#I started this for the art trade and then went to the hospital so I lost track!! but

[the-raging-tempest]

All the ballet talk made me realize I never posted this sketch I still haven’t finished it but the girls @thesolemnhour Agria and @the-raging-tempest Lariel

[chaos-in-deepspace]

LNDs: Romance/General Headcanons

Yoooooo so here's some headcanons I have for all the boys in Love and Deepspace! I say headcanons but some of this stuff is just straight up canon. This is mainly to help me figure out how I want to write each boy as well, think of it like a warm-up.

Disclaimer: This is an original fan work for “Love and Deepspace”. Do not repost on other platforms or plagiarize. All characters shown in this fic is 18+. Warnings: None

Blog Information | Masterlist

Xavier

General Headcanons

Xavier is the kind of guy who will 100% own some of the softest blankets known to man. He has an entire cupboard in his apartment just filled to the brim with them, as well as soft pillows.

His phone is almost exclusively on "Do Not Disturb". He has it so emergency contacts can still text and call him and he'll get a notifications. You are the only emergency contact.

If someone near him yawns, he has to. It's one of those things he can't help. Xavier is also the type who will get a bit teary eyed when he yawns.

Xavier knows how to do a lot of things, almost like a Jack of all Trades. The issue is that he doesn't tell anyone he knows how to do things so he doesn't get roped into it. He'll normally play dumb around others if they are asking him to do so.

He can have full on conversations in his sleep. He won't recall anything that happens, and his eyes will be closed, but you can talk to him and he'll have responses. It's honestly kind of entertaining to ask him for things when he's asleep since he always will tell you yes.

Romance Headcanons

Xavier is an amazing cuddle buddy. He's normally pretty warm and his sweaters are always super soft like his blankets. He doesn't mind being the little or big spoon, and once you settle on a position he won't budge from it.

Xavier likes to hold hands with you whenever you guys are out walking together. However, his favorite is just hooking his pinkie with your own while making your way around town.

He's jealous and he's not subtle about it either. He'll glare at anyone who tries taking up your time and attempt to whisk you away at a moment's notice.

To add to the jealousy, he's also overprotective. If you so much as get a scrape while he's around, he's wanting to get you checked into the hospital. If only he could care about his own health as much as he cares for your own.

He's a fan of literally taking your breath away with his kisses. He always starts off with soft, almost shy kisses that then escalate to the point where you have to pry him off your mouth so you can breath again.

Zayne

General Headcanons

Zayne's coffee in the morning is normally filled almost halfway with flavored creamers. He has at least two flavors sitting in his fridge at all times, and whenever a new one comes out he'll snag it.

He's mastered the art of powernaps. He can be sitting on his computer at work and rest his cheek on his fist and pass out for about five to ten minutes if he knows he needs to quickly sleep. He's also pretty good at waking up a few minutes before his alarm goes off on days that he's not exhausted.

He's horrible when it comes to throwing away small candy wrappers while he's working. Normally they end up piling up on his desk when he's in the zone and he doesn't notice until he finished and sees they're scattered everywhere.

He bites the ends of his pen when he's working. He'll only do it if he owns it, but sometimes if he borrows a pen he notices it creeping up to his mouth and has to stop himself. Any old hoodies he owns, especially those from when he went to university, has bitten up strings.

There has been numerous times where it has been in the early hours of the morning and he hasn't slept at all. Still doing paperwork in his office and he can't find his glasses. He just can't seem to notice them anywhere and he knows he just had them. They're on top of his head. If you happen to see him looking around confused, just point at the top of your own head and he'll figure it out. He'll also figure out that he should probably go to bed at that point.

Romance Headcanons

Zayne is a sap when it comes to you. He has a photo of you and him as his phone background, as well as a different one for his laptop background. It's not like you often see his phone, but if you happen to glance he'll quickly lock it before you notice.

He also has a special ring tone for you, but that's not all. If his phone is set to vibrate, he has a custom made vibration for his phone that'll go off for both text messages and calls. That way he always knows if it's you.

At the start of your relationship he doesn't like any form of PDA other than holding your hand. He thinks those moments shared between the two of you is just that...between the two of you. However, as time passes on he'll slowly get a bit more bold in public places.

Despite being dominant in the relationship, he does let you take control of most situations at first. He doesn't like to be suffocating and believes you can make your own decisions. That is until your decisions become horrible decisions and he has to step and steer you into the right direction. Half the time he gets roped into it though. He is absolutely whipped.

He is whipped. You could probably suggest the two of you rob a bank together and he would seriously debate it. He is the voice of reason at the end of the day, but sometimes you make him question things, especially when you look at him with those puppy eyes.

Rafayel

General Headcanons

When Rafayel wakes up before noon, he is not coherent in the slightest for those first ten minutes. If anything you could consider him useless in the morning. He'll normally lay in bed until he's more awake, but if he gets up it's a train wreck. He'll be bumping into everything, not comprehend human speech, among other things.

He has had conversations with random sea creatures before. Once he went to the aquarium and just sat by the sting rays while chatting. They never replied, but he did manage to carry on the conversation well enough.

He will text you for the most random things known to man. Sometimes he uses you like a search engine instead of just looking it up. He'll also text you to come over because he left a glass of water in the kitchen and he's now in his studio. Thomas used to get these texts all the time and eventually he learned not to play along.

Rafayel is polyjamorous. His taste in music tends to vary a lot when he's working on a new painting. Sometimes it's to help him find inspiration, sometimes he just wants something to vibe to. On occasion he has a single song that he'll listen to on repeat until he manages to block it out. On other days he doesn't listen to any music, preferring the ambiance of the ocean with a window open.

He tends to video call more than normal phone calls. He likes to see the expressions of whoever he's speaking with so he knows how they're actually reacting to what he's saying. It also helps him know when someone is listening to him or just pretending and giving generalized responses.

Romance Headcanons

He has a secret sketchbook that he keeps. A lot of them are just random drawings of you or places the two of you have been together. He's not ashamed of it, he just doesn't know how you'd react to seeing a picture drawn of you half asleep, hanging off the sofa with drool on your face.

He's really inexperienced in relationships, at least in this life he is. He could go off the past with you, but that would be moving too fast. So he sometimes has these awkward moments of wanting to do so much more with you but knowing it's far too early in the relationship.

He is always wanting to all over you. It's to the extent that sometimes you have to pry him off so you can go to the restroom. His favorite position is with his arm around your waist and his head in your shoulder.

He will whine about you not spending enough time with him...while you're spending time with him. If he doesn't have you with him 24/7 then you aren't giving him enough attention. He does let you live a life, he just wishes he could be experiencing it all with you.

When he isn't being a total brat, he is super sweet. He will kiss your hands the moment they get near him, shower you in compliments, and if you so much as mention wanting something he'll have it for you within a day.

[lukaherehelp]

PLAYBOYY, the guide.

buckle up, this is going to be a long one fam, but first:

now, where was I... AH, YES!

PLAYBOYY the series is a +18 BL series, directed and produced by Chewin Thanamin and screenwritten by Den Panuwat under Copy A Bangkok. Is set to come out November 16th 2023.

The series explores human interaction and its consequences through sex with themes such as escort sex-trade, illegal pornography, online hook-ups for drugs, covert prostitution and sex-love revenge, all to expose human’s darkest nature.

The MAIN PLOT (yes, it has a plot, is not just porn) of the series focuses on the disappearance of Nant, a 3rd year student at P.B. University who, inadvertently to his friends Zouy and First, started to get involved in the nightlife of Bangkok: buying services, having sex with strangers, getting involved in clips, getting involved in drugs... all of this until he went missing. Both friends, teaming up with Nont, Nant’s twin brother, are now set to find out what happened to Nant and where he, or his body, might be.

Only one thing is for sure: everyone is a suspect.

Yes, you read correctly, this show has a cast of fifteen characters and none of them is safe from scrutiny. So! Let me show you a chart with all the boys:

... nothing really

Now, you are probably asking yourself "whom are this people?" Follow me! I'll introduce you:

Let’s begin with our missing boy and the tiny investigation group set to find him:

Nant, 21 ( Nantnarin Saktawee )

MISSING

portrayed by Detch Narongdet

What has happened to him? No one seems to know. What we know is that he's a 3rd year student at P.B. University, at the faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, majoring in Performing Arts. He’s the youngest of the twins. When their parents separated, Nant stayed with their mother, which made him grow into a gentle and sensitive young man, loving towards his friends and fairly cordial to people… But the "perfect nice boy" life made him miserable. Unknown to everyone, Nant started to get involved in the nightlife of Bangkok until he eventually went missing.

Nont, 21 ( Nontnapas Saktawee )

portrayed by Detch Narongdet

The older of the twins duo. At the end of elementary school, after their parents separation, Nont was forced to leave Thailand with his father to live abroad. Although pretty much an introvert, Nont is outspoken and an entrepreneur, a full contrast to his brother. He’s dead set on finding out what has happend to Nant, and he’s not afraid to approach others with the intention of extorting the truth from them and, if needed, seek revenge. He'll get his little borhter back, any means necessary.

Zouy, 21 ( Sippakorn Kichlerdpaisal )

portrayed by Korn Palat

Just like Nant, Zouy is also a 3rd year student at P.B. University, at the faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, although he’s majoring in Fine Arts. He’s described to be laconic but with a hard punch. Never trust a sweet face, I guess. He’s fascinated by human beauty and erotica: “ Sex has been a beautiful thing for the human race in every age and period of history “ - Zouy in the foreplay video, now forever lost u_u Due to his more shy nature, Zouy has been more of an outsider to romantic and sexual relationships, which makes him curious but also afraid of them. Little does he know that his passion for the “artsy” side of it will pull him towards an unexpected but well versed individual on the matter.

First, 21 ( Yodsanant Sarvasiddiwongse )

portrayed by Chat Wasuta

This cutie pie is also a 3rd year student at P.B. University, although his faculty is Medicine. Makes sense for the eldest son of the director of a famous hospital. Maybe is the demanding nature of coming from a wealthy family, maybe is having a mother who puts a lot of pressure and hope onto her children what has turned First into quite the "feral bunny": although he loves his friends to death, he's aggresive, wayward, highly stressed and easly bored. Poor Little Rich Boi™ ( a bop of a song, go listen to it) Maybe is this lack of freedom and entretainment what makes him interested in a particular delivery boy. Or may is how easy is to make him submit to all his commands, no matter how humiliating they are.

other students from P.B. University to take in account are:

Captain, 21 ( Kamontarsna Wang )

portrayed by Vivit Pharunrit

Oh, Captain. Sneaky, little Captain. Another 3rd year student at P.B. University, this time in the faculty of Sport Science. Our boy over here is a textbook brat: ambitious but quite the aggitator. He's assertive and quite the talker, but he's also a hot-head with a lot of anger. This might be the reason why he didn't get the position as team captain for the university's rugby team... initially. Pretty boy has in his posession quite the "interesting" clip about fellow student and coach, Keen, and that might have helped get to where he is at right now. But he's a jealous boy, as much as he tries to hide it. Poor thing doesn't know he never had the upper hand in this situation.

Keen, 22 ( Poomin Suphakijkosol )

portrayed by Boat Pakorn

4th year student at P.B. University, at the faculty of Sports Science. Not surprised that he has to coach the university's rugby team instead of the teacher, and it might be for the best. He's authoritative and presses everyone, making him look agressive, but the boy is actually a sweetheart. Although don't think that stops him for being quite the "dominant force" when dealing with little shits like his fellow teammate, Captain. That boy is eating out of the palm of his hand and doesn't even realize.

Porche, 21 ( Patchanon Ponglerd )

portrayed by Fay Chintub

Another cutie pie! Here we go again: 3rd year student at P.B. University, but we adding a new faculty, Business and Administration! He honestly doesn't care about his studies, really. Prom is the oldest out of the two siblings and has already graduated, so whatever plan their influential father has will relay on him, not on Porche. He's just happy to run Miracle Car Care. Mind you, it might be due to the fact that one of his employees tends to offer "special fixes" to the clients, if you catch my drift, and Porche might be using them as way to fullfill the lack of warmth in his life.

Puen, 21 ( Pakorn Booncharoen)

portrayed by Parm Pawarate

Here is where the worlds collide. He's also a 3rd year student at P.B. University, in Sport Sciences alongside Captain and Keen. But he's also the newest addition to the PLAYBOYY line up. You see, he got into the university by a scholarship, but this doesn't make the uni journey less expensive, so the extra money he gains through PLAYBOYY to pay his studies has to, obviously, be a secret. He's shy, silent and doesn't like to fight, which gives him an "innocent" demeanor many guests at PLAYBOYY are interested to "try out", making him quite the rising star. But the boy has ambition, and he doesn't care whom he might have to use to get into the golden throne of the número 1.

Now, onto the PLAYBOYYs:

Aob, 34 ( Anand Aiemwilai )

portrayed by Aun Warit

Whom is sitted in the golden throne Puen so desperately wants? Aob, of course. He's the most popular host in PLAYBOYY: handsome and charismatic, dashing with his friends, pleasing with his customers. Rised himself from the ground and his gaze is set on saving as much money as possible so that he can have a comfortable life, take care of himself and be proud of his profession. He grew up in a ragged and unwarm family, making him not trustworthy or a believer of love, but he enjoys taking the more "submissive" role when he lets someone in.

Teena, 27 ( Tinarath Somwong )

portrayed by Kaowoat Supasin

You beautiful bastard... He's a senior graduated from P.B. University, at the faculty of Fine and Applied Arts. Just like Puen, Teena used sex work as his way to pay his studies, but didn't left PLAYBOYY right away after his graduation. However, the opression and limited freedom at the club made him take the decision to leave the sex work life behind and went back to P.B. University to offer himself as a nude model for their art classes. He's a hopeless romantic, although life has only thrown rocks to his roof. Due to his former job, no one takes him seriously when it comes to affection, making him cold, but he's really sentimental. And he's sharp. He's being desire for his body for years, that's why he's always worked hard on maintaining it... and yet, the way that 3rd year student looks at him, sends shivers down his spine. The same ones he hopes to provoke on him.

Soong, 24 ( Sorawis Sergio Romano )

portrayed by Jack Giacomo Piazza

Listen, people work with the cards life gives them, okey? Soong has a really basic education, but he's a diligent boy and a hard worker. Good mentality for his delivering job! Oh... and also for a former PLAYBOYY host. He left due to being unable to choose his costumers and, for a while, worked for other hires. But now he "delivers" his "services" to your door 24/7. He's quite layback, but enjoys when things get rough. Pretty rough. A certain wealthy young boy with a lot of anger to unleash might be his perfect match, they just don't know it yet.

Jump, 27 ( Jessada Sopha )

portrayed by Jeffy Chutipan

Another former host of PLAYBOYY. He now works at Miracle Car Care, but hasn't stopped to offer his services. He just... has a new name for them, sort of speak. Is quite surprising to know he used to be a host: he's quite stiff and doesn't like to please anyone. He also doesn't like commitment, so I guess that's why. He hates being objectified, but Porche seems to give him a good time... for a good price, that is.

Prom, 23 ( Prompitch Ponglred )

portrayed by Shell Thankrit

Here we have another Rich Boi™, but in this case he's neither tiny or a meow meow. Prom graduated from P.B. University at the faculty of Business and Administration, same major his little brother is now coursing. However, Porche doesn't seem to know that his older brother doesn't like the live under their father's shadow. So, with a lot to lose and not giving a fuck, he joined PLAYBOYY as host. Makes sense, he's charismatic and sociable, and his BDSM habits attracts clients... Nant among them.

And now we are left with this two, like two peads in a pod:

Nuth, 32 ( Nuthakrit Varindr-Vachararodch )

portrayed by Win Jirapat

Ay, Nuth, la cruel vida del creativo! Nuth dreams of becoming a sucessful film director one day, but with the lost of a family member, he has become introverted, depressed and unmotivated, making him currently unemployed. This has made him dive head first into the world of webcam. Whom would have told him that this decision, alongside drug dealing, would make him meet the only light at the end of his tunnel?

Phop, 21 ( Piphop Srikaew )

portrayed by View Thanatorn

Not every sex worker starts their journey in a high-end club like PLAYBOYY, some take the more classic approach of a "massage parlor" kind a way. However, after a client accused him of "molesting them", Phop had to find his footing again. Alone. Is always being like this since he was a kid. What he didn't expect was to find a kindred soul during a drug exchange.

And that's everything, folks! I have nothing more to share with the class today, but I do have a never ending curiosity, so:

[disregardcanon]

semi-realistic thoughts about where the yellowjackets and co might be in 2021 if the plane HAD crashed but they got rescued before laura lee died because misty never found the black box

tai- in exactly the same place, but with better coping mechanisms and a stable and realistic relationship with simone. sammy still has some issues because tai represses stuff and is still a politician who’s keeping secrets about the wilderness, but tai actually does let him get the therapy he needs. she’s still close to shauna and akilah, and she wishes that she could be close with van, but things are weird there. she always knew van wanted different things out of life than she did, but it was a lot harder to break things off after they lived through a plane crash and a few months in the wilderness together.

van- jack of all trades, master of none. she’s been a summer camp counselor all over the country, done bit parts in lots of movies, was on jeopardy once, managed a spirit halloween, got involved in cutco knives before she realized it was an mlm, worked at an amusement park, taught english to kids in different countries (never with the US military though because that sucks), worked at a ski resort. she’s had a lot of girlfriends that never really stuck, but she’s glad for all of them. she still talks to quite a few of the yellowjackets, but it’s... hard. when she talks to tai. taissa the accomplished lawyer and now state senator thinks that she should settle down, and that’s a little hard to hear from the high school girlfriend who dropped van when she went off to college.

coach ben- after his experience in the wilderness with the girls and losing his leg, there is absolutely NO way he’s going back to teaching. he tries to make things right with paul and after some work, he ends up moving in with paul in the city. paul’s a writer already, so ben gives it a try and does some comedy columns and sports columns.

nat- had a couple of years right after high school where she was drifting and on just about every drug in the book until she accidentally runs into ben and paul at a party and ben’s like oh my god NATALIE!??! and makes her sleep on their couch for a while. eventually she ends up making weird art and coaching a kids’ soccer team. she has some short term romantic relationships with both men and women but none of them ever really stick.

misty and crystal- coach very gently told her when they were in the hospital that he was gay and not interested. and she was like “oh you figured it out because i was so wonderful and you weren’t attracted to me, so you knew you couldn’t like girls?” and he sighed and went. yes misty. that’s how. and she put a hand on his shoulder and said “how brave. how inspiring” and then misty started telling this story to any teammate who would listen. crystal was the only one who didn’t roll her eyes and she was like “omg, a gay teacher? like in the children’s hour????” and then they become best friends going into the next year of school. misty doesn’t HAVE a secret that’s big enough to break them up so they just. stay together.

misty stays on as the equipment manager but mainly just to cheer on her bestie and they join theater together. they don’t do very well but they LOVE it, and they decide to go to the same college to be roommates. crystal becomes a quirky high school theater teacher and misty still becomes a concerning RN who dates and intimidates weird little guys, but they live together and are like, what, gay? *pft* no, we’re besties! and they are, but god are they weird about it

laura lee and lottie- lottie’s parents made her go to the same ivy that her dad went to, and she really hates it, even though she does her best and gets her degree. (i’m thinking some kind of counseling/leadership) laura lee goes to a bible college that skews too conservative for her and she hates it too, so much that she decides to drop out until she can figure out where she DOES want to go. a lot of soulsearching and mishaps later, and lottie is taking on a youth minister position at a nondenominational hippie dippie queer loving church and inviting laura lee to check it out, and laura lee falls in LOVE WITH IT and then goes straight into the seminary she can find that best lines up with her own values. they become a power couple and get married in 2004 as soon as it’s legal. they end up with a congregation that isn’t very large but is dedicated and does a lot of good in their area.

travis and javi- coach martinez still died, so things are hard, but not nearly as hard as in canon. they work through his death as best as they can with their mom, and travis stays at home the next year to go to community college before leaving home. javi makes him join a dungeons and dragons campaign and it actually helps him a lot with the Big Feelings Time. travis goes into something that his dad thought was nerdy and not masculine enough but that he likes and is good at, and javi becomes an artist. he and shauna collaborate sometimes on projects <3. also travis and jackie become weird friends at community college

mari- she’s an mlm girlie but one that is Proud! Of! It! she’s got a big enough downline that she actually supports herself this way, even though it.... still sucks and is soulsucking. but it lets her be a little bitchy, do tasks, and be kind of in charge and kind of not in charge and mari DOES like that.

melissa and gen- let them play soccer together in college because they were on the fabled yellowjackets team that never got to go to nationals as well as the one that WON! let melissa get butcher. let gen have a sexuality crisis as she gets jealous about girls falling all over her best friend. let them be soccer lesbians who eventually move to denver and buy a subaru

akilah- they find out that shauna’s pregnant before they’re rescued and right before laura lee’s able to make her incredible journey. akilah the girl scout finds herself worrying about what might have happened if they had to deliver a baby out there, even though they DIDN’T. then she does a lot of research into the subject on top of studying for her SAT and finds out about maternal mortality rates in the united states, especially among black women like her and her sister. she decides to become an OBGYN to try to fight the problem, and despite the hardships, she makes it happen. she also gets to upset her sister with terrible pregnancy fun facts, which is what siblings are for

jackie- has a blowout fight with shauna about the jeff thing after they get back, straining her relationships with every member of the team. she still tries at college, but she rushes and doesn’t get a bid for a single sorority (she’s going through a crisis where she’s realized she’s a lesbian and doesn’t know what to do with that and also. is very depressed and angry), her potluck roommate doesn’t like her, and her classes are so hard now without shauna to help. she doesn’t know how to ask for help and things spiral for the two semesters it takes for her to get kicked out of college. she’s home the summer afterward, with her parents desperately trying to get her to figure out a different college or go out with jeff again (we understand what he did, but you aren’t exactly... rolling in prospects right now) and she’s just going crazy in her room.

shauna and jackie- shauna gets an abortion and does go to brown! she’s really upset with where things ended with jackie, but she’s still close to tai and some of the other girls and she’s exploring her bisexuality at college, so she’s doing okay javi sends her drawings sometimes, and that’s nice. when she comes home over her first summer and sees jackie absolutely rotting... she feels awful enough to try to mend the bridge. it doesn’t totally work, but by the end of the season they’re on speaking terms again, and over the next few holiday breaks they become tentative friends again, then good friends, then homoerotic girls who are dancing around each other.

jackie tries out the community college thing and tries hanging out with jeff again, who’s working at his parents’ furniture store. her parents are convinced they’re dating and jeff kind of is too and jackie... tries to see if she can fix herself. she forces herself to let it be dating and then they have sex and it feels wrong and weird and bad... but she does it. and jeff’s magical sperm does its thing.

timeline-wise the pregnancy becomes clear about 3 months before shauna’s graduation from brown/jackie’s graduation from the community college. (she and travis are weird friends there. no i’m not elaborating but it happened) and her parents are freaking out and trying to get her and jeff to get married right now immediately to save face, and jackie just. cries. and calls shauna. and cries some more. and they have a heart to heart and confess some feelings and decide that they’ll try dating and kinda. raise the baby together. (it’s callie yay!)

jackie isn’t going to be able to move in with shauna until after she finishes this semester and gets a bigger place, and her parents are livid that she refused jeff’s offer and is still keeping the baby! (they don’t even know she’s a lesbian yet) so she has to move in temporarily with the martinezes javi shows her lots of art pieces and is like “would shauna like this?” and the answer is always yes.

eventually, shauna becomes an editor for the local paper and a fiction writer. jackie stays home with bby callie for a bit and then cycles between different odd jobs for a while as she tries to find a good fit. she eventually ends up as middle management at a small company where she does a whole lot of team-building exercises that everyone pretends to hate until she pulls out the prizes

[pine-notebook]

About Me

So, hey there. I'm Pine. I'm 13. I'm straight, if you haven't figured that out. Really overly romantic, but yeah. Straight. I am an artist and writer. Can't really call myself an author, because I really am crap at writing and my stories are unfinished. So, like everyone, I've been through some stuff. Light physical abuse, heavy emotional abuse, parents divorced, got involuntarily committed and went to a mental hospital last week, that sorta thing. Chaos is normal for me. Art, my girlfriend, my brothers, and my OCs are really my only coping mechanisms.

I'm a huge fan of The Owl House. To the point where, if I were to get a tattoo, it'd be an emperor's coven sigil on my wrist. So, of course, I want to learn to draw in the owl house style. I make a lot of fanart.

As I've said, I write stories. I'm one of three creators of The Linked Systems. Not sure Willow is really actively creating for it anymore, but he helped start it, so he counts. Willow's my younger brother, by the way. I've always explained TLS as being "a collection of universes." In truth, only two are really active anymore. I write for Konazel(basically furries but in the future and there's magic and shit), while my girlfriend writes for the Filesystem(A kingdom inside a computer basically. A lot of betrayal goes on there.) We help each other out with the writing, but recently we've mainly kept to our own stories.

By the way, my girlfriend is way better at writing than me. She's a year older than me, but you'd think she's a real published author by the way she writes.

I'm not really allowed to post on Tumblr much. The abuse I mentioned earlier? That was all my mom. My dad has basically stayed out of my life for the past 2 years. He's nice, but he's a drug addict, and I don't need that. So, as I was saying, my mom is a hell of a helicopter parent. She is paranoid and doesn't trust me at all. So I'm not allowed to go on the internet.

I go to an online school though, so I'm on a computer basically all day from 9 to 4, and sometimes a while after that if homework gets tough. It's easy to go behind her back and do things. Really easy.

Because I'm a dumbass and gave my mom my login credentials, my main account got confiscated. She changed the email and password, so I can't log in anymore. That's @ask-the-linked-systems, by the way. So, you can't really "Ask the Linked Systems" anymore.

So, now I have to use this. My side account.

I had to trade in a really good computer, by the way. It was touchscreen with a stylus, and the cheap, $30 drawing tablet I bought got taken away by my mom. The computer I have now is touchscreen, but without a stylus, so digital art is hard now. I probably can't scan my traditional art, since my mom stays in the house all day. I could take a picture of it with my computer, but I'd have to have my sketchbook in the room with me and my mom out of the room, and those two things don't happen very often.

My thing right now is I'm trying to build a fandom for TLS, so me and my gf can publish books when we turn adults. It'd be really nice to have a community like that to back me up.

Anyways, there's my introduction. Feel free to ask me any questions you'd otherwise be asking my ask tls account.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Boomer Jobs

There’s a thing I overheard today that’s probably going to live in my head rent-free for a good long while. It is going to bug me.

I was in the break room at work, making myself a coffee, and some of the lab techs were having a chat over lunch. One of them was talking about how she and her friend had got tickets to some art thing, and went for the free wine and good art. Standing in the queue, they ended up in front of some tech bro from Montreal of all places (which is probably why I started tuning in to this conversation a bit more - few enough people talk about the city of my birth, especially around here), who through his commentary let them know that this wasn’t just an art exhibition but some kind of NFT-related thing. So this tech bro is talking at them about the whole thing and the lab tech goes, “Look, we’re just here for the free wine and the pretty art. I work in a hospital.” At which point, dudebro becomes douchebro with one sentence that just irritates the everliving fuck out of me:

“Ooooooooh; you have a Boomer job.”

A ... Boomer job?

Really?

I mean, let’s start with the fact that technically, Boomers are either retired or damn near it, at least if we’re going strictly by age. From there, we lead into the most important part of this: if Boomers are retired or retiring, that work that they were doing still needs to be done. If it’s not Boomers doing the job, how the fuck is it a Boomer job? I mean, you can’t segregate jobs by age range beyond “You must be this old to be gainfully employed”.

I know what this dickwaffle meant, though. He meant “boring”. He meant “tedious”. You know, not the high-flying NFT-trading, blockchain-bouncing fuckery which pretends to make good on the promise of ‘money for nothing’. He means a steady paycheque and a job you can actually explain to people. He means a job that involves actual labour and existed before he was born.

I just have to wonder ... does he think that everyone who isn’t a Boomer shouldn’t have a Boomer job? If he thinks that, does he have the remotest clue how those very necessary jobs would get done without someone, regardless of age, to do them? I mean, my job doesn’t sound like much sometimes but I’ve seen companies try to get along on voice recognition software alone. In fact, one of my longer-running jobs involved less transcribing someone’s dictation and more listening to someone’s dictation and fixing the absolute fuck-up the voice recognition software made of it. I cannot be replaced by a computer. Nor can lab techs. Nor can a lot of people.

I get that we’re taking Boomer as a derogatory now. But calling something a ‘Boomer job’ because it doesn’t have the same dubious cachet as a pyramid scheme on all the wrong kinds of drugs is just stupid.

[cherryblossomsandhydrangeas]

Headcanon that Adam, Cherry, and Joe are all probably double or even triple majors.

Joe

Majors: Italian Culinary Arts, Restaurant/Hotel Management, & either Business Administration, European History w/ a Mediterranean focus, or Japanese History

Possible Minors: Entrepreneurship, Nutrition, Hospitality Business, Philosophy, Marketing, or Sociology

Joe obviously studied in Italian culinary arts/cuisine, but he would have also have had to study in restaurant/hotel management since he runs Sia La Luce. Restaurant/Hotel management is a trade that takes two years of study, and it takes at least a year to learn Italian cuisine at an accredited school. If he were to have a third major, I believe he would have went into business, but I’m willing to believe that Joe is a history buff as he was the one who brought up the Battle of Ganryuujima before Langa’s first beef with Adam.

Also, on a different note,  I’d like to think that Joe spent at minimum of three to fours years in Italy, before returning to Naha as that would give him more time to learn the hang of working in a restaurant as he probably got a job in one to pay for food and possibly rent if he got an apartment.

--

Cherry

Majors: Programming, Computer Science & Engineering, & either Business Administration, Information Technology, Art History, or Fine Arts

Possible Minors: Creative Writing, Business Writing, Applied Mathematics, Bioinformatics, Robotics

Cherry obviously studied programming, but he would have also needed to have knowledge of engineering to create a transforming skateboard, bracelet, contacts, and a wheelchair that are all connected to the AI he created. He may have a degree in business since in episodes one, two, and six he was shown dealing with a bunch different people for work, but that could also have been gleaned some simple networking skills. Since he’s loved calligraphy since he was a kid, it’s not too out of the way that he may have went into either art history or fine arts as well.

Since calligraphy isn’t a college degree, more a skill you learn from discipline and learning under a master, it’s not included in the above. But I’d imagine that he’d probably been practicing his calligraphy for years before learning under a master for a while before starting his own studio.

--

Adam

Majors: Political Science, Public Administration, Economics, or Communications & either Art History, Theology, or Theater/Dance

Possible Minors: International Business, Philosophy, Public Relations, or Criminal Justice

There are a lot of degrees that Adam could have gone into with his job as a politician, so I chose the ones with skills that were shown most in the show. He has a silver tongue and was easily able to become the leader of his party- with a little backstabbing- despite being the youngest politician of them. His charisma was also shown to be great both in public and at “S”. As for the others, I’ve often wondered how Adam was able to get into learning Flamenco as it seems to something that he personally enjoys and not something his aunts forced him into learning, so I can’t help but think he went into a Theater/Dance major as a small loophole so that he could learn something that he actually liked and wanted to do. I don’t have to explain why I think he majored in Theology.

So what do you guys think? I’d love to talk about some other ideas.

[kudosmyhero]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro-Series #6 Casey Jones

Read Date: January 04, 2023 Cover Date: July 2012 ● Writer: Mike Costa ◦ Ben Epstein ● Art: Mike Henderson ● Colorist: Ian Herring ● Letterer: Shawn Lee ● Editor: Bobby Curnow ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● Elias Koteas as Casey Jones was one of my first crushes. Just sayin'. ● I'm not sure if the Casey/Raph friendship goes back to the Mirage series (I'll get there eventually--slowly playing catch-up in reading), but I live for it in the IDW series! ● I wonder how Casey and Raph get in contact with each other. Do the Turtles have cell phones? ● I understand the sentiment of Casey's mom want him to take care of his dad when she's gone, but would she have wanted that burden for her son if she knew that the drinking wouldn't stop? He's not just drinking to cope with losing her. He becomes an abusive alcoholic. It's not fair to burden Casey with him. (Guilt and a sense of responsibility chained me to an alcoholic mother for too long, too. I wish I'd gotten away. So yeah, I'm projecting. …doesn't make it less true, though.)

● "Promise me you'll let him feel strong." - argh, that's even worse advice!

Synopsis: Casey and Raphael are trading barbs while taking down some street thugs who have stolen a woman's purse. Casey tells Raphael about the time he scored two goals in eight minutes in a hockey game, tying up the game and allowing his team to win in overtime. The two knock out all the criminals and return the purse, then climb a fire escape to get away from the scene.

Back at home, Casey thinks about when he was nine years old and his dad Arnold took him to a frozen lake to practice hockey goalkeeping, and getting hot chocolate afterwards. Later on, Casey and Arnie are woken up by a man named Blake knocking on the door. Blake walks in, accompanied by two large, intimidating men in suits and asks Arnie how his boy is. He thens gets down to the real reason he's here: the money Arnie owes him. Arnold frantically looks through a dresser and retrieves a golden necklace with a charm in the shape of a hockey stick with some jewels embedded in it. Arnold says it should cover his tab, but Blake tells him it won't be enough. Blake gives Arnold forty-eight hours to come up with the rest of the money.

In a flashback scene, we see Casey visiting his mother in the hospital, in the advanced stages of cancer. Casey has just come from the hockey game where he scored two goals and lead his team to victory in overtime. Casey's mother is holding the golden necklace with the hockey stick charm.

In the present, Casey knows its up to him to do something about his father's gambling debts. Arnold sits on the couch, drunk, angry that the team he bet on is losing. Casey grabs his stuff and heads out to meet up with Raph. Raph is curious as to what Casey is planning, as they had already went on patrol one night that week. Casey tells him they're just keeping an eye on some guys who need eyes kept on them. Casey and Raph (wearing a heavy coat and hood) enter a bar called the Skara Brae. Inside, Blake is taking bets from suckers he knows won't be able to pay him off. Casey sees the golden necklace in Blake's hand.

In another flashback scene, Casey expresses frustration with his father, calling him a stupid drunk. Casey's mother gets angry at Casey, and tells him that his father isn't as strong as he is, and that's his way of coping with losing her. She makes Casey promise to take care of him when she's gone.

Blake leads the man who just lost a bet outside with his two large friends. The two men are about to start beating the guy who lost the bet when Raph and Casey interrupt. They knock out the two muscle man and Casey tells Blake that Arnold is off-limits from now on, then he knocks him out too.

Casey arrives home from retrieving the necklace and Arnold wakes up, having fallen asleep on the couch. Casey says he's going to bed and Arnold takes it as disrespect, prompting him to beat Casey. As Casey is pummeled by his father, he thinks back to his promise he made to his mother, his promise to take care of his father and let him feel strong. Severely injured, Casey stumbles to the antiques shop the Turtles are currently living in. They ask how he got injured and if he's okay; he tells them he's fine, he's the strong one.

The story continues directly from this scene in Sins of the Fathers, part 1.

(https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Casey_Jones_(IDW_issue))

Fan Art: Casey Jones by Kenpudiosaki

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics: Humor - In a Lovecraftian Vein.

1915: HPL's Output.

Intro: "The Simple Speller's Tale" is 1 of Howard's many attempts to steer his fellow UAPA members into using old- style English the same way he did.

In this particular effort, he tried to do so - with tongue in cheek.

In a reversal, HPL actually takes the side of 'modern' writers & equates their spelling usage with madness!

However, I've read of no other UAPA member who tried to follow in his footsteps...

The Work:

"When first among... amateurs I fell, I blushed in shame because I could not spell."

"Though skilled in numbers & at ease in prose, My letters I could never well dispose¹."

"Thoughts came abundant, language was the same; Yet none the less I... could (not) spell my name!"

"The kindly printer (with an eye for trade), A clumsy care for... my work displayed."

"Indifferent as I was, I used his art, Til critics cried, "My printer should be shot!"

"(So) boldly censured, I began to seek, A means to (prevent) the... reviewers' clique."

"My... eye in rage I cast around, When the wished-for plan I found."

"It happened on a Summer's holiday, That (thru) a madhouse gate I took my way."

"Within that bedlam² was a sage con- fined, Who... from too much study lost his mind."

"... Strolling out, in (his) watchful keeper's care, With childish sounds the madman filled the air."

"Still dreaming of his lettered days of yore, His ravings on remembered subjects bore."

"Dim came... what he used to teach, And he began to curse our... speech."

"... (Said) he, "The men that made our tongue, Were rogues... I shall have hung."

"For long established customs what care we? Come, let's tear down etymology³."

"Let spelling fly & (nothing) but sound remain; The world is mad & I alone am sane."

"(So) raved the sage; inventing, as he walked, A hundred ways to spell as talked."

"He simplified til his fancy bred, A system... as simple as his head."

"(A) scholar(ly) change he wrought, And altered, as he went, for want of thought."

"But I, attentive, heard with joyful ear, Wild distortions & perversions queer⁴."

"Why could not I defend my ill-spelled page? In progress' name & with (a) re- former's rage?"

"With hope renewed, I (hurried) home to write, And passing wonderful was my work that night."

"For classic⁵ purity I sought no more, But (made) worse blunders than before!"

"Oh fickle fortune! In a week my name, From scholar's praise attained (some) immortal fame."

"(While) other scribes with vague orthography⁶, Seized on the clever ruse & copied me."

"Today in every Skateville Amateur⁷, (Shapeless) letters pass as language pure."

"And when some... (perfectionist⁸) dares to raise, A voice (opposing) our (own) ways."

"We (know) the apt (remark) to give, (And) damn him as a... Conservative⁹!"

"Yet why on us your angry hand or wrath use? We do but ape Professor B_ M_¹⁰!"

Footnotes:

1. To arrange in a certain position.

2. Bedlam was originally the name of a London mental asylum.

The Bethlem Hospital became such a landmark, that it was visited by many tourists!

Which usually came with donations & charitable contributions...

Originally, the place was a monastery called Saint Mary of Bethlehem.

But, by the 1400s, the place became "a shelter for strangers in need."

Over time, Bedlam specialized in caring for those who couldn't care for themselves - especially the mad.

The place appears in many plays & ballads - including in Shakespeare's Hamlet & Macbeth!!

In 1676, the hospital was rebuilt to look more like a palace, complete with formal gardens & Corinthian columns!

Beggars started to pretend they were lunatics to avoid being sent to prison or a workhouse.

The palatial hospital survived til 1815, when it was torn down.

3. Etymology is the study of the changes that words go thru with the unfolding of time.

Scholars use it to find a word's origin & the change in meaning that word has gone thru.

4. Queer here would have meant "odd, peculiar, eccentric."

But, earlier it described things that were about "to spoil" or become a "ruin."

Even earlier, queer was something of a "puzzle, derision" or a "cheat."

As slang, however, it had several other meanings thruout time:

A. "To shove the queer" was actually, "To pass counterfeit money!"

B. "Queer Street" was an imaginary land peopled with persons & shady characters going thru difficulties...

C. "Queer as Dick's hatband" meant "being out of order without knowing one's disease."

D. "Queer Bitch" was an "odd, out of the way fellow."

E. "Queer Ken" described "a prison."

F. "Queer Mort" meant "a diseased strumpet."

G. "Queer Rooster" was an informer - who got his info by pretending to be asleep."

H. "To queer the pitch" described a traveling tradesman's & a showman's 'performance' being "interfered with" - usually by a policeman.

The "homosexual" sense appears by 1922.

5. The sense here seems to be classic English not Classical Roman & Greek.

So, Lovecraft's beloved 1800s English.

6. Orthography means "the correct spelling & punctuation for any used language."

7. Skateville is a city in Minnesota. One of Howard's friends, D.A. Wandrei, was from St. Paul.

Wandrei actually hitchhiked all the way from Minnesota - to visit HPL in Providence!

Later in life, Wandrei & A. Derleth co- founded Arkham House to keep Love- craft's stories in print.

Without this venture it's doubtful that Howard's work would ever have be- come as popular as they are right now.

But, HPL is probably writing about some amateur press association in Skateville...

8. Lovecraft has to be parodying him- self here in these 2 couplets.

9. This was the name of Howard's own political magazine The Conservative, in which this poem 1st appeared.

10. What last human name rhymes with "use"?

Could be interesting...

Also, HPL was talking about the now discredited teaching 'technique' of hitting (& shouting at?) students.

End.

[bonusmom07]

Where to begin oh where to begin. I guess we could start with my childhood. I grew up in a family oriented family. We did everything together. My parents were very supportive in anything that me and my siblings wanted to do. I was in ballet, I tried softball, and was in the band. My parents where there for all my dance recitals, softball games and band concerts. Never missing one. Even when my sister got really sick and was in the hospital for 3 weeks. One parent always made sure to show up. I will never forget my sister getting sick for the first time. She was in 3rd grade and this little thing. She ended up having the worst allergic reaction to her ADD medication that she lost all her hair and people thought she had cancer. That was the first time. The last time she was in high school and ended up in the burn unit because her body was burning it’s self. She had something called Toxic Epidural Necrosis. It’s awful. We honestly had no idea if my sister was going to make it. My dad had never been so scared in his life. I also have a younger brother who was my grandfathers first grandson. He was his pride and joy. My grandpa ended up passing before he could watch my brother grow up and it hurt so much. My grandparents where a big part of our lives as well. My grandma went to all of our stuff too. All my band concerts, all of my brothers football or baseball games and my sister art shows. My grandma was my best friend. I enjoyed my time with her from taking her to her doctors appointments or taking her to the grocery store. When she died my whole world caning to a stop. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was lucky to have my grandma for a long time. She lived until I was well into my 20’s. I guess you could say the reason I am such a great bonus mom is because of the family support I had growing up. I was taught how to love someone who isn’t biologically related. That love came from my cousins who aren’t really my cousins. They grew up with us so for them the longest time I always thought they were my cousins. My grandparents raised them, they called them grandma and grandpa, they called my aunts and uncles and aunt and unlce. I didn’t think anything else about it. I love my family. I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I am also thankful for my family teaching me how to love someone the way that I was loved

[goggles-mcgee]

Too Late: Alya & Nino (commission for miner249er)

Fourth chapter of @miner249er ‘s commission

Chapter Summary: The truth is harsh. Teens are harsher.

Previous Work

Last Chapter                          Next Chapter

Truth.

As an aspiring journalist it was something Alya strived for. It was the most important thing she could give the people who followed her so diligently. She thought she had been giving them that. She had been so good about giving them the truth, her truth, and Ladybug’s truth in the past, she foolheartedly believed she was continuing to do so despite taking shortcuts later on in the road. Why didn’t she fact check herself? Why did she throw that very thing in Marinette’s face? What kind of reporter was she? What kind of friend was she? The answers were all around her and yet she still wasn’t ready to face them head on. There was still that voice in her head that was telling her that this was all Lila Rossi’s fault. 

But is it? Alya thought as her and Nino ate together at her house, the TV on in the background. At first it had been on the news but Alya was done with the news for a long while, all it had been was coverage of The Protector and Nino had immediately taken the remote and changed it to cartoons. This was hitting him hard, harder than Alya had expected if she was being honest. When they found out Ladybug and Chat Noir had, in fact, not defeated The Protector and instead the akuma, that Marinette had gone missing, it hit the class hard. Hard because they learned the truth about Lila in that time and that had been rough to work through. Then they had to come to the realization that they believed Lila over Marinette, the sweet, kind, selfless girl that had all at one point been friends with. 

Then the lies got to them. It poisoned them. That’s what Alya had written on her blog anyways. They were victims of a silver-tongue and they had paid the price, one they had not been prepared to pay for. Their friend was missing, had been missing and they couldn’t do anything. Alya had been searching through as many local papers and news around the world for any clues if Marinette had possibly gone to those places. Everything was coming up empty. She had even made a separate website along with Max all about Marinette and what had happened, she left ways to reach her and her classmates in case anyone had any info. Nino said they should have added Tom and Sabine’s information as well but Alya was too scared to ask them if they would be okay with it, last time they had all been at the bakery the tension had been palpable. 

They weren’t banned like Nathaniel had worried they would be but every time they went in with their families, because that was the only time they went in there, it was always awkward. Tom and Sabine were much too nice to ban them even if they felt like they deserved it. How did everything go so wrong? Even school wasn’t as fun as it had been. Walking into their classroom was like taking a walk of shame, people from other classes, even teachers just stared at them. Some even glared. Then there were the whispers, Dieu the whispers, they followed them everywhere not just school, but they were the most prominent there. Her, Nino, and their classmates would find notes in their lockers, none were really threatening but they tore at her heart all the same. Things like, ‘You’re the reason she’s gone,’ or, ‘Are you guys proud of yourselves now?’ ‘Were the lies worth it?’ ‘You traded in a gem for fool’s gold.’ ‘What a reporter you turned out to be.’

All the notes hurt. That was the truth. That last one? She had found it in her locker this morning and it burned. Alya had been bullied before, she never liked to think about it, who would? But she was and she had to acknowledge it because she had told herself she would never allow herself to be bullied again, and most importantly, she would never turn into a bully. Wrong. She was wrong, and it wasn’t the first time she had been made aware of this since everything happened. Since everything changed. It was a blessing that Nino and her were still together, he never partook in the “tough love” the class had been giving Marinette before she...before she had been akumatized. Sure he didn’t stop them, and that was bad, but he didn’t go out of his way to not invite her to things until she stopped being “jealous” and started acting like the bigger person. Nino wasn’t the one who ignored her text messages, which now that Alya read them, were pretty telling that her friend had been hurting and she had only made that worse. 

“What are you thinking about babe?”

Alya looked up from her half eaten bowl of soup to see Nino gazing at her in concern. “Marinette.”

“Oh…” He breathed out as he put his spoon down and looked down at the table before placing one of his hands on hers and giving her a small smile. “Everything will be okay Alya. Someone will find her and then she’ll be back home.”

Empty words. Empty words fed to him too much from adults who didn’t have any updates on anything. “You don’t believe that. And even if she did...who's to say she would even want to talk to us!? What’s to say that anything would be better? We would still be seen as the bad guys! We will still all have to eat lunch at our houses or the park just to avoid the stares and the whispers and the tossed trash our way and the “accidentally” spilled drinks!”

Alya had never understood just how much their class had been living in its own little world. Not to say they were completely unattached to the rest of the school, Alix, Nathaniel, Rose, Chloe, and Sabrina were in the art club (the art teacher and the rest of the club had made a mural of Marinette without notifying them or asking for their help. Everyone is encouraged to leave notes about Marinette on the mural. The art room even has a chair decorated in honor of Marinette that no one else can use. That was announced very pointedly Alix later shared.), Rose was in the scrapbooking club (no one asked to use her materials anymore like they used to), and Max was in the gaming club which Marinette had helped him set up (people weren’t showing up lately.) They weren’t kicked out, but they were reminded of Marinette all the time,it was like everyone’s way of punishing them. It had never occurred to any of them how popular Marinette was.

So popular that the whole school seemed to hate them. Even Mlle Mendeleiev seemed to be harsher than normal and that was really saying something, it would seem like she had a soft spot for Marinette. In their class everyone avoided Marinette’s seats in class, Alya had to step up as class representative but the silver lining was that Nino had stepped up to be her deputy. Though another negative was the fact Nino had stopped making his music and taking DJ gigs. At first he hadn’t said anything to her or their friends, Alya found out because of Chris actually, but then her and Adrien confronted him and he broke down. He cried and he didn’t stop for a long time, but when he had calmed enough to talk he pulled out old pictures of him and Marinette, told them stories about how they had grown up together. It had made the pit in Alya’s stomach grow, she had just been thinking about her and how much she blamed herself and how much she missed her best friend, she hadn’t even thought how this was affecting Nino.

“I...I need to believe it Alya. I need to. Because if I don’t I will break apart. Mari...Marinette and I were best friends in l'école primaire. I never thought she would ever not be a part of my life. Then the whole Lila thing happened and I turned into a coward again, like I had with Chloe! No, worse than a coward! I don’t even know what I would call myself but I know I can’t call myself her friend.” His voice rose the more he spoke and near the end it cracked. 

“Nino…”

“No. I know that’s the truth! And I know, I know that things at school have been rough. Hell, they’ve been awful, everyone sees us as these villains in some trashy young teen novel when all we’ve done is make a mistake! Yes. It was a big mistake but it was a mistake nonetheless but we’re...we’re kids dammit. We’re just kids.” Alya felt tears race down her cheeks as she saw her boyfriend break yet again, his cheeks wet with his tears, his voice choked with his guilt. 

“I know. I just...I just want her back. I want everything back. I don’t know how many times we have to apologize to the school, but they’re not even the ones that need to hear the apologies! The one we need to have hear us isn’t here and…” Alya could feel herself breaking but she tried to hold on. Nino needed her to be strong. Her class needed her to be strong. Her family needed her to be strong.

“I can’t take the stares! Or, or hear Rose’s cries that she tries to hide from us. Mylene hasn’t been eating and I know she thinks we don’t notice and Adrien, god Adrien. I’m trying to hold it together because my bro is falling apart at the seams! First Marinette gets...gets fucking akumatized, then his dad and Nathalie get taken to the hospital from some supposedly random attack but it’s pretty obvious it was Mar-the akuma’s doing, his mom freaking pops out of nowhere but of course that can’t just be a good thing because everyone has to talk about how his dad and Nathalie were probably Hawkmoth and Mayura! And I’m over here trying not to think too much about all that because it makes actually too much sense, but then we find out that Marinette was most likely Ladybug! LADYBUG!” He lamented, not bothering to hide the fact he was crying, more like sobbing. It just made Alya cry more.

“I...I wanted the truth for so long, but not like this. Not like this. I...I know this makes me sound like the worst person on the planet but I kind of wish stupid Gabriel Agreste wasn’t Hawkmoth because then I could be akumatized and maybe I could be some kind of time-travelling akuma and we could go back and fix everything and school wouldn’t be hell and the twins wouldn’t act like they had to walk on eggshells around me all the time and my dad wouldn’t look like he’s always so disappointed in me and my mom wouldn’t look at my with only pity in her eyes and Nora would talk to me and Marinette would be back!” Alya sobbed out. At this point her and Nino had moved from their seats to the kitchen floor and were huddled together hugging each other for comfort. 

The two just sat there soaking up whatever comfort they could and dreaded the time that passed. For each minute that passed, was a minute that brought them closer to having to go back to school. Alya didn’t know if she had the strength to go back and deal with everything, she didn’t know if Nino could handle it either, but she knew her mother would be by any minute to give them a lift back to school. If there was a way she could just finish school online, Alya was willing to do it, but her father wouldn’t ever allow it. He had put his foot down, Otis Césaire was mad, then he was disappointed and he thought it only fair that Alya face her peers and continue on at Françoise Dupont. It didn’t feel fair, it didn’t feel fair at all, it felt like punishment. Hadn’t she been punished enough? Even in sleep she wasn’t safe, all she dreamed of was Lila and her making her act like a puppet. She would see puppet her do all these things to Marinette and she would wake up in sweat and tears.

“Okay I’m here, I hope you two are ready to head ba-” Alya looked up to see her mom standing there staring at her and Nino, her mouth agape. “Oh Alya...Nino...How about I call the school and tell them you’re not feeling good? And I’ll call your parents Nino.”

Alya was going to respond, she really was, but when she opened her mouth nothing came out but a choked off cry and nod. Nino nodded as well as he took in a shaky breath. “Th-Thanks, Mme C.”

“Nino, you know I told you to call me Marlena. Now you two go rest in Alya’s room while I make those calls. Then maybe I can get the rest of the day off and-” 

“No manman. Things...things are already bad enough, don’t make it worse by not going back to work. I don’t...I don’t want to be the reason why you get fired.” Alya mumbled as she and Nino got up off the floor.

“Oh...Oh my little one, that won’t happen. And if it did, not because of you. Never. Don’t you think that.” Alya’s mother breathed out as she pulled her daughter into a hug before taking her daughter’s face in her hands and doing her best to wipe her tears. 

“Papa and Nora would! Nora still won’t talk to me and Papa only looks at me like he’s disappointed he ever had me!” Alya cried out before she could stop the words from coming out. Her mind completely forgot that Nino was standing right beside her until she felt him hold her hand and give it a squeeze. 

“Your Papa is just being stubborn, but you listen to me, he could never ever be disappointed in having you. You are our daughter. You made a mistake yes, but I know you know you made a mistake and that you are sorry. Your Papa will realize that. He just needs time. And Nora...she just needs time too. I just think she doesn’t know how to handle everything and that she’s mad that she couldn’t protect you sweetie. She’s always been the protective older sister, and this was something she couldn’t protect you from herself. They’ll come around. I’m sure.” 

“If you’re sure manman…”

“I am. Now you kids go relax. I’m going to take the rest of the day off and go to the store for dinner ingredients, I’ll be back soon. I know things are hard my little Melusine but they won’t always be like this.” With a kiss to her forehead and a swift hug to Nino, Alya’s mom left the two teens in the family apartment.

At first they just stood there in silence and sniffles, but Nino made the move to put their plates in the sink and rinse them out while Alya gathered their schoolwork back into their bookbags. Then they  made their way to Alya’s room and kicked off their shoes before sitting on the bed. Nino nudged Alya who looked at him in confusion until she saw him give her a crooked smile and open his arms which she fell easily into. She took off her glasses and placed them on her bedside table while she felt more than saw Nino take off his cap. For a while they just sat there in the quiet of the moment and Alya was content to do just that, to just have a moment of peace, but she slowly pushed away and reached for her remote to turn on the TV and quickly pulled up Netflix. Her mom wanted them to relax so why not fry their brains with some television. 

“Anything in particular you want to watch?” She asked as she settled back against Nino.

“As long as it has nothing to do with school or superheroes...I’m good.” Nino responded with a hollow chuckle. 

“I’m glad we don’t have to go back too…” She murmured, “Should we...tell the others?”

“Probably. But if I’m being honest I don’t really feel like talking to them and them asking how we are and if we’re okay when they know we’re not. I just. I don’t think I could handle that. Not today.” 

“I get it. Sometimes I feel like everyone else even blames me for what happened. Like... Like it was my responsibility to not fall for the lies and to warn them. Like my word would have made a difference! Mari...Marinette’s didn’t so why would mine?” Alya huffed as she scrolled through all the movie and show choices and tried her best not to cry again. 

“If they blame you then they need to blame me too and blame the people in the mirror. We all fell for the lies. Sure you’re the budding reporter, but the blame could just as easily be pushed onto Max who is so smart he created a living AI. But we have no one to be mad at but ourselves and we can only do that for so long.” Nino sighed as he held her closer and kissed her temple. Alya relished in the warmth of it all. 

“When did you get so wise?” Alya teased softly.

“When I decided to rewatch Star Wars. But no seriously. If anyone in class bothers you please tell me because we should be sticking together not at each other’s throats.” Nino stuck out one hand and Alya slid her hand into his.

“Cross my heart and hope to die. I will. And you’re right, we do need each other, especially now, especially at that school.”

“Especially at that school, yeah.” He laughed out. “We’re going to get through this. I don’t know how, but, we are and we’re going to do it together.”

Alya smiled wryly before she looked up at Nino and it slipped into a real small smile. “Together.” She agreed softly.

Last Chapter                             Next Chapter

l'école primaire - elementaryschool

manman - Haitian Creole for Mother

[symphonyofthewrite]

If These Walls Could Talk 

Freaking GORGEOUS cover art by Junki Sakuraba on Instagram and Deviantart!! Definitely go check him out!! His art is incredible, and from what I can tell he’s really nice dude. He absolutely went above and beyond with this prompt. 10/10 would commission again. (And probably will once I save up enough money XD)

The wonderful art later in the chaper is by niuan_ on instagram!!

It wasn’t made/commissioned for this fic--(though I’ve since commissioned her to make cover art for me, so stay tuned for those!)--but when I saw it I couldn’t believe it!! That’s one of my favorite images in this chapter, and I couldn’t believe another artist made a piece for the same idea independently!!

I'll put the links to their profiles either in the replies or a reblog (since tumblr is dumb about links)!!

Also, FYI, I'll be using this post as my "reblog post" meaning I'll reblog this post with the later chapters of this fic, so they're all in one place. So if you want to read more of this fic, check the reblogs on this post, chances are more chapters will be there!!

Comments and reblogs are MORE than appreciated!! If you have a spare minute you will really make my week, and motivate me to keep writing!!

Fandom: Castlevania Netflix

Summary: Vampires do not have reflections, and castles do not have hearts. But Dracula is no ordinary vampire, and Castlevania is no ordinary castle. If castles can fight, maybe they can think too.

The series, and Adrian’s childhood, told from the perspective of the castle.

Chapter Summary:

“My mother’s name was Lisa, and she was mortal…She actually showed up at his front door. She found the castle and banged the door with the pommel of her knife…She was remarkable. She beat on the door until my father let her in, and then demanded he teach her how to be a doctor.”

Chapter 1: "Lisa”

“Is this how the castle felt to you before my mother first arrived at your door?”

The castle doesn’t like children.

Well, maybe that’s too strong to say. It simply isn’t the place for them. Its existence is a signpost: leave me alone. It is not used to having company—much less a family—inside it, nor is it ready to welcome for a crying, puking, giggling thing into the world. It does not intend to be a cozy place to coddle him into adulthood.

The castle itself pierces the sky, its turrets and towers the dripping stain of the sun’s blood across the moon.

The bare walls hold no colorful tapestries for a child to enjoy, no paintings of its many inhabitants to tell of—for there was only ever one (and maybe that ought not change. It is safe to say the castle doesn’t like change). The royal red and gold carpets are more suited to kings; not designed for spit-up, mud, and scuffing. ‘Don’t play with that’ would be a motto around here; so many contraptions either easy to break, or which could break the child. The fireplaces, while almost always lit, only ever coughed warmth onto the floor before them—they provided no snug space to curl up on a winter’s day. Even the mirrors here are empty, holding nothing but a reflection of the bare walls they sit upon.

There are certain people who were seemingly born as they are; they never owned toys, never crawled on the floor, never walked with clumsy steps—their footfalls were always this calculated count—never burped on their mother’s nice shirts, and surely never had anything so dull as a childhood. They were always just…here, on the world. There was no innocence, and no losing it. So it was with Dracula.

The very thought of Dracula ever owning toys, even in some nice cottage far away from here, with a doting mother and an absent father, with a funny last name like Cronqvist, defied sense to the castle. So no, no toys here, nor any simple charts for learning; the books divulged their secrets to more mature minds. Just blood and books, gold and gears, forgotten magic means, mirrors that reflect nothing, and a pile of prayers to a good God they used to justify their ungood, and ungodly deeds.

All these things—or their absence—do not make for the picture of a baby-proof home.

The castle has grown accustomed to being cold and dark, and listening to one master alone. It’s not a quaint place lovers look on and think we’ll raise our kids here someday.

Its master isn’t the ideal father either—after all, the castle only reflected its king. Its master knows only of blood and nails, fangs and wails, words too big for a child’s mouth, and worlds too dark for a child’s heart.

Can he be soft? Can he be gentle? Can he keep those claws, which have ripped out better men’s hearts, from piercing a child’s—his child’s…how could one who killed so many have a child?—skin? He knows many spells, but is there one that can turn those screams into laughter?

He has been soft before. Once. And that is with this woman.

Many women have walked the castle’s halls: shivering, shrieking damsels at his feet; cold and calculating queens; fragile bodies on the floor, that he broke with the same regard a child does a vase that matters to someone else.

Those ordinary people who do come often have pitchforks in their mouths, and fiery words in their closed fists. Curses stacked on the end of stakes, banging like the castle is the church bell signifying their own funerals.

It is for this reason that the castle does not like outsiders, does not open its doors easily. But it cannot deny anyone entry. Unlike the humans’ doors, which find his master guilty until proven innocent.

They always came at night. At night, when the loudest sound is your own breathing. At night, when their fires echoed loudest, and their shouts burned brightest.

They came when the flowers were closed, when only the most eerie and vicious of animals played with the skins of their prey, and the moon waxed the world in cold, drunk shine. The sun could not watch them, could not show their blood-struck hands in their full glory.

She came at sunset. When the sun still glazed her deeds in sanguine auburn, but was just deciding to turn its gaze and let the kids have their fun. Not quite day, when the sun would kill things like Dracula, but not quite night, when the hours are named after witches, and lust is strongest—be it for the body, or the blood within it. Somewhere in between death and life, violence and peace.

This woman came with a knife in her hand, yes. But a knife, at least, was not a sword. It was not a pitchfork, a spear, a whip, or a stake; all weapons that signify, if the fight wasn’t there, you were bringing it with you. Not a war-starved weapon, pointing with mal-in—and -con—tent towards the castle doors and all the things inside it. Not a thirsty thing. Something that by default faced the other direction. Something that can start a fight if it wants to, but doesn’t crave it.

The golden woman came at sunset, with a knife in her hand, and looked upon this thing, this castle that others called ‘ugly’, and ‘monstrous,’ and ‘grotesque,’ looked upon it with awe, and gasped in wonder.

She knocked. She didn’t bang her fists upon the stone, didn’t ram pitchforks and assorted insults against the innocent doors, like how-dare-they protect their master.

She knocked, and the doors opened before she could raise her fist a second time. Maybe, just this once, not because they didn’t have any other choice.

The doors—foreboding, menacing, and all the other spooky -ings one can think of—opened to a world strewn in light; the demon’s castle looked brighter, more beautiful, more alive, than half the churches she’d been to.

Her footsteps were gentle against the castle’s floors. Not a slow, forced gentleness, but also not a piercing, purposeful march. There was no apprehension to her footsteps; her feet carried her as if anxious to take her to as many rooms as they could.

At first her steps were the only sound, enough to fool some into thinking they’re alone.

And it became clear both that she was not alone, and not a fool.

But when she saw the demon, she put the knife away, and used her words.

She used her words to repeat those she herself had heard: stories. But not the kind that make monstrous men run at the doors with naughts and crosses, the kind pious people buried along with all evidence that the world wasn’t made of black and white.

Not all the stories told that this place was cold and dark and full of death.

Amongst all the stories about death, there were others that said Vlad Tepes brought this castle to life with science, forbidden knowledge, and a little bit of lightning. Stories that say there is life here.

And, in exchange for proof that these life-stories true, Dracula asked for a trade, a trade that would prove the other stories true too. He gave up the killing a while ago—(the castle has been in one place a very long time)—but he was still not used to giving for free, and definitely not used to getting for free. Vampires trade in blood and names, not diamonds and declarations. Vampires trade in things they can swallow. This castle, too, had been a gaping hole set to swallow the world and everything that entered. Never once had it given.

And she dared to say, that this place, its master, should learn to give, when the humans have done nothing but take from them—or try their best to. He ought to be the one to invite her in, to ask what she would like, to dispense pleasant words and kind actions, when the humans forgot they invented hospitality, and showed no invitation for him to even enter their homes.

But she didn’t come with a mouth full of garlic, and hands full of superstition. Her feet did not drill holes in the floor with their sharp toll, they wandered the scenic route.

She was used to being cheated. Dracula and his castle were too. But that was not why she was there. She was not there for cheap tricks, or death. She wanted something real. A little bit of the life the castle has to offer.

Her defiance wasn’t that of a terrified citizen, or angry queen, either; rather the calm resolve of someone who is asking for something they know in their heart is good, and knows they will get it. The kind of person who believes there is good in everyone, and that this good will ultimately always win, and who won’t leave until they convince this good to show its face.

The castle has watched countless men and women cower at the foot of count Dracula. Some, do have a measure of god-sanctioned defiance; they come with whips and scourges to defeat him. The castle and the king are bound together in their resolve against them.

Except one. Except this woman. One human whom both master and castle found themselves reluctant to deny, cast away, or kill, maybe even…taken with.

She may be human, but she was not like the rest; she did not light the night on fire with her thirst for blood.

So maybe, just maybe, they could let one ray of sunlight slip through the cracks.

She was also not devoid of life, and maybe that was the key.

‘Devoid of life’ was an accurate portrayal of the castle. Bats flying out of blackness is a good description of a cave, and caves don’t usually come with the brochure ‘teeming with life’, or ‘great place to take your kids!’. The castle had a soul-sucking quality to it; those who entered often found themselves leaving less alive than they arrived. It took after its vampire master. Those who didn’t actually lose their lives within its walls, often remarked upon leaving that the flowers bloomed brighter, the birds sang louder, the grass was greener, and that they missed the sunlight.

Sunlight. Such a base thing; vampires don’t need the light or warmth to be happy.

Sunlight. Such a base way to die; wanting to get out of the cold and the dark.

“Is this how the castle felt to you before my mother first arrived at your door?”

Castlevania was alive once. Once Dracula set the pumps, and its heart began to beat. He turned the gears, and its lungs inhaled. He forged the lightning, and it began to think. Once the books, full of unknown knowledge, jumped off the shelves to get the vampire king’s attention. He filled the bottles and beakers, and they bubbled, as if laughing at a joke only they shared.

They were both alive, once.

That waned, with time. The gears got arthritis, the books caught pneumonia, the experiments atrophied. The castle ached before she came.

And Dracula, alone in the halls, picking up books and putting them down again without so much as a polite glance through them, because he read them all before. Dracula looking into fractured mirrors that could take him anywhere, but deciding there wasn’t anywhere he wanted to go. Dracula, looking into old mirrors that don’t reflect him—like there was never anything to reflect, nothing alive here to begin with, and there isn’t a master for this castle after all. Nothing but a grave. Dracula sitting alone in his study, staring into the fire. No one to talk to. No sound but flipping pages and crackling fires—nothing alive. Alive but dead. This castle. Its master. Undead is the proper term.

The other women who came through here reflected the castle, or else the castle took the life out of them the moment they entered. Queens with malice-stained past, and cracked, icy future in their eyes. Just as cold as the walls. Subjects, humans throwing gruesome insults, silky flattery, or fluttering pleas at his feet. Just as empty as the mirrors.

Only one refused the castle’s bite. Only one walked in looking for life, rather than death. Looking for a thing no one thought existed here. Already presumed dead. Put six feet beneath the ground. But maybe it was here all along; maybe the light hid in the castle’s corners while the dark came out to play, and she just had to coax it out of its hiding places. Maybe the bell was ringing all this time, she was the only one who came close enough to hear it; the only one who came to put flowers on the grave.

Maybe when she felt the machinery pumping she knew the rhythm was a heartbeat. Maybe when she heard the gears clanking she knew it was the sound of inhaling and exhaling. Maybe when she saw the lightning, she wondered what it was thinking. Maybe she looked at these books, these instruments, and saw what the vampire king saw once; something alive. They weren’t dead yet—un- or otherwise. Just sick, and in need of proper treatment. She was a doctor after all. Maybe her first subject was the very books she learned from.

Lisa, who looked at this blotch on the sky, with Death in its towers, and darkness splattered on its walls, and thought that’s where I’ll learn to heal people. Lisa, who gaped in amazement at the beast of a building. Lisa, who didn’t shudder upon entering. Lisa, who didn’t scream when its master touched her, but turned to him with calm resolve, and told him she’d teach him to be more human. Lisa, who’s life eclipsed the undeath in this place.

And there was a trade that occurred that day. For Dracula’s immortal knowledge, Lisa would teach him how to live a mortal life. To travel the world as a man, to walks as a man, to eat and drink, laugh and cry, as a man. Immortality for mortality. They gave each other the world, as so many lovers promise to do. Vlad would make her immortal, and Lisa would make him mortal, with no exchange blood.

(Except to create a thing with both their blood running through it.)

So maybe, after all this talk of life, it is fitting that she wants to create life inside this castle.

Fitting, maybe. Fitting for her. But the castle is not mortal yet, and wishes it could protest that it isn’t the right size, refuse to try on the idea.

Dracula is apprehensive as well, for the castle and he are used to each other, they take after each other, because the cold, and the dark, and the death, and the alone does something to you after a while; you start talking to the walls. After the cold queens and quaking colleens leave, or leave their bloodstains the floor. After the beasts and their silver-stained bullets turn back into righteous men in the sun. After he simply outlives everyone else. When all the living things hate, fear, or else betray you, when all the living things can die, and you, who are undead, cannot, it’s the lifeless things that stand firm by your side. When the day ends and the shadows come out to play, when you’re the only one left, in the end you still have the walls. And then…the walls are all you have. And if you talk to them long enough you make a sort of pact, spoken or silent, with those speechless stones: ‘you’re the only one I can trust.’

Dracula speaks to them one day, says he wonders if he can do this, be a father at all, not to mention a good one. The castle cannot reply. But something deep inside the walls wonders if it might be nice to hear Dracula laugh. It might be nice to put on some different clothes. It might be nice for someone new to listen to from time to time. It might be nice to live again.

The castle is concerned. Used to doing things one way, being one way, and only hearing one voice. But that doesn’t mean it is unwilling, that it intends to kill the child.

It never kills anything—Dracula does that. It cannot do anything on its own, and that includes change.

The castle doesn’t like change.

…But that doesn’t mean it won’t.

And if its going to change, its master must change first. They must change together.

Vampires do not have reflections. But Dracula has a castle, and that castle will be damned if it isn’t his mirror.

Reflections are simple to change; put on some makeup, some war paint, a new change of clothes, get a piercing somewhere. Simple, yes, but not easy, to change completely, because that doesn’t mean anything’s changed inside.

The castle did not come equipped for child-rearing; there are no rooms full of toys and cradles and school supplies.

So if this is to be, they must build their son’s world themselves.

Together they set aside a room for the child’s arrival. Just one, single room. And the castle too knows, from the start, this room will be different from all the rest. They will put paintings on the walls, and banners in the halls; things to interest him, to tell him of his parents, at least, even if there are few other relatives to spend Christmas with. The carpets will be darker, instead of the stringent red, and they will make their words smaller, the books easier to understand. The rest of the castle is warm in color, but cool in atmosphere. This room will be cool in color, but warm in atmosphere. The fire will always be set in its place, and they will try their best to make sure the warmth reaches him; if the fire fails, they will knit blankets; if the blankets fail they will make him tea, or warm milk with honey; and when everything else fails they will hold him. If there are tears here, scornful stares will not greet them, instead, kisses and lullabies will be behind door number three. If this room lives, it will be because of something much softer than pounding metal and lighting.

If a child is to live here, they must change that reflection. Everything Dracula’s castle appears to be, this room will be the reverse. Separate. Something… other than the castle.

This room will bottle all the laughter had in this castle. This room will be made of and for living, not the death the rest of the place is steeped in. So much so that this room will not stand for bloodshed.

Lisa brings in supplies from her town; color and cloth, boards and brushes, needle, and thread, and paper; all the things one needs to build a universe.

It is Dracula who takes the paint, who changes the color to something other than the blacks and reds of the rest of the Vampire’s world, cementing on the walls themselves You will not be dark here, my castle. You will be kind to him, Castlevania. The castle doesn’t know its master to work with his hands like a human, but Vlad is not the same within this room either—this room is part of the trade. He doesn’t use magic, or science, as if he is telling himself with every hammer that they are going to change together, the way one does when talking to the mirror.

Lisa sits in a chair and stiches together cloth and fur to make little creatures, toys for the boy to play with. Soft things, not sharp. They are reflections too, littler, simpler ones, of the creatures howling and prowling outside the castle’s walls, or scurrying within them.

But it is the ceiling that is the crowning jewel of the room. Something they paint together—splashing it onto each other’s clothes and noses.

His parents love the stars. They often walk outside the castle walls, fingers knit into each other’s, to gaze at them. They are scholars at soul, and have charted the constellations. They want their child to be able to do the same, to watch the stars, even if he’s not outside. At the end of every day they want him to be sung to sleep by the symphony of the night.

For them, maybe, but to the castle, one of the most interesting things about this room, is the mirror. This is strange, as, while there are other mirrors in this house, they are nothing more than a silver decoration; they have no purpose here, unless they float in shards and possibility. This is an ordinary mirror. It does hold something now, however, and that’s Lisa—only giving more credence to the idea that she is the only living thing in this castle. The castle wonders if they think it will reflect the child, as if they are hoping he will take after his mother and the room.

The mirror, and the windows. In the rest of the castle, the windows are always closed, curtained, or too small to let any real light in. But here they are big, and inviting to all the wiles of the day. Dracula protested—fearing he would burn. Lisa insisted—hoping he would shine.

The mirror, the room, are empty now. The windows closed. The books and charts dormant as the rest. It is not dead, but it’s not alive either. Not even undead. Just a question. An almost.

The room lays on Frankenstein’s table; just one lightning strike—(or one child’s laugh)—away from breathing.

[the-iron-orchid]

Rimworld: Arcana, Part 10: Exit, Pursued By a Megaspider

Randy, in his infinite generosity, has given us... a single synthread vest of Normal quality. *kazoo noise*

It’s just now winter (the quadrum of Decembary), and it’s so cold that our food is definitely gonna stay frozen, even without power. However, people will work more slowly and be mad about sleeping in the cold.

So, I have intentionally been keeping our wealth down, because more wealth attracts more and better-equipped raiders over time. (Those red dots mark raids.) Also, the wealthier you are, the higher your colonists’ expectations and the more it takes to keep them happy. Buuuuuut... you do get to a point where you just have to expand, so that you can support your growing colony through the ever-increasing challenges that the game throws at you.

Winter is very cold here, and we’re maxing out our available electricity keeping bedrooms comfortable (remember, sleeping in the cold gives pawns a negative mood) and warming workspaces (pawns work slower in cold environments). This here is an investment in future hot water and radiators, at a lot less research cost than full-on geothermal electricity. We have six geothermal vents on this map, we should make use of them!

Meanwhile, we start expanding our crafting and dining/rec rooms.

Gettin so much of that inspirational diq that s/he kicks Julian out of the research chair, let’s goooooooo

Why is s/he so happy? S/he still has Low expectations because the colony is not very wealthy, and s/he’s getting that diq action on the regular. The addition of more types of recreation keeps hir from being bored. That bed Turel made is incredibly comfortable, apparently. Heron has been making nothing but Fine Meals with fruits in them to help boost spirits, and the rooms are nice enough to add small mood boosts of their own. The only downside is Roomba coming in late and waking hir up briefly, lmao

...I mean, I have to admire their tenacity ig, it’s the middle of the damned night

These two in the north ‘prepare’ by milling about and cracking jokes.

This would be a pretty good pawn, if I could recruit her.

This one has negative social traits, but I find it odd that they’re both Fun-Loving. Why did they send their Party Girls to assault my base?

Meanwhile, these two in the south talk about... pets and cute animals to pass the time.

Hines here is fantastic, I really hope I can down him and recruit him instead of killing him outright...

Even as I roust our colonists out of bed to face the threat, these two fools ignore the perimeter wall completely, and make a beeline to go party with the bugs.

The other two follow suit, and soon Hines here is the only one left standing, bravely fleeing for his life from this Megaspider (you have to imagine the legs, ok, nothing in Rimworld has visible legs). So much for recruiting Hines...

Bugs: 6, Raiders: 2. This is getting ridiculous. Our colonists went back to bed, not a single shot fired.

Since we aren’t spending time on crops, construction has been proceeding pretty quickly. We’ve enlarged the work and common rooms, and we’re planning for future private bathrooms. The freezing midnight latrine will (eventually) be a thing of the past!

IDK man, putting up a massive monument that says “Lord So-and-So has a learning disability” seems really ableist. OTOH, +16 goodwill is nothing to sneeze at... but right now we need our building materials for our own base, not some baron’s vanity. Proposal: rejected.

So far, we’ve been lucky that disease hasn’t ravaged our colony (yet). This research is another long-term gambit, because we’ll need to grow and process neutro flowers or trade for neutroamine in order to make preventive drugs for common ailments.

Another cargo pod? Wow, gee, thanks Randy, we’ll treasure it! (spoiler: we didn’t even bother to haul it in)

Halfway through Decembary! Future private bathrooms have been built out, we now have a shooting range and martial arts practice area off to the right, and a new butchering station is being created. The hospital area has been slightly expanded and outfitted with sterile tiles, making it very clean indeed (speeds research and lowers chance of infection). The kitchen and butchery will also be given sterile flooring to prevent food poisoning, but these tiles are expensive and slow to make!

And Julian has a megasloth-fur ushanka.

[reds-burrow]

Hi, how did you know that you were a snake secondary modelling badger, instead of a badger secondary? I know I’m a snake or badger but I can’t figure out which :/ I act like a shy snake but I wish my methods were less tricky? I want to be more straightforward with my methods like a badger but I feel like I can’t

I wrote before about how my fanfiction writing helped me understand the true nature of a Snake secondary without all my preconceived notions getting in the way. But I may have left out the round and round, long, and frankly boring tale of how once I had the suspicion that I was a Snake, I immediately went into full denial; read up more until I got terribly confused; tried sending a sort me to Wisteria; kept remembering all the times my Neutral state came out and almost accepted I was a Snake; saw this post which confirmed for me that I've been using Courtier Badger for as long as I can recall; went back to thinking I was a Badger secondary for a couple weeks; tried and failed to explain away my Snake as being a part of my Bird model; decided (rightfully) that it didn't matter which secondary I have because I know who I am and I am constantly growing and changing and slapping a label on myself can only ever describe who I was, not who I am becoming, and who I will be in the future holds more value for me; and then found myself fixing a shelf with binder clips and finally decided I was a Snake secondary.

So... yeah. If you're confused, you are not alone. To actually answer your question though, the big things that convinced me my innate is Snake with a Badger model and not the other way around were these:

1. Shortcuts: Badgers care much more about method, sometimes even taking offense when others use shortcuts. Understandable, seeing as the Badger has put in the work. My sister is a Badger secondary and an illustrator, and she gets outraged when she sees people selling art that is 'personalized' when it is all based on one template, just with a few colors swapped around. The personalized pieces she's done in the past were always started from a blank canvas.

Snakes are less concerned with using a proper method and more concerned with practicality and efficiency. When I met my best friend (a Double Snake), we bonded by joking about how lazy we both were and by trading shortcuts to help each other out. What's that Agatha Christie quote again? "I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness—to save oneself trouble." That's what shortcuts are to me: a creative solution to save oneself trouble.

2. Community Help: Okay, my experience with this one is a little more complicated because I do use Courtier Badger when I'm socializing. But I realized, I really don't use it to problem solve like an innate Courtier Badger would. When I encounter a problem, my first thoughts are how I can handle the problem on my own. Asking for help is not my first instinct or even my second or third. As a Badger primary, I love communities, I devote myself to them, but using them to help myself just doesn't naturally occur to me as an option. But when people realize on their own that I need help, that's when my Courtier Badger shines. One time I was in the hospital, I suddenly had all sorts of people, acquaintances I hadn't thought I'd made an impression on, coming out of the woodwork to help. Communities are living entities all their own, and when the signal goes out that a Courtier Badger, one who has inspired trust or loyalty with their reliable reputation, needs help, the community spreads the word. Snakes usually don't have that reliable reputation, so they generally don't have the option of calling on an entire community for help.

3. Neutral State: The big thing that keeps me convinced of my sorting is that my Neutral state is clearly a Neutral Snake, not a Neutral Badger. If you strip away the Courtier Badger or the Snake mask, how these secondaries interact with other people is still different. We already have a clear description of what a Neutral Snake looks like: a Lion who doesn't charge, an immovable object. If you strip away a Snake's Fluidity, what's left? Improvisation and Circumventing, right? Well, Snakes share the improvising with Lions, so they're going to look like Circumventing Lions. That's where the lack of forward momentum, the immovable object, comes from. Neutral Snakes need to see how the situation is changing before they can circumvent it. And if we strip the Fluidity from a Badger secondary, we know they're Built and Straightforward. To quote the official SHC Wordpress, when talking about how Badgers act socially, "A [Badger] who is invested in their work, rather than people, is as likely as a [Lion] to step on toes." In other words, Bookkeeper Badgers act like Lions socially. This is the Neutral Badger, which has a similar Straightforward, forward momentum to Lions, thus the stepping on toes. (A Neutral Snake will step on your toes too, but usually only in reaction to you poking them first.) A Neutral Badger's Built side shows in very much the same way a Neutral Bird's (see: Solid Bird) does. They refuse to misrepresent what they've invested their time and energy into. For Birds, it's their collections (what they know to be true and factual), and for Badgers its their methods (what they know to be proper and fair).

My mom has a strong Courtier Badger, but when she's home around just our family, her Neutral comes out. Realizing what I was seeing in her and the differences between how we interact with people in our Neutral states has helped keep me sure that I'm a Snake under the Badger.

Anyway, hope something in there helped. You didn't give me much to go on with what "tricky" methods you use, but I should point out that Badgers can lie and manipulate too. I will say that "I want to do ___ but I feel like I can't" is typically Burnt language so be sure to consider that.

[forestwater87]

How did you become a university Librarian? Did you do an English degree? Sorry if this is a weird question it just really interests me as I’m not sure what to do when I’m older

Eeee I got really excited about this question! 

Okay, the fun thing about librarianship is that all roads can lead to it: as long as you get an ALA-approved (assuming you’re American; if you aren’t I cannot help you) graduate degree you can do just about anything for undergrad. English majors are extremely common, just by the nature of who’s into the job, but literally it doesn’t matter; in fact, weirder and more specialized degrees can actually help in certain jobs, because they give you a ton of background info and qualifications than most of your contemporaries have.

I fell into it because I worked at a library in high school and fell in love with the environment, and when I realized I’d rather die than work in publishing (my previous life’s goal) I gravitated toward library school. I knew from the beginning that I’d need a Master’s -- and a very specific one at that -- so mostly my undergrad was just “grab a foundational degree and have fun with it.” That was really freeing, honestly. I had a ton of fun in undergrad.

Now, if you, Anon, were interested in getting into librarianship I’d have a handful of recommendations. These are all based on my very American experience, and there are probably smarter people than me with better advice but I’m the only one on this blog so heeeeerrreeeee we goooooooooo!

Undergrad

You need a 4-year degree. Full-stop. It doesn’t matter what kind, but you gotta have one to get into grad school.

Like I said, you can do just about anything for an undergraduate degree. Most of the time English is the BA of choice, because librarians love them some books, but some far less common ones that I think would be hugely helpful to a hopeful librarian would be:

Computer Science: Oh my god you need at least a baseline competency in computers/technology please you don’t have to code but you need to be able to turn a computer on and navigate just about any website/office application on just about any device at the very least you need to know how to Google

Business/Marketing: Particularly if you want to work in public libraries, where a bunch of your funding comes from begging politicians and convincing taxpayers to donate/vote to give you money

Law: If you want to be a law librarian

Medical . . . whatever, I don’t know what fields of medicine there are: If you want to work in a hospital or other medical library

History or Art History: If you’re interested in archives or museum librarianship

Education: School librarians in my state require you to be a certified teacher, and no matter what kind of library you end up in, you’ll end up teaching someone something a decent amount of the time

Communications: You’ll be doing a lot of it. Public speaking, too

Spanish/ASL/any not-the-common language: Hey, you never know what your patrons speak

Literally fucking anything I promise it doesn’t matter what you major in you will use it in a library at some point

Just be aware that you will need more than an undergrad degree. You’ll need probably 2 years of postsecondary schooling (more for certain types of librarianship), so get yourself comfortable with the idea of college.

If you’re like me (please don’t be like me), you might toy with the idea of getting a minor or two/double majoring to round out your skill set. Honestly I’d encourage it if you’re comfortable with the workload and have the time or money; like I said, there are no skills or educational background that won’t come in handy at some point. I promise. We see it all.

Along those lines, a wide expanse of hobbies can be hugely helpful too! You never know when your encyclopedic knowledge of Minecraft will be useful to a patron, but it absolutely will be.

Graduate School

All right, you’ve got your lovely little Bachelor’s Degree, maybe in something weird and esoteric for the fun of it . . . now you’re off to do more school!

It’s a bit complicated, because there are a handful of different titles an appropriate degree could have; my school called it “a Master of Science in Information Science” (MSIS), but other schools might just go with “Master’s of Information Science” (MIS), “Master’s of Library Science” (MLS), “Master’s of Library and Information Science” (MLIS) . . . it’s a mess. 

What you need to do is make sure the degree is approved by the American Library Association, who decides if a program is good enough to make you a librarian in the States. (Again, if you’re not American, good luck.)

Here’s a list of ALA-accredited programs and the schools that offer them.

The nice thing is accreditation has to be renewed at least every few years, so that means your program is always updated to make sure it’s in line with national standards. I’m not promising you’ll learn everything you need to be a librarian in grad school (oh my god you so won’t not even close hahahaha), but at least in theory you’ll be learning the most up-to-date information and methods.

(I’m curious to see how things have changed; when I was in school from 2015-17, the hot topics in library science were makerspaces (especially 3D printing), turning the library into the community’s “third space,” and learning how to incorporate video games into library cataloging and programming. No idea if those are still the main hot-button issues or if we’ve moved on to something else; I imagine information literacy and fake news are a pretty big one for current library students.)

Anyway! You pick a school, you might have to take a test or two to get in -- I had to take the GRE, which is like the SATs but longer -- almost certainly have to do all that annoying stuff like references and cover letters and all that, but assuming you’re in: now what?

There are a couple options depending on the school and the program, but I’m going to base my discussion around the way my school organized their program at the time, because that’s what I know dammit and I will share my outdated information because I want to.

My school broke the degree down into 5 specializations, which you chose upon application to the program:

Archives & Records Administration: For working in archives! I took some classes here when I was flirting with the idea, and it’s a lot of book preservation, organizing and caring for old documents and non-book media, and digitization. Dovetails nicely into museum work. It’s a very specific skillset, which means there will be jobs that absolutely need what you specifically can do but also means there aren’t as many of them. It makes you whatever the opposite of a “jack of all trades” is. You’re likely to be pretty isolated, so if you want to spend all your time with books this might be a good call; it’s actually one of the few library-related options that doesn’t require a significant amount of public-facing work. 

Library & Information Services: For preparation to work in public or academic (college) libraries. Lots of focus on reference services, some cataloging, and general interacting-with-the-public. You have to like people to go into library services in general, heads up.

Information Management & Technology: Essentially meaningless, but you could in theory work as like a business consultant or otherwise do information-related things with corporations or other organizations.

Information Storage & Retrieval: Data analytics, database . . . stuff. I don’t really know. Computers or something. Numbers 3 and 4 really have nothing to do with libraries, but our school was attempting to branch out into more tech-friendly directions. That being said, both this and #3 could definitely be useful in a library! Libraries have a lot of tech, and in some ways business acumen could be helpful. All roads lead to libraries; remember that.

Library & Information Services / School Library Media Specialist: This was the big kahuna. To be a school librarian -- at least in my state -- you need to be both a certified librarian and a certified teacher, which means Master’s degrees in both fields. What our school did was basically smushed them together into a combined degree; you took a slightly expanded, insanely rigorous 2-2.5 years (instead of the traditional 1.5-2) and you came out of it with two degrees and two certifications, ready to throw your butt into an elementary, middle/junior high, or high school library. Lots of focus on education. I started here before realizing I don’t like kids at all, then panicked and left. Back in 2017 this was the best one for job security, because our state had just passed a law requiring all school librarians to be certified with a MSIS/MLS/whatever degree. So lots of people already in school libraries were desperately flinging themselves at this program, and every school was looking for someone that was qualified. No idea if that’s changed in time.

No matter what concentration you went in with, you automatically graduated with a state certification to be a librarian, which was neat. You didn’t automatically get civil service status, though; for some public libraries you need to be put on a civil service list, which means . . . something, I’m not entirely sure. It involves taking exams that are only available at certain times of the year and I gave up on it because it looked hard. 

No one did more than 1 concentration, which is dumb because I wanted to do them all, but it takes a lot of time and money to take all the classes associated with all of them so I personally did #2, which was on the upper end of mid-tier popularity. School library and database services were far and away the most popular, and literally no one did the business one because it was basically useless, so library and archives were the middle children of which the library one was prettier.

THAT BEING SAID! Some forms of librarianship require a lot more education. A few of those are:

Law librarians: At least in my state, you gotta be a certified librarian and have a J.D. This is where the “big bucks” are -- though let’s be real, if you want to be a librarian you have zero interest in big bucks; reconcile yourself to being solidly middle-class and living paycheck-to-paycheck for the rest of your life or marrying rich -- which I guess is why it requires the most work.

School librarians: Like I mentioned, depending on the state you might need two degrees, and not all schools smush them into one. You might need to get a separate Master’s in education.

College librarians: Now, this depends on the college and the job; some colleges just need an all-access librarian, like mine. I didn’t need to specialize in anything, I just showed up with my degree and they took me. (Note: these sorts of entry-level positions tend to pay piss. Like, even more piss than most library gigs. Just a heads-up.) However, if you’re looking to get into a library of a higher-end university, you might be asked to have a second Master’s-level or higher degree just to prove you’re academic enough to party at their school. (Let’s be real, Harvard is almost certainly gonna want someone with a Ph.D. at the very least. That’s just how they roll.) Alternatively, the position might be for a specialty librarian, someone in charge of a field-specific library or field-specific reference services; if you’re being asked to head up the Science & Engineering Library at Masshole University, it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll be bringing a degree in engineering or some sort of science to the table. Colleges have so many different needs that predicting what kind of experience/education you should get is a bit of a challenge. Good luck. Some schools will help you out a bit with this; my grad school had dual degree programs where you could share credits between the MSIS and either an English or History Master’s so you could graduate with both in less time. I . . . started this, and then panicked at the thought of more school/writing a thesis and bailed, but it’s great if you’re into that idea!

What’s the point of the Information/Library Science degree?

You have to have the degree. If you don’t have the degree, you don’t get the job and you don’t make-a the money. Resign yourself to getting a Master’s degree or you’re gonna be bummed out and unemployed.

In terms of what you learn? Well, obviously it depends on the program, but I found that a lot of what I learned was only theoretically related to what I do on a daily basis. My instructors were lovely (well, the adjuncts anyway; the full-timers really didn’t want to be there and wanted to be off doing research and shit), but every library is so idiosyncratic and there’s such a massive umbrella of jobs you could get in one -- god, I didn’t even get into things like metadata services, which I learned basically nothing about in grad school but are super important to some positions -- that it’s hard to learn anything practical in a classroom.

However, besides the piece of paper that lets you make-a the money, there are two important things you should get from your grad school education:

Research skills: My god, you’re going to be doing so much research. If you’re a public librarian, you need to know how to Google just about anything. And if you’re a college librarian, being able to navigate a library database and find, evaluate, and cite sources . . . I mean, you’re going to be doing so much of that, showing students how to do that. Like a ridiculous amount of my day is showing students how to find articles in the virtual library. Get good at finding things, because much like Hufflepuffs, librarians need to be great finders.

Internship(s): Just about every library program will require an internship -- usually but not always in replacement of a thesis -- and if the one you’re looking at doesn’t, dump it like James Marsden in a romantic comedy. Internships are hugely important not only because they look good on a resume and give you some of those delicious, delicious references, but they are a snapshot of what your job is going to look like on a day-in, day-out basis; if nothing else, you’ll learn really fast what does and doesn’t appeal to you. As I mentioned, I wanted to be a school librarian for about half a semester. You know what changed my mind? My class required like 40 hours of interning at schools of each level. Being plopped into that environment like a play you’re suddenly acting in? Super helpful in determining whether or not this shit is for you.

What else should I learn, then?

Besides how to research basically anything? Here are some useful skills in just about any library:

Copyright law. Holy shit, do yourself a favor and learn about publishing/distribution laws in your state. Do you wanna show a movie as a fun program? You need to buy a license and follow super specific rules or it’s illegal! Does an instructor want to make copies of their textbook to give to the students? Make sure you know how much they can copy before it’s no longer fair use! Everything in my life would be easier if I’d taken the time to learn anything about copyright. I did not, and now I’m sad. (I lost out on a job opportunity because they wanted the librarian to be particularly knowledgeable in that kinda thing, and I was very not.)

Metadata and cataloging. In theory, you should learn this in grad school, but I was only given the bare basics and it wasn’t enough. Dublin Core, MARC-21, RDF -- there are so many different kinds of metadata schema, and I took a 6-week class in this and still don’t understand any of the words I just used in this sentence. But basically, to add items to a library catalog you often need to know how to input them into your library’s system; to an extent that’ll be idiosyncratic to your library’s software, but some of it will be based on a larger cataloging framework, so familiarity with those is very useful.

Public speaking and education. You’re gonna do a lot of it. Learn how to deal.

General tech savviness. Again, we’re not talking about coding but if you can navigate a WordPress website? If you know how to troubleshoot just about any issue with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc.? If you can unjam printers and install software and use social media you’re going to be a much happier person. At the very least, know how to google tutorials and fake your way through; your IT person can only do so much, and a lot of it is probably going to fall on you.

Social work, diplomacy, general human relations kinda stuff. You’re going to be dealing with all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, with every political view, personal problem, and life experience under the sun. You need to get very good at being respectful of diversity -- even diversity you don’t like* -- and besides separating your own personal views and biases from your work, you’ll be much better equipped to roll with the punches if you have, for example, conflict resolution training. Shit’s gonna get weird sometimes, I promise. (Once a student came in swinging around butterfly knives and making ninja noises. You know who knew how to deal with that? Not me!)

Standard English writing and mechanics. It’s not fair, but in general librarians are expected to have a competent grasp on the Standard English dialect, and others are less likely to be appreciated by the general populace. Obviously this differs based on your community and environment, and colloquialisms are sometimes useful or even necessary, but as a rule of thumb it’s a good call to be able to write “properly,” even if that concept is imperialist bullshit.

*I don’t mean Nazis. Obviously I don’t mean Nazis. Though there is a robust debate in the library community about whether Nazis or TERFs or whatever should be allowed to like, use library facilities for their own group meetings or whatever. I tend to fall on the “I don’t think so” side of the conversation, but there’s a valid argument to be made about not impeding people’s access to information -- even wrong or harmful information. 

Any other advice?

Of course! I love to talk. Let’s see . . .

Get really passionate about freedom of information and access: A library’s main reason for existing is to help people get ahold of information (including fiction) that they couldn’t otherwise access. If you’re a public librarian, you have to care a lot about making sure people can access information you probably hate. (If you’re an academic librarian it’s a little more tricky, because the resources should meet a certain scholarly threshold, and if you’re a school librarian there are issues of appropriateness to deal with, but in general more info to more people is always the direction to push.) Get ready to defend your library purchases to angry patrons or even coworkers; get ready to defend your refusal to purchase something, if that’s necessary. Get ready to hold your nose and cringe while you add American Sniper to your library collection, because damn it, your patrons deserve access to the damn stupid book. Get really excited about finding new perspectives and minority representation, because that’s also something your patrons deserve access to. Get really excited about how technology can make access easier for certain patrons, and figure out how to make it happen in your library. Care about this; it’s essential that you’re passionate about information -- helping your patrons find it, making sure they can access it, evaluating it, citing it . . . all of it. Get ranty about it. Just do it.

Be prepared to move if necessary: One of my professors told us that there was one thing that would always guarantee you a job that paid well -- this was in 2016 but still -- that as long as you had it you could do whatever you wanted. And that was a suitcase. Maybe where you live is an oversaturated market (thanks for having 6 library schools in a 4-hour radius, my state). Maybe something something economic factors I don’t really understand; the point is that going into this field, you should probably make peace with the idea that you’ll probably either end up taking a job that doesn’t make enough money or struggle a lot to even find one . . . or you’re going to have to go where the jobs are. It’s a small field. Just know that might be a compromise you have to make, unless you can get a strictly remote job.

Read: This sounds stupidly obvious but it’s true! Read things that aren’t your genre, aren’t your age range; patrons are going to ask you for reading advice all the goddamn time, especially if you’re a public librarian, so the more you can be knowledgeable about whatever your patrons might ask you about, the easier your life will be. If you’re considering librarianship you probably love to read anyway, so just ride that pony as hard as you possibly can.

Learn to be okay with weeding -- even things you don’t think deserve it: You are going to have to recycle books. You’re going to have to throw away books. You’re going to have to take books out of the collection and make them disappear in some fashion or another. There are a lot of reasons -- damage and lack of readership are big ones -- and there’s no bigger red flag to a librarian than someone saying “I could never destroy a book.” That kind of nonsense is said by people who’ve never had to fit 500 books onto a shelf built for 450. Archivists are different, of course, as are historians, and everyone should have a healthy respect for books both as physical objects and as sources of information, but you’re going to have to get rid of them sometimes, and you’re just going to have to learn how to do that dispassionately.

Have fun! No one gets into this because they want money; if you want to be a librarian, or work in any library-adjacent field, it’s because you really care about the values of librarianship, or the people in your community, or preserving and sharing as great a wealth of information as possible. Your job will often be thankless and it’ll sometimes be exhausting. There will be times where it’s actually scary. And unless you’re rich as balls, it will make you stare at your student loans and sigh with despair. (You may be living in your parents’ basement while you sigh at your loans because you can’t afford to live on your own, for an example that has zero relevance to any authors of this blog, living or dead.)  I can’t tell you if it’s worth it -- though you’ll probably find out pretty quickly during your internship, because that’s what internships are for. All I can say is that I love it, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

[melmac78]

Of leather tooling and love

(Tag mini bang 2021)

Here’s my story for @tagminibang. I want to thank @tracybirds for their amazing art and working with me. Also, I thank them being extremely patient with learning about leather tooling and for adapting to the time zone difference to get this put together.

(I added my own art piece - “John’s” astronomy cuff… mark I, and will link directly to tracybirds’s art when I can fully figure this out).

•••••••

John Tracy was mad... so mad he was making an indelible mark that would take forever for someone to wipe away or cover up.

Fortunately it was leather, and he was tooling a design so no one would really want to cover it up, but he still was at points surprised he wasn't punching holes in the design… or the table.

A chirp however made him question the latter.

“John, please do not hit the table so hard. You are making my processors overload,” gently scolded EOS as the man was swinging the rawhide mallet.

While fortunately her interruption didn’t make him miss, allowing him to add to the octopus design, John set the leather tools down and sighed. “I’m sorry EOS,” he said gently.

“I accept your apology, but I do not understand why stamping cowhide will help your anger,” said the AI.

“As I said, it’s leather tooling, and it’s better to use my anger for something creative,” John said quietly.

“Even this … item?”

He looked at the cuff he was working on again and gave a half smile. “Even this wallet,” the astronaut chuckled.

After giving EOS a task to do, reminding her not to adjust the gravity back to zero to avoid any spills from his work, John looked at the project again.

He sighed, understanding his curious “data child’s” curiosity. Leather tooling, while a bit outdated in some people's eyes, was one of the few learned talents and gifts he still had from his Grandfather as well as his Dad.

And - it reminded him of Gordon, in good and bad times.

Gordon… his brother with the wacky sense of dress.

The aquanaut preferred to wear on average two leather bands and then a woven smaller band with the first two oyster pearls he found.

That's why he stopped - at the moment, it felt as though if he took out more anger on the mallet and metal stamping tool, he was hurting Gordon. Triple if he managed to hit it so hard it tore through the damp leather.

Who knew Gordon’s penchant for being the only one to wear leather wrist bands would save his life?

A week and a half prior... he chose to wear two broader bands on one arm and his usual one on his other.

They were nearly the width of a cuff, with designs that took forever to explain to EOS. It was an unusual decision, but one that the brothers were thankful Gordon made.

They had been called out to a rescue - a skyscraper fire in Houston, and all land based brothers had been called as it required high rise rescue.

Gordon had been on level 70 of the building, rescuing an unconscious woman. He had secured the victim in with his harness and started to use the pulley to get them to the top of the building for Thunderbird to lift them to safety.

An explosion had knocked them for a loop, smashing Gordon into the building.

Gordon took the brunt of the hit, slamming into the frame.

In spite of the helmet, he too was knocked out. Worse, the grapple slipped, and glass shards, still stuck in their mounts, sliced down his forearms.

It cut the neoprene... and through part of his thick leather cuffs.

When they recovered both victims, Virgil and John immediately triaged the two. She had a minor concussion and smoke inhalation.

Gordon however not only too had the bump on the head - thanks to the helmet taking the brunt, he also a dislocated shoulder, and a few cracked and broken ribs.

But what was the immediate concern at the time of the rescue was his arms, particularly the wrists. They took the brunt of the damage.

The leather bands however, saved his life. They made what would've been life threatening - if not fatal, slashes on his wrist to mostly superficial cuts.

The bands though were completely destroyed as far as wearability. Virgil would have to apologize for cutting them completely off - but not why - later.

Gordon was taken to a hospital in Houston's esteemed Medical Center, where he went through multiple surgeries, a few pints of blood, and lots of rest.

That was a week ago, as Gordon had a healing rib rebreak, nicking his lung. It was repaired, the bleeder stopped, but Gordon had to be put under sedation for a couple of days to ensure the site healed.

Though they had lifted the sedation the day prior and were waiting for Gordon to come out of it, the family would have to wait couple of days before he could return to Tracy Island.

That lead to where he was today.

John sighed, and looked around Thunderbird Five.

He had been practicing some leather tooling at University of Houston's art department.

That was before a space rescue needed both him and Alan, and afterword, he stayed on Five to keep apprised of a possible hurricane.

Well that and have an excuse to decline another lecture invite from NASA.

John was thankful that U of H understood his need for privacy, and that having a PhD in Aeronautics and Space allowed him some special favors.

The positive it included the use of one of the art studios to leather tool...

The negative? The trade off was as long as he also donated one of his famous astronomy tooled leather cuffs for a fundraiser.

He had already finished the band for the auction two days prior, complete with the antique leather dye, golden paint accents in the star constellations, and steampunk like swing hinge cuff. Not the easiest to make, especially setting the rivets for the cuff.

Worth it to John - small price to pay, but would reap rewards for U of H’s generosity. He’d bring it to them when he visited Gordon again.

The astronaut then looked at the octopus carved and stamped on the wallet. "It was too damn close," he said out loud, but at the same time, he was thankful. This was for Gordon later on.

John then smiled at the thought. It was indeed for his aquanaut brother, one they could’ve lost in that fire.

He was about to stamp the leather again... when a beep startled him.

The astronaut asked EOS to answer it, and the image of Virgil came out of the monitor.

"Gordon's come to," said Virgil.

"Fully?"

The older brother shrugged. "Mostly, but he should be fully alert by the time you get to the hospital," he said, then frowned. "He's asking about the leather bands... especially the one that was 'Mom's belt'."

John furrowed his brow.

Yes, that belt bracelet.

Fortunately the one bracelet Gordon hadn't worn that day.

Unfortunately, the one Gordon duplicated - with varying degrees of success, he did wear nearly daily.

John could imagine Gordon’s initial reaction… he’d feel the same way.

"Virgil, Gordon didn't wear that cuff that day," he said. "He intentionally put a small Thunderbird stamp on his so he didn't confuse the two."

Virgil nodded. "I know, but you know him and anesthetics... gives him the wrong memory if he's not goofy from it," he said, then chuckled. “Last time he was trying to feed Parker poster pancakes on the USS Lexington.”

John scoffed at the memory. "That one still has Parker perplexed," he said, then stood, stretching. "Try to talk him down from his confusion. I'll be there in a few minutes. I need to get something."

Virgil noticed John’s labors on the table and quirked an eyebrow. "What about the wallet you're working on?"

"It'll be fine. The leather can be dampened again to finish it up. I expected it to be a longer project over the bracelets I made at U of H,” he said, putting the stamping tool and mallet down.

The artist noticed John’s attempt to deflect, and his eyes twinkled in mischief. "So… how many projects did the University ‘con’ you out of for the auction this time?" said the artist with a teasing smirk.

He wasn't going to give his younger brother too much grief - he still owed the University at least one hand blown glass vase.

"Just the one - the astronomy cuff."

Virgil gave a soft whistle. "That one? You won't even make that one for me."

"Then bid on the one they're selling," snarked John as he cleaned up the rest of the leather tooling supplies.

Virgil merely laughed - yeah, he was going to bid if anything to help a department who helped his brother cope through this.

John then picked up a box wrapped in sea turtle wrapping paper. "I'll be there shortly,” he said walking to the space elevator.

“FAB.”

********

Gordon Tracy looked out the windows of his hospital room from his hovering hospital bed and signed.

He was thankful he wasn't stuck with a view of the generators. The hospital still hadn't gotten over teasing him - gently - about calling them "Donald Duck" in a post-anesthesia comment the other time he was there for an injury.

Here, it was a view of one of the garden parks the area had.

What he wasn't thankful for was the fact he lost the leather band that was made from his mother's belt.

He looked at the long bandages wrapped on his wrists and lower arms and sighed.

Sure, Virgil kept insisting it was not the band, but he knew his bracelets.

Yes, he had to admit they had to be fully cut off too keep him from bleeding out through his wrists - he knew one cut was still too close.

Still though... he had to concede if it was gone, it was his mother protecting him.

Even Scott had told him point blank it was the only time he was thankful Gordon had forgotten to take the bands off.

Rumor had it Scott was even considering consulting with Brains to create leather arm bracers.

His theory was if it worked for the cowboys in the 1800s and 1900s, why not the technological cowboys of today?

Gordon looked at the sky and smiled. "Thanks Mom for watching over both that woman and me," he said, then looked at the bands.

There were blood stains on them, which were not going to come out.

Sure, they could be dyed dark before being stored, most likely black, and he could have John help him there. That said, it was not going to matter when they had been made unwearable when Virgil cut them off.

There were the button and hole fixtures sure... but the aquanaut understood Virgil was going to slice first, apologize for saving Gordon's life later.

Blood loss didn’t wait for bracelets.

A knock at the door shook him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, adjusting the bed to where it floated back to connect with the main vitals scanner.

John entered and smiled at seeing his alert brother, the first time he'd been fully awake since before the accident.

"Hi Gordon, how are you feeling," he said, wincing slightly at the cliche.

His fish loving brother just smiled, but the astronaut didn't miss the sadness in the cinnamon colored eyes. "I'm having a whale of a time... too bad the lake below probably only has ducks," he said, chuckling slightly.

“Must be going ‘quackers’ then,” joked John, only to watch as Gordon fiddled with the remains of the bracelets. John coughed. "Gordon..."

"I know. They had to be cut off in order to save my life," the aquanaut said, sighing. "It's just... this was mom's - look at the paisley here..."

John put his hand over both his younger brother's and smiled. "It isn't the one made with Mom's belt, trust me,” he said, smiling, then pointing to a detail. "See? Here's the thunderbird stamp you used for yours."

Gordon took a closer look, and his eyes widened slightly.

John was right... it was indeed there, just had been cut in half by the cutting tools. Well he hoped so and not the glass, but that was a story left unsaid at the time.

"It's not mom's," the aquanaut whispered instead, tears of happiness flooding his eyes.

The astronaut smiled and gave his brother a gentle hug. "No it isn't. I made sure the one with Mom's was in the fire safe - just in case, on the Island before Alan brought me to the hospital," he said gently.

The two hugged gently for a while, the mix of hospital bluster and soothing sounds from the Muzak in the hallways mingling between the brother's hushed tones.

After a few minutes, Gordon sat up, and noticed the sea turtle box his brother was holding. "Funny looking NASA paper," the aquanaut teased, chuckling softly when John rolled his eyes.

He knew John tried to avoid the facility if possible.

Not because he didn't enjoy it, but because the last time he visited the center, Mission Control crowded him the point he fainted from the social claustrophobia.

Alan found it amusing.

EOS found it amusing to force Alan to eat freeze dried brussel sprouts and liver with onions meals every day his last rotation on Thunderbird Five for his "rude behavior."

Both men chuckled in the memory, and John handed his brother the box. "Nope, this is for you, a get well soon present," said he said.

Gordon carefully opened up the box, which John had purposely wrapped the two parts separately due to the shoulder being strapped, and gasped.

Inside were two bracelets.

One was similar to his mother's belt, but the paisley and flower design that was in his mom's band was adjusted slightly to include southwestern printed sea turtles and a squid stamp John had custom made. Like his mother's, it was dyed a medium brown.

The other... took Gordon's breath away.

The edges were done in a simple border - scalloped with the occasional octopus and sea turtle stamp in between the scallops. It was dyed mahogany.

It was mostly just border stamped... because the concho fastened in the center was the showstopper.

It was a golden sea turtle, swimming in the middle of a pewter center. “How?…”

Seeing Gordon's eyes water, John chuckled. "Yes, I remembered that concho. Had trouble finding it, but fortunately the store on the Sam Houston Tollway found one and put it aside for me," he said as he put a hand on his brother's uninjured shoulder.

Gordon put the box down and wiped away the tears with his good hand. "Got a bit of hand sanitizer in my eyes. Strong stuff," he said, and John scoffed.

"Yeah, sure... you want me to help put it on your … good wrist?" John said, and coughed when Gordon shot the arm out. "Whew... you weren't kidding on the hand sanitizer,” he laughed, waving the fumes away.

"Yeah... apparently it's 'essense of moonshine' I think. It probably kills germs 10 years before they’re born," Gordon smirked.

The bands fit perfectly, and had a simple button and hole fastener so the doctors or even Gordon could take it off with a push if needed.

John watched his brother admire the bracelet, even taking a few photos of the laughs and chuckles his brother made as he showed it off.

Gordon then paused and looked at John. "You made these right?" he inquired, looking at the antiqued looking band.

The astronaut nodded, and Gordon continued, grinning slightly in memory. "How many bands did the University get you to make in exchange for the use of the studio this time?"

"One - and before you ask, the astronomy one,” John said, touching a button on his baldric to ensure EOS didn’t talk about the wallet. She still had a proclivity to ruin surprises - especially if it was one of John’s younger siblings.

Gordon, knowing how much money usually got raised to but one of these bands, looked at the bands and then John. "Worth every cent," he said, smiling warmly as the nurse came in to check Gordon's vitals and bring dinner.

John took this as a note to head out, but before he left, he looked at his brother, who was bragging about the bracelet his older brother made.

And making it very clear how to take it on and off so this one was not cut off.

The astronaut gave a gentle wave to his brother. "I'll be back later," he said, and headed out.

Hearing the chuckles Gordon made again, John's smile broadened. "Yes, it was worth every single minute and cent to hear that laughter," John murmured, but it was priceless to have his brother saved by those other bands.

Now... how he was going to steal the remnants of the old bands to repurpose into a hippie cuff for Gordon was another story