#I'm just so bad at hatching nests

[battleram-skirmisher-fr]

What if I got a mate for my most specialist nocturne?? The original subspecies owner hasn't breed them again in years. What if I get her a mate cause she's one of my personal all time favorites and I'm sad how few of the subspecies there are. What then huh?

[headspace-hotel]

Symbiosis isn't just mutualism. Parasitism is symbiosis. It's uncomfortable to confront parasitic relationships if you want to see your human ideas of good and bad reflected in Nature.

But gazing into something huge and utterly Other, being uncomfortable means you're engaging your mind with it. "Uncomfortable" is actually a whole spectrum of emotions that become a vivid and satisfying rainbow.

There was a post a while back with some artwork of Dendrogaster, a crustacean that parasitizes starfish, and its body is like this branching fractal of fleshy lobes made to fit inside the body of the starfish mirroring its structure, and I was absolutely horrified to look at this, and this horror was the same emotion as a strangely visceral wave of sympathy for this parasite.

Creative works about parasites often invoke the horror of bodily invasion, which is visceral and strong for me, but this artwork inverted that horror, instead showing the horror of being made so perfectly for fitting within someone else that you lose everything you are and become unrecognizable.

I also think of the post about the cowbird chick. It's awful that the bird pushes its siblings out of the nest as it grows, and the mama feeds it because she instinctively must feed her chick, but the cowbird is just a baby. Was it wrong for him to hatch, to be alive, to be hungry, to be a baby and to need love?

Symbiosis is intensely beautiful, and sometimes it's beautiful because it's grotesque and terrible. Of course, the symbiosis between two organisms isn't an allegory for a relationship, it just is a relationship, but looking at the way organisms become entwined feels like you're seeing things that, if words described them, would also be human experiences.

Being invaded by a parasite is a horror of powerlessness and loss of autonomy, but being a parasite is also defined by powerlessness. In many cases, the parasite will die without the host, but the host can live without the parasite. I wonder why it is expected to sympathize with one and not the other.

Your immune system fights against internal parasites like a tapeworm...Imagine being a tapeworm. The body of your host is your universe. Do you find your world to be kind? Benevolent? Does your god love you?

Sometimes people call disabled people "parasites." When I think about my future sometimes I'm uncertain and afraid.

But when a rare non-photosynthetic orchid blooms in the forest, this is not the forest's weakness and failure, but its crowning glory.

[despazito]

could u elaborate on "parrots make bad pets"? not disagreeing (far from it) just interested to see your take! looking to learn more about this

(i've gotten this ask before so please don't mind i'm just gonna paste a writeup i did a while ago)

There’s a blog run by an animal behaviourist who specializes in parrots that i really enjoy reading, she has a very good writeup on the state of companion parrots as an industry: The Inconvenient Truth About Cockatoos

so basically the average person usually cannot meet the needs of a parrot, especially medium and ESPECIALLY large species. they are long lived, extremely social and intelligent animals who are very demanding if you are their only companion. in my mind the most 'ethical' pet parrot setup is having some pairs of budgies in a dedicated bird room filled with foraging enrichment and doing some basic command training as a bird-human bonding activity instead of cuddles.

most pet parrots are hand reared or even hatched in incubators by breeders and are never given a chance to be raised by their parents, and virtually none stay with their parents until a natural weaning age before getting sold. which is wild considering it is fucking ILLEGAL to do that to puppies or kittens.

A parrot isn't really born wired for human companionship in the same way that a dog or cat is. they imprint on their parents which sets the blueprint of their kin, and they generally want to only form extremely close bonds with others of their kin. To get a very people-oriented parrot, it has to think it’s people.

This is different from the socializing practiced in raising cats and dogs or acclimating ferals to people. socializing means exposure to things so that the animal doesn't grow up to see the target as a threat, and ultimately that the target is something that can be very rewarding to spend time around. A dog raised with its mother and socialized to people still understands that it's a dog, it can get along with other dogs, but can also form strong bonds to people. They actually read both dog and human body language and legitimately have an awareness that we are different species.

The companion parrot is raised to think it’s people, and as a result many lose the ability to form bonds with their own kind. in fact the reason many breeders remove eggs or chicks from the nest is arguing that the parent birds don’t really know how to raise their chicks- because they themselves were hand reared and never learned how to parent from their parents! it seems that, like us, parenting isn't perfectly hardwired in parrots and they need to learn the skill from their families, oftentimes even staying to help their parents raise younger siblings!

That's why it's not at all uncommon for pair bonded breeding birds to be sold as a completely separate product from companion birds in many aviary operations. there's so many ads for people selling breeding parrots that fucking hate humans or are semi tame specifically listed for sale as breeders not as pets:

then their babies are bred for the pet market so they are taken either before or right after hatching to get hand reared and imprinted onto humans, because a parrot-bonded parrot just won't be as interested in forming those close human companionships you see in viral videos. this isn't the case for all aviaries, i want to acknowledge there are smaller scale breeders who have tamer breeding birds, but big producers can have borderline feral pairs and the point i'm trying to make is when you socialize a parrot to either the human world or parrot world, it's often at the expense of the other.

most trouble starts once the parrot begins reaching the age of sexual maturity. they stop being openly cuddly to most people, and will try to pair bond with their primary caretaker. It's not uncommon for this to lead to aggression towards other family members because parrots don't share partners, they can even do this to babies they are jealous of!

But a human can't become a suitable mate substitute for a parrot, and some of their mating behaviours such as regurgitating on you can seem straight up gross so the human then shuns the parrot and shuts down their advances. this can make your bird become very sexually frustrated that can lead to more unwanted behaviours and even health emergencies such as prolapse. we lead them on by stroking their chest and backs (only something bonded pairs do, you are essentially jerking off your parrot when you do this..) then reject them with no other outlet for their natural urges, and spaying/neutering isn't an option either! so they're stuck in a psychological purgatory of being unable to fulfill their instincts. and if they're in an understimulating environment and left alone for most of the day in addition to all that, frankly i think that's just an awful life to give to an animal we allegedly love!

we essentially alienate them, and when they don’t have people around to meet their extremely high social needs because you work a 9-5, even if there are other birds around, the lonely or frustrated human-bonded parrot can become depressed and self mutilate.

parrots that were left with their parents, are raised as parrots, and weaned at their own natural pace overwhelmingly do not exhibit these destructive behaviours.

 a productive relationship with a pet parrot is one that fosters independence, not dependence, on the human companion. the most responsible parrot owners should strive to act more as a zookeeper to their parrot instead of cuddling it and creating a ‘velcro’ bird glued to the hip, and socialize with them via training sessions instead of letting their birds indulge in pair bonding behaviours like petting and preening which leads to sexual frustration and aggression or self mutilation.

Ultimately I believe any parrot hand reared and imprinted onto humans is some degree of psychologically damaged and suffers from the parrot equivalent of a developmental trauma, they have been robbed of a normal parrot life and it cannot be undone.

SO many parrot rescues are completely flooded with unwanted pets, many with tough behavioural challenges (for example it's not uncommon for parrots to be reactive to an entire gender, so that cuts the adopter pool immediately in half). and these patterns can be difficult to break especially without the aid of a behaviourist. and the thing still has another 40 years of life left in it but nobody wants to adopt because it's another "crazy bitey bird that hates everyone", has reached sexual maturity so it's no longer as friendly, and it's much easier to start from scratch so folks choose to just buy another baby and keep the cycle going.

And none of that even touches on the rampant poaching that keeps supplying the trade in many parts of the world. and that's why everyone should have domestic chickens or pigeons.

[grandline-fics]

Hi I'm so in love w your blog I love your writings 💙 n e ways I was wondering if you would write a small multiple character fic w luffy and zoro when you hide an injury💙 tyyy

DESCRIPTION: You hide an injury

WARNINGS:  light injury description but nothing bad

CHARACTERS: Zoro, Luffy

WORDS: 1,268

A/N: I'm so glad you like my writing and thank you for the request. I hope this was to your liking!

*REQUESTS ARE OPEN*

DIRECTORY | PROMPT LIST

————————

ZORO

He’d told you not to push yourself. He warned you the dangerous of training beyond your limits so soon after a battle. Zoro told you to listen to your body and like a fool you wanted to prove to him you were strong, that you could do it. You should have listened because when you made the next rep in your training you felt the pull in your back and the pain jolted through you to the point your eyes blurred with tears, the air was slammed out of your lungs. The weight dropped out of your hand loudly and you stumbled back to the window seat closest to you, shuddering out slow, shallow breaths as you tried to calm yourself from the initial shock. By the time the hatch opened and Zoro’s head appeared you’d managed to control your expression. “What happened?”

“N-nothing.” You insisted, still breathless that you hoped you could just pass off as tiredness from the training. “Was getting tired and the weight slipped. Just catching my breath.” Zoro watched you carefully as he entered the Crow’s Nest fully and approached you, his keen stare never moving from your face. You met his gaze as much as you could and tried to seem as relaxed as possible even though the pain was still spasming in your back. Yes, you’d endured harsher injuries in countless battles and you would recover from this without any issue. All you needed to do was take it slow and easy and rest. The only problem was managing to keep it hidden from Zoro to avoid him getting smug about you not listening to him.

“Looks like you’ve caught your breath, you going to start up again?” Zoro asked casually, jerking his head back towards the weight on the ground. “Seems like you weren’t finished.”

“Uhh I would continue but that’s a heavier weight than I’m used to. Better to quit while I’m ahead right? Last thing we need is an injury.” You forced out with a tight smile, stiffly getting to your feet and heading towards the hatch. It wasn’t until you were nearly there that you realised you’d have to stoop down to lift it open and make the climb down and you felt like crying or cursing. Just as you prepared to do what would bring you more pain, Zoro’s arm wrapped around your waist gently to keep you upright. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Stopping you from hurting yourself anymore than you already have.” You tensed at that and let your eyes slide closed in slight annoyance that he already knew. Zoro had a talent of seeming laid-back and unobservant when really he was taking everything in, you hated that about him but also admired him for it. For now though your pride was wounded along with your back and you couldn’t help but pout when Zoro crouched down to open the hatch before lifting you gently but securely into his hold with one arm before using the other to carry you down the mast. 

When you were safely in your shared room you let out a groan when you lay on the bed. A sigh of relief followed when Zoro’s hand went straight to where the pain was at its worst, applying just the right amount of pressure and care to help your back. It got so good that you could feel yourself beginning to fall asleep but Zoro’s voice saying your name got your attention. Softly you let out a hum to show you were listening. “I told you so.”

LUFFY

You loved Luffy, you truly did. You loved how energetic and fierce he was, how he always had a smile and a laugh for nearly any situation. You loved how serious he got in a fight and how no one, no matter how much bigger they were or how important they were he still faced them head on if they did something to bring his fury on them. What you didn’t like was that sometimes that energy and that fightable spirit remained even when he was asleep. For the most part you managed to get used to it, jumping awake some nights when he let out a yell that he’d kick his dream opponents ass. Other times you’d wake to him bolting upright in the bed, his fist reeled back to throw a punch only for his body to flop back down against the mattress, his sleep undisturbed. 

One night however was one were Luffy’s dream fighting struck hard and more intense than you’d experienced before. When he bolted upright in the bed and yelled out you were tossed onto your back blinking wildly in the dark as you adjusted to being violently woken and trying to make out Luffy’s form. You waited patiently for him to start to make his attack and flop back onto the bed again but this time it didn’t play out the way it usually did. 

Over and over Luffy punched the air, sleepily grunting out attacks and insults. You knew not to wake anyone if they sleep-walked but you weren’t fully sure on those that sleep-fought. You gasped and managed to avoid Luffy’s arm whipping back, hitting the pillow where your head had been mere seconds ago. Cautiously you sat up in the bed and scrambled to think of something, anything to soothe him. Then you did the only thing you could think of.

“Luffy! You won!” You cheered out, loud enough to reach Luffy’s ears but not too loud to wake the others on the ship. You sighed in relief to see the broad grin stretch out across his face and with a sleepy laugh he threw himself backwards. You settled against the pillows and prepared to fall asleep again when Luffy let out a cheer, arms and legs kicking out in celebration. With your eyes closed you didn’t see it coming and you were hit hard with enough force to be knocked awkwardly and painfully onto the floor. On impact you felt your wrist spike with pain and you bit back the urge to cry out. Thankfully you hitting the floor didn’t wake Luffy and you were able to slip back into bed.

When morning came you woke first and were able to change into your clothes for the day, picking a shirt that hid your bruised wrist and forearm from view. You knew nothing was broken and it would heal, it just looked worse than what it was. If anything you were lucky that this was your only injury for facing Luffy. You were prepared to keep a low profile for the day but unexpectedly Luffy appeared behind you so fast and cheer out an excited good morning to you. With a startled yell you spun and put your hand on your chest, the action slipping your sleeve down just enough to show the beginning of the bruise. Luffy’s eyes widened and he reached out to take you hand. “What happened?!”

“Uhh…” You glanced at your hand in his hold and sighed. You couldn’t lie to him. “You pushed me out of bed, hit it on the floor. I’m fi-” You were cut off with a yelp when Luffy lifted you immediately. “Luffy! I’m fine, it’s a bruise.”

“No! You’re taking it easy if you’re injured!”

“It’s just my hand, I can still walk.”

“No! I’m your legs and arms today.” Luffy insisted before grinning at you when you laughed and shook your head in resignation. How could you argue with the Captain when he looked at you like that?

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TAG LIST (If I've missed anyone or if you want to be added just let me know) @3v37773, @tsaaps , @i-am-all-love-puns-and-lazy , @sanemisnonexistenteyebrow , @fiery-captain-spider-santa @kabloswrld , @atanukileaf , @ane5e , @stuckinthewrongworld

[jeeaark]

in a timeline where the illithid invasion never happen, a world where the absolute never existed, what would greygold's life be like? or maybe even lae'zel's? a world where they stumble upon each other without all the destruction around them.

The funny thing is.

Without squids trying to ruin their life, Greygold would have never discovered the power of friendship

Worse even, they'd still be a dispassionate lone ranger with questionable bird ethics surviving the wilderness and living off raw eggs like a weirdo.

Meanwhile, Lae'zel is still a Vlaakith devotee and if they stumble upon each other without a plot to drive them to work together and get to know each other... Bad things would happen! Someone would probably die. Most likely Greygold. But! Lets say. A plot did happen.

Buckle up buckaroos. This train thought went off the rails enough that I had to draw pics. Faster than writing out a 13k+ fic (for me anyway).

Let's say Greygold got the 'steal the githyanki egg ' job from Esther. Let's say they succeeded in sneaking in and out without too much of a fuss (mostly involving cat familiar distractions). And something Unfortunate happens before Greygold could complete the quest, leaving Greygold with an egg that eventually hatches:

And the githyanki child is not your average run-of-the-mill space lad either (Who loves eating raw eggs now too. It's fine. Builds character. Probably) But uh yeah, that whoosh accidentally cosmos-signaled all the githyankis and Vlaakith to which she reacts with a 'Wtf? Did anybody just get Prince of the Comet vibes from that? With a "I love egg" aftertaste? No? Just me? Hrm.... I do currently have a lot of free time on my hands....Fetch me that child. I want to study him like a bug. I'm suddenly feeling... Creatively ambitious with a side case of nefarious today. Might bury an old big secret if that kid is replacement-viable.' Thus search patrols investigate-

And never return.

After the first surprise patrol disaster, Greygold has been putting their danger ranger skills to good use via setting up counter-ambushes for all the constant surprise attacks. Classic "who is hunting who?" ordeal.

Nonetheless, there is more of them than there is of Greygold, so they resort to hiding in the Underdark after realizing the githyankis don't have dark vision and it's more environmentally dangerous than the surface. It is also a fun learning experience for the kid. Search patrols continue to never return. Until-

Lae'zel can't help but notice her mission orders do not add up and her rationality has a mighty need to make sense of it before solving problems with immediate hostility. Meanwhile this has been Greygold's first super tiny dose of kindness involving people interactions in years. Instant crush. Chase Shenanigans Ensue. Until child makes their first hunting trap. Instead of catching food, Lae'zel is captured. It also turns out the over-the-top trap involves sinking sand and a nest of Ankhegs (giant burrowing man-eating bugs). Greygold tries to help Lae'zel. For Reasons.

Something akin to mutual respect is formed. Stuck working together. Get to know each other. Discuss contradictions with mission. Verdigris worms his way into Lae'zel's heart (as much as she loathes his name). Escape the Ankheg nest which had terribly escalated because a giant fire ant invasion decided to overrun the ankheg nest at the same time.

Everyone is covered in bug guts after this.

Something something bond over experience enough to trust and listen to each other's opinions. Short Rest. Negotiate. Discuss plans to investigate Da Truth together. Shenanigans Ensue. Then Bad Shenanigans Ensue. Argument Ensues, resulting in Lae'zel Splitting Off. Verdigris disagrees with this approach and chases Lae'zel in order to bring back. Unanticipated Ambush happens at most inopportune moment. Greygold is Captured.

But they escape. Not before confronting Vlaakith's projection and discovering her plans and secrets thanks to one extremely curious Verdigrisgold (Verdi for short omg so long) with ridiculous super psionic powers.

And then they coincidentally interwovenly meet/save/recruit their bg3 companions anyway because there are no mindflayer abduction to stall certain ill-fated situations from happening to certain Companions-to-be and I need for them to be OKAY. So. Greygold discovers the power of friendship again. But is also now co-parenting a fate-of-the-githyanki-freedom child with Ex-Vlaakith-devotee Lae'zel. How's that for an AU timeline?

[cozage]

Hello!! Love your writing beyond words.

Wondering could I have a fem!readerxzoro fic where they fully match each other's energy - them both being dumb, and the crew beggins teasing them daily for spending so much time together and being the same but they choosing to be fully delusional until they get in their heads? I'm aware you wrote simillar fic which is btw my fav of all time but not quite like this

Love ya 💗

Characters: female reader x Zoro Total word count: 900

Two People, One Mind

“Good workout,” Zoro complimented as he set his swords down on the ground. 

“Not too bad yourself,” you hummed. “I’m going to grab a snack. Be right back.”

“Get me-!”

“Onigiri!” you shouted, climbing down the ladder. “I know!”

You popped into the kitchen and smiled when you saw Sanji. 

“The usual post workout meal, my love?” he asked, already beginning to work on a fruit platter for you. 

“And for that pesky mosshead too, if you don’t mind!” You always felt obligated to insult Zoro when you were asking for something on his behalf. It felt like a fair trade off. 

“Only because you’re the one who asked,” Sanji said. 

You laughed as you exited the kitchen, choosing to bask in the sun on the deck instead. You sat with Nami, who scrunched her face at your arrival. 

“You look sweaty,” she said. “Why would you train so hard on such a beautiful day?”

You shrugged. “Have to get stronger. Always room to be better.”

The orange-haired girl groaned. “You and Zoro are almost too similar, you know. It’s scary sometimes.”

You raised an eyebrow at her. “Because I train during down time?”

“It’s more than just that, dummy.” She rolled her eyes and turned back to her magazine. “You’ll see it eventually. You guys are practically one person already.”

“You’re too damn confusing,” you grumbled. You started to ponder on her words, but Sanji called for you and broke you from your thoughts. 

You returned to the kitchen to find meals for both you and Zoro packaged away into a tote. You quickly snatched it up, said a quick thank you, and climbed back up to the crow’s nest. The deck of the Sunny was too loud and lively anyway. You preferred to be up in the tower, tucked away into solitude. 

Zoro seemed to feel the same way about the crow’s nest, but he was the one crew member you never got tired of. And he didn’t seem to mind you much either. Sometimes you could swear he was reading your mind. He knew when to talk, he knew when to be silent. He knew when it was time for a nap, and he knew when you wanted to fight. He knew when he could be in the room, and he knew when he needed to leave.

The two of you were just always on the same page, even without ever having to say a word. 

As you got to the top of the ladder, the hatch door opened. Even though you hadn’t said or indicated you were coming up, Zoro just seemed to sense your presence. You clamored up into the crow’s nest and the two of you sat on the floor, sharing the food that Sanji had made for you. 

You ate in silence, which was more than fine with you. You were still exhausted after your training session with the swordsman. Zoro seemed to feel the same way, or at least respected how you felt. 

Once the two of you were finished, you packed everything into the bag and handed it to Zoro. 

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not-”

“I got the food, you take it back down.”

He frowned. “I don’t want to go down there.”

“Neither do I!” you said. “And I already went down there once! And I had to deal with the cook!”

“I’ll take it later.” He began to turn away, but you shoved the basket into his hands. 

“Take it now!”

He scowled at you, gritting his teeth in irritation. “You just want me to leave so you can take the couch to nap.”

Your cheeks flushed with red. That hadn’t been your primary intention, but you were definitely planning to jump on the couch once the door had closed. 

“No!” you squeaked, but you knew he had caught you. 

He gave you a devious grin and took off toward the couch. 

“Zoro!” you screamed, dropping the basket and sprinting after him. 

The two of you dove onto the couch, trying to compete for the comfiest resting place in the room.  

“You had it yesterday!” you yelled.

“And I’ll have it again today!” He gave a light chuckle and he tried to push you away, but you wrapped your arms around his torso and interlocked your fingers so he couldn’t pry you away. 

“Dammit woman!” he shouted, trying to push you away. “It’s my couch! Get off!”

“No way!” you giggled. “The only way I’m getting off is if you get off first!”

Zoro finally stopped fighting, realizing this was a battle he couldn’t easily win. With the both of you still and flush against each other, the couch could fit two people quite comfortably. 

“We could both sleep here,” Zoro muttered after a moment. 

You looked up at him in shock, surprised he would be so quick to compromise. The pink that was dusted across his cheeks caused color to rise in your face. 

“Sure,” you whispered, curling into his chest a little bit more. “You’re pretty sweaty and gross, but I think I’ll survive the stench.”

You could feel him stiffen, but when you smiled at your own joke, he relaxed again, letting out a soft chuckle of his own. 

“You’re gonna wake up with your nose in my armpit.” He closed his eyes, shifting slightly to get comfortable next to you. “And it’s going to be nobody’s fault but your own.”

“If you do that, you run the risk of me not sharing the couch again,” you teased, letting out a soft giggle. 

His arms wrapped around you, pulling you tighter into his chest. “Can’t have that. Gotta keep you close.”

You liked the idea of Zoro keeping you close. You could get used to this. 

[writeforfandoms]

Homeward Bound 2

Find the series masterlist

Your job as the caretaker is rarely boring, especially around nesting time. Fortunately, you're prepared for almost anything.

Warnings: Swearing, accidental self harm (walking on hot sand), bits of backstory.

Word count: 1k

Your room off the hatching grounds was small, with just the necessities. A simple bed, a small table for some jerky and water, and a small wardrobe. You didn't inhabit this room all the time, thankfully - your normal room was bigger, more spacious. But for the last weeks leading up to the hatching, if you weren't out on the sands, you could be found here. 

You didn't dare go far from the eggs, especially as it got closer to hatching day. It was risky, considering you would only get a few hours’ warning, at best. 

So when someone knocked on your door at some ungodly hour, you woke and rolled out of bed before your brain even had a chance to catch up. You threw on your robe for some semblance of modesty, yanking the door open. 

One of the messenger boys stood in front of your door, hair mussed and cheeks red from his run. “One of the dragons,” he said, one hand waving back the way he'd come. 

You didn't wait for the rest of his message, pushing past him and sprinting down the short hall and to the sands. Hot sand nearly burned the bottoms of your feet, but you paid it no mind. 

It took only a moment to find the dragon in question. A new mother, gray wings spread wide, nearly prancing in distress but somehow never even touching her eggs. 

“Hey, hey, easy,” you soothed, approaching her carefully, hands up. “Easy, beautiful. Calm down and show me what's wrong.” 

She hissed, higher pitched than normal, more nervous than aggressive. But she settled, at least a little, all four feet remaining planted now. 

“Good,” you crooned, taking another couple steps closer. “Now. Show me what's wrong.” 

She hissed again but allowed you close, wings slowly settling against her back again. She stepped back carefully, allowing you to see the nest. 

And the clear crack that ran across the top of one of her eggs. 

“Oh.” Sharp pain lanced clean through your chest. “Oh, beautiful….” Ever so carefully, your fingertips ran across the crack, feeling for moisture. It was possible the internal membrane hadn't torn, in which case you could patch up the egg. Fortunately, that looked to be the case this time. You breathed out slowly, pressing your palm mid-way down the shell to check the temperature. A little cool, but not bad. 

You could make this work. 

“Okay,” you breathed out. “Okay. Your egg is okay.” You looked up at the dragon to make sure she understood, meeting brilliant golden eyes fearlessly. “I'm going to help.” 

She trilled softly, lowering her head to nudge your shoulder very gently. 

“Yes, yes,” you murmured, sparing one hand to pat her snout. “Go get your rider, and a few others if you can. Quickly.” 

She hesitated only a moment, the instinctive pull to remain at her nest strong, before she turned and took off. You didn't watch her go, instead focusing on shoring up the sand around all the eggs. That would help keep them all stable and warm. 

Now to address the crack. 

You didn't want to leave it alone - there was too much potential for things to get in there and cause problems. 

You had all the things you'd need for a kind of paste you could cover the crack with. It would need to be reapplied periodically until the egg hatched, but it would work. 

You spared a brief thought of thanks that your mother had taught you everything about this job. 

The tromp of boots on sand and the trill of the dragon pulled your attention up from the sand. The mother had returned with her rider and two others. Including Simon. 

“Pack more sand around these eggs,” you ordered the three. “All around them. But do not touch the cracked egg. I will be back in three minutes.” 

You stood, frowning thunderously when one of the riders goggled at you, mouth open. “Now,” you snapped.

Simon cuffed the gawking rider before striding off to grab one of the shovels. You turned and ran back to the small storage room off the hatching grounds, full of ingredients for just such a need as this. 

The sand was hot as you carried the bowl back to the egg, reminding you painfully that you were not wearing shoes. You grimaced but pushed through, walking calmly this time. You didn't want to get any sand in the bowl. 

The three riders had made quick work of getting the eggs braced with more sand, Simon still holding the shovel even as he watched you approach, eyes dark. 

“Good,” was all you offered, kneeling carefully next to the cracked egg. Partially to not get more sand around, and partially to make sure your robe stayed covering you. You covered the crack with the paste, carefully going beyond the edges of the crack to be sure nothing could get in. When you checked, the egg was already a little warmer. Very good. 

Sighing softly, you pushed back to your feet. “Very good,” you murmured. “The egg will be fine. Thank you for your help.” You looked at each of the three riders. The one who belonged to the mother dragon actually stepped forward to hug you, something you returned a little awkwardly. 

The mother settled around her eggs again, even more carefully now, crooning softly before she settled her snout right next to the cracked egg. You patted her head, relieved. 

It took until you gathered up the bowl and tugged your robe tighter to realize that Simon was still standing to one side, gaze still fixed on you. You paused, foot scuffing through the sand, eyes blowing wide before you schooled your expression back to neutrality. You nodded to him once and strode back to the storage room, covering the remaining paste with a cloth. It would keep for a while. 

You needed to wash up. 

You paused, just for a moment, at the edge of the sand where the hallway to your room branched off. Simon was standing next to Ilsbet, one hand under her chin, forehead pressed to hers. You turned away from the quiet moment. But not before you smiled.

[threepandas]

Bad End: Superior

When you join the military, there's a certain level of assumed risk. You're already aware that they're probably going to ask you to do things. Some of which? You might not be cool with. Internally, you have to decide where you'll be drawing the line. Where "just following orders" fucking ENDS. Especially, when, you join the military... and they assign you someplace that dumps a stack of NDAs in front of you to sign.

That stack had been about as big as a toddler.

And then... then there WERE toddlers. A compound. Deep in the ass pit of no where. Technology so cutting edge, I'm genuinely surprised it doesn't bleed people to turn on. The project? Fucking Super Soldiers.

Because of COURSE it would be.

Fuck Ethics, am I right? Rights? Those are for government officials! Now follow orders and shut up, or we'll direct your attention to the miles of uninterrupted wilderness, in which NO ONE WILL EVER FIND YOU. But, hey! You can't technically call us monsters! We're PAYING you~!

So obviously it's YOUR fault!

Every day. Every SINGLE DAY. I felt sick.

This isn't what I signed up for. How the HELL does this protect anybody? Serve ANYBODY? I felt unclean. Lost weight. My sleep cycle was a wreck. I... I couldn't fucking DO this, and it SHOWED.

I was clearly the weak link.

While others settled in? I got tense. Worn down. Sick. My contract stated I HAD to finish my rotation, so that's what was going to happen. And if the medic had to put me on sleep meds? So be it. If I had to take anti-anxiety pills? Down the hatch. Everything was shit and I FELT like shit.

I should have bagged groceries, fuck "better pay".

The guys here? Were so, SO shitty to the Soldiers. Like it was THEIR fault they might replace us. Like they even WANTED too or were give a fucking CHOICE. I had no idea how any of this was legal. Was pretty sure it WASN'T. I just... I just wanted OUT.

Room to breathe. To process my fucking horror, you know?

Instead? Day after day. I got up. Swallowed more and more fucking pills. Felt more and more exhausted and run down. Checked one more god forsaken day off the calendar until I could get OUT of here. Dressed, in uniform, and looking only halfway like I wanted to die. Try to get some breakfast.

Inevitably, INEVITABLY, have to fucking stop and interfere, with some shit head messing with a Solider. Usually one of the smaller ones. The kids. Because the big ones could Fight BACK. Break a man in fuck HALF. So the cowards went after kids instead.

Fuckers.

Get to breakfast late. Oops! They tossed out the leftovers! Didn't think you were cooooming~ Bullshit. It's retribution for stopping their fucked up games. Ratting them out to the scientists. The brass. Shoves as they go pass. Make my own damn breakfast. As I always do.

Eat alone.

Go to my office. Far side of the compound. Pass a shit ton of Soldiers. The little ones always stare. Like owls. Used to be creepy, got over it. It's how they learn. Do the jackasses honestly think? That putting me in the glorified broom closet, that is the satellite security office, is a punishment? Ha!

I stole a mini fridge weeks ago. Built a fucking nest in here.

It's like a second bunk.

Unlike SOME PEOPLE, the Soldiers actually fucking behave themselves. Honestly, they behave a little TOO much. I'm technically supposed to report a lot of the little behaviors I've seen so they can be "corrected". But would you look at THAT! I was on my break! Oh look, a painting. What's this? A text? Oops. I Saw NOTHING.

Eat shit and DIE, Dr. Atrocities!

At least... that's how my day is SUPPOSED to go. Something's? Weird.

I can't place it. But no one else seems to have NOTICED, so it HAS to probably have something to do with the Soldiers. Since I seem to be the only one on this fucking compound that actually LOOKS looks at them. Notices them, you know? Alpha isn't where he's supposed to be.

He's the OG. The proof of concept. Our so called "perfect" Soldier. He's usually in the center of the pack, leading around various Soldiers task to task. Giving orders. Generally in charge. If you look for HIM, you can get a read on things. Figure out what's up. But...

Huh.

No Alpha. No first series. Not even second wave. Worse, none of the cadets. There SHOULD be at least a FEW munchkins hanging around. Observing this or that. Following SOMEBODY like lil Owl ducklings. Yet? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Just... general Soldiers...

The little hairs prickle on the back of my neck. A stone settles in my gut. I... I decide to skip breakfast. Not hungry. Don't feel like cooking. It... it has nothing to do with the fact that my office? Has some SERIOUS blast doors. Legit bunker all on its own. Even it's own air supply, for a while.

Y...you know,

In CASE.

They never told us... what "in case" WAS.

But if I walker a little faster then normal? Don't make eye contact with anybody? Can't... Can't HELP but notice? Even HERE, where there SHOULD be a shit ton of diversity? There fucking ISN'T? Well that's between me and the blast doors.

Just three doors away from my office when the Emergency Alarm System goes off.

I fucking BOLT the remaining distance.

Throwing myself inside my office, I SLAM the door closed. Engage the highest level locks possible. Something in my gut is screaming at me. The long seconds it takes to slide into place with a mountainous THUNK, feel like an eternity. Muffled, the alarm howl on outside. I... I think I hear gun fire. Shit.

I throw myself into my chair.

Systems, up. Screens, On. What is HAPPENING?

Horror awaits me. The Carnage I always half knew was coming.

The Soldiers are armed. Synchronized. As though this were just another seige simulation. There is a VICIOUSNESS to their actions, as they cut down the doctors. Hunt down the soldier's that abused them. Held them here. They are freeing themselves and will not rest until every soul in this base is DEAD.

Fuck.

I both understand but unfortunately, kinda want to LIVE.

There's no way I'll be able to get past them. Their senses are better then mine. They are faster then me. Stronger then me. Generally BETTER then me. They were DESIGNED to be. I can... can only wait them out... hopefully.

Alpha is nearly a blur. Every shot hitting its mark. The guns becoming bludgeoning weapons when bullets run out. Table and chairs, people and armor, everything around him improvised weaponry. He's grinning like he's never had more fun in his life. Like he's FINALLY been allowed to cut loose after so long holding back.

His head is on the swivel though. Searching? For what?

The other base line's try to hold the line but...

I close my eyes. Their screams echoing through tinny speakers in my tiny office. They were absolute fucking bastards. I... I HATED them. But no one... NO ONE deserves to go like this. Oh god. According to protocol, I need to send the emergency alarm again if the cut the main office.

There's a "break glass" box I've been curious about but never thought I'd ever have to OPEN. High up on a shelf. My legs feel shakey, but I get it.

They gave me a key when they assigned me to this office. Shoved in among everything else. A lazy afterthought. Part of my uniform. Now, I take it from around my neck and unlock the box.

One standard gun and a small vial of suicide pills.

Oh god.

"She's not here. Spread out."

My head snaps up to the screens. As though somehow that will change the horrifying words I just heard Alpha say. The alarms still wail, red lights flashing, but the hallways have... oh god, have fallen silent. Bodies line them. Blood staining the God forsaken white I've come to hate so much. Alpha looks so relaxed.

Pleased even. Like everything has gone exactly as he's planned.

One of the first series hand him a pad uncaring of his bloody hands. Chances are high that samn thing is connected to the servers. It looks like on of the scientists. I watch in dread as Alpha's eyes scroll across it. As it taps through several screens. Hums. He grins.

He rolls his head up, as though merely stretching his shoulders and neck, an almost loose and lazy act. If it weren't for the INTENT in his smile. The predatory look in his eyes. Up and over his shoulder. Too look behind him at the camera.

Directly At Me.

Fuck, he knows.

He hands off the pad with an almost lazy toss. Turning sharply to march forward in a way that made me think of wolves. My hand closed around the gun in the box before me, breathing turning shallow, as I watched him take a direct path towards me. Why? WHY? Is it because I'm the only one who's left?

My eyes tracked to the other screens. The agony there.

The little bottle that offered a way out.

I... fuck it, I wasn't waiting. I slammed my hand down on the back up Emergency Alarm. Even if they cut the main office now, mine would still sent the alert. And... oh god. And at least, this should be FAST. I popped the bottle open. Gun aimed at the door. Bottle in my off hand, ready to go. I tried to remember what i was told to do. Just... just pop, chew, and swallow.

It'll only hurt for a moment.

Better then THAT, I guess, but it was... it was so fucked up.

Alpha was coming down the hall. N... No more stalling. My eye sight blurred. Hands fucking shook. God, damn it. God DAMN IT! I didn't even want to BE HERE! W...WHY?! Why did it have too-!?

It... it didn't matter.

Not now.

Not anymore, I guess.

I threw the pills back. Chewed. They were bitter. Salty. Swallowed. Some part of my brain whispered... that... that wasn't right. I recognized the poison on the bottle. Shouldn't it be swee-? No, focus. Keep your gun steady. What's done is done. No going back.

Alpha was outside my office.

"Interesting door, princess." He said, projecting his voice so I could hear it through the blast doors. I could see him. Standing dead center of a squad of Soldiers. They crowded the hallway in a loose half circle. "Looks real secure! Rather safe. But why all the hiding, sweetheart? A man might get his feelings hurt. Think you're running AWAY from him or something. And you KNOW we can't have THAT!"

"So I suggest you open up... before I Do It For You."

My hands were shaking. More and more. Heart pounding. Mouth felt... dry? It was happening. Limbs felt weak. My vision swam a little then refocused. Did so again. Again... AGAIN, louder, my brain insisted that wasn't right. These were the wrong symptoms. But... but who CARED, right? Fatal is fatal.

But... but only if it IS.

What if...

A horrific screech of metal. I jerked my head to look at the screen for the hallway out side. No. No he can't possibly-! Arm wrapped in spare armor, likely taken from some poor man's corpse, Alpha's RIGHT ARM is elbow deep in the door.

I watch, numb, as he draw it to the side. Bending screeching, groaning metal out of his way as he does. Lock components carelessly ripped out. Dumped on the floor. My breathing comes faster. I can barely see. It's... fuck. It's been too long for the pills to have been what they said they were.

Someone switched them.

What the HELL did I swallow?

I watch helplessly as my supposed bunker is forced open. A flimsy wooden door the last barrier. It swings open. I fuckin shoot. No one was there, because of course not, he's not an idiot. I just... I JUST-! A hand, calloused and stronger then steel, wraps around mine. Grip tight as it gently forces the gun away and to the side. Drags it from my grip.

I can't move... my arm falls limp at my side as the last of my strength and focus fade away. Colors are blurry at the edges. Alpha LOOMS. Tall and powerful in a way that terrifies me. I tried to be polite to the guy. Keep my distance. Clearly... clearly wasn't enough... God, I'm so scared. Please...

"Oh~ Look At YOU~" he breathes, hands that wreak of copper coming up to cradle my feverish face. Crowding close as he traps me against my chair. "Tried to take the easy way out, huh? Naughty girl. That's not gonna a fun one. But you'd have to learn eventually that you can't run, so might as well, huh? Don't worry, sweetness. Alpha team's got you."

I try to move. Protest. Anything. But my limbs won't respond. I feel lips, possessive and demanding, against my own.

"God, you're so fucking cute, pathetic like this~" Alpha groans, clearly fighting the impulse to let his hands roam "Wish it was just us. I've got MONTHS to make up. Second I find us a bed, princess, I promise. I'll take you APART~"

He reaches out, casually, to shut the alarms down. The compound falling silent. The... the other alarm was deactivated. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him effortlessly type in the "all clear" code with one hand. As though he'd practiced. He... he had, hadn't he... oh god, I was trapped.

"Shhhh, sweetness. No more tears. Just you 'n me, 'gainst the world, yeah? We're going to be PERFECT. I've got it all planned out."

"Now let's get you down to the labs. It's time to make you superior."

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Thoughts on the Batch's Ending

Ooookay. This is going to be a long one. (Little note from Steph who just finished writing this: it’s nearly 3000 words…)

Tagging @saturn-sends-hugs @inkstainedhandswithrings and @eriexplosion because I value their thoughts (but I'm also not demanding that you read 3000 words of waffle)

I’ve had a lot of thoughts about the finale of The Bad Batch and honestly, my mind is a bit of a mess right now. One of the things I just want to try and tackle is how I feel about the ending of each Batch member individually, because while I can look at it and say “The Batch got a happy ending!”, I feel like that doesn’t really give me much of an idea of whether or not each character got an ending that I feel is fitting for their story arc.

So, this post is basically just going to be me unpicking the ending for each of the Batchers and working out how I feel about it (aka me trying to unscramble the mass load of thoughts going on in my head right now). 

Omega

Overall, I’m very happy with where Omega ended up. When you look back on how she was when we first met her, you realise just how much she has grown over the last few seasons. She didn’t just learn to be a part of the squad, she also learned how to look after herself. It isn’t just a development of her skillset, it’s also a growth in maturity, which allows her to have a clearer head and more rational decisions in the field. While Omega trusted her brothers to come and rescue her, she didn’t just sit around and wait for them, she hatched her own plan to not only get her and the other children out, but also help the Batch when they arrive at Tantiss.

Like Echo, she strongly believes in helping people and I love that that has carried through into her ending. While it would have been nice for her to live a quiet life, free of any more troubles, it makes complete sense for her to want to join the Rebellion. And I think it was at a good time as well. Omega got to spend the rest of her childhood being raised in a more peaceful, safe environment, before making the decision a few years down the line to go her own way. This is her leaving the nest and I think it was tackled incredibly well. You can see how she has taken on attributes from all of her brothers, and judging by her style choice, Phee as well. We see Omega using the support of her brothers to carve her own path and I love that.

Personally, I can’t really see a more fitting development in her story than this. And I’m reluctant to actually call it an ending because for her, this feels more like the beginning of a new chapter. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her again later down the road.

Hunter

Now those who follow me may be aware that Hunter was never my favourite member of the Batch. I didn’t dislike him, but I never really connected with him in the same way that I connected with all of the other characters. Saying that, it doesn’t mean I haven’t given a lot of thought to him and his character.

Hunter always had a lot on his shoulders. He was the leader of the Batch and that meant keeping a rag-tag group of defective clones in line, but it also left him with the belief that if anything were to happen to his squad, it would be his responsibility. So, with Crosshair and Omega stuck with the Empire, and Tech dead, Hunter had a lot to carry. At the beginning of Season 3 we saw that he had become more reckless and irrational, not really thinking about plans and wanting to jump straight into things. It was Wrecker who had to step in and make sure Hunter didn’t do anything stupid. Hunter felt like he lost control and that took a lot out of him, especially since this is something I think he could feel creeping up on him throughout Season 2, even if he tried to fight it. The Batch had started to make decisions without him, and Omega was forming close attachments to other people, which was digging a knife into Hunter’s fear of losing his squad. So S3 saw him trying everything he could to reunite the Batch, because he couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.

And he achieved that. But what I also deeply appreciate is that we see Hunter accepting that Omega wants to go her own way. This was something he didn’t want happening for a long time, but once he accepted that she was capable of looking after herself, and once he accepted that he could never keep her tied in place forever, he supported Omega in her decision to join the Rebellion. Yes, he will always worry about her. He even tells her that she will always be their kid. But he knows that it’s time for her to carve her own path, and that means for him, finally letting go and accepting that Clone Force 99 will never be what it once was. 

Wrecker

Wrecker is an interesting one for me because he’s one of the few characters where I can’t really see a big step for his character in the final episode. For many of the others there is some form of acceptance, or big step in their lives, but for Wrecker I don’t really see that. And unfortunately, I think that comes from Wrecker never really being the focus of any strong character development throughout the history of the show. That’s not to say there wasn’t any growth at all, but when we look at how far everyone else has come in their stories, Wrecker always feels like he never got the same treatment in this show. The biggest growth I saw was when he stepped in to help Hunter when he could see the sergeant was spiralling.

So, while I’m happy he lived and has gone on to enjoy a longer, more peaceful life than we ever expected for the Batch, it makes me sad that we never really saw anything big for Wrecker in this ending. No big acceptance, no huge sacrifice. We don’t even get to see him say goodbye to Omega when she leaves. I love that Wrecker got a happy ending, but I always wish that we had gotten the opportunity to see more of a character arc with him over the course of the entire show.

Crosshair

I accepted a while ago that if any of the Batch members were to survive, Crosshair would be one of them because I didn’t expect the writers to kill him off after everything that he had been through. And thankfully they didn’t! I love that after everything, Crosshair has managed to find peace. Maybe not completely, but enough that he has the chance to live a life that doesn’t involve him being a soldier. 

Throughout S2 and S3 we saw Crosshair come to terms with the fact that he was disposable to the Empire and that they didn’t care about him as much as he had made himself believe. And one of the things Crosshair fought with the most was his own identity as a soldier. For so long, he believed that that was all he was, all he could be, so that’s why it has been so amazing finally seeing Crosshair acknowledge that he doesn’t need to be a soldier to still live a life he deserves; his purpose is and always has been more than that.

Saying that, I want to address the hand thing because I am still unsure of where I sit with it. Following his escape from Tantiss, we see Crosshair has developed hand tremors as a result of his PTSD, and a decent chunk of the season has been dedicated to him learning how to live with them. The biggest reason for this affecting Crosshair so much was that it impacted his ability to be a sniper, which is what Crosshair believed to be his main purpose: he didn’t know what to do without the ability to use his hand. And we were given some incredibly sweet scenes between him and Omega as she helped him work out the best way to manage the tremors, for example, them meditating together.

But then that brings me onto my main issue, which is, why remove the hand? One of the reasons I keep seeing is that it removes Crosshair’s ability to be a sniper, but we had already seen that. That’s the issue that the tremors were causing. Crosshair had already been struggling with that ability as a result of what happened to him on Tantiss, so cutting his hand off as a way of preventing his sniping ability seems a bit unnecessary. Now admittedly, the soldier who cut his hand off didn’t know that he had hand tremors, so logistically it makes sense, but as a story tool it seems a bit bizarre to me. Personally, I think it would’ve been more interesting to pursue the idea of Crosshair learning to manage his tremors through meditation etc. and adapting to a life that has less of a focus on sniping. 

Another reason I have seen for the hand is that it symbolises Crosshair finally becoming free from the Empire and what they did to him on Tantiss. Him no longer having the tremors indicates that he is no longer burdened by the Empire and his time there. But that doesn’t really work for me either. For one, Crosshair will never truly be separated from what happened to him there; even if he lost the shaking, he would still have a number of psychological issues as a result of what he went though, so I can’t see it as a way of symbolising a true separation. Which is once again why I think that following the story beat of him managing the tremors would have been a more interesting path for them to go down with his character.

Saying that, I’m still happy with where Crosshair’s story went. He is arguably the most complex character in the Batch and I’m so glad we have been able to see him develop the way he has. Him living a long, quiet life is something that I’m happy he has gotten, and I truly don’t think that him dying would have brought nearly as satisfying a conclusion as Crosshair finally finding a new place in the world.

Tech

Oh boy… this is going to be an interesting chunk of this essay. So errm… it turns out Tech is actually dead, which is… kinda shit. 

Back when we saw him fall at the end of S2, I said that one of the reasons that I didn’t believe that Tech was really dead was because if he was, I would’ve found the writing kinda cheap. I said repeatedly throughout that season that I didn’t want all of his character development to simply be an emotional manipulation tactic to make us even more sad when he died… which is what it turned out to be. It doesn’t surprise me that Tech sacrificed himself, but it makes me mad that ultimately his death never really had any real impact on anything. I mean, they hardly even addressed it in the final season!

I get that animated Star Wars is known for rarely addressing characters after their deaths, but The Clone Wars focuses on so many characters that if we gave that much attention to every character that died, then we would never progress the plot. However, unlike TCW, The Bad Batch primarily focuses on a smaller group of clones and therefore not only has the space to explore the impacts that death would have on the squad, but really should find it a necessary part of the storytelling. The lack of attention given to Tech throughout this season has been beyond frustrating to me. He deserved better.

And I can’t write a section about Tech’s ending without addressing the CX-2 situation. Were we all delusional for believing that Tech was alive? No. Now before people come at me for saying that, I want to explain why that is the conclusion I have come to. You would have every right to label us delusional if there was absolutely no proof behind the claims that we made, but when the writers give us a character that both speaks and acts like Tech, what did they expect us to think? There were too many parallels between Tech and CX-2 for it to be coincidental and I still stand by the fact that we had reason to believe that they were the same person.

Now, looking at the other CX soldiers we see in the finale, they all seem to parallel the OG members of the Batch: there’s a larger one who primarily focuses on hand-to-hand combat, someone who favours blades, a sniper, and a more tech-savvy one. And I’m sure there is a reason for that, symbolically or practically, but if the fact that they all resemble the Batch is important, then why was so much focus put primarily on CX-2? There was no way we weren’t going to think that they would reveal him to be Tech.

Overall, I’m annoyed. Tech was such a brilliant character and I am so frustrated that not only did he get a death that I felt was kind of cheap, but he didn’t get nearly the respect he should have been given in the final season. Now, I’m not using this as a way to bash the writers, and I definitely don’t think that anyone should use it as an excuse to be bullies, but unfortunately, I can’t be satisfied with the way Tech’s story ended, and I’m not sure I ever will.

Echo

Last but certainly not least, Echo. To say that Echo means a lot to me is an understatement, and I was genuinely terrified that I might have to say goodbye to one of my comfort characters. But thankfully, our boy made it!

Following Season 1, we all wanted for Echo to get some more development. It never felt like he had truly been used to his full potential. And thankfully, Season 2 began to give us that. Yes, we ended up saying goodbye to Echo for half a season, but we saw some incredible growth in his character, and him choosing to join the rebellion made too much sense not to happen. Unfortunately, this also meant that we didn’t get to see Echo for the majority of the final season, but I am beyond grateful that what they gave us in these last few episodes has been some of the best Echo content that we have ever seen. Watching him grow and find where he belongs has been a pleasure to watch, He really is an ARC trooper through and through. Particularly in these last few episodes, seeing how much he has grown to be like Fives, and watching him carry on his brother’s legacy, has been so incredible, No matter what anyone says, I believe that he truly is one of the greatest, and most important characters that we’ve ever gotten out of animated Star Wars.

However, I do have one gripe with Echo’s ending, and it’s the fact that it doesn’t actually feel like a conclusion. If anything, I have more questions about Echo now than I did before the last episode. Echo going to the Rebellion is an absolute given; he still has stuff to help Rex with. But the fact that there is absolutely no mention of him in the epilogue has just made me wonder where he is. Omega mentions Crosshair and Wrecker, and we only see Hunter, so we know that Echo isn’t with them. But we also know that at that point in the story, Echo also isn’t with Rex (assuming we’re in Rebels era). So where is he? What is he doing? Is he actually dead at that point??? I really hope we see more of Echo in the future because if this really is the last time we see his character, it’s too open ended for me to really be satisfied with it.

But if I’m being honest, I really don’t think that this is the last time that we are going to see him. And especially with Omega joining the Rebellion, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw another clone-centric show following these characters in the future.

Concluding Thoughts

All in all, my thoughts are still a bit jumbled. I still don’t know how I truly feel about everything, but hopefully this post at least gives some insight into how I think each character’s endings were handled. Will I change my mind at some point? Probably. But for now, this is where I stand.

At its core, I think the ending we got makes sense for a lot of the characters, and I’m glad that they didn’t all just die at the end. Sure, there are choices that I’m not happy with, but seeing that some of the Batch go on to live long lives is something that I’m very happy to see. It doesn’t happen enough in animated SW, so I’m glad we got to experience it.

[inoreuct]

More weretiger Zoro thoughts bc I'm crazy abt it-

Before joining the crew, Zoros had a lot of bad experiences with ppl trying to kidnap/capture him, whether it be for his pelt or to keep as a pet or just to have as a spectacle. When bounty hunters come after the crew one day and somehow manage to cage him, it dredges up some bad memories. He fights the hunters off of course, hes stronger now, and has his friends by his side, but the encounter leaves him shaken. He tries to brush it off as nothing, stays in his tiger form so he has an excuse not to talk to anyone, but the crew can tell hes feeling uneasy, sulking around in the shadows, fur bristling at any loud noises or sudden movements. They hatch a plan, and lure him to the kitchen where its warmest, where theyve built a nest of pillows and blankets for everyone to curl up in together, and surrounded by his crew gently petting his fur Zoro feels a lot safer <3

ooh,,, weretiger zoro lore YES PLEASE 🤭 thank you for the ask anon!!

call it twisted, but zoro is used to running for his life. fighting for it. before everything (before safety, before them), people catching a glimpse of him could only mean three possible things: a leash, a cage, or a skinning knife. years of evading trappers and hunters and rich bastards who thought they could own him (dead or alive, they hadn’t really cared) had honed his survival instincts knife-sharp and taught him how to keep himself out of trouble. he’s ever only been in a cage once, and never again.

but he’s gotten lazy. his crew and the solace of their ship on the open sea— they had lulled him into a false sense of security. he’d let down his guard and now he’s looking out at the deck through metal bars with clammy palms and his throat tight, and it’s chaos.

there are bounty hunters fucking everywhere, like a swarm of roaches trying desperately to gain the upper hand; they had clearly overestimated themselves, based on the way his crew’s wiping the deck with them. a thrill of vindictive satisfaction threads through zoro even as a group of the bastards prod at him with bayonets and swords. that satisfaction only grows when he snaps at them, snarling and baring his fangs, but he can’t hide from the fear that pools underneath.

that, he isn’t quite so used to. fear is not something that roronoa zoro feels on a regular basis; he’d picked up his swords and turned himself into a weapon of a man, half out of necessity and half just for the way people pissed themselves just hearing his name. then it had been bar fights to duels to bigger bounties and then sudden safety, stability, Merry’s gentle rocking under his paws as he prowled the deck and then Sunny, afternoon warmth on his fur as he curled up on the grass to nap.

the roiling in his gut and the tension at the back of his neck is something zoro hasn’t known since he was very, very young, and weak, and alone.

he snarls again when the tip of a sword swipes a hairsbreadth under his chin, cursing himself for losing his focus as he backs up against the other side of the cage, resisting the urge to peek over his shoulder. the ocean rolls gently at his back; he can hear her, but it’s a small comfort. if he tips the entire cage into the water and fails to pick the lock, it would drag him down to a watery grave and he is not ready to die today. nami yells somewhere, her voice followed by a crack of thunder, and zoro bites down a manic laugh as he remembers her trying to teach him to lockpick and him being honestly quite dismal at it— not an option, then.

the cook had fared better at it, nimble fingers and all that. said cook goes flying past with his leg on fire and slams his heel into a bounty hunter’s face with a solid crunch. as zoro takes stock of the deck, everybody else is busy and that realisation doesn’t make him panic a little, it doesn’t. breathe, he reminds himself. they took his swords, but it doesn’t matter. he fights plenty well enough with his fists, not to mention the damage he can do in his other form.

one of the hunters bangs his rifle against the bars and zoro’s heart jumps, a shudder rippling down his spine as the man pspsps’s at him like— like he’s a fucking cat. “who would’ve thought,” he begins, laughing nastily. “roronoa zoro, the elusive green tiger. how’s it feel to be backed into a corner, hm?”

“all those years of stealing our bounties, taking all the money— don’t worry, now,” another sneers. “you’ll make it up to us when we get paid for the fur off your back.”

the disrespect makes him growl, deep in the back of his throat. he wants to rip off their heads. he wants to run away and hide. their cackles are loud and obnoxious, and the closer zoro looks the more he realises that he knows these guys. knows their faces, anyway, and he has those faces categorised in his head as nothing more than riffraff. he wraps his fingers around a bar discreetly by his hip, squeezing tight until he feels his claws extend, and cool metal presses into his back as his breathing comes quicker.

once before. he’d only felt this once before, icy against his too-thin fur, curled up in a trembling ball at the corner as jeers and the banging of metal on metal filled his ears. switching between boy and cub on instinct because he couldn’t control it with his heart pounding hard enough to hurt.

his gaze flicks around unseeing before he finds usopp, loosing rapid-fire shots of something that sends his targets into violent gasping fits, clawing at their throats before going still. the moment they lock eyes, zoro straightens; there’s a question there, a quiet moment of stillness as usopp holds his form, waiting. do you need us to come get you?

zoro steels himself, takes a breath and grits his jaw, and he shakes his head minutely. no.

a small nod, and that stillness shatters. usopp dives out of the way with his hands over his head and a startled yelp as luffy’s fist flies out of nowhere, and zoro sighs through his nose.

“not my fault i was just better than you,” he says, offhand and unbothered, tipping his head back against the bars as he surveys the hunters around him coolly. they react exactly as he expects; loud outrage and yelling and more clanging around, and he feels that urge to curl into a ball and hide shift into something more spiteful. more vicious.

it heats his blood as he notes the lock of the cage and nearly raises an eyebrow, because of course the whole damn thing’s made of reinforced metal except the latch. he’s seen enough of franky’s work to know shoddy workmanship— they skimped on quality because of the cost, probably because they’d planned to be dealing with a mindless beast and not a man. zoro huffs a laugh.

and sure, nami could try all she wanted to teach him how to pick a lock.

sometimes, though?

zoro inspects his space and backs up as much as he can. the cage is small, but it’s enough. he’ll make it work. metal scrapes against the taffrail as the ship rocks beneath their feet.

sometimes, old-fashioned’s just the way to go.

he crouches down, waits for one of franky’s cannon’s to draw the hunters’ collective attention, and pounces.

the door slams open as he rams it with his shoulder, cheap metal snapping like straw as he bursts onto the deck and fuck, the momentary standstill before the panicked scrambling starts feels electric. he shifts in an instant and yawns, prowling around the group of hunters, crowding then back against the cage as his tail lashes like a whip.

they’d just caught him off guard and coerced him into an enclosed area. fools. he melds back into his human form, eyes glowing gold as the wind ruffles his hair. “you should have collared me,” he chuckles, just the slightest bit cocky because please, he’s earned it by now. “maybe a leash. rope, at least. what the fuck made you think just caging a tiger was a good idea?” zoro flashes his fangs, bright white and lethal, and a man whimpers as his grin widens.

his footsteps are silent as he shifts back and stalks towards them. there’s a reason he’s known as the demon of the east, after all, and he thinks it’s due time to give the world a reminder.

*

“so…” usopp begins, fiddling with a short piece of rope. “who’s gonna address the elephant in the room?”

luffy looks around at the bounty hunters sprawled over the deck, all in various states of consciousness. “there was an elephant?”

usopp holds in the urge to sigh and drags a hand down his face. “tiger in the room. whatever.”

their captain tilts his head. “zoro’s not here.”

“exactly!” usopp exclaims, before he checks his surroundings and ducks his head to hiss, “exactly.”

“he’s probably off napping somewhere,” chopper offers, but even that doesn’t sound very sure.

the swordsman had disappeared after he’d shoved the group of mauled bounty hunters into the cage and bashed the lock in to seal it shut before chucking the whole thing into the sea. he’d stayed just long enough to watch it sink and then crept off somewhere— and he still hasn’t reappeared.

“oh— you know what he’s like.” nami rolls her eyes, perched on top of an upside-down crate, arms crossing as sanji squeezes her shoulder. “he’s fine. nothing shakes him.”

“you didn’t see the look on his face,” usopp shoots back, feeling strangely defensive. he knew what zoro was feeling, read it clear as day; he was intimately familiar with the kind of fear where you felt too small and too trapped to do anything.

he knows about zoro’s past. they all do. and the thought of zoro, fearless, larger-than-life zoro, undefeatable zoro, crammed into a tiny cage and getting poked at like a zoo animal? it makes something in usopp rankle so strongly it surprises even himself.

he startles as a gentle hand rests on his back. “i do believe our sniper’s right,” robin hums, leaning into franky’s side. “we should make sure he’s fine, don’t you think?”

there’s a general murmur of assent, and usopp leans back against the taffrail with a feeling that it’s gonna be easier said than done.

*

zoro doesn’t remember ever being this shaken.

he’d just been… numb, when he was a kid. not yet warmed up to the idea, the reality, that he’d be hunted just for what he was. after that numbness faded most of what he’d felt was rage; he’d indulged the instincts to hunt, to sink his sharp edges into muscle and viscera, until luffy had earned his loyalty and then the rest of the crew after him.

now he can’t stop feeling like he’s gonna tremble out of his skin, and he hates it.

it’s been days since the fight. he shouldn’t be affected. shouldn’t have been affected at all. but now without the adrenaline of battle, everything’s coming back crystal clear— the panic that had nearly choked him when the cage door swung shut, the sound of the lock clicking bouncing around his skull like a rubber ball. his own blood rushing loud in his ears, heart thumping a staccato against his ribcage, his eyes searching for someone, anyone, shoved back by the gritted statement that he didn’t need anyone to save him.

he hadn’t. he doesn’t. he shouldn’t.

and yet he hasn’t shifted in days, prowling the shadows of the ship on four legs, head ducked low and ears pressed down as he keeps his belly close to the deck. he tells himself he’s hunting for imaginary mice and jerks at every sudden noise. he’d let his guard down and then he’d payed the price and now it’s driving him mad; every creak and shift of the Sunny has him on edge, fur standing on end, and he hates it.

without his battle instincts, he’d have been stuck in that fucking cage. usopp had snapped him out of it a little— he’d made it out, but barely. the stupid metal box had been so small that if he’d shifted he wouldn’t have been able to move, and even now the thought of it makes him feel like throwing up.

the feeling of being locked up is not one that you can forget. bravado can only get you so far; he’d been a fool to think that being part of luffy’s crew offered him infinite protection, no matter how strong any of them are. he’s supposed to be able to handle himself, and he can. he can.

he hates this.

he’s been wandering aimlessly, strolling around without particular reason. his crew’s been trying to get him out of his funk; franky made him a whole new scratching post. sanji’s been leaving his favourite booze in the crow’s nest. brook had played jolly sea shanties for hours (and admittedly, zoro had felt terrible about just slinking off midway) and jinbei had tried to talk to him, but he gave it up when zoro just gave him a look. he knows they care, and he loves them for it, but he’s oscillating between wanting to go on a rampage and hide in a cupboard. the promise of safety still feels too good to be true after a refresher on what the rest of the world means for him. he knows he’ll have to get back to routine soon and he will, he just—

his ears prick up, and he pauses. listens.

“—arimo!”

he chuffs. it’s nearly midnight; what the hell is the cook calling him for?

“marimo! get your mossy ass in here now!”

and okay, wow. rude much. he wouldn’t put it past sanji (or any of his nakama, for that matter) to try another funky attempt at cheering him up, but on the off-chance that there’s actually something wrong…

he growls low in his chest, half-annoyed, padding around the corner and shouldering the galley door open.

he takes one look and turns around to walk right back out.

there are pillows and blankets piled everywhere on the galley floor, and the oven door’s open. the whole space smells like dark chocolate and cookie dough. zoro can’t do this.

everything after that happens in quick succession: he hears luffy laugh, he thinks oh no, and then he yowls as he’s grabbed and yanked into the midst of the massive pile of bedding. he flashes his teeth in a baseless threat, whipping around to hiss at his captain, but luffy just snickers and pulls back his arms.

he’s disgruntled even as the rest of his crew slot into place around him. it was a trap, and he admits he’s literally fallen right into it as he hears nami whisper, “told you he’d come if you called—” and then the sharp, mildly reproachful click of sanji’s tongue.

the cook turns to him, cross-legged with a pinstriped pillow hugged to his chest. “you don’t have to say anything,” he says plainly, eyes flickering to the side as he fiddles with a corner of the pillowcase. “or do anything, for that matter. just… stay.”

zoro stays quiet and lets himself look around. everybody’s in their pyjamas, smelling like soap and chocolate; franky has a nightcap on. luffy shoves a cookie in his mouth whole, and jinbei pretends that he doesn’t nudge the plate closer for their captain.

zoro doesn’t need them, maybe. but he remembers years of irregular sleep from watching his own back, stuck in his human form, always hyperalert and pushing for the next paycheck.

he’d been miserable before them. he really doesn’t need them— he can survive just fine on his own.

but that’s all it’d be, wouldn’t it? surviving. not living, not really. he doesn’t need them but he wants them.

it’s easier to admit than he expected. nothing changes. it’s no big revelation; just one that he’d been too afraid to acknowledge until now.

the anxious feeling in his stomach has settled some, and soft chatter starts around him as he lays down to rest his chin over his paws. after a while there are fingers in his fur— he allows it. if only just for tonight. let us help, is what he hears as he feels nami’s nails scrape gently between his ears, luffy playing with his tail, the warm wash of lamplight making sanji’s hair gleam dark gold. brook’s laughing quietly in the corner, and he can feel chopper’s chest rise and fall against his side.

sleep comes easily, for once. these people, his family— they make safety a little easier to believe.

[beannary]

Wait did Donnie carry Netties egg? If true I imagine he was nesting pretty bad. And after he had the egg and told his brothers they realized oh that’s probably why he was arranging shit in circles for the past three months (which I believe is the average time turtles carry their eggs). But that also sounds like pretty on brand donnie weirdness so it was easy to write off.

So basically im going off the idea that beause donnie is capable of producing eggs this is something that he has been dealing with annually. He lays the eggs around July (which based on my brief research is around with spiny softshell turtles lay their eggs) and his eggs are always infertile because he's you know, a child.

Basically what he did to make Nettie was around May which is I think spiny softshell turtle breeding season, he basically experimented on himself to get his own body to fertilize the eggs he was carrying using his own DNA, essentially creating a little baby clone of himself.

His nesting was probably a bit worse since the eggs were actually fertile but this happened also after the Kraang so I'm sure everyone chalked up him being a bit more intense to the trauma of the invasion.

And then once he laid the eggs he was like alright did my little experiment work? Basically looking to see if 1. any of the eggs were successfully fertilized and 2. if yes then will any of them hatch

only one was fertilized successfully and it also hatched successfully and we got nettie!

i also imagine that donnie at some point would have invented some form of birth control for himself? or just something to stop the process of his body developing the eggs since that would take up a lot of energy and also be annoying to deal with especially since the eggs are always infertile

[fountainpenguin]

"And honestly, I think you're fine! I mean, you're beautiful... about 84% of the time!" (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! ~ 3rd Life series fan-season

Chapter 21 - “Heat (Martyn, BigB)”

❤️ Read on AO3

💛 Start from Chapter 1

💚 More Pixels Imperfect fics

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A frustrated Martyn is left alone to babysit the Fox Dragon’s eggs. He texts Grian, Scott, Cleo, Mumbo, and Ren, then gets in three fights within an hour.

Meanwhile, BigB checks if Impulse's new farm designs are ethical for the villagers involved and Bdubs walks in on a dynamic that catches him off guard. Huzzah for server hub politics!

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

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InTheLittleWood - Phantom

Status: Bored

Acting captain of New Star Station's phantom hybrid flock

💙  🧡  💚

"Iron… water… charcoal… salt… Ugh." Martyn leans all his weight against the lab table, blowing his lips. "Wow, this would be so much easier if I had an admin panel- none of this back-and-forth rabble. Why don't I ever look these things up when I'm on-server?"

The fox eggs, being eggs, don't respond. Martyn had to peel his eyes from them to focus his attention on the lab table, though he keeps his tail resting on the ground, lightly wrapped around the nearest one. If someone flutters down on the flock roost platform, he'll hear them. And if someone creeps on tiptoes across the landing, the vibration will rattle up his spine. He's a great caretaker. This is going just swell.

And it's not a bad gig, actually, stuck up here on the clock tower... so long as you don't mind the squawking and banter of parrot hybrids in the southern park whose voices carry back all this way. Let them sing you the song of their people; we're all sparky-frustrated up here in Between. Gods, that stupid moon.

Grian: i maen its no surprise if its rough. wild phantom idle ambiance uses live young w/o eggs or nests. the hybrids were the same back in my world Grian: well undead young but ykwim Grian: like its your bat side and not your vulture side is what im saying Grian: or whatever else you are InTheLittleWood: k InTheLittleWood: thanks g Grian: yeah sure InTheLittleWood: wait how do undead hybrid babies work? Grian: ? were you born alive? InTheLittleWood: ?? I thought I was? I was adopted as an egg tho, I didn't hatch in Linda's nest. Never thought to ask "Hey Mum and Dad, was I born alive?"

He pats the nearby eggs as Grian starts to type. Should he put his crocs back on? Is it rude to put your smelly feet up on a spawn egg? They can't sense that, right? Nah… They're not even born yet. The very beginnings of a soul might be in there (Maybe? He's not sure how it works), but they only hatch once an account links up to them. This clutch only has a few dozen eggs.

Martyn rests his hands on his stomach, counting down the ticking seconds. Thousands and thousands of eggs hatch every day, more or less in the order they were laid by one of the 98 dragons across Between. Sometimes siblings and camera twins are born the same species. Sometimes another dragon dropped a few of her own in a nest at the same time, so there's a split.

On rare occasion, two souls bundle in a single egg- That's where you get identical twins like Grian and Two. How much longer before these foxes start spawning? It can't be long now.

Gods, imagine if every single one hatches two souls… That'll be at least 60, 70, 80 fox hybrids scampering around up here. I should probably take them down to ground level. The base of the tower is a big empty room, offering nothing but the stairs and the doorway out.

Grian: i think mumbo said the phantom dragon carries the eggs in her throat pouch Grian: its what the alligator dragon does and she lives in the swamp near mumbo's spawner with joels mom InTheLittleWood: Suddenly I think I owe my parents some cards and gifts. I knew adopting phantoms was rare but I didnt realize grabbing an egg probably means crawling inside Linda's mouth and escaping before she bites you, geez 😳 InTheLittleWood: unless they just got my egg right after it was laid Grian: when the spawnlings hatch they eat the souls shes been carrying in there Grian: lol Grian: i mean mumbo got paid the big $ to do egg stealing runs, its why he had the last allay aggs Grian: eggs

Martyn lifts his brows, staring at his comm screen. If you measure by years instead of levels, he's older than Mumbo. Mumbo definitely didn't grab his egg, but how weird would that be? You marry the man who kidnapped you as a baby… That's just weird.

Granted, he does hail from a well-off family. The term "well-off" is ambiguous when you're off-server, but the gist is that his parents actually do have diamonds whereas most of Between's natural resources have been picked over out in the wild.

Growing up, he always just assumed his parents ended up with a phantom egg because that's what they bid for when the adventurers - usually, but not always wandering traders - went out on adoption runs to the dragon nests. His mum's an otter hybrid and his dad's a raven: a rare predator and a rare scavenger most people don't even know are native in the game.

Otter code was prepped for Minecraft Dungeons, but never made it beyond early concepts. Nonetheless, they exist. They're called a Tweenborn mob- something meant to exist, but never truly crossed into one of the main dimensions. Ravens actually did make it into the Dungeons spin-off, but only went public as cosmetic pets. You don't fight them, but they hang around anyway.

Most people thought his parents were modded and would do a double-take if they ever mentioned the Otter Dragon or Raven Dragon, who rarely get the mental pings to build nests and lay eggs. Growing up, they used to introduce Martyn as "their phantom kid" and urge him to show the wings and his baby fangs.

Was I a trophy kid? he wonders now. He wouldn't put it past them. Love his parents he may, but they did chase a lot of status symbols. Being rich enough to afford what must've been a wizard-level egg retrieval - potentially from the depths of Linda's gular pouch - may have been too good to resist.

Martyn stares a little more, rubbing his thumb across the edge of his communicator. I haven't seen my parents since before my EVO days. Maybe he should go. He can fly fast and be back in a snap. Would Scott allow that?

I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Full chapter on AO3 - Link at top]

[life-in-the-monster-haus]

In Defense of Gillington "Gil" Webber

This has been a long time coming. For some reason there is this very prevalent and annoying trend in the Monster High fandom that Gil is not only a bad boyfriend to Lagoona but that he is also racist.

People believe this so much they are willing to die on that hill. But is it TRUE is the question at hand here. let's take a deep dive into the oldest of Monster High lore and see if this claim has a leg to stand on. is Gil racist, a bad boyfriend or a bad character? let's go ghouls.

An Unfortunate part about early Monster High continuity is there there are 2 beginnings. The Web series was around first and they just dove right in, But chronologically A New Ghoul @ School is the proper introduction to Monster High as it follows Frankie during their first week at school.

Now here's where things get tricky, Gil is only in New Ghoul @ School for less than 20 seconds, We see him competing in a swim meet and then at the end he is dancing with Lagoona at the Dawn of the Dance, So in this timeline they are already "a thing"

But our first introduction to Gil is in "Blue Lagoona" where Lagoona is oogling Gil while they are in Cawculus class. Which is the 6th Episode of Volume 1, so pretty early on in the series.

Lagoona calls him a swimsuit model, day dreams in class about Gil and doodles in her notebook. The bell wakes her up and she has lost the book she was doodling in. whether Lagoona lost the book or if Gil swiped it is unclear, but he has the book and he gives it back to Lagoona, where he has wrote on her doodle to "Meet him at the Fountain at 3" Now we don't know what happens at the Fountain at 3 because the episode ends, but this is important because Lagoona is the one who chased Gil, if she wasn't drawing where people could see or if she was perhaps a little quieter Gil probably would have never known She liked him, But he is cool with this because he likes her too. Lagoona is the instigator but the feeling is mutual, this is important to remember for later.

We don't see much of Gil until Episode 12 where Lagoona is once again, crushing hard on him. She tells the Ghouls and Frankie that Gil is so cute.

They are featured in the Episode 24 Hatch me if you Can where Mr. Hack gives them an assignment that is very much like that "baby think me over" program where students are given an object to treat like a baby to give them a little taste of parenthood. Mr. Hack gives everyone a Gargoyle Egg to take care of for a week, the partners seem based off whoever you're sitting next to in the class. When he gets to Gil & Lagoona he tells them "Maybe you should switch partners" when Lagoona asks why he says "everyone knows Sea Monsters are bad parents" and WOW! I forgot this show made me watch Lagoona and Gil experience a microaggression but there it is. I'm not really surprised it came from Mr. Hack either, after all he IS based off slashers from the 70's. Lagoona is hurt by this and Gil immediately jumps to her aid telling Mr. Hack that what he said isn't true and it's "an old fisherman's tale"

Look at Gil's face. That is anger, real anger at the implication that him and Lagoona would make bad parents. This egg thing is the very first conflict they face together and Gil's first instinct is to tell Mr. Hack off. I don't think they are even officially dating by this point. I think they are just kinda hanging out and enjoying each others company. Remember that when a teacher said something racially insensitive to Lagoona, Gil got mad and defended her.

Lagoona and Gil work together to take care of their egg, they treat it as if it was their own little sea monster. Lagoona puts lotion (?) on it, Gil builds it a nest and Lagoona keeps it warm- inside of a frog? - Look, I don't know sea monster husbandry so I'm assuming they're doing a good job. And they did! after the week is over everyone in class has screwed up their project except for Lagoona and Gil who took such good care of their egg that it hatches & bites off Mr. Hacks face. Their egg was the only one to hatch and Lagoona tells Gil "I knew we'd make great parents"

This is the end of Volume 1, Volume 2 is A LOT more structured than Volume 1 it also introduces a ton of new Characters like Clawd, Jackson, Toralei and the twins it also shows the disbanding of the Fearleading team from Volume 1 however this creates a continuity error, In Volume 1 Clawdeen, Draculaura and Lagoona were all on the Fearleading team already (Ghoulia was going to try out for the team too but she bailed after Cleo said she didn't want "Dead Weight" on her team.. and Ghoulia is a zombie- ha! funny joke) But in Volume 2 Clawdeen & Draculaura re-join the team as if they never were on it before & Lagoona is now Captain of the Swim Team. I'm also pretty sure that Volume 2 is where they aim for more serialized content instead of just a bunch of one off episodes that are vaguely linked together and I love this! Volume 2 is my favorite for this reason! I love the long form story! I'd like to add that during this volume Clawdeen actively tries to sabotage Draculaura dating Clawd from showing Draculaura a steak knowing she will faint (that's her friend), Closing Draculaura into a locker after telling her they better just be friends and stealing Clawds mail while they are at fearleading camp. (which is a feral offense BTW) and telling Clawd that he can't date Draculaura because "she's not one of us" but NO ONE gives Clawdeen shit for being toxic and/or racist. She shouldn't get a pass just because she's cute and a girl. I love Clawdeen too but what she did was screwed up and she never got reprimanded for it, Draculaura just stopped talking to her for a few days/a week and then we forget about it.

But Back to the case at hand, Gil.

In Episode 32 "Varsity Boos" Frankie asks Lagoona if she is going to go dance with Gil and Lagoona says "it's complicated" This is our first indicator that there is trouble in Paradise, Frankie says "it's okay for friends to dance together" but then they bail on that thought and say "I guess it is weird" So I don't know if this is Lagoona freaking out about them being "different" OR if she just has the jitters because it's not clear if Gil & her are dating yet. High school romances are fickle and defining them can be challenging for anyone, Racist parents or not.

In Episode 36 "Screech to the Beach" The fearleading team is going to Gloom Beach fearleading academy, Lagoona is also going because her parents go to Gloom Beach every Spring Break for "underwater camping" Why is she on the bus with the fearleading team even though shes not on it and should be driving up with her parents?... Don't... think about it too much. BUT while the ghouls and Frankie are packing Draculaura comments that Lagoona will be "back in your natural elements huh?" and Lagoona explains that Gloom Beach is not her natural habitat, She is from the Ocean and is a Salt Water creature and Gloom Beach is a fresh water lake like Gil who is a river monster, this is the very first time we hear it spelled out that Lagoona and Gil are "different" but Lagoona assures Draculaura that she can still hold her own in the fresh water. this is important. Most of the gang is napping on the bus and Lagoona has yet another dream of her and Gil smooching, only this time she's saving him from a water tank malfunction and she inhales bottled water to be able to give Gil Mouth to Mouth with fresh water before we cut away from her dream, I mention this because it's important we know that Lagoona is thirsty for this boy. (pun definitely intended)

In Episode 37 "Witch Trials" we see that lots of students from Monster High just go to Gloom Beach for the camping on the North Beach while Fearleading academy is on the South Beach. So while the gang is taking a break from fearleading chores we see Gil also came to Gloom Beach for Spring Break and him and Lagoona immediately hit it off playing "Monster Polo" with other monsters. Lagoona scores a goal and celebrates, Gil comments that shes "Not bad for a sea water gal" then Gil scores a goal and Lagoona comments "thanks Mate! you're not bad yourself for a fresh water bloke" This is them at play! some gentle ribbing of each other, they high five and hold hands, good feels all around. This is them acknowledging their differences but still being into each other regardless. So no one can use the excuse "Well maybe Gil didn't know she was salt water!" when they both spell it out for us, they know what the other one is and accept them anyways. This is important because If Gil was actually racist wouldn't he have bailed on Lagoona the moment she said she was from the sea? But he doesn't. He likes her exactly as she is.

In episode 38 "Don't cheer the Reaper" it's the next day and Lagoona goes to get Gil to play more of their game but suddenly Gil is hesitant. His entire body language has changed, He laughs nervously and can't make eye contact with Lagoona, he seems upset, So when she asks him to play he says "I can't, now's not a good time" And Lagoona asks when IS a good time and Gil says "I don't know, I don't want to talk about it"

Lagoona reassures Gil that he can tell her anything but Gil stands firm "I can't tell you this, I don't want to hurt your feelings" it is safe to assume the reason for this sudden change in Gil's demeanor is because last night he probably told his parents about this cute girl from the sea that he has been getting along with so well, Based on Gil's expressions and avoidance it's safe to say they did not take this news well and probably chewed him out because Gil's parents are racist against Salt Water Monsters. So even while Gil is hurting his first instinct is to protect Lagoona’s feelings and spare her from his parents prejudice.

man, what a toxic racist asshole, being concerned about the girl he likes feelings.

A couple of days go by and in Episode 39 "Road to Monster Mashionals" Lagoona confronts Gil who has been avoiding her. He reluctantly tells her the truth that his Parent's don't want to him hanging out with her because her people are from the sea, he's fresh water and it's forbidden. She asks him if he believes in that and he says no, but his parents do and they won't allow Gil to be around her. He says he's sorry and swims away, leaving Lagoona devastated.

Some people may view this as cowardice on Gil's part and I supposed to some degree it is, But sometimes being a coward is the right call to make. Gil is 16 and his parents still have a lot of control over him, They feed him, house him are responsible for him. This puts Gil is an unfortunate situation. He likes Lagoona but his parents don't, I don't know what y'all expect Gil to do about this, being a minor and all. but he's playing the hand he has been dealt and is choosing to walk away from Lagoona before they get too involved and it hurts even more. I do not believe this is cowardice, this is mercy.

Gil is trying to make it hurt less.

In Episode 40 "Queen of the Scammed" Gil tries to talk to Lagoona once school is back in session and Lagoona is not having it.

She is pissed and rightfully so, She has every right to be mad- but she shouldn't be mad at Gil. Gil tries to explain to her that what's happening between them isn't his will, but the will of his parents and Lagoona tells him that he needs to stand up for himself. And maybe he does, but how exactly does she see this panning out for Gil? Does she think he'll plead his case in the name of love and his parents will magically throw out all of their prejudices? That's... not how curing racism works, it's never that easy. Maybe Lagoona doesn't understand this because her own family is so supportive of her that she can't imagine why a family wouldn't be on their sons side. But this isn't her family, it's Gil's and we don't know what his home life is like, he seems to fear his parents so I'm assuming they have given him a reason to be afraid.

In Episode 42 "Hoodoo you like" The ghouls & Frankie are talking about boys & their relationships. Clawdeen asks Lagoona how things are with Gil and she says "Better Now, but things are so complicated you know" Most of this episode is spent on Frankie and them making a boyfriend to fit in (and creating Hoodude) but this statement from Lagona shows that something went down off screen that we do not know.

Gil confides in Deuce that he lied to Lagoona about his parents being okay with them seeing each other, I am assuming this means Lagoona and him are officially going out. Deuce tells Gil that if Lagoona finds out she will be upset and Gil knows this.

This is probably the first time Gil is in the wrong, Lying to someone you love is never a good idea. This is the first time we see Gil actually be selfish. He thinks if his Parents don't know and Lagoona doesn't know then no one gets hurt, right? Gil is trying to have his cake and eat it too. but this is a temporary solution to a long term problem. However, I'm going to give him a pass because I know what it's like to be young and in love and stupid. His situation is shitty and I would have lied too... as a matter of fact, I did. You might be wondering why I'm putting so much work into defending Gil well the truth is, I've been in Gil's shoes. I fell in love with someone who was not the same ethnicity as me and my horribly racist father would have not approved, I didn't tell him who I was dating for over a year, once he did find but he disowned me and hasn't spoken to me in like 8 years. but the difference between Gil and I is I'm an adult and I can survive without my parents, Gil is a minor and he probably can't.

SO while what he is doing is wrong, it's understandable.

In Episode 43 "Fear Pressure" we see Lagoona and Gil competing in a swim meet. They win and get a trophy for Monster High.

But Toralei, who's been a little shirt stirrer all season takes a picture of them holding hands and she says it will be a good spread in the Fearbook.

I'm not sure how she knows about Lagoona and Gils relationship or that Gil has racist parents, but she knows and she is willing to blow up Gil's secret just to get back at Lagoona who doesn't put up with her nonsense.

In Episode 44 "Fear the Book" the fearbook is finished and has been released to the school! Toralei kept her word and made an entire spread about Lagoona and Gil.

Lagoona loves this, Gil is not as thrilled because now there is photographic proof he has disobeyed his parents.

Cornered, Gil tells Lagoona that he didn't tell his parents about their relationship. Lagoona is hurt that he lied to her about this.

Gil then tells Lagoona that his parents threatened to send him to an "Underwater Boarding School" if he keeps seeing her & that he had no choice. This is the first time Gil's parents threaten him directly. Lagoona, wounded, Walks away from Gil to "study for a test" But she is once again, rightfully upset with him. But this time it's actually his fault. I never claimed Gil was perfect but he's not the villain the fandom has made him out to be either.

Gil waits for Lagoona to get out of her exam to speak with her again. He says they will be safe together as long as his parents don't see the fearbook and he tells Lagoona that his parents don't need to know about them... Lagoona does not take this well.

She tells Gil "ether you agree with them or you don't and if you don't ? you need to do something about it instead of acting like a frightened dingo! I don't even know who you are anymore" before walking away.

Lagoona is being unreasonable here. He doesn't agree with his parents, Lagoona knows this because he explicitly told her this while at Gloom Beach. What she said sounds good in theory and in a perfect world? Gil should be able to be honest with his parents... but we don't live in a perfect world now do we? Everyone keeps telling Gil he needs to "do something about it" it being his parents racism, but WHAT do y'all expect him to DO!? Tell them their racist ways are wrong? - because parents love being told they're wrong by their teenage son - sounds like Gil is getting his ass whooped tonight. Tell them that he's going to see Lagoona anyways? He's getting sent to an underwater boarding school. Not tell them but then they find out he's dating Lagoona anyways because of the fearbook? someone is sleeping under a bridge that night and it won't be Lagoona. And who would take him in if his parents throw him out? Lagoona? I'm sure Wade would love to have a teenage boy under their roof that has the hots for his daughter. Deuce? is he even good friends with Deuce by this point? they've only talked like twice. His 5 eyed friend that he crushed at the swim meet? I doubt it.

Everyone wants Gil to "do something" but no one is thinking about the consequences of doing something, No one but Gil because he's the one who'd be directly effected.

Lagoona and Gil meet up after school to have another talk and Gil brings up the point that if he tells his parents, he gets sent to Boarding school and he loses Lagoona anyways. Lagoona says "Don't do it for me! Do it for you! You can't let their prejudice run your life!" And here's the shitty part- Lagoona is right, Gil's parents prejudice SHOULDN'T run his life, but they currently do. That sounds all good on paper Lagoona but notice how what you said doesn't address him being sent to another school against his will.

Frankie, whom bless their heart has the worst timing, they jump into their convo and asks for Lagoona to sign their fearbook, Lagoona agrees and Frankie informs both of them that this is the first year the fearbook is going to be digitized and sent to every parent. Lagoona thinks it's great, Gil...does not feel the same.

Look at Gil as Frankie tells him this.

Look at his face! that expression? is pure terror. That is the face of someone whose entire world is collapsing around them in real time. No child should be this afraid of their parents, but Gil is. We don't know what kind of home life Gil has but this is a very bad sign. If Gil is this afraid of his parents that means they have done something before to make him this afraid and I'm sure it's a lot more severe than being grounded.

In Episode 45 "Desperate Hours" Heath is talking to Gil and reminding him how screwed he is. while Lagoona is eavesdropping.

Heath bails and Gil notices Lagoona as he calls his parents, he tells her wait because he thinks she needs to hear this too.

Gil says "you always taught me that salt water people weren't as good as us fresh water people. That they are untrustworthy, uneducated and smell terrible"

Lagoona with the pit check is way funnier than it has any business being during this serious moment.

"But above all that they were dishonest but now I know that you were wrong." pause for effect. "I have this...uh... friend and she's the most honest, decent, amazing monster I know. She's from the sea"

Gil's racist parents scream at him, to the surprise of no one. then hang up on him.

Gil tells Lagoona that his parents don't feel the way he does, but that he has never felt better! a weight has been lifted! Gil, as terrified as he was still told his parents the truth. He confronted his parents and he did it for Lagoona.

They should have kissed here, but because Mattel is run by a bunch of prudes, they joke and then Lagoona accidentally walks into the pool.

In Episode 46 "Miss Infearmation" We see Gil and Lagoona are happy! Lagoona asks him if they will see each other over the summer & Gil says his parents are mad now but they will come around.

This is what you writer types call "Foreshadowing"

From here on out we get introduced to a bunch of new characters after the school year ends, it's kind of weird that while everyone is cleaning out their lockers to get ready to leave school for the summer Jackson is formerly introduced to Frankie and we meet Spectra & Nefera. But that is just a pet peeve.

In Episode 47 "Hyde and Shriek" Clawdeen asks Lagoona how things are going with Gil. They are officially on Summer Vacation.

Lagoona is distressed and says he hasn't returned any of her texts or e-mails and that his parents seemed very angry, Clawdeen trying to be positive tells Lagoona not to sweat it because it's their first day of summer vacation, Gil is probably just busy.

But we all know, that is not true.

In Episode 49 "Nefera Again" The summer is over and the ghouls & Frankie are doing their back to school shopping!

Lagoona got a summer job at the Coffin Bean, which is odd Because she's never got a doll with any of the Coffin Bean play sets, Draculaura, Clawdeen and now Deuce have. Interesting since she seems to be the only one who actually worked there.

But she is down in the dumps because by this point the entire summer has passed and she has heard nothing from Gil.

Who would have thought that forcing Gil to confront his racist parents would have had a negative outcome.

In Episode 50 "Back to Ghoul" The new school year has begun and we are introduced to Abbey! one of my fav ghouls, but this isn't about her so onward! Lagoona meets up with the gang when she comes out of the bathroom, she had been crying, She tells them that Gil's parents were so mad they sent him away to another school.

Whaaaaat? Gil's racist parents did exactly what they said they were going to do if their son disobeyed them!? Actions have consequences!? Well, I for one am fuckin' shocked.

Lagoona is the one who pressured him to confront his parents, Gil warned her about what would happen if he did and then she is surprised that it didn't go well for him. I don't know why Gil gets all the hate, Lagoona was clearly the aggressor here. Her idealistic world view got Gil punished and he's the bad guy for that??? I realize y'all love Lagoona, I love her too. but this screw up is on her webbed hands.

Well I'm out of space for pictures and I need them to better illustrate my points so I'm going to cut this analysis into parts. This subject is more complex than I had originally thought. But I am determined to clear Gil's good name!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

[ottpopfic]

Prologue

[prev]

-

It's been two and a half weeks since Leo died last

Jason is positive he's not handling it well. He's never handled any of them well, but the fact that he heard Leo die this time makes it different

Every other death there had been no sign of the other, just Piper and whatever bullshit they have gotten themselves into. But the last time, standing at the exit of the Sphinx's maze listening to Leo get crushed to death just out of his sight line had been horrible . Piper had had to hold him back from running in after him

So Jason taking off right after he had his sob fest might have been an asshole move to Piper on his part, but he couldn't stay there. They are getting closer, he can feel it. The spacing of the deaths is getting shorter, and that little window where they are both alive at the same time allows them to get closer to each other each time. Jason can feel that they are in the last push, that it's any day now and he might actually see Leo

Can he handle that, he doesn't know. It doesn't matter anyway, he's still going to keep trying

Currently, Jason is trying to reverse tree the other man. Zuse has turned so many people into plants that Jason is pretty sure it can be done in reverse. He spent over a week in research and flying about, finding the original trees people have been turned into and taking cuttings. He's hoping that he can draw energy from them and have Leo detreed back to life somehow

He's made a home base at the Baucis and Philemon shrine to his father. The place is set in a lovely grove of Oak and Linden, with the two lovers' trees twinned together behind the temple. The temple is guarded by what feels like half a million Canadian Geese, and Jason once again hates that he speaks bird

Like there's nothing wrong with birds per se, but they are loud, and opinionated, and rude. And also most of what they talk about is food and fucking, at great length and volume, which is not the most fun to listen too

Jason is down in the wildflower patch under the temple, a big clearing made by a long-ago flood. He's carefully flatted down the Jewelweed and Forget-me-nots like that one documentary on crop circles he watched with Will forever ago, bending the plants but not breaking the stems, it's a holy site after all 

Around him are the cuttings of the people plants he's been arranging into piles. Hyathsenth, Fig, Apple, Myrtle, Olive, Fir, Weeping Myrrh, Cypress, Walnut, Laurel, Popular, and of course Oak and Linden

“Godling, that bad place for nest,” a goose says as it toddles up to Jason through the wildflowers “Gramcracker can show you water if you need. Gramcracker built good nest with Cheerio by water, hatch many eggs”

“It's not a nest,” Jason tells the waterfowl

“Look like nest” Gramcracker observes, tilting his head “Sticks in circle. Not good nest, need better structure, try layering sticks not in piles”

“It's not a nest,” Jason explains “I'm trying to bring someone back”

“Back from where?”

“The dead”

“That fool errand”

“I've done it before” Jason sighs “I just gotta try something new this time”

“Ah” the goose nods “Lucky mate then”

“He's not my mate”

“Don’t, understand “ Gramcracker questions “Why build nest if not for mate?”

“It's not about him being my mate,” he sighs again “He can go have a life with someone else if he wants to, I just want him by my side”

“As mate?”

“Yeah,” Jason looks over at the goose “But he doesn’t have to be if he doesn’t want to”

“Make no sense then,” Gramcracker questions “Why build nest not for mate, no do dance yet?”

“Yeah, we haven't done a dance yet,” Jason snorts out a chuckle “But I'm making this so maybe he can come back and we can do the dance”

“Nest first then dance smart move,” the goose complements, sitting down next to him and tucking his little bird legs away “Did same with Cheerio worked very well”

“Are you happy with your Cheerio?” Jason asks him

“Very much!” Gramcracker flufflels himself out in contentedness “She's good mate, we hatch many eggs”

The goose sits with Jason as he works, simply watching his apparently atrocious nest-building 

“Why this one as mate” Gramcracker eventually asks “Many other birds on lake, less crazy godling work”

“Because he's, everything at this point,” Jason says back “We have been doing this for so long, I don't think I can stop now”

“Sunk fowllacy” 

“It's not just that, it's that he does it back. We haven't known each other for so long , but every time I go he calls me back again. He doesn't have to, but he does. It makes me want to do the same in return”

“Because love him?”

“Yeah” Jason smiles to himself “Because I love him”

“how long since been with mate”

“Three years”

“Three years ” Gramcracker squawks “That too long”

“You don't get it, you're just a bird” Jason twirls the cutting of Apple in his fingers “I heard him the last time, in the maze as it collapsed. He was there ”

“Gramcracker may be just bird,” the waterfowl ruffles himself in discontent at his answer “But Gramcracker know how to be good mate. If mate is in there you go to them”

“This is me going to him,” Jason tells the bird “If my ‘nest’ works I'll be closer this time. This time maybe I can actually see him”

“All this just to see ?!“

“We get closer each time,” Jason says, looking down at an intertwined twig of Oak and Linden “And the deaths are getting sooner. If we keep at it we might make it”

Gramcracker gives a contemplative honk “Strange curse on your mate godling”

“Yeah” Jason checks his notes again “but we'll break it eventually, we have to”

“Here idea,” the goose tells him ”Gramcracker know where good berries are, good roots. When break curse, come to Gramcracker. You two hatch many eggs then”

“Thank you friend,” Jason says laying out the last of the twigs “I might take you up on that”

-

@queenjunothegreat

[shadowcatzone]

xingyue child angst in which:

-the high elder can lay one [1] egg every reincarnation

-kinda a/b/o dynamics.

i'm sorry, there's a lot. Not sorted.

-imbibitor lunae never in previous reincarnations laid egg.

-dan feng being the first high elder who falls SO hard for yingxing that he doesn't know up or down, deciding they could get a kid

-xingyue child hatching prematurely, everyone panics (tm)

-dan feng not letting this vulnerable thing out of his sight.

-someone gets within 10 feet of him and his frail innocent baby, now he's actively defending it

-hissing, scratching, baring his teeth

-yingxing has to lead his husband away

-cue yingxing being berated for. Not defending them

-yingxing just nodding and agreeing, there's no simple way out of this

-they haven't even left the general area of their home. Most people here are vidyadhara. They all know. Doesn't matter.

-la, lact, uuh,

-dan feng taking their baby into their bed nest with him

-he insists on calling it "nest". He didn't do that before, will stop doing it after nesting period is over.

-insists it never happened. "I never called it a nest though?" Yes you did. Anyways

-dan feng, lac, la, um.

-nesting takes three times as long due to xingyue baby being premature baby.

-xingyue baby bad ears. Good ears for human standards, bad for vidyadhara standards.

-breathing issues

-baby coughs once. Dan feng acts like the world is endi g. Yingxing claims it's just a little, you know, the thing babies do

-dan feng does NOT believe him

-doctor/ healer has to come there at 4 in the morning bc baby did baby thing (cough)

-doctor says nothings wrong. Alright. The doctor gets paid well though.

-dan feng early morning breastfeeding the baby

-CUTE DOMESTIC SHIT yk

-yingxing falling asleep last bc dan feng would never forgive him (a threat but also a blatant lie)

-baby with learning difficulties

-dan feng being overprotective and claiming they can learn later

-yingxing, being the only semi-sane person in their group of friends (also a blatant lie) teaching xingyue baby whenever dan feng isn't looking

-"oh, you need to kick the preceptors? Alright, yeah, i'm looking after [baby]!" "Okay, [baby], what's two *holds up 2 fingers* plus two? *holds up two more fingers*" baby tapping on the floor with their tail 4 times "yes! Very good!"

-now dan feng thinks their baby might be a genius for learning things without being taught (don't burst his bubble)

-wondering why yingxing buys all these books on learning difficulties, clearly their baby is a genius?

-the preceptors don't know about the baby yet.

-that won't change for a long time.

-the artisanship commission knows. They love the baby. It's so cute. Work stops when the baby visits, though, cause there might be particles,,

-hcq know about the baby. Mixed feelings

-jingliu wonders if she can get a stronger drink somewhere.

-baiheng feels like she became a grandma. Yingxing pleads with her to consider herself an aunt instead. The family tree is confusing enough.

-Jing yuan is intrigued. thinks about teasing dan feng and yingxing. Holds the baby once and decides to be civil.

-("how can two people who look like you create somethi g so adorable" civil does not mean nice)

THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE I ACCIDENTALLY CHANGED TABS AND THOUGHT THIS WHOLE THING WAS LOST, FOREVER

-baby being a little silly but altogether growing up fine

-biting phase

-baby hiding in cabinets, under tables and chairs, biting peoples ankles. Attendants/servants hate them

-baby bites tasty tasty dan feng ankles. Man keeps walking, dragging them over the floor.

-(seems rough but he's very very carefully playing)

MY PHONE FELL ON MY FACE!!! HHHH

-picking the baby up "well, are my ankles tasty?" "Nuh" "then why-"

-(disclaimer any servants attendants and other people who kick xingyue baby WILL be sent to an early hatching rebirth)

-baby almost bites jingliu ankles. Almost. But yingxing/jing yuan/baiheng ankles were faster.

-cue scolding from dan feng bc "what if you stepped on the baby you degenerates"

-one day, xingyue baby getting their own room. And a few weeks after, yingxing being able to convince dan feng to let them sleep there too.

-works for a few days.

-yingxing and dan feng, for the girst time in at least 3 years, getting intimate

-XINGYUE BABY SUDDENLY STANDIN IN THE DOOR "daddy i can't sweep(sleep)" ABORT. ABORT EVERYTHING.

-yingxing: "aww poor baby. Come here." Dan feng wishing he had locked the door. gdi. Groans.

-JING YUAN LAUGHING IN THEIR FACE "YEAH YOU CAN'T LOCK THE DOOR. IT'S A TODDLER"

-dan feng about to go to jail for murder, if not for the baby in his arms.

-xingyue toddler learning what shapes are aerodynamic, by throwing them at jing yuan while laughing

-(jing yuan also laughing. Sometimes pretending to fall over dead)

-is it strange that i think the child would have the entire set of hcq action figures and other merchandise of them i like to think they see dad, father, uncle, or either auntie on the ad picture and is just like "!!! auntie!!!" And will not move from this spot until they get it.

-birthdays are fun.

-jingliu wonders EVERY YEAR wether a weapon would be appropriate yet.

-baiheng putting actual thought into it like. This. Present. Must. Be. P E R F E C T. Every year.

-Jing yuan just buying whatever is popular with kids of that specific age. After xingyue baby's 6th birthday yingxing tells him to tone it down, considering the baby is getting increasingly frustrated with the toys. So he buys the equivalent of crayons.

-everything is colored with crayons. But xingyue child is having fun so dan feng can't really be mad at them.

-(any and all attendants that scold xingyue baby will have the choice between quitting or early hatching rebirth)

-xingyue baby: "i made a marshmallow jingliu! She's always angry because everyone is so much more incompetent than her."

-jingliu: "it's okay"

-the baby burning themself on the forge. Yingxing is. Tired. Puts them on a baby chair and tells them to stay there.

-xingyue baby trying to shake the chair - to get closer to the forge. Chair falls over, baby cries.

-yingxing looking back at the baby. They're not hurt. Then saying loudly "what did i tell you!?"

-baby stops crying

-waits a few more seconds before walking over to pick them up. Baby's fine. Will not let go of yingxing though.

-time to go home then. Just holding the child. Sits down at home and cries a little. Hugging xingyue baby still.

-checks up on the baby at least 5 more times before dan feng comes home.

-dan feng: "...[baby], are you okay?" "Yes" "why is daddy crying?" "I fell with a chair" "alright"

-putting the child in bed. Going back to yingxing.

-yingxing laying his head on dan fengs lap "i'm a horrible father" "...no you're not." Cue A LOT of consoling.

-baby, 10 years old, (slow grow bc premature but also hybrid), looks like 6. Gets a dagger made by daddy.

-immediately tries to stab. The ground. Yingxing thinks the child's gonna need another in less than a year if this continues.

This is where the real angst begins. (I'm tweaking the events a little)

-some short time before xingyue childs 11th birthday. Like maybe 1-2 weeks.

-dan feng returning home. Xingyue child greeting their father.

-dan feng hands the child something. A bundle. Then talks to the attendants. (Tells them to look after xingyue child and, well, bailu) child opens the bundle to find, a baby. (<- that's bailu)

-dan feng telling the child. "Do not, under any circumstances, leave the house, until i'm back."

-"circum, stan,...?" "It means no matter what happens." "Okay" "and, look after bailu. She's your sister now."

-then he leaves. And after a few days, the attendants take bailu, and leave.

-"uhm, but, bailu-" the attendants glare at the child and slap them "do not speak the high elders name, you filthy disgrace" (im fucking crying, why tf what tf)

-then xingyue child just. Waits.

-yx and df never told anyone that *fingerguns* xingyue child is their bio child. The only people who know that, at this point, are a few from the artisanship commission, jing yuan and jingliu. The preceptors probably don't even know.

-(i like to think df used cloudhymn to hide xingyue childs tail and possibly horns)

-after a few months they get thrown out. The preceptors want the building, some bullshit reason.

Don't worry, it gets worse.

-xingyue child understanding that if they get acknowledged as df's child, bailu might be in trouble. So they decide, at 15, to cut off their own horns and tail.

-(au in which these will grow back occasionally. Which makes this worse bc they have to cut them regularly)

-xingyue child kinda starving on the streets. Getting chased off by local shop owners.

-xingyue child stealing and or begging so they don't starve. And hoping that bailu is somewhat better off.

-starting work in the artisanship commission bc the current master used to work with yingxing.

-also younger people (12-18) who don't really know/remember yingxing bullying them.

-(also. Kinda footnote-ish. Jing yuan couldn't take care of them bc grief. Jingliu had. Other reasons. Yk.)

-xingyue child was just kinda forgotten in the aftermath of all that (tm)

-the luofu is large so it makes sense that none of the main characters, nor dan heng or blade, crossed paths with the child.

-at some point their eyes turned the same color as dan fengs. They learned cloudhymn. The bare minimum somewhat. They turned their hair the same color as yingxings using cloudhymn.

-buys lunches for kids who are struggling. "Children shouldn't have to starve."

-(that's how they met yanqing, 3-5 years ago, depending on how old you hc yanqing)

-they check on bailu occasionally, from afar

-if, let's see, blade ever finds out how people treated his child (only, if he remembers, that the child. Is. HIS child.) Heads will roll. People will go through spontaneous hatching rebirth right left and center.

-df probably knew he wouldn't see them again but had full trust (in a 10 year old child. Mentally and physically 6. Great)

-in canon it's been i think 20 years so xingyue child would be. 30, 31. But physically somewhere at around 15 and mentally at a very mature 20. It's the trauma.

-attendant: "oh, i've seen the reincarnation of df the other day. Think he's gonna visit df's child?" Jing yuan: "df's... child..."

-LEGIT BABY WAS JUST FORGOTTEN NOW SUDDENLY YOU GET A REMINDER "hey didnt your best friends have a child" "oh i knew i forgot something"

-nbd, the child had attendants look after them all this time, right?

-...right?

-a lot of people are about to lose their jobs if not more

-spontaneous hatching rebirth is at an all time high (avoid THESE foods to reduce the risk---)

-do the "parents" remember their child? Probably not... but the uncle does (now)

-and jingliu still remembers that marshmallow probably (is... is that a good thing?)

-suddenly everyone wanting to know about xingyue child. Person of public interest nr.1 but they just. want to be left alone.

-barely noticed the sanctus medicus + stellaron issue. Just upset that they can't work until the cloud knights cleared out the place.

-cloud knights are also upset. No weapons will be fixed in the meantime. It's a loss for everyone involved.

-the good news are, since they'd rather wait at their 1-room-flat than the artisanship commission (they live outside of it), they can now be pestered by jing yuan, yanqing, or any attendants that jing yuan sends, 24/7.

___ ___ ___

Alternative ending (more angst- or something like that)

-The preceptors find out that xingyue child is dan fengs(!) Bio child.

-dan heng remembers bits and pieces of xingyue child. Including that they're dan fengs bio child.

-blade remembers. He's not in the right mind to take care of a child, he keeps telling himself.

-at some point, in scalegorge, (with dan heng IL) they find a small mirage echo.

-"!! Father, you're back!" "The attendants took bailu away... i'm sorry..." "The preceptors say that i have to go through hatching rebirth, like you did." "But, you came back, so i don't have to do that, right?" "Although... maybe you're a mirage..." "they say when hatching rebirth happens, a mirage could be created..." "father, i'm scared..." "will i get to see you again when i do the same thing? I hope so..." "i'm so scared... but i'll be brave... i promise..." "i'm sorry... i'm sorry..."

-dan heng is probably crying. Not bc he 100% remembers, but bc the voice of the child makes him sad for some reason. Kid sounds so familiar too, he thinks, as the last bits of the echo vanish in his grasp, he whispers "wait, don't go..."

-the preceptors decided to make xingyue child the next imbibitor lunae/ high elder, but they don't want them to remember dan feng. So made them go through hatching rebirth like that's gonna help somehow.

-well, dan heng is sad and angry, and decides now would be the perfect timing for that "conversation" the preceptors so desperately wanted to have with him.

-he brings blade ("out of 5-" "the preceptors unhatched your child. Do you want a piece of the action or-" "...lead the way") and they're essentially undoing the house.

-the audacity too, considering it's the house dan feng and yingxing used to live in together.

-then they hear kids laughter. They walk up to the door. Locked. So dan heng hits the door with his tail twice.

-laughter stops. Excited squeal, little steps towards the door, hits the door with their tail (and half their body) twice. "Papa!!"

-i mean, the door never stood a chance. And dan heng (IL) picks the child up, SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN THE MIRAGE ECHO

-this incarnation of xingyue child seems maybe 2 or 3 years old. And the child doesn't remember them. They do remember the horns. Dan fengs horns, technically.

-also. They have the same issues. Hearing difficulty, breathing problems, learning disability and slow growth. Additionally, now they twitch.

-the preceptors can count themselves lucky that dan feng isn't around anymore. Bc he would have killed for the child.

-now everyone finds out that 1.the child was treated badly and 2.absolutely no one looked after the child. And 3.they're gonna have to live with the knowledge that the child was terrified, absolutely miserable and possibly starving in the hours leading up to what was essentially their death.

_____

Here, have some tissues- AW DANGIT WE'RE OUT AGAIN!!

[tuxedo-floracat]

almost a full year later, i FINALLY hatched a dragon with the color combo for my original bear pride scry!!! and man. what an ordeal this was just for 1 specific color combo... rng was NOT in my favor..... welp time for an overly long post about the journey!!!

~ Gallery ~

~ Wrong Color Order ~

Parents: Capsicum & Lalique, both purchased without remembering to check my original scry and getting the primary & secondary colors swapped but it was too late, leading to an unintentional second project. sunk cost fallacy and all that.

Ussuri, the unintended second project that ironically was completed first. my wonderful Bear-ler!

~ The Actual Intended Project ~

First Set of Parents: Lambda & Lupe (parents of Clavicle & Dreamsicle)

Project Failure Kept & Gened for Funsies: Dreamsicle, bc i thought he looks like ice cream hehe

Second Set of Parents: Clavicle & Candor

Third Set of Parents: Clavicle & PenRose

and now, the final sucessful project goal dragon: this little bastard. you had no right being so hard to obtain. i love you. you're gonna look awesome.

~ Final Stats ~

Parents - 7 Parents bought - 6 Parents bought for wrong color order - 2 Parents bought for correct color order - 4 Lupe & Lambda - 27 hatchlings total (including Clavicle) Clavicle - 19 hatchlings total (8 parented by Candor, 11 parented by PenRose) Total original project failures - 45 hatchlings Lalique & Capsicum (wrong color order pair) - 12 hatchlings total Wrong color order project failures - 11 hatchlings Project failure dragons kept and gened for funsies - 1 Dragons hatched total - 58 Total nests - too many for me to want to figure out lol Intended number of dragons I meant to add to my lair - 1 Actual number of dragons added to my lair - 10 Time making this post - probably too long Potential errors in these stats bc I'm bad w/ numbers - Very Likely