#sit in her chair and watch birds and squirrels and other cats

[avatar-aaang]

Sunny is driving me insane. We play and play. She has fresh water and food and a clean litter box. She has so many toys. All the windows are open. I pet her and love on her and give her treats. But god forbid I sit down for one fucking minute bc she'll go crazy and destroy the whole house, screaming the entire time

[ravnloft]

gwenstarion (platonic)

circle of dreams druid abilities means she's giving his nightmares the steel chair but you know what else it means? in his dreams she's serving him tea and scones in the breakfast nook and he can taste them. she's taking him out on her little driftboat on the pond and he can feel the sunlight reflecting so warmly off the water. they're laying in a field of wildflowers watching the clouds and he can smell the plants and hear the bugs and birds without honing in on all the tiny heartbeats. he isn't cold. he isn't hungry

gwen cries if she sees him eat animals. gwen has at least once guilted him out of eating an animal and feeding on her instead despite being kind of WeirdTM about it. gwen is still crying because she cries about everything. someone is going to walk in and horribly misinterpret this interaction. gwen will be mortified. astarion will also be mortified until he realizes how embarassed gwen is and then he'll think it's the funniest thing in the world. from this day on he can make her cry on command just by saying something about squirrels. he still thinks it's hilarious

doing each other's makeup [guy foaming at the mouth like a dog with a chew toy meme]

they're sitting by the fire watching nól try to teach samson cat's cradle and the kids are so giggly and samson keeps blushing when nól touches his hands and gwen is like "when do you think they'll figure it out" and astarion has to go into the woods and scream for a bit as he realizes Oh This Is What Intimacy Is Supposed To Look Like

they are so mean and judgmental about each other's dates/partners/hookups when they get back to normal life. wlw/mlm hostility (affectionate)

they also send each other VOLUMES of gossipy letters. gale is probably also involved. it's like an email chain of 3 grown adults going NOOOOO HE SAID THAT???? OMGGGGG HE TOTALLY LIKES YOU 😍

[britishassistant]

@emyluwinter submitted: Hi!!With you again a freelance newspaperman who writes about the reporter Yuu and the Prefect!! I am very glad that you liked my little stories so much that I wrote earlier!!! It's very encouraging that my work is appreciated.

So today will be a small addition to the latest events related to the villainy of Crowley in the form of the kidnapping of Yuu's "family" and friends,and after the final" conversation " of the Prefect with Crowley.

Because of the noise and shouting, opening the room with a spare key, several henchmen cautiously look inside. Yuu had already changed back into civilian clothes and put on extra gloves to hide the knuckles on his hands that had been cut from the blows. - Um....chief, how are you? Yuu takes a deep breath. - Your boss should call a doctor. - So we were talking about you, micro-chief, - one of the minions adds, almost in a whisper. - Huh?Why am I a micro-chef? - Yuu looked at them in confusion. - Well...it's like you've just "talked" to the leader of one of the most powerful villains in the League of Villains.. - Plus your uncle, Mr. Cruel. - Your' family ' and friends are all right. We're not crazy enough to hurt them. - I don't really want to have a walrus's heel sewn on my forehead, - one of the henchmen added ruefully. Yuu couldn't believe it. - Are they really all right? - That's right, micro-chief! But please leave before Mr. Cruel breaks us down into test tubes. We want to live. - And I have a cat at home, how can I be without it. So we'll show you to the exit. Yuu chuckles uncomfortably.It was the first time he had felt so strange. Perhaps it was a mixture of shock, fear, and despair, laced with anger and rage. But for a second, he felt all the power that Crowley held in his hands. But now all this was not necessary, only his loved ones were important.

- Thank you..no, really, I'm grateful that they're safe and sound. - Yuu felt that all these minions were no different from civilians, and they just worked wherever they wanted. And now they are worried about the fact that their superiors have made a lot of mistakes. - Your cameraman friend is a great word player! - I lost three rounds in a row to him. Minions distract Yuu with simple and cute conversations. Some of them showed their pets. Yuu was even asked to sign an autograph as their favorite reporter. They were very moved by their understanding. Although for the most part, they behaved so as not to run into even more trouble. ***

TWST Anita hugged her baby tightly. - Oh Yuu, I was worried if you were okay. - Sorry, Mom - Yuu could barely hold on, they were terribly tired for this day and the last thing they wanted to do was go back to the kidnappings and villainies. TWST Roger patted their hair affectionately. - We were tied up just for show. The rest of the time off-camera, we sat on their couch. - He won four games of cards with the guards,- Anita added, chuckling softly. - Well, they're not stupid enough to harm us.- Roger chuckled. Yuu was just glad that they were all right. Yuuken held Grimm in his arms while standing next to them. - You held out well. - I should have burned all his feathers! - Grimm snorted. - And you cheated, Yuuken! You've made up more than half the words! - No, I didn't cheat, the guards told you the words. Yuu took a deep breath, the growing panic attack quickly passed in his parents ' arms and listening to Yuuken and Grimm. Uncle Divus arrived just a few minutes before the lair to make sure they were all right. None of the minions or minions were even willing to leave shadows in his path. "I sincerely apologize, Anita, that that idiot with the feathers would do something like that. Divus said guiltily, looking at his sister. - Don't take Divvy personally, I know that neither you nor Yuu will let us offend anyone. Everything ended well. - Anita said gently. Cruel relaxed a little at the realization that there was nothing wrong with the people close to him. Looking at the tired Yuu,Kruel just silently hugged him and hugged him very tightly. - You did very well, Yuu. I'm proud of you. - Thank you, Uncle Divvy...I think this time it's over once and for all. -I heard from the guards that Prefect beat him to the intensive care unit, but I don't know how he managed to get in. Yuu chuckled mirthlessly - yes, Prefect helped me out when it was most needed. Ah...I saw him get through the vent or something. Roger swore softly. - Damn it, I wanted to get his autograph! - Roger!Why do you need an autograph? - Little kitty King even has one, I also want an autograph!

Grimm uneasily climbs onto Yuu's shoulders and rubs his head against Yuu's cheek. He watched Yuu more closely than anyone else and saw the state they were in. - Hey .. Yuu. - Yes, Grimm? - Let you take a vacation, your hands are shaking like you're not letting go of a jackhammer. - Grimm glared at Yuu. - I absolutely agree with him, Yuu. Honey, you need a break, you have black eyes and you've lost weight since the last time we met. Being under constant stress is detrimental to your health. - Div, what about that country house you were talking about the other day? - Roger immediately joined in, taking up the idea. - I'm driving, so we can all go together. - Yuuken, you'll go too, no objection,- Anita smiled softly. - Yes, ma'am. I'll just talk to my superiors about letting us go for a couple of days. - Weeks at least,- Сruel added. *** Sitting surrounded by at least 15 pups, Yuu felt like he was falling asleep, they were really too tired for everything that had happened. The quiet snuffling of the pups around him brought him back nostalgically to the time when Yuu was just learning to play the piano with his father and, due to his age and height, couldn't reach the pedals below. How he and Uncle Divus would look at all sorts of fashion magazines, and Yuu would try to draw this or that dress or suit with crayons under his uncle's guidance. Even now, he could hear his mother and father discussing something with Uncle Divvy over a bottle of wine and quiet laughter. Grimm and Juuken fell asleep in a couple of minutes lying on the couch. Grimm climbed onto Yuuken's stomach and used it as a pillow.

Only in the evening, waking up from the doorbell, Yuu sleepily opened his eyes, they slept so soundly and well that they did not even notice how one of the particularly daring and playful puppies tried to gnaw his sleeve. - Who's, Uncle Divvy? - Yuu rubbed his eyes and yawned contentedly. Cruel carried several boxes into the room. - Courier with delivery, although it is strange that no one expected a special package. - What's is Divvy? - It came in the name of Yuu. - Me? - After getting out of the trap of the puppies, Yuu looked at the boxes with a puzzled expression. They were all in his name. And then Yuu noticed several small cards attached to the boxes. In the first box were expensive bagels with filling and frosting. It was a gift from Tsunotaro with an apology that they had to go through all this and Crowley had caused them so much inconvenience.

In the boxes from Tsunotaro there was also a basket of wild roses with a very pleasant and subtle aroma. Several varieties of very delicious tea and a letter was enclosed in an envelope. - "The items are very expensive and refined. Who is this secret fan, sweety? - Anita smiled softly. - From a friend, Mom...a very kind and good friend. - Yuu pulled out the letter and sat down on a chair and began to run his eyes over the beautiful written lines. Malleus certainly tried to put all his feelings and sincere empathy into the lines. The letter was very touching and full of grace, but the one phrase that caught Yuu's attention most was the one from the villain. "If you or your loved ones need help, please contact me first. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, it doesn't matter who I have to stand up against, whether it's villainous or even heroic, I will always help you no matter what happens, my dear and sweet reporter. Your loyal friend and " pink ink was added "and the most important terrible villain" - this must have been Vanruge. ... your loyal friend and loyal fan. Enjoy your vacation, we'll probably take a break for a while, too. " At the bottom was another postscript in pink ink : "One of the minions had the temerity to fall asleep in a den with the windows open. And now in our shelter a flock of birds, rabbits, squirrels and other small creatures that need to be attached" Yuu choked on a laugh as he imagined the mighty Tsunotaro surrounded by all these cute little animals. Finally, this long day gave Yuu something good, at least they will spend a few days with their family and close friends. Finally, the long-awaited rest and a short vacation came. By the way, the bagels with stuffing that were sent were damn delicious. - To bribe me on an empty stomach, up villainy is not otherwise-Yuu grinned, finishing another bagel. Thank you for your attention!

AAAAAAAH, I LOVE THIS!!

The perfect little ending to ease the sad of the last submission!! Yuu getting away with beating up Crowley! Crowley’s henchpeople treating Yuu with more respect and kindness than birb dad does!! Yuu’s dad wanting the Prefect’s autograph!! Forcing Yuu onto a vacation because their family loves them and wants them to feel safe and happy!! Yuuken and Grim going home with them and falling asleep in the puppy pile together!! Malleus’ care package and Lilia’s additions to his note!! I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!

Thank you so much for sending this in!!

[celestialinent]

someday it will fit just right

on ao3

In 2 years, Steve would spend his first night truly hungry. In 5 years, he would stand in a cold little cemetery and bury his mother. In 8 years, he would deliver food to the silent Barnes family as they sat shiva. In 11 years, he would go into a tiny metal box and come out a freak. In 14 years, he would die.

But on April 17th, 1931, Steve Rogers woke up to Sarah Rogers singing in her clear voice, thrilled to celebrate her only son’s 13th birthday.

He and Fiona stumbled out from behind the thick curtain that cut the little nook at the far side of the flat where he slept. There were boxty and eggs on the table, and Ma wasn’t even tired, because she had three days off all in a row. He was still young enough not to question the luck. He wasn’t aware that Sarah had begged and traded with the other nurses to get the days, promising to work shifts no one wanted, knowing it would hurt their purse at the end of the month and doing it anyway to make her boy happy.

“Stiofán,” she greeted him, and Steve smiled. She only called him by his Irish name when she was in the best moods, and as he got older and the trouble he got up to got more bloody, that name was used less and less.

Fiona always slept as a cougar, because her furry bulk was the best thing to keep him warm in their drafty flat, but she usually changed before they even got out of bed. Big cats might be good for keeping little boys with dicky lungs, but they weren’t so good for navigating the tight space of the Rogers’s home. She didn’t change this morning, however.

Steve sent her a frown, even as he sidestepped her to get to the table.

Aodhan, perched on a rickety wooden chair to Sarah’s left, watched the pair with his intelligent brown eyes.

“How’s my wee man?” Sarah asked when Steve had sat. Fiona came to rest next to him, her big head almost as high as his. “Any big plans for today?”

Steve blushed. “Bucky and I were gonna go to the park,” he answered. But they’d planned that ages ago, before Ma had gotten the days off. And they were really only going because Bucky had heard from Teddy Russo that Theresa and Dot Bianchi would be there with their older sister Valentina. Bucky was absolutely dizzy for just about every girl in the Bianchi family.

To be honest, Bucky was dizzy for all the girls. He was 14 this year, and apparently, his Uncle Isaac had told Bucky that that was the age that “everything started to make sense” with girls. Whatever in the Sam-Hell that meant.

“We don’t have to, though,” Steve said. And he meant it. Spending a few hours watching Bucky watching dames didn’t sound like any fun, and it was his birthday, so if he told Bucky he wanted to do something else he wouldn’t be sore at him. “Bucky could just bring the girls over and we could play games or something.”

Even if Steve didn’t think spending his 13th birthday with Bucky’s little sisters was the best way to celebrate he wouldn’t want to exclude them. Bucky hated dragging Becca and Judy and Rachel along when they went places, but Steve thought the girls were just swell. He’d never had a sister or a brother, and never would most likely, so the novelty was nice.

Steve’s Ma just smiled. “No, no. You and Bucky should go. Bein’ thirteen is important, a leanbh . Before we know it you’ll be old and won’t get to spend all your time with Bucky Barnes.”

Steve wrinkled his nose. “Bucky and me’ll always spend time together, Ma,” he promised. “We’re friends forever.”

What was meant to be a reassurance, however, seemed to kill his Ma’s grin. She sent him a soft, sad look before tucking into breakfast. “I hope so, Stiofán. But don’t think you won’t get old.”

“I’m only thirteen, Ma!” Steve protested. Fiona leaned her head against his side sympathetically, and the weight of her sent him listing to the side for a moment.

“Fi, stoppit!” he giggled. “Why’re you so big?”

Fiona, looking contrite, seemed to shiver in her skin like she always did when she was trying to change shape. But instead of bursting into the air as a pigeon, or scurrying up his arm as a squirrel, she remained solidly feline and solidly big. Steve frowned, tipping his head forward to peer at her.

Aodhan and Ma both laughed. Steve turned a sharp, worried look to his mother.

“What?” he asked. Turning back, he said, “Fi, what’s goin’ on?”

“Oh, a leanbh ,” Ma breathed. “What did I say?”

Fiona giggled. “I can’t! Stevie!”

It took Steve a bit too long to understand the situation, but when he did he turned an incredulous stare on Fiona. “You settled so big ,” he laughed.

“Bit inconvenient,” Aodhan muttered behind his shaggy russet mustache, but he was grinning his doggy grin, as overjoyed as Sarah was.

“The size of a daemon doesn’t depend on the size of the person,” Ma reminded him. Steve knew that. He knew that Mr. Tonks, hulking as he was, had a little rabbit daemon, and everyone in the world knew that Marlene Dietrich’s daemon was a honking big bear, something the newspapers always thought was real funny.

“Boys at school are gonna have a field day,” Steve told her anyway. Nobody but Bucky seemed to understand why Steve walked around with a mountain lion for a daemon most of the time. Now that she’d settled, he could just imagine how they’d tease.

“The boys at school are silly little idiots,” Aodhan grumbled.

That sent Fiona and Steve into a fit of giggles that carried them through breakfast.

***

He’d been right about the boys at school.

When words got around that Steve’s daemon had settled, Tommy Wies came over to him at lunch as asked him if he thought it was funny that his daemon was four times the size of him.

Miriam, lounging at Bucky’s feet as a german shepherd, snarled at him, and Tommy laughed it off but he didn’t say another word to Steve all day. Unfortunately, Bucky couldn’t be around forever, and after last period, when Steve was gathering his papers from arithmetic, Bobby and Tony Gottardo ambled over.

The three of them exchanged some words, and it all ended with Bucky finding Steve getting his lights knocked out of him in front of the school. Fiona was snapping and yowling at the Gottardo’s daemons, and Bucky had to wade in and break the fight up with a solid-looking kick to Tony’s keister.

“God, some of these eye-talians really are dumb,” Bucky huffed after the boys had beat feet down the sidewalk. “How many times I gotta lay them out flat before they leave well enough alone?”

Steve sent Bucky a dark look. “You didn’t lay anyone out, Buck. Tony and Bobby are just babies.”

Bucky scoffed. “Maybe not that time, but last time, I made Bobby bleed so bad I just about called a doctor so’s I didn’t have to go on the lam.”

Fiona snorted. “You did no such thing,” she told him imperiously.

Miriam perked up. “If you asked Bobby, he just about got murdered in that fight.”

The four of them ambled their way back home, About halfway to Bucky’s flat, where they were stashing their school stuff and cleaning up before heading over to the park-Steve couldn’t very well go home now, not with a bloody nose-Miriam turned to Steve and Fiona and eyed them.

“What’s it like?” she asked.

It was crystal what she was asking. Miriam, even though Bucky was a year older, still hadn’t settled.

Fiona shrugged her big furry shoulders. “Boring, but nice. Feels right, like a pair of shoes that I’ve had few ages, so they fit real good. But I think I’ll miss flying.”

“Shoulda settled as a big bird,” Bucky laughed. “A bald eagle, or something. Or a hawk, to go with that big nose.”

Steve shoved at Bucky playfully. “Well, then Miriam should settle as a pig, to go with your nose.”

Bucky, vainer than Steve by a mile, reeled back, patting at his nose like he was checking that it was still as perfect as ever. He scowled when that sent Steve laughing.

“Fi shoulda been an elephant, to match your ears!”

“Miriam could settle as a beaver so you could have matching buck teeth,” Steve shot back, still laughing.

Bucky huffed, but Steve knew he wasn’t that sore.

They spent the rest of the walk joking and fooling around, and when they barrelled into the Barnes flat, Bucky had Steve under his arm, mussing up his hair with his knuckles.

Mrs. Barnes started fussing as soon as she saw Steve’s face, but luckily she didn’t threaten to tell his Ma, trusting that Steve wouldn’t hide it from her. She did make him sit at the dining room table, though, and allow her to clean him up a little. She didn’t have his Ma’s practice at nursing, but she’d raised Bucky, and the frequency with which her son was being pulled into scraps meant she was no slouch. Amos chittered the entire time, scolding them all for fighting just like he always did. The boys and their daemons ignored him, as they always did.

“The only thing I have to give you for your birthday is some advice, Steven,” Mrs. Barnes said lightly. “Stay out of trouble!”

Steve offered her a beatific smile, the smile he offered to teachers and shopkeepers and Mrs. Barnes whenever he was trying to pretend he wasn’t an absolute scoundrel. It drove Bucky up the walls; he called it his saintly smirk. “I try, Mrs. Barnes. Trouble just always seems to find me!”

Mrs. Barnes and Amos hmmphed in unison, and Bucky snorted.

“Bucky, I expect you back home in time for supper. It might be Steven’s birthday, but you still have school tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ma,” Bucky and Steve chorused. She scowled and shooed them out of the house.

Steve shook his head. “She didn’t even notice Fiona’s settled,” he scoffed. “Guess Steve Rogers walking around with a puma for a daemon is just common sense to her.”

“Sure it is, pal,” Bucky drawled easily. “You may be short, but you’re just about the loudest guy I know. You’re bigger inside than out, is all. You ain’t no mouse.”

“What do you think you’ll settle as?” Fiona asked Miriam, who’d taken Fiona’s new size as an opportunity to be lazy, and shifted into a strange little lizard, riding on her back. She had the air of a haughty little queen that way, and Steve couldn’t help but smile at the smug little lizard smile she was sporting.

Miriam was quiet for a moment as she and Bucky shared a thoughtful look.

“A dog, probably,” Bucky answered first. “Most folks have dog daemons.”

Fiona shook her head. “You’re not most.”

Steve blushed a little at that. Bucky wasn’t most folks. Bucky was brave and handsome and kind and strong. Bucky talked a big game about how Steve was bigger on the inside, but honestly, Steve thought Bucky’s beautiful outside matched his insides. It was no wonder that all the girls at school had started taking real long looks at Steve’s best friend. There was something about the air around Bucky when he got real excited about a new song. When he laughed it was like his whole face opened up and you could see the damn sun shining out his eyes.

Miriam would settle as something even grander than a mountain lion. She’d be a real noble bird, maybe, because of Bucky’s sharp eyes, or a peacock cause of how nice his face was. Or maybe a wolf, like James Connolly had had.

“A horse, maybe,” Miriam said.

It was funny, because Steve couldn’t see that at all. Miriam had never been a horse in her life. Hell, none of them had ever seen a horse in their lives. But Steve was picturing Bucky astride a huge destrier, dressed like a knight, and it made him laugh so hard he almost gave himself an asthma attack. “You are a real horse’s ass,” he gasped.

“Maybe I’ll be something real strange,” Bucky said, and he was still smiling, but it looked pained. “Something odd, that’ll scare off anyone tryin’ to give us a hard time.”

Miriam shivered, shifting rapidly. She was a spider first, fearsome and black, before she draped over Fiona’s back as a big brown snake. It was followed by a strange hairless cat, a blind and eerie bat. Finally, Miriam clambered to Fiona’s rump, a brown little thing with huge, luminous golden eyes. Her small triangle ears sat at the sides of her head like horns, and a long tail that curled over her chest.

Steve blinked. “What are you?” he asked. Miriam only stared up at him.

“So one in a book of daemons once. Like a monkey, sorta. Strange, right?” Bucky murmured.

“She’s beautiful, Buck,” Steve assured him. “Very beautiful.”

Bucky shrugged and picked up his pace like he was eager to see the Bianchi sisters. Like the discussion was unimportant.

Steve felt distinctly that he’d missed something in the exchange, and Bucky was disappointed in him.

[peachyteabuck]

old school (make me drool)

summary: bunny is sweet, well-behaved. something about princess, though, makes her want to act out for the first time in her life. 

pairing: natasha romanoff x ofc

words: 2,663

trigger warnings: heavy md/lg, spanking, forced age regression, manipulation, there’s a vague allusion to starker, breaking of rules, 

notes/other: ANYONE WHO USES THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO BRING RAPE FANTASIES INTO MY INBOX WILL BE BLOCKED IMMEDIATELY. this was inspired by @orphiclittleone & i highly reccomend you check out their blog!

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

It started when Princess had to go with Steve to a meeting with Natasha. For whatever reason Steve decided she couldn’t be alone, and Natasha said it would be fine. Princess wasn’t too mad, unhappy she could only bring one of her prizes stuffed animals, but nearly-willingly went with her Daddy to Aunty Nat’s. Still, it wasn’t until she met Bunny that the pointed frown left her face.

Steve put her down onto the thick comforter next to Bunny, whose lips were wrapped tightly around a paci, hands clutched around a large stuffed animal of her namesake, eyes trained on the TV in front of her. Her long, thick hair was tied from her face with a pink scrunchie with a bow on it, her knit sweater a matching shade of pink. Her socks were stark white, ankle devoid of the tracker Princess had to wear.

Bunny said nothing at her guest, head only turning when Natasha caressed her face.

“Uncle Steve and I are going to do some work in my office, okay Bunny?” She placed a kiss to the girl’s head where her hair parted, careful not to remove any from her perfect ponytail. “I’ll be down soon to give you your bottle. Until then, play nice with Princess, alright?”

Bunny, still not dislodging the paci, nods and leans into her Mommy.

“Good girl,” Natasha praises, leaving one final kiss to her girl’s forehead before leading Steve into her office, a room adjacent to the playroom the girls resided in. In a moment of good faith, she had her coworker close the door behind them.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Steve chuckled as he sat in the fine leather chair near the fireplace. “I put that track on Princess for a reason, you know.”

Natasha sighed, grabbing the file from her desk. “If we weren’t discussing how someone was disemboweled by a small terrorist organization outside Orlando, I’d keep it open.”

Steve, already worried about what Bucky had exposed Princess to in order to watch her squirm, acquiesced.

Back in the playroom, Bunny made a disgruntled noise as Princess poked her chubby cheek.

“Do you ever speak?” Princess asked, nose wrinkled at her supposed playmate’s poor playful reciprocation. “Daddy said you were quiet, really quiet. He said you almost never talk. I’m not quiet.”

Bunny, much to Princess’ dismay, remains mute. Not a squeak, not a huff, not an eyeroll. Even Bucky’s Doll was better than this, and she was often too exhausted to give Princess enough attention for the girl’s liking.

Princess, though, is anything but a quitter. She pulls back for a few minutes, allowing her counterpart to relax. Just as Bunny seemed the happiest, Princess yanked the paci out of her mouth and pinned her to the floor.

Bunny tried to yell, but Princess placed her hand over the girl’s mouth before she could do anything. As Princess leans close to her ear, she whispers low, giggling as Bunny clutches her stuffed animal’s ears in her tiny hand. “Daddy says we can be playmates, do you want that, Bunny?”

Suddenly, in the span of less than a second, Princess hears her Daddy’s footsteps, hears the knob turning, and jumps off Bunny to the other side of the blanket. Bunny laid, there, stunned, as Nat and Steve picked up their respective littles.

As Steve bid his goodbye, and Nat turned around to close the door, Bunny perched her chin on her Mommy’s shoulder and locked eyes with Princess, who wears a smile fit for the evil penguins from the movie Bunny was watching before Princess showed up.

Somehow, Bunny knew their game wasn’t over.

The next time they met, Bunny is playing on a blanket in Natasha’s expansive backyard, dressed in a plain-pink one-piece bathing suit with her hair in two braids down her back and the bracelet Doll made her on her left wrist. Peter’s in the pool, sunbathing on a unicorn floatie. Doll’s curled into Bucky’s side, shoulders covered with one of her Daddy’s worn t-shirts – one large enough to cover her sensitive, bruised thighs. Natasha, Stark, Strange, and Rogers are all inside, making drinks for themselves as the sun swelters high in the sky.

Princess is the only other conscious person who remains outside, an easily forgettable body as Bunny colors under the sweet shade of the big tree in the back of the expansive yard, quiet enough that the occasional squirrel or bird will hop across her blanket and sniff at her forgotten snack.

She’s unable to ignore her counterpart, though, when Princess plops herself down onto the thick, cotton blanket specifically designated for outdoor use.

Bunny, despite her annoyance, says nothing.

Princess says nothing in turn, watching the girl in front of her meticulously color in the lines of a complicated flower.

“Daddy never lets me color anything like that,” she finally says, staring at the set of sixty-four crayons Princess had wanted for two Christmases and three birthdays but still never received. “Daddy says they’re too complicated for me.”

Bunny stops coloring for a moment, whole body stilling. Princess thinks she’ll say something, thinks she’ll show a break in her shell that’ll give her some in. But no, the sound of crayon gliding against thick paper fills whatever silence Bunny intended to proliferate with words.

It’s then that Princess takes out one of the most-loved crayons – a soft blue that’s had the wrapped long since pulled off.

“Do you like this crayon?” she asks Bunny.

Bunny stops coloring – bright orange crayon inert as she tries to swallow the dryness in her mouth. Fear paints her face as she gazes upon her favorite coloring tool. Out of all her markers, her colored pencils, her watercolor paints. None of those hold a candle to that one crayon. It’s the only crayon she doesn’t like Natasha using, the only one she saves for the special coloring book pages – the ones she gifts her Mommy for Christmas and for her birthday and when Natasha picks her up from spending time at Uncle Bucky’s place because she’s been on a business trip.

Which is why Bunny nearly cries when Princess snaps it in half, then crushes the pieces into something resembling dust. She does whimper, though, does drop the crayon she’s holding and curl her legs up to her chest and stares at Princess with these wide eyes that beg for her to stop whatever it is she thinks she’s doing.

“What’d’ya gonna do about it?” Princess questions. When Bunny doesn’t answer, Princess quirks her eyebrow then moves to grab another one.

Bunny gasps, tears beginning to well up in the corner of her eyes. “Please don’t,” she whispers.

Princess pretends not to hear her, and selects another well-used crayon. “Really, you’re just gonna be a baby and let me do this?”

Bunny looks around the lawn, begging Natasha to come outside or Peter to feel how frightened she is or even Bucky, a man who rarely pays attention to her but seems to like her more than Princess, to look over and wonder why there’s such tension between his best friends’ best little girls. Unfortunately (for you, at least), none of them pay you any mind. Somehow this is worse than when Natasha has to leave you alone for work or whatever it is she does when she’s away. At least then you don’t have to do deal with Princess.

“Please, Princess,” Bunny says a little louder. “Please don’t break my crayons.”

Princess smiles wide and sinister, like that Cheshire Cat from that movie you don’t like very much. “Alright then,” is all she says before standing up and skipping off to lay on the Aurora towel that was in the shade of a different tree. Even though she’s alone, Bunny remains upright, curling around her precious box of crayons.

The third time they meet is Bunny’s birthday party about a month later. The main festivities are over, all the adults drinking from Natasha’s expensive liquor cabinet. Doll’s curled up on Bucky’s lap, playing with a My Little Pony toy (Applejack, of course) and occasionally being fed bits of cake from Bucky’s fork; Peter’s enthralled with the latest installment of their classic movie marathon that’s playing just too loud for Bunny’s liking.

On any other day, Bunny would be elated to watch her favorite movies with her favorite friend. She’s allowed to eat ice cream cake (vanilla, from her favorite pastry shop down the street) and wear her favorite pink dress.

Her hair is in two low buns with a pretty pink bow. Natasha spent the whole morning with Bunny in her lap, telling her how cute she is and how much she loves her. Everything was great, perfect.

That was, until Steve and Princess showed up. Natasha was preoccupied with catching up in her friend to notice Bunny clutching her favorite stuffie or Princess’ sly smile.

Like the first time they met, she and Princess are placed on the blanket that sits in the middle of the playroom. This time it’s fleece, thick, one Bunny made with Doll one of the rare times they’ve had playdates together. It’s full of mint green and soft pink flowers around a bunch of sea animals. Bucky said he found the blanket kit at a craft store and thought the two of them could make it when he and Natasha were working in his office.

There were a few moments of silence as Steve pet Princess’ hair and explained how much Princess had been looking forward to today. Princess just smiles big and wide and teasing, waiting for the adults to leave before she finally speaks.

“Ya know, Daddy and I love teasing each other…” Princess says as if she’s the most innocent conversation maker to ever fail to meet her counterpart’s eyes. “You and your Mommy should try it sometime.”

Bunny gulps, fidgeting with her hands. “Mommy doesn’t…Mommy doesn’t let me do that without her permission.”

Princess scoffs. “Oh, you ask your Mommy for everything. Daddy hasn’t made me do that in forever.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Daddy likes it when I act out.”

“Mommy doesn’t,” Bunny doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to stave off what she now understands is inevitable. “Mommy doesn’t like it when I act out. She likes it when I’m good. I get candy, cuddles, stuffies when I’m good.”

Princess almost rolls her eyes, frustrated. “Maybe you should just try it sometime, just to see what happens.”

Bunny doesn’t say anything back, too scared of what would happen. Natasha always told her curiosity killed the cat, but could curiosity kill her as well?

Hours pass without incident, without Princess nagging Bunny or Bunny snapping at Princess or, really, anything happening. Princess merely leaves her to brew for hours, eating cake with her fingers and eyeing Bunny to see how she’s doing. Bunny’s lost in her own thoughts, the only indication of time passing being Steve coming in take Princess home.

As Steve picks her up once more, a smirk spreads across her frosting-stained face. Her eyes are knowing, full of mischief. In the background, the forest fire scene from Bambi plays on the large TV. Bunny wishes she could be one of the forest creatures running for their life, able to get away from the natural disaster that had descended upon her home.

Despite her fear of Princess, her words stick in Bunny’s brain like gum in her hair. It’s all Bunny can think about for days, maybe even weeks after her birthday party.  It gets worse when she’s alone, when all she has are her thoughts and her hands and…and…

Bunny decides to do something, do the unimaginable the day Natasha says she’s going to have lunch with Stark and Strange. That she’ll be back in a few hours.

Just enough time, Bunny thinks as she hears the front door shut and the deadbolt lock. Just enough time for her to do the unthinkable.

◦ ◦ ◦

“Bunny!” Natasha calls into the house. There’s the usual pause, one where she’s used to allowing Bunny to find her voice. But for whatever reason, she doesn’t hear the usual yes, mommy? followed by the pit-pat of her feet across the house. “Bunny?” she calls again, but the only thing she can hear is resounding silence.

Natasha’s heartrate picks up tenfold, not even throwing her shoes off as she runs to the room she kept Bunny in when she had a long work day. As she types in the code to open the door, Natasha is met with a sight she’d never thought she’d see:

Bunny, with one hand down her pullup, and the other clutched over her mouth. Her pale yellow pajama shirt is hiked up to her ribs, threatening to fall over where her hand meets her center.

For a moment Natasha does not know what to do, body frozen and chest heaving and heart racing. Bunny hadn’t so much as blinked without permission, let alone touched herself sans asking Natasha beforehand.

Squeaky, breathy moans slip past her fingers, eyes rolling to the back of her head as her body shakes with the desperation that comes just before an orgasm.

That’s what snaps Natasha out of her trance, what makes her fly across the room and grab Bunny’s face with her perfectly manicured hand.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Natasha hisses through her teeth.

Bunny bites her lips, eyes wide with fear. “P-princ-“

Natasha almost growls. “What, Steve’s little?”

Bunny nods slowly, meekly, lip quivering in fear as Natasha hand remains firmly grasped over her jaw. “P-princess s-said that it woul-d be f-un to-“ Natasha, a woman who has not had a hair out of place since the Reagon administration, nearly knocks over Bunny’s designated stuffed animal bookshelf. Wordlessly, she places Bunny over her knee and exposes the soft skin of her ass.

Bunny hadn’t been spanked in years. Ever since Natasha had gotten her, broken her, she’d been the perfect little – so obedient and eager to please, smart and quiet, happy to play by herself while Natasha worked with the others. She was everything Natasha could’ve asked for and somehow more…

But this? This was inexcusable. She was a big believer in second chances, but those must always come after an appropriate punishment.

“You think just because Steve’s Princess can whine and act however she wants, that means you can, too?” she hisses, hitting each cheek twice. “You think that girl’s behavior excuses your own?”

Bunny yelps, trying to find the strength to speak without sobbing. “N…no…” she mumbles, digging her face into her and trying to curl against the woman whose lap she has found herself in.

“What was that?” Natasha snaps, hitting the backs of her thighs this time. The slaps of skin on skin echos throughout the room and stabs at Bunny’s ears.

“No, Mommy, I am not allowed to misbehave! I am not allowed to break the rules”

“Good,” Natasha says through grit teeth. She takes a moment to grope her heated ass cheeks, and you savor the sweet moments away from the sharp pain. “If you didn’t know your place, I would’ve had to call Steve up to see how he keeps Princess in line. Maybe Bucky, too. He once kept Doll in a basement for two weeks because she wouldn’t eat her vegetables. Do you want that?”

Violent shivers shoot through you. Uncle Bucky and Steve are nice enough to you, especially when Natasha’s around. But with her permission to discipline you in their preferred way? You shrink away at the thought. “N-no Mommy. No, Mommy I’ll promise I’ll be good.”

“Good girl,” Natasha coos, another few smacks landing on her bottom. “Now, for the rest of your punishment…” Bunny gulps, trying to relax her muscles so it doesn’t hurt as bad.

“Now, should I put you on meal replacement shakes or keep you in chastity?”

[losille2000]

Hoot and Howl, Chapter 2

TITLE: Hoot and Howl CHAPTER NUMBER: 2/? AUTHOR: Losille2000 CHARACTERS: Actor!Chris Evans/OFC GENRE: Paranormal Romance (more on the magical realism side?) FIC SUMMARY: Chris goes on a camping trip to calm the noisy anxiety in his head, but it ends up leading him into his own messed up version of a Disney movie. When he said he wanted to be a Disney prince as a boy, this was absolutely not what he meant. Especially considering that the princess is also, well… about that… RATING: M (sex, language) WARNINGS:  Nothing. AUTHORS NOTES: Thanks to everyone for being awesome with the first chapter back. Enjoy this one. The OFC’s name is pronounced Nay-shaw.

Previous Chapter - Also available on Archive of Our Own!

Chapter 2

Nascha stood over the bubbling concoction in her cauldron, closing her eyes to the steam rising and curling pleasantly around her chin and cheeks. She’d spent too much time outside in the forest last night, and her skin still felt tight from the cold weather. The soothing warmth was just what her body needed, though it was not enough to rejuvenate the stores of energy she had depleted during the exercise. She only hoped she could make it until the end of the month and her next scheduled volunteer visit to Boston. Falling off the wagon now was not an option. Not without a suitable replacement for her extremely specific needs.

 A disgusted teenaged voice filled Nascha’s head then, drowning out her nagging thoughts. I hope you know I hate when you make that, Nae.

Nascha chuckled and glanced back at the fluffy feline lounging on the cat tree across the kitchen. The cat momentarily paused from painstakingly grooming her luxurious white fur—long enough to glare in accusation at the chuckling person.

 It smells like dog breath, the voice continued.

 “Well, yours smells like old tuna,” Nascha reminded, “so you have no place to talk.”

 Ugh, whatever.

 Ash loved her bored and disgusted teenaged one-liners. The cat could give any teenaged human a run for their money in that department, but there were certainly times when Nascha wished other people could hear it, too, just to understand the pain associated with listening to it all the time. Not that anyone would ever believe what they were hearing. They were more likely to check themselves into an institution than believe that it was possible for a cat to talk back to them. But cats did talk back. All animals did. They understood human languages just fine. The trouble was that Great Spirit had taken away the ability for the animals to respond in kind because of a terrible indiscretion long, long ago.

 Or so the story went.

 It didn’t really matter to her, because she still heard it. She heard all of it. The squirrels, the birds, the lizards and snakes… she heard them. This was her curse. 

 Nascha placed the large wooden spoon she’d been using into the ceramic holder on the stovetop, thinking once again how nice it was to have modern conveniences like electricity and gas to power her needs and keep a constant heat on her work. The ancient medicine woman who taught her this recipe while she’d still been living on the reservation had refused to cook it anywhere else but in a cauldron over an open fire. Maybe it ultimately changed the efficacy of the potion, not using the inherent energy of an open flame to create it, but Nascha was a modern witch. Modern witches innovated. After all, innovation was the only way she’d been able to survive off the reservation that had hidden her—and hurt her—for so long. She was pretty damn good at it all by now.

 A soft electronic chime drew Nascha’s attention away from her thoughts. She reached for her cell phone on the opposite counter as a notification alert popped up on the screen. The motion sensor on her front door had detected some type of movement. Clicking over to the video capture, she saw an old beat up pickup barreling down the driveway at a speed almost too high to take the curve into the clearing where her house sat. She didn’t recognize the vehicle, but whoever was driving clearly had an emergent purpose.

 She watched a moment longer as a very hairy and muddy man jumped out of the truck, reached inside, and withdrew a dog. Well, that explained the rushing in on a Sunday afternoon.

 “Where’s Smoke?” Nascha asked Ash.

 How should I know? Ash said.

 “Will you please find him?”

 Ash rolled over onto her back. If she had the ability to roll her eyes, she would have done that, too. He’s probably watching Star Wars again. Nerd.

 “I have to sit with this for another minute or two,” Nascha said, motioning to the pot. She did not want to waste the ingredients she’d used by overcooking it. Getting the same ingredients would require a visit to a grocery store or the local occult shop; store-bought ingredients never adequately replaced those she picked herself during her nightly exercises. “Please go see what’s wrong.”

I hate going out there, Ash responded. Humans are all idiots.

 “Ash…”

 The cat stood up and stretched languidly, clearly unconcerned, like a senator at an impeachment trial.

 Nascha grabbed the cat—carefully, of course—and set her on the ground. “I would like to remind you of our deal. I agree to feed you, catch small rodents for you, and let you sleep in a warm bed. In return you occasionally help me out around the clinic.”

 Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ash said, flicking her tail unhappily, but walking toward the door into the hallway. And if I don’t, you’ll turn me into a human. Blech.

 “And don’t you forget it!” Nascha called as the door swung shut, even though Ash knew it to be an empty threat. No one, magical or not, could change another creature into something else unless they were born with the genetic ability to do that. Ash was as feline as they came, and she would stay that way until she used all her nine lives.

 Nascha returned to her cauldron, but in her argument with Ash, she’d neglected it too long. It was now splitting and congealing into a gelatinous black goo giving off a putrid smell, not unlike a dog’s breath with periodontal disease. Just like Ash had said. She sighed heavily. “Well, so much for that.”

 She grumbled to herself and pulled the cauldron off the heat to cool down before she could clean it out and start over. Smoke finally appeared in a feathery flurry, landing on his perch.

 There’s a guy outside with a dog, Smoke intoned, but then made a chirping noise not native to an African Grey.

 Nascha looked at him, “I thought you were watching a movie?”

 Smoke bobbed his head and clicked his tongue before speaking aloud, “Alexa turn TV off.”

 The house became more silent and Nascha looked at her other housemate. “Go tell them to wait. Ash is already out there.”

 Was it wise to send her out? Smoke asked.

 Nascha shrugged. “I’ll be right there.”

 Smoke, who was quite a bit more dutiful than Ash, unless his favorite TV shows were on, immediately soared out of the room to take care of business. Nascha washed her hands and checked her appearance in a tiny mirror before she reached the door that led into the surgery suite. Ash sat there flicking her tail, annoyed and waiting to give a report.

 “So?”

 The idiot was attacked by a bear. Name’s Dodger.

 “Thanks.” Nascha frowned, reaching for the waiting room door. A bear? Hardly looked like a bear attack from the video image. But he wasn’t the first patient to exaggerate how he’d been injured, and he wasn’t going to be the last. “Stay close in case I need you.”

 Ash jumped onto the chair in the corner of the room and lifted her own paw to lick lightly. She didn’t care. And honestly, Ash wasn’t going to be much help anyway. Only the bipedal assistant that worked for Nascha Monday through Friday would be any help— seeing as it was Sunday, Nascha worked with what she had. Because she was innovative… not just as a witch, but as a veterinarian. Still, this emergency would be the first true test of her weekend “help.” She didn’t get a lot of emergencies out here in the middle of nowhere.

 Nascha breathed in deeply and let it out as she opened the door to survey the situation before her. She swept her attention to the pathetic looking brown and white dog, the bloody rag around his paw, and the human male who looked completely beside himself. By way of introduction, she said, “I’m so sorry! I was in the middle of something that couldn’t be put down.”

 The hairy, mud-caked man looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place him. Even so, his spirit gave the room a frenetic energy like a geyser bubbling and about to blow. Everyone knew it was about to happen, could sense it, but it was the sickening anxiety and bated breath before the eruption that bothered her. She’d never felt it to this degree.

 “My dog, he—”

 She swooped into action, flicking her eyes down to Dodger. She hummed and reached for him. “Let me take him back and have a look.”

 “Can’t I go back?” The man asked, reluctantly handing the dog over to her.

 She cradled the dog to her chest; Dodger didn’t struggle as she spoke softly. “It’ll be okay, Dodger.”

 Dodger looked up at her as he snuggled into her arms and said in the most delightful old-time Southern drawl, How y’all know my name?

 “You look as white as a ghost,” Nascha said then to the man, ignoring the canine’s drawling voice. She got it. This dog very clearly meant a lot to the guy, but she had procedures. And her procedures included not giving someone a reason to call an institution when she started talking to animals. “You need to sit down and calm down. You’re not going to be any help to your dog or to me if you’re freaking us both out during an exam. Let me look at the injury and stop any active bleeding. Then we’ll talk.”

 Nascha did not wait for approval and swept back into the surgery where she set Dodger down on the metal exam table. “Dodger, what’s your human’s name?”

Chris, he responded, big brown eyes meeting hers. Y’all really understand me, don’t ya?

She chuckled. “Yes, I do. Now. Were you really attacked by a bear?”

 Dodger whined and shifted just enough to hold out his injured paw. It was terrible, Doc. He was fixin’ for a fight.

 Nascha carefully unwrapped Dodger’s paw to find that the bleeding had stopped, and under all the mud, a long laceration across the side of the paw consistent with a tear of some kind originating from his dewclaw… but definitely not from a bear fang or claw. “If a bear had done this, you would have lost your paw.”

 I’m tellin’ y’all. A huge brown one!

“Do I need to ask Chris?”

Dodger whined again. After some hesitation, he looked away and moaned forlornly. Fine! A fish jumped and smacked me in the face. I fell.

Nascha laughed. “And?”

I dunno. It happened when I fell off the rock into the river.

“Alright,” Nascha said. “Do you think it’s safe to call your human in?”

Nah, I reckon he’s ‘bout as useful as a screen door on a submarine right now.

She couldn’t hold in her laughter at his expression. How had a Southern dog gotten all the way up here to Massachusetts? His owner did not have the same slow drawl. In fact, he’d sounded distinctly Bostonian in the few words they’d exchanged in the waiting room. “How about I get it all cleaned up and stapled, then call him in?”

 How can y’all understand me?

 Nascha did not have time to explain the ins and outs of her abilities. Though this wound was not life threatening, it did need attention sooner rather than later. “That’s not what I asked.”

 “Um… excuse me?”

 Both she and Dodger froze, turning their attention to the doorway. The door remained closed, but judging from the voice, he was directly on the other side of it. “Yes?”

 “May I please see my dog?”

 Nascha exchanged a look with Dodger, who then laid back on the table, resigned to not getting an answer right away. “If you promise not to pass out.”

 “I can handle a little blood,” he remarked as he stepped into the room.

 She noticed, quite suddenly, that he took up a lot of physical space. More than she had realized out in the waiting room. He wasn’t overly tall, but at least six foot, he was taller than her. His shoulders were broad and sturdy. And he was a mess, covered in blood, mud and likely freezing. His brain, however, had not really noticed that last bit because he was so worried about his dog; she could still feel the turbulent energy rolling off him. He was in shock, or pretty near to it; now it was a matter of two patients, rather than one.

 “The good news is that he’s fine,” she said. “Bad news is that I need to do major clean up and staple his leg.”

 “Nothing broken? He’ll be okay?”

 She nodded. “He tore his skin, mostly. Once I get it cleaned up, I’ll have a better picture of everything, but it otherwise seems fine. I can do a radiograph if you would like to make sure nothing’s broken. But from palpating it, I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. And Dodger didn’t complain.”

 The man’s whole demeanor deflated. He crumpled onto the bench beside Ash, who had been as silent as a dormouse through the whole process. “Thank god. I thought—”

 “I am also worried about you,” Nascha added, coming around the table to crouch down in front of him. She set a comforting hand on one of his he had rested on his knees, but instantly regretted the decision. Touching humans was always a risk for her. This was different, though. A different she couldn’t quite fathom. “Are you okay?”

 “I’m fine.”

 “You don’t look it,” she replied, securing her hold on him. He turned his palm up, grasping her fingers like they were a tether to reality. She noted that his were mostly soft hands—office worker hands—but there was a degree of roughness there that suggested he might have hobbies that took him away from a desk. His fingers were long, the nails bitten but not to the extent that they were horrible to look at. As a matter of fact, they looked like very pleasing hands and she had the brief irrational thought that they probably took great care of whomever he loved.

 She’d held a lot of hands in her time, but most of those were gnarled and old, at the end of their journey when their owners asked her for assistance. His, in contrast, were vital. Alive. There was nothing sick or dying about him. Freezing cold from the elements, yes, but strong and alive, nonetheless.

Nascha wanted to hold on longer, not least of all because she now felt his frenzied energy oozing into her skin and up her arm, curling and mixing with what was left from her last trip to Boston.

It had been too long since she’d fed. The exercise in the woods last night had taken too much out of what little she had left. And he… he was potent.  

She wanted to moan in delight as his energy began to fill the empty voids within her, but clamped her lips shut at the last second.

That would have been embarrassing.

The man released a shuddering breath and laugh-groaned when he looked down at himself, the tension releasing from his broad shoulders. Slowly, he turned his attention up to hers. Soft blue-gray eyes with the longest eyelashes blinked back at her. They were the kindest blue eyes she’d ever beheld. “I am a little cold.”

 She finally succeeded in pulling her hand out of his, severing the connection, reluctant to let go. It would have been so easy to hold on for longer. The consequences of that, though? She shuddered at the thought. She’d made a promise to herself a long time ago to never take without asking—or being asked—first. Technically, she’d already broken it.

 “How about a blanket, a fire, and some coffee? That is, if you feel comfortable enough sitting in my living room while I work on Dodger.” 

Never mind that she did not feel comfortable with his intrusion. Having someone around meant she had to watch what she said and what she did. It was a mental load she wasn’t prepared to handle. Still, the words had come tumbling freely from her lips. She silently hoped he would decline and instead go back to the regular waiting room.

 He surprised her by saying, “I would love it.”

 Nascha eased back up to her full height, doing a quick mental survey of her living quarters. Had she left anything out from her work earlier that would be too difficult to explain? The cauldron was definitely an issue, but it was close enough to Halloween. She could explain it away as experimenting on something for decorations or a Haunted House or something, though she never decorated for the holiday because she didn’t celebrate it.

 “Good. Let me put Dodger in a kennel and I’ll get you set up,” she finally said as she turned back to the dog.

 Dodger yipped at her. I don’t need to be put away.

 Nascha shook her head. “You’ll be fine for a little while, Dodger.”

 No, I will not.

 “He’s fine,” the man, Chris, said through a shaky laugh. “He hides out in his kennel back home when he wants to get away from me.”

 Yankee traitor, Dodger mumbled.

 “Does he want to, uh, get away from you a lot?” Nascha asked by way of conversation.

 She began to scoop the canine back into her arms, but Chris held out a hand to stop her. “I can carry him.”

 Nascha picked up Dodger anyway. “I’m stronger than I look…follow me.”

 She pushed her way out of the exam room and into the back work area of her home. The previous owner—also a veterinarian—had built this addition on long ago to house his country practice. It consisted of one exam room, one clean room for surgeries, and a small lab equipped for only the most basic of pathology tests. The stainless-steel kennels lined one wall of the lab.

“You have a nice little setup back here,” he said.

“Thanks,” she replied, not elaborating. She could say that the previous owner had given it to her as a gift, but then she’d have to explain why he had given it to her. And that would be impossible to explain without scaring the shit out of anyone. Even though Dodger’s owner had calmed down considerably since she had held his hand and siphoned off his frenzy, she did not want to create another problem that would bring the anxiety back.

She couldn’t be trusted to hold his hand again. Next time, she might not be able to let go.

Nascha turned her thoughts to the heavy animal in her arms. She cooed softly at Dodger as she placed the dog inside a clean kennel on top of a thin cushion. On top of him, she wrapped a large towel to help him conserve some warmth before she could get back. Dodger accepted her kindness by licking her wrist and letting out a heaving sigh. He didn’t say anything else.

 “You’re sure he’ll be fine?” Chris asked as she closed the door.

 “In two weeks, you won’t even know there was a problem,” she said. “Except for the hair that will still be growing back.”

 “Okay,” he breathed out.

 Nascha gave him a small smile that she hoped was comforting and set her hand on his back, in the middle of his flannel-covered shoulders. It was a familiar move she wouldn’t normally have made, but he seemed appreciative of it. Maybe she was, too, now that she could feel the hard sinew beneath the damp flannel covering his torso. Office worker hands or not, the man clearly did many physical things with his body.

 “How about we get you warm now?” she asked.

 He nodded and shivered. It was enough of an answer for her, as she motioned for him to follow her down the hallway toward the living portion of the house.

[badlydrawndrawnings]

in my desire on hopefully saving enough money for animal crossing new horizons and getting myself a switch (or switch lite), and with pocket camp new fishing tournament, i decided to make headcanons of sorts for most of the sugar bowl generation characters (and others) playing pocket camp. screw the timeline, and sorry if nothing about animal crossing makes sense

monty

made a nintendo account in case he needs to change phones (which happens after dropping phone in a tank and it breaks; he feels so glad about making said account)

has all the alligator/crocodiles villagers [campers? this isn’t a mainline animal crossing game] and most of the frog/toad villagers (he has to rotate the frogs/toads). will temporary kick one of his villagers out to fulfill a special furniture request from other villagers

makes the campsite look like a maze in one half, and lake/water area in the other half. the only amenity he has is the exotic fountain. 

cabin has variety of villagers who are rotated out on a monthly basis and it’s set up as a movie theater; apollo [an american eagle] has a permanent stay there it’s mostly his fortune cookie that makes up the theater

camper has lots of plants and trees with seating

because he has the money and work is overwhelming, monty elects to get the happy helper plan when it gets introduce. his helper/assistant is jacques [a bird]; jacques isn’t sure if he feels flatter

josephine (and ike)

she fears smartphones on the chance the battery will explode in her face after reading an article of it happening to someone (older cellphones and phones don’t have this concern to her), but the game made her very tempted to get over her fear 

after monty drops his phone she backs out because she now fears she may drop her phone and crack the screen (or get it wet and lose all her  data. monty couldn’t convince her about making an nintendo account). ends of watching her fellow volunteers play the game for a while

ike bites the bullet and buys a smartphone so he and jo can play together. ike names his character avatar jo after josephine. ike also took monty’s word about making an nintendo account

camp terrain eventually becomes beach resort (josephine help ike not buy impulse buys of items needing leaf tickets), which works since their campsite is a transform into boardwalk with rides (they keep the merry-go-round and bouncy cake amenities) and food and games (a bit like lake lachrymose when in-season)

cabin is their grammar library; josephine and ike only allow the more realistic (as they can be) villagers in there. they like taking photos of jo and their villagers posing in their library

their camper is weird. it looks like someone has a lab for making drugs on the second floor, with the first floor mini museum being a front. it’s possible gregor got a hold of the game and they elected to keep it

charles (idk if he’s 100% working with vfd or just well connected to vfd)

gets overwhelm at the fact he has total 100 % control of something and he can do whatever he wants

likes cross pollinating flowers and almost has all the clothing and furniture and all the potted flowers (charles made himself a cross pollinating guide)

buys the birch tree terrain because it’s the only terrain he finds easy on the eyes. the birch tree terrain is only used for the summer and fall; spring he uses the spring garden foreground and middle because he got it during leif’s [a gardener sloth] gardening event and winter he goes uses the default terrain the games gives to player

makes campsite look like an actual camp site he is following the name of the game he usually changes furniture to change campsite layout

cabin looks similar to the lucky smell lumber mill library (he tried to recreate it)

camper is very home-y; living room and kitchen on first floor and bedroom and bathroom on second floor

esme

because she breathes the air of what is in and what is out, her camper, campsite, and cabin changes almost every week (she’s loaded she buys leaf tickets to help fuel her need to stay in)

there is no consistent pattern to be made one minute it’s a ball the next it’s a restaurant and the next it’s the woods with a bonfire

this goes to her character avatar appearance too if it wasn’t her name some would be asking ‘when did i agree to be this player’s friend’

villagers are mostly the hip, elegant, and cool theme ones that’s the only thing anyone can figure out (esme does have a random villager of a different theme depending what’s in and out)

buys the leaf ticket clothing regardless if they’re in or out they’re limited time and she’s not taking any chances if an out item they’re selling will become in in the future (again, she’s loaded)

when the game is consider out, esme doesn’t delete the game in case it becomes in again, which is a frequent thing (she even made an nintendo account to make sure if she did delete the app or has to get a new phone, everything is restore upon re-installation) 

hector

hoards his leaf tickets because he wants to buy a good terrain for his town campsite; he buys the feather weather sky terrain and the old timey town background and middle (he got the 1st anniversary white iron fence it was cheaper)

the town eventually has strong fall/autumn vibes. there’s food stalls (the chocolate banana stall and sno-cone stall from redd’s [a fox] gardening event), trees from maple [a bear cub] fortune cookies, a flower wagon (from kick’s [a skunk] gardening event), a fountain with benches, lamp posts (same event from kick), and lots of leaf piles to run through

has many potted marigolds (he went overboard and made lots of them from kick’s gardening event)

the amenities hector has are the hot air balloon and bronze twins fountain

camper is pretty much similar to charles: living room and kitchen on first floor and bedroom and bathroom on second floor

cabin is a bakery-cafe; hector’s upset he can’t make a mexican restaurant so he goes all out with food/cafe/restaurant items from fortune cookies he got for 5000 bells and the cute confectioner items from pelly’s [she a pelican] gardening event. he even wears the outfit  and never takes it off.

olivia

she buys katrina’s special furniture item the second it shows up for some reason [katrina is a panther fortune teller], but becomes glad when olivia decides what she wants to do with her camp site

loses a lot of her leaf tickets via the fortunate cookies she wants. as such, when it came to buying blathers or celeste [both are owls], olivia decides to save up to get both of them when they both are offer again.

camp is a mixture of a steampunk circus due to bob [a purple cat] and wolfgang [a wolf] fortune cookies. has most of spooky terrain sans the sky and fence (they’re the second reasons she lost a lot of her leaf tickets)

cabin is more steampunk library with astrological furniture due to julian’s [a unicorn] fortune cookies (this is why she’s saving up to buy blathers and celeste they fit the cabin theme more)

likes to wear dresses and skirts on her character avatar you will never see her wear pants unless it’s good

buys the wigs and switches them constantly (olivia wishes you can wear hat accessories over the wigs)

widdershins

widdershins blew all of his leaf tickets on the seafloor terrain and ocean sky (which he saved up for) to make an underwater campsite (there’s a lot of whale pool floaties). the villagers stays until they reach level 20 before getting kick out; the only who has a permanent resident is eventually gaston [a rabbit]

enjoys the fishing tournaments when they offer fishes in tanks and underwater related items; the other tournaments -and in general the events- aren’t his liking but he has a compulsion to complete them anyway (so for instance, he would do the fishing tournament mention in the opening but he isn’t happy about getting knitted items)

also has a compulsion to complete the catalog

cabin is an aquarium with villagers being the ones who are max out there. right side is freshwater fish and left side is ocean fish

camper is rather home-y; the first floor is a bedroom/living/kitchen combo while the second floor is a library with chairs and a sofa to sit on

got lucky with filbert’s [a squirrel] fortune cookies and has all the astronaut clothing; if his character avatar can’t be wearing a diver suit an underwater astronaut will do

r, duchess of winnipeg

r got in on the first day release she heard the hype and wants to see why people are making a fuss about it (she already has an existing nintendo account but doesn’t use it much she’s not an avid video game player)

r didn’t spend leaf tickets when first starting to play. as such she was -and still is- the richest of her friends when it comes to leaf tickets (she brought leaf tickets from time to time; esme is the second richest when it comes to leaf tickets) and eventually in bells (a bellionaire)

r’s cabin, campsite, and camper changes for the seasons. spring is usually a garden or sort or casual party, summer is a japanese festival or an actual campsite, fall/autumn she usually makes a fancy ball (usually due to it corresponding with the game anniversary) or goes out for halloween, and winter it’s...a winter garden. as the game gets fortune cookies and more creative events, r makes a japanese zen garden/japanese restaurant for the winter.

r hates the winter stuff in general (sans new years eve and exceptions) in part because it’s almost all christmas related. jack’s [like jack o lantern] garden event tested r’s limits; she came to the conclusion she can use the food, candelabras, chairs, tables, pumpkins, and potted flowers but that’s it (she almost used the hearth but change her mind)

only buys fortune cookies she likes and avoids the winter ones (again, almost all christmas related). r did however cave in and bought rhonda’s [a rhino] fortune cookie (r actually doesn’t mind the nutcracker). r got what she wanted: the clothing, castle pop-up book, and starry field pop-up book

r laughs at her avatar wearing a ballroom gown with their spoon hands cover in long sleeve gloves

snicket siblings

jacques was the first one to play after r; he got in right a week after it was open to the public (he makes a nintendo account for the same reason as monty). kit and lemony (same reason as monty and jacques) follow suit a week later, and everyone else join from there

out of the three (all of the volunteers really who are playing), lemony took gulliver’s bad as hell revamp the worst (jacques and kit and basically everyone else agree to change their rating) and made a strongly worded review that is one of top negative review of the game (even after lemony edited it an retraction after the pocket camp team revamp gulliver again).

jacques like wearing the fancy full set suits (the anniversary clothing are a second). lemony made attempts to cover his face but after fail attempts and coming to the conclusion he doesn’t like the king tuk mask he gives up. he wears the pumpkin head in october though

kit’s character avatar wears one of the special leaf ticket clothing items (it’s a jacket that cost over 100 leaf tickets) and glasses. she would have gotten a wig but after olivia show her character avatar with the wigs kit didn’t think it was worth it spending leaf tickets

jacques makes his campsite a campsite, kit’s campsite resembles a farm for some reason, and lemony’s campsite sort of looks like an unfinished town

jacques’ cabin looks like a regular cabin (he made a hidden space with a coffin and skeleton). kit’s cabin looks like a car garage that’s up and running with customers. lemony’s cabin looks like a nice writing study/library; he has the vineyard phonograph from brewster’s [a pigeon] gardening event playing in the corner

jacques and kit’s camper are dumping grounds for random furniture. lemony has villager pictures in his camper

they know christmas is popular in japan [no really, it’s not treated as a religious holiday it’s more for fun and romance], so they send requests to the team for more general winter theme furniture or like, other holiday stuff that’s not christmas. they makeshift Hanukkah [Chanukah? i seen this other spelling] menorahs knowing their requests will probably never be fulfill (given they learn that mainline games does the same thing)

olaf

doesn’t play pocket camp. he does however plays animal crossing new leaf. he has more control of what he wants to do in mainline and likes being mayor and the only player/human resident.

is actually pretty good at it. he completed all the four sections of the museum, got all of main street, and he does animal requests and is like, never mean to them. unless he hates the animal then olaf goes all out and does bad things as possible in this game: giving them rotten fruit, hitting them with a net, and making them fall in pitfalls (olaf collect many of them for this purpose), in hopes they tell him they want to move out of town

in fact, the bird jacques is one such animal because the real jacques did something to make olaf angry and olaf had to take it on ac!jacques. kitt [a kanagroo] and olivia [a cat] are on thin ice

has a soft spot for vladmir [a pink bear club] and hazel [a squirrel with a unibrow] for some reason

had to put the keep town beautiful ordinance after getting the golden roses he can’t play every single day at best he plays once or twice a week (olaf’s town has high standards he doesn’t want it a mess)

will only play pocket camp when all the villagers in his town are in

the denouement triplets

they deliberately made their character avatars look identical to one another so if one changes clothing or facial feature, the other two follow suit (they do this to mess with their friends/other players). this becomes a problem if one of them wears a fortune cookie outfit/clothing

even their campsite looks identical; usually it’s the lobby of the hotel denouement done to the best of their abilities. the cabin are also identical, being a hotel room. if someone changes it, the other two follow suit (again, to mess with their friends/other players). this becomes a problem if one of them has furniture from a fortune cookie

the villagers are dress differently they’re not dress the same. they don’t even keep the same villagers in their cabin or campsite. this is the only way to tell the three apart

frank’s camper looks like something from a 1920′s speakeasy, ernest’s camper looks like their home when they were five (there’s balloons set up for a birthday party), and dewey’s camper looks like his secret library (or his attempt at it)

frank crafts a lot of clothing for his villagers and likes dressing them up. he just wishes that all of the clothing is wearable for them (like pants)

ernest dump unwanted bugs to other people’s gardens during the second half of gardening events (claims he’s helping plays finish bonus tasks for first half)

dewey likes to take a lot of photo of him hiding behind furniture or a bigger villager to troll his friends and other players

bertrand

he starts playing as it was intended: being a camp manager running a campsite. however, as the game got updates and add more features, bertrand decides to get creative

his camper first floor looks like a fashion boutique selling clothes for men and women; second floor is what appears to be a miniature town, with a giant crystal hiding behind some tall grass

campsite ends up being a train station. he got the locomotive station and clockwork tower as amenities. the station itself has sellers selling things like magazines, clothes (it’s the concert merch stand from dj kk’s [a dog] gardening event), and flowers (it’s the flower wagon), with lief selling his flowers as the ‘boss’. has a grand elephant statue from a fishing tournament that sort of blocks the clockwork tower.

cabin is bob’s fortunate cookies mix with some marching band items from broccolo’s (a mouse) fortunate cookies (he thought they fit well together)

bertrand is the only one who character avatar has the greatest resemblance to him in real life; clearly it’s the glasses

will switch up his avatar clothing and wear dresses and skirts if bertrand can find a clothing combination his character avatar can pull off

beatrice

everyone is convince she is playing pocket camp but no one knows for sure because she gives hint she is playing but at the same give hints she doesn’t play

to get something out of the way: beatrice is playing pocket camp but her in-game name doesn’t starts with ‘b’  it’s something else entirely

wears the fairy wings (regular and autumn) and alternate between the two with an outfit that fits the wings aesthetic. beatrice knows they’re not dragonfly wings but fairy wings are close enough (she wears the bat friends from time to time, again with an outfit that fits the aesthetic)

has an makeshift play stage for her villagers to sing and play music and a small fountain area with benches at her campsite. she rarely changes it  (see last bullet point), only switching up the musical instruments and fountain and benches

beatrice doesn’t know what to do with her cabin, so she decides to make it a game of musical chairs and every time she visits she takes out a folding chair and leaves until there is only one sitting. she did this with so many villagers beatrice is considering on holding a championship round

like the snicket siblings, beatrice makes a makeshift Hanukkah menorah and place it outside (in which she will destroy her campsite to celebrate). she couldn’t figure out how to put it in her camper, which is a nice cozy apartment with an attic

bonus: ishamel (original schism generation)

has a campsite cult. it becomes a beach cult when the beach resort terrain gets release; he claims it’s a regular beach resort

cabin is a prison housing villagers ishamel finds ugly and he rotates them every month or so. they only appear in his campsite when they get to the level where he can get their furniture request (after that he force feds them snacks to max them out)

the only time he changes campsite and cabin is when august and september rolls around he likes making classrooms and everyone getting an education

when november hits ishmael  goes back to the cult and prison

camper looks very well furnish with many bookcases and chairs it’s a library

i advise those who made it this far to look up animal crossing pocket camp cults and pocket camp jail/prison this was actually a thing

[27yearsbestdayever-blog]

My Best Day Ever by Gabriel

I am very old. I did lots of wonderful, beautiful, successful things in my life, and now I am old and resting. I live in an autonomous intentional community of many magical people. I live in a small, cozy house with a lot of books and soft seats and objects made of dark wood. The house sits atop a gentle rise. On one side is the back porch which overlooks a wide, lush, tree-covered landscape. On the other is my front door and a path leading down the hill to the main village, a little less than ten minute walk away.

I wake up feeling perfectly rested. I hear the sounds of the woods waking up all around me. I go about my morning routine. As I sit down on my back porch with a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of tea, my friend (who is a cat) emerges from the trees with a small rodent in her mouth. She settles down next to my chair. We eat breakfast together and watch the day begin. I sit here quietly for hours after breakfast, at this same time every day, making no fuss, so the local animal life is very used to me and knows I am no threat. They go about their business without the understandable caution humans usually elicit in them. We see many squirrels and many birds, including a few turkeys. We see a family of deer amble by, nibbling leaves as they go. A black bear way off in the distance. And then — my spine straightens and my heart begins to pound — a wolf. It stops. It sniffs the air. It looks my way, and I look back. After a moment that seems to last forever, it decides I am uninteresting and continues on its way. I wash my bowl and my cup, then walk the path down to the main village. I greet various people as they go about their daily duties. I meet some of the other old timers for lunch. Some of us used to be in leadership roles in the community. Now we are all trusted advisors to the younger people who handle the endless logistics of keeping this place alive and thriving. We talk and joke and laugh and tease and question and argue and wonder and eat delicious food and have a lovely time. We love being old. My fellow old timers are the only people who know it's my birthday today. They keep it quiet because they know I prefer it that way. They slip me a small gift: a turtle carved from dark grey stone. It's beautiful, I love it.

As I slip the turtle into my bag, a group of children run up and pull me away from the table, demanding I come play with them. I chuckle a goodbye to my lunch companions and let them guide me to a patch of grass. We spend an hour messing around, making up games and stories out of nowhere, fluidly moving from one to the next. Because of my size and age, I am often cast as an Other. An invading authority figure, a terrifying monster, a pagan deity. I play my roles with utter commitment. Eventually we collapse onto the cool grass, exhausted and giggling. We fall into a peaceful nap.

When I wake up, I remember I have somewhere to be. There is a theater company currently in residence here in the community, devising a new piece. I've been invited to observe that afternoon's rehearsal. I hurry over to the theater and arrive just in time. I cheerfully ignore the deference with which they greet me, and insist they pretend I'm not here. I watch them work and fall deeply in love with all of them. These young people are astonishing, and their work is like nothing I've ever seen before. I am delighted and deeply moved. Towards the end of rehearsal, we sit in a circle and reflect on the work. I offer my compliments and my observations. I offer some gentle suggestions about parts of the piece that could benefit from some expansion or reshaping or clarification.

As rehearsal ends and the ensemble splits into smaller groups that wander away chattering, one member of the company stays behind. They sheepishly approach me and, after making sure to give profuse thanks, proceed to challenge me with great passion and intellectual vigor. They don't entirely agree with my assessment of the piece, and they want me to know it. We walk together, and sink into an unbelievably electric conversation. They say many things that I find very difficult to understand, with such articulate certainty that I find myself leaning further and further into their vibrant rhythm, laboring to keep up. I feel like a retired tennis pro playing a match with an upstart young champion.

As we arrive at dinner, they stop and seem to shake themselves. They begin to smile with embarrassment and apologize for talking so much and taking up so much of my time. I laugh and do my best to assure them I had a wonderful time talking with them. In that moment I see so clearly in them that familiar potent mixture: arrogant awareness of their own hyperintelligence, and a soft wounded heart desperately reaching out for acknowledgement and comfort. It's like looking at my twenty year-old self. It's weird. I feel pain and joy in equal measure. I say a silent prayer for this young person. May they find a good place to pour all that intensity.

After dinner, a fire is built. We sit around it together. We say some prayers and sing some songs. Then the main event begins. A member of the community, a professional storyteller, returned from a year abroad a week before. She was traveling all over, telling and collecting stories. This night's fire was built mainly to give her space to share with the community something of her experiences. She shares many stories. Some are hilarious. Some are terrifying. Some are heartbreaking. All are riveting and nourishing. We welcome her back home and give thanks.

When I feel it's time to turn in and I say my goodnights, two young people rise and declare their intentions to walk with me up to my house. I insist that they don't have to, that I'm fine on my own, but they come along anyway. As we make our way through the dark, I find I'm glad they came. They move in closer to support me once we reach the uphill portion of the journey. When we reach the top I embrace them and give thanks. I stand outside my house, gazing up at the stars and listening to their jubilant voices as they walk back down to the fire. I smile. I step inside, ease myself into bed, and fall into a deep sleep.

gabrod.com

[unfocused-ink]

Cosmogyral (adj)

whirling around the universe

On the night she was born, the stars sang.

The townsfolk weren’t exactly thrilled by the singing. After all, most of them were timber cutters trying to get some sleep. The horses that pulled the cut logs weren’t happy either- they knew they had a long day tomorrow, and they wanted sleep as much as the humans did.

But despite the grouchy townsfolk below, the stars sang on, and soon the wails of a newborn babe joined in their music.

“She’s a fighter, she is,” the midwife declared as she delivered the wailing child into the waiting arms of its mother. “Thought we’d be having a funeral tomorrow, but she’s a fighter.”

The mother, weary after hours of labor, gave the midwife a weak smile as she accepted the child. The father had long since disappeared- traveled to the city to seek his fortune- leaving the mother to raise their child on her own. Most of the town thought it was better that way anyhow, though- Kyf Nordham was an angry drunk.

As the midwife packed her things, the star-song got louder, as though trying to rival the baby’s cries. The mother began rocking the babe, humming, trying to calm her.

“What’s her name, then?” The midwife asked, pausing in the door as the star-song grew louder. 

And as the baby quieted and the mother listened to the stars, she smiled and gazed at her newborns small face, green eyes wide and nose scrunched up.

“Her name is Aja.”

----------

The mountain was spouting poetry. Again.

I’d given up trying to tell people. They all told me I was crazy- “the stars may sing for you, Aja,” they’d say, “but the mountains do not speak and the trees do not laugh.”

My mother was gentler with me, but I knew she didn’t believe me either. When I went to tell her the mountain was speaking again, she looked up from the shirt she was mending and brushed a hair behind her ear, sighing. “I’m sure it is, but even when mountains speak there’s mending to be done.”

So I sat and helped her mend our neighbors clothes while the mountain struggled to find a word that rhymed with sky.

‘Fly, you dunce. Fly rhymes with sky and you’re talking about birds! It isn’t hard!’ I wished I could scream up at the mountain. But mother needed help and I didn’t want the town to find me stranger than they already did, so I didn’t

After three shirts and two pants my feet were twitching and my glances towards the door were more frequent. I needed to run. To have the wind fill my ears instead of terrible poetry that hardly even rhymed anymore. 

Of course, mother noticed. She always did. Taking the pants I’d just finished she laughed, though it was laced with sadness.

“Out with you then, Aja. Go chase the wind.”

“Thanks, Ma,” I said, leaping from my chair and nearly tumbling it backwards in my hurry. “I’ll be back to help with supper.”

“Mhm,” was the reply, my mother already focused on her mending again. I don’t know how she did it. I could never sit for long, especially not closed inside walls.

Letting the door thunk shut behind me, I breathed in the pine scent drifting from where the cutters were trimming trees, preparing them to be brought to the mill, and, later, to the city.

“Trees and bees dance with the... with the...  fleas?” The mountain hummed, a rumble causing rocks to clatter down his slope. 

Ignoring his struggle, I dug my toes into the dirt and ran.

The town passed by in a blur, chickens scattering in front of me as I burst into the woods and wound my way under and through the trees, ducking limbs and leaping fallen trunks. While I was clumsy at most things I tried, I’d always been able to run. My mother said it was because I was trying to chase down my destiny. I figured it was because I was good at running.

I followed the path I’d worn into the forest floor, heading deeper into the trees, until the branches of the pines blocked out nearly all the light of the sun. At the base of a rock that stood twice as tall as I did I paused, steadying my breathing as I looked around. The mountain’s poetry had grown faint, a whisper that was easy to ignore. Replacing it was the sounds of the woods- birds crying out to each other and squirrels chirping that they’d seen me. The trees had started humming to one another, too quiet for me to hear what they were actually saying.

My heart slowed down to normal, I climbed the rock- Old Tuk, as I liked to call him. Sometimes when I sat and closed my eyes, he’d rumble things to me- nonsense things that only rocks understood.

Tucking my feet under my legs I sat, giving the area around me one last look before I closed my eyes. It didn’t take long for Old Tuk to start grumbling at me- he was chattier than usual.

‘Moss.’ He grumbled. ‘Moss and dripping and wet. Earth laughing at me- worms laugh and giggle. Starshine? Starshining here.’

Starshine was something that had only started coming up in his vocabulary recently. Sometimes I thought it might be what he called me, though I didn’t know why.

‘Singing dancing mushrooms in the moonlight. Rabbits? No, deer. Deer and Name-Takers and- trouble. Uh oh. Trouble talks in riddles. Starshine careful of riddles.’

With that Old Tuk went silent, and I twitched, an uncomfortable itch crawling down my skin as though something was watching me.

I opened my eyes to see a grinning face staring up at me.

The man- or creature- was a few feet away from Old Tuk. He had pale skin and pale hair- everything about him was pale. But the thing that made me wary was his eyes- they were yellow and slitted, like a cats. And I swore his teeth had points.

“Hail, fair stranger,” I said, choosing my words carefully. I had no doubt that whatever this creature was, he was not mortal.

“Hail to you, Star Child. I am Aoife, Walker of the Woods. Shall you give me your name?”

I saw his grin, sly across his face like a dagger. There was no doubt in my mind now- this was a fae, a creature the tree cutters respected but feared. 

“You may call me Ainsel,” I replied, and felt relief as the fae’s grin dropped, and he sighed instead.

“Then that I shall call you, Star Child. Your mind is sharp, for one so young.”

I’m nearly eighteen, I thought, but thankfully didn’t say out loud. No doubt to the fae, eighteen was barely a toddler.

“May I inquire as to why you came to greet me?” I said, keeping my tone polite. The fae was still keeping a distance from the boulder, his clothes seeming to shimmer in the ribbons of sunlight.

He looked at the rock and laughed, a grating sound that made me clench my jaw. “Ah, the rocks have names and the trees have names, and the Star Child has listened, hasn’t she? You amuse me, Star Child, and if you weren’t atop Tuk I might take you as a wife and let you continue to keep me amused.”

I shivered at the thought. I’d have to thank the wood cutters when I returned, for warning me about fae.

“Alas, Tuk won’t allow me you as a wife. And I suppose the stars would protest as well, so allow me to share with you what the stars cannot tell you, Star Child.”

“You talk to the trees and you listen to the wind, but you have yet to sing to the stars. They sang to you when you were born, and wait to hear you return their song, but hidden here among the trees their complaints cannot reach you. However, I’ve been up the mountain and into the sky, and they bid me bring you a message- at a price, of course- so a message I bring.”

“Leave the trees and touch the sky, and sing into the night. You are more than what you think, Star Child, but you have yet to discover your destiny.”

The grin returned to his face and he held out a hand toward me. “Now, Star Child, the price of the message is a memory- one of your choosing. You may pay and return to reach your destiny, or refuse and become a permanent part of Tuk- the decision is yours.”

A memory? I was inclined to refuse, but I also didn’t doubt what the fae said was true- it seemed the only thing keeping me from being whisked away by him was Old Tuk. 

Well. A memory, then. I thought back on what I’d done the past few days, and finally settled on a memory I thought I wouldn’t mind losing.

“I choose to pay with a memory. I give to you, Aoife, Walker of the Woods, my memory of when I wrung the chickens neck for supper two nights ago. I give you from the moment my mother sent me to do it to the moment I returned with the bird, a mere six minutes, and no more nor no less. Accept my payment and agree to leave me to return home and reach my destiny.”

The fae shrugged, then nodded. “I accept your payment, Star Child, and agree your debt is payed and to the terms you have set. Tuk, the deal is struck, allow me what I am due.”

Whatever Old Tuk had been doing to protect me, he must have stopped, since the fae lightly leapt up next to me and placed his finger on my forehead. A cold shock went through me, and the next thing I knew he was gone, and I couldn’t recall what memory I had given.

I took a deep breath and stood up, climbing down Old Tuk. “Thank you,” I whispered, and Old Tuk rumbled at me as I turned and dug my toes into the dirt, beginning my return through the forest and leaving the boulder behind.

Well. I had to reach my destiny, then, I supposed. I still didn’t know what half of the fae had said meant, but if reaching my destiny meant climbing the mountain and touching the sky, then I may as well do it.

The sun was setting behind me, the last shadows cackling as I raced past them, bursting back into the village with a whisper of a laugh chasing me from the woods. I wove around wood cutters returning home from work and waved to the ones I knew well, reaching my house and catching my breath before I entered and greeted my mother.

“I’m nearly eighteen,” I said, deciding it was best to jump right in to the discussion that needed to be had.

“Nearly eighteen and not yet wed,” my mother replied. That was a rather sore subject- the village boys thought me too strange to be even a friend, and I was fine with that.

“Yes, I know- but Ma, I’m nearly eighteen, and I think it’s time I find my destiny.”

She set down her mending and looked at me, sighing. “Aja, destiny isn’t something you find. It’s something that finds you.”

“But maybe not, Ma. Maybe I’ve got to chase it down. It hasn’t found me yet, and I’m growing tired of waiting. I want to climb the mountain and try and find my destiny in the sky.”

At that, she gave me a sharp look, and I knew I’d finally reached the point where she might call me crazy. “That’s silly talk, Aja. Your destiny isn’t in the sky. It’s here, mending and cooking, and settling down to raise some grandbabies for me. Your destiny isn’t in the sky, and it’s not in the city, nor anywhere else but here.”

“But, Ma, I was told-”

“I don’t care who told you what.” I’d never had my mother use that voice with me. “Your destiny will find you here, and you will not go chasing it through the wilderness. That’s final.”

I bit my lip and shrugged, pretending I didn’t care. It seemed my mother wasn’t going to give me her blessing- no matter, I’d find my destiny anyways. I felt a tug, now, an itch to follow the fae’s message and chase down my destiny. I wasn’t going to let my mother keep me from it.

“As you say, then, Ma,” I said, bringing out a pot to begin the stew we’d eat for supper. She returned to her mending, lips tight, though I knew later she’d apologize for growing angry. She always did.

As I chopped the potatoes to throw in the pot, I found my gaze wandering to the window and the mountain beyond.

Soon, I thought. I’ll come find my destiny atop you soon.

----------

To be continued....

[fox1656]

Shadow Chronicles 16 (Intermission)

The Lonely Butterfly

David Parks was your average twelve-year-old boy. He was about normal height; he had semi-long blond hair, and brown eyes. He was a good student in school, and he tried to stay out of trouble. But little did he know that trouble was now looking for him, and when it found him, he'd have to deal with the consequences.

One fine sunny summer day, David was taking a walk along the shore of the lake that ran behind his house. Usually, David would pass a lot of other people taking a walk along the lake shore, but not today. Today, there was a festival in town, which David had decided not to attend. He figured his friend Benjamin Faber, who was home alone today, was more important than the festival. "I don't even like festivals anyway," David said, as he walked along the shore. David really hated crowds, and so did Ben. This was one of the reasons that prompted David to visit Ben. He had a weird feeling that it was important that he visited Ben today, even though he didn’t know why, but he was going to find out soon.

The sun was beating down harshly on David and the lake, and David was feeling hot and tired. "Geeze it's hot today," David said to himself. "I'm going to take a breather," he said, and he walked over to a big oak tree, and sat down, with his back against the trunk. His eyes closed automatically. His mind went blank for a few seconds, and then, he thought, oh, crap! I need to get going! He opened his eyes, and the lake was gone, and in its place, there was a very large field of multi-colored flowers.

David's jaw dropped, when he saw the field. It seemed to go on forever, stretching to the far horizon. He looked left, and only saw more flowers, but when he looked right, he saw a small brick house.

"Was that there before?" David wondered aloud. He remained sitting beneath the tree for a few more minutes, and then he decided to go the house, to see if the people that lived there knew where he was, or how he got there.

He walked up to the front door of the house and knocked. Not two seconds later, the door swung open, and there was a plump little old woman standing in the doorway. She had short cut gray hair, and she was wearing a silken night gown, and she was grinning from ear to ear, and when her beady eyes landed on David, she said in her shrill voice, "You're late! Now get inside before the flowers try to eat you."

David stared at the woman for a moment in disbelief, and then he looked curiously back at the flowers, and now he could see little yellow faces where the pollen would be. The face had small dark eyes, and sharp little teeth. As David was watching one flower, a bumblebee landed on its face, and the flower's tongue shot out, wrapped itself around the bee, and pulled it into the mouth, and it started to chew. Once again, David's jaw dropped, and he ran inside the house.

The first thing he noticed about the house is that everything was much taller than was necessary. He also noticed that the walls were painted a horrible yellow, and the linoleum was a sick lime green color. The cabinets however were brown, and looked normal.

"Tea's almost ready, dear," the woman said, and she grinned again, as she walked over to the stove, climbed on top of a cardboard box, reached over the stove, turned a dial, and grabbed the tea pot. She hopped down, walked over to the counter, climbed up onto another box, opened the cabinet, and took out two tea bags, and two tea cups and two saucers.

She hopped down from the box, walked over to the table and said in her shrill voice, "Now we have company! Don't you dare embarrass me and be so lofty!"

Shortly after she said this, the table and chairs shrank down to normal size, and the little old woman set the tea pot, and cups and saucers on the table. She put the tea bags in the tea pot, and a few seconds later, she poured the tea out into the two cups. David noticed that there was a sugar bowl on the table, and when the little old woman sat down, she said, "Well, aren’t you going to sit down?"

So David pulled out a chair, and he sat down. "Guests first," the woman said, and she handed David the sugar bowl from across the table. David took the sugar bowl, and took out two cubes of sugar and dropped them into his tea. He put the lid back on the bowl, and passed it back across the table. "Just two!?" the woman exclaimed, and David nodded feebly. The woman took the sugar bowl and grinning, took the lid off the bowl, and dropped five cubes of sugar into her tea. Still grinning, she picked up her spoon and started stirring her tea. David took his own spoon and started stirring his own tea. The woman took a sip from her tea, and then she added five more cubes of sugar. She stirred it again, and then she took her spoon out of her cup and immediately started gulping it down. David stared at her in silence as she drained her cup, and when it was empty, she set it back on her saucer, and still grinning madly, she fell sideways off her chair. David instinctively jumped up from his chair, knocking it over in the process, and rushed over to the woman's chair, but she had vanished. The only thing that remained was cookie crumbs, which littered the floor, where the woman had been. David noticed that they also made a trail, which led to the back door, which was now standing open. He ran over to the door, and looked out. There was a beaten path, which went through the flowers, and into some trees, which wasn't there before. The trees were only a few yards from the house, so David decided to risk taking the path. He walked quickly, following the trail of cookie crumbs, and he didn't slow down, until he was under the cover of the trees.

The trees were very large and covered in moss. There was a lot of undergrowth growing between the trees, but the path was still there, and it was still had a trail of cookie crumbs leading on through the forest. The sun was shining through the leaves on the trees, and it gave the forest an eerie green light.

As David walked on, he noticed that the forest was extremely quiet. No birds were singing, and no squirrels were chattering. As he was walking along, he looked left, and almost screamed in surprise at what he saw. There, lying on the ground on the side of the path was a large ginger cat. It was the size of a German Shepherd, and when David looked at it, it turned and looked at him in return, and it grinned in that special way that cat's do, and it opened its mouth, but instead of a meow, the word "Hello" came out. David stared dumbstruck at the cat, and then it said, "It's very rude to stare," and it grinned again.

"Sorry," David said, as he looked down at his shoes instead of the cat.

"It's quite alright," the cat said, and David saw it sit up out of the corner of his eye. "This is your first time seeing a talking cat, isn't it, David?"

David looked back at the cat in utter surprise, and it chuckled at the look on his face, and it said, "Don't worry, you're not going mad. In fact, this whole world was made from your imagination."

David stared at the cat in disbelief, and then he said, "Seriously?"

"Of course," the cat said, looking a little taken aback, and then it said, grinning again, "Welcome to the place where your dreams come true, and your imagination is your reality." The cat finished with a flourish of its paws, and a chuckle.

David looked at the cat in amazement, and then he said, "So if I imagine that I'll be right in front of the castle when I get out of these woods, then I will?"

The cat's grin faded slightly, and it said, "No. The castle is only a short distance from the edge of the woods though. I'll take you there, if you would like."

The cat looked at David expectantly, and David said, "Sure." The cat broke out in a grin again.

"Well, then, follow me," the cat said, and it stood up and started walking along the path. David followed, and as he was walking alongside the cat, he noticed that it's back came up to his waist. The cat walked slowly, so that David could keep up, and it kept looking up at the trees, and all around.

A few minutes later, they came to the edge of the forest. Once out of the forest, David looked left, and he saw the castle, but it still looked quite small. He also noticed that there was tall grass growing on either side of the path instead of those carnivorous flowers, which had surrounded the old woman's house. The cat looked up at David, and it chuckled, and when he looked down at it, it just grinned at him in its eerie way.

They continued walking down the path, and as they were walking, David noticed that there were bees that would pass by every so often, and when one flew close to David's face, he noticed that it had the torso, arms, and head of a man, but the rest of the body was a bee. He looked over at down at the cat for confirmation, but it just chuckled and kept walking. They walked on for a few more silent moments, and then David noticed that there was eerie music rising from the grass. He started feeling light and happy, and then suddenly, the cat said, "David! Focus on what matters most to you. If you walk into the grass, you'll never see your home again."

David focused on his brother, and his friends, and it seemed like a veil had been lifted, and he could see small ugly creatures, singing and running around in the tall grass. Although the creatures were ugly, they have beautiful voices.

"We must be very near the entrance to the castle," the cat said, and when David looked at the castle, it still looked miles away. Then, as if the cat had read his mind, it said, "It's supposed to look like it is far away, so that uninvited guests will be discouraged and turn back. Ah, here we are."

They stopped, and the cat raised its paw and swung it, and it stopped mid swing, and there was a hollow boom, which sounded like a wooden door. The cat knocked three times, and then a door materialized, and swung open, revealing a high entrance hall. The walls were snow white, and there were black pillars along the walls, and the ceiling was painted to look like the sky above, and there was a phoenix and a dragon also painted on the ceiling. The phoenix and dragon were both sitting on clouds of their own, and they were looking down at the floor below, with looks of mild interest.

"Welcome," a beautiful female voice said, and David looked at the large doors across the hall, and his jaw dropped when he saw the woman standing there. She was tall, she had long black hair, and she was wearing a blood-red dress. "I am Lady Cassandra. Welcome to my home. If you will please follow me, I'm sure Lord Kavak will be pleased to know that you've finally arrived." She turned around and disappeared behind the large doors once more.

David looked at the cat, and it nodded, as if it had read his mind. So David set off toward the big doors, which swung open as he approached, and they opened onto a magnificent throne room. It looked a lot like the entrance hall, except that the trims were all done in gold. Also, there were two large magnificent white and gold thrones at the far end of the room. Lady Cassandra was sitting on the right-hand-side of the man that was sitting on the other throne. The man looked quite young and very handsome, but lordly, just the same. He had dark hair, fair skin, and piercing brown eyes. He was wearing a dark red button-up shirt, dark green pants, black shoes, and a dazzling white trench coat.

David crossed the room, and stopped a few feet from the thrones.

"Welcome, David," the man said, in a very elegant, appealing voice, "I am Lord Kavak."

"I've come to ask if you know of a way for me to get home," David said, with all the courage he could muster.

Lord Kavak and Lady Cassandra both smiled at David, and then Lord Kavak said, "I was about to send Lady Cassandra on an errand to your world. She can take you back. Pity you couldn't stay longer. I would have so wished to talk to you. Oh, well, then. You had best be off."

Lady Cassandra arose and walked over to David. "This won't hurt a bit," she said, and she smiled and placed a hand on his head, and immediately he felt as if he were flying.

"Now go to the house I've prepared for you in the other world," David heard Lord Kavak say, but the rest of the conversation was cut off. The next thing David noticed was the sound of water lapping against sand. He opened his eyes, and looked around. He was back under the tree at the lake near his house. He looked at his watch, and noticed that he had only been gone ten minutes. He got up and continued on his way to his friend’s house.

[goonlalagoon]

Dust, like golden ash - pt 5|| Leagues & Legends!HDM AU

And this is the last of this I had written before I stopped posting when RtD came out...so now I actuallly do need to figure out where I was going with it!

Read on Ao3: From the start | this chapter

Read on Tumblr: part 0 | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | [part 5]

Laney knows she should be talking, acting - something, anything, to get them out of the literal line of fire, but she’s frozen. Idly, she wonders if everyone who stares down the barrel of a gun as she holds it in a steady grip feels this way, or if she’s simply frozen by her brother’s long-missed presence. Rupert is the one who talks, voice even and measured and polite. She hadn’t noticed it before the mountains, but now that she knows what it is Laney can hear the calm in it. It isn’t magi, it’s simply that Rupert wants things to be fair and safe so strongly that it carries into everything he does.

They hold still while a suspicious Liam carefully relieves them of their weapons - Laney’s guns, which no-one at the Bureau was ever foolish enough to ever attempt to get her to leave in her room, and the small knife tucked into her boot. He checks Rupert over twice, apparently in disbelief that the boy isn’t carrying a single thing he could fight with.

“He’s been a prisoner for months, where do you think he’d get a weapon from?” It’s the first thing she’s said, and her voice doesn’t shake at all. Anger is helping - she can see the tightness in Rupert’s shoulders, the determinedly restrained way Seba is sitting with her tail wrapped around her forepaws, and knows all he wants is to curl up and sleep somewhere safe, to breathe deep and finally realise he’s free.

Once, Liam had known her well enough to read all of that in the set of her jaw. But that was a lifetime ago, and now concern hides in the tilt of her chin instead, protectiveness in the way her daemon curls his own tail rather than bares his teeth. She watches the little whistling bird fan its wings and wonders if here that still means that her brother is amused.

Other-Laney circles her, curious. A sand viper winds its way down her arm, and Laney’s chameleon slinks to the tip of her finger to enter a staring match. Laney wants to examine her counterpart, to find the patchwork places where they differ, but her eyes are dragged back to Liam every time she tries. It’s George who eventually breaks the silence.

“Look, lets get them sat down. This one looks like he’s about to collapse.” Rupert smiles faintly.

“It’s been…a long few months. A long, very dull few months.” He shoots Laney an amused look, a question hiding in the slight lift of one dark eyebrow. Are you okay? “Though I think boredom may now be a thing of the past.” She grins back, squaring her shoulders a little more. No, but let’s get on with it.

Bea looks from one to the other of them when they’re escorted into the bakery, Other-Laney still holding a pistol in a loose, ready grip. The baker sighs, resting floury hands on her hips.

“I don’t care what nonsense you’ve gotten into, if there’s a fight in my bakery you’re all sleeping in the barn.” Liam laughs and kisses her on the cheek. Laney tries to pretend she isn’t watching hungrily, isn’t tracing Bea’s face for lines of grief that aren’t there. The familiar mountain cat daemon pads over sedately to pace a careful circle precisely a foot away from touching around both Laney and Rupert. Laney crouches automatically to set Jabari down so the daemons can greet each other. They’ve been through this before, in the mountains. This time, Mineko’s ears flick back in surprise before she deposits a genteel lick to the very top of Jabari’s head. Laney feels rather than sees everyone but Rupert’s eyebrows rise.

 It’s a signal for everyone to relax a little. Other-Laney (reluctantly) puts her pistols away, and warm mugs are pressed into their hands. Liam lounges in a seat, watching Laney curiously while his sister (both of them) sits with a straight spine and carefully relaxed hands. Rupert loses his framework of formality as soon as he’s seated, the bakery and half the people there too familiar for his usual unconscious masks, and leans on one arm, exhausted with relief and stunned into silence. Liam breaks the silence.

“So, you reckon you come from some kind of…what, world one over?” Laney nods, and can’t help but notice that none of the half-strangers seem too surprised by this. Other-Laney notices her noticing, and grins sharply.

“We’ve seen stranger things than you can imagine.” Laney blinks slowly as she thinks about the creature of fire in Rivertown, Grey with mage fire dripping into being over his shoulders from Kin’s feathers unbidden and Rupert talking a vacant mage back into life, the daemon forms outlined in the Elsewhere fires, and grins back, not hiding any of her edges either.

“Oh, I’ve got a pretty good imagination.”

Hours later, it’s Rupert who leans forwards to nudge Laney and jerk his head at the gloom outside the window. She realises with an internal wince that she’s been gone for hours. Jack is probably quietly panicked. Thorne…Thorne will know Rupert is gone by now. She has to get back. Bea catches her eye, and nods firmly.

“Well, we haven’t covered half of anyone’s story, but it seems to me this lad needs to stay here for a bit - and you need to go find out a few things.” Liam stirs, and Bea brushes a hand over his. Other-Laney leans into his side, and he nods agreement after a moment. Laney hesitates herself.

“I’ve never done the walking between worlds intentionally. What if I can’t…” Rupert shrugs.

“You’ll find a way, Miss Jones. You always do.” She laughs, and ruffles his overgrown hair.

“Stay hydrated, alright?” He smiles softly, and she ignores George’s puzzled look.

Laney is opening a sliver of a window to check if the red squirrel she’s located is her red squirrel before she realises that there had been no sign of other-Jack in the bakery. He looks around as she enters, partway through pacing around the room, and the sheer relief on his face throws her.

“Lane! What’s going on?”

“I - Liam.” Jack flinches and freezes, staring at her wide-eyed. Her brother is a topic they carefully avoid. Laney knows one day she’ll ask him for stories, but for now the wound is too fresh. Some days she feels like she’s fitting the mourning she should have done for the months before she knew into her days. Some days it’s just the hurt that he didn’t tell her. She understands why - at least, she tries to understand - but he didn’t tell her, even a hint, and she suspects that will never quite cease to sting. Laney clears her throat. “I found Rupe, and we ended up in a different world again. A world almost exactly like ours. One where Liam -”

She wonders if she looked the way Jack does now, when she saw him in the doorway. Hope and pain, grief and guilt - no, she probably didn’t look guilty. Liam’s death was nowhere near her hands, out of her reach to affect or prevent. She had no cloak of golden luck to blame for a near miss and an unlucky ricochet. Jack slumps onto his chair, Sayda curling into his collar, both pairs of eyes fixed on Laney. They're both trembling, she realises, and ploughs on with her explanation as though it will make it any easier to deal with.

"Rupe was here, Jack." The instant anger helps; her brother alive in some neighbouring universe is one thing, Thorne laying hands on Rupert is another. "Thorne took him. He’s been in the damned basement the whole time."

“Why?”

“We’re not certain yet. Rupert reckons he got wind of the - you know.” Jack nods. He remembers Rupert talking a mage back to life as well as she does. He’d been quietly jealous, memories of too many vacant people stumbling along as he drags them by the hand out of the cells, too many ghosts who’d been beyond his help. Neither of them speaks of it aloud. In the Bureau, you only spoke aloud of things you didn’t mind people overhearing, even in a closed private room.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Jack gets to his feet. He hauls two packs from under the bed. Laney grins, swift and sharp. Who needs to speak aloud when you know the plan already?

It’s time to go consult their Sage.

[moonlightobrien]

The Worst Day - Stallison {THG}

Word Count; 4184

Warnings: swearing, semi violence (I guess.)

Characters: allison argent/stiles stilinski.

Authors Note: ohmygod! i finally finally finished the first chapter, it took me the entire day to finish this chapter. One day, and 9 hours to be exact haha. This chapter/series is dedicated to @obrjens, @mischiefandi, and every stallison stans that are out there. I’m beyond happy that this is finally written and planned out. More chapters are coming, I don’t know when the next chapter will be since I am busy with work, and editing. But, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and get some stallison feels while you are at it! 

Allison’s POV

District 15.

The district of landscaping, where my people including my sister, my mom and I have to work our asses off to even get some food in our systems. Panem is divided into 15 districts, I’ve heard stories of District 13 being the ‘unknown district’ but I’ve never fully went in depth with these stories. Sometimes, I would cross over to District 14 to see different scenery instead of my own. But, today was a different day for me and the rest of the districts. It was hunger games day, the worst day of every year, where one tribute from each district is chosen to be in the hunger games until one is standing, hearing about the fallen tributes makes me sick to my stomach, my heart aches for the fallen tributes and their parents. No one deserves to be living like this, how can anyone live like this. Thinking about the hunger games, and how close the bell for the tributes to go to the Hall of Justice building terrifies me. Especially, for my family.

Caesar Fickerman, and the gamemaster himself Seneca Crane was doing a interview on how he was going to corrupt this year Hunger Games, and how this year is going to be different than the last games. “I think it’s our tradition, it comes out of a particularity painful part of our history,”

“Yes,” Caesar agreed. “But, it’s been a way we’ve been able to heal, at first it was a reminder of the rebellion, it was a price of the districts had to pay, but I think it has grown all from that, netting us all together.”

“This is your third year’s game, what defines your personal situation?”

“NO, NO,” Nicole screamed in horror, her body wrapped into my chest, and arms. “It’s okay, you were dreaming, you were dreaming,” I tried to calm her down, as I can feel her heart increase rapidly, “It was me,” Her soft cries breaks my heart, “I know, there are so many names in there, Nicole, they are not going to pick you.” Nicole whispers in my ear, which I already know what she wants me to do. Our father died in a mining accident, but when I was younger, he would sing me this song that stuck in my memory forever, I deeply deeply miss him. “Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass as soft green pillow.” Nicole and I both sang in unison.

“You remember that song, you finish it for me. I have to go.”

“Where?” Nicole curiously asked, “I just have to go, but I will be back. Love you.” I walked downstairs, wrapping my jacket around my shoulders as I can hear the cat hissing at me that Nicole found, “I still cook you,” Then, I left. My legs starts to pick up some speed, as my amber eyes starts looking around the scenery, the people, how we have to live like we are slaves. Other districts thinks this is a paradise since we are the district of landscaping, but this is definitely not paradise. My body went under the barbed wire as my feet took me to my favorite place; the woods. The woods is the most peaceful place where I can escape my thoughts about the horrifying hunger games. 

I grab my bow and arrow, searching for something eatable for my family to have for dinner. I spot a deer five miles away from me, I began to pull my arrow towards my cheek, aiming correctly to shoot until the deer figured out what I was about to do, and sprint away. My feet started to follow his movements really quickly, I start to ravel some leaves in my palms crunching them letting the crumbled leaves flow in the wind, as well as grabbing a small rock popping it off my bow making the deer flee, I start to follow the deer again, this time, I got a really good aim on it; I start to pull my arrow back. “What are you going to do with that when you kill it?” Shit, I missed. “Damn you, Kira. It’s not funny.” Kira and I have been best friends since childhood, our mothers knew each other back when things in Panem was normal. “What are you going to do with a 100 pound deer, Alls.” Kira laughed. “I was going to sell it to a Peacemaker, and at least get some money out of it, since this place can’t even afford a dime to get some food in our stomachs.” The thought of food made her stomach growl begging for something to eat. “I wouldn’t sell anything to those assholes, especially since the games are coming up,” I roll my eyes, but at the same time Kira is right about those peacekeepers being assholes, our president is a evil, cruel son of a bitch. “Like, you don’t sell to any peacekeepers,” My eyes scan to Kira’s bag seeing that she had her kitsune sword, instead of her bow and arrow that gave her for her 16th birthday, I wish that Panem was back to the way it was before, yet I realized that it was never normal, it was always the same. “No, not today, did I mentioned that the hunger games were today.” I chuckled, “Well, it was the first deer I saw in a year, at least I would’ve had something for dinner, but someone had to ruin my plans.”

“You’re welcome,” A smirk slowly started to appear on her face, she grabbed a rock throwing it in the air, birds started to scatter flying upward, I start to pull my arrow near my cheek realising my arrow quickly hitting one of the birds, and laughed. “Let’s go to our favorite spot,” Kira spoked, giving me a smile. Kira and I start walking towards our favorite spot where it was a view of the mountains, Kira spotted it when we were eight years old, sometimes I would go there at night just to clear my head from everything, mostly my thoughts; how my thoughts can take over me, making me terrified of what the outcomes will be. “What if they stopped watching? It’s disgusting, watching and rooting for our favorite tributes; I can only imagine what their parents feel, seeing their kids in that area. Absolutely, cruel.”

“They won’t, Kira. You know how our president is. A absolute shithead. Sometimes, I wonder if or when our lives will be back to ours, instead of being in the hands of someone who doesn’t give a fuck about us,” Kira can hear the anger in my voice, she knows how much I hate the Capital, how much I want to destroy everyone, and everything in that place including the President. “We could do it, you know? Take off in the mountains, go somewhere else where we don’t have to deal with any of this.”

“They’re catch us, cut off our tongues, make us sit on electric chairs, or worse. I can’t even think of worse. We wouldn’t even make it five miles from here.” Kira ignored that comment, she was always the hopeful one, which I’m glad that I have as a best friend, I need some hope in my life. “No, we will get five miles, I will go that way.” She points near the mountains view, my brain actually started to put that into consideration, but it was a long shot, very impossible. “I have Nicole, and you have your sisters.”

“They can come with us,” Kira replied. “Nicole in the woods?” I replied back with sarcasm in my voice. “You’re probably right, oh my god. I almost forget,” She pulls out a little loaf of bread, my stomach instantly begged for it, “Oh my god, is this real?” My fingers immediately grabs it, I put it up to my nostrils smelling that delicious flavor of yeast and dough, it smelled so good. “It better be, it cost me a squirrel.” I ripped off a piece for her, so we can both savor it; most of the time, it’s either hunting or no food for the day which is usually the case, those are the worst days; even the littlest bits of food is worth it. “Happy Hunger Games,” Kira mocked, “And, may the odds be in your favor,” We love mocking the Capital, at least it will give us some laughter; Panem is very depressing, so a little bit of laughter makes me somewhat happier than I was before. “How many times is your name been drawn?” I asked, praying to god that it is none. “35, I guess the odds are not in my favor,” I look at her with saddened eyes, Kira is like a sister to me, and the thought of her entering the area makes my heart drop into my stomach, I can’t bear to lose another person in my life. Especially, her. “I better get going, Nicole is waiting on me, and I have to get ready for the Reaping, see you there.”

“See you there.”

The Reaping; where all the tributes from their districts all sign in, and get lined up in front of the Hall of Justice to see if their name was drawn to be forced into the Hunger Games. Some of the kids that I went to school with died in that area, and some survived. More died than others survived. It devastates me seeing little kids like Nicole’s age go into something so real, and so dangerous without proper skill training, the anger I feel everytime I see our president, it boils me to the core, makes me feel like I am on fire, and it’s scorching high nonstop. Before, I go home, I decided to go over to the Black Market to trade off something for a bag of marbles, we don’t really have that many toys or items to keep us occupied, “Here you go, girl.” My eyes scan over to this golden pin that is so beautiful, “What’s this?” I questioned. “It’s a mockingjay pin,”

“How much?”

“You keep it,” Usually, I have to buy or sometimes, beg for items for my family, which sucks but I have to do it in order to survive, “Thank you,” Then, I left heading back home.

“Mom?” Nicole always felt like our mom didn’t pay enough attention to her, it was only me. She turns around facing Nicole, “Oh, look at you. You look beautiful, better tuck in that tail, little duck.” Nicole smiled at my complaint, but I know she still feels like a outcast ever since Dad died. “I fix something for you too,” My mother spoked, her voice was breaking; she is still grieving my father, “Okay,” I replied back with a smile towards Nicole, going upstairs to take a quick bath.

I start scrubbing my toes feeling the hot water on my skin making me warm since there were months where we didn’t get any heat, and we rely on blankets to keep us from frostbite. I lift the bucket dumping the water on my face, making me wake up; focused on what is about to happen. Preparing me for the consequences and the fear of everything that is about to come. I step out of the bath bucket, walking over to my room seeing a light blue dress on my bed. My fingers eagerly grabs the dress pulling it over my body, looking at myself in the mirror until my mother comes in, putting my hair into a long braid, “Now, you look beautiful too.”

“I wish I looked like you,” Nicole said from behind, my mom had this hurt look on her face, she knows that it kills her seeing Nicole being very insecure, “Aw, no. I wish I was like you, little duck.” Then, the most terrifying sound that rattles my ears was the bell, Nicole knew what that meant. “Hey, do I want to see what I got you today?” I show her a golden pin with a bird on it, it was absolutely gorgeous in her eyes, and she smiled brightly. “It’s a mockingjay pin to protect you, as long as you hold on to it, nothing bad will ever happened to you.” I instantly pull her into a hug, our bodies colliding into each other, I can feel tears welling up into my eyes, this is the last time I’m going to see her, I have no idea what is going to happen, but I have to be strong, I have to be brave, even though right now I am scared to death.

It’s time, all of the families hug their children for the last time if they ever going to see them again; all the girls and boys hold hands with their sisters and brothers heading over to Hall of Justice, Nicole, my mother, and I started to head over there until my sister startled with fear as she sees peacekeepers, and a line of girls and boys being signed in. I tried to calm her down, “It’s okay, Nicole. It’s time to sign in, they are just going to take a little bit of blood,”

“You didn’t say-”

“I know, it doesn’t hurt much.” I put my hand on her cheeks as I see the tears flowing down her face, she was so scared, I hate it when she is in pain or scared out of her mind, it makes my heart crumble, she doesn’t deserve this; she is only a child. “Go over to the little kids section, and I will meet you there alright.”

“Next, next.” Nicole finally budge giving the peacekeeper her finger, she startled out of the shock, placing her fingerprint on the paper as the peacekeeper sees that it was actually her on the screen with green letters highlighted. It was my turn, but I was more concerned about Nicole, it did stung a little, and then the peacekeeper left me through. My amber honey eyes started to look around for Nicole, but I couldn’t find her until I see Josh who was my long time childhood friend, we haven’t seen each other in forever until now. “You okay?” He mouthed.

I nodded.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor, now before we began, we have a very special film brought to you all the way from the Capital.” Yeah, what a wonderful special film, thanks Capital. “War, terrible war.” Josh mouthed, I chuckled. “War, terrible war, with those orphan and motherless child. This was the uprising that brought us our land, the country that fed them, protected them. Then came the peace, hard fought, soley won; the people rose up from the ashes and a new era was born. The freedom has a cost, and the traitors were defeated. Peace, War as a nation, we would never know this treason again, and so it was decreed that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute. One young man and woman to fight to the death,” Anger raising up in my bones, it was a wildfire inside of me, a monster that wanted to be uncaged from hearing the President’s voice, my eyes looked all around to see all the kids looking up at the screen from this cruel so called special film, “And, it peg you to honor, courage and sacrifice- the lone victor will bathe in riches, will serve as our reminder of our generosity, and our forgiveness. This is how we remember our past, this is how we safeguard our future.”

“I just love that,” She cheerly smiles, “Now, the time has come to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing District 15 in the 78th Hunger Games, as usual, ladies first.” Effie goes over to the left bowl twirling her hand, grabbing the slip of paper, she starts unfolding it, “Nicole Argent,” She was so scared when she heard her name. No, no no. This is a nightmare, wake up, Allison. Wake up. “Where are you?” The kids start to make a pathway for her to come forward, she tucks in her little tail. “Well, come on up. Come on up.”

“Nicole, nicole.” The peacekeepers tried to hold me down, but I was fighting back; I’m not letting my sister enter the area, “No, I VOLUNTEER, I VOLUNTEER,” I pushed the peacekeepers away from me looking up straight at them, “I volunteer as tribute!” I shouted. I just couldn’t bear the thought of Nicole entering that area. “I believe we have a volunteer, um Mr.Mayor?” I immediately wrap my arms around Nicole’s body, “Nicole, you need to get out of here.”

“No! No! No!” She started shouting, “Go find Mom,” My voice was shaky, “No!”

“Nicole, go find Mom,” Tears started to flow down my eyes, “No!” She wouldn’t let go, but I had to do this, “I’m so sorry,” Josh came scooping Nicole into his arms, as I can hear the screams from Nicole, I wiped the tears away trying to be strong. “This isn’t me,” I spoked, confidently. The peacekeepers started to take me up to the stage, as my mind started to race, and my heart beating very fast as I realise that right now, my life is on my line, and if I die, it was for my district. “In mad of turn of events here on District 15, yes well, District 15 very first volunteer.”

I made it up towards the stage, I’m scared to death right now, my hands won’t stop shaking. My heart is beating really fast like I am having a panic attack, oxygen levels are increasing rapidly as the walls start to close in on me, like I can’t even breathe. I was drowning. “Come on, dear.”

“What’s your name?” She asked, pulling the microphone towards me, “Allison Argent.”

“I bet my hat that was your sister, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” My voice sounded crushed, my life is now in their hands, and that’s the most terrifying thing ever. “Let’s give a big hand to our first volunteer, Allison Argent.” It was only silence until hands with three fingers started to rise up, which means togetherness. A tear flowed down my cheek seeing how strong our district really is. “And, now for the boys.” Effie walks over to the right bowl instantly grabbing a slip of paper for the boys section, she starts unfolding it. Don’t call Josh, please don’t say his name. “Stiles Stilinski.” My eyes instantly lit up remembering that name, the peacekeepers start to bring him up to the stage, “Here we are, our tributes from District 15, well go on you two shake hands.” I look at his golden amber eyes like mine remembering that day where it was the first feeding in months.

[ FLASHBACK }

I was starving so much, there was no food in days; my body was giving up on me slowly, it was raining outside, my back against the tree as I look over at the bakery where Stiles and his mom owned, he comes out about to feed the pigs, until his mother comes out giving him a slap on the face for disobeying her; she leaves as Stiles throws a piece of bread to the pig, then he looks at me, seeing how I was on the verge of dying because of how incredibly hungry I was. He then looks back to make sure his mother doesn’t see, then throws the burned loaf of bread out into the rain.

Then, Stiles and I hands intertwined with eachother as I felt a little spark between us, I brushed it off, I can’t think about my feelings right now; all I can think about is how I’m going to survive this year’s hunger games. “Happy Hunger Games, and may be the odds be ever in your favor.” Then, the peacekeepers took Stiles and I inside of the building, my eyes started to look around seeing everything fastly, until one of the peacekeeper places me into a room, I look back at Stiles until the peacekeeper shuts the door, and I wait for my family. I look out at the window, trying to come up with a way to survive, but every obstacle or possible outcome is to kill people, the other districts, which I can’t be. I can’t be a killer. What would Nicole think of me then. I won’t be the same person I am to her. How am I going to survive this. I start pacing back and forth until I hear footsteps coming towards the door, “You have three minutes,” Nicole instantly hugged me, crying her eyes out. “Ssh, you are going to be okay, I don’t have enough time. Nicole, listen to me, don’t take any extra money for food. That doesn't worth putting your name more times. Nicole, listen to me, Josh will bring you game, he stuck cheese from your goat.”

“Just try to win as best as you can,” Her voice was shaky, as tears went down her cheeks making my heart break into pieces. “Maybe, I can. I am smart you know?”

“You can hunt.”

“Exactly,” It was hard seeing her like this, but I will protect her with my life even if I have to risk my own life, “To protect you.” She hands me the mockingjay pin, I tried to fight back the tears, I can’t be weak. I have to be strong for Nicole. “Thank you.” I tug her into one last hug giving her a kiss on her forehead, I then look over at my mother walking towards her. “You can’t shut off again.”

“I won’t.” As much as I want to believe her, I can’t risk it. She is the only person for Nicole, and when she shut down, it was frustrating yet devastating seeing her like that. “No, you can’t. I won’t be here for her, and no matter what, you have to be there for her, you understand?”

“Don’t cry,” I instantly wrapped my arms around her neck pulling her into a hug since this is the last time we are going to see each other.Tears started to form in my eyes, stop crying Allison; this isn’t you. “Don’t cry, don’t.” My voice sounded like I was going to break, but I just can’t. “It’s time,” The peacekeepers started to pull Nicole away from me, “It’s okay, Nicole.” She wouldn’t let go of my side, “No!” but the Peacekeepers pulled her off of me, “I promise, Nicole.” Then, the door was slammed shut, I slowly walked up to it, giving it a tug to open it then close. I tried to open it again, but it wouldn’t shut until Josh and Kira comes in. They both pull me in for a group hug, I can hear the soft cries from Kira, I pull away from them. “I’m fine,” In reality, I wasn’t. “I know, listen to me; you are stronger than this, you are. Get to a bow.”

“They might not one,” I was so scared, this is actually happening to me. I’ve never thought that this will happen to me, but it is. “It doesn’t matter, Allison. They just want a good show, that’s all they want; if they don’t have one, you make one.” Kira added. “They’re not animals, we are actually talking about actual humans,”

“They are no different, Allison.” How can Josh say that, I can’t do this. I can’t actually kill these human beings, I’m not like this. “There are only 24 of us, only one survives.” I started to shake filled with panic, and fear in my eyes. “It’s going to be you, Alls.” Kira hugged me really quick until the peacekeepers came in; I quickly hugged them both then the peacekeepers finally took them away from me, shutting the door in front of me. Couple of minutes, the peacekeepers takes Stiles and I towards the truck, Effie started to talk to both of us- neither of us weren’t paying attention as my thoughts started to come together on how I’m going to kill these people, and once again; survive. I shouldn’t be thinking about how to kill these people, because I don’t know if I can; my fingers started to shake again. “Allison, are you okay?” Stiles looked over seeing my shaky hands, very concerned, Effie looks over at them as well, “Are you okay, dear?”

“I’m fine,” That’s what my outside is telling you, inside; I am absolutely terrified, and I don’t think I will ever stop being terrified. We got to the tributes train, as the door opens - my eyes were so shocked seeing all of these delicious foods in front of me. I’ve never seen so many delicious foods in front of me before. The three of us all walk in, and my eyes started to scan all around taking everything all at once. This is it.

It’s finally happening.

I’m in the hunger games.

[pern-dragon]

The story of our cross country 3 day drive to move to MN from NV

So, it was a bear getting everything packed up and loaded and cleaning at least somewhat. We still have no further offers on the house after the other one fell through due to buyer financing.

We left at 9:20 am Vegas time on that Wednesday 5-22, and I drove the Kia Soul with the 3 cats the whole day, while Brad and Bill traded off driving the 26' Penske truck towing my car on a car carrier. The first day was pretty okay.

I gave Godzilla the sedative medication that morning, and within the first hour of driving, he stress pooped in the disposable litter tray, which was not a fun smell. He had started off meowing, but then stopped soon after, and Binx ended up being the one who was screaming non-stop. I had us pull over to check on them about an hour in because I got scared that I had drugged Zilla and he had died, and the poop was him voiding his bowels in death, and that's why Binx was screaming so much, because he was sharing a carrier with a dead companion! Fortunately, that was not the case, and Zilla was just stoned. We cleaned him and the litter tray up as best we could, and then got back on the road.

Less than an hour later AGAIN, we stopped and I gave Binx about 60% of the dose of med that was the prescribed dose, since Zilla had already had his for a couple hours. I just needed him to calm down and be quiet. Well, not long after we got on the road again, I hear Binx scratching at the nylon carrier. I thought he was messing up the zipper.

Later, I got scared when BINX SUDDENLY POPPED UP BETWEEN THE FRONT CAR SEATS, UNDER MY ELBOW, LIKE AN ALIEN FACEHUGGER! When we stopped next, we tried to put him back in, but he had ripped a hole BESIDE the zipper, so we tried to tape it up, and it didn't work.

Later that day, we were heading into the mountains, and I had a STONED BINX WANDERING THROUGH MY CAR. During this: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1131340948334505984

I spent the trip following behind the truck, so I could keep an eye on everything, and so I could run block for any lane changes we needed. Thank goodness we got the walkie talkies--they were the best damn purchase for that whole trip!

Eventually, Binx determined he could just lie down on the remaining half of the passenger seat that was not covered by a cooler or on the cat food bin in the floorboard of the back passenger seat. He would doze off, but any time we changed speed to stop or things got hairy with going up and down mountains, he would perk up and start wandering again. Like, DUDE, sit the fuck DOWN while I'm trying to drive in precarious ways! I need BOTH hands for this, not fending you off with one!

The first night motel guy ended up saying they wouldn't accept cats, WHEN I HAD SPECIFICALLY SEARCHED FOR THAT WHEN I BOOKED THE ROOMS THROUGH HOTELS.COM! Eventually he capitulated and said only 2 cats in one room, which is what we said we had anyway (since Buttons is in her own carrier and doesn't make noise anwyay), so we got everyone in for the night.

Day 2 was awful. On the first stop to potty and gas up, not very long into the day, in Colorado, the gas station was narrow and there wasn't much room to maneuver in the parking lot, so when they pulled through after getting gas, there was a car that wasn't pulled far enough into its spot, and it looked like the trailer was going to hit it, so they tried to back up, but the wheel well of the trailer then scratched into the plastic of the bumper. The guy was in the back of the convenience store, since he worked for the chain, and was able to come out and move forward enough to get out of the way, but by that time, they had unhitched the trailer in an attempt to move it on its own, and the guy called to make a police report for the car accident, and then when we tried to get the trailer hitched back up, the ball got caught up, and the jack stripped, so then we had to call for roadside assistance to get an industrial strength jack to get the trailer hooked back up. That took about 2 hours, with the cats just hanging in the car.

Eventually we got back on the road. Then somewhere between mile marker 133 and 134, THE JACK FELL OFF THE TRAILER. I watched it bounce off into the median. Thank the powers that be that it didn't hit my car, or me driving the Soul, or any other vehicle!

That day was awful even more because we were up and down in the mountains, and we went through at least 4 separate snowstorms doing it. At one point we were over 10,000 miles in elevation, and the temperature was 30 degrees at the lowest I saw on the car dash. There were points at which the truck wouldn't go faster than 30 mph uphill, and we rode with our hazards on almost the whole time. O.o It got to be unnerving to see semis rushing up behind me UPHILL. And then we rode the brakes downhill since having that much weight get runaway would be very bad.

It was after dark by the time we got to the destination, and at that time, I was riding passenger with Bill driving the truck, and Brad was driving the Soul with the cats so I could have a break. We got off the highway, and turned the wrong direction, so the google map showed a way for us to turn down roads to circle back and go the other direction. Well, it was raining AGAIN by that time, and the side roads were nothing but mud. At one point, the trailer just started fishtailing and pulling the truck sideways, and it's only by Bill's skill at compensating for that that we didn't end up in the ditch. We got back out the the road, but we couldn't see Brad's lights anymore. Turns out he had gotten stuck! So, we said we'd go to the motel and then call for a tow truck to come to him since we couldn't risk those roads again.

It was about 10 pm now. Well, the turn off to get to the motel was not clearly marked, and we turned one entry too early, which took us BACK ONTO THE FUCKING HIGHWAY, and it was 10 miles before there was an exit to be able to turn around. So, while we drove an extra 20 miles for no good reason, Brad fortunately managed to get the Soul unstuck, but got terrified when BINX DECIDED THAT WAS A GOOD TIME TO TRY TO EXPLORE WHILE THE DOOR WAS OPEN AND BRAD WAS ROCKING THE CAR IN THE MUD. Like, seriously, Binx?

Brad got to the motel and we eventually got there, and he was trying to smuggle the cats in through the side door, but the side door kept fragging the doorkey whenever Brad tried to use it, so one of us had to be there to hold the door open for him to get in and then run down the hallway to open the room door to get the cats inside. That night we were sore and frazzled and the next day was the longest stretch of miles, but it wasn't going to be in mountains, so we made sure we got a full night's rest before leaving the next morning.

The 3rd day was almost anticlimactic after the 2nd day's trials and tribulations. We got to the house before dark, and we moved the bed in so we could sleep on it that night.

The next day we unloaded the truck and had Penkse send roadside assist to deal with the trailer since we didn't have a jack anymore, and they just took it with them, so that was nice. Sunday morning my folks came in, and my dad helped us put up celing fans and change out lights, and we got a bunch of stuff for the house. I bought a shit ton of furniture stuff on wayfair.com, and it's been coming in bit by bit. We went to Ikea a couple days ago with Bill and Megan and got a piece to go under where the TV is now hung on the wall: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1134269183108292611. I'm still waiting for the bed to be delivered since THEY FORGOT TO LOAD IT ON THE TRUCK WHEN THEY DELIVERED THE DRESSERS, the daybed for my office (it likely won’t be here til late this month, meanwhile, the mattress for it is still in the box in the office), and the pantry storage cabinet’s replacement parts (the package was bashed up, so several parts were disintegrated on corners or dinged and dented, and about 30% of the hardward was missing!) to arrive. We already got the dining table and 4 chairs, 2 nightstands, and I put together an above the toilet standing shelf for the guest bathroom and a 3 level cubby shelf for by the door to the garage. We’ve finally been able to start to unpack because we just got the dressers, but we still can’t unpack too much becasuse we don’t have desks to put things in, and the bathroom space/ storage is SO MUCH LESS than what we had in Vegas.

So, there's the daunting, sometimes harrowing details of the trip. Since we've been here at the new house, we've seen: bunnies: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1133723281842941952, deer (Brad has since bought feed corn to put out on the stump in our yard she was eating on): https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1137142181607723008, beaver, squirrels: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1133355929146150912, cardinals, bluejays, woodpeckers, finches, dove, other tiny birds: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1132802891637493760, a corvid (dunno if it's a crow or a raven), ducks, geese, bat, frog: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1138105379181776896, chipmunk, AND A RACCOON THAT EATS THE BIRDSEED ON OUR DECK: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1133539604949340160. Brad now has to bring in the birdfeeders off the deck at night so the raccoon doesn't destroy it all. He named her Spoons, after our friend Derek: https://twitter.com/BradThomte/status/1133541051917115393 There’s a second, bigger, meaner raccoon that fucks with Spoons, and we chase him off any time he comes up on the deck to stir up trouble. He’s pretty fearless, so we may have to get some pepper spray for him.

[bountyofbeads]

The dog is one of the world’s most destructive mammals. Brazil proves it.

https://wapo.st/2P35Gfy

The dog is one of the world’s most destructive mammals. Brazil proves it.

By Terrence McCoy | Published August 20 at 6:00 AM ET | Washington Post |

Posted August 20, 2019 4:32 PM ET |

RIO DE JANEIRO — High above this Brazilian city, in a jungle blanketing a mountain, the turtles were out and the scene was hopeful.

Scientists were reintroducing 15 mud-caked tortoises to this urban forest where they had once been plentiful. Children were running around. People were oohing and aahing. A stern-looking security guard briefly appeared to smile.

But not government biologist Katyucha Silva. She was thinking about dogs.

What would they do to these turtles? What were they doing to Brazil?

It’s a question more researchers are beginning to ask in a country where there are more dogs than children — and where dogs are quickly becoming the most destructive predator. They’re invading nature preserves and national parks. They’re forming packs, some 15 dogs strong, and are hunting wild prey. They’ve muscled out native predators such as foxes and big cats in nature preserves, outnumbering pumas 25 to 1 and ocelots 85 to 1.

Every year, they become still more plentiful, spreading diseases, disrupting natural environments, goosing scientists who set up elaborate camera systems to photograph wild animals, only to come away with pictures of curious canines.

“It’s a difficult thing for people to hear,” said Isadora Lessa, a Rio de Janeiro biologist who wrote her doctoral dissertation on domestic dogs causing environmental mayhem. “They love dogs too much.”

How the dog became one of the world’s most harmful invasive mammalian predators is as much a global story as a Brazilian one. Over the last century, as the human population exploded, so did the dog population, growing to an estimated 1 billion.

That has been great for people — and even better for dogs — but less so for nature, according to a growing body of academic research implicating canines, particularly the free-roaming ones, in environmental destruction.

“The global impacts of domestic dogs on wildlife are grossly underestimated,” researchers concluded in a 2017 study published in the journal Biological Conservation. The researchers, based in Australia, convicted dogs in the extinction of 11 species and declared them the third-most-damaging mammal, behind only cats and rodents.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature maintains a list of animals whose numbers dogs are culling. There are 191, and more than half are classified as either endangered or vulnerable. They range from lowly iguanas to the famed Tasmanian devil, from doves to monkeys, a diversity of animals with nothing in common beyond the fact that dogs enjoy killing them. In New Zealand, the organization reported, a single German shepherd once did in as many as 500 kiwis — and that was the conservative estimate.

“Unfortunately, we have a big problem,” said Piero Genovesi, chair of the agency’s invasive species unit. “There is a growing number of dogs.”

People all over the world are — begrudgingly — beginning to take note.

In Chile, stray dogs were the top concern among city dwellers surveyed this year, topping deteriorating sidewalks and theft. In New Zealand, some communities moved last year to restrict the movement of dogs in a gambit to save little blue penguins. In India, farmers are complaining about stray dogs killing their livestock, just as other predators once had.

And in Brazil, atop a mountain outside of Rio de Janeiro, 15 tortoises were nestling into the forest floor, oblivious to the danger of the forest’s leading predator.

‘A Complex Problem’

Brazil is home to an estimated 52 million dogs, according to the most recent government statistics — more than anywhere in Latin America — but their lives vary widely. In a nation defined by inequality, where the rich fly in helicopters over the poor in the favelas below, the dog has become one more way of understanding the divide.

In wealthy cities, the dog is everywhere, strolling through fancy shopping malls, sitting in the laps of restaurant patrons, even riding paddle boards out on the surf. Some people wheel their dogs around in little strollers.

“The dog brings to Brazilians some things that Brazilians appreciate in themselves,” said Alexandre Rossi, a television personality more commonly known as Dr. Pet. “To be friendly, to want to socialize with everyone … and be there and be close to your family. These are perceived as very good Brazilian qualities.”

On the streets of trendy Ipanema one recent afternoon, few people could believe that a dog — or at least their dog — could be much of predator.

“The dog is a friend!” sputtered Philipe Soares, the furball Bobby at his feet. “No, I’ve never thought of him that way.”

“Difficult to imagine,” said Carlos Alberto Vicente, peering down at his own pooch.

“In her case,” said Flavio Vilela, a shirtless man striding through a park with a small mutt named Nicoli, “they’d hunt her.”

The problem, researchers say, isn’t these dogs, who lead the coddled lives of European or American pets.

The problem is the dogs in poorer and more rural communities, where the life of the dog is more frequently the life of hunger. They prowl the streets day and night with neither a collar nor an owner, looking for food wherever it can be found — in trash heaps, alongside roads, and in forests and fields, where they form packs to hunt and kill.

“It’s a very complex problem,” said Silva, the government biologist.

A Stunning Discovery

Ana Maria Paschoal, a researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, remembers when she first started thinking about the dog differently. She was out in the Atlantic Forest in Southeast Brazil around a decade ago when she noticed there were an awful lot of them.

She wondered: How many dogs are using the protected areas? Are these feral or domestic dogs? Is their presence changing the occurrence of wild species?

So she set up cameras across 2,400 acres of forest to find out. What she discovered, published in 2012 in the scientific journal Mammalia, stunned her. The dog wasn’t just the most-recorded carnivore; it was the most-recorded animal of the 17 mammals the cameras captured.

“The presence of the domestic dog is a threat,” Paschoal and her co-authors concluded.

The research, subsequently confirmed in a larger survey, laid the groundwork for a growing field of study here. One researcher linked Brazil’s dogs to the spread of diseases. Another accused the dogs in the National Park of Brasilia, where they hunted in massive packs, of scaring off natural predators. It was found that the closer humans lived to a nature preserve, the more likely dogs had penetrated it.

But perhaps most striking? The dogs were neither feral nor domestic — but somewhere in between.

“All the dogs we detected had an ‘owner’ or a person that the animal has a bond with,” Paschoal said. “The species population increases following human populations, exacerbating their potential impact on wildlife.”

It was something Fernando Fernandez, an ecology professor at the University of Rio de Janeiro, learned the hard way. For the last decade, he has been reintroducing native animals to the Tijuca forest, one of the world’s largest urban woodlands, which spills across Rio de Janeiro’s mountains.

First came the agouti, a squirrel-like rodent. Then followed a problem: “Dogs.”

They started killing the agouti, and not for food. It was just for fun.

Fernandez and Silva wanted to learn more. They set up cameras and discovered dozens of dogs in the forest. They estimated more than 100 dogs were in the park — not residents, it turned out, so much as frequent visitors, tracking in from nearby favelas.

“These are people who are very poor,” said Silva, who has six dogs at home. “They don’t have money to build walls … When the owners leave for work, the dog leaves, too, and only returns when the owner comes back to the house from work.”

The owners often have no idea what their dogs are up to. Even if they were told, Rob Young said, they almost certainly wouldn’t believe it.

Young, chairman of wildlife conservation at the University of Salford in Britain, witnessed the psychology at work after seeing dogs kill flightless birds in the state of Minas Gerais.

“We’d do interviews with the farmers: ‘Have you seen these dogs?’

“And they’d say, ‘Yeah, but my dogs aren’t the problem; it’s my neighbor’s dogs.’

“Every farmer would say the same thing.”

These factors — inability to see aggression in dogs, in­trac­table inequality, the rapid expansion of humanity — left Silva feeling apprehensive as she watched the tortoises being reintroduced into the Tijuca forest.

In the long term, she didn’t know how the problem of dogs laying waste to the world’s environments would realistically improve.

And in the short term: Could dogs kill these tortoises, just as they’d dispatched a few agouti?

“Yes,” she said. “They could.”

Dig Deeper: Animals + Environment

Want to explore how animals have adapted to an increasingly urbanized environment? Check out our curated list of stories below.

Context matters: Why more tigers live in cages than in the wild

As the world’s tiger population has plummeted, the number in captivity has exploded because of a robust illegal tiger farming and poaching economy.

Understanding the limitations of reviving extinct species

Once extinct in the wild, the return of red wolves 30 years ago was a minor miracle. Now they face extinction again, revealing the limits of government bureaucracy in saving wildlife.

[talulebell]

Sheith Participation Week Day 1: Share a headcanon

Getting a cat was the best decision they’ve ever made. The cat, a female Siamese named Luna, is their baby. 

Keith has always liked cats, but he’s never experienced having one. Shiro, on the other hand, has probably had a few in his life and has always imagined having more in his future. Being new to cats, Keith has a lot of questions, which include:

“Why does she just lay in the litter box? Does she actually find joy being in her own toilet?”

“Why does she sometimes lick water off her paw rather than drinking it normally?”

“Why does she purposefully shove her toys under every piece of furniture?”

“How do her legs curl up when she sits like that? It’s like they’re gone.”

“Why is she scared of something that she’s seen a thousand times?” and then goes into “What do you mean that she doesn’t like that it’s an inch off from it’s regular spot and she thinks it’s suspicious?”

“If she wants to be left alone, does she really need to go on top of the pantry?”

With Siamese cats being a very vocal breed, Shiro thinks it’s adorable when Keith talks back to her. He’s always like, “Yes?” and when she responds, he’ll add on by being like, “Oh, really? Tell me more.” 

She’s usually wherever they are, whether it’d be directly next to them or within sight. They talk about their day during dinner and Luna will either be all sprawled out on the other side of the table, rubbing against their legs, or sleeping on an extra dining chair. One of them will wake up in the middle of the night and want to be closer to the other, but Luna is sleeping in-between them, and it’s practically illegal to move a sleeping cat.

Personally, Shiro doesn’t mind if Luna goes on the kitchen counters. As long as she isn’t getting into something she shouldn’t, she’s fine. Keith is not a fan. He doesn’t like it that he may be too busy to keep an eye on her and that she’ll get into something. Luna also tends to gently pat things out of curiosity and he doesn’t want her touching food. There was a time where he was able to barricade the counter (after putting her down multiple times), but she found her way up by climbing up Keith’s leg. From that moment, Keith just decided to give up, but he still doesn’t like it. Luna is allowed to sit on his shoulders and watch, though. Shiro then teases him because “But you always give her a kiss on the head before putting her on the floor”, to which Keith rolls his eyes and denies. 

Luna and Keith both have a favorite spot: Shiro’s chest. It’s comfortable and provides warmth, so why wouldn’t they like it? There have been times where Luna beats Keith to it and he’ll settle for Shiro’s side. Like any cat, Luna kneads on many surfaces, and one of those is Shiro’s chest. She’ll do it for a while before Shiro is like, “Okay, you have to be done.”

When Shiro gets anxious or wakes up from a nightmare, Luna helps calm him down. It’s comforting to pet her and hear her purring. If he’s in bed, she’ll curl up by his shoulder and purr into his ear. 

Shiro and Keith one time went on a date and while reaching into his pocket, Shiro pulled out a cat toy. He doesn’t know how it got there, but it’s there.

Shiro carries her around the house like a baby and speaks to her as if she were a baby. If he holds her for long enough and she’s comfortable, she’ll fall asleep.

These two buy her a cat tree that is typically used for a household of like three cats, but Luna deserves the best. It’s right in front of a huge window so she can watch the birds and squirrels outside. 

They hope that they make Luna as happy as she makes them. 

[canitakeyourpain]

Chapter 06:  In the Summertime

Daniel gathers his thoughts in the kitchen and puts some water on to boil, puts away the coffee maker, and portions out some tea.  The water finishes and he pours the water over the tea leafs in a small pot, as he sits down, he hears the front door opening quietly, and the soft footsteps are unmistakable.  He calls out, “Good morning Katie, would you like some tea?”  She enters the kitchen and sits across from him, “No thanks, I have already had breakfast.  Dad came home early this morning.  He is sleeping in, so I thought I’d come over and see how you are doing.  Have you called Clara yet?”  Thinking he answers, “I forgot to ask if she would give me her number.”  She asks, “Did you give her your telephone number?”  He responds, “No, I was distracted and you know I don’t care for telephones.  It is mostly telemarketers wanting to sell something.  If someone leaves a message on the answering machine, I might call back.  I am sure she is happier, and now is looking to start anew.  She has lost a big handicap.” 

 Katie asks, “Did you write something in your journal yet?  Can I look at it?”  Daniel responds, “Maybe in a week or so, you looked at it the other day when I was not here.”  She inquires, “How do you know?” He gives a nonspiritual smile, “I know you, I guess my life is like clockwork, and you know how long I would be gone.”  She changes the subject; “Dad says it would be okay to change the grill party to Sunday.  He also said I could stay here for two or three hours.”  He also changes the subject, “I saw Mary and Bambi yesterday.  Bambi is looking forward to tonight, she wants to see you.  Just remember, they are not domestic animals.  You should only touch them when you want to show them something.  Picture it in your mind, and you will see it, just as how I taught you.”  She ignores him, “It should be a warm evening, so hopefully more little friends come.”  He responds, “We’ll see.”

 The day goes pretty fast, Daniel prepares for the evening, takes some meat out of the freezer, and puts it in a cooler.  He then puts various nuts, grains, and seeds in bowls, take these out to the patio, and put them on the garden table.  He pours fresh water in the bowls which he keeps outside for his little friends.  The rest of the day passes uneventfully.  He has been so busy he doesn’t hear Richard come across the lawn to him.  Richard says, “Hey Buddy, how’s it going?  Katie has been talking my ear off about your visitor, when will I get to meet her?”   Hearing this, he shrugs his shoulders, “Hi.  I don’t know if I will ever see her again.  I forgot to exchange numbers.”  Richard changes the subject, “So I see you are getting ready for tonight, thanks for letting Katie spend a few hours, I need some alone  time with Susan.”  He responds, “No problem, you know Katie, inquisitive to no end.”  Richard puts him on the shoulder, “Later then, I will see you tomorrow night at our grill party,” as he turns and goes back inside his house.

 Daniel sets up some lawn chairs, normal chairs, and stools, “Katie might bring a friend or two.”  He brings out the coolers with food for the various animals and human friends.  Wearing gloves, he sets some raw meat out for Freddie and Wiley.  Then he sets out some vegetables for Thumper, Bertha and Smokey.  He’s wondering if Sylvia will come, Katie’s best friend who likes to see the zoo.  Satisfied that everything is ready, he goes in the house.  He looks around the kitchen.  He says to himself, “Yes, everything is ready.”

 It is early afternoon; Daniel now lays some blankets on the lawn for the children.  Katie is first to arrive with Sylvia, “Some more of our friends will come by later,” as they go to see what food there is for the people to eat.  She looks toward the woods as Bambi and Mary step onto the lawn.  Bambi comes toward Katie, she sees them and with Sylvia walk toward the deer.  She holds out a hand, Bambi sniffs it, and starts the Katie dance.  It is jumping a bit, back and forth, and moving from side to side.  The two girls start chasing Bambi and each other around. 

 A rabbit, Thumper comes and following behind him is a coyote, Wiley.  They’ve been together for a long time.  Daniel takes some lettuce to Thumper, lays the lettuce on the ground; he has to put on some rubber gloves, to give Wiley some meat. 

 Julio and Maria come into the back yard with their two children, Adam and Selena.  Other little friends start wandering into the yard looking for treats.  There are some squirrels, various birds, Freddie the fox, dogs, cats, hedgehogs, and other woodland animals.  Their food dishes were set out away from the patio and everyone is having a good time as families start arriving.  Even Lena from the Credit Union is there, alone, and looks to be having a good time.

 The parents and older children are up on the patio watching the festivities.  The atmosphere is casual and everybody is enjoying themselves.  Some additional deer come looking to see what is going on, but they are more hesitant about people.  Daniel is down with the children, sitting while some of his little friends crawl on him.  Some of the little friends climb up on his shoulders, rub cheeks, and the small children are amazed by this.  He then lies flat on the ground on his stomach, and both types of friends would crawl over him.  There is plenty of laughing, by both the children and the parents.

 Daniel gets up off the ground and goes back to the patio with the adults.  Some of the parents are worried about ticks or other pests, but he assures them that the little friends are free of pests.  When the animals enter his Sanctuary, the pests fall off, and the rules apply to all the animals.  No eating each other, no pests, just peaceful interaction.  Their minds aren’t as complicated as a human mind, but understand that life is precious.

 Everyone hears one of the children is crying, and it is Maria’s child, Selena.  Maria picks her up off the lawn and comes to the tables.  Daniel asks, “What’s wrong?”  She replies, “She is teething and it hurts her.”  He smiles holding out his arms, “Give her to me.”  She hands Selena to him, he sits her on his lap, kisses her forehead, and she stops crying.  He cradles her in his arms and whispers “Sleep.”  Maria is watching him, wondering what he did.  He looks up at her, “She wants to take a nap, can I hold her a little longer?”  She nods her head and sits next to him, “You are good with children.”  He answers, “I helped raise Katie, so I have some experience.”  After about ten minutes, Selena wakes up and Daniel hands her back to her mother.  Maria smiles, “Thanks.”

 After about two hours, families are starting to leave.  Katie and Sylvia tell Daniel that they will help clean up.  Soon it is getting too dark and the little friends have started wandering back to their dwellings for the night.  Katie explains, “I am going to stay overnight at Sylvia’s house.  Mom and Dad haven’t shown up, so I need some peace and quiet.”  He tells both of them, “Goodnight,” as they leave.  

 Daniel looks at what cleaning needs to be done the next day, and leaves the work for the morning.  Some of the little friends will come back during the night, to clean up some of the scraps.  He decides to go to bed and hopefully have some peaceful dreams, maybe of her.