#undersea scars au

[keikuri]

Am i a special needs kid? yeah, you could say that.

i was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia at 5, been through six different schools in six years, and have absolutely destroyed every field trip. and not in a good way. for example, my fourth grade field trip to Saratoga. why you would put an impulsive kid with adhd anywhere near a loaded canon is beyond me, but i guess the teachers didn't see anything wrong with it until they heard a cannon go off in the distance. and asking said kid with dyslexia to pull a labeled lever. i would have laughed at them for being soaking wet if i didn't get detention after that. So you can see why i wasn't to excited for this trip.

the school that my mom put me in this time was called Yancy Academy,a school for troubled and disabled kids. my only friend there was a kid with a muscle disorder in his legs named Grover. he was a short guy with a pimply face, and he was the only guy in the sixth grade who had a beard. either he had weird genetics or got held back six years. We were going to the Metropolitan, to learn about Greek and roman stuff. the teacher who was leading this was Mr. Brunner and Mrs. Dodds. Mr. Brunner was this guy in a wheelchair and he was my absolute favorite teacher of all time. he never thought i was stupid or dumb and never thought i was at fault for anything that happened at school. Mrs. dodds was probably the daughter of satan. or at least inhuman. she hated me for no reason, and loved this girl named nancy bobofit, a freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac asshole who's favorite pastime was bullying the younger kids and stealing things from old women. We got to the Metro and he stopped at the front, and we talked about the story of the statues at the door. they were of Pygmalion and Galatea, an asexual dude who falls in love with his own statue, so Aphrodite makes it real for him. my hopes for this field trip were already high, and nothing had gone wrong.

we stopped by more statues until we got to a big painting. well less like painting and more like wall sculpture. i actually recognized this one. it was of kronos being chopped into a thousand pieces and thrown into tartarus. i felt somewhat angry at this depiction of the gods. "now can anyone tell me what this is a picture of," Mr. Brunner asked. he scanned the room and his eyes fell on me. "Percy!" i froze, because i'd been zoning out unintentionally. "uh, yes?" he pointed to the painting. "Oh! that's zeus killing his own dad." "and why did he do this?"

"kronos ate his kids... because he was scared of what would happen if they became kings and queens? so then zeus escaped and killed his dad."

"why would we need this in real life? it's not like anyone's gonna ask us, why did zeus cut off his dad's penis," "to paraphrase Mrs. Bobofit's question, why would we need to know this in real life?" i went silent. i didn't know the answer to that. Bobofit in snickered in the background. "well, percy, it's unfortunate that you don't know this answer, but a very insightful interruption."

we looked through more statues and paintings, and Mrs. Dodds looked like she wanted to destroy each and every one. Lunch rolled around, and i sat with grover away from everyone else, almost as if staying away from these special needs kids would make people think it'm not part of that group. i looked over at grover's curly, dark hair and noticed a blob of light purple and brown. he was looking intently at his apple, trying not to look over at someone. "Nancy threw a piece of PBJ in your hair?" i asked surprised. "she threw a peanut butter sandwich at you. i stopped it. with my head." i picked out the piece of jelly and chucked it back at Nancy's general direction. i patted Grover's back. "Grover, you're a good friend." i said. Grover turned to me. "i'm your only friend." and went right back to eating his bright red apple. Nancy walked over, obviously trying to start a fight. i tried not to get angry, but it was hard to control your temper when someone was insulting you for having ADHD. "- and i bet your mother doesn't even like you, " that did it. i got up prepared to punch her square in the nose.as i did, i felt something rise in me, like the force of a hundred hurricanes contained within. i punched her, hard enough to make her nose bleed. then she got picked up by the fountain. i mean literally picked up; the water formed around her, wrapping around her body as if she were a doll. the water wrapped around her face, clearly drowning her. the feeling died as i panicked. as much as i hated Nancy, i didn't want her to die. The fountain dropped her onto pure concrete. everyone was staring at me, then her, then me. Mr. Brunner was even more shocked than us all. Mrs. dodds smiled. that was all i needed to know that i was perpetually fucked. she came towards me, all sweet.

"come with me, darlin." she said. Grover tried to go with me, but Mrs. Dodds said that he wasn't in any trouble, and forced him to stay. he pleaded with Mr. brunner silently, but i was already in the building.

we were alone. in a room. with creepy Greek statues. "I've heard a lot about you, sweetheart." i gulped. this was not going well. "that's very dedicated for a substitute, but i didn't do anything," i said nervously. Mrs.dodds seemed to ignore that. "you've been through six different schools in six years, and each and every time, something odd has happened. with hm... water?" she guessed. i almost stopped breathing, because she was absolutely right. discounting the saratoga trip, the rest of the incidents had all involved some kind of water going haywire around me. the water fountains nearly murdering someone at Greensville, people thinking i was dying in the pool at Vermillion Academy, all of it. "what do you want from me?" i asked, even more scared now. "return what you have stolen, sea boy." she stated. "...what?" i blinked because as much as i hated everyone that wasn't my mom or Grover, i'm not like Nancy bobofit. I'm no thief. "i will give you two minutes to go through your bag and give me the master bolt," she said, growing impatient. "and if you don't, you will be sent to Hades, who will have you judged harshly." i panicked. it hadn't occurred to me then that she had just said the name of the Greek god of death, but when faced with a possible lunatic who was capable of killing you, that hardly matters.

just to appease her, i gave her my backpack for her to look through, and maybe buy me some time. she must've been working out because she tore right through that thing. it was in shreds and she looked up at me. she growled. and then she lunged. Mrs. dodds wasn't Mrs. Dodds anymore. she was a leathery bat... thing. it's really hard to describe her. she looked a bit like mothman but with bat wings and less horns, and she had goat-like legs and a nasty smile. i jumped back, instinctively rolled under her, and grabbed a Greek bust, ready to swing it at her. she predictably attacked, and i swung the sculpture at her, breaking it in two and startling her. i dropped the thing and bolted for the door, but it was locked. i ran towards the other side and back again, attempting to tire her out before realizing that a pen was thrown at me. "What ho, percy!" He yelled, just like he did in class when he got out a fake sword and hosted foam sword gladiator fights in class. just as a test, i uncapped the pen. with a loud Shink sound, it turned into a sword. a three foot long glowing magic sword, with Greek letters inscribed in the hilt. i almost screamed, but Mothman-Dodds lunged again. i swung the sword and impaled it into her left temple. she screamed and dissolved into the dust of various dark colors.

[psyche-hero]

Reasons FNC should be canon, chronologically, sort of, by me, someone who is very slowly writing a mostly canon compliant soulmate au (yes i am reading between the lines for some of these)

1. Chip pulls Gillion out of the sea, Gillion, instantly acquires a new favorite color, the color of Chips eyes.

2. When Chip thinks he is going to die in the casino, he grabs Gillion and holds on, confessing all the wrong things he did to him because he does feel bad.

3. Episode 15 and 16

4. But fr, Gillion gets his honor back because Chip partakes in a cultural custom of his, then Gillion cheers Chip up by participating in a prank for Chip.

5. Chip INVENTING HIS OWN SHIPNAME

6. They shared a kiss that was loving enough that it opened a magic door (listen two nat 20s for a kiss, that is fucking true loves kiss, you just know Chip is thinking about the best kiss of his life constantly)

7. The rings during the BLOCK arc, like idc if it was practical, that’s gay.

8. Chip being so worried that Gillion would choose the undersea over him.

9. One of the few people we see Chip showing explicit attraction towards being someone who looks very similar to Gillion (Eden)

10. Chip basically loosing it after loosing Gil in the feywild

11. Chip like unlocking his magic potential via Gillions sword

12. Chip standing up on a rowboat in the middle of a raging storm prepared to get struck by lightning to bring Gil back

13. Gillion offering to help Chip with magic

14. Chip building an arena and begging to fight Gil because he lied and hurt Gil’s honor again

15. Them having matching scars cus of Kuba Kenta

16. Chip offering to wear a mind reading bracelet to try and fight off Gillions horrible nightmares

17. (I might be misremembering but one of Gillions nightmares primary features being him being unable to save Chip??)

18. Chip being so willing to believe that the person he was seeing was Gillion safe and alive that he fell right into Dopple Gillys trap.

That’s all I can think of. Do let me know more!!

[chadhunkler]

FISH INFORMATION TIME YEAYEYAYEYAEYAYEYAYEYAYE

Tagged by @sundered-souls , @oneiroy , and @iron-sparrow ! Thank all of u!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

B A S I C S

Name: Holuikhan Haragin

Nicknames: Holly, Holui, Hol, Fish

Age: around 25-30? But they have no clue, no sun to help keep time.

Nameday: 30th Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon (But they don't know that either)

Race: Au Ra-adjacent fish from the deep sea

Gender: Female

Orientation: What is that (Probably pan, and prefers people she gets to know first)

Profession: Traveling spearfisher, trinket trader (unemployed)

P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: Well contained in a fancy bun, with all the ends just short enough. She didn't like it getting in her face during quick maneuvers undersea. On land, it looks a litle rough, accustomed to the water more. Eyes: Blue, with a variable brightness depending on if she wants them to glow bright or not. Bioluminescence yeyaeyayeyae Skin: Abnormally dark, absorbs light when underwater, also has bioluminescent properties to shimmer and glow, confusing prey. On land, the scales/skin have a hard time with how much light there is, she gets burned easily. To combat this, she has a parasol she takes everywhere! Tattoos/scars: No tattoos, maybe a few bite scars from battling fish.

F A M I L Y

Parents: The two most important people in her life - taught her how to hunt and gather, how to live in the depths she was born in. Siblings: She's probably got siblings, but she hasn't seen them in a while. Grandparents: Unknown. In-laws and Other: None. Pets: A large manta ray, a 'pet' of sorts, more akin to a summon. Helps her travel longer distances underwater by attaching to her back, also providing some protection from the sun.

S K I L L S

Abilities: Expert underwater hunter, using a variety of skills to conceal and confuse - kicking up sand, creating little lights to distract as she zips through the seas. Also able to eat most things with fairly low risk. Living in the deep sea's tough. Hobbies: Exploring and collecting trinkets! She enjoys searching sunken ships for harpoons, gold pieces, bits of armor, anything shiny, along with flowers.

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Always happy! Enjoys new things, nothing scares her.

Most Negative Trait: Stupid fishe, too excited about the new world, will routinely get in trouble because of her instinctual curiosity.

L I K E S

Colors: ALL OF THEM!!!! Sure, bioluminescent blues, purples, greens are pretty, but she's more interested in the colors she's never seen before. Smells: Fish and fishblood. She's also taken a liking to a few underwater plants, keeps some close by both to help mask her scent, and just to smell for herself. (I had to look up if fish can smell) Textures: She needs things to be super smooth, or else it'll irritate her skin. ESPECIALLY beds - if the thing she's trying to sleep on isn't super silky, she'll just go sleep in the water, tying her harpoon to herself and sticking it in the sand so she doesn't drift far. Drinks: Originally it was all water water water. Once she surfaced, she quickly realized the power of fruit juice.

O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: Holly's not come across smoking yet. Drinks: She very recently had alcohol in a fruity cocktail, enjoyed it but felt strange afterwards. She got super dizzy, fell over multiple times. Drugs: She's been stung by a pufferfish once… Not good. Mount Issuance: If you consider the manta ray summon an issued mount, sure, but it can only be underwater. Been Arrested: What's that?

Thank you for reading! aaaah now it's time to tag others uhhh @shroudkeeper @rasenkaikyo @varrok @verysmallcyborg and @miqojak ! If you see this and wanna do it, go for it! I may or may not be doing two more of these for Kasha and Chad, lemme know if u wanna get tagged too!

[wasyago]

some rambles about gillion trans headcanons and other stuff

im realizing that i write these posts because i have no one to talk about riptide with, so this is like a monolog that is meant to be a dialog? sort of? the point is, the thought process is unpredictable and this is just everything that goes through my head and not like a structural point or anything and some things are random and not uhhh pretty(?). i dont even know why im writing these disclaimers, no one cares probably?

anyway. so, if gillion was a trans man, how would that work?

did he know from the young age, before the elders even, that he was a boy? was it just an obvious thing for him and his family? was he loved and accepted? and when the elders took him away, did they accept him as well? did they even see him for a kid/a person he was, or did they only think about the prophecy and didn't care what gender The One was? when gillion got older, did he get his top surgery inside the walls of the palace without anyone questioning him or looking down upon? or did he have to sneak out? probably definitely not sneak out, im not sure gillion ever left the palace or seen the world outside much. did he even get top surgery?

that's an interesting question to me actually, because if tritons (in this campaign at least) hatch from eggs, do females even have bigger boobs? technically no, right? do they even have boobs? i mean, they do have chest muscles and stuff, but do they have nipples? the one time i drew gill without a shirt i didn't draw him any, so im gonna say "no" for now. sorry im huge bore when it comes to these types of questions, i don't even know why actually... is it weird?

uhh what was i talking about... so i guess yeah, if female and male tritons don't have that different of a body structure, gillion probably didn't even need a top surgery to begin with. and maybe he didn't experience much in terms of dysphoria, which honestly? good for him, he had enough going on already...

but if gillion wasn't trans before the elders? if he was fine with his gender, he was only five after all, he had better fiveyearold things to worry about. what happened after he was taken away? was it his own realization, just at an older age?

or was it forced on him by the elders? (its definitely a darker concept and would be out of character for the elders, but as an alternative universe I think its interesting as well). because "the chosen one", the hero of the prophecy, the one who will decide the fate of the world and who will protect the undersea, in the eyes of the elders could've only be a man (if they were misogynistic). and when they come to this family and they see a 5 y.o. girl, what can they feel except disappointment? they will try anyway though, because what are they supposed to do? and if they need a man for a prophecy they will get him one way or another...

again, a darker concept, and i think i like it like an au better than a headcanon for the main campaign. because it's ooc and brings up slightly different topics from the original.

at the end i think i wont headcanon gill as trans? (although who knows, maybe I'll come around eventually, we'll see) maybe as nonbinary or a secret third thing though. gillion to me doesn't feel like a "man" man, his gender is "a guy" i don't know how to explain it hdgsbbs (maybe im just projecting idk o_o)

I love it when people hc him as trans tho, its very sweet!!!!!!! and i believe he does have the top surgery scars in the official art? so like, pop off king lets go???? (actually i just checked and no he doesn't, but im gonna think he does anyway)

im a little scared to re read this post and i think i'll delete it later probably, but uhhh yeah... again, just rambling and thinking out loud (not out loud but you get what i mean. writing all this down or drawing something really helps me to think and figure things out, so that's why)

[trudemaethien]

For the WIP Asks: oh who would ever wish to be mand’alor (in italics because it sounds like the title of a musical -- one that i'd buy front seat tickets for!)

A high compliment, thank you!

the title comes from Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, with one word replaced by mando’a, the way i have structured all the titles of my Mer AU so far (yes this is freaky fishy fic UwU)

Cody, spear of pure spun star-stuff in hand, dives to his death.

And that’s the opening line!

This moment, this line, is featured in another fic from another POV. He’s going to fight the Insidious Horror of the Deep aka The Abyss, with a spear, because, you know, Cody. I gave him Din Djarin’s beskar spear bc it’s cool and he deserves it.

Cody’s an orca, in a nation and lineage of predominantly sharks. He’s Jaster Mereel’s third son, after Boba and Neyo—but the mantle of mand’alor has passed to him because Shit Happened.

love interests: Obi-wan, an influential (my notes say sailfin one place and sperm whale another) mer with whom he’s arranged an alliance by marriage, but ALSO Fox, a land-man he’s drawn to.

(we see Fox again later, with a scarred love-bite from something large on his thigh, being a pirate on Seventeen’s tall ship)

the chips arc is happening, but it’s a reversal—Sidious controls all the undersea magic-users (Jedi) and has made them turn on the clones/mandalorians.

here’s a size ref (not an illustration from this fic) next to both Rex, who is a GWS and the next mand’alor, plus a human. the art is messy and i’ll probably not finish it (but see his cool 3-ray saddle marking? he also has white streaks in his long hair, not pictured)

[duke-of-meropide]

⛓️❄️ 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 ❄️⛓️

"Hmm? Oh the scar on my body? It's from a gash I got while battling a gigantic undersea monster that tried to take over the Fortress of Meropide. ...Hah, just kidding"

[ HEADCANONS ]

N/A at the moment!

[ RELATIONSHIPS ]

N/A at the moment!

[ WRITINGS ]

N/A at the moment!

[ TAKEN SIGNOFFS ]

N/A at the moment!

[ ALTERNATE UNIVERSES ]

⚙️ Bound together

An AU where Wriothesley died after getting married to Neuvillette, fighting off malfunctioning Mekas. A hundred years later he came alive once more… but with a twist, he was a wolf adeptus. Now trying to figure out the new world and get close to his lover once more.

[oriigami]

we’re running against the wind

[Part two of my One Piece Wing AU, this time focusing on the Strawhats and their histories. Read it on AO3 here!] [Part One]

“I can’t fly,” Kuina told him, one warm and dusky night, sitting on the porch step and staring down at the grass. Arms wrapped around bony knees, bruised and grass-stained. “Did you know that?” 

Zoro blinked, and sat down beside her, baffled for a moment. “What do you mean? Cause your wings haven’t grown out yet?” 

She sighed, heavy and tired, and stretched one wing out at her side. It was simple, plain black, small for her age. “You know what a rail is?” 

“A rail?” 

“It’s a kind of bird. The kind I am. They live on the ground,” Kuina said, staring down at the grass between her scuffed shoes. “They don’t fly. They’re no good for it. Their wings are too small. Even if they try, they can never get too far off the ground.” 

She shot him a sideways look, and halfheartedly tugged on one of his feathers. His wings were still growing, but already much larger than hers, big and brown, almost gold in the sunlight. Eagle wings. Wings meant to soar. 

“You’re lucky, Zoro,” she said, looking up at him with a terribly sad half-smile on her face that he never, ever wanted to see again. “Someday, you’re going to fly.” 

Zoro woke up with her voice still ringing in her head. 

Consciousness hit him with an unpleasant jolt, and he had half a second to process the dusty courtyard- not Shimotsuki dojo- before a half-dozen different varieties of discomfort hit him all at once. 

The hunger pains were practically screaming in the back of his mind, and he was parched from dehydration. He was half-numb from the ropes digging into his skin, cutting off blood circulation. He shifted, trying to prop himself up as best he could, and grit his teeth against the sharp, stabbing pain of blood starting to flow again.

As soon as he moved, his wings pulsed with pain, and he had to bite back a yell. They’d been lashed roughly to the pole at his back at an uncomfortable angle that had started as barely tolerable and progressed, over the course of the days, to maddening. The dusty ground all around him was scattered with fallen dusty gold feathers, both those that had been pulled loose by the ropes and those that had shed on their own as starvation had taken its toll. 

It was fine, though. What was a few feathers lost? It wasn’t like he was going to die here. It wasn’t like he could.

He had a promise to keep, after all. 

-

Arlong never clipped Nami’s wings. They were too useful for quick getaways. To him, they were just some of the features that made her such a valuable tool, such a clever, profitable little thief. So, no, he never damaged her wings.

But he loved to remind her that he could. 

If she disobeyed, if she tried to run away- well, fishmen were so strong, and wings were so fragile. She learned to bear the fear, though she always kept her wings folded close and tight to her back whenever she walked through Arlong Park. If there was one thing she could be grateful for, at least, it was that he never thought to threaten to hurt Nojiko’s wings instead. 

She could still hear the crunch of Bellemere’s wingbones when Arlong had stomped on them.

Fishmen didn’t have wings. It made sense- what sure would undersea creatures have for them? But she couldn’t help but suspect, every now and then, that Arlong was envious. He could rule their towns and beat them into the ground and proclaim himself and his brethren superior over humans in every way- but he would never, ever fly. That was something Nami would always hold over him.

Nami’s wings were simple at first glance- black, with splotches of bright white at the shoulders and tips- but under the sunlight, the black glittered, turning to dark iridescent bluish-green. They looked nothing like Bellemere’s wide, long-feathered osprey wings had. 

“Would you cut it out?” she snapped, one wing stretching out to swat Luffy’s curious hands away from the straw hat resting in her lap.

She’d known him for more than a day now, but she still couldn’t really make up her mind on her temporary captain. He was annoying, but good-hearted, but stupid, but honest- and she’d never seen wings like his either. They were bright red and featherless, looking more bat than bird. Overall, he was a frustrating enigma, for how open he was. 

Not that it mattered, really. She’d be parting ways with them soon enough. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked insistently, leaning around her shoulder to peer at the mostly-repaired hat cradled in her hands. The wide, ugly knife cuts Buggy had left in the golden straw were mostly hidden now, though you could still see the scars if you knew to look- the replacement straw she’d had to use in places was brighter and cleaner than the worn, aged material of the rest of the hat. 

She wondered idly just how old this stupid hat was. There were other repairs worked into the straw here and there, some more recent and some much older, hand-stitched with varying levels of neatness and expertise. 

“Nearly,” she said, not for the first time. “Be patient.” 

The sun caught on the mended straw, and all of a sudden she remembered a question she’d wanted to ask. “Hey, Luffy,” she said before his attention could drift. “What’s with this feather?” 

She’d noticed it when they’d first met, and wondered at it. It was tucked into the red ribbon that ran around the hat, and when she’d taken the hat to repair it and gotten a closer look, she’d noticed that it was carefully stitched into place. It was striped black and sapphire blue, with a tiny splash of white at the tip. 

“Oh!” Luffy said. “That’s Sabo’s!” 

Nami blinked. “Sabo?” she repeated. 

“My brother!” Luffy said. 

Zoro blinked one eye open from where he’d been napping on one of the little boat’s benches, lifting his head. “You’ve got a brother?” he asked. 

“There’s more of you?” Nami said at the same time. 

Luffy snickered. “I’ve got two big brothers!” he explained. “They both set out to sea before me, though. Sabo first, and then Ace second. Sabo had bluejay wings. Yours kinda remind me of them, Nami!”

Had, Nami thought, and thought of Nojiko- solid blue wings, tipped with black. Thought about the osprey feather tucked away in the very back of her dresser in Cocoyashi. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah!” Luffy said. “They’re really pretty! And glittery and blue, like the ocean!” 

“Oh,” Nami said. “...Thanks.”

...So maybe she liked her temporary captain, just a little. It wouldn’t change anything, in the end. 

-

Usopp lied about his wings. He kept them tucked close to his back, and whenever someone asked, he’d come up with a new species, something big and intimidating. Hawk, eagle, falcon- something flashy, impressive, worthy of a brave warrior of the sea. 

Of course, none of those were true. (Nothing he said ever was.) Everyone in the village knew it, too- they’d known him since he was a kid, after all. The truth he never wanted to admit was that his wings were unremarkable, just like him. Plain black, medium size, with a thick stripe of white running through the middle of each. He only ever opened them when he was with his friends, or with Kaya. 

The first time she’d seen his wings was when he threw his arms open too wide when telling a story, caught up in the fantasy inside his head, and unbalanced himself from his perch on the tree outside her window. They’d snapped open on instinct to break his fall and let him catch himself midair, and he’d flapped back up to her window to see her beaming. 

“Look,” she’d said, and stretched her own wings open- big beautiful crane wings, wide and white but with a thick band of black on the inside of each. Just the opposite of his. “We match!” 

Over time, Kaya’s sickness had taken its toll on her wings, just as on the rest of her. She was always shedding drifts of feathers, leaving her wings looking scrawny and patchy. They were beautiful nonetheless, though, wide and graceful, the surviving feathers bright white. 

“Someday,” he told her, “We’ll go flying, once you’re better and your feathers grow back. And I’ll show you the island where everything is made out of candy, and the trees talk to you!”

She laughed into her hands, wings curling around her. “Do they?” 

“They do!” Usopp confirmed, nodding emphatically. “And they sing, too. But only for kind-hearted girls with white wings. So if we went there, they’d sing for you for sure!” 

She smiled, big and warm and honest. “That sounds lovely, Usopp!” 

Usopp grinned back. 

A couple days later, the pirates came. 

And it was sudden and violent and terrifying, and Klahadore’s massive black vulture wings seemed to block out the sky, and Usopp was sure a dozen times over that he was going to die, but- 

But he didn’t.

By the time it was all over and it was time to set sail, Kaya’s wings were already looking healthier. 

-

“Kid,” the old man had said, the first day on the rock, voice gruff and thick from coughing up seawater. “You still alive?” 

Sanji didn’t say anything, pulling skinny knees to his chest and glaring over the top of them at the old man’s back. The old man had a long piece of driftwood balanced over his knees, and was methodically shredding his shirt into long strips. One of his wings was awkwardly bent in a way that made Sanji cringe to look at. The pain must have been terrible, but the old man’s voice didn’t even shake.

“C’mere. I need your help with something.”

Sanji didn’t move. “What?” he asked, and almost winced at the croak of his own voice. 

“Can’t reach my wing. Busted it against the rocks, and if I don’t set it now it won’t heal right.”

“So?” Sanji muttered sullenly. “What do I care?” 

“You stupid, brat?” the old man asked tiredly, and didn’t even give Sanji time to bristle before he continued, “Your wings ain’t big enough to reach land yet, but you’re little enough to carry. If my wing heals right, I can get us both off this rock. Hopefully before we starve to death.” 

“...How do I know you won’t leave me?” Sanji had asked suspiciously.

The old man looked at him askance over his shoulder, holding himself stiffly so as not to jar his injured wing. “Shit, kid, I might be a pirate, but I’m not a monster. You think I’d just ditch a little kid to die?” 

Sani blinked. Oh.

(It had made Judge so, so angry, that Sanji was the only one of his brothers with wings. It was an embarrassment, an infuriation, that the failure could fly unassisted when the perfect sons could not. It was why he’d been locked away, in a cell where he could never see the sky, where there was no hope at all of flight.)

He inched his way across the craggy stone to the old man, lips pressed tight. He took the stick of driftwood and makeshift bandages and quietly set to work, following the old man’s terse instructions. He wasn’t used to being on this end of it. Normally it was Reiju bandaging his injuries, setting his sprains and broken bones. 

(“You deserve to fly,” she’d said through desperate tears as she shoved him towards the ship, grey-and-violet wings pulled close to her back. “Go!”)

One he had the last clumsy knot tied, the old man gave him some of the food- so little- and they split to wait. For the old man’s broken bones to heal, or for a ship to come. Whichever came first.

And they’d waited, and waited, and waited. 

After the third week, Sanji had started to lose feathers. After the makeshift shelter he’d managed to scrounge together fell apart, his wings provided the only protection from the elements. He huddled behind their shade as the weeks crawled by, agonizingly slowly. 

Fallen black and white feathers littered the stone around him by the time desperation drove him to curl shaking fingers around a knife, and drag himself to the other side of the island, and discover the terrible truth. The knife clattered to the stone, and Sanji collapsed along with it.

It was twenty more days before the old man was well enough to fly. Sanji was half-unconscious with delirium by then, and all he knew of the flight was hunger, and wind, and endless, endless blue. The ocean below, and the cloudless sky above, and nothing at all between.

It never did quite leave his mind. 

“Have you ever heard,” he said, leaning against the railing and turning to look at the idiot in the straw hat, “of the All Blue?”

-

Chopper had never had wings. 

It was just another reason he knew he’d never fit in. No matter how human he could make himself look, he would never have wings, and that would always give him away.

He did know how to treat them, though. Of course he did. A great doctor needed to know those sorts of things. Doctorine had taught him- about wing breaks and sprains, the sort of injuries that could be crippling and the ones where the patient might fly again, her own grey parrot wings flaring dramatically whenever she made a point. 

At the moment, Doctorine was leaning over the unconscious bodies of their three newest patients- the blonde man with the back injury, the girl with the fever, and the black-haired boy. 

“Let’s see here,” she hummed. “Secretarybird, common magpie, and- hm.”

Chopper blinked up at her, intrigued by her sudden silence. Her expression was hard to read. “Doctorine? Is it about that boy’s wings? I saw they were different, and he hasn’t got feathers, is that normal for humans? Is he sick?”

“Not normal,” she agreed absently. “But not unprecedented, either.” She chuckled. “It’s been some time since I last met a D.”

“A… huh?” 

Doctorine waved it off. “Oh, nothing. Get him to a warm room and then prep Mr. Secretarybird there for surgery, will you? I need to find the antibiotics for Miss Magpie, she’s the most urgent of the three.”

“Ah- yes, Doctorine!” Chopper agreed, and bounced into action, and questions about feathers and wings and Ds were quickly forgotten. 

-

Franky didn’t have wings. 

He had had, at one point, though he’d never really cared much about them either way. After all, Tom-san hadn’t had wings, and neither had Kokoro. And it wasn’t like they were any use for shipbuilding, and he didn’t have many places to fly to, anyways. 

Iceberg had taught him how to fly, even though he’d always insisted he didn’t need Iceberg to teach him anything. But it had been useful for getting up to high places that needed construction, or making a quick getaway after breaking something, and- yeah, okay, he could admit it. It was fun. Flying had been fun. 

And then there had been the sea train. And wings were so very fragile. 

By the time he hauled himself aboard the scrap ship with broken hands, he already knew he wouldn’t fly ever again. His wings were wrecked beyond any dream of repair, skin shredded and bones shattered into fragments. Even if he had the ability to create prosthetics lightweight and detailed enough to replace them- which, not to sell himself short, he probably could, given time and materials that he didn’t have- he never would have been able to attach them to the nerves properly, not at that angle. 

No, better just to amputate, and cauterize, and focus on the things he did need: his hands, his eyes, his organs.

And he’d gone on, and it had been fine, and most of the time he barely missed flying at all. 

“Look,” he said, as the Agua Laguna raged outside and the dumb pirate kid refused to listen to reason. “Listen to me, bro. I’m serious. You listening?” 

The kid didn’t answer, but he did pause in hammering away at his dead ship for a moment, which Franky decided to take as a yes. 

“Your ship’s crippled,” Franky said bluntly. “She can’t sail anymore. It’s like- okay, you saw my wings are gone, right?” 

“...Yeah.” 

“Taking that ship to sea,” Franky said, “would be like pushing me off a cliff. There was a time I could’ve survived that just fine, but now it’d smash me to pieces. Your ship’s lost her wings. And no matter what, you can’t fix that.”

The kid stared at him, biting his lip so hard it looked like it might bleed, something cracking in his eyes, black and white wings curling protectively around his shoulders. Franky felt for him, he really did- he knew better than most what it felt like to fight something you couldn’t possibly win to try and save something you loved- but truth was truth, even when it hurt. 

He was just starting to hope he might have finally gotten through when the door crashed open and suddenly, they all had bigger problems to worry about. 

-

Robin’s wings were nondescript. It was useful, in its way, when it came to living in hiding. From the slanderous stories told about her and the people of Ohara, people expected crow, raven, rook- something dark and threatening. Or even featherless demon wings, much like those of her new captain. 

Instead, her wings were simple, uniform dark grey with tawny orange-brown patches spreading from the shoulders. Robin wings. 

Her mother’s had looked much the same, she remembered. It was one of the only details that had stuck in her head about Nico Olvia, as the long years had worn away at the few memories of her mother she had. Most of her mother’s face was a blur, now, but she still remembered a few things: white hair, sad eyes, wings of a mourning dove.

As Spandam dragged her down the Bridge of Hesitation, hands and powers bound, she flapped her wings frantically as hard as she could, even as the chains around her shoulders to weigh her down and stop her flying broke feathers and gouged at skin with every movement. She didn’t even need lift, just to push herself backwards a meter, a foot, an inch- 

If she could buy even a minute, even a second-

Spandam spat an ugly word at her as he was jerked backwards, stumbling for a moment and nearly face-planting onto the bridge before he managed to find his balance. He snarled, grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her to the ground, driving the air from her lungs with a painful gasp. 

He stomped down hard between her shoulder blades, pinning her down. 

“You know,” he said, sounding almost gleeful, “the Tenryuubito cut off the wings of their slaves. To be sure they’ll never escape. Maybe I’ll recommend that, as part of your judgement. Or…” 

He moved his shoe from the center of her back to press lightly down on one of the delicate wing-joints in her right wing, and her breath caught. 

“Or maybe I’ll just do it myself,” he said. “What do you think, Nico Robin?”

Nico Olvia, with white hair and sad eyes and mourning-dove wings that had been bloodied, perforated by rifle-shots, ruined to stop her from flying away-

They’d aimed for the wings, first. They’d wanted to be sure that not a single scholar could escape. Not one was left uncrippled by the time the marines evacuated the burning wreck of Ohara. 

(Except Robin.)

“It’s not like you’ll be flying ever again, where you’re going,” Spandam continued, starting to press down, and Robin closed her eyes and grit her teeth against the pain and the rising plea for mercy alike. She refused to beg. Her mother had fought to the end, and so would she. 

Then there was a blaze of light, and a crash, and a fireball caught Spandam perfectly in the head, and Robin was saved. 

(Though, perhaps, if she was honest with herself, she’d been saved a very long time ago.)

-

When Brook had been alive, his wings had been soft, plain uniform brown. 

Nightingale, Yorki had laughed, one late night when they were sorting through a wing glossary one of the crewmen had picked up on the latest island, trying to place everyone’s wings. Oi, Brook, no wonder you’ve got the best singing voice on the ship.

Brook had warbled out a few notes in response, as horrifically flat and off-pitch as he could physically manage, and Yorki had nearly cracked a rib laughing. 

But wings rotted away just like all other flesh, and by the time Brook crawled his way back to the world of the living, they were nothing but bones and a drift of soft brown feathers, shed on the rotting planks. He tucked a few of the feathers away in an inside pocket of his coat, just in case they helped Laboon to recognize him, someday. 

Catching the remnants of his wings in the corners of his eyes (ah, but he didn’t have those anymore-), grasping and skeletal, always caught him off guard, almost worse than catching sight of his reflection. The bare, bright white stood in such contrast to the soft brown he was so used to seeing that he thought he would never truly get used to it. He couldn’t imagine anyone else would, either. 

And then- 

“Your wings are awesome, Brook!” Luffy said, bright and enthusiastic and entirely sincere, sprawled on his back on the piano. His wings were splayed out beneath him- featherless and red, entirely unlike any Brook had never seen before. “They’re so cool!”

For a moment, Brook couldn’t find words. (How unsuiting, for a songsmith.) And then he said, “Why, thank you, Luffy-san. I should tell you, though… I’m afraid they’re not good for much. I can no longer fly.”

Luffy blinked, and then said, “So? I can’t, neither.” 

“...You can’t?”

Luffy snickered, grinning. “Nah! My wings only sorta work. Something ‘bout my devil fruit and my bones or something. I don’t really get it. But it doesn’t matter! I mean, I can just rocket to places. And you too, right? You can run on water! That’s so cool!”

Brook looked at Luffy’s beaming grin for a long moment, and couldn’t stop the urge to smile back, even though he had no lips with which to do so. 

And then he said, “May I join your crew?” 

Luffy laughed like the best song Brook had ever heard. “Sure!”

[courtofjurdan]

One Chance part 2

Jurdan College Au - masterlist

*I hope you guys enjoy this. I am not the best but I tried. Feel free to tell me what you would like to see and any advice or tips. Thanks, enjoy!!*

Summary: Jude is just an average college girl at Elfhame University with her twin sister Taryn. She is trying to learn the ways of life with tons of school piled upon her, but when she sees a certain person that she met some time ago, her world gets shook in too many ways. 

Jude is beyond livid for the fifteen minute homeroom class which they have to go for attendance. The bomb tries to talk to her, but Jude just ignores her, well, really she is deep in thought of how she can kill Cardan. So when the professor Noggle says dismissed, Jude jumps up from her seat but before she can leave a strong hand grips her shoulder and turns her around. By God if this is Cardan I’m going to smack him. 

She turns around, sees his pretty face and smacks it hard. She could hear the remaining classmates in the room take a deep breath of air. She surprised herself with how hard she could hit when she becomes angry. Cardan put a wicked smile on his face as he said,”Jude, Jude, Jude, my sweet Jude, did you miss me?” This was obviously said in his sarcastic tone of voice.  

Jude rolled her eyes,”Yeah, you wish.” She walked out of the class room and went to her other class which thank God, was without Cardan. The roach tapped Jude on the shoulder once she sat down and asked,”Is everything ok?”

“Why is he here? I can’t do college with him here. Heck, I barely survived high school with him.” The anger in her voice disappearing, replaced with a little bit of worry.

“Remember Jude, we are always here for you” he said while placing a hand on her shoulder and looking at Bomb and Ghost. Jude just nodded. Next Jude had a break from classes and she sat outside the university until her friends were done with their class so they could go get lunch together. And so coincidentally, Cardan had a break too. They didn’t have the same classes but they had the same break time, wonderful. He finds Jude on her phone, sitting on a bench. Jude quickly looks up, sees who it is and says,”Nope, nope, I am not sitting here wasting my time talking to you.” She begins to get up to walk away. 

Cardan puts his hand over his heart and scrunches up his face acting like the words sting. “Jude, how many times do I have to apologize? I went too far, I get it. You can stop avoiding me now.”

She turns around, face red with anger,” No Cardan, I can’t stop avoiding you. What you did was unforgivable. Do you know what people told me for the rest of the year? That I was worth just as much as the dirt on the bottom of their shoes. And you know what? I started to believe it.” She was basically shouting at this point. She didn’t mean to let that last bit fall out of her mouth. She didn’t want to seem vulnerable in front of Cardan.

“Jude-” but it was too late. Jude had already walked away before he could say anything else. Well, it wasn’t like he knew what to say either. 

She went and sat at the other end of the parking lot hoping no one would see her. She just wanted to scrunch in a corner and never come out again. She wanted to go back to before her parents died. She wanted to go back to when life was good, and fun. As she sat here with her thoughts bundled inside her head, she sees Taryn and Locke walk out the door. Please don’t see me. Please don’t. Too bad. Taryn saw her. Taryn with a happy face, and Locke with an amused face, comes up to her. Taryn quickly lost her happy expression and replaced it with a worried one when she could physically see the anxiousness of Jude. 

“Jude, what's wrong?” Taryn asked, worried.

Jude rubbed her face and started to get up. “Nothing you can fix.” She hated how resentful the words came out. 

Because Locke always has to make his presence known he spoke up,”Man, I wonder if this has anything to do with Cardan.” Spoken sarcastically. 

Jude, through gritted teeth,”I wonder if it does, Locke, it would be nice if you would let me know.” Jude walked away knowing that any moment her friends would come rescue her from the trap of everyone else. 

   Not much longer later, Jude meets her friends and they get into the bomb's car, and goes to a little diner called Underseas diner. Everybody talked at the table except Jude. Ghost knew something was up so he asked her, “Hey Jude, did anything happen while we were gone?”

“No, nothing worth telling.” 

“Jude, we are your friends. You can tell us anything.”

“I am just thinking.” 

The Bomb pipes in,”Sure, It’s ok boys, i’ll get it out of her later.” Bomb then continues to wink at Ghost and Roach. They laugh as Jude rolls her eyes and smiles.

They all ate together and celebrated their first day of college. Unfortunately, Jude had one more class she had to attend. It was her least favorite, it was literature. She hated anything with paper and reading but oh well, there’s college for ya. 

She was running a little behind so when she got to class, there was only one seat left. It was by the one person she was trying to avoid. It felt like the universe was trying to pull them together and she didn’t understand why. She groaned inwardly and went and sat down. She sat as close to the side of her chair away from Cardan as she possibly could. 

She was thankful though because this time he didn’t try to talk to her. She would just periodically see him look over. He also kept on hitting his pen on the desk, Jude guessed it was out of boredom or it was a nervous tick. Do I make him nervous? Jude thought. 

When they dismissed the class, she was out of there before the professor could even finish the sentence. She raced back to her dorm. Her dorm felt almost like a security blanket. A safe place to hide. 

She changed into some comfortable clothes, and sat down on her bed. She ate some mac and cheese and watched some netflix. Then she heard her phone buzz. It was Vivi. 

She said flatly “Hello.”

“Umm, Hi I wanted to see how your first day was?” Vivi said hesitantly.

“Oh Vivi, it was great.” 

“What’s wrong? Did something embarrassing happen? Don’t tell me you started your period and it got all over her bottoms in front of everyone?”

“Uhh no, Vivi, that didn’t happen. Cardan decided he needed to join college. I walk in homeroom, and there he sits, in all his glory.”

“Ohhhh Nooooo” 

“Yep, I smacked him in the face in front of a bunch of people.” 

“Oh wow, Jude.” Vivi paused. “I swear, one day you're going to end up with him. Your biggest enemy is going to become your best friend.” 

Jude was quiet for a moment and then said,” I got to go Vivi, someone is calling in.”

She heard Vivi say, “sure” right before she hung up. 

There is no possible way Jude could ever think about Cardan being the one for her. Just thinking of all the stuff he did. The bullying scarred her. She at least hopes Vivi was just joking because if she wasn’t, and she is being literal, then she might be right because when is Vivi ever wrong? 

Day two of school and Jude was not prepared for it. She gets up and ready, she forgets breakfast because, well, is that really important? When she walks in the grand wooden doors people are giving her weird sneers and smirks. She thought maybe something weird had happened before she got there. But, all that changed once she knew what her locker had on it. It is senior year of highschool all over again, she thought. 

Someone had taken a video of her slapping Cardan, everyone probably knew that reunion was worth looking at. They took screenshots of the video at different points of view. She didn’t even realize her peers had their phones out because she was so angry at Cardan. They had put notes on her locker saying “Maybe kissing Cardan would make him want you. Try that next time.” She was mad. She looked around and saw that a crowd was enclosing her, and people were laughing. But she wasn’t going to give them the last laugh. 

She looked around looking for one particular face. And boom, right there leaning against the other lockers, with the biggest smile he could muster was Cardan. She pulled him to the middle and said very loudly, “Ok, ok, if this is what you guys are dying to see then i’ll make it happen.” She grabbed Cardans chin, and brought his lips to her mouth. Cardan’s back hit the lockers with a thud. It was a hard and deep kiss. Like almost something they both needed, but would never admit. Jude broke it off abruptly, surprised. Not surprised that Cardan didn’t back away, or make some witty remark, but because she was feeling something that she couldn’t place.

She quickly turned to her silenced audience, and said with a big mask of a smile on her lips,”Happy?” and she walked right back out of those big grand doors. On her way out, she passed Bomb with her mouth hung open, the Ghost and Roach had wide eyes plastered on to their faces, and Taryn with a frown and Locke with a smirk of enjoyment. Jude was walking back to her dorm and the one thing she thought about was that it was only the second day and she would already miss a class. And, maybe how sweet that kiss was but she quickly shook her head to get that thought out immediately. 

Jude went back to her dorm, and bawled. She was humiliated, again. She couldn't believe she didn’t see the trap coming. She kept on wondering, Was this Cardan’s doing? Did he have this ultimate plan? Little did she know, she would soon find out. She did the only thing she knew to do. She called Vivi. 

“Hello” Vivi greeted.

“Vivi, it is senior year all over again.”

“Woah, Jude, what’s wrong?” 

Jude told her the rundown of what had happened. 

“Jude, walk your butt back into your next class and show them who’s boss. Don’t show them that their words hurt you because that will only want to make them hurt you more,”

Through the sniffles,” Ok I will. Love you, bye.”

Vivi always knew the right words to say. She was, if not more, just as strong headed as Jude was. Vivi became the closest thing to a role model Jude would ever have. 

Before she knew it, it was 1:30. Her next class started at 2. She debated on going because Cardan was in it, but then she thought that she is not letting everybody win, she will walk in there with confidence she didn’t know she had. 

She walked in the classroom and everybody looked at her. By now, everybody knew because rumors spread like lightning. She looked in the back and found a wide pair of black eyes looking at her gaze. She sat down with a friend she met yesterday in this class. Her name is Sophie. Sophie gave her a small smile, and Jude gave the same back. 

Class was over rather quickly, and Jude decided to be the last one out this time. She let everyone go, keeping her head low. She went to get up to leave once the room was cleared out, but realized quickly that one other person lingered behind. In the silent room, you could hear Jude’s stomach growl so Cardan said hesitantly,”Jude, would you like to get something to eat with me?”

     Jude retorted back defiantly while she got her bag,”Isn’t there like five hundred other girls here you rather ask?” 

“No, there isn’t.” He said quite confidently which drew Jude back a little bit, but still, she did the Jude thing -

Jude just rolled her eyes and started walking away.

“Jude -wait, I’ll buy it. Just come. Please.” 

She stopped dead in her tracks. She heard a “please” come out of Cardan Greenbriars millionaire mouth. She turned around slowly, saying, “Ok, only because I’m not paying, and I’m really hungry.” He nods his head and puts a small grin on his face that made Jude almost pity him until she remembers that she doesn’t know his motive. 

[cosmiquealiene]

There are a bazillion other things I should be working on...but nope. I decided to draw a design for Marine Scientist Shadow Weaver, from the Sea Science AU (where Hordak is a merman and Entrapta is a research scientist). She has an interest in studying rare sea creatures and performing (unethical) experiments on them. Her scars come from an undersea close encounter with a Leviathan. The creature broke her mask and her then-trainee Micah had to rescue her!

[what-even-is-thiss]

Off of Land, Out of Water, Part 2, Help

It’s part 2 of the mer au. Let me know if I need to add warnings. 2,721 words

Abstract: Logan and Virgil relearning some things.

Part 1 Next

2. Help.

Virgil held onto Logan’s arm for a while at Logan’s insistence.

“You didn’t sleep, you shouldn’t be swimming much.” he had said.

For once Virgil didn’t protest.

They got to the school, a low building in more shallow waters where people went to memorize the history of merfolk. Undersea people had no written language so a select few with good memories were chosen as young children to learn trade secrets, history, how the systems of government worked, and yes, any interaction they had ever had with humans. Logan was appointed as a a history scholar but always felt he would be better at memorizing things found in science and math and magic. The masters had insisted, however, for whatever reason, that he learn history. So that is what he did. The names and places of all merfolk from the central Atlantic region, their ancestors’ place of origin, their previous migration patterns, the major things that happened in their politics and history were all in his head. Soon, if he passed this test, he would work as an archivist. Keep relics safe, answer merpeople’s questions about their family history when they came to the school. When he’s older he’ll take on an apprentice and teach them everything he knows. Literally. All that was ahead of him though. For now in this moment he had to start reciting.

And his chest was feeling weird.

“Virgil, I don’t like to use this word more often than I have to, but my chest feels weird.” Logan said casually as they waited outside the stone exam room where people had carved many pictures in the stone walls of teachers being eaten by sharks or stabbed with spears.

“Your chest feels…. weird?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. Strange. Odd. Queer.” He also made a low humming in his throat in mer language to further solidify his point that whatever he was feeling definately wasn’t ordinary.

“Like are you anxious?” Virgil asked, a horrible note of hope in his voice.

“Hardly.” Logan said. “I know everything I should. But my lungs, my inner gills, I…”

Virgil suddenly grabbed Logan’s arm and started pulling him away.

“Virgil! The test!” Logan exclaimed.

“No time for tests! Your stomach is going to start hurting soon! I knew it was you. I just knew it. Oh God, why did it have to be you?” Virgil said.

Logan swore very loudly with a whistle and a click as his stomach started hurting just as Virgil had predicted. His head went light. People made extremely disapproving noises as Virgil pushed them out of the way. They knocked a decorative rope made for graduation season and New Years off of a building. Virgil was moving upwards at a dangerous pace, somehow not bothered by the change in pressure, his black and grey scales and pale skin both began to reflect real sunlight rather than the bottled kind.

“Virgil take me to a healer!” Logan called, trying to fight his way out of Virgil’s grasp.

But it was no use. Even on Logan’s best day and Virgil’s worst Virgil was still stronger, bigger, and had a much tighter will than him. His fear made him unstoppable. Logan could vaguely hear shouts and other confused noises behind him as his skin began to feel gross. Just really, really gross. The shimmering light of the surface became visible. Everything was expanding too quickly. Somehow Virgil didn’t slow down. His desperate grip on Logan’s arm began to draw blood. Logan’s stomach reached critical levels of pain. Oxygen bubbles began forming in his lungs.

“Surface… too… fast…” Logan managed. His vision went blurry.

He blacked out.

……….

“Keep walking, Virgil.” dad said. “The car’s that way.”

“Dad… it…” Virgil started.

He fell to his knees.

“Verge!” his mom yelled.

Through his blurry vision Virgil thought he could see her straight curtain of bleach blonde hair. The boardwalk was hard and yet somehow soft under his knees. 

“Mom, what’s wrong with him?” Virgil heard his brother say.

“Be quiet, Roman. We need to think. I told you we shouldn’t bring him to the ocean until he’s grown. I told you!”

“I told him to not touch the water, Jen!” 

“What…” Virgil tried. “My stomach… Mom?”

He fell fully onto his side. His lungs were starting to burn.

“It wants him now, John! There’s no one around! That witch made sure of it! Do it!”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen yet! He’s only thirteen!”

“Look at him! The ocean doesn’t care! Do it!”

The air suddenly felt very dry despite the sea spray around him. For some reason Virgil knew this had to do with when he had stood in the waves despite his parents’ warnings. Though why suddenly being sick would be related to that he didn’t know. He felt his heart increase to a dangerous pace as some arms belonging to he didn’t know who began pulling his clothes off of him.

Virgil cried. But he couldn’t cry. Some hands, he didn’t know whose, threw him into the air. He felt water engulf his naked body. He couldn’t move his legs apart. He gasped in a mouthful of salt.

He blacked out.

……….

Logan opened his eyes and tried looking around. Everything was heavy except for his lungs which were horribly light. It was almost as if they didn’t exist. His body hurt. The surface under him was hard. All he could see was blurry grey shapes.

“Vir-gil?” he asked. He tried to whistle out his friend’s mer name but found that he couldn’t. His mouth felt strange. His hair felt strange. His skin felt strange. His tail felt… His…

“H… huh?” he asked nobody in particular.

A hand on his back helped him sit up.

“They’re called legs.” said a familiar deep and ominous voice.

“My teeth are…” 

“Not pointy. Take it slow. It’s hard to adjust.”

Logan ran his tongue along his teeth. Most of them were flat. They had become… what’s the word? Omnivorous? Flat? Annoyingly small?

“I’m going to put something on your face now.” Virgil said. “I borrowed them from my younger brother. They’re his old prescription. It’ll be better than nothing.”

Virgil carefully put some kind of glass and wire thing on Logan’s face over his eyes and Logan stopped seeing a blur and finally saw his friend’s face. His black hair wasn’t floating around, nor was it plastered to his head with water. It was dry. Before now Logan hadn’t even known what that word truly meant. He ran his fingers into his own hair. Dry. He looked at Virgil. Down his body. He was…

“You are…”

“Human. Yeah. Try looking down.”

Logan looked down.

“Okay clearly that isn’t natural.”

His friend laughed. “You said you know how full mammals reproduce.” Virgil said. He lifted up his shirt and pointed to the large inverted scar on his stomach. The one Logan had asked about every time he’d seen him for the past ten years. “That’s how I got this scar. From being born. We call it a belly button. Or, a navel I guess.”

Virgil jumped up and went to what Logan recognized from drifting junk he had seen in the ocean to be an ice chest. He looked around and saw that they were under a cliff face, or he assumed it was a cliff face from carvings he’d seen. He also slowly realized that he was physically human now and that according to what he’d heard about human customs....

“You need help putting these on?” Virgil asked, pulling some clothes out of the ice chest.

“Most likely. I’ve never had to… um…”

“You’ll get used to it. Don’t try to understand anything yet. Trust me. It isn’t worth it.”

Virgil gently helped his friend into a pair of boxers and some jeans. He brought out a polo shirt.

“You’re about my younger brother’s size so I brought some of his clothes. Hope you like polo shirts. That’s basically all he wears. Well, except for things with cats on them.”

Virgil instructed Logan on how to put a shirt on, helping him put his arms through the holes.

“Now, before I see if you can walk, word to the wise, don’t take your shirt off in front of people. Almost every human that has ever lived has a belly button, and you don’t.”

“Why?” Logan asked. “What is any of this? What is happening? What are you?”

“Okay, L. Clearly you were lying when you said that you know how mammals reproduce. I’ll have the talk with you later. I’ll have a lot of talks with you later. For right now, I’m gonna help you stand.”

……….

“That’s it. Put your entire body into it.” she encouraged.

Virgil clicked out her name angrily and huffed, but he moved his tail nonetheless.

“That’s good. You’re getting better at pronouncing my name!” she whistled.

“I’ve been thinking about a human name for you. I decided. I’m gonna call you Val in human.” Virgil said.

“If that makes you feel better. I don’t need a human name though.” Val said.

“Am I done yet?” he asked.

“Do you think you can swim next to me?” she asked.

“Ugh, fine.” Virgil spat. “You’re too happy.”

“So you keep telling me, guppy.”

“I’m already an adolescent!” Virgil hissed, showing his teeth.

Sometimes instincts really did override what he’d learned as a human. Even though he was, for all intents and purposes, physically a merman now, he did age a bit faster than other merpeople. A merman his age would normally be figuring out social rules and not have any hormones to speak of. The equivalent of a human nine year old. Virgil, on the other hand, was now supposed to be learning how to be an adult, which he couldn’t do when he didn’t know how to move around or speak in full sentences. He was supposed to be wrestling his younger brother and defending him from their mom, going to his older brother’s music recitals and hating it, learning how to cook from his parents, crying over final exams, worrying about which high school he was going to. Watching Gators football games and cursing as he stabbed himself in the eye with a mascara brush for the first time. 

But instead it was like he was a toddler all over again.

Val and Verge swam slowly together in silence to the edge of the reefs where her house was, dangerously close to human civilization. Virgil was exhausted.

“Why am I even here? Why can’t I just stay human?” he asked as she held him tight when he was ready to sleep.

“It’s because of what came before us, guppy.” Val said, running her fingers through his hair. “It’s just something you got caught up in. I’ll tell you soon.”

……….

“I am so heavy.” Logan said, rubbing his injured knee.

He had knees now. He… no, don’t process that. Save it for later.

“Everyone’s heavy. It’s just more obvious on land.” Virgil said, holding his hand out again. 

Logan took a deep breath of briny sea air and pulled on his friend’s hand. He managed to stand with some help.

“We can carry you to the car if you can’t make it.” Virgil said.

“No. Cars sound horrifying and I’d rather know that I’m able to get away from it. And your brothers. They don’t sound agreeable. Let me go.” Logan said.

“Alright, but I hope you know that almost nobody learns to walk in one day.” Virgil said.

“I’m not a child!” Logan exclaimed.

“Yeah that’s what I said too.” Virgil said as he let go.

Logan looked down at his feet now trapped in things called “tennis shoes” and took a breath.

“Just focus on not falling down.” Virgil said.

“You’ve already said that. And I have a good memory. I…”

“Yeah, I know L. Just look up. Look at me. Step forward. Just one step for now.”

Logan looked up. Virgil was a lot bigger than him even as a human. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. He wanted to take a step towards Virgil to point at him and tell him that this wasn’t fair. He tried to do that but took two steps and fell into Virgil’s arms instead.

“Further than you got last time.” Virgil said.

“You’re never this patient.” Logan grumbled into Virgil’s chest.

“I have a long term memory, you know. Swimming isn’t easy to learn as an adult. Or a teenager.” Virgil said. “Come on, we’ve got another hour before they get here. Maybe I can see you fall face first into the rocks a few more times.”

Logan tried standing up again.

“Virgil, how long were you… before we met?”

“A hundred days.” Virgil said. “Just living with Val, learning how to exist again. It was another year after that I got to visit my family again.”

Logan took a step forward.

“I can’t wait a hundred days. Much less a year.”

He took another step forward. Then another. Then he fell over again. Virgil caught him before he hit the ground.

“Well at least you’re giving me a good arm workout today.” Virgil grunted, lifting his friend up again. “God, Patton is rubbing off on me. I just looked on the bright side of something.”

“I don’t know who that is, but he’s clearly corrupting you.” Logan paused. “That was a joke.”

“I know, dude. You don’t have to tell me every time. He’s my younger brother.”

He sat Logan down on the rocks.

“Well I suppose I know where you go when you leave without any warning now.” Logan said, rubbing his face underneath the glasses. He clicked his tongue in a small curse. Some equivalent to “Crud” or “Shoot.” in mer speak.

“Yup.” Virgil said. “Florida. Lucky you.”

“That sounded suspiciously like sarcasm.” Logan said as he rubbed his suffering knees.

“It was.”

……….

Virgil focused on breathing slowly. He swam up cautiously.

“You’re shaking, buddy. Come on, you’ve been growing. They’re gonna want to see that.” Val said.

“I can’t.” Virgil said, stopping suddenly. “I can’t.”

He turned around. Val grabbed him by the arm.

“Hey, you survived the first day of school and talked to the elders. You can do anything.” She said.

She gently ran one of her hands along his neck and to the base of his spine, a gesture he recently learned was used to soothe people when they were nervous, especially between parents and children. He nervously flicked his tail at that realization. How did Val see him, really?

“They’re your family. They want to see you.” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve become. And next year? You’ll get to visit them properly. Go on.”

She gestured upwards. Virgil swallowed.

“Alright, but I won’t like it.”

“Sure you won’t.”

He swam cautiously upward on his own. It had been so long since that day at the boardwalk where everyone had suddenly disappeared and his stomach had started hurting. The day he had been thrown in to appease the ocean and hadn’t seen his family since. How much did they know? How could they forgive him for not listening? How could he forgive them for not telling him why he couldn’t touch the water? Could he explain everything to them? How he looked like a freak even down there? How badly he wanted to come home? How badly he wanted to stay?

He caught sight of the correct pile of rocks and aimed for it. Two almost familiar figures were peering into the water. He broke the surface.

“Virgil, baby!” his brothers were pushed aside and almost fell into the water as his mom knelt and hugged him around the neck.

Virgil blew the water out of his lungs and smiled with all his teeth despite how embarrassed he was at the size of them. He saw his dad standing behind them and when it was his turn he hugged even harder. If merpeople could cry Virgil knew he would be doing it.

“Hi dad.” he whispered into his father’s shoulder. “Hi.”

Patton and Roman both smiled at him from behind their parents’ tearful babbling. Roman gave a wave. The same one he did whenever a piano recital was over. Virgil sighed. It was alright.

[darby-drabbles]

Vamp AU updates from Darla’s visit so I remember all the good stuff but also I’m too excited not to share but doubt I’ll cram it all into the next drawing’s description:

Evelyn, Octavius, Ricky & Tatiana are all vampires in the AU now, while Avery and Nicki are now part of the AU as humans! Ricky n Tatiana belong to @duck-n-clover​!

Evelyn owns a goth nightclub/bar, with a secret (“secret”?) vampire underground scene, Ricky and Tatiana work there as well. Besides having to do a lot of important owner and manager tasks, she prefers to bartend more than anything. The club is occupied with 3 tiers, I guess. Humans who just like the vibe (they r valid), humans aware of the vampire community (usually wearing a subtle but unique accessory indicating if they're dtf/dtb(e bitten)) and of course the vampires themselves! Often marked with a blacklight stamp granting them into a vamp exclusive or vamp feeding zone! They may bring a human or unstamped guest into The Zone if they'd like, provided they know what they’re getting into. There’s another small room off of that featuring snacks, healthy drinks, and comfortable lounge furniture if any companions start to feel weak from the blood loss. The bar has a signature bright red cherry drink, to easily write off any possible stains or spills that could happen, though it’s usually dark enough in there and the crowd majority probably tends to wear black clothes.

Our vamps can transform into bats and also have an unrelated animal form they can transform into, though Evelyn just prefers to be a bat. She never really settled into one that feels right so jumps around, usually between common animals that won’t seem out of place. Dogs, cats and birds mostly. I don’t know when exactly she was turned but she stays very up to date on modern times, although she still sleeps in an old fashioned coffin when it’s not necessary. Is it just aesthetics? Or a reminder of when she was first made! A bit of both, most likely. Can’t stand sunlight for long, and isn’t really apart of a coven. She spends enough time around so many other vampires that it isn’t really a desire for her, though it’s true that she loves her friends and staff quite dearly.

Ricky is the entertainment/hostess buzzing around the club to make sure everyone is having a good time. However, she’s also a little goblin who may take a shiny piece of jewelry here n there, so, watch out. ;) Her animal form would be a squirrel. Can tolerate and indulges in human foods more than the average vamp. Tatiana is the security, and her animal form is a deer.

Evelyn meeting the whole crew because of the club isn’t really a surprise.. but I was trying to think what would make them so special to befriend out of all the other vamp covens she’d meet! I think what will end up happening is a little on the sad side but it’ll be fine.. Andre used to be in a no good spooky coven who Kinda left him for dead, then Levi Izzy & Lucky take him in and care for him, helping him get better slowly but surely. One night someone from his old coven comes back to the area, recognizes Andre at the bar as one of them and demands he come back. (Andre’s “branded” with a particular recognizable scar.)

Andre’s obviously upset and doesn’t want to, which makes the other guy mad. This of course draws attention, and it’s really not the ideal situation in the first place, but especially with some regular humans around. So while Tatiana does her job and tries to stop a fight and escort the bad coven out Evelyn also steps in to try and get the upset Andre to calm down, too. She takes him to a backroom until someone can come to take him home and they end up talking a lot while Andre vents about what happened. Evelyn blacklists a few vamps, and stays in touch with Andre n gives him special treatment next time he’s at the bar ‘cause boy has he been through a lot in this one. They are... buddies now.

Octavius was made some time vaguely between Andre and Nate/Kriss, but again, not 100% decided there. Was probably part of the navy at some point. Works at an aquarium now, just like in the regular universe. Can be out in the sun for stretches of time, long enough to get to work and retreat into the darker undersea exhibits for most of his shift without getting too drained of energy. Tries to keep up with the latest technology but looses himself for a bit and is always a little behind with things. Met Andre at the club and shares a bite to eat (*winks*) with him. (They were both thirsting after the same guy and his blood, is what I mean.) Andre’s a bit territorial? but eventually softens enough to get familiar with Tavey, bringing him back to the Vamp House to meet and befriend the rest of the mix n match. His favorite animals are of course octopuses... but you can’t always swing that transformation, so he defaults to a mastiff dog sometimes!

Avery is Andre’s human familiar, helpin him with daytime tasks n things. Kinda helps the whole mix n match if they needed anything but most of them can tolerate the sun for at least a little bit of time. Avery is just fine not becoming a vampire, seems like a messy life. Just picked it up as an odd job at some point! They definitely met the gang after Nathan and Kriss get turned, and maybe even close to when Nico was born!

Haven’t thought of Nicki’s role too much but she’s gfs with Evelyn still and might work at the bar as well. Definitely knows they’re all vampires, don’t worry!

[queencatherynerhys]

Tell Me You Love Me - TRR AU Part 3

A/N: I tried so hard to wait to post this, but I couldn’t. I love this chapter! I have been in a writing high these past couple of days! Let me just say how fun this was for me to write! It is the longest one that I have written so far, 4043 words! Crazy! I had fun with this emotional ride! I hope you do too! Thank you for all the love, encouragement and kind words!

Summary: Liam and Catheryne’s friendship have been strained by her revelation. Is there hope for them?

Song Inspiration: Tell Me You Love Me by Demi Lovato (can you tell that I’m a fan of her?)

Tag List: @captainkingliam @decisso @devineinterventions2 @madaraismtheroyalweisme @drakewalkerwhipped @laniquelove @drakesfiance @hhiggs @hellospunkiebrewster @alicars @mrswalkerreynolds @mfackenthal @simplyaiden-blog @hopefulmoonobject @blackcatkita @cocomaxley

Previous Parts:

Ruin the Friendship – TRR AU Part 1

Delicate – TRR AU Part 2

Panic starts to rise in my chest. Why the hell am I on boat? Where in the hell am I? I can’t breathe. Strong winds hurtle my hair, slapping me in the face. Water enters the ship and the terror from my impending doom engulfs me. Waves upon waves crash against my craft. I hang on for dear life against the railing, but to no avail.  I am thrown off violently crashing into the merciless ocean. I swim to the top for air only to be met by another violent wave submerging me underwater. I rise to the surface once more, locating my raft in the darkness. I catch a glimpse of the sail and I put all my energy into my strokes. The current is so strong. I’m almost there. The boat is within arm’s length. I’m almost there. I was about to grab hold when the current sweeps me underneath pulling me into its ruthless clutches. No, please, no. I scream with all the energy and breath I had left. I scream my pain and anguish. I am swept undersea, letting go of the tiny ember of hope I had held onto, I submit into my despair with open arms.

She jolts awake, breathing hard. Her head pounded, and she can feel the intense throbbing pain behind her eyes. She’s been in Hana and Maxwell’s apartment plenty of times that she knew where they kept their pain meds in their kitchen. She notices a note on the kitchen table with her name on it. She recognizes Hana’s elegant handwriting immediately. Hey Cath, Maxwell has headed into class and I left for work, but I made you some breakfast before leaving. You can find it in the fridge. You can also borrow some of my clothes just in case you want to take a shower and get out of your nasty ones. I’ll talk to you later. Love, Hana. Responsible to a fault, that girl, this is a trait of hers that she is grateful for. She took advantage of her offer and hopped in the shower. She took a long shower, staying under the stream water so long that her fingertips turned prune-y. She had hoped that the hot water would cleanse away all memory of the previous night. It didn’t.

She stepped into living room after getting dressed and checked the clock in the living room. It read 9:23am. He should be in class by now. She felt relieved knowing that she won’t have to face him…yet. I’m not ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to face him. She steps into the lively streets of New York City, slowly treading the path back to her apartment. She arrives at the flat she shared with Liam. The internal storm of misery and torment finally subside, leaving nothing but a scar tissue where her heart used to be in its carnage. She is numb, and she is actually thankful for that.

She makes her way to her room, passing Liam’s on the way. He left his door open. His usually very neat, making his bed every day before he left. Today was the exception, his room was a mess. Blankets and pillows strewn about as if he had a restless night. His uniform thrown on the floor messily, as if he woke up late. Her best friend was never the one to leave things disorganized. I wonder if he slept alright. Probably not. He found out his girlfriend was cheating on him, then I had to go and be a drama queen and tell him how I felt. Worst anniversary ever. Fucking whiskey! I should really learn to not mix anger with a bottle of Jack Daniels. She shakes her head to put a halt on her train of thoughts as she continues to make her way to her room.

She didn’t have classes today, so she had a few hours to herself before she had to get ready for a long shift. She decided to pour herself into her homework and finishing the papers for her finals to distract herself from Liam. It’s so difficult to do when she’s surrounded with pictures and memories of him. Every where she looks, there he is. He’s even on her nightstand. It was a picture of the 15-year-old version of them. She grabs the picture and gazes at it. She couldn’t stop herself from flashing back to that memory.

It was the first birthday she was celebrating after the death of her parents. Catheryne was two days younger than Liam, so it became a tradition to celebrate their birthdays together. For once in her life, she was sad that their birthdays were during the summer break. At least if she was in school she could be distracted with work, but there was no escape. She dreaded this day. She missed them. She missed their mini traditions; her mom was a great baker and always made her a cake, her dad would sing to his own version of the Happy Birthday Song with his guitar.

She had asked the Rhys’ to not throw a celebration for her birthday. For this birthday, all she wanted was some time alone. No friends to entertain, no fake smiles, no pity looks from everyone. “Liam, you can still throw yourself a birthday party. Don’t let me sour your special day.” She felt awful for ruining their tradition, but she just couldn’t do it this year. “Ryne, you are not souring anything. You’re my best friend and I can’t imagine not celebrating our birthdays together. So, whatever you wanna do, we will do.” She looked at him with grateful eyes.

She will never forget that birthday. She was awakened by the sounds of a strumming guitar. Liam walked into her room singing happy birthday. He didn’t have her father’s angelic voice, but it sufficed. What in the world is he doing? He finishes the song as she sits up on her bed. “Happy Birthday, Ryne.” Upon hearing her nickname, her eyes welled up. There were only two people in the world who called her by her nickname, her father and Liam. She misses her dad.

“Liam…” she was left with absolutely no words. “Is…Is this why you asked for my dad’s guitar two weeks ago?” asking him with her early morning voice. “Yeah, sorry I lied about my reason. I really wanted to surprise you. You don’t wanna know how many YouTube videos I had to watch to learn this simple song,” He says, sheepishly. She stared at him, awestruck at the effort he has put into this. “Oh, wait here, I have to get the second part to the surprise.” He ducks out of the room. There was a second part? How much work did he put into this? Her trance was interrupted when he walked in with a birthday cake in his hands. It was chocolate, just like her favorite, and it was topped with 15 lit candles. It didn’t look store bought so she asked, “Liam, did you make this?” She inquired her friend. “My mom guided me through it, but it was mostly me. Well then, make a wish.” She closed her eyes and thought of a wish, I wish to never forget this day or this feeling, and with that in mind she sends it to the universe with a blow of her candles.

“Liam, thank you, seriously, this means more to me than you could possibly know.” He grabbed her hands with his and replied, “You’re very welcome, Ryne, but the day is only getting started. Now, go get a shower and get dressed. I’ll be down by the beach when you’re done.” He squeezed her hand as he stands up to leave.

She met him down by their safe haven. She was so thankful that their little beach, the small place where she found peace, wasn’t a tourist spot. They had the freedom to run around, their parents never had to worry about them disappearing for hours when they go off on their explorations. She stood there admiring his tall physique, his blonde hair being ruffled by the summer breeze. She thinks to herself, He looks like a prince from a book when he stands there like that. I think if he desired it, he could be a Disney prince, he definitely met all the criteria. He had the biggest heart out of everyone I know. And not to mention he was incredibly handsome! She feels a stirring in her heart, something she’s never felt before, but she didn’t dwell on it. She walked up beside him and said, “So, what now?” He jumped when he heard her; he was so concentrated on the horizon that he didn’t register her presence at all. “Well, I have one more surprise for you, but we’re gonna have to travel there.” His eyes twinkled, just like it always did whenever they were about to embark on an adventure. “Liam, seriously you’ve done enough for today.” “I am not taking a no for an answer, Ryne, now follow me.”

They marched back up to the house. He instructed her to wait out front while he grabbed something. A few minutes later, he shows up with a bicycle in tow. “Is that Leo’s bike? Why is there a basket attached to it?” He holds up a picnic basket to answer her question. “Uhhh, why do we need to go somewhere to have a picnic when there’s a perfectly undisturbed beach right here where we can do the same thing?” He heartily laughs at her and replies, “Ryne, would you just trust me for once in your life and get in the back.” She shakes her head and hops on the bicycle’s pegs. Demanding, as always, somethings never change.

She wrapped her arms around him as he pedaled their way to an unknown location. After 6 miles, they finally get there. It was the memorial where her parents are buried. They weave their way to their tombstones. Liam sets up the picnic while Catheryne cleaned her parents stone and its surroundings, clearing it of twigs and leaves.

“Hi, Mom, Dad. It’s me, Catheryne,” she felt a little silly talking out loud, but she needed to be close to them. “It’s my birthday today. Liam is here with me. I just want to thank you for bringing me into this world. You’re the best parents a child can ask for. I miss you every day.” She allowed a tear to fall from her eyes as she knelt before her parents. Liam’s hand finds its way to rest on her shoulder. How can this simple gesture bring so much comfort? It’s as if his hand held her, preventing her from being blown away by the winds of her despair.

They sat on the picnic blanket, laughing and talking the day away. This isn’t how she imagined this day would go. She thought she would spend the whole day lying in bed, surrounded by her depression from the loss of her parents, but here she was with the only family she had left. Liam had given her the best birthday gift, and she couldn’t be more grateful for her best friend and his big heart.

They watched the sun set in the horizon. She basked in the last glimpse of the sunlight until it disappeared, signaling that the time has come to return home. He looked at her as she stood there, eyes closed, facing towards the sunset. She looks content and happy. I guess I did my part well. I’m glad to have given her this day. She deserves so much happiness after all that had happened with her family this year. He smiled with satisfaction. He hated to break that surreal moment, but he announced, “Hey, we should head back. It’s gonna get dark soon.” She opened her eyes, acknowledging him and nodding her reply. “Liam, thank you so much for this day. I…It…I’ll never forget it.” She felt embarrassed that she couldn’t find the right words that she was feeling. She admired him in the orange rays of the sunset. He looks like a dream in this lighting. The flutter in her heart and stomach came back. What is that? Stop being an idiot, Catheryne. Liam is probably looking at you like you’re stupid for looking at him with goofy eyes. Her best friend replied by giving her the softest kiss on her cheek. He lingered there for a moment. He pulled away, saying “It makes me happy to see you happy, Ryne, happy birthday.” With that, he walked away to get his bike leaving her all alone to her emotions. The flutter in her heart became an intense warm sensation emanating from her heart. The sudden realization of what her feelings had hit her like a bullet train, quick and sudden. I am in love with my best friend. I am in love with Liam Rhys.

Her loud alarm pulled her back to her reality. It was time to get ready for work. She places the picture back on her nightstand, facing down. She couldn’t bare to look at it anymore. Her birthday wish from that memory, was just that, a wish. Life clearly loved to remind her of her aching heart. She gets up from her bed to her vanity and put on her everyday make-up. She smiles at the mirror, hoping to cheer herself up, but even with effort her smile never reached her eyes. She sighs in defeat.

She grabs her shoulder bag and keys from the hook by her door and heads for work. She loves walking in the midst of the hustle and bustle of New York City. It is where she truly feels like she can disappear.

The mediocre dive bar she works at come into view. Before she entered, she inhales a deep breath steeling herself for the long night ahead. You can do this, Catheryne. Just take it one foot at a time. You can make it through this. She releases her breath and trudges forward, head hanging low. She walks back to the locker area, shoving her items in her locker. She lazily puts on her disgusting apron and puts her hair up in a bun. “Catheryne, stop standing there and gawking like an idiot and get out there!” Her asshole of a manager, Declan, barked at her. She pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes as she uses her hand to lean forward against the lockers. You can do this. You can do this. Even as she repeats it in her mind, her resolve is slowly dissipating.

As if she didn’t have enough on her plate at that moment, life decides to pile on to her mess. “Hey, Ryne.” Hearing his voice made all the blood rush into her face. She balls her fist on her side, remembering the night before and all the anguish he . “I can’t do this with you tonight, Liam.” She whispers through gritted teeth before stepping out into the floor without looking at him. She is already frustrated with her boss. She can’t handle him, too.

She went about the motions of being a waitress. Her feet are screaming with pain from running back and forth to the kitchen and the room, handing and taking orders. Her emotional health is strained from the barrage of harassing customers. It was a busy night. It was a Friday after all. When she would get a break from the flow of customers she had to attend to, she would catch him looking at her from the corner of her eye, concern carved on his chiseled face. She was hanging on by a thread. She didn’t know how long she could keep up the feigned strength she conveyed to the world.

She is making her way back to the kitchen to pick up an order when a loud, rowdy customer stops her in her track. “Hey, doll, why don’t you and your purty self come here and let me tell you somethin,” This is the nature of her job, rude people mixed with alcohol is a concoction for disaster. She turns and makes her way to his table full of raucous men just like him. “Yes?” she replied politely, hiding her anger for his insulting demeanor. “I ain’t never seen someone as beautiful as you. I was wonderin’ if you’d like to come with me to my hotel after your done from here. I think I can blow your mind.” He is clearly drunk off his ass; his slurred country accent makes it difficult to understand him. She was fuming with rage at his insulting comment, but nonetheless she replies with a calm tone, “Thanks for the offer, but I must decline.” She turns to walk away when he slaps her right on the ass.

The tiny thread she held onto finally snapped. She whirls around, letting her anger fuel her. Before she even knew it, she slaps the rude man squarely across the face. Her hand stung from the impact, but it was nothing compared to the fury coursing through her veins. How dare he?! Disgusting, insulting, perverted bastard! The man stands up, hollering at her, “WHAT THE HELL?! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT, YOU BITCH!” His hand recoils behind him, getting ready to take a shot at her

Liam watches her with careful eyes as she goes about this encounter. He has known her a long time, he can read her tells. He can read the anger that was hidden behind her smile and eyes. The way this man is treating her enrages him, but he tries to concentrate back to tending the bar. His work was halted when he sees Catheryne walking back to the man slapping him in the face, she was shaking with anger. What the hell just happened? His instinct to protect her guides him across the bar to where the conflict is unraveling. He steps in front of her, putting himself between them, his arm blocks the blow that he was about to throw at Catheryne. He retaliates by punching him hard on the stomach, and using momentum and rage, he punches the man in the face, knocking him out.

Declan comes out from the kitchen, witnessing the commotion that just happened. “What in the hell is happening? Liam! Catheryne! You insufferable morons! What the hell…” Liam stops him mid-sentence, “You know, Declan,” enunciating the syllables of his name, “you just may be one of the worst goddamned person in the planet. We quit!” He goes to the back to grab his and Catheryne’s belongings. He grabs her hand and pulls her, a little too violently, out of the bar back to their apartment.

When they arrive at their place, she finally speaks up, “What the hell did you do, Liam?” He is making his way to the cabinet where they kept the strong rum. He skips the glass and downs a gulp straight from the bottle. “Liam, what the fuck?! You shouldn’t have done that!” He couldn’t believe what she just said, and he stared at her with incredulous eyes. Is she really angry at me after I just protected her from that god-awful man?

Her body trembles from all the emotions racing within her. What just happened? I’ve never lost my senses like that before. Oh God, what is happening to me? Her feelings for Liam is ruining her. She watches as he sets down the bottle on the counter. She sees his white knuckles gripping the countertop. “What did you want me to do, Catheryne, hmm?” He speaks quietly, his tone almost felt like the calm before the storm. “I don’t know, Liam, but you shouldn’t have interfered. Now, we both have no jobs.” She responded, matching the tone of his voice.

“So, you’re saying I should’ve just let him hit you?! Is that it, Ryne?” his voice gradually rising in volume. “Well, I’m sorry that I couldn’t just stand there and watch him treat you like that. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be a bad friend.” Friend, there is that word again. Such a simple word, but it cuts through me like a double-edged sword. She paces across the room, grabbing the rum and consumes a considerable amount of it. She stomps athwart in their living room. Her panic, rising to the surface. He continues his rant, “I’m sorry that I all I wanted was to protect you!”

“We’re not in high school anymore, Liam, ok,” she snaps at him. “I’m not the weak, little girl you had to protect from her bullies! I can stand on my own two feet!” Her hands flail around her as she speaks, and her tears get the best of her, staining her face.

The storm has arrived as they both explode. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Ryne?! I just want to take the past couple of days and pretend it never happened! Then, we could continue just as the two best friends living in the city of dreams, happy!” He screams at her.

She has taken aback by the timbre of his voice. Not once, in the 16 years, that they have known each other has he treated her this way. Happy, is that what he thought our relationship was? “Happy, really? Liam, have you been really that blind all throughout this years?! I have loved you since we were kids. I fell in love with you when we were 15! Happy, isn’t the word I would use to describe this relationship.” All her frustration and anger poured out of her, she couldn’t keep them in anymore. I am so tired. I am so tired of hurting. She meets his eyes across the room and she let go, “I was miserable, Liam. I am miserable! My heart broke every time I saw you with other girls, wishing I was them, wishing you looked at me like the way you do with them! The anger I would feel towards them for breaking your heart scared me! I don’t know who I am anymore. I lost myself because of you, because of my love for you. I am so tired, Liam. I am tired of hurting. I am tired of crying myself to sleep. Loving you is more painful than when I lost my parents. I don’t know what it is about you. I tried so hard, Liam. I really did. I tried to stop my feelings for you, but clearly it didn’t work.” She laughs bitterly. She was done. She was done waiting for the day he’ll love her, too.

She heads towards the door, leaving to stay at Hana’s for the weekend. He suddenly steps in front of her, blocking the way to the door. She tries to weave her away forward, but his broad physique compared to her petite frame always had her at a disadvantage. “I’m sorry, Ryne! I’m so sorry! How can I make this go away? Tell me, please! How can we go back to the way it was?” He pleads with her. “We can’t.” She simply stated. “No, I refuse to believe that!” He is trying so hard to hang on to his best friend, his confidant. He grabs her arms refusing to let her go. “There must be a way to fix this! There has to be! Tell me how I can fix this! Tell me how I can stop you from hurting.” She wiggles out of his hold, heading out the door. “CATHERYNE, PLEASE!” He is begging her to stay. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” She loses what sanity she has left and yells at him, pouring all of herself and her love for him into her words,

“I WANT YOU TO TELL ME YOU LOVE ME, TOO!” She turns around to look at him. She didn’t need to stay to hear his excuse or whatever retort he has planned. She could see the answer written all over his face, and she finally accepted defeat and walked away.

[froggyflan]

Pretend it’s last week, I’m still writing haha.

Junkfish is my favorite AU, but since I already write so much of that, I went with Shark!Mako. Syrupy fluff ahoy.

Day 3: Favorite AU

There's something in the water.

Its shadow looms in the depths, ominous and foreboding like something out of an old Hollywood movie. Too large to be a shark, they say, too small to be a whale. It keeps to itself in the dark recesses of the cove, away from the beach and it's loud human visitors, but the sight of that shadow drawing near sends everyone into a panic. Those that claim to have seen the creature tell of a great dorsal fin cutting through the water like a machete, and a tail that can smash rocks with ease. They say it has glowing red eyes and teeth the size of kitchen knives, and has attacked ships as big as freighters.

He's the only one who knows the truth.

Jamie enjoys the expedition through the groves of palm trees and thick acacia. The secrecy of his journey fuels the thrill in his blood, even when the tickling of the brush irritates his skin. He pushes through the walls of green until he hits the sand, until he roams over the dangerously sharp and slippery rocks molded by the sea. They look like little islands, green with algae and freckled with barnacles, separated by little tide pools. He steps on each one carefully before stretching over to the next, making his way further out to sea. One wrong step would have him falling into a nest of urchins and jagged stones, easily breaking his only good leg. But he’s not worried. He may be clumsy and missing a limb here and there, but he’s become an expert traversing this trail.

The tide is low enough that he can see the colorful anemone that cling to the edges of the tide pools, the pink and purple starfish as big as his fist. He would normally be collecting those to sell as souvenirs on the boardwalk, but today he’s a little occupied. He moves past the pools and goes further, where the waves crash against the rocks and he could be pulled into it without a moment’s notice. He pulls his bucket to his hip, grabs at the base, and throws the contents into the open water. The chum smells terrible despite being caught just that morning, and he’s happy to finally get rid of it. Bits of fish splash on the surface, and he sees eager sea life start to swarm it.

The white and blue waters turn red, and he waits.

It’s a little hot, as the sun sits high in the afternoon sky. He’d dip his foot in to cool off, but he’s not stupid. There’s young lionfish in these waters, hiding, waiting just like he is. So he sits on the edge of the wet, slippery rocks and hopes the waves aren’t cruel enough to push him into the pools behind him.

The shadow comes as it always does; slow, cautious, as if this isn’t a daily routine and he can’t tell who’s up there waiting for him. It’s always Jamie. It’s never been different. Jamie bends his knee up to his chest and wraps his arm around it, trying to quell his excitement. It never gets dull, seeing that big ol’ mask breach the water, air puffing from the leathery shark nose like a dolphin’s blowhole. It sprays mist up with a hissing sound and huffs, sniffs, like it’s making sure it’s actually Jamie, before coming all the way out of the water. The mask is missing none of its bleached white teeth, and Jamie can see a strong, brown jaw move from behind them.

“You’re late.”

“How do you know I’m late if you can’t tell the time? Can’t imagine fish people got clocks down there.”

A thick finger pops out of the water and points at the sky. “Sun tells.”

Jamie props his chin on his knee and grins down at him. “Ooo, smart guy. I like ‘em smart.”

The mask lowers back into the water slowly. The creature never did like Jamie’s teasing. Annoyed, mostly. Bashful, hopefully. Jamie laughs.

“Take a compliment, big guy. And get used to it.”

Air puffs out of the mask again, bubbled of exasperation seeping out of the open shark mouth. Jamie would say the creature is always angry with him, but nothing is making him come here. Nothing is forcing him to entertain Jamie’s curiosity and visit him in the shallows. And if he’s this upset about Jamie not being on time, then that already says so much. Jamie feels the stupid grin on his face grow soft at the sight of the creature coming closer, until he’s directly in front of him. Long, silver hair spreads out on the surface of the water like wisps of seaweed. If the creature would just tilt his head up, Jamie would see plush lips and deep brown eyes hiding in the mouth of a great white monster.

“You got a nice face under that thing. Anybody ever tell you that?”

The shark mask nudges at Jamie’s bare foot perched over the edge of the rock wall. “You do.”

Jamie laughs again, curling his toes as the rubbery snout tickles them. Little waves crash between them, and the creature lifts a big hand up as an offering. Jamie moves his own hand forward to touch it. It’s warm and rough, and Jamie always wonders how his skin doesn’t prune from being underwater his whole life. Another mystery that will never be solved. His fingers dip between the creature’s, and it’s gentle and intimate. Those strong fingers close over his hand, pulling him closer, coercing him into the sea. Jamie snorts.

“You know I can’t swim, you bastard.”

It doesn’t stop the creature from tugging insistently. “Don’t need to.”

Jamie is giddy with anticipation, and uses his metal hand to steady himself as his foot dips into the cool water. Lionfish or not, the creature scares away everything in his path, and Jamie doesn’t have to worry about anything. He pivots his hips off the rocks and lowers himself down slowly, already feeling the terrible weight of his prosthetic leg try to sink him. But the creature holds his hand tightly until he’s in up to his neck, and another big hand presses to his back to keep him afloat. The touch is like fire in the crisp water, and Jamie can’t help the stupid giggle that bursts from his mouth.

“Gonna take me to your undersea lair? Is that where you take all the pretty boys like me?”

There’s a cheeky smile from behind sharp jaws, and before the mask disappears back into the deep, he speaks. “Something like that.”

The creature becomes the infamous shadow beneath the water, and it carries him from the tide pools into the great big blue, infinitely more dangerous and thrilling. Jamie feels the hands leave him for just a moment before the creature rolls and presses its giant tail between Jamie’s legs, supporting him with hundreds of kilos worth of power. A thick, heavily scarred dorsal fin breaks the surface, asking for Jamie to hold tight. He’ll take him away from here, to somewhere unknown, and that’s absolutely terrifying, but he’s game. He’s always game.

Jamie takes a long, loud breath before plunging down to meet him.

[wasyago]

Dear Wasyago,

Strange, I have always thought it was spelled as Wasayago. But recently I've realized, I can't read very well.

I want to send appreciation today, to you.

You've taught me a lot about art. You've taught me a lot how to draw certain things, and you have opened my eyes to new perspective of art, ever since I started following you. Colours are brighter, I experiment more, I can see a specter of visuals that was previously hidden from me. It's like gaining shrimp colors.

Your art feels like an art classroom. There's sun pouring in from the windows, and there's tree leaves in front of them. Every time you come in you see different art projects. Paints add on to the tables, that will never scrub off again. There's dirty cups with paint water, and brushes, in the sink. It's lunch break, and there's people here. Some are just doing their math homework right before class, some are working on their sculpture, some are picking out paints, some are working on their new piece, on a fresh canvas. And it is so alive.

Your art feels so alive. Like the leaves, the people, the stains. It's really nice to see, every single time you post, how lovingly you bring a character into the world (My favorite so far is that one doodle of Modern au Gillion eating noodles, I have it in my favorites gallery).

I would like to see some unfinished, maybe forever to be so, doodles that you weren't especially proud of. We'll love it all.

Respectfully,

Marcus Bloodsmith

oh, thank you so much, this is so sweet qwq

im happy to know that you feel this way about my art, and im glad i could help you with some advice! it feels a bit weird to show unfinished or scrapped art under such a nice message, but yeah why not. and its funny that you mentioned the gillion eating noodles one, because its also one of the pieces that i really didn't like and didn't want to post hdgsh. i dont have that many unfinished drawings left because i delete or redraw most of them, but i have a couple that might be fun to share... and i guess it's gonna be a long post bc i wanna tell a little about each one or at least name them.

there's this art of chip, the first time i properly tried to figure out a way to draw him back when i just started listening. redrew this piece later, kept the sketch on the left, but the right one i changed completely because i didn't like the vibe this one has.

there's this attempt at redesigning caspian after i found out he was a water genasi, plus the first version of that art of caspian, pretzel and gill. this design didn't feel "caspian" enough, it looked too soft and kind where i wanted him to be more layed back and chill and sarcastic and with a bit of an edge. redrew both pieces later. the underwater drawing also has an unfinished background in this version, i added some fishies later so it didn't feel that empty.

some random sketch of gillion to show off how the lightning scars look on his face and neck. i quite like it, but it didn't really fit in the post with three proper drawings and one sketch so i decided to scrap it.

there's this drawing where i tried to figure out how the capital of the undersea looked like. i really didn't know where i was going with it and didn't have a good idea when i started drawing, so its a mess of things with nothing to really focus on. i tried to add a character on it later to breathe some life into it, but it didn't work out since i didn't focus it on the character from the beginning. plus i don't like how the colors turned out, and the entire concept of the environment feels weak and boring to me. i still want to draw more concepts of the undersea and try a couple other ideas, but probably at a later date...

the first version of whatever try it was to design gill's armor. (fun fact, i have more armor designs scheduled for tomorrow). this one i redrew almost immediately, i really didn't like how it turned out and how the legs were cut off and it looked so messy with no real accent point or personality. plus the smaller copy of the drawing in the corner just didn't look good. im not exactly proud of the redrawn version either (that's why i did another one yesterday lol), but im glad i redrew it anyway, it looks a lot better than this one.

the first sketch of that one gillion drawing. i couldn't figure out the colors for it for so long and wanted to drop the idea entirely. but i left it to sit for a couple hours and eventually got the motivation to come back to it and finish it. for most of the illustration pieces i did for jrwi there were multiple versions, where i just didn't like the first one and redrew the whole thing with a different composition and colors. didn't save any of those drawings tho...

this drawing of jay but with green wings and a slightly different color shirt. it was actually the first version of this drawing, and i changed the colors to blue later. wanted to post both of them side by side but then decided against it. that's why this drawing survived and was properly saved and not just deleted.

more recent attempts at designing the chaingel. i like the concept, and the pose in the second sketch is pretty badass, but the execution is just not there. it doesn't feel right, doesn't have the right kind of vibe that this character gives off. so im sure i will try and draw her later when i figure out what's missing and how to show her personality in the way it feels in my head. but these two sketches were never going to see the light of day, so now they're here.

aand this is it, this is everything that wasn't deleted in the past month for one or another reason. i feel like im more chill with deleting and redrawing things, so a lot of initial sketches and concepts never get saved or seen by anyone. im also on mobile so i can attach only ten files lol. not that it matters, the last two were just random figure drawings for warm up, not much to talk about.