#Squeaks the mongoose

[loupy-mongoose]

*attempts to speak mongoose*

Squeak squeaker squee squeak squeak

[cryptratfromrunescape]

cretures by dumbness (this is a joke all creatures are amaszig)

sea sponge: 0!!! NO BRAIN!!! IT DONT EVEN MOVE!!! IDIOT CREATURE!!!

starfish: 0.005 barely even creature it so silly and dumb

leech: 0.01 evil parasitic creaturrr

sea slug: 0.018 pretty shell, but no brain

fruit fly: 0.15 it lives so short no time to get smart

ant: 0.25 they do not think, but are very good at being ant.

honey bee: 0.96 ALMOST THERE!! BUT still stupid insect creatur!!

cockroach: 1 they skitter they survive they tough

common house gecko: 3.9 skjsgjk stick its little tongue out

guppy: 4.3 dumbest fish evar, so smol no room for brain

sand lizard: 4.3 tiny lizard, tiny brain

crested gecko: 5.4 no thoughts, head empy

brown water snake: slister slither

leopard gecko: 8.08 thick tail stores knowledge

greek tortoiouse: 8.5 thick shell wise turtle not that wise

tokay gecko: 8.8 it screams, for it knows nothing

russian tortoise: 9.008 it knows secrets. it forgot.

corn snake: 10.6 slister slister

rainbow boa: 11.08 it not smart, but it can still kill you

common snapping turtle: 13.6 bite bite

painted turtle 14.3 who put paint on this turtle

frog: 16. ribbit.

boa constrictor: 19.7 every spot on its body is another smart point

yellow anaconda: 20.03 slither squeez

major skink: 24.1 skinky

naked mole rat: 26.8 first mammal on the list, it look stupid

green iguana: 29.09, haha even a lizard is smarter then the naked mole rat.

gold tegu: 31.3 valuable

smoky shrew: 36, it burrows. it need not be smart.

short tailed shrew: 52, smarter, but why?

pig-nosed turtle: 53.02 what a smart turtle!!

house mouse: 71, squeak!

asian water monitor: 78.2 big lizard, bigger brain.

king quail: 80.4 our first, (and dumbest) bird

nile crocidile: 80.5 why croc need to be so smart?

heart nosed bat: 81 Our first bat!!

diamond dove: 81.8 makes pretty noises

golden hamster: 90, it might be able to learn something!

common quail: 117.7, much smarter then its king

hairy tailed mole: 124, the smart is in the tail

star nosed mole: 131, strange creature!!

zebra finch: 131, not as smart as a real zebra...

goldcrest: 164, im running out of things to say about these animals

grey partrige: 170.2 is he in a pear tree?

brown rat: 200, i have heard they are smart, i guess it is not true.

eastern mole: 204, it is a mole (what do you want me to say)

great tit: 226 haha tit

guinea pig: 240

common wood pidgeon: 261

hammer headed bat: 275 not too smart, i guess someone hit it's head with a hammer

wood duck: 305.8

pidgeon: 310 smarter then a rat

budgeregar: 322 dumbest pet bird

mallard: 367

common blackbird: 379

marbled duck: 386.9 we sure are getting a lot of ducks

ferret: 404 error

cockatiel: 453, smart for a bird, but dumb overall

grey squirrel: 453.6

banded mongoose: 454

prairie dog: 473.9

common starling: 483

wild turkey: 492.8

european rabbit: 494.2

octopus: 500 smartest sea creture!!!

indian peafowl: 570.9

little owl: 585.9 not a lot of room in there for brain

common kestrel: 624.5

common marmoset: 636

eastern rosella: 542

barn owl: 690

cat: 760, sorry everyone who thought their cat was super smart

magpie: 897 smarter then a cat

western jackdaw: 968

long eared owl: 991.3 almost at a thousand

mute swan: 1001

common buzzard: 1001

black vulture: 1009

greater rhea: 1030

earasian jay: 1085

racooon dog: 1160

emu: 1335 for such a smart creature, it sure acts dumb

rook: 1509

grey parrot: 1566, some people think this is the smartest bird. it is not.

tawny owl: 1580

capybara: 1600

common ostrich: 1620

jackal: 1730

snowy owl: 1807 i didnt know owls were so smart

fox: 2011 i guess foxes arent as clever as we thought

racoon: 2148

kea: 2149

raven: 2171 still not the smartest bird

pig: 2220

chihuahua: 2510

chow chow: 2610

yorkshire terrier: 2640

springbok: 2720

blue and yellow macaw: 3136 SEE i TOLD you there was a smarter bird!

common squirrel monkey: 3246

german shepard: 3530 what a smart pupper!

striped hyena: 3885 but this is an even smarter pupper

lion: 4667 leagues beyond a house cat

brown bear: 9586

giraffe: 10,750

yellow baboon: 10,950

chimpanzee: 28,000 and its our closest living ancestor!

orangutan: 32,600

gorilla: 33,400

human: 86,000

african elephant: 257,000

[biblically-accurate-star]

The list of recent vocal stims

(And their sources, if there is one.)

Arcane:

MONGOOSE?!

Glorious ovulation

I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS despite being at a loss for words, Viktor yelled at me for the next 40 minutes.

Maybe the Arcane was the friends we made along the way

Viktor nation, how we feeling? Jayce, Jaybe, or… Jaybe not.

You said you wanted a threesome; I told you I knew someone.

The Dragon Prince:

ON. YOUR. KNEES.

Rain World:

You’re stuck in a cycle, a repeating pattern.

What fate a slugcat?

Wet mouse

who am, if you excuse me, gOdLiKe In CoMpArIsOn~

Undertale:

NYEH!

SAUNS HOW THE F— DID YOU BURN THE WATUH?! (In a very British accent for some reason??? Like, Sans is pronounced with the same vowel sound as sauce…)

Misc:

There’s a leek in my boat! (I think this one is cloudy with a chance of meatballs two.)

YIPPEE!!

Eep!

-Various squeaking-

Yip!

-clicking tongue-

@sagegreenfrogs

@wilddoesdoodles

@crowcreations

@adamswretchedthing

[samael-your-guardian-angel]

((MIGHTY MONGOOSE))

*It's him??? Squeaks and has to let that sink in. How are things still surprising?*

Uhhm, flowers or skull, you pick.

*crouches down and regards him curiously* You are very cute like this. ...Not to be rude, but can I pet you?

Flowers, definitely! I'm a bit of an old hippie.

Of course you can! Perks of turning into a small fluffy animal, all the free massages.

[venomwrites]

Hello chef- are you okay? You've been giving us a feast of hurting and yearning and I'm just dropping by to say I'm living for it but my eyes can only handle so much crying.

As the great Ariana Grande once said, ain't got no tears left to cry.

I'll part with a funny hc from the soulmate au.

I want to say caitlyn is ticklish. So probably there was one time when teen caitvi is having some type of petty cold war between them.

Vi is trying to make amends but caitlyn's being bratty. (As she should! Sometimes..)

So being the little shit that she probably is, vi had this amazing idea to poke at her own sides to try to get caitlyn's attention. Immediately caitlyn's impeccable posture turn even straighter.

Vi is reminded of a mongoose and a shit eating grin slowly spreads itself across her face.

Caitlyn finally turns slowly towards vi.

"Don't you dare." Caitlyn is visibly flustered. "Or what?" Vi sticks her tongue out and pokes at her side more.

Caitlyn squeaks and rushes to vi to stop her barrage of tickle attacks. They rumbled and tumbled and ended up with caitlyn on top pinning vi's hand on her sides.

Vi's hair color seems to spread to her face as her ears and neck turns bright red.

She feigns a cough to tough it out.

"Now will you please talk to me?"

OMFG I love this so much. Especially because who is tickling you can have a effect on how ticklish you are. So It's a sign of how comfortable they are with each other even when Caitlyn is being all cold war with Vi.

Though to me it's actually Vi who does the cold war way more--especially in those early years while she's struggling with just how rich Caitlyn is and just how involved she was in the Bridge. So it might be even funnier the other way around when Vi's being an angsty teen and then Caitlyn makes her giggle.

[lemonlimekodkod]

Do you have a cat?

I do! I have three!

This is Mongoose. A real freak on a leash lol. She is super friendly and loves to cuddle. She can't do a full meow and kinda squeaks or quacks she makes up for it by fighting my blinds and destroying objects to wake me up for breakfast. I took her to work on her leash and she let everyone pet her and wasn't scared of the large carts in the hallway.

Then the twins: Bubble and Lychee as in the Japanese Cafe tea. Bubble is more white and Lychee is more orange. Bubble is my sweet little baby while Lychee is an out of control kitten.

Lychee learned Mongoose's bad habits and fights the blinds for breakfast but Bubble will sweetly meow to wake me up.

Bubble loves to cuddle while napping and is always telling me things.

Lychee loves food and will eat everything she can. Meats, cheese, milk, carbs, and vegetables cooked with meat. She loves spaghetti as much as I do. Soon after taking the second to last photo she knocked shredded cheese to the floor while I was measuring it. And then I reused the cup to measure flour and she slapped the flour!

Maybe is should not have adopted 3 kittens at once but they keep me busy at least haha

[sunlitsparks]

Chapter 1: A New Pair of Boots

Summary | Next

Chapter under the cut ☆

Hooray. Another day at work.

Honey twirled her pigtail around her fingers distractedly, watching the bustling outside from the view of the store’s front glass door. The store was a cozy little place, with shelves lining the sides of both walls and racks full of more clothing, spaced evenly enough apart for some walking space, plus two fitting rooms in the back of the store near the register. They sold a small variety of clothing including dresses, skirts, shirts and pants, shoes, and a counted selection of purses occasionally. It was mostly marketed towards feminine individuals. Being located at a small shopping center, the entire front of the store was glass, with no windows or doors located elsewhere, save for one more door in the back for employees to exit.

Working in a boutique had once been her dream job—she has always wanted to start selling her own line of clothes someday, so working in a clothing store would give her just the experience she needed to begin pitching her own sales and researching what styles customers enjoy! When she was approached with this job opportunity, she knew she had landed the jackpot. What could possibly go wrong??

Oh. Right. The fact that her store was always dead.

“Honey? You went quiet all of a sudden.”

The voice sounding from her phone jolted her out of her thoughts, reminding her that she wasn’t quite fully alone. “Sorry Mina,” she laughed half-heartedly. “Just… thinking how boring it is here!!”

“Hey, I’m sure someone will show up at some point,” her friend reassured, though Honey doubted her words. She appreciated the attempt at reassurance, though. “I’d show up myself to hang out if I weren’t getting ready for my gig tonight.”

“The gig that I’m not even gonna make it to because of work,” Honey grumbled, slumping down against the register desk even more than she was before. Her yellow mongoose friend was a talented singer, occasionally landing small gigs in local restaurants and such; Honey always did her best to be there for as many as possible. In fact, today’s gig would be the first one she didn’t make it to in the year since her friend started.

“Hey, don’t worry about it! I know you can’t help it,” her friend reassured. “It’s not like there’s many other employees there you could’ve swapped shifts with.”

The amber-colored cat sighed, twitching her tail to and fro. “Well… I just hope it all goes well for you.”

A figure moving closer towards the door caught her attention again; at first she suspected it was a passerby, on their way to one of the local restaurants or grocery stores. They appeared to be crossing the street to their side, though the longer they walked, the more they appeared to be headed straight for this location after all.

“Oh hey, looks like I’ll have a customer after all,” Honey remarked, standing on her toes to get a closer look, trying to judge what they might be looking for before they even walked in.

The longer she stared, though, the faster her heart began to beat. They were an armadillo with a dark red shell and deep blue eyes. They appeared to be on the phone as well, smiling at some point in their conversation, making Honey audibly gasp without even realizing what she was doing.

“Honey? Did you hear me?”

The armadillo raised his gaze to the door and made eye contact with Honey, and she let out a startled squeak and ducked behind the counter out of his sight. “Oh no he’s hot!!”

“What?” Mina was now dying of laughter from the other end of the conversation, and Honey flattened her ears out of embarrassment. She knew she had no reason to be embarrassed though—this was her best friend, her partner in crime, the person she shared all of her darkest secrets with!! And yet she could feel her face flushing dark red, and her fur frizzing up. “Wait, hold up, scale from 1 to 10?”

“I don’t know I can’t look again or he’ll know I’m staring!!” Honey thought to herself, trying to conjure his image in her head once more. “Probably like an 11 or something dude, he’s hot!!”

“Ohhhh,” the mongoose’s voice giggled. “Dude, go shoot your shot! He’s coming into your store isn’t he? You gotta acknowledge him anyways! Besides, I gotta go meet someone before this gig.”

“Wait Mina don’t go—”

“You got this, girl! Love ya! Byeeeeee!”

Click. The phone call ended.

“Ughhh!!” Honey groaned, kicking her feet a little. She was tempted to curl up into a ball and tuck her head between her legs, but instead she tapped her cheeks gently with her fingertips. Snap out of it, you got this!!

She grabbed a random stack of papers from one of the shelves on her side of the counter, standing back up as the bell rang, signaling the customer walking in. “Welcome to Vivienne’s Vibrant Boutique,” she called, placing the stack of papers on top of the desk, trying to play it cool as though the reason she ducked in the first place was simply to pick it up.

He was no longer on his phone, having apparently ended the conversation before walking in; he smiled shyly and mumbled a small “H’lo”, gazing around. He had a kind of lost expression on his face, giving Honey the impression he had genuinely no idea what he was doing here.

She walked out from behind the store counter, her heels clacking with every step; the sound caused the armadillo to lift his gaze again, realizing he was being approached. “Anything I can help with, doll??” she asked, giving him a smile, though she was quite convinced it came across as a goofy grin rather than comforting and inviting.

He didn’t seem to take notice of her awkwardness, however, and his eyes brightened a little, looking somewhat relieved. “As a matter of fact, yeah,” he answered. Honey’s heart fluttered more as he spoke. His voice was somewhat smooth and bright, not extremely deep but not too high pitched either, perhaps… boyish? It was rather handsome—wait, can voices be described as handsome?? Is that how that works?? “I’m looking for a gift for my younger sister; she’s been wanting some new boots, but I can’t quite decide what she likes…”

“Well you’ve come to the right gal!!” Honey giggled, immediately wishing she could smack herself. “So what does she generally like?? What activities are they going to be used for??”

“Hmm…” The armadillo rested his hand against his chin, pondering. “She’s kind of introverted, honestly. She likes to go on hikes though. So probably just for that, and school.”

“So normal wear and tear, enough for hikes though,” Honey mused, glancing around the selection available. Her eyes landed on something simple, a smooth black, slightly higher than ankle length, with zippers along the side as well as standard shoelaces, with black soles. The material was faux leather, and it was a reasonably affordable price, in her opinion.

“These are a good option,” she suggested, pointing them out to the customer. “Faux leather but very good in quality and budget-friendly too!! I own a pair of these myself in red, and really like them!!”

He looked them over, intrigued, but not quite fully satisfied, it would seem. “They do look nice… but she likes to doodle on her shoes, and I’m not fully sure these would work for that…”

How cute!! She couldn’t help but smile at the thought and at this armadillo’s thoughtfulness.

“Then this may be closer to what you’re looking for!!” she replied, passing him a different pair towards the left. The soles were rubber as well, but the outside of the shoe was white and made of hemp, providing a smoother texture. This pair lacked the zipper, and though it had shoelaces they didn’t actually tie anything; they were made more for simply slipping on and going.

“These are a little cheaper in price but still good quality as well!! Also comes in other colors and is much more ideal for drawing on.”

His expression brightened, and almost as soon as he looked at the shoe she was holding out to him, his gaze darted toward the other pairs, looking at the other colors presumably. He seemed to find what he was looking for, a shade of light green, and once he picked out the correct size, he pulled out the box and handed it to her with an adorable grin on his face.

“So what’s the occasion, a birthday or something??” I asked, walking over to the register with him so I could ring him up.

“Nah, just… her current shoes are falling apart at the soles, she needed something new, so I figured I’d pick some up for her since I got paid today.”

“Fair enough,” she replied, setting down the box and scanning them with the handheld scanner.

“So, it doesn’t look like it gets too busy here, huh?” he mused, looking sideways, almost as if… avoiding eye contact?

Is he trying to make conversation with me??

“Yeah, not really,” she laughed awkwardly, placing a hand behind her head and subconsciously rubbing behind her own ear. “Uh. Small businesses, ya know how it goes.”

“True,” he replied, glancing back at me and giving a small smile. “I work for a small construction company, so I don’t work a lot in between contracts, unfortunately. Have to pick up side hustles here and there, where I can.” “Wow, it must be tough.” Honey was lucky enough to live with a relative, so she didn’t have to rely on bills and such, and was mainly focusing on saving enough money to enroll in a fashion design course at the local university.

“Yeah, it has its challenges for sure, but I try my best to make it work,” he responded, pulling out his wallet to pay as I finished ringing him up. “Oh, uh, not that I’m trying to brag or anything—”

“Oh don’t worry, I get you,” Honey giggled, handing the armadillo his receipt. “Here you are! Anything else you need?”

“Um, yeah actually… I was wondering if I could get your number?”

“HUH?!?!” the cat exclaimed loudly, her fur and tail frizzing up with surprise. “Wh—huh—just like that??”

His gaze was warm and steady but he was flushing furiously. “I always figured a direct approach is the best way, right? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Nonono, not at all.” Honey was shaking her head frantically, though that was perhaps also because she was a bit shaky. Her heart was beating so fast and her head was spinning. “Just—no one’s ever been so direct with me before. Not that it’s a bad thing at all!! Normally it’s a lot of beating around the bush and then I have to make the move—which, I don’t have an issue with, it’s what I’m more used to. Just, this is new but not bad!! I think you’re really cool,” she confessed quickly, realizing she was rambling. “I like your aura, and you seem really sweet, and you’re handsome, and I’d love to get to know you better!!”

“Is that a yes?” he pressed cautiously, his small smile getting slowly wider.

“Yeah!!” Honey answered, pulling out her phone to enter his contact info. “Oh, wait um—this sounds so silly!! But… what’s your name??” She realized that she also hadn’t introduced herself, but he probably already knew her name from the name tag on her blouse.

“Oh, of course!” He smacked his forehead softly, shaking his head. Once he gathered himself, he met Honey’s eyes again. To Honey, it almost felt like a scene from an anime, where the main protagonist’s hero or savior introduces themself by name in a big, epic reveal.

“My name is Mighty. Mighty the Armadillo.”

Summary | Next

[intcritus]

“ Please don't leave me. ” Raayan @ alek uh ohhhh

aleksanteri wasn't someone who did relationships. the thought of lasting connections, good connections made his skin crawl. he barely tolerated his siblings and they fought everytime they were in the same roomfor more than thirty seconds. with raayan, someone called it cute aggression. if cuteness aggression was the need to possess the mongoose, to squeeze and fuck him until he squeaked and begged for him to slow. raayan was his, that body was his, anything past that wasn't really his forte and would never be. so to hear him beg when alek made a move to leave him in bed had brows drawing down, a subtle frown as forked tongue got caught between his teeth.

lashes blink slowly over his gaze, head tilting curiously. a smirk curls his lips and he kneels on the bed, fly still open, shirt barely buttoned before he's reaching out to capture raayan's chin. ❝ ━ did you think i was going far ? you're mine, raayan, you could never worry about where i'm going. whether i'm out with my fangs in someone's throat, liquifying their insides, i'll come back and ruin you, forever.❞

[tachvintlogic]

@dnpanimationstudioclone @transmascnaotoshirogane @astral-catastrophe

[Video Description: A closeup of a gray mongoose and a cat with a similar color palette and cuddling each other. The cat is lying down while the mongoose nuzzles the cat's shoulder with its nose.

Then a human off-camera or the mongoose starts making kissy noises and the mongoose looks up, looks around, and makes a little squeak before nuzzling the cat with its nose again. The cat's head slowly turns toward the mongoose and starts licking the side of its face.

End Video Description]

[cedarlili]

The Squeaks Caper

Coming soon. Very soon, as in it should be live on Friday.  This is the fourth in the illustrated books I’ve been working on with Lawdog, the third in the Africa tales, which are now linked in a series called Lawdog in Color. They are sort-of coloring books, but mostly just fun illustrations, verging on comic books, for his wonderfully funny tales of growing up in Africa.  Included in this book…

[herbgerblin]

[ID: Single page comic against a purple gradient background. Featured in the comic is Kravitz, a black, half elven man with loc long locs and fine, dark suit, Lup, an elven woman with tan skin and curly blonde hair, Barry, a white human man with short brown hair and glass, and Taako, an elven man with tan skin and long, blonde hair. 

In the first panel, Kravitz says to Lup, “Lup, I can’t thank you enough for this.” Lup replies, “No problem. I think it’s a great idea.” The second panel shows Lup and Barry from the waist up, they are both standing in front of a large white presentation board On the board reads, in bold letters: “how to speak mongoose.” Beneath it reads, “Grunts, squeaks, chirps, scream.” As well as an image of a screaming mongoose.” Lup gestures at the board and says, “Remember, the emphasis is all in the throat!” The third page shows Kravitz sitting at a desk and staring apprehensively. The fourth and final panel shows Kravitz bent down to propose to Taako. Taako is looking down at him, looking a mix of enamored and amused. His shoulders are shaking.” Kravitz starts to say,” Squeak, squeak, squeaker, squeak, squeaken,” before saying, “Love, please stop laughing, I’m trying to propose.”

Kravitz trying to propose to Taako in Mongoose language. A belated birthday gift to @asimovsideburns! 

[captainsupernoodle]

i know i'm known for giving love away by molotovhappyhour - trigun, 18k, M, Vash/Wolfwood

The most awkward thing about it all is the stupid Get Out smeared across the wall in bioluminescent garbage, along the far wall across from the entryway, prominent in its placement. Handprints are peppered beneath it, dragged down as if through blood. If it wasn’t so overstated, so fucking cliche, maybe it’d make his stomach turn—or maybe it wouldn’t. It’s hard to tell these days, the things that hit his hindbrain versus the things that don’t.

“This,” Nicholas says, gesturing at the wall, “is embarrassing for the both of us.”

Doubt by pentapus - books of the raksura, 11k, G, Jade/Moon

Jades notices something is off with Moon, but she can't panic because Chime is already doing that.

Metamorphosis by maybetwice - critical role campaign 3, series, 21k, T, sort of Fearne/Orym

Looking down at Fearne with her clear-eyed stare, her grandmother asks, “You like him?”

“I do. May I have him?”

“So it shall be."

Orym is brought to the courts of the fey to fulfill a bargain his father made.

even a cat may look at a king by mage-pie - the hands of the emperor, 18k, WIP, G

“Hello, hello, hello!” said his Radiancy’s serval. She said it, in words, in Shaian, in a pleasant voice that came from her little snout quite naturally. “Good morning!” “Good…morning…?” said Cliopher, too shocked to control his voice. His mongoose got out of his bag and scrambled up onto his shoulder with an excited little squeak, her claws prickling through the tunic.

The entire city of Solaara wakes up one day attached to magical animals that display each person’s innermost self with no regard for court protocol or even basic manners. It’s pure chaos… and that’s before the Emperor accidentally gives the soul-animals the power of speech.

Proposals and Confessions by venndaai - imperial radch, 7k, T

On the way to Omaugh, Seivarden kinda sorta proposes to Breq. It is a disaster.

[coreofgold]

"It's a mongoose. . .but in the shape of a puppy. I was all green adn cute little ears and everything!" GIR squeaked happily at winning. "My winning pile, okay." They nod and put it to the side. "What do I do with the pile?"

Husk grumbles and curses himself in his mind. "Thought I said that shit cryptic enough you wouldn't catch it." He absolutely hated his cat form and would have traded anything for a new form in hell. But to be back in his own body felt better than he ever thought it could be. "A robot huh?... what the fuck is a mongoose puppy?" He asks with a confused look upon his face but then chuckles with the other sticks their tongue out. "Well lets see what card I get." He slowly pulls the top card from his deck and smirks seeing it before he places down a five of spades. "Good job kid, you won that one." The demon says before patting Gir's back in a proud father like way. "Go ahead and put those two in a pile to the side. That'll be your winning pile."

[avegetariancannibal]

Welcome to the Cannibal Variance Authority, fka the Cannimal Sanctuary

New Hannipenguin and Will Mongoose fic just posted, with special guest stars human Hannibal and human Will!

With special thanks to @byk23

An excerpt:

Hannibal started to sit up, but one of the mice noticed him and let out a squeak. It shouted over its shoulder in a voice that sounded startlingly like Beverly Katz’s: “Hey, another one of those Lecter variants just materialized in the break room!”

Before Hannibal could even think his next thought, there was the strangely glowing tip of a fishing rod nearly jabbing him in the face. At the other end of the fishing rod was a creature about two feet tall, covered with soft-looking brown fur, and wearing squarish spectacles and a bushy gray mustache. The only clothing he wore was a field jacket with the letters CVA on the front.

“Welcome to the Cannimal Sanctuary,” said the creature, withdrawing his fishing rod a mere inch. He sounded like Will Graham. “My name is Agent Mobius Mongoose Mongoose. Call me Mobioose for short.”

Read the rest on the archive

[erictmason]

“BOUND FOR FREEDOM, YEAR THREE, DAY FIVE: “POWER”

“Go Go Power Rangers”

“Come back here, you little brat!  You know the law!”

Mina heard the rough voice bark out at her.  She tried not to let it slow down her desperate run, but she couldn’t help but look back in fear.  That quickly proved a mistake, however, as the mongoose didn’t see the pipe laid out across the ground in front of her until it had caught her foot and sent her tumbling down.  Even as she tried to get back on her feet, though, Mina knew from the shadow that soon came to loom over her that it was already too late.  Despite her whole body shaking, she slowly turned around to face her pursuers.

There was the expected troop of SWATBots, of course, but Mina’s focus quickly fell on their leader.  It towered over her, a broad-shouldered robot with crimson armor and a golden chest-plate.  Its head was helmeted by a bent trumpet horn on top, and earring-like cymbals hanging off either side.  The badge on its chest, a black circle with a taunting, mustached face etched into it with blood-red lines, marked it unmistakably as a Badnik General.  “His Imperial Mechajesty Robotnik made it very clear that all music is outlawed so long as he controls this city!” the Badnik said, pointing the steel drum-hammer-like weapon it held in its hand down at Mina.  “I hope you enjoyed your time on stage, Little Miss Songbird, because it’s going to be your final performance.”

“I d-don’t care!” Mina managed to answer, a genuine defiance in her tone even as her voice came out a trembling squeak.  “I love my music, and I w-won’t let Robotnik or anyone else take it a-away from me!  So d-do your worst...!”

Even without a mouth on its face, there was no mistaking the glee in the Badnik’s burning orange eyes as it lifted the hammer upwards and said, “Believe me, I intend to.”

Just as the hammer reached its height, however, a brilliant golden glow burst out over the area, causing the Badnik to cover its eyes.  The voice of a woman, strong and clear, pierced through the air.  “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Mina and the Badnik both looked around to find where the voice had come from.  “Tormenting an innocent young artist simply for the choice to express herself...we won’t let such cruelty go unpunished!”  As the voice continued to speak, they saw her: a squirrel standing atop one of the nearby factory buildings, cast in silhouette against the light beaming from her wrist, where a glowing gold ring attached to a strange device rested.

As the ring’s light faded and the squirrel’s appearance became clearer, she stepped forward, her auburn hair and weathered blue vest fluttering in the wind.  “Wherever Freedom is threatened, we will always appear to fight for it.”

From behind the squirrel, another figure, a blue-furred hedgehog with the same ring-device on his wrist as hers, strode out with a confident smirk.  “And if we get a chance to send Scrap Brains like you back to the junk heap?  So much the better,” he said.

The Badnik scoffed, its focus now squarely on this strange new duo.  “So...you’re the troublemakers who’ve been making so many waves lately, are you?  I would’ve expected something a bit more impressive...you two look like you could barely put up a fight!”

The squirrel took a sharp stance then.  “You want a fight?  You got it!” she shouted.  “Ready, Sonic?”

“Ready, Sal!” the hedgehog answered, mirroring her stance.  

The two then reached out to their respective ring-devices, taking hold of a small pull-string attached to the ring.  With a strong tug, they pulled the string out, causing the rings to begin spinning faster and faster until sparks of energy began to flare out from them.  They then thrust their ring-hands out in front of them, causing each ring’s sparks to coalesce together into a shining halo of energy, one red and one blue, that floated out in front of the two.  The halos then covered them in their light, which quickly broke apart and left the them armored in striking new outfits, their faces now covered by silver visors.  

Sally straightened her stance, and raised her hand skyward.  “Hope, the spark that lights the flame!  Ring-Ranger One, Red!”

Sonic crouched down to the ground, as if readying himself to run at full speed.  “Courge, the fire that lights the way!  Ring-Ranger Two, Blue!”

Both leapt forth from the rooftop, bearing down on the Badnik with incredible swiftness.

“Together we are...Gaia-Force Sentai, RING-RANGER!”

[journalofimprobablethings]

Thinking about the "What if THB's lives didn't fall apart" AU, and came to the following conclusions:

If THB weren't there to save Barry, he probably would have been killed by Klaarg's gerblins

He still might have followed Gundren and the Black Spider to Wave Echo Cave as a lich to try to find the guantlet,

If he did that, it means he would have found Lup.

and then I got to thinking about bonds and the reasons that Lup and Barry are able to sustain themselves better than other liches, and then this scene happened.

cw for death and grief, but there is Hope at the end. 

--

Barry thought he knew what the worst could feel like, at this point. After so many cycles of dying and resurrecting, after Lup's disappearance, after being forgotten by his family, spending years and years alone, hunted and hunting--he thought he could take whatever the world threw at him.

But nothing has prepared him for this moment, floating incorporeal in Wave Echo Cave over a crumpled, red-robed form.

He's searched for Lup for so long, imagined the moment of finding her for so long. And now, this--

Barry's mind reels, his thoughts spinning back on themselves in endless, awful repetition.

Lup is dead.

Lup is dead and she is not here.

Lup is dead and she is not here and if she is dead and not here and he has not found her in the years that she has been outside her body then she—what if she—

A growing buzz of magic crackles over his body, sizzling threads of red energy surrounding him, coating his hands and his arms and his head. A bolt of magic shoots off into the walls of the cave, sending down a shower of rocks.

The thought of a world without Lup is a yawning pit inside him, a hole that fills up with magic and threatens to eat him from the inside out.

He can feel himself beginning to lose control, lose track of the edges of himself. He’s been on the brink of this a few times, over the years, and has always been able to pull himself back. But now, he’s not sure if he can. What’s more, he’s not sure if he wants to. If Lup is truly gone, then why should he keep going, why shouldn’t he let himself just dissolve into nothing, what is the point—

But then

Then a face surfaces in his mind, and he realizes that the face is not Lup’s.

It’s Taako’s.

And then Merle, and Magnus, and Davenport, and gods, even Lucretia.

Barry is the Lover, and his love for Lup sustains him, keeps him sane. But it’s not the only love he has.

It would be so easy to give in, to let go, to let himself dissolve and let this world burn. But he can’t—not yet, not now, because the rest of his family is still here. And he’s the only one, besides Lucretia, who knows who they are, where they’ve been, the dangers that could still come for them, one day.

While Barry still has family in this world, he can’t afford to go to pieces.

And so there, in Wave Echo Cave, Barry builds and strengthens his anchors with every memory he can think of from their century of travel:

terrible mongoose-language conversations with Taako, the rest of the table trying to contain their laughter as the two of them squeaked and grunted at each other over the dinner table--

woodworking lessons with Magnus; they both had fingers full of bandages from nicks and cuts for weeks and Barry's duck looked more like a hippo, but Magnus displayed it proudly on a shelf in the lounge anyway--

the time he and Davenport and Merle all got drunk off Tesseralia moonshine and Davenport and Merle composed increasingly dirty sea shanties as they sat on the deck under the stars--

running into Lucretia in the kitchen at three in the morning, when they’d both been up too late working, sharing a pot of coffee and silently, without discussing it, moving their work to the kitchen table because sometimes three-in-the-morning work is better with company--

The memories keep coming: Taako’s swimming lessons and Lucretia’s portrait and sparring with Magnus and chess games with Merle; Davenport teaching them all to fly the Starblaster and Taako trying and failing to teach them to cook. Cups of tea or coffee placed at elbows during long days in the lab, snowball fights on the worlds where it got cold enough to snow, the precious moments of quiet when they were all sitting in the lounge, reading or carving or playing cards and not talking, just enjoying the comfort of being together.

And through it all, Lup.

Lup snorting milk out her nose at something Taako said at the dinner table, persuading Lucretia to build a blanket fort in the lounge for a girls’ night, cackling with unbridled joy and delight at Magnus's "Lup! Pull!"

Lup fiercely defending the worlds they traveled to, demanding that they all do better, be better.

Working with her, talking with her, dancing with her.

Lup giving him his glasses on the beach,

Her hand in his after their presentation at Legato,

The feel of her hair and her lips, the smell of her skin.

Her compassion, her boldness, her humor and her anger and her love.

He loves her so much, and even in his fear and despair the memories of her weave in and out of all his memories of the century, and tie them all together. He can’t not think of her.

 Lup may not be here right now, but she’s still with him—they all are, alive in his mind in memories that he must hold in trust for them, until he can find a way to bring them back. 

This is what will sustain him, in the months to come: the knowledge of what it is to love, and be loved. And the chance to bring that back is more than enough to keep fighting for.