiency. He comes to have a grudging respect for Crichton, and thus by inference accepts that you can be an intelligent and ‘worthy’ and still feel personal love and care. And of course, no matter Scorpius’ reasons, John is Scorpius’ torture victim. Horrific, prolonged, psyche-destroying torture, not just on the Gammack Base but all of second season, through the madness created by the clone. If John can never truly trust or understand Crais, whose torture and torment of him was peanuts in comparison, than how can he ever deal with Scorpius? Past a certain point, people cannot overlook torture, cannot overlook violation. That is another thing Scorpius doesn’t get because of his damage. He can, and will, deal with Scarrans in pursuit of his goal. But John cannot do the same, with Scorpius. Or, to be more specific, he can, when the goal is so important he will disregard anything. I.e. when Aeryn is involved. Aeryn. No one and nothing else. No appeals to reasons, or concerns about future worrying possibilities, no goodness of Scorpius’ goals.   Aeryn is the one thing that trumps everything. And she is not at issue here as she will be in S4. Scorpius cannot truly understand John (or anyone, really. No empathy). He can learn him the way a mechanic does a car, based on a compilation of facts and data, but there is no understanding. His psyche does not encompass goodness, or optimism, or love, or strength that isn’t based purely on logic. John’s trump card in their battles is that he can understand Scorpius, because John is a good person by choice, and within him, deep and hidden, is an understanding of Scorpius’ hatred, and Scorpius’ revenge, and Scorpius’ ruthless darkness. I do have a few comments about the portion of the ep that takes place on Moya. The crew is going stir-crazy, and I am faced with the realization that without the calm center that is Zhaan, Aeryn and even Rygel help being the glue that holds the crew together. And not just because Aeryn keeps John’s obsessiveness in check. Crichton obsesses to displace, when he is deeply worried and unhappy. It gives him something to escape into, and his fixation on wormholes is a way to deal with Aeryn shaped hole in his life, and his worry and jealousy and loneliness. He is not that way when he has her, when he is at peace. I love how here, this time, John is unhesitating about refusing to turn over Moya in exchange for wormhole info. He doesn’t even think for a second. He has learned a horrifying lesson in SIW. And I want to smack D’Argo so hard, for stating that he is once again being selfish and it’s the attitude that got Zhaan killed. It. Is. Not. His. Damn. Fault. Zhaan. Is. Dead. Lay off him! UGH. Pin the blame on Crichton is just…makes me want to smash things.

PS Doesn’t Farscape end up being a battle of mad scientists, John and Scorpius? Heh.

PPS Braca has got it bad!

[hunterssm00n]

Beyond the Stars

Layla is a recovering heroin addict on a rehabilitation ship out in deep space; the mission is for the junkies in recovery to build housing for colonies on a new planet that is found to be safe for human existance, therefore giving them a second shot at life without sending them to prison. Basically killing two birds with one stone. However, Layla soon uncovers a secret that Weyland-Yutani Corp. is hiding from the public, and when there's an alien outbreak aboard the ship, she is unsure if she will make it back to Earth to share her gruesome discovery.

chapter 1 of ??

also on ao3: here

*cw include smut, interspecies relationship, canon typical violence/gore, explicit language, past drug use, offensive language, xenomorph things, past abuse, dark themes* MDNI - 18+

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧‎♡‧₊˚

hunterssm00n © All rights reserved by me. I do not allow this work to be used or adapted in any way without my permission.

"Broke! Inside / This life, you can never be reborn within / I came this far, erase my scars / Fight! This time / Inside, take a break from the lie you live / I came this far, erase my scars" ~ 'Erase my Scars' - Evans Blue

Chapter 1: Erase My Scars

The sound of birds chirping woke her up, along with a steady stream of warm light she was aware of even though her eyes were closed. She allowed one eye, the one closest to her pillow, to slowly crack open. The light was not blinding, but rather awakening, if that made any sense. Not harsh, but warm and inviting. Wake up, you are welcome here. Along with the birds and a faint gentle breeze causing leaves on the trees to rustle, it really was paradise.

Too bad it was fake.

She let her other eye open to observe the simulation of said paradise, the image of a sunny summer morning being shown back at her. The image, though a lie, was definitely crafted well. The whole idea of having scenery simulated on the walls of one's bedroom was a definite jackpot. It was both practical and impractical at the same time. Something crazy, but with just enough sense poured into it that it made the whole thing justifiable. The idea, of course, was to soothe the brain into thinking you were somewhere peaceful, serene, safe. She wondered then if there would be some sort of advanced setting upgrade where there was, like, a rock concert going on in the background, or a derby. That would most definitely defeat the whole 'soothing' purpose of the thing though, so probably not. Just another one of those weird little things she wondered. Hell, there wasn't much in here to do but wonder.

She was Layla Thomas, and here was a floating hunk of metal in deep space that housed junkies and recovering drug addicts. Who knew a few hundred years ago that there would be flying rehabilitation centers zooming through the sky, past planets? If they were zooming though, Layla thought, it would probably be much more fun. Not like any of them would really be able to tell anyways. Windows were limited to none, and most of the patients weren't allowed near them. Mainly because recovering druggies could be very dangerous, especially when coming down off of meds or still on the last gasp of their previous high. Druggies, like psychos, had very little concept of pain when doped up, and could display an incredible amount of strength, even if they were not but skin and bones. These corporate suits weren't going to take any chances. Not even on a 5'3 dirty blonde with curvy legs and big brown doe eyes.

Layla lifted her head off of her pillow to fully inspect the image of a maple tree to her right; it probably might've been a bit more believable had the floor also had some sort of simulated grass. It went from the beautiful flowery-grassy-lovely scenery on the wall straight to stark white, cold tile.

With a tired sigh, she shifted on the memory foam mattress to reach to the nightstand, conveniently next to the tree, for the remote. There were a few settings that she favored over the others - one of them being this sunny morning that was displayed right now. But her favorite was the ocean setting, which was what she switched to now. Immediately, the green grass melted away to become blue foaming waves, surrounding her with gentle crashing noises of the tide. The birds chirping became seagulls squalling in the distance, and the yellow streaming sunlight became a creamy pink, orange and blue tye-dye. The color of the sky when the sun rose. Layla settled back onto the bed with another sigh; this one of longing.

She missed Earth, missed her family, missed her freedom. And she missed the ocean. A phenomenon she'd only experience the beauty of a handful of times, but she visited it every day in her memory. Her obsession went so far that she had a mermaid tattoo on the back of her left shoulder. Sometimes she scoffed at herself; twenty-five years old and she still wanted to be a mermaid when she grew up.

The drug use hadn't done anything to dull her overactive imagination. If anything, it had increased it. Kind of what she'd been counting on when she'd taken her first hit. Heroin had been her poison of choice. God damn old bitch had caught her at her worst moments and had helped her to fly. She was glad it was gone, but missed it all the same. The withdrawal had been God awful; spewing from both ends, screaming and crying, night sweats, insomnia... If she ever thought she'd been close to death before, it was nothing compared to what she'd gone through then. She'd honestly thought she was dying; honestly had wanted to go rather than endure another day of the unbearable pain.

Finally sitting up in her bed, Layla looked down at her left arm, the inside of her elbow. The track marks were very visible still, even after three months. They would probably remain in sight for the rest of her life. She frowned at how purple/brown/ugly they looked, like ticks dotting her skin. They'd look much better if she still had her tan - too bad the simulated sunlight couldn't do that for her. It looks real, it sounds real, but it ain't real.

A keyboard note softly sounded out through the room, signifying the presence of somebody outside her door. There was no point in telling them to come in or fuck off. They couldn't hear her. This room was totally soundproof from the outside. The only means of contact was the little clear rectangular device on her nightstand. It would contact a nurse should she need something, and aid as a panic button for emergencies. Other than that, everyone could come and leave as they pleased freely through those doors. Everyone but her.

Layla wasn't exactly sure how many patients besides her there were on this ship. She knew it was big; as big as a commercial towing vehicle, or a medical facility. And they probably wouldn't be going through all this trouble for just her and a few other junkies, so she assumed there was more than a mere handful of them.

The entire point of her being on this floating hunk of junk was so that she could help build housing for colonies on another planet light years away from Earth. There were plenty of rehab centers on Earth that could have helped her, but none that would teach her whatever lesson she was about to be taught. Also, none that would have their own benefit of workers that didn't need to be paid. Layla, unfortunately, hadn't been a good girl back on Earth when it came to her drug problem. And upon being caught, she had run from the cops. Busted for heroin, evading arrest: all factors of the situation spelled bad news for her and her future. In court, she was given a choice: prison, multiple charges, her life ruined because of her own stupid mistake. Or, hopping aboard one of Weyland-Yutani's massive ships (since that company was the founding father of most of their technological advancements), and helping them build a few homes on a barren wasteland of a planet. Afterwards, they would let her off scott-free, clean slate. It almost sounded too good to be true, aside from the fact that they would have to be gone for more than a year from their homes back on Earth.

Sparing herself and her family the messiness and pain of prison, plus all of the combined contributions, Layla took the chance she was offered. Honestly, both options sucked, but plan C, aka. not getting caught, hadn't worked out too well either. She'd brought it upon herself; addiction was truly a disease. So many times she had thought about quitting, but as destructive as the drugs had been, they'd also been the only thing that actually calmed her, soothed her mind. That needle in her arm had brought her solace, even though it was destroying her. Lustrous golden hair was now dull and stringy. Tan skin was now pale with track marks and bruises, veiny and death-like. She had dark circles under her eyes that hadn't gone away in months. At least now though she could sleep - when she had first gone off the drugs, sleep had been non-existent.

The doors slid open to reveal a female nurse, Janine, she thought her name was. Janine, Jenny, Geraldine? She couldn't remember, nor did she really care. It sounded awful, but she had stopped caring about a lot ever since she had gotten into heroin. Things that used to matter didn't seem to anymore. That was one of the many reasons why she had wanted to quit, but the fear of things going back to how they had been completely scared her into putting down the spoon and the syringe.

"Morning doll, how ya doin' this mornin'?" the nurse, Jeanette, she could now read on the nametag, said in a southern twang.

"Just great," Layla grumbled. How the fuck did she think she was doing? She immediately felt bad for her grumpiness. It wasn't this woman's fault she was in this situation. It was her own fault. She was even tired of blaming herself though. She did it all day, and especially when she tried to sleep. Did it in her dreams. It was a shitty situation all around. There had been reasons for why she did what she did. Good reasons. But she didn't want to think about them now. Now it was time to start the day.

"Brought you some new pants, figured you was gettin' tired of the old ones," Jeanette held out another pair of pants identical to the ones Layla was wearing. Layla refrained from rolling her eyes/giving a death glare. Humoring the nurse, she took the pants and made her way to the restroom near the exit. If one more person tries to be funny, someone's gonna get punched, swear to God.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧‎♡‧₊˚

AN: I do not own the Alien franchise or any of its characters, but Layla is my own OC, as well as a few others in this story.

The header above was made by me**

chapter 2

[lebn]

Legend says that when the first iris flower bloomed on earth, all living creatures - animals, birds, insects... everyone, everyone came to admire it. Its beauty conquered even the elements - Wind and Water carried iris seeds throughout the earth, so that in all corners of the planet one could enjoy the beauty of the flower. The flower of paradise - Iris - is a favorite motif of the Art Nouveau era.

[ao3feed-superbat]

bird of paradise

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yMcS1Yb by achilliesonmain Superman and Batman are sent as ambassadors for Earth to a newly contact planet. This planet has made some assumptions about their relationship. Superbat Week | Day Two | Ordeals on the Road Words: 3422, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Superman - All Media Types, Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Original Alien Character(s), Justice League (DCU) Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Superbat Week 2024, POV Outsider, Alien Cultural Differences, Flustered Clark Kent, Off-World, Sexual Dimorphism, Ambiguous Relationships, Pining read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/yMcS1Yb

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

bird of paradise

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ekosBJ9 by achilliesonmain Superman and Batman are sent as ambassadors for Earth to a newly contact planet. This planet has made some assumptions about their relationship. Superbat Week | Day Two | Ordeals on the Road Words: 3422, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Superman - All Media Types, Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Original Alien Character(s), Justice League (DCU) Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Superbat Week 2024, POV Outsider, Alien Cultural Differences, Flustered Clark Kent, Off-World, Sexual Dimorphism, Ambiguous Relationships, Pining read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ekosBJ9

[xaeyrnofnbe]

DUDE SPILL ATHZUREA HISTORY AND HOW THE PATHEON IS RELATED ??

I love the designs of the gods omigosh wjennsns

🤟💚💚🤍🤍

OH CRAP I DIDNT EXPECT SOMEBODY TO ACTUALLY ASK OK YOURE IN FOR A WILD RIDE (also any made up names are ones i came up with as a preteen and haven’t bothered to look up or change. so if i’ve accidentally named somebody something horrible, uh, whoops. just ignore it ig)

it all starts with Allyrea, who was this kind of infinite snake-bird-thing made of darkness and light, and she created the universe out of loneliness. lotsa starts, blah blah blah, she tried creating life on multiple occasions but all of those planets basically died and rotted, and i never had a name for them so i’ll be calling them Undead Planets. (not super relevant to this post but if asked about it i will happily explain the role they play)

after countless failed attempts, she tries creating more things like herself, entities of creation, manifestations of the building blocks of that reality. they were called Theahra (imagine if like a mountain was a rhinoceros) and Riiv, (giant gryphon creature with lots of wings,) and they were the goddesses of earth and sky respectively, and they were gifted with the same incredible potential as their creator, who just kind of skedaddled to the edge of the universe to chill in the void past the point where reality and time got a bit funky.

the two, now with a planet to rule over and to shape as they wished, started jotting down ideas and eventually, a plan.

they wanted life. and they had all sorts of ideas on how to go about it. but Theahra, she wanted to have more control over the hypothetical inhabitants than she and Riiv had discussed, and so, in secret, constructed a prison to hold those who disobeyed her. in theory, that was.

this prison was at the center of the planet, somewhat physical, and somewhat on another plane of reality. it’s weird like that, whatever. it’s a big hollow section but the gravity is along the walls, it’s cool. this prison ends up being known as the Core.

Riiv is outraged at this perceived betrayal of trust, and imprisons Theahra in the Core.

and to ensure she doesn’t escape, Riiv creates a being to guard the Core. a lion-like creature of water and muck, god of water and new life, and she calls him Aggus.

years pass. decades. centuries. millennia. the timescale doesn’t really matter, it was a long time, you get the idea. but Aggus is kind to Theahra, and the two share what wasn’t quite romance, nor was it lustful. it was something only two gods could have shared. and the result? twin daughters, Faell, (goddess of plants and fungi,) and Frels, (goddess of beasts,) both born and freed in secret, and unleashed upon the barren world to bring the first breaths of mortal life.

but in late retaliation of her imprisonment, Theahra constructs her own champion, of similar build to Aggus but a different element. his name is Iriff, the god of fire.

Aggus and Iriff, two sides to the same coin, brothers not by blood but by circumstance, battle one another, and it doesn’t take long for Iriff to be bested, and sent to live in the Core forever.

and eventually, somehow, Theahra manages to reason with the goddess that had once been her truest and only friend. she’s had a change of heart, and Riiv sees that. Theahra is free and has called a truce with Riiv, Iriff is still locked away in the core, Aggus is chilling out in the oceans, and Faell and Frels are watching with excitement as their creations begin to evolve.

that’s the MAIN story. but not all the gods. Frels sees how lonely Iriff is in his prison, so she creates him a sister, Samrea (demigoddess of smoke and disease,) and ensures that all the dead creatures (that don’t end up in a paradise built by Allyrea) get sent to him to accompany him.

the remnants of what Theahra and Aggus had shared blossomed into a new goddess, Bismurea (rep of beauty and love of all kinds.) Theahra also kind of splits off a piece of herself to become Alsid, who i think was one of my first non-binary characters EVER and also was the embodiment of gemstones and unique minerals.

a few others also just kind of happened. Varrak and Trokvi, goddesses of the mind and of time, for example. and eventually, as mortal societies began to develop and the gods needed a bit more manpower to keep watch over them, more demigods started showing up in the form of mortals risen to. well, immortals. with cool powers. i never came up with a lot of them but they generally regard one another as siblings, the ones i’ve developed at least somewhat are Azura, (demigoddess of roots,) Alura, (demigoddess of rivers and lakes,) and finally, Ifre, initially named after Iriff, who rose to the demigod of death and one day a true god, who also happens to be married to the god he was named after. (i can absolutely go into detail about that, or anything else i’ve talked about, if prompted.)

oh and alongside the demigods, the gods created a race of creatures with immense power over reality, known as Golden Foxes (as their most common form appears similar to a fox, just with yellow in place of red,) and they filled a role similar to that of an angel. they had their own society and rules, even their own plane to inhabit. their primary purpose was to watch over and protect the world of Athzurea, but they took it to a bit of an extreme as they used their power to reach out into the multiverse and attempt to enforce dimensional order. (the golden foxes are like my favorite thing from Athzurea i love them so much they’re so stupidly overpowered but they’re FUN TO PLAY WITH ok?? they’re my special little guys.)