#i LOVE her astronaut coat

[screechingpersimmon]

My beloved alien girl with my beloved alien plant 💜

[caraphernellie]

MY LOVE, MINE ALL MINE.

tiny, silly, cute blurb today because i'm thinking fluffy!!! and fluffy in particular = cats! i love cats and ik i'm always talking about cats so… in the need to quell my desperation right now, i'm going to write about it instead. because i keep looking at cat rescue pages and crying about all those precious babies.

now it's a little hard to picture ellie having a dog because, erm… but moving away from that– i think she's one of those people who prefers dogs simply because they're playful and have such wholesome faces. who wouldn't falter over a puppy's virtuous little smile, falling over feet to give them some head pats? but imagine her reaction when you tell her you want to rescue a cat. imagine the vulgarity in her response every time you'd show her pictures upon pictures of sad babies with no homes – just a snap back to reality. "yeah, babe, s'cute, but probably got ringworm or some shit."

 and yeah, sure, all of your arguments are sound, your list of pros outway the cons, but cats are so lame. lame is what she said.

and lame is what she is, because the furry creature does win her heart fairly quickly. almost as soon as you showed her the picture of this poor unnamed cat without a family, desperate tears in your eyes just waiting to shed at her denial, she folded.

on one condition.

"if we get the cat, i wanna name him."

so much for 'not wanting a cat', it was obvious from the start that your new baby had dug his way into ellie and tugged at the heartstrings. so that was how rover became yours– never trust your girl not to name something unrelated to her interests – but rover was a cute and fitting name overall, if only a tad nerdy due to her ongoing obsession with space and the long lost dream of being an astronaut. 

but there seems to be such a common phenomenon when it comes to cats. they know exactly who doesn't like them, and they make it their mission to insert themselves every which way like stubborn bastards. rover is a smart little man, and he was aware quickly of how awkward ellie got when he'd sit on you or knead on you. it progressed into him treading into the bedroom at five o'clock sharp every morning to wake his mothers up, pushing his way between you and ellie to enjoy the warmth of your cuddles.

from that point, he started getting bolder, jumping onto ellie's lap when she was always busy. he'd nuzzle up against the controller while she's gaming and she'd scoff quietly, clumsily moving to see the screen over his body. then his tail would swipe her across the nose and she'd groan, "you're a little dick."

even then– the words are coated in affection, softly spoken and accompanied by her pausing of the game to rub her hand over his sandy coloured fur.

there's also many, many times in which he appealed to her in humour. it can be utterly amusing at the least and hilarious at most when a feline is taken over by the zoomies. watching the usually collected and calm cat sprint at top speeds and leap dangerously across the room never failed in its manner to bring ellie to laughter.

so yeah, there's a growing attachment to rover bubbling under ellie's surface, and she's never really sure what to do about it. admit that she was wrong about hating cats? she admits so with her every action, making a stop at the store on her way home from work to bring a new cat toy or bag of treats she's desperate to give him. maybe it's in the way she lets him settle on her lap and feels a rush of warmth and love. maybe it's that her lock screen is now a picture of you carrying the cat over your shoulder like a newborn.

photomode creds to @/seraqhite on pinterest!!

[bteezxyewriter12]

Daddy/ 7

Pairing- Namjoon x Named Reader

Word count- 3.2k

Includes- Stepdad Namjoon, "Dumb/naive" reader, reader name not used- instead called "baby"or "bunny", all are of consenting age, corruption, Oral, pussy eating, blow job, deepthroating, cum eating, sex from behind, consented somnophilia, riding, choking, missionary, squirting, multiple orgasms, choking scare, minute smidge of fluff

Tag List- @mingtina @jaxxmine @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa

@borntowalkaway @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi @seokwoosmole @meowmeowminnie @nctzennikki09 @mrcarrots @yoonallthetime @namjooningera @quinsly @kendranicole1996 @jacobhey @wolfgurl2600-blog @mrskimjoon @svnbangtansworld @taeluv13 @effielumiere @moonchild-qaads @kitinae

Masterlists- check out for more fics

📝Daddy Masterlist 📝Masterlists

📝BTS Masterlist

📝Namjoon Masterlist

3 weeks later

Namjoon POV

"Our revenue has increased substantially since the release of the teaser for The Astronaut porn", Seonghwa says, "We have doubled in subscriptions, especially in the top tier subscription"

"That's good", I say, then lick her little clit, her body shaking on my bed

Looking up at her, I smirk at the way her eyes are screwed shut in pleasure

She learned from the last time she interrupted me during a call

She came into my room while I'm taking this phone conference call and her eyes opened so wide, immediately turning and leaving the room

Since she wasn't making a scene, I decided to let her stay

I muted the call, telling her to get on my bed

Then I gagged her with one of my ties because she's loud and I can't have that

It was bad enough the guys saw her fucking me on the video call

I don't need them to hear her on the phone too

I started eating her out, leaving the phone on speaker and on her tummy but she kept moving her hands and knocking it over

So I tied her arms together and to the bed using another one of my ties

Now she's gagged and bound, quiet and I'm liking this a lot

"Seems many people want to experience the whole thing with music, the YouTube videos, the series and so on", Jimin says smugly

"Seems so", I answer, delving my tongue in her tiny hole and feeling her throb on it, sending pleasure right to my hard cock

This cunt is so wet, so fucking sloppy and I'm so here for it

I fuck into her hole a few times before dragging my tongue up, licking her throbbing bump

"Mmm", she moans, the tie muffling her sounds

Sliding my fingers in between her lips, I hold her clit between them, licking over and over, dragging the flat of my tongue to the tip on her

Her thighs shake, her breasts heaving as she breathes around my tie

Muting the phone, I tell her, "Cum for me, right now"

Swiping my tongue over her clit, her body arches as she cums for the third time, moaning, her hands pulling on the tie hard

Letting go of her clit, I lick her hole, tasting her cream

So fucking good

I keep forgetting how much I love how she tastes

I don't go down on her as often as I should but every time I do, I remember why I like doing it

I don't eat her cunt for her but for me because she has the best cunt I ever tasted

Slipping my tongue up, I wrap my lips around her clit, sucking hard as I slip three fingers inside her

One more

Need to taste her one more time before I fuck her

As I move my mouth, I plunge into her, her pussy sucking me in, my fingertips rubbing on her spot

She calls me in her muffled voice, her body shaking hard

"Such a good cunt for me", I praise her

San is talking about the various video he put up for the movie trailer and the ad revenue we get from those videos is doing well

I'm listening but right now I'm too into her pussy to speak

My hand is soaked, her tight cunt squeezing my fingers desperately, like the whore she is

She's close

Increasing my sucking, I go hard and as soon as she orgasms, I pull my fingers out, replacing them with my tongue

She clenches down on my tongue, her cream coating it as I close my eyes, reveling in her taste

I swallow over and over, wanting all of it

Every single drop

After licking her clean, I sit up, flipping her over on her stomach

"Up", I demand

She moves on her knees bending forward as her hands are still tied, her legs already spread for me

My good slut knows what I want

I take a second to watch her juice slip from her cunt down her thighs, her tiny hole clenching around nothing

"Mm bunny, want daddy's cock?"

She nods, holding onto the tie so hard

"Want daddy to fuck that cunt stupid? Split you open"

"Mmm hmmm", she cries

"Good girl"

Shoving my cock inside her, I push hard, feeling her tight pussy stretch around me

I swear this is the best pussy I've fucked and that's because it's mine

I made this pussy into my personal cock sleeve, wearing her everyday

She knows what I like, what I want and does it every time

I start off thrusting into her, the wet sound of her cunt taking my cock, creaming my cock, so musical

I need to record that sound one day

I watch the white cream around my dick, a thick ring of it accumulating at the base of my cock, her stretched little hole smeared in it too

Fucking hot

"Fuck my cock bunny", I tell her, stopping my movements

She takes over, sliding along my length, bottoming me out and taking me in deeply, feeling so good

"Ohhh", she gasps, moving faster, her skin slapping loudly against mine

I have no idea what we're talking about on the conference call right now, all I can focus on is her pussy opening for me over and over

Her breathing is turning into gasps, long moans coming from her as her cunt pulses around my dick

"I'm gonna cum", I choke out, pleasure assaulting my body

"Hmmm", she nods, taking me all in, grinding on my cock, against my pelvis, her cum hole clenching in a death grip over and over

"I...I can't...", I moan, not able to hold back

Ecstacy hits me as I cum, her pussy sucking my cock as she grinds on me

"Bunny, fuck...so good"

Jesus

After emptying into her cunt, I pull out, laying down on my back as I breath hard

She calls me softly and when I look at her, she shows me her hands, asking to untie her with her eyes

I actually forgot she was tied up

Leaning over, I undo my tie, her hands dropping to the bed

She sits up, taking off the gag too as I pick up my phone and focus on the conference

"...planning on starting to shoot the movie in three days", Jimin says

"Everything is set up for a smooth filming?", I ask

"Of course Namjoon. I'm not incompetent", Jimin snaps

"It's my job to question you", I answer, rolling my eyes

Jimin starts ranting and I'm about to go off when I hear a very quiet, soft, "Daddy"

Looking at her, she's crawling in-between my legs

What does she want now?

She keeps her eyes on me, her hand around my dick, pumping me slowly

I watch her lean down, her tongue licking around head, pleasure slowly seeping in my body

Muting the phone, I ask, "Can't get enough of daddy's cock huh?"

She shakes her head, taking my tip in her mouth, sucking softly, her hand still moving

And I'm getting hard again

"Love your cock daddy", she whispers, taking more of me in her mouth

"So what is it you want now bunny?"

"Want to suck you off and swallow your cum"

I groan at her words, "Fuck bunny, you know what daddy likes"

She nods, sucking harder

Not gonna lie she's so pretty with my cock in her mouth

Like her mouth belongs around my cock

Just like her pussy does

"Well you're lucky I love coming down your throat", I answer, "Suck daddy's cock. Make me cum"

She nods, her hand leaving my cock as she deepthroats me, her throat so tight

Moving my hand in her hair, I bob her head up and down, moaning in bliss

She sucks as she moves along my length, shivers running up my spine

"So good bunny"

"Ok well that's all for this meeting", someone says on the call, "We can meet in a month or so to talk about the progress"

The others on the call agree and then hang up

I toss my phone on the nightstand, finally able to completely focus on my stepdaughter blowing me

Tears are falling from her eyes but she's not stopping, fucking her throat on my cock, knowing this gives me intense pleasure

She swallows on my shaft, sending spikes of pleasure down my spine

"That's it bunny", I murmur, watching my cock enter her mouth over and over, "So good at sucking cock"

She should be, I trained her to be amazing at it

Moving faster, I feel myself right there

Shoving her head down, I hold her on my dick, listening to her choke as I cum into her mouth

"Yes Bunny. Fuck"

She moans, swallowing and sucking over and over, the pleasure so fucking incredible

She slows down her mouth as I finish, gently pulling off me, sitting up

She swallows a few times then looks up at me

"Yummy daddy"

"Fuck bunny", I mutter, exhausted

"Are you tired daddy?", she asks

I nod, "Yeah bunny. Daddy's tired"

She nods, "Ok. I'll go so you can sleep"

"Yeah sure"

A nap sounds like a good idea

I lay down as she gets up expecting her to just leave

Instead she bends down, picking up my blanket from the floor and putting it on me

Like she's tucking me in

I raise my eyebrow at her but she just smiles and says, "Have a good nap daddy"

Then she turns and leaves my room

And leaves me speechless

What the hell just happened?

Did she....sort of...take care of me?

No

Giving me a blanket isn't taking care of me right?

No, it's not

That settled, I close my eyes, relaxed and ready for a nap

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

Massive pleasure wakes me up and I snap my eyes open

The sight of my bunny bouncing desperately on my cock hits me full in the face, her cries of daddy filling my ears

And I can't help but smirk

"Mm bad girl", I say, groggily, "Fucking daddy's cock without asking"

She immediately stops, looking down at me

"Ssss..sorry daddy. You...you were still asleep and I came to check on you to make sure you were ok. I just... you were still sleeping but your cock was so hard"

"Was it baby?"

She nods, "The blanket was sticking up too. I...I touched you and I licked your cock but you didn't wake up"

I raise my eyebrows

I didn't feel a thing

"I sucked on you daddy but you were still sleeping and...and my pussy hurt. I tried to stay off for as long as I could but I couldn't anymore. I just...I just wanted to sit on your cock"

"So what happened baby?", I ask, "You sat on me with my cock up your cunt?"

She nods

"Then what? You were bouncing on me like a fucking whore when I woke up"

She pouts, looking down, "You we're throbbing inside and I couldn't help it"

"Uh huh", I say, "Slide up"

She does, keeping my head inside her

I bite my lip seeing the creamy mess she left on me

She came

I already know that

"How many times did you cum on daddy's cock without me knowing?"

Her cheeks turn red, "Three times"

"Three?", I repeat, surprised, "You're cunt was greedy huh?"

She nods, "Always for your cock daddy"

Yeah I know

Which is exactly what I want

"Were you working on a fourth orgasm baby?"

She nods again, "And I was trying to get daddy to cum inside me"

That's interesting

"Yeah? Why?"

"Because I love feeling daddy cum in my pussy. I love being full of daddy's cum"

"Huh. Well don't let me stop you"

I'm not upset

I told her that she could fuck me awake if there was an opportunity

I fuck her awake so many times and honestly waking up to that pleasure is the best way to wake up

"I...I can keep going?"

"You better. I want your cum hole to make my cock feel good"

She nods, "I will daddy. I promise"

"Go", I nod at her

She leans her hands on my abs as she squats, her legs pumping as she bounces up and down

Her fucking hole looks so good spreading wide open for my cock, her pussy lips so swollen, wrapped around my shaft

So pretty

Not to mention the pretty cream flowing from her pussy

I don't think I'll ever not love the sight of her cream all over me

Putting my hands behind my head, I watch her fuck me

I watch the way she moves her hips as she takes me in, her tummy bulging as she circles her hips fast, grinding on my head so it rubs against her spot, then slides up my dick, doing all the movements all over again

It's like she's dancing on my cock and it's mesmerizing

Her boobs are jiggling so much, her head tilted back, beads of sweat rolling down her body, pleasure on her face as her cunt chokes my cock

I can admit that she looks so good on me right now

Hot

Sexy

That's why I wanted to fuck her

Her looks and her stupidity

"Daddy", she gasps, her legs not stopping, pumping my cock in and out of her

"Yeah bunny, I feel you. Go ahead, make a mess on my cock"

She leans her hands back on my thighs as she takes me back in, wiggling and grinding on me

"Daddy! Oh god", she whimpers, so much pleasure hitting me hard as she orgasms

Her pussy floods my cock in squirt, running in my lap and spilling over on my bed

"So pretty bunny", I murmur, watching her cunt clench around me, "Love when this cunt squirts"

"Feels so good daddy", she moans, "Your cock always feels so good daddy"

I'm glad she feels that way because it means she'll fuck me more

And I'm all for that

When she finishes, she leans forward, her hand on my shoulder, breathing rapidly

And for some reason, I feel the need to fuck her

Pulling her off me, I throw her on her back, grabbing her ankles and shoving her legs towards her body, her legs spread, her little ass up off the bed, her cunt throbbing and waiting for me to fill her

Getting my head in her hole, I push in slowly, savoring the feel of her on my dick

Bottoming out, my body shivers as she latches on my dick, already pulsing pleasurably

Immediately I set a hard pace, watching that hole splitting open in with every thrust into her

As always she takes me perfectly, swallowing my cock like she can't get enough, moaning for me like a big whore

"Look at you", I growl, "Taking daddy's cock like a pro"

She nods, whimpering

"My little cock sleeve, always ready for my cock to wreck you"

"Yes daddy. Mmmmm yes"

"Love how this cunt throbs on me, sucking me in like you can't get enough"

"I can't", she moans, "I can't get enough of you daddy"

I know she can't

It's great

"Cum on daddy's cock, bunny", I demand, feeling her right there

Slamming her spot, she cries out, her body shaking as she orgasms

And I get the pleasure I want

I need more

Slamming her pussy, I fuck her hard and rough, making her cum three more times, the bliss I feel mounting with every orgasm

Thrusting into her tight hole, I wrap my hand around her neck, her cunt becoming impossibly tight

And I just smirk at her

She looks so fucked out, fucked stupid as she keeps taking the pounding I'm giving her

I choke her, her body shuddering, wet hole spasming so good on my length

"So good bunny. Pussy getting so tight", I tell her, letting her breathe

She opens her fucked out eyes, tears falling from them

"Need you to cum like that so I can fill this sloppy cum hole again"

She nods

I snap my hips hard over and over, choking her, feeling her so close

"C'mon you fucking slut. Cum on me so I can blow my load in this coming pussy", I demand

Her pussy locks on my cock, coming and pumping around my cock, the pleasure outstanding

"Fuck", I yell, slamming my dick into her, immediately blowing my load into her orgasming cunt, "Yes fucking whore, milk my cock. Take all my cum, slut"

The pleasure lasts, making me shake as I ride it out inside her

When I finally finish, I relax and realize I haven't let go to her neck yet

Shit

Letting her go, she gasps in air, choking as she tries to sit up

I panic a little, helping her up, her whole face red

"Are you ok?", I ask worriedly, "Bunny are you ok?"

I may not care about her pleasure and I definitely use her for sex but I don't want to hurt her

I use women, I'm an asshole but I don't hurt them

She sucks in air, coughing a little

"Bunny?"

"I...I'm ok", she gasps out, "I think...I think I need to lay down for a minute..I...I feel dizzy"

"Yeah sure", I nod, helping her lay down on a pillow, my eyes widening when I see my fingerprints on the sides of her neck

Fuck, I choked her harder than I thought I did

I've never went that hard on her or any girl when I choke them

How the fuck did I lose control?

She turns on her side, her eyes squeezed shut, trying to get her breathing under control

I actually feel bad but I don't know what to do to help

"Bunny?"

"I'm ok", she croaks, "I...I'll get up in a minute to leave daddy"

"It's ok bunny, take your time. I...I didn't mean to hurt you"

"It's ok daddy. I know you didn't mean it", she breathes

Even though she said it's ok, I still feel bad

I could of seriously hurt her or killed her

Something like this can never happen again

I won't let it

I let her lay down for awhile, paying attention to her breathing, making sure it's going back to normal

The next time I look at her, shes breathing normal and I think she's asleep

"Bunny?", I call softly

"Hmm", she murmurs, her eyes open tiredly, "Oh. Sorry daddy. I'll leave"

I hesitate but tell her, "It's ok bunny. You can stay"

Why I'm doing this I don't know

Maybe it's because I'm worried about her, maybe it's so I can make sure nothing happens to her because of choking her

Maybe it's because last time she slept in my bed overnight, it wasn't that bad

No that's not it

It's because I'm worried and I want to watch her to make sure she's ok

That has to be the reason

It is the reason, I tell myself

"I can go daddy", she says, yawning

"No bunny. It's fine. Sleep ok?"

She looks at me sleepily and confused, "Are you sure?"

I nod, surprised that I am sure, "I am. Sleep bunny"

She cuddles into the pillow, closing her eyes, knocking out almost immediately

I don't know how long I sit there for, just watching her, listening to her breathes

Everything seems normal, she doesn't seem hurt besides the brusies on her neck

I move my fingers in her hair, fixing it so it's off her face and not obstructing any of her airways, ignoring how soft and silky it feels

Getting the blanket, I fix it so it's on both of us then I lay down, facing her

I don't know if I'm gonna fall asleep but I want to be right here in case anything happens

Any emergency or something, like she stops breathing

It's just for tonight, I tell myself

Only for tonight

[mollyrolls]

the weatherman : ̗̀➛

a mollyrolls x gregory alan isakov collab

this is my favorite album of all time, so i wanted to write some stories inspired by it. updated when i can.

mlist.

: ̗̀➛ amsterdam; oikawa

Oh, oh, silhouette / She's growing tall and fine / She's got my back / She'll follow me down every street / No matter what my crime.

: ̗̀➛ saint valentine; kenma

Well, you hang up your hat, but you can't call it home / Oh you've tried and you've tried / but you can't call it home. / You’re the loneliest one, Saint Valentine.

: ̗̀➛ second chances; sugawara

I'm a ghost in the garden / Scaring the crows / If it weren't for second chances, we'd all be alone.

: ̗̀➛ living proof; atsumu

She held onto my coat that night, like a kid lost in her sleeves / Oh we warmed the ground, we hushed our sound / We slept on walking feet / Lord, we slept on walking feet.

: ̗̀➛ time will tell; osamu

Howling out the windy hills / and all the time we took / You should know just how it steals / Keep your hand on the wheel / And through it all, somewhere we knew / Where time will tell, she'll see us through.

: ̗̀➛ o' city lights; iwaizumi

Curls a smile when the sadness hits / Finds my face with fingertips. / Have you seen her / The daughter of the hum of the highway? / She's curling up like smoke.

: ̗̀➛ astronaut; kuroo

Aw, forget about the sun / He's forgotten us by now / Kiss me so I remember how.

: ̗̀➛ the universe; matsukawa

The Universe, she's wounded / But she's still got infinity ahead of her / She's still got you and me / And everybody says that she's beautiful.

: ̗̀➛ suitcase full of sparks; bokuto

Learned the language of the Mockingbird / She took and twisted all my words / Yeah, I'm just trying to find my way to you.

: ̗̀➛ honey, it's alright; sakusa

You were woven in patchwork / Clouded and hazed / In your past like a lover can be. Honey, it's alright / Honey, it's alright / It's alright to be / Alone.

: ̗̀➛ all shades of blue; hinata

Broken bottles shine just like stars / Make a wish anyway. / Just your smile lit a sixty-watt bulb in my house / That was darkened for days. / Been thinking you probably should stay.

: ̗̀➛ she always takes it black; akaashi

You search the world for the milk of the pearl / She always takes it black. / But you'll love her till it all goes dark / You'll love her even after that.

[thegirlwiththeblush]

Nature Offers A Violence

First Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright

Word Count: 1.9k

Fandom: Doctor Who (1963)

Loose Song Inspiration: Blood Upon the Snow by Hozier

Summary: While decluttering her grandfather's closet, Susan discovers an unusual creature, and chaos ensues.

a/n: Special thanks, as always, to my dearest @vorsdany for sharing the prompt with me and then proofreading my absolute chaos; thank you, my love! I hope this fic crosses some Classic Who fans' pages!

 Susan liked to consider herself a fairly tidy person. It wasn’t often that she and her grandfather were home from their travels in the TARDIS, and she liked to use that time to ensure that everything was spick and span, as the place could become a bit of a mess over time. The Doctor did not seem to care much for cleanliness, preferring to work on the engineering of his vehicle, somewhat lazily leaving the organization to his attentive granddaughter.  

 One day, the TARDIS team had returned home for a break in their travels, and Ian and Barbara had gone out to pick up some groceries for a picnic. The Doctor was in the TARDIS fiddling with a joystick that was getting jammed in place when he heard Susan skipping into the console room, humming a merry tune. 

 “Grandfather!” she said cheerily, halting directly behind him. 

 “Yes, what is it, Susan? I’m rather busy at the moment,” he replied without looking up from the console. He grunted in frustration when the stick remained stubbornly in place. 

 “Oh, I don’t need your help or anything,” she assured him, a sweet smile on her face, even though he couldn’t see. “I was just wondering if maybe I could declutter your closet.”  

 This made the Doctor look up, blinking a few times in confusion. “My closet?” he echoed. “Whatever’s wrong with my wardrobe?”  

 “Oh, it’s horrendous, Grandfather,” Susan exclaimed, sheepishly wringing her hands in front of her. “You collect so much on your travels, and it just piles up! I’ve seen it in passing, and... goodness gracious, Grandfather, it’s such a mess!” 

 The Doctor shook his head slightly before relenting. “Well, all right,” he said, “but I see nothing wrong with having such a large collection.” 

 “Oh, I won’t be throwing anything away, I promise,” she replied, “not unless I have to. I’m just tidying it up a bit!” 

 The Doctor waved his hand dismissively as she scampered off, before returning to work on his beloved console. 

 As Susan entered her grandfather’s expansive closet aboard the TARDIS, she fought not to turn up her nose at the mixed stench of dust, grime, sweat, and... some other unpleasant odour that she couldn’t quite identify. The room, like much of the TARDIS, seemed bigger than the deceptive narrow doorway, extending past the coat rail in the entrance, a large hexagonal space with fluorescent light panels across the ceiling. She carefully stepped around scattered stacks of costumes from all different planets and time periods, glancing around at the musty walls and ceiling with the occasional hook pinned here and there, each holding far more coats and jackets than they should’ve been.  

As she sidestepped a pair of extra-large astronaut pants, she heard a muffled squelching sound to her left. She nearly tripped over her own feet trying to scramble away from the source, a pink kimono thrown in a corner; with all the mess around her, she hadn’t noticed an oddly shaped mass shifting underneath it, emitting the strange noises. Tilting her head in confusion, she picked up a discarded coat hanger and tentatively poked the fabric.  

 Suddenly, a large caterpillar-like creature scrambled out from underneath the kimono, ten or so legs clambering helter-skelter as it continued making the wet, sucking sounds she’d heard. She shrieked and leapt back, collapsing against the wall behind her, yelping once more when what appeared to be its head seemed to turn and face her. “Grandfather!” she squealed, keeping her eyes on the animal. “Grandfather, come quick!” 

 Moments later, too long for her liking, the Doctor stepped into the room, ducking underneath the coat rail. “What is it, Barbara, didn’t I tell you I’m-” He caught sight of the creature mid-sentence, his eyes widening and posture straightening. “Oh, yes, I see you’ve found the nestrix. It must have escaped from my lab.” 

 “The nestrix?” Susan asked. Her eyes remained fixed on the creature as she took quick shallow breaths to compose herself. 

 “Yes, a creature I found on a deserted planet some time ago,” he explained. “I brought it back to my lab to study it, and it must have gotten out of its holding chamber. Perhaps it preferred the warmer climate of the closet here.” 

 “What are we going to do with it, Grandfather?” Susan cried. 

 The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed. “Do with it?” he repeated. “The creature’s entirely harmless, my dear, couldn’t even prick you, there’s no need to do anything about it.” 

 During this banter, the nestrix had made its way towards the pair, its long, slick back glistening with a sticky substance under the lights. Its skin was a mesmerizing ripple of colour, different shades of purple, blue, and green undulating from its head to its rear. Its short, spindly legs drummed across the floor as it shifted slowly forward. The substance that gave it sheen seemed to be leaking out at an increasing rate. 

 “The nestrix prefers solitude in humid or warm climates, and is typically hermaphroditic,” the Doctor continued, tugging slightly on his coat as he stood like a proud orator. “There were no other creatures of any kind left on its planet, so I do wonder how it would’ve interacted with-”  

 A forceful jet of murky sludge burst out of the nestrix, narrowly missing Susan and hitting the wall beside her. Shrieking in fright, Susan turned to see a gaping burned hole in the wall, sizzling as it rapidly corroded. 

 “... Well, it appears my studies were not entirely thorough, and I think it best we leave now,” the Doctor amended, before quickly pulling Susan up off the floor by the hand and dragging her back under the coat rail, soon followed by another burst of the sludge that came dangerously close to her legs.  

 They dashed out of the closet and backed up against the opposite wall, Susan struggling to catch her breath. As they stared at the doorway, waiting for the nestrix to follow, the TARDIS door opened and closed, and the familiar voices of Ian and Barbara drifted towards them. 

 “Ian!” the Doctor yelled upon hearing them. “Quick, grab the fire extinguisher! It’s behind the panel under the console!” 

 The chatter from the TARDIS entrance ceased. “You got it, Doctor!” Ian called. They could only just hear Barbara murmuring something about wondering what was going on. 

 “A fire extinguisher?” Susan questioned in panic, still watching the closet doorway. 

 “Yes, well, we don’t have many other options right now,” the Doctor responded, his eyes widening as the nestrix finally appeared. “If you have any suggestions, they’d be much appreciated!”  

 The Doctor’s companions raced into the room, Ian brandishing the fire extinguisher like a holy grail while Barbara watched in confusion. “Here you are, Doctor!” 

 “Yes, thank you for your haste, Ian!” the Doctor replied, taking the extinguisher with slightly shaky hands. 

 “I’ve learned not to question your urgent requests,” Ian replied, his lips quirking up slightly, before glancing around the room. “What seems to be the trouble?” His eyes landed on the nestrix before the Doctor could answer, and he staggered back slightly. “Good heavens! Doctor, what is that thing?” 

  “It’s a nestrix, my boy,” the Doctor said, mustering as much calmness into his tone as possible. “There’s no time to explain further, but no need to worry, this should sort the creature out!” 

 “Why, it looks sort of beautiful, doesn’t it?” Barbara mentioned. 

 The Doctor shrugged as he undid the hose from the fire extinguisher, watching as the nestrix inched menacingly towards them. “Yes, well, I thought so too until about a minute ago.” 

 An elongated appendage slithered out from beneath the nestrix’s lower abdomen, coiling slightly as if in preparation to strike. The four of them stood agape. 

 Susan huddled closer to her grandfather. “Grandfather... is that...?” 

 Ian grimaced. “I think it’s...”  

 The Doctor, who’d hesitated in preparing the extinguisher, finally composed himself and hoisted it up to better his grasp on it. “Well, I suppose that’s why they’re hermaphroditic.”  

 “That’s what it fired at us with?!” Susan exclaimed, but the Doctor wasted no more time, blasting the nestrix with the extinguisher hose. 

 The white, powdery stream burst out, shrouding the overgrown caterpillar, and the four of them stood waiting breathlessly. Within seconds, another eruption of sludge launched at them, landing on the wall behind them as they dodged to either side. 

 “What in the world?!” Barbara cried. 

 “It looks like this creature can only be defeated by force,” the Doctor declared, wielding the extinguisher in front of him in a threatening manner. “Everyone stay back!” He advanced, trying to circle away from the nestrix’s appendage as it followed his movement.  

 “Doctor, be careful!” Ian followed, his arms held out in front of him in defence. “You’re bound to get hit! I’ll distract it!” 

 “Well, then, get to it!” the Doctor said, before slamming the extinguisher down on the nestrix’s head. He yelled in pain as the extinguisher practically bounced off of the nestrix’s apparently impenetrable exoskeleton. Ian hesitated, then began running at the creature while screaming and yelling. The nestrix turned to him, while the Doctor reared back, preparing to strike again. 

 Meanwhile, Susan tapped Barbara on the shoulder, gesturing to the console room. “Did you leave the groceries by the door?” 

 Barbara nodded. “Yes, but what does that-” 

 “Follow me!” With that, Susan grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the entrance.  

 The Doctor continued striking the nestrix with the extinguisher in vain, while Ian grabbed a coat hanger that lay in the closet doorway and attempted to pierce the creature with it, all this while the appendage continued to fire at them at random. Just as the Doctor was about to blast it with the fire extinguisher once more, Susan appeared behind him holding tightly to a popsicle. Taking a deep breath, she leaped forward, grabbed the nestrix’s member, and stuffed the popsicle in the hole. 

 A loud screeching pierced the air as the icy treat melted down into the appendage; the alien writhed and flailed in a desperate attempt to escape the cold. The four of them stepped back, Susan grinning in relief and glee; the nestrix’s legs gave way and it collapsed with a final heave. 

 “Susan, that was brilliant!” Ian said, patting her shoulder proudly. “How did you know to do that?” 

 “Grandfather said that the nestrix liked warm climates, so I knew only the cold could stop it!” Susan beamed up at him. 

 “Then why didn’t the cold of the extinguisher work?” Barbara asked.  

 “I suppose that’s the work of the exoskeleton,” the Doctor surmised. “That was very clever, Susan, attacking both its Achilles’ heel and its weapon!” 

 Susan allowed herself a small smirk. “I suppose decluttering the closet wasn’t such a bad idea after all, was it, Grandfather?” 

 Ian and Barbara laughed, and the Doctor rolled his eyes, although the corners of his mouth twitched a little. “Come along, now,” he said, “let’s make a pit stop at the nestrix’s home planet before it freezes to death. I suppose now we know why it was otherwise uninhabited. Fascinating creature, indeed.” 

 As the four made their way back to the console room, the Doctor remorsefully muttered something about wishing he’d had more time to study the alien caterpillar. Ian, Barbara, and Susan merely grinned at each other and giggled as they followed, leaving the powerless nestrix, the melting popsicle, and the utterly dishevelled closet behind. 

[breezecomic]

Saw ur post, and I want u to pitch to me what Laika's comet is (looks autistically)

YESSS I WILL DO THAT OR AT LEAST TRY TO!!!! Gonna split this into paragraphs under the cut :DDD

First of all, OHHH MYY GOD THIS WEBCOMIC MAKES ME INSANE DUDE!!! THIS MIGHT CONTAIN WAY MORE THAN WHAT YOU WANTED TO READ BUT OH WELL!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OF ADMIRATION INFORMATION DUMP!!

1 - The Artist

Laika's Comet is made by Willow, an incredible, incredible artist! He uses @/catmask (main blog) and @/fourleafisland (art blog) for their handles: please go check out the art blog it's so so good!!!

Willow's art is so amazing, dude. Her colour choices, character designs, backgrounds, vehicles, everything is so damn beautiful. It inspires plenty of artists to create and keep creating, including me!

Here's a print it made! I chose to show you the dunmeshi themed one bc ik you're a dunmeshi freak (so am I):

(Even if you don't end up reading the comic, go look at their art, it'll make your day better!)

2 - The World

Laika's Comet is set on Furth - the furry version of Earth! Everyone is an anthropomorphic animal, with the main character being a dog!

Furth is beautiful, very utopian with environmentally friendly tech and lifestyles. The world is also technologically advanced, with successful space travel!

3 - Themes

Laika's Comet has only just started, really, with two chapters (?) currently completed. However, from sticking around this long, I can take a shot at the overall themes:

- Family (VERY big on that one)

- Friendship

- Grief and loss (this one is something I think is going to be big later)

- Queerness and the queer self (hinted at)

- Trangenderism is BIG for this

- Abuse and/or neglect (implied? Might be explored explicitly in the future)

And probably a lot more! Obviously, as I am not the author nor artist, and the series has only just begun, I can't say that some of these things are for certain!

Now for the cast!

(Just covering current characters, as many more have been made but haven't cameo-ed yet!)

The Main Character - Laika

Laika is the main character of Laika's Comet! (never saw that coming, huh) She's a fat, bisexual, trans dogwoman! She rides a motorcycle and wears parts of an old astronaut suit. She drives around being a good citizen, helping little old dogs and searching for star pieces: you'll have to read to find out what those are!

She has two dads, Yue and Rover, who she lives with! She also has a "sidekick" called Mars, a cute little cat.

The Scientist - Yue

Laika's dad, Yue, is an old (sorry Yue), gay, trans bunnyman. He's an astronomer who tracks the star pieces with lots of technological equipment! He and Laika live in an observatory, and seeing as he technically works from home, his ideal work uniform is pajamas and a lab coat.

The Sidekick - Mars

Mars is a sweet kid, a little black cat who uses they/them pronouns. With a unique tail, some powers, and a cute doll named Menya, Mars is going to be a big part of the comic! I already love them so much (as I should).

There's many more characters to come, too! Here, take this lineup:

And, most importantly for you, Archivist, is the fact that this comic is Space Themed!

You weren't sold yet?? Well, you should know that Laika's Comet is all about space; stars, comets, astronauts, space travel, meteors, etc!

So, want to read it?

Oh, and don't forget! It was almost the end of the world! Have fun!! \(•▽^)-☆

Click Here!

[yamaghost]

[to love a man]

the butterflies i get  in my stomach that rise up to my chest  when a man looks at me fluttering, wanting to escape  when our eyes meet and for a second i swear i saw an entire galaxy shift within them my mascara coated eyelashes bashfully looking away a multitude of plot lines arise in my head gut wrenching, heart soothing wholesome, fearful a horrible end, a beautiful start “i love you” a powerful phrase  spewed out from his lips  and i, watching the pink tint of his cheeks and his hand ruffle through his hair, believed  “i love you too” the words come out naturally, guttural yet expected to love a man is to lose yourself  the verbal confirmation a contract, the first kiss a lock the passionate dance of bodies and interlocked fingers a chain the key never to be found desperately wanting the beauty of the start mourning someone who never was and never will be responsible for his emotions while you both neglect yours  the individual he sought curated herself into the thing he wanted her to be this is love, you’ll tell yourself, i do this because i’m in love.  when it all ends you will rot because inevitably, it will end.  he will go onto the next  spewing the same powerful phrase and you will wonder  why you looked at the tint of his cheeks and the way his hands ruffled his hair and not the inconsistency in his actions, the performance of a lifetime pretty words fed to you like a baby bird, chewing them up and spitting them out withering away a flower sprouting in between the concrete  picked and watered, but refusing to let go of the pavement it’s not fair it’s not fair it’s not fair it’s not fair it’s not fair  you  are rotting.  until one day- you’ll find the galaxy in another man and the butterflies in your stomach will flutter warning you that you are not an astronaut  that the world you seek is in your own eyes.  and whether you listen  to the flapping of their wings and the sound of busses honking next to the pavement is up to you.

[mv 2022]

[shiny-jr]

I fumkin love ur fic The Devil so much, love ur oc charlemagne and i gort SO down bad for him, very sadge to see that not a lot of people talkinf about him or the fic in general in tumblr but man that fic in quotev do have a gorilla grip on me that i would reread it back to back every saturday and sundays. Like, charlie is the blorbo from my yandere fic authors that i would want to chew up like a beloved dog toy, knead him like bread dough, let him rise and bake him at 400f for 15 minutes. Soak him with milk and suck the milk out like that one Webkinz toy and throw him against the wall to make a wet thud, wring him like a towel and clamp him down between my teeth and shake at breakneck speeds like those feral dogs , elbow bomb him like a WWE wrestler, put him in a meat grinder and make Charlemagne sausages,,, words alone cannot describe how much that man makes my brain go brr as in jackhammer obliterating tiled floors brr

It gives me some th0ts that wjat if tje mc somehow got into this groundhog type of situation and wakes up on the day where charlie would propose to her with expensive chunky ring. Id think after going thru all the shitstorm she would learn that "okay, maybe he is the greatest detective of all time, rivaling batman" and knows rhat if she drops everything and run, he is jusr going to find her and ruin everything again anyways

So she says yea sure go nuts, but there is that flavour of fear to whenever shes around him, im pretty sure anyone who is partially sentient can pick up on the vibe , especially charlie

Whenever he gives affection or gifts it woild be met with nervousness like mc is about to shit herself out of trembling so hard, but out of sheer fear and anger and hatred

Whenever he tries to ask what's wrong mc would simply dismiss his concerns and kinda gaslight him, saying he is crazy for thinking that something is wrong, the gaslighting done out of revenge and instinct to survive

I feel like that would be a mindfuck for him, i wonder if he would eventually just get used to it or he would smoke so much that he grows an extra pair of lungs cause the carcinogens mutated him so much that he went through rapid forced evolution

Of course, mc probably had to sacrifice her happiness with Elian and the pups, but i guess it should be temporary until charlie rests in pieces due to stress and confusion, but then the mc would also be in pieces from having her CPU on 100% everyday

Whoop another groundhog day event, mc just straight up murders him with the wine glass when she wakes up on the day he proposes to her again, unprompted, maybe even going all john wick and kill him with a pencil after sketching the final coat design

Also mans is lucky he is in the 70's, no doubt hes getting cancelled to hell if he is like in the 2020's

I can't tell if he would be the type to wear a hazmat or astronaut suit during the pandemic or he would brush the cheeky touch of the virus off as a mere cold, being anti vax and all

Makes me think about how he would react with social media and stuff, i kinda headcannon that he would obsessively read his comment section cause he loves feeling angy , but maybe he would simply not, cause as an influencer or celebrity, first rule is to never look at the comment section

Perhaps if you directly bring the 70's Charlie to modern days, he would go insane over social media and how much people talk about public figures

I also headcannon that a massive chunk of his regular business budget is allocated towards lawsuits too, cauae wirh all the stunts he is pulling publicly im pretty sure sometimes its just cheaper and more effective to pay the lawsuit than go on long shady battles wirh them, you know like how that "life hack" where you send a billionaire your wedding invitation and chances are they're going to give you gifts despite literally not knowing who you are? Yea that

I feel like if he is broight into modern modern times, his PR team would be working over time, crying, throwing up, shitting with all the crap he pulls. Everyone is bald from stress, everyone aged into an octogenarian and they have like a pager like surgeons where it alerts them whenever charlie does some silly shit and rhey have to do immediate damage control

Like he would spend hundreds of hours probably feeding the trolls and doxxing them too, nightmare for anyone on his marketing and PR team

But i might be wrong , he probably knows better and just ignores them

If he is 25 in like around 1974 (i assume thats when it takes place), he must be like 74 in 2023 and he would still slay the house down while battling arthritis and chronic bronchitis like yes hater king, go off 👏👏

Imagine though, 74 years old pulling stunts like how he did with mc in prosa, just need to pop a couple painkillers and go committing entering and breaking with their elderly walkers, maybe even with turbo wheelchairs

I feel like he would make his own Charlemagne brand electronics, and call it Charlemobile which comes built in with adware for his products only, like a popup ad keeps distracting you telling you to praise him and he would definitely 100% steal your information, like he is the only electronic manufacturer where you should read the terms and conditions word per word if you don't want to end up on craigslist one day

On the softer side, i feel like Charlie would prepare your medications when the both of you gets old and reminds you to eat it ❤️

Mc would try to sneak in a cyanide pill from time to time for his set of medications but have a sneaking suspicion that he might be immune to them cause of microdosing from years of assassination attempts

But lets muddle up the timeline again, i wonder like, will Charlie still kidnap mc even tho shes abstinent? Like no interest in dating other people, or interest in her dogs or interest in having children, she does her own NPC thing. But religiously rejects Charlie like muscle memory from clicking the "X" on a popup ad, will he still snap or will he just sees it as "oh well i can work with this"

Or like mc gets so spooked with all this groundhog day thing that she moves back in with the parents and refuses to budge, becomes a NEET,, will he still kidnap her ? Or kidnap her family in a twist of events

If they ever get married would he let mc see her family or is it a "god i fuckin hate my in laws , we are not going to the barbeque" type of deal?

I also keep thinking about the engagement announcement party near the end of the book, cause im a gal who has a really reactive bowel when nervous or uncomfortable or feeling strong emotions in general, i was thinking what if during the entire thing mc is stuck in the toilet and missed everything , including Elian and Charlie's top 5 freakouts of all time, so while you nuked the toilet, charlie nukes the whole place down. That would be funny i think

But yeah literally if i were in the story i would spend a great deal of time jailed to a toilet, i would literally miss every show of his because out of anger shits, i feel that would make him smoke a couple extra cigarettes that day and maybe even cry because it is force of nature, he cant conquer nature

Or can he? 👀

I feel like if this happens in the 1920's Charlie would consider lobotomizing mc but im glad its in the 70's

Do u think he would binge watch trashy TV reality shows and clutch his pearls whenever drama happens

Wow this is a long waffle, thanks for reading and until then, i shall be painfully yearning for more Charlemagne content

- Charlemagne Simp Anon (can i claim this anon pls)

Holy shit. Okay. When I saw how long this ask was, my eyes went wide like. My dude, this is a whole essay. I gotta put it under a special tag because I think this is the longest ask I've ever gotten and there's a lot of funny stuff from this. It's so wild to me that you would reread it so often?? That whole first paragraph really just shocked me.

These are a lot of thoughts you bring. A lot. Most I'm not even sure how to react to or how to respond. The part about his age though got me, because I know for a fact that Charlemagne would still be pulling crazy stunts at that age, like crashing the biggest fashion galas despite being on the ban list specifically because he's caused scenes in the past. Also, he would 100% watch horrible reality tv shows and clutch his pearls.

Unfortunately, I don't plan to make any Charlemagne content for the future, unless I had this groundbreaking idea and I see that The Devil reaches another milestone.

[vespertin-y]

doing another v3 talentswap, but instead of a randomizer this time i swapped them with whoever they’re directly across in the trial circle!

shuichi - rantaro

survivor shuichi is making me INSANE. yes obviously it’s very angsty but i can’t stop thinking about the absolute chaos that would come from having fully-snapped ch6 shuichi from the beginning. the snark...

detective rantaro makes me sad because i can SEE exactly what that would be like. he’s not a real detective, only an apprentice - a real detective would be able to solve a simple missing person’s case, right?

kaito - gonta

entomologist kaito changes almost nothing about him but GOD you know that bug coat would be sick as hell.

astronaut gonta has several different directions it could go in,,,either someone accidentally left him on a space station and he was raised by aliens, or he’s a genius being pushed by his wealthy family to conquer the final frontier. either way his is full of So Many space facts and has no idea why people are terrified when he shares them!! insect meet n greet but he just sits everyone down and forcibly explains how space can boil and freeze your blood at the same time...

kirumi - kaede

pianist kirumi would be interesting bc i think without her maid duties she wouldn’t interact with her classmates much - she’s a very withdrawn person. which is concerning because she’s such a workaholic...pls let one of her classmates notice she’s been at that piano for twelve hours.

maid kaede would be very cute!! she keeps her motivation of wanting to see people smile, she just does it in a more direct way. i do worry that the implied bullying she faced in canon would be much worse if she had a service-based talent, though.....

ryoma - himiko

magician ryoma, hmm...we’ll go for a slightly less tragic backstory than canon and say he stopped performing after his cat assistant was killed.

tennis pro himiko just makes me laugh. she falls asleep on the court and still wins somehow.

maki - kokichi

leader maki didn’t want to be a leader - she smelled trouble at her orphanage and decided to get as many kids as possible out, including her right-hand woman who she is Most Definitely Not Gay For. she’s not in charge, definitely! she’s just the only one with any braincells around here, geez...

assassin kokichi...actually no fuck that. this would not happen. he would 100% find a way to kill himself rather than go along with the cult, that’s what makes maki and him foils - she would rather kill than die, he’d rather die than kill. for the sake of the talentswap, i’ll say that he’s ACTUALLY the shsl child caregiver, and give the assassin talent to pianist kirumi (she deserves some elegant murder i think). he owns a clown-themed daycare where he gives kids the love he never got and he is HAPPY >:(

angie - tenko

aikido pro angie is funny because that girl is a STICK. what is her 90-pound ass gonna do?? <- words of someone about to experience the wrath of god apparently

i’ve talked about artist tenko before and i still really like it!! emotional artist QUEEN we stan.

korekiyo - kiibo

robot korekiyo...i have nothing. separating The Humanity Guy from humanity is so fundamentally strange. bet he’s super weird tho, keeps asking people what it’s like to be made of blood.

anthropologist kiibo is my FAVORITE i’ve talked about it probably too much. he is very small and trying his best.

tsumugi - miu

inventor tsumugi is horrifying because my first thought was “one thousand monokubs” and that was so frightening now i can’t come up with any other concepts.

we all know what cosplayer miu would be like. i don’t need to explain that to you. it DOES make her love of kids shows funnier tho. infamous Horny Weeb secretly loves adorable children’s cartoons, more at 6.

circle under the cut!

[urban-witch101]

Time to rate the DGR3 formal outfits part 2

Gothic Bad Bitch

Fashion icon. Just, chefs kiss.

This is a formal event. This look doesn't fit.

But by God I'm a sucker for the military clothes styles. Maybe it's the military brat in me.

It's giving Lolita in the Navy. Not correct for this event.

7/10, I want that dress.

They Have Absolutely Murdered Someone

So I'm going into these sets of characters with zero context. Bear with me.

I like this look - except for the hat.

I love the representation of culture. I've seen the original sprite and wonder why they chose this hat in particular.

I like the hair!

7/10, anyone that's read Above All Else knows I'm a sucker for a low ponytail.

They Have Absolutely Murdered Someone 2.0

Shes

So

CUTE

The ballerina strap heels, the color coordination, the flower, just

Ughhhhhhh

The hair is off-putting to me. I think it should have had something done to it instead of it just being down.

8/10, I like her. She's just neat.

Howdy Y'all

This one's got a Vibe.

1910's in the rural southwestish of America that's the Sherrif Of This Town Somewhere In Utah.

Yeah, that's it.

8/10, have you heard of our lord and savior Jesus Christ-

Evil little man that puts ladies on train tracks

She looks like she's going to take a rabbit our of her hat any second.

She's wearing a romper! Cool!

Cute fit, but she looks more like the entertainment then a guest.

The bow tying with the shoes is a nice touch.

6/10, it's okay.

Checkers Master

I

Have so many opinions about this.

The scarf is magnificent but the pattern is an eyesore.

The fact that the slacks that are stopped at mid-calf are combined with slightly-taller-than-ankle socks is a crime.

I can't tell if he's wearing gloves or if they're just his hands.

3/10, he's wearing clothes I'll take it.

Legally Blonde(TM)

Biiiiiig Elle Woods vibes. Just saying.

I've heard mixed reviews about this character and I'm just gonna say this - I've mentioned this before, this is an event filled with teenagers. DR1 Junko had his same issue where it didn't look like something a teenager would wear. Are the V3 peeps teenagers?? IDFK.

All that aside - I WANT THIS. I want to eminate this. I want the vibe. I want to be knock-off Elle Woods.

7/10, in my closet immediately.

Moon Man

MOON MAN!

Yeah I know he's an astronaut. I think.

2012 called, they want the print on the inside of your coat back.

But otherwise? I like it! The star and moon pins on the coat are a nice touch. The colors are well coordinated. The print on the coat isn't tacky funny enough, it catches the eye enough to recognize the theme. It just works.

10/10, I'm impressed. They did a really good job with this one.

And that's it! Adios.

[tunaverso]

OK SO LET'S START THE BLOGGG and what's some better way to do it than writting down some oc ref sheets! i want to give some old characters sum love and attention since they are very dear to me :D i love my ocs so much aavsjagsha!!

the art pieces i have from most are very old, so i'll be creating them on this picrew => https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1322863 (plus giving them some updates) i'll make their human versions but most of them are furries hehee (i still want to make little ms paint icons for them but this is gonna take some time... i'll update it slowly)

let's start!

☆ Summary: under this article you can find the reference sheets of:

- Pixel (space girls)

- Astra (space girls, digital world)

- Allison Filomena (cottage witches)

- Eelie (cottage witches)

- Hatchi Haru (hatchi haru)

- Josh Sphynx (sphynx)

- Shiver (hatchi haru, a tale of dirty whiskers)

Pixel

Full Name: Pixel Nova

Pronouns: she/they

Species: starcat (species created by me; they're usually slim cats with short fur and big round eyes with white stars on their pupils. coat is usually shades of purple and blue. their tail can be split in two. legends say they came from space and got on Earth through a comet)

Age: early 20s

Gender: afab non-binary

Sexuality: lesbian

Occupation: in training for being an astronaut

Relatives: Astra Nova (cousin)

Friends: Sunny (love interest)

Key Information:

- due to being a starcat, has some easiness on going to space

Trivia:

- likes to wake up early and go running

- a marathonist!

☆ Pixel can be found under the tag "space girls"!

Astra

Full Name: Astra Nova

Pronouns: they/it/she

Species: starcat (read Pixel's Species section for more info)

Age: 19

Gender: demigirl

Sexuality: biromantic demisexual

Occupation: gamer; stuck in a virtual adventure world

Relatives: Pixel Nova (cousin)

Friends: Kurt (love interest)

Key Information:

- very shy and quiet

- sings very well

- only wears black

- always with a hoodie

- tail tip is split in two

Trivia:

- plays as a dark mage/necromancer

☆ Astra can be found under the tags "space girls" and "digital world"!

Allison Filomena (Filó)

Name: Allison Filomena

Pronouns: she/they

Species: cat/lynx hybrid

Age: late 20s

Gender: transfem non-binary

Sexuality: panromantic demisexual

Occupation: witch; witchcraft teacher; ritual leader

Relatives: Eelie (wife)

Key Information:

- lives in a cottage in the woods with her wife

- has a small potion online shop (hires crows to deliver them)

- tall and very charming

Trivia:

- loves earrings and necklaces

- loves fungi (especially as food)

☆ Allison can be found under the tag "cottage witches"!

Eelie

Name: Eelie

Pronouns: she/her

Species: maine coon cat

Age: early 30s

Gender: trans woman

Sexuality: pansexual

Occupation: witch; pastry baker, youtuber

Relatives: Allison (wife)

Key Information:

- lives in a cottage in the woods with her wife

- runs a cooking channel on youtube

- short and chubby; very fluffy

Trivia:

- loves kawaii aesthetic and lolita dresses (her favorite character is cinnamonroll)

- her favorite color combination is pink and blue

☆ Eelie can be found under the tag "cottage witches"!

Hatchi Haru

Full Name: Hatchi Haru

Pronouns: she/they

Species: ground shark

Age: early 20s

Gender: trans woman

Sexuality: questioning (knows she's queer)

Occupation: indie game developer

Relatives: Noah (sibling)

Friends: Anime and Tomoko (gamedev partners), Margô (swimming tutor, former love interest), Josh (con friend), Rocket (love interest)

Key Information:

- VERY shy

- not a natural swimmer like other sharks; goes to swimming classes

- goes to the same coffee shop every morning; usually works there until noon

- saving money to gamedev college

- has a hard time dealing with her family; is only slightly close to her sibling Noah

Trivia:

- scared of water!

☆ Hatchi can be found under the tag "hatchi haru"!

Josh

Full Name: Josh Sphynx

Pronouns: he/it

Species: sphynx cat

Age: early 20s

Gender: trans man

Sexuality: gay

Occupation: professional gamer

Relatives: Joe (older brother), Mavis (sister-in-law)

Friends: Hatchi (con friend)

Key Information:

- hikikomori; slowly overcoming the fear of leaving his house so he can attend college

- tall and lanky

- has very small boobs (chest is almost flat)

- lives with his brother, but the guy's barely at home so Josh spend most time alone; the only people he regularly talk to are Joe and Mavis

Trivia:

- Professional Lamen Cooker (tm)

☆ Josh can be found under the tag "sphynx"!

Shiver

Full Name: Cherié "Shiver" Whiskers

Pronouns: they/she/it

Species: stray cat

Age: 22 y.o

Gender: agender

Sexuality: aromantic bisexual

Occupation: barista

Relatives: the "Whiskers" family (they're one of the siblings)

Key Information:

- writes adventure stories in their free time

- has the right eye cut by a scar; nobody knows where they got it

- the youngest sibling and one of the closest to mom, making others jealous

☆ Shiver can be found under the tags "hatchi haru" and "a tale of dirty whiskers"!

[tiimecrash]

( PLOTTED STARTER ) @lightcreators. // everett ross.

Jamie Burke had found herself wrapped in the blankets in her flat. The air was cool and the weather was ... gloomy. It had been raining all night and it was now roughly 5 am in the morning. She had been trying to go to sleep but was woken up from an odd dream about a fantasy world with elves and wizards. There was also the strange reoccurring blue police box that kept showing itself in her dreams. She had been hearing things in her head, thoughts more-less calling to her to find home. She didn’t know what that meant. She knew where her home was, Jamie was adopted by a lovely couple after they found her on their doorstep. The only thing found with her was a broke compass.  Silly for a baby to be found with an old compass with odd markings on it. 

Having been educated and a recent college graduate, Jamie was an archaeologist and often went to places where many people didn’t. She was always on the run, going here and there. Never staying in one spot. It was like she was lost. She felt that way too. Just a lost woman in a big universe. She often thought she belonged among the stars, like an astronaut or something but for whatever reason she never pursued those dreams. Content on being interested in the past. Like she was trying to find something there. Something that would lead her to her inner questions of self.

This dream was dark. A weird ring was involved. She died and exploded into a bright colored ray of light. She wasn’t really dead but it hurt. Everything hurt. A friend inside the dream was fighting massive spiders in a forest. A strange man with blond hair, a multicolored coat, and had a blue police box was shot dead in-front of her by a blonde man in the mafia. All every strange to her. Once she woken up, she automatically grabbed the old broken compass and held it in her hands. Sitting up in bed, she heard something in her living-room. She knew the sound and knew who it was that was making it too. Grabbing her dream journal, Jamie jotted down the dream that woke her up this time. Strange how the person in her apartment also showed up in her dreams. However, in a very different setting of course. One that mirrored a fairy tale almost.

Getting up, she wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and made her way into the living-room of her apartment. “Everett?” she called, now yawning. Shaking her head, the man before her was her dear friend Everett Ross. He was something of a complex enigma, though she assumed it was because of his time in the CIA. “Can I stay up with you? I had another weird dream.” she yawned again, looking to him with a sleepy ( yet strained ) gaze before sitting on the sofa. She had a rough night that night trying to fall asleep. “ -- this one was very real. I felt every part of it. I exploded and became someone else.” she admitted, holding the compass loosely in her hands. 

[monty-glasses-roxy]

with roxy being that uncooperative when she's sick with a cold, sun or moon (dressed in a doctors coat and wearing a stethoscope around their neck cause of course they would have that costume in a dress-up box somewhere in the daycare) trying to give her a checkup would be funny, would she cooperate if the doctor is her best friend moon?

I love the idea Sunny and Moon just have a hoard of costumes for every occasion. Need a doctor? They're doctors! Need an astronaut? They got you! Need a pirate? Already on it! Dress up monarchs!

Roxy probably just wants to sleep. The doctor thing Sunny and Moon are doing is probably a bit they're doing to try cheer her up and also make sure she doesn't have symptoms of anything they should actually be worried about.

Just hiding in this mountain of blankets with Doctor Moon and their assistant Nurse Sunny trying to get her to come out for a check up would definitely be sight and a half. They spend so long trying to coax her out and then Chica shows up like "Hey Roxy, hun? I made you some stew!" and suddenly the blankets shift and she pokes her head out of them with the biggest, saddest puppy dog eyes ever like "You made me foob? ;-; Thank you ;-;" all sniffly and croaky. Sunny and Moon just like "oh NOW you come out???"

Sunny goes in a strop over it. Just grumpily crossing his arms and giving an exaggerated glare while she acts like she's being endlessly bullied by them both. Chica doesn't buy it she just goes along with it for the bit like ":O How could they be so cruel?" Truth is, she's been watching them for the past hour. It's been great comedy entertainment!

Once she's had her food, Moon can look her over with his new assistant Chica - Sunny quite their job and gave her the little nurses hat - and now she's cooperating though begrudgingly. Moon sticks the thermometer in her mouth and checks her eyes or something and then when he's about to take it back, it's discovered that Roxy has decided this is her new chew toy and she's not giving it back. Moon wrestling a sick Roxy trying to pry this thermometer out of her mouth like he's trying to stop a cat eat a piece of string while she's trying not to laugh and drop it. Moon is losing. Chica is trying to stick with the bit but is finding it increasingly hard to do so as moon threatens to get the spray bottle and Roxy lets go of it while they're pulling on it so they fall back on their ass.

The rest of the exam is similar shenanigans and despite her grumbling, it really did cheer Roxy up a little bit so they suppose it's mission accomplished?

[pbandjesse]

Merry Christmas everybody! Or Mary last night of Hanukkah! Or happy Sunday? Whatever Tony means to you I hope it was a good one. I hope that you stayed warm. I had a really nice day.

We just got home from the Fulwiler's house. And honestly it was a great time. And it started that way too. They came over here, And I got exactly what I wanted, which was the host Christmas in our apartment for once.

I slept okay last night. I I've been very very nauseous and woke up a few times. But when I first went to sleep I was a really cold. I went from very nauseous, to very cold, and so I got my weighted heating pad and slept with that on my back and woke up every time it turned off. But I was good. I felt pretty sounds like. And James woke me up at 8:30 like I asked.

I went and got dressed in my jammies. The show jammies. Not the ones I actually slept in but comfy clothes. And James's parents and sister are going to be here until closer to 10:00 so I have time to eat a snack and James with making biscuits and pancakes and bacon and I decided I was just going to clean up the apartment and then catch up on some knitting.

I just did a little vacuuming and James Clorox a few things. I looked some candles and made it nice in here. We have brought up the camp chair so that we had lots of seating and moved the bikes and some other stuff into the studio. The studio is very full right now. I cannot wait to clean up some of that and clear out the closet some more. There's honestly a lot of organizing I want to do this week now but I have some time off. I am working on Wednesday but that's the only day.

When Tucker, Anne, and Charlotte got there James went to greet them. And I took the knitting into the other room so it wouldn't be everywhere. And it was just a really good day.

We had made a music playlist so that when there were silences it didn't feel silent. And we ate breakfast and talked and well I kind of felt awkward a few times overall it was really good. Sweet pea was a pretty good boy and while James's parents are not great with cats, Charlotte was very excited that sweetp wanted to be friends.

Soon we were opening our stocking gifts. And the layout of it was pretty good this year. I had Charlotte, Charlotte had Tucker, Tucker had Anne, and Anne had James. And I kind of was watching what everyone was getting while I was opening mine and everyone made out really well this year. And I think I did really well because Charlotte kept smiling and showing her mom what she got. And it just felt really good that I gave her stuff that she actually liked and not just a bunch of garbage. She also really liked the turtle enclosure that I made for her desk at the school.

I got some very cool stuff. James got me a bunch of vintage toys and pamphlets. Some recipes and a handbook for women at college from the 1960s. They got me microscope slides and penicillium. Some snacks and a really cool frog ring that I really like. Reminds me of a silver one that my mom had that I think I may have now. And a coach backpack that I really wanted. And it's just a little bit bigger than my leather mini backpack that I already always use. And something I really like about it is that it has the hang strap on the back so you can hook it on to the coat rack or carry it by that because that is one thing that that backpack got used doesn't have. And best of all James filled it with astronaut ice cream. Which is something that I've been asking for for like 6 months. And I was really excited to have. It is not cheap so thank you James I love you very much.

We had biscuits and pancakes and got to try lots of jams. I opened the rest of the advent calendar while they were there and announced what all of the flavors were. And once gifts were done we scratched off some squid facts and Anne got some lottery tickets that she scratched while we were here. And that was very fun. Honestly I was having a great time. It was a great way to start Christmas.

They would chill with us for a while. We cleaned up and packed everybody's stuff in an organized way. And then they headed back to their house to start cooking dinner. And me and James just spend some time decompressing.

James arm hurt them and so they laid in bed in their very cute new hat and slippers. And I laid on the couch and worked on my knitting some more. And watched videos. Eventually though my allergies started catching up on me. That tends to happen at Christmas because the cats get all excited from all the activity and people and their dander gets worse. And so I started sneezing a lot and was very uncomfortable.

So I took an allergy pill and continue to chill but it wasn't helping. So I took a second allergy pill. And I waited while and it wasn't helping. So I thought it would come lay down. I did not smoke. I just scrolled on my phone for an hour. Eventually, in the late afternoon, James made me a quesadilla. And then I was able to fall asleep. I asked them to wake me up at 4:30 so that I could get dressed for dinner.

This was the best plan. When I finally woke up I felt a lot better. I think it gave the allergy pills some time to kick in and I didn't feel like I was dying anymore. I was still pretty sneezy but I would have moments of being okay and that's all I really needed.

We would head to their parent's house and have a surprisingly hard time parking. But we got a spot and then it was Christmas again.

Charlotte made a very pretty charcuterie board. Anne was cooking in the kitchen. Tucker had a very excellent jacket. And we would sit and chat and eventually we finish opening gifts.

I got the Christmas edition of the IKEA bear. I love them a lot. I also got really cool t-shirt from Tucker and a really nice darning tool from James. They had it engraved with a really nice little message. Telling me that they love me. And I'm very excited to get to use it, because I actually was going to try to use the crappy one that I have the other day but it just kept breaking. So I'm hoping that this one works better.

I'm very excited to look at everything I got tomorrow. It's overwhelming today. Like I remember a few high notes but I know I got a lot of other cool stuff. And so I'll pick out some favorites and do a flat leg like I did last year. But just of the specific favorite ones. And it was still fun just watching what everyone else got. And I think James liked the very large squirtle posh I got them. It was really fun. I was just having a really nice time.

And soon Chang's came over and they brought their own gifts. We got a plan from them. And Katie specifically gave me this beautiful felted silk scarf. It's Sari fabric wet felted with merino wool on top. I'm not entirely sure how it came together I'm assuming that the silk fibers were torn in places and were filled in with the wet felt. But it's an incredible piece to feel. There was also snacks and bread that they brought and lots of hugs. Got some really excellent conversations. Both with Katie and with George. We talked about art and internet history and blogs and the nature of loss in the digital age. I also just showed George a bunch of my art on my website. Which I desperately need to update and will be a great project for the new year. But for now it was just really awesome to show my kinetic art to someone who was really interested in it.

Dinner was served around 7. James brought me leftovers from dinner last night. Since there isn't a ton I can eat at their traditional one. I did really enjoy Katie's salad again, I believe the same one from Thanksgiving. We had Christmas crackers. We wore crowns. We read jokes. The crackers also traditionally have a toy, like a yoyo or a puzzle or a kazoo. But for some very strange reason, even though everyone else got a normal prize, mine had nail clippers in it??? It was hilarious to me. Absolutely absurd.

Dinner was fun. Figgy pudding continues to be weird and disappointing. But also has non vegetarian stuff in it so I mostly just picked the raisins out. I liked when it was on fire, though a glass of red wine was knocked over and caused a calamity. And then Tucker knocked champagne over and the glass shattered. Oops. There were lots of laughs. Some serious talk. We talked about jobs and COVID and money and toasted to just about everything. And I felt warm and loved.

James started getting tired and over sore around 930. Which is totally fair. And texted me to let me know. I was ready to go whenever. Christmas is for them, I hold no expectations. I am just happy to be there. And I'm just as happy to go home.

So there were many hugs. And a few last minute pictures. And then we were back out into the cold.

Me and James got home. And brought everything upstairs. And fed the pets and put the paper crowns on Sweetp and now we are winding down. I am going to go wash my face and get cozy. We have the next two days off together and I'm looking forward to preparing for the end of the year. Whatever that might mean.

I hope you all have a beautiful day. Celebrated or not, I hope you felt love and a little bit of kindness. Goodnight everyone. Sleep well. Stay warm. And wash your hands.

[jcmarchi]

MIT-Mexico Program fosters cross-border collaboration

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/mit-mexico-program-fosters-cross-border-collaboration/

MIT-Mexico Program fosters cross-border collaboration

Favianna Colón Irizarry spent last summer at Tecnológico de Monterrey, working alongside Mexican biotechnology researchers to develop a biodegradable coating that prolongs the shelf life of local foods. Assisting in this and other innovative projects at one of Mexico’s top research institutions was the opportunity of a lifetime, for sure. But, for Colón Irizarry, it’s the tapestry of experiences that accompanied her MIT-Mexico internship that will always resonate.

“From my internship, I gleaned a vital lesson: Cultural proficiency is indispensable,” she says.

A sophomore majoring in chemical-biological engineering, Colón Irizarry is among nearly 500 interns who have traveled to Mexico for a summer of work and study since the MIT-Mexico Program was launched by MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) in 2004. A flagship program within the Center of International Studies (CIS), MISTI offers tailored global experiential learning opportunities to more than 1,200 students each year.

MIT-Mexico has enlisted the support of over 200 host partners in Mexico during the course of its 20-year history.

“It started as one student in 2004 doing an internship. Now in the summer it’s around 30 interns,” says MIT-Mexico Program Director Griselda Gómez, adding that the program has also placed MIT students at Mexican high schools as temporary STEM teachers through 170 Global Teaching Labs since 2012.

As the program begins its third decade, both Gómez and Faculty Director Paulo Lozano point to the number of students MIT-Mexico has involved over the years — contributing to myriad cross-border research partnerships — as the program’s foremost achievement.

“I think the large number of students that have gone to Mexico is a great accomplishment,” says Lozano, a Tecnológico de Monterrey alumnus and now MIT’s Miguel Alemán Velasco Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He credits Gómez, director of the program since 2006, with the initiative’s overall success, including “being very careful that the places we send our students are safe.”

For her part, Gómez says accommodating the interests of Mexico-bound students across a wide spectrum of academic subjects and fields “is a personal mission for me.”

“If students want to go to Mexico, I really want them to go and have a great experience. If we don’t have a specific project (matching student interests), we will go and look for one,” she says. “It’s very personalized.”

While MIT-Mexico offers internships in MISTI’s designated “impact areas” of climate and sustainability, health, artificial intelligence, and social impact, over the years it has arranged summer internships in several other fields, including architecture, urban planning, agriculture, and aeronautics.

Last summer, for example, MIT-Mexico interns worked on initiatives ranging from research on the continued value of textiles and craft methods to projects investigating low-carbon affordable housing solutions and employing AI for financial literacy. Internship topics planned for this summer include Design of 6G Communication Systems for Smart Cities, based in Mexico City, and Automatically Assessing Patients for Refractive Surgery in the city of Querétaro.

All are designed to promote cross-cultural experiences and strengthen ties between Mexican and MIT students and faculty, while boosting education, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Mexico and developing and exposing MIT’s research outside the United States.

Beyond the long-lasting impact interns say the experience has had on their lives (Gómez reports several “love stories” and even marriages have resulted), “it’s also a connection between researchers in Mexico and researchers at MIT — collaborations that may lead to exciting collaborative research later on,” Lozano says.

Lozano is MIT-Mexico’s second faculty director, taking over about a decade ago from now-retired political economy professor Michael Piore, who helped found the program in response to a proposal from a group of Mexican students attending MIT. Gómez says MIT-Mexico is unique among MISTI programs in that students from the host country were the catalyst for forming it and MIT alumni in Mexico were largely responsible for the funding that got it off the ground. It was also MISTI’s first program in a Spanish-speaking country.

Learning and practicing how to speak Spanish “in real life” was a primary motivator for what Matt Smith now calls “one of the best decisions I could have made for myself.” Smith, a second-year computer science and engineering major, was among 35 students who spent their January Independent Activities Period in Mexico through the Global Teaching Lab program. Assigned to teach at a Mexico City high school, Smith says the language barrier gradually melted away — at least partially — over a three-week period in which he immersed himself in local museums, parks, and culture and was amazed and impressed by the number of peaceful gardens and natural areas throughout the bustling city.

Like Global Teaching Lab programs in other countries, the MIT-Mexico program aims to increase interest in STEM topics at host country schools. It matches MIT students with high schools in Mexico, and materials are adapted from MIT online resources to prepare tailored workshops on STEM subjects that complement the local school’s curriculum.

The third piece of MIT-Mexico is the provision of the MIT Global Seed Fund (GSF) grants administered through CIS. GSF promotes and supports early-stage collaborations among MIT researchers and their counterparts in Mexico. The program has awarded more than 50 such grants to over 100 researchers since 2012 to fund collaborative projects that can involve both MIT and Mexican students.

With his appetite whetted by the Global Teaching Lab, Smith came back from Mexico in January determined to apply for an MIT-Mexico internship this summer.

“I decided that three weeks wasn’t enough for me to fully digest the entire city — so why not go again?” says Smith, who was accepted and leaves in early June for a research position at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City.

“Being in another country made me realize how much I’d like to travel the world and see the experiences that other people are having,” he adds. “I highly recommend the experience for anyone looking to do something impactful in another country while exploring the best parts of the community.”

[7r0773r]

The Dead and the Living by Sharon Olds

Things That Are Worse Than Death

(for Margaret Randall)

You are speaking of Chile, of the woman who was arrested with her husband and their five-year-old son. You tell how the guards tortured the woman, the man, the child, in front of each other, "as they like to do." Things that are worse than death. I can see myself taking my son's ash-blond hair in my fingers, tilting back his head before he knows what is happening, slitting his throat, slitting my own throat to save us that. Things that are worse than death: this new idea enters my life. The guard enters my life, the sewage of his body, "as they like to do." The eyes of the five-year-old boy, Dago, watching them with his mother. The eyes of his mother watching them with Dago. And in my living room as a child, the word, Dago. And nothing I experienced was worse than death, life was beautiful as our blood on the stone floor to save us that—my son's eyes on me, my eyes on my son—the ram-boar on our bodies making us look at our old enemy and bow in welcome, gracious and eternal death who permits departure.

***

Miscarriage

When I was a month pregnant, the great clots of blood appeared in the pale green swaying water of the toilet. Dark red like black in the salty translucent brine, like forms of life appearing, jelly-fish with the clear-cut shapes of fungi.

That was the only appearance made by that child, the dark, scalloped shapes falling slowly. A month later our son was conceived, and I never went back to mourn the one who came as far as the sill with its information: that we could botch something, you and I. All wrapped in purple it floated away, like a messenger put to death for bearing bad news.

***

The Forms

I always had the feeling my mother would die for us, jump into a fire to pull us out, her hair burning like a halo, jump into water, her white body going down and turning slowly, the astronaut whose hose is cut falling into blackness. She would have  covered us with her body, thrust her breasts between our chests and the knife, slipped us into her coat pocket outside the showers. In disaster, an animal mother, she would have died for us,

but in life as it was she had to put herself first. She had to do whatever he told her to do to the children, she had to protect herself. In war, she would have died for us, I tell you she would, and I know: I am a student of war, of gas ovens, smothering, knives, drowning, burning, all the forms in which I have experienced her love.

***

The Takers

Hitler entered Paris the way my sister entered my room at night, sat astride me, squeezed me with her knees, held her thumbnails to the skin of my wrists and peed on me, knowing Mother would ever believe my story. It was very silent, her dim face above me gleaming in the shadows, the dark gold smell of her urine spreading through the room, its heat boiling on my legs, my small pelvis wet. When the hissing stopped, when the hole had been scorched in my body, I lay crisp and charred with shame and felt her skin glitter in the air, her dark gold pleasure unfold as he stood over Napoleon's tomb and murmured This is the finest moment of my life.

***

The Elder Sister

When I look at my elder sister now I think how she had to go first, down through the birth canal, to force her way head-first through the tiny channel, the pressure of Mother's muscles on her brain, the tight walls scraping her skin. Her face is still narrow from it, the long hollow cheeks of a Crusader on a tomb, and her inky eyes have the look of someone who has been in prison a long time and knows they can send her back. I look at her body and think how her breasts were the first to rise, slowly, like swans on a pond. By the time mine came along, they were just two more birds in the flock, and when the hair rose on the white mound of her flesh, like threads of water out of the ground, it was the first time, but when mine came they knew about it. I used to think only in terms of her harshness, sitting and pissing on me in bed, but now I see I had her before me always like a shield. I look at her wrinkles, her clenched jaws, her frown-lines—I see they are the dents on my shield, the blows that did not reach me. She protected me, not as a mother protects a child, with love, but as a hostage protects the one who makes her escape as I made my escape, with my sister's body held in front of me.