#another mer design from a long time ago

[maudiemoods]

How many personas do you all have im wanna know

I have more than enough

[merakiui]

Mera! I absolutely love your writing! ♡ Especially your twisted wonderland chitchat! and after long day I always check if you uploaded smth bc it cheers me up! so thanks for that ☆

Also, you mentioned in previous posts before about how (or was it in the tags?? 😂) "Love/relationships/sex etc.... In the sea is Quite different than what we are used to" and NOW I'M CURIOUS!!

So, What are you thoughts??? how different do you think is love for the octavinelle trio? Do you think they view it in a unusual way? do they take a "mate" by force?? how different is it from human standards? 👀👀👀

Oh! and can I be 🌸 anon ? 👉👈

Thank you for liking my writing and twst chats!!! I'm happy to know it can cheer you up! :D you may be 🌸 anon! Knowing me, it's highly likely it was written in the tags hehe. ^^;;;

I think some merfolk who have observed humans and their traditions attempt to adopt such behaviors for themselves, such as getting rings and making promises to stay together forever, even things like marriage or ceremonies associated with binding souls together in eternal love. I like to imagine in the sea the concept of marriage is a little foreign to the mers who live farther from human civilizations (such as mers from the Northern part of the Coral Sea, which is where the trio hail from). Perhaps it's something where, once you mate with a mer you are intended to stay with them forever if it's a species that mates for life, or stay long enough until the eggs have been laid or hatched. That's probably the closest thing to "marriage," only it's more so once you've mated you're stuck together for life (or so that's how some mers view it).

Love is not entirely foreign to merfolk, though. All species have versions of love and affection, however unfathomable they may seem. Human traditions regarding love are just as strange to the trio as mer traditions are to humans. Affection in the sea is protecting your mate and fry from harm, it's hauling in the biggest, meatiest fish for dinner, it's settling down in a comfortable cove at the end of every day, curled and wound around one another, it's leaving to find warmer waters in the spring when spawning and mating seasons roll around, it's going out to search for the fry who will inevitably return after hatching, carried home by the pull and push of the vast sea, some lost to time, devoured by predators or smothered by the weight of the world, and others strong and lucky enough to survive the lottery of life.

As fluffy as that sounds, mates are difficult to come by. Some mers are picky. Merfolk want strong mates to produce strong, healthy offspring. Merfolk like colorful displays, though the trio know that too much flashy colors and shiny scales are as pretty as they are harmful (predators are drawn in by lights, sounds, smells, flashy displays just as much as potential mates are). Most merfolk seek mates out of biological imperative, so it's not usually love that brings mers together (at least not for the sake of breeding). And a lot of mers can be territorial and violent when it comes to mates. Merfolk might kill or fight for their mates, whether out of possession or part of a courting ritual (a test of strength); humans don't normally do that. And it's not uncommon for mates to be taken by force. It's not uncommon for toxic dynamics to be seen as normal or, at the very least, acceptable in parts of the ocean where life is difficult to come by.

Azul was raised in a loving familial environment. It's natural that his perception of love would be very sweet and gentle and almost human. He reads about it in books. Humans are strewn all throughout the tales merfolk exchange. Even the mermaid princess from so long ago experienced love with a human. Azul knows these stories well because they are often told before bed or passed around during youth. But Azul knows his species is not very common. He knows he stands out from other merfolk. He knows he is a solitary creature by nature's design. That's why love is so important to him. He'll scoff and insist he has no need for such trivial things, but it's his dream to find someone who he can live out the rest of his life with. Octo-mers mate for life. Naturally, some who follow more "human" ideals might inevitably drift apart or separate like how his parents did. But Azul knows deep in his three hearts that if he ever does find his forever match he will do everything he can to ensure he never has to remarry or search for another love because his one true beloved fell out of it with him.

The twins were also raised lovingly, albeit they were raised to be predators capable of protecting and defending themselves. Jade and Floyd are more accustomed to violence and gore than love itself, not only because it happens so often in the deep sea but because the family business is not for the faint-hearted. They've heard their fair share of human stories. They know of the love humans indulge in. They've spied humans tangling together on the beach. They've witnessed ocean weddings on the shoreline or from afar on the deck of ships. Their parents have often said that when humans love they kiss to show their affection, hence why Mama and Papa Leech kiss so often. It's very sweet. It's also very human. Jade is indifferent on the matter; he has always been that way: analytical, realistic, level-headed. Floyd... not so much. He has always been more emotional, more hormonal, more sensitive. For all of the playful immaturity and volatile mood swings, he wants a genuine bond. Morays don't often mate for life. Some have multiple mates; some do not. Their parents chose each other and have remained together ever since. It's exactly the sort of lifelong bond Floyd wants.

Jade can understand the appeal. Growing old and maturing together, forging deep, unbreakable bonds, witnessing the world unfold throughout years of devoted partnership. But Jade has never been able to fully grasp his emotions as well as Floyd does, and so, as fluffy as forever romance sounds, he often thinks about it logically. Logically, he will need to find someone in the future, if only to secure the next branch in the Leech family tree. Logically, as he matures sexually, he will need someone to fill with eggs as that is what biological imperative calls for (otherwise it's a great bodily discomfort when he has eggs and yet there is no one to accept them), and so he's forced to endure for a few days, wallowing in unshakeable heat, irritable and hungry, reduced to raw instinct.

On land, love is different. Humans do not need to hunt for their meals as often as merfolk do. Humans court in subtle ways (though sometimes it's grand and flashy). Humans are so hung up on getting to know someone, on determining whether they're a suitable match, before getting to the part where they mate (and sometimes they never reach that part). Love is a process on land (that's the best way Jade can define it). There are stages and steps one must take. There are rules, some apparent and others unspoken. It is very peculiar, but that is exactly what draws the trio in. Curiosity is much the same across all species. Humans can never tell when they've found "the one." Jade has learned that humans will often say they've found "the one," but that may have been said about previous lovers. Conversely, mers have this unique sixth sense; they often know when they've found the one that is right for them, the one they will spend eternity with.

And when the trio spend enough time with you, they all realize rather quickly that you are the fated half who will fulfill their pair.

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Wips on Fridays.

And I seriously feel like it's Tuesday...where did the week go? Why are there earth tremors all the time? Why can't I just art more? idk.

Anyways tagged by @mareenavee and @thequeenofthewinter so thank you guys!!!

Going to drop this week's art and a snippet from something I finished on Sunday.

Art first!

At the stage where I can just use my own shit as references like the dork that I am.

More under the cut! That includes writing.

Because I like him so shhh.

And a cropped for the sensors line art. Ok Writing that relates in a way to all three of these arts..since they are all set within the same 6 months design-wise (sans guns and all that).

Why? Teldryn dressed in the armour he’d been wearing since he crawled out of that damn swamp, old netch leather he pulled off some bandit that tried to shoot him in the ass. He tied his scarf around his neck, stroking the faded vermillion fabric for a moment. Comfort, the only thing he has that provided it. As he slung his pack over his shoulder, something caught his eye. That damn Dwemer Coherer that he had apparently sold his life for. That curious little object just lay there on a shelf, one amongst many miscellaneous objects gathering dust in a storeroom. The thing was a marvel, used as a component on one of their brilliant machines… That sadistic old mer wouldn’t miss it? Would he? Why should he care? Teldryn snatched it from the shelf, quickly putting it in his pack. Fuck him, fuck all of them! He made his way towards the door and opened it into the cool evening air. He had so many things to do. So many reports to write, journals that Caius would want to look over. Every little sordid detail, every expense. He made his way to the shore, journal in hand, his leash that the Blades held him by. He opened it and began to write. - gave me the potion. It didn't cure me. But it did remove all apparent signs of the disease. Divayth Fyr said he didn't actually WANT to cure me, just remove the harmful features of the disease while preserving its virtues. Well, it worked. And now he is eager to test the potion on the other subjects in the Corprusarium. I must hurry back to report to…report to. He scribbled out what he had just written. Awful! Hurry? Why? What was the point of any of this? His skin began to itch again and he sighed. He ran a bandaged hand through his hair, felt the bare skin that dotted his scalp. Bare scalp? He pulled his looking glass out of his pack and assessed the damage. A long scar stretched across his right cheek, cutting into the old tattoos that snaked across his face. He looked drained, pale. His long hair patchy, matted. He hated it! He pulled a dagger out of his boot and began slicing at the strands, hacking, slashing, the hair falling to the sand below. Golden mask, crimson robes. A cacophony of moans, a legion of writhing bodies. A beating heart. He dropped the dagger and fell to his knees. He screamed, burying his fists in the wet sand. Child of his flesh. SPEAK WITH US! He screamed again, throwing a clod of sand into the ocean. He grabbed his journal, tore out the page he’d just written and threw that into the ocean too. Fuck Caius Cosades! Fuck the Blades! Fuck Divayth Fyr and his weird fucking daughters! Fuck that other old man with the snobbish attitude! Fuck the Empire! Fuck the Emperor and fuck the leash that they held him by. A fire ignited in his hands, the journal he had meticulously kept since being dumped in Seyda Neen almost a year ago smouldered in his grip. He’d rather spend an eternity in the prisons below the Imperial City than spend another second serving the whims of those uncaring fucks! “FUCK!” He screamed! His voice, or what was left of it finally returning. Ashen and coarse, unfamiliar. He pounded the sand, punched it until exhaustion overtook him. He slumped over tears threatening to choke in vision. The blur was permanent, everything was out of focus. He couldn’t shake it, couldn’t focus. He punched the sand again before rising to his feet. No, he would not go back to Balmora, he was done with this guarshit! Let some other poor sod chase an ancient ashlander fairytale. He was done! They could think him dead for all he cared. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t. He’d head west, he didn’t particularly care where so long as he could be alone. His skin itched, ash and sinew clouded his vision.

[sunyandmony]

"ꋊꏂꅐ ֮ϐׁυׁׅtׁׅ ….σℓ∂?" |Cato and Reader drabble(?)|

Cato but if he was a… Mer? Fish? Dunno- I'll see what I can do- The design comes first though- So yep- that's why it comes out very badly and late 😔

Just to be safe, I'm gonna add extra trigger warnings..

Tw:body horror(?), implied gore, potty mouth author/reader, self-harm mentioned(ig??)

B̶i̶g̶ f̶i̶s̶h̶ a̶r̶e̶ d̶a̶n̶g̶e̶r̶o̶u̶s̶ no̶w̶- B̶u̶t̶ a̶l̶s̶o̶… V̶e̶r̶y̶ s̶m̶a̶s̶h̶a̶b̶l̶e̶- I M̶E̶A̶N̶ H̶U̶H̶?̶!̶- D̶O̶N̶'̶T̶ L̶O̶O̶K̶ H̶E̶R̶E̶ D̶A̶N̶G̶-

Start reading under cut ⬇

—-------

You were NOT gonna make it out alive, not out of this one, nope, all the instructions did not tell you about a humongously tall half-human and half-fish, dangerous and about to probably rip you into pieces creature who currently had a staring contest with you, scarlet eyes glowing straight towards you, pentagrams sending daggers(?) your way as you prepared for the worst yet to come..

╰•°`°•>3 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒..<•°`°•╯

You finally managed to get out of that ridiculously uncomfortable seat, your mind trailing with thoughts of how your life is changing so fast, it hasn't even been that long since your parents handed out this house to you, and you knew they weren't poor, but neither that rich, you might've been wrong about that- What you're looking for was right in front of you as soon as you looked up from your phone and compared the screenshot to the actual thing.

The house itself wasn't much of a house itself,..a beach house? Could it be considered one at its size? Probably- But you didn't really care, this was now your new home, along with your dog of course, who's been following you all along, practically trying to get your attention to feed them, but you can't right now, it's too much to unpack now and so, she'd have to wait for a bit, you already gave her treats not long ago before getting out of the taxi.

Your dog was mostly fluffy and pretty friendly towards everyone, mostly children and especially you, the owner, the fur on her body being like a rough, colorfully coat. Black, brown and white adding to her fit, her ears dropped over her head as if acting sad from your denial for more treats, slowing down her rhythm ever so often while running off to the docks while you opened the door to your house, a key you almost forgot you had in your jacket that lazily draped over your persona.

This was much better than being locked in your apartment 24/7 working from home for the stupid makeup company your mom told you would be 'best for you' even though you barely liked makeup in general, not phased by it or anyone wearing it, because unlike everyone else, your parents just sent you off and said that it's fine to just retire all of a sudden, and not even bothering to tell you why, just 'waving' you off the best way through a call at midnight.

It wasn't new for them to ask you to do something, but this? You surely haven't expected things to go out this way, not when they planned on you being the one to take over their company when you're older, no not the make-up one, that's just another job you rather forget about now, because you hated every moment being there, not one moment did you enjoy working with uncooperative people at your side and trying to get projects done before they're overdue, so you took it pretty well actually, a chance to start fresh.

You slowly unlocked the door with a click and looked inside, the curtains having been left closed from the last time someone was probably, which you doubted was recent due to how private this part of the town was, nobody even stepping here and just going another way to avoid this place as if they couldn't step on the beach near this house, and you assumed it's your parents who bought this place for sure, because unlike your cousins you're not that easily gonna gloss over it and just, enjoy the kind of wealth? Not quite though, and the beach beside it, how do they have the money? A total mystery you don't ever wanna find anything about.

Ever so slowly, you set your bags near what looks like a desk with many drawers that had already been here for a long time, the dust having gathered onto it, the way this place looked like couldn't be described better then a abandoned house, a whole bunch of old garbage and dust laying around for who knows how long now, bookshelves full of books that somehow fit in the shelves for how many there were, old furniture somehow still intact as well but as everything else here, dusty, but overall organized. Huh, it seems whoever was last here at least left less chores for you to do, you assume that they're more responsible than you are though.

As soon as you hear the creaking of the porch behind you, ever so slowly getting closer, you open the door as your dog, which you so decided to call 'Jua', since the name fitted her pretty well. After she got in, you shut the door closed, making sure to check if it would budge before groaning to yourself, your thoughts running a mile an hour for whatever reason as you slumped towards the middle couch, letting yourself fall on it face first and not thinking twice before closing your eyes, trying to get some good night's rest.

… Turns out that's just impossible the moment you got your phone out and started scrolling through media, again, trying to pass the time and looking through 'Tuza', a popular app today that mostly had everything you could wish for, aside from the hackers, that's something you'd rather not get involved with, yet… At least if it's not necessary..

You didn't realize just how much your eyes hurt until you blinked once, finally coming to a stop from scrolling through Tuza, closing the app and then closing your phone, the screen turning black as you set the said device on the coffee table next to you, closing your eyes and uncomfortably shifting on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, but none of the positions helped one bit with your sleepy state, you wanted to sleep so badly, yet couldn't, shifting eve more, as if it would help at all.

You grip your already messy hair and pull on it, the silence abruptly cut short as droplets of water started pouring down from the sky above on the roof of your house and everywhere else outside. You have not watched the news for a while, so you weren't expecting rain at almost 4 AM in the morning, and to say you were tired was a lie.. You were exhausted, spent and done staying up just because of your thoughts, stupid, awful thoughts..

What thoughts were they to be so bad? You don't even know, all you know they're so bad they keep you awake, and a bonus with that constant scratching noise from outside, and you already forgot what you were even talking about a moment later. You slowly loosen your grip on your hair, looking up to be met with the said rain outside that kept on pouring down on your windows. It was actually pretty quiet except the sound of your breathing and Jua's on the floor next to the couch, somewhere in the pitch blackness in front of you.

A deep sigh and you stand up, strolling closer to the window and looking outside, it was all normal. The palm tree ravishing with the violent wind outside, leaves thrown around by the force. You squint your eyes, and then you're met with another, much bigger, much weirder face staring back at you. You scramble back, breathing heavily. What is that? Whatever it is, it's not human, but it wasn't gone even when you looked back out, it started almost right through you.

You gave it a small wave, more out of curiosity than anything, and it returned the gesture, much to your horror. Yep, so it could see you through the darkness from a distance of at least a hundred yards away. Great. You understand why your parents had so many books about mythical creatures now, given one is staring at you. You come back to the present and skip back to your room, picking up a few clothes and changing into them. They were soft and somewhat comfortable on your cold skin, but it wasn't time to think. You put on the hat and then throw a raincoat around yourself, plucking the buttons on it close and putting on the hood before putting on some much needed boots and putting your phone in your pants pocket under the raincoat before running outside, bursting the door open and then closing behind yourself.

If you were gonna see a creature, you would see it up close to make sure it is real and not a trick or your imagination. Humid and wet sand crunched up under your feet and the wind blowing past you so rapidly made it impossible to concentrate on the current mission. Mostly because you forgot to bring a flashlight, so you had to base yourself at the bare minimum that you could see outside in the rain with the bare moonlight slipping through the heavy clouds.

A particular hard swoosh of the wind almost knocked you off your feet, but you grounded yourself, breathing heavily under the collar of your shirt, trying to warm up your breath somewhat before continuing on. You weren't seeing anything as of yet, given how low you are on the ground at the moment, and it felt like forever but you hit somewhat of a checkpoint, a rock in the middle of the beach that you sat down behind to rest on the sand, the wind not as effective now as it was before.

Were you seriously risking your life just to prove a thing to yourself? While it would satisfy your curiosity, it could also satisfy your death wish. A shiver ran down your spine. No, you were not going to die, if it was dangerous you knew you could run, some creatures of the ocean couldn't always stay on the ground before needing to go right back into the water. But given the rain right now, it didn't count, but they could still be out given the chance, and you weren't taking a 'no' as an answer from your brain.

A few more deep breaths and you got off the ground, steadying yourself with the help of the rock given at hand before walking around it and continuing your adventure towards the rocky hill, trying hard to not fall over because of the rain picking up and the wind blowing past you becoming much, much colder and harder to ignore.

A particular area nearby the rocks started rocking along with the wind, and the moment you got too close to it, the wind picked up and the boulder on top fell over, rolling off its spot.

You were so focused on it that before you knew it, darkness ate at your eyes and you collapsed completely under the boulder that continued to crush your body. You were too weak, too stupid to defend yourself against a rock, much less an unknown creature. It ate at your thoughts.

. . .

And suddenly, you took a deep intake of breaths as something heavy was lifted off of you as simply as a feather, you shot up and held a hand over your heart, trying to calm yourself. Your back was most likely not gonna help you, and neither were your most likely broken legs, well, not that broken, you still could move them, given your stupid attempt to get up off the ground.

A harsh gasp came from you, and you sat back down, feeling with your free hand at your ankles and lower leg, trying to see if it was fractured. On the inside it felt intact, on the outside however it felt like it was all scratched and bruised, for both legs had the same problem, but your right leg aches more given the weight that was put on it the most. More thoughts came about and then you raised your head, looking up to be met with what you could describe only as some sort of mer or even, leviathan. It couldn't be put in words at how silent it was, it was leaning close and stabilized with two hands on the ground, holding its body upwards.

You couldn't help your curiosity growing even more, despite the dread you were feeling, knowing that you were probably just prey in its eyes. It inched closer to you, and you had to hold back the shiver that ran down your spine once its immense, wet face was right in front of you, blocking out everything else, all you could see were the obvious scarlet, glowing eyes. To say you were one second away from running wasn't a mistake, but even if you tried, your legs would've given out the moment you get up, given just how much damage has been done already to your body.

The moment you took in a deep breath, it seemed to back away just the slightest bit, you were sure it was more scared of you then you were of it, even though it obviously had an advantage over you in most things. The first obvious one is the height, given you're about the size of an ant to it at this point. You weren't sure what to do, this was just a long staring contest between the both of you.

While most people would've run for their life or fight back, even do as much as flinch, you barely even took in a breath when it inched much closer to you than before. Not to mention it had an unreadable expression on its face, which, from your point of view, looked like a crescent moon and the variety of curves on its face couldn't give it away better than that. You wish you knew more about…Whatever this thing was, so as to know at least what would trigger its fight or flight response.

More harder given how dark it still was right now, and the fact it was still raining, but the creature's body somewhat loomed over you so much it blocked out the rain drops, it was probably trying to trick you into thinking it wasn't dangerous and then just finish you off without a second thought.

It was more than frustrating to think you would be done so easily, given all your life built up to this point, the silence is deafening, it's not a good sign, neither is the way it's inspecting you so closely. You forgot you were still in danger, given it hasn't moved a single bit, well, except for its head, but its body was as still as ever. Was it having some sort of debate on what to do with you? Okay, stop thinking that way, this creature is definitely not as dumb as you thought it would be, it's more like the smart type amongst its species. It's weird to say that too, you don't even know what it is.

It then shifted, leaning away all at once, and you once more had to hold back your breath, though that didn't prepare you for it to smirk at you. The sharp, razor teeth didn't help the matter much. It literally looked like it was about to eat you alive, not like it would be different from when you tried to do it to yourself, but glossing over that- You squeaked the moment the ground left you, and your raincoat not being helpful anymore, given how far off the ground was, you didn't dare look down knowing it would make it worse.

A sound revertabrated from its chest as you didn't move a muscle in its hold. It was so, SO, slippery and wet, yet it had such a hold. The grip around you tightened and your breath was taken away. It slipped closer and closer to the water, using its other hand, clawed tips dragging along the sand, dragging you along against your own will. A momentary midair view of the stars and then darkness.

Water surrounded you the next moment almost instantly, luckily for you, it wasn't as cold as you thought it would be, it was actually pretty warm water. Would be logical, given how hot it was outside not long ago. You blinked several times, adjusting your vision and looking around your surroundings, yep, confirmed you're being dragged deep into the ocean. It wasn't so hard to guess, seeing as many fish started to appear the more your vision cleared, yet your lungs didn't appreciate being so abused, bubbles left your mouth in an attempt to breathe.

Wherever you were being dragged to, it wasn't your home any longer. You covered your mouth with your palms, not doing much but giving you some sort of feeling that gave just the slightest bit of hope you wouldn't drown while being carried away. Was this really a reality? Or is it a dream? It feels too real to be one. The thing holding you was more than real, given that it looked at you from time to time. Your lungs didn't last long, and you started to lose consciousness, your vision blurring out most things around you. It was too much silence.

Wherever you were going to get dragged to, you just hoped it would have some air pocket space. This was the least you could think about before everything suddenly went dark, a warm embrace amongst the sudden cold in the deeper sea. It felt…Comfortable… The light was getting far too close for your liking….

𓆝~°^•*`°•End of prologue⌕`*•°^`•𓆜𖤐

@artistkeval , your blorbo.

FEESH, am I right? 🤔

[antagonistickool-aid]

Day 10

Angst

Glass came from the lab like the others. She is broken just like the rest. She has her moments

I'll include a drabble I had written a couple months ago under the cut.

Prompts by Intistone

[Memories] 3/5/23

(TW: surgery, surreal?, It is probably the angstist thing I've written)

XX/XX/XX Containment unit designation G-62

Cold crusted ground greeted the young mer's vision, the only light coming from under the crack of the door in the hall beyond the bars. Nearby, a steady dripping sound could be heard around the corner. This and the ever present muffled screams were the sound of neglect ever present in both this place and its prisoners.

This repetitive ambiance is suddenly broken by the creak and slam of the door, followed by droning steps of a person, only stopping by seemingly random cells. They halt in front of the child's cell as they slide something under the cell door. Promptly continuing their path as quickly as they came, shadows following them in the dimmed corridor. It doesn't stop at the cell next to her........

It has been empty for some time.

Turning her attention to the dark silhouette on the floor, her stomach makes its presence known. It fills her thoughts as it breaks her silence. Soon a hand scoops a portion of the foul smelling fare and greedily brings it to her mouth.

Immediately she sputters, a dry hack is heard as her mouth quickly rejects the food. Instead of the just normal chalk covered rot, it is overpowered by a familiar astringent and bitter flavor that assailed her tongue. The feeling of dread fills her chest as she scoops back up the fallen portion, unwilling to waste any. She would have to eat it anyways, if she didn't they made sure she did...

As the mer continues to eat, her dread consumes her, knowing that the bitter taste is something they only put in her meals before certain procedures. She only pushes the empty tray back before curling her tail around herself, her feelings numbed by the aftertaste.

The time slips by, like the drops of water flowing from the pipes to the floor. Mere minutes turn into long hours in the dark cold space as there is nothing to disturb the passage of time. The mer let her thoughts and vision meld into the blackness of the room.

----

Her thoughts swirl as she shudders at the feeling of cold metal on her back. Restraints now wrapped her arms and legs tightly, weighing her down and keeping her vision in one place. Her entire body feels as if she was filled with lead.

Her eyes sting as bright lights are switched on blinding her vision. Too bright to be blocked out by her eyelids alone. Dark figures bob in and out of her vision, floating from one side as metal clatter is heard from the other.

Tears bead at her eye as pain pierces and sears in one arm then another. She can hear screaming, though she is not sure where it is coming from...

She jolts as from her arm, a vibration akin to the plucking of a string overwhelms her..... A string similar to those attached to an item that she had held during a previous evaluation. The item that made a sound each time she brushed her talons across its strings.

This reminder gave each pluck an audible companion, melding with the strings of technical lingo coming from all sides as observers peered straight through her.....

It all melds together in a foggy blur......The shadows' cold annunciation morphs into strangely familiar cacophony. Her body is still weighted down, but the restraints do not cut as they had, rather they are almost soft and surround her with warmth. Instead they come free as she stretches her arms, sliding away easily.

Her eyes, still closed, register the harsh bright lights having dimmed to a gentle level, briefly being blocked out as she feels something flitter across her brow and a tender touch finds itself on her back. It moves back and forth, never staying in one place, but never leaving for long.

She feels herself release a long breath as her thoughts and fear are lost in an embrace of nothingness.

The small mer stirs drowsily as her mind pulls itself from a dense fog. Her stiff muscles urge the small one to move and stretch, gathering all the tension that had built up and releasing it. Her frills catch a low chuckle nearby, and the soothing movement on her back ceases. She raises her head and blinks groggily. Her blurry vision is met with a swatch of tempered green that expands over the floor. In the distance she thinks she glimpses blurry silhouettes bolt past followed by small footsteps pattering on wood. She smiles as her vision clears and a dark blue hand comes into her vision, having been the presence soothing the child's frills the moment before.

She closes her eyes for a brief moment and takes a deep breath, inhaling the scent of ocean, wood and grease. Taking time to relish the warmth, brightness and liveliness of her home. She is content where she is.

Soon she opens her eyes and smiles at those around her, ready to leave the now dampened memories behind.

[the-coral-reef-archive]

Quick Guide

This quick guide is a basic summary to show the gist of the world

The Setting This world takes place on a planet similar to Earth, equivalent to that of the 18th century Industrial Revolution era (late 1700's), the main difference however is that this world has more than just Humans inhabiting it as the top intelligent species. Humans inhabit the land but Merfolk inhabit the oceans, rivaling human intelligence and in some way surpassing it. It is important to note that Humans are not aware of Merfolk and consider them folklore due to rare and unintentional meetings between the two species.

-- -- -- -- --

What are Mers Merfolk are an aquatic, humanoid-esque species that have a long tail instead of legs, allowing them to swim and live comfortably in the oceans. Their similarities to humans is the result of a common ancestor that diverged millions of years ago and further adapted to their environments. To put this into perspective, look at the evolutionary path of whales, which evolved from a land species returning to the oceans and thus losing their limbs and gained a tail instead. Merfolk, despite their appearances, are Mammals and fit in the Mammalia class just as humans do and posses similar biological traits.

-- -- -- -- --

Mers and Humans Mers and humans do not interact with one another, Mers actively avoiding all contact with Humans, considering the land-dwellers to be dangerous and a threat to the Mers if they ever became common knowledge. Mers however do keep an eye on humans that live on the shores and adapt to the technological advancements of Humans to continue in keeping themselves hidden. Unintentional interactions have happened in the past which prompted the species wide belief that Humans are dangerous creatures, as the interactions were met with violence from the Humans, intending to kill the Merfolk they found.

-- -- -- -- --

Common Misconceptions Below is a short list of misconceptions related to this world's version of Merfolk. This list is intended to remove confusion and help further explain a few issues that have popped up in the past about how these Mers work and are designed.

The Mers in this world are not stereotypical Mers where the top half is human with human skin color and the bottom half is just fish. These Mers are solid colors over their entire body and there is no clear difference between their top and bottom half. The species is not half human, half fish.

These Mers are 100% mammals and have no biological relation to fish, sharks or any other sea creature that they may resemble. Cetaceans are the closest biological relative but it's extremely distant, as such, even if a Mer resembles a known animal in appearance, they have no biological connection and simply look similar. They will not match the size, life expectancy, diet, or anything else about the animal they resemble. Even if they resemble a minnow, the Mer will not be tiny.

All Mers are larger than humans for the most part. When full grown, they are usually anywhere between 6ft(1.8m) to 15ft(4.5m) from head to tail tip. Males are usually larger than females regardless of species or appearance with few exceptions.

Mers give live birth and usually will only give birth to 1, rarely 2 pups, at a time. Pups are vulnerable, just like a human infant and will not be able to swim on their own until about 6 months old. One is considered a child until 14 years old when they enter the adolescent phase. A Mer is full grown at 21 years old. The maximum life span is about 160-180 years, but there have been exceptions that lived above 200.

[delimeful]

(don’t) take this the wrong way (7) (END)

final chapter of dtttww :) i had a lot of fun with this verse so i may take requests set in it in the future, and this might receive some more copy editing later, but for now this is the epilogue!

warnings: mild injury, mild hypnosis, for once no miscommunication :)

-

[Several months later…]

Sunlight trickled down through the water in wavy bands, illuminating the shallows and growing fainter and fainter as the distance from the surface increased.

Virgil didn’t spend much time in the shallows, too wary of being without escape, being made vulnerable to human vessels or poachers. Despite his dark and gloomy aesthetic, he couldn’t go too far into the depths either, simply because his fragile fish bones weren't built for it. His eyes weren’t built for it either, and down there where anything could be lurking, he would need more than speed to avoid danger.

So, on an average, sunny day like this, he could be found miles offshore, in waters that were easily too deep for unsuited humans to reach, but still well-illuminated by the light above.

There were a few old wrecks scattered about the ocean floor here, and though they’d probably been stripped by a pod in the past, he figured he’d go through them and check for anything that was left behind. Things that weren’t useful to a pod could certainly be things that were useful to him, after all.

He’d been poking through the undercarriage of one of the larger ships for an hour or two, relaxed as he ever got. He could take his time. The only creatures around to judge him were the shoals of fish and layers of barnacles built up amidst the metal, wood, and rust.

Actually… Virgil paused in his inspection of an old cutlery set to glance around.

What had happened to the fish?

Through a hole in the ship’s hull, he watched as a broad shadow passed over the ground and ships alike, large enough to belong to a whale.

There hadn’t been a single shred of whalesong above.

Virgil edged further back from the hole, eyeing the outside warily as the shadow receded, leaving behind only wavering sunlight on sand as though it had never been there at all.

There was nothing here that was worth sticking around.

He carefully made his way back to one of the other exits, in the opposite direction of where he’d seen the shadow head, the strokes of his fin cutting through the water with barely a whisper. The porthole was easily wide enough for him, and the ocean stretched out blue and vast before him, a promise of safety if he just moved fast enough.

A moment’s pause, to make sure he didn’t hear or see anything out of place, and then he was out, flitting from rock outcropping to bone reef and scanning the seas above. Not for the first time, he wished his scales were a little less distinctive in the day.

Behind him, an ominous creak.

He froze, and watched with mounting apprehension as a shadow spilled over him, looming closer and darker than before. The silhouette of an arm stretched out, heading towards him…

“Virgil, you must help,” a huge voice pleaded, “I’ve been had.”

He twisted around just in time to see a huge arm flop down onto the floor next to him, kicking up a cloud of sand and panicked burrower fish in the process.

It was wrapped in heavy wire netting from fingertips to forearm, and behind it, a giant mer was pouting at him with the best seal pup eyes he could manage, which, considering who his best friend was, were fairly potent.

Roman was huge, and he was a shark, with teeth and claws designed to shred and tear, and hands that could enclose him entirely-- but his elbows were braced against the ground with delicate balance so he wouldn’t crush anything, and he’d never grabbed for Virgil past that first disastrous encounter, and even now, his brow was furrowing with worry.

“Pufferfish status?” he asked, voice lowered from the dramatic plea of before.

Virgil’s mouth pulled up at the corners without his permission.

Roman was huge, yes, but he was also theatrical and eager and witty, full of sharp return quips for every barb Virgil had to offer.

He could hurt him, but he wouldn’t. Virgil believed that much.

“Prickly for a second, but I’m smooth now,” he answered, shrugging away the last of the tension. “Try not to sneak up on me without a warning click?”

“You have my word,” Roman replied, and if someone had told him months ago that he’d dare to ask anything of a giant mer, he’d have laughed in their faces. Now, Virgil knew that just like all the other requests, Roman would do his best to heed it.

“But really, my fingers are starting to feel numb. Help?” he entreated with a tilt of his head, shifting his net-wrapped hand a little closer.

Virgil rolled his eyes, but his smile didn’t go away, though it tilted more towards amused now. He darted forward, twisting in a spiral around Roman’s hand to try and see the extent of the damage.

“How’d you even manage this? At least I had the excuse of being caught up in a storm,” he snarked, picking at a loose section with his claws. Roman’s fingers twitched a little, and he shot him an apologetic glance.

“I was… perhaps… trying to get a glimpse of those sailors that Logan mentioned patrolled the coast?” Roman offered, more than a little sheepish.

Virgil’s gaze turned sharp in a heartbeat. “Did they spot you?”

Logan had warned both Patton and Roman several times that not many humans would take as kindly to their long-term existence near human settlements as Logan himself had.

“No!” Roman assured, “I was very stealthy, truly, I was just… so focused on being stealthy that I missed the other vessel and the nets it had dragging along behind it. It could have happened to anyone!”

“I seriously doubt that,” Virgil replied dryly. He’d snapped a few of the looser wires with his teeth, but already his jaw was beginning to ache with the strain. “Well, you get to explain this to Specs, ‘cause we’re going to need his expertise in detangling for this one.”

Roman groaned in answer, dropping his head to plonk against the ground.

---

Logan carefully set one foot in front of the other, all of his focus on the thin strip of rock below him.

If he switched his gaze to even a few inches to either side, he’d be faced with the sight of a vertigo-inducing drop to the waves below, one that would have all but the most experienced tightrope walkers dizzy with panic.

His gaze didn’t move, though, unerringly focused on the ground beneath him, and on his own body. There was no need to look at anything but the ledge, a soft presence confirmed in the back of his mind, because he wasn’t going to fall.

Another part of him was skeptical, seeing as he wasn’t known for a lack of clumsiness by most. There was just so much to get distracted by, and it was so easy to look away and miss a curb or accidentally trip over his own feet--

But not now. Now, he was focused on just this one task, a gentle voice dragging his attention back whenever it began to stray. He was hyper aware of where each of his limbs were and where he needed to put them to continue forward, step by careful step.

Only a little farther…

“Logan!”

The harsh call snapped him right out of the trance, and he was abruptly made very aware of both the distance he could fall and the effects that sudden instinctual terror had on his sense of balance.

“Newton’s fucking Cradle,” he swore, and then wobbled again, precariously close to falling over.

There was the sound of water crashing against rock, and in the next moment, two giant hands had curled up on either side of him like the shells of an oyster. They provided him some much needed stability to lean his weight against, and he struggled to steady his breathing as relief swept through him.

“It’s okay, Virgil, I won’t let him fall! No cliffs, ands, or buts about it,” Patton’s voice was muffled, but not enough to miss the pun.

Logan sighed loudly, but he also shifted to let his full weight rest against the curl of Patton’s left palm, tapping twice to let him know it was alright for him to move.

His stomach still swooped slightly as Patton slowly shifted his hands away from the thin rock ledge, but there were some things that one had to adapt to when living with two very affectionate, grabby sea giants, and being toted around was one of those things.

Before long, he was level with the flattest segment of rock that made up their meeting place, which could be called an island if one was feeling gracious, but was really more of a collection of rocky spires and bridges that stuck out of the ocean.

Logan was barely able to sit up before Virgil pulled himself up at the edge of Patton’s palm, expression thunderous but his hands gentle as he carefully checked him over for scrapes or injuries.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” he grumbled, a phrase that he used much more frequently around Logan for some reason. Logan had already been reassured that it was an exaggeration and Virgil had no heart problems he knew of, so instead of worrying, he bore his friend’s fussing with good grace. “Did we or did we not agree that you need a spotter if you want to play around with bullshit sirensong magic?”

The mer paused. “No offense, Pat.”

“None taken!” Patton replied from where he had sunk further into the water to put himself closer to eye-level.

“I figured you would be along shortly,” Logan defended, and then perked up at the reminder of his most recent experiment. “Besides, one of the things tested in this trial was if the siren song could overshadow significant fear or even terror, and I wouldn’t have been nearly as afraid if you’d been there with me.”

“Aw,” Roman cooed, curling his tail up and leaning against one of the larger rock outcroppings, his posture slightly off.

Virgil dragged a hand over his face with a sigh, and then flapped a ‘go on’ gesture at Logan, distracting him. “So, what’d you figure out this time?”

Logan needed no further encouragement.

“Even the lightest application of a siren’s song can overwhelm other emotions,” he started, recalling the utter honed focus he had experienced. “While in the past I’ve felt distant or removed from my body while under its effects, this time I had Patton focus on requesting a very specific task, and due to the intense concentration it took, I was very present in the moment while fulfilling that task.”

“You didn’t snap out of it until I called for you,” Virgil interjected, more curious than wary. “Was it harder than normal to use the grounding tactics?”

One of the first things Logan had investigated was what it took for him to resist and even break free from Patton’s song, a task that Virgil had demanded in order to let him run any experiments with the siren’s magic. Back then, Virgil hadn’t expected Patton to agree, and he’d outright sulked for weeks to cover up the nerves he felt whenever the siren thralled Logan.

“It was,” Logan said, his excitement growing as he considered the new information. “Without significant outside stimulus, all of my attention was focused on the task, and so I couldn’t pull away mentally to do my normal grounding techniques!”

“I’ve never heard someone so excited about being hypnotized better,” Roman commented wryly.

“He should get a hypnoprize,” Patton added, and Virgil grinned, because he was a traitor who enabled Patton’s wordplay habits.

“Is there an award for smart people doing dumb things?” Virgil mused teasingly. “Logan could be voted ‘most likely to throw himself into danger in the pursuit of knowledge.’”

“That’s why he has us, Finding Emo,” Roman countered, gesturing extravagantly with one hand. “We would never abandon him to the cruel clutches of his own nerdiness.”

Logan couldn’t help but feel a thrill of pride at the casual way that Virgil ducked beneath one of Roman’s sweeping gestures, no trace of the blatant fear or suspicion that had been present as recently as a month ago.

They’d really come a long way from the misunderstandings of that first encounter, all of them.

A glint of light at the edge of the shark mer’s submerged forearm caught Logan’s eye, and he frowned. “Roman, what’s happened to your arm?”

Roman’s prideful grin dropped into sheepishness immediately. “Well, about that…”

“Princey here was abandoned to the cruel clutches of his own reckless dumbassery,” Virgil informed him, ignoring Roman’s trill of offense to drift back and shove at the hand in question until Roman finally lifted it, displaying the impressive collection of netting that he’d managed to get tangled in.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Patton clucked sympathetically, and Roman soaked in the attention like a very dramatic sponge. Virgil rolled his eyes even as he sawed at a few of the looser wires, and Logan sighed in fond exasperation as he reached for his pocket knife.

Perhaps some things would never change.

[thiswasinevitableid]

10 tattoos/piercing, Danbrey, sfw, please!

Here you go! I based Dani's design on an arowana because I liked the color.

“Remember, non-scented soap, nice to meet you, byeee!” Aubrey waves to her client as they head down the boardwalk. She has thirty minutes until her next appointment, so it’s time to stretch her legs and check the little ‘doggy cam” she set up on Dr. Harris Bonkers cage to make sure the giant rabbit hasn’t finally managed to chew his way through the bars.

“Hi doctor” She coos into the phone. One white ear pivots towards the camera, but the bunny remains otherwise unmoved.

She leans on the railing, Pacfic sparkling like a postcard before her.

“Excuse me?”

“YEEEEP!” She jumps back, not expecting a woman to pop out of the water, let alone pop out and talk to her.

“Oops, sorry.” The other woman smiles, golden hair fanning out around her. There are two types of blondes in Long Beach; the ones hoping to be the next influencer sensation and the kind who are excited to tell you about GOOP and crystals.

Whichever kind this woman is, she’s the most gorgeous girl Aubrey’s ever seen.

“Um, can I help you?”

“Yeah! Can you tattoo me? A piercing would be okay too, but I really like how pretty the tattoos are.”

“Thanks. Um, you’re gonna need an appointment.” She pulls out her phone again, since it’s synced to the calendar Joseph makes them all keep, “lemme see....I have a big slot of time on Friday afternoon.”

The girl cocks her head, “That’s two days from now, right?”

“Yep.We can start at one if that works for you?”

“Sure, see you then!” She waves and then disappears under the water. A few moments later, a shimmering golden tail breaks the swell, seeming to wave once before submerging. Aubrey blinks, switches back to the bun cam.

“How do I tell Joseph I have to move my stuff outside to tattoo a mermaid?”

Dr. Harris Bonkers snuffles, but offers no further commentary.

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

“Joseph, for the last time, you are not gonna hang around just to ask my client questions while I’m trying to work.”

“I don’t plan to, but we need to make sure everything, and I mean everything, is as sterile as we can manage. Doing this outside gives me hives as it is.” Joseph finishes setting up the pop-tent, the kind sun-phobic families take to the beach.

“C’mon, people gave each other traditional tattoos out in the open for centuries. It should be fine.”

Joseph makes an unsure noise, but leaves her in peace all the same. Before long a golden tail flashes out of the water as the mermaid swims towards the beach, the closest spot to the pier where they could actually set the tent and generator up. It’s right on the tide line, Duck having used his almanac to tell them whether Aubrey would be chasing the tide or fleeing from it if the appointment turns out to be long.

“Um, hi again.” She waves.

“Hello!” The mermaid slides up into the surf. When she sits up, Aubrey turns pink.

“Uh, do you, uh, want a swimsuit or something?” Her voice is embarrassingly high.

The mermaid looks down, then at Aubrey studiously looking elsewhere, and laughs, “Oh, right, I forgot humans don’t like it when we’re bare-chested.”

“I mean it’s not that we don’t like it-” Aubrey mumbles.

“Be right back.” She pushes back into the sea, returning a minute later wearing a bright green bikini top, “is that better?”

“Yep!” She replies too quickly, “Sorry, I, um, I’ve never worked on a mermaid before, kinda figured you guys wore seashells or sea stars or something?”

“You...you realize where that would put the seastar mouths, right?” The mermaid scoots up onto the beach, tail in the water and back on the inflatable recliner they borrowed from Kirbys apartment.

“Ooohouch, you’re right, fuck, sorry.” She grabs her flash binder, brought in case the mermaid didn’t have a design in mind.

The mermaid glances over her shoulder, smiling, “You’re cute when you blush.”

She maintains her professionalism, but only just, as the mermaid chooses her preferred design; a brightly colored swirl of planets and stars. For a newbie, she barely seems to register the needle, focused instead on studying Aubrey’s face and hands as she works. She learns that her name is Dani, that she’s one of several merfolk living near the pier, and that she’s observed Aubrey and her handiwork courtesy of a rock and a pair of salvaged binoculars.

“Oooh” Dani wiggles her tail happily when she sees the finished product, “it’s perfect, thank you so much Aubrey.”

“Glad you like it-oh, okay.” She stiffens as Dani rubs their cheeks together twice before pulling back.

“I’m supposed to keep it clean right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure how well saran wrap will hold up to sea water.”

A formerly empty Rose bottle thunks onto the sand. Dani grabs it, popping the make-shift cork off with her teeth.

“Ooh, Indrid sent me a special covering to keep it safe. And these must be for you.” She holds out two pearls.”

“Thanks” She’s more interested in watching the kissable lips covering razor sharp than the gems the mermaid gives her.

“Can I see you again?” Dani is halfway back in the water.

“Whenever you want. You’re a great client; you, um, you’re really nice to touch. Wait, um, I mean you take it really welllARGH, um, yes please come back.” Aubrey replies, tucking the second most valuable thing on the beach into her pocket and continuing to blush well after Dani has returned to the waves.

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

“AHFUCK!”

“Sorry!” Dani gives a sheepish wave to Duck before turning to Aubrey, who got used to her popping out of the water five times ago, “are you free tomorrow?”

“Sure” even if she isn’t, she’ll happily reschedule another client for Dani’s sake, “do want to pick something from my flash?”

“Nope, this time Indrid designed something. It’s about the same size as this” she holds up the watercolor hermit crab on her right arm, “see you then?”

“Of course.” Aubrey waves goodbye, blows a kiss when Dani is out of sight.

She forgot Duck was still here.

“You got it bad, Lady Flame.”

“Shush, I saw you chatting to Indrid by the coffee shop yesterday.”

“....you can’t prove anythin.”

She holds up her phone, smirking, “Oh yes I can.”

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

“Aubrey!”

She looks up, wondering who’s calling her name on the deserted beach. She brings Dr. Harris Bonkers down here on a leash late at night for enrichment for him and a break from the summer heat for her.

“Aubrey, over here!” Dani leaps through the surf until she;s only able to slide, “I thought it was you. Ohhhhhh” she squeals, “this must be Dr. Harris Bonkers. Hello cutie pie, aren’t you just so lovelyOH, oh he feels like an otter.” She rubs the rabbits head, causing him to creep towards the water, “you’re the second cutest thing on this beach, doctor.” She winks at Aubrey, then sits up, “can I introduce him to Ferdinand?”

Aubrey nods, excited to finally meet Dani’s pet; she only his name, but she’s expecting a seal, or maybe a crab.

What she gets is an octopus. The cephalopod winds a tentacle around her arm, investigating her.

“Aww, he likes you.” Dani sets the octopus down in shallow water, where it proceeds to stretch multiple limbs out to poke Dr. Harris Bonkers.

“Guess they’re having a playdate?” Dani scoots closer, resting her head on Aubrey’s shoulder.

Aubrey sets a hand on her tail, running her fingers up and down the scales as the mermaid sighs happily.

“As long as he doesn’t carry Dr. Harris Bonkers into the tidepools, they can hang out as long as you like.”

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

“Dani? How many tattoos are you planning to get?” Aubrey looks up from where she’s outlining an octopus on Dani’s side.

“I haven’t decided yet. It’s really common for mers to have lots of piercings and tattoos. That’s why Indrid can leave Duck so many expensive tokens; he’s the most in-demand tattoo artist on the coast.”

“Neat! Wait-” she sits up, shutting off the gun, “your friend is a tattoo artist, but you kept coming here?”

“Yes.” Dani is still, save for the end of her tail, which vibrates nervously.

“Why?”

“Um, well, I, I really liked your style. Then I really liked you, and I wanted to keep seeing you…”

“Holy crap, do you keep getting tattoos because you think that’s the only way you’re able to see me?”

“Uhhuh.” Dani is bright pink from her cheeks to her waist as Aubrey scrambles to sit in front of her, “I mean, when you want to date someone, you’re only allowed to see them at their work until they say they want to date you too. Even us meeting on the beach a few weeks ago was pushing it, and I didn’t want you thinking I was pushy.”

“....Huh?”

“Do humans not have that rule?” Dani’s honey-colored eyes widen.

“Nope. It’s actually kinda rude to ask people out at work, because they can’t get away BUT” she hurriedly sets the gun aside, “but I make exceptions for super cute wonderful mermaids.”

“Oh. In that case-” Dani knocks her backwards with her tail and climbs atop her, kissing her so hard she wonders if you can die from a really good make-out session. When the salty kiss ends the mermaid continues peppering her face with kisses and flicking her tongue along her neck.

“Dani I, I’m loving all of this but if you mess up my ink I’m gonna be as annoyed as I can possibly be with a gorgeous mermaid feeling me up.”

“Crap, you’re right.” Dani sits back up, glancing at the half-done tattoo, "I really don't want to ruin your work. Desperate need to see you aside, I do love your style." She folds her hands back into her lap and readjusts onto the inflatable chair.

Aubrey crawls forward, kissing her sweetly, "Once we're done and you're all wrapped up, wanna join me on the beach for a little, um, late night picnic."

A teasing kiss, first to her nose and then to her lips, "I'd love to."

[fortune-fool02]

Mall Crawl (Mer!Pillarmen AU)

Aja Mall was closed for the night.

Locked shut and deserted, there was nothing stirring in the establishment in the darkness of night. A few dim lamps remained on, but otherwise, it was all darkness and quiet, save for the stagnant drips of the main lobby fountain.

The fountain, however had been leaking for a while, and a few stray splashes dampened the smooth tiled floor. By sheer chance, some of the water began to drain onto a ledge, where it leaked down to the lower ground floor art exhibit, and dribbled onto a set of statues, ancient stone sculptures proudly on display in the historic gallery, and depicted, carved in repose, four masculine figures in repose, each sporting a great fish's tail below their waist.

Except they weren't sculpted at all.

As the leaking water moistened them the stony shells began to soften and crumble away. All they needed was water, something they had been deprived of for ages, what with the museum's insistence on keeping these priceless artifacts dry, and took great care to ensure that not a drop of water touched them.

But now it did, and for the first time in four thousand years, the figures began to move again.

With a wet slap one of the figures, bearing a dull, silvery-gray tail and sporting a single horn upon his head, dropped out of the stone and onto the wet floor. Groggily he looked about. This wasn't the temple of the ancients, he thought, turning his attention toward the other figures still encased in stone. This was a strange foundation carved out by those...those primitives, who walked on the land.

"Lord Kars...Lord Esidisi..." he mumbled, as he crawled across the floor on his powerful arms, toward the other two figures. "Our time has come again..."

Scooping up some of the water that had pooled on the floor in his webbed hands, he splashed it onto the two stone figures that had lain on either side of him for decades. His eyes, suited for darkness, grew wide with anticipation as he watched their rocky cocoons slowly melt away.

"Awaken, my masters!" he cried.

A wet flop on each side soon followed as the other two mermen burst from their shells, which they had formed to survive drying out when water was withheld from them. There they had slumbered for millennia, until a fluke of events awekened them once again: in a changed new world they did not recognize.

"Wamuu..." Kars groaned hoarsely, as he pushed himself up by his arms. "W-where are we?"

"I know not where we have found ourselves, my lord," Wammu replied respectfully with a bow. "We shall soon see."

"We appear to be above the surface, judging by the lack of water," Esidisi added, stretching out his fiery orange tail with a yawn. "Our first priority should be to return to the sea...Lord Kars?" He suddenly added, confused, as he saw his wild-haired superior dragging himself away, clearly interested in something else. 

"Fascinating..." Kars muttered to himself, as he slithered down the art hall, his violet tail trailing behind. "We appear to be in the hall of the primitives, how they have advanced over the years..." He continued crawling, while Esidisi urgently squirmed after his high lord.

"Lord Kars, we don't have time...the call of the sea awaits us!" he called out. Kars shot back a wicked smile. "The ocean can wait, Esidisi. There is something more of interest I desire to see."

Wammu followed the two with several heavy flops. "My master, what about Santana?"

Kars sneered as he pulled himself onward. "Leave him, Wamuu. He isn't important." Wamuu sadly nodded and followed behind the other two.

Hauling and dragging themselves forward in a display of ungainly strength, they began to slowly make their way along the hall. It sported a gallery of artistic wonders of the ancient world --which moments ago included themselves-- before the pathway opened up into a wide open space, filled with strange rooms and odd structures, and a window in the ceiling that let the bright moonlight in.

Soon the three mermen began to explore the strange cathedral of the landfolk that they found themselves in. It was more difficult for them to move without water, but the strange, smooth floors, more polished than any of them had ever seen, was easy for them to pull their heavy bodies across with only the power of their arms.

They gazed around in fascination and amazement as they heaved themselves along, eager to see more like three very unusual tourists, glancing about at the sights in wonder. To human eyes the mall was all but darkness: but their eyes were designed for the pitch depths of the sea, and could partake in the colorful splendor a landwalker could only enjoy in the daytime.

"Their structures are marvelous," Wammu exclaimed, sliding his way over to a set of metal steps. A red button glowed faintly at its base, and the horned merman curiously inspected it, while elsewhere, Kars clawed his way forwards into a small room, where strange, colorful fabrics hung in hooks and lines.

"Splendid, very splendid," he said, reaching up as high as he can from his position on the floor to pull down one of the fabrics. It felt soft and velvety to the touch, though to Kars's disappointment the garment was too small to fit his toned muscular body when he tried to put it on, leaving his upper arms and belly comically exposed.

"Nonetheless, their fashion is admirable," he mumbled to himself. "I sure shall miss their beautiful art when we eventually destroy their puny race..."

"Lord Kars!" Esidisi urged, as he wriggled his way into the store. "Now is not the time for distractions, we must find a way back to the ocean!"

"A few moments could not hurt," Kars snapped irritably, as he tried on a fancy hat on display, which he struggled to squeeze onto his horned, purple-maned head that was far too big for it.

Outside the small shop Wamuu had been fiddling with the metallic steps, trying to see how they moved and worked. He pressed the small buttons that gleamed from the bottom, testing to see if anything would happen--and to his surprise, the steps began to move, with him still on it. 

Wammu was gripped with panic as the steps carted him upwards, toward an unknown destination. His frightened surprise, however, turned to amazement as he realized that the steps had guided him to a second floor of the establishment, full of other things he otherwise could not access from below.

"This must be how they go from level to level," he mused.

Downstairs, Esidisi tried in vain to reason with Kars, who seemed to be more interested in taking the fashionable items of the landwalkers than he was at getting back to the sea.

"Does this dress accentuate the splendor of my tail?" Kars asked with a hint of seduction in his voice, as he lay on his side to show off the flowing skirt he had pulled from one of the shelves.

"Anything, anything looks marvelous on you, my lord!" Esidisi pleaded. "But we have greater things to be accomplished! Where is Wammu!?" he demanded.

"I have come, my masters," Wammu called out from the top of the moving steps, followed by a full minute of awkward silence as he slowly but surely descended while he sat on one of the steps.

Esidisi grimaced in confusion, as Wamuu finally reached the bottom of the steps. "What a ridiculous place."

In the meantime, the leaky fountain back at the gallery had begun to flood the art exhibit, moistening the petrified form of the one left behind-- Santana. He emerged coughing and groaning onto the wet floor, and he thrashed about in confusion until he finally caught his bearings.

His heart sank as his eyes fixed onto the three empty holes in the stone wall. Once again, his masters had abandoned him. He had always felt lesser than they were, but this was a low blow, even for Kars.

Now he was all by himself in a strange deserted environment on land, and his grief and frustration soon gave way to another sensation-- hunger. He needed to find some food after so very long.

Guided by his keen sense of smell, Santana began to crawl across the smooth tiles, in the opposite direction the others had gone. There was surely something to find within the empty construction, he thought, as he made his way, arm over arm, toward an opening in the end of the hall. 

His red-magenta tail began slapping the floor eagerly as he crawled, as he caught a familiar salty scent as he entered a strange chamber, one prominently lettered with the symbols "S-U-P-E-R-M-A-R-K-E-T": if Santana had known how to read, which he didn't.

Dead fish lay neatly arranged on trays of ice, and Santana reached up and grabbed them hungrily, feasting on them cold and raw. He devoured one or two before something else caught his attention, small colorful bags that were lined up on a shelf. He crawled his way over and reached out to grab one.

He popped open the bag with his sharp claws to find that it was mostly filled with air, but inside were small, brittle chips. He shoveled some into his mouth, and savored their salty flavor and crisp texture. Landfolk food was new and appealing to the redhead merman, and he wanted more. He crawled from aisle to aisle, pulling boxes from shelves low enough for him to reach and feasting eagerly on their curious contents.

Elsewhere in the mall, Kars had concluded his tour. He had adorned himself with all sorts of apparel he could find, necklaces, hats stacked on top of each other, slippers worn on his hands as he had no feet. He was a crawling fashion disaster, and had Wamuu and Esidisi not feared their highlord's furious might, they would have laughed.

"I am satisfied," Kars grinned, shuffling his way over to a shiny door to admire his reflection, flicking his tail pridefully.

"Now my lord, shall we try to seek the ocean?" asked Esidisi through gritted teeth and restrained laughter.

"We shall, my friends," Kars replied. "All water comes to the sea or leads to it...first we must find the source and follow it to freedom". 

Propelled by their muscular upper halves, while their scaly lower halves, practically useless outside the water, dragged along behind them, the mermen made the slow, arduous journey toward where they soon found the pipes that led to the mall's drainage system. Gazing down into the canals, they saw the water was cloudy, and the mermen were hesitant, but they knew it led out to a river and into the sea, and whatever filth was in the water was well worth their trouble.

Esidisi jumped in first, followed by Wamuu, who felt the relief of the water's weightlessness and refreshing coolness after so many centuries. Kars came last, gazing hesitantly at all his attire that he'd haphazardly piled onto his body.

"A shame I have to ruin these...a small price to pay for freedom." He closed his eyes and threw himself into the murky water, hats, dresses and all.

Now all they needed was to find the sea.

Back at the supermarket, Santana continued his sampling of the land food, unaware of the others' departure. Soon he had eaten his fill, and curiously sought to see more of this unusual place.

Crawling out of the transparent doors of the shadowy room, he found himself outside of the building. He was under the open air, with the moon shining above, and before him was a large flat rock on which drove strange carriages with glowing lights, while in the distance tall buildings towered up in the sky: nothing like the human cities Santana remembered ages before.

He tried to crawl forward, but the large flat rock was rough. Rougher than the smooth floors of the mall, and painfully scraped his belly, elbows, and the underside of his tail. Santana groaned with discomfort, but stubbornly continued on.

But he wasn't alone.

(Y/N), a security guard of a neighboring building, had just ended their shift at 2AM and were preparing to go home, traveling down the sidewalk toward the bus stop.

And the last thing they expected to see, so late at night, was a naked man struggling prone on the sidewalk, his long vermilion hair wet and glistening.

Except he was no man at all, (Y/N) realized, as it dawned on them at a closer look that where his legs should have been, was instead a glittering, scarlet tail with bright magenta fins.

"H-holy shit," gasped (Y/N), dropping their coffee cup in shock.

••••••••••••

[bigmeatymudcrabchitins]

A not-so-brief overview of my Skyrim Dova OCs bc i need to scream to the digital void about my ideas

Freyora Lind, more commonly known by her strange alias “Bjorne Icepick”

A Nord-eventually-turned-werewolf who orphaned during the Great War and taken in by a Dunmeri mercenary whose residence was in Windhelm’s Gray Quarter. Grew up in a cramped boarding house setting among desperate mercenaries of varying backgrounds. Many of them would all come and go, but there was always some sort of a familial bond between them all.

From a young age she got in a lot of fights against people who insulted her for living in the Gray Quarter among the dark elves. Eventually she took a fight too far and was jailed for murder around 14, but was broken out shortly after by a band of masked vampires. Turns out some of her mercenary comrades unwittingly caught vampirism during a contract to clear out a vampire den and had to skip town, but not before ensuring one of their own wasn’t left to rot.

Lived in Cyrodil for about 15 years, but returned to Skyrim pursuing rumors surrounding a cure to vampirism, as her adoptive father would be nearing the end of his elven lifespan and had wished to die a normal death.

Seeing as she was literally a fugitive, and her long-belated parents were somewhat renowned for their battlefield prowess, she took on a false identity. AND an act to match it.

She’ll eat raw meat, chase prey with swords instead of using a bow like a normal person, harp about irrational conspiracy theories, and more. Everyone’s foul reactions to her outlandish act are plainly hilarious to her and only encourage her to act even stranger.

The alias “Bjorne Icepick” was simply the most ridiculous name she could think of.

Not the most morally outstanding. Besides drunken brawling, she’ll steal from anyone who angers her, even if it’s things she literally won’t ever need such as all the goblets in a household. It’s the pettiness that counts. “Try drinking your damn high-end wine now, jackass.”

Calls Dwarven Automatons “Gundams.” Including she herself, no one knows what that means.

Joins the Companions out of homesickness and a desire to fill in a gap that leaving home left.

Hasn’t bothered curing herself of lycanthropy because her whole schtick is being incredibly resourceful, and that includes using any means of power necessary. Still doesn’t fancy Hircine’s Hunting Grounds as her desired afterlife, though.

As her journey goes on, however, her lightheartedly eccentric face starts to fall off as a number of events push her to begin to question the legitimacy of her actions up until that point.

Some of which include the eventual death of her adoptive father (and how she was indirectly responsible for it even if it was what he wanted), Delphine’s ultimatum, the civil war as a collective, learning the tragic history behind the Falmer and the original Companions’ role in it, and killing of Vyrthur (no matter how much he genuinely deserved it).

She grows disgusted by herself down to the core. She takes to skooma to cope, and starts to be plagued by serious skooma-induced side effects. She ends up shutting herself away from all her responsibilities and distancing herself from her friends.

Does she get better? Maybe. I haven’t thought up anything past this point lol

Moureneris Alta

A very, VERY ancient vampiric snow elf, (though it’s notable she was born a considerable amount of time after the razing of Sarthaal)

Survived many atrocities. Stayed in isolation with a band of vampires for countless years out of sheer disgust for the nature of the sapient races. (I’ll explain her full story some other time. It’s pretty complicated)

She was abducted from her isolated lifestyle by a certain person i’ll talk about later. She managed to free herself south of Skyrim, and uh, walks right into that Imperial ambush. The rest is history.

Super ignorant to modern society as a result of centuries of isolation. Exploited for comedic relief. (“What in the name of Oblivion is a Cyrodilic Empire? Are you messing with me? And please, how does levitation magic simply get outlawed by this hypothetical Empire? What are you to do when you fall down a crevice? Just... let yourself perish? How degrading.)

She reintegrated herself into society with vengeance in mind under the belief that all humans are savage bloodlusting murderers who had to answer for their treachery. (And she was royally angry there was no Dwemer left to spite, but partially satisfied at the same time). But she grows conflicted after being shown genuine kindness, even as early as being freed from her binds in Helgen.

Subsequently has a very muddled redemption arc. Queue Dragonborn hero stuff

She has impaired vision, but she cultivated detect life magic to aid her in daily life and combat (think Hyakkimaru from Dororo ‘19 and his soul detection or Toph Beifong from ATLA and her seismic sense). At her peak, she can detect life from about a kilometer away.

She can just barely read, but only if she holds the text incredibly close to her face, not to mention her Cyrodilic lessons were left unfinished after her abduction, making reading a very taxing process. Weary travelers are often spooked at the sight of a floating, ghastly looking elven woman with her nose pressed up against crossroad signs, and it has become somewhat of an urban legend.

Isn’t as nearly as skilled with detecting the dead and tenses up in burial crypts or around other vampires for that reason. Unfortunately, being the Dragonborn and all, she finds herself in a lot of crypts...

When questioned about her background due to her unique appearance: “Oh, yeah. My mother was one of those mer from the east. You know the ones. Dark elves, I think? And my father was one of those er, tall elv- no, sorry, HIGH elves. Yeah. They both died in a big fire or something though. It was horrible. I can’t get the noxious smell or the deafening screams out of my head. Good talk, but never ask me about that again.”

Queue sheltered old immortal antics: “Wow, you’re THAT old? Enlighten me on how it felt witnessing the fall of the Dwemer. Or perhaps the rise of Tiber Septim’s Empire. The Gates of Ob-“ “Oblivion if I know. I lived in someone’s basement for thousands of years. And I still don’t know what everyone means by Empire. You all are messing with me, aren’t you? That really annoys me.”

She ultimately returns to faith in Auri-El and makes it her life’s purpose to help the Betrayed find peace, as well as to seek out any remaining snow elf groups. Probably good friends with Gelebor or something.

Had a crush on Serana. We all know how THAT went. Damned temples.

Was originally gonna spiral into a much darker corruption arc (another ATLA comparison being Jet or Hama) but I just felt bad for her. Moureneris can have a little found peace. As a treat.

That’s her preliminary design made. I’ll need a mod to properly play her, because that right there was made by choosing Dunmer as her race. But I can’t do that. I’m on console, and while I got the Steam port a month ago, my PC’s stone age specs can’t handle Skyrim yet and I’ll need to wait until I can afford a better graphics card (thanks economic inflation)

Alexandre Armasi, jokingly nicknamed Alexandre the Curious

A complete and unapologetic export of my character from a dead and unfinished DND campaign. Except there are no Aasimar in Skyrim, so he’s half Altmer half Bosmer. And his initial last name was Armas but I thought Armasi suited his Skyrim counterpart more, as subtle a change it is.

He’s mainly Bosmer in appearance and constitution, save for his hair and eyes, which are more similar to that of his Altmeri father’s.

I can’t really export his original backstory though because the campaign wouldn’t translate well into TES lore at all.

He’s a writer who came wandering into Skyrim in search of inspiration. While he mainly writes dramatic fables, he wanted to divert his focus to crafting his own bestiary and herbal compendium surrounding Skyrim’s fauna and flora. The ones at home are simply too vague to him!

He’s very altruistic, wishing to spread cheer wherever he goes, through the art of song (even though he was a cleric in DND and not a bard. My bad.) However, many of his verses are just blatant self promotions of his published fables.

But he’s too naive for his own good. Dangerously so. In fact, he says what’s on his mind with little forethought, with little grasp on the consequences of his actions, which lands him in lots of trouble. “I don’t favor him myself, but you guys kill people over Talos worship? That’s not very cool. A bit scary, if you ask me.” or “A Stormcloak rebel? Didn’t your leader kill a bunch of Reachmen rebels years back, or so I’ve heard. By the divines that’s not a man I’d make a symbol of nonconformity.”

He’s also insatiably curious. The type to ACTUALLY shove alchemic ingredients in his mouth with no knowledge of their properties, experiment with dangerous rune spells, throw rocks at pressure plates, and more. Needless to say he’s very accident prone.

Doesn’t know common curse words. People exploit this for laughs. Think that episode of Spongebob.

Everyone is a little baffled that HE of all people is the prophesied Dragonborn of legend. This agonizingly imbecilic writer who has absentmindedly wandered into burial crypts, troll dens, bandit forts, and more, too busy juggling his manuscripts to pay attention to his surroundings.

His past doesn’t exactly reflect his outlook on life. His mother and father fought in the Great War aligned with the Imperials despite their elven background. Both managed to live to see the war’s conclusion, but his father vanished without a trace shortly after, and it seems his mother knows something she won’t tell him.

With plenty of exposure to bad influences, his innocence is slowly lost throughout the course of his journey, and his altruism begins to grow twisted. But nevertheless, he maintains his jovial, social persona, except this time with much darker undertones. Kinda like a creepy dentist or something.

Whoops. He winds up becoming a feared Dark Brotherhood assassin. (Haha get it “Innocence Lost”???) He somehow deluded himself into thinking that the life of an assassin was the right thing to do. But he’s a funky little guy so he gets a pass for his heinous crimes against society

[ace-in-a-shopping-cart]

Jewel of the Sea: Chapter 19: A Peaceful Evening.

Chapter 18

Word Count: 1,185

They sat in the garden for a little bit, allowing Logan to get used to being in the water and breathing it while they talked it over in greater detail, Virgil telling Logan what happened on the cliff that day four moons ago and Logan telling Virgil what happened in the maze that night. After about half an hour of silence in which Virgil had gone back to sketching, Logan sat beside him. “What are you working on?”

Virgil shook his head, smiling. “A secret.” He finished the portion he was working on and put the utensil down before he turned to Logan, hoping to distract him from the drawing. “Do you want an official tour of the palace?”

Logan smiled. “That’d be great.”

Virgil nodded and moved into the building, Logan close behind him. He showed him around the castle, telling him all about it and the people who lived in it. The day wore on as Virgil talked about the history of the blessing, his siblings and parents, the castle. He introduced Logan to any siblings he came across, wondering where Elliott had swam off to.

The day wore on as they went, eventually arriving at Virgil’s room. He moved over to the pen that took up the entirety of a wall. He’d trained the sea dragons to stay in the pen so had no fear of them wandering out, even then he didn’t mind them floating around the whole room and sleeping in the pen so had no reason to lock it. However, he did find the lock on it so he assumed Elliott had locked it when they came in to feed them while Virgil was gone. Logan noticed and swam over, staying a bit apart.

Virgil laughed and waved him over. “Have you seen one of these before?”

Logan shook his head. “They’re incredibly rare. Only one aquarium has any and they’ve struggled for years to get them to breed. Although, I have read about them as much as I can. It seems you have one of both known species.” He pointed at the lavender one with a multitude of tendrils. “What’s the leafy’s name?”

Virgil smiled. “Her name is Sera.”

Logan nodded and moved his finger over to the other, a darker purple with greenish gold accents and few tendrils. “And the weedy’s?”

Virgil almost laughed at the fascination in Logan’s eyes. “His name is Tiko.”

Logan stared at the large pen, stars in his eyes. Virgil smiled and moved to sit on his bed, just watching Logan. The human moved around, seeming to be trying to see the sea dragons from every angle. Virgil just laughed and, when Logan looked over his shoulder at him, Virgil just pointed at his desk. “There are keys over there if you want to go in with them.”

Virgil hadn’t thought Logan’s face could get brighter but it seemed to as he shot over to the desk to grab the keys. He fumbled with the lock before slipping into the pen and sitting in the middle, watching as the two dragons swirled around him.

Virgil turned his head when a knock on the door sounded. Logan moved to stand but Virgil waved him back down, moving himself to open it. One of the chefs was kind enough to bring a meal up as they’d skipped lunch on the tour. The mer prince took the tray, thanking the chef, and moved to set it down on the desk. “I would let you eat in there but they’d try to take it thinking it was theirs.”

Logan nodded and moved to sit on the bed to eat with Virgil. He seemed surprised to see cooked fish. Virgil laughed. “We do know how to cook, you know.”

Logan nodded, those stars coming back into his eyes. “Is it possible to take a tour of the kitchens?”

Virgil smiled and nodded. “Tomorrow.”

They ate, talking about what happened during Virgil’s four moons on land, what a normal day below water is like, and anything in between they can think of. Virgil fed the sea dragons before pinning a blanket over the pen, letting them know it was time to sleep. He turned and grabbed a pair of shirts out of his closet, handing one to Logan. He quickly pulled his shirt off and put the new one back on with his back to Logan.

He turned around to find Logan just standing there, awkwardly holding the shirt. Virgil raised his eyebrows. “Are you not getting ready for bed?” He moved to the jewelry box and started taking off all his jewelry.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to sleep in the same room?” Logan sounded genuinely concerned so Virgil refrained from laughing.

“Why wouldn’t we be? What’s there to worry about?” Virgil moved to sit on the bed, still facing Logan.

Logan shrugged. “I guess most people on land would be concerned with an unmarried couple staying a  night in the same room due to them trying to have intercourse.”

Virgil nodded. “Yeah, we don’t usually worry about that. Most mer are, what’s the word? Asexual? We have no feelings to reproduce sexually.”

Logan nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one you’re looking for. Does that mean that you personally are asexual?”

“Yep.”

Logan then turned his back to Virgil and changed out of his now ruined dress shirt and into the one Virgil provided. He turned back around and moved to sit on the bed next to Virgil. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth.

Before he could say anything, Virgil held up a hand. “Logan, I know that look in your eyes. You’re about to say something and I want you to think about it first. If you’re not ready to tell me but think you have to just because I said something, you don’t have to.”

Logan nodded and took the hand Virgil was holding up. “I want to tell you. I trust you with this information. Besides, it’s not something I’ve ever felt the need to hide.”

“Okay. You have the floor.”

“I’m demiromantic.” Virgo’s brow furrowed and he was about to ask what that was when he remembered he said he’d let Logan talk. “That basically means that I need to form a close emotional bond before I have romantic feelings for someone.” He took another deep breath. “That being said, I’m in love with you.”

Virgil nodded, understanding that that was a big thing. Thinking about the Necklace design that was still laid out on the desk, he smiled. “It’d be pretty awkward if you weren’t. Because I'm in love with you too.”

Logan smiled and leaned toward him. “May I kiss you?”

Virgil nodded, closing the distance himself. The kiss was soft and gentle and it wasn’t long before they were pulling back to slip under the covers and fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. The last thing Virgil remembers from that moment is purring in contentment and happiness while drifting off to sleep, holding the love of his life close as their tails wrapped around each others.

Chapter 20

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[ramblinganthropologist]

MER Week Day 4: Mass Effect + Mass Effect Andromeda

Summary: 2179. What should have been a normal shore leave on the Citadel leaves Alistair and Bo Peep Shepard in a place they’ve never been before: teachers. What can these battle hardened biotics teach young Kitty and Dick... and why do they look so damn familiar?

---

“Well… we’re here. What do you want to do?”

“How about anything other than getting shot at?”

Now that was something Alistair could agree on as he stretched out as far as he could. His body was still sore from the last mission, the lack of sleep, and the ride to the Citadel. Honestly, he was amazed his bones weren’t cracking to bits as he walked along, taking in the artificial sunshine of the space station. Given what he had just been through, it was a true surprise he was still one piece.

Well, maybe that was to be expecting. After all, he and Bo were N7. They were supposed to be tough.

“Could always head to the Tea Cozy, unless you wanted to save that until tomorrow.” He threaded his arms behind his head as he walked, definitely not the picture of a military officer by any means. “Or we could check out the hamsters at Citadel Critters.”

Above his head, Bo rolled her eyes. “Last time I was there, you forgot I existed when you got too deep into discussions on how fucked up the breeding lines at the gift shop are.”

“Well, they are. I don’t know what they think they’re trying to pull…” His voice trailed off. Bo was giving him that look. “Right… specialist knowledge, general application. I’ll stop now.”

She gave him a nod. “That a boy. Honestly, I could go for chicken nuggets that come from a fryer instead of a microwave. It’s been too long since we’ve had real food.”

Real food sounded great right then, especially if it involved a milkshake. Just thinking about them made Alistair’s stomach growl. Judging from the noises coming from his sister, he wasn’t alone in the assessment. Easy enough – lunch it was. Lucky for them, they weren’t too far from one of their other favorite spots.

A few moments later, and the pair were seated by one of the many fountains that dotted the Citadel, their food spread out in front of them. For most people, it would have been a lot. For them, not so much. When it came down to it, they both just needed to eat way more food to keep their biotic systems operating at peak capacity. There was a term for it, and Alistair knew it, but he wasn’t thinking like a medic then. Instead, he was cradling a large paper cup happily, the sleeves of his jacket insulating his hands as he poked in the straw into the bright green concoction.

Nothing like Citadel Burger’s Shamrock Shake. Was he being a bad Irishman that he loved them? Probably, but it wasn’t like he was born in Ireland – that was his parent’s problem, and they were dead, so they really didn’t have anything to say on the matter. Until they managed it, he was content to put a hurting on the milkshake as he started to nibble on the straw.

“You’re supposed to use that to drink, you know.” Bo snickered as she started on her first order of nuggets. The first dip of the day was barbeque sauce, or at least it smelled that way. “You look like Fluffytail like that.”

He would’ve stuck out his tongue, but that would’ve been messy. Instead, he just kept drinking his milkshake and swinging his foot that didn’t quite touch the ground. What could he say, the benches were designed for aliens, and he wasn’t exactly designed for playing basketball. It was something he had… mostly… come to accept.

Mostly.

“I won’t bite through this one.” He leaned back to watch the crowd in front of them. Then downside of Alliance life was being absolutely surrounded by humans. Even back on Mindoir, there had been aliens around, even if they had been far less numerous than the space station. It was why he liked coming to the Citadel – it helped remind him they were part of a community. Of course, that community wasn’t all that fond of humans yet, but they were getting there.

Speaking of community… off the distance, Alistair watched a C-SEC agent picked up the pace. He looked rather upset about something, but it wasn’t clear what. Or, rather, it wasn’t until the blast of light knocked them into a bush.

“What the fuck.” Bo shot him a glance as she got up, bringing her nuggets with her. “Was that?”

She didn’t need to finish the sentence – Alistair had felt it too. It was the telltale tingle of human powered biotics, as if their amps were ringing out in response to the activity. More than that, it was uncontrolled as hell. That left only a few options – someone who was clearly about to melt down, or they were a kid who had no idea what they were doing. Neither were circumstances he trusted a C-SEC agent to handle, and from the looks of things he wasn’t alone. So, he picked up his milkshake and followed behind his sister as they headed over.

The officer, a young turian with blue face paint, was groaning in the bush. His armor was a bit scuffed, but he hadn’t sustained any permanent damage. He wasn’t alone either – in front of the bush, a teenager was laying spread eagle, dazed and confused.

“Human cannonball’s a classic… so who launched them?” Alistair glanced from human to turian. Neither looked badly hurt, but they probably had some scrapes that medigel could fix. “Bo, want to go?”

But she was already gone before he could finish the statement, heading off in the direction of a nearby park. That left him alone, shaking his head as he activated his medigel dispenser. Lucky for him, he had just refilled it before getting off the ship.

Medigel – never leave home without it.

“Alright, so who wants medigel?” He glanced towards the turian, who was already starting to come to. “How about you, Officer- “

The turian stood up, wincing a little. “Vakarian. I’m fine, just a little rattled. Some human kids…”

His voice trailed off. One of the human kids was still groaning at his feet, clearly the loser in the fight between the species. Honestly, they were kind of pathetic, laying there in a lump, half hidden by an oversized sweatshirt that was clearly a few sizes too large.

Boy, was that a reminder of his teenage years…

“I think they need this more than you.” Alistair knelt down to assess the patient. “Hey, are you able to focus?”

Green eyes slowly focused on him – good, no concussion. While he was shit at gauging ages, they couldn’t have been older than 17. More than that, the metal jutting out of the back of their neck was new. Most kids that weren’t him got that at puberty and spent time after that practicing so they didn’t blow shit up. Clearly, someone was still in the blowing shit up phase.

So… he’d put them 16 at best.

“Y-yeah…” they groaned, holding their head. “Where…”

Officer Vakarian filled that in for him. “In the Presidium. You know you’re not supposed to use biotics here, Dick.”

He looked around, towards where Bo had run off. “Did Kitty cause it this time?”

Dick and Kitty… well, Alistair was in no position to judge anyone’s names Still, at least the officer knew his would-be patient. That would make getting them back on their feet easier, especially if he had access to their emergency contacts.

He wasn’t really used to using those while people were still alive… so this was going to be a new one for him.

Dick shook his head, and then instantly seemed to regret it as he started to groan. “Maybe? It’s kind of a blur, Officer Vakarian…”

He looked up at Alistair, frowning. “Was it that bad you brought the EMTs in?”

Alistair chuckled as he waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I’m just a passerby. I can fix up your scrapes, though. It doesn’t look like you’ve got a concussion. Still getting used to your biotics, I see.”

He offered his hand, and the boy took it. Much to his quiet relief, Dick was still shorter than him. It was a little petty, but the marine took his small victories when he got them. Besides, the boy would outgrow him in a year or so. They always did.

Maybe he had been kidding about being mostly ok with his height… he was only human.

“Yeah… I got my amp six months ago.” Dick touched the back of his neck, frowning. “How’d you know?”

Before Alistair could answer, his attention was drawn by a flash of pink. Bo had returned, and at her side was another teenager. This one shared Dick’s face and green eyes, but the hair was blue and there was a bandage over their nose. At least they didn’t seem too put off by his sister, though the sight of Officer Vakarian caused them to blanche.

Ah. He knew an instigator when he saw one. Somebody was busted.

“We were totally not in the common area, Officer Vakarian, I swear.” Who he assumed was Kitty held up her scraped hands – yep, those were going to need medigel. “Dick and I were just…”

The turian shook his head. “Just using your biotics outside of a registered practice zone. That’s the third time this week. I left you off the last time, but now I’m going to have to call your parents on this one.”

The two teenagers winced at the thought, and Alistair felt a pang of sympathy. While he hadn’t been as young as them when he’d first gotten his amp, he remembered the early jitters of new biotics and the need to get them working. Of course, he had never launched a C-SEC agent into a bush, but… well, hormones and biotics were tricky.

“What if my sister and I talked to them about it?”

All eyes were suddenly on him – the hopeful gaze of the two would-be criminals, the mildly confused glance of the turian agent, and his sister, looking amused by this. Talk about a tough room to work. At least sweat didn’t bead on his forehead. Maybe he was getting used to public speaking.

And maybe the hanar would get into rodeo. No way he was ever talking in front of people…

“And… what would that do?” Officer Vakarian cocked his head to the side. Most people would take that as instigating, but there wasn’t the tone to his voice. Instead, he sounded curious. Maybe he wanted to see how this would play out.

Smart man – maybe he’d be the lucky one to make it to retirement.

Bo was the one who answered for him. She motioned to her neck, allowing the metal to catch the light. Unlike the two teenagers’, her amp had seen some action. It was scuffed and starting to look a little dull. His probably wasn’t much better, but it wasn’t like he could see it. After all, it was on the back of his fucking head.

“We’re biotics who got past the unintentional blow shit up phase.”

Emphasis in her case on unintentional.

Alistair nodded though, keeping his eye on the turian all the while. “Plus, I think two N7 level marines could give these two a worthy lecture. No need to get their parents in on this, Officer. You’ve probably got a hundred more important things to do, right?”

Nothing like giving someone an out and reminding them of the work piling up to get them off your case. He could practically see the gears churning underneath the face plates and face paint. Just a few more seconds of contemplation…

Officer Vakarian sighed and shook his head. “Try to keep an eye on your sister, Dick. I’ll let you both off with a warning this time since these two are going to vouch for you.”

The twins visibly relaxed at this. Not long after, the turian departed – probably to go write a parking ticket or mess up someone else’s day. This left Alistair and Bo in a weird quasi state of loco parentis that definitely made him sweat a little as he eyed the two teenagers in front of him.

Maybe he should’ve thought this one out better.

“Well, I’m getting back to our food before the Keepers clean it up.” Bo glanced over her shoulders at their new friends. “Follow me if you don’t want to get arrested, squirts.”

Back to the food it was then. Much to Alistair’s relief, the Keepers had left it alone. Of course, that didn’t matter much – there were mild injuries to be treated. More importantly, he realized he was getting a rather dirty look from Kitty as she glanced over at him.

Was it something he said?

At least Dick didn’t seem to mind as he settled into the bench. “Thanks for saving us… I don’t think you said your name.”

“Alistair, and that’s my sister Bo.” She nodded her head at his introduction. “Not a problem. Who wants the medigel first?”

Kitty shot him another dirty look as she tugged at her brother’s sleeve. “Thanks for the save, but not int- “

Contact with her scraped palms was enough to make her hiss. Alistair shook his head as he motioned for her to come over. She fought it briefly, but soon she was seated across from him, holding out her hands as he applied the medigel. Maybe in a few years she would be a proper badass like Bo, but she still had a ways to go. Still, not bad for a 16-year-old, especially one so new to biotics. There was hope for her yet.

“Best to clean these up before they get infected. Biotics mess with heal rates and germs can get trapped underneath the skin.” He motioned to Bo. “Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

Next to him, his sister bristled. “That was ONE time…”

And once was enough for him.

“Yeah, whatever, thanks.” Kitty pulled her healed hands away, almost as if she was burned. “Can we go now? I get enough N7 bullshit at home, I don’t need it from two randos on shore leave.”

She sent him a withering glance. “Especially not from the boy scout over here.”

Well, wasn’t someone a fucking delight…

“Kitty, they’re just being nice…” Dick frowned as he turned towards the pair. “Sorry… we uh… don’t really get along with our dad. He’s N7 too.”

Huh. Now that Alistair was getting a good look at them, something did strike him as vaguely familiar. It wasn’t exact, but he’d sworn he’d seen those eyes somewhere before, it just was hard to put his finger on it. Maybe it had been someone he had been in training with? It was going to drive him nuts… damn name was on the tip of his tongue.

“Most of them are bastards except for me and the boy scout.” Bo, always the fountain of truth. “What’s his name? Maybe we kicked his ass for you once or twice during training.”

At the mention of her father’s ass being kicked, Kitty brightened. “God, I hope so. He’s such an ass… but his name’s Alec Ryder.”

…

Oh, fuck.

Alistair felt his eye twitch as he looked from one teen to the next. He could see it now, in the defiant set of Kitty’s jaw and the pointed accuracy of Dick’s gaze. Normally, he saw those features combined and set into the face of an old man he wanted to blast into a fucking wall. Maybe the outright lack of assholeism was enough to make him temporarily forget the face of the man he hated more than anyone else.

Who the hell had taste bad enough to marry Alec Ryder, and where could he send his condolences?

“That asshole is your dad?” Bo snorted. “Al, I think you just found someone to beat you in the shittiest father competition.”

Oh, how he wanted to agree… but was it wrong to badmouth a father in front of his children like this?

Dick must’ve been a mind reader, because he smiled awkwardly. “It’s ok if you don’t like him, we think he’s an asshole too.”

“Oh, thank God…” Alistair sighed in relief. “I didn’t want to talk badly about him in front of you if you liked him.”

So sue him, he didn’t exactly put much stock in father-child relationships. After all, his fucking sucked. Judging from the looks on the twins’ faces, they knew exactly how he felt. And how could they not – they had Alec fucking Ryder for a father. The man was a blowhard douchebag on a good day; Alistair didn’t even want to think of what he might be like at home. His poor wife…

Nah, he was definitely divorced. No way anyone stayed married to that man for long.

“Well, at least we know other Alliance people hate him. Guess that means we’re not crazy.” Kitty seemed visibly cheered by this as she grabbed for one of Alistair’s fries – he let her; she was a growing biotic. “So, what about that little lecture you were planning? Can we skip it if we promise never to do it again and don’t cross our fingers this time?”

At that, Alistair shook his head. “No, we do need to talk about that. You got lucky this time because your strike was off. Full force could’ve really hurt Officer Vakarian or your brother.”

Dick’s head picked up very slightly at that – and as the pieces fell into place, his heart went out to him. Kitty on the other hand just looked mildly annoyed at the assessment of her aim as she stole some more fries. Lucky for him, he’d gotten extra.

“I didn’t even dent his armor…”

Bo snorted. “Not with a strike that weak. If you really want to put some force into it, you need to generate a little spin before you strike. It makes it hit harder.”

“It does?”

Oh, no. He could see where this one was going… best to nip it in the bud before Officer Vakarian got launched out the airlock with their next practice attempt.

“You need better control before you attempt something like that.” He sipped absent-mindedly at his milkshake. “And better separation of your attack styles. That felt like a half warp, half singularity to me. I would focus on getting each move down first.”

It was an argument that often fell on deaf ears, especially if they belonged to teenagers. He could just tell from the look on Kitty’s face that the kind of practice he was suggesting would bore her to tears. On the bright side, at least her brother looked interested. Dick actually had his omni-tool out and was honest-to-God taking notes.

Kid like that was an ego boost and a half… talk about having a favorite.

“That works fine for defense, but if you’re interested in front line assault, you need power. Sometimes it come down to who can hit harder.” Bo cracked her knuckles for emphasis. “I’d start lifting weights honestly.”

He shot her a look over his milkshake. “You’re going to turn them into berserkers, Bo.”

“What, it’s a valid strategy. You teach yours your way, I’ll handle mine.” Bo motioned for Kitty to get closer. “Now… the key to a good smack…”

Alistair was left groaning as he gave up – he knew a lost cause when he saw one. At least there would always be a future for them in destruction. On the bright side, he still had an attentive pupil, eager for more information. He could work with that.

“Well, since they’ve decided to go blunt force, we could discuss defensive maneuvers…”

“Sure, sounds good!”

Music to his ears… now, where to start?

---

“Thanks, Bo! I’ll let you know how the weightlifting goes!”

Kitty’s voice carried over the Presidium as she and her brother waved goodbye. Apparently, it was time for them to go home for dinner. This left their two impromptu instructors standing by the fountain, watching them go.

They were good kids, if a little green.

“Kid’s going to be killer when she gets older.” Bo chuckled, clearly pleased. “How about yours? We got another brick wall in the making?”

Alistair nodded as he worked to clean up their trash. “Dick has promise if he works on controlling his barriers. The new amps are great for fine motor skills. I can’t wait to see what they come up with as their hormone levels even out.”

With any luck, he wouldn’t see either of them in the Alliance anytime soon. As much as he appreciated them helping to keep his brain for overheating, the last thing he wanted was for a young biotic to think their only option was the military. Things were getting better now, or at least better than they had been when he was their age. Maybe with luck, they’d avoid it altogether.

That was at least his hope for them.

“Kitty said she’s going to send me some vids when she makes progress. She’ll probably slide the string bean in there too.” The sight of the clock in the nearby square caused Bo to wince. “Shit, it’s really that late? We were talking to those kids for two hours…”

No wonder his throat hurt so much…

“Guess we just got excited.” The pair started walking back to where they were staying, plans still on their mind for tomorrow. “Though, hard to believe they’re Alec Ryder’s kids.”

Bo snorted at that. “Yeah, they’re actually hu- “

She stopped, and then started to snicker. “Damn… can’t believe I didn’t pick that up until now.”

Alistair cocked his eyebrow as he watched his sister chuckle. If there was a joke, he wasn’t getting it. Of course, maybe he was just tired from the explanations. Either way, it be nice if she let him in sometime.

“What?”

“Their names are Dick and Kitty Ryder.” Another snicker. “Dick Ryder, come on…”

…

“Come on, Al, you know you’d have gone there too if you were in his shoes. Don’t hate cause the kid picked a better name than you did.”

He wasn’t hating… he was appreciating the balls it took to run with the joke all the way to legal documents. There was a difference.

“I would’ve gone with Knight or Ghost personally, but we all know my opinions on riding dick.” It was a miracle he kept a straight face at that.

“He had to, you already got Kitty Ryder. Gotta complete the set after all.”

Bo was grinning like the cat that ate the canary, and honestly, he wasn’t doing much better if the shake of his shoulders was anything to go by. At least he managed to keep walking, though a thousand jokes were still bubbling up with every step he took. He pushed them down – didn’t want to overdo it after all.

“Come on, let’s get back before we find some more biotic children to mentor. I want to watch Forensic Files VI tonight.”

“Ugh, you always want to watch Forensic Files…”

What, it was like the only thing available in like every system. So sue him.

Still, Alistair got a good feeling about the future as he walked with Bo by his side. If the new generation of biotics were like the pair in the park, maybe things would turn out better. Hell, maybe one day he’d hear about the Ryder twins making their own history.

Of course, that was for another day.  At the moment, he had more pressing matters in mind – like beating Bo back so he could wrestle away control of the remote for a few hours. That was a fight he was willing to go to the death on.

Ah, nothing like shore leave. Why wasn’t it always this enlightening?

[somegirlsnerdywords2]

Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a N (Part 2)!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Net-juu no Susume  (Recovery of an MMO Junkie):

Genres: Game, Comedy, Romance, ONA 

Synopsis:  For the first time since graduating high school, 30-year-old Moriko Morioka is unemployed—and she couldn't be happier. Having quit her long-standing job of over 11 years, Moriko quickly turns to online games to pass her now-plentiful free time, reinventing herself as the handsome and dashing male hero "Hayashi" in the MMO Fruits de Mer. With the pesky societal obligations of the real world out of the way, she blissfully dives headfirst into the realm of the game, where she promptly meets the kind and adorable healer Lily. Befriending each other almost instantly, the two become inseparable just as Moriko herself becomes more and more engrossed in her new "life" as Hayashi. Eventually, Moriko adopts the reclusive lifestyle in its entirety, venturing out from the safety of her apartment only when absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Moriko, a timid 28-year-old corporate worker named Yuuta Sakurai has also logged onto Fruits de Mer from the other side of town. Coincidentally bumping into each other at the convenience store one night, both write off their meeting as no more than just another awkward encounter with a stranger—however, fate has more in store for them than they think. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 10 episodes

My Thoughts: The male lead wears glasses! In case that’s something anyone but me cares about... Aside from that I can’t remember much about this one which is never a sign of an amazing anime so it’s up to you friends! Will you watch it or leave it?! 

Nijiiro Days:

Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, TV Short, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Synopsis:  Nijiiro Days follows the colorful lives and romantic relationships of four high school boys—Natsuki Hashiba, a dreamer with delusions of love; Tomoya Matsunaga, a narcissistic playboy who has multiple girlfriends; Keiichi Katakura, a kinky sadist who always carries a whip; and Tsuyoshi Naoe, an otaku who has a cosplaying girlfriend. When his girlfriend unceremoniously dumps him on Christmas Eve, Natsuki breaks down in tears in the middle of the street and is offered tissues by a girl in a Santa Claus suit. He instantly falls in love with this girl, Anna Kobayakawa, who fortunately attends the same school as him. Natsuki's pursuit of Anna should have been simple and uneventful; however, much to his dismay, his nosy friends constantly meddle in his relationship, as they strive to succeed in their own endeavors of love. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 24 episodes. Each episode running about 13 minutes in length. 

My Thoughts: Love the manga, which I keep meaning to finish because it is a completed title... and I should probably finish it before manga gets even harder to find online with the way things are currently going... 

Anywho, the anime! Pretty good. The episodes are about half that of a normal anime but you have a 24 episode count so it’s basically the same as having a 12 episodes run with the usual running time!  I’d watch it is you want more content after the manga, but keep in mind that the anime does not cover the entirety of the manga! 

No Game No Life:

Genres: Game, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi, Fantasy

Synopsis:  No Game No Life is a surreal comedy that follows Sora and Shiro, shut-in NEET siblings and the online gamer duo behind the legendary username "Blank." They view the real world as just another lousy game; however, a strange e-mail challenging them to a chess match changes everything—the brother and sister are plunged into an otherworldly realm where they meet Tet, the God of Games. The mysterious god welcomes Sora and Shiro to Disboard, a world where all forms of conflict—from petty squabbles to the fate of whole countries—are settled not through war, but by way of high-stake games. This system works thanks to a fundamental rule wherein each party must wager something they deem to be of equal value to the other party's wager. In this strange land where the very idea of humanity is reduced to child's play, the indifferent genius gamer duo of Sora and Shiro have finally found a real reason to keep playing games: to unite the sixteen races of Disboard, defeat Tet, and become the gods of this new, gaming-is-everything world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes. 

My Thoughts: I have a laundry list of things i’m meaning to watch, read or do. Watching the No Game No Life movie on Netflix is one of those things. Anyways! I recall this one being alright, nice art/ animation/ character design and an interesting premise but too short and underdeveloped. One of those animes that may have benefited greatly from a longer run or second season. 

No.6:

Genres: Action, Sci-fi, Mystery, Drama

Synopsis:  Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2011 with a total of 11 episodes. 

My Thoughts: Just read the manga and watch this as extra, I can’t remember if the anime covered the entirety of the manga’s story but either way check out that source material first! The manga series is also completed which is a huge bonus. High point: The relationship between the two leads. 

Noragami:

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen

Synopsis: In times of need, if you look in the right place, you just may see a strange telephone number scrawled in red. If you call this number, you will hear a young man introduce himself as the Yato God. Yato is a minor deity and a self-proclaimed "Delivery God," who dreams of having millions of worshippers. Without a single shrine dedicated to his name, however, his goals are far from being realized. He spends his days doing odd jobs for five yen apiece, until his weapon partner becomes fed up with her useless master and deserts him. Just as things seem to be looking grim for the god, his fortune changes when a middle school girl, Hiyori Iki, supposedly saves Yato from a car accident, taking the hit for him. Remarkably, she survives, but the event has caused her soul to become loose and hence able to leave her body. Hiyori demands that Yato return her to normal, but upon learning that he needs a new partner to do so, reluctantly agrees to help him find one. And with Hiyori's help, Yato's luck may finally be turning around.

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes. 

My Thoughts: Yes! Watch it! Love it! And also read it. Big downside: The updates for this manga are slow and the story is unfinished obviously. Upside: Two whole seasons of anime goodness, and if we’re really lucky we’ll eventually get another? Ok maybe not... but a girl can dream! Also this anime has one of my all time favourite opening themes! Amazing! 

Noragami Aragoto:

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen

Synopsis:  Yato and Yukine have finally mended their relationship as god and Regalia, and everyone has returned to their daily life. Yato remains a minor and unknown deity who continues taking odd jobs for five yen apiece in the hopes of one day having millions of worshippers and his own grand shrine. Hiyori Iki has yet to have her loose soul fixed by Yato, but she enjoys life and prepares to attend high school nonetheless. Taking place immediately after the first season, Noragami Aragoto delves into the complicated past between Yato and the god of war Bishamon. The female god holds a mysterious grudge against Yato, which often results in violent clashes between them. It doesn't help that Bishamon's most trusted and beloved Regalia, Kazuma, appears to be indebted to Yato. When lives are on the line, unraveling these mysteries and others may be the only way to correct past mistakes. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 13 episodes. 

My Thoughts: Another amazing opening theme! Seriously this series really knew how to pick them! Also have crushes on a solid chunk of the cast... so there’s that. 

[picturebookmakers]

Johanna Schaible

In this post, Johanna talks about her incredible debut picturebook ‘Once upon a time there was and will be so much more’. In the first dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase in 2019, this project was voted for by 23 of the 30 publishers on the jury, acquired by Lilla Piratförlaget, and then published as a co-edition in nine languages.

Visit Johanna Schaible’s website

Johanna: I will tell you about my picturebook ‘Once upon a time there was and will be so much more’. It takes us on a journey through time. The book begins in the distant past, catches up to the present halfway through, and then leads us with questions into the future.

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs lived on Earth.

One hundred years ago, a journey took a long time.

A month ago, it was still autumnn.

What will the weekend bring?

Will you have children one day?

The time is depicted in a special way. If you open the book in the middle it looks like this:

The pages of the book become smaller as we draw closer to the present and grow larger again as we move into the future.

This is one of the first dummy books I made.

Back then, it was hard to believe that this would turn into a real book one day. For a long time, I heard from the publishing world that it is very difficult to produce a book like this and it would be even harder, if not impossible, to find a publisher who would take the risk, effort and cost to produce it. It took some time, but here it is!

The book’s journey started with Bolo Klub, which was founded several years ago by the Swiss illustration duo It’s Raining Elephants. Bolo Klub supports illustrators in completing a picturebook, and provides networking opportunities with professionals from the publishing world. I had the chance to take part in the first edition from 2018–2019. We were a wonderful group of fifteen illustrators that came together once a month to push our book projects forward, and to benefit from each other’s feedback.

Photograph by E.Ettlin.

I do a lot of projects moving between art and illustration. To make a picturebook sounded very challenging to me, especially because I rarely work on narrative.

I always keep a logbook where I write about the project I‘m working on, including the inspiration and input I receive. This is the logbook from the meetings with the Bolo Klub.

From the beginning, I was attracted by books with exciting formats, and I wasn’t up for creating a regular one. I didn’t want a main character, and my starting points were thematically very open and global. My keywords, for example, were ‘night’, ‘air’ and ‘time’.

With the aim to really make progress on our projects, we spent a working weekend together. Besides the working, it was so enriching to exchange thoughts and ideas. In a creative process, we all face similar challenges.

Photograph by E.Ettlin.

I was working on two ideas: The first idea was a zoom, starting far away and coming in close to one child. The second idea was a dummy book with the topic ‘time’. Combining the two ideas was the turning point, and I had finally found the theme and concept I was looking for.

Photograph by E.Ettlin.

I often work with collage and painting for my illustrations. I also do my sketches using this technique because I want to see the atmosphere of an image and idea straight away.

To start with, I made some little sketches the size of postcards. In this case I work more roughly, and I appreciate the liveliness that inhabits these sketches. I feel comfortable working quite fast. It helps me to develop the images intuitively.

Photograph by E.Ettlin.

I made a lot of little dummy books to observe what happened while turning the pages. I had to find simple sentences that gave the timeline and structure to the book.

Alongside the development of a coherent journey through time, I had to think about the feasibility of my idea. When I did my little dummy books, they were very imprecise. It was only when I started to measure the pages and make examples of the real book size that I realised that my pages didn’t just get smaller, but their format changed completely.

This became one of the most important pages for me in the logbook: the one with the measurements of each image.

The format changes from a more common picturebook size...

... to a wide panorama format, and then back again.

To be sure about the size, it helped me to use frames that I put over my collages, to be able to change and move elements until the end.

With the Bolo Klub and my dummy book, I travelled to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2019.

Photograph by E.Ettlin.

In Bologna, some publishers told me they were interested. But I never heard from them again. One publisher seemed particularly interested, but didn’t propose me a contract at that time.

It was another call that boosted this project. I sent my dummy book to the first edition of the dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase in 2019, and was thrilled when I heard that 23 of the 30 publishers on the jury voted independently for my project. It made me very happy because it showed me that, even if that didn’t mean that they would publish it, my book was touching them in some way.

Frankfurt Book Fair 2019 photographs by Theodore Bauthier (@b.c.theodore).

It was also through The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase that my book project found the publisher that accepted the big challenge of making it a reality. I was very lucky with my Swedish editor Erik Titusson from Lilla Piratförlaget, and Sam McCullen from dPICTUS / Picturebook Makers on the graphic design. In our collaboration, I felt a big trust in me and my work.

My creative process for this project was similar to how it very often is for me: Some pictures came easily and stayed very close to the original sketch...

But for some of the other pictures, I had to do them over and over again until they felt right to me.

With my technique of mixing painting and cutouts, I really like to develop sceneries and creating atmospheres. To show humans inhabiting these scenes was a challenge in the beginning. It became easier after I decided to paint the figures at a larger size. For some images I made the whole setting first. Then I cut out the figures and inserted them digitally.

Whenever I got stuck, it helped to go outside and take photos of the daily life around me.

This, for example, is a house in the old part of Bern, which inspired me for the following image.

To make this book was a precious experience to me. The companionship and support from the Bolo Klub was very helpful and enriching. On this journey, I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of inspiring people who shared their knowledge and offered me their help. I‘m so thankful to all of them, and especially to my closest allies and friends who support me in all of my projects.

I hope that this book will offer to people of all ages the possibility to talk about what kind of future we imagine and want to build together.

Illustrations © Johanna Schaible. Post edited by dPICTUS.

Buy this picturebook

Det var en gång och blir så mycket mer / Once upon a time there was and will be so much more

Johanna Schaible

Lilla Piratförlaget, Sweden, 2021

Billions of years ago, land took shape. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, people built some very large things. A month ago, it was still autumn. Where will you be in an hour? How will you celebrate your birthday next year? What will impress you forever? What do you wish for the future?

This book takes us on a journey through time. It begins in the distant past, catches up to the present halfway through, and then leads us with its questions into the future. Both the fleeting present and the enormity of time are depicted in a truly unique way: the pages of the book become smaller as we draw closer to the present, only to grow larger again as we move into the future.

Swedish: Lilla Piratförlaget

English: Candlewick Press (late 2021)

Italian: Orecchio Acerbo

German: Carl Hanser Verlag

Portuguese: Planeta Tangerina

Spanish: Leetra (Mexico)

Danish: Turbine

Greek: Martis

Korean: LOGpress

[iamtrebleclefstories]

Part 2 - Where You Find Out When You Kiss

I Was Made for Loving You - Part 2

Soulmate AU series of unrelated one-shots where Jo and Alex discover that they are made for each other.

.....

Also, I know I’m super late but... this is my first submission for TS x Jolex week!!

This ain’t for the best

My reputation’s never been worse so

You must like me for me

Is it chill that you’re in my head...?

Is it cool that I said all that...?

Is it too soon to do this yet...?

He was an idiot. He was in love with her but he took too long and lost her. And now she wanted nothing to do with him. It was hard. Going from being someone’s best friend to avoiding them so that he didn’t do something completely stupid and tell her that he was in love with her.

It would’ve been easier if he would’ve just slept with her from the beginning. If he would’ve just kissed her at Bailey’s wedding while they were drunk and trashing strangers’ hotel rooms. Because at least he would’ve known. He would’ve gotten it out of his system. Because that’s how you find out if someone is your soulmate. After you kiss. They say there’s this magical moment where both parties just know, and from then on it’s physically painful to be apart. You’re connected on every level. Every atom in your body is now attuned to the one you were designed for.

He’s kissed many women—too many women, depending on who you ask. He’s never felt that before. Not with Rebecca, not with Lucy, or Lexie, or even Izzie—who he had married for God’s sake. The fact of the matter was, that finding your soulmate was so rare, that you could kiss and sleep with dozens of people just like he did, and still find yourself utterly alone. He didn’t know many people that were with their soulmates. Just a few lucky couples that, were made for each other in every sense of the word. Meredith and Derek. Bailey and Ben. Mark and Lexie. Callie and Arizona.

It didn’t mean that these couples were perfect. They experienced pain and loss and heartbreak just like everyone else. But something was different about them. At the end of the day, no matter how much they tried to stay apart, the universe kept pulling them back together. It was different from a life mate. A life mate, you can walk away from. He did it. He divorced Izzie and was able to walk away a better man than before. It hurt, but it wasn’t unbearable. He didn’t feel this need to seek her out. Soulmates on the other hand, try and try to stay away from each other but keep coming back. No matter how bad that person may have hurt you, you forgive them. Because even a messy life with your soulmate is better than a life without them at all.

So he wished he would have kissed her from the beginning, because then he would know. Then he could get over her. A small part of him hoped that maybe she’d be it. She was the first person who understood him and cared for him without wanting to change anything. Sure, he had Mer and Cristina, but that was different. They had been through hell and back together. There were moments where they hated each other. Jo was different. He knew from the minute he sat down with her at the bar and she taught him how to fake cry that she would be special. Maybe she’d be the one. Maybe she would be his match.

But another part of him, the larger part, hoped she wasn’t. Not because he didn’t want her or didn’t love her. God knows he wanted her. He fell in love with his friend before he ever had a chance to complicate it or mess it up with something like a hook-up. That in itself was significant. Never in his life had he told a woman he loved her before he slept with her. Never in his life had he told a woman he loved her before they were even in a relationship. So the problem wasn’t that he didn’t want her. The problem was that he did. Him. The guy who screwed up every good thing in his life. The guy who screwed up every good person in his life. He didn’t want that to happen to her. He didn’t want to be the reason that she ended up more messed up than she already was. So as wonderful as it would be to be loved by her, he would resign himself to admiring from afar if that meant she got to live a happy life free of his baggage.

And he just pretty much ensured that he would be watching from afar. In retrospect, it really wasn’t his place to speak to Peckwell about her past. But honestly, he thought that if you liked someone enough that you were moving in with them, you would trust them enough to tell them about your past. He messed up yet another important relationship by not being able to keep his mouth shut. She didn’t want to talk to him or have him getting involved in her business so when he saw them arguing at the hospital on his way out with Jackson, he kept walking.

For the first time in a long time, he actually considered picking up some random chick at the bar. He hadn’t noticed but it had been months since he had sex. The last time he hooked up with someone was sometime around four months ago, before Cahill decided to try to liquidate the hospital. That was also before he realized he actually had feelings for Jo. Come to think of it, he hadn’t been with anyone since the day they took in the hit and run kid. The day that Jo surprised him in the storage closet with powdered sugar donuts and he started to fall for her. Things shifted that day. Sleeping around didn’t seem as important as it did before. Sex for the sake of satisfaction wasn’t as appealing anymore.

That was significant for him. Even when he was with someone he looked at other women. He’d cheated before. He wasn’t proud of it, but he had done it. He had done it to Izzie with that nurse Olivia. He wasn’t above that. He wasn’t a moral guy. Sure, he could be exclusive, but it wasn’t what he looked for. Hook ups were easier. Relationships were messy. So it kind of blew his mind that he hadn’t slept with anyone since falling for Jo. The thought of sleeping with someone who wasn’t her didn’t even seem appealing anymore. All he could do was compare every woman he met to the woman who had become the center of his affections. And that sucked because as much as he wanted and loved her, she didn’t want to speak to him because he was messing things up with her boyfriend.

He almost went through with a hook up at the bar. Talked a girl up for a minute and was about to ask her to come home with him when she mentioned that she was from Boston, and he decided the only girl he wanted that was from Boston was Jo. So, he finished his drinks with Jackson and decided to head home. The drive there was uneventful and quiet, a nice change from the usually busy roads that are characteristic of Seattle. He parked in his driveway and made his way up the porch to the front door when he saw a figure sitting on the swing.

He sighed, “Oh man, you’re killing me. I’m trying to leave you alone. I’m trying to get out of your life, but you’re everywhere. And now you show up here to tell me the same thing. Well, guess what...”

He stopped in his tracks when she lifted her head, exposing her bruised face. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, “Can I stay here? Please.”

He could’ve sworn his heart stopped in that moment. It felt like someone punched him in the gut. Seeing Jo like this wasn’t natural. Jo was strong. Jo was tough. Jo was nothing if not caring, and she didn’t deserve to be treated as anything less than priceless. It took him a second to process her words, but once he did, he was operating on autopilot. He doesn’t remember how he got her up from the porch and inside the house. He doesn’t remember taking her up the stairs or having her sit down on the bed or going to get some ice for her face. All he could focus on was the fact that her douche bag boyfriend hit her.

It made his blood boil. He was angry that a guy would ever think it was okay to hit his girlfriend. He was angry that someone would ever lay a hand on Jo. Jo. This woman that he was completely in love with but too scared to tell because like he said before, he always screwed himself out of everything good. Someone hurt her. Peckwell hurt her. He wasn’t going to stand for that. He tucked her into his bed and made his way down the stairs and out the door to confront Myers.

*****

To say he wasn’t expecting to find Peckwell in the condition he found him in was an understatement. The guy had been beaten half to death and was gonna have quite the recovery. Thankfully though, he wasn’t going to press charges. Shepherd may not have liked the fact that Alex threatened him, but he didn’t see anything wrong with what he had done. He felt good about it, because he was protecting Jo. He meant what he said to her when he got back to his house that night before the tree crashed into his living room. Peckwell might be dead if Jo hadn’t gotten to him first.

Part of him cursed the tree in his living room, while the other one felt like he had been saved by the bell. As he stood in the NICU watching Jo teach parents how to bag their babies, he shook his head and tried to focus on his best friend’s baby so that he wouldn’t do something stupid, like say, “I love you.”

Some hours passed and finally the NICU generators turned on. The babies were hooked back onto the ventilators and everyone took a sigh of relief, knowing that everything was going to be just fine. He did his rounds on the infants and proceeded to go check on some of his older patients as well. After some time of that, he decided to go look for Jo. He hadn’t seen her in the last hour since the generators turned on. He found her staring out the window of one of the storage closets that still seemed to be lacking sufficient electricity. He walked up next to her and stood there in silence.

“This place looks so different in the dark,” she exhaled, rubbing her hands together nervously.

“Yeah,” he agreed. There was a short pause where he could feel the discomfort and awkwardness radiating from the two of them. “You think the tree ruined my couch?”

His question seemed to have the desired effect because Jo let out a laugh, “I think it ruined your entire living room.”

“Listen, I have to tell you something.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say,” He retorted.

“I think I do and you shouldn’t,” she turned to face him, pleading with her eyes.

“Jo...”

“I’ll mess it up, Alex,” she shook her head, voice cracking slightly. “I mess everything good in my life up and we work as friends really well and... I don’t want to mess that up.”

“You won’t mess anything up,” he assured her. “Last night before the tree, you asked me a question. You wanted to hear me say the words, so I’m... saying them. Right now...”

She watched him open and close his mouth dumbly, no words coming out, ��I don’t hear anything.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay but...”

“I’m serious.”

“Fine.”

“I love you,” he stated with such certainty that she would never be able to question the sentiment. Her face broke out into a smile and his heart began to pound heavily. He didn’t hesitate in bringing her into his arms and finally kissing her.

He knew it instantly. In that moment, he knew exactly why every relationship he had ever been in never worked out. He knew exactly why he could never be his complete and authentic self with anyone else. He knew exactly why he couldn’t get help but love this woman. He knew exactly why he couldn’t get her out of his head. He knew exactly why he had to go through everything that he went through to reach this specific moment in his life.

Kissing Jo was like having a spiritual experience. And in a sense, it was. She was his soulmate, without a shadow of a doubt. She was the part of him that was missing all along. She was the one he had been waiting for all of his life. And now he had her, and she had him. That was everything.

Immersed in the moment and fueled by the small whimpers coming out of her, he deepened the kiss, hoping to express everything he was feeling. He’s sure she felt it too, because she kissed him back with just as much fervor and desire. When they finally broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. Opening his eyes, he looked to see her staring back him with the most tender look on her face. He gave her the tiniest smile, which sent her into a fit of giggles.

Taking a deep breath she opened her mouth to speak, “Woah.”

He chuckled and kissed her cheek softly, “Yeah.”

Her hands cupped his face and she rubbed her nose against his, “I can’t believe it’s you. I never thought I’d meet you. I thought I was too messed up.”

“If you think you’re too messed up, you obviously haven’t been paying attention to my life,” he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes at him, “Oh shush. I’m serious... I wanted it to be you, but I was scared. I was scared that I’d be wrong and that I’d be left alone, all over again.”

“Me too,” Alex admitted. “I was scared to try this and not be enough.”

“You’re more than enough, Alex. You’re everything.”

So this is what it was like to be with the right person. The irony dawned on him as his caressed her face and leaned in to kiss her again. His ex-wife had once told him that he wasn’t good enough and left him even when he had poured his heart and soul into being the person she wanted him to be. But Jo, oh Jo... she loved him for exactly who he was. For all the mess and crazy. For all the faults and less than stellar parts of his personality. And she never once made him feel like he couldn’t accomplish whatever he set his mind to. This is what it was like to have a partner in every sense of the word.

He’d be content to stay there forever, but the moment was cut short when his pager went off, signifying that one of his post-op kids needed attention. They broke apart and he let out a small groan, “I’m sorry. Mikey Nelson’s got some complications. I’ve got to go.”

“It’s okay, I should probably get back to the NICU and help Dr. Robbins prepare the nurses and doctors coming in for this shift,” she gave him a quick peck as straightened her scrubs. “But that shouldn’t take long so... meet me in an on-call room in an hour?”

His face broke out into a large smirk, “Oh... I’ll be there.”

God he really loved this woman.

[the-odd-job]

When the Waves Come Crashing Over Us - Chapter 1: Breaking

Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: None Category: General Fandom: Transformers > Merformers Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker Relationships: Sideswipe & Sunstreaker Additional Tags: Captive Mers, Free Mers, Aquariums, Escape, Aliens, Alien Planet, Humans, Injuries, Captivity Words for Chapter: 5821

Back to where the skies will ever take me Down here in this prison I'll be breaking Far from here there is a place where I belong Now I'll be returning home

—Xandria - Stardust

(Follows this)

“Are we sure about this?” Sideswipe whispered as the lights began to dim. The humans would be gone soon, and then…

Then.

“We are,” Sunstreaker responded vehemently, swimming their usual circle by his side.

And Sideswipe wished he had all of his brother’s certainty. Because Sideswipe, he wasn’t so sure about this.

Six years. For six years this tank and the room it was in had been all they knew. There was the one window they could see through to what was outside of their tank in that direction—a wide hallway the humans traversed, and beyond it, more tanks with other creatures in them. Smaller creatures.

They were the only big ones they’d ever seen.

On the opposite side of the tank was the platform the humans always called them to. There were three doors on the wall behind it: two double doors and one lonely one. They knew what was behind those, to an extent. Two led to storage areas. Nothing interesting, it was just where the humans pulled equipment from.

But the double doors in the middle… There was something more behind it. When even one of the doors was open, you could see another set of double doors on the far side of the room.

It was what the humans used to come to their tank.

There was something beyond it. Something more.

More than just the tank and the platform. 

More. There had been more, once upon a time. Before they were yearlings, there had been more.

But that was such a long time ago. Six years. 

Sideswipe wasn’t even sure how much he trusted those memories. There had been the sea. Endless in all directions. No walls. Never walls. Waves, currents… They moved you even when you weren’t moving, made you work to stay in position.

There wasn’t this… Stillness. The water in the tank didn’t move.

And… There had been carrier. Taking care of them, coaching them on how to survive in the wide open ocean. Teaching them about the dangers while letting them frolick their young hearts out under the safety of their pod’s watchful eyes.

There had been so much to learn. So much to do.

So much to live for.

And then it had all been stripped from them. All of it. Their pod, their carrier, the ocean.

Their freedom, their joy.

Replaced with… This.  

Sideswipe had a look around the tank as they swam. This was their home. Four solid walls defined the boundaries of it, tiled. Blue. Same for the floor. There was the platform, the only way out of the pool. Not that they really wanted to get out of it.

Well… They didn’t want to get out of it just to get on the platform instead, where they were on land, slow and defenseless and uncomfortable.

But maybe they wanted to get out for something more.

And there was the window. Aside from the doors, that was their only glimpse to the outside world. And it wasn’t really outside, just a different part of the same building. 

But it was outside of their tank.

And Sideswipe? He hadn’t been outside of it in six years.

Maybe it was different for Sunstreaker because he had been moved every now and then to the second tank that was… Somewhere in the building too. They didn’t know where, but there it was. Sunstreaker had been out of this tank.

Maybe that gave him more courage than what Sideswipe had. Or maybe Sunstreaker just was that much braver. He had always been… Bolder wasn’t necessarily the right word.

Dauntless. Sunstreaker was dauntless. Even if he felt fear, he didn’t let it slow him down. He wouldn’t let it control his actions.

Sideswipe couldn’t say the same about himself. He wasn’t a coward either, but he didn’t have the unyielding confidence in himself that Sunstreaker carried. Sunstreaker knew he could survive through anything, so there was nothing he needed to fear too much.

Sideswipe was pretty sure there were a lot of things he would struggle to pull through. He wasn’t Sunstreaker.

But that had always been alright, because they were together, and Sunstreaker was there for him. Like he was now. Sideswipe could feel Sunstreaker’s certainty practically oozing from him, saturating the water around them and building some steel in Sideswipe’s own floundering heart.

This had been it. For six years. Six years they’d dreamed of the ocean they’d been taken from, unable to return but yearning all the same.

Always yearning.

And now… They were on the threshold of trying to fulfill their dreams.

All or nothing. This was their chance. If they failed…

Sideswipe wasn’t sure what would happen if they failed. He didn’t want to think about it. Sunstreaker had said they wouldn’t fail. They really couldn’t afford to, Sideswipe could agree on that much.

If they succeeded? That thought was equally scary if you asked him.

Six years. They’d been so young. How well did their memories even hold up after all this time? How much had time gilded them?

“Sunny, I…” Sideswipe started, slowing down until he had stopped entirely. Sunstreaker continued a few paces ahead before stopping too, and turning around to look at him. His face was blank, but even so Sideswipe could already tell Sunstreaker knew what he was about to say.

He’d said it so many times.

The lights were almost to their lowest setting.

It was almost time.

And… “I’m scared,” he admitted in a voice small enough that he wasn’t sure if it would even carry to Sunstreaker. Sideswipe hung his head and wrapped his arms around himself.

Six years.

Sunstreaker might have heard after all, because he backtracked over to him and wrapped his arms around him. Sideswipe leaned against his chest, burying his face into the crook of his neck.

“I know,” his brother said. “But this’ll be worth it. I promise.”

And Sideswipe wanted to believe that. So bad.

“We don’t belong here,” Sunstreaker continued. “No matter what they’ve drilled into our heads. We don’t belong here. There’s more out there. You remember, right?” Sunstreaker’s voice slowly lowered until it was nothing but a soothing murmur in his ear. “This isn’t all there is.”

“I remember,” Sideswipe whispered back. He did.

And he didn’t want this to be all there was, either. Knew it wasn’t.

He just… Wasn’t sure it would be worth it. It wasn’t… So bad here. They were fed, and they were safe.

What did they have to do in return? Swim around looking pretty? Do some tricks they were rewarded for in treats? Let the humans touch and handle them? Entertain them?

It could be worse.

But it was so boring. There was so little to do. Nothing to explore, just the same tank with its four tiled walls, and the platform. That was the beginning and the end of their entire living space. 

Versus what they would’ve had if they were out there. Out there there were no limits whatsoever, no beginning and no end to where they could go.

Everywhere. They could’ve gone anywhere, everywhere.

And the humans?

They had to put up with so much in here. From their first day here. 

No food, except from them.  

He’d been too terrified to leave the very bottom of the tank for a week straight. Sunstreaker hadn’t been much better.

After that first week hunger had finally won over, and one of the many times the humans came to offer them fish, he had given in and went over to snatch it from them as quickly as he could before returning to the bottom of the tank to share it with Sunstreaker.

They didn’t like that he did that. They let him do it for a few days, then they’d upped the difficulty. They hadn’t just let go of the fish, but held it at the end of their stupid stick. He hadn’t been able to return anything to Sunstreaker like that, when he needed to stay there just to get pieces off of the only food they were offered.

Sunstreaker had been headstrong and stubborn and he’d gone three more days without any food before the hunger had gotten too much even for him.

And once they were both fetching their food from the humans, they’d only made it harder and harder to earn. First came the platform. Come out of the water or no food for you.

That had been relatively easy.

But the touching began after that. Just… Petting, and if you got spooked and went back to the water, well, no food for you.

He could still remember the way his heart had been hammering as he tried to finish the fish as quickly as he could to get away from their hands.

That was when Sunstreaker had started to act out too. He hadn’t wanted the touching either, but he hadn’t been too afraid to do something about.

He’d snapped and lashed out when they tried to touch him. A few times there had been blood. The humans had gotten careful with him, but they hadn’t… Stopped.  

No cooperation, no food.

Sideswipe had cooperated. The alternative was to go hungry, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

It was worse than putting up with them touching him more and more. Everywhere on his body, until he wasn’t afraid of what they were going to do anymore.

Just angry. But he didn’t act on it like Sunstreaker did.

Because you didn’t get food if you acted out.

Eventually Sunstreaker had given in too, the hunger getting too much for him to bear. The humans continued to be careful with him, but he didn’t do as much anymore.

Once they were fine with the touching, came the orders. A sound the humans made that designated an action they were supposed to carry out.

No food if you didn’t do it.

And it had grown, and grown, until they’d given up and accepted the only way to get food was to do whatever the humans asked. Sunstreaker had gotten so angry, and sometimes the humans got to feel it, but there was still fear, deep caution behind it all too.

The humans had killed their carrier. What would’ve stopped them from killing them too, if they became too much trouble?

So they didn’t become too much trouble, no matter the humiliation they were put through. Jump those hoops, do those tricks, take those orders…

Sideswipe shook his head from where he kept it buried against his twin’s neck. He didn’t want any more of that. Not a single day more of that. He didn’t want to be a puppet to the humans, held hostage with the threat of starvation, a prisoner in the manmade construct that doubled as a torture chamber. 

It wasn’t so bad? It was that bad. 

He didn’t want to take any more of it. Not one more show where the humans cheered for him while he followed their handlers’ orders. Not one more training session that left his skin crawling. Not one more operation they saw fit to put him through— tie his arms so he couldn’t fight back too much, expect him to just stay there and take it.

And he had stayed there and taken it so many times.

No more. Could he have a no more?

He wanted.

He feared.

“We’ll get out of here,” Sunstreaker growled, tightening his hold on him for a moment before pulling back to have a look at him. Sideswipe met his eyes, knowing his own face reflected such a mix of emotion.

This was their home.

But also, it wasn’t. It wasn’t supposed to be.

Their home was out there. In the ocean. 

They didn’t belong here.

So Sideswipe nodded mutely, closing his eyes and letting Sunstreaker’s surety seep into him.

They’d get out, and… And it would be all right. Things would work out. For the better.

Better than this.

“You remember the combination?” Sunstreaker asked, prompting Sideswipe to open his eyes back up. He nodded again.

“Top right, left middle, right middle, low middle,” he recited the phrase he’d memorized.

It hadn’t taken a lot of time. If the humans had wondered why he hung out on the platform for the sake of it, they hadn’t shown it, just went about their business. And Sideswipe had watched, as subtly as he could.

There was the pad next to the middle doors, with buttons with symbols on them. The humans pressed it in certain order when they wanted to leave, if the door wasn’t open.

It opened the door.

And whatever was on the other side of it… It was more. More than this. 

It was a chance.

The lights were out except for the small ones that stayed on all night like messed up moonlight. Sideswipe’s breathing quickened.

They’d promised to wait for a while after this, to make sure there would be no one around. They never saw anyone during the night. There was no one around during the night as far as they knew.

But they had to make sure everyone had had all the time they needed to leave. 

So. A little while.

It was a little while to have more time for second thoughts, but Sideswipe set to battle every last one of them as they continued swimming. Yes, this was safe. They were fed, there were no dangers. They were taken care of.

But they weren’t happy. The tradeoff was being at the humans’ mercy every moment of every day.

It wasn’t worth it.

It wasn’t.

He just had to remember that. Had to remember all the negative and forget the positive, lest his resolve crumble.

Sunstreaker showed no signs of hesitation, no doubt. Sideswipe envied him.

They swam and waited. There were no sounds aside from the steady background hum of the aquarium. No human voices.

Nothing but them and the water.

“Let’s go,” Sunstreaker eventually said, taking the lead and breaking from their circle to head to the platform. Sideswipe followed, trying to calm his heart, his fears, with thoughts and memories of the times before all this.

Back to that. They were going back to that. He had to believe it was as good as he remembered.

Had to, or his courage would fail.

Sunstreaker pulled himself up from the water and Sideswipe followed suit. They both dragged themselves to the door, Sunstreaker lifting one hand to the pad only to hesitate.

“What did you say the combination was?”

“Top right, left middle, right middle, low middle.”

Sunstreaker followed his instruction and pressed the buttons with his claw. Once he finished, there was a beep, a light turned green, and they could hear a click from the door. 

They exchanged a glance before Sideswipe carefully reached over and pressed the door handle.

The door opened.

Sideswipe’s heart threatened to pound straight out of his chest despite himself. 

Sunstreaker didn’t hesitate. “Come on,” he said before pushing past Sideswipe to squeeze through the doorway. The second door didn’t open, but they didn’t really have the time to figure out how to open it. It wasn’t necessary anyway.

It was a tight fit, but rolling onto his side, Sunstreaker was able to squeeze himself through the open door and into the room beyond. Sideswipe glanced after him once, but there really wasn’t room for them both in the room, spacious as it was.

“Next?” he asked, trying and failing to keep his voice from quivering.

The tank was right there. All he needed to do was turn around and slip back into its welcoming water and pretend they’d never tried this.

Everything would be as it had been.

No. No. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want the humans watching or directing his every move.

He didn’t want to be here.

He wanted to be out there.

It would be worth it.

Sunstreaker didn’t answer him with more than a growl when the second door wouldn’t budge when he pressed its handle. But Sunstreaker wasn’t discouraged. He pulled back a little bit before lunging forward, ramming his shoulder into the middle of the double doors.

They weren’t meant to take abuse like that, and under Sunstreaker’s weight and strength they buckled. Another hit and they slammed open to the tune of his brother’s satisfied grunt. “That, next. Come.”

Sideswipe couldn’t see what was behind the second doors past his brother’s bulk, but Sunstreaker made his way through them—far more easily now that they were both open.

And Sideswipe? He glanced over his shoulder at the tank, bit his lip-

And turned to wriggle his way through the doorway far too small for them.

Only the tip of Sunstreaker’s tail was visible by the time Sideswipe made it into the next room, and he pulled his way through it until he could glance through the next doorway to see where Sunstreaker was headed.

There was a hallway there. Pretty big one. Big enough for them to maneuver relatively comfortably.

That was a relief, at least.

“How do you know which way to go?” Sideswipe whispered after Sunstreaker, glancing up and down the hall. It looked the same in both directions.

“Can’t you smell that?” Sunstreaker responded no more loudly. It didn’t feel right to be too loud now, even if there was no one to hear them.

Even if they made more noise by just moving around. By breathing—shallow, desperate inhales into too small lungs, exhales just as quick. Rinse and repeat, pant pant pant.

And that was just staying still. Moving was so much worse.

But Sideswipe sniffed at the prompting. There was water. Their tank, but also whiffs of other tanks. Humans. Their stench was strong. Fish, food. The scent of the entire construct they were in—the air circulation.

No, no, not just that. Sideswipe’s head whipped around when he could get just the faintest sense of fresh air from the direction Sunstreaker was headed. 

It could be nothing, but there was nothing but the smell of the aquarium in the other direction.

It could be something.

Sunstreaker was already headed to that direction with purpose in his motions, and Sideswipe followed, now with more hope than what he’d felt since they started to look for ways to actually escape. It had felt like a pipe dream at first, not something achievable.

But then they had come up with a plan. A poor one, one with just a single step and a who knows after that, but it was more than nothing. 

Sideswipe still hadn’t dared think it would actually work. He didn’t want to hope only for that to be crushed.

But that was a lie. He wanted to hope, he wanted to hope so badly.

He had just been so afraid.

Still was, but now… He felt reinvigorated, too. Like there was a chance. A small one, but it was there and he couldn’t deny it.

Sunstreaker led the way to the end of the first hallway. After that, there was another, but this one was pretty big too. And no doors in the connection point of those two.

They followed the scent to another set of doors, but those gave way to Sunstreaker’s shoulder too. Sideswipe wanted to say something about the blood that was left behind on the door and the bruises he knew Sunstreaker’s shoulder would have, but bit his lip. It went without saying.

It also went without saying it was a price Sunstreaker would’ve been willing to pay a hundred times over.

But what opened on the other side of these doors?

A large room, full of human made equipment, some familiar, some not. 

But that wasn’t the important detail. What was important was how much stronger the scent of fresh air had gotten.

Sideswipe could feel his heart rushing to beat all over again, this time for an entirely different reason. Excitement. A stupid, hopeful little feeling that made his chest flutter.

He didn’t know whether to embrace or stifle it.

They’d both stilled on arrival to the large space, but Sunstreaker set in motion at that moment, rushing over the hard floor to the other wall, heedless of how raw the skin on their undersides had already gotten from too much moving on land. Sideswipe followed, barely keeping up.

Eagerness. He hadn’t seen that emotion in Sunstreaker since… Forever. 

Sunstreaker hoped. 

Sideswipe almost gave himself the permission to do the same. It drowned out the pain from his abraded skin, made him want to move.

To try.

They couldn’t fail.

They wouldn’t.

The wall was barely a wall at all with how many doors it had. But these ones didn’t look like they would open on vertical hinges. There were no hinges, and they were segmented, and even to Sideswipe’s untrained eye it looked like they were supposed to go up.

And the smell of fresh air. It was so strong, streaming in from every crack, every crevice.

It had him longing like he didn’t know possible.

But he couldn’t get to it.

“How do we open these?” Sideswipe asked, still in whisper, hobbling around to inspect the doors just as Sunstreaker did. “These look too solid to break.”

Sunstreaker was quiet for a moment, fiddling with some sort of a mechanism next to one door. It did nothing, and he scowled before the expression morphed into an ugly snarl.

Sunstreaker wanted out, that much was so obvious.

Sideswipe did too, but right next to the overwhelming excitement there was equally overwhelming fear of the unknown.

If they got these doors open, what would be on the other side?

What did the outside world look like?

What did it feel like?

He couldn’t think like that though. Not if they got the doors, but when.

But something made him feel they were already on borrowed time. They needed to hurry and be out of here if they ever wanted to escape. 

To that end Sunstreaker rumbled before backing up a little bit. “We’ll see about that.”

Before Sideswipe could voice his skepticism on the doors’ durability again, Sunstreaker had already turned around in one violent motion, putting considerable momentum into his already strong tail and slamming it into one of the doors. Sideswipe winced at the resulting bang, both for its loudness and because he knew that an impact like that had to beyond hurt.

But Sunstreaker didn’t show it. He didn’t react in any way. Again Sideswipe had no chance to say anything before Sunstreaker had already repeated the motion, although Sideswipe noted that he tried to aim with a different part of his tail this time around. 

He could only hope that the muscle and fat would be enough to protect his bones.

On the second impact, no lesser than the first, the segments of the door started to come apart. Air streamed into the room in one intoxicating cloud and even Sideswipe couldn’t contain himself anymore, moving closer.

This time he got a word in. “Let me,” he said, pushing Sunstreaker aside. Sunstreaker went more easily than he would’ve expected, which raised concern on how badly hurt he actually was—but there was no time for that right now. They had to get out first. They could take stock of their injuries later.

Once they were safe.

They would get to safety. The real kind, not artificially built by stealing their freedom.

The safety of the waves where humans couldn’t reach them. That safety.

Sideswipe allowed himself to hope.

And he did just what Sunstreaker had done, swinging his tail with all the power he could put behind it into the damaged door. It didn’t break apart entirely, but it was damn near. 

There was a hole. Not big enough for them to pass through, but that didn’t matter. Sunstreaker pushed past him again, impatient, and this time used his arms to push the damaged pieces aside enough-

Enough that the hole was big enough. Barely so, and there were sharp bits all over the place, but it would do.

Sunstreaker didn’t stop to wait. As soon as there was the opening, he was already pushing through it, arms first to catch himself on the other side, dragging his tail after him.

Sideswipe noticed the blood that was left behind on the broken door.

He suspected his own would soon join it.

He barely waited until Sunstreaker’s tail fin was through the hole before he was already taking his turn, and yeah, he was right about the blood. He couldn’t possibly lift his tail enough to entirely avoid scraping it against the shattered pieces of the door. They dug into his flesh painfully.

But he ignored it. There was no way he couldn’t ignore it as soon as his head had passed through.

Because an invisible stream of air hit him in the face.

Wind. 

Sideswipe couldn’t contain the sob that had nothing to do with the long scrapes left on his underside as he pulled the rest of his tail after him.

Wind.

Wind wind wind.

He’d forgotten what it felt like, what it smelled like, but now Sideswipe couldn’t do more than gasp, pulling it in with every breath with all of its wild scents.

So many scents.

Sunstreaker had stopped, just as enthralled. And that was before Sideswipe even had the presence of mind to glance around. 

When he did... 

Well, he cried, and he wasn’t even ashamed of it. 

It was all land, and that wasn’t good, but they were out. There were trees, other shrubs. Human buildings—all bathed in real, actual moonlight.

Above them, the sky stretched in all directions, littered with stars.

He hadn’t remembered how many stars there were.

But most importantly, there was nothing and no one to stop them from going where they wanted to go.

Speaking of which… “Sunny, Sunny, Sunny,” Sideswipe rushed to his brother’s side, trying to ignore the burning pain in his underside. “We need to go.”

“Yeah. Yeah we gotta,” Sunstreaker agreed, sounding and looking a little dazed.

But at least he agreed. 

Water. They needed to find water, and Sideswipe tried to sniff for it, but there was so much. He couldn’t make sense of all the smells assaulting his senses, no matter how he tried. There were just too many. Human smells, so many different plants, the ground itself, nearby animals, the night air with its own cool scent, and everything the wind brought to them from who knew where. 

He didn’t know what to make of it all. His chest tightened all over again, disquiet seeping in. 

Too much. There was far too much.

Sunstreaker’s hand covering his jerked Sideswipe out of his quickly spiraling thoughts and his eyes snapped to his brother. Sunstreaker was looking at him, his face far more lucid than what Sideswipe was feeling.

Sideswipe was pretty sure his eyes were wild with everything. And not in an entirely good way.

“We gotta go,” Sunstreaker repeated.

“Where? Where do we go?” Sideswipe asked, voice shivering.

Where was water?

Sunstreaker sniffed the air too. Sideswipe could see the concentration on his face, and time passed by. Too much of it.

They were in a hurry, but they couldn’t rush in just any direction and hope it would lead to water. Who knew how far inland they were.

But there had to be water somewhere close enough for them to reach.

There had to be.

He didn’t want to accept the alternative. 

After long seconds Sunstreaker pointed towards the distance. “Can you smell that?”

Again Sideswipe sniffed the air, again he tried and failed to shift through all the scents.

At first. But he tried, and he focused, and he took his time categorizing and discarding anything that wasn’t important.

Until he could smell it too. It was far, and it was faint, but there was the scent of water.

Fresh water.

But it was water.

“Yeah, I can,” Sideswipe breathed. “How far is it?”

“Not too far,” Sunstreaker said, pretty face twisting into a snarl all over again. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t need to say what the hurry was for. Before the humans noticed they were gone, before the suns would rise and fry them with their merciless heat.  

Before they were either caught or killed.

Water was their only salvation.

So Sunstreaker didn’t waste any more time, setting in motion towards the distant scent of the water. Sideswipe followed suit, dragging himself after his brother and aiding the task with his tail as much as he could—which wasn’t much. 

It hurt. By the pits it hurt. The ground was rough gravel under them. He already had wounds littering his underside, the skin was already next to gone.

His palms soon joined in on the injuries, when the small rocks ground into and through the thin skin.

It was getting hard to breathe, and not just because he couldn’t get enough air. The pain was constricting his throat even further, made tears stream unbidden down his face.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Sunstreaker didn’t slow down.

Sideswipe couldn’t either.

On they went, sometimes obstructed by fences or buildings that made Sideswipe despair. The way was already so long, they didn’t need anything lengthening it further, but they had to take reroutes that only added to the distance.

Only added to the pain.

He was shaking from it and from the constant feeling of suffocation when Sunstreaker suddenly stopped. They were behind some bushes, on the other side of which there was an open, barren, winding route.

Something had given them the feeling they should avoid those, and when Sunstreaker hissed an urgent, “Get down!” they got their reason for the feeling.

Sideswipe dropped to the ground as soon as the order was given, as did Sunstreaker. At first he didn’t know what his brother had noticed, but within seconds the sound of a human vehicle became apparent. He hadn’t heard that in years, but he could still remember it.

The boat, the other vehicle afterwards. They’d both made that sound.

After another second light hit the bushes they were cowering behind. The sound got louder and louder as the thing approached, and Sideswipe could feel his heart beating so fast and hard it hurt. Was it going to come straight through the bushes? Hit them?

But no, it followed the route they’d been avoiding to the best of their ability. It went fast around the curve, and then its sound began to quiet as it moved into the distance.

For once Sideswipe was glad for their dull scales that wouldn’t have reflected much light even if some had hit them through the bushes. Maybe they would’ve gotten noticed otherwise.

Because there was no doubt there were humans in that thing.

They waited for a while longer until the sounds of the night returned, as if they’d never been disturbed in the first place. Then Sunstreaker rose back up, and Sideswipe did the same. They glanced at each other, spooked—but Sunstreaker, determined. Sideswipe could see it in his eyes.

Sideswipe didn’t feel as determined. “Let’s keep going,” Sunstreaker said quietly, flicking him with his tail. Sideswipe nodded numbly. The pause had given him a little too much time to think about the throbbing all around his underside, his palms—where he’d hit his tail against the door.

It all hurt.

Sunstreaker had to be hurting even more, what with his shoulder and doubly damaged tail, but he still didn’t show it. Sideswipe couldn’t understand how he managed that. 

Sideswipe for sure was showing it. His breath threatened to hitch with every movement he made, and the tears never slowed.

But they had to keep going.

They had to.

What was the alternative? Turn back? That would hurt just as much. Stay where they were until someone found them?

Dragged them back?

At least the pain would end.

The humans were good at treating injuries. They could fix all of this too, Sideswipe was sure of it.

The pain would end.

It was such a tempting thought, but Sunstreaker didn’t wait, and Sideswipe hurried to follow despite the agony welling in the bloody trail they both left behind. Someone could definitely follow that.

But there was no one to follow it yet. Likely wouldn’t be before the morning.

And the night wasn’t at its end yet. The suns wouldn’t arrive yet.

They still had time.

If they could keep going.

Sideswipe’s resolve was wavering, though. Every grassy area they came to was a relief, but more often than not it was gravel they had to travel through. Not sand, gravel. The little rocks dug into his injuries, and Sideswipe was pretty sure they were inserting themselves straight into them. He wasn’t looking forward to the process of removing them.

The humans could do it. They’d sedate him, make him feel less, and they’d fix everything, all the scrapes, cuts, bruises, missing skin. It wouldn’t need to hurt so much.

All they needed to do was-

All they needed to do…

It hurt so much.

“Sunstreaker, I can’t do this.” Sideswipe came to a stop on the relieving span of grass they’d come across. Just… A moment of resting on something softer.

Something that didn’t aggravate his injuries as much.

The water was still so far. He could smell it, but it was still so far.

“It’s too far,” Sideswipe pleaded to Sunstreaker with his voice, his eyes. Sunstreaker met his gaze without a flicker of expression.

Sideswipe didn’t know what he thought. He had no idea.

“Let’s just turn back,” he continued desperately, lifting one of his hands to look at his palm.

He sobbed at the sight. It was little more than a bloody mess. There were little rocks embedded in the lost skin between the ragged bits of black that were left of healthy scales.

He shook his head. He couldn’t do this. There was no way he could do this. “We can still make it back,” Sideswipe yet said, his voice cracking and breaking, desperation warring with another form of itself.

Despair at the thought of going back to the place they’d gone to such lengths to leave.

Despair at the thought of continuing towards some distant hope of water and its respite, that they weren’t sure they could ever even reach. If their injuries didn’t get them, maybe morning would. Maybe the suns would.

Finish them off.

Fish weren’t meant to be on land.

If they just went back... “The humans- The humans will come in the morning,” Sideswipe said, or tried to, but he was sobbing and gasping for air and he had no idea how much of what he said was even legible, “A-and they can help us back into our tank.

“Please, Sunstreaker. Let’s just go back. I- I can’t do this. It’s too much.”

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Chapter 1 / Chapter 2