#she has the ability to glow bright neon colors

[thewalkingcamels]

When you hyperfixate on Spider-verse and revive your spidersona from years ago

[crowcrash]

The Jade Winglet

you are welcome to use my designs as long as you credit me :)

design notes:

Moon is a dark almost greenish black color, and has a silver almost diamond shape on her nose and chest. Hatching under two full moons, she has a teardrop on the back corners of her eyes as a mark of her mind reading abilities, and a smaller front teardrop as a mark of a seer. She is remarkably large for her age, a trait she got from her father, but is still one of the smaller members of her winglet.

Not much about Winter's design. He is stocky, has clusters of darker scales on his face, a darker nose, and is remarkably shiny even by IceWing standards. He continues to wear the earring from Qibli, claiming he doesn't trust Darkstalker's magic to be entirely gone without it, when in reality he secretly likes the connection to Qibli and his winglet.

Peril is very large for a SkyWing, and is the tallest of the winglet. Shes very muscular and her scales are abnormally bright and shiny in comparison to the other tribes. She is almost iredescent in the sun and practically glows. She has VERY large, unblinking eyes that are a startling shade of blue (an eye color already uncommon in the Sky Kingdom) and is known for intensely staring people down without meaning to do so. Despite being firescales she is covered in small scars from brief nicks in battle before her opponents perished.

Turtle is very short and stocky in build, and is the shortest of the winglet as he carries himself very low to the ground. Hes very freckled and alongside the golden armband he wears gold stud earrings. His horns are twisted and almost silvery, a trait he shares with every animus dragon. He bares a striking resemblance to his ancestor Fathom, however he is shorter and stockier than he was.

Qibli is lanky and awkward in appearance, with long legs and a thin, gangly body. He is unkempt in appearence, with crooked teeth and freckles and scars covering his body from his rough up bringing in The Scorpion Den (the scar from Cobra being the two slashes on the front of his nose) and is surprisingly tall, taller even than Winter, but because of their differences in posture (Winter's being perfect to a T and making himself appear much larger than he is and Qibli's being nonexistent) he appears much smaller than he really is. Like all SandWing’s, he has a darker patch under his eyes to help with seeing in intense sunlight.

Umber looks very similar to Clay in appearance, with hazel eyes and warm scales. Unlike Clay, Umber is significantly smaller and thinner in frame and is covered in large freckles. He has a lighter patch on his chest, his ears are long and hang down, he has a long scar on his snout and neck, and his right horn has a blunted tip from the battles he fought in the war.

Like Umber Carnelian shares many scars from the battles she fought in the war, most notably being the chunk missing from her left ear and the several long slashes across her face. I like to think that had Carnelian lived longer and Umber remained in the winglet the two of them would’ve become close friends, and eventually Carnelian would’ve become protective of the other dragonets in her winglet.

I struggled getting Kinkajou’s colors right; i wanted to make her bright and include her iconic pink/yellow scales, but i wanted to make her less neon and have more believable tones down hues. I also wanted to include some orange and reds to show her more fiery side.

[ekat-fandom-blog]

Barbie and the Secret Door!DPxDC AU

I've always wanted to see a Barbie AU so I'm gonna make one. If you've never seen BatSD, you can find the plot here. (Btw, at the very end there's a clip where Malucia's parents come back from a trip and laughingly ask her if she attempted to take over the kingdom again. I recommend watching or listening to the songs because they perfectly describe how delusional almost every single character is. I love you grandma and little fairy girl for being two of the most grounded characters in this movie.)

First, the roles:

The Grandmother played by Alfred.

Princess Alexa played by newly picked up Jason.

Nori and Romy played by Sam and Johnny.

Queen Unicorn played by Dan.

Unicorns played by Danny, Dani, and Vlad.

Princess Malucia played by Youngblood.

The Main Attendant played by Aragon.

Sniffers played by Walker and Skulker.

The Little Fairy Girl played by Star.

Second, tweaking the story:

Instead of fairies/mermaids/unicorns, it's vampires (amity parkers), nagas (ghosts), and banshees (halfas). trogs (the attendants) and sniffers (idk they're like bloodhounds) are nagas as well.

All animals are mostly normal w/just enough magic that they glow.

Vampires have purple or red eyes, sharper-than-normal teeth and nails, pointed ears, and the ability to turn into bats.

Nagas have green or red eyes, sharp teeth and nails, a tail, and the ability to turn into a snake.

Banshees have neon green or red eyes, sharper-than-normal nails, and the ability to tell when someone's close to death.

Stealing their magic turns them into humans.

Youngblood is a naga who doesn't have an ability (therefore is the most human looking of the nagas) and has decided to steal everyone's magic because he deserves it. (via Malucia's scepter) He hasn't stolen the castle servants' magic because it would make things harder for him.

Skulker and Walker don't "sniff out magic".

They've yet to realize that humans need to eat and drink water on a regular basis.

Jason's 11 years old, Youngblood's 6(?), Danny's 10, Dani's 8, Star's 11, Johnny's 12, Sam's 11. The rest (on the list) are adults.

Something I'm not gonna tweak: the fact that the palace servants don't try to revolt or usurp Princess Malucia. They seem extremely tired.

Now, onto the actual idea:

Jason is very nervous and untrusting of his new surroundings. His favorite activities are sneaking books from the library into his room and going to school. He's very resistant to interacting with Bruce because if he is like how the rumors say he is, how is he supposed to fight him off? Alfred notices and gives him a fairy tale book written by one of Bruce's ancestors about the house.

The book leads him to a door in one of the rooms he's never been in. This door leads to a fantasy world. There are tons of bright colors and weird plants. He spots a glowing, green puppy and starts following it. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings and was confronted by Johnny and Sam. (Johnny trips because he isn't used to having legs.) However, they notice the clothes he's wearing and realize that he's not from there and probably has no idea what's going on.

They tell him that the Evil Prince Youngblood has been stealing everyone's magic. Since Jason doesn't have any he might be able to help them. When Jason asks why they can't do anything, they reply with something along the lines of "how would we sneak past the guards or win a fight against them? we don't know how human bodies work."

Eventually, they start leading Jason back to their base when they nearly get caught by Walker and Skulker. Thankfully, the two get distracted by a rock thrown by Star and they get to the base quickly. (Unbeknownst to them, Star gets caught.)

Jason sees that a good portion of the camp has been stripped of their magic and made human. They seem to be rather disheartened at their situation. This makes him want to help (especially when he meets Danny, Dani, and Vlad and learn they're being hunted more religiously than anyone else.)

POV changes to Star's. She's being led into a large reception hall where a tall, shadowy figure is sitting on a throne on a raised platform. Then the lights come on and she sees that it's just a child sitting on a raised throne. (if you don't want to look at the image: the platform is eight half steps high, the throne is 9 steps high)

Youngblood ignores Ember, Walker, and Skulker in favor of Aragon and his plans to throw a celebration after becoming the most magical prince ever. Walker and Skulker gain their attention and announce that they've caught another naga child. Youngblood gets upset with them for not finding the much-more-magical banshees, but quickly turns his attention to Star and demands she gives him her magic. Then, he forces her to play games with him, Aragon, and his two guards.

Switch to Youngblood's POV. Walker and Skulker come back into the room to announce that they are certain that they know where the Banshee King is. Star starts to ask how they found him before snapping her mouth shut, which Youngblood decides means that she probably knows something. He goes to talk to Walker and Skulker and finds they know the general location (a forest) that he's in, not the exact location.

While he isn't happy, he does have an idea. He tells Aragon to prepare to go get the Banshee King. He then looks overly surprised that Star's there and tells her that she can leave since she's not of use to him. Once she's out of the room, he orders Skulker and Walker to follow her.

Back to Jason. He's figuring out a plan to sneak into Youngblood's castle and get everyone's magic back. Then Star bursts into the hideout and tells everyone that Youngblood took her magic and has the location of the Banshee King. Jason was going to ignore that when Danny and Dani started crying about their big brother being in danger. Now he's got a plan to go with Sam and Johnny to retrieve Dan.

When they get back to the base with Dan, they find everyone captured and depowered (with the three banshees missing.) He tries to fight Youngblood, but loses because of not knowing how to deal with magic. (also there's like 4 guards surrounding Youngblood.)

Youngblood says something about how powerless Jason is as he and his lackeys are leaving that almost causes him to give up and go back to the manor. Sam convinces him to stay and help because they'd not have gotten to Dan in such a short amount of time without his planning.

So, he plans.

He gets a small group into the castle and they watch as Youngblood takes the last of Dan's magic from him. The group is convinced they were too late and that they can't do anything now. (Youngblood has used his scepter to turn the reception room into a party room filled with all types of sweets.) But Jason noticed that there was a small crack in Youngblood's scepter, meaning if he hit it just right with enough force he could break it.

It was a gamble, but it worked. He broke the scepter and everyone got their magic back. Youngblood got clean up duty (because there's still candy and cake everywhere.) And Jason was more confident in being able to handle himself.

After Jason leaves back to the mansion, Youngblood's parents come back (he's still cleaning up his mess) and ask him if he tried to take over the kingdom again. His punishment is going to need to wait until after they give him his presents. (much to Aragon's disapproval)

Jason (in the mansion) probably puts the book in his room and decides to get training from Bruce. (and become robin)

[creativeera]

Neon Paint Market is Trending Due to Increased Usage in Light-up Projects

Neon paint has emerged as one of the trending decorative paints due to its increased popularity for light-up projects across residential and commercial spaces. Neon paint has unique fluorescent pigments and photo luminescent qualities that allow it shine bright in dark surroundings once illuminated with a source of light. Neon paint provides a neon sign effect and can be used on various surfaces such as glass, wood, metal, and plastic. With growing interests in DIY light-up décor projects and glow-in-the-dark artworks, demand for neon paint has increased significantly. Neon paint comes in a variety of colors and is user-friendly giving creative control to designers and hobbyists. It is durable, weather resistant and available in spray cans and bottles for easy application. The Global Neon Paint Market is experiencing significant growth, with a valuation of US$ 394.5 Mn in 2023. It is projected to reach US$ 671.8 Mn by 2030, exhibiting a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.9% during the forecast period.

Key Takeaways Key players operating in the Neon Paint market are Lift Foils, F4 Foils, Horue Foil, Cabrinha, FANATIC, JP Australia, Neilpryde Windsurfing, North Sails, RRDFoils, Starboard, Slingshot Sports, Phantom Boards, Duotone, Naish International, Tabou, Exocet, GA Fins. The growing popularity of DIY projects and interest in neon artworks has propelled the demand for neon paint globally. Individual artists and small businesses making glow-in-the-dark signs have contributed to market growth. Leading neon paint manufacturers are exploring opportunities in emerging economies to expand their geographic footprint. The Neon Paint market Demand increasing purchasing power and consumption of decorative products in Asia Pacific and Middle East regions is pushing these players to enhance their presence in these high growth potential markets. Market Key Trends One of the key trends gaining popularity in the neon paint market is the launch of new product varieties with innovative formulations. Manufacturers are coming up with neon paints offering various glow effects ranging from day-glow to black-light reactive for exceptional visual appeal. Products with long lasting glow, water resistance and compatibility with multiple surfaces are witnessing high demand. Moreover, launch of LED neon paint kits and interactive lighting products using neon paint has opened new application avenues attracting creative consumers. The emerging innovations are expected to further stimulate the market growth over the coming years.

Porter’s Analysis Threat of new entrants: Paint manufacturers have to invest large amount of resources in R&D and production facilities. Bargaining power of buyers: Large buyers such as automotive manufacturers can negotiate for lower prices. Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers of raw materials such as argon and mercury have some control over pricing. Threat of new substitutes: Alternatives such as LEDs provide competition but neon paint offers unique glow effect. Competitive rivalry: Competition is intense as global players vie for market share. Geographical Regions North America accounts for the largest share of the neon paint market in terms of value owing to high demand from automotive and advertising industries. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing regional market due to growth in automotive and construction sectors in countries such as China and India. Major automakers use neon paints to enhance appearance of cars. Advertisers prefer neon paints signs and boards since they glow brightly even in daylight.

Get more insights on Neon Paint Market

Vaagisha brings over three years of expertise as a content editor in the market research domain. Originally a creative writer, she discovered her passion for editing, combining her flair for writing with a meticulous eye for detail. Her ability to craft and refine compelling content makes her an invaluable asset in delivering polished and engaging write-ups.

(LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaagisha-singh-8080b91)

[xasha777]

In a futuristic version of London, where the River Thames has become a beacon for the city's vibrant nightlife, a young woman named Elara finds herself at the heart of a neon-lit revolution. Dressed in a glowing, iridescent dress, Elara is more than just a part of the scenery—she's a symbol of the new wave of artistic expression that thrives in the shadows of the city.

Elara's talent lies in her ability to manipulate light and color with her dance, creating mesmerizing visual effects that are projected along the riverbanks of the Thames. As she moves, her dress and the light ribbons she wields blend seamlessly with the digital projections on the water, crafting a spectacle that draws crowds from all over the city.

But not everyone is pleased with the transformations along the Thames. The authorities, fearing the uncontrollable gatherings and the rebellious undertones of the artists, clamp down on the displays. They see the river's artistic illumination as a threat to their control over the city’s aesthetics and its people.

One night, as Elara performs her most daring routine yet, the authorities intervene, disrupting the show with drones designed to cut through the projections and disperse the crowds. Elara, quick on her feet and bright in her thinking, uses the light ribbons to create a dazzling maze of colors that confuse the drones' sensors. The crowd cheers, rallying behind her as she leads them in a peaceful but powerful demonstration against the crackdown.

Her performance becomes legendary, symbolizing the struggle for creative freedom and the right to beautify the city in new, innovative ways. Elara’s dances along the Thames inspire a movement, one that would see the people reclaim their right to transform their environment into a canvas of light and color, challenging the grayness that once defined futuristic cityscapes.

Elara, once just a performer, becomes a leader—a beacon of change, much like the river she danced by, proving that art can indeed flow as powerfully as the waters of the Thames.

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Paidia (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- Ms. Sweetface by her parents

Age- 8 (immortal)

Location- Hearthwood neighborhood, New Olympus

Personality- She's an extremely precocious & playful young girl. Carefree, imaginative, and light hearted, she enjoys being the "spark" in a crowd!

As the goddess of play & amusement, she has the standard abilities of a goddess. Her abilities include being able to shapeshift into any toy, game manipulation (from table top games like board games, card games, dice, RPGs, & modern video games), toy manipulation (paichnídikinesis), doll manipulation (koúklakinesis) (including puppets and marionettes), imagination manipulation, and virtual reality mimicry.

Paidia's the only child to her parents Eudaimonia (goddess of happiness) and Apólafsi (god of enjoyment). The three of them live in a beautiful estate in the Hearthwood neighborhood (in a gated community)- complete with an expansive backyard, outdoor pool, & spacious basement.

Her bedroom gives off the aesthetic of a brightly lit toy store. The walls are painted in bright colors with glow in the dark neon pink star shaped stickers covering the ceiling. Many posters of her favorite movies cover the walls. A huge bouncy water bed is what she chooses to sleep on (after begging her father many times to get it for her). Aside from her regular bedroom, there's the playroom- which is filled with arts & crafts supplies, various toys, a flatscreen television, the latest Talos Core gaming system, and every board game known to man- including petteia. The playroom is the usual hangout spot for Paidia & her friends afterschool.

She's also an avid reader and collector of comic books!

Her and her family own a few yorkshire terrier dogs & rabbits. She has her own pet- a pegasus, a boy named Aero. She's recently dyed his mane dark blue.

Her go-to things to eat for breakfast are usually eggs (sunny side up) with bacon, sausage links, & hash browns. She'll also go for a bowl of chocolate frosted sugar bomb cereal or Earthly Harvest's yogurt coated cereal. She also likes her dad's PB & J pancakes. She'll also toast a couple of frozen chocolate chip waffles before drowning them in syrup.

Paidia's best friends at school are Hebe (goddess of youth), Prophasis (goddess of excuses), and Caerus (god of opportunity & luck).

Other godly students include Aceso (goddess of healing), Physis (goddess of nature), Myrízei (god of smell & gases), Xenia (goddess of hospitality), and Mneme (goddess of remembrance), Calleis (goddess of allurement), Eulabeia (goddess of caution), Melete (goddess of thought & meditation), Ersa (goddess of morning dew), and Aidos (goddess of shame, modesty, humility, & respect).

Because of her domain, she's usually the first deity to have a sneak preview of a toy or game before it's released.

At school, Paidia excels in art and gym. She always looks forward to recess!

On PanopTube, she often watches pranks & online challenge videos. Ultimately (with her parents permission), she wants to have her own PanopTube channel where she'll post videos of toy reviews.

In the pantheon Paidia likes the three blacksmithing cyclopes, Techne (goddess of arts, crafts, & invention), Gelos (god of laughter), Thalia (muse of comedy), & Hephaestus (god of the forge); especially his Ember Kingdom theme park! She also likes Morá (goddess of babies & children) who's often her babysitter. Paidia also has a crush on the messenger god Hermes! She nearly fainted when he autographed the sneakers she was wearing during Hebe's birthday party at the palace.

There are talks for Paidia to be potentially mentored by Eupraxia (goddess of well-being & success).

She can't wait until her mom's official glamour doll is released. Paidia wants to be the first one to buy it!

Some of her favorite card games include poker, go fish!, old maid, crazy eights, & blackjack.

From Confetti Candy Co., some of Paidia's favorite treats include a jumbo rainbow whirly lollipop, a bag or two of assorted gummy bears, a bag of watermelon gummy rings, and a box of cookies n' cream covered animal crackers.

Her favorite dessert are the confetti cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting from Hollyhock's Bakery. She also likes her mom's homemade banana pudding.

One time at a sleepover at the royal palace, Paidia had the brilliant idea of removing all the mattresses from one of the rooms. Her, Prophasis, and Hebe ended up mattress surfing along the grand staircase of the palace!

One of her favorite gifts she has ever recieved was a birthday present from Prophasis. It was a Diamond Ave. jeweled gumball machine shaped clutch!

Paidia has started "working" by modeling for Youthful Reign, the Queen's clothing brand for children.

She loves when her mom uses the Glory's Crown boabab conditioning custard on her hair. Someday, Paidia wants to know how to lay down her baby hairs on her own, which her dad does with expert ease.

Paidia tried sushi for the first time when she went out with her parents to The Ocean Roll. She thought that the salmon roll was gross and that she preferred fish sticks. She did think that the rice was ok.

Her all time favorite meal is from Olympic Chef- the loaded mediterraean fries (fries topped with fried pita chips, tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, shredded lettuce, marinated diced tomatoes, chickpeas, and pepperoncinis) along with fried fish sticks & a small strawberry soda. She also likes her mom's moussaka and her dad's baked mac n' cheese.

In her free time Paidia loves listening to music, watching TV, hanging out with her friends, going to amusement parks, bike riding, painting, drawing, cloud surfing, jump rope, roller skating, laser tag, playing video games, and spending time with her parents- whether it's doing various paper crafts with her mom or going to a basketball game with her dad.

"Playing is the art of being a kid."

[megthemewlingquim]

anything for kinktober with Loki...

Summer Fires

Summary: You and Loki get frisky at the pool.

Pairing: Loki x fem!Reader

Warnings: public sex, fingering

A/N: Oh, I had a lot of fun writing this one (and picking the prompt!). This is for Kinktober Day 23.

The pool almost glows in the pitch darkness, the lights underneath the water illuminating the water with a neon blue hue.

Almost everyone has left, aside from you, your husband, and a couple other families. A mother supports her toddler in the shallow end, some teenagers dunk each other in the deep end. Some of the middle aged women sit at tables together, gossiping about the latest thing that offended them in the neighborhood.

“The pool will close in ten minutes,” the faux friendly voice on the speakers says. “Please gather up your things and exit the area. Have a great day!”

“You ready to go?” you ask, hauling your beach bag up to your lap and rummaging through it, finding your clothes.

“Not quite yet,” says Loki.

Both of you are laying side by side on the longer beach chairs, in your bathing suits. The air has gotten cooler, and the sky has gotten much darker, but you are not any less comfortable than how you were when you arrived.

Your hair has air dried - you aren’t a fan of what happens when it does, your hair always seems to be frizzy and greasy after a swim. Loki, the lucky one with the ability to shapeshift, dried his hair immediately after getting out of the pool. Either that, or he never got it wet at all, you don’t know for sure.

(You remember when Loki took his shirt and shorts off, leaving himself only in his swim trunks. Of course, you’ve seen your husband shirtless, and naked, multiple times, but this was special - because the sunlight made him look like something ethereal. He glittered, sparkled, in the bright light. He didn’t show it proudly. In fact, he acted like nothing happened at all.

“You some sort of vampire or something?” you had asked. “You’re glittering.”

“You enjoy the view, love?”)

“Why?” you ask. “Is there something you want to do before we leave?”

He smirks. “Why, yes, there is. You look beautiful today, my love, in nothing but your colored swim outfit. I’m trying very hard to restrain myself - to fuck you right here in public.”

You squeak, burying your head in the crook of his shoulder. “Babe, you shouldn’t say stuff like that! Not here!” you hiss, though not in anger.

“Why not?” he chuckles. “It’s fun to watch you squirm and get all flustered. It’s fun to tease you, honey.

“So, as I’ve said, I would absolutely love to fuck you here. But... alas, we are in public... but I suppose we could get away with something else.”

“Wait - huh?”

“I could just pull your bikini bottoms to the side, no one will notice.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” you ask, incredulously. 

His grin expands. “I want to make you come. Here.”

You’re at a loss for words. You stammer, trying to get one word out, but you cannot. You only nod.

His hand slips down, and almost immediately, he feels and rubs at your sex, exploringly.

"You're awfully sensitive with these bottoms on..." he muses, looking at you. You're looking around, frantically, to see if anyone is near you. There isn't.

He pulls your bottoms to the side, exposing a fraction your most intimate parts to God and to the world, and you gasp.

"Don't worry," Loki murmurs, his fingers moving on your clit now, "no one will see. Just... lean into me, honey. Come on..."

You do, curling up closer to him and leaning your head against his shoulder again. You close your eyes, trying to shut out the nervousness that you feel.

"That's it, just let yourself feel good. I'm right here."

Soon, though Loki doesn't do anything different, you're almost to your end, squirming and fidgeting just a little as your body warms rapidly, breathing hard but trying so hard to keep your voice down.

"Don't look around," he says, "because it'll distract you. Close your eyes again...."

You do so, a small whimper escaping you, your body tensing, right on the edge of bliss.

"Don't think about anyone but me here with you... come for me, angel."

As soon as the last words leave him, you come, gripping his arm with white knuckles and shaky hands, teeth gritted and eyes shut in pleasure.

Right as you go limp, he withdraws his fingers from you. "Time to go," he says cheerily.

"Wha... huh?" you ask, your voice slurred.

"I want to see if you can walk home now. Your legs might not be able to support you. So when you stumble along, and people look, they'll wonder what happened... I'm not ashamed to let people know, indirectly, that I give my wife the pleasure she deserves."

"You're despicable," you breathe, laughing a little.

"My dear, that's who you fell in love with, yes?"

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO, “Dye and Diversity.”

Hope you guys enjoy the story today 

Yeb stared.

She tilted her head this way and then that, and then continued to stare on the other side.

A soft sigh, “My eyes are up here.”

Yeb looked up to where the human was staring at her ascance his head slightly tilted.

“What?”

“Sorry dumb joke.”

He pulled to a stop, and the strange wheeled chair below him pulled to a halt.

She stared some more, “That is so strange! It looks so fun!”

Her interjection seemed to surprise him, and he glanced down  at the chair, “Um, I suppose I’ve never thought about it. It’s kinda fun sometimes. I don’t use it much.”

Yeb waddled behind the chair and clambered up on two little pegs she saw jutting  out from behind, “Why not?”

“Well usually I can walk, and it is generally frowned upon to use a wheelchair if you don’t need one.” 

Yeb felt a rush of wind as he pushed the chair forward, and they began to roll slowly down the ramp, “Well why not?”

He laughed and shook his head, his earlier sour demeanor lost behind grim amusement. A few of the others came to join them as they rolled downward and off the platform. Yeb lifted her eyes  wide-eyed in shock as she stared at her strange and unusual surroundings, and the massive interior docking bay of the space station…. To think! An entire city built in space! Looking around she could see ships of many sizes and designs, and other unfathomable and strange creatures hurrying this way and that.

A thought came to her, “Why aren’t you using the arm sticks?”

“Arm sticks…. Oh the crutches?”

“Yeah.”

“My arms are sore from using them, and plus the wheelchair seems safer on the station. I'll Be less likely to trip and get hurt.”

“Oh ok!.”

It still surprised her to no end that the human had even managed to survive without a leg. At first she thought he might have been born with that deformity. On her planet, while it was possible to survive with an issue like that it was not very common at all. She could think of only one Tricar she had seen live to adulthood in such a condition. There were always complications, plus, while Tricar were semi-social they tended to live only in mating groups and abandon their pups at a very young age. 

If you couldn’t survive to adulthood in the cold metal mazes  of her planet than that was a personal problem.

She climbed up higher onto the back of the human’s wheeled chair to get a better look. She wobbled dangerously in her excitement, her hands and feet not exactly built for climbing with her stubby fingers and large flat feet.

With wide eyed excitement she looked all around them marveling at the diversity of lifeforms. There were so many of them!

She pointed to one, eyes wide, “What alien is that!”

The human turned his head to look then frowned “What do you mean?”

“That one right there!”

He frowned and looked again then laughed, “Oh well Yeb, that is a very tall human.”

“Oh, she frowned.” It sure didn’t look like any of the other humans she had seen, sure it was the same general shape, but it just looked so different that she couldn’t have been sure. But she supposed now she could see the resemblance. Like a stretched human.

“How about that one!”

The human continued to smile, “That is a human with a lot of fat, Yeb.”

“Oh….  what is that?”

“Er, like blubber but not really.”

That translated better and her ears flipped back over her head in mild understanding, “Oh, I get it, so those humans must be from cold climates, and that’s why they have insulation?”

“Not exactly.”

Her head turned and she pointed to another group, “Are all of those humans too!”

“Yes all of those are humans.”

“So pretty!” She exclaimed, they came in such interesting and new color combinations, ice white to stone ebony. Granted they all looked human, but the diversity in them was so astonishing that it was hard to believe they could all be the same species. As a biologist herself she might have assumed that maybe they were under the same classification, like fish, and how fish all sort of looked the same but that didn’t mean they were in the same biological category.

“Are they all the same subspecies?” she wondered.

“Yes.”

“Really? But they all look so different!” on her planet while they did tend to be diverse in height, their fur was generally always the same color, a grey white.

“There used to be other subspecies of humans a long time ago, but then they slowly started to die out. At the end it was only the Homo Sapiens and the Homo Neanderthalensis. Both of them coexisted for a while and even interbred but then the Neanderthal died out leaving only the Homo Sapiens with some Neanderthal DNA in certain cases,so we are all that's left, and our diverse lifestyles have given us different adaptational traits despite being the same species.”

She stared at him enthralled by this strange revelation about humans.

“For instance, in the middling areas towards the equator, things are a lot warmer and the light of the star hits the Earth directly, so humans kept their original dark skin color as protection against UV rays which can cause DNA mutations leading to cancer. A lot of times humans towards the equator tend to be taller and leaner which helps them to not overheat.”

“Your planet has a climate that diverse?”

“Yes, we can be as cold as your planet, or more than twice as hot.”

She stared wide eyed and shuddered at the thought.

“In fact, where I grew up we had seasonal changes in temperature. In the summer it was about thirty degrees hotter than the comfortable level I keep on the ship, and in the winter it could plunge to temperatures well around your home world.”

“How does anything survive in a climate so varied?”

“With air conditioning and heaters.” he said smiling, “Anyway, humans slowly began to move north, and as they did the rays of the sun couldn’t cut so easily through the atmosphere, as they were angled. That meant less UV light actually making it to earth. Problem is, humans need the sun to create certain vitamins used in the body. Darker skin helped to block the sun's rays when they become too much, but when there is less sun it isn’t so easy, and so humans developed lighter skin tones that were more vulnerable to sun damage but more easily allowed for the creation of those vitamins. In addition humans in higher climates tend to be shorter and stockier to conserve heat.”

“So…. you can tell where a human comes from?”

“You can tell where their ancestors come from.”

“So your family is from a cold climate?”

He smiled, bright white teeth showing the light above, “Yep, my ancestry stretches back to Russia, Norway, and other assorted parts of north eastern europe, but my family has lived far away from those places or the past few thousand years.” He smiled, “And yes, I can trace my lineage that far back. We’ve had pretty good record keeping for the past few thousand years considering we have internet databases stretching back about that far, and massive archives.”

“Wow/” She muttered quietly, “And I don’t even know who my mother was.”

The human raised an eyebrow at her, but by that time she had already transitioned to looking and pointing at something or someone else. She loved looking at the humans, they were so diverse and strange, and there was always something new to see. Sometimes it was their clothes sometimes it was their skin, sometimes it was their hair,

Sunny, the big blue Drev, placed a hand on the human’s shoulder in a quick gesture, “I am going to go look for the parts, I’ll get back to you in a minute ok?”

“Cool, bring me a working leg when you do.”

“She snorted but nodded and walked off,while he and the others continued onward.”

Yeb lifted her head in wide eyed wonder watching as they passed down a dark hallway from the docking bay, and then out, into an absolutely massive room. It was so large they might as well have been outside, a huge curving room in the shape of a doughnut that went around for miles and miles in either direction. Much of the ceiling above the mwas covered in some sort of see through glass structure giving her a view of space outside,and the rest of the expansive station highlighted by thousands of stars and hundreds more blinking lights.

Voices echoed and warbled all around them as hundreds and thousands of people filtered through the station like slow moving ice water. The room was so large that they had even built structures on the inside, which rose up many stories into the air glittering with colorful neon lights. She saw hundreds of aliens slipping in and out of these buildings and passing overhead on catwalks high in the air, talking, chatting and walking together.

It was all so alien and she was so excited.

She almost fell off the back of the chair as her unfit feet and hands slipped off a climbing surface. A hand steadied her from behind, “Don’t get too excited.”

She was pleased to find after that that the humans were very interested in bringing her around and showing her all of the new things. WIth her ability to eat a wide variety of food, she even got to try and taste some of their more strange concoctions, both excited and repulsed by some of them.

They walked past another shop whose brightly glowing lights attracted her like a moth to a flame and she backpedaled. Sounds pulsed and throbbed around inside her head and brightly colored pictures decorated the walls. On the inside, she watched in wide eyed fascination as one human sat patiently arm exposed, as another inked a pattern onto their skin with a whirring machine. The colors they used fluoresed under the strange blue light above.

A hand on her shoulder, “that is probably a human tradition you don’t want to experience.”

“What?”

“Tattoos, injecting ink directly into your dermal layer through use of tiny needles.”

She cringed a bit, “Why?”

“Because you can get cool pictures.”

There was a hum from beside her as one of the other humans walked up, “Maybe not the tattoo, but…” She trailed off and pointed to the other side of the room where humans were sitting in chairs leaning back as other humans painted strange chemicals on their fur. One of them stood up, and when she did, her hair was long and blue.

Yeb stared, “You change your fur color!”

“Yeah all the time.”

Adam rolled up behind them, “I don’t know if that's a good idea, we don’t know what kind of chemicals….”

“Well there is only one way to find out.”

They turned to look at her, “Want to dye some of your fur a cool color?”

She was so excited all she could manage was a squeak. The thought was so strange and exciting. There was only one fur color on her planet, to think that she could just go and change it!

Why hadn’t her people thought of this!

“YES!”

Her enthusiasm seemed to surprise them, but with smiles they were very encouraging and walked in with her as one of the humans came to greet them, “What can we do for you.”

Maverick patted Yeb on the shoulder, “Our alien friend here would like to go a different color.”

The human looked down and started with a frown, “Er…. what…. What are you. You don’t look like any Tesraki I’ve ever seen.”

“That's because she’s not. A new species, just coming into the galactic community. Anyway what do you say?”

The human paused then shrugged, “Long as you sign a waiver saying that we aren't responsible for any allergic reactions or damage to the hair of an unknown species, then sure.”

They glanced at Yeb, and she waved it off, “Let's do it!”

It was probably a horrible idea to have a team of humans not exactly known for their good life choices cheering on a naive Tricar as she chose bright neon green which was supposed to be at its brightest on the top of her hair and fade down slowly to the furn on her back.

The humans were excited all around, and she drew a small crowd as they began the process.

She probably should have been more concerned not sure what the chemicals would do to her, but nothing ventured nothing gained: that was a human expression she had learned just a few minutes ago, and she really liked it.

Warm water ran through her fur, and then a strange sticky paste was applied to it. Shehad to sit around and wait for a little bit as the color set, and then sit around some more as they washed the residual color out. When they were finally finished, she was turned to face the mirror, and her eyes went wide again.

Her grey white fur, against the bright neon green!. She turned back and forth watching the light glitter over the bright color.

“Wow.”

“Wow.”

“Wat have we done.”

“I love it!” She exclaimed, leaping out of her seat to look at herself more readily in the mirror.

She watched as Adam leaned over in his seat and passed his arm over some sort of device.

Se assumed he was paying for it and was quite pleased walking out of the shop with her new fur enjoying the eyes on her as she passed.

It wasn’t long before some of their other companions returned. Sunny turning to look at Adam with a frown, “What did you do.”

He raised his hands, “Oh come on, its harmless, na look at how happy she is. Come on.”

Sunny rolled her eyes..

“Spirits give me strength.”

Yeb capered around the group, rubbing her paws through her newly colored fur. It didn’t feel any different, but she sure FELT different.

She was sure she was going to really enjoy all these strange human things.

Then again.

She had really only experienced the good things.

It would remain to be seen if she was going to be able to handle the darker side of humanity. 

[magica-witch-project]

Hi! My wish would be to become all knowing! I’m kind of a cynical person, but I’ve been told that I have a very wise aura. People always come to me for advice or if they want to know something. I have a scar on my eyebrow and dark hair, my favorite color scheme is dark purple and neon blue!

Your magical girl form is futuristic and flashy! Your skirt is a clear holographic purple number, under which you wear a pair of black leggings that shift to neon blue as they reach your ankles. The top of your dress is black with a Queen Anne neckline. If you look closely, there’s a silvery shimmer to the black barricade as it hits the light. On your head is a glowing purple visor with your perfectly round soul gem set into the side. Rounding out your neon look is a set of chunky bracelets and anklets, all of which glow in the same blue as your tights. Your weapon is an equally flashy purple laser sword that, when paired with your ability to teleport, is a strikingly effective weapon. Your flashy looks aren’t the only thing that makes a splash in the magical community, however. People come from all over to ask you about their futures. After all, being all knowing means you can see every possibility in their life, right? This can be overwhelming at times, but you take pride in how much you’re able to help others this way. Outside of your duties, your daily activities become significantly easier (you can predict traffic patterns, you always know what someone will ask of you before they do, and you’re one heck of a trivia master!). You think you could really get used to this…

The think nobody tells you about omniscience is how stressful it is knowing every bad thing that is happening while being unable to stop it. Sure, you can give good advice and have a leg up on winning the lottery, but having the knowledge of when everyone around you is going to die takes a toll on you. It certainly doesn’t help that you were cynical from the start, but now that you know everything, it has just gotten worse. It gets to a point that you fall into apathy, no longer caring to give others the advice you once so freely dispensed. What good will it do in a world so full of corruption and senseless violence? This line of thinking is what drives you to no longer care for your soul gem, causing your transition to begin. You are now Evrim, the dystopian witch. Her nature is controlling. Evrim’s labyrinth is dizzying to look at. The second one steps in, they would be blinded by the bright neon lights that cover the area. Their language seems almost familiar, but it is utterly unreadable. Once adjusted to the lints, one might notice how dark and grimy the area feels- wires crossing high above, with darkened alleyways stretching on forever, empty save for the mumbling clusters of impossibly lanky hooded beings that loiter beneath the signs, their hushed words as indecipherable as the text that surrounds them. Their purpose is to pass information along to Evrim as they keep their eyes on the intruder. It would be quite easy to get lost amongst the towering structures and alleyways, but if one were to follow the wires just right, they might find themself face to face with the witch. The space that she inhabits is littered with screens of all shapes and sizes, blaring strange music and indecipherable visuals. The witch herself is built of assorted cords and wires that end in a massive computer monitor. From this monitor, the witch controls every aspect of this false city she has built for herself, as evidenced by the ever-changing text on the screen. The best way to defeat Evrim is to shatter this screen while avoiding being entangled in her many cords. Be cautious of these; not only can they bind one’s legs, but they may deliver a nasty shock. Upon her defeat, every light in the “city” will black out one by one, leaving the one who defeated her in the dark before the barrier disappears.

Thank you so much for the wish! If you want anything changed, please let me know. Since I don’t really have much advice to offer, I’d love to take a moment to talk about my inspiration for this piece. This one has seriously got to be up there with Aella for the coolest witch I’ve designed. The color palette you gave me reminded me of the color my sister uses when playing Beat Saber, and the futuristic visuals there fell in line so well with your “all knowing” wish. So yeah, a lot of this kind of drew inspiration from both my experiences in virtual reality, as well as my general love for cyberpunk as an aesthetic. This prompt really struck a chord with me, and I really hope that it came through in my writing! Anyways, thank you so much for the opportunity to write this one, I had a ton of fun. Much love!

-Mod Mami 💻

[stabletwooriginals]

CHAPTER FOUR: Perspective

LittlePip had the bright idea of looting a building she is way too underleveled for. That's not really a Gamer Joke, as FoE really does seem to take a lot of rules and mechanics from the Fallout games. But it's also funny.

Her opponents are the classic brain-bots we know from the games, made more horrifying with the simple detail of sounding like children. "Come on out. We only want to kill you for trespassing!" also reminds me of the turrets in Portal.

This is also where we get our first reference of the zebras as the enemy, via the intercom playing an ancient, automated message. Oh, and the first mention of the Minstry of Technology too!

The Mr. Handy equivalent of a plasma weapon is said to look like a unicorn's horn. That's cool.

While trying to escape on collapsing catwalks we get the first instance of self-levitation! That's a creative use of the canonical ability unicorns in the show possess. I'm not even sure if a unicorn levitaed *another* pony in season 1. But I think they never levitated themselves? This also gave me flashbacks (or rather flashforwards) to all the cool stuff LittlePip can do later with her levitation, I'm excited to get there.

 Oh fuck me with Celestia's forehooves!

The first instance of a PipSwear! Now, I love them. They are iconic. But heck, gosh, darn it if they don't sound awkward when said out loud. Which kinda makes them not work as swears, in my opinion. But for me, they are dumb fun and sometimes that's enough. Her remark that she picked these exploitives up from the raiders is a nice touch. That she keeps them up and builds on them is all her, though.

IRONSHOD FIREARMS How do you like *them* apples?   I didn't get it.

So, I am not a native English speaker. I know this saying, but I was curious where it comes from. *Apparently* that's not really known, but according to this article the phrase was used like this in 1895 already. However, it was also used to refer to anti-tank granades in World War I, for their apple-like appearence. Since granades also look like apples in FoE, I will take the risk and say that I think I do get Ironshod Firearms' slogan.

The anti zebra propaganda found in the factory overmare office is both creative and glossed over. The slogan ("Better Wiped than Striped! Join the Equestrian Forces Today!") is heavily reminicient of the German rhymes of similiar racist nature from the world wars. And the depiction of the zebras as some dark creatures with evil glowing eyes is over the top, but only a reread might reveal this as the neon sign it is, as the zebras have not yet been introduced as the enemy force properly.

In the overmares office Littlepip finds a ton of useful items, from spark batteries , a StealthBuck and gum (which could be the first instance of MintAls, altough not called such, as LittlePip doesn’t know them yet (and if they aren’t, she finds some later in this chapter in an abandoned camp under a bridge), to the one, the only: little macintosh. This revolver will become LittlePips iconic weapon that she keeps until the very end of the story. Presumably made for or at least by Applejack, so this also gives Littlepip a neat little tie to one of the original shows main characters.

Hacking the terminal LittlePip discovers that she could have opened the safe she picked with a bobby pin remotely from there. Intentionally or not, this is a dig at Fallout 3′s design philosophy of giving you several ways to open locks, making only learning one of them enough, while skilled characters are left feeling a bit overqualified.

Leaving Ironshod Firearms, LittlePip admits to having given up on finding Velvet for now and being set on just exploring the world instead. Again, very Fallout 3 in my book.

Past a playground that became a graveyard for little ponies (dark!), she finds a “Sparkle~Cola” vending machine. This becomes LittlePips favorite drink and when I first read it, I was super happy about that for some reason. The book keeps mentioning how she sipps on carroty cola sometimes and every time I remember thinking it was a fun detail. I have no idea why.

Resting on a bench closeby we get a description of this poster:

(Art by Droakir - DeviantArt)

First mention of the Ministry of Morale, first instance of Pinkie Pie and a really fun description of how her graying mane makes it look like a candy cane. Like the poster on the zebras, this is also great, classic propaganda writing. Obviously it is a reference to the episode Green Isn’t Your Color, but while I feel that it is referencing some real life propaganda, I do not know a specific one.

Watcher suddenly is back, helpfully explaining that the MoM is “another well-meaning idea that was so much better on scroll.” What a fitting description of pre-war politics in FoE.

Getting jumped makes LittlePip call back to the slaver, that complained about sprite-bots sneaking up on ponies. If I recall correctly this will be one of the biggest sources of fun in FoE: Callbacks like this, that help paint the world in your mind by connecting the dots for you. Im certain some find this aspect annoying, as they rather enjoy doing that work themselves, but as a casual reader (of a very long story) I always welcomed it. I will also stop pointing them out from here on, unless they strike me remarkable in other ways.

A quick reminder of the raider armor she is wearing and some foreshadowing how it makes her look like “a nightmare pony”, before Watcher offers that she needs to find her virtue. This will be as important as in the original show, but also almost take LittlePip until the end of the story to really figure it out. Right now, she doesn’t quite believe him and his connection to the sprite-bot drops. Now we get a different voice from the radio the sprite-bots play, when Watcher is not in control of them. Similiar to President Eden of the Enclave in Fallout 3. This however, is Red-Eye, altough not named yet, giving a motivational speech about the posibility of rebuilding Equestria. Naturally, this confuses LittlePip even further, having seen no trace of any leaders or reconstruction efforts.

Well, technically she has seen slavers, so, unbeknownst to her, she actually has seen a part of Red-Eyes plan.

But it gives her the idea to look for settlements and actually finds one in the distance. A undamaged looking caravan is moving away from it, all in all a great disovery.

While a fun and memorable scene in itself, what follows is meant to reflect a corner stone of LittlePips character. As she approaches the settlement she gets mistaken for a raider by her barding and shot at. Remembering the caravan she collects her strength and stands up to her agressor, threatening to kill them if they attack the others. This reveals the misunderstanding -- her attacker thought she was endangering the caravan -- and LittlePip exits the chapter loosing consiousness from her insuries.

Footnote: Level Up. New Perk: Egghead -- You will add +2 skill points each time you gain a new experience level.

What a chapter! While it might feel like not much happened, so many pivital and iconic elements were introduced here. Even if a lot weren’t named yet. Like Calamity! It does feel weird that LittlePip just admits on giving up on Velvet like that, though. On my first read I didn’t mind, because I just enjoyed how similiar the experience felt to playing Fallout 3, which I liked more than any other entry at the time. Now it seems odd, but there are a lot of other things to focus on and enjoy in this and the coming chapters.

[th3p1nkfr34k]

I basically did a complete redo I changed her main color to a muted pink while her clothes are neons I took off one tail and once again shrunk her wings, gave her a horn.

Freika is sort of the mascot to my account as well as a character. She acts similar to a puppy wanting to play and make everyone happy. She enjoys back scratches and having her leg fur brushed. Freika cannot speak but her jellyfish will change color with her mood. Blue is happy, yellow is scared, bright pink is angry, dark purple is sad, but the spots are always the same color. Freika can see but no one can tell how. She's also known to tap out Morse code with her hooves. The crystals in her head will glow and change color but they have no correlation to her mood or anything it seems to be an ability she can do at will. Freika can fly but rarely does so, so seems to be afraid of heights. You can pick the mushroom or flower in her head and they will grow back almost instantly. Her mushroom has indescribable hallucinogenic effects and her flower tastes like pure sugar and she often uses the petal to sweeten foods she makes. Freika eats by inserting foods into the hole in her head and using her jellyfish to devour her foods. Freika will wag all three of her tails when happy.

[sarahxalice]

Character Introduction - Meww Hatsune

--Edits/Updates-- --Edited 8/30/21-- Organized body type information into a list rather than a paragraph.

Hello first post here, maybe I’ll try and setup a format or whatever, but I’ll just go with the flow for now. This very first post will be of my Main and very first OC, Meww Hatsune.

--Origin and Inspirations-- Her origins are quite fuzzy a bit as she is by far my oldest character. She originated as either a character concept to either represent myself online and in games, or as a DND character. She was most definitely used as both and for an extremely long time. Of course character development happens over time and isn’t all at once, it’s just a question of when a solid basis was made for her.

Her name is a bit easier to talk about, while my memory is terrible I can at least probably pull a few references I came across that inspired it. One of the main sources of inspiration was Nyu from the anime Elfen Lied. Unfortunately am currently failing to recall other name inspirations, I can recall having around 3 and yet am missing the others. If I can I will edit this post to update this part, if not I will just make a new post later on adding on information.

As far as inspirations for appearance, characters like Lucy and Nyu from Elfen Lied, Zoey from Tokyo Mew Mew and Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki. Main inspiration from these characters is her pink hair and eyes. Skin tone and clothing preferences are based on myself and my own preferences.

Inspirations for her personality while partly coming from characters like Yuno Gasai, a majority of it is just something I was taught about when making characters for the first time for a DND campaign. Which was basically to take a personality trait from yourself and just exaggerate it. And essentially it would be close enough to yourself so it would be easy to roleplay while also not being a complete self-insert.

--Appearance-- As for her appearance, she is shown in my tumblr profile image on the left. Going into more detail I will break it up between her physical appearance and her fashion choices.

-Body Type: -Race: Human (Most Commonly), Half-Demon, Demon -Ethnicity: American (Most commonly) -Sex/Gender: Cis Female -Romantic/Sexual Interests: ♥ Girls ♥ Girls ♥ Girls ♥ (Self-claimed “Super Gay”) -Height: ~5ft 2in -Weight: ~100-110lbs -Physique: Lean musculature (Very fit and active) -Skin Tone: Pale White -Hair: Short, soft, messy/wild Pink hair (Varies between pale pink[255,170,255], neon pink[255,0,255], dark reddish pink[120,0,70] and dark pink[180,50,180]). Eyebrows are neat and moderately thin, usually matching the color of her hair. -Eyes: Tend to be sharp and intimidating. Color usually a bright, near glowing, neon pink. -Age: Typically a young teen to adult, roughly in the range of 16 to 21. -Other: Teeth vary between normal human teeth, adding a fang(s), or razor teeth similar to Soul Eater from the anime Soul Eater.

-Clothing Fashion: For fashion, she typically wears a zip up hoodie, cargo pants, combat boots, and a plain black t-shirt. For some extra details she likes chains, belts, buckles and zippers. Most prominently everything she wears is black, if there is any additional color to her outfit it would be pink as a trim highlight or supplementary color (typically a bright or pale pink). Jewelry isn’t very interesting to Meww, however she sometimes has earrings and is more recently depicted with a ring on her left ring finger and will almost always have it from here on.

--Personality-- She is a rash energetic girl. Hyperactive and proactive, likes to do everything herself. Willing to help anyone she gets along with, willing to take on projects or jobs from others as she likes to just do things herself especially when it comes to fighting. Of course things vary based on the kind of world she is in, in a more fantasy setting she’s typically a fighter/adventurer while in a more “realistic” or modern world, she’s really into athletic fields (commonly things like kendo and track), though combat isn’t out of the question, again depending on the world setting. She has the mindset of a rebel and likes to do things her own way rather than taking orders from another person, though not completely disobedient to anyone, and is not entirely against working with others. She just has a tendancy to lead or go alone on things. She is headstrong, confident, positive, a hard worker, supportive, loving, caring, fierce, aggressive and reckless. Of course she is not without her negative qualities too, some of which have been already named such as reckless and her confidence can be overbearing to outright unreasonable and annoying, and at times even worse. While she is a caring and loving person, she can also be really cruel, uncaring, cold and even sometimes sadistic and heinous. Of course interactions depend highly on the person or situation theyre involved with. As for some more negative qualities, she is very apprehensive and more likely to act negatively towards males than she is females. This as such also affects her romantic interest in people as well, making her solidly a lesbian and having no interest in guys in the least. She’s even hesitant to make friends with the opposite gender and acts very standoff-ish with them (this dislike of males can even be seen with other species such as animals as well). As for females she really loves girls, she loves how they’re all so pretty, beautiful, kind and finds them all amazing. Which kind of skews her views on right and wrong with it. She is way more forgiving to a female who does questionable things and is willing to forgive them or make excuses for their actions. Whereas males she almost is ready to condecend them and look down on them as if they are a bad person before even knowing anything of them. As far as children go she is conflicted on them. She tends to dislike children as well, but can also show kindness and caring towards them. As far as the world around her, she absolutely loves nature and flora. She enjoys fauna too, but not nearly as much, and as far as certain types of fauna, she actually dislikes for example, reptiles and insects. For time of day she loves the night and when its darker out, enjoying gloomy weather as well, such as rain and overcast. She has a neutral feeling towards storms, not particularly enjoying lightning or thunder, but is not disturbed by it. She loves nature to the point of even happy to sleep outside, usually in high places such as in a tree or on a roof. She absolutely loves the snow and snowy regions thus making her favorite season by a landslide, winter.

--Other Information-- Here is where I will put other information that I didn’t feel belonging to any of the previous groups of information, and nor do I believe I could write a whole section on it by itself.

-Relatives: Miku Hatsune (Mother; Yes, the Vocaloid), Teto Kasane (Mother; Yes, the Utauloid), Sylvia Hatsune (Wife), Miku Hatsune (Daughter; Named after her grandmother), Chloe Hatsune (Daughter)

-Allies: Sarah Alice (Close Friend; Soul Twin)

-Likes: Girls, Love, Fighting, Adventuring, Witchcraft, Tea, Cats, Sky, Puns, Sarcasm

-Dislikes: Guys, Not doing anything/Waiting

Fighting Style/Powers: She highly enjoyed close-ranged combat, primarily using her bare hands for hand-to-hand combat, a scythe, a spear, or a one-handed sword with an empty off-hand (rapiers are a particular favorite type of swords she prefers). As far as ranged combat goes, she enjoys and prefers bows, pistols and sniper rifles. As far as magic she uses it slightly more often than ranged weaponry. Prefering the elements of Dark and Ice, while next most commonly used would be fire. Other kinds of magic she has been depicted with is the ability to manipulate blood (while not inspired from, but was rienforced with/from Mirai Kuriyama from Beyond the Boundary) and telekinesis. She thrives on and is extremely fast, being usually one of the fastest people in her world. This also gives her a fairly strong reaction time as well.She sometimes is depicted as fairly strong physically as well, though not usually too far off from average in the world she is in. As far as style, she enjoys and tends to go along with more flair and aesthetic choices in her fighting, sometimes at the cost of efficiency. For strategy she tends to forsake it, while she is fairly intelligent and has the capability to be quite strategic, she tends to more commonly rely on raw emotion and instinct instead resulting in a more feral and sometimes beastial fighting style. As she can be reckless, she is highly aggressive and does not tend to protect herself, sometimes even getting hurt unnecissarily. As she really loves the sky she often dreams of flying, so she usually finds some  way to do so.

Possible Quotes: -”I love you.” -”Fight me!” -”Oh no~ how awful.” -“But why?” -”Meow.”

[sciencespies]

Meet the Western Soil Scientists Using Dirt to Make Stunning Paints

https://sciencespies.com/nature/meet-the-western-soil-scientists-using-dirt-to-make-stunning-paints/

Meet the Western Soil Scientists Using Dirt to Make Stunning Paints

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | Jan. 26, 2021, 8 a.m.

In September, as wildfire raged in Medicine Bow National Forest, Karen Vaughn watched smoke billow in a choked-off Wyoming sky. The sun was reduced to a matte neon-pink disc behind the haze, and Vaughn worried about her research site in the burning mountains. One of her graduate students still had one more day of fieldwork to complete, and the roads would soon be closed, if they weren’t already. Vaughn’s family—her husband and two kids—were outside too, watching as a light gray layer of wind-blown ash settled onto the landscape. The ash and vivid colors sparked something in Vaughn, who continually sought new inspiration for the paint she makes. She began dashing around, scraping the sediment from every flat surface and encouraging her kids to help collect the fine powder. She decided to incorporate that ash into watercolor pigments with hues reflecting the fire, indelibly preserving the moment. The small batch of paints, distributed to friends and local artists, would be used to create depictions of the destructive forces that allowed their creation in the first place. “You’re breathing that air, even in your house, and you look outside and see that weird orange glow,” says Vaughn. “You couldn’t help but be a part of that.”

A soil scientist and a professor at the University of Wyoming, Vaughn sees a lot more soils than the average person, and certainly knows them more intimately. Over many years spent examining them, she has come to appreciate their natural beauty and immense variability. Two years ago, she began channeling that appreciation into a product she could share with the world, turning the soils she loved into watercolor pigments. Now, she and her collaborator, Yamina Pressler, a soil scientist at California Polytechnic University, use soils to make pigments and paintings, bridging the gap between science and art. By sharing both their creative processes and scientific knowledge on social media and connecting with artists, scientists and the public, they aim to make soil education entertaining.

Vaughn’s research is in pedology, which means she studies minute, subtle changes within a soil. Does the size of the grains change? Do the colors fade into each other or get cut off abruptly? What microorganisms are present at different levels in the soil? The very nature of her field, she says, is subjective. “It is an art form,” she says. “It takes a nuanced eye to really be able to see the changes within a soil.”

Her job requires her to hop in a deep hole, map out tiny changes few people notice and interpret the soil’s history. Her specialty is studying water in soils: How much is there? When is it present? How does it change the soil’s chemistry? What features does it leave behind? Her work helps us understand how soils form in unique environments, like wetlands in the otherwise arid Wyoming mountains, and how fragile soils like permafrost might respond to climate change.

To the uninitiated, the landscape of Wyoming might seem like a monotonous stretch of tan dirt. But that idea is exactly what Vauhgn is trying to change through her art. By explaining to artists and curious laypeople how the myriad hues in soils come to be and sharing them visually through both her own creative works and those by other artists, she hopes to give people the ability to see soil as more than “just dirt.”

Soils, paints and swatches from samples collected throughout Wyoming and Utah allow a glimpse at the belowground natural beauty of the western United States.

(Karen Vaughn)

“Sometimes art opens the door to people wanting to learn about science,” says Laura Guertin, a geology professor at Pennsylvania State—Brandywine. Guertin too has brought art into science, both for her classrooms and her communities, by crocheting temperature records and quilting climate change stories. “Using different perspectives to introduce a topic, like soil, can help people understand and connect with it a little more.”

Soil is often overlooked in basic geology classes, says Guertin, and understanding how it works and where it comes from is important. “Without soil, you don’t have the rest of Earth’s systems,” she says. “It’s such a fundamental material, it’s the basis of our food systems.” And society’s indifference to soil led to the Dust Bowl, one of the greatest environmental disasters in the history of the United States. “With my students, I talk about the Dust Bowl and how it was a loss of soil that triggered a chain reaction, impacting a broad cross-section of society,” says Guertin.

Vaughn began making pigments as a fun way to engage with her kids, now ages 7 and 9, and keep them away from screens. They come soil collecting with her, and occasionally help mix the pigments and paint. But the main reason she makes pigments now is to share her perspective on soils’ inherent beauty with the public. “I found all these amazing soil colors,” Vaughn says, “and I wanted to do something more with them. I wanted them to persist longer.”

She recognized that by making paints she could share science with people who lack her expert training. “Spending all that time as a pedologist looking at soil formation and thinking about how much the colors of the soil can tell us about the natural history of that area, I wanted to let people in, open their eyes a little bit,” she says.

Vaughn collects soils for pigments almost everywhere she goes, from dirt collected in a wetland study site high in the mountains to coal unearthed in her backyard. On a family road trip to Florida in a campervan, for instance, she grabbed a small bag of soil from every stop, with the intent of creating a palette that reflects that memory. One dull pandemic day, she and her kids took to their bikes on a scavenger hunt near her home for as many colors of the rainbow that they could find. It was a change of pace for Vaughn, who is normally more opportunistic than intentional in her soil collecting. She made a palette of red, brown, orange, white, yellow and purple to represent that effort. And, of course, she has the three-hue palette from the September wildfire, corners of which were still smoldering away when we spoke in November.

Because it was just a small batch, Vaughn distributed the ash-infused pigments to local artists and a few select clients to create works reflecting the wildfires. California artist Tina Pressler, Yamina’s mother, painted a patchwork American bison, the West’s once-ubiquitous megafauna, and Bethann Merkle, a Wyoming artist and science communicator, created a series of three abstract paintings of fire-wrought forest textures. The ash-infused pigments felt fluid and heavy, says Tina. “The addition of ash made it seem really tactile, in a way, and I loved it.”

Artist Tina Pressler used pigments made of ancient Wyoming soils and recent ash to paint this bison, which she says “represents a visual amalgamation of flora and fauna over time.”

(Tina Pressler)

“I’ve long had a fondness for rocks—my windowsills are piled up with them at home and at work—but [Vaughn’s] work and pigments have helped me expand that curiosity and appreciation to the soil,” says Merkle.

Before Vaughn began sharing her pigments with artists, she had to spend some time getting the day-long pigment-making process down. It took her a few tries: “My first pigments,” she says with a laugh, “were chunky and terrible. But I gave them away with a disclaimer.”

In the first step of her process, Vaughn removes the sandy portions of the soil, leaving only fine silts and clays mixed in water, which she then pours into a cookie sheet and bakes in the oven for a few hours. After all the water has evaporated, the soil appears cracked and desiccated, like a mudflat after a long summer drought. “Look, mom, it’s all wrinkly like you,” her daughter once helpfully said. Vaughn grinds the baked silt into a fine, homogenous powder. Then comes Vaughn’s most meditative step: mulling, or combining the soil with the watercolor medium— a mixture of water, gum arabic, honey and vegetable glycerin. Only then does she get a sense for what the final hue will be. “You might start with an amazing green soil that, all of a sudden, becomes this dull, greenish white. And that’s okay,” Vaughn says. “It’s always a color I’ve never made before, so I’m thrilled.”

After Vaughn bakes the pigment, cracks appear that reflect patterns seen throughout nature—such as in this ancient orange soil pigment collected in the Red Desert of Wyoming.

(Karen Vaughn)

The colors of the paint come straight from the soil’s geologic past: Bright reds and oranges mean the soils were exposed to the oxidizing effects of intense climates, long stretches of time or both. Dark browns and blacks represent rich organic matter, reflecting the cycle of life and death at the Earth’s surface. Brighter hues result from minerals with specific elements; the presence of copper lends minerals blue-green colors, sulfur creates vibrant yellows and manganese presents as faded purple. Stark whites could mean acid once trickled down through the soil from a pine copse, or that ash once settled over the landscape, like that which Vaughn collected in September.

“Everything has a story,” Guertin says. “What’s been here in the past? Where do these colors come from? Where do these materials come from that give us these colors? I love that [Vaughn is] taking the soil science and showing how you can break it down to materials, to these pigments that have cultural meaning and to painting, which people already have a familiarity with.”

Vaughn describes her soil collecting, her artistic process and the science of each soil on Instagram, where she answers questions about chemistry, location and geology. Sometimes artists send in questions about the science of pigment-making itself, but many are just interested in learning more about the natural world. Depending on how much detail people want, she’ll even send along some scientific papers in a private message. Because so many of her clients are interested in learning about the soils, Vaughn is planning to start including a “soil story” with each palette shipped out.

Vaughn’s connections with artists sometimes grow from the virtual world to working together in person. Diana Baumbach, a Wyoming artist who Vaughn collaborated with a few years ago, loved going into the field with the scientist to forage for natural materials, including soil. “I really hadn’t thought about soil or considered it as a material before,” Baumbach said. “Looking at soil profiles with [Vaughn] was totally new for me. We both pulled each other into our worlds, which I thought were quite different. In the end, it was surprising how many intersections there actually were between my work and her work.”

While Vaughn does paint with her pigments, she doesn’t typically share her work; she leaves that to the younger Pressler, for whom painting has become a public affair. Growing up with an artist mother, Pressler says, meant that art was always in the background. “But it wasn’t until I started painting soils that I began to embody being an artist as part of my identity.”

Created during a soil art live stream on Instagram, this piece by Yamina Pressler is painted on post-card paper as a reminder that the beauty of soils is meant to be shared far and wide.

(Yamina Pressler)

Pressler also connects with an interested audience through social media. She hosts live paint-along sessions in her ‘virtual soil art studio’ on Instagram, inviting participants of all backgrounds to create soil-focused art inspired by where they live. These two-hour public sessions are open to children and adults, scientists and laypeople.

Tatiana Prestininzi, who has a bachelor’s in agricultural science but never cared much for soil science, now brings her young niece and nephew to Pressler’s paint-along sessions. “It’s not only from the artistic side, but we’re also getting the educational side of things,” she says. “It’s not just the 15-to-30-somethings on Instagram, she’s got 7 and 5-year-olds learning about soil profiles… so now I can go hike around San Diego with my eight-year-old niece and have a conversation about the soils she sees. She’ll ask to paint it and send it to the ‘soil doctor.’”

Through Vaughn’s art outreach and Pressler’s educational outreach, the scientists aim to inspire in the public the feelings children have while digging in the dirt and wondering at the world around them. Vaughn’s process of finding soils for pigments has a sense of play that is really infectious, says Baumbach. And while Pressler does draw soils realistically, she’s more drawn to whimsical doodles that reflect her feelings towards soil, which she shares on her Instagram sessions, along with the science stories behind them.

Yamina Pressler’s painting “Mojave Dreaming 28” was inspired by the unexpected winter tones of the Mojave desert.

(Yamina Pressler)

Tapping into her artistic side has helped Vaughn re-imagine what college soil science classes can be. She has her students sketch frequently, and she occasionally has them paint with soils. Her collaboration with Baumbach led the pair to cross-pollinate art and science further, with Baumbach bringing her art students to Vaughn’s science labs to talk about color and Vaughn giving guest lectures in Baumbach’s art materials courses. “Really, basic things like observation and analysis are at the core of what we both do, and we’re communicating through materials and visual forms,” Baumbach says. “The students are just starting to think broadly about materials, so hearing Karen talk about soils as a raw material is really interesting for them.”

In addition to giving talks about soil science and life as a researcher at K-12 schools and museums, Pressler works directly with teachers, taking them into the field and lab so they can get firsthand experience with soils. “They can then go back to their students and talk about soils and ecology, and the process of science, from their perspective,” says Pressler. “It’s more meaningful to the students that way.”

Michelle Bartholomew, a middle- and high-school science teacher, jumped at the chance to head into the field with Pressler in Colorado and Alaska. They developed soil science classes together, did some drawing and studied soils. “That was the highlight of my time with her, working on those tundra soils,” Bartholomew says. “It’s doing science, you know? Even though we’re science teachers, we don’t get to do that. It rejuvenated me… and gave me new ways of teaching old concepts.”

Artist Bethann Merkle, who has worked with scientist Karen Vaughn for two years, used soil pigments created from a burned area to paint scenes of the charred landscape.

(Bethann Merkle)

Pressler and Vaughn also believe in the importance of being role models who break out of the compartmentalization so common in science today. “It’s about showing young people that there are lots of different ways to be a scientist,” Pressler says, “that you can be colorful and explore different parts of your curiosity and still be a scientist.”

“We used to be Renaissance people,” Vaughn says. “Now it’s, ‘You need to stay in your box so you can do well at that.’ I feel like we’ve almost made it okay to be artistic while also being a scientist.”

#Nature

[theartisticintrovert]

Case #0130403

Statement of Jason Gale, regarding the strange occurrences surrounding Daniel Fenton. Original statement given 3rd April, 2013. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London. Statement begins.

--

I wanna start this by saying that I barely knew Danny. I don’t know how he became what he is, but what I did see, well...I still have nightmares. I guess I should start at the beginning, though I’m not really sure how much of a beginning there is.

I never had the greatest home life. Pretty textbook, really. Shitty dad, dead mom, bad friends, the works. I ran away when I was fourteen, fell in with a real bad crowd. I’d been in and out of juvie every few months, but I didn’t meet Danny until I was sixteen. I’d been picked up at the scene of a robbery, don’t even remember where, and sent off to Amity Youth Detention Center. I’d been there for about three months when my old cellmate got released, so I was on my own for a bit. I didn’t mind, D Block wasn’t exactly the worst it could get.

Danny transferred in a few weeks later. At first, I didn’t think much of him. He was tiny, barely 5’4 I think, and he looked like a twig. His eyes, though.....his eyes were what scared me the most. They looked dead, like someone sucked all the life outta him, just leaving his corpse walkin’ around like some kinda zombie. They sent him in and he just.....stared, watching Officer McCarthy leave like he was already planning the poor bastard’s funeral. I freaked out a little. I’m not ashamed, kid was fuckin’ scary.

That’s when it happened. It’s like something snapped in him. The room got all cold, and the lights started flickering. He shoved me up against the wall and I dunno how but it felt like this.....predator staring at me. I don’t even remember what he said, but I just agreed to whatever it was so he’d stop staring at me. I swear his eyes were green, but it had to just be a trick of the light. It had to be, because I remember they were blue. I remember, because I remember thinking how weird it was for an Asian kid to have blue eyes.

Still, when he got mad......I swear to you, they were green.

Sorry, I got a little.....off track there. There were a few more weird things about him, but just little things. He never ate, and I know it wasn’t that he was eating when I couldn’t see him. AYDC has scheduled meal times for every block, and every single time it was D’s turn he just....stayed in bed. There’s no getting in or out once the door’s locked, so he wasn’t sneaking around. And yet, even after about a week and a half of this, he was fine. No complaining, no hunger pains, not even a little bit of nausea. Like.....like he didn’t need food. I asked him about it, but the answer, well.....I think he was a bit nutty. Everyone was in there. 

I managed to get him into the cafeteria one time, though not for very long. I think Emily, that is, Emily Grey, scared him off, but I can’t be sure. I do remember though, that the others felt it too. Danny was.....he had this like, aura of despair. Like you get near him, and nothing you do will make you feel again. Owen Coulter said he “felt like depression, if depression was a person”. I only remember that because it was so strange to hear a twelve year old say that with the knowledge that only an old man has, but there it was anyway.

He got transferred a few days later, or....I assume he was transferred, anyway. I heard he’d finally gotten his trial, but he didn’t come back after. I can only assume they sent him to F, because I didn’t see him for several months after that. I’d honestly just been starting to feel okay again when he came back to D. I only really noticed him because we were in the yard at the same time, and something in me wanted to turn around and bolt the second I spotted him. Still, he seemed.....different. Less angry, less......snappish. I noticed a few new scars on him too, which was strange just because the inmates at AYDC aren’t allowed any electronics, so how the hell did he get electrocution scars?

The next big one happened after he was released. He’d been out for about a week when I got a visitor. This was news to me, since my old man doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me and my friends wouldn’t be caught dead in a juvie visitation room. Only visitors I really got were my lawyer and sometimes my stepmom, but she didn’t come often. She doesn’t like me much, but that’s beside the point. When I saw Danny on the other side of that glass window, I about turned around right there. Unfortunately for me, the door was already shut and I couldn’t get anyone to open it, not from my side. Fuckin’ bastards probably stepped out for a donut break, who knows. The point is, Danny was....different. 

His scars curled up both of his cheeks now, pale and prominent against his sickly brown skin. His eyes seemed a little sharper now, a little more aware. I wasn’t entirely sure this was a good thing. We argued a bit, but....I think he was genuinely trying to help. I didn’t trust him a damn bit, but at least he was trying.

I’ve been dancing around the point long enough, I think. Sure, the kid’s weird, you’re thinking. He’s got scars, so what? He makes you miserable just being around him? Probably some emo bastard. The whole predator gaze? Well, he was in for assault. No, the thing I’ve been avoiding, the thing that I’ll never forget....it was his ghost.

Way back when we were still bunkmates, he’d told me about how he died. How his parents were some kind of Ghostbuster freaks, and they built a portal to Hell in his basement. Okay, well, he called it the “Ghost Zone”, but who gives a fuck, honestly. Then he told me he was stupid enough to go in the damn thing, and got zapped six ways to Sunday. He said he’d died in that portal, and I didn’t want to believe him. I couldn’t. When you die, you die. That’s it. Game over. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars. The idea that he could be some sort of.....half-alive, half-dead.....thing, well....I didn’t want to think about it. I’d already come to terms with my own mortality, and I did not need it shoved back in my face by some freaky-ass kid.

But then he showed me. God, it was horrible. I was expecting him to fail, just the delusions of his poor fucked up scrambled brains, some side effect of getting zapped to hell and back. Maybe, if it were true, to just go a bit translucent. I didn’t expect the monster.

It came in a flash of light. Two sparking rings of bright white electricity, so bright they burned to look at. When I managed to blink the spots outta my eyes, I almost thought I’d hit my head. Where Danny had been standing, a floating, glowing thing stood in his place. It was pale, washed out, with only its acid green eyes and tongue giving it any color at all. It wore a jumpsuit of some sort, with thick gloves and attached boots, like the biohazard guys on TV. It still had the scars though, even if they were glowing an ominous neon green. It hissed at me, like it was trying to speak, but I didn’t understand a word it said. When it turned that empty, hungry gaze on me, I panicked. I shoved it back against the wall, where it connected with a sickening splat. Blood oozed on the concrete, or at least, I assume it was blood. It was red and green and sizzled, like it was eating away at the stone. I think there’s still marks there, where the acid ate away at the concrete.

The thing wanted to eat me, I’m sure of it, but it seemed too dizzy. I think shoving it only made it more angry, but at that point the light came back. I looked away just in time, and when the light died down Danny was back. Still scrawny, still fleshy, still alive. Only now, I wasn’t so sure.

I haven’t seen another ghost since, and I think it’s for the best. I’ve done my research, I’ve heard about these....mediums. I know I can’t see them, not on this plane. Honestly, I’m better off for it I think. I don’t want to see them, or hear them, or even think about them again. 

I didn’t give you this statement to have you do something about it. I don’t even know if you have the ability to do anything, since all this happened in Illinois. I didn’t come all the way to some dingy spooky library in fucking London for a solution. I’ve made my peace. I just.....I needed to tell somebody. Not the cops, I don’t trust them as far as I could throw them. And not anyone else either, they’d think I’m a schizo freak, like that Weston kid. No, I’m perfectly happy laying low, and never thinking about Daniel Fenton again. And now that I have this off my chest and stored away in your freaky little library, I finally can.

--

Statement ends. Although he said he didn’t want us to do anything about his experience, we did reach out to Mr. Gale. He replied in no uncertain terms for us to leave him alone, and that he absolutely would not be giving a follow-up statement. I....can’t say I blame him, but really, half-dead? A teenager that could turn into some paranormal entity? It all seems rather....far fetched. 

Still, we did do some basic follow-up research on what we could. The Fentons do exist, as well as the town of Amity Park. I’d like to take everything about said town with a hefty dose of salt however, as it claims to be “The Most Haunted Place in America”. Tourist trap nonsense, if you ask me. Daniel Fenton was arrested in late summer of 2010, though those records are obviously sealed. Emily Grey declined to give a follow-up statement as well, and Owen Coulter seems to have unfortunately passed away in the intervening years. 

Still, I can’t help but think that Mr. Gale’s statement is....unusually detailed, especially as it concerns a boy he himself claims to have no close connection to.

End recording.

[firaknight]

Make note that this is a GIANT post and is a culmination of me trying to explain my thoughts in a comprehensible manner. Some of this might not make a whole lot of sense, and I apologize if it doesn’t dhdjsjksjwnsnsnen /lh

On a small island, there sits a little port town (no name yet. May change later) (if you want a visual, think of the port town from Super Kirby Clash). This port town sits in the middle of Gamble Ocean, a strange ocean that houses odd creatures known as merfolk. Nobody knows why they’re there, but they exist. Little is known about these merfolk, as they try to avoid humans as much as possible, or at least, they try to avoid curious divers who poke their noses into the shipwrecks and ruins they live around. However, despite their supposed shyness, they’ve been known to save drowning sailors who get thrown off their ships. Very few ever meet the merfolk, and the few that have are old, many of them having passed long ago, with only a select few still around to tell the tales...

Among the island residents lives a 16 year old girl named Adeleine, a talented artist and quite the good swimmer and diver, she’s a girl of many talents. She lives with her mother, who simply goes by Ado. Adeleine has a love for the sea, and while her mother doesn’t share the same ideas, she supports the energy her daughter has for the ocean. Adeleine comes from an... odd history. She knows nothing about her past other than what her grandmother and mother have told her. Adeleine’s got some strange features, too... Oddly sharp teeth, strange glowing markings that sometimes appear in the darkest of nights, nails that grow unbelievably fast and sharp, and even a longer breathholding time than anyone else shes met. She’s chalked it up to be part of her bloodline, as her grandma has similar traits, even though her mom doesn’t have any of these traits.

Adeleines grandmother is one of the few people who’s met those merfolk. In fact, shes bonded and interacted with them. She’s told Adeleine all her stories and passed on her legacy. After her passing, she gifted Adeleine her shell necklace and a slew of gifts she’d been given by the merfolk, all of which Adeleine still cherishes to this day. Before her grandmother died, she instructed that, when Adeleine received her necklace, that she is to wear it no matter the weather whilst out at sea. While Adeleine has the seas blessing, having been left unscathed by the waters, she shouldn’t take her chances, and the necklace would keep her safe. Adeleine wears that necklace no matter what, going as far as to bathe and sleep with it on. It’s one of the last things shes got from her grandmother...

Fast forward to many many years later when Adeleine is 16 (current day in the story). She decides to take a trip to the neighboring island with some other sailors, but she’s been warned of supposedly nasty weather that’s going to come. The trip takes almost 2 days round trip, and Adeleine is determined to take that trip. She’s been on big trips across the ocean before! She can handle this! After a bit of back and forth, the captain of the ship reluctantly agrees to take her along with, and she’s thrilled. Skip ahead to over halfway through the trip to the island, a nasty storm rolls in. Adeleine is advised to take shelter under the deck, where a small escape boat is, but she’s adamant on staying on the deck. It’s just a storm! She’ll be fine! Suddenly, theres a flash of lightning that strikes the sail mast, breaking it and causing it to crash onto the deck. Adeleine, realizing she should’ve moved under the deck when she was told, gets up and tries to make a break for the lower deck, only to slip and get knocked off by the mast crashing onto the deck. She’s thrown into the sea and the current yanks her under without warning. Struggling, she swims against the current to try and keep her head above water, but gets pulled under again. She surfaces again and swims with the current, hoping that might help her stay afloat, but gets pulled under again. As she tries to resurface, she’s pulled under once more and the current throws her straight into a rock. Her head slams into it and knocks the air straight out of her, her consciousness slipping. As her consciousness fades, she faintly notices something start to glow around her neck, and as she slips unconscious, the water around her head seems to drain away...

~~~{+}~~~

Far from the ship, a pink haired girl watches the storm ravage the sea. She can see the ship get struck, and watches someone get tossed into the sea. She spots the light from that same person pierce the waters surface before the current pulls the person under. The pink haired girl turns to the ship one last time before she swims back towards home...

Some time passes, and the pink haired girl returns with a few others, all sporting pastel colored hair like her own. She tells them to split up and look for anyone that may have survived the mess and to get them out of the water. If they’re alive, get the water out of them ASAP. The girls she brought along all mod and swim off to look for any survivors. The pink haired girl swims off as well, headed for where she thinks the current dragged that person, and is quick to find them, led by the glow coming from their necklace. She finds that person is a young girl, no older than 16. With haste, she drags the girl out of the water and swims her over to a flat rock jutting out of the sea. She lays the girl on it facedown, checking to see if she’s still alive. Miraculously, the girl is somehow still breathing! The pink haired girl breathes a sigh of relief, noticing a tiny amount of water trickling out of the girls mouth. She swims over to her side, and reels back...

~~~{+}~~~

Adeleine wakes up to a something slamming into her back, causing her to cough, water sputtering up as she coughed. The coughing fit went on for a couple minutes before she was able to finally breathe. She takes some time to catch her breath and figure out how the heck she’s even alive at this point. As shes wracking her brain to figure out how she’s alive, she hears a splash coming from behind her. She whips around only to see something pink zip away. She tries to keep track of it, but it’s too quick. She loses sight of it, but keeps an eye out, only to spot it again! This time, whatever it was emerges from the water, their webbed fingers grabbing onto the edge of the rock to pull them up. In front of her was a pink haired girl with a bright red ribbon tied in a bow on the top of her head. Glowing, crystal shaped markings glittered near her eyes. She wore a red dress with 2 yellow buttons and sported gills that glowed a neon pink. Her blue eyes stared at Adeleine, curious. The girl asked if Adeleine was ok, and she responded that she was somewhat fine (but hid the fact that she was more than a little shaken). The girl introduces herself, saying her name is Ribbon and that she found Adeleine unconscious underwater, and that it’s a miracle shes alive. Adeleine introduces herself in response and explains that a storm hit and she was thrown off the ship. She was sure she’d die down there, but was amazed she was alive. Ribbon points to the shell necklace Adeleines wearing and says it was glowing when she went to get her out of the water. At that moment, Adeleine remembers her grandma explaining the abilities the necklace seemingly had, one of them being that it would glow to create a beacon for merfolk to find in order to help save the wearer. She also remembers that her grandma somehow never ran out of air while underwater, and that a bubble would form if she started to drown, surrounding her head and providing a temporary air source while she got to the surface. She concludes that her grandmas necklace was the only reason she survived long enough for Ribbon to find her. Ribbon pauses like shes thinking about something and changes the subject. She states that she can swim Adeleine back to the mainland, but she can’t do it by herself, as she’s so much smaller than Adeleine that it would take hours to swim back, but if she got help, it might be an easier swim! She mentions that she doesn’t want to leave Adeleine alone, as she’s worried that some of the “less friendly” beings in Gamble Ocean might pick her as a target, and asks that Adeleine come with her. Adeleine agrees and Ribbon explains that Adeleine will have to swim alongside her. Knowing Adeleine can’t breathe underwater, Ribbon creates a temporary air bubble that’ll give her air for a short amount of time, allowing Adeleine to follow her into the ocean depths. Adeleine dives back into the ocean, her head slipping straight into the bubble. She realizes that, now finally able to see Ribbons entire body, that Ribbons one of the merfolk. Adeleine is mesmerized by the fact that sHE JUST MET A MERMAID!!!!!!! She hides her excitement and the two swim into this beautiful underwater city (I don’t have a design yet :( I might soon tho). Adeleine is in awe of the sights and is constantly lagging behind, being dragged along by Ribbon when she gets fed up with shouting back to make sure Adeleine doesn’t lose track of her. The two make it to a small house tucked in the back of a coral forest. Ribbon knocks on the door, expecting to have the person inside to come to the door, and pouts when they don’t. She finds the door to be unlocked and peeks her head in, spotting the resident of the home fast asleep on the floor. She motions for Adeleine to stay put as she zips into the house. Adeleine just kinda floats there, confused. A minute or two passes and Ribbon returns with the merfolk in the home. They’re around the same height as Ribbon, if not a bit taller than her. (I’m sorry I don’t have a design for them yet if I did I’d explain their looks ;n;)

[forgadgetsandgizmos]

It Pulls Me Back into the Night

Written for Day 2 of Alex Manes Week 2020 | Prompt: AU/Canon Divergence

Read it on AO3

When Alex woke up at five in the morning to a text from Max of a location and-

>>come quick

-he has to admit that the first thought to cross his mind was something along the lines of again? His second was annoyance at having to wake the sleeping bed of curls beside him in order to attach his prosthetic.

At no point did he expect to drive to a cave in the middle of the desert and find himself staring at a glowing, mystery alien device, a Max lookalike, and one Mimi Deluca. Or that the three of them would precede to ask him to plan a heist. . . in 1948.

Yet here he sits, plans for said heist spread out in front of him, aided in his endeavors by a bearded, country version of his alien boyfriend’s alien brother.

Antarian, not alien, he corrected. Because the mystery planet Mimi had deemed ‘that place with the red skies’ was called Antar.

At least it was according to Jones-the-alien-lookalike, who had yet to provide another name.

Jones’ cave hole hideaway has its own pod and consul set-up. According to him, his consul was the original one linked to Michael, Isobel, and Max’s pods, and therefore stored their missing seven years of memories, like a back-up on a computer. Jones was locked out of the interface and while Michael, Max, or Isobel should have been able to access it, the memory of exactly how was just as lost as everything else about their past. Hence, a power-borrowing, time-walking heist to find Nora in 1948 and have her give Michael a psychic impression of her mind, allowing him to gain access to the consul and restore his own memories. Which will include how he can restore Max and Isobel’s. According to Jones. Whose trustworthiness Alex remained on the fence about.

Plus, just thinking about the physics of it all for too long made his head spin.

“I think the plan is as good as it’s going to get based off seventy-year-old information,” Alex finally announced. In the last three hours, they had created a timeline of everything they knew about Nora’s day at the harvest festival in October of 1948, even calling Sanders to ask for his recollection of events.

“Are you sure?” The real Max stood to the side, leaning against the cave wall. In the time Alex had been here, he had barely taken his eyes off of Max-lookalike.

Alex shrugged. “As sure as I can be.”

“Finally,” Jones exclaimed; the word drawn out near the end from his exaggerated accent. Alex had to resist rolling his eyes every time he heard it.

“I’ll call the others,” Max directed to him. He headed outside for cell reception since this cave was a complete dead spot.

It was a fact Alex had been cursing every five minutes of their little three-hour research project. The only skill Alex brought to the table and Max brought him to the one place in miles it was useless. Although if he’s being honest with himself, it was perfectly on par with every other insane event during the past few months.

Forty-five minutes later, Michael and Isobel were running in, Kyle, Liz, and Maria not far behind.

Michael rushed straight to his side and pulled him into a quick kiss. “Leave a note next time.” He shoved Alex’s shoulder lightly. “I didn’t even realize you had left this morning when I got Max’s call.”

“I didn’t wake you when I put on my prosthetic?”

“Busy day at the junkyard, I was exhausted. Slept right through.”

“Is anyone going to explain what’s going on?” Isobel questioned, waving her hand in a hello, remember me? gesture.

And that was how Alex ended up explaining theoretical time travel to the gaping faces of his friends before he’d had his (second) morning coffee.

-

He had to hand it to Liz and Kyle; they had managed to set up a mini-hospital room in a cave with bare-bones equipment and an extension cord hooked up to Max’s car battery outside.

Liz was comforting a worried Maria who was hovering over her mother while Kyle connected her to vital monitors.

Max had conveniently ducked out, leaving him to explain Jones’ plan to Michael and Isobel.

“Let me get this straight,” Michael started. “You want Isobel to link my mind to Mimi’s so I can steal her powers- “

“Borrow her powers,” Alex corrected.

“-steal her powers and use them to time travel-“

“Time walk.”

“-into creepy Not-Max’s past to get a psychic impression from my dead mother that will make the glowing alien machine return my missing memories?”

Alex grinned, unabashed by Michael’s bewildered tone. “That about sums it up.”

“Are we sure this is possible?” Isobel appeared to be taking this more seriously than Michael. She had dropped her previous look of exasperation in exchange for the intense concentration she displayed now. After she recovered from the shock of Alex saying, ‘back in time,’ of course.

Alex sighed. “That’s where it gets dicey. Theoretically, yes. Jones said that Mimi’s ability to walk through the past of people in her direct line is a common power among Antarians. The thing is, Michael’s going to be going backwards through Isobel to Mimi to Jones. It’s is a lot of hoops to jump through in order to make this work.” Alex didn’t try to hide his displeasure at his next words. “There’s a slight chance that when Michael tries to come back to his body, he can’t ground himself and gets stuck between times.”

Michael’s eyes shot to him, wide as saucers.

“We have a plan for that,” Alex reassured him.

“Yes, your boyfriend.” Jones’ booming voice echoed around them.

Michael scowled, turning his body in a vein effort to block Jones’ view of Alex. A pointless gesture in the cramped cave but it made Alex smile, nonetheless.

“Boyfriend goes in connected to you, separate from the other two, giving him a straight shot back. Your connection to him,” he directed to Michael, “will allow you to travel with him and use to him anchor you. As long as he can ground himself, you’ll both wake up safe and sound.”

Michael ran a hand through his hair. “And it has to be me because...”

“You aren’t physically traveling back in time,” Max answered, finally back from his car to join the growing group. “You’re traveling back through Jones’ experiences. If I went, Jones would be the only person who could see me. Your familial connection with Nora should theoretically allow her to see you as well. Isobel has the same connection with Louise, but she has to link you and Mimi.”

“You get to meet your mom,” Isobel realized.

A guilty expression flashed across Max’s face. “I’m sorry, Isobel. You’re the only one who can make the connection between Mimi and Michael.”

“I offered,” Jones added snidely.

“We aren’t letting you in their heads,” Alex snapped, his annoyance obvious. He and Max vetoed this hours ago and Jones had repeatedly brought it up since then, especially since the other five arrived. “I’m not comfortable with it and frankly, Maria isn’t either.”

A rough hand grabbed his and thumbed over his skin in soft circles. He squeezed back firmly.

“We’re all set up,” Liz announced, drawing their attention to the opposite wall. Mimi sat calmly, hooked up to a heart and blood pressure monitor beeping steadily. Maria held her hand beside her, looking significantly more concerned about the next few minutes than Mimi.

Liz rubbed her hands together and looked between Michael and Alex. “Remember, you’ll have eight minutes, maybe nine. Longer than that and I can’t make any guarantees about how well Mimi will hold up to the stress.”

“Time limit.” Alex nodded and raised his wrist to show the room where the pre-set timer was blinking on his watch. “Timer. We got it.”

“Time travel,” Michael muttered, shaking his head.

Alex grunted his agreement.

Yeah. This was insane.

-

He was standing.

It was the first thing Alex noticed when he opened his eyes. He had been laying down in the cave beside Michael, holding hands with their arms pressed together to make sure they didn’t break contact when they lost consciousness.

Now he stood in the midst of a bustling fall festival. His head spun behind his eyes from the sudden, blinding sunlight and loud screeching of children laughing.

The first thing he noticed when his head had finally calmed enough for him to crack his eyes open was the color. The movies always show the ‘40s and ‘50s in pastel, as if they had been painted in faded watercolor with age.

The real ’48 was nothing like that.

He stood on a bed of hay. Tents selling crafts and food formed makeshift streets around him. Vibrancy was everywhere, the scenery adorned in neon colors and strong patterns. Men and women alike wore bright colors with clenched waists and high-waisted denim. Young women passed by in coveralls with bright shirts for a pop of color.

He jumped back as a child in bright blue pants and a yellow shirt burst past him, a woman in a polka-dotted dress following close behind. He stepped back on his prosthetic, so that had made the jump at least. Good. He’d been worried.

Michael placed a steadying hand on his back. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he whispered.

Alex nodded dumbly.

Shoot, the timer, he remembered. Alex clicked a button on the side of his watch, starting the countdown from seven minutes and thirty seconds. Jones had suggested the thirty-second cut, figuring they would be disoriented and need the cushion. It irks Alex to know he was right.

Jones had been telling the truth about them not being visible. Despite knowing they must have suddenly appeared standing in a spot that was empty seconds before, no one had spared them a second glance.

It was definitely for the best. With him in his leather jacket standing next to Michael in worn jeans and his black hat, they certainly didn’t fit in with the tailored suits and squared shoulders of the men here.

“We need to find Nora,” Alex said finally. “The longer we’re here, the more the connection fades and the harder it’ll to get back.”

Michael nodded his agreement. Neither of them wanted to risk Mimi’s health.

“Okay. According to Sanders’ timeline, Nora, Louise, Roy, and Walt got to the pumpkin contest around two o’clock today, while Jones said he’d been here since twelve. Assuming our version of the timeline is correct, we’re in the thirty-minute window between when Jones sees Nora at half-past two but keeps his distance and when he speaks to her at three. After that, he gets too far away.”

“I was there when you explained it the first time, Alex,” Michael remarked with a poorly stifled laugh.

Alex rolled his eyes and stepped forward. “Excuse me for knowing my boyfriend has a tendency towards selective hearing.”

Michael caught Alex’s hand, pulling him back. “My boyfriend.” Michael’s eyes glinted mischievously. “I like that.”

“Think we can tell it to your mom?”

Michael’s face softened at the mention of his mother, forming an almost wistful expression. “I hope so,” he mumbled.

Alex squeeze his hand reassuringly and tugged him forward. He didn’t have any experience with coming out to a parent – his dad had seemed to know he was gay before he did – but they had still daydreamed together, usually in bed, usually blissed out after sex.

Some things were too painful to even think about. His mind drew a blank when he tried to imagine his dad’s reaction to Harlan murdering Tripp and building a shed to hide the body. But other things, like Christmas with grandad Tripp, who’d be accepting and warm, or telling Nora about them together and her being overjoyed that they found a cosmic love to match her own? Those daydreams were perfect. And in a way, this was their chance for one of them to be real.

Despite Michael’s cool attitude before they’d left, Alex could tell he was nervous about meeting his mom. Whether it was excitement, embarrassment, her meeting Alex (assuming she could see him as well), her meeting Alex as his boyfriend, or some combination, he wasn’t sure. Alex didn’t blame him. He couldn’t meet Tripp, who was human and therefore unable to see or hear them, but the sentiment was there.

It was barely a half-minute of walking before they saw the sign from the picture reading ‘Roswell Fall Festival.’ Nora was easy to spot; she stood beside an overly large pumpkin and the only non-white man in the small crowd. He noticed Nora’s eyes on them seconds before Michael did.

Alex paused next Michael’s frozen body. Nora’s posture mirrored Michael’s, stiff with shock.

He spun and met Michael’s eyes, a dozen, churning emotions reflecting back to him. As much as Alex wished he could him be, to take a second and soak this in (he was seeing his mom, alive and healthy), they had already wasted precious time getting here. They didn’t have more to waste.

“Ms. Nora? Everything alright?” A child beside her – Sanders, Alex presumed, as a child and before he’d lost his eye - noticed her distress and was tugging on her skirt. The man beside her – Roy Bronson – drew his eyebrows in.

Nora shook her head. “Everything’s fine, Walt.” She swatted his hand away. “You know not to be pulling on my skirts,” she admonished half-heartedly.

Michael’s hand tightened suddenly in his.

“Sorry Ms. Nora,” Walt said, seemingly unapologetic.

“I need to excuse myself,” she announced. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Roy reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Louise will be back soon,” he protested, “and the contest is about to begin.”

“I’ll be back in time,” she answered, turning away. She looked over to where the two of them stood, oblivious to the rest of the crowd, and tilted her head towards a closed barn to her right. With another glance to Michael, who seemed to have a better hold over himself, he followed her.

They stopped once they had reached the back of the barn, hidden on each side by large stacks of hay decorated in fall-themed leaf print outs strung together.

Michael and Nora stood facing each other.

Mother and son in a bittersweet reunion, Alex realized. Nora would understand how they were here. She could see their strange clothes and must realize what it means.

They couldn’t warn her about what would happen tomorrow. Jones had explained again and again before they left. To everyone else, everything happening around them is real. To Alex and Michael, they were experiencing a memory as if it was projected around them. Or more accurately, as if they had been projected into it. They couldn’t change anything because this was had already happened. Even if they spent the next five minutes explaining to Nora, in painstaking detail, everything they know about the next seventy years, she would forget the second they left. They’d arrive back at the same future they left empty handed, having wasted their time.

“Hi, Mom.” Michael’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“My son,” Nora said softly. She reached a hand up to cup his face before it fell as if for a moment, she had forgotten he wasn’t here and then reality hit. Alex watched her eyes trace Michael’s body, catching briefly on his tight grip of Alex’s hand. “You’re alive. And healthy.” She beamed at them.

“We’re not really here,” Michael started to explain, his voice dripping with unspoken apologies.

She shook her head. “I know. You won’t have long. What do you need?”

“I’m not really sure, something about accessing a consul. We found Jones-“

“He’s still alive?” Nora asked suddenly, eyes snapping to Michael’s.

“He was in pod, like ours, hidden away.”

“You stay away from him,” Nora demanded. Her voice took on a sharp edge to it. “He’s a stowaway who took a dangerous stance in the war on Antar and I don’t want you near him.”

“I don’t really understand that, but, well. That’s what I’m trying to say. When we woke up, we didn’t remember anything from before. Jones said that you can give me some psychic link to trigger my memories with the consul he was found with?”

Alex saw Nora’s face crumble before she could steady it. “It unlocks with a psychic connection that’s tied to me. I can transfer it to you.” She reached out a hand, palm up. “Hover your hand about mine,” she directed.

With a glance towards Alex, he placed his hand palm down above Nora’s and both their hands light up with the same faint, iridescent orange and purple that the ship pieces glowed with. After a few tense seconds, the colors faded.

“It’s done,” she announced, taking her hand away.

Michael followed suit.

“Rath - “

Alex tilted his head.

“- listen to me. This is for you and only you, alright? Get your memories back but you can’t give it to Jones,” she implored, a hint of a scowl (a very familiar scowl, Alex noted) appearing when she said his name.

Alex’s watch beeped. One-minute warning.

Michael looked at him, eyes suddenly frantic. Not enough time. It won’t ever be.

“Rath?” Michael’s voice was small, timid.

Nora didn’t seem to know what to say to that. “Yes? That’s you. That’s your name. Do you,” she trailed off. “What do you go by?”

He swallowed. “Michael.”

She repeated the word a few times as if she was feeling it out.

“There’s 3 of us,” he continued, “Isobel, Max, and I.”

“Vilandra.” She was blinking, rapidly. Blinking away tears? “And the other. Zan.”

“Rath,” Michael repeated.

Nora looked at Alex properly for the first time since they’d arrived. “And you?”

Michael had her eyes, Alex noticed. They shared the same shine when they smiled.

The unexpected question seemed to shock them both into silence.

“This is Alex. I love him, Mom. So much.” Michael answered the question with confidence, the first Alex had seen since waking up here.

Alex let his grin show. It was his Michael again, emerging from this shell he had climbed into roughly six and a half minutes ago.

Michael had dropped Alex’s hand earlier when Nora asked for it. Now, he took it again.

“Manes, Alex Manes,” Alex said again. He winced, realizing what he had said. The first thing he does when he officially meets the love of his life’s long dead mother is copy James Bond?

“I see,” Nora said softly.

“I’m Harlan’s grandson,” Alex answered her unspoken question. “I don’t agree with his values.”

“I can see that,” Nora said with a wink, motioning towards their hands. She flattened her hands over her skirt. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alex Manes. I’m Michael’s mother, Nora.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am.” Looking over at Michael, he didn’t think either of their faces could smile any bigger or brighter.

His watch beeped again. “30 seconds,” he said apologetically. And they’d have to go or risk getting stuck here or Mimi getting hurt.

“I understand.” Nora took a step closer and placed her hand over Michael’s chest. Had he really been here, they’d be touching. “Michael, I’m so glad you’re safe. It’s all I’ve been worried about for a year and to know that you survive, and you’re healthy and loved is a blessing I will treasure, even if I don’t remember it for long.”

“You see me again,” Michael choked out. “Right before…”

Nora placed a finger over his mouth and shushed him. “I wish I could’ve been with you and raised you, watched you grow up into this handsome young man. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be. Know that I fought for you. You go and be the amazing, intelligent, compassionate boy I know you to be. I love you, dear heart.”

Michael choked back a sob. “I love you too, Mom.”

Nora looked to Alex. “You’ll keep him safe, now.”

“With my life,” Alex agreed.

“I’m glad he found his family,” she said softly. “Time for you to go then. I have a pumpkin contest to win.” She put on a brave face and gave them a wink.

“I’m not ready for you to leave, Mom,” Michael cried, reaching out to her.

“I know baby. I’m not ready to leave. But parents never are, and it’s the job of the kids to keep going.”

BeepBeepBeep. BeepBeepBeep.

Alex cut the sound off quickly.

“I assume that means it’s time for you to go?” Nora supposed.

Alex nodded.

“I can’t be here when you do,” Nora said, backing up to the edge of the hay wall sealing them off from the rest of the crowd. “I love you, Rath.” Alex caught Michael’s shoulder, wrapping him in his arms as the figure walking away from them faded from view.

He let Michael hold onto him for a few seconds before placing his hands on either side of Michael’s face and pressing their foreheads together, both their eyes clamped shut. “Baby, we gotta go,” he whispered.

A shaky breath. Then a nod against his head.

An orange glow filled Alex’s vision. He squeezed his eyes shut as the light built and the sounds of the festival faded away. The sound of his own heavy breathing filled his ears. The feeling of Michael’s stubble under hand was gone, as if it somehow faded beside neither of them moving.

Alex didn’t dare move his hands despite not feeling anything under them. Michael hasn’t moved – if he had, Alex wouldn’t be able to go back – and letting go might mean Michael losing his anchor.

The light dimmed.

This was his part. He had to ground himself in his body - without actually returning to it – and then link himself to Michael so he could return as well.

Without opening his eyes, he turned his attention to his other senses. He could feel the damp, cool atmosphere of the cave against his skin and rock digging into places where he remembered it when he laid down. His prosthetic was just slightly digging into the top of his leg from laying down with it on for too long. He could hear muffled speaking, though he couldn’t distinguish it as any specific person or words.

He focused his attention on his right hand, the one that was supposed to be in Michael’s. He remembered the feeling of warmth against his arm, the places the hair would tickle against the crock of his elbow, and the way Michael’s thumb always caught on his finger when they held hands in bed.

And then Michael was squeezing his hand and he flung his eyes open and the room erupted in his ears.

-

Alex tightened his arms and rolled over, slowly pulling away from Michael’s sleeping body on the other side of the bed.

It had been a hell of a day. But as exhausted as Alex’s body felt (it turns out that time walking with borrowed alien superpowers took a toll. Who knew?), he couldn’t get his mind to catch up.

As soon as they got back, everyone had begun yelling, wanting to know if they were okay (Liz and Max), how seeing Nora was (Isobel), and if Michael got what he needed to access the consul (Jones). Isobel and Max had taken to learning their birth names with as much grace as one could when said names are delivered through their time traveling brother’s conversation with his dead mother seventy years in the past. Jones had wanted Michael to try and get his memories right then and there, but it turns out that the seven and a half minutes in 1948 equated to seven and a half hours in 2020.

Liz’s calculations had been right for Michael and Alex’s part, but she hadn’t factored in the time dilation. After the initial panic when nine minutes past and they didn’t wake up, but Mimi’s vitals held steady, Liz and Kyle figured it out pretty quickly.

And god, they’d been exhausted. Alex had been about to kill over where he stood. The only thing that kept him standing was his training and knowing that Michael was just as tired, only with acetone substituting for military experience.

He had never been happier to be in his own bed. With Michael too. He had persuaded Michael to come with him instead of going to his airstream, claiming if Michael wouldn’t come to Alex, he’d have to go to him and the bed there would make his already hurting leg worse.

He had gotten a dirty look for it but getting to be here, now, the mop of curls he’d cuddled to sleep peeking out from under the comforter?

He didn’t mind all that much.

Alex stared at the ceiling fan spinning above him in the dark. As soon as they could leave that cave, they’d had. Stopped by the Crashdown for to-go food and eaten it in bed while watching Animal Planet on Disney Plus.

They hadn’t talked about those seven and a half minutes yet, him and Michael. Alex wouldn’t blame Michael if he never wanted to acknowledge them again. They didn’t need to talk about the bad things to understand.

But Nora wasn’t a bad memory. She’d been good. She’d been great.

He supposes, in a few days when the wound wasn’t so raw, when they were cuddling in the dark, blissed out after sex, Michael would talk about it.

And he would listen.

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