#anyways if this flops it’s ok because i have a backup idea… just not sure if it’ll be as fun or as creative LOL

[134340am]

just wondering, but will you guys want me to do something like this for y’all for my next milestone event? [see more examples here]

it’ll be like a self ship thing! i haven’t figured out the level of involvement but i want it to be flexible, e.g. you get to choose the manga panel &/or the questions &/or the answers—and they will all be centred around you and your fave! <3

i also haven’t figured out the exact mechanics or how requests are going to work yet, but i can easily iron out these details if there’s interest :-)

kindly interact with this post if you’re interested! 💭

[surrealsunday]

Hollow Edge Future Ficlet

By request for @sandalwoodhusbands because I have been told I am Canadian and can’t refuse (where is the lie?)... and I guess sort of for @ariavds too... because she’s a brat.

So this all started with an anon (shout out to you, anon!) who sent an ask this morning mentioning Axel’s IG story (which I only found thanks to @jebentnietalleen. Bless you, Tara). I’ll put a gif of it at the end of the ficlet. Specifically it reminded them of HE Lucas post-kids with Eliott. I couldn’t disagree. And so... after some begging... voila.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

“Théo, Théo, ssshhh,” Lucas hushes, barely managing to quiet his own laughter, “not so loud or your dad will hear.”

“So?” Théo laughs, shoving at Lucas’s shoulders and going about repositioning his arms. He laughs when Lucas lets his arms go limp, refusing to hold the poses Théo places him in. “Papa! Stop!!!”

“What? I’m not doing anything?” Lucas grins, looking up into the gentle brown eyes of his little boy. Théo has somehow become a perfect mix of Lucas and Eliott despite no shared DNA. He’s as soft and gentle as Eliott, the first to go running to help when his little sister trips and skins a knee, but he’s got a mischievous spirit and eye for trouble that is all Lucas.

“Keep them like this,” Théo instructs, once more bending Lucas’s arms and posing them palm up, away from his body.

“Like this?” Lucas asks, crooking an eyebrow. “And then what?”

Théo huffs as though Lucas were the most frustrating human prop on the planet. The reaction is all Eliott. “Then I lie down like this,” he pats the palm of Lucas’s hands, “and you do push ups.”

“Théo push ups?”

“Yes! Me push ups!”

“Ok,” Lucas agrees, adopting a serious expression. “But we have to promise that when this goes wrong and we both end up injured, we don’t tell dad.”

Théo wrinkles his forehead, looking serious beyond his years. “But daddy always knows, papa.”

Lucas snorts. It’s true. Even before Lucas has the chance to confess whatever shenanigans he and Théo have gotten up to, Eliott somehow already knows. Lucas has suspicions he has spies in the house that come in the form of a brat who just happens to be home from university for summer break. Though, that broken vase had happened long before Emily was back under their roof and somehow Eliott still knew about it despite Lucas and Théo’s most excellent gluing skills. Then again… in the spirit of all Disney princes… he probably has birds and squirrels serving as informants.

“I guess we’re not allowed to get injured then,” Lucas suggests. “Deal?”

Théo nods, a grave expression on his face. “Deal.”

He starts giggling the moment he leans his body down onto Lucas’s hands, perpendicular to the length of Lucas’s body, a predictable downside to the fact that he is just as ticklish as Lucas. And it’s no surprise that contagious laughter plus perilous gymnastic maneuvers does not make for successful stunts. Théo curls his body with laughter the moment Lucas’s hand spreads across his stomach, and it makes balancing him next to impossible. One loud shriek and he thumps down onto Lucas’s stomach.

“Fuck,” Lucas wheezes, making sure to grab Théo so he doesn’t go flopping right off the bed.

“Papa!” Théo gasps, pressing up from Lucas’s chest, which doesn’t quite help the ‘trying to refill lungs with oxygen’ task at hand. “Daddy says we can’t say that word!”

“Yeah, well,” Lucas pouts, making sure to jut out his lip in a practiced expression Théo has come to call ‘papa’s begging face’, “daddy isn’t here.”

“No?”  

Both Lucas and Théo gasp in matched shock at the sound of the voice at the bedroom door. And there, of course, stands Eliott… beautiful and regal… and absolutely about to lecture them both.

“It was his idea!” Lucas yells, sitting up to clamp hands around the sides of Théo’s waist as he squeals with laughter. “You know I can’t say no to him. He’s your kid!”

“Papa!” Théo giggles, wriggling until Lucas allows him to collapse with his head resting against Lucas’s chest with a huff. “You’re stupid.”

“Théo,” Eliott admonishes gently, coming to stand just to the side of the end of the bed. “We don’t use that kind of language.”

Théo sits up, turning to pout at Eliott in a way that reminds Lucas entirely of himself. “But you tell papa he’s an idiot all the time!”

Lucas doesn’t quite manage to smother his snort of laughter and Eliott sends him an exasperated look. “I know, baby,” Eliott begins patiently, “but your papa and I mean that word in a very different way.”

Lucas smirks, quirking an eyebrow and mouthing ‘What way?’ when he catches Eliott’s eye.

Théo’s forehead is wrinkled in concentration. “But how?” He asks.

“Just…” Eliott is clearly struggling to find words to explain himself. Lucas leans back with arms propped on the bed to appreciate the delightful sight of him trying. “We say it like… another way of saying I love you.”

And just like that Lucas wants to kiss him. He so badly wants to kiss him. Eliott’s eyes meet his and there’s the same yearning in his gaze.

“Me too!” Théo’s demanding voice immediately interrupts Lucas’s far too romantic musings. “I mean it too!”

Eliott shakes his head, chuckling softly. He looks to Lucas for backup but there’s not much Lucas can do but shrug, smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“So what were you two up to in here anyways?” Eliott asks, none-too-subtly changing the subject. The question serves its purpose however, and Théo is immediately distracted.

“Papa’s gonna do push ups with me!”

Eliott’s expression crinkles in confusion and his eyes flick to Lucas’s for explanation.

“Literally with him,” Lucas explains, leaning back onto the bed to demonstrate the push up motion with his arms. Théo nods eagerly beside him, looking back to Eliott for approval.

There’s a twinkle to Eliott’s eyes as he comes to understand their plan. “Ok,” he says, definite challenge in his voice, “let’s see then.”

“Really?” Théo and Lucas gasp in perfect unison.

“Really,” Eliott confirms, looking as though he’s one second from laughter.

Lucas meets Théo’s eye. “Ok buddy,” Lucas tips his chin down, looking at Théo seriously, “you ready to show that dad of yours what we’re all about?”

Théo’s face is all business and the sight of it nearly has Lucas cracking. He just barely manages to keep his expression neutral. “Ok, papa.”

This time around Théo lays himself across Lucas’s hands without even a hint of laughter, holding his body taught and still. He’s taking the task of showing off for Eliott so very seriously, Lucas can’t help but do the same, shifting his hands until he feels confident Théo is properly balanced and pushing up. Théo’s face immediately breaks into a smile the moment Lucas begins moving him, but he doesn’t break his pose, allowing Lucas to push him up once, twice, three times, over and over again.

In all honesty, it serves as a pretty effective workout. Lucas’s muscles burn. His biceps are unsurprisingly under a fair amount of strain, but his abs too are clenched with effort. He pulls his thighs slightly up towards his body as he tires, pushing Théo up one last time with a determined exhalation of breath, before he carefully brings him down again, letting Théo roll onto Lucas’s stomach and then off.

“Papa, you did it!” Théo crows, expression bright and joyous.

“Not bad, hunh?” Lucas smiles, sitting up and offering his hands up for a high-five which Théo gladly receives. “So,” Lucas looks up to where Eliott seems to have frozen while watching them, “what does our audience think?”

“Uh…” Eliott looks slightly shocked to be addressed and quickly clears his throat. “That was… yeah. Good. Really good.”

Lucas knows that look on Eliott’s face. He smirks. “Think so?” Lucas pulls his lower lip into his mouth, reaching down to scratch at his slightly exposed belly where his shirt had ridden up. Eliott’s eyes track the motion.

“Can we show Emmy?” Theo asks.

Eliott’s cheeks are far rosier than they had been moments prior and his eyes go quickly back to Théo. “Maybe later.” He rakes a hand back through his hair, eyes so obviously avoiding Lucas’s own. “Why don’t you go get your younger sister, and you and Julie head outside, ok, baby? Your cousin just got here.”

“Naima!” Théo shouts excitedly, quickly hopping off the bed. He reaches back for Lucas’s hand, dragging him up to a standing position. “C’mon, papa!”

Lucas chuckles and moves to follow before he’s stopped by Eliott’s firm hand on his chest. “No, you go ahead, Théo. Your papa and I will catch up. Tell your Uncle Idriss he’s to look after you guys, alright?”

Théo looks suspiciously between them both for a moment before he seems to realize any further questions will only delay his opportunity to play with Naima. “Ok!” He promptly turns and goes running out of the room, shouting as he goes. “JULIEEEEEEEEE, NAIMA IS HERE!!!”

Eliott gently closes the door behind him, turning back to face Lucas slowly.

“Why Princeling,” Lucas begins, tilting his head with a cheeky smile, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were planning on taking advantage of my weakened state.”

Eliott advances on him quickly, hands moving to Lucas’s waist, steps not slowing until he has Lucas pressed up against the wall next to Théo’s bed, breath warm against Lucas’s lips. “Do you have any idea how hot you are?”

Lucas expels a laugh that’s more air than anything else. His voice when it comes out is shakier than he would have expected. “My muscles get you going, Princeling. Think I don’t know that?”

“Not just that,” Eliott disagrees, eyes tracking across Lucas’s face. “You’re just…” One of his hand’s moves to cup Lucas’s face, thumb brushing along his cheekbone. “You’re just such a good dad.”

Heat spreads through Lucas’s chest at the pronouncement. “Yeah?” He smiles and knows his face is flushed with his happiness.

“Yeah,” Eliott confirms, eyes landing on Lucas’s lips. He brushes his thumb along the plump lower lip.

“And that does it for you, hunh?” Lucas teases.

A small smile pulls at Eliott’s mouth as his eyes meet Lucas’s. “You have no idea.”

He kisses Lucas as though it were their first time. It’s something Lucas will never tire of… the way Eliott kisses him. As though he’s been waiting years to do so. As though he may never have the opportunity to do so again. Lucas opens his mouth to meet the demand of Eliott’s, groaning happily as their tongues meet. Eliott’s hands move back into Lucas’s hair, gripping the strands tightly enough to have goosebumps rising across Lucas’s skin. He breaches the distance between their bodies, positioning a thigh between Lucas’s legs as he presses him back roughly into the wall. And Lucas is so on board with this plan. So entirely on board, just…

He pushes Eliott back enough to break their kiss. “Eliott,” Lucas attempts, but Eliott is not to be discouraged, his mouth moving down to Lucas’s neck, teeth scraping against the tendon he finds there. Lucas tries again, “You really gonna defile me in our son’s bedroom, Princeling?”

That gets Eliott’s attention. He raises his head, looking confused for a moment before he glances around them. His nose wrinkles with displeasure.

Lucas chuckles. “Our bedroom is across the hall. Think we can make it?” He’s only half joking.

Eliott’s face lights up with a mischievous smile. “No.” But he’s pulling Lucas towards the door with urgency anyways, wrenching it open and pausing to kiss Lucas at the threshold, pushing him back against the door jam.

“Bedroom. Bedroom,” Lucas repeats, and they breathe against one another’s lips.

“Bedroom,” Eliott agrees but makes no moves to disengage himself from Lucas’s body.

Lucas laughs, turning their bodies before shoving Eliott with some force until his back hits the closed door to their bedroom. Eliott laughs delighted, reaching for Lucas’s belt loop to drag him forward as he fumbles behind himself for the door handle.

“Hey!” It’s Idriss’s voice calling from out-of-sight at the bottom of the stairs. They both freeze in immediate unspoken agreement that the less noise they make, the less likely they are to give themselves away and have the unthinkable happen… to be cock-blocked by Idriss. “I’m giving you assholes a half hour before I’m dragging you out of there. Half hour, you hear me? Better make it count!”

Eliott grins, wrapping an arm around Lucas’s waist and pulling him close enough to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. Lucas’s entire body feels as though it’s glowing with his happiness and it’s a comfort to see the same radiance on Eliott’s face.

“Let’s make it count.”

❤️❤️❤️❤️

The IG story (gif made by @ariavds​ thank you brat): 

[phantomphangphucker]

Goo And A Letterman Jacket - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @all-hail-trash-prince Prompt: Danny gets stuck in human form, but can still use his ghost powers. Now he has to find a way to disguise himself while still protecting his town. Summary: Danny finally has to cosplay as himself while trying and failing to seem like a regular human.

No warnings apply. Let Danny say fuck

“Oh hey would you look at that. Isn’t this just dandy. I absolutely love it. Just fabulous”, Danny grumbles as he repeatedly tries and fails to transform into Phantom while staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Eventually tossing his hands up he opts to head back to his room.

Grumbling as he goes to fetch his hey-look-it’s-Phantom emergency box. Complete with a well-made jumpsuit, white wig, green contacts and sunglasses. “Honestly, I’m amazed it took 4 years for this bullshit to happen”, he doesn’t even bother trying it all on, knowing full well it all already fits. He tried it all on as soon as he got it all. “My glow is the only thing I can’t replicate, but of all the things why would anyone notice that”, he slips his replica jumpsuit on and then puts his regular clothing over top. Green wife beater, black military pants, black leather jacket and white doc martins. He opts for full black gloves rather than his usual fingerless gloves, to hide his white jumpsuit gloves. Looking himself over in the bedroom mirror, “yeah this'll do”. He shoves the wig and sunglasses in his bag, “it’s not like I can speed put on contacts so just my sunglasses will have to do for any emergency changing”. With that he hops down the stairs to have a quick breakfast before heading to school. On his bus ride there, because it’s just not worth the risk or effort to “change”, he thinks back on how this utter crap came to be.

—flashback—

“Why don’t you give it a rest boxy? This is what? The eighth time today? Do I really have to keep shipping you off?”, Danny sighs as he shoots yet another ectoblast at The Box Ghost. “NEVER GHOST BOY! FOR MY FEARSOME MIGHT SHALL HAUNT YOU ALL!”, The Box Ghost shouts as he throws three boxes at Danny, which Danny easily dodges. Floating sideways, Danny sighs into his hand as he uncaps his thermos, “you need a time out”, as he sucks The Box Ghost in yet again. Not even two seconds after tucking his thermos away he gets coated in green goo. “What in the-”, he gets cut off by Jack excitedly yelling. “Look Mads! I got him!”, Maddie runs up and hugs him before speaking while Danny mutters “Oh fuck”.

“Congrats honey! Now that filthy ectoplasmic scum can’t bother Amity any more! It won’t even be able to leave the GZ!”, Danny barely hears the end of Maddie’s praising of Jack as he just fucking runs; realising he’s turned back to Fenton unintentionally. He dashes inside a bathroom praying to all high hells that the goo covered his appearance, “holy shit, thank Phantom”. Danny pants as he starts wiping off all the goo. “Well either this doesn’t work or its not supposed to hurt. Which is hella weird for my parents”, shaking his head, he gives himself a pat-down making sure nothing looks wrong. “Ok...other than suddenly transforming, nothing is off. Like at all”, sticking his head out the bathroom, he looks around before ducking into an alley. Peaking around the corner he sees his parents following the trail of goo muttering all the while.

“I just don’t get it Jack, the ghost boy should have dissolved from that?”

“And I’m sure all the calculations were right! Maybe that one really is different from all the others?”

“That’s the only explanation we’ve got, for now”

Danny watches his mother shake her head as the couple head back to the RV, “they were tying to dissolve me?”. Blinking a couple times he gives himself another pat down, this time looking for even a hint of melting. “Well I guess I’ll chalk this up to the wonders of being a halfa, for now”, he opts to just walk home because he really doesn’t want to risk any possible melting.

He’s feeling pretty darn good by the time he gets home, so he decides fuck it and tries transforming in his room. Watching himself in the bedroom mirror and still looking completely human, “well fuck me sideways. Fuck me up and down, side to side, and against a wall”. Shaking his head, “well hopefully I can sleep this off, maybe I just need to recharge”. With that he flops down for a nights, hopefully peaceful, rest.

—return to the present—

He’s done his reminiscing by the time he’s at school. Walking up to his locker he sees both Sam and Tucker waiting for him, “well hello guys, isn’t today just fucking peachy”. Sam raises her eyebrow while Tucker snickers, “what happened to you dude? Waking on the wrong side of the GZ? Skulker steal your favourite blankets?”. Sam smirks, “Lunchlady steal all your cereal, again?”. Danny groans and slams his head into his locker before opening it, muttering all the while, “I fucking wish, I got doused in goo stuff and now”. Danny finishes his statement by pulling his shirt collar down enough for them to see his replica suit. “Dude, what? That’s got to be the backup, otherwise you’re are scary fast with hair dye. So what you can’t change? Dude that bites”, Danny groans even louder as he nods, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, after showing them the wig and glasses inside, since he needs to keep it with him for now.

Sam sighs, “well do you even know if you can still use any of your frying Pan stuff?”. Danny shrugs and rubs his neck awkwardly, “I guess that would be a good idea to check but my thermos is fine. So if I got to then I got to”. Sam shakes her head, “just use a damn wrist ray you idiot. Where’d the goo even come from?”. Danny groans again as they start heading to class, “parents, who else? Apparently, it was supposed to dissolve ghosts. Stuff didn’t even sting”. Danny looks around quickly and decides to just shoot Kwan’s laces with an ectobeam. After looking quite content with himself he blows imaginary smoke off his fingertip at Sam, who rolls her eyes at him before snickering, “well look at the bright side then Danny, at least you can still use your powers”. Danny smacks a hand on his chest in annoyance, “Yeah well now I have to go around pulling a damn superman if shit happens during the day”. Tucker scoffs at him and glares judgingly, “dude, learn your superheroes. I’m pretty sure you’ll be putting on, not taking off a pair of glasses”. Danny rolls his eyes as he takes his seat in front of Tucker, “fine, Spider-Man, happy?”. Tucker gives a smug nod as Mr. Lancer walks in. While Danny mutters under his breath, “Oh go eat grass, Tuck”.

It doesn’t take Danny long to realise there’s a bit of a problem, well more of a problem than there already was. As he’s noticing that he keeps having to force himself not to straight up float above his chair, instead of staying sitting in it. By the time first class is over he’s heard basically nothing in lue of focusing on not being a floaty boy and outing himself, which he failed at multiple times but went unnoticed. “So uh, I think this is even more of straight up piss and litter than I thought”, Danny groans to Sam and Tucker. “You aren’t going to just straight up suddenly change in class are you?”, Sam is more genuinely worried now. Danny shakes his head, “I don’t think so but I actually had to force myself not to float. Like how it is when I am frying Pan”. Tucker slaps Danny on the chest, “dude, maybe that shit like gave you full access as screaming Fan”. Danny glares at Tucker, “I fucking hope not Tuck, using shit is way too easy and basically second nature as frying Pan. It’ll be almost as bad as when I first got this shit but with more floating and at full strength”. Sam groans but also snickers a bit, “well hopefully everyone’s just as oblivious as 4 years ago”. As Tucker and Danny sits down for their second class, Danny mutters, “with my luck? Fuck that”.

Again, Danny spends most of the class focusing on not floating and being in general paranoid that his eyes might change colour. He, however, doesn’t get to do this through third class, as his ghost sense goes off half way through. “Oh fuck me, this is just fucking perfect. If this is boxy I will end him”, Danny mutters to himself as he just straight up walks out of class. He stopped bothering putting his hand up or asking to go, 2 years ago; he’d just leave whenever. Much to the annoyance of teachers but they knew he would leave anyway, so this was less of a distraction for the people who actually wanted to be there. Lancer was the only one who even still bothered to write down his sudden leaving, tardies or skipped classes, as he was the only who didn’t consider Danny a lost cause.

Once out of class Danny books it to the bathroom and speed changes, ripping off his clothing and phasing them into the ceiling. Yanking on the glasses and wig, he easily floats through the ceiling. Looking around he finds its Technus, “alright, I guess you’re my outlet for aggression on this fucking fine day”. Technus can see that Danny is not in the best mood but also notices his lack of glow, “ha! Ghost child you are weakened! You do not posses your healthy glow! But I Technus! Suffer no such weakness! For I-”, Technus is cut off as Danny just punches him in the face. “Hot tip techy, I’m never weak!”, Danny jeers as he ectoblasts apart the old computer Technus is holding, which he's sure is a discarded one from the library. Technus looks at his hands sadly before shouting, “it is no matter ghost child! For I will-”. Getting cut off again as he didn’t even see Danny float up to him and shoot him point blank. “You really should use your eyes”, Danny sighs as he sucks in Technus.

Danny shakes the thermos as he floats back into the bathroom, “well thank Phantom that was fast, and look at that! Totally god damn empty bathroom, nice”. Danny gets his stuff and changes back, but opts to just sit in the bathroom since there’s only 5 minutes left of class. He decides it’s probably best to test each of his not super destructive powers, to make sure they all work and to what level. “And that’s body manipulation. Well I’m not sure if I should be pleased or annoyed. All my powers seem to be functioning at full Phantom strength”, rubbing his eyes, “which while great for ghost fights, is not great for seeming like a normal fucking human”. Groaning he gets up and walks to the mirror just before the bell rings. Focusing his eyes, he tried to make them green with no luck, “well damn, still stuck with glasses it seems”. Tossing his hands up he phases out the bathroom door, stops and blinks, “Oh fuck”. Looking around he quickly determines no one saw shit and heads to his fourth class before lunch.

By fourth class, he’s feeling rather wiped, “so I’ve learned trying to force myself to be fucking regular while all frying Pan is not god damn fun”. Tucker chuckles as Danny slams his head against the table, “pretty sure you’re screaming Fan dude”. Which earns him an ectobeam to the knee, as Danny mutters into the table, “outside of looks, no I am not, might as well be frying Pan dressed up as screaming Fan”. Danny then snickers into the table, “I’m literally cosplaying myself, in two different ways”.

“Well if it isn’t Fentit? What you need your mommy to sing you a bedtime story so you can have a little nap?”, Dash comes up jeering, but Danny is just not having it so he doesn’t even bother lifting his head up as he flips Dash off. “Wow, you really do need a nap. Maybe this’ll help”, Dash goes to drop a textbook on Danny’s head but Danny straight up grabs Dash’s arm and strong man flings him over the table. All the while never even lifting his head up or moving anything other than one arm/hand, “I didn’t break him right?”. Sam and Tucker pat him on the shoulders, “all you broke was his ego. Which honestly should be shattered at this point”. Tucker nods, agreeing with Sam, “yeah with the number of times you’ve completely owned him, you’d think he’d give up”. Tucker looks down at Dash as he gets up and grumbles. As Dash walks away Danny can hear him bitterly mutter, “Why doesn’t freak turd just try out for football already”.

Thankfully, there isn’t anymore ghost that day as the final bell sounds. Meeting Sam and Tucker by his locker, “so let me guess, you want both of us to come over, help you figure out what slimed you and how to undo it?”. Danny slowly turns his head and gives Sam an over the top no-fucking-shit face. As Star approaches the trio, “ok, I don’t know what your deal is but the boys egos are too far up their asses so I’m just going to ask you”, the trio waits as Star stops inspecting her nails and puts a hand on on her hip before continuing. “Football try-outs are tomorrow, you are clearly packing muscle so be there, kay?”, Danny blinks a few times before responding. “Uh I ain’t much of a sports guy and do you seriously think I know the first thing about that”, Star shrugs as she walks off. Waving and looking over her shoulder, “just be there, doesn’t matter if you don’t know shit”. Once she’s out of sight Danny tilts his head back and groans, “Oh come on, I get it, but come on”. Tucker snickers as he pats his flat but not muscular stomach, “ah the joys of not being completely fucking ripped”. Sam smiles somewhat sympathetic, “I’m amazed it took them so long, you’re over 7 foot and a literal wall of muscle that knows no fear”. Danny throws his hands up, “except one fear! The fear of being caught, which will be kind of hard to avoid if I fucking break someone in a damn game!”. Sam and Tucker can’t help but laugh at their friends distress as they leave school.

They are treated by Maddie as soon as they get to Danny’s, “well hello kids! Always a pleasure to have you over. You’ll have to mind the mess though,  we’re trying to figure out why the Fenton gooster didn’t work”. The three nod as they step over a couple screwdrivers on the floor. “Uh so since there’s such a mess what is it this time?”, Danny asks as he recognises the odd rooster-shaped gun as the one that shot him. He’s gotten a lot better over the years to make it a point to know what anything new is. “Well it was supposed to dissolve ghosts, sweetie. Make it so they can’t hold a physical form and thus can’t leave the GZ. But that didn’t seem to happen with Phantom”, Maddie shakes her head confused before continuing, “but don’t you worry sweetie we’ll find away to keep those scum from coming here”.

Danny gives an awkward nod as the three go to his bedroom, “well shit, no way I can get my hands on it or it’s plans if they’re working on it”. Tucker taps his chin thoughtfully as Sam turns on the tv loud enough that they won’t be overheard, “well I think it’s safe to say you can’t be frying Pan because your ectoform or ghost form can’t physically manifest. Which is probably causing all your frying Pan ectoplasm to be more intermingled or whatever in you”. Danny groans as he flops on his bed, “which hopefully only comes with the negative side effect of having complete access to my ghost everything while still being screaming Fan”. Sam nods a bit worried, “it’s probably best you don’t stay like this for long. Who knows what else could happen from you being all half dissolved”. Danny nods as the three set to work trying to figure out how to get either the plans or the gun.

Eventually, they settle on getting them to chase Phantom and hoping they leave everything else behind, like they usually do when caught up in the hunt. “Whelp, this will either be really stupid or you guys have an hour”, with that Danny gets changed, contacts included, and flies out the wall. Making a point to fly right past the kitchen window, “look Mads he can even still fly! Maybe if we trap him we can figure out why?”, Maddie shrugs as she followers her excitable husband out the door. Even Sam and Tucker hear her mutter, “I’m pretty sure he’s uncatchable, untraceable and possibly immune to every anti-ghost thing at this point”. The two wait all of five minutes before racing over to the gun and plans, looking them over with feverish haste. Doesn’t take Tucker long to smirk, “well this won’t actually be all that hard though Danny is going to be pretty peeved”. Sam looks up from the gun she is intentionally rigging to not work, “let me guess, he’s stuck for a while?”.

Tucker nods just as Danny phases up through the floor, “you two better have shit because for once in my life I have the unfortunate pleasure of sports in the morning. And sleep is a thing, so?”. Tucker and Sam make quick work of putting everything back as they found it and bolting upstairs with Danny as Tucker talks, “it’s fixable dude, probably take me an hour at best. Just need a few things from the lab but dude, it’s gonna take sometime to put your ghostliness back together”. Danny groans has he grabs Tucker and phases them into the lab, “well explain and grab shit. How long we talking?”. Tucker quickly moves around the room gathering random things, hoping to be out of here before the Fenton’s come home, “three days, then you’ll be all Phantom again. Well not all, just half; your norm. Till then”, Tucker gestures at the floating Danny dressed up as Phantom, “this”. Danny groans again as he phases Tucker back upstairs. Tucker’s already half done what looks like a cocktail drink by the time the Fenton’s get back.

Tucker has to hide the thing when Maddie comes up and offers them some cookies, “I know you kids are nearly grown but everyone has room for cookies and you two should really head home soon”. The three all thank Maddie as she leaves. The cookies are pretty much all gone by the time Tucker is done, “dude, shits done man. Can’t tell if it tastes good though, so fucking cheers man”. Danny groans as he basically just shoots it, “yeah that was not horrible but I’d rather not. Really I’d rather not with all this”. Sam snickers, “ah the life of a halfa who won’t man up and tell his family”. Earning a glare from Danny as they say their goodbyes, “and Danny dude, you know we will be there. Watching you likely scare some freshmen and break something”. Danny just grumbles as he heads to bed.

Danny gets exactly an hour and a half of sleep before his ghosts sense wakes him up. “Oh for fucks sake”, Danny mutters as he throws on his wig and glasses, flying out the window.

It is once again, Technus, “dude why?”. Technus spreads his arms out as he summons a swarm of electronic dogs to attack Danny. “Well this is just roof”, Danny spins sideways and then promptly gets his glasses knocked off by a dog. He just sadly watches them fall and get crushed by the wave of dogs, “well shit, dog shit”. By the time Danny has dealt with Technus, again, he’s missing bits of his hair on top of the ruined glasses. Flying lazily into his bed, he doesn’t even bother with pjs.

The first thing Danny does in the morning is check over his powers and try to transform, “Yup, still the same utter bullshit. I lowkey want to fucking die”. Grumbling all the while he puts on basically the same thing as yesterday, having never even taken off his duplicate jumpsuit. “I’m going to have to hide all this shit in the locker room ceiling, pretty sure trying to wear a jumpsuit under gym clothes would be grade A dumb”, Danny shakes his head and hopes that like usual there are no ghosts early morning. Heading downstairs for a quick waffle, Jack spots him, “well you’re up early son, reason?”. Danny shrugs as he puts in the waffles to cook, “pretty much got forced into football tryouts because I’m just too nice to say no when asked, apparently”. Jack beams and pats Danny on the back, “well I can’t say I’m surprised, you’re built for it. I also can’t say I know how you became so muscular”. Danny chuckles, sticking the waffles in his mouth as he leaves; leaving Jack to contemplate Danny’s fitness alone.  

Tucker and Sam are two of many people sitting in the stands watching hopefuls and one not-so-hopeful tryout. Danny promptly changes out of his jumpsuit and puts everything into the ceiling; changing into shorts, black under armour leggings, runners and keeping his green wife beater on. Danny knows he’ll get some surprises looks because no ever really sees him uncovered at all, “I’d look fucking stupid if I went out in a fucking leather jacket”.

Unsurprisingly Danny is the tallest and most filled out guy there, he also does indeed get stared at. Overhearing Dash, who’s scouting the talent, “well damn he actually showed and Christ he’s more muscular then I thought. I’ll have to tell Kwan to thank Star”. The coach yells for everyone to shut up and listen, “all right you scraps of meat, to be frank we need anyone who is capable of actually doing anything and taking hit. So if you aren’t practically dead you’re on the team”. Danny can’t help but snicker and mutter, “I came here half dead”. The coach smirks, “then maybe you’ll take hits better”, then turning to everyone she points behind her and shouts, “now run 40-yards!”. Danny is mildly surprised at it being such a short distance but he can’t say he really cares, “the only reason I’m even putting any effort here is cause it’s my last year and I was asked more or less nicely”. Though he is practically chanting “don’t do anything ghostly”, in his head the entire time. Surprising no one really, except some freshmen, Danny finishes first and doesn’t even look like he’s ran anything at all. As he stands there and gives a lazy yawn, while stretching his arms out a bit. Dash can’t help but stare at the arms that had just yesterday flipped over a damn table, “I seriously want to know how the fuck that happened”.

The test for athletic ability and agility go pretty much the same, Danny doing everything with ease and feeling almost kind of sad at how easy it is. If anything he’s found focusing on not just straight up flying his way over obstacles to be harder. By the time they get to hitting and throwing ability, half have been cut. Danny can’t help but mutter, “ok this is sad, I’m not even striving to get accepted and these guys who are, can’t do shit”. Danny is then reminded how damn good the coaches hearing is, as she replies to him, “yup, it’s the same every year. But if I remember correctly, you used to be one of the worst”. Danny blinks, a little surprised to get a response and praise, before shrugging, “have you seen my dad? I got his height but not his diet”. The coach slams him on the back, “nonsense! You don’t get muscles from genetics! Whatever it is you do, keep doing it”. Danny smirks at this, knowing full well he never will stop. While the coach goes back to addressing the whole, much smaller, group, “all right pipsqueaks and people with actual potential! Time to see if you take a hit or actual throw shit!”. Danny is honestly nervous for this because he’s almost certain he’ll break something or someone. “Now because we have shit for money, you get no tackle bots. So you’ll just be tackling into each other, if you’re going to die leave school property”, which again makes Danny snicker. “Little too late for that”.

Thankfully for the other students, the coach isn’t a complete sadist and pairs Danny up against the other largest guy there. Danny feels rather sorry for the guy because if he can take rockets to the face and hundred foot falls into cement, there’s really not anything this eleventh grader can do. Danny, however, feels less sorry when the ass opens his mouth, “you’re that freak Fenton kid, what you going to do? Ball your eyes out as soon as someone slaps you? Muscle don’t mean shit when taking a hit”. Danny officially feels like being a bit of an ass to this guy so he lifts up his shirt, revealing the peppering of scars on his torso; “pal, I’ll be impressed if I feel the impact at all”. Even Dash manages to catch a glimpse of some of the scarring, “does Fenton fight or some shit? Because seriously, how the fuck did that happen”. As the coach blows her whistle, Danny has to physically restrain himself from straight punching the guy or shooting him, as he charges at Danny. Danny charges back only seconds after, since he’s more focused on not blowing the kids head off than charging. Unsurprisingly, the other dude gets promptly slammed into the ground. Danny blinks a little, he’s not used to opponents going down so easily, turning around, “seriously? That’s it? Okay...”.

The now embarrassed guy attempts to punch Danny in the stomach to at least save a little face, “dude, do you want fucking pain or something?”. Is all Danny has to say as the guy promptly yanks his hand backs and shakes it out from the impact, which Danny didn’t even flinch from. A couple other guys around start laughing but the coach gets an idea, she wants to see just what this once punny kid could take. “I want all of you to tackle Fenton, if you make him go down you’re on the team”, with that everyone’s eyes light up as they turn on Danny. Danny though a little off guard isn’t really bothered, he’s pretty sure a bunch of High-schoolers is easier than a bunch of ghosts. He’s completely right, as he lifts the last guy still trying, up with his peck and flings him off. Rubbing his neck, “Uh, yeah, sorry, not happening”. Tucker and Sam laugh their asses off from the benches, pretty well positive that Danny’s idea of human levels of strength is completely skewed.

One of the guys shakes his head at the built as hell Fenton kid, “pal, you could crush a man’s head and never notice it”. Danny rubs his neck and shrugs, “you’re not wrong”. Dash comes up all excited and friendly for once, “Why the hell have you been holding out on us, Fenton?”. Danny just glares, “because you guys are dicks? And never asked? Sports ain’t my thing anyways”. The coach shakes her head, “even if you couldn’t throw for shit you’d be worth having to protect those who can throw and to tackle the enemy”. Danny just shrugs, “you’re not wrong but, like, I’ll be more focused on not breaking someone than winning”. Dash rolls his eyes, “that would just teach them not to mess with you? Why wouldn’t you exert that kind of power?”. Earning a harsh glare from Danny, “because I’m not like you and I’m actually a good guy”. Dash just grunts at this as the coach snaps for everyone to start throwing balls.

When it’s Danny’s turn he has to focus on throwing the ball and not an ectoblast, he does end up ectoburning the ball though, “well shit, hopefully no one questions that”. No one actually does and with that everything is wrapped up and Danny, surprising no one, makes the cut.

Danny joins up with Sam and Tucker for class as he waves bye to what is essentially his teammates now. “So I’m definitely still fucked up, but no one seemed to catch the burnt ball so whatever. Not my fucking problem anymore, now I’m going to get changed before my luck runs out”, the two snicker at him as he heads to the lockers.

Danny manages to get his shit and change uninterrupted, but as he’s going to leave Kwan suddenly appears, “dude, that was sick! We’re so going to pummel literally everyone! Anyways, we already made you a jacket because we’re not as stupid as Dash seems”. Danny shakes his head as Kwan leaves, though realising he froze some of the ground when Kwan came out of nowhere, “really? Oh, come on”. Danny quickly melts the ice before heading out and at the sight of the jacket he’s caring, Sam and Tucker’s snickering returns.

Danny just rolls his eyes at them but knows full well it would be insulting to not wear the thing. So he does change into it when no ones looking, “this looks fucking weird on me, I am impressed it actually fits though”. Sam smacks his arm, “well don’t set it on fire too soon, I doubt they want to replace it every week”.

First class goes pretty well the same until one of the football players that didn’t watch tryouts thinks Danny’s jacket wasn’t earned, “why you wearing that freak? Think you’ll get accepted just by wearing one?”. Danny just glares down at the boy from his seat, “something tells me you weren’t there, if you really want the story just talk to Kwan. He gave me the jacket”. The dude clearly doesn’t believe him and actually goes to grab Danny, which he reacts to on instinct. Grabbing the guys arm and yanking him to the ground, ectoburning the guys jacket and his own gloves in the process. This gets the teachers attention as she snaps for both of them to sit down. Danny mutters to himself, “huh, didn’t get in trouble. Power of the jacket I guess...god that is so elitists”. However, that was not why, as Danny soon finds out.

As soon as class is over the teacher asks to talk to him, Danny mutters as he walks up, “well fuck me”. The teacher looks Danny straight in the eyes and asks, “care to explain what was up with your eyes?”. Danny just blinks a couple times, “Uh what?”. The teacher shakes his head, “they were green and glowing. I know there’s some crazy shit at your house so I’ll assume that’s why. But I’d like an actual answer”. Danny blinks again and mutters “oh fuck, of all the shit times for something to come back to my more or less normal” in his head, “hotdogs literally come to life sometimes, so you pretty well said the explanation. Ectocontamination just shows more if someone’s angry or startled”. The teacher simply nods and waves Danny off. Third period doesn’t go much better as he accidentally freezes and explodes a bunch of test tubes. Resulting in multiple girls screaming and running out, a couple of dudes yelp. “Mr. Fenton, I would prefer if only ghosts caused explosions, not my students too”, at which Danny just rubs his neck sheepishly. After that he completely misses the rest of school as he has to pull another emergency Phantom switch.

“Seriously Skulker, what is that? An overgrown hacksaw?”, Danny shakes his head at the unusual and kind of disappointing weapon. Skulker grins as he makes a move for Danny but Danny easily bats away the weapon, however Skulker promptly knocks him on the side of the head. Knocking his wig off which Danny madly scrambles for, “dude, not the hair. For once I actually give a shit about it”. Skulker just stares at him and tilts his head to the side, “ok I know you have not been wearing a wig for the past years, so what?”. Danny shrugs, “parents trying to dissolve ghosts again. So now I get the fun of cosplaying my fucking self. Horray for me!”. Skulker shakes his head and continues his assault, which has gained some onlookers; namely the Fenton’s.

“How in the hell? It looks as if he was  completely unaffected?”, Jack shakes his head but Maddie slaps his arms excitedly. “No Jack! He’s not glowing! And he’s wearing sunglasses! We must have done something! No clue what though”, Maddie shakes her as she prepares the second model of the gun. “I would really like to know why all our stuff stops working right after using it on Phantom too. It’s really annoying to have to start building duplicates”, Maddie shakes her head while her husband smiles. “At least we know this one works! Tested it on some of those ectopusses!”, he finishes speaking just as Skulker and Danny both get drenched.

“OH COME THE FUCK ON!”, Danny snaps angrily at the goo before shouting at Skulker. “Don’t get this shit on you! You fucking tin man! Thermos now!”, Skulker promptly just follows Danny’s orders because he’s learned to tell when Danny’s not fucking around. “You’re parents are a problem ghost child!”, Skulker yells as Danny sucks him in. Danny stares down at his confused parents, who really just want to know why nothing works on him, he then throws his hands up in the air angrily as he goes to sulk in a tree.

“Fuck my entire existence, fuck my life and fuck my death”, after Danny knows Tucker will be home he flies straight into the boy’s bedroom, arms crossed.

“Sweet fucking Plasmius dude!”, Tucker yelps as he jumps off his bed and then throws a towel at the goo-covered Danny. “Care to take. One fucking guess what this is Tuck? Just one fucking guess?”, Danny just lets the towel smack into his face not even attempting to catch it. Tucker just sighs and digs up a second batch of the cocktail, “looks like your parents have finally learned the rules of making goddamn backups”. Danny just mutters as he cleans himself off, “this is the worst joke of my half-life”. Tucker chuckles as Danny flies home, knowing full well the wig and costume will have to be washed all night.

As soon as Danny gets home he goes straight to the bath and tosses everything in, “thank Phantom I got the expensive kind, this shit I can actually clean”. Lifting the cleaned off suit he shakes his head at it, “it’s been two days and this thing is already shredded, how the fuck is it going to last three more fucking days”. With a new appreciation for his real suits natural healing, Danny promptly goes to bed.

Danny’s morning starts out pretty good, he’s well rested and all dressed. As Danny goes to have breakfast, however, his dad barges in with the once again fixed Fenton gooster. “Why does that look like a rooster anyways?”, Danny can’t help but be curious. His dad shrugs, “that’s just what happened son, no need to question creative genius”. With that Jack slams the device on the table causing it to accidentally go off and coat Danny, once again, in goo. Danny sits there with his mouth open about to take a bit of his sandwich, he slowly closes his mouth and puts the sandwich gently on his plate. Danny starts out speaking slowly and calmly, “dad, I mean this with all love and affection. But, could you, stop, FUCKING SPRAYING ME WITH GOO!”, Danny’s sudden angry shout makes Jack jump. Jack blinks at Danny as Danny slowly pulls out his phone, who’s more focused on not crushing it than Jack’s reaction, “hey Tuck, do you, by chance, HAVE A THIRD FUCKING ONE!”. Jack again jumps, not used to ever seeing anger from his son unless it’s Christmas.

Danny snaps his phone closed slowly, wipes off his sandwich and eats it while glaring daggers at the rooster-shaped gun. Jack stands there watching his clearly pissed off son angrily eat a sandwich, not even bothering to wipe off the goo. “Uh, could I maybe clean your jacket and shirt off? Also, it’s uh, awesome you made the team”, Danny glares harder at the gun, and puts down what’s left of his sandwich. “Fuck it, sure thing, just don’t fucking spray me with goo, fuck me, just like fuck all of me”, Danny just straight up makes his stuff intangible falling off onto the floor, with his clean but ripped replica jumpsuit clearly visible. Danny doesn’t even acknowledge his stunned dad, as he angrily finishes his sandwich. Getting up slowly he puts his plate in the dishwasher, slowly turning to his dad who’s starting to come out of shock, “welcome to the joke of the century”.

End.

[freereignastarwarsstory]

Chapter 13: BX Blitz

Disclaimer: We (@zazabelle and @draksisreborn) own nothing but our OCs. Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney. Please review and enjoy this latest installment. 

It had been nearly two hours in Nar’Shaada time since Soron and Cenden had left on their mission from Beebs. The sky had opened up in those hours and raindrops fell steadily across the hull of the Raving Titan where Soron’s crew waited patiently for their return.

Nek and Vis sat in the lower engine room of the ship listening placidly to their own thoughts while Nek began laying out the pieces for the data table they’d gone to Tiss’sharl to collect. Near him, Vis sat on the floor with her eyes closed, mumbling to herself. Scrolls with notes and lightsabers lay strewn around her with the orb placed in her lap. 

Nek stood back for a moment to examine his work. He’d mostly bought parts needed to build a targeting computer on an old Republic warship; metal casings, crystalline screens, and bundles upon bundles of wires were placed in piles on the floor.

“The pieces are all there, I just need to figure out in what order to put them together.” Nek’s mumble to himself was nearly lost in the hiss of the rain battering the walls around them.

“I get that.” Vis finally sighed and opened her eyes, “I have all these notes and theories about what in the world this orb thingy could be for… But nothing makes sense.” 

“Kid, nothing’s made sense since Cenden joined this crew, and things just got even more confusing with you being here. I feel like I’m just along for the ride at this point.” Nek said in a similarly down-trodden tone.

“Well, you’re here for a reason. We all have a part to play in this, I just wish I could more about what this is.” Vis grumbled holding up the orb, “Any ideas?”

Nek wasn’t sure if she was talking to him on that last part but he decided to respond anyway, “If I actually manage to build this data table we can access information from your temple anytime so... that’d be helpful right?”

“But look at all this stuff we figured out back at the temple!” She said picking up one of her many scroll pieces covered it nearly unreadable handwriting, “You said, as playing the part of the orb, ‘I try to pick up the data from incoming holocrons but I have no antenna.’” Vis read off the scroll, her freckles shifting to the same deep orange as Nek’s eyes, “You continued on to say ‘So it can’t pick up anything because it hasn’t been given the ability to hear the message yet! But once the antennas are installed we could pick up on the data of any holocron in the galaxy!’ That sounds so smart doesn’t it!?”

“You… Recorded our conversation?” Nek responded hesitantly.

“Yeah! What do you guys think I’m normally doing writing in all these blank scrolls?” Vis asked with a tilt of her head.

“I guess I don’t normally pay attention to people unless they’re talking to me directly.” Nek laughed.

“I think I do that too, so it’s ok!” Vis responded jovially.

“But you do have a point. We did figure out a lot from just being in the temple for a few days.” Nek pointed out.

“Exactly! And now everything’s gone stagnant!” Vis sighed, her freckles growing brighter orange.

Holding the white crystalline orb close to her face, she took a breath.

“Soron’s kinda put a lot of faith in me and I act like I know a lot but none of this is an exact science, and I THOUGHT that my mind would be ‘opened more to the Force’ or something through training with Cenden, but he hasn’t even started that, and I’ve just been feeling really weird since our fight on the train, like there’s somewhere I need to be, or something I need to be doing, but I don’t know where to go next, and-”

“Vis?” Nek cut her off.

Vis’ word cut short, she realized she was rambling and fell silent.

“Let’s just uh, focus on what we can do right now, ok?” Nek suggested. The Devaronian stood awkwardly like he didn’t quite know what to say, but knew he had to say something. 

The girl’s freckles shifted to blue as she let out a breath and nodded. Nek moved to sit on the floor near the schematics he’d drawn up for the data table’s parts. Vis crawled across the room and plopped down next to him, the orb still in her hand. Looking over the paper, her eyes narrowed. 

“What’s that part do?” Vis said pointing with her free hand to a central chamber in the data table’s main body piece.

“That, in a normal targeting computer, is where the main circuit board for the computer is stored and operates off of the ship’s power supply. But sometimes they’d put a power-cell in there for backup power,” Nek explained as he held up the blueprints so Vis could get a better look, “But as for what it’s used for here, I won’t know until-”

The echoing of metallic footsteps cut off Nek’s sentence as the tall thin form of BX entered the lower engine room.  “Hey! Perfect timing!” Nek proclaimed to the droid before turning back to Vis, “I won't know what’s stored in that chamber until BX gets here and shows me some of his scans of the table.”

Nek motioned for the droid to come and stand near them. BX silently complied and stood over the pile of parts before projecting data on the scan he’d run back at the temple. The blue transparent light of the hologram unfolded into view from the droid’s eyes, displaying an x-rayed scan of the inner workings of the data table with some parts labeled to show they’d been identified, with other pieces flashing red to depict they were foreign objects to the robot’s memory banks. One of those pieces flashing in red was the centralized chamber.

Nek noticed this and cursed under his breath, running his red-taloned hand over one of the horns on his head, his finger hesitating to scratch along a chip in his horn, “This is going to make things more difficult.” Reaching forward he touched the flashing red image of the hologram to enhance it. 

The chamber was the same wide rectangular shape of the targeting system in Nek’s schematics, but there wasn’t a circuit board or a power cell in there. Instead, there was a cylindrical shape, like some sort of pipe lodged in the chamber’s space.  “See if I knew what that was, I’d know what’s powering this thing. My guess is that this actually was a Republic warship targeting computer that someone scraped together to open holocrons, which is really impressive, don't get me wrong, but that makes the design… difficult to replicate when it seemed the original mechanic was just running off of trial and error testing.”

Nek went quiet in thought as he stepped back to examine the piece as a whole. The three in the room thought for a moment while the rain still drummed away outside, the noise reaching a crescendo in the quiet.

BX suddenly made a move. Still projecting the hologram of schematics, the droid bent into Nek’s pile and began rearranging the parts to align more symmetrically.

“Hey guys…?” Vis responded to the droid’s movement, her spots growing purple, “If the person who made this thing could open holocrons, then why build it at all? What were they trying to do?”

“Maybe they couldn’t open holocrons.” BX’s deep metallic voice suggested, the droid still focused on organizing.

“And not only that but from what I’ve seen, this thing doesn’t just open holocrons, it organizes them by what the original user placed in them.” Nek continued, “Those things can hold infinite information from the Force, right? But info can also be placed inside of them. So this table seems to bring up the actual data that was stored in the holocron, not just floating around in its infinite hard drive space… Or something.”

Vis’ looked wide-eyed at the two, her mouth agape, “You guys are geniuses.” She marveled.

“I guess we are,” Nek replied.

“I have to write this down!” Vis said nearly belly flopping onto her pile of paper where she began to scribble furiously while mumbling to herself. 

The girl lost in her flurry of activity and Nek moving on to begin making notes of his own on his schematics. BX finished his organization of the parts, his gaze looking up to the glowing red projection of the unidentified object. 

The old commando droid’s circuits began to click. Dropping the data table scan, his attention turned to the girl surrounded by paper and lightsabers. BX bent down, his metal claw-like hand reached and grabbed one of the lightsabers just as a voice from a level up called out,

“HEY! LOOK SHARP! TRANSMISSION COMING THROUGH FROM SORON!” Lerti commanded loudly as the hatch installed above the lower engine room flew open. 

The Mandalorian slid down the ladder, and whiter light from the main hall of the ship flooded down in a beam into the dimmer red light the engine room supplied. 

BX rose, the lightsaber still in his hand. 

At Lerti’s order, Nek and Vis stood from their writings hastily and gathered around BX who stood at their attention. 

“Alright, connect the transmission BX,” Lerti said as she pressed a flashing indicator on her comlink. 

They heard the blaster fire before Soron’s holographic form even had a chance to come into view. 

The Shistavanen captain crouched behind what looked to be metal shipping containers that were serving as cover against the actual rain and the rain of blaster fire bearing down on him. 

“HI SORON!” Vis’ erupted loudly.

“HI VIS!” Soron yelled back with as big a smile as he could manage while he stood from his cover for a moment to return a few rounds of fire before crouching back, blaster bolts ripping through the air around him, “So! The mission is taking a LOT longer than expected!”

Soron shrank back. Two shot flew by, he just barely dodged them. “How are you all doing?” Soron’s voice battered against the explosion of activity around him as he repeatedly blinked the downpour out of his eyes.

Lerti let out a humored scoff, “Did you call just to check up on us? Or was there actually a reason for you calling?” 

“Oh, does a captain really need a reason to call his favorite crew members?” Soron said with a smile in his voice as his now stone-cold face turned and focused fire against something that could be heard crying out in pain.

“You need backup, don’t you?” Lerti guessed, voice dropping to a complete deadpan tone.

“Well, the mission is a bit more… Complicated! Than expected!” Soron mused, pausing in between certain words to fire a few more rounds.

“ZHIS WOULD BE OVER A LOT SOONER IF I COULD GET A DECENT SHOT IN!” Cenden’s angry accent shot into the audio feed.

The old temple guard suddenly backed into view holding his blaster close to his chest. Cenden’s blonde hair plastered to his forehead, both he and Soron looked like battered wet rags. Cenden attempted to look over the crate to his back before ducking under a bolt that nearly replaced where his head used to be. 

“Soron, Nek and I will be there soon, just send over your location,” Lerti interjected.

“Ooo! Cenden! Just use your lightsaber to deflect the bolts!” Vis added.

“I know how sabers work-!”

“Cenden!” Soron cut him off, “Just do it! It’s Nar’Shaada! Who’s going to care!?” Soron yelled above the storm. 

“No one’ll care as long as you make sure Grakkus the Hutt doesn’t hear about it.” Nek pointed out with a smile on his lips.  With a silent sneer, Cenden reached into the sopping folds of his armored tunic and produced the severed lightsaber the old Jedi still carried with him. 

Flipping the opening backwards, the blade ignited in the gloom. The yellow light shining off the raindrops around them gave the appearance of sunlight from between the clouds. Cenden stood from their hiding spot with the blade running along his forearm in a reverse-grip. The blaster bolts began to deflect off of the saber’s yellow light and Cenden crouched, readying himself to launch forward into the fray once more.

“WAIT WAIT! THIS CAN BE LIKE REMOTE TRAINING SESSION!” Vis shouted her suggestion as she watched Cenden seem to jettison into the air and out of the hologram’s line of sight. “Dangit! Soron! Tell Cenden to come back and do that again! I wanna try and copy him!” Without waiting for a response Vis spun to grab her saber off the floor, tossing the orb into BX’s other free hand.

POP!

With an enormous crackling sound and a flurry of sparks, the message projecting from BX’s eyes burst to nothingness. 

Vis and Nek screamed and Lerti retreated with raised fists, but all they saw was smoke coming off of his metallic body. The droid went suddenly limp, and fell with a lifeless crash to the ground, the orb and lightsaber still locked in his hands.

All was quiet save for the battering of the rain while the three stood in bewildered silence. 

Lerti’s comlink suddenly began to blink again, but she made no move to answer it, her eyes making only a sharp glance in Vis’ direction. Wide-eyed, the girl slowly shrugged, her freckles changing to the same bright yellow as Cenden’s lightsaber, “It wasn’t my fault…? I think?” 

Lerti’s hand went to the comlink, just Soron’s voice came through this time.  “WHAT HAPPENED!?” Soron yelled, voice still spitting rainwater.

“I think... Vis just broke BX.” Lerti responded slowly.

“Sorry!” Vis almost yelped, her hand flying to her mouth for her teeth to munch on.

“WHAT!? Did you just say-” He fired three shots, “BX is broken!? AGAIN?!”

“Wait, something’s happening.” Nek said as he kneeled down next to BX. The droid’s body began to twitch, a few more sparks sputtering out before his eyes exploded with a green light like he was projecting a holo-message. 

“Whoa!” Nek jumped back as the light began to take shape.

The green light formed into a perfect sphere which shook and glitched a bit with each jolt of BX’s body. The orb seemed to be spinning slowly, like a planet in orbit. It spun only for a few moments before a white dot appeared on one side of the surface. The dot began to blink and spark. BX’s deep metallic voice caused the crew’s insides to jump as he began to speak, deeper and more machine-like than usual as he started repeating a sequence of numbers and letters. 

“Grid Coordinate: S-12, Sectors: 33.4484° N, 112.0740° W…”

“What is going on!? Is something important happening!?” Soron spat over what sounded to be static building up between the comlinks.

“Soron? I’m not sure what’s going on, BX is relaying coordinates- Can you hear me? Soron?” Lerti attempted to speak.

“I- Hear- Lert-?” Static consumed the rest of his words. That’s when Vis noticed the glow of the orb in BX’s hand. Her eyes also shifting over to see the lightsaber in the other. It was far older than any of the others she had seen, even in the temple, covered in rust so its key components were almost entirely obscured.

Freckles shifting to the same bright green of the hologram, Vis gasped and began to shake her hands excitedly as she spun in a circle, “Oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH! It’s the orb! It’s the kyber crystal! AAHHH! WE CRACKED IT!! NEK!” 

“That’s what’s powering the data table,” Nek said piecing together Vis’ fragmented sentences, “That’s the power conduit BX couldn’t identify! So, the orb’s extracting coordinates off of the kybercrystal in the saber!?” 

“I don’t know how that’s possible but we are back in the game! Thank you, my guide!!!” Nek and Vis high-fived over BX’s twitching body before Lerti cut in, motioning for them to be quiet as she listened intently, 

“S-12… These coordinates are on Nar’Shaada.”  Just as the words left Lerti’s mouth, her comlink began blinking again. This time she answered right away, Soron’s voice coming through loud and clear this time. 

“We got-” He suddenly yelled as the sound of a fist connecting with someone’s face could be heard, “Cut off back there. I think the storm is messing with the SIGNAL!” The sound of Soron’s fist slamming across another jaw again came over the audio.

Lerti was quiet for a moment. Her eyes shifted thoughtfully to Vis who had bent down to examine the glowing orb before Lerti let her own spheres turn to examine the glowing green image still emitting coordinates in front of them. Her face scrunched thoughtfully before she leaned her finger into the comlink’s mic,

“Soron... are you still needing that backup?” Lerti asked tactfully.

“We seem to be doing BETTER at the MOMENT!” Soron said, still fist fighting. 

“That’s good because I think we have a heading for one of those ‘Force mission’ things, and it’s only a few city blocks away from here.”

Soron’s struggle continued for a moment before he finally responded back, “Wait, really!? Of course, this happens when I’m NOT there.” Soron sighed, “I’ll ask how this happened- When I get back- But for now you- Nek, and BX go- Check it out… If you can get him operational that is.” Soron spoke very quickly in between huffs as it sounded like he was running.

Lerti eyed the smoke coming off the droid, “We’ll see.”

“And let me make this clear; no matter what, DO NOT BRING VIS THIS TIME. We don’t know where those coordinates lead, I just want you three to scout out what we’ll be walking into when we do it for real.” Soron instructed rapid fire.

“Aww… I wanna come on a Force mission…” Vis pouted to herself.

Whether Soron could hear it or not, he added, “And Vis. I need you to stay behind and run further examinations on the kyber orb and figure out how these coordinates are being transmitted and why.” 

Vis instantly brightened up, “Can do!” A pressure built up in the room as Vis reached forward and the orb was wrenched from BX’s hand, the Force gently guiding it into her grasp.

“Why thank you.” Vis curtsied with her enormous coat to the invisible energy field. Only a moment after the orb left the droid’s metal claw, the smoke rising from BX’s hull died down enormously, but the droid still lay unmoving.

Noticing the levels of smoke drop, Lerti leaned back to the comlink, “You sure you want us to head somewhere without you? Shouldn’t we wait?”

“As much as I’d normally agree with you, Cenden and I have only just made it on location and secured it.” Soron explained through suppressed huffing. The static noise that came through the comlink’s background had gone silent save for the rain. The fighting had come to a close for now. “The more we place our immediate focus on what it is that we’re supposed to be doing with all of this new information the faster we’re going to get answers that give us context.”

“Alrighty then, as soon as we see if we can get BX up and moving we’ll head out-”

As if to the que of Lerti’s words, BX’s hull suddenly gave another loud “POP!” and Nek that had leaned in to examine the droid nearly jumped to the ceiling in surprise as BX shot into sitting position.

“UNKNOWN ERROR. DIAGNOSTICS INCONCLUSIVE. POSSIBLE MALWARE DETECTED.” BX announced, his voice slowly rising in pitch back to it’s usual level as the droid’s systems restarted.

Lerti smiled, “And we’re set to go! We’ll keep you updated.”

“WHOOP WHOOP!! BX is NOT DEAD! Up top!” Vis cheered as she high fived the orb this time.

Another voice suddenly came over the comlink, “Wait, did I just hear that we’re not getting backup?” 

“Beebs is sending her guys to help us from here, we just needed to secure the tunnel’s opening…”

The crew didn’t hear the rest as Lerti released her thumb from the cylindrical device’s sensor. 

“You heard the mission; Nek, BX? You two and I are going to that set of coordinates. Vis, you’re staying here to… do whatever it is that you do.”

“Yeah I am!” Vis replied as she spun and began collecting her papers and lightsabers off the ground. 

A slight whirring could be heard as BX raised his arm to call attention to Lerti, “I actually did not hear my mission statement, I think I may have experienced a glitch in my system… What coordinates are we proceeding to?”

Nek glanced down thoughtfully at the lightsaber still clutched in the droid’s hand. 

“So… we can only see the coordinates when BX is holding the orb…” Nek gasped, “I just had an idea.”

“That’s a first. Tell me on the way.” Lerti said impatiently, pushing forward as she grabbed Nek and hauled BX to his feet as the three left the dim red light of the engine room, leaving Vis to hum to herself a song that didn’t exist.

[builder051]

#19

Thank you, anon, for bearing with me.  I feel the need to keep over-explaining and apologizing…

I mean, Bucky has food issues and I usually write all that for him pretty easily.  I don’t know what my deal is exactly.  Sometimes things just hit me hard.  Intent and nuance play into it a lot, so characters eating themselves sick feels like a whole different ballgame from characters getting sick from/after eating.

So, I’m sorry for all this nonsense.  Here we go.  There’s a little bit of angst and ED baggage (Mike).

_____

Jason pounds across the kitchen and deposits his armful of mail onto the table.  “What is it with the holiday season?” He complains, spreading out catalogues and sales ads.  “We don’t even shop at L.L. Bean.”

“I like Bean,” Colby says, lifting his mug of tea so the mass of post doesn’t edge it off the tabletop.  “Or I would if I had any money.”

“Well, there you go.”  Jason hands him the catalogue.  “Pick out a few things and there’s your Christmas.  I’ve been having trouble thinking of something for you anyway.”  It’s a lie, but he deserves more than the gift box of scented candles hidden away at the top of Mike’s closet.

“Huh.  Wow.”  Colby’s already distracted by the display of work boots on the cover.

“Mike, you got a package,” Jason calls to his sister, who’s working on her laptop in the living room.

“Who’s it from?” Mike asks dubiously.

Jason lifts the padded envelope.  “Mom.”

“You mean you got a package, then,” Mike says, rolling her eyes.  “Whatever it is, I’m not eating it.”

“It might not be food.”

“It’s from Mom.  It’s always food.”

“Yeah, she has a track record…”  Jason shakes the parcel.  It rattles.

Mike raises her eyebrows.  “What, you’re trying to get me to come like a fucking dog or something?”

“Here, girl!  I got treats for you!”

Mike snaps her laptop shut.  “If I open it, will you shut up?”

“Sure.”  When she’s close enough, Jason throws the envelope at her.

Mike tears through the plastic and bubble wrap and peers into the envelope.  “Fuck.  I’m not eating them.”  She tips the contents out over the table, and miniature cellophane-wrapped candy canes spill out.  The layer of mail cushions them, but a few bounce to the floor with crunches and clatters.

“Well that’s…interesting,” Colby says, looking up from a page of flannel shirts.

“It’s stupid.”  Mike wads up the empty envelope and lobs it into the trash.  “Just throw ‘em away, I guess.”

“You could have one or two,” Jason encourages her.  “You can let loose without going crazy.”

“They’re fucking gross.”  Mike looks to Colby, searching for backup.

“Yeah,” Colby sighs.  “I gotta agree on this one.  Candy like that kind of tastes like food dye…”

“Fine.  I’ll take them,” Jason says.  He grabs a fallen candy cane from the floor and tears off the wrapper.  “Mom’s not trying to kill you, you know?  She’s not doing it right, but…she’s trying to help.”

“Stop defending her,” Mike growls.  “I already know she likes you better than me.”

“Well, I’m not the one getting care packages all the time,” Jason shoots back.

“No, you just eat all the love out of mine.”

“Because you throw them away!  I’m sick of you wasting food!”

“Don’t tell me that’s what this is all about.  ‘Cause it’s not.”  Mike takes a handful of the candy and drops it in the trash.

“Stop.  I’m gonna eat that,” Jason says.

“Yeah, you do that.  You’re gonna feel real great about yourself.”  Mike takes a step back, retreating toward the hallway.

“You know, I don’t need a lecture about it from you.”  Jason finishes unwrapping the candy in his hand and crunches it between his teeth.

“Right.  I’m broken,” Mike says.  “Well, don’t come complaining to me when you’ve fucked yourself up.”  She disappears into her bedroom, slamming the door loudly behind her.

“Yeah, ok,” Jason mumbles.  He chews the hard candy in his mouth and swallows it down like broken glass.  He flops into a chair at the table as Colby’s standing up.

“What, are you taking her side?  Seriously?”

“I…  Don’t put me in the middle of this.”  He gathers up his tea and catalogue.  “Neither one of you are wrong.”  He vanishes down the hall as well.  At least the door that opens and shuts is theirs this time.  Jason takes small comfort in the fact that Colby’s not rushing to look after Mike.

Still hot with anger, Jason unwraps another candy cane.  He breaks it between his molars and flips open the nearest catalogue for a distraction. Within minutes he’s shaking his head at the breakfast gift baskets laid out on the pages, wondering why the hell English muffins need their very own sales flyer.

By the time he’s done with the extensive Wolferman’s mailing and moving on to Harry and David, he’s munched his way through half the pile of candy.

Jason turns the page, expecting to see more foil-wrapped oranges and poinsettia arrangements.  Instead, he’s face-to-face with a peppermint cheesecake.  “How do you mail-order a fucking cheesecake?” He mumbles.  He’s halfway through breaking a candy cane in to pieces, and he pauses before he drops another sticky rod of peppermint on his tongue.

It’d started off pleasant, then shifted to mindless.  Now the idea of the sweets is fairly revolting.  Jason drops what’s in his hands and cups them over his face.  His fingers smell minty and sweet.  It’s as if all the sugar’s suddenly gone to his head, exploding into cold fireworks of nausea behind his forehead.

With all the kerfuffle surrounding the package and the ensuing argument, breakfast had fallen by the wayside.  Now he’s full of pure sugar.  No wonder he feels like shit.

Jason closes the Harry and David catalogue, but now even the fresh fruit decorating the front cover makes him feel sick.  He swallows hard and does his best to suppress a wet belch.  He can’t power through it, and a rush of acidic sweetness rises in his throat.

Jason heaves over the kitchen sink before he’s completely aware of what he’s doing.  He grips the edge of the counter to keep from falling over as he retches, splashing the edges of the stainless steel basin.  The flavor of peppermint burns his mouth almost as much as the bile does.

He’s disgusted with himself on so many levels.  Jason makes a silent promise to never so much as look at a candy cane again.

The sound of the fridge opening behind him breaks his thoughts, but he’s still too preoccupied to turn around.

“I told you so,” Mike says over the sound of a soda can’s seal breaking.

Jason spits to clear his mouth.  “Yeah,” he sighs.  “Yeah… I know.”

Mike’s footsteps retreat, and Jason murmurs again, “I know.”  Next time perhaps he’ll listen.

[thisiskindagross]

Satan and Me Asks

1.)  for the questions thing - are you cool w sexuality headcanons for ur characters??

I’m assuming you mean if people in the fandom make sexuality headcanons? And of course. You guys can do whatever you want. I know I’ve only posted about a few sexualities, so there’s not much to go on anyway.

2.)  Is hell really gone out of Satan forever? How long does Nat's wish last?

Hell’s not gone from Satan. It’s still inside of him, but he doesn’t hear the constant voices in his head anymore because of Natalie’s wish. That was what she sold her soul for, so the wish will stay in effect the rest of his existence.

3.)  Will we be seeing Pax or Felix soon? What about that small little boy?

Pax and Felix looking for Zadkiel is kind of a side plot in the comic, so I can’t say for sure when they will intercept. My guess is anywhere in the next 15 updates?

4.)  Do satan's earings indicate his emotions as well?

When Satan is in “human” form, his earrings are like his horns. They will change between yellow and red based on his mood.

5.)  is gabriel ok?

At the moment, no. He’s in considerable distress, but he will be. You’ll see this arc.

6.)  So im a ask, how does satan really feel about nat being damned to hell and him not being able to figure out how to stop it? He seems to care if she does.

He doesn’t like it at all, but since they can’t change it atm he is choosing to not think about it.

7.)  Has Satan thought about sex with Nat?

He’s been too preoccupied with the Apocalypse and the recent Titus thing (and now Natalie being sick) to really think about anything like that, I’d think. That’s not to say he’s never thought about sex in general, but just the plot never called for him to so? He really hasn’t.

8.)  any ships you generally don't like?

I mean, my taste in ships change all the time and have no effect in canon. There are some ships that become/are already canon that I don’t care for, and there are some I really like that I know will never be canon. For example, I used to hate Ganthea, but now I like it. It really depends. I flip-flop around a lot. I’d feel bad though listing ships I don’t care for, just because I don’t want to make anyone feel bad for liking something. Just because I don’t shouldn’t mean that you guys can’t like them. 

So in the spirit of not making someone feel bad IDK if I can fully answer this question.

9.)  any insights into how angel society works/what it generally is like for the various background angels? what do they get up to? are they all the same ones who were created back at the Beginning? how do they view current comic events (if they generally know anything)? what do they think of their 'leaders' (the archangels)?

Loaded question lol Well, the angels canonically in the bible are ranked. There are a lot of classes of angels; the archangels are actually second from the bottom. They’re literally just protectors and foot soldiers, I guess that’s the closest I could equate them to. So the vast majority of angels are just the society in the comic, whereas the ones who follow the archangels actually enlist to be in the army.

Each archangel leads a squad (except Raphael, who only works with the medic angels in the hospital). Each squad has a certain duty (ex: Jophiel’s is trained in recovery and surveillance, Zadkiel’s was p much the ones who take on tough jobs that have a low mortality rate, Gabriel’s is trained in support and backup to other troops, etc). They’re sorted and placed under an archangel depending on their test results. I actually do plan to do a dumb little comic about angels enlisting at one point.

Angel society as a whole aren’t 100% up to current events, because the archangels and higher up angels dictate what information is allowed to be trickled down. They also don’t want to cause alarm so they bend the truth a little bit. Right now majority of the angels aren’t even aware what really happened with Titus (like they didn’t know that someone was trying to overthrow Satan).

Not all of them were created at the beginning. Some were, others are fairly new. It really depends. It also depends on their personality if they like the archangels or not, so it’s hard to lump them all in together. For the most part the angels not in the army are blissfully unaware of the things around them. They stay in Heaven and mind their own business.

10.)  Why is Angel Michael so upset about Human Michael? And what does Human Michael think about Angel Michael?

Angel Michael is upset not at Mike P, but the situation. He likes humans but he doesn’t want to be a human. So the idea of being put into his body upsets him a lot. Mike P. doesn’t know anything about Michael; he’s just trying to process the information. When he does, he will want to get to know him.

11.)  Have any of the angels actually crushed on a human before

Quite a few have, but virtually none act on it. They would be executed if they procreated with a human, as would the nephilim baby. It’s a “look but don’t touch” situation.

12.)  okay okay you wont tell us the end game ships & das okay, but can you tell us who you personally ship Natalie with?

Natalie’s the rare character that I can ship with 95% of the cast, if written a certain way. The list would be too long lol

13.)  Do we get anything about Luce's past in the comic? I know there are parts from where he's an angel but maybe how he grew up or him as smol babe? Perhaps some cute scenes where they interact with God as their father and cutesy things?

There will be comics like this, yes.

14.)  What are the places/businesses Ipos and Sheila set up in the past? 

Ipos spent a lot of time around various parts of the world. During the 1700-1800s he stayed in Ireland, where he met Sheila officially. She spent most of her time in the Southern Hemisphere, and stayed in Australia for a while. 

Ipos was in the military for a while, too, so he could see more places, learn more about humans, keep tabs on everything. The real Ipos he’s based off of is actually an information keeper, so I tried to keep that true to form in the comic as well. Under different guises, Ipos and Sheila have run restaurants, bars, brothels, a hardware store, gun shops, camping supply stores, construction companies, real estate businesses.

15.)  Are all demons fallen angels, or were some just always demons? Also, is it possible for angels to have kids, either with each other or with humans? 

95% of demons are Fallen Angels. The few that aren’t are either born from bad circumstance/human sorrow, or have been made in a pact with another higher level Fallen. (I actually have a series that explains the first contracts with demons but that won’t debut for another few years I’d surmise. It’s touched upon as well in future “Here it Comes” updates.)

Angels can have children with each other, though it’s rare, and they can reproduce with humans. Nephilim, human and angel children, are very strong and very unpredictable so they’re viewed as taboos. In the bible it’s a big reason why God flooded the earth with Noah and his ark. Angels had copulated and had children with humans so they drowned them and their parents. (I’ve heard speculation that Goliath from David and Goliath was a nephilim baby too, but IDK how accurate that is).

  16.)  What is Kristi's family like? 

Kristi has her parents, Norma and Ray Lange, and an older sister who is in college, Lily. Kristi’s mother is high maintenance, which is probably where Kristi got it from. Her father grew up in town with Alex McAllister, and he used to bully him a lot. He had a crush on Carla (but was stuck dating her cousin), so that’s another reason he doesn’t like Alex. He settled for Kristi’s mom when he met her later, so it’s not exactly a love built marriage. He’s not too interested in his home life. Kristi’s sister is easy going and nice. She has a good relationship with Kristi.

17.)  Does Raphael have any fears about like real physical stuff/like how people have fears of snakes, spiders etc

Raphael doesn’t have a lot of fears like that. His are more mental stuff. But he is scared of bats. Won’t go near them.

18.)  Are there things about the story that you wish you could change but can't 'cause it's too late? if so, what?

Yeah, there are a couple. I wish I did more with Jericho. I watered him down for the comic, which I’m regretting. He was going to be more problematic than that. I’d like to keep Ipos and Sheila around a little longer, but they died p quick. There are scrapped updates I wish I went through with, but I can’t do anything about that now.

19.)  will we see pestilence and famine interacting with natalie and satan?

Not sure about Famine, but Pestilence yes.

20.)  Would it be fair to ask about what kind of piercings each character has? I know that each has their own unique ones and since we don't always see all the piercings (as with Anthea, whose belly piercings aren't revealed until that one episode) and it would be cool to know all the piercings that each has.

That’s a lot to list, but I’ll just say what piercing someone has if it’s under clothing.

Zadkiel has lower back dermals, Pax has a Apadravya, Jophiel has hip dermals.

 21.)  So how come Lucifer only uses "Festus" and doesnt call Felix "Felix"? 

Lucifer’s more formal like that. I’m sure if Felix pushed the issue he would change, but it’s really force of habit cuz that name comes to mind first when he talks/thinks about him.  

22.) How do you make updates do you write out a script or do you just make it up as you go?

I make it up as I go. Aside from a few events I know that I want to take place, I have no idea how I’m getting there and just let what happens on each new page take me there. A lot of times I’m surprised how the story changed, but that’s what makes it fun

23.)  Are we going to find out what happened to Yup's parents? 

If anything it will be subtle if it’s mentioned in passing, but IDK if it will. His dad and mom weren’t married so his dad split. His mom was into recreational drugs and was evicted from their apartment because of insufficient funds when Yup was 6.  She left him at the freeway underpass when she couldn’t deal with her situation anymore. When Zadkiel found Yup he’d been on his own for a month or so.

24.)  Do any of the angels or demons have any Phobias or fears? Just random things they are afraid of for no reason or for a specific reason at all

They do, it just depends on the demon. Anthea was afraid of driving on the freeway. Felix is afraid of being ignored. Zoe is afraid of small spaces.

25.)  i've always been curious... what exactly were titus' spikes made of? were they some type of metal? and did it hurt him to use them?

It did hurt, but he had a high pain tolerance. They were a mixture of calcium and stone (like Cain with Abel).

26.)  Do any of the angels have tattoos besides Gabriel and Raguel?

Some do, just depends. They usually have a specific reason in mind if they do.

27.)  Do any of the angels look less than human?

Yes.

28.)  What was laila's brother's name?

Lyle. Laila’s name is actually Veronique and her middle name is Laila. After he died, she started going by Laila to feel closer to him, since they sounded similar.

29.)  Does Michael have an ex and does she have a name?

Michael does have an ex. They were together briefly before she fell, not enough time to really get attached but he was curious enough to try. They aren’t really touched upon in the comic so I never gave them a name.

30.)  So something I was wondering, bc I love Ipos and wish he was in the comic longer, does he have an Irish accent because he was in Ireland for so long and decided to adapt it? Also how tf is Ipos pronounced, bc i say it like eye-pos but idk if thts right.

He has a small accent, yes. And yeah, it’s eye-pos.

31.)  Have you ever imagined any Satan and Me babies? Not the characters themselves as children, but having children

32.) Since Raguel is only 55, Does that mean he actually has a birthday then?

The day he was created was April 2nd on the 20th century calendar, as opposed to the other archangels who were born at the beginning of earth’s creation.

33.)  I was wondering is Michael jealous of how close nat and satan are? like when satan flew off with nat after the scuffle. I noticed Michael didnt look too happy. By the way I love your blog its the best It puts a fun twist on bible stories/charecters.

Michael is very jealous of Natalie and Satan’s relationship. It drives him up a wall.

34.)  I actually thought of one, surprise surprise. We know a few of the "who knew who first" scenarios, but did felix know of Lucifer first, or meet Anthea first? I suppose the same question could go for Anthea over Felix and Gabriel.

Felix knew of Satan first and was already enamored with him by the time he met Anthea. Anthea met Felix before Gabriel, though. In that WIP Gabriel and Anthea comic pre-fall I think it’s addressed that they met later down the line.

[mechagalaxy]

John T Mainer 28840: Social Distancing

Social Distancing

Gorax Plague had struck Mecha Galaxy. It got into the pilots through contaminated Hate and Stim packs. It got into the mecha via the pilot hard point cranial jacks. It got into the gate systems through pilots interfacing with the gates to respond to ready reaction force alerts, and it got into the cleaning bots because Robert C Goat can't see a socket he won't jam it into. Renamed his whole Clan Gorax Plague until Warlock, Magnificent 7 and the Arcane Dragons put a bounty on him, then he changed it to Objectionable Idiots, which was a fair descriptor, but left us with infected cleaning bots in all the depots.

Word came down from the Craftsmen to practice Social Distancing. This is hard to grasp for many of my pilots. To be honest, our Bunny pilots are technically savvy, and social as anything, but their problem solving skills tend to be limited to the kill/loot/fornicate/burn decision tree. Its a good tree, a worthy and time tested tree, but not the best tool for teaching Social Distancing to stop the spread of the Gorax Plague. That's ok. I picked up a degree in this sort of thing before Drake got the University shut down for illegal cloning; not a legal action. He bought enough politicians he could have stalled that forever. He made an unauthorized clone of his girlfriend Tory for...well lets not get into why. She objected, with Okha armed Infernos and Hellbat equipped Cindrons until there wasn't enough left of campus to detect as trace elements. I also speak fluent kill/loot/burn/fornicate. It is my native tongue.

How do you explain Social Distancing to mecha jocks?

With my Redeemer its easy. Normally I like to shield smash a bastard, then socket my Quad Rifle in his cockpit and blow his CPU all over his wingmate. This would be considered close contact and risking the spread of Gorax to myself, and my technicians wiping bits of pilot goo and mecha bio-electric molycircuitry out of my various exhaust ports, shield emitters and recoil buffers. The correct response it to initiate fire at my effective range of 2km, and complete the engagement outside the 300m exclusion zone (twice the spray distance of gooey bits when you overkill). How to translate for the rest of my pilots?

Lewis Reed, hmmm. He likes to rip mecha apart with his Revenent claws. This is going to be an issue. I am just going to have to take them away. Sorry Lewis, but your need to rend things limb from limb is a health hazard. His second love is sparkly, so we will teach him social distancing by making him fight Red Ants.

See Lewis? You have no claws, and Red Ants don't really come apart that easy anyway, they just flop around a lot. Isn't it prettier to blast them with a Graviton Warp Beam and watch their armour initiate a gate reaction and watch half its mass convert to tachyons and accellerate past light, while the core extends into singularity and collapses the engine and cockpit into a cosmic string of infinite length and no mass? Sparkly, squishy, and BOOM. All at a nice safe distance.

Holy Damn, oh this one is easy. Cameron mecha, known weakness during the Gorax plague is the spikes grown over the shoulder pauldrons look impressive, but block the ammo ports for reloading the arm chain guns. Holy Damn, I know you love to gut punch a bastard, and cut him in half slowly with extended chain gun bursts, but if he splashes on you even a little, we won't be able to reload your guns. If you go close quarters battle, you will have to spend the rest of the war firing short bursts, or, gods forbid, SINGLE SHOTS. No more full auto mayhem. Either engage at range, or you will have to RATION your fire. I hated to do it. It is sad to see a grown cyborg cry, but sometimes you must be cruel to be kind.

Christine had to be taken OUT of her 40 tonners, as there is no way she is not going to play with her food with Keradon and Novum claws, and she can't resist doing the Nephillax Tea Bag dance on her kills, so pretty much saddling her with her Cyberdon that can't dance to save its or her life and really really loves to burn things more than anything is honestly the best way to keep everyone safe.

Todd Rainey and his Penner were a problem. He is right, the Penner is somewhat based on Gorax tech, and looks pretty bad-ass when it changes. You can even reload it to your hearts content as the spikes occur no where near the reloading or ejection ports, Gorax did design the damned virus after all.

I thought about putting an anti-virus lockout on the porn storage in our Clan AI, but that would get my entire clan trying to kill me, with nothing better to do. No that wouldn't work. Fear is not a motivator for Todd, so scaring him is out. How do you get him to stop loot after kill? If he loots, he gets the plague. Social distancing berserkers is pain in the arse. OH THAT IS IT!. I offered Todd the option of replacing his existing ammo at no additional cost with ALL TORY ammo. If you haven't seen it, you haven't lived. I don't know and I don't want to know what Todd did for Tory to get her to design it, but it is regular guass ammunition as far as ballistics is concerned, but once it hits armour, it crosses the activation threshold of the depleted uranium inside and activates the iridium sheath. Your targets armour burns and the irridium infuses the flames. Your target is transformed into a roaring pillar of rainbow flames. He laughs so hard he cries when they go up that way. You can't stop the kill/loot/burn/fornicate cycle, but you can short circuit it by making the kill/burn and cutting out the /loot/ portion without them noticing its missing .

Daniel Halbany, what can you do? He loves his Proton Blade. The sight of him burying a shining cyan axe deep into a Kami then putting his Boreas boot to its chest to kick it off his blade is pretty hard core awesome. Its also a HUGE infection risk. No two ways about it. For all the Boreas pilots an imediate challenge is issued. Free Beer for a year to the winner, free beer for a month for all top ten finalists in MECHA AXE THROWING. That is how you teach social distancing to Boreas Pilots. Sure I know the whole "hit them with it if they get too close" was a backup feature, but if you give a mecha killing battle axe or sword to a mecha pilot he or she is going to get stuck in every chance they get. Ours is not a sane profession, and honestly, mine not the most stable of clans on a good day. So free beer for axe throwing means my kill bunnies will be chucking axes with wild abandon, and at 95 tons with fully developed cockpit and chassis boosts, they are doing so at serious range. Social distancing done....strangely.

Don Lindley.....oh Don. What can I do with you. I mean he loves to ram his Aspis horns right into the enemies junk, then blow it out their butthole with Tri-slagger fire and toss the top half of the corpse to the second rank to play with so they don't get bored. It is a beautiful tactic, and its not wrong, but right now its a huge infection risk. How can you teach social distancing to a pilot whose idea of hello is impaling then igniting? No help for it. Going to have to take his horns away. When he pilots as Aspis he is like a bull in rut, charge everything, think when its time to pick through the shiny bits for loot, which also I can't let him do. When he pilots a Warg he is a stone cold killer, and a cold killer. I mean he leaves the dead frozen so solid they won't thaw for plenty of time for our field decontamination teams to work them over before looting. OK, so Don has to run his 55 tonners. Social Distancing is as much pilot and mecha psychology as anything else.

We here in Mecha Galaxy largely care for one another. I mean, we want to shoot the every loving niode out of you, but we don't want you actually sick or hurt. I mean we are mercenary scum but not actual A-holes about it.

All the Clan Leaders out there, keep working hard to make sure your people are taking care of themselves. Nick and the Craftsmen are making sure the Gorax plague that got into the Crafsman gate circuitry gets fixed so we can go to war. It falls to us as clan mates to make sure our own people look after themselves. Keep health, keep killing, kill responsibly, but kill often. Have a good plague, and see you all on the field

John T Mainer 28840

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World

I first met Staci when she came to one of my meet-ups in NYC. She wanted to thank me for helping her travel the world. See, for her, it’s not as simple as just getting on a plane and going somewhere. Staci was born with a rare genetic condition that has left her deaf, with fused fingers, jaws, and a host of other medical issues. Determined to not sit on the sidelines, Staci has worked hard to overcome the obstacles before her so that she can make her travel dreams a reality. So, without further ado, here’s Staci!

Nomadic Matt: Hi Staci! Tell us about yourself! Staci: My name is Staci and I’m 28 years old. I happen to have Nager syndrome, a super rare genetic condition wherein I was born with fused jaws, fused elbows, four fingers, and deafness, to name some fun facts about it. I’ve had many surgeries to correct a lot of issues and increase my quality of life.

I was born in Seattle and moved to an incredibly rural town in New York when I was ten. I’ve always had an interest in languages and other cultures. Even though I’m deaf, I easily excelled in Spanish past my third-grade hearing classmates because I found it fun and challenging. My other loves are history and art and yes, they got combined into a bachelor’s in art history and museum professions.

I like anything that challenges me, and I hate being stagnant.

How did you get into travel? When I was growing up, my family made various trips around the US, but it wasn’t until my senior year at a small high school for the deaf that I went to Italy and Greece with the senior and junior classes. There, I finally experienced what it’s like to travel, even though I felt stifled by the chaperones and the itinerary. But it gave me a taste, and I wanted more. I became addicted to the idea of freedom.

In 2010, I was supposed to go to Montreal with a friend for spring break, but she had to drop out. I went ahead anyway and experienced the freedom of solo travel: I could do whatever I wanted without any set plans. I loved it.

I took off for Germany, in March 2011, which kick-started my months-long trip through Europe. I didn’t tell my family for a few weeks, because I didn’t want to be discouraged and made to stay home. I explored Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia (I easily fell in love with Belgrade and stayed there for two months) until I had to return home in August due to a broken arm.

In 2012, I went to Nicaragua for spring break. It was my first taste of Latin America, and I knew I wanted to learn more Spanish. Then in 2013 and 2014, I went to Mexico, which quickly became my favorite country—one that I want to move to in the future. I felt connected there and I could be as independent as I wished. It was also easy to get more of my special food at a large grocery store, even if it was expensive compared to local food. In 2015, I headed to Ecuador on spring break, and in 2016, I found a cheap flight to Iceland—seeing the northern lights was easily the highlight of my week there.

2017 so far has featured a birthday trip to the Philippines, my first Asian country. Recently I spent a month in Mexico visiting my friends and hanging out like a local.

What’s been the biggest lesson so far? Budgeting. I had zero ideas about budgeting on my first huge trip and overspent so much. I have gotten better with it, but I still struggle. For example, my mom had to help me with a $130 domestic flight in Iceland because I was so horrible at budgeting.

Another struggle is overpacking. Even if I manage to pack a just week’s worth of clothes, it’s too much, because I have to also bring many bottles of my special food.

How did you fix these mistakes? How did you get better at them? Well, as for budgeting, I learned that I need more money than I thought, so I saved more. Now I also tend to focus on places that are cheap for the most part, and if my original plans fall through, I have backup plans so I don’t have to spend unexpectedly or borrow money. I have gotten better with money, but I do still slip up.

When it comes to packing, I try my best to pack only 3-4 bottoms and several dresses, but I still have a tendency to pack too many shirts. Being short in height, a lot of my clothes are on the small side, which it makes it easy to overpack my backpack. I do try to pack two pairs of shoes max, besides flip-flops, but my favorite waterproof Dr. Martens shoes definitely take up a lot of room when I’m not wearing them. I stuff socks into my shoes, and I always roll my clothes.

Since I do have a habit of going shopping while traveling, I try to not pack too much, only to end up with an even heavier backpack when I return. When I was in Europe the first time, I shipped things home because my backpack was getting heavy with stuff I got for my family and with cold-weather clothes I no longer needed in warmer weather. Now, I basically layer as much as I can if heading to a cooler place.

What resources are out there for deaf travelers? Seek the World by Calvin Young is a good resource for deaf travelers since he is deaf himself. He has a very active Facebook page, and he shows the different finger-spellings and signs of various countries. He also links to other helpful resources that encourage more deaf people to travel.

Another option is No Barriers by Joel Barish. He posts vlogs in which he meets deaf locals around the world and asks them about their jobs and lives. He’s also the founder of DeafNation, which is focused on deaf “language, culture, and pride.”

How do you communicate if sign language is different in every other language? I always have my iPhone with me, but I also carry my notepad in my purse when using a phone is not ideal (safety or it not being charged). There’s also international sign language, but I don’t know it, although I do know a little bit of Mexican Sign Language. I also used to be able to speak, but a medical complication happened so at this moment, speaking is not possible. I am the worst at lip-reading, and even though I wear hearing aids, I just prefer to type things out.

You mentioned you have a fused jaw so it’s hard to eat. Do you only travel for short periods?How do you get around your medical needs when you travel? Do you just carry everything with you? Nager syndrome makes eating difficult. I recently had surgery to open my jaws, and it was the first successful surgery to do that; however I still can’t eat solid food because I need therapy to get those unused muscles to work and other fun medical stuff.

All the challenges I faced were related to my food. Running out is easy to do, and I can’t just bring five boxes or 16 bottles since I travel solo and it would exceed the check-in weight limit for flights and make packing impossible for me. Everywhere in Europe, and even in some other countries, I cannot find my special food and I’m left without many options for nutrition due to my fused jaws. Soups cannot fill me up, and smoothies, milkshakes, etc. are not a solution either, because it’s too easy to lose weight, which is a very bad thing for me. It’s also extremely easy for me to choke on a small pieces of food, so I can’t just eat peas, rice, or corn, and I don’t like mashed potatoes.

My food is for nutrition purposes, and I drink about 7+ bottles a day to fill me up. Traveling for several months at a time depends on if I’m able to get my food or not. I cannot find Ensure Plus anywhere in Europe, whether at pharmacies or large grocery stores, so forget about my staying there long-term. At least in Mexico, I could find it easily and therefore can stay there for several months if I wish, but it’s expensive and the cost eats into my budget.

As for taking my food with me when I fly, I always hold up the TSA line because they need to test my food—and on occasion open a bottle (then I drink that bottle at my gate). I always carry a doctor’s note to show to the agents, and I try to be as pleasant as I can to make everything go smoother and quicker. When I had a layover in Taipei on the way to the Philippines, security and customs were more intense with my food, and I was nervous that they would not allow me to bring it with me even though I showed my doctor’s note, but luckily I had no issues.

I do carry everything with me when I travel. I love that international flights allow free checked bags so I take advantage of that, but even so, I often have no room for food in my checked backpack. So my carry-on bags are incredibly heavy with the many bottles I bring. If I do manage to pack food in my checked backpack, even when they’re stuffed in a garbage bag to prevent food from spilling all over my things, I always find the garbage bag ripped apart because of TSA inspections to make sure everything is OK.

Is there a big community of travelers with your condition that you can get support and information from? Well, since my condition is incredibly rare and requires so many surgeries to improve our lives, it’s not a large group, probably hundreds of people. However, every two years, the Foundation for Nager and Miller Syndrome hosts a conference somewhere in America. I do not go to these much, because usually I’m one of very few who use ASL (or the only one), and often it’s hard to relate to others whose experiences are very different from mine. There’s also a private, international Facebook group for people with Nager syndrome and their family members, but since it’s a private group, I’m not going to share it because we don’t want bullying.

What have been some of your favorite experiences? One of my favorite experiences was seeing the northern lights in Iceland. That week, it rained pretty much every day and snowed one day. But on my last day there, it was sunny for once and that night was clear, so I was able to see them. My other favorite experience was the Philippines, because it was an amazing country, even if I couldn’t stand the heat. I got to see tarsiers [a kind of primate] and the Chocolate Hills, and swam in the comfortable waters of Palawan.

But my number one favorite thing to do is to travel to many amazing places and learn about them and their culture. I’m a huge history and art nerd, and I get so excited when I visit historical sites and museums such as El Tajín, Teotihuacán, Museo Nacional de Antropología, and Museo El Tamayo in Mexico, or El Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado, a museum dedicated to pre-Columbian history in Quito, Ecuador.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Make the effort to meet locals on your travels. Couchsurfing and Airbnb are my favorite ways to meet locals when I travel. It’s awesome to learn about the culture of a place you visit. But again, I’m a huge art and history nerd and so am incredibly interested in learning about cultures and languages. Even though I’m deaf, I’ve never had any problems communicating, and for some odd reason, even though I’m shy as hell, I’m more outgoing and willing to chat it up with people outside of America.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to fund your trips and travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who overcame obstacles and made their travel dreams a reality:

Traveling the World Blind: An Interview with Dan

How Jim Didn’t Let a New Disability Change His Travels

Racism on the Road: An Interview with Alex

How this 70-Year-Old Couple Bucked Tradition to Travel the World

The post How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

via Travel Blogs http://ift.tt/2EplTF6

[touristguidebuzz]

How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World

I first met Staci when she came to one of my meet-ups in NYC. She wanted to thank me for helping her travel the world. See, for her, it’s not as simple as just getting on a plane and going somewhere. Staci was born with a rare genetic condition that has left her deaf, with fused fingers, jaws, and a host of other medical issues. Determined to not sit on the sidelines, Staci has worked hard to overcome the obstacles before her so that she can make her travel dreams a reality. So, without further ado, here’s Staci!

Nomadic Matt: Hi Staci! Tell us about yourself! Staci: My name is Staci and I’m 28 years old. I happen to have Nager syndrome, a super rare genetic condition wherein I was born with fused jaws, fused elbows, four fingers, and deafness, to name some fun facts about it. I’ve had many surgeries to correct a lot of issues and increase my quality of life.

I was born in Seattle and moved to an incredibly rural town in New York when I was ten. I’ve always had an interest in languages and other cultures. Even though I’m deaf, I easily excelled in Spanish past my third-grade hearing classmates because I found it fun and challenging. My other loves are history and art and yes, they got combined into a bachelor’s in art history and museum professions.

I like anything that challenges me, and I hate being stagnant.

How did you get into travel? When I was growing up, my family made various trips around the US, but it wasn’t until my senior year at a small high school for the deaf that I went to Italy and Greece with the senior and junior classes. There, I finally experienced what it’s like to travel, even though I felt stifled by the chaperones and the itinerary. But it gave me a taste, and I wanted more. I became addicted to the idea of freedom.

In 2010, I was supposed to go to Montreal with a friend for spring break, but she had to drop out. I went ahead anyway and experienced the freedom of solo travel: I could do whatever I wanted without any set plans. I loved it.

I took off for Germany, in March 2011, which kick-started my months-long trip through Europe. I didn’t tell my family for a few weeks, because I didn’t want to be discouraged and made to stay home. I explored Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia (I easily fell in love with Belgrade and stayed there for two months) until I had to return home in August due to a broken arm.

In 2012, I went to Nicaragua for spring break. It was my first taste of Latin America, and I knew I wanted to learn more Spanish. Then in 2013 and 2014, I went to Mexico, which quickly became my favorite country—one that I want to move to in the future. I felt connected there and I could be as independent as I wished. It was also easy to get more of my special food at a large grocery store, even if it was expensive compared to local food. In 2015, I headed to Ecuador on spring break, and in 2016, I found a cheap flight to Iceland—seeing the northern lights was easily the highlight of my week there.

2017 so far has featured a birthday trip to the Philippines, my first Asian country. Recently I spent a month in Mexico visiting my friends and hanging out like a local.

What’s been the biggest lesson so far? Budgeting. I had zero ideas about budgeting on my first huge trip and overspent so much. I have gotten better with it, but I still struggle. For example, my mom had to help me with a $130 domestic flight in Iceland because I was so horrible at budgeting.

Another struggle is overpacking. Even if I manage to pack a just week’s worth of clothes, it’s too much, because I have to also bring many bottles of my special food.

How did you fix these mistakes? How did you get better at them? Well, as for budgeting, I learned that I need more money than I thought, so I saved more. Now I also tend to focus on places that are cheap for the most part, and if my original plans fall through, I have backup plans so I don’t have to spend unexpectedly or borrow money. I have gotten better with money, but I do still slip up.

When it comes to packing, I try my best to pack only 3-4 bottoms and several dresses, but I still have a tendency to pack too many shirts. Being short in height, a lot of my clothes are on the small side, which it makes it easy to overpack my backpack. I do try to pack two pairs of shoes max, besides flip-flops, but my favorite waterproof Dr. Martens shoes definitely take up a lot of room when I’m not wearing them. I stuff socks into my shoes, and I always roll my clothes.

Since I do have a habit of going shopping while traveling, I try to not pack too much, only to end up with an even heavier backpack when I return. When I was in Europe the first time, I shipped things home because my backpack was getting heavy with stuff I got for my family and with cold-weather clothes I no longer needed in warmer weather. Now, I basically layer as much as I can if heading to a cooler place.

What resources are out there for deaf travelers? Seek the World by Calvin Young is a good resource for deaf travelers since he is deaf himself. He has a very active Facebook page, and he shows the different finger-spellings and signs of various countries. He also links to other helpful resources that encourage more deaf people to travel.

Another option is No Barriers by Joel Barish. He posts vlogs in which he meets deaf locals around the world and asks them about their jobs and lives. He’s also the founder of DeafNation, which is focused on deaf “language, culture, and pride.”

How do you communicate if sign language is different in every other language? I always have my iPhone with me, but I also carry my notepad in my purse when using a phone is not ideal (safety or it not being charged). There’s also international sign language, but I don’t know it, although I do know a little bit of Mexican Sign Language. I also used to be able to speak, but a medical complication happened so at this moment, speaking is not possible. I am the worst at lip-reading, and even though I wear hearing aids, I just prefer to type things out.

You mentioned you have a fused jaw so it’s hard to eat. Do you only travel for short periods?How do you get around your medical needs when you travel? Do you just carry everything with you? Nager syndrome makes eating difficult. I recently had surgery to open my jaws, and it was the first successful surgery to do that; however I still can’t eat solid food because I need therapy to get those unused muscles to work and other fun medical stuff.

All the challenges I faced were related to my food. Running out is easy to do, and I can’t just bring five boxes or 16 bottles since I travel solo and it would exceed the check-in weight limit for flights and make packing impossible for me. Everywhere in Europe, and even in some other countries, I cannot find my special food and I’m left without many options for nutrition due to my fused jaws. Soups cannot fill me up, and smoothies, milkshakes, etc. are not a solution either, because it’s too easy to lose weight, which is a very bad thing for me. It’s also extremely easy for me to choke on a small pieces of food, so I can’t just eat peas, rice, or corn, and I don’t like mashed potatoes.

My food is for nutrition purposes, and I drink about 7+ bottles a day to fill me up. Traveling for several months at a time depends on if I’m able to get my food or not. I cannot find Ensure Plus anywhere in Europe, whether at pharmacies or large grocery stores, so forget about my staying there long-term. At least in Mexico, I could find it easily and therefore can stay there for several months if I wish, but it’s expensive and the cost eats into my budget.

As for taking my food with me when I fly, I always hold up the TSA line because they need to test my food—and on occasion open a bottle (then I drink that bottle at my gate). I always carry a doctor’s note to show to the agents, and I try to be as pleasant as I can to make everything go smoother and quicker. When I had a layover in Taipei on the way to the Philippines, security and customs were more intense with my food, and I was nervous that they would not allow me to bring it with me even though I showed my doctor’s note, but luckily I had no issues.

I do carry everything with me when I travel. I love that international flights allow free checked bags so I take advantage of that, but even so, I often have no room for food in my checked backpack. So my carry-on bags are incredibly heavy with the many bottles I bring. If I do manage to pack food in my checked backpack, even when they’re stuffed in a garbage bag to prevent food from spilling all over my things, I always find the garbage bag ripped apart because of TSA inspections to make sure everything is OK.

Is there a big community of travelers with your condition that you can get support and information from? Well, since my condition is incredibly rare and requires so many surgeries to improve our lives, it’s not a large group, probably hundreds of people. However, every two years, the Foundation for Nager and Miller Syndrome hosts a conference somewhere in America. I do not go to these much, because usually I’m one of very few who use ASL (or the only one), and often it’s hard to relate to others whose experiences are very different from mine. There’s also a private, international Facebook group for people with Nager syndrome and their family members, but since it’s a private group, I’m not going to share it because we don’t want bullying.

What have been some of your favorite experiences? One of my favorite experiences was seeing the northern lights in Iceland. That week, it rained pretty much every day and snowed one day. But on my last day there, it was sunny for once and that night was clear, so I was able to see them. My other favorite experience was the Philippines, because it was an amazing country, even if I couldn’t stand the heat. I got to see tarsiers [a kind of primate] and the Chocolate Hills, and swam in the comfortable waters of Palawan.

But my number one favorite thing to do is to travel to many amazing places and learn about them and their culture. I’m a huge history and art nerd, and I get so excited when I visit historical sites and museums such as El Tajín, Teotihuacán, Museo Nacional de Antropología, and Museo El Tamayo in Mexico, or El Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado, a museum dedicated to pre-Columbian history in Quito, Ecuador.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Make the effort to meet locals on your travels. Couchsurfing and Airbnb are my favorite ways to meet locals when I travel. It’s awesome to learn about the culture of a place you visit. But again, I’m a huge art and history nerd and so am incredibly interested in learning about cultures and languages. Even though I’m deaf, I’ve never had any problems communicating, and for some odd reason, even though I’m shy as hell, I’m more outgoing and willing to chat it up with people outside of America.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to fund your trips and travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who overcame obstacles and made their travel dreams a reality:

Traveling the World Blind: An Interview with Dan

How Jim Didn’t Let a New Disability Change His Travels

Racism on the Road: An Interview with Alex

How this 70-Year-Old Couple Bucked Tradition to Travel the World

The post How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[theladyjstyle]

I first met Staci when she came to one of my meet-ups in NYC. She wanted to thank me for helping her travel the world. See, for her, it’s not as simple as just getting on a plane and going somewhere. Staci was born with a rare genetic condition that has left her deaf, with fused fingers, jaws, and a host of other medical issues. Determined to not sit on the sidelines, Staci has worked hard to overcome the obstacles before her so that she can make her travel dreams a reality. So, without further ado, here’s Staci!

Nomadic Matt: Hi Staci! Tell us about yourself! Staci: My name is Staci and I’m 28 years old. I happen to have Nager syndrome, a super rare genetic condition wherein I was born with fused jaws, fused elbows, four fingers, and deafness, to name some fun facts about it. I’ve had many surgeries to correct a lot of issues and increase my quality of life.

I was born in Seattle and moved to an incredibly rural town in New York when I was ten. I’ve always had an interest in languages and other cultures. Even though I’m deaf, I easily excelled in Spanish past my third-grade hearing classmates because I found it fun and challenging. My other loves are history and art and yes, they got combined into a bachelor’s in art history and museum professions.

I like anything that challenges me, and I hate being stagnant.

How did you get into travel? When I was growing up, my family made various trips around the US, but it wasn’t until my senior year at a small high school for the deaf that I went to Italy and Greece with the senior and junior classes. There, I finally experienced what it’s like to travel, even though I felt stifled by the chaperones and the itinerary. But it gave me a taste, and I wanted more. I became addicted to the idea of freedom.

In 2010, I was supposed to go to Montreal with a friend for spring break, but she had to drop out. I went ahead anyway and experienced the freedom of solo travel: I could do whatever I wanted without any set plans. I loved it.

I took off for Germany, in March 2011, which kick-started my months-long trip through Europe. I didn’t tell my family for a few weeks, because I didn’t want to be discouraged and made to stay home. I explored Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia (I easily fell in love with Belgrade and stayed there for two months) until I had to return home in August due to a broken arm.

In 2012, I went to Nicaragua for spring break. It was my first taste of Latin America, and I knew I wanted to learn more Spanish. Then in 2013 and 2014, I went to Mexico, which quickly became my favorite country—one that I want to move to in the future. I felt connected there and I could be as independent as I wished. It was also easy to get more of my special food at a large grocery store, even if it was expensive compared to local food. In 2015, I headed to Ecuador on spring break, and in 2016, I found a cheap flight to Iceland—seeing the northern lights was easily the highlight of my week there.

2017 so far has featured a birthday trip to the Philippines, my first Asian country. Recently I spent a month in Mexico visiting my friends and hanging out like a local.

What’s been the biggest lesson so far? Budgeting. I had zero ideas about budgeting on my first huge trip and overspent so much. I have gotten better with it, but I still struggle. For example, my mom had to help me with a $130 domestic flight in Iceland because I was so horrible at budgeting.

Another struggle is overpacking. Even if I manage to pack a just week’s worth of clothes, it’s too much, because I have to also bring many bottles of my special food.

How did you fix these mistakes? How did you get better at them? Well, as for budgeting, I learned that I need more money than I thought, so I saved more. Now I also tend to focus on places that are cheap for the most part, and if my original plans fall through, I have backup plans so I don’t have to spend unexpectedly or borrow money. I have gotten better with money, but I do still slip up.

When it comes to packing, I try my best to pack only 3-4 bottoms and several dresses, but I still have a tendency to pack too many shirts. Being short in height, a lot of my clothes are on the small side, which it makes it easy to overpack my backpack. I do try to pack two pairs of shoes max, besides flip-flops, but my favorite waterproof Dr. Martens shoes definitely take up a lot of room when I’m not wearing them. I stuff socks into my shoes, and I always roll my clothes.

Since I do have a habit of going shopping while traveling, I try to not pack too much, only to end up with an even heavier backpack when I return. When I was in Europe the first time, I shipped things home because my backpack was getting heavy with stuff I got for my family and with cold-weather clothes I no longer needed in warmer weather. Now, I basically layer as much as I can if heading to a cooler place.

What resources are out there for deaf travelers? Seek the World by Calvin Young is a good resource for deaf travelers since he is deaf himself. He has a very active Facebook page, and he shows the different finger-spellings and signs of various countries. He also links to other helpful resources that encourage more deaf people to travel.

Another option is No Barriers by Joel Barish. He posts vlogs in which he meets deaf locals around the world and asks them about their jobs and lives. He’s also the founder of DeafNation, which is focused on deaf “language, culture, and pride.”

How do you communicate if sign language is different in every other language? I always have my iPhone with me, but I also carry my notepad in my purse when using a phone is not ideal (safety or it not being charged). There’s also international sign language, but I don’t know it, although I do know a little bit of Mexican Sign Language. I also used to be able to speak, but a medical complication happened so at this moment, speaking is not possible. I am the worst at lip-reading, and even though I wear hearing aids, I just prefer to type things out.

You mentioned you have a fused jaw so it’s hard to eat. Do you only travel for short periods?How do you get around your medical needs when you travel? Do you just carry everything with you? Nager syndrome makes eating difficult. I recently had surgery to open my jaws, and it was the first successful surgery to do that; however I still can’t eat solid food because I need therapy to get those unused muscles to work and other fun medical stuff.

All the challenges I faced were related to my food. Running out is easy to do, and I can’t just bring five boxes or 16 bottles since I travel solo and it would exceed the check-in weight limit for flights and make packing impossible for me. Everywhere in Europe, and even in some other countries, I cannot find my special food and I’m left without many options for nutrition due to my fused jaws. Soups cannot fill me up, and smoothies, milkshakes, etc. are not a solution either, because it’s too easy to lose weight, which is a very bad thing for me. It’s also extremely easy for me to choke on a small pieces of food, so I can’t just eat peas, rice, or corn, and I don’t like mashed potatoes.

My food is for nutrition purposes, and I drink about 7+ bottles a day to fill me up. Traveling for several months at a time depends on if I’m able to get my food or not. I cannot find Ensure Plus anywhere in Europe, whether at pharmacies or large grocery stores, so forget about my staying there long-term. At least in Mexico, I could find it easily and therefore can stay there for several months if I wish, but it’s expensive and the cost eats into my budget.

As for taking my food with me when I fly, I always hold up the TSA line because they need to test my food—and on occasion open a bottle (then I drink that bottle at my gate). I always carry a doctor’s note to show to the agents, and I try to be as pleasant as I can to make everything go smoother and quicker. When I had a layover in Taipei on the way to the Philippines, security and customs were more intense with my food, and I was nervous that they would not allow me to bring it with me even though I showed my doctor’s note, but luckily I had no issues.

I do carry everything with me when I travel. I love that international flights allow free checked bags so I take advantage of that, but even so, I often have no room for food in my checked backpack. So my carry-on bags are incredibly heavy with the many bottles I bring. If I do manage to pack food in my checked backpack, even when they’re stuffed in a garbage bag to prevent food from spilling all over my things, I always find the garbage bag ripped apart because of TSA inspections to make sure everything is OK.

Is there a big community of travelers with your condition that you can get support and information from? Well, since my condition is incredibly rare and requires so many surgeries to improve our lives, it’s not a large group, probably hundreds of people. However, every two years, the Foundation for Nager and Miller Syndrome hosts a conference somewhere in America. I do not go to these much, because usually I’m one of very few who use ASL (or the only one), and often it’s hard to relate to others whose experiences are very different from mine. There’s also a private, international Facebook group for people with Nager syndrome and their family members, but since it’s a private group, I’m not going to share it because we don’t want bullying.

What have been some of your favorite experiences? One of my favorite experiences was seeing the northern lights in Iceland. That week, it rained pretty much every day and snowed one day. But on my last day there, it was sunny for once and that night was clear, so I was able to see them. My other favorite experience was the Philippines, because it was an amazing country, even if I couldn’t stand the heat. I got to see tarsiers [a kind of primate] and the Chocolate Hills, and swam in the comfortable waters of Palawan.

But my number one favorite thing to do is to travel to many amazing places and learn about them and their culture. I’m a huge history and art nerd, and I get so excited when I visit historical sites and museums such as El Tajín, Teotihuacán, Museo Nacional de Antropología, and Museo El Tamayo in Mexico, or El Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado, a museum dedicated to pre-Columbian history in Quito, Ecuador.

What’s your number one piece of advice for new travelers? Make the effort to meet locals on your travels. Couchsurfing and Airbnb are my favorite ways to meet locals when I travel. It’s awesome to learn about the culture of a place you visit. But again, I’m a huge art and history nerd and so am incredibly interested in learning about cultures and languages. Even though I’m deaf, I’ve never had any problems communicating, and for some odd reason, even though I’m shy as hell, I’m more outgoing and willing to chat it up with people outside of America.

Become the Next Success Story

One of my favorite parts about this job is hearing people’s travel stories. They inspire me, but more importantly, they also inspire you. I travel a certain way but there are many ways to fund your trips and travel the world. I hope these stories show you that there is more than one way to travel and that it is within your grasp to reach your travel goals. Here are more examples of people who overcame obstacles and made their travel dreams a reality:

Traveling the World Blind: An Interview with Dan

How Jim Didn’t Let a New Disability Change His Travels

Racism on the Road: An Interview with Alex

How this 70-Year-Old Couple Bucked Tradition to Travel the World

The post How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

How Staci Didn’t Let a Rare Medical Condition Prevent Her From Seeing The World http://ift.tt/2EplTF6

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Here's why David Cone could be perfect candidate for Yankees

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Here's why David Cone could be perfect candidate for Yankees

Would Brian Cashman really hire someone like Josh Paul as the next Yankee manager, even if most fans in the Bronx have never heard of the guy?

More to the point, would Hal Steinbrenner be OK with that?

On Friday I asked that question of multiple people close to the situation and didn’t get a no, apparently because the owner trusts Cashman to make the right call and isn’t really concerned about name value now that the Yankees have young stars and a bright future.

OK, but if the GM is looking for an outside-the-box, analytically-savvy candidate, I’ve got one for him that does have name value:

Yankees coaching staff in limbo as search for manager is on

David Cone.

If you listen to him doing Yankee games on YES, you know Cone was ahead of the curve on analytics, in terms of bringing it to the audience for years now, and he offers smart analysis about all phases of the game.

David Cone, who celebrates 1999 perfect game with Joe Girardi, appears to have all the skills Brian Cashman is looking for to replace his former teammate as next manager of the Yankees.

(JEFF ZELEVANSKY/AP)

No less significant, as a top starting pitcher Cone was a big part of the Yankees’ dynasty in the 1990s, a player that teammates considered a leader in the clubhouse, and someone who was great with the media.

The former Cy Young Award winner always had plenty of ideas about the state of the game, as a player representative who was involved in then-contentious bargaining discussions between the players union and owners.

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On Friday, Cone didn’t want to get into discussing himself as a potential candidate, but I’ve talked to him enough to know he’d be interested in talking to Cashman about managing.

The GM ought to make that call, as one Yankee person on Friday agreed:

Joe Girardi’s Yankees career through the years

“I think he’d do an incredible job – he was more of a leader than most people knew, great at talking man-to-man with teammates. I just don’t know if Cash would go that far outside the box.”

There is precedent for it. Then-Astros’ GM Gerry Hunsicker pulled Larry Dierker, also a former pitcher, out of the TV booth to manage in 1997, and his teams won four division titles in his five years on the job, before he moved on due to health reasons.

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One thing that is becoming clear: if Cashman thought it would work, he could sell it to Hal Steinbrenner.

“Cash has built up a lot of equity with everything he’s done to improve the team and the farm system in the last few years,” was the way one Yankee person put it. “He already had the trust of ownership, but now it’s on a different level.”

And then there’s this:

“Hal knows he has a team with young stars that fans love again and doesn’t need a name manager to help sell it,” another person said. “And he’s bought into the analytics philosophy that the team is good enough to win no matter who is managing, as long as he’s competent.”

Why the Yankees should hire Willie Randolph to be next manager

David Cone could be just what the Yankees are looking for in a new manager.

(Al Bello/Getty Images)

That would seem to open the door for someone like Paul, the organizational catching coordinator who I’ve heard Cashman speak highly of in the past, in terms of his coaching and people skills, though not specifically as a managerial candidate.

Would the GM really go that route? Well, I do remember him telling me a decade ago that if he hadn’t hired Girardi in 2008, the guy he liked was Trey Hillman, then a Yankee minor-league manager who never played in the big leagues.

I’m not sure Cashman actually would have had the guts to hire someone that unknown to follow a legend like Joe Torre. But as it turned out, Hillman eventually did get hired by the Royals and flopped badly, lasting barely more than two seasons.

At least Paul played in the big leagues as a backup catcher for nine seasons, though none with the Yankees.

Joe Girardi will not return as manager of Yankees

Anyway, people I spoke to on Friday said that Cashman does think highly of Paul, but none of them knew how seriously the GM is considering him as a candidate.

The same people seemed to think bench coach Rob Thomson would be very much in the running, with one saying, “He’s analytics-savvy, and has a lot of Girardi’s qualities, only more easy-going.”

As for reaction to a couple of other potential candidates:

Jay Bell, the former major leaguer who is the Yankees’ Class-A manager in Tampa?

It may not be fair to Girardi, but time was right for him to go

“Too much like Girardi,” one person said. “Pretty high-strung.”

Kevin Long, the Yankees’ former hitting coach who was once a Cashman favorite, but wound up getting fired after the 2014 season? After two years as Mets’ hitting coach, Long made a good impression interviewing for the Mets’ job, before losing out to Mickey Callaway.

“There’s some kind of issue there,” one person said, meaning between Long and Cashman. “It might be that he talked too much (to the press) or that he was too close to A-Rod. But I’d be surprised (if he got hired).”

SHOWCASE VIN

That little theater performance Vin Scully put on before Game 2 might be what I remember most from this World Series. It was a gem, wasn’t it?

By moving on from Joe Girardi, Yankees are Brian Cashman’s team

If you didn’t know Scully’s story as the legendary Dodger broadcaster, you’d never believe that he will be 90 years old next month, as he captivated the big crowd with his storytelling magic.

Ah, but I was sure when he faked the shoulder problem and asked if there was another lefthander in the house, that Sandy Koufax was going to pop out of the dugout.

Fernando Valenzuela is a beloved lefty to Dodger fans himself, but there’s only one Koufax. He would have brought down the house.

He was in attendance too, but as much as he has avoided the spotlight all these years in retirement, Koufax probably turned down the part.

5 leading candidates to replace Joe Girardi as Yankees manager

BIRD IS THE WORD

When all was said and done, in the Yankees’ postseason, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, and Todd Frazier all hit important home runs, but which was the most memorable?

To at least one major-league scout, it was no contest, as he cited the home run Bird hit off Indians’ lefty Andrew Miller, the only run in the Yankees’ 1-0 win in Game 3 of the ALDS.

“I mean, Miller doesn’t give up home runs to lefties,” the scout said. “And in that at-bat, he started him with two sliders, and Bird had a good swing to foul off the second slider, so Miller is probably thinking he’s sitting on it.

“He tries to come in on him with 96 (mph), and Bird turned on it like it was BP fastball. That kid is some hitter. Great plate discipline, easy power. If he can stay healthy, and the ball is flying again next year, he’ll hit 40 home runs.”

Derek Jeter and other Yankees react to Joe Girardi not returning

In that case, Judge, Sanchez, and Bird could combine for what, 140 dingers? Should be quite a power show.

SABER-RATTLING

This is the All-Analytics World Series, of course, as Dodgers vs. Astros features two of the most sabermetrically-driven franchises in the sport.

And obviously it’s working for them, but Game 2 was a reminder that managing-by-the-numbers has its risks as well. There was absolutely no reason for Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts to pull lefty Rich Hill after four scoreless innings, no matter what the analytics said about facing the lineup a third time.

Was Roberts not watching Hill completely baffle Jose Altuve, among others? More likely he didn’t really have a choice, as such decisions are made ahead of time, in concert with the front office.

Many Yankee fans sad to see Joe Girardi leave

Sure, the Dodgers’ pen has been practically unhittable in the postseason, but going to it so early produced a ripple effect that led to Kenley Jansen needing to get a six-out save.

And when Jansen gave up the game-tying home run in the ninth, the Dodgers paid for it needing to use Josh Fields and Brandon McCarthy in the extra-inning defeat.

Sometimes it still pays to let managers make decisions based on what their eyes are telling them during the game.

THROWN FOR A CURVE

He may be the Mets’ new manager, but no doubt Mickey Callaway will be expected to work some magic with the starting rotation after such a disappointing season.

Joe Girardi, by the numbers as Yankees skipper

Callaway had great success as the Indians’ pitching coach at least partly by emphasizing the use of curveballs. According to a story on MLB.com, the Tribe staff threw the highest percentage of curve balls of any in the majors – and more than 1,000 more than any other staff over the last two seasons.

For Seth Lugo, who rather famously has the highest spin rate of any curve ball in the majors, Callaway could be a big benefit. Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard have good ones as well that perhaps they’ll use to more effect now.

Tags:

mlb

new york yankees

joe girardi

david cone

brian cashman

vin scully

los angeles dodgers

world series

houston astros

new york mets

mickey callaway

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