#and the hybrids and i would love to talk more about the travelers because where are their ships from????

[diejager]

Hiii I wanted to know if you could do a ghost x hybrid!bunny reader?

Where she’s unaware she’s going through her heat cycle (her first) an she’s giving off a dandrufflike sex pollen, so she goes around the base trying to find him. The recuites are following her like dogs an eventually when he finds her (cause she got lost) he realizes that’s what’s going on and helps her out with her problems ☺️

And honestly if you could do anything with ghost x hybrid!bunny reader I would love love looove it 💗💗

Thank you so much for writing! 💗🐰

Bunny

Pairing : Simon “Ghost” Riley x Bunny Hybrid! Reader

Cw: non-con drugging (unintentional really), sex pollen, heat cycles, bunny hybrid reader, Wc: 1.4k

Fun Fact! Bunny was originally and still is a British term of endearment for girls and young women.

For someone who’d joined Price’s TF for months now, you still couldn’t find your way through these winding halls and sharp corners that made the British base. It was like a maze to your twitching nose and droopy ears, always sending you down the wrong hallway or turning the wrong corner simply because they looked identical, and there wasn’t a plan for the whole base. You’d know, you had asked Price for one after getting lost trying to find the Mess Hall and having the fortune of stumbling into Gaz after wandering the halls of your temporary base.

You, once more, got lost on your way to the gym, the last place you had to search to find Ghost. You had searched the armoury, jumping between soldiers (mostly recruits who’d been sent to your base to train. Most sergeants and higher-ranked soldiers were given their small batch to overwatch.) while looking for your lieutenant, ignoring the dark stares the recruits sent your way. Their pupils dilated and face flushed when you walked past them, bumped shoulders and talked to them. 

While your search for Ghost in the armoury had been fruitless, the other - as equally flushed as the recruits when you spoke to them - sergeants and corporals about him, they advised you to look for the gym and training grounds, knowing the lieutenant would be there if he wasn’t in his room, his office or the armoury. With a grateful nod, you skipped down the corridor, having randomly chosen a path while completely lost. In your small, dazed mind, body heat skyrocketing, skin perspiring and cheeks flushed, you were oblivious to the longing stares people gave you when you walked past them and the number of recruits that had followed you.

They marched in synchronisation metres behind you, acting like a single-celled organism composed of many that followed its prey or another of their kind. Their hands were clammy, their skin heated to a burning red on their ears and cheeks, their hairline stuck to their skin, and their eyes were wide like lost puppies following a treat. 

You lost your way, having to stop and catch someone for directions. Coincidentally, a fellow operator was heading towards the training area, having to meet a teammate for their next briefing. She led you down a familiar hall (was it? Every wall looked the same to you, every spot and crack looked the same on every wall, it had your head spinning in every direction. You were still confused as to why others easily found their way around the whole base.) and pointed out some rooms for you to use as checkpoints when you travelled these halls alone. You thanked her profusely when you found the wide doors to the area you were trying to reach, grasping her hand and giving her a sweet smile, ears flopping at your optimistic movement.

When you reached for the door, you peeked your head through the door, squeezing out when you saw how crowded it was. Ghost preferred solitude and quietness, such a busy and filled room would be a nightmare for a reserved man. He dreaded interacting with people unless he had to (or unless you were part of his loving Task Force 141). Your scent streamed into a wide area, urging heads to turn your way, glazed eyes landing on your head, nose twitching and ears framing your face. They fleeted the room when you left, head tilted towards your scent, ripe and sweet.

You turned to look for the gym, remembering that it was on the other wall, the words gym displayed in bold letters on the door’s sign. You smiled giddily, practically jumping towards it, knowing it was the last place you had to look at. You found him the second you pushed past the door, his broad back standing out around smaller figures around the room even if he seemed to curl into himself on his place on the bench. You went straight his way, the soles of your boots thumping on the slick, shiny floor. It gave you away to the lieutenant who’d heard you walk towards him.

“Ghost,” you smiled, stopping beside his turned body, his sinfully slim hips twisting his skin-tight shirt that stuck to his abdomen like a second skin. “I was searching for you, L.T.”

He muddled silently at you, dark chocolate eyes wandering over your body, over your plush thighs, your round hips, your small stomach, your pressed breast, your naked collar and your face. He flickered to the men that filed in after you, a group of hungry, happy trigger recruits after someone way higher than them. He reeled in the need to growl, watching the way their eyes craved you, fucking you in their mind in every position possible. 

Then his eyes rolled back to you, seeing your flushed cheeks, dilated pupils and sweet grin. The scent that fell from your body was downright delirious, a sickeningly sweet musk that rolled off your body in waves of thin particles of your scent. The stare in your eyes was dazed, dream-like in the way that you gazed at him. It riled him, made him hungry and predatory. 

”You’re in heat, bunny,” he greeted back, voice coming out deeper and raspier than he intended, the low vibration in his chest appearing by itself from his restrained hunger.

He couldn’t fault the recruits that followed you like lost, hungry pups. You were delicious in the haze of your heat (the first one you’ve ever had, he thought. You’d spoken to him once about never having felt the full brunt of heat, they were supposedly painful and made the hybrid needy from what he’d learned. That scared you.), your scent enveloping you in a cocoon of arousing odour, pheromones that attracted males of your kind of human males to satiate your needs.

He couldn't, doesn't mean he wouldn’t because he would. He was faulting them for staring at you so shamelessly, eyes hungering for you. He wasn’t a perfect man, he was far from it, he was the worst kind to be deemed a perfect model. He was imposing, dominating, possessive and deadly, he was a ghost, the dead that came back alive, having no name or face to call his own. Just like the recruits, he wanted you, to take you for himself in the privacy of his dark room. He wanted to bite into those, soft, fluffy ears of yours, always drooping around your face, but never restraining you in combat (you fared surprisingly well, nearly as merciless as him, in combat, tearing down men twice your size with a knife if needed. You were ruthless to your enemy or those that aimed to hurt your little TF.). He wanted to make you cry, to grab your round tail and yank on it until you begged him to stop. He wanted to bite into the scarless skin of your neck, a perfect place for his mark. 

Bunnies liked marks, no? They loved affection and being taken care of, didn’t they? Although you were a hybrid - mostly human with some bunny genetics in your body - you still had some rabbit-like behaviours. He’d seen how you preferred veggies over meat, though you did eat meat on occasion to keep up with the growth of your muscles. He’d seen how you liked soft and smooth things, you had many blankets and personal items you were gifted or bought. He knew you liked jumping and scouting, a bunny's natural curiousity made it peek from beneath the tall grass at things that caught its attention. 

He, however, hasn’t seen how you act in the throes of painful heat, would you submit to a needy, aroused bunny that would ask anything of him; or would you jump him and demand attention, using him as you like. He stopped himself from wandering down that dark path, or at least for now until he got both you and him to his room for privacy. 

“C’mon bunny, let’s go,” he stood up, bag slung over his shoulder while his other hand rested on your lower back, the dip of your vertebrae and the start of your jerking tail. 

He glared at the cowering recruits as he moved between them, they has separated to form a path for you and Ghost. Black-painted skin, dark eyes and a skull-drawn balaclava made them flee, tails tucked between their legs. He held you closer to him, your hip flush to his as he led you to his quarters. That would teach them who you belonged to (perhaps you would show them who he belonged to).

[yandere-daydreams]

Title: A Cat On The Shrine Roof.

Pairing: Yandere!Ei x Reader (Genshin).

Word Count: 1.0k.

TW: Hybrid AU, Nekomata!Ei, Kidnapping, Mind-Control, and Non-Consensual Touching.

It was your fault, really. For not listening when the priestess told you not to linger at the shrine.

The head priestess had cautioned you against it, her painted lips (a sign of vanity uncommon among women in her position) quirking upward as she warned you of the monsters waiting in the forest who would love nothing more than to gobble up little acolytes who shirk their responsibilities. She told you, in no unexplicit terms, to make your offering, recite your prayers, and hurry back to the village as quickly as you could, but you hadn’t thought to listen for sincerity in her playful tone, to wonder if their way any advice in the childish nursery rhythms she half-sung as she prepared the bundle of rice and saké and silver coins you were to leave on the doorstep. If you’d listened, you might not have been so slow-footed as you wandered through the forest, stopping every few minutes to pick wildflowers or admire the way the sunlight bled through the tree canopy. If you’d listened, you might’ve been so preoccupied with your prayers that you wouldn’t have noticed the muffled sound of a shamisen, wouldn’t have let your curiosity get the better of you and ventured into the decrepit shrine.

If you’d listened, you wouldn’t be standing in front of a monster, praying to every god you’ve ever worshiped that its appetite had already been sated by some other foolish traveler.

It had to be a monster. It had to be. The creature sitting in front of you was undeniably a hybrid, but what kind, you wouldn’t dare to guess. For the most part, she looked like a cat; sleek ears rising out of her neatly braided hair, black-furred paws sitting where her feet should’ve been, hints of pointed teeth hanging over her bottom lip, but the idea that you’d stumbled onto the den of a stray housecat broke down as you went on.

Where there should’ve been one tail sprouting from the base of her spine, there were two, the end of each wrapped in a violet ribbon, and she was far, far taller than any hybrid you’d ever seen. Even sitting on the floor, bent over her instrument, the top of her head was level with your midriff, and you could see evidence of lean muscle underneath her traditional kimono. Most unsettling of all were her eyes – slit pupils sitting in a sea of iridescent lavender, not unsimilar to the color of lightning as it arced through the sky. For a second, while the rational part of your mind was still blank with panic, it occurred to you that meeting her unblinking stare might leave you as scared as its more eye-catching counterpart, but you tried not to think about that. If you let yourself believe she could end you with little more than a glance, you were already done for.

She broke the silence, surprisingly. “Oh,” she started, clearly more than a little surprised herself. “You must be one of Miko’s.”

Your tongue felt heavy, your throat dry. You didn’t realize you were talking until you heard the sound of your own voice. “P-please don’t eat me.”

The stuttered plea earned a pair of widened eyes, a breath of a laugh. “So, you are one of Miko’s. I should’ve known she’d be spreading rumors about me.” She laid her shamisen across her lap, careful to keep her curved talons from scratching the wood. “I’m assuming you know who I am?”

Jerkily, you shook your head, and she softened in response, her expression taking on a sympathetic lilt. “Oh, poor thing. You must’ve been terrified.” You had been. You still were. The only reason you weren’t shaking was because you were too scared to move. “I thought we would’ve been well-acquainted, considering how many times I’ve heard your prayers.”

Instantly, your heart dropped in your chest. Hastily, you fell into a shallow bow, clenching your eyes shut and cursing yourself for not making the connection sooner. “Narukami Ogosho, Almighty Mistress of Thunder, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“Call me Ei. There’s no need for titles here.” If she was offended by your obliviousness, you weren’t able to hear her anger, to make anything other than pity and a vague sense of amusement out in her expression. You could only be thankful. If meeting her eyes would be enough to kill you, you couldn’t imagine how you’d fare if she actually decided to seek retribution. “Come, sit with me.”

“With all do respect, I think the priestess is—”

“Sit with me.”

You didn’t want to. You were still frozen where you stood, still trying to summon the courage to run, but that didn’t seem to matter. Your body moved on its own, drawn forward by some invisible set of strings, a soft melody playing somewhere in the distance as you stumbled closer to the creature, closer to Ei. You didn’t so much sit next to her as fall into place at her side – your knees buckling and leaving you to catch yourself before you could fully hit the ground.

After you’d settled into a rigid, unsteady sort of kneeling pose, Ei reached out, letting her knuckles brush against your cheek before taking you by the chin. “You might be the loveliest she’s sent so far.” If she’d been tall at a distance, she was massive now. Her hand alone was enough to stretch across the length of your jaw, and you could picture her, no matter how hard you tried not to, crushing your skull with one decisive movement. Your vision blurred, your breathing growing rapid, but if your fear was visible, she didn’t seem to warrant it worth her attention. “I did tell her not to send anything else, but…” A contemplative hum, a padded thumb pressed into your cheek. “She has always been so tricky, hasn’t she? I don’t know what could possibly make a mortal so brazen.”

The melody was getting louder. The musician must’ve been sitting outside of the shrine. “Mistress, I really have to get back to the—”

“You’ll stay here.” Louder, now, as if the strings were being plucked only a hair’s width from your ear. You should’ve run. You should’ve prayed to something else. “You’ll stay here, with me, and you will never stray farther than I can follow. Isn’t that right?”

Eagerly, desperately, you nodded, tears running freely down your cheeks as you rushed to take her hand by the wrist, to press yourself into her palm. Ei chuckled, the sound laced with a reverberating purr.

“I’m glad you agree.”

The music had grown deafening, and yet, you couldn’t seem to imagine listening to anything other the sound of her voice.

“It would be a shame to have to refuse such a fine offering.”

[blessed-pizza]

This is pretty big post (for my standards at least), so if you're not interested in reading a schizophrenic ramble about time travel, then keep scrolling.

If you do however, well then sit tight and let me introduce you to:

Blessed Pizza's Schizophrenic Guide to Time Travel Shenanigans

(and how to not completely destroy the space-time continuum)

or BPSGtTTS for short.

So I've seen a lot of different styles and flavours of time travel and and I really wanted to somehow be able to sort them up in separate categories, that way I could make it easier to understand them. So I came up with a couple that i think contain most of the shenanigans I've seen.

alternate timelines/universes (AT)

changeable singular timeline (CST)

defined singular timeline (DST)

time loop (TL)

(if you know any more, please let me know. I'd love to hear about more wacky ways to do time travelling) (also, im not gonna refer to these with their full name, because that would be way to much typing, so I've put some abbreviations behind them)

The Alternate timelines/universes (aka the cowards way out)

The AT way of time travel is probably the simplest and the second most consequence free (I'll get back to that later) way to do time travel (and therefore also the most boring one in my opinion).

It's rather simple: Every time you travel in time and change something, it creates a new timeline. The changes made will effect everything in the time line you are currently in, but won't effect other timelines. This means that if you were to go back in time and kill your grandfather (or anyone anyone which you are a descendent of), you will not be effected! This, however, does mean that alternate-you won't be born in this timeline, buttt.... once again, that's not a problem for timetraveler-you, because timetraveler-you isn't from this timeline; so no paradoxes :) yet... With every travel through time you create a new branching timeline. This will eventually create a exponential tree like structure of alternate timelines. have fun keeping track of all of them :)

Let me just draw a quick time line so it's a bit easier to understand.

A possible way you could spice it up, is by allowing for the travel between these different timelines. What ever the implications for that are though... well, I think you'd kind of end up with weird hybrid of AT and CST, which could then result in some timelines effecting other timelines; possibly even destroying entire timelines and their off-chutes, what could in turn cause paradoxes to occur similar to those of CST and Oh! Hey, talking about CST; lets get into:

Changeable Singular Timelines (aka the one you probably think of first when thinking of time travel)

Unlike AT, whenever you time travel in CST, you stay in the same timeline. Meaning that any changes you make will effect you; possibly leading to paradoxes! Yippee!! A great example of a possible paradox that could occur, is the grandfather paradox. If we take same example from AT, the one where you go back in time and kill your grandfather, and apply it SCT, the change does effect you. So when you kill your grandfather, it means you couldn't have been born; thus being unable to travel back in time, which means you couldn't have killed your grandfather and thus will be born like normal. Though this then means that you can go back in time and kill your grandfather... aannd it results in a infinite loop; a paradox (now you also see why its called the grandfather paradox if you didn't know already).

Here's another quick sketch of the timeline.

(note: THESE ARE BOTH THE SAME TIMELINE, it just keeps changing into the other)

One way you could solve the paradox is by having the timeline "adapt" to the problem. So when you kill your grandpa and disappear, instead of creating a paradox, your grandpa stays dead. How did he die? Natural causes probably, some kind of disease or maybe even hit by a car. It doesn't matter, as long as he's dead, time will be fine again. Want a great example; look at this amazing post from @sincerely-sofie (it's also where I got the idea from)

There is another paradox that I've found, but I don't know if it has a name yet. So I'm just gonna call it the cotton-eye-joe paradox, because it makes me ask two things: one; where did it come from and two; where does it go. OK lets say you're in front of a locked door, but you don't have the key. So you search for it for a while and when you find it, you unlock the door. Then you decide to go back in time to give past-you the key to save them some time. Because it's a single timeline, it means that now you actually got your key from future-you. Great! You just created a never ending and never loop for that key. Where did that key come from? It can't be where it originally was, because you got it from future-you. Where did they get it? Well, from future-future-you of course! You see the problem? It's another paradox.

So just avoid these paradoxes right and then every thing will be fine, right? Yeahh, good luck with that. Ever heard of the butterfly effect? Even tiny, seemingly insignificantly small changes, can cause massive ones later in time, which in turn could lead to paradoxes, which are bad. So unless you somehow have the mental capacity and foresight to somehow oversee what all these changes will eventually even lead to without making them, you're gonna end up ruining time! My advise? DO NOT GO BACK IN TIME!!! unless you do want completely ruin the word as we know it, for some reason

Sooo..... how do you fix it make it less likely to break? Easy: just remove free will!

Defined Singular Timeline (aka the illusion of choice)

I wasn't sure if I should split CST and DST, because they are very similar. The one difference being that the timeline doesn't change when time travelling, because it was always about to happen. (I know this probably doesn't make any sense just bare with me for a bit. This is probably the most confusing of out of all of them) DST prevents the grandfather paradox from happening by making sure that changing the timeline isn't possible. That doesn't that your grandpa is immortal or something no no no, it just mean that if you would have killed your grandpa, it should have already happend. But you exist, so that means you're not going to kill your grandpa. I swear it's all gonna make sense, just uuhh... hold on let me get another example real quick. OK so imagine you're in a room and you get to the floor above through a hole, but you just can't reach the side of the hole to pull yourself up. Actually, you don't need to imagine, I'll draw it for you!

The good thing is; you can travel back in time, so you get the idea to go back and help yourself get up! Then suddenly a future-you shows up and tells you that you need to help him up. You help them up and then you travel back to past-you. You ask past-you to help you up and they do, allowing you to leave. (visual aid below)

What makes this different from CST? The fact that future you already showed up before you even went back in time. So you helping you was always gonna happen. Every version of you has experienced and will experience the exact same events. Everyone must experience the same events, otherwise its a not DST, but CST. Hold on, let me just quickly draw another timeline for you so its easier to see. hold on where did I put my markers... dammit... uhhhh... I guess this red pen will do...

As you can see it's all just you. This works just fine, no alternate timelines, no paradox, it just works, right? Well... Kind of? Its kind of complicated. The cotton-eye-joe paradox can still ocour, though it is less likely. The key example from CST could still be possible, but it has just always been in circulation; you always got the key from future-you. If you need a good example, there is this short film made by corridor that displays it really well.

Though all of these paradoxes and problems are annoying. What if we just had something without any of that? What if we had a form of time travel without any consequences? what if we could just try again if something goes wrong? That's right! IT'S TIME FOR

Time Loops (aka the road to insanity)

Remember when i said AT was the second most consequence free?Yup, TL's are why. In a time loop, time keeps resetting back to a certain point, but you remember everything. (and maybe a couple of other people) Every time you reach a certain point in time you get yanked back in time to do it aallll over again. Sounds nifty right! Messed something up last time? Try again this time! Didn't like the outcome of one of your actions? WHO CARES! Just go back! Didn't manage to break the cycle last time? Doesn't matter. You can try something else next time. And the loop after that. And the loop after that. And the loop after that. And the loop after that... You're stuck here for eternity... or at least what feels like a eternity. Time has no more context, the cycle has become all you know. How do you stay sane in these scenarios? Depends on how much mental fortitude you have, but you'll probably break eventually.

As for problems, there isn't really a lot to say. paradoxes don't really happen because time resets every time anyway. There are literally no consequences to your actions (until the cycle breaks). I don't even think i need to draw a timeline for this one. (it would literally be just a loop) However despite its seeming simplicity, I personally find it one of the most fun scenarios for time travel. I guess i just really like watching character reach their breaking point and see them go completely insane.

Anyway, this has been quite a long post. By far the longest I've ever made. Again, if you know of any more time shenanigans, please share them . I love to overthink these things. And thanks, once again, to @sincerely-sofie for encouraging me down this path of madness in the first place (and providing me with countless examples. like genuinely, you have made a post about like 90% of the stuff i rambled about)

[klonnieshippersclub]

Bonnie, The Bennett’s, Black Witches and The Magical Negro Trope & Mammy Trope - TVD META

Bonnie and the Bennett’s have very rich lore. It’s not glorified by the fandom unless it’s by Bonnie fans themselves. That’s the way it’s always been, no one paying any mind or deeper thought to Bonnie/and the Bennett’s outside of her fans. This isn't a new thing but I want to highlight this once again because I don’t think fans understand there is more than one negative trope rooted in Bonnie, the Bennett’s and black witches only.

Before we get into anything heavy let’s have some key-terms here: Let’s define a magical negro trope: where a black character appears in a plot solely to help a white character and then vanishes. Now what a mammy is: a black woman engaged to take care of white children or as a servant to a white family.

Everything in the series can be tied back to a Bennett witch. Let’s list a few things the immortality spell, immortals, the other side, the cure, supernatural hunters, creating rings to preserve life, the Gilbert device but only a Bennett witch can enchant it, prison worlds, the traveler's curse, vampires, hybrids etc…You name it without the Bennett’s creation there would be nothing. You would think because of this the Bennett’s would be respected in the narrative and by fans. Wrong. Some of these women aren’t even given actual names. Everyone can have a Bennett witch at their disposal but they won’t be respected either. Bennett blood is essential to certain spells. A loophole.

Let’s talk about Ayana. The Mikaelson’s were only able to become vampires because Esther stole Ayana’s spell. It is forgotten that Esther/Mikael begged Ayana to perform the spell first. The Mikaelson’s as humans trusted Ayana. Rebekah was in shock that a necklace from Ayana burned her. While Ayana remained unnamed this time while the story was told. Rebekah was talking about Ayana. Ayana was known as a healer and given Esther’s praises they were close. The series doesn’t show us why Ayana should value the Mikaelson’s but we do understand why Esther, her husband and children valued her. That infamous necklace that Rebekah loved belonged to Ayana. We don’t know about Ayana’s life outside of being a healer. We don’t know her marital status, how many children she could’ve possibly had and anything tied to her after the plot has used her up. One would think with how close Ayana was to the Mikaelson’s, they’d have some respect or acknowledge Bonnie but that never happens.

We see this in how Emily was enslaved to Katherine. Julie may have labeled Emily a handmaiden but we knew what that meant. Emily only had one request from Damon that he watch and protect the Bennett line which he never did. The black witches never ask much of anyone in the plot or ever given the chance too. Yet when a request is made no one ever meets said request for them. This form of slavery repeats again through Lucy. She claimed Katherine saved her life therefore she is indebted to her for however long she needs. Sheila has her hand in aiding the Gemini Coven, Beatrice helped with the Sirens.

There are other witches that are black who serve a purpose to aid in many and leave such as: Gloria, The Martin’s, Bree, Aja and her coven just to name a few. Friends of the main characters or enemies but quickly there and dropped. Originally due to all witches appearing Black fans believed they were all Bennett’s. Julie has no answer for why all witches that is until they weren’t. Remember witches were servants of nature. The Mikaelson’s popularity, Gemini Coven and other witches. Fills the space that Black witches were once in. Notice a pattern here?

Qetsiyah’s plot line should’ve centered on how she created immortality, the cure, and the other side. But Qetsiyah’s existence revolves around demanding and enforcing continuous revenge on Silas and Amara. Tying her into another repeated love triangle in the franchise. May I add that she and Bonnie are the only women to have been betrayed by a partner and criticized for their reactions. There’s nothing wrong when a man wants and craves power but Qetsiyah is considered the worst of them all. Here’s an amazing video that details Qetsiyah’s writing too. Please review.

Lastly, The Bonnie of it all:

Bonnie’s a loyal, powerful and brave woman. She doesn’t let anything happen to her friends if she can stop it. She cares for them. That kind of loyalty can be beautiful but equally harmful when Bonnie has no regard to her own feelings. She continues to give for everyone and her friends rarely return the favor. Bonnie’s never thanked or rewarded for being there. The friendships stop being equal very early. Her traumas aren’t valuable in the plot. We don’t know what Bonnie’s home looked like. If Bonnie does grieve it isn’t shown on screen. Her family life is limited, while Liz and Alaric aren’t main characters. They have their own plotlines. It is revealed that Abby’s reasonings for abandoning her is for Elena’s benefit. Abby is killed in a coin toss and transitioned. Caroline gets to have a good friend moment while Bonnie isn’t have any feelings towards her mother for abandoning her after. Rudy isn’t seen in the plot longterm and when he appears in season 5 he’s killed in front of Bonnie. She grieves this in silence while grieving her own death that she didn’t make aware to her friends to avoid inconveniencing them. The plot makes it clear if the white counterparts aren’t happy then Bonnie will never either. Elena, Caroline got happier endings while Bonnie’s job was completed. Bonnie never once got to call out how her friends can disregard her, she feeds into them and they grow while sucking the life out of her. In the end, Bonnie went back to Africa. Never any reference to her life from there.

Another thing Bonnie isn’t shown to be feminine. Her best friends go on dates, go to dances, dress up and receive compliments. Caroline or Elena has ever given Bonnie a compliment that aided in her beauty. We don’t know Bonnie’s ambitions or fears. But you are aware when Bonnie wants to save her best friend. Thoughts on Bonnie’s relationships and ships is for the next meta though.

White witches did follow the servitude of others. They were still given the privilege of agency that black witches were never going to have. Witches like Dahlia existed, and although she had one goal she had more personality than others.

When you have people like the TVD writers that continue to push harmful stereotypes there’s always going to fans who listen and continue to perpetuate those stereotypes. The writers had no value for Black women nor do the fans. They don’t care about how black women or people of color are treated in fiction or the media simply because their favorites get to reap all the benefits. That tweet is just one tip of the iceberg, there’s plenty more from Bonnie’s relationships, and storylines.

[amethystfairy1]

For TT, can we have a bit more info about mer culture and where Scott is coming from before he ended up on the old continent? I absolutely love the way you write hybrids, and how much effort you put into the world building of their background and cultures and behaviours. Oooh also, while I'm asking questions, do the hybrids in TT have courtship the way they do in TTSBC? Because that one is somewhat relevant for a few of them.

Oooooooo ok sure!

Let's break down Mer Culture in Traveling Thieves yayyyy!

First of all, the Mer Kingdom and Mer culture is matriarchal! Scott is the son of the Queen of the Mer and one of her concubines/performers. The Queen and other powerful women of noble standing typically have multiple husbands and also there is a very strong courtly culture of performance, and the role of the concubine is very influential in this society. However, this is where the sort of stigma against Siren Spells comes from! Scott inherited his abilities for water magic from his Mom, the magic of the royal bloodline is very powerful which is why Scott is also very powerful and natural with water magic! He inherited his ability to use Siren Spells from his Dad, but Siren Spells are seen as something only used by concubines/performers...it's not something befitting of a royal child, even an illegitimate one like Scott.

Speaking of! If we're talking about Scott and his upbringing, I want to get rid of any notions I'm sure people are assuming that because he was an illegitimate child he was treated poorly, he wasn't! He had a lot of half-siblings and all of them got along decently well, and his parents also had a reasonably healthy and cooperative relationship! Scott was still excluded sometimes, for example he wasn't allowed to show his face at courtly proceedings or performances, but some of his older siblings would occasionally help him hide in the curtains or something so he could watch his Dad perform!

Scott wasn't allowed to practice Siren Spells, because his Mom raised him, as she did all of her male children, to eventually be married off or take up political posts, and both of Scott's parents agreed it would be better for his prospects if no one ever knew that he was capable of using Siren Spells. That doesn't stop him from sneaking off to practice them in secluded areas, but he never received any official training so that's why he's pretty bad with them.

Also also! I wanna describe the Mer Kingdom a bit! Because while I do plan to do some flashbacks from Scott's POV I'm not entirely sure if we'll ever actually go there within the timeline of Traveling Thieves.

Basically think Lizzie's Empires S1 base 😆

AND BEFORE YOU ASK NO LIZZIE IS NOT THE OCEAN QUEEN IN THIS SHE IS NOT SCOTTS MOM NO WE AREN'T DOING THAT 😭

It's just that her base inspires how I think of the Mer Kingdom, like a bunch of towers that emerge from the water but are constructed both above and below water. Also it is within a series of atolls and coral reefs so lots of small islands are all around too. While the Mer can breathe underwater all of their homes and such are watertight and so while they swim place to place when they're inside it's dry and they breathe air, so it's not like Atlantis-style or anything. A lot of buildings are also on top of the islands or build from the shallower ocean shelf and then rising up out of the water. With the Royal Palace being right in the middle of the largest atoll of course!

Scott, as you might've been able to guess, perhaps, from what he said when Jimmy said he was in love with him, was running away from an arranged marriage. And the sad part was it wasn't even technically a marriage. Again, Scott is an illegitimate child, he's the son of the Queen, yes, but he's not a prince. He was raised like one, educated like one, and more or less treated like one with a few exceptions (like how he couldn't attend court) but he is not a prince.

That means by Mer societal convention he can't marry high-class nobility. So the noblewoman he's arranged with, he's technically meant to go be one of her concubines, similar to how his own Father is to his Mother. That doesn't necessarily mean anything sexual by default, but it does basically relegate him to being passed around for his pretty face and his bloodline. It would be a pretty luxurious life, all things considered, and he was also raised fairly spoiled all his life, but even still...Scott's not the type who would just pliantly go along with being a pawn for his Mother to use politically. Plus it really pisses him off because after all these years of being told to hide the fact he could use Siren Spells like his Father and not being allowed to practice them, or learn how to perform like his Father does, all of a sudden his Mother decides to give him away as a concubine instead of marrying him to someone within the mid-tier of courtly society whom Scott would actually be allowed to wed. Scott in this AU really looks up to his Dad, and he also looks very very similar to him, much more so than his Mother, which is also why he's desired for his beauty even amongst Mer. His Dad is the Queen's favorite performer, so you can imagine he's gorgeous as well, and yet after living his whole life being told he had to distance himself from being seen as similar to his Father, all of a sudden he's expected to become a concubine just like him? Without any of the training or practice or skills that his Father has? That's ridiculous! So yeah, Scott was furious and he and his mother had it out in a terrible fight.

Last thing on this! I wanna make it clear that this doesn't mean Scott hates his mother or even has a bad relationship with her! He was actually on very good terms with her, which made the news that he was going to be given away as a concubine all the more shocking. So he took off in the middle of the night after this fight with nothing but the clothes on his back...he wasn't necessarily planning on running away for good, he was just upset and trying to get away and get some space to collect this thoughts, but he went a little too close to the mainland shore, to close to the waters where humans trawl, and...well, we know what happened to him from there.

As for courting ritual, they don't have them in Traveling Thieves the way that they do in TTSBC! It's more that they have certain things that require a level of intimacy, not necessarily romantic obviously, so if a hybrid lets you do it, it's a strong sign that they trust you and believe you care about them. Examples of this being: Preening Avians wings or brushing a dog hybrids hair!

Hope this was fun for ya! Sorry for the long turn-around on this ask, I wanted to really think about it and make sure I gave ya a good response that was lined up with the AU! 💖

[agnoscoveteris-vestigiaflammae]

Now that I'm all caught up with Doctor Who, here is an update on my (extremely long) Doctor Who Theory Masterpost I made last week !! As I am writing this, there are mere minutes to go before the premiere of the series finale, though I won't be seeing it until it's on BBC in 19 hours lol so hopefully no spoilers !!

So I'm still a firm believer that the *Colour* *Weekday* (or vice versa) or just *Shade of Red* naming convention for several characters was intentional, even if it's just a red herring. If you don't know what I mean, here are some examples

Ruby Sunday

Mundi Flynn (Monday Red) in episode 3

Marti Bridges (Tuesday Red) (Also a direct reference to Mars, ie. Pyramids of Mars, Sutekh, Osirans, etc.) in episode 4

Cooper Mercy (Red Wednesday) in episode 5

Rogue (anagram of Rouge = Red) in episode 6

Poppy in episode 1

Rose in episode 7

Cherry Sunday

While I still think that these names and their associations with ancient deities add to the theme of ‘The Pantheon' and all-powerful beings, and that this kind of repetitive naming convention is reminiscent of a dream-like logic or storytelling convention centred around Ruby, which could play into everyone’s TV show/fairytale/dream theories, I now also think with hindsight that the Red aspect of the names could just be a sneaky reference to Mars as the Red Planet and its associations with Sutekh.

I mentioned how due to her surname, Ruby would be aligned with the Roman God Sol Invictus, but now knowing that we're working with Egyptian mythology, it's more likely that she is aligned with the sun god Ra or the god of the sky, sun, and light, Horus. While both are plausible, my bets are on the latter for a few main reasons.

Horus' was the child of Isis, the goddess of love, magic, fertility, and healing, and the god Osiris, who was killed by Seth (Sutekh), the god of death and darkness, and then resurrected by Isis to conceive Horus. While pregnant with Horus, Isis fled to the marshes of the Nile Delta where she hid her child from Seth because she knew he wanted to kill him to maintain his place on the throne. Horus' birth is commonly accepted to have occurred on the 25th of December. Is this story starting to sound familiar? Could baby Ruby have been left in that snowy churchyard in the early hours of Christmas day because her mother was trying to hide her away amongst humanity and protect her from Sutekh?

In Pyramids of Mars, it is Horus, Sutekh's brother, who attempts to put a stop to Sutekh's evil plan with the Eye of Horus, could this also be related to the object that the Doctor and Ruby have to obtain from the nameless planet?

While Sutekh is the god of death and darkness, Horus is the god of light. Could Ruby be a messiah-like figure created in direct opposition to Sutekh with the sole purpose of destroying him when the time comes?

Isis is commonly associated with the Egyptian FLOOD myth which tells that when Osiris was killed, the Nile spilled over with the tears of Isis's grief. Now, we are aware that Mrs Flood is a widow, that she's always hiding herself away and that she is aware of Sutekh and his power... Could she be Isis in disguise secretly watching over her own child, waiting for the moment they can come together to try to defeat him?

One reason I think these theories are unlikely is that after being revealed as a god or at least some kind of god-human hybrid, I don't think it's likely that Ruby would continue to travel with the doctor, as she is speculated to do in series 15/2. but who knows! that sure would make things interesting.

In regards to the Trickster theory, I was Delighted to even get a trickster as ‘the god of traps’ mention last episode, but with all the talk about traps in UNIT HQ and the references I mentioned in my previous post, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does make a little cameo in this episode, or if he returns in S15/2. Also still not letting go of the Trickster being trapped in the ocean x ‘The War between the Land and the Sea’ x Mrs FLOOD theories idc idc. 

Okay finally here’s some more quickfire bananas theories I’m throwing at the red string board

Susan cameo 

Ruby has a perception filter that conceals either her true form or something that has attached itself to her but it cuts out at 73 Yards and that’s why everyone ran from her

The Doctor uses Rogue’s ring in defeating Sutekh

Mrs Flood (Mrs F) is Susan

Jenny is Ruby’s mother/Ruby is Susan’s mother/Kate is Ruby’s mother/Ruby is her own mother (i really dont wanna believe this one cause its boring)

Mrs Flood is connected to The Flood from The Waters of Mars

Rogue is Horus - ship shaped like a falcon

Finishing this with seven hours to go until I see the finale!! Still haven’t seen any spoilers but from the official teasers I saw and the fact that the episode is only 50 minutes, I highly doubt anything this lore-heavy could happen lol. thank u for reading and indulging me doctor who besties <3 see u on the other side

[uzdef-ump]

They were getting ready for bed, Urahara was preparing candles, because one day they realized that it was very pleasant to fall asleep in the soft light of the fire. Kisuke thinks that Ichigo's eyes sparkle brighter when the fire brings its light into them. They look like amber shimmering in the sun and the night darkness around them made the shine of the eyes even more attractive. Kisuke curled up in their bed, hiding his cold feet under a heavy winter blanket, clinging to his husband in search of warmth.

"You know, I've been thinking about—"Ichigo said, wrapping his arm around Kisuke's shoulders, but without pulling him closer, as he usually did, he just found a place for his hand on Urahara's shoulder. Warmth like honey in tea began to seep under Kisuke's skin and he was practically purring.

"What is it, Ichi?" The blond man whispered, settling into bed like the big sleepy cat he was.

"I was thinking... Maybe we'll have another child?" Hybrid said hesitantly, as if they were discussing this for the first time. "I know that the last time the birth was difficult and we experienced some difficulties in the first year of Kamiko's life, but—" He hesitated again, bit his lip, looked away. Kisuke was silent, waiting to hear what his husband wanted to say. It was true that their youngest child was a big challenge for them when she was tiny, but Kisuke would do it again if he had a chance to. Nothing in the world could have made him happier. Hearing now that Ichigo wanted another child made his heart feel warm.

"I would love another little devil clinging to my legs, nothing in this world makes me feel alive more than the laughter of our children, you know that" Kisuke let his hand travel over Ichigo's arm until his palm found the redhead's and their fingers intertwined. The scientist brought Ichigo's hand closer and kissed the fingers where the wedding ring was. Ichigo looked at him, uncertain happiness blossomed in his eyes, it reminded Urahara of how they only got to know each other when Ichigo was younger and more insecure in himself. The young man who won his heart grew into a wonderful man and a wonderful father to their children. Kisuke had never thought in his life that he would be so lucky.

"How do you want it to be?" The blond man asked. All the previous pregnancies were Urahara's concern, and he would do it again, even if he was suffering from nausea and pain in his legs again, just so that Ichigo would look at him as if he saw God in front of him, all their happy little kisses and massages, as Ichigo carried him in his arms when Kisuke was tired. Kisuke is sure that Ichigo would have paved the way he is walking if he had hinted that he did not like the previous one. Yes, Ichigo loved him even without all that. But this pride, which was visible in the red-haired man's eyes when he looked at Kisuke's stomach, his joy when the baby inside Kisuke kicked into his palm. It was priceless.

"I mean, I'm carrying a baby or maybe you want to—" Kisuke squeezed his hand, letting Ichigo figure out the idea himself.

"I love it when you carry our children. You're so beautiful like this." Ichigo smiled a bit, squeezing Kisuke's hand in return.

"I know. But maybe you wanna try it yourself? I'm not saying I don't want to." Urahara had to say when Ichigo scolded a bit out of confusion. "What I'm trying to say is I wanna you to experience this too. You know, having our child inside you, right under your heart. It's worth all the inconvenience. I would like to see you."

"I'll think about it. The idea sounds great, but I still want to see you. I miss your mood swings a little. You can be so cute at times like this."

"And at other times, I act like the end of the world has come. Love makes you blind."

"Like you are the one to talk"

--------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to do a little sketch about how funny they are discussing who will carry the next baby, but my hand slipped. I'm not sorry. @lilacwriter07 I promised to tag you

[countrymusiclover]

58 - Family Certainty Does Change

Part 59

Family is More than Blood

@melvia-ito @vavafaure1994 @kmc1989 @tallrock35

“Are we going somewhere?” Klaus came inside our bedroom inside the mansion seeing me close a suitcase with some clothes for about a week.  I decided the school was currently safe and that gave me time to think through what had happened between me and my twin brother. 

Shaking my head I picked up my phone showing him the screen with an airplane ticket to New Orleans appearing on it. “I’m going to Orleans to face my brother and apologize.” 

“You’re brother who cussed you out because he had to fall in love with a hybrid werewolf then thought he could face someone more powerful than an Original once he became a heretic.  In the end somehow pissed at you because that bloke can't have children anymore. Forgive me for asking but why would you try to make up with him?” 

Putting a hand on my hip I sent him a slight glare. “Remind me again what you did when you had a fight with one of your siblings. Oh right you dagger them. Unfortunately I can't do that so an actual apology is the way to go for me.” 

“Rae, that's not what I meant.  My point was "are you sure he'll want to see you?” 

My hybrid husband had a point in his question.  For 5 years my brother hadn’t talked to me.  For 5 years his daughter had ran back here so she could attend school with her friends which I knew had to only make him more angry with me, but he hasn't returned to force Andrea back home either. “My mother used to say never to go to sleep angry.  I have to try and make things right between me and my brother.  I don't want an entire century to pass by and we're still not 

speaking to each other.” 

“I'll call Caroline and tell her we're taking a little trip.  Our kids are getting old enough now that they should be able to handle things here for a few days.” Klaus took out his phone going to the vampire blonde leaving me to finish the packing I needed to do. 

The trip from the airport and into a rented car making the drive into the city to visit Cami first before I went to go comfort my brother and possibly see my second daughter who takes care of my grandchild that I haven’t seen for a while.  Walking into the bar the familiar blonde was running around taking different orders from people seeing us rushing around the bar island to greet us. “Raelyn! Klaus! I didn’t know you two were coming into town.” 

“Yeah I felt it was time to travel back to Orleans for a little bit.  And this time it’s under somewhat happier circumstances.” I hugged the vampire blonde who belonged to my former sire line. 

She wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. “I saw your brother walking in the Quarter a few days ago.  I tried to talk with him but he just walked the other way. Has something happened between you two?” 

“We had a fight five years ago that kinda broke us apart for some time.  I’m here to hopefully fix that between us.” 

Klaus picked a glass of whiskey that a different bartender had brought him where the three of us sat down at a nearby table to continue our current conversation. “If this was a fight between me and my siblings I would have daggered them for cussing me out the way Jacob did to my wife.” 

“I guess he should be thankful that they only work on an Original.” Cami nervously chuckles. 

Bringing my glass of bourbon to my lips I took a long drink. “Anyway the fight was about him not being able to have more kids like Nik and I magically can.  When I had black magic in my grasp he asked me to use it on him but I refused.  Next thing I knew he left Virginia and came here with Alina and her family.” 

“Well I hope everything goes good for you.” She smiled before we saw more people entering the bar wanting drinks. 

Raising myself to my feet I slipped her a twenty dollar bill leaving her with my husband vamping away once I wasn’t around too many people who would see me use my supernatural powers. “Thanks for the luck, Cami.  I’ll see you two later.  I’m going to find my brother - J! Jacob! Jacob - gah!” I called out into the area standing outside their old hunting cabin that they still owned living in the bayou rather than in the busy city.  I kept calling his name until pain shot through my head causing me to drop to one knee. 

“What the hell are you doing here, Rae?” My twin brother's voice came out of the front door of the cabin with his left hand raised in the air where I knew he was using magic. 

Holding the side of my head I struggled to get my words out too focused on the massive headache. “Jacob, I’m here to talk - not to fight you.  Ahh! Ventuce.” Moving my hand from my head I launched a spell at my brother knocking him onto his back giving me the chance to scramble to my feet.   Jacob vamped behind me and wrapped one arm around my neck holding my back against his front about to snap my neck until I used another spell doing a flip causing him to get thrown onto his back and my freehand pressing down on his chest. “Demeter.  Do you give up yet, J.  I’m better at defense magic than you are.” 

He bared his teeth at me kicking me in the leg launching me onto my back like I had done to him. “Metar - I’ve been practicing, sister.” 

“Uhh! Jacob , I am not going to fight you.  I came here to apologize for not trying to find a way to help you have more children.” 

He glared at me shaking his head no. “You’re just saying what I want to hear.  Tenebris lapsus.” 

“Enough of this - imperium monstrum, immobilus!” He had managed to pop both my knees where I bent them back into place.  Until he tried to vamp away but I froze him in a boundary spell trapping him. 

He struggles to move watching me slowly walk up to the edge of the force field. “Rae, go away. I don’t want to see you.” 

“What if I told you I might have a way to give you and Hayley another child?” 

My brother made a confused face reminding me that I used to be a witch who only used light magic until I met my husband and faced his mother. “You said the only way was through dark magic.  You’re telling me you’d go through that risk for me.” 

“You’re my brother.  I can’t not have you in my life, especially now that we are both immortal and stuck with each other forever.  So do you want to hear my reckless plan or not?” I snapped back at him until I heard footsteps coming out onto the wooden porch causing me to turn my head in that direction. 

The figure that stepped out onto the porch was Alina, holding another baby boy in her arms.  The infant 

had dark black hair like Jackson but my daughter Alina’s eyes.  “Mom, what are you doing here?” She simply stood there with Xavier standing behind her leg. 

“Momma, who is she?” Xavier asked and my heart nearly broke realizing she hadn’t talked about me to her firstborn son.  Maybe I should have just stayed back at the Salvatore School. 

[galacticxangel]

Wait I saw your comment on the meeting your mutuals/stranger danger post. You said you married your mutual? That's so cute. Have you shared that anywhere and if not would you share it here?

I’m pretty sure I’ve shared it passively, but I never shared the full thing just on its own, so I’ll do that here!

So back in Ye Olde Days (13 years ago), Ask Blogs were a big thing on Tumblr, and also, so was Minecraft! And wouldn’t you know it, I was running a little Minecraft ask blog. And then I came across another, which had amazing art and characters and I adored what I was seeing, so I followed, they followed back, I sent little asks, and we communicated that way! The blog I found was run by two people, @cosmic-anchor (Silvia), and her friend Lazzy (boyo where’s your blog). He’s still a mutual bestie today, as are a few other folks we met via ask blog shenanigans, like @knightlymoon and @ragnarode .

ANYWAY. We get to playing on a server together (we actually use a Minecraft version release date as our meeting anniversary, because it was right around the prerelease of Beta 1.8: September 9, 2011. How do we remember? Well, that’s when they released Endermen! And anyone familiar with Minecraft aakblogs knows just how popular those are today. But back then? HOLY crap. Everyone and their grandma has a Sexy Broody Enderman or a Sexy Broody Enderman Hybrid. It was. A lot), take to each other like a church on fire, and become besties! We have a little house together.

Long time passes, and we’re on pretty much daily communication, still playing games, etc. I went through basic training and she was one of the folks I sent letters to while I was there. We played D&D together (This was an entire fiasco where we lost one bestie due to an abusive relationship. She’s back now tho! Love you Lynn <3). Even in the military, when I got DEEPLY depressed, she was there for me and helped me out (I credit her for being alive today. I’m not sure I’d be here if she hadn’t talked me down and convinced me to see a mental health specialist). I get out of the military, get my own little apartment, and go ‘wait a minute. I can do what I want. I have a best friend I’ve known for like six years now. Let’s invite her down!’ And so we start planning our first

‘Down’ is an understatement. See, I live in Texas. She lives in Kentucky, literally a thousand miles away. And while I’ve got all my documents and paperwork and driving skills and travel under my belt, she… doesn’t. As the older sibling of a special needs person, and not from a very high income household, she didn’t have this stuff. So it’s up to me, and I’m too fired up about taking my bestie to a renaissance faire (yah we. Really nerdy lol) to consider anything but!

We get her costume ready. Her plane tickets. Her ids and everything, sorted. It comes to like. Two weeks before the flight. And I get a call at work. It’s Via. Now, this is weird. Over the years, we’ve kinda fallen into a system. Common communication falls into just a message (Skype at the time iirc, Discord didn’t exist just yet). Something kinda urgent gets you an alert ping (like @ing someone). Dire is a call. And my phone’s ringing.

Not good.

So I hurriedly excuse myself from the office to take it, and she’s in tears. Her dad’s gotten cold feet, and won’t take her to the airport like he promised because ‘what if I’m an internet predator’. I mean. I get it. I have a Southern Style family, too (This will come up later). But damn it, she’s an adult. We’re BOTH adults. Also, I just bought a round trip plane ticket! Also, at this point I know more about her than he does. He still thinks she’s straight. But he won’t take her because we’ve never met face-to-face.

It’s Wednesday. I look at my office door. I have my best friend, current queerplat partner on the line, sobbing apologies.

“Hey. Tell him to pick a place to eat. Dinner on Friday. My treat, okay?”

“What?”

“Tell him to pick a place for dinner on Friday. I’ll see you then.”

Thus begins the trek that cements me as ‘most unhinged friend when others need something’ in our friend group to the day. I go into my office, spinning a sob story about how some nondescript family member just passed and funeral and blah blah I need to go but I’ll be back on Monday.

Green light acquired.

I go home, and immediately go to sleep. I wake up around midnight, pack my bags into my little Kia, and off I go. 1000 miles. Now, remember when I said my family would come up later? Here’s later: I didn’t tell them. There was NO WAY they were going to just sit idle while I drove a thousand miles, ALONE, to meet someone I’d never met in person. I’d never driven quite that far, either. Not to say no one knew, I would plot two hours on my gps, send the path to Lazzy and Via, and check in when I hit the next stop. If I didn’t check in, they were told to call my parents if I was over an hour late. Which, obviously, I never was, because I’m typing this and not like, dead or anything.

I roll up to her local Cracker Barrel at 8pm on Friday, after easily one of the best experiences of my life (was out between cities on a clear, late summer night, got to see the Milky Way for the first time, got ‘adopted’ by a bunch of truckers at a truck stop I paused for a nap at). My hair’s a bit frizzy and I’m wearing a shirt that says ‘Watch Closely: I’m About To Do Something Stupid’. But her dad gets the firmest, friendliest Texan handshake I can give, and a bright smile.

Apparently, he never expected me to show. According to Via, I humbled him that day. I don’t pay for dinner, despite offering. I even stay the night.

She’s on a plane for Texas two weeks later.

(Bonus: it’s at the point I send a picture of the big ol ‘Welcome To Kentucky’ state line sign to my parents. This. Was not a good idea lol. But I had my big Texas meat swangin my ego and I was damn proud to be functionally unhinged. My dad scolds me and then gets me a hotel room in Little Rock, DEMANDING I stop half way on the way back. My mom calls me, yells at me, and then hangs up on me. Calls back an hour later to apologize because she wasn’t mad I went, she was mad that I was right when I told her ‘you’d have tried to stop me’. Ultimately fine, in the end).

There’s at least one other travel adventure (much easier this time! We were supposed to go to PAX South but were too lazy that morning so we ate pizza and played video games.

I move out of my apartment and start renting a house. I have extra room. And I think about my friend, who’s only left her tristate area twice now, both because of me. And I think ‘that’s my best friend! I wonder if she wants to move down here!’

Another 2k miles on my poor little Kia (who’s STILL KICKING BTW), and she now lives in Texas. This was about five years ago. We live in my little granny house that’s older than both occupants combined. You heard that right, though. Oh my god, We Were Roommates.

It’s about this time that apparently Via starts Getting The Feelings but BLESS HER she’s being SO GOOD because at this point I’m defining as Aro/Ace. Turns out it was just some anxiety/aversion because my previous relationship was turbo unhealthy! But I really like this chick, and I’m like ‘you know what, I’m scared I’ll mess up our friendship, but I’ll try these things. We already go on ‘dates’ and I buy you flowers occasionally just because I was thinking of you and we already snuggle every night because it helps us go to sleep’ yeah I was. Hm. Dense.

Anyway it takes off HARD and within the year, we’re married on the coast where I took her to see the ocean for the very first time, on September 9, 2023.

Our first anniversary is soon. 💕

[bonny-kookoo]

Hii, I hope you are doing well💜💜💜

I wans wondering how would the member react to Snowball Princess eating something she wasn't supposed to and gets sick for a few days??

"I think it's best to talk to her about filing for independent living." The nurse offers kindly. "Or at least slowly ease her into it, to make sure she properly prepared. She got away with a scare this time, but considering her age, she needs to be a bit more careful moving forward." She reminds the idol, who soberly nods at that reminder.

He knows that. He's known for a good while now.

And he's also been thinking about the future for a good while now. He knows for a fact that you're a part of it- one that's not possible to be just cut away like that, no matter how hard he'd be able to try. You've been at his side for so long, have bonded with him so tightly that he would probably feel like he'd lost a limb if he was to lose you.

He can't.

When he steps into the room you'd been staying in for a few days after having accidentally eaten non-hybrid foods a week prior, he smiles gently at you folding your own clothes. He instantly walks closer to help you with the task, feeling a little weird to have you do this on your own when he or the boys have always done it for you in the past. When did they stop? When did you learn to fold so neatly?

"I'd like you to stay with me for a little bit." He says softly, and you open your mouth to disagree- but he shakes his head. "Not because I think you're not capable of living on your own baby, just.." he thinks over his words for a moment, before he finishes his sentence. He knows it's a delicate matter for you, and while he can't truly understand why you're suddenly so eager to get away from them, he wants to make sure you feel validated in your decision, even if it's not what he wants you to do. "...we haven't really spent much time together in a while, no?" He asks, and you seem to think- before you shrug.

"..but you have schedules." You mumble.

"Then let's go together?" He offers, zipping up your little overnight bag. "You know I love traveling with you."

"But it's a hassle." You shake your head. "You're gonna have to-"

"I know, I've done it before, hundreds of times?" He chuckles, hand on your shoulder, and you seem in thought, before you tear up, bottom lip trembling. "Hey, no, what's wrong?" He worries at the sight, helping you sit down on your hospital bed where he holds your face close to his chest.

You remember him doing that.

He held you like this after the first nightmare you had at their dorms, where you've been too scared to ask to sleep in someone's room because you thought you might come off as childish- even though, technically, you had still been somewhat of a child at your age. The first time you had to stay at the hotel all by yourself, and they'd rushed out without saying they'd be back. The day you got the news that your favorite caretaker back at the center where you'd grown up had passed away, her last gift to you a dried flower cast in resin, to last forever just like her love for you would. When you'd gotten scared by a passing firetruck turning on its sirens, causing you to trip and scrape open your knees, shock of it all proving too much to just be passed off as nothing. The night you'd gotten lost in London after having strayed off too far, tag on your neck having helped Jimin find you quickly.

And he'd held you like this when Jin left for the military, and when Hoseok did.

Who will hold you like this when he leaves?

Who will hold you like this while he's gone?

How long until you forget those memories?

Will he be there when you mourn the loss of them one day too?

"Hey, you're okay.." he tells you softly, hand on your back trying hard to calm you down. He's aware you've been going through something he's not too sure of. At the beginning, he'd thought it must've been from Seokjin leaving. But it had just gotten worse now, and in a way, it scares him how far you seemed to have slipped from his fingers. Everyone's, in fact.

You're right here, in his arms, and yet you seem miles away, way out of reach.

And he doesn't know how to get to you, how to somehow get a hold of you again.

"Why are you so far away?" He asks quietly, and your ears move at that, before you slowly move to look up at him. "I want to help you but I don't know how." He offers, and you look away, eyes jumping from his necklace to his collarbone, from his ear for the hem of his shirt. You don't know either. You don't know what he could do to make you feel better.

You don't know if you can feel better.

"Jungkook talked to me too. He's worried about you just as much as Yoongi is. And Namjoon. And everyone else." He asks, hands on your knees. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." You shrug, because you truly don't know. "I feel like I have to decide something because things are changing, but I don't know what the question is. I don't know what I'm supposed to choose because I don't know what the problem is I'm supposed to solve." You ramble to him, and in a way, he breathes a bit easier now hearing you open up again.

Like you're taking a step towards him again, back into his range.

"Princess, why are you making things so hard for yourself?" He asks gently. "I feel like you're looking way too far ahead right now. It's okay to try and be prepared for what might change- but you can't put your present life on hold just because you're trying to figure out what's not even decided yet." He tries to reason with you. "There's things we all know will happen. Things that probably will happen, things that might, things we're not sure about and things we don't even know yet." The idol explains, wiping your cheeks for you. "And it's fun to try and color in the future, even if there's no lines to guide yet. But you can't get lost in that." He shakes his head.

"I ruined it all now, didn't I?" You worry quietly, looking down. "I made everyone upset, and worry, and sad-"

"You were trying to make it easy for us, and that's understandable." He smiles encouragingly. "And I appreciate that. Everyone does." Jimin nods at you. "But the easiest for us is when you're with us. That's when we're happiest."

You sniffle a little, having calmed down now. "...do you think my vaccines are still up to date to fly out?" You ask meekly, and he laughs happily at you, pulling you close so you can't spot how he's holding back tears.

"We can worry about that when we're home."

[shallahi-and-snowflake]

Hello! Sorry about the roughness of my blog, I mostly just used this one for lurking before I ever thought to get in on anything.

I’m Shallahi Ksheh Bah-Teft, I’m… around… Nanish-er, that’s 20 years old, I think? (Years, months, days, and hours are different where I’m from.) (UPDATE: it’s closer to 22.) I’m human (mostly), Thaylen/Alethi, but I have longer eyebrows than most half-Thayleni. (I’m a Luxray Hybrid now, as of 2-29-24.) Yes, long eyebrows is a weird thing here. I tend to wear them over my ears, if that’s a good image to use as a metric.)

(Update: Apparently I’m Luxray-kin? I just figured it out, so…)

I’m from Kharbranth, also known as the City of Bells. I’m a Knight Radiant (something like a “Chosen” for a smaller, less powerful being. I’m of the Sixth Order, a Lightweaver of the Fourth Ideal as of 1-23-24), a Worldhopper (a “Faller” with more agency in where they go, basically), a collector of stories and knowledge and a lover of food and adventure!

I am a member of Bridge Four and an Incursionist.

I thought I was 6-foot-something, but I’m closer to 6-and-a-third of this world’s feet in height.

I use she/it/fae, and by your standards of gender, I would be transfeminine. (I transitioned by accidentally taking in an entire lamp’s worth of Stormlight, so no need to worry about HRT access, thank goodness. It’s such a shame that others can’t just breathe in magic and—poof! Be properly aligned to their Spiritual aspect.)

I may say words that don’t make sense to you, or don’t fit in the context you’d use them in, that’s just a consequence of the mixing of my own vocabulary and knowledge that I took with me here, me learning new words and assuming their meaning, and the Connection tricks I use to help learn new languages.

I said I was a Worldhopper earlier; don’t worry, while yes I might steal away to Scadarial or elsewhere for a bit, I’m making this world with weak storms, static grass, and colourful fluffy creatures my home. Like Shinovar but with more colour and less ksenophobia!

Now for you, Snowflake!

Mmmmm…

Ah! I am called “Snowflake” or “Snowy,” (She/Her) and I am a Patternspren or Crypticspren. A spren is… mmmm… a small fragment of a God. Not your gods, mind you. I am bonded to Shallahi, who you have already heard from. This world is strange to us. There is no Shadesmar, no Cognitive Realm that we could find. This means that I am just a Pattern on a dress or other form of clothing. I am dictating my words to Shallahi. Mmm… unfeminine.

(SH: Don’t listen to that stupid old book, it’s full of lies.)

I like lies. You know this.

SH: Then why let those lies dictate your life?)

Mmm… I am called Snowflake because that is how my Pattern looks. This is everything I can think to say.

I sign asks as ❄️.

I have a ton of siblings from Bridge Four, and also Oppy @freeroaming-curiosity is my sister!

Malkah (@faller-of-kharbranth) who just Fell here recently, is also my sister now!

Konnie @abyssanon is also my sibling, as well.

My little sister, who goes by Kitt but is technically a younger me, is at @kitten-of-kharbranth.

SALUTATIONS. I AM HER MAJESTY THE DUSK QUEEN LUNALA, THE PSEUDO-PATRON OF SHALLAHI.

My name, should you need it, is Nyx, and I use she/he/it/moon pronouns.

Should I send any asks, I shall sign them with -Her Majesty, the Queen of Dusk, Lunala.

Rose @hisuianhellion is MY GIRLFRIEND AND I LOVE HER SO MUCH!

I have 12 kids:

• Sword @sword-of-injustice, who talks like this. (Your pronouns.)

• Crystal @crystalclearribbons, who doesn’t live with me. (She/Her)

• Vivillon @shinx-oh, who also doesn’t live with me. (She/her)

• Fox (Eevee), who lives with Vivillon. (He/him)

• Illanero @zoruascanbetrainerstoo, who is the Champion of Hoenn, Kanto, Kalos, and Unova!! (All, but mostly xe/xem)

Xe usually travels with Cresselia/Zrosenza @moondreamscape. (she/it/dream)

• Svirak-Daughter-None, a Squawkabilly (She/Her).

• [Zeradin, a Zebstrika] (They/He).

• <Zan, a Dwebble> (He/Him).

• {Vinette, a Joltik.} (She/It).

• Palana, a Natu (She/Him)

• Navari, Eevee/Axehound hybrid, egg obtained from Quasar ( @rogue-nebula) (She/her? Hatched. Unknown.)

Here’s my Trainer Card:

Annoyingly, there are very few darker-skinned Trainers with blue eyes in the options. Nessa(?) here is the closest I could find.

Pelliper Mail is ON!

Same with Musharna Mail!

Don’t be afraid to ask me stuff, serious or silly!

In fact, don’t be afraid to be goofy with your asks.

Magic Anons are ON, but FILTERED!

Current Arc: Arc Shash (on hold sort-of), Purrsona! (more of a topic tag).

Previous Arcs: Purifying Waters Arc, Time Heist Event, Rotomblr in Wonderland, Lightweaver Luxray, Robot Rescue, Mini-Arc: Curse Of Angy Teen, Muse Mixup Madness (Get PMD’d (Luxrayposting)), Mini Arc: Pokesona Time!, Muse Mixup Madness (Shashariposting) Mini Arc: More Cat, Castelia trip!!

//No proshippers, no TERFs, no NSFW stuff. I don’t really want drama, I just want to have fun. Oh, yeah, also, POTENTIAL COSMERE SPOILERS!

//Sentient Pokémon are A-OK to interact, if previous reblogs haven’t made it clear.

//Self Insert Fallers and Branded are also clear to interact.

[lizardverbiage]

[thinking out loud about dungeon meshi and pokemon]

i've periodically thought about a pokemon au for dungeon meshi. when i think of pokemon and dungeons, it's definitely easy to immediately jump to, well, pokemon mystery dungeon. but since everyone there is a monster ("pocket monster") it's kind of hard for me to pinpoint laois' motives.

in a more mainline pokemon game au, i'm sure the expected thing would be for them to eat pokemon, but the morality/legality of eating pokemon thing is confusing within the game already, and personally i'm just not a fan of that angle, sorry. it's definitely a direction someone else could take it though.

laois wants to eat monsters not really because of the eating but more to become part of their world. he loves learning and understanding monsters. in the world of pokemon, i think laois would make an amazing trainer. he'd practically be a walking pokedex, not to mention that he'd be good at understanding pokemon body language and instincts. i think laois' motives in the pokemon world would be to be able to talk to pokemon, and ultimately to become a pokemon. the premise of pmd would be laois' dream in this case haha. even though he'd be a great trainer, i don't think laois would actually take on gym challenges and stuff on purpose. he'd want to find and meet every pokemon in the region, and then some.

more thoughts under the cut

meanwhile, kabru is trying to defeat all the gyms as part of some elaborate scheme to take down The Bad Guy Team. he'd fail and then laois would somehow get roped into doing a gym challenge and sweep with his advanced battling techniques (called My Pokemon Are His Besties). kabru would originally treat pokemon more like a tool and then learns the power of friendship (literally)

falin really likes bug types but also really likes pokemon in general. she has a high affinity with ghost types and can understand them (laois is a little jealous. but he can do it too, but discovers it later). in such an au... somehow, she probably ends up as a human-pokemon hybrid (... laois is a little jealous).

what are marcille's motivations in such an au? if she's still an elf, her desire is probably the same. she's researching various mythical and legendary pokemon in order for her to achieve her dream. she's probably some sort of equivalent to a psychic in pokemon games. marcille would totally dote and fret over her pokemon and give them cute accessories and give them all baths specific to their needs.

senshi might be living out in the wild, mostly avoiding people and living with pokemon more. in this case he has learned valuable lessons on acquiring food from pokemon and now cooks meals that both pokemon and humans can eat! marcille is a little dubious on that front, but she can't deny that it's tasty. senshi would not have any pokemon that truly "belong" to him, he'd probably not use pokeballs. but he has a lot of connections.

what is chilchuck doing here?? he might be some kind of guide, or really good at finding out of the way places... well, he's definitely still good at handling traps and picking locks, and now he's well-suited for noticing the approach of wild pokemon. he probably doesn't have a lot of pokemon, or at least not a team well suited for battle, but they are suited for his job. i think in his case, he views his pokemon as partners in work, and they respect him the same way.

i guess laois' party is traveling to find certain legendary pokemon and such. having a party of people + pokemon is a lot but that happens in the anime it's fine...

a dungeon meshi and pokemon crossover of this kind would also work well in a legends arceus kind of world, where kabru and others would have justified concerns about befriending pokemon, since pokemon are dangerous and attack people, but laois believes that people and pokemon can get along. in such an au laois probably thinks about just running away to the wild a lot. if only he was a pokemon...

a legends arceus-ish kinda setup would work well with the medieval-ish setup of dungeon meshi. having a party explore the world seems legit too. but i still think a more modern pokemon setup could work.

[anangelwhodidntfall]

Beautiful❤✨ Request

Poly Ariel &Eric x hybrid!reader

where the first time they met Ariel and Eric were already married and was just swimming around with her otter named Tide(a girl)and Asmodeus but he isn't the best swimmer so he has to hold onto the reader's neck

but reader got a fish hook and it left a deep scratch on her tail so she had to go on land where Ariel and Eric just happened to return home from travelling uncharted waters.

Reader manages to crawl on land but passes out because of exhaustion. Ariel and Eric see her go unconscious and try to go to her but Tide and Asmodeus hiss at them because they think they're gonna hurt her but mange to win them over

Carry her back to the palace (but while she's unconscious she turns back into a human because she's out of the water)She wakes up a few hours later, in a night gown with Tide and Asmodeus resting beside her

A maid walks in and checks on her and calls the Royal couple over and they show her around town and fall in love with her but Reader thinks she overstayed her welcome and tries to leave bit they want her to stay a bit longer by taking and walk on the beach

And they confess their feings for her and now reader always look at the scar on her thigh as a reminder of how she met her lovers

Memories: Poly Eric & Ariel x Hybrid!Reader

You, Asmodeus, and Tide who was on hanging on your neck were swimming around the water talking and just relaxing when you felt something pierce your tail making you cry out. Tide walked down your back and let you know that you had a fish hook stuck in your tail, you decided to swim to shore that way you could pull it out.

You three reached a rock where you sat there and gently pulled the hook out of your tail with a hiss as you set it to the side, watching as blood poured from your tail. You began to panic as you tried to crawl to shore in hopes that someone might be able to help you, the last thing you remember was barely making it to shore before everything went black. 

riel and Eric had just returned home from traveling when they saw someone passed out on the beach making them concerned as they walked over to where they laid. As they got closer they could see it was a girl about their age who was hurt badly, but as they went to touch the otter and snake that were laying next to her, hissed at her. 

"Hey, hey we're not gonna hurt her." Ariel said to them. 

"We just want to get her the help she needs." Eric said to them as Ariel nodded her head.

"You are most than welcomed to come with us, so you can watch over her." Ariel said to them as Tide crawled in her arms and as Asmodeus wrapped himself around her. 

They carried you back to the castle where you got looked at by a doctor who said you would heal fine and probably just have a scar and more in-likely passed out from exhaustion. They left you in a room with Tide and Asmodeus resting beside you and would come back and check on you once you were awake. 

You woke up a few hours later and realized that you were no longer on the beach but instead inside a room wearing a nightgown. You stretched and woke yourself up more and that's when you saw Tide and Asmodeus sleeping in a bed next to yours which made you smile as you heard the door open.

"Oh good you're awake! I will go let the royal couple know." The maid said giving you a smile. 

"The royal couple?" You asked her. 

"Yes, they were the ones who found you and brought you here." She said before leaving you.

A few minutes later, the door opens up and Prince Eric and Princess Ariel walk through your door with smiles on their faces. 

"Hi there, I"m Ariel, and this is Eric, how are you feeling?" Ariel asked you.

"Uh-hi im y/n, I'm feeling alright. How did you guys find me?" You asked them. 

"We had just come back from a sailing trip and we saw you passed out on the beach, your friends there wouldn't let us take you so willingly but eventually they did and the doctor was able to get you looked at." Eric said. 

"What did the doctor say about my leg?" You asked noticing it was bandaged now. 

"He said you will heal just fine but he wants to keep you here for the next few days just to make sure, is that okay with you?" They asked you. 

"Yes, it is. Thank you for allowing me to stay and for helping me." You said to them. 

"No need to thank us, tomorrow we could show you around the castle and the town if you would like?" Ariel said with a smile. 

"I would love that, thank you." You said to them,

The next few days, they showed you around the castle and town and you fell in love with it and honestly could see yourself staying here if that was an option. You guys were having breakfast when you decided to break the news to them. 

"I think I am going to leave this afternoon and head home." You said as they looked at you in shock. 

"What? Why?" They asked you, they had fallen for you and weren't ready for you to leave.

"I think I've overstayed my welcome and it's time for me to head home." You said. 

"No, you haven't. Please come walk with us to the beach so we can talk with you." They said as you agreed. 

You three made your way down to the beach where you guys walked around before coming to the spot where they found you. 

"Y/n please don't go, these past few days have been so wonderful and it's made us realize something." Eric said. 

"What might that be?" You asked them. 

"We like you a lot and would like to see how this relationship develops between us. Will you please consider staying a little longer?" Ariel asked you. 

"I guess a little longer couldn't hurt." You said making them smile as you three continued walking around. 

Now whenever you look at that scar on your leg, you are reminded how you met the two loves of your life. 

[shitposting-puppet]

A list of Genshin character headcanons and personal ships that Just Make Sense

This will also feature Aether as the traveler, im sorry-

Heizou was a victim and a perpetrator of the VHD. He lost his vision about 8 months in.

As a result he has difficulty with his emotions as well as the emotions of others. He's very inept, a genius but emotionally inept.

Kaveh and Al Haithem don't hate each other, but they definitely are not good friends.

Speaking of, I think Kavehthem is super toxic. Source? My parents were just like them before getting divorced and now they dont talk to each other.

Kaveh's hurt line of: "I've been through worse" yeah... He had a shitty ex.

The ex was a Dottore clone.

The same Dottore clone is how Lisa found out she was lesbian lol.

Diluc and Eula get fake married.

Eula so that she's finally rid of all ties to the Lawrence Clan

Diluc because he's so tired of getting hit on at the tavern...

Dehya and Yoimiya have prosthetics.

Poly5WIRL

(-Wanderer.) That man is so aroace istg

Heizou is also dating Tighnari. No I will NOT elaborate.

Meanwhile Aether is additionally dating Kaeya and Albedo

(who are also dating cause why wouldn't they?)

Heizou and Sara are each other's chosen family.

They eventually legally change their last names so that they're legally siblings too.

Heizou originally wanted to live on Watasumi, but the first time he escaped there he was found and dragged back home.

Speaking of: Heizou was born and raised on Yashiori, specifically in Higi Village.

When Heizou ran away to Watasumi, thats where he met Kokomi and Gorou.

Gorou is trans mtf. Her name is Hina. You cannot change my mind.

Hina and Koko? Married.

Ayato and Itto? Dating. I love they.

Thoma is a fucking wolf hybrid you cant change my mind! He can shape shift!

Also Noelle is his little sister i just

holds them gently

Cynonari is married, Collei is their long-suffering daughter.

Cyno continues to try and ask Kaveh out.

Kaveh continues to be super oblivious.

Kaveh 🤝 Collei = Trauma from Dottore.

Wanderer chose to go to college over hanging out with Traveler and their friends....

Only to end up talking to them anyway. He is Suffering.

Kaeya has Pyrophobia from the Fight.

Al Haithem is a dick. Like he won't bring up trauma or misgender you, but he's still an absolute asshole.

Why is he an ass? Because he knows and deliberately hurts others feelings. He is aware of what he's doing.

Al Haithem is also deaf + autistic. Yes, you can be disabled and still be an asshole.

Kaveh and Al Haithem are Autistic on Autistic Violence

The Nameless Bard's name is Raven, because I am a sucker for Dramatic Irony. Also because I like it.

Childe has chronic pain and early-onset arthritis

Shenhe is actually Chongyun's mom, she gave him away when he was a baby for his safety, and the cover story she and the village gave was that she's just an aunt.

Opposite to how Chongyun's energy is pure Yang, Shenhe's is pure Yin, making her much more likely to attract demons

Heizou and Sango genuinely cannot get along.

Kaveh is actually from Aaru Village. Well, before his dad moved them to the rainforest.

Kaeya actually resent his Khaenri'ahn heritage, as it gave him the impossible burden of spying on a nation.

Btw, Kaeya would choose Mondstadt over Khaenri'ah anyday.

Diluc has a room for Venti at the Winery.

Also, Diluc and Jean are not the only ones who know Venti is Barbatos. He aint that slick.

Albedo, Sucrose, Kaeya and Hu Tao also know.

Sucrose and Albedo? Figured it out themselves.

Kaeya? Found out by accident after Venti got too drunk.

Hu Tao? She already had suspicions that Zhongli was Morax, and Venti showing up along with him, Zhongli and Xiao all being awkward just confirmed it.

Heizou and Yanfei are pen pals. They're besties, Your Honor.

Kazuha and Heizou once did it on the fucking beach during VHD.

This was also 2 years before they started dating. And 3 before they met Aether.

Heizou's a bottom btw. a bratty one.

He and Sango tried dating once while they still got along, but broke up long before they split off

Technically, because of the Irminsul wipe, Venti is still the youngest of the archons. Nahida doesn't know how to feel about this. Neither does Aether.

XIAO IS CANONLY OLDER THAN VENTI ISTG IM NOT JOKING XIAO IS 4000+ AND VENTI IS AROUND 2600 IM FERAL

Anyway

Heizou is allergic to mangoes. And Lavender Melon, and- actually this guy is allergic to near every fruit... Except for sunsettias and pineapples, strangely enough.

This doesn't stop him from eating candy. Much to Sara's horror.

Dw, she has the bfs gang up on him.

Heizou struggles with depression at times. And it's something he goes to therapy for. He hasn't done anything, but for a while it was pretty bad, especially right after the decree ended.

Kaeya has hEDS (Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome)

It means his bones are more likely to dislocate and pop out of socket if he's not careful.

KAEYA FUCKING DUEL WEILDS SWORD AND CATALYS PLEASE MIHOYO GIVE ME CATALYST KAEYA I PROMISE TO BE GOOD

Kaeya is also autistic with some pretty weird sensory issues. The second water gets in his boots this man will toss them off faster than Signora died.

He hates wet socks. Despises them

Yes I'm projecting.

Speaking of Signora. Aether and Venti held a small unofficial funeral for her on Cape Oath. They only had her mask to bury...

Faruzan has all but adopted Kaveh as her grandson. Kaveh has accepted this.

She/they Paimon.

Aether is older than everyone (because, well, physical manifestation of a star) and doesn't tell anyone. He finds it funny

Hes also lactose intolerant. Lumine too.

Aether doesn't let it stop him. Lumine hates this about him.

Fischl is a system

The events of the Aranyaka quest and the Pari quest happened around the same time. How you ask? Aether didn't go to Sumeru alone, he brought Heizou and Kaeya (this is before Hei joined the polycule-)

Its also when Tighnari and Heizou eventually started dating because Heizou kept running off and dragging Kaeya with him when they were supposed to be recovering from the Samsara and Tighnari went "Oh godsdammit i like him..."

Cyno and Nari talked it out and Collei was also cool with it so Nari shot his shot and... It took longer than expected for Heizou to notice...

ANYWAY PARI QUEST

Along with Heizou and Kaeya, Kaveh and Nilou also went with them.

As you've spotted, there isn't a single healer among them

Heizou preoceeds to give Kaeya his spare catalyst and turns that boy into a healer.

"Sorry Aether, I turned your boyfriend into a healer"

The catalyst was the Inazuma craftable one...

Kaveh and Heizou actually hit it off pretty well, bonding over being geniuses in their respective fields

Nilou is Mom friend. Im correct. She calls people "darling" and "sweetheart"

Anemo should be allowed to swirl Dendro so it does in my universe.

Kaeya and Heizou are the ones to find the door to Khaenri'ah... Kaeya doesn't react well and all Heizou has to go on is that maybe the Abyss hurt him somehow

He's kinda right, but its not the full picture.

Also Cynonari have absolutely no clue where those two are at this point... They are Freaking Out because Aether is off doing other things and told them to keep those two in Ghandarvah Ville...

Heizou punches Al Haitham in the fucking face.

Lyney has longer hair, and it's braided over his shoulder like in Lisa's alt skin.

Lyney's outfit is also 30% more slutty because holy shit its an abomination.

The twins are both cats. Lyney is SUCH a catboy (derogatory)

I want that Twink Obliterated.

One-sided LyneyxAether. Lyney gets over it... eventually.

Barbara and Freminet is such a cute ship yall are sleeping

Lyney is canonly Down Atrocious for Aether omg that poor magician

Freminet occasionally drags the twins swimming with him. But only in shallow water cause Lynette doesn't like the water. Lyney does though.

Freminet has killed a man that looked at Lynette wrong. He will kill again.

Lyney: Autistic ADHD

Lynette: Autistic

Freminet: Autistic Agoraphobic (Agoraphobia is the fear of people)

Freminet and Lynette tag team Lyney when he's talking bad about himself

Can you tell i love these guys?

Wriothesley and Clorinde are.... they got Something goin on

Neuvillette and Furina are married.

Heizou punches Lyney in the face after the trial

Is immediately sent to Solitary Confinement for Inciting a Riot... In front of Wriothesley

"Oh this is bad... This is really bad!" Heizou

"What's wrong man?" Cyno

"I kissed Aether!" Heizou

"Woahhhhhh... I owe Nari and Yanfei so much mora" Cyno

After 4.2 Furina moves in with Venti at the Dawn Winery.

Diluc walked in to see her and Venti playing cards and went "I'll go set up a room."

Also canonly? Heizou is fucking buff. Never forget he can take down the ENTIRE POLICE STATION WITHOUT A VISION

Lyney is just "He could have rocked my shit...why was that hot?"

Wriothesley is Suffering because he lost a match to a twink

Heizou is Not friends with the Orphan Trio lol, but he is friends with Chevreuse. They bonded over shitty dads

Heizou also just goes home with the Inazuma cast after the Fontianalia Film Festival

Yanfei and Cyno also go home lol cause Natlan would not be the best place for them

Heizou, Kano Nana, and Gaming are cousins on their mother's side. Their moms were sisters and grew up in Konda Village.

Gaming and Amber are cousins on the paternal side

Gaming does NOT forgive his father during Lantern Rite. He's also angry at Aether for telling people his private matters.

Heizou is there during Lantern Rite because Favoritism Privilege. Heizou is also upset because he's been there.

Heizou's brother is named Yamashi and his mom is Kanae. The father stays nameless bc fuck him.

[amethystfairy1]

hello internet stranger,

i am in love. you've infected both me and my sister with your brainrot and captivating fics, we've talked about it non-stop the past few days, so naturally we have some questions.

But first, i want to ask what your boundaries are w/ fanart and writing. i've already drawn a couple pieces, are you alright with me posting them, and what should i tag them with? Also, i'm feeling very inspired to write more zed and tango for the travelling thieves au, is that alright if i take your ideas and just yoink them? Im not planning to post whatever i write at this point :P

anyways, moving on, i have a few world-building questions for you, starting w/ traveling thieves:

how does the mercenary guild and hits system work? Can anyone put a hit out on anyone, or do they have to be a wanted criminal? also, how does gem choose her targets? i like to believe she has some sort of moral compass in picking, but knowing the world they live in, i can't be certain

this is less of a question, but i don't see how the world can be resolved. For ttsbc, the obvious solution to the undercity folk living freely is that they overthrow the overcity government or just remove the laws keeping them banned. Sure, it'd be difficult, but from what we've seen, most people don't actually have strong prejudices against the undercity, they just vaguely believe they're evil, which can be very easily disproved. For traveling thieves, it's completely different, because not only is the discrimination in the government, it's in the people themselves; merely changing the laws would not change how people see hybrids, so how can that be fixed? My best solution to them all getting a happy ending is that they run away and found their own civilization where all hybrids can be free, but it doesnt seem like a likely scenario

again, not really a question, but I'm so so so happy in the latest fh piece that they looted the bodies of their attackers. the first time i read it through, i was practically screaming at the screen, telling them to grab the loot and weapons before they continued

next, ttsbc:

4. how do the mobs work? do they act like any normal animal, in that they just kinda exist and happen to be very hostile, or do they follow minecraft mob mechanics and spawn into existence from nothing when the conditions are right? could they theoretically all be exterminated? do all of them dislike light, like the zombies in the cleo bdubs fic? if they do, why are they making their way to the overcity?

5. how did the undercity become a thing? Was it just always there, or was it manmade? did hybrids and mutants always live underground? are the pits really bottomless? and if so, is the world a globe, or is it flat? i understand you might not have thought very deeply about these things before jumping in, but my sister and i were theorizing about different answers. i figured the undercity isnt manmade just like the grand canyon isnt manmade, it just came about through natural processes, and mutants and hybrids just evolved(?) seperately from humans, underground, which is a whole other can of worms with the science behind that. an idea about the "bottomless" pits has to do with physics. at the center of the earth (if it were hollow), you wouldn't feel gravity because it would pull on you equally in all directions. so maybe the bottomless pit really just leads to the center of the earth, and you're not really falling forever, you're just suspended in the center forever lol. not falling, but not hitting the bottom, either

anyways, this was a really long ask (i hope thats ok), and i still have more to say, but i'll leave it there for now. again, i love the angst, and have a wonderful day. im gonna try to get some work done, but it probs wont happen with all the brainrot XD

Hello hello! ✨

I'm so honored that you and your sister are enjoying my AUs and fics so much! That you've been talking about them and theorizing over them is so awesome to hear! Knowing that they've become something fueling discussion is super cool!

I LOVE IT ALL! Fanart/fanworks/fanfic I wanna see all of it! I would absolutely love it if you would post your fanart! Please use either the (#traveling thieves au) or (#through the sky blue cracks) depending on which AU it is for and mention me in the post (@amethystfairy1) so I can see it! And of course you are welcome to write fics based in my AU or using my characterizations, in fact I'd love it if you did! It's the best thing to hear that my writing has inspired someone else to get creative! I know you said you had no intentions of posting it, but if you ever do, please use the same hashtags here if on tumblr, or if you use A03 list the appropriate fic/series as inspiration and please credit me in the notes if you don't mind! I'm looking forward to seeing anything either fanart/fanfic related that you've created!

ONTO THE QUESTIONS 🏃‍♀️

The mercenary guild is basically like the underground/illegal version of the adventurer guild, and they'll take any jobs that the adventurer guild won't. Blackmail, assassination, smuggling, you name it. Gem has something of a moral compass, but it isn't exactly the strictest thing in the world. We learn when she meets Mumbo in Grian's wing preening fic that she is on her way to assassinate a noblemans son, and while that is a bit of a wink wink nudge nudge if you can figure out who that son is, exactly, it's still Gem agreeing to kill a teenager who is guilty of little more than pissing off the wrong person. Cruel world and all.

Perhaps that's exactly point? 😌 With Traveling Thieves, I did not set out to make a world that could be resolved or escaped from...the whole point is that it is cruel and inescapable, and the best you can do is continue to protect yourself and those you care about...and even then, you might fail to do that. You might be set up to fail in a sick system that would never give you a chance in the first place. And the best you can do is try to put the pieces back together in the aftermath. I don't want Traveling Thieves to resolve in any traditional sense of the word...for where that'll lead all our various characters, well, you'll have to wait and see. 🤔

Loot that body LOOT THAT BODY NOW 💃

They're like your typical minecraft mobs, they spawn in places with low light levels! We've also got some homebrew monsters that I've come up with, such as the bird-men, that we will be meeting as time goes on. Certain monsters such as zombies do avoid light, but there are plenty of monsters will go above bedrock just like certain monsters in minecraft can survive in the sun, like creepers and endermen. No, they can never be exterminated because of how they spawn!

The pits aren't bottomless, we've seen the bottom after all, where Pearl, Jimmy, and Grian were in the Depths! It is a natural chasm beneath the bedrock, and the various caves and tunnels stretch are incredibly huge and diverse, so while everything connects back to the main cavern of the under-city that's so huge, there are also other caves and tunnels where other groups live that we will be learning about eventually, such as the blaze-born pyres or where Cub is from in the Deep Dark!

It is completely totally 100% ok! I love getting long asks like this that give me the chance to develop and worldbuild the AUs and mention some details that might never really show up within the fics themselves! So by all means send more questions and thoughts! And I'd also love to see the fanarts you mentioned if you still are up to posting them, I can't draw so anything anyone draws that has anything to do with my AUs makes me incredibly happy! 😆

Thanks so much for coming by! 💖

[shy-nightmare]

The Toonz Twins: Toontown Sleuths

Summary: Life is hard, especially if you’re a Toon. But life’s even harder if you’re a Toon hybrid living in a modern-day world where humans and Toons co-exist…and neither play nice. Cast aside by one of their own, a pair of twisted Toon twins finally leave the past one fiery night along with their pack to start a new life. But while they hit the road, the twins accidentally travel back in time and become a part of an investigation like no other.

Note: I’ve actually written this story before way back in 2018, but that was long back then when my old computer was slow AF and I wrote over 14 chapters. Sadly, I didn’t know how to download the original story before I got my new computer TnT. So I’m rewriting this from scratch.

Credit for inspiration goes to @imaginarytoon1, author of “The Birchwood Twins: Toontown Investigators” and @its-metal-mistress, author of “Bendy and the Ink Machine: Learning How to Live”. Please check out their own wonderful content ^^!

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic violence, murder, alcoholism, death, gore, Toon and hybrid Toon discrimination, profanity, attempted murder, and the Author’s terrible sense of humor

Chapter One: Point of No Return

Life in Chicago is hard.

It’s hard to survive, it’s hard to get by on a day-to-day basis. New York City may be one of the toughest cities in the world, but Chicago was a city that was also known to make or break a person, but if you could make it in the Second City, you could make it in the Big Apple and that’s a fact.

But life’s even harder for a Toon. It doesn’t matter what generation you’re from, or how things changed back then. Speaking of which, here is a quick history lesson. Up until the year 1928, the world was full of nothing but humans. Humans that went about their daily lives, doing little things here and there to survive. However, that all changed after a…magical incident. Apparently, the animation legend Walt Disney had been working tirelessly to achieve his lifelong goal; make his dream come true. And after years and years of hard work, his dream stepped out of the crisp, clean white sheet of paper.

The first cartoon ever brought to life. Mickey Mouse.

But, you see, Mickey wasn’t really brought to life from an ink pen and white paper. Unbeknownst to humans, another universe existed like all the others in the galaxy. It goes by many names, but it is known as the Tooniverse, an alternate version of the human world ruled and constructed by cartoon characters. Imagine it as a universe where Cool World meets Bonkers, and Disney’s relationship with Mickey was lightly like Jack Deebs’ with the devil-in-disguise bombshell Holli Would. Disney thought he created Mickey, but he existed long before he popped out of the paper.

Shortly after he made his debut to the public, there was a HUGE ruckus. Human citizens began reporting seeing cartoon characters made by Disney and other cartoonists and animators popping up all over the city of New York, and it wasn’t long before Toons began pouring from the woodworks. But despite the love and success Disney and Mickey gained, it did cause a controversy.

Not all humans were thrilled to see cartoon characters coexist in the human world. In fact, most weren’t. Many saw them as nothing more than entertainment for kids, and often talked down to Toons as if they were mere toddlers unable to grasp the concept of human civilization and reality.

And then…things escalated into violent breakouts. Let’s just say Disney wasn’t happy with the humans’ negative response to the new way of life, and with the little help of another entrepreneur named Marvin Acme, they managed to convince Congress to pass the Disney & Acme Civil Rights Movement for Toons Act of 1947 (or Toons’ Rights Act of `47 for short). They pushed politicians to do the right thing, to give Toons civil rights because they were people too and deserved to be free instead of spending their lives caged and living in fear. Although the battle was long and brutal, the politicians gave in and several laws passed, eventually giving Toons equal rights. Life became happier for Toons.

However, humans still discriminate against Toons in the modern generation.

There were hate crimes. There were occasional riots not just outside of Toontown, a safe haven built for Toons located in Los Angeles, California, but literally in other states and even countries. Toon families who lived outside of Toontown were pretty common, but many fled to Toontown in fear of being mugged. Those who stayed, however…well, you get the picture. More laws were put in place to protect Toons living outside of Toontown, but the bloodstained ink still paints the walls to this very day.

But if you think things are bad enough for Toons, imagine your life as a hybrid Toon.

Hybrid Toons, like any hybrid creature, are Toons born between two different Toon species, whether one Toon parent is a cartoon human, animal, insect or even a Toon created through…darker circumstances. A halfie…is probably the only polite term hybrids have other than “hybrid”. Others would call them “half-breeds” and etcetera due to having physical features inherited by their interspecies parents but addressing them as “half-breeds” and such is basically a racial slur. WHICH IS LITERALLY THE WORST THING TO SAY TO A HYBRID TOON!!! Sadly, humans and Toons discriminate against halfies, because they weren’t “fully Toon like one of their parents”, which is bullshit. Thankfully, there are Toons out there who are more accepting of halfies and often at times see them as one of their own, but the hate still plagues the lives of these poor individuals.

Especially if they’re living in Chicago. Until one night in Chatham…

_

In folklore, the Witching Hour or “Devil’s Hour” is a time of night that is known to be associated with supernatural events, whereby witches, demons, and other supernatural entities are thought to appear and be at their highest of power. Times often vary, such as the hour immediately after midnight, and the time between 3:00 am and 4:00 am.

That won’t be happening for two more hours, Twisted Twyla Toonz thought. She checked the time on her phone. 11:20 pm.

Crossing her arms, she emerged from the darkness of the abandoned warehouse and stepped into the pale, golden light of the streetlamp post.

Twyla’s Toon design appeared as an “emo teenage Minerva Mink” at first glance. But upon noticing her long wolf-like ears and her powerful femininity, she’s blossomed into a young woman reaching her early twenties. She stood just shy of six feet and carried herself with a dark queenly power. Twyla’s hair was as black as a starless midnight with waves hovering her midriff like the wings of a hovering raven and wistful bangs that veiled her left eye like the blade of a curved dagger. Her ghostly pale gray fur was an eerie contrast to her dark hair, so pale it appeared unnerving. Although she was slightly thin, she had a body that was carved with voluptuous curves carefully crafted by the skillful hand of an artist, and between small shoulders hung a large, womanly bust. Her hands and feet were delicate and feminine, but not without their deadly weaponry; sprouting from the tips of four fingers and three paw-toes were lethal, sharp claws painted glossy onyx that can slash through stone, flesh, and bone. Behind her, a long, enormous tail nearly twice her size was covered in soft, thick layers of inky fur swaying in the light like a looming shadow.

Twyla’s face was angelic and youthful, framed like a heart with a small touch of fluff on her cheeks, and she had a small, adorable black puppy nose that could easily sense prey and danger miles away. Two large, slightly rugged wolf ears matched her fur, and her right ear had a notch pierced by a single silver hoop earring. She also had dark, delicate lips soft like petals hiding a fearsome bite. But it was her eyes that gave her name. Twyla’s large, doe-like eyes, shaped like 1930s pie-cuts, were two bewitching shades of midnight and amethyst glittering in the darkness of night like stars.

Since the Witching Hour is close at hand, she thought she would dress for the occasion. For her outfit, she was wearing a gothic midnight purple bustier crop-top, trimmed with black elegant vampiric lace accenting the cleavage and the hem. Despite the month being the middle of August, it gets chilly when nightfall rises so she decided to wear a badass studded black biker jacket with matching biker gloves to keep warm, and like hell she was going to go anywhere without her large broad-brimmed black hat. She also wore skintight black jeans framing the svelte shape of her legs adorned with a silver vampire skull-buckle belt, black biker boots and around her neck she wore a necklace holding a beautiful sparkling silver crescent moon pendant, complimenting her name.

Her right ear perked hearing the sound of walking footsteps and turned to see the three other members of her family.

The first one to walk out the rusty door was the youngest, Echo. Echo was a petite pre-teen Toon mouse, and she had no business in being cute. Her fur was a light soft tan, warming her up from the tips of her ears to the tip of her long, slightly shaky tail. On top of a messy cloud of pink cotton candy for hair were two big mouse ears with pink insides, twitching from every sound they detected, even a heartbeat. Her eyes were pale milky blue, kissed by girlish lashes that fluttered like the wings of a fragile, innocent butterfly. While she had no whiskers, she had cute little buck teeth peeking out of her mouth accented by an adorable pink twitching nose.

Because she was a cartoon mouse, she had to be spoiled with cheese-themed clothing and accessories. She wore a long-sleeved black top with a Tom and Jerry logo with a baby pink tank underneath, cheese-designed pajama bottoms and sky-blue sneakers. Her jewelry only consisted of turquoise cheddar rhinestone earrings and a matching necklace. She was dragging the last remaining suitcase holding precious cargo she needed with her for the trip, and as she walked, her right sleeve accidentally slipped down her shoulder. Twyla’s heart panged spotting a handprint bruise that has been slowly healing and bit her cheek to hold back a murderous growl stuck in her throat from the memory of how Echo got that bruise.

The sweet mouse girl walked over to the slightly older female and requested for her help. They walked over to the back of the expensive silver SUV and Twyla clicked on the key button to open the trunk before helping Echo lift the suitcase in.

“Move faster!”

“Excuse me, asshat, last time I checked I can’t moonwalk without tripping over my fuckin’ tail!”

The girls turned their heads to the source (or should I say, sources) of the ruckus. It was just the boys taking a turn carrying a rather large heavy box, probably for Adam’s computer table.

Adam Rivers Foxington, or “Slick” as he’s nicknamed, was the oldest of the group. He was a young, handsome Toon fox with a lean bod. His fur was a fiery orange, save for his snow-white muzzle and underbelly. His face was cartoonishly vulpine, tufted in fluffy white fur softening his cheeks though his bite wasn’t nearly as soft. His ears were fluffed with cream innards, pointed with keen sharp awareness that matched his eyes like sharp jade razors. His attire of choice only had the intention of blending in, so he only wore a black hoodie with navy blue jeans and black shoes.

The fourth member was Twyla’s twin brother, Tommaso Toonz, or “Gunslinger Tom” for short. Unlike Twyla, he appeared more as a 1930s Toon wolf minus the longer snout and whiskers that haven’t grown in yet. His fur was inky black and quite rugged from the tips of his ears to his long furry tail, warming his sinewy physique. On top of his head was a wild mess of scruffy jet-black hair reaching down the nape of his neck adorned by unkempt bangs veiling over his forehead, casting a dark shadow over his pie-cut eyes that can pierce any man’s heart like two deadly obsidian bullets. Like his sister, he wore biker clothing. He wore a large, bulky black leather jacket over a matching V-neck top that barely concealed his brutal power, and wore dark ripped jeans adorned with a single silver chain dangling his left hip held up by a golden belt with ass-kicking biker boots. And like hell he was going to go anywhere without his own black fedora. His outfit of choice complimented his overall style; big and bad.

The boys lifted the box and with one heavy grunt, they carefully pushed it into the trunk. Tom fanned his sweaty face with his fedora. “All right,” he panted. His voice was smooth gravel smoked by a thick Chicago accent. “Is that everything?”

Echo pulled out her notebook where she’d listed down the essentials they’d bring. After a long moment, she looked up to their leader and nodded. Three sighs of relief exhaled.

This all started with an idea Adam suggested a few months ago, something that they all have been wanting for as long as they knew each other: a new life.

After they all discussed this during a sleepover meeting, the plan was set in motion. While the girls were sleeping, Tom and Adam stayed up all night, planning. They plotted the overall costs –- the cost of gas for hundreds of miles, the cost of food, hotels, and ideas for the ideal location. Thanks to Adam’s tech-wizard and hacker skills, he pointed Tom to a property resided in a few states over in a unique town where security is enhanced and job opportunities are better, and the house was big enough for all four of them. And thanks to Tom’s sleuth skills he learned while taking “odd jobs”, he was able to receive more than enough money to pay for most of the costs. The boys even cracked a chuckle, imagining the girls’ excited squeals when they see their “new home” while discussing what they’d need to bring, what’d they need to leave behind, and how much money they still needed to save. After figuring out how long it would take for them to reach that goal, they set a date: in six months, they’ll pack their bags and leave Chicago for good.

Tonight is the night.

However, only one question remained. Tom and Twyla turned to Adam. “Well, Slick?” Tom asked.

The fox chuckled and whirled himself around in a Toon-Tornado. He was sitting in a judge’s chair with a desk while holding a neat stack of papers. Putting on an antique pair of round spectacles, he spoke in a deep powerful voice. “After reviewing your case in a thorough analysis and inspection with the court, I have concluded the state of your request.”

All three heads zeroed on him, “Well?”

Adam looked up at the twins…and smiled broadly. “Congratulations, Mr. and Ms. Toonz.” He handed them over the papers, “You have been properly and officially emancipated. Case close.” He pounded his table with the gravel.

The silence was monumental before the three Toons let out a huge “WHOOO!!!!”, and the girls hugged each other while Tom did a Smooth Criminal victory dance and finished with a dab. Then, they all pulled Adam in for a powerful group hug, happiness flowing through their bonds, their spirits alive and singing. Their hug lasted for another long moment before Tom reluctantly pulled away. He dusted his arms and his hat, “All right, enough of this gooey emotional shit.” He ignored the girls’ deadpan looks and put his fedora back on. “How’s it lookin’ for transportation?”

Adam pulled out his phone and viewed the contents. “Smooth like silk. The Amtrack will be able to get us to L.A. within two days, seventeen hours and forty minutes, and the train doesn’t leave until midnight. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save two more seats for you guys, so I propose using the only Toon-friendly trolley system Chicago has to offer.”

“The Red Car.” Tom nodded. “Which means, it’s gonna be an even longer trip for us.” He frowned thoughtfully. “That’s not too far from here, so we should be able to catch the Red Car on time.”

Adam could tell there was something else Tom was hesitating to say. “What are you gonna do in the meantime?”

Daring to sneak a glance, Tom softly cursed from the slightly tense look in the older male’s eyes and sighed, knowing damn well how they’re going to take this next news. “Twyla and I are gonna grab a few more things at the Hellhole.”

“What?!” The twins winced from the anger of Adam’s sharply loud voice and the terror in Echo’s eyes. “Toonz, are you shitting me?! You said that you’ll never step one foot in that fuckin’ place again, and we both know why!”

“I know, and I mean that.” Tom placed a hand on the Toon fox’s shoulder. “But there are a few good memories that were stolen from us, and we want those back.”

After hearing “good memories”, Adam’s sharp glare softened, albeit slightly.

“No one’s gonna find us, right?”

Three heads turned to Echo who spoke for the first time since they started packing. She was glancing at them worriedly and her poor ears drooped, which softened their hearts. Sweet, precious Echo. She’s always looking out for them even after she has been through so, so much pain and unimaginable suffering.

Tom walked over and gently placed both hands on her delicate shoulders. “We’re gonna be fine, Candy Girl. Adam and I both made sure that our tracks are well hidden while going over the costs of our plan. Right, Slick?”

“That’s right, pipsqueak.” Adam nodded, “I went through the trouble of tweaking the security footage of the webcams and traffic light cameras to make double-sure we don’t get any unwelcome visitors. Not like that’s ever gonna happen. I mean, I’m already emancipated since I got tossed out. You were pronounced “missing”, basically dead. And the twins…” he trailed off, casting the twins a somber, wary glance. “Well…”

“No one even acknowledged us, so our “disappearances” will barely make it to the news.” Tom finished grimly.

His packmates looked down at the ground, bracing the chilly air of silence or Tom’s ice-cold resentment. Or the memory of the hard pill they’ve all swallowed long ago. After another long moment, Adam was the first to speak. “You sure we can’t tag along?” he asked.

“Trust me, it’s as bad as you remember. And we definitely don’t want Echo to get sick from inhaling the nasty stench of B.O. and booze.” Their leader replied, chuckling from seeing Echo’s cute little face scrunch. “You got your phone set?”

Adam looked at his device. “We’re hot.”

“Good.” Tom nodded. The boys exchanged a quick bro handshake, silently wishing each other good luck while Echo walked over to give Twyla another hug, only to make this one last longer. She finally pulled away, still holding onto the ravenette’s shoulders.

“Promise me you’ll be careful?” she asked, looking her right in the eye.

Twyla nodded. She understood why Adam and Echo were so hesitant to start the trip without them, but she and Tom didn’t want them to take any chances at the Hellhole. Her brother gently nudged her shoulder, getting her attention. Then he looked at the other two. “You gonna buy us a pizza to welcome us home?” He grinned at Adam.

“After making me haul up all your heavy-ass cargo? I don’t think so.” The fox snorted, flipping him the bird.

“Up yours too, asshole.” Tom chuckled, returning him the bird before he and his sister began their trail to the Hellhole.

Adam shook his head, grumbling as he walked over to get into the driver’s seat. Echo watched the twins go, her eyes glistening with inky tears. She held onto the passenger’s handle with one hand, and behind her back she kept her fingers crossed.

__________________

It was practically pitch-black when they stopped at the apartment in East Chatham. The building was four stories in height and held more than 20 apartments, built of crumbling red bricks and mortar that weakened with age, bits and pieces falling off like the paper edges of a torn, tossed model sheet. The sides were caked with moss and mold from rain, age, and neglect. All the windows were closed and most of the lights were off, but the twins could see the cracks that had been left uncared for. Across the left side of the entrance stood a towering tree, its posture hunched over from the weight of the leaves and its branches dangling like a pork pig carcass. The perimeter was guarded by iron black gates tipped with sharp spear points, but no one was really living there. Everyone left, but some stayed to rot.

The twins exchanged a silent conversation, then they both nodded. “You sneak in through the bedroom window, I’ll check the master’s for more cash and heat.” Tom spoke, then he walked off to the other sidewalk.

Twyla observed her surroundings, pondering how she was going to sneak in without having to use the door. Her eyes saw the tree and a lightbulb lit above her head. She spotted the largest and thickest branch, rubbed her gloved hands together, and lunged onto the tree. With one hand on the branch, she hoisted herself up and used her tail to secure her landing before she began to climb. The wolf-mink female prowled across the branch like a graceful panther, moving the thick leaves out of her path, then she spotted the closet roof she could land on. Without taking her eyes off the roof, she took a slow deep breath, and jumped. Her raven hair flew around the air like a dark cape as she adjusted her altitude into a somersault, and like a performer, she landed on the roof with graceful time and finesse.

Twyla walked across the left side of the building, keeping her ears high and her eyes clear. It wasn’t long until she spotted the only window she was looking for, and she crouched down to knee-level before she reached for the bottom rail. It wasn’t locked. She carefully lifted the window up and stepped into the bedroom. Twyla’s and Tom’s old bedroom.

The walls were painted pale gray, almost white and the floor was blanketed in grey carpet padding. Across them were pale shadows of the band posters the twins already took down, and the bookshelf was void of the twins’ favorites, like The Outsiders and The Great Gatsby, and Twyla’s collection of Edgar Allan Poe. On Twyla’s left stood a twin-over full bunk bed, padded in skull-designed pillows and blankets. Sighing, she sat on the larger bottom bed where she once slept, her head in her hands. She thought of the good memories she acquired in the room. The times she spent trying to read while Tom played his favorite video games, days she spent helping Tom with his homework.

There were so many memories in this one room it was crazy. Her mind flittered to nights long ago when she helped clean her brother’s wounds, Tom cheering her up with his goofy voice impressions, but she banished the memories as soon as they came. The pain of remembering was too hard. She already had her bags packed in Adam’s car, and she entrusted him and Echo to look after them. And in spite of everything, she’s not bringing as much as she would need to. She only brought one purse where she kept her most valued and important necessities, and everything else she needed.

Sighing, she got up gingerly, careful to keep her movements quiet as she took her purse. As she grabbed onto the bedroom doorknob, she looked over her shoulder to the opened window, her heart steady and still as she faced the city with a somber glance.

Chicago was no longer her home.

Twyla opened the knob, and carefully pushed the door open without making a sound. She poked her head out, and noticed the long hallway across the living room and kitchen where the master bedroom was. Tom should be finished by now.

She stepped out into the living room and—

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Twyla froze. Her pale gray fur raised, alarming her that she was in grave danger. And when she looked at the balcony, her blood ran cold like ice.

Standing in front of her was another male Toon wolf, older by a few years. Unlike Tom, his fur was a rusty red and dirty compared to Adam’s. His hair was shorter than Tom’s but just as scruffy, and one of his ears was nearly torn off. He wore a stained white tank over worn-out jeans and black western boots adorned with a leather strap studded with flesh-piercing spikes. And he was muscular, but he wasn’t built with a soft layer like Tom has. No. He was huge, shredded, and his arms were packed with heavy muscle like steel armor. He towered over her, standing at an imposing height of seven feet, clenching his fist with one hand and Twyla could see the empty bottle.

Oh fuck, he’s drunk again.

Twyla’s eyes moved back to him, but doing so made her heart stop. He was looking at her the same way he always did, and it always frightened her. His lips bared into a menacing growl, revealing a mouthful of sharp bone-chewing fangs, but it was his eyes that terrified her the most.

Eyes full of ice-cold hate.

Twyla was paralyzed with fear, her heart beating so loud her eardrums would burst. Every fiber of her being trembled, unable to shake off the impending waves of horror from the sight of him, and she fought very hard not to let the memories cloud her vision.

If she spoke, he would only get angrier.

And if she did not speak, he would only get angrier.

She had to be careful.

“I-” she began to stutter but caught herself. He hates it when she stutters. “I’m sorry, Darry. I’ll leave now—”

It happened so fast. Paralyzing pain singed her right cheek. Her head spun so fast she could have gotten whiplash before she fell on the floor, spots popping up in her vision as she tasted blood on her tongue.

“You’re sorry? YOU’RE SORRY?!” the male roared. His voice was like an avalanche of a thunderstorm; loud, booming, and unforgiving. His icy blue eyes flashed like lightning, and a low growl rumbled from his throat like a warning thunder. “You have the fuckin’ nerve to show your ugly-ass mug here in my house, after what you’ve fuckin’ done, and now you’re fucking SORRY?!?!”

Twyla couldn’t breathe. His words dug into her chest like sharp claws, ripping out her heart. It wasn’t the first time he said something like this, not the first time he blamed her. Every day and night was the same back when she and Tom lived with him. He comes home from work. He drinks. And he gets angry. And even on nights he doesn’t drink, he gets angry. She wanted to help him. And she tried—she really tried, but the grief destroyed him.

She tried to speak—but bolted as soon as she saw the bottle flying towards her.

It shattered upon impact against the wall, broken glass shards scattering across the floor like pieces of broken crystal. Twyla was terrified, silent and shocked. He had never raised a hand or threw his beloved Jack Daniels at her before. She faced Darry, but he was already charging at her like a savage animal; luckily, she was able to leap over him despite being in a narrow-spaced apartment just as her opponent slammed headfirst into the stove. He grabbed onto the counter and stove railing for support, but he accidentally knocked over another bottle of alcohol, but it was full, and he switched the burner control knob on. Fire burst from the grate right into Darry’s face and right arm, causing him to recoil and scream in agonizing, burning pain.

Twyla spotted the balcony and its doors wide open. She grabbed her bag and ran over to get ready to jump.

But just as she reached out for the railing, Darry’s large hand grasped onto her tail in a very painful grip and swung her high in the air before slamming her on the ground hard enough to injure her skull. Mind-searing pain coursed her head, and her vision became distorted. And then, the large red beast pounced on her and curled his strong hands around her neck, using his strength and body weight to prevent her from escaping.

Twyla tried gasping for breath, but she could barely breathe due to her lungs being constricted. She writhed and kicked as much as she can, but Darry wouldn’t even budge. Her vision began to darken. Fuck, this is bad! She needed to be stronger!

Despite her deteriorating vision, she saw Darry pull something large and metallic out from his pocket and heard something click. Then she spotted little green splatches drip from the long barrel of the object. She took a whiff, and her heart dropped down to her stomach.

Is that…Dip?! Her amethyst eyes went wide as saucers, stricken in horror. How the hell did he get a Dip-bulleted gun?!

A new burst of adrenaline kicked in her system, and she felt a newfound strength within her fight-or-flight instincts. She clawed and kicked even harder, even as Darry’s vice-grip on her neck tightened.

“It should have been you,” Darry snarled resonantly. Twyla dared to look at his half-burned face. His right eye was bloodshot, marred by the burn scars scorning the side of his forehead all the way down to his cheekbone and neck. He glared down at her with barbaric, murderous hatred before he aimed the barrel of his gun at her face. Twyla’s heart pounded with intense, quivering terror. “IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!!!”

“GET THE HELL OFF OF HER, YOU BASTARD!!!”  

Darry whirled his head around and Tom lunged onto him, knocking Darry’s gun out of his grasp. Twyla rolled over to her side, gingerly soothing her throat as she coughed heavily. As she slowly regained consciousness and oxygen, she turned to see her brother on top of the larger wolf and beating the absolute shit out of him. His tail whooshed and lashed out like a furious, deadly cobra as he beat his bloodied fists repeatedly in the drunk bastard’s face, screaming curses and obscenities in hateful English and Italian.

And Darry was completely fucked up.

His hair and fur massed with dirt and blood, his left eye nearly swollen shut, and his red cheeks battered with red, purplish bruises. His snout was smeared with traces of blood dripping down his nose and seeping down his lower lip, staining his gritted teeth red. Twyla could see three bleeding claws marks across the older male’s chest, and figured that Tom was trying to rip his heart out.

Tom saw his sister watching and shouted, “GO! I’ll hold him off! GO!”

With him distracted, Darry took advantage of the opportunity to unsheathe his claws and swung his right hand at Tom’s face, scratching him. He was sent flying across the room before he tumbled into the crappy sofa, causing the furniture to fall on top of him. The drunk brute used his hands to steady himself, swaying a bit as he struggled to stand up, his eyes locked on the biker-clad gangster.

No! No! Twyla panicked, looking around to find what she could use. She saw the gun and immediately tucked it into her jacket pocket, but her eyes spotted something. A long glass shard.

Tom clutched onto his left ribcage painfully, gritting his teeth as he held onto the sofa with his one hand before he slowly pulled himself up. A thin trail of blood dripped down his right eyebrow, clouding his vision. He dug in his left pocket, but Darry had him cornered. He grabbed Tom by the scruff of his neck and reared his right fist, ready to punch him.

But before he could throw his fist, Twyla pounced on him from behind and used her delicate arms to pull him into a chokehold. The red Toon wolf dropped Tom and grasped onto the girl’s arm, intent on pulling her off him. But Twyla was quicker.

She pulled out the shard, shoved it around Darry’s neck, and slit his throat.

Slash.

Crimson blood sprayed from Darry’s throat like a sprinkler, staining his shirt. His eye widened in shock. All he could do was grasp his bloodstained neck and let out a garbled symphony of choked screams and groans from the unbearable, flesh-tearing pain. The twins watched him sway, his arms dangling to his sides. Then he fell onto his back motionlessly.

Tom stood up on his feet and quickly walked over to his sister. He knelt and gently held her by her shoulders. “Are you all right?” he asked, then reprimanded himself when he saw the nasty bruises on her cheek and neck. “Fuck that. You’re not all right. Stupid question.”

Twyla nodded, but softly gasped when she saw the scar on his eye. “Tom. Your eye.”

“Huh?” He reached up and touched his eyelid, hissing upon impact. “Oh, I’ll be fine. I’m fuckin’ Gunslinger Tom Toonz, for God’s sakes.” He snickered.

Twyla sighed and shook her head, but she couldn’t hold back a snicker.

A garbled groan interrupted them.

The twins both turned to see Darry, who was still alive. But he was barely breathing. He laid in a puddle of his own blood, gently grasping his slit throat to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. His heartbeat was slowly growing faint, his breaths growing weaker by the minute. He heard two sounds of footsteps walking towards him, and he looked up to see Tom and Twyla standing near him.

They loomed over him like two foreboding phantoms, staring down at him with bared fangs and hellish fury glowing in their eyes. Tom’s hardened, murderous glare suddenly extinguished into a calm but stoic expression. He and Twyla turned to each other and stared right in the eyes, as if they were having a silent conversation.

After a long moment of silence, Tom spoke. “If we do this, we cannot return.”

Twyla looked at him for a moment, then slowly turned to the dying drunkard before them. She stared at him long and tense, unwavering even as he glared hotly at her despite the life slowly draining out of him.

Twyla shut her eyes, then looked away.

Tom jerked a nod, “You might wanna take a step back.”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out his gun.

Darry’s dying heart skipped a beat and opened his mouth to scream.

A gunshot broke the silence, and the bullet pierced right into his heart.

Splatches of dipped red smeared the floor right where Twyla stood and stained the sofa. Smoke rose from the corpse’s bleeding chest where Tom shot him, and Darry’s right hand fell to his side. The slash was so deep Twyla practically cut his head off. Hell, Tom could even see the veins on his jugular. He grinned with proud sadistic mirth.

Suddenly, a harsh brazen screech shrieked, followed by the smell of alcohol and gas. The twins whirled to see a growing fire fueled by the spilled booze, the flames tickling the steel exterior of the stove and dripping down to the floor. “Oh, shit! Fire!” Tom shouted, “Grab your bag and let’s bail!”

Twyla secured her purse and took her brother’s hand, running together towards the balcony. With one great leap, the twins jumped high in the air and soared across the backyard. Tom pulled his sister close protectively while keeping his hat on before he landed on his feet just inches away from the gates. He allowed himself to take a few deep breaths before he and Twyla continued running. They ran across the narrow trail leading to the left side of the apartment, not once releasing their grip even after they stopped out in the open. Twyla’s chest was heaving heavily, inhaling huge gusts of air and suddenly she spotted something red driving down their way. “Look!” she pointed.

Tom looked past his twin’s shoulder and squinted. Then he beamed, “The Red Car!”

Indeed, it was the Red Car. Their own chariot, painted in shining red and gold. Brought to you by the Pacific Electric Railway company. And right on schedule!

With all the energy they had left, the twins darted all the way down to the closest stop on the end of the sidewalk. Once they reached there, Tom pulled out his wallet while Twyla quickly applied some concealer to hide her bruises. Her brother stuck out his thumb, motioning for the vehicle to stop. With a slow, steaming hiss and the brake on the wheels, the Red Car stopped for them. The doors opened, revealing the driver to be an elderly male Toon vulture.

“You here for the midnight trip?” he asked gruffly.

“Yeah.” Tom, being the gracious gentleman he was, dug out a big smack of $20. “Would this do?” he asked, giving the driver the money.

He looked down, then sighed. “All right. Hop in.”

Tom tipped his hat, “Much obliged.”

He led his sister to the back seats at the end of the Red Car and let out an exhausted sigh the moment he sat his ass down. Twyla joined him, digging in her small mirror to check her reflection. The doors closed, the engine started, and the ride began. The Red Car was driving a few blocks past 79th Street when the twins suddenly heard a siren. They looked over Twyla’s right where the window was and saw a Toon firefighter truck zooming down past them. Eyes widening, they turned around and peered through the small glass window to watch the truck drive towards East Chatham where a flaming inferno blazed to life, eating the blackened tree leaves. The glow of the fire shone bright in the dead of night, melting the chains of the unreachable past.

This was the point of no return.

“Boy, am I glad to be out of this hellhole.” The driver grumbled to himself.

“You and me both.” Tom agreed, unaware of the stricken look on his sister’s face.

She shook it off, then looked at the words on the tracker written in glowing neon.

3280 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

Their destination; Toontown.