#greater naked bat

[cubbihue]

ITTY BITTY FAIRY COURTS!!! Aka the 4 major types of Fairies!

They all have their own purposes and roles, but some courts are more testy than others, and they often have beef against each other despite all being considered Fairies.

There's a lot I can ramble about the 4 types, but a condensed version will be under the readmore vvv

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

Upper Court Fairies are the most common types. They range from 4-6 inches tall, with fluffy tails and rounded ears. Otherwise just known as "Fairies", they lack having a shadow and have a greater range of magic.

Lower Court Fairies are just as common, but hardly seen. They are much taller than their Upper counterpart, at around 6-8 inches tall, with bat-like details and tail. Referred to as "Anti-fairies" by other Courts, they cannot be seen by the naked eye since they were originally shadows.

Circuit Court Fairies are hard to spot, but they exist if you squint real hard. The ittiest bittiest of them all, they range from 3-5 inches tall, but as a result they're the fastest fairies with the longest tails. Called "Pixies" by other courts, these fairies knows the ins and outs of Da Rules that govern all four courts, although they tend to have the weakest magic of all.

Leisure Court Fairies are the biggest at full human sizes, but they lack the tails most associated with fairies. These are your unusual specialty fairies, such as the "Tooth Fairy", where their magic is most potent yet limited to 1 or 2 specific fields. Dedicated to their specialty magic, Leisure fairies hardly bother with interacting the other sorts of fairies- or each other!

[littlefreya]

I need this fluff in my life and so the heck do you!!

Getting matching PJs for you, Hen AND Kal!!

If my bestie needs fluff, I must comply!

Summary: Halloween is your favourite holiday, and frankly, it's quite an obsession of yours. However, seeing Henry and you just started dating, you are rather insecure and afraid of what he might think of you if he finds out...

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader (no description of body type or ethnicity)

Words: 1.3k

Themes: PG13, gooey fluff, insecurity, a new relationship, romance.

A/N: Not beta'd. Since it's an almost spooky season, I took the liberty of making this about Halloween 🎃 Special thanks to @agniavateira and @the-soot-sprite, who always encourage me to keep writing. Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed 🖤

🦇🎃👻 Spooky Season 👻🎃🦇

Halloween always held a special place in your heart. 

Every year as August kissed the sun goodbye and the first chill breeze of September drifted over your cheeks, the hunt for unique and creepy decorations would begin. There was no greater joy than turning your humble little pad into a haunted mansion and spending time with friends watching your favourite spooky films.

That is... Until Henry came along...

It wasn't that you didn't care for Halloween anymore. Quite the contrary, you couldn't wait for Autumn! For the first time in your life, you were about to share this special occasion with a boyfriend.

However, as days grew colder and the leaves on the tree outside your window fell golden to the ground, instead of feeling thrilled, you grew dreadfully insecure.

By October, you snuffed any mention of Halloween away. Fearing Henry would think your fixation was foolish, no decorations were purchased nor hung on your walls. And even when Henry randomly mentioned 'trick or treating', you heard yourself mutter, "who wants to go out on Halloween anyway? That's lame kids' stuff..."

And so... your obsession was buried under heaps of insecurity until the burning wick of your candle dwindled and died.

On the night of Hollows Eve, all you wanted to do was go home and lay snuggled on the sofa with Henry until the night was over. You decided to spend that time together not celebrating Halloween.  

Heading home from work, you kept your eyes vacant, not daring a glimpse at the children and teenagers who ran about in their costumes. You convinced yourself you didn't care for it anymore, when deep inside, you couldn't help but feel a needle in your heart every time you passed through a glowing jack o' lantern who leered at you from a neighbour's doorstep.

"Henry, I am home!" 

You declared as you finally unlocked the door. 

Oddly, the light was off.  

"Umm... Henry where..."

A flash of bright blue light blinded your sight, followed by a rumbling thunder that boomed angrily in your ears.

Confused and unable to see anything, you sought for the light switch in the dark when another lightening painted the house in pale icy shades. This time, the thunder accompanied a low, growly evil laughter with a familiar timbre.

"We've been expecting you..." 

Still in the dark, you heard someone click his fingers. At the little snap, a dozen little glowing tears of light lit your apartment in a dim orange glow.

Still hazy from the abrupt change, you rubbed your eyes and took a better look before a loud gasp of wonder escaped your lips. When you left home for work this morning, your apartment still looked like a mundane IKEA catalogue. The last thing you expected was to return to one of the dungeons hidden in Dracula's castle.  

Instead of naked white walls, you faced pitted bricks of grey stone cloaked by cobwebs and a dozen antique-looking candlesticks holding tall lamps that were made to look like candles. Smoke-wafting caldron stood upon the table, surrounded by plump pumpkins and several trays abundant with an assortment of sweets, including cookies that were made to look like green zombie fingers, bats and evil skulls. 

Astonished, you turned in your spot with your mouth agape, uncertain what to focus on first. Even the once-flat ceiling was remodelled as a blanket of pillowy clouds replaced the surface. Stringed flapping rubber bats hung from the top, and as you peered down, you spotted bloodied footprints all over the floor.  

"I thought the place could use a bit of redecoration..." 

Stepping from the corner, Henry finally appeared, donning a furry werewolf onesie and pointy rubber ears covered with shaggy grey hair. His beard was overgrown, the rounded tip of his nose tinted black, and the piercing sapphires that glanced at you so proudly were rimmed by black as well. 

In a passing thought, you mused that it was unfair that he wore eyeliner better than any other woman you knew!

You opened your mouth to speak, but before you managed a word, Henry pointed a finger in the air, "wait, that's not all!" He chimed, "Kal, to me!" 

Prancing through the corridor, the chunky bear-of-a-dog rapped with a playful greeting bark. Just like his master, the four-legged pal was wearing a matching furry onesie.

The pointy rubber ears covered his own, although there was no need for them. You wanted to laugh at the silliness of the situation, but once you breathed, you sensed the unmistakable sting in your eyes, and soon your sight became blurry. 

As Henry’s noticed your glossy eyes, his brow creased with concern. Rushing towards you, he grasped your forearms and lowered his head to get a better look at your face. 

"My love? What’s wrong?”

Tears kissed your cheeks but only for a moment. The back of your hand swept them away before you sprang a smile between quivering lips. “You did this?” You swayed your gaze across the room to gesture, “all of this for me?”

Henry’s concern faded into a soft grin. Tenderly, he leaned in to kiss your brow, his hands squeezing your forearms slightly firmer, “of course I did.”

Kal barked at his response, which made Henry instantly correct, “well, Kal, the ‘were-bear’ helped too.”

The dog barked again, tapping his paw on the floor in protest. 

“And…. the art department of Netflix,” Henry mumbled quickly.

Cheeks still damp, you giggled and knelt, planting a tender kiss on Kal’s snoot. “Thank you, Kal.”

Henry’s glance warmed your neck, admiration filling his heart as he saw you - his girl, tearing in childlike joy. It had only been six months, though secretly, he already knew; he could spend a lifetime bringing a smile to your face, and just as this thought resonated in his mind, he remembered he hadn’t even finished unveiling all his surprise.

“Hang on. There is more!” He called and rushed to fetch a small bag hidden behind the sofa. 

Smiling with anticipation, you peered inside, pleasantly surprised to find another werewolf onesie to match his and Kal's, so now the three of you can wear matching pyjamas. 

“Only werewolves get to join Halloween celebrations this year…”

“Shouldn’t you bite me first in order to turn me?” You suggested with a quirk of an eyebrow while fishing the outfit from the bag. 

“The night is young…” Henry responded and then leaned in. His breath blew hot against your neck as his lips ghosted over the shell of your ear, and with a growl, he uttered, “I plan to do plenty of biting…”

But as he drew back, all whimsical and wickedness faded. Like the ocean kissed by the sun, his eyes sparked, the gleam of the dozen ‘candlelight’ reflecting in it while he offered a deep glance. 

“Why did you pretend not to care about it? All your friends told me how much time you spent every year getting ready…” His palm reached your nape, thumb grazing the length of your spine affectionately to reassure you. 

You looked away, both ashamed of your pretence but also at what you thought he’d find as a foolish fixation, “I didn’t mean to lie or anything, I was just afraid…”

“Of what?” His thumb further caressed your skin, sensing how the hair stood on the back of your neck.

“I was afraid you’d think I am weird.”

“You are weird,” he exclaimed and shrugged, “that’s why I love you.”

Hearing his words made your heart skip. Once again, the tears tickled your eyes. Inadubly, you mouthed, “thank you” as the words couldn't make their way through your clenching throat.

Henry’s hand moved from your nape to your cheeks and gently so, wiped away your tears. “Now go and change, darling, because like I said, only werewolves can join the celebration.”

Nodding, you snatched the bag from his grasp and hurried to change your outfit. That night and every night since, the 31st of October became the most important date of in the Cavill Household, where each time, both Henry and you sought creative ways to top the last year's celebration.

With the help of Kal, of course!

[transgender-chiroptera]

Hi, I really love your art, always so so happy to see accurate batties on my dash! Such variety in Chiroptera and so few artists seem to utilize it </3

But, I digress. Would love to see a greater naked bat (Cheiromeles torquatus) if it interests you; you'd probably be the first! They're so friend-shaped

I love these silly guys too :3

Also I couldn't agree more! Most bat art is just nebulously long-eared bats or vaguely vampire bat-ish, but i love them all for their specific charms and my art is all very heavily referenced so they actually look like what they're meant to be!

[batb1tch]

I fucking missed his birthday but here’s a belated list of Bruce Wayne headcanons no one asked for 🫡

He’s a walking thesaurus

Begrudgingly takes the time to do general maintenance on the kids vehicles but they know it’s how he shows fatherly love

Genuinely disgruntled/confused by social media culture & language

— “Duke, what does -squints at iPhone screen- thotiana mean?”

“……im not qualified for this”

History buff. Loves the history channel & discovery channel. gets hurt on patrol & just vegges for 8+ hrs. when the painkillers kick in he starts scrutinizing & correcting the narrators. Loudly criticizes naked & afraid. Whole fam finds him unbearable (jay is the same way tho)

Enjoys rlly spicy food. Like shit that should be inedible. Prob from years of inhaling toxic gases & fumes. as embarrassing as it may be he doesn’t have much of a palette anymore. Only way to find out if something’s poisonous is the consistency/density & how it sits on his tongue.

— “clark, dare me to eat this pepper?”

“we’re literally on a different planet that thing could kill you bruce”

“I’ll take my chances”

—turns purple or something—

Total geek on vacations or nature walks, points out every creature it’s Greek name, genus, the whole shebang. Loves fossils and seashells can tell you time period of rocks & what type they are. Same with trees.

100% would blow shit up in the bat cave for “scientific research purposes”

— “it’s for the greater good Alfred”

“even the bottle rockets sir?”

“Especially the bottle rockets”

Really fucking hates the cold. Broken bones & scars ache like a bitch in rainy/snowy cold weather.

Hates taking medicine/cough syrup like a giant baby. Alfred has resorted to hiding pills & sedatives in all kinds of creative ways. Stephanie is surprisingly good at baking them into her “special” cupcakes.

wears those horrible Hawaiian shirts and slacks every time the fam goes on vacation. Looks like a walking pattern violation.

as opposite of a morning person as you could get. drinks his coffee black & cant function until he’s finished at least a cup. The longer he sleeps the longer it takes him to recover when he gets up. Pours orange juice into his cereal & that kind of shit. Most of the kids know better & leave him alone to his morning paper but Steph knows it’s the best time to get what she wants so she’ll hassle him relentlessly at the breakfast table. Morning stubble always makes a cameo

Fucking terrible at most video games. The WORST at 1st person shooters. Does enjoy racing & building games (& Skyrim for some reason)

Really good at crossword puzzles & fills them out in the newspaper when he gets the chance.

Truly is the turtleneck king (you lose a lot of heat in the neck)

Has horrible handwriting for someone who grew up with a top tier education. Drives his secretary nuts.

Has like 5 cellphones, very plug of him. nobody understands how he manages to keep track of everything. the one he uses as bruce to contact the kids is an 02 NOKIA that’s probably been to the moon and back (literally)

Very affectionate towards Alfred the cat it’s definitely that ‘dad who vehemently denies the pet/doesn’t want it & then becomes inseparable with it’ type of relationship. He may or may not sneak him friskies much to Damian’s chagrin.

—*tsk* “he’ll become obese father its irresponsible of you”

“ill feed this cat until he has to roll through my house thanks”

Has one of those fancy watches with like 1000 functions thanks to tim. It’s bulky and black looks like some sort of military electronic.

His kids call him inspector gadget.

Wears blankets around his shoulders like the cape/cowl when he’s sick.

Most certainly keeps track of and studies the colony in the cave. The kids have a theory that he has trackers and mics attached to the bats for snooping purposes. (He doesn’t but he’s not telling them that)

Has a collection of crazy socks, ties, and cuff links (mostly from tim & steph) that he wears to work when he’s feeling worn out. They are all hideous and Alfred tells him so but just a glance at some putrid yellow cotton & he already feels better.

Enjoys going to classic car shows with the kids and Alfred. everyone has an opinion if he’s made a new purchase, he pouts if the consensus is bad

Singe-handedly funded the 24/7 food truck services/entrepreneur program for the entirety of Gotham after getting his ass kicked by killer croc one night & by the grace of god & the pity of a concerned man running a taco truck was given the best meal he’s ever tasted in his life. Jay was very on board when he heard about it & actually the entire team is pretty grateful to be able to grab something delicious on the go all hours of the night

Likes to swim and going to the beach in general. One of his favorite things to do with Clark is deep sea fishing — dad shorts baseball cap and socks with sandals kind of fishing.

Contrary to his stony persona, the mans a crier. Cries when he’s sad, cries when he’s happy, cries when he yawns, cries when he laughs, cries when he’s sick, etc. etc. Sometimes tears come out when he’s upside down, he’s just got very active tear ducts 😪

Definitely has a photo of every kid in his wallet, most of them are blurry and cropped weird cause he cut them out himself but all of them are of the kids smiling or laughing. He looks at them all the time to the point that they’re worn down and faded different colors.

Has severe manic & depressive episodes. PTSD as well.

He’s ambidextrous but primarily left handed

[ilargizuri]

Three Things in One - Part 2: Together we can win

In my last part, I wanted to show that GRRM uses Pictures of Creatures where the total of used Creatures in one Body is more than one. We have one Dragon with three Heads, a Harpy that has Bodyparts of four different Creatures and a Sphinx with three Bodyparts of three Creatures, four if you take the Snaketail into count, but as I pointed out that was actually an Interpretation of Archeologists who found statues and Pictures during their excavations, so I think the Tail is actually an Interpretation by Sam. These Creatures are actually only Pictures and not Prophecy itself. But the Dragon of House Targaryen in particular is often used when we talk about Azor Ahai and his Prophecy. Mostly because First, we hear Rhaegar Targaryen say that Phrase during a Vision Daenerys has in the House of the Undying, later the Unding themself say it during the Prophecy they give Daenerys and lastly because Jorah Mormont gives Daenerys the Advice to find Riders for her Dragons, after interpreting the phrase in A Storm of Swords.

»„Your Grace,“ he conceded, „the dragon has three heads, remember? You have wondered at that, ever since you heard it from the warlocks in the House of Dust. Well, here’s your meaning: Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar, ridden by Aegon, Rhaenys, and Visenya. The three-headed dragon of House Targaryen-three dragons, and three riders.“ „Yes,“ said Dany, „but my brothers are dead.“ „Rhaenys and Visenya were Aegon’s wives as well as his sisters. You have no brothers, but you can take husbands. And I tell you truly, Daenerys, there is no man in all the world who will ever be half so true to you as me.“ «

Jorah and Daenerys, Daenerys 1, A Storm of Swords.

But it is not the First time that we hear a Story or Interpretation about a Group of People working together for the greater Good. The First time we ever hear about such a Thing is when Old Nan Tells Bran the Story of the Last Hero. A Group of People went in Search of the children of the Forest, to end the long Night, but in the end, only the Last Hero found them after all his companions died on the way. I think the Pictures of these Creatures are meant as a hint that if people work together they will succeed in their Goal. I got that idea when I read the quoted Passage of text in the Books. Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys worked together and conquered the seven Kingdoms.

And in A Dance with Dragons, we hear that an Alliance was formed by some Slaver Cities, it is more likely than not, that this alliance will lose the Battle for Meereen, but their Goal and therefore the Reason why they formed that Alliance will be accomplished, Daenerys will leave Meeren for Westeros and most likely after that everything will be as it was before. So if the Picture of these Creatures is meant as a hint for cooperation, that could mean that the Parts of each Creature could hint towards who works together and in some cases even the Characters.

I think in the Case of the Harpy it is more meant for the different Cities that work together because we rarely have a Figurehead from these Cities. But in some cases, we have distinctive Events that happened to Daenerys in these Cities that can be read as a hint. Let's see what we have: The wings of a Bat or a Dragon, the Body and Face of a Woman, the Claws of an Eagle and the tail of a Scorpion. The easiest is probably The Body and Face of a Woman and the Tail of a Scorpion. The Body and Face of a Woman probably hint towards Yunkai, the Slave City that specialised in Pleasure Slaves. Furthermore, Daario Naharis joins Daenerys Forces in Yunkai and the Hilts of his Weapons are formed like naked Women. So the female human Bodyparts could Point towards Yunkai. Quarth joins the Forces of the Alliance against Daenerys after Daenerys refuses their Offer of Ships to sail to Westeros. In Quarth Daenerys survived an assassination attempt with a Manticore an Insect that has the Tail of a Scorpion.

The wings are more difficult to interpret because it is not determined whether they are the wings of a dragon or a bat. Since the cities of Slavers Bay and those that trade in slaves are descended from the Ghiscarian Empire, a culture conquered by ancient Valyria, I think the wings of a dragon are more likely. It often happened in history that other cultures, which either conquered or followed another high culture, adopted images and symbols of power and strength, but also less positive images. A very good example of this is the gods of the ancient world. The Romans, when they conquered ancient Greece, took much of their mythology and applied it to their gods. The result is that today we can virtually exchange the Roman and Greek gods with each other without really noticing a difference. Later these gods were replaced by the one God of the Christians, but the images remained. So Hades, the lord of the underworld, who like Poseidon wields a trident, became the devil, the lord of hell and the eternal adversary of God. The messengers of God were given wings, but on their backs and not on sandals like Hermes, although angels are never described as winged in the Bible. So it is possible that the Harpy got the wings of a dragon from GRRM to symbolise the closeness to the Valyrian Empire. An empire where slaves worked and died every day in the mines of the Fourteen Flames. If we assume that the wings are those of a dragon, then this can only mean the place where Daenerys hatched her dragons. This happened in the Dothraki Sea, and an unnamed Khalassar is part of the alliance besieging Meereen.

The only thing I can’t place is the claws of an eagle. The bird motif is very rare in Daenerys chapters. There are the Storm Crows and the Herons, a slave army belonging to one of the Wise Masters from Yunkai. The heron is a passerine bird, its feet are long and thin, not designed to grab and hold prey. Herons hunt by keeping quiet and using their beaks to attack and kill their prey at lightning speed. Crows may attack if they feel threatened, but unlike the heron or eagle, they do not go hunting. They are scavengers, if they find a carcass they eat it. So one could argue that the herons could be candidates if it is only a question of finding a bird motif in the alliance that behaves like a predator. We know that GRRM has only broadly planned out his story, he knows who dies, he knows who survives and what points a character has to reach for the story to have that ending. Details are not pre-planned and the name given by the men of a mercenary army to the members of a slave army because of their armour would be one such detail. The herons walk on stilts built into their armour, their helmets have pointed beaks and their armament includes a curved sword as well as a spear with 2 blades. Just like the eagle, the heron is a bird of prey, only the way these birds hunt differs. I would therefore say that it is quite possible that herons fulfil the bird motif from the image of the harpy. It’s a bit of a free interpretation, but it’s not completely out of the air.

As we can see, the body parts of the harpy, with one exception, are very applicable to the coming together of the different parties of the alliance. It seems to me that the sphinx is also such a symbol, a sign of different people or parties fighting together for a common goal and achieving it together. Just as the three-headed dragon stands for the cooperation of Aegon, Rhaenyra and Visenya. In my next part, we will start to look at how we can apply these clues that the Sphinx gives us with her body parts to the story. Who is the head, who is the lion and who are the wings? Each body part will be looked at separately and have its own part.

Here are the previous Parts:

Three Things in One Creature - Introduction: The Nature of Prophecy

Three Things in One Creature - Part 1: Dragons, Harpyies and Sphinxes

[folliesandfolderols]

Writing prompts days 30 and 31

From this prompt list. If you've read this far, I'm not sure you need any explanation, but the short version is I hadn't written any fiction since 2019, I set a goal to write at least 150 words/day in 2024, and this list was my way in. Also I abruptly decided on day 2 I would write an entire Tim/Damian story connecting all the prompts, because I am Good at Judging My Limits. /sarcasm Anyway, I finished the first draft and I'm unlocking old entries as I edit.

Read from the beginning here

Days 28 & 29 here

***

130. "Spread your legs for me." ... "Spread them wider."

***

Damian's jaw dropped just for a second before he recovered. "I suppose I can indulge you, since you've asked."

Tim resisted the urge to roll his eyes and just smiled instead. "I would appreciate that." He rolled off Damian to lie against his side. "Well?"

Damian didn't move for a moment, eyes fixed on the ceiling above them. "If I say or do anything you don't want, you will tell me to stop."

Tim's smile softened involuntarily. Even though Damian was making it sound like an order, he knew it was a request. "Of course."

"Very well." Damian looked at him fully. His face had turned scarlet, but his expression was cool. "Roll over onto your stomach. You may arrange your arms however you wish."

Curious, but willing to go with it, Tim followed instructions.

"Good." Damian rose and knelt beside him. His hands traced the muscles from Tim's shoulders to the small of his back, pausing at the gnarled scar that memorialized the loss of his spleen before moving on again. "Do you know," he continued in a conversational tone, "I really haven't had much chance to touch you as I'd like, so I appreciate the opportunity. I imagine passivity doesn't come naturally to you any more than it does to the rest of us."

Tim pressed his face into the sheets to hide his confusion. He'd expected Damian to pin him down and grind them both to orgasm within minutes, not whatever this was.

"But then again, I have on occasion noticed something. You like to watch me when I interact with my animals. You tried to hide it but I saw you looking."

Stung and somehow feeling more naked than he had five seconds before, Tim turned his head enough to make his voice clearly heard. "Mostly because of the novelty of you actually being nice to another living being. Don't think too much of it."

"Tt." Damian stroked up his back again. Tim flinched as soft lips pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "I didn't, actually, until fairly recently."

Because he hadn't thought much about Tim at all, of course.

"But now I wonder if perhaps . . ." He buried his fingers in Tim's hair and carefully worked them through the damp strands. Tim shivered and dug his fingers into his arms, folded beneath his head. Damian dropped another kiss on the top of his head, and a third onto his bicep. "You wanted to be petted as much as they do."

Tim was going to either melt into this bed in a liquefaction of lust or flip over and gag him. It was even odds at the moment. He fought to keep his voice light as Damian bit over his ribs. "Before you ask, I'm not into pet play."

"Fortunate, since I'm not either." Damian's tone had gone fond. Tim had heard the exact same one when he was chastising Alfred the Cat for begging him for belly scratches and then biting his hand. The slow, steady pressure of his palms' movement continued turning Tim's muscles to goo. "That doesn't preclude spoiling you a bit." On their next trip down, his hands slid lower, to Tim's ass. "May I try something I've wanted to attempt for awhile now?"

"Sure. Like I said, I'll stop you if I don't like it."

Damian's hands moved to his thighs, directing them outward. "Spread your legs for me." Tim obeyed. Damian moved between them and gave another nudge. "Spread them wider."

Like all Bats, Tim's range of motion was greater than most people's, so this time he spread his legs almost into a split, until he nearly started to feel the stretch. Damian patted his flank the same way he used to Titus. "Just like that. Good."

Tim sucked air in between his teeth at the words, warmth pulsing in his belly. So sue him, he wasn't immune to the Robin praise kink curse. Worse, he could tell Damian noticed because his hands froze for a bare second before he said, "You're doing very well."

Ugh. Tim hated himself for the way that made his cock leak.

Damian pushed his ass cheeks apart, thumbs rubbing up and down their swell. "I'll just—" he began, and then licked from Tim's perineum all the way to the top of the crease.

Tim jolted and could barely restrain a shout of surprise. "Dami—"

He could feel Damian's smile against his back, where he rested his face for a moment. "I told you I would spoil you."

Tim felt like he'd been punched in the gut, albeit a lot more pleasantly than normal, and the noise he made probably sounded like it too. "I—" He cut himself off with a groan when Damian did it again. "Oooh my God."

Damian exhaled a laugh, a warm huff of breath across the sensitive skin beneath his mouth. "Try to hold still. I don't relish the thought of a broken nose because you got carried away."

"Hey," Tim said with as much indignation as he could muster, which was very little at the moment. "You just said I'm doing very well."

Damian pressed his mouth directly to Tim's hole, and sensation zinged up Tim's nerve endings straight to the base of his skull, driving out thoughts and leaving only a pathetic whimper in his throat.

days thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four here

[therealityhelix]

Shards of the Nexus: Elixir Vitae

Once, long ago, a person took drastic measures to survive. In so doing, they opened up a whole new multiverse of possibilities.

Song: Reborn-Kids See Ghosts

@cardwrecks @captainbaddecisions

A second birth from the womb of the world, the wound of the world, cradled in chemical concoction, quickening. It felt endless around them, the entire planet permeating their skin, filling in the hollow within their skull. The green, the soothing, living green.

They opened their eyes.

They were alive.

Were they alive?

They had gone to sleep under Dr. Fries's anesthesia, a last ditch effort to remove the tumor in their brain. They had gone to sleep and then...then...

What?

Where?

Nothing but green, endless green, living liquid, the womb of the world, the endless world, endless, endless, endless...

They were being hoisted out of the glowing lake, naked and dripping the endless life. A makeshift harness tied around their torso, hand over hand, Victor Fries pulled them up.

A vast cavern, a goblet in the earth, a baptism into new life.

They knew where they were, vaguely, as much as a mind regrowing its own tissue could know something. That they must have died. This was their contingency plan.

This was the secret under the city, the Lazarus Pit, the life giver, the blood of the world. And beyond that, Gotham City, with its dark but stately skyscrapers, original art deco architecture a source of aesthetic pride.

And beyond that, Gotham City, crossed with a wall, partly flooded, bleak and hopeless.

And beyond that, Gotham City, a neon jungle, Gotham City, a dying town, Gotham City, a retro labyrinth.

And beyond that, Gotham City

And beyond that, Gotham City

And beyond that Gotham City

And beyond that

And beyond that

And beyond that

Endless green infusing their body, endless earth, endless earths, Gotham and Gotham and Gotham and Gotham and

Ropes criss-crossing their chest, pulling.

Hands on every inch of their skin, pulling.

Voices in every inch of the air, proclaiming themselves.

I am I am I am I am I am I am

We are.

Everywhere, all around, they batted weakly at the clutching hands, but it was just Victor, wrapping them in a robe and carrying them out into the fresh air. From Gotham, the voices cried out.

From Gotham and Gotham and Gotham and Gotham

Masks hovered and split. Two and then two and then two and then two and then two

Amorphous gray shadows creeping at the edges of everything, mocking, predatory laughter. Black smoke and blue lightning, a river of blood. Spirals. Spirals. Gods in the sky!

They covered their ears, but the voices would not be silenced, declaring their presence with ever greater strength

I am I am I am I am I am I am

We are!

And beyond that, dozens of bats wings spread across the clouds

And beyond that gunshots rang out

And beyond that Light meant danger

And beyond that

A rainbow sky and a blackened landscape

in the farthest distance, tiny on the horizon

a figure.

And beyond that

Looming

Unknowable

Inevitable

Approach.

IT

WAS

COMING

Significance crashed into them, rolled over their perceptions, a solid, overarching wall of knowledge.

It Was Coming It Was Coming

It Was Coming It Was Coming

It Was Coming It Was Coming

It Was Coming It Was Coming

The importance of it could not be ignored.

It roared itself into primacy.

Victor carefully placed them into the back of his van, It Was Coming, strapped them in, and drove away.

Reality split.

It Was Coming.

The crucial information filled their senses.

It Was Coming.

There were others.

It Was Coming.

They had to find the others!

It Was Coming.

Dr. Fries took them home, delivered them into the worried, fretting hands of their darling Jervis. They were carefully washed, gently fed, It Was Coming, tenderly tucked in to their downy bed.

“What is coming, my very dearest?”

It simply was. It was the most critical secret they had ever uncovered.

It Was Coming.

“Shh, beloved. You must rest now.”

The voices still called. They needed to be found!

It would be the most important thing they would ever do.

It Was Coming.

And they would be ready. The paths spun out in their mind, It Was Coming, familiar streets in Gotham and Gotham and Gotham and Gotham and

Their consciousness slowly slipped away, the voices fading but no less insistent. A question mark on a chain, a student ID, a bright purple and green bowler cap. Dingy gold and a gap-toothed grin, tight black curls.

They could see them, in fleeting impressions, guiding hands, fear and need, and endless green.

I will find you.

The most important promise they would ever make.

I will find you all.

Gather and keep safe, safe together against the oncoming power. The blood, the lightning, the danger, the danger!

Locked arms, a wall of protection for each other, and for all the worlds.

For Gotham and Gotham and Gotham

A figure on the furthest horizon

It Was Coming!

[thesquireinvictus]

I have been struck by lightening twice. Both times there were no real ill-effects that were lasting.

The first strike occurred when I was in high school, back in the 1970s. I was on the family phone in the kitchen speaking with a friend. There was a thunderstorm at the time, and I had heard this could be a potential danger. Yet, I was 16 or 17, never considered this danger, despite the fact that there was a telephone and power pole just outside our backyard property line.

I heard a loud boom in my left ear, and it felt like I had been hit by a baseball bat. The blast knocked me high over the kitchen table and chairs; the table was already set with dishes, glasses and the flower centerpiece. My flight didn’t touch anything on the table, and I hit the wall on the other side of the room, which was 20 feet away.

My Mom heard this and came running in. I had no idea what had happened, but she led me into the bathroom to clean up and splash water on my face. In the mirror I saw that half my face, neck and down into my shoulder and chest looked sunburned. I couldn’t hear in my left ear. My shirt collar had been burned black and was actually still smoking. Mom rushed me to the hospital.

The doctors checked me out, concluded that I’d been struck by lightening and would be fine in a few days. I was.

Some 40 years later while teaching in Guangzhou, China, I was apparently struck again. I say apparently because I remember nothing about it.

I had gone to the market to buy a few groceries and was walking to my apartment complex during a heavy rainstorm. These can be sudden in the spring and summer afternoons and can last for five minutes or hours, so people always carry an umbrella during those months. I was only about five meters from the front security gate and booth and glad to be home. That’s the last thing I remember until the next morning.

I woke up early feeling great, energized. But I was nude and so was my bed—no sheets, blanket, pillow cases, etc., and not a stitch of clothes on me.

I thought this was odd, but felt too good to let it concern me. After my morning ablutions, I went into the kitchen to make my morning coffee. There I was met by more mysteries.

It drives me crazy when someone leaves a cabinet door open; “Get what you need and close the damned door.” But every door on every cabinet was wide open. An even greater “What the hell?” is that every plate and bowl I owned was filled, piled high with steamed rice. Nothing else just cooked rice. Plus, my two largest pots had leftover rice in them. I had cooked enough rice for 40–50 people. I had no idea why and remembered none of this. I would not do these things. But I had to finish my morning pre-school ritual, so I put it all out of mind.

My wife and I were teaching at different schools then and during morning break at 10:30, she texted, “Any adverse effects from the lightening strike?”

I thought she was setting me up for some kind of practical joke, responding, “What the hell are you talking about?”

At lunchtime, she called and told me that I had called her about 6:30 the previous evening to tell that I’d just been struck by lightening, but the security guard had helped me get into my apartment and I was fine. Then she said that almost exactly one hour later, I called and told her the same exact thing. She claims I swore I couldn’t have called before because it had just happened. She could tell I wasn’t thinking clearly and didn’t argue, just told me to go rest.

I figured this was still a joke, but my curiosity was piqued. I wondered why I had cooked all that rice, woke up naked, etc. I could remember nothing from the night before and couldn’t wait to get home and look around my apartment for anything to spark my memory.

Once home, I explored my flat. When I opened the door to the guest room, I did discover more oddities. I only ever went into the room once a week to clean, so what I found deepened the mystery.

All of the items I had bought at the market were set in perfectly straight lines across the desk and bookcase shelves. Even the perishable meats, cheese and milk were there instead of in the refrigerator. On the floor beside the bed were all of the clothes I’d worn the day before and a towel, crumpled on the floor and still soaking wet.

Still, nothing sparked any inkling of memory or understanding. I figured there was nothing to do but clean the place up. Throughout the week, I was unconvinced that I’d been struck by lightening as my wife kept trying to tell me.

I lived a three minute walk from school so on Friday afternoons, I’d go home during lunch to change into more comfortable weekend clothes then return to school.

Wearing my weekend athletic shoes, as I walked back to school, my left heel was sticking some and there was that unmistakable smack of gum on my shoe. Getting to my classroom, I immediately sat down, grabbed something to scrape off the gum and turned my shoe up to do so. It was burned black and partially melted. “Shit! I guess I was struck by lightening.”

That evening a Chinese friend agreed to act as translator and we asked the security guard about it. He confirmed, stating that he’d actually seen the lightening bounce off a building, hit a tall palm tree, then jump to my umbrella. He said I was knocked flat, the nylon umbrella was on fire, but I claimed that I was all right. He wanted to call an ambulance, but I wouldn’t let him. I just wanted to get to my flat. After helping me there, he did call an ambulance and sent them to me. According to him, they examined me in my apartment and wanted to take me to the hospital. I apparently refused and kicked them out cursing.

I remember none of this, but it obviously did happen. I kept the burned, melted heel from my left shoe as a souvenir.

[stellatheknave]

1. common vampire bat

2. little brown bat

3. spotted bat

4. pallid bat

5. wrinkle-faced bat

6. brown long-eared bat

7. eastern small-footed bat

8. eastern red bat

9. ghost-faced bat

10. california leaf-nosed bat

11. common bent wing bat

12. greater sac-winged bat

13. greater naked bat

14. tomb bat

15. yuma myotis

[animalids]

Naked bat (Cheiromeles torquatus)

Photo by Chien Lee

[antiqueanimals]

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, vol. 11, Mammals II. 1972.

1.) Big naked-backed bat (Pteronotus gymnonotus)

2.) Wagner's mustached bat (Pteronotus personatus)

3.) Greater spear-nosed bat (Phyllostomus hastatus)

4.) Fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus)

5.) Tomes's sword-nosed bat (Lonchorhina aurita)

[misspoetree]

KinnPorsche as Tarot Cards: VegasPete

Pete x The Hanged Man: trials, (self-)sacrifice, intuition, divination, ultimate surrender, needing release, spiritual development, embracing a different perspective

"A man suspended from a T-shaped cross made of living wood. He is hanging upside-down, viewing the world from a completely different perspective, and his facial expression is calm and serene, suggesting that he is in this hanging position by his own choice. His right foot is bound to the tree, but his left foot remains free, bent at the knee and tucked in behind his right leg. The Hanged Man is the card of ultimate surrender, of being suspended in time and of martyrdom and sacrifice to the greater good."

Vegas x The Devil: ravage, violence, vehemence, force, shadow self, attachment, addiction, sexuality

"Baphomet, a creature that is half man, half goat. The Devil has the wings of a vampire bat, an animal that sucks the lifeblood out of its prey, symbolic of what happens when you give in to your raw desires. He has a hypnotic stare which ‘magnetizes’ and entrances those who come near him, bringing them under his power. At the foot of the Devil stand a man and a woman, both naked and chained to the podium on which he sits. They appear to be held here against their will – but look closer, and you will notice that the chains around their necks are loose and could be easily removed. Each has small horns on their head, like the devil’s, a sign that they are becoming increasingly like him the longer they stay here. Both have tails, a further symbol of their animalistic tendencies and raw instincts, and the grapes and the fire on their respective tails signify pleasure and lust."

[mochegato]

Truth Be Told

This night was not turning out how she had thought it would turn out… Actually, up until a few minutes ago, it wasn’t much different from how she thought it would go.  She hadn’t been holding out much hope for the guy Rose had set her up with.  They did not have similar vetting styles or criteria.  So despite Rose’s most heartfelt hopes, the date with an overly sugary prick, oozing with fake charm and inauthentic compliments, was a complete flop and yet completely expected. 

While that man was annoying, he was not the cause of her current frustration.  No the current frustration was the man that had attempted to grab her as she walked home, her stilettos in her hand, because truthfully, she’d rather risk the dirty sidewalks of Gotham than the pain and blisters wearing those for another twelve blocks would cause.

She’d kept an eye on the man for the last block as he followed her, getting slowly closer and closer in a vain attempt not to alert her.  Joke was on him, she was always on alert.  But she wasn’t positive he was actually a threat.  Lots of people in Gotham were creepy, it didn’t mean they were a threat. 

When he finally grabbed her arm, she twisted immediately hitting him in the face with one of the stilettos.  He screamed in pain, bringing his hand up to his face.  She took advantage of his momentarily distraction to run.  She was confident in her fighting abilities, but there was always a chance for him to get a lucky hit in and a fight avoided if possible was safer than a fight engaged… or something like that.

He took advantage of his greater size and lunged at her before she could get out of his range.  He jerked her back with such strength and force, she couldn’t stop him or brace herself.  She fell as he pulled, dropping her shoes as she did.  He angrily swung for her head as she laid on the ground.  She rolled out of the way just in time and heard the crunch as his fist connected with the concrete.

She took a breath and stood up, moving behind him to punch him hard in his kidney.  He crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath.  She took advantage of his position to knee him in the face, breaking his nose.  He groaned in pain and cradled his nose.  Marinette paused for just a second to take a breath before running again.  The ogre moved quicker than she had expected and grabbed her arm with his good hand, yanking her to him.  She used the momentum to drive her palm into his chin.  He staggered back a few steps, giving her enough room to kick him in the chest.  He fell back against the building next to them, hitting his head on the bricks with a sickening smack and slid down the wall, crumpling into a pile at the bottom.

Marinette edged closer to him to see if he was still alive, tensing as she got closer, ready to bolt if he so much as twitched.  She breathed a sigh of relief feeling a strong pulse and let herself relax for a moment.  Her whole body immediately tensed again as she heard a sound of something dropping behind her.  She slowly turned around to see a figure with a red bat across his broad chest a few feet away from her.  Her body relaxed minutely at the sight.  He was one of the bats.  One of the more violent ones, if she remembered correctly, but only against people who hurt kids.

She watched nervously as Red Hood sauntered slowly up to her.  He stopped a few feet away from her, looming threateningly over her.  He stared at her silently for a few moments, or at least she assumed that’s what he was doing.  It was rather hard to make out where exactly he was looking with his mask on.  She just barely stopped herself from jumping when he lifted his hand out to her, holding her shoes.  She looked at them dumbly for a few seconds before finally taking them with a quiet “Thanks.”

He didn’t react, or maybe he did, she just couldn’t see it under the mask, which was doing nothing to calm her.  Finally after she’d gotten her shoes back on he decided to break the silent, looming, threatening presence aura.  “That was amazing,” he gushed out.

Her eyes widened at the comment and snapped up to the mask’s eyes.  Of all the things she had been anticipating, that was not one of them.  “Uh… Thanks,” she answered uncertainly.  She studied him for a moment and realized he hadn’t been sauntering earlier, he had been staggering and now he was swaying as he stood turned.  “Are you… um… are you okay?  You’re kind of…” she motioned to his body.

Red Hood tore his eyes away from her eyes, with great force of will to examine his body for what she meant.  He stumbled as he tried to check himself for injuries.  He was fine.  He hadn’t even been involved in this fight and Scarecrow’s goons hadn’t landed almost any of their hits.  He was perfectly fine.  He looked back up to meet her eyes again and cocked his head to the side for a moment.  Her eyes were blue but he couldn’t quite tell the shade with his mask on.  The filters in the mask were making them appear slightly different than they really were and he needed to see her eyes properly.

Marinette failed to stop herself from jumping slightly when his hands moved lightning quick to remove his helmet to see her better.  Marinette gasped at his freshly exposed face.  “Should you be doing th…”

“Wow… you’re fucking hot,” he grinned.  He had definitely made the right decision removing the helmet.  He could see her much better without it. He could now make out the rosy hue on her cheeks at his comment and the exact bluebell shade of her eyes.  He had been right.  She was even more gorgeous without the filter.

“Um… thanks,” she gave him a nervous smile.  What the fuck was happening right now?  “So are you.”

“I am,” he nodded in agreement.  “But you’re hotter.  I’m Jason.”  He reached his hand out to shake hers.

Marinette drew in a breath and clenched her lips closed.  Her eyes turned concerned.  “Oh, you definitely shouldn’t be doing that,” she tried to lightly chastise him, but he was looking at her with such an earnest, hopeful expression she couldn’t help but smile at him and take his hand.  “Hi.”

“Hi,” Jason… should she call him Jason or Red Hood.  She really shouldn’t know his name… but she did so… Jason said again breathlessly.

“Hi,” Nightwing added loudly from behind Jason, breaking their moment.  Marinette yanked her hand back and looked back and forth between the two.

Jason groaned loudly and shook his head.  He looked up to the sky for a moment, but quickly returned his focus to Marinette.  “Oh fuck off, Dickhead.  I’m working here.”

“So the body is yours?” Nightwing prodded.

“No,” Jason grinned proudly at her.  “It’s hers.”

Marinette gave Jason a panicked look before switching to look at Nightwing again.  “He attacked me and I stopped him.  He’s still alive.  I checked.”

“Yes you did,” Jason confirmed delightedly.

Nighwing tapped his ear piece and knelt next to the body, examining it.  “Oracle, can you send police to my location, please?  We have an unconscious body.  Looks like he’ll need a medic too.”  He nodded at whatever was said in his earpiece and took a beat to collect himself before walking up to them slowly, watching them analytically as if trying to assess the situation.  “You okay, ma’am?”  He asked with a guarded tone.  Marinette looked over to Jason who rolled his eyes at her and looked away in annoyance at Nightwing’s interruption.  Marinette looked back to Nightwing and nodded slowly.

“Glad to hear it.  Sorry about Hood,” he grinned charmingly at Marinette in a manner she was sure was supposed to lull her into a sense of calm and trust, but after an entire dinner of smarmy smiles, Nightwing’s grated on her instead.  Jason’s earnest smile however… that was something else. 

Despite Jason’s previous insult, Nighwing continued walking closer until he was close enough to throw his arm over Jason’s shoulder.  “Scarecrow had a particularly potent drug and Red Hood got hit with it a few times.  So Hood could have been saying absolutely any crazy thing.  I’m honestly surprised he can even walk right now.”

Marinette caught on quickly.  This was Nightwing’s way of mediating potential security breaches, in case Jason had done anything that could compromise his and their identities, like removing his helmet and telling her his name.  Marinette could sympathize with the attempt after her years of trying to manage the miraculous identities secret, but he’d come with his fake smile and fake concern and she was done with fake people today.  So, mess with him it was.  “So I shouldn’t have taken him saying I was cute seriously?” she asked innocently.

Nightwing paused for just a second.  If Marinette hadn’t been watching, she would have missed it.  “No!  No,” he stuttered.  “I mean, it doesn’t STOP him from saying true things.  And that certainly is true.  It just…”

Jason finally tore his intense gaze away from Marinette to whirl on Dick and shove him away, which was actually quite lucky for Jason, as the shoving motion is the only thing that countered his momentum and kept him from falling.  “Stop hitting on the woman I’m hitting on,” he hissed at Nightwing.  Nightwing gasped at seeing Jason’s naked face, not even a domino mask to hide his identity.

Jason twirled back toward her, but overcorrected and turned past her.  He had to slowly turn back until he faced her and pointed his finger at her accusatorily.  “And I didn’t say you were cute.  I said you were fucking hot and you are.” He smiled proudly at his statement.

Marinette giggled both at Jason’s bluntness and the horror on Nightwing’s face.  She raised her hands in surrender, letting Jason take the win.  He nodded smugly at her acquiescence. 

“Okay Romeo, let’s get you home,” Nightwing said, clapping Jason on the back and not so subtly pushing him past Marinette and down the sidewalk, or at least attempting to. 

Jason swayed back toward Marinette, raising his arm to balance himself just high enough that it landed perfectly on Nightwing’s shoulder in a way that would have been considered smooth if it had been in anyway intentional rather than sheer dumb luck.  “Dickweed, if you stop me from getting her number I’m going to fill all of your uniforms with itching powder,” Jason growled threateningly.  He leaned in closer to Nightwing until their faces were a few inches apart.  “ALL OF THEM.  If she’s willing to give me her number, I’m going to take it.”

“And what good would her number do Red Hood?” Nightwing gritted out pointedly.

Jason blinked and pulled his head back clumsily.  “Don’t know.  But it’ll do Jason Todd a lot of fucking good.”  He smiled roguishly at Marinette.  “And if I’m extremely lucky, maybe eventually, some good fucking too.” 

Marinette sputtered at him completely exposing his identity and his honest admission of his intentions, her mouth dropped.  Nightwing groaned.

Jason moved closer to her, trying to keep his steps measured and graceful.  It didn’t really work, but it reduced the stumbling.  “I never did catch your name, Helen might come close but couldn’t match.”

She blinked a few times to catch up with the rapid change in tone and quirked her head to the side.  “Helen?”

He nodded slowly at her, his eyes still focused solely on her.  “Of Troy.  Face that launched a thousand ships.  Surely yours could launch a million.”  His voice was reverent and his smile had softened becoming affectionate rather than roguish.

“Oh my God," she giggled, an incredulous smile settling on her face.  "Is he like this when sober?”

“Not with me,” Nightwing said rolling his eyes, or at least she thought that’s what he was doing under the domino mask.  His entire head rolled as he did it.  “But he is usually pretty blunt,” he acknowledged.  “But with the serum added in…”  He trailed off, letting her fill in the gaps.  Nightwing looked back over at Marinette appraisingly.  “Look…”

“Marinette,” she supplied.

“Marinette…” Jason repeated.  He let the name linger on his tongue.  “That’s a beautiful name.  Epic poems could be written about that name and that smile.”

Her cheeks reddened and she had to look away from the intensity of Jason’s stare.  She shook her head and coughed to try to calm her heart.  She raised an eyebrow at Nightwing.  “So I take it that it was a truth serum?”  The deep sigh Nightwing let out was confirmation enough for Marinette.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that you are sexy as fuck,” Jason interrupted her.

Marinette, whose mouth had been open to continue her thought, snapped it shut with an audible clap and turned bright red.

Nightwing choked and tried to cough to cover it.  “Jesus, Jason.  Take it down a notch or ten.”

Jason shrugged at him, smiling proudly at Marinette’s expression.  “Equal and opposite flirting rule.”

“Excuse me?” Marinette interrupted.  Because that sounded like he was flirting to the same level she was and she had definitely NOT been flirting at that level or at all.  Damn, she needed to up her flirting game.  She opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut quickly.  Now was not the time.  He was drugged out of his mind.  She was not going to hit on someone who was buzzed beyond belief.

“The level of flirting exhibited shall match the level of awesomeness of the subject of the flirting,” Jason explained calmly, still smiling his soft smile at her.  And honestly, if he kept that up, she was going to rescind her stance on flirting back at him.

Marinette stared at him for a few seconds “Uhhh,” she started, internally groaning at her very intelligent response.  Eloquent conversation?  Nailed it.  Very deserving of the ‘awesome’ title.

She blinked a few times and turned to Nightwing.  “I understand the value of a secret identity.  I assume you won’t take my word on it, but perhaps you could take a fellow hero’s word?”  Nightwing raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her.  “You’re part of the Justice League, right?  You can check with Ladybug.  She’ll vouch for me.”

“Ooohhh,” Jason suddenly let out, moving in between her and Nightwing.  “Ladybug!  She’s fucking hot too and so amazing.  Almost as much as you.  You fight like that without a magic suit to help.  That’s so impressive.”  Marinette could feel her cheeks grow even redder.  If this kept up, her face was going to be as red as her mask, and there would be no hiding her identity.  “You’re friends with her?” Jason continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil.  “Batman won’t let me meet her.  Are all your friends as hot and amazing as you?” 

“I’ll check with her the next time I see her,” Nightwing confirmed over Jason, putting his arm around his waist again to guide him down the street.

Marinette nodded at him.  “It was nice meeting you two.”

“Wait,” Jason lunged out of Nightwing’s arm toward her, nearly knocking her down.  “I didn’t get your number.”

Marinette looked to Nightwing.  “Uh… I don’t think your… teammate wants me to do that.”

“Ignore that happiness killing asshole.  Dick has always been like that.  Besides, we’ll need your number to keep an eye on you, right?  I volunteer,” he grinned brightly.

Marinette opened her mouth and shut it again.  She determinedly refused to look at Nightwing, Dick apparently, and focused on Jason, fixing him with a pointed stare.  “If I give you my number, will you stop giving me personal secrets?  Yours and your other partners’?”

“My brothers?”  Marinette’s eyes snapped to Nightwing’s this time.

Nightwing slapped himself on the forehead.  “Little Wing…” he groaned.

“Yes your brothers’.  And go home and sleep this off?” she continued.

“Yes I will.  Although I’d sleep better if I knew you were there too, watching over me,” he added earnestly.

“No, you wouldn’t.”  She pulled out a sheet of paper to write it on but he shoved his phone in her hands instead. 

“Just put it directly in here,” he offered instead.

She closed her eyes and sighed.  She looked over to Nightwing for guidance, but he shrugged at her, defeat clear in his slumped shoulders.

“I definitely would,” he countered her.  He turned toward Nightwing.  “You should have seen her take out that thug when he tried to grab her.  She was amazing,” he sighed out dreamily.  “She knocked his ass out.  Hey!” he perked up as if suddenly realizing something.  “She’s a knock out who knocked his ass out!”  He turned back toward her and leaned on Nightwing in a daze.  “I think I’m in love.”

“I am so sorry about him,” Nightwing looked at her pleadingly.

Marinette waved him off and put her name and number in Jason’s phone.  “Truthfully?  Significantly more honest, respectful, and romantic than the date I had tonight or in the past… while, so… Have him give me a call tomorrow if he still feels the same.”

“Oh I will,” Jason grinned at her, taking his phone back and laughing at the (Helen) she’d put next to her name.  “It was nice meeting you Marinette.  It was the highlight of my week.”

Marinette grinned and pushed up to kiss him on his cheek.  “Mine too.  Now put on your helmet before you out yourself to anyone else.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jason nodded.  He put his helmet on as she walked away, but rubbed the area of his helmet over his cheek where she had kissed him, a goofy smile on his face.  He would definitely call her in the morning.  He would make sure he remembered.  He wasn’t stupid enough to let someone like her get away.

Continued in Well, Well, Well, If It Isn’t the Consequences of My Actions

@boldlyanxious

[lemonluvgirl]

Are you still taking prompts? Because I'd love to see you write #36 'Giggling during sex'? :)

ok so Ima piggyback off another drabble prompt I wrote for a highschool/bestfriends/lovers everlark story I just posted. I wanna say this could be considered at Part Two to that story.

(Part One can be read HERE.) If anyone is so inclined.

Anyways....let's get cracking!!!

Peeta nudged Katniss for the fourth time, trying and failing to wake her up. She mumbled something unintelligible and just snuggled closer to him. So Peeta gave up trying to wake her.

It was a Saturday morning anyway, they had nowhere they needed to be right at the moment and they had both been up late last night exploring the new aspects (you might call them perks) of their relationship.

They were still best friends, of course. But now they were best friends who made out and held hands and had seen each other in greater degrees of nudity ever since he and Katniss had sleepily confessed that they both wanted more than friendship one night about two months ago.

Everything since that confession had been surprisingly great. At first they both had doubts about how dating would change things between them but aside from arguing about who got to pick the movie they watched whenever Peeta came over (which was almost every night now), they had a pretty smooth transition from friends to lovers.

Last night had been the first night they went all the way. It was a mutual decision they made, after discussing the practicalities and reasons for why they both wanted to take the next step. This weekend Mrs. Everdeen just so happened to be pulling a double shift in the ER and wouldn't be home until Sunday morning. Prim was having a sleepover at her friend's house. So it seemed like the perfect opportunity, and they agreed not to waste it.

The sex itself had been a little bit awkward but still glorious and satisfying. (Peeta had made sure to take care of his girlfriend before he got too carried away) And after they both had found completion they cleaned up, and settled in for a night snuggling under the covers in Katniss' too small twin bed like usual.

Everything seemed perfect in the light of a new day. Or well, as close to perfect as it could get until Katniss started snuggling closer to the spot under his ribs that she had been favoring lately.

The cold tip of her nose pressed into Peeta's overheated skin and he yelped, trying to move away from her. But she persisted, deliberately dragging her nose over his tickleish spot again. She was obviously awake and in the mood to tease him. It was a new favorite thing of theirs, this touching each other in these special or funny ways now that they had mapped every inch of each other’s skin. Peeta knew of a few spots she had, like the place behind her knees that made her kick and squirm. But he had a much bigger reaction to her wandering hands than she did his. 

Peeta couldn't help it. He was super ticklish. 

He giggled like a kindergartener every time she touched him there. 

“No! Katniss! Stop!” Peeta croaked between distressed breaths when her hands joined her nose as she tortured his stomach and ribs with her lighting fast fingers. 

“Nope!” She replied, redoubling her efforts as Peeta tried to roll away. Soon they were engaged in a naked ticking battle and as they dueled back and forth, getting tangled up in each other and her threadbare sheets. 

There was a resounding thump as they fell off the bed in a heap, Kantiss luckily landing on top of Peeta. Even though she was very light, weighing maybe 110 pounds at the most, she still knocked the wind out of him. 

Peeta lay on the floor of her bedroom wheezing and trying to catch his breath. 

“Are you ok?” Katniss asked, her voice full of concern. 

Peeta nodded, and managed to choke out a weak, “I’m fine,” after a few seconds. “Just winded.” He added before shooting her a half-hearted glare. 

Katniss barely batted an eye at him, and instead shot him her own hostile look. 

“Good. That’ll teach you to wake me up before 9 on my Staurday off.” Katniss replied before she shifted on top of him, straddling him instead of laying out across him fully. 

“That’s why you attacked me?! You’re an evil woman!” Peeta exclaimed in mock indignation, while trying not to get aroused by the sight of her atop him, completely naked.

Katniss gave him a wicked grin before she wiggled her ass against his swelling erection. 

“Evil you say? Would it be evil if I touched you here?” She asked before trailing her fingernail over his right nipple lightly. Peeta froze and stiffened under her, his cock hardening further. Peeta didn’t answer her, instead just muttering something under his breath while his hands traveled up to grip her slender thighs. 

“Or how about here?” She continued trailing her fingernails lightly down his chest and abdomen, scratching through the blond hair that grew denser the lower she got. 

Peeta let out a breathless chuckle, fully aroused by now and getting more so by the minute. But he wasn’t alone, the tips of Katniss’ breasts were sharpening into peaks and he could feel her wet, hot, heat pressing into him as she ground her center against his lower abdomen. 

They both let out a groan in unison when Peeta cupped her breasts in both of his hands. 

“You can touch me there if I can touch you here.” Peeta offered with a rakish smile. 

Katniss looked back at him heavy lidded, her pupils growing wider with each revolution of her hips. She nodded enthusiastically and Peeta started to play with her taut nipples. 

“I think this is my new favorite game of ours. This touching thing.” Peeta murmured as he thrust his hips up, dragging his cock along the cleft of her ass, enjoying the friction. 

Katniss let out a throaty laugh, tossing her head back slightly as he dark luscious hair rippled behind her. 

Peeta admired her understated beauty for a long second. 

“Actually I think my favorite new game to play with you might be the one we learned last night, you know the one where we got to see how well we fit together.” She told him with a teasing smile and Peeta felt his cock throb and twitch at her words. 

“Yeah?” He asked carefully, trying not to appear embarrassingly overexcited at her comment. 

“Yeah.” She confirmed and then licked her lips. Peeta swore, and couldn’t the reflexive desperate thrust his hips gave, his body searching for her tight heat wrapped around him once more. 

Katniss leaned forward kissed his lips sweetly, before flicking out her tongue and probing the seam of his mouth. Peeta opened up for her without question and his hands went to help her as she shifted atop him, balancing her weight to hover above his erection as she lined her entrance up with his tip. 

“I’m so fucking happy right now.” Peeta murmured as she reached down with one hand to guide him into her as she sank down. 

Katniss snorted a laugh. 

“You’re not even inside me yet, dork.” She teased, but her amusement was cut off as she took more of his impressive length and girth inside of her. 

“You’re so big.” She said in a more serious tone, holding still for a few seconds after he was fully seated inside her. 

“If you keep talking dirty I’m not gonna last.” Peeta told her through gritted teeth as he tried to temper the blissful feeling of being enveloped fully by her. 

Katniss shook her head, “That wasn’t dirty talk. That was just the god-honest truth.” She replied, serious as ever, her eyes closed as she tentatively began to move. 

Peeta let out a low chuckle that time smiling up at her in a very self satisfied way. 

Katniss opened her eyes and caught him grinning proudly and she smacked his chest. 

“Get over yourself Mellark. Its not like you’re porn star huge or anything!” 

“Nope. But I am big enough to leave a lasting impression.” 

“You’re insufferable!” 

“You’re impressed.” 

“Idiot.” She said before she rolled her eyes. Peeta decided to thrust up into her then, meeting her movements and she let out an embarrassingly loud moan and her eyes rolled back just a little. 

“See. You’re impressed. Just admit it Everdeen. You love my co-” Peeta began to tease her before she cut him off, her small hand nimbly finding his ticklish spot. She proceeded to tickle the shit out of him and Peeta started laughing and giggling so hard he couldn’t breathe. 

“I admit nothing. Now quit your bragging.” She said, finally taking her hand away. 

Peeta nodded, murmuring an impressed “Yes Ma’am,” as he gripped her hips tighter, refocusing on their love-making now that Katniss had properly chastised him.  

“Now that that’s settled,” Katniss said as she resumed fucking herself on his cock with renewed vigor. Peeta smiled up at her adoringly and shifted his hand between them to press against her clit. 

“Oh, god Peeta!” Katniss exclaimed as she clenched him internally while she rode him harder. 

“Come for me baby.” Peeta whispered, keeping pressure on her clit while thrusting against her as she keened above him. 

He felt her walls tightening, gripping him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back. So with his free hand he reach back and slapped her ass hard, as he thrust up rapidly. 

“Peeta!” Katniss cried out, her ass stinging, but her orgasm unraveling in a warm liquid rush of heat and pleasure. 

“Yes, oh, fuck, squeeze me Kat.” Peeta groaned as he let go, spilling inside of her until his orgasm dissipated. 

Katniss collapsed against his chest, sweaty and spent. The only indication she was still alive was the harsh pant of her breath and her thundering heartbeat that slowed in time with his. 

Peeta wrapped one arm around her back and with his other hand her combed the hair away from her sweaty face. 

“How was that?” Peeta asked her quietly. 

Katniss groaned tiredly against his skin, tilting her head slightly to the side so she could speak. 

“I’ve never come so hard in my life.” She told him in a tired voice. 

Peeta smiled against her hair. 

“Good.” He said. 

She looked up at him tenderly and smiled a perfect, private sunny grin that he knew she never gave to anyone but him. 

“Admit it, you really really like it.” Peeta prodded her. 

She stared back at him for a sec, before her smile twisted into a little smirk.

“Eh, you’re not so bad, I guess.” She said and Peeta burst out in a loud, throaty laugh that rang through the room. 

Just then the door to Katniss bedroom opened and a voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother’s voice asked “Katniss who’s in your room?” from somewhere on the other side of the bed. 

End

[brimbrimbrimbrim]

omg bless u for finishing the chapter even with covid!! i hope u feel better soon and 🤲 tysm for feeding us starving fans HFJAHFJS

Covid is still kicking my ass, but I got spoiled on Part 2 and decided to just lay in bed all night and write this next chapter. Glad you're enjoying the story. More Eddie and the fair maiden to soothe our souls! <3

Eddie manages to zip his jeans up—denim tight on his shower-damp dick—when he hears the familiar sound of Jason Carver shouting 'Munson!' inside the fair maiden's bedroom. He turns so fast his heel almost slips, sending him halfway to the tile floor, the toilet lid clutched in his hands. Instead of cracking his skull open, Eddie manages to help his soaked, very fucking naked bard get a ratty Satan shirt on. She barely hauls those red panties on before something wet smashes in her bedroom.

"Those-" an almost inhuman sound hisses from between her teeth, "… fuckers . If that was my lava lamp, I'm gonna knock his nose in."

Eddie's never seen her so pissed off, but they're sitting ducks in the bathroom, so he pushes down the eccentric thrill her anger gives him and grabs at her wrist, racing them out into the hallway just in time to see Jason throw open her bedroom door with the edge of a baseball bat.

His eyes gleam in the darkness, shining from the lights in the living room. Jason raises the bat, pointing at Eddie with a horrible, menacing smirk, "There. The Devil and his whore!"

Several guys crowd in behind him. The fair maiden jerks forward as if to confront them, but Eddie knows what they're here for: Eddie the Freak Munson. They wanna bash his fucking brains in till he's burger meat at worst, and at best, shit kick him until he wished he was. His fingers tighten around her wrist, yanking her back, and—despite the frenzy of sounds coming from the master bedroom—Eddie twists the knob, shoves open the door, and throws them both inside Reefer Rick's room, where the slugs are snuffling and scratching at the master bathroom door. 

He throws the lock to the side as shower water slides chilly rivulets down his chest and back.

" Fuck. Fuck-fuck-shit… "

The walkie-talkie clicks behind him, "H-Henderson. A blonde asshole just broke into my house-"

"Jason. Basketball dipshits ," Eddie adds, eyes hot on the door. A bang hits the other side, booming through the house as he flinches. There's no more running… no time to be a coward. Fuck, where's that broken bottle when he fucking needs it?!

"It's the basketball team," the fair maiden hisses into the radio, a tremor in her voice. "D-do you copy?? Hello? Anyone ?!"

On their right, the bathroom door pounds. They both whip their attention to the wooden creak, well-worn door shaking as slick, thick bodies slam into its surface, eager to crush through to the other side. The rickety chair makes a stomach-dropping wine of wood glue and nails. 

"Eddie, the door—the slugs…"

"I know. I know ." Eddie runs his hands through his sodden hair, scratching his scalp, trying to jog some logic back into it as panic scrambles him up worse than a fried fucking egg. 

" Shit, shit, shit … uh… we need something to beat them back. Like… a fire poker or-or something! Fuck !"

He's jumping on his bare feet, pacing as the bedroom door rattles, wondering if it's best to hide her somewhere safe and let them just… have at him. Eddie can handle his own well enough but not against three or four rage-frothing morons with blunt weapons. Best he can do is make sure she's okay… since it's all his fault she's wrapped up in this shit anyway. Then, just as Eddie's starting to get comfortable giving himself as a POW for the greater good, his eyes spot a shitty Red Gremlin guitar leaning against a wooden chair stacked with Sears catalogs. 

Oh, baby…

You can read the rest HERE!

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Chapter 152 Review: Check

The Story

Well, we heard the thumping, we saw the silhouette, and now, at last, KING is here, facing down the worst of the worst monsters ever gathered together in one place. Psykos is still off somewhere, and Vomited Fuhrer Ugly is too intent on his mission to eat Bang alive, but otherwise, the monsters are here and facing King.

I like that the story opens with an explanation of how whereas the King engine strikes fear into most monsters' hearts, for the crowd before him, that challenge is a shot of adrenaline. They're taking King very seriously but nonetheless, they have no intention whatsoever of backing down. They're going to attack him sooner or later. It's just a question of when and how.

Homeless Emperor faces off first. I love the 'ok' of King asking what those balls would do to him if they hit him. It's such a small, hopeless sound. Fortunately, it's misinterpreted. As is everything else that King says, each of which Homeless Emperor hears as a judgement of him as an ordinary man himself, and thus feels increasingly insecure. So much for adrenaline. Fortunately, just as Homeless Emperor goes to kill King before he can make him feel any more exposed, Zombieman, naked and very much displeased, surges out from his makeshift grave to grab the monstrous hobo by the throat and slam him into the ground. That's put paid to him.

King: I'm only human, please don't burn me

Homeless Emperor: I'm only human, I must kill you before you expose me

Black Sperm refuses to help Homeless Emperor, taking the time to observe what Evil Natural Water does instead. As a monster that reacts only to hostility, it had no trouble reforming and surging strongly in response to Atomic Samurai's attack (last chapter). However, with only a man so scared that he's tharn with terror, there's nothing attractive to the monster and it just burbles there. Black Sperm interprets it as King feeling no emotion towards them, as if they were ants. Which triggers his own insecurity about being looked down on and thus, Black Sperm and Golden Sperm agree to finally teach the heroes a lesson once and for all... by forming their most complete, most perfect merge altogether.

In the meantime, Child Emperor having reached the surface, sends messenger drones to each of the heroes on the field and forms a plan. The plan is to press the monsters into a narrow corridor that King can then power up and destroy with this Mighty King Wave. That this doesn't actually exist anywhere save in Child Emperor's imagination is neither here nor there. Seeing Black Sperm engaged in merging, Puri Puri hastens to rescue Genos and Tatsumaki, clearing the field for King to unleash his awesome power.

Metal Bat is further away and intercepts a small detachment of Black Sperm, who is weeping even as he dodges and dodges blow after blow intended for him. The monster is overwhelmed at the beauty of the countless little 'hims' losing themselves in the service of one greater whole. A the transformation completes, he can't stop himself any longer and turns to gaze at the beauty being born... a mistake given that Metal Bat is just behind him. Ah well, there's 100 of 'him' one or two may survive (BUT I HOPE NOT! I HATE THIS MONSTER SO MUCH AND WANT ALL OF IT DEAD... ahem).

when you hit it, don't stop hitting until there's nothing whatsoever left, Metal Bat please

We close, of course, on what is born. Platinum (or White Gold if you prefer) Sperm, sleek where Golden Sperm was muscly, even shiner, and with a long whip coming off his head. This one is definitely going to be trouble. But that we're going to have to wait for the next chapter to see.

Meta

No doubt, one of the funniest chapters in a long time. King's pronouncements were beautifully timed, unintentionaly stepping on the monsters' insecurities as they were. I've missed it and the changes the manga makes from the face off in the webcomic are organically hilarious.

I laughed out loud at this panel

Seeing the heroes rally and look for ways to be the heroes they can be was also really really good.

Praise the translators!

Translation is always and forever an art rather than a science. When faced with something that is not immediately familiar to the readers of the target language, a translator always has a debate: localise the expression/allusion and risk losing some of the meaning it carried for the original audience? Or translate it directly and have the target audience have to do more work to understand? It's a quandary with no clear-cut answers. The original translator for the webcomic chose the former, localising a lot of terms. The current translators have prioritised the latter and provided endnotes where beneficial.

I think that the original term for the river Senzu has revealed something about Zombieman that simply not being able to 'rise to heaven' lost utterly. Turns out that while the river is broadly analogous to the river Styx of Greek mythology, the ease of crossing depends on the kind of life the person led initially. Those with well-lived lives cross over a bridge, moderately sinful ones are made to ford the rive themselves, and crime-soaked lives are made to swim across a deep, snake-infested channel. When Zombieman calls himself a lousy swimmer, he says more about himself than initially meets the eye. This is the first time we've heard Zombieman say anything at all about his life.

sorry, but I'm too evil to die

It also ties in well with Dr Genus being pleased and surprised that Zombieman had managed to reform himself as a hero.

oooh, gimme more, please! I know that on one level it doesn't matter who Zombieman used to be, but on the other, I'm just too damn curious!

A difference of opinion

Every time I think I can't like this kid any more, I find that I do. I have to admire the way that Child Emperor notes that remote weapons can be hacked, so he's chosen never to develop them.

I wonder if that was part of the reason that he fell out with Metal Knight. It's a critique of Metal Knight choosing to field robots rather than sallying out himself. And it also reflects in the accusation Drive Knight levelled against Metal Knight, noting that hacking hte Metal Knight would give one access to Bofoi's military might.

Hmm, this is building into something! I wonder when the manga is going to get to the behind the scenes stuff bubbling merrily away.

Hostage situation

So rather than Tareo, the hostages that Black Sperm acquired were Tatsumaki and Genos. I'd say how the mighty did fall, but it's redundant at this point -- we saw just how greatly they struggled and how they were relentlessly ground down by the most adverse of circumstances. What's important here is that Black Sperm used them as insurance against attack. You have to admire the relentless desire to survive this monster has. Not too dissimilar to Orochi in that regard -- no amount of bragging or confidence about his power stopped either from having one eye firmly fixed on how the hell to escape an adverse situation.

Up until the point at which he started his final merge, Black Sperm never, ever put all of him to view. Billions may have been to view in the last chapter, but trillions more were stashed underground, out of immediate view of the heroes. Even now, as he merges, he sent away a hundred of him juuuust in case of emergency.

So, with his hostages now rescued (for the moment), who is going to grab Tareo? Is it Psykos? Is that how she's going to reappear, with the boy in tow and us heartsick with worry for the fates of the other people around him? We have to wait and see.

Btw, Puri Puri finally getting his hands on Genos (even if it's not the way he originally intended)? ONE, you are most cruel.

Fandom follies

I've seen some nice meta here, but that aside, Reddit has been like spermcountspermcountspermcount and elsewhere it's been chokemeundeaddaddyohpleasechokemezombiedaddy.... I have to laugh, because I don't think there's a horny jail big enough for y'all.

Refs:

https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/R/53