#i really like what i did with the external gills

[bee-sidebranch]

The wet mouse with their demi god first-aid kit

[milksockets]

why scan?

scanning is something i've done for probably about 12 years now (i'm ancient, for this site), with varying degrees of regularity, intensity, etc. it has ratcheted up since the dawn of 2023, though, which begs the question: why? why put so much time into what could not-wrongly be considered a passive activity, hunched over a piece of clunky machinery with the express purpose of preserving others' creations? the answers are several, and fascinating (not really).

i am a [sober] drug addict. anything i pursue, consume, create--more often than not--ends up taking on addictive qualities. i'll eat the same specific food item for a month, then never want to see, let alone taste it, again. i'll listen to one song on repeat for days until i'd rather hear nails on a chalkboard than have it shuffle on and assault my ears. one of the reasons that my scanning has increased in volume recently is that i acquired library cards to the 3 nyc library systems: nypl, brooklyn, and queens. as soon as i was able to, i pillaged + plundered those fine centers of learning, leaving any given library with as many hefty scan-worthy books as i could [barely] carry. here, finally, was a *free* way of obtaining more + more + more visual media to consume.

2023 saw me get my first legal, full-time job. as such, my adjusting to that hellish reality resulted in a steep decline in my own personal creative output. collaging, writing, and rapping all fell to the wayside as i slowly acclimated to a life of work that almost everyone else my age has known for over a decade is generally unbearable + detrimental to the maintenance of outside pursuits. in times of famine within my own artistic harvest, scanning, archiving, and sharing others' work is a means of feeling as though i am still contributing to the global oeuvre.

there’s an element of losing my mental self in a series of physical motions that becomes almost automatic after some time. “zoning out” is not something endemic to my daily life; if anything, i’m almost always too zoned in. relief is necessary.  especially considering the shitshow this past year has been in terms of my personal life.

i am a product of capitalism’s cultivating a craving for constant consumption. 

it seems that visual content is only going to continue to get more + more uninspired. has everything been done? did social media ruin it all? in any case, i feel a need to document the past. to a degree, it’s my version of doomsday prepping. (god forbid books go extinct altogether.) 

i have always gravitated towards solitary activities. this topic could be a thesis in its own right.

i thrive on external validation. this reliance is something i’ve improved upon over the past several years, but it hasn’t been altogether extinguished. even though the materials i scan are not of my own creation, i nevertheless feel a vague pride in showcasing them. occasional appreciation thereof satisfies this fixation on others’ attention, albeit in a diluted form. 

i am fortunate to live in a city bursting to the gills with cultural institutions. i am also lucky enough to have some disposable income that can be directed toward fulfilling my ravenous desire for visual media. 

((i keep getting messages about the specifics of my scanner + "process":

i have a cheap ass hp envy 6055e and i just use the software it comes with.

there's nothing special or fancy happening here, and i could definitely invest in a better and/or a large format scanner, etc. but i really just don't care enough and it's not like i'm getting paid for this lmao))

[jacksoldsideblog]

okay so in the book, chapter 11, there is this:

"In South America, Land of Enchantment, we could be wading in a river where tiny fish will swim up Tyler's urethra. The fish have barbed spines that flare out and back so once they're up Tyler, the fish set up housekeeping and get ready to lay their eggs. In so many ways, how we spent Saturday night could be worse.

"It could've been worse," Tyler says, "what we did with Marla's mother.""

And I wanted to discuss this because while that is indeed tempting to write and perhaps I will at some point (I also think it's very funny that the narrator chickenshit externalizes this hypothetical so it happens to Tyler), the noble candiru of the Amazonia do not actually leap into men's dicks to lay eggs.

Firstly, the local myth is that they'll leap up the urine stream to wriggle into a guy's urethra and suck their blood and whatnot, not lay eggs. This is because candiru are blood parasites, and in most normal conditions, latch onto the gills of larger fish to get their bloodmeal.

This local myth is definitely that, though, a myth, because candiru are just a bit too big to fit in the urethra without significant force. There's not really a way for that one to work out.

They HAVE been found in the vagina, which is unsettling to think about but much more logical in execution. Those spines ARE real and have to be carefully navigated during extraction. Very, very rare though. Never been found in the ass, in case you're curious.

There WAS a supposed case in 1997 of a candiru "jumping up out of the water, up the urine stream, into a man's urethra to chew through to his scrotum."

Now. Physically, that's impossible. It's too large, fluid mechanics don't work like that, the fish are sight not scent hunters, the fish's dentition cannot chew through flesh. And I'd like to hope it never happened at all but in all likelyhood, as with most things, the reality is probably that the man absolutely just was enthralled by the myth, became sexually intrigued by it, and decided to catch and stick a poor fish up his cock.

Play stupid games (stick animal in your urethra) win stupid prizes (2 hour urogenital surgery).

What a world we live in.

So, this has been a fish PSA, here's the real victim:

[zoroara]

OCtober challenge Day 21 - Apparatus

Vittorio had recently made all the uniform changes for his Scrap Vulture Squad. Of course it was a bit unfortunate when he realized his group was only going to be a duo of two people who well... Were specifically labelled as "difficult to manage" a mist flame who didn't listen to most orders despite their rank, and a storm flame that killed anything that made a sound.

Though they'll pretend that the reason they were trusted with these two were for the fact they themselves can corral people very well... and not Xanxus choosing this out of spite for how well their conversation went.

He'd need to meet them later... But right now he needs to look over his engineering plans so he knows what kind of weapons to actually pick up for scrap and parts prioritizing them. However their plans were halted by finding a strange looking apparatus on their desk it certainly wasn't theirs and the only thing they've ever seen like it were those strange boxes the Gesso family had that turned them into beasts.

They ponder this, really the thought was terrifying. Vittorio was admittedly easily send into a panic over any real animal being close no matter the size and they've only gotten used to the animals in the varia rings, and of course Avo their vulture that they made for themself. Even if it was intensely stressful putting their trust into it. But Carnage boxes seemed... too much...

Though they'd gain nothing if they allowed that to stop them. Taking their ring and lighting it with their sunset coloured flame, Vittorio closed his eyes. Only to find on his hand a small Axolotl that shared their sunset coloured flame making up the gills an replaced the fin of the tail.

"Well aren't you a relief... I wonder who my secret admirer must be to gift me such a sweet little thing like you~ hm... Well if I am to use you... I'll call you Alba."

For those that don't know, none of my Varia OCs have future arc memories. Vittorio specifically doesn't have them thanks to being an antagonistic force due to choosing to scrap after the battle of italy which the Varia had taken to be a threat. Vittorio nearly wiped the executives and forced them to turn tail. This is the reason for their kidnapping. Which they never find out about.

Yeah ever think about all box weapons become completely into the rings except for the carnage boxes which become external as an upgrade for some reason? Seeing a box weapon in the present that's actually an animal would be intensely odd so that's always an interesting thing to have to keep in mind for OC making.

Vittorio made his own ring and ring animal(as well as a cambio forma) before this after getting data about the vongola rings. Of course he did this initially in secret as he was still being held against his will and got the data by promising to upgrade the Varia rings. which he did. This one however is a gift from a Varia executive more as a congratulations for getting as far as he did.

I don't know if it is obvious as to who would have done this or not, but it is supposed to be a little shocking. Anyway yes Vittorio's two subordinates are Nascosta and Silenziatore. He's got his work cut out for him. They were actually initially created just for that but then a looooot ended up expanded upon because: oopsie. You know how it is with ocs.

The scrap team members all have uniforms kind of similar in design though the default one is supposed to have sleeves. It's just vittorio has tattoos in the future so he wants to show them off. Plus he, at least to the varia, being a safety nut, made sure to make a separate set of combat gear for him and his two. The only other thing that is consistent in these uniforms though is the deep black colour, the deep red internal, and the size of the fluff being much bigger than regular varia uniform to signify the vulture feathers around the neck.

The rest such as the colour of the metallic triangles and feathers change tint based on flame colour. Vittorio's being orange and blue due to the rain sky mix he is. Every other part of the uniform can be altered added to or whatever the person desires.

[codylabs]

Some people just think humans are hot

One of the people involved in designing this ship had apparently been a unique and revolutionary genius: the dance club had been installed almost directly above the starboard gravity RCS, and they'd run an intercom directly from the bar to the alignment control station on the bridge. So all the bartender had to do was call and ask nicely, and they would charge the dynamo up to about 5% power, lowering the club's gravity to the point where any species, even those without legs or the muscles to jump, could have a truly outrageous time. This did, of course, slightly increase the number of accidents and injuries on the dance floor and the immediate vicinity, but the clubgoers seemed to weigh this a reasonable tradeoff, and most nights ended with the bruises and spilled drinks outnumbered by the smiles.

For some reason though, Marshal suspected that the punch splashed all over Dunkalk's sullen face had been no accident. "Rejected again, huh?"

"At least she was frank about it." Dunkalk reached his mandibles up like windshield wipers to flick the liquid off his eyes. "I'll get the next one. You watch."

"Oh, I will." Marshal fished around his pockets for a hanky, and handed it over. "Need a wingman this time?"

"No, either they're into it or they're not." Dunkalk wiped around the base of his shell. "No middle ground worth mucking about in."

"Right..." Marshal pondered this for a moment. "So, Dunkalk, I have an genuine question for you."

"You should probably ask it then."

"I might."

"You should."

"I will."

"Fire away."

"WHY." Marshal pleaded. "Why why why do you always go after the human ladies, Dunkalk?"

"What?!?" Dunkalk sneezed in indignation. A little puff of dust escaped from his gills. "Why do you go after human ladies?"

"I AM a human! What's your excuse?"

"The answer to your question is threefold if not more." Dunkalk held up three claws on his left shovel. "Number one: they're soft."

"Agreed." Marshal nodded.

"Number two: they're tall."

"They are NOT."

"Human males are ridiculous giants; your perspective is skewed and invalid."

"Fair. So you like the tall ladies."

"I love the tall ladies. Number three: they're kinky."

"They are?"

"Yes."

"Kinkier than Kolokon women?"

"Not at all. BUT. The 8-12% of eligible human women willing to go out with a Kolokon will necesssarily be kinkier than the mean average. It's called the great filter, you can look it up."

"Let's cruise right on past the part where you break that down, so anyway do you actually... I don't know, like them better??"

"Yes? As I said?"

"I mean, if you were born 1500 years ago you wouldn't even know what you're missing. Wouldn't Kolokon women be more, you know, attractive to a natural and healthy mind?"

"What parts of 'em?"

"I don't know, the claspers and the cavity?"

"Do you find claspers and cavies attractive?"

"Well, with a few notable exceptions, generally no! Which is because I am a human, which is exactly my point, and the reason I'm confused why you would find lips and external teats attractive."

"Short answer: I have no idea." Dunkalk admitted. "Almost as short answer: I blame Kelsey Spencer in 8th grade, it's 100% all her fault. And also Bonnie Kirk and Sai Peng in 9th grade, even though I do recall that Sai Peng herself was actually a junior at the time. They did this to me. I lived in a society."

"Aha, mm-hmm. I see how it is." Marshal nodded sympathetically. "The middle school years are instrumental in forming a man's sexuality. The word for you is a furry."

"Incorrect, in fact the fur is one thing I could do without."

"Oh yeah? You like the ladies bald? Bald and smooth?"

"Yeah. Well, n-"

"You've been courting human women for so long that I feel bad introducing you to the thing you've really been seeking this whole time: an octopus."

"Y-"

"A worm."

"If I c-"

"A plate of jello."

"If I could as-"

"Steaming plate of pasta."

"If I could ask God to make one change to human women, it would be to give them a bunch of tiny barnacles instead of body hair, and some segmented plates down their scalp and neck and back. I think I would die. It would be the ideal lifeform."

"Cool."

"I would go blind from the beauty."

"That's great, Dunkalk."

"You get where I'm coming from though, right?"

"A standpoint of fantastical and perverted insanity."

"Yeah, you get it. Just Imagine it Marshal! Kelsey Spencer with a little texture."

"Nope!" Marshal turned up his nose. "I don't get it, I don't care to, you're crazy, I'm not. I think human ladies are fine just the way they are."

"No imagination."

"Could stare at one all day."

"Which one?"

"You pick one. It's called commitment."

"Ghastly."

"Don't you be dissin' the intended way."

"No imagination."

"So you'd give human women barnacles and a shell?"

"YES."

"Give her a cavity too?"

"Might look a little odd."

"We're already making a mockery of genetics and the periodic table, may as well go all in, right?"

"Okay, sure why not. Little cavity on her left side. Down low."

"Claspers?"

"Maybe."

"Shoveling claws?"

"Could take 'em or leave 'em."

"Do you like your ladies to have big wide sparkling eyes, or beady little human eyes?"

"Maybe a little bigger."

"So at this point you've managed to vaguely articulate what is essentially just a slightly taller Kolokon."

"Well if we rewind the conversation to before you started twisting my words, then no not at all."

"You could scuttle around on your knees so the normal ones look taller."

"Not the kink I want to filter for, unfortunately."

"You're one kinda guy, Dunkalk."

"Someone's gotta be." He took a long drink. "You know Marshal, I'm a human at heart. Always have been."

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

"I don't like it underground. Have you seen Brigg's quarters? Perfectly good bed, and she piles her laundry up underneath the mattress just so she can burrow under. And my mom did the same thing back when we had a human apartment. But me? Naw. I don't like the smell of dirt, I don't like the taste of worms, I like my veggies. I must be just about the tallest Kolokon on this ship, and I've got the calve strength to almost jump. When I was a kid I once climbed a tree. You know how many Kolokon starship pilots you see around? None. We all hate flying, but I prefer flying. I'm a human born and raised, Marshal. Capital-G made a typo, and here I am."

"You're just wired different."

"I'm wired like a human."

"Nuh-uh."

"Maaaan, you don't know what it means to be human because you are a human. You just think humans are normal."

"Humans are normal, same as Kolokons are. You'd just be different no matter what you are. You know most humans hate flying? And that most of them hate veggies? You sleeping in a hammock and you going after the kinky human ladies and you being the best pilot I've ever known isn't down to you being secretly human, that's just you personally and individually being a freaky little weirdo is all."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, man."

"Never thought of it that way."

They stood for a moment to watch the dancers. Dunkalk finished off the last of his drink, and crushed the can in one claw. "So anyway, back to the subject, why do you ask?"

"I dunno." Marshal took a drink as well. "I guess I want to see you happy."

"I am happy."

"It's just that your 'great filter' does a fine job of filtering out the decent respectable ladies, is all."

"I know."

"The ones that want a decent respectable guy. The ones that want to breathe your dust and have your kids."

"Ha! Me settle down." Dunkalk shook his head. "Can you picture that? Me down in some little old... Little dusty tunnel. Sanded shell, trimmed claws, helping some little screaming kid pupate..."

"You'd be a great dad."

"Being a dad is easy." Dunkalk chattered his mandibles together in annoyance. "I mean, mine scuffed it royally, but all you have to do is basically just be there and not kick at the larvae, it's not rocket science... Yeah, I could do it. I could do it well."

"You know, it could work out with the right human too. Remember professor Adams? He was always going off-topic in the middle of class to talk about his wife?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw him at the market one time, and she there, and she was this little Kolokon lady. Blind as a bat, and he wore this little leather guard on his wrist so she could hold on to him. They adopted like 3 kids."

"Yeah, there's an image." Dunkalk rolled his eyes. "But yeah, no. No. If I were to make a commitment, I'd take the time to do it right. I'd trim up my act, move back to the tunnels, go for some good respectable girl with a lumpy shell. You're right about all of it, Marshal, your only wrong part is thinking I want something that I don't. Maybe one day."

"Maybe one day."

"You'd be the first to know; you'd be helping me shop."

"I help you shop anyway..." Marshal took a casual look around. "Alright, don't look now, but I think that brunette to your 10 O'clock is giving you the eyes."

"Not interested." Dunkalk shook his head. "Blonde or nothing."

"Oh my god."

[jessamine-rose]

Yuu Does Not Dream of a Sea Bunny Boy ₍ᐢ ̥ ̞ ̥ᐢ₎ ♡

Jessamine’s brain:: What if I write bunny boy! Octavinelle……..but as sea bunnies…..fufufu not bad  ₍ ᐢ. ̫ .⑅ᐢ ₎

I researched jorunna parva just for this so I hope you all like it!! And pls consider reading my Bunny Boy! Leona piece as well :3

♡ The sea bunny–an adorable and toxic creature known for its striking similarity to terrestrial rabbits. What other species would be perfect for Octavinelle’s own twist on the popular bunny boy trend?? After all, a conniving businessman such as Azul Ashengrotto would be a fool to jump into the mainstream fad without considering the necessary details. In a world where bunny boy cafes are already popular, what could Mostro Lounge exclusively offer?? ᕱ⑅ᕱ

♡ It was Floyd who provided the sea bunny theme perfect for Octavinelle’s aquatic nature. Azul and Jade had heard him refer to an NRC mob by another personal sea creature nickname, and the inspiration was instantaneous. “Gomafu-chan really deserves to be squeezed. He kept–” “That’s it!! The perfect bunny boy attraction featuring not your regular land rabbits but gomafu biroodo umiushi!!” “Oya, what a unique idea. Though it seems that we will have more work to do.”

♡ A few weeks later, the grand idea was set into motion. The Mostro Lounge waiters were trained, measured, and fitted into their sea bunny boy costumes–black-speckled white bodysuits accessorized with black rhinophore headbands, external gill tails, sheer stockings, bow ties, and wrist cuffs. A special menu offered complementary food ranging from dishes dotted with black sesame seeds to desserts sculpted in the likeness of sea bunnies. An additional exhibit was even set up for audience viewing, featuring Octavinelle’s aquariums populated with real sea bunnies!!

♡ Of course, strict customer rules were posted on the entrance and promo fliers. Mostro Lounge was still a gentlemen’s lounge, after all, and inappropriate advances towards the staff were banned. And if a few visitors were too illiterate to take note of that?? Well, they can’t complain after they are kicked out of the lounge or forced to wash the dishes with anemones sprouting from their heads. The consequences were listed in fine print, after all~

♡ And thus began Mostro Lounge’s Sea Bunny Boy Event  ₍ᐢ ̥ ̮ ̥ᐢ₎ *:･。

♡ Azul did his bunny boy research and took notes from a few connoisseurs *cough* Idia *cough* His board game buddy could practically see the Madol signs in Azul’s eyes at the mention of promo deals and special services worth additional fees. Who knew that cosplay cafes were so profitable?? Azul continues to study his competitors and the appeal behind bunny boys until he is confident that Mostro Lounge’s own sea bunny boy cafe will emerge superior  ₍⑅ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎

♡ While organizing the event and thinking of new menu items is easy, working as a sea bunny boy is a feat of its own. Simply put, Azul is self-conscious in his sea bunny suit. Do the bodysuit and stockings compliment his figure?? Are the costume accessories more silly than attractive on him?? Perhaps a special addition–namely, a corset–would improve his appearance??  (๑′°︿°๑)

♡ Azul also gets slightly flustered when he is specifically summoned for bunny boy services. Ketchup art, casting “magic spells” on the food, playing card games or rock, paper, scissors with the customers?? He will perform his services flawlessly once summoned. But when it comes to photograph requests…… “For the sake of my Mostro Lounge’s image and our staff’s privacy, pictures are banned. However, if you sincerely wish to take a photo with another sea bunny boy of your choice, you will need to pay an additional price. Would you be interested in one of our special promo deals??”

♡ The sea bunny is a fitting animal for Jade’s cosplay, no?? Deceptively charming, lovable, innocuous at face value…..but incredibly poisonous if you get too close. Before the event, Jade was in charge of training the staff. To be a sea bunny boy, one needs to present a poised yet lighthearted image. They need to serve and captivate customers without overstepping boundaries or making a fool out of themselves ₍ᐢ⑅ᐢ₎

♡ Jade was the one to suggest an effective and in-character safety measure for the bunny boy staff–enchanting their costumes with a painful, stinging sensation for sleazy customers. Shortly after the offender’s failed attempt, Jade will be the one to deal with them. “Oya, I believe you were informed of our no-touching rule. Shall we discuss this matter outside??” Jade smiles, the epitome of seduction and hospitality in his fuzzy sea bunny getup–but his grip on the attacker’s arm says otherwise.

♡ He derives some sadistic entertainment out of playing games with the customers. Poor, unfortunate souls blithely enjoying themselves as they pay for round after round with Jade…..not knowing that he has them in the palm of his hand, that he won’t grant them even a false victory in exchange for their paltry madols  (◠‿◠)Ψ

♡ Floyd has mixed feelings towards his extra duties as a sea bunny boy. On one hand, it can be annoying to cater to the whims of spellbound guppies. But then again, he will gleefully take the chance to defeat all of his customers in games!! He even makes up new rules and moves for rock, paper, scissors–along with penalties and loopholes  𐐪₍ᐢ. ̫ .⑅ᐢ₎𐑂↝

♡ Their sea bunny suit does serve as quite the interesting uniform. While the standard sea bunny suits feature white bodysuits patterned with black dots, Floyd goes for a bright yellow base to match the underrated yellow sea bunnies!! Isn’t the less mainstream color brighter, cheerier, and more suitable for Floyd?? At the very least, his own uniform brings out the gold in his terrifying gaze~

♡ Floyd’s attitude as a sea bunny boy will ultimately depend on his mood swings. He may be quite the chaotic sea bunny boy at times but that is part of his own appeal!! And don’t expect him to put on the conventional bunny boy act, either, especially when it comes to honeyed words and ketchup hearts. “Ehhh you want to take a picture with me?? All right…..if you can catch me!!”

♡

And that’s it for Sea Bunny Boy! Octavinelle. I hope you all enjoyed my self-indulgent headcanons and suffered from brainrot <3

Tag an Octavinelle stan!! @raven-at-the-writing-desk @mobagehelllocal @myuunji @pianostarinwonderland @twstedbeauty @terrariumss @offthedeeepend @kirayamidemon @shroudcore

[theoriginsofempires]

Starting us out

- once again. LDShadowLady!

as a Merling because duh

and NO we do not care this design was contradicted later in the series

(maybe a little)

But that shows you how long this has been cooking with us!

Yes, this is technically a repost. But we wanted to have it all in one place at the end soooo.. deal with it

anyways enjoy the sketch and subsequent digital piece:

When I sat down to sketch this character sheet for her i first googled pink axolotles with spots because i definitly knew i wanted to base her colours off of the actual animal, that’s why she got green spots. Plus it really works with the lilypads she started with.

You will also be able to see a very clear pattern of me drawing the concepts far less human than they end up in the render. what can i say? non human characters just come more natural to me.

What i set out to do with her frilly external gills was to combine her hair and crown into one natural part of her body to signify her royalty being bestowed upon her by rebirth. I also attempted to design a dress she could swim in, but I’m glad I’m not in charge of designing the clothes in the end because it was honestly just a wild guess and i like the dress in the final render soooo much more. (I also just.. kinda felt obligated to give her clothes because human based)

Starting to translate Sunnys sketch into a digital drawing was harder then expected ngl. I quickly ran into the problem that me just drawing her concept 1:1 just looked.. wrong? Idk, whatever I did I always liked her version so much more.

So i made the decision to change it up where I needed and that stayed for all of them.

I turned out that my style lend itself more to a.. more human approach. She got seperate hair (thou made from the same stuff as her webbing und gills), a more human chest, etc. what can i say? turning stuff agressivly sexy just comes more natural to me.

I also just couldn’t wrap my head around how to make a corset like in the sketch work? So i.. gave her an entirely new outfit? That also stayed consistend for all the following ones.

[mcyt-amber-tftsmp]

Could you please write Ranbob with an axolotl hybrid reader? Preferably headcanons for how they met or what their like as a couple? (If you can write this, i wont be mad if you cant write it since i doubt lots of people know behaviors of axolotls)

Thank you <3

I really like your work and youre like one of the only people who writes tftsmp and im really greatful for it

...

*inhales*

Challenge Accepted!

*speedruns research and reads a whole document on them*

>:)

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

➶ 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐛 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 #𝟐 ➴

Reference picture of Axolotl Hybrid Reader

It was basically one of those days Ranbob decided to sit outside at the entrance of Mizu to take his mind off of things which brought him to meet you.

You were technically swimming about in the ocean when you came across this glass dome thing which made you very curious as you looked around to see on how to get in and you guessed that it was somewhere up on the surface.

So you decided to find it and you did as you slowly resurfaced your head and basically saw the enderman hybrid sitting and looking at the opposite direction and not knowing about your presence.

You stayed around as you looked at him curiously and it didn't take long for him to notice that you were there in that one spot for a while.

No joke when I say this cause the minute he laid eyes on you, he legit thought you were one of the beautiful creatures he's ever seen and honestly this kind of made him blush slightly at the thought but he decided to break the silence between you after a while.

"Are you... an Axolotl Hybrid by any chance?" He asked noticing the feathery external gills on both sides which is a distinguishing feature of an Axolotl.

You felt somewhat shy but you answered anyways.

"Yeah I am. If you don't mind me asking but what are you exactly?" You asked out of curiosity.

Ranbob could already tell that you were pretty curious and was shy when it came to meeting someone new but he never really expected this type of behavior from an Axolotl considering they are pretty aggressive but who's he to say? Nothing.

"Oh I am actually an Enderman hybrid." He started as he explained something about who he is related to and how the white part is something he's not aware of like at all.

You seemed to take in on what he was saying and it really made you interested about him even more and you just mostly stayed in water as he spoke since you couldn't come out just yet due to the sun being up and was very bright.

Both of you eventually made small talk and talked about other things topics and got to know each other a bit more and you were surprised to know that unlike other endermen he didn't have any problems with getting touched by water.

While you two talked, you noticed how the sun was slowly setting and you could technically come out now which you did as you slowly pulled yourself up and sat beside him on the cold stone floor.

Ranbob's breath legitimately hitched for a few moment when he saw you and got to see you properly and yeah no joke he actually is a hopeless romantic at this point.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked as you nodded with a small smile.

"Usually from what I know that Axolotls are pretty aggressive at times and you don't seem to show it." You heard him say as you slightly felt nervous.

"O-Oh..." Was the only thing you said in response.

You weren't offended by what he said cause it was true that Axolotls are pretty much aggressive and you were used to anyone thinking that.

"But I'll be honest and say that I didn't expect you to be this adorable and cute." He said in a small flirty tone.

That caught you off guard cause you didn't expect to hear this from him and this seemed to make you blush and feel flustered that you instantly just covered you face in embarrassment.

"S-stop..." You said feeling flustered and you could practically hear a smile form on Ranbob's face as he let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious." Ranbob said as he slowly removed you hands from your face to see that you were still flustered which made him smile a little.

Both of you did continue to meet up with each other every single day and eventually both of you did get together and become a couple but of course that did not stop Ranbob flirting with you every once in a while.

"Did I ever tell you how pretty and cute you are?" He asked as a smirked formed on his face as he turned to look at you as you were still in the water.

"You know I seriously won't hesitate to wipe that smirk of your face." You slightly threatened as Ranbob chuckled as he slowly leaned into your ear.

"I'd like to see you try sweetheart." He said in a slightly low tone and this kind of gave you the advantage to just pull him into the water by making him lose his balance which resulted him to fall into it.

He eventually resurfaced cause he can and when he did, he saw you giggling and he knew why you were but this didn't really stop him.

He slowly swam a but closer to you as he cupped both of your cheeks with his hands which stopped you from giggling anymore.

Before you could react, you felt a pair of lips meet your as you melted into the kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck as your fingers ran through his white and somewhat black hair which was now wet because of the water.

Both of you eventually pulled away as Ranbob leaned into your neck and left two kisses there and another one on below your jaw which earned him small giggles from you.

He looked up to see you giggling a bit while being slightly red in the face as well and that made him happy.

"That's one way to make you flustered." He said with a smirk.

"Oh shush." You said slightly puffing up your cheeks as you leaned your head onto his chest as he held you close.

Both of stayed like this for a while but when the sun was setting, Ranbob eventually got up from the water as he helped you get up and pulled you onto his lap you leaned against him while he held you and played with your hair.

"I love you, Ranbob." You told him in a whispered tone.

Ranbob smiled as he kissed your forehead and slightly leaned his head on yours while holding you tight as if not ever wanting to let you go.

"I love you too, sweetheart." He replied back to you.

Even if both of you are of different species, you both love each other dearly and no one can say otherwise about it cause both of you make each other very happy and that's all you can ask for.

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

No joke but I actually had fun writing this!

It was a new experience for me to write with an Axolotl Hybrid Reader and I enjoyed it!

I decided to use another way of writing headcanons!

I hope you like this though cause I do!

<3

[beardycarrot]

Hello, I've noticed you own an axolotl and would like to ask for some advice to taking care of it?

Sure, did you have any specific questions?

The important points are that they need cold, clean water, have a tank with a large footprint all to themselves (or another axolotl of the same size), and that you shouldn't put anything smaller than their head in the aquarium unless you're okay with them swallowing it.

So, let's go over what those things actually mean.

Axolotls are native to lakes in Mexico, which they prefer to live at the bottoms of. Because of this, they're adapted to cold water without much light... so you'll need a special setup for them. You can buy an aquarium cooling system, but it's a lot easier to just set up a small fan and point it at the surface of the water. This causes the water to evaporate, cooling it. You'll need to add new water more often than you would with other aquariums, but it's by far the simplest solution. When I decided to move my axolotl tank last week, I bought an old desk to serve as an aquarium stand, because it had a convenient place for attaching the fan.

Being bottom-dwellers is also why you want a tank with a large footprint. While fish swim around a lot, axolotls spend most of their time lounging on the bottom, so don't get much use out of vertical space. A ten gallon aquarium is okay for a baby, but once they're bigger, a twenty gallon long is ideal. If you've got a forty or fifty-five, even better.

Axolotls are pretty sensitive to water quality, and poop A LOT, so you'll need to clean up after them in a way that's not really necessary with most aquatic pets. You will, of course, need to nitrogen cycle their tank before putting them in... but the problem with that is aquarium plants, which I'll get to in a minute. Once your tank is set up with the proper bacteria (which you can buy in bottles, actually), the best way to maintain it is to actually remove the axolotl poop as soon as you see it. Just keep an eye out for what looks like a brown Tic Tac, and suck it out with a turkey baster. If the water gets too dirty, either from poop being left in for too long or the nitrogen cycle not functioning as intended, axolotls can suffer ammonia burns to their skin and gills. They'll recover from it (that's kinda what axolotls do), but I mean... don't mistreat your pets, kids.

Planting an axolotl tank can be tricky, because being bottom-dwelling amphibians, they're not particularly bright or good at identifying things by sight. If they encounter something that can fit in their mouth, there's a good chance it WILL end up in their mouth, on the off-chance that it's edible. This is a problem because most aquarium plants are sold with the expectation that you'll root them in gravel, and an axolotl eating gravel is... well, it's not ideal. You really need those plants as part of the nitrogen cycle though, so you gotta put them in somehow.

I don't know what the ideal solution is, but here are mine: I happened to have a couple small plant pots (two to three inches tall), so just made some miniature potted plants. These are some kind of anubias (anubias nana, I think?), which I chose because they don't need much light, planted in gravel within the pots. I also have another plant in an aquarium log, which you can find at most pet stores, though I'd advise putting it in its own tank for a week or so before introducing it to an aquarium: even if the store claims the logs don't have any snail eggs in them, they probably have snail eggs in them. Finally, on the right of the photo above, you can see my third type of plant, a marimo. These moss balls just kinda roll around underwater, so don't actually need to be planted in anything.

Tank mates of other species don't really work for axolotls. If it's a fish too big for an axolotl to eat, it'll try to eat the axolotl's external gills. If it's anything else, the axolotl will try to eat it. Axolotls will even eat the gills and limbs of smaller axolotls, so if you don't want your axolotl to be lonely, get another axolotl of about the same size. Axolotl axolotl axolotl axolotl.

Those were the main points I wanted to touch on. What else... well, substrate is important. You can't use gravel, and being bottom dwellers, axolotls like to crawl around just as much as swim, so will get kinda stressed out if the bottom of their habitat is smooth glass. Most people use sand, since if the axolotl swallows it, it should come out the other end no issue... just make sure that you get natural quartz sand and clean it well. If you want to get colored sand, do your research: a lot of black sand sold for aquariums is coated with plastic to give it that color, and you don't want your axolotl eating that.

You could also do what I did, and just buy a big piece of natural, untreated slate. It looks really cool, and gives your axolotl plenty of traction for crawling. I bought mine from BlankSlateCrafts on Etsy, who if asked nicely might even be willing to custom cut you a piece to fit the inner dimensions of your tank.

Hmm... I guess the last thing I should touch on is feeding. My axolotl, Woop, eats earthworms almost exclusively. Specifically, red wigglers and other small European nightcrawlers, which I feed her every other day. Ideally you'd have a composting setup that just continually breeds worms for you, but you can get them anywhere that sells bait. Just make sure to read the label: some, like the ones dyed weird colors to attract fish, will specifically say they're not intended as pet food. I also give her bloodworms, which you can find frozen into ice cubes at pet stores, though these aren't the kind of thing you should feed them every day. Think of them like french fries. I feed Woop earthworms with a pair of long aquarium tweezers, and have a dish in her aquarium for the bloodworms. It might be worth making a post going over all the equipment I use...

Alright, that's about it! If you (or anyone else) have any other questions about axolotl care, feel free to ask!

[erifin-alt]

Ok so I’m gonna go ahead and spit ball some Hiveswap theories despite the fact they may end up being incredibly wrong as expectations vs reality for the writing of Hiveswap is currently 6 feet under. This is going to be a long one, so to save y’all time the theories will be under the cut.

First off I’d like to state my own theory on the creature that that shot the train in the ending scene. Everyone is believing that it’s Fiamet’s lusus that did it, but why would Fiamet send her lusus to potentially hurt/kill Joey and Xefros especially knowing (or maybe she doesn’t) that Xefros is Dammek’s moirail? Honestly it wouldn’t make sense, given that she was the one that warned Joey about the world ending in 11 days. If it does end up being her lusus then she has a lot of explaining to do. Cause it kinda makes her a villain by hindering Joey’s and Xefros’ travel. Though I don’t think it’s Fiamet’s lusus. Here’s what I believe the beast could be-

1. The monsters from the first game.

We don’t really know the origin of the monsters from the first cut scene in Hiveswap act 1, and I don’t really think it’s all that much discussed. So where did they come from? Perhaps it was to do with something to do with the portal? Maybe. And we do know that the monsters can come in many varieties, including a monster with wings. (Though, more so bat wings compared to the feathered wings in HS:A2 final cut scene)

2. It’s someone else’s lusus. Okay, so I’ll actually be going into depth of how the beast looks like in the final cut scene. And with everyone theorizing that Fiamet’s lusus being an axolotl, I’ll try debunking the “Fiamet’s lusus shot the train” theory.

First off, the beast doesn’t even remotely look anything similar to an axolotl.

Let’s first look at the couple of screenshots I have (apologies for the bad quality)-

Does that tail look anything like an axolotl’s?? The answer is no, but of a course.

Here’s how an axolotl’s tail looks like btw.

Here’s some more screenshots of the beast that I managed to get-

Now, I know what you’re thinking- “But Erifin! Look at the side of the head! It obviously has external gill stalks like a true axolotl!!” That could be a red herring, though, as the things protruding from the side of it’s head could be fluff or feathers. And even it is gill stalks, and it IS an axolotl then why does it’s body look so different than that of an axolotl? Maybe because axolotl’s abilities of regeneration? It kinda seems far-fetched, to be completely honest. But who knows?

So who does the lusus belong to then? Well, maybe there’s going to be a new troll introduced in act 3 that will serve as act 3′s main antagonist Or maybe it’s just a wild lusus that itself will be the main villain.

So now it begs the question, what could this be? Well here’s some ideas I thought of:

1. It’s a weird lizard/amphibian and bird hybrid. It’s not the crazy for there to be a lusus like that, this is Alternia after all. I’m also getting some chameleon vibes from it. Though, this may be relating to the mythology of feathered serpents. Which, by the way, is a spirit deity from mesoamerica. Roughly around the same area that axolotl’s live.

2. A griffin. And yes, I’m bringing up mythological creatures into this. If the Pyropes can have dragons as a lusus then other trolls can have other mythological creatures as lusi as well. The body and proportions fit nicely to that of an griffin, even the tail!  However, griffins don’t breathe fire so it’s unlikely that this is a griffin.

3. A chimera, to me this seems like the most obvious choice, sense chimeras are already hybrids to begin with, as if number 1 is true technically this theory is gonna still be true (at least somewhat). Chimeras in mythology are a mash of an lion, goat, and snake, and I’m sure if the crew wanted to make creative decisions they’d also add in some avian wings in the mix. The proportions are similar to that of a lion, the fluff can also be it’s mane. The need to be on a rock, and keep low to the ground could a be a mix of a predators stalking skills and the serpent part. The tail? Obviously the snake head. Oh, and chimeras can breathe fire as well. However the goat part has me thrown off, so who knows if I’m even right.

4. And finally, number 4, I was somehow wrong. Somehow this was Fiamet’s lusus all along, and somehow it is an axolotl. Who knows, we probably have to wait another 1000 years to find that out.

That’s it on the beast theory, now let me ramble a little longer about certain hopes I have about certain characters that may end up becoming more important in act 3. Particularly the trolls that show up in the final cut scene. That is- Martsi, Cirava, Lanque, Tyzias, Elwurd, Mallek, Ardata, Chaut, and finally, Marvus. Now why would they be important? I don’t really know either, but I can sure take a fucking guess! And given that the train fell into a river, I guess one can go ahead and guess that many of the trolls on the train did die. And given that the train was shot near the rust/bronze and gold/olive carts I think it’s safe to say that the most fatalities are going to come from the lower bloods and not so much the high bloods (high bloods are tougher to kill after all).

Hopefully all the troll call trolls end up surviving the crash, but considering hmmm y’know I don’t think it’s likely. But, one can keep their hopes up! However, I do think the certain set of trolls that did show up in the final scene will survive. But why? What will they do that will earn them the chance to live? Let’s get into that.

Martsi’s up first. She was the closest to the blast zone, so there’s a chance that she ends up dying later on. However, if she does live, and from what we have seen in her friendsim (regardless of whether or not friendsim is canon) she seemed to take interest in being a doctor. So I can see her trying to look for survivors and tending to their wounds.

Next is Cirava, I don’t really know what Cirava would do, perhaps they decide to join the rebellion after being convinced by Joey and Xefros. Especially given that Xefros is starting to gain more confidence and thinking for himself for once. Meaning Xefros may go around trying to recruit some trolls to join him and Joey. Or maybe it has to do with something with psionics? Though, that would mean all other gold bloods are dead or passed out. I hope Joey and Xefros do get a party of sorts while they travel I think that’d be fun!

Next is Lanque and Tyzias. Tyzias is a little more obvious, her want to change the system, especially the judicial system, could lead to her joining the rebellion. If Xefros and Joey are trying to recruit others she’d probably join in a heartbeat. Lanque is a little more complicated, I think he will die, but will come back as a rainbow drinker. He does have the title as a life player after all. I think he will die either because the crash killed him, or he died saving someone. I can imagine if the other jades do survive, they’d probably be very shocked. Personally I think Wanshi would take it the hardest as I believe he’d protect her, thus showing us a softer side to him. And as they mourn him he comes back! And it’s very much shocking for everybody! As a monster of sorts he may end up deciding to leave since he’d no longer fit in, since he’s technically dead. He could also take it as an opportunity to finally be free from his duties. His glow/immortality can even come in handy in certain parts of the potential game play.

Next are these two, as for what they’ll do honestly I think Elwurd is just there for  fanservice and Mallek? Well, he may help with certain electronics if all the gold bloods besides Cirava do die. Like he takes apart certain parts of the train to make something? I do think they may want to join Joey and Xefros, but Mallek for rebellion moreover then Elwurd given we don’t really know what Elwurd’s loyalty lays.

And then there’s Ardata. She looks very suspicious, no? She may end up becoming a more important villain in act 3. Overall, she looks very...............shady.

And finally, the two eldest clowns. I don’t think they’ll join Joey and Xefros, rather I think they’re still going to be villains. Perhaps they decide to hunt Joey and Xefros down? Maybe they think they’re the ones who crashed the train?

That’s all I gotta say, I don’t think any of my theories will end up becoming true anyways. But hey, one can dream. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my rambling, and apologies if my writing is terrible and there’s grammatical errors everywhere. But what do you think? Let me know!

[hotchley]

dkfjsksj omg SWEETIE when are you publishing your novel!!! bc i would SO BUY IT JUST TO SUPPORT YOU OMG

pls make it available worldwide i 10/10 would buy regardless of shipping fees

just curious: are you planning to self publish your book or go through external publishers? have you planned for how you want the cover to look like? 👀

how many pages is it so far? are you almost done or not there yet? (it's honestly fine if you're not, masterpieces take time!!!!! ❤️)

omg also do you do like moodboards/aesthetics/song playlists kind of things for your characters 🥴 bc that would be a very cool way to introduce them! but honestly i know life is tiring and very busy already so it's okay if you don't have time for this

also: where did you come up with their names? (bc honestly i keep using names of people i know irl when i write.... i once merged 2 of my friend's ex boyfriends names and tweaked them a little to form an unsub's name so 😭💀💀)

i hope writing has been going smoothly for you!! remember to drink water & take breaks! you can do it, i believe in you 🥰❤️

🌙

I love you so much! I love all of you because you really came through with these questions!! It was a very good distraction <3 I've put everything below the cut because I feel like my answers were getting very, very long x

1. OKAY SO HERE'S THE THING!

I'm currently in the process of editing, and I was going to publish it on Wattpad and enter the Wattys (if I get it up in time) and see what happens... I know Wattpad has a bit of a... reputation, but it's the most accessible platform for me and others to use, because I want it to be available to lots of different people, and that's both free and not difficult to use because you can change the colour scheme and font size.

2. On the one hand. I want it published because I think it would be really cool. It's extremely long (and by all the guidelines I've seen, a little bit too long for a young adult novel) but it's mine, and I did it, and I would want to share that with others. On the other hand, I have no idea how to go about self-publishing, and I hate being criticised, so publishing is a bit of a... iffy thing. I've also got very little knowledge of publishing in general. And I like writing for fun you know? Like I started planning my second novel, and wrote a bit of that, but then I got sucked back into this, and fanfic, and I know I don't want to write for a living.

And I'm not saying that if you publish one thing, you need to do it full-time, but still. Also, the idea of some of the people I know being aware that I wrote a novel and the contents of it... no. That just fills with my dread. So I think I'll put it up on Wattpad, and we'll see what happens!

I do have a cover! It's very amateur, but it kinda matches the one I did when I was writing it into my notebook, so to me it's something sentimental. I mean, the notebook cover was just the title, so this is a bit more exciting with an actual image lol

3. It's currently thirty-one chapters. Well, thirty-three if you include the prologue and epilogue. It's also 452 pages, but the chapters don't always start on new pages, and if you think that's bad, the second draft somehow ended up being 670 pages (but I think that's to do with the spacing getting all messed up...) As it stands, it's 172536 words umm....

I'm getting closer to finishing!! I finished chapter twenty-five last night, so I just have six chapters and the epilogue to go. I'm pretty sure some of them are shorter, but I have vivid memories of the final chapter being LONG. I just checked, it's 13,776 words... so... may split that in two whoops :)

4. YES!! YES I DO!! I have a whole pinterest board that I only made after the second draft?? It's basically what led to the third draft. I was like: oh, I'm not ready to say goodbye, let me make a pinterest board. And then when I was trying to think of things to search to make it I was like: I have no idea how to describe any of these people...

I have a moodboard for the five main characters, and one for the aesthetic of the school. And I'm thinking: the week leading up to the publication, I'm going to share each character one, and (I already have the post in my drafts) the post with all the information is going to have the Eros Academy one :)

And there's a playlist! I need to sort it out because there are some songs on there that I kinda don't really like/no longer fit with what I want it to be, but then I also just use it as something to listen to whilst I write, so maybe not... the playlist is going to be part of a) the post with all the stuff and b) the aesthetics chapter <3

4. Names.... names were complicated. Many people had them changed. If you're wondering what I mean by many:

Tiberias -> Tristan

Mr Winchester -> Mr Carter

Eleanora -> Viola

Spencer -> Peter

Green -> Gill

The Headmaster -> Rotchforth

And so many people's parents just weren't named so... I just chose their names super randomly. I chose names because I wanted them to sound all noble and fancy. And then I wanted some more normal and ordinary names. And some of them I just chose because I liked them.

I did like looking at the meanings though, just for a bit of fun

It's been fun!! I will <3 I'm also self-isolating (I tested negative, but regardless) so there's not really much else I can do... let's ignore the virtual experience, personal statement and coursework reading I'm supposed to be working on....

[ironwoman359]

Love Song for a Siren

Summary: Life aboard the pirate ship The Sea Serpent is as perfect as Roman, Patton, and Logan could hope for, but a startling discovery turns their lives...and their hearts...upside down. 

Ships: Established Moralogince, eventual LAMP, side Dukeceit

Content Warnings: Mentions of whaling, piracy (the swashbuckling kind), sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus, general fear/anxiety, being trapped/captured.

Word Count: 5,407

Read on AO3 here

My Fic Masterlist Commission Info Ko-fi

A/N: @vintage-squid, surprise! I’m your secret santa! I’m so glad you enjoyed the story, I had a blast writing it! Thank you to @theinvisiblespoon for beta reading this fic, you’re the absolute best! I have at least two more fics for this AU planned, a prequel that tells the story of Roman and Remus coming to be crew members aboard the Sea Serpent (cuz boy howdy is that a tale), and a sequel that pits our now established LAMP boys against an external threat. Both elements were ideas that I had for this story/universe that just didn’t make it into the final version due to time/length, so let me know if you’d like to be tagged in those future stories, or if you’d like to be on my general writing taglist. As always, comments/reblogs are greatly appreciated. Love you guys! -Taylor <3

--- --- ---

“All hands on deck!”

Roman grinned and scampered down from his perch in the crow’s nest, his boots hitting the deck with a satisfying *thud.* The sky above him was clear and bright, and a cool ocean breeze rustled through his hair, granting him a reprieve from the heat of the sun. The gentle sway of the ship, once so strange and foreign to him, was now a familiar, soothing motion, and Roman’s chest swelled with confidence. He pulled his rapier from his belt and swiped it through the air with a flourish, winking at the ship’s navigator who was standing nearby.

“Just once, I’d like to see you answer Patton’s call without all your typical fanfare,” the man said, raising an eyebrow at Roman.

“What? My brother, pass up a chance to be dramatic?” a cheerful squawk called out, and then Remus was beside them, throwing one arm around Roman and jostling him playfully. “That’ll be the day.”

“Indeed, the one that we all long for,” the navigator agreed, and Roman pouted before letting his features slide into a smirk.

“Oh, come on Logan, you know you love me,” Roman crooned, and his smile widened as Logan’s cheeks became dusted with pink.

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said as Roman wriggled out from Remus’s grip to peck him on the lips. “However did I let that happen?”

“Okay you two, cut it out!” Patton chided as he walked over. “You’re both too adorable and it’s not fair, ‘cause I very much want to kiss you both, but we don’t have time right now!”

“Later, my love,” Roman promised, blowing the ship’s quartermaster a kiss of his own. Patton pretended to catch it out of the air and held it close to his heart, winking before he turned and addressed the larger crowd of sailors that had gathered on deck. 

“We’ve adjusted course to intercept a ship, prepare for boarding!” Patton called. “And standby for the captain’s orders!”

As if on cue, the captain stepped out onto the deck, surveying his crew at work for a moment before turning to Patton.

“What’s the target?”

“It looks like a whaling ship,” Patton said with a grimace, and the captain snarled.

“Right. The captain should be worth a half decent ransom then, plus there should be plenty of valuable cargo on board. We’ll disable the ship when we’re finished then leave the rest of the crew to their own devices, if they aren’t idiots they should be able to survive long enough to make whaling seem like a very unattractive occupation to their buddies back home.”

Patton nodded, then turned back to the crew.

“Ready about!” he called to them, then nodded to Roman. “Ro, take point on the first raiding crew.”

“Oooh, Dee, your mask!” Remus suddenly cried, before dashing into the captain’s quarters without another word. He emerged a moment later, handing over the mask before planting a kiss on the captain’s cheek.

“Oh, so you have time for kisses, but I don’t,” Roman teased, and Remus stuck his tongue out at him.

“Captain’s privileges,” Dee said with a smirk before sliding the mask down over the left side of his face, carved features and painted green scales covering the burn that marred his skin.

“Ro, come on!” Patton called again, and Roman turned his attention to the whaler that was still approaching them, not yet realizing that the innocuous looking Sea Serpent was actually a pirate vessel.

“Heave to!” Patton shouted, and Logan pulled on the ship’s wheel until the Sea Serpent was directly in the path of the approaching whaler.

“Ready canons!” Dee called, and Patton relayed the order to the gunmen below deck. “On my command! Ready?”

Roman gripped his sword hilt, a smile growing on his face despite himself. Right here, standing on the deck of his ship with a sword in his hand and his two loves by his side, was exactly where Roman wanted to be.

“Fire!”

--- --- ---

It didn’t take long for the crew of the whaler, called The Carlotta, to surrender, and before long, Patton was leading a small party through the ship to look for anything worth looting. As soon as he stepped below decks, however, he had to stop. He waved the other crew members on ahead of him and leaned against a nearby support beam, taking in several deep gulps of air through his mouth. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much to alleviate the stench.

The cargo hold was full of dozens upon dozens of barrels, and a foul, fishy scent clung to the air around them like mold. The smell was bad enough, but that combined with the thought of what was actually in the barrels was enough to make Patton gag on the spot. He, like Dee, was not fond of the practice of whaling, but while Dee would still bring the whale blubber onboard the Sea Serpent so they could sell it themselves and turn a profit, Patton would just as soon dump the whole batch back into the ocean so he didn’t have to think about it for too long. He was just grateful that they hadn’t come upon The Carlotta when she’d taken a fresh kill; money or no, message or no, Patton was not about to deal with looting a ship floating beside a dead whale carcass.

“Quartermaster!”

Patton looked up to see one of the younger crew members coming towards him, their eyes as round as saucers.

“What is it, kiddo? And I’ve told you, just Patton is fine.”

“Right, yessir–I mean, Patton. But, um, you need you see this!”

“What is it?” Patton asked again, following the young sailor deeper into the hold.

“I...I don’t know, sir, you’re just...going to have to see for yourself.”

Thoroughly intrigued now, Patton let himself be led into the back corner of the cargo hold where he was met with a peculiar sight. What appeared to be a large iron kettle, which Patton recognized as part of the tryworks that whalers would use to boil the whale blubber down into oil, was sitting in the middle of the open space. The kettle itself wasn’t what struck Patton as odd though, it was its placement below decks. The ship had clearly recently brought in a new whale, and Patton remembered seeing the other kettle in its proper place on top of the furnace up on deck. What on earth was this doing down here?

The other thing that was confusing was the large slat of crisscrossed iron bars that had been laid haphazardly over the top of the kettle. If Patton had to guess, he’d say that the whalers had taken the door off the ship brig and used it as a sort of cap, and for extra measure, a few canon balls had been placed on top to provide additional weight. Three other crew members were standing around the kettle, looking inside with something akin to awe on their faces.

“What’s going on?” Patton asked as he approached, and the crewmen just pointed, stepping back so Patton could peer into the kettle himself.

He didn’t know whether to be amazed or horrified.

“Get the captain,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “He needs to see this.”

The sailors nodded and hurried off to find Dee, leaving Patton alone to stare at what they’d found in growing disbelief.

Lying tangled in a net at the bottom of the kettle in about a half-foot of water was...some sort of creature. At first glance, Patton had thought the long, slippery tail belonged to a strange fish or eel, but as his eyes traveled upward, that thought was quickly dismissed from his mind. Halfway up the creature’s body, the scales gave way to smooth purple skin and a surprisingly human shaped torso, despite the fins on the creature’s sides and elbows. A set of gills was visible on the side of its neck, and a shock of dark hair fell around the creature’s ears, or at least, the wide, fan-shaped fins that protruded from where the ears would be on a human. It’s chest was rising in short, quick bursts, and Patton didn’t need to be a medical expert to tell that it was having trouble breathing.

Despite growing up in a port town and being around seamen for most of his life, Patton had never really put much stock into superstition, or the wild tales of sea monsters and magic that sailors brought back from their ventures out onto the open ocean. Sailors in his hometown tended to drink as much as they talked, and while their stories made for good entertainment, he’d never really believed any of them. And yet, staring down at the creature in the kettle, he knew now that some of the tales had to be true.

“What is it?”

Patton turned at the sound of Dee’s voice, and he found that there was only one thing he could say.

“Dee...they have a mermaid.”

As if on cue, the mermaid stirred, twisting in the kettle and letting out a muffled hiss as it strained against the net that had its arms pinned against its sides. Dee and Patton looked down, and Patton bit his tongue to keep himself from whimpering.

The eyes that met their gaze were wide with fear, but they narrowed in an instant as the mermaid hissed again, flaring out its fins in warning. Patton was sure that if it were able, the creature would be baring its teeth at them, but somehow the net had gotten tangled in such a way that it was wrapped around its face and digging into its mouth. If Patton had to guess, the mermaid had tried to bite its way out of the net and only succeeded in trapping itself further.

Patton looked up at Dee, who still hadn’t said anything and was staring into the kettle with a blank expression, which Patton knew meant he didn’t want to give away what he was thinking.

“Dee, we can’t just leave him here,” Patton said quietly.

“What other choices do we have?” Dee asked, raising an eyebrow. “Cut it loose and throw it back into the ocean?”

Patton glanced down at the creature again, his eyes traveling over the places where the net was digging into its skin. One of the sections was wrapped so tightly around its tail that it was cutting into the flesh, and Patton shook his head.

“He’s hurt...if we just threw him back into the ocean as is who knows what could happen to him? He needs time to recover.”

“So what do you propose? We can’t haul the tryworks onto the Sea Serpent while on the open ocean. And even if we could, if healing is the main goal, I don’t think curled up tight in a pot would be the best place to keep it.”

Patton chewed on his bottom lip, thinking.

“They haven’t finished fixing that damaged dinghy belowdecks yet,” he offered. “But she should hold water.”

Dee blinked.

“Are you suggesting that we fill the dinghy up with water like it’s some rich landlubber’s bathtub and...what, just keep a pet mermaid in it?”

“Not pet,” Patton insisted. “More like...patient.”

“You’re deflecting the rest of the question, Quartermaster,” Dee said, raising an eyebrow, and Patton raised one right back.

“And you’re avoiding giving me an order, Captain.”

Dee chuckled, then his eyes flicked back and forth between the kettle and Patton before he sighed.

“Alright, have it your way then. But Patton...if this creature turns out to be dangerous...if he ends up hurting one of the crew? That’ll be your responsibility, you understand?”

Patton nodded firmly.

“I do.” Then he grinned, and threw his arms around Dee in a quick but tight hug. “Thanks Dee!”

He let go and hurried above deck, hearing Dee mutter something about “reputation” as he went, and stopped when he ran into Remus sticking his head to look inside the (thankfully) unlit furnace the whalers kept on deck.

“Remus! I need you to do something for me,” he called, and Remus grinned.

“Anything you say, Mr. Quartermaster sir!”

“Can you get a couple of the crew to fill the dinghy belowdecks with buckets of seawater?”

“How many buckets?” Remus asked cheerfully, and Patton shrugged.

“As many as will fit. Oh, and Remus. I want the water dumped out into the dinghy. I’m not asking for a boat filled with buckets, I want a boat filled with water, okay?”

“Aww, now you’ve spoiled my fun,” Remus said in a mock pout, but then he winked and practically pranced back towards the Sea Serpent, nearly knocking over Roman as he skipped past.

“What’s he so happy about?” Roman asked, frowning as he watched Remus leave the deck of the The Carlotta.

“I gave him a weird order,” Patton said, sliding up next to Roman and sighing happily when Roman snaked an arm around his waist and planted a kiss on top of his head.

“Anything interesting in the cargo hold?” Roman asked, and Patton froze. “What?” Roman asked, pulling back and frowning down at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Patton said quickly, pressing a kiss to Roman’s cheek. “It’s just…” he glanced back towards the cargo hold, chewing on his bottom lip. “You’re going to want to see this.”

--- --- ---

“You found a what?” Logan asked, staring at his boyfriends in growing disbelief.

“A mermaid, Specs,” Roman said, and Logan resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“We’re serious, Lo!” Patton insisted. “Why would we make something like that up?”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

“I saw Remus looking entirely to happy to be carrying buckets of water back and forth from the cargo hold, and you expect me not to be at least a little bit suspicious.”

“Okay, maybe I should have had someone else supervise setting up the dinghy, but to be fair, I knew that Remus wouldn’t waste a lot of time asking me why I wanted him to do that,” Patton said with a shrug.

“Listen, while ordinarily your suspicion might be slightly warranted–”

“Slightly?” Logan asked, and smirked when Roman spluttered indignantly.

“Really, Logan,” Patton said, his voice quiet and earnest. “We found a mermaid, and he needs our help. Come and see, okay?”

Logan frowned at Patton’s sudden shift in tone before he nodded slowly. Patton flashed him a grateful smile, then turned and led the way into the cargo hold. Logan had to admit, he wasn’t sure quite what he was expecting to see as he followed Patton down the stairs, but the Sea Serpent’s beat up dinghy filled with water hadn’t been high on the list. He opened his mouth, but as they approached the side of the boat, the question died in his throat. His eyes traveled over the purple skin, gills and fins, and wide eyes with slit pupils.

“Oh.”

“You can say that again,” Roman said, raising an eyebrow.

Logan elected not to speak again, noting the way the creature shrunk back at Roman’s loud voice, choosing instead to take a step closer and get down on one knee beside the dinghy so he was eye level with the creature. It thrashed and hissed as he approached, though whether the hiss was a sign of aggression or an expression of pain as the net dug deeper into its flesh, Logan couldn’t be sure. Either way, the first move clearly had to be removing the net.

Logan pulled his knife from his belt and the creature thrashed again at the sight of the blade, and it bumped the side of the dinghy, sloshing some of the water over the side.

“Be still,” Logan said in as soothing a voice as he could manage. “We need to get that net off you, and if you struggle you could become injured.”

Logan had been speaking more with tone in mind than with words, but to his surprise, the creature cocked its head at the words before hissing again, more deliberately this time. Logan froze, staring into the creature’s eyes.

“Can...can you understand me?” he asked, and the creature moved its head up and down.

“Did he just nod?” Patton breathed, and the creature tried to nod again, hissing in pain as the net around its face dug deeper into its jaw.

“Don’t try to move,” Logan said, holding up his empty hand in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “You’ll only hurt yourself further. Could you blink your eyes once for yes, twice for no? If you can really understand us?”

There was a beat of silence as they all held their breaths, and then the creature slowly blinked once.

“Was that a yes?” Logan asked to confirm, and the creature blinked once again. “Wonderful. I’m going to cut this net off of you, is that alright?”

The creature didn’t respond at first, eyeing Logan warily, and Logan frowned.

“Do you wish to remain tangled in the net?”

Two blinks.

“Are you currently in pain?”

One blink.

“If you let me remove the net, we can see about tending to your wounds. But if you continue to thrash about, I may accidentally hurt you...and I do not want that to happen.”

The creature eyed his knife again, and Logan tried to imagine things from its perspective. It had been captured by humans and transported from ship to ship like so much cargo, and now a human was crouching next to it brandishing a knife...all things considered, Logan supposed he would react similarly if he were in such a situation.

“Are you worried that I will hurt you?” he asked.

One blink, and Patton made a quiet, distressed noise behind them. Logan ignored the urge to soothe his boyfriend, knowing that Roman was there to provide comfort if needed. Right now, getting this creature to trust him was the top priority.

“We have had ample opportunity to do so already,” Logan pointed out bluntly.

“Lo…” Roman’s voice was uneasy, hesitant, but Logan pressed onward. He could only hope that this creature was capable of logical reasoning.

“Whether it was on the ship you initially were held captive on, or in transporting you here, my comrades and I have had the opportunity to cause you pain intentionally. Have we taken it?”

Two blinks.

“Would it not make more sense, if hurting you was my intention, to simply move forward in an attack rather than wait for your permission.”

One blink. Logan smiled.

“So logically, we must not want harm to come to you. Quite the opposite. But if you don’t hold yourself still, more harm may occur. Now, may I approach?”

Time stretched out between them, and Logan waited patiently as the creature’s eyes flicked back and forth between Logan, the knife, and Roman and Patton standing behind him. Eventually, he blinked once, and Logan smiled again.

“Alright. Keep very still now…”

The mermaid (or merman, if the top half of his anatomy was comparable to that of a human) squeezed its eyes shut, long webbed fingers curling into fists as Logan began to cut away at the net. He’d scarcely been working a minute before a soft, pleasant sound filled the cargo hold, and the merman’s eyes snapped open.

Roman was humming, a quiet, soothing tune that Logan recognized as one of the lullabies that Roman would sometimes sing to either of his boyfriends if they were having trouble sleeping. The merman’s face changed from one of shock, to curiosity, to something bordering on contentment, and by the time Logan had managed to cut away the last bit of rope, the tension had drained from the merman’s shoulders almost completely.

“There, finished,” Logan said with a small smile, standing up slowly and taking a step back.

The merman took a moment to stretch his limbs out, opening and shutting his jaw (which, Logan noted, had rows of sharp, needle-like teeth) and swishing his tail.

Patton made a cooing sound, and Logan knew that the shorter of his partners was completely enamored by the creature.

“Better?” Logan asked, and the merman looked up at him. For a moment, Logan was expecting another blink, but then the creature opened his mouth.

“Yes. Thank you.”

His voice was low, slightly raspy rumble from the back of his throat, and Logan told himself that the flash of excitement that ran through him was because of the discovery that such a creature could talk and nothing more.

“Are you hurt very badly?”

A quick glance at Patton revealed that Logan was not the only one who had suddenly been struck with a reminder of just how gay he was, but to Patton’s credit, he seemed to recover quickly.

“I…don’t know.” The merman ran his hands over the gash in his tail, wincing, and Logan hummed in sympathy.

“I think it would be best for you to remain here for the time being, at least until you have healed sufficiently.”

“What?” the merman’s head snapped up, his eyes growing wide. “No, you can’t just keep me here, I–”

“It would not be permanent,” Logan assured quickly. “Only until we are sure that you’re well enough to return to the ocean. If you were to return now, in your weakened state, your chances of fully recovering would be slim.”

“Yes, we wouldn’t dream of imprisoning you here like some sort of animal,” Roman chimed in. “Not like those dreadful whalers did.”

“If you really don’t want to stay, kiddo, we won’t force you,” Patton added. “You can make your own choices, after all...we just want to make sure you’re okay.”

The merman looked between the three of them warily, before glancing down at the cuts on his body and nodding slowly.

“Alright then.”

“Oh, yay!” Patton squealed happily, causing the merman to jump slightly. “My name’s Patton, and these are my partners Roman and Logan, do you have a name?”

For a moment, Logan thought the merman wasn’t going to speak, but after a long moment of silence, he opened his mouth again.

“Virgil.”  

Logan gave him a small smile.

“Well Virgil, welcome aboard the Sea Serpent.”  

--- --- ---

Virgil was very confused. When he’d initially been caught by the human whalers, he’d been sure he was going to die. He saw what they were doing to that whale corpse, and when the humans had hauled him onto their ship and thrown him into a cramped metal pot, he was certain that he would be the next to be chopped into pieces. For three days, he’d tried to untangle himself to no avail, and by the time that Patton had found him, he’d all but given up hope on making it out alive.

But instead of hurting, these three, strange humans were helping him. He’d been on this ship for what was close to a month now, and not once had any one of the crew been hostile towards him. The boat, while not the most spacious of homes, gave him enough room to get himself in virtually any position he wanted to, and he found himself now floating on his back and absently sucked on a fish bone, (the last remnant of the food that Patton had brought him that day) reflecting on the three humans he tended to see the most.

Patton had been the first to visit him frequently. Virgil had honestly been so hungry directly after Logan had gotten the net off of him that he would have accepted anything offered to him, but Patton had asked him what he ate, and when he simply said “fish” brought him three different kinds to choose from, even apologizing for not having more choices. Patton was like a sunbeam incarnate, warm and bright and full of the promise of life, and despite how terrified Virgil had been when they’d first locked eyes, he found himself looking forward to all the times Patton would drop by to see him, not just the ones where he was bringing food.

More confusing was Logan, who should be far more intimidating, with his blunt way of speaking and his detached approach to the world. And yet, Virgil found his words calming, an anchoring grip in the middle of a current, and Virgil began to miss Logan’s soothing, steady voice when he wasn’t around. Even the numerous questions about everything from what Virgil ate to how he learned to talk to whether there were other mermaids besides himself and what their societies were like, were somehow endearing instead of unsettling when they came from Logan. Virgil knew Logan didn’t want to hunt his kind down or dissect them, he was just...curious. Brightly, passionately curious, and that curiosity was infectious.

Virgil found himself asking Logan questions about humans, which Logan was all too happy to answer.

And then there was Roman, loud, boisterous, impossible Roman. If Virgil were honest, the first few times he’d dropped by, Virgil had been annoyed. Roman talked too loud, too fast, and Virgil shouldn’t enjoy his company, he really shouldn’t...except Roman sang nearly everywhere he went, and Virgil couldn’t help but be drawn to the sound. His own song was bottled up inside of him, itching to be released into the world, but Virgil didn’t want to know what might happen to the crew of the Sea Serpent if they suddenly heard siren song coming from inside their own ship. But one day, Roman was packing something up at the other end of the cargo hold, singing a soft and familiar tune as he worked, and Virgil couldn’t help himself.

He sang softly so that none of the crew would hear him, closing his eyes and losing himself in the harmony, ducking and weaving around Roman’s voice as it steadily grew louder–

Virgil’s eyes flew open and Roman was only a few feet away, his work forgotten in the corner.

“Roman, snap out of it!” Virgil cried, and Roman blinked at him in confusion.

“Snap out of what, Vee?”

“I...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Virgil said hurriedly. “I didn’t think you would hear me, I didn’t mean to lure you, I promise–”

“Lure me?”

“My song,” Virgil explained. “You heard me singing.”

“Yes I did,” Roman said with a smile. “It was lovely.”

“Yeah, well, if a human hears my song they get sort of...bewitched? You’ll see your heart’s desire, and have no choice but to follow it. So I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” Roman asked with a laugh. “Newsflash Virgil, I was only coming over because I wanted to hear you sing more. I didn’t see my heart’s desire or anything, I just saw you in your boat, like always.”

Virgil’s heart just about stopped beating right then and there, but he forced his face to remain blank.

“Oh...alright then, I’m uh. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Roman smiled his big, boisterous smile at him, but it suddenly turned shy, and Virgil frowned.

“Do you think you could...do it again?” Roman asked, and Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Sing with you?”

Roman nodded, and slowly a smile spread across Virgil’s face.

“I’d love to.”

--- --- ---

It had been just over a month, and Virgil’s wounds finally seemed to be completely healed. Logan had looked them over and declared them sufficiently healed, and Virgil swore up and down that the cuts no longer pained him, though there were thin lines of scar tissue up and down his pale purple skin that would forever serve as a reminder to the terrifying ordeal he’d been through. Roman had half a mind to find the crew of The Carlotta again and exact vengeance on behalf of his beloved siren.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Roman’s face turned bright red, and he tried to push it back down into whatever crevice in his heart it had crawled out of, but it was too late. The thought was released into his mind, and now that it was free it was determined to be as loud and noticeable as possible.

Beloved, beloved, beloved.  

It was the day Virgil was going to back to the ocean, and Roman didn’t want him to go.

One look at the expressions on his love’s faces as they all gathered on the deck to say goodbye was all he needed to know that they felt the same as him. They had been together long enough to easily tell what the others were feeling, and they all three were painfully aware of how much they would miss Virgil when he was gone. A tiny selfish part of Roman said that he should stay here on the Sea Serpent forever, but unlike his first unbidden thought of the day, this one passed like a wave across the sea before he even had time to process it. For as much as he might want Virgil to stay, he wanted him to be happy much more. And Virgil could never be happy living confined on a ship like this. He deserved his freedom, and Roman’s heart would count itself privileged to have known Virgil while it could.

“Are you ready?”

Logan’s tone was careful and even, but Roman knew his boyfriend well. His voice was too clipped, too measured. He may not be as obvious as Patton trying to hold back tears, but he was just as upset that Virgil was leaving as Roman himself was.

“I think so,” Virgil said. He spoke with so much more confidence now than he had the day they had met, and Roman let himself feel proud that they’d been able to break through Virgil’s rough exterior in the time they’d had to know him.

“Thank you. For everything,” Virgil added, and Roman nodded.

“We’ll miss you, Virgil,” Patton said tearfully, and Virgil smiled softly at him.

“I’ll miss you too, Pat.”

Patton knelt down to hug him, then stepped back so Logan could grasp his hand.

“Thank you for teaching me so much, Virgil. I must admit, I will miss our talks.”

“Me too, Lo,” Virgil said, and then he looked at Roman.

Roman stooped and pressed a kiss to Virgil’s cheek before he could stop himself.

“So long, Dark and Gloomy.”

Virgil looked stunned, but he managed a smile back.

“So long, Princey.”

Virgil looked at the three of them one last time before he turned and pulled himself up over the railing of the ship and disappeared with a splash into the ocean below.

“Oh gee, I’m gonna miss him so much,” Patton sighed, leaning onto Logan’s chest.

“As am I, Patton,” Logan agreed quietly.

Roman did not speak, but he knew he didn’t need to. He turned instead to go help his brother haul the water out of the cargo hold, hoping that the distraction would keep his mind off his feelings.

But before he made it very far, there was a great *splash* behind him, and he turned just in time to see Virgil land back on the deck with a rather comical flopping sound.

“Virgil!” Patton cried, and Virgil took a deep breath.

“Ifitsallthesametoyouguysidliketostayhere,” he rushed out, and Roman’s heart leaped with hope.

“I...I’m sorry, did you say…?” Logan looked confused, but a teensy bit hopeful as well, and Patton was outright beaming.

“Did you say you wanna stay here, kiddo?” he asked, and Virgil nodded, his cheeks flushing a dark purple.

“It...it doesn’t have to be in the dinghy all the time,” he said. “I can swim in the ocean sometimes, catch my own food, that kinda thing. But um...yeah. I’d like to stay with the Sea Serpent. With...with you guys, if that’s okay with–”

“Nothing would make us happier,” Roman said firmly, and Virgil looked up, a shy smile spreading across his face.

“Really?”

“Really,” Roman said, just as Patton squealed and dropped to the deck to wrap Virgil in another hug.

“Get down here, you two,” he ordered, and Roman smiled as he and Logan knelt beside them and allowed themselves to be pulled into the hug.

It was a little bit crowded, and Roman’s shirt was getting wet from where he was pressed against Virgil’s back, but he didn’t care. Right here, sitting on the deck of his ship with the sun overhead and his three loves in his arms, was exactly where Roman wanted to be.

--- --- --- 

Sanders Sides Taglist (pt.1): @lizethemotherlycat,  @coffeestudylive, @logically-asexual,  @migraine-marathon, @princeyssash,  @idontevenfreakingknow22, @tree4life25, @spacevirgil, @virgiltheanxious, @thebaagelboy,  @msu82, @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2, , @thesleepyraziel, @bobolovesoze,  @littlemiracle05, @pattson,  @nerd-in-space, @thesides,  @stay-in--place​, @ravenclawunicorn1​, @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes​, @michealawithana​, @anotherfandomtrasher​ , @fandomsofrandom​,  @a-deliciouslyfadingcollection​, @nightmarejasmine​, @xxfoxit​, @quoth-the-sparrow​, @katatles-the-fish​, @misty-the-mysterious​, @alyssadashrub​, @punkassplonker​, @noctisvalex​, @i-sold-my-soul-to-thefandom​, @funsizedgremlin​, @vigilantvirgil​, @nonamefightergirl​, @thomasbemyfriend​, @starsinger​ , @milomeepit​, @justabookworm39​, @shortandfantastic​, @thesilentbluesparrow​, @royallyanxious​, @mirror2thespirit​, @coffee-stains-paper-and-ink​, @silverrhayn​, @mooksie01​, @backatthebein​, @nye275​, @anastasialestina​, @callboxkat​, @a-lexicon-of-words​, @emeraldfoxface​, @peachie-keeen​, @llamaly​, @witch19​,  @heythereprincey​, @bring-it-on-perra​, @nienna14​, @bubblycricket​, @thomasfandersunite​, @slightlyobssesive���,  @logicallyanxious​, @apologetically-anxious​, @keys117​, @digitally-analog​, @ocotopushugs​, @warping-reality​,  @grey-lysander​, @your-username-is-unavailable​, @hikariyukino​, @theresneverenoughfandoms​, @virgil-sanderssss​, @violetmcl​, @thatfandomfollower​, @nothingelsemattersme​, @cdragontogacotar​, @narniasfinestavengingsociopath, @absentmindedproff​, @fantasyandfairfolk​, @virgilsblogofanxietys​, @your-average-outcast​, @sanderstalker​, @galaxy-warping​, @queen-of-all-things-snuggly​ @a-little-bit-of-ace​, @faithfreedom-art​ @therealhmmlingle​ @xxladystarlightxx​, @morgan-the-art-girl​, @stormcrawler75​ @wowitsmyblog​, @romanssippycup​, @lunalikesgamesandstuff, @lamp-calm-sanders​, @musikasworld​ @cyberpunkjinx​, @mauvelavender​ @samathekittycat​ @black-out-wonder​ @i-read-by-lamp​ @ravenclawicecream​ @nashiraneko​ @lucifer-in-my-head​ @ladyartemisia28​ @awesome-and-unique-username​ @zoalis @entpscarleharrrr @raygelkitty @zeldahadasword @gubbalupagus @musicphanpie-b @virgilssweaterpaws, @faacethefacts @a-simple-fryingpan @pinkeasteregg @punknerdmusings @imantisocialgetoverit @anuninspiredpoet  @awkward-avocado-of-death, @poison-lyra @modcarbz, @thisrandomperson102,  @skydiamcnds @just-another-starfish, @thepoolofthedead,  

[lamski]

Personal Archiving:.

A NEW ARCHIVIST HAS BEEN APPOINTED. BUT HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY APPOINTED HIM? 

IS HE NOT RATHER ACTING ON HIS OWN INSTRUCTIONS?… 

HE WILL NOT CONCERN HIMSELF WITH WHAT PREVIOUS ARCHIVISTS HAVE TREATED IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS: PROPOSITIONS AND PHRASES. 

HE WILL IGNORE BOTH THE VERTICAL HIERARCHY OF PROPOSITIONS WHICH ARE STACKED ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER, AND THE HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP ESTABLISHED BETWEEN PHRASES IN WHICH EACH SEEMS TO RESPOND TO ANOTHER.

– NEW ARCHIVIST, GILLES DELEUZE

Most of us comb through a lifelong collection of personal items, papers and photos either when we have no other job - typically in retirement or when we have to deal with the belongings of a deceased loved one. Often the job seems daunting and overwhelming that our natural response is to get discouraged and say, “I don’t know where to begin” or “It’s too much; I’ll do it some other time” or worse, “I’ll just get rid of it all.”

If you want to start and complete project. You just have to, not over think it, start simply, separate items broadly at first and, in the end, accept your final sorting decisions as “good enough.”

To quote Albert Einstein: ‘If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you probably don’t understand it yourself.’

Don’t dwell on individual photos or letters yet. Think about the entire collection as a mass of related things. “You’ll feel overwhelmed if you think, ‘I have a hundred plus things to sort out.” or “You can paralyse yourself by over scrutinising.”

Be prepared that your collection will take up space and time as you sift through it, so plan what you are going to do and where you are going to do it.

Nothing is perfect - after sorting the collection into groups. You’ll have some intellectual control over it that you didn’t have before.If you want you can go even deeper into sorting stuff out, like by date or by topic or by location or by whom etc...

Next stage is to digitise them and personally, the best method is by scanning the items. 

If you’ve got digital files, organise and back them up - best to have 2/3 copies in two different places. (i.e. one on an external drive and a copy uploaded to an online drive) 

Personal collections can be a way to tell a story about your life or the life of a loved one. Old items give you a sense of the people who owned them, even if there’s not much to the photos, letters or the cards. It shows you what they valued. What they did, what they ate, what holidays they celebrated. They provide a voice and by grouping them together you release a kind of narrative.

Not everyone values this stuff but if you archive it, it will be there for somebody in a later generation. There may be one person who really cares about their family history and will be glad to have it.

[snowtimeisbesttime]

Thoughts and questions on Volume 10, routes 1 and 2! ...finally.

-Back in Homestuck both Feferi and Eridan got the short end of the stick screentime-wise, but here, they both got a nice bunch of much-needed Interesting Stuff! It's a shame we're (almost surely) heading back to Earth now, to befriend the heck out of the alpha kids.

~ROUTE 2~

-MC expected the Heiress to be super awful, and then Feferi has literally 2 good endings (whose achievements seem to be reversed route-wise?) and her bad ending you get by actively choosing not to further interact with her. And of course, she's already very much against the Empire, even if she doesn't quite seem to interact with it...

-Maybe I read too many fanfics where all of the beta trolls rebel, but I'm kinda surprised that The Rebellion's still a Vriska & Terezi only thing. Let's hope we get to see if Fef does join up...

-Looks like the whole “Witches living in the middle of nowhere with their extremely powerful guardians” thing is starting to become a trend, huh? In Feferi's specific case her meteor probably fell right in front of Gl'bgolyb (a pretty damn large area, actually), who would’ve then immediately gone “holy shit a sky baby” and adopted her.

-Considering that the Condesce can just come down to Alternia and personally get rid of the Heiress (singular, explicitly), living so far from everything was probably a blessing in disguise. And maybe also NOT being involved with how the planet's run- though we'd have to ask a certain Trizza Hiveswap about that...

-She was planning on waiting thousands of sweeps before challenging the Condesce, though iirc the whole thing with Heiresses challenging HIC was something demanded by their shared lusus... She didn't really bother with future ruling plans in Homestuck because they were going to play SGRUB; though Glubglub also bonded more strongly with Feferi because HIC was too far from Alternia... enough to actively favor her over the Empress?

-We also get even more confirmation that seadwellers are OP: Feferi blows up a huge air bubble (that stays on the ocean floor) for MC not to drown like it's nothing, and she's very likely even stronger than Equius*. Meanwhile, Eridan gets thrown through a party cannon (that was just there on the airship for reasons i guess??) AND has Daraya's mall thrown at him by Sollux, and practically walks it off, though he does say later that it was close. You know who'd be a Great Additional Data Point??? Cridea Jeevik.......

-*However, they would not fight, as they both stan Nepeta. On a more serious note, having Feferi interact on-screen with the other trolls would've been very nice... she's hanging out with Sollux in Eridan's route but We Don't See It... We know she's friends with Kanaya, and she also had a pretty nice interaction with Vriska back on one of the walkaround flashes too,

-On seadwellers in general- neck gills are canon (though if i remember correctly a Very Old Tumblr Post, that'd actually not be the best place to have gills? Idk tho), as we can see in Feferi's route; and then we have Eridan, who we know has spent very little time underwater in his entire life, with his scarf *and* a high neck shirt. (this might just be me but. wouldn't it be super uncomfortable to have clothing touching one's gills??? i guess it would kinda depend on the specific take on gills, biology wise)

-Feferi owns a ~fancy air-producing conch shell~, so that's that for any fan seadwellers that Need to have landdwelling friends over.

-MC theorizes that there might be something that makes adult empresses evil... something external, such as a powerful curse of some sort... which would have to transfer from dead empress to freshly crowned empress somehow... really makes you think...

-Feferi can use one of Glubglub's eyes (?) as a crystal ball from which she can access the Actual Dark Motherfucking Carnival, and get metaphysical advice from there. And the one giving her said advice is our precious clown son Karako, who may or may not have gotten like 10 degrees on weird meta shit since we last saw him- assuming he's the same bapy as last time...

-According to Karako or whomstever is speaking through him, there's a creator above this world's creator, as well as another creator above him, and another one above her, and so on and so forth maybe? Wonder what's this setting up for........

-Feferi can either meditate her way up through layers and layers of meta, so she might access them and interact with them, or choose to change stuff in the Alternia she knows and lives in, small as it may be; both these endings have a lot of potential for cool stuff that I hope we'll get to see. Depending on the choice, MC is either a cheese or a marshmallow.

-In Fef's bad end, MC wonders about the workings and limits of their plot armor; they do give it a good whirl in this entire volume.

-I am incredibly pleased to announce that the ally/eely pun also works in Spanish (aliado/anguilado)

~ROUTE 1~

-We find out that both Vriska and Feferi have dumped Eridan- the first's likely busy being gay and doing revolutions with Terezi, but what happened (besides charming quirks such as charging for listening to him brooding) to make Fef break it off? In Homestuck she broke things off with him as soon as they were in the game and Glubglub didn't have to be fed 413 lusii a minute, but there's no SGRUB in Pesterquest; we see Fef's mom in her route, yet we don't hear anything about Eridan's whole Orphaner Jr thing...

-Regarding his additional lack of friends: it's perfectly understandable that Kanaya would drop him, considering she had to deal with a lot of his bullshit back in the comic, but I thought Karkat was actually friends with Eridan? Before Murderstuck of course, but that's obviously not happened in Pesterquest...

-Eridan's 13 years old (and also in charge of feeding glubglub, let's not forget that), where the hell has he found the time to make a nuisance of himself (to the point where employees in some places are legally allowed to stab him if he bothers them) on like half the actual planet????

-MC's reaction when confronted with a room full of fancy clothing is, of course, Big Hype... And wanting something new for their wardrobe.

-so, are Eridan and Roxy nb wizard solidarity?

-Chances are everybody’s already seen this by now orz but I need it to establish a base: Hussie's made an statement where he explained -amongst other things- Eridan's deal with Shrek, originally from [S] Collide. That post could be summarized as:

1) highblood lusii tend to suck ass because of high expectations and low emotional availability, & seahorsedad wasn't an exception; so when the trolls were looking up human stuff back in the meteor and Eridan found Shrek, he saw him as a Good Lusus Figure.

2) Sollux, however, has a good dad that loves and supports his trans son (as sollux trans confirmed) and is also Kinda Ogre Shaped, and Eridan resents him for that → rivalry

3) (it's also confirmed that the eridan from [s] collide was legitimately so happy to be spending time with his dad shrek that he never realized he was dead)

-So: where did Eridan (more like whoever’s in charge of the cinema actually?) get Shrek 2 from if he's never had any contact with humans in this timeline / reality / canon chunk??? It might be one of the Funky Timeline Changes we made in Aradia's route.

-Also: if Eridan knows Sollux is trans (implied in the post but not confirmed), then the conversation the two have later in the route (and specifically Why Eridan begins that conversation) kiiinda takes a dump on his talk about gender (which otherwise is a very good sign that he's got the potential to be a decent person IF he gets his shit together and also thinks about other things -most obviously the hemospectrum- with the same level of depth and all that).

-MC's had their first taste of their Homestuck memories. Let's see how they get them back this time.

-not to self plug (too much) but one of Eridan's fancy articles of clothing looks a Lot like an outfit that's appeared in Mirrorbent?? (← warning for a bit of blood) The one with the purple and yellow gradient in the rack furthest to the right... the one in mirrorbent is basically Gramma Loreto Rights: The Jacket

-After the rollercoaster of hapenings that is his route, Eridan finally understands that he's got to change himself and unlearn all of Alternia's bullshit if he wants his situation to change for the better. Can't believe it took getting An Actual Mall thrown at him to make him realize that...........

-(That mall is of course the one from Daraya's Friendsim- and she sure felt like a Destruction class back then... 2x hopeprince combo mayhaps?)

-Kanaya said in Sollux's route that it was less than advisable for him to overexert his powers, and the only thing he *doesn't* use here is his psionic blasts- hope he's fine! (then again this is probably our last volume on alternia and blah blah blah)

[evolutionsvoid]

If you have ever heard tales from sailors, you have probably gotten the impression that the sea is haunted and filled with monsters. There is no shortage of beasts that wish to crack open ships and feast upon the helpless crew, or so they say. I tend to think that these stories are a tad hyperbolic, and that every ship lost to sea is always blamed on some unfathomable monstrosity. Sure, there are things down there that do eat people, but ships can just sink on there own, you know? My ramblings aside, if you have heard these tales then you probably heard of the sirens. Strange beasts that use their voices to captivate prey and lure them to their deaths, like causing a ship to steer right into a jagged reef. According to these stories, though, the sirens responsible are fish-like monsters with slimy skin and gills. Those are indeed actual creatures you can find out in the sea, but they are not the only sirens around! In fact, there are two different families of sirens that exist (which make things quite confusing), with each gaining this moniker due to their entrancing vocalizations. Besides having these abilities, the two really don't have much else in common! I mean, one family is avian and the other is related to fish! The bird ones are referred to as True Sirens, while the amphibious ones are commonly called Sea Sirens (though this may vary depending on the region). The reason I bring up the tales of sailors is because many people believe that sirens are fishy beasts that are found only in the sea. In truth, they are found in many other places, and they tend to have feathers over scales! The siren in this entry is proof of that, as they are often found quite far from water! Instead of the salty waters of the sea, the Canyon Siren prefers to make its nest on the rocky cliffs of mountains and canyons. Its greatly elongated limbs and strong claws allows it to climb practically any surface it encounters, scrabbling along like a spider on the wall. It is a rather unique member of its family due to its quadrupedal gait, using every limb to climb even the most impossible cliff faces. It is so committed to this lifestyle that its wings have shrunken and become hooked appendages that are used for hanging and holding. With these specialized limbs, the Canyon Siren will seek out cliffs and steep slopes to build its nest and establish its territory. It will look for holes, pockets or outcroppings in the rock where it can rest and escape inclement weather. These openings do not need to be very big, as this species is quite flexible and can squeeze into some pretty tight spots! In cases where the nesting hole is small, the Canyon Siren will enter it backwards, as there is no room to turn itself around inside. Once stuffed in, its forelimbs may hang from the opening, both to save on space and to keep its limbs free in case it needs to flee or fight. If you ever notice a part of a cliff that has a pair of dangling arms, then you have probably spotted a Canyon Siren resting or waiting. Unless you are specifically seeking this species out or you have a really good pair of earplugs, I highly suggest you give that cliff side a wide berth. You may not have a ship to crash, but you do have a body that doesn't respond so well to falling from great heights. With the siren name, you probably have an idea of what tricks this beast has up its sleeve. Looking at its head and neck you will notice tubes and holes that are used for air intake and vocalization. Like all other members of its family, the Canyon Siren possesses a pair of external larynges that run from its head to its body. These tubes sport many openings and pipes which it uses to create a wide variety of sounds and calls. Combining all these structures together allows the Canyon Siren to produce many sounds for extraordinary lengths of time. Air is brought in through the trachea, run through the body and then flushed out the external larynges, making it so that it rarely has to pause for a breath. This is important, because the Canyon Siren relies on its voice to hunt prey and secure a meal. When the time to hunt arrives, the siren will leave its hole and climb to its ideal hunting spot. These locations are usually right below the edge of a cliff, on top a steep slope or near a precarious set of steps. These spots also have places where it can hide its body from sight, sticking to shadows, holes or barriers to escape notice. Once there, it shall keep an eye and ear out for possible prey. Clever and crafty, the sirens are able to spot prey and establish a strategy specific to the species it targets. For predators, it may create the sound of wounded prey to lure in the hungry and curious. For others, often females, it will mimic the cries of their offspring to catch their attention. If that fails, the siren will use its strongest weapon available. 

By looping air through its body and larynges, it will create a droning "song." At first this ceaseless warble will not affect the target, as it requires the siren to "tune" it to the specific individual. By quickly cycling through pitch, tone and rhythm, the siren will eventually land upon the perfect song that shall react with the prey's brain. It is believed that they can induce a state of auditory bliss that will place the victim in an oblivious trance-like state. Those affected will mindlessly head to the source, which the siren wants. Some may wonder why the siren doesn't do this for all prey, but that is because this method consumes much more energy than simple vocal mimicry. It is preferred that they lure prey over with simple whines and cries, as it is more efficient. Regardless of the method used, the siren will lure victims to a precarious perch and then strike. Those under cliff edges will lurch up and snag prey with a long talon, and then drag them over the side. Those atop a high perch will lash out and cause victims to slip and fall, sending them plummeting to their doom. Despite their hooked beaks and sharp talons, Canyon Sirens prefer to let gravity do the dirty work. Once prey has splattered itself on the rocks below, the siren will scramble down and dine on the remains. This meal is done messily and hastily, as the siren is most vulnerable on the flat ground. Turns out many predators don't want to mess with a creature when the two of them are clinging desperately to a sheer cliff. On the other hand, the Canyon Siren likes that idea a lot. Mountain goats and other climbing creatures will face harassment from the siren whenever they are within its territory. It will slash and scream at victims, looking to screw them up and make them fall. If they don't succeed in scaring them into an accident, they may just grab hold and pull. For these reasons, it is not advised to go rock climbing when a Canyon Siren is around. Due to their hunting methods and vocal abilities, Canyon Sirens are despised by all who live near cliffs and mountains. Those who raise livestock in these conditions know them as pests, while those who travel these areas see them as a deadly threat. One may think the advice to take ear plugs when exploring the mountains and canyons may sound bizarre, but it is a lifesaver. In areas where sirens are often encountered, signs will be posted warning of the danger. They will often tell you to turn back, but if you are too brave or stupid, they say to bring ear plugs and be wary of distressing sounds. Those who dare walk these territories should question the cries of a baby or the sounds of a wounded animal. If you hear a wavering, droning sound, like air rushing through a broken pipe organ, then immediately don the ear plugs. This noise is the Canyon Siren tuning its song, and it is your one chance to block your hearing and avoid its effects. This was the very advice I followed while I did my research on this species, and the fact I am writing this now is a testament to its wisdom. It turns out Canyon Sirens are omnivores who will dine on the occasional fruit and plant, so mulched dryad isn't off their menus. By keeping an ear out for their song and quickly muffling my hearing, I was able to study them without ever falling to their effects (pun not intended). Keep in mind that this advice still applies when you are at the base of a cliff or mountain. Though you aren't high up or near a place where you can fall, the song can make you do some dumb stuff. Those entranced may try to climb to reach the source of the heavenly sound, and this effort will not end well. Either they slip up and fall, or they will reach the siren and get a face full of talons for their efforts. Even if you don't fall far enough to die, a couple of broken bones will make you easy prey. The siren doesn't like to fight for its meal, but it can finish off incapacitated prey if need be. Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian ---------------------------------------------------------- Any fantasy world or place of myth needs sirens! Originally I thought of them as fish monsters, but further research found that sirens were originally bird-like creatures. I liked the idea and went with that, but I still will keep the water-dwelling sirens around as well! And who settles for just one type of siren? Not I, so that means it is a whole family! Looks like the basilisks and cockatrices have company!

[phthalology]

@oops-gingermoment tagged me to blather on about writing and things ...

Q: What is your coffee order?

Lately, basically anything with French vanilla.

Q: What is the coolest thing you’ve ever done?

Driven a mostly-autonomous car along a desert highway, a situation in which, as Gill once suggested, I constantly reside spiritually 

Q: Who has been your biggest mentor?

In college I had a favorite professor, but we also wrote very different things, and try as I did to replicate his philosophy it was mostly an external curiosity rather than something that actually shaped my thinking. I’ve had professional writing mentors, but nobody really in the fanfic world that took me under their wings. 

Q: What has been your most memorable writing project?

If There Are Wolves Among The Stars, the big Halo project, for which I still occasionally get reviews and facts corrected. There’s something almost cute about getting a review from FFN on like chapter 25 of a 40-chapter story that just tells me I’ve gotten a military designation from fiction from 2010 wrong. 

Q: What does your writing path look like, from the earliest days until now?

 Ariana’s answer starts with “I was a dorky kid,” and I don't think there’s a better answer than that. For some reason, I was always too stubborn to stop.

Q: What is your favourite part about writing?

About two sentences from the end on a story that could be someone else’s. 

Q: What does a typical day look like for you?

I have a day job (writing also, ostensibly, although it’s really about 20 percent prose and 80 percent aggregation, curation, and office nonsense). So writing happens after that and on weekends and probably a bit too much for my friends who prefer to schedule things on short notice. 

Q: What does your writing process look like?

I do outline and make notes in Pages, and then fill in the rest in the same doc. For fanfic I usually need an impetus (I won’t go so far as to call it either a “plot” or a “story”), a theme, and a vague conception of dialogue and tone in order to kick off an outline. Then there’s the social media procrastination and the staring and gnashing of teeth and the carpentry of it. 

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve gotten?

I can’t answer a question with the word “best” in it, it’s too vague. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how Jeff VanderMeer said an occupation is not a story. 

Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

Heugh, “biggest” is almost as bad as “best.” I don’t mean to bash the questions, I just can’t spend an hour navel-gazing and tallying up what “big” means to me. Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott is a good book, no guarantees it has helped my writing but I find it very meditative.

Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to start writing?

Don’t do it!

This is literally the opposite of Ariana’s answer. I promise, it’s not as grim as it seems. It’s just that if you haven’t started writing yet, sometimes there’s this perception that it’s a fun hobby, a thing that will give you some fulfillment. And if it is that, I hope it has fulfilled and provided fun for you, but I also don’t think you’re the one asking this question. If you haven’t started writing yet and you have another source of happiness and hobby in your life, please do that one instead. You already know you like it. It might not involve as much comparing yourself to others and re-writing and worrying. Writing is fun but it’s also this compulsive thing, these layers upon layers of craft and philosophy and carpentry and crap that eventually you might get tired and jaded about like me in my weak-willed career-mindedness, and if you haven’t started yet you might ask yourself why you’ve been spared. You’re allowed to Not Write.

But if you really want to, go one word at a time. (This is trick advice: the thing is, the others follow. That’s how sentence structure works.) 

Sign out of Twitter. 

Don’t forget the û in Savathûn.

And fall in love with something. Find the thing that holds a mirror up to you and shows you that the field behind you is beautiful, actually. Then, without turning around, describe the field. You’ll get in your own way a lot, but I promise there’s a neat part just past your spine.