#i should do a species sheet for each of them

[boyybites]

what if i made offbrand tieflings that were just giant hell cows huh, what then?

[route-to-eutopia-if]

Route to Eutopia - New WIP IF

DEMO(28K) I CHARACTER DOSSIERS I PLAYLIST (TBA)

You have one year left to live.

But are you afraid of dying? Probably not. Since you don’t even know how to live your life. You have been hidden away from public eye since young. And the only friend you have is an Alter, humanoid species born to only serve other people and nothing else. Alters live so ‘people like you’ could live.

That makes the two of you. Alive. But never here. Never lived.

If opportunities arise, would you take a chance to change it? Only you can answer.

In a world where feeling nothing at all is better than letting your emotions rule over you, your choice to break those rules and make a change will paint a new shade of history that no one ever could. 

Hidden behind shut doors to live your quiet life as a secret child of Bastien Palmer, Sole Leader of Eutopia paradise, you never experience anything except for repeating the same old routine your entire life. You are the existence which should not be known, not just for the reason that you are the byproduct of your father and his secret lover. But also because of your frightening ‘Alter-like’ eye color, most of it is silver like any Stargaze–but nevertheless… tinted shamefully by crimson streaks.

You are told to stay away from public eyes for the sake of Palmer’s reputation in which you feel obliged to. However, your life of peaceful solitude will never be the same again after tonight…

Route to Eutopia is a violent dystopian loosely-conceptual interactive story where you are a bystander surrounded by The Chosen One of your own choice. You are to designate whether this story will head towards the direction of mutual peace between Alters– a human-like species believed to be plagued by uncured disease since birth– and Stargazers —a group of survivors whose ancestors once lived on a faraway planet before an inevitable disaster occurred and forced them to flee into another dimension, or towards a doom fate that cannot be reversible.

To be noted; RtE is a heavily-relationship based game (not necessarily in platonic/romantic sense) each of your interactions with any character will determine the tone and purpose of their motivation. Any choice you have chosen, make sure to embrace the consequences of your action at your own expense.

With that being said, it is also worth mentioning that you don’t need to engage into a romance or specific relationship with any character to complete the story.

RtE also rated 18+ for strong language, suggestive contents, disturbing topics such as racism, sexism, discrimination against queer people, explicit descriptions of violence, murders, drug use and sexual behaviors of certain characters with optional intercourse scenes.

Setting

RtE takes place in a post-apocalypse society where the concept of time is lost and any history known was only speculations at best and rumour at worst. Trying to maintain their sense of utopia, Stargazers built and operated their space colony as a temporary base for self-preservation (in which only fews know details about) called ‘Eutopia’. 

In this dystopian paradise people’s sole purpose of living was fixated on surviving. And in order to do that, the whole population creates a solid ground rule not to let themselves ‘feel’ about other emotions that do not serve for public favors. Hence, you will be challenged to adapt to several situations and handpick the best flavor of your actions based on the emotions you have learnt or developed from your surroundings.

Who do you play as?

For now, you will be playing as a secret child of Bastien Palmer, the leader of Stargazers who already has a wife and two other perfect children, your younger sister and brother. Ones you have never interacted with nor you ever get the chance to.

MCs subjectively considered a white sheet which you can paint anything on by your preferences. Explore the world full of colorful emotions or bottomless pit of numbness by your own choices. 

But remember, Eutopia is a place where everything goes according to one simple rule ‘To survive’ hence the marriage between a man and woman will be set as the norm and only truth, and someone who will state otherwise must face and suffer the ugliness of social standards accordingly. However, I do not encourage any transphobic/homophobic behavior of the characters in this story. Please kindly be assured of that.

There might be a chance where you can start off as other characters, that is, however, still a subject-to-change matter as of now.

Introduction to the Chosen Ones [ ROs]

**Please be aware of mild spoilers below**

Vegaris (M/F) 19 Star-crossed lovers or Nemesis route, The Rebel.

They would do anything to survive, even if it means to betray the only person who trusts them deeply… like you.

Vegaris is an Alter who has so many sides hidden behind closed doors. Unpredictable, cunning, hot and cold are the words that describe them best. Due to their traumatic childhood (much like other Alters on Eutopia), they have a deep-root hatred for Stargazers. Although they were brought in by your family and treated almost the same as one of your father’s own kids. They still witness the unfairness of being an Alter in society and never afraid to point the wrong in other people’s doings. 

Their usual mask, however, is one where you cannot crack open that easily. They always remain calm and composed in front of you, and only show their fangs when circumstances arise.

Dana/Darren Regency (M/F) 22 Childhood friends, Forbidden route, The Face.

For a person who seems to be easy to read as much as an open-book, they sure talk with silence better than with their own voice.

A poster girl/boy for Regency Academy. Your former childhood friend (for some unknown reason, they're trying their hardest to avoid you) and an only child to the Head of Deans at Regency, Sandalphon. They are the precise image of how one should raise a Stargazer. Being a honor student. A model citizen. And a perfect ideal partner. They are assigned to be married with the most capable genetic-wise fiancé. As popular as they appear to be to the public, their private life (as private as it can be) is still a gigantic loophole for most imprudent reporters trying to catch even just a glimpse.

It seems like what they are trying to avoid is not just you, but the entirety of Eutopia.

Sandalphon Regency (M/F) 40 Age-difference, Single-parent route, The Pacifist.

Do you believe in something just because it's true, or it becomes the truth only when you believe in it?

Sandalphon is the most powerful influence among the deans of Regency. A group of people that has control over governing matters even beyond that of Bastien Palmer, the President. For Sandal, they are anything and everything people could ever ask for in a Regency. Kind, generous, well-versed with every branch of knowledge in the universe. Never wrong in anything. And never judge anyone based on their bias.

If only people knew the truth, they’d probably beg to differ.

Maybe they are just good at hiding beneath that gentle facade, maybe a calculated mind with strings to pull works best with neutral suggestions... who knows?

One more hidden character will be revealed in the demo, Into the Madness route, The Savior.

[ Classified info. ]

**There will be two sub ROs and flings to be introduced later in the story.**

More info will be announced.

Demo 1st update : 24/01/2024 Chapter 1 (28k codes excluded)

Datalog is completed roughly til the end of the story. Coding and polishing will certainly take time. Any more updates will be announced solely on this blog.

Reblogging is appreciated. Thank you!

[maximilliansblog]

How to build your first fursuit head for ~$100 USD (2023)

What’s good furries? I’m sure a lot of you have a fursona and want to make your first fursuit. I recommend starting with a partial just in case you mess up or fall out of the hobby. It’s also less expensive!

This tutorial will only cover the head. I haven’t made any of the other stuff and I’m probably going to buy it online premade because I’m lazy.

1.) Have a reference sheet for your fursona.

If you are an artist, draw (the best you can) a reference sheet of your fursona from the front, side, and back. I made a little turnaround animation for mine, but this is not necessary.

Not an artist? Don’t want to draw? Commission someone to do it for you. I recommend Etsy, but you can find furry artists with open commissions all over the internet.

No money for commissions? You might be out of luck. Ask a friend or draw it the best you can. Alternatively, you can edit someone else’s fursona reference sheet to make it look like your fursona. Yeah, it’s stealing. Just don’t post it and act like it’s yours 👍

You can also go into the Roblox game, Catalogue Avatar Creator, and assemble something that looks kind of like your fursona. Take a screenshot of it from the front, side, and back, then go into a photo editor (I recommend IbisPaint or MediBang Paint, they are both free) and add in your special details.

I recommend not making your first fursuit super complicated or some kind of rare species. But you do you. It will just be really hard.

Also determine what style of fursuit you want. Toony? Kemono? Realistic? (I don’t recommend realistic for your first fursuit but you do you). This will be important later.

2.) Find Shit to Build It With

Once again, I recommend Etsy. You’ll need:

+ all the fur colors you need (try 2-3)

+ eye mesh

+ 3D printed mask

+ hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (dollar store)

+ needle and thread (dollar store or Walmart)

+ balaclava

+ styrofoam head

+ fabric scissors

+ extra foam pieces for ears or horns

Assemble all of that. It should be around $80-120 USD.

Your 3D printed mask is the most important thing. Another reason to get a relatively common species. Mine was a dragon. Remember the fursuit style you picked earlier? Search on etsy “3d printed [style] [species] furry mask” and you should be able to find one. You can also get pre-made foam heads. I don’t recommend trying to make your own head base, because A) it’s hard and B) those materials cost more money.

This shit will take a while to come in so don’t get too excited about it. My mask took like a month because it came from Germany.

3.) Mark the Color Spots on your Head Base

Basically just take a sharpie and outline the different color regions on your headbase. You can also use a pencil if you’re a pussy /j

4.) Uhhhh Eyeball That Fabric Pattern and Hot Glue the Pieces to Your Headbase

Some people use duct tape to make a pattern. That did not work for me! So I eyeballed it. Made some mistakes. That’s okay.

5.) Trim Down the Fur Length

Most people use clippers for this but I didn’t want to buy any and I didn’t know how to use them so I did it VERY CAREFULLY with scissors.

6.) Fill in the Cracks Between Your Hot Glue Seams With Loose Fur

Look at all this damn fur on the floor! If only there was something to do with it!

Put hot glue between the super visible seams where you hotglued different pieces of fabric next to each other, then pack in some of that loose fur. Cut it down if it’s too long. The seams will be less visible.

7.) Hot Glue the Eye Mesh Behind the Eye Holes

VERY CAREFULLY hot glue this so your character isn’t cross-eyed. You can try follow-me eyes but I didn’t do that with mine.

8.) Add Your Extra Details

You know like whiskers or plastic teeth or a tongue or anything else you want to put on there.

Now you’re done with the mask part.

9.) CAREFULLY Hot Glue Your Balaclava to the Inside of the Mask

The eye hole should be where your eye mesh is so that you can see out. Also make sure some of the balaclava is glued to the top of the mask.

10.) Weigh Down Your Styrofoam Head With a Heavy Rock

Or put it on a stand. Or hot glue it to the table. Whatever works.

11.) Put the Balaclava that you Glued to the Mask on the Styrofoam Head

Pretty simple. The reason we weighed down the styrofoam head is because the front of your mask will be heavy and make it fall over while you’re trying to work.

12.) ????? Put Fur On the Balaclava

You’ll also need to like add some fur connecting the sides of the mask to the balaclava. Hard to explain. You’ll probably figure it out?

13.) Trim that Fur and Put the Trimmings in the Seams Like Before

14.) Take it off of the Styrofoam Head

You may need to cut a slit in the back of the neck of your fursuit head. Not only will it help get the styrofoam head out, now your head can get in and out too!

15.) Put it on

Edit it if something is wrong. It might feel crooked but it’s probably not.

16.) Enjoy!

Hopefully this was helpful! This is how made mine.

[objecthusbandry]

keeping objects as pets #2: lanterns!

hi there! in this series, i’ll be going over basic descriptions of commonly-kept object species (and some rare ones too!), facts about them, why you might want one as a pet, their basic needs and necessities provided you want to house one, and things you should NEVER do. for the second sheet in this series, we'll be talking about lanterns!

description

lanterns are a personal favorite of mine! they come in many shapes and sizes, in many different colors, but there are a few things that remain the same in each individual. lanterns are typically classified by scientists as being under the object group Lucerna, which consists of many light-emanating objects, including things such as lightbulbs, lamps, and even chandeliers and candles, but to be specific, i'm covering "standard" lanterns here ('oil'-powered metal and glass lanterns).

the limbs of lanterns are covered in plating, not unlike an exoskeleton found in things such as beetles. this plating is mainly composed of similar material to the metal of the object itself. the color of the limbs can vary, but is typically the same color as the rest of the object, albeit darker in tone. they have three toes on each foot, four-fingered hands, and no pawpads. they have no claws on their feet, but each finger is tipped with small, metallic claws, evolved to pick off the shells of nuts and fruits when necessary.

the 'oil' found in lantern objects isn't really oil as we know it! it's a unique substance produced by specialized glands within the body, used to create flames. this substance is highly prized in the scientific community and is often extracted painfully from objects, which (obviously) is absolutely disgusting. if you suspect your lantern was subjected to this practice, CALL THE AUTHORITIES and be ready to give over the proper paperwork. this injustice cannot continue.

facts about lanterns

contrary to popular belief by laypersons, these objects are frugivores. they derive their energy by consuming fruits, seeds, nuts, grain, etc., only occasionally supplementing their diet with insects, though this is uncommon to observe, especially in domestic species. their highly-specialized bodies are a result of millions of years of evolution; they are nocturnal, and evolved bioluminescence through flame to accommodate this schedule, as their eyesight tends to be poorer than many other nocturnal species. they do not stay lit during the day, and in fact, many domestic lanterns don't light themselves at all, unless their owners are encouraging them in exchange for treats. no lantern species stay lit all the time. overlighting can indicate stress and overstimulation. interestingly, their natural habitats are typically cold, so producing this extra heat might serve more benefits than first thought by scientists!

due to their fragile glass segments, these creatures are extremely skittish in the wild, and only through selective breeding have they become companions to us humans. they are rarely-seen during the night, and nearly nonexistent during the day. if you see a lantern in the wild during the day, please report it to your local object specialists; this is not a normal behavior and can be indicative of brain injury or emotional trauma. these objects are very solitary and do not trust others, even their own kind, easily if at all.

why as a pet?

lanterns, as their name implies, are great companions for people who work outdoors during twilight or night. they can be trained to emit light at specific times or under command, which can make them extremely helpful during the night or in dark buildings. they can also be wonderful support objects if properly socialized, though this is less common. due to their ability to produce flame, they commonly feel warm to the touch, which can be comforting to their owners.

basic needs + do’s and dont’s

as a nocturnal species, it's best to only adopt a lantern if you are willing to adapt to their schedule. i cannot stress this enough, you should not expect an object to adapt to your schedule, you should do the opposite and adapt to theirs. never yell at a lantern, they are extremely sensitive to loud noises and this is nearly guaranteed to break their trust, especially if you haven't had one for long. they aren't a very curious species, and prefer to not be overwhelmed with a multitude of toys - just a few will suffice. they will have a clear favorite, which can be quite amusing to first-time lantern owners.

housing

lanterns are mostly content in homes of average or smaller size. they don't need as much space as many other species, and in fact can be overwhelmed with too much open space. they like cozy spaces!

that’s all! hopefully this helps educate anyone who is considering this species!

[mercurygray]

Blind Dates 2024: Capt. Marion Brennan, WAC

My second submission for this year's @blind-dates-fest! I'd love to introduce you all to Marion Brennan.

Fandom: Masters of the Air (2023) The waiting was the worst part.

She’d been overseas for nearly a year now, and she could take everything else that came with the job in stride - the bloody faces, the vomit, the smell of piss and fear seeping out of flight suits, the way a boy tried to steady his shaking hands so that his buddies wouldn’t see that he was still scared. But the waiting was always fresh, always raw - and the fear returned anew each time the planes went up, and each time they came back down.

And when they came back down, she went to work. Except for today.

Marion surveyed the names on the large blackboard on the other side of the Operations Room, reading each one over as though she didn’t already know them all by heart. Her boys, day in and day out. Move them around, re-assign and re-group them, but she would know them even when their own mothers wouldn’t. Because I see them when no mother should - and hear the things no mother should ever have to hear.

Did you take any flak? Did you see any chutes?

And was he on the radio? What heading was that? Tell me what the plane’s condition was.

What time was that?

"Why, it’s barbaric," one of the new women had said once, after watching a particularly grueling session in the interrogation rooms. (Marion had made the flight engineer tell his part of the story twice, blood already clotting his face from a wound under his helmet, his face white with exhaustion.) "Making them tell you all that all over again. Those boys have just been through hell and you make them do it twice?"

Out loud, she explained about accurate after-action reports, finding coordinates for downed airmen, establishing times of death and declaring Killed In Action status. But it was more than that. If I have to explain it, you’ll never understand, Marion wanted to say. They come in bloody and shaking and afraid, and when we are done they leave the mission with me, and my girls, and I let them return to the world unburdened.

And who will do that for them in Telergma?

She knew the whole base was on edge. It was one thing to send out a task force knowing that they would come back to you, that after eight hours inside the inferno there was something you could do to ease their way in the world by bandaging a wound or patching a wing or serving a cup of coffee. But this waiting? This was the worst sort of waiting imaginable, because no one knew what they would find there. Was there an ambulance? Hot coffee? A bed with clean sheets?

When you land there, who will count you in? Who is there to care?

“Captain Brennan.” Marion turned away from the ops board to see Colonel Harding standing in the doorway. He looked like he’d slept in his uniform - a first, for him. Army Air Corps COs didn’t just fall asleep on couches, and men from West Point even less so. “I didn’t think you took shifts in this room.”

It was a polite way of saying that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be - and he was right. Captains didn’t take night shifts in the ops room - even female captains, whom Man and the Army had decreed a somewhat lesser species. She tugged a little at her jacket. “I sent Sergeant Wilcox along to bed - the poor girl was nearly asleep in her chair and I didn’t think she was much use to anyone in that state. ”

Harding didn’t seem to think much of that. “That shift change was hours ago. Where was her relief?”

More bad news. Marion took a breath and braced for impact. “Sergeant Hastings has the flu, and Wilcox thought she could use the rest. She didn't want to leave the post unmanned. I told her to go to bed. I can answer a telephone as well as the next woman.”

She waited for the blow to fall, but it didn’t come. If anything, Harding looked...impressed. “That was kind of you, Captain.”

Kind! What a word. But Harding wasn’t made of stone. Everyone was worrying about this one, and he knew it. It was one of the things that made him a good leader - that he had his nose in the wind, as it were, instead of being unreachable in his office with his reports. Still. Kind wasn’t a word you were supposed to use for officers. “It was also against regulations,” Marion acknowledged, trying to be as matter-of fact about it as she could. “You can write me up for it tomorrow morning  if you feel it's appropriate.”

Harding actually laughed at that, and she realized, belatedly, that it wasn’t a sound she heard very often. (And why should she? Most of the time they spent together was reviewing debriefing reports.) “Do I already have a reputation for being that much of a hard-ass, Captain?” He winced and paused. “My apologies. My language.”

And just where do you think I’ve been the last twelve months, Colonel? Curse as much as you like - I won’t break for hearing it. “I've heard worse, sir,” she assured him. “Regulations exist for a reason, and as the CO you're responsible for maintaining order and making sure your instructions are followed. Including watch rotations. It might be good to set an example. ” He looked impressed by the answer - possibly more than he needed to be. “My father was a West-Pointer, sir. Career Army, too.”

That, at least, impressed him where it needed to. “Is that so?” He studied her for a moment, processing this new information. “I can see that, now that you've said it. Is that how you got here?”

She nodded. “We moved a lot as a kid, and when I turned 18...Army life was all I knew. I started as a clerk, and worked hard, got a few promotions here and there, and when they let us put in for overseas assignments...” She let that hang for a moment, smiling as she thought about what she’d been spared because she hadn’t gotten what she wanted all those years ago. “I never did make it to Manila, or Maui, but maybe that’s for the best. Hamilton Field was about as far West as I got.”

She wasn’t in the habit of giving her life story out around the base - her girls needed a leader more than they needed a friend, and the scant four or five years she had on most of them was only good for so much, where authority was concerned. But it felt right that Harding ought to know a little something. After all, wasn’t he the one coming in with a reputation behind him, and the shoes of the former CO to fill? Everyone knew that he’d been at West Point, that he’d coached football, that he’d come to Thorpe Abbotts by way of Palm Beach and Spokane, Washington.

“And you still like the work? Little bit different than what you’d be doing at home.”

“Free a man to fight” looks different from here, that’s for sure. After everything she’d seen, everything she’d heard, she could say that much. “I do, sir. It’s important - making sure that the facts are straight, that we’ve learned everything we can before it fades out.” She had another thought, and paused, considering whether or not she should share. “I think they tell things differently, to a woman. They used to try and be more precise - cut around the edges a little wide so I wouldn’t see the bad parts. I think they know that we’re all used to it, by now.” I’ve been in every single op this wing has flown - turret, tail, and cockpit. I fly them in my sleep.

Harding nodded, considering all of it in that thoughtful way of his - a coach reviewing game-day footage to look for his next play.

There was some movement, at the door of the ops room - a woman coming in and realizing, late, that the person she was looking for wasn’t there. Marion spoke up. “Lieutenant Callaway, can I help you with something?”

The lieutenant's face was plainly guilty - a daughter caught sneaking in the front door with her shoes off - but she was trying valiantly to play it cool. It almost made Marion smile. "I was just...wondering if there was any news yet, ma'am. My shift's just starting and I ...thought I'd tell the girls, if we’d heard. Sergeant Wilcox said she'd tell me, if she...got news."

"Sergeant Wilcox was sent to bed," Marion replied. (Was that why she’d stayed on duty past her time? Because she wanted to be there to report out to Callaway?) "There's been nothing so far. We'll send a runner to Tower if we hear anything."

Callway nodded, obviously disappointed by this news and more unnerved than she had a reason to be, and she left looking a little shaken. Marion looked over at the Colonel and saw he was studying the lieutenant's exit with mild interest.

"Something there you think I ought to know about, Captain?" He asked, his expression thoughtful and vague.

Marion knew what he meant. A total ban on fraternization was impossible, given the confines of the base, but there had to be some separation of church and state, and making girlfriends out of her officers was a good way to undermine productivity. Still, if Cordelia Callaway had a beau, Marion knew she also had enough brains to keep it to herself, and she wasn't about to go spoiling that for her. She was a good egg, at the end of the day - maybe just the thing one of those fly boys needed to keep himself on the straight and narrow. "They all care a little, Colonel. I think it's impossible to live like this and not to." That's the strange thing about the army, isn't it? You get assigned to a place and suddenly you've got a whole band of brothers you never asked for.

Brothers, husbands, sons. Everything to everyone - one big, mad, teeming family.

Another noise at the door - Sergeant Dacre, a tiny mouse of a woman, nearly squeaked when she saw her CO and her supervisor in deep conversation, the lights half-off and the day just beginning.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, I thought Sergeant Wilcox...”

“Captain Brennan was just leaving, Sergeant,” Harding said with a knowledgeable smile. (They were starting to teach that earlier - how to be a softer touch with the women. Marion could remember officers who would have shouted at Dacre to get her ass inside and moved her to tears.) “I don’t think we’ll need to do anything in the way of reprimands, Captain Brennan - for any of the business,” he added, being intentionally vague while Dacre readied her station. “But tell that Hastings girl she ought to get herself on the sick list, if she’s thinking she can just get out of work for a cold.”

“It’ll be the first thing I do, Colonel.”

The phone buzzed, and Harding swooped to answer it before Dacre could get her hand in. “Yes? Yes.” A visible sign of relief crossed his face, and she saw his shoulders relax. “Yes, very glad to hear it. We’ll look for those directly. Yes, thank you. Good-bye.” He put the phone back in its cradle and beamed. “Ground Control has them at Telergma. No details yet but - someone made it through.” He took a deep breath, still smiling. “I’ll get it out on the PA but you’d better tell Callaway out at Tower first. An officer doesn’t break her word.”

She almost smiled at him for that. The worst part, over. Now the details would come, but she could face that like she always did. “Of course, sir.' A pause, and - "I hope you have a good morning, sir.”

“And you, Brennan.”

Someone appeared with coffee, the room whirring into life as the day rotation came on board, and Marion took her leave, pausing at the door to look back at Harding, now studying the map with renewed enthusiasm.

Hughlin never made much of a father, she thought. All that waiting nearly did him in. But I think you’ll do just fine.

--

So that's Marion! She and the version of MOTA she inhabits can be perceived as being adjacent to the alternate history in my fic The Darkening Sky.

If you'd like to meet Cordelia Callaway, you can read more of my writing for her here at her tag on tumblr.

[frogcroaks]

Hello! I’m someone who’s planning to begin taking commissions in the future, and seeing as you have experience I’d like to ask; is there anything you feel new commissioners should know as they get started? Essentials with sheets/process that are easily missable, or just things you’ve learned in your time?

Sorry for the late reply! I think I could talk about the commission process in length and each step there, but I'll just share a few tips for now. For sheets first:

Function over form: Your commission sheet is not an art piece, it's an advertisement, and while pretty graphics can entice people it's important to not let your own art be cut off or drowned by it. This is especially true if you want to showcase fullbodies, character design and larger work, where the entire piece is important.

If you can draw it, show it: Avoid having your examples all be the same subject if you're saying you can draw multiple things. I draw humans, furries/anthros and animals, so I tried to put one of each in my sheet. This also applies if you only draw a specific subject: Human artist? Show different races and body types and clothing. Furry? Show different species and body types (again) etc.

If you draw multiple things also, you may have less opportunity to expand on each area. If you think that's lacking, having an extra examples page will not hurt!

Organize yourself: I know this sounds obvious but please organize your commissions!! Especially if you're taking them on social media DMs (and if they're spread across multiple platforms). I personally recommend a trello, but it doesn't really matter as long as it works.

Things I recommend writing down: The @ or name of the commissioner, where you're contacting (email, twitter, discord, etc.), the request and details of the comm & refsheets.

This will make it so easy to put down updates, the length of your queue, who to do next and grabbing your refs in one place!!

Terms of service: Have one, they're more for you than for your commissioner, as many never read an artist's TOS LOL.

You can check mine out, and you have my permission to just steal it for yourself. I detailed payment, refunds, process & edits and the rights & permissions. It doesn't have to be long, and it's better for it to not be long! But even if you think you don't care about your art to have them, you might find some use anyway.

I'm ending it here because this is getting long, but if you want anything more lmk! I could talk hours abt the commission process LMAO

[sonicasura]

The Wrecker and the Ogre

Yes, this is the title for Ogerpon!Miko in TFP cause why not? The Pokemon in general is based on the tale of Momotaro if it was a role swap. What you'll find here will be a mix of shenanigans than just plot relevance. It's Miko. You should expect this.

For those wondering what she looks like here, Miko's horns have hot pink highlights on the sides and tips similar to her canon counterpart. The leaf bang on her head is also hot pink in color. Upon being taken into the Autobot's care, Miko is given a green ribbon from Bulkhead with the team emblem in bright red. It's tied to her right horn in a little bow.

Before the Autobots became into their lives, Miko lived at the school. Constantly stealing art supplies or food whenever possible and slept practically everywhere. Teacher's desk? You can see her footprints there. Principal's chair? Bloke still wonders how ivy got inside the school. This is part of her night routine.

Daytime is watching the classrooms from inside the vents and copies what they do. Miko taught herself how to read but also write partly because of these observations. She tends to hold quite a grudge against bullies. Miko often toss rocks, jumpscare, vandalize the desks or make their turned in assignments disappear before the teacher can see. It depends on the bully in question as someone like Vince gets all that.

Befriending Raf and Jack further expanded her interactions outside of the school. Either boy tends to sneak Miko into their respective home just to hang out or for an impromptu sleepover. Jack saved up some extra money to get the Ogerpon a satchel so she can carry her stuff better. Raf offered up items that his siblings didn't want which includes her guitar and a sleeping bag.

Miko trusts them enough to look after her three other masks if she can't find a safe place to hide these precious items for the day. This is partly because the staff does a frequent search on the school grounds due to the constant thefts and vandalisms by her. Believe me when I say the two boys would've housed Miko at their place if they could.

Considering she isn't human, how the little mischief maker meet the Autobot? Raf took a leap of faith and asked Bumblebee to bring Miko along. The scout was obviously confused until the boy subtly call over to the Grass Type hiding in the bush. (Miko sees them off every time after school.)

You can bet the Autobots were so clueless while Jack was panicking cause when she had skip over to Bulkhead without a care. Fun fact! Miko almost ended up in RATCHET'S custody. Optimus obviously asked if the two knew what she was as he's pretty sure this isn't a native Earth species.

The severe lack of information made Ratchet the most capable in looking after Miko. However she threw that plan away and chose Bulkhead instead. Miko made it clear by ignoring Ratchet just to follow the Wrecker around. Thus Bulkhead takes her to Ratty for mandatory check ups with little issue.

Any documentation about Miko is handled not just by our dear medic but also Optimus as well. The Ogerpon is an unknown species and the Autobot Leader was an archivist. Curiosity nor hobby like interest isn't something even a divine pacemaker can remove. He's also in charge of her lessons too.

Jack and Raf did give them all the information they know from hanging out with Miko. A little sheet that help make some of her antics less concerning as she stays at base. Miko tends to change which mask she wears around partly around her mood.

Cheerful? Then the Cornerstone Mask will be greeting everyone for awhile. Bored or sad results in the Wellspring Mask. Hearthflame easily matches when she is angry and upset. Otherwise, Miko wears the standard Teal Mask. It's a very useful mood reader as Bulkhead learns how to handle each emotion.

She didn't let any of the bots touch these masks for quite awhile though. These items are priceless possessions and Miko doesn't let just anyone handle them. A fair warning given by the other two members of the Jasper Trio. Once Miko does trust a bot, she shows it through 'accidentally' leaving her mask in their room for them to return.

Speaking of rooms, the Ogerpon becomes Bulkhead's roommate. Miko does have her own room but its more like storage since she likes sneaking into the Wrecker's room the most. Optimus and sometimes Bumblebee are the only ones not really bothered by the sudden invasion.

Here's the order of who she completely trusts btw: Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Optimus, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen.

Miko doesn't exactly sit still at base either. If she isn't drawing, being taught how to speak, sleeping or eating then she's doing one of two things. Running around and playing about with full on zoomies. (Poor Ratchet as his stuff tends to get broken during that time.)

Or she's training somewhere on site unless Bulkhead takes her out an excursion. Miko is still a Pokemon, a Legendary btw, so the idea of battling tends to crop up over time. Not all the school stuff she vandalized is from mischief nor a grudge.

Here's her starting moveset as it will change the further we go in the show. Only move that remains is Ivy Cudgel. List of possible moves alongside stats for those curious.

Ivy Cudgel- The user strikes with an ivy wrapped cudgel. The move's type changes depending on the mask worn and it has a heightened chance for critical hits(does 3x damage.)

Horn Leech- The user drain the target's energy with its horns. Half the damage done is reverted into HP.

Vine Whip- Strikes the target with slender whiplike vines

Rock Tomb- User hurls boulders at their target with the chance of lowering the opponent's speed.

Some moves Miko learns occur during a very serious situation. Whether it is to protect others or through righteous fury, these particular techniques tend to be quite powerful. A little example is the move Spiky Shield. This attack protects the user but also deals damage to the attacker if its a physical strike. I wonder which opponent tends to get physical the most. 😏

Anytime Miko shows off a new move then it's an immediate visit to Ratchet. Bulkhead already flipped when she had shown up during a training session and shattered a boulder half his size with a single strike. It basically gone to the point where the Wrecker had to record such discoveries as it got in the way of the medic's schedule.

Since we are on the combat section, it's time to go into Terastallization. Miko can terastallize her masks to bring out her true powers. Whenever she does, those who have energy sensors will pick up a MASSIVE power surge. This landed Miko in multiple crossfires from the Decepticons to even MECH.

First time she terastallized is in Rock Bottom using the Teal Mask. Miko had enough at that point and to have Starscream near her partner was the last straw. Screamer sure as hell screamed in terror when a giant menacing crystal mask descended on him.

Everyone, even Bulkhead, thought it was a one time transformation. They were sorely mistaken when Miko terastallizes again in T.M.I with the Wellspring Mask(the whole situation severely upset her) against Knockout. It was after this that Optimus set out a rule.

Miko can't terastallize outside of base unless it's for important emergencies. Ratchet began to study the unknown energy although any major breakthroughs took longer as the four masks held important clues. And Miko didn't fully trust him yet for him to even look at one.

The last part for this involves the Wreckers. Discussions about what would happen post war is pretty common with the bots. It's usually saved when the kids are gone and Miko's fast asleep.

Bulkhead does want to see the universe but now he has another goal added to it. Take Miko with him and maybe find out where she came from. Its probably obvious that the little one been very lonely before she met the boys.

Bulkhead is scared as hell about being so in the dark about Miko. A worry that stems when she gotten a simple fever one day. Jack and Raf did their boost to show him how to handle it. Despite Miko recovering, it still frightened Bulkhead for quite awhile. Even moreso from how attached he's gotten to her. The same goes for the Wreckers as Miko absolutely wormed her way into their sparks.

You can bet your ass that the team convince Bulkhead to adopt her. Even Optimus as everyone knew those two need each other more than they know. Thus Bulkhead adopts Miko as his little sparkling.

You can compare him to the fun yet cautious kind of parent. He indulges Miko's antics as long as it doesn't get her in seriously trouble. Whether that be enjoying rock music, go dune bashing, or wrecking stuff. Bulkhead will go apeshit if someone dared harm a leaf on Miko's head.

If Bulkhead is her dad then Wheeljack is the chaotic uncle. Those two get into so much trouble that something not exploding in the next five minutes is considered an omen. Jackie is an absolute enabler about Miko going on missions and spoils her rotten.

Ultra Magnus can be compared to an awkward yet caring authority figure(hasn't found his familial spot). He sees a lot of potential in Miko but has a difficult time connecting with her. The mech definitely smiled upon seeing a mask in his room as it's a major milestone to him. Once the war is over, Ultra Magnus picks up various info that could help in Bulkhead's search for her origins.

Before I forget, Miko still does get the Apex Armor. What you guys don't know is that it is compatible to her Terastallization. Yup, a giant conduit to channel this immense power. She terastallizes the armor and it wears the giant crystal version of the current mask Miko has on.

If Wheeljack recorded the absolute smackdown laid on Predaking to share later, no one would fault him for it. Miko is going places as a Wrecker so why not mark her milestones? He won't mention anything about Bulkhead shedding a tear like the proud sire he is.

[self-written-god]

T | 793 | m/m human/werewolf | sequel to 'shapeshifting' but this time I'm not pretending it's not Steddie | cw: a little drug related oopsie but everyone's safe | getting together

He wouldn’t call himself a recluse, but he certainly wasn’t a social flower. He’s only been to frat parties for mere minutes until he sold out of his stock. A mostly monster party? Where everyone was fully shifted and in the open? Never.

He watched them be themselves, no hiding from the conservative faculty or parents, or students, even. No pretending they were civilized humans. Here they were all uncivilized students, no matter their species.

Aside from the new features of his peers, he found a lot of food and drinks he hadn’t seen before. And drugs. He’s been eyeing a certain shroom that seemed to be popular with other party-goers. The girl handing it out catches his eye and offers him the baggy to pluck out from.

It’s blueish and doesn’t smell anything, but before he can take it in his mouth, there’s a growl in his ear, and the shroom gets slapped out of his hand.

“Wha-” 

The growl grows, making him flinch and back away, straight into a broad chest and a stronghold of hairy arms.

“The fuck are you guys doing?!”

Despite the music, the room goes quiet.

“Shit, Steve-” 

He growls back, teeth clasping in warning.

“Dude, it’s just some shrooms-” Eddie tries to dissolve the situation, but the hold only tightens to the point of pain. He gasps, but Steve doesn’t seem to notice.

“Just shrooms?! These are poisonous to humans!”

“Oh.”

He looks at the inconspicuous funghi, still held by the girl, now white as a sheet.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know he was human-”

“Well, maybe you should fucking ask!”

Realizing this isn’t going to get any better until they leave the situation completely, he pushes against the chest, backing away from the group. Steve doesn’t budge at first, so he turns around his tight embrace, trying to find his gaze. The grip tightens, ribs creaking against each other before the werewolf finally looks down.

“I need some fresh air, let's go,” he says, and Steve gives a tiny nod. He growls one last time to the group and finally lets himself be pushed towards the door.

"Thanks for saving me, man," Eddie says, once outside.

"What if I was too late? You can't just take any drug in your sight!"

His instinct was to argue, but he knew Steve was right. Besides, he was still shaken up.

"Okay, sorry, I promise I'll only take my own stuff. Or triple-check if what I'm taking is human-friendly at least."

Steve huffs and his hold only tightens, and it’s too much.

“Dude, you’re choking me.”

“Shit, sorry.” Despite his words, he’s reluctant to let him go. Eddie doesn’t like the loss either, but they sit close on the porch stairs instead. It’s quiet, weird.

“Couldn’t they sniff out I’m human?” he asks eventually, recalling the argument from earlier. Steve flinches against him.

“Too many monsters around, the smells are hard to discern. Besides…” he hesitates.

“What?” Eddie turns to him, curious. 

“We’ve been hanging out a lot. You smell wolf-ish.” He cringes and kinda collapses on himself.

“Okay…” he draws out, trying to decipher what that means. “Have you been rubbing off on me? On purpose?”

“No!” he immediately denies, offended. “Yes? Maybe?”

“Dude! What the fuck?” He asks, trying to hide that he’s mostly amused. Partially thrilled.

“Not on purpose! At first.” The werewolf rushes to explain, leaning away a bit to look at him properly and gesticulate with his hands. “It’s hard not to… scent someone… when you’re having sex, okay?” he hisses through his teeth. “But then we kept hanging out, and it just… happened?”

“You gave me your hoodie,” Eddie says with sudden realization. “Were you marking your territory?”

“What?! No!” Steve seems scandalized, but he goes red in the face, and shoves at Eddie half-heartedly. The man just laughs.

“Dude, that's so hot!”

“Right,” the wolf scoffs, expression going sour.

To placate him, Eddie places a hand on his knee and squeezes. Trails up higher. 

“I mean it,” he says. 

“Oh.” Steve looks at his hand, then up into his eyes. “Oh, okay.”

“Do you guys also pee on each other? It’s not my thing, but I’d consider it.”

The wolf’s face tells him everything he needs to know. His smile turns into a grin.

“It is?” he asks, incredulous. “Damn, now I’m really, really thinking about it.”

“Dude,” Steve whines, claws scratching at the porch wood. “You can’t just say shit like that. We’re not even…”

Eddie hums, thumb tracing the denim stretching over the wolf’s thigh.

“We could be. Would that be much different from what we’ve been doing?”

“Man, I hope so,” Steve chuckles. “More kissing and sex, for starters.”

“That definitely could be arranged.”

He leans with a smile. 

[sol-consort]

Repost of an ask I accidentally deleted.

Pov: You're a turian discovering this new sapient species broadcasting their whole location to the galaxy very loudly and decide to go down to investigate the humans.

Humans are like a rubber ball, which is what the first contact war proved. The harder you throw them, the harder they bounce back, and the next thing you know, all of your loyal turian population are sending creepy fanmail letters to the cute human news reporters.

The fact that we express joy by showing our teeth probably is something that never sat well with the turians ever, huh?

Also POV: you're the Councillors meeting the human team sent to you trying to convince you on why they should have an embassy right next door and please let them in the citidal please please please please please please-

We Don't bite .Often. We are silly little guys let us in come on. We have been STARVED for any galactic connections. Please we were this close to blowing each other up with nuclear weapons.

Ignore that last bit. Hahaha. Ha. So let us in! Friends! We are friends, let's be friends now. Tell us how you guys reproduce and what you eat. We have cats! We have chocolate, and we have produced more porn than a single human can consume in their lifetime! We have everything you need so let us join the partyyyy.

We've brought beer :) You don't have that, right? Let us in, and we will give you all the food we've made.

Humans annoying their way into getting an embassy so soon is very hilarious.

Because you know damn well that our politicians played the first contact war card and guilt tripped the council into letting us sit on the big kids' table after the turian bullied us to hell and back. We brought the waterworks and pretended they really hurt our feelings just to get the shiny human embassy office.

It didn't matter that they threw us in some random office next to the elcor and the embassies food court. You know damn well none of the humans stayed on the office and they're constantly annoying their neighbour embassies or the citidal tower instead.

Hell, we even stooped so low to accept being called the council's new favourite pet race just so we can get all the benefits and jumpstart our integration into the galaxy.

Constantly asking questions. Constantly touching things. Constantly asking to eat this and drink that without regards to if it will kill us or not.

That's how they found out humans had the most diverse genetics btw, before they could get any tests done on the humans with viable results, they found the said humans eating everything they come across and updating a google docs sheet of things they tried that haven't killed them yet.

The doc is shared between all the humans on the Citidal, and everyone adds their updates. Some even tried inedible stuff just to see, because what if space plastic is different than our plastic? Sure, they ended up in emergency care, but it was so worth it.

The humans are very impatient, and the other races quickly learned. They want something done, and they want to do it now, and they want to get the gratification immediately! They make the salarians look like monks despite their short life spans

In the span of a year, earth humans were sending in job applications to different colonies and planets, ones they haven't even visited yet.

By the span of 5 years, humans successfully spread through the galaxy and you always find one nearby. It's harder not to spot a human than it is to spot them.

How do you find out if the person wearing this armour is an asari or a human? Simple, just wait.

The human will announce it themselves by doing some dumb shit like twirling the loaded gun in their hand to do a really sick trick they saw on the human social media app, tiktok.

Udina was a little shit, yes, but you know that man was knocking on the councillors' doors every day at 3am. to show them his powerpoint presentation on why humans deserve a seat on the council.

Humans fit wherever you put them. They eat everything, they can handle most temperatures. they only need oxygen and some sleep, and they're good to go!

It's hard for the aliens to predict just what type of human any given one of us they meet could be.

There's just too many to keep track of. The most rude person and the nicest person a turian have met are both humans.

They want to see the stars, they want to take pictures, they want to stare at pretty sunsets on different planets and they want to speak to aliens, hug them and learn more about them

They're burning bright like a star, wanting so much all the time. It's intimidating to the other races how hungry humans are for information and connection that they come across as a bully. Their friendly nature gets misunderstood and their kind gestures gets questioned for ulterior motives.

Because humans love helping, it's in our genetic code as a tribal species. We love feeling useful for the tribe and fulfilling others needs. We love giving someone a sip of our drink, opening the door for someone else, picking up a stray empty can and throwing it in the trash.

Going on useful fetch missions just to see someone else smile, hearing a stranger vent because we have been there, smiling at people we make eye contact with, giving compliments and laughing at jokes we overheard from strangers.

We are social, be it online or offline. We love others, we love loving others and we want others to love us back. Each human is so different yet so similar, some of us will feel more at home with the aliens than with other humans while others might not even stomach leaving earth

We are also...kinda of feral in a way? We don't notice it because we're surrounded by humans.

But if you look closely, so many of our traits are animalistic and could be perceived as scary by an alien that had thousands of years to evolve past them. Our hardware is still relatively new, and an update won't come for a long time.

The hugging. the yelling, the dancing, playing tag. games of chase. We evolved from predetors, our eyes are trained to follow a single target precisely.

Rough playing with your friends, enjoying throwing objects and catching it like a ball, enjoying tearing through food with our teeth. Hell we look like predators, we act like ones too.

We're not like worker bees, like turians who always give their all to everything they do.

No, we preserve energy, then lunge at our target the second it's gaurd falls down. A persistent predator that wears you down rather than overpowering you like a krogan

Btw, Korgans evolved from prey because of where their eyes are placed. Only predetors have forward facing eyes to focus on a single thing, the wider one's vision is the more likely they used to be a prey animal.

Side note, but Krogans would probably taste kinda good bc of that, predators' meat evolves to be shrivled and bitter. While Krogans have a literal hump full of food nutrition! Turians would taste bad unless chicken in that case... CHICKEN.

So do you think Hanar and Drell find it adorable that we used to be aquatic?

Anyway so-

In a single decade, humanity successfully integrated fully into the galaxy and joined the Andromeda project to explore the new one. We're like the opposite of hanar. So many other races achieved less than half of what we did in ten times the amount of years

Because we need social contact, it's vital for our survival as much as the sun is. It's our drive for exploring and hoping for aliens, for some other race out there we could befriend and learn about.

New things give us such a rush of dopamine and we're constantly chasing it with stars in our eyes.

In a way, the aliens probably felt the most special after meeting the humans. To have a race so interested in you and learning about you and appreciating your culture. To have thousands if not millions of humans ready to dedicate their lives to documenting you just because you happened to be the prettiest race in their eyes.

Like I'd gladly throw my life away to study the Drell.

And we things other races don't! We party harder funny enough.

A turian mentions it in ME2. How most alcoholic beverages everyone uses today, was invented by humans. How it seems like humans found out every intoxication there is and let it spread like wildfire to others. Out endless libraries of music, the videogames we've made, the art, the instruments we play.

And a Salarian mentions how human food is their favourite. Don't the Hanar also like our sushi? funny enough.

We're infectious. Easily accept anyone and everyone into our groups if we happened to click with them, we even befriended the animals on our planets enough to care for them like our own children.

[spacetrails]

Final Prep

Organizing my room more, I gave one last look around; my bed now looked like a bed, the sheets were fixed, posters set up, knickknacks placed, window to infinite starry abyss cleaned, and table organized. A search around made a wall panel open, revealing a bathroom “Oh, well that’s one question answered.” Closing the panel I looked to the door as my stomach rumbled “I probably should eat.” Words grumbled just as loud as my stomach made my decision.

The door slid open, as I poked my head out; A look down left showed the path leading towards the divide, while the right headed to the middle of the ship, yet it was empty both ways. Muffled sounds silenced as I stepped out, the hum of the ship deafening anything else as another quick scan was made, still no one.

The door closed as I stepped away, walking ahead to what I hoped was a kitchen, the area expanded into a cubed shape; the wide table surrounded with ten chairs sat in the middle of the room, left showed the ship's entrance and right held a circular window. Properly walking into the room my eyes marked the two panels, my translator gave a small blip as muffled sounds picked up behind me, and my hand briefly held the back of a chair turning me as I continued straight towards them.

The first panel itself hung from the wall at waist height, scaling up to chest height, it was blank and seemed to be off; the second was more a window than panel, it was the same height as the first but sunk into the wall by a few inches, split into four compartments, and had a white background.

Unsure what to do I placed my hand on the dark panel, it was cold to the touch and lit up after a few seconds, a small hum sounded as I moved my hand back, the words ‘HELLO USER Lawrence PLEASE SELECT PREFERENCES’ sounded lightly on my translator, as they were typed up on the screen accompanied with various food types.

Glossing through all option I scanned the different species types, each with their own food groups, substitutes, allergies, necessities, and vitamin options to add or remove “Huh, neat.” I quietly called, choosing the human option for now, searching through the many meat choices first “I don’t know whether to be happy or afraid that fast food options are a choice. I’ll just try some lamb, see how it compares.”

Words mumbled out as I clicked on veggies “Get that broc, that pot, that rot, that arti, that coli, that g-been, that fungi, that sweet p, tha-” My hand halted “-Hmmm, that is a lot of food. Is it too much? I should probably cut back. Or, I can keep it, and just get seconds later? Am I allowed seconds?” Questions rambled as I looked about, concerned over my choices, a sigh and grumble as eyes relocked back on the panel “It’s food, on the ship I’m in, for the crew I’m in. I can eat it, the panel told me so.” My hand clicked the parsnip selecting the end of my choice

‘DO YOU CONFIRM?’ Thinking I looked at the second panel, clicking yes as the first panel beeped ‘PLEASE CHOOSE FINAL PREFERENCES.’ Looking at the options I choose thigh cut, seared style, and steamed for all veggies. Stepping over I listened to the second panel hum louder, a few seconds passed before the top compartment rotated, my lamb laid perfectly cooked and steaming as a plate raised, it slid open as I took the plate setting it on the table. Turning back in time for the second compartment to spin, all the veggies laid encircling the other in various cut slices and steaming, a larger plate rose as it opened, once I took it the third compartment spun, showing two sets of forks and knives that I also took.

Placing everything on the table I looked around at the empty room, eyes staring back down to the table “What am I missing? I have the food, and I- Oh right, a no drink.” Words cut off as I turned, tapping the screen as it reopened to a drinks sections “Ah, it’s been human tested. That’s good.” Joking as I thumbed through, glancing at the options from water to fizzy drinks, with various hot and cold weather drinks in between, uncaring I choose water watching the fourth panel turn just a second after. Finally sitting down I took a bite, it tasted generally bland, but still held the fresh meaty texture; the vegetables seemed the same, all bland but still fresh and nice to eat. Sitting around I waited, unsure what to do ‘We are close to landing, so we probably have a protocol? Right?’

Glancing about no sound were made, only the hum of the ship filling the silence between bites; looking out the window stars continued to scatter by, splattered through the voidful oasis ‘Someone’s going to explain something eventually, just have to wait until they step out and give a debriefing? Right?’ drinking my water I waited, half done with most of the food, thinking about where everyone went, and what to do ‘They were out and about just a second ago, well Alto them went to the Activity room? So Kleef and the others went back to the front? So just wait until we land? And then wait until someone says something? And do, the thing, right?’

Poking my food around my thoughts wandered more ‘What even are we going to do there, it has a million-year-old record, and it’s a planet that’s supposed to be weird, with no real terrain knowledge. I know I’m going to leave the ship, but shouldn’t I be doing something to help?’ “Hmm? What would I even help with? I don’t know anything about this place anyways?” Words spoke aloud answering my own questions, deciding to take another bite, going back to my thoughts ‘Well, it’s a planet. So just, walk about, collect things, don’t get lost? I can do that, but so can everyone else. Hmmm?’

Grumbling I poked down, hearing a small tick as my fork hit plate, looking down it seemed I had finished eating “And, there goes that distraction. But at least I’m full, I think?” Looking outside to space a sigh left as I thought about home ‘I just have to not get in the way, just gotta keep alert, and stay foc-' “Hello Lavrence. Enjoying zpace?” Words blipped in my translator startling my thoughts, fighting back a jolt I slowly turned, seeing it was just Lopasis “Oh. Uh? Yea, just thinking about home.” Their leaves shook as they nodded “Reminizcing about home iz quite normal. Had a nice meal?”

Remembering my plates existence was a small surprise “Oh right, I did eat. It was nice, how does it work exactly?” I asked pointing at the panels, not wanting to make it awkward “Oh. Vell, the machine itzelf haz variouz microbez that fuze together zmall particlez of food groupz. From there it reconztructz the dezired output uzing your choicez, and replicatez the matter on hov you zpecify. The utenzilz, and platez are juzt zetz bought vith the machine.” They quickly explained the process, most of it flying over my head “So… it’s a food maker?” “Exactly.” “Oh, Ok. So, what brings you out. And about. In the ship.” The last words fumbled out, still wanting but now making it awkward.

“Vell, I had vanted to check up on equipment. Make zure everything iz tezted before ve land. Vould you vant to come vith? You vould have to do a trial before ve fully land anyvay.” They asked shifting light blue petals, turning as they tapped the screen, and selecting a drink for themselves. ‘Well, good to know that was planned’ “Yea, but where do I put my plates?” I raised both, which they offered to take. “You zimply tap the zcreen, input plate and cup amount, and place. Quick and zimple.” Words beamed in a small blue green glow, as they demonstrated, placing my items inside, all rotating away.

“It’s quite a nice machine. Did you build it?” I asked fully expecting a yes at this point, they only laughed, shaking some petals with a wave “Oh no, thiz vaz bought by Kleef. Though, they did do mozt maintenance on it, so it’z vell kept by our Captain.” Giving a quick hum I rose to my feet “That’s interesting, are these normal on ships, we didn’t have a briefing of it on earth.” Lopasis poured the glass of water on their deep blue face, vibrating as it darkened slightly, before tapping the screen. “Vell, not normal. Vhen Kleef bought it, it vaz a tezter prototype, during that time lezz than 0.1% of zhipz had them. Nov about 3% of zhipz houze theze unitz.”

They placed their cup, giving a turn and walking at the end, quickly following I hummed with a nod, watching the petals shift with each step. “That’s good, it does seem to be quite in depth.” “That vaz vhat Kleef vorked on the hardezt, they zcoured for many modulez CPPZ, the company, made. Zurprizingly humanz vere the hardezt to tune.” “Humans were? Makes sense, we do eat about anything.” “Indeed. Zo many optionz interlinked vith other zpeciez, the amount of timez our Captain had to recheck everything after changing one human item. It vaz quite a fev ztardayz before ve left ztation.” They laughed as I joined in, as we walked past a door. “Yea, that would cause problems, also what is a starday?” “Day relative to clozezt ztar, ve change our clockz vhenever ve land. Zo, ve vill have to come the nev planet.” We stopped at a door one down from the activity room, Lopasis typing in a five-digit passcode, before it slid open.

Entering as the lights turned on, I looked at all the items scattered against the wall, on the floor, shelves or hanging on the wall “Speaking of the new planet, are you worried?” They tapped container against the nearest wall with a key card, as it opened up before quickly taking out two tablets “Vell, of course I am vorried. All planetz and travelz bring vith them potential dizazterz. Mind you, any activity bringz a chance of dizazter, az zuch I keep myself occupied to alvayz check for zuch thingz.” Answer stated as a tablet was handed my way “Thank you? What is this for?” Tapping their blank screen twice Lopasis gave a wave around the room, petals shaking from the motion “Eaziest vay of recording everything, juzt tap tvice and chooze the crate icon. From there enter pazzcode 5173 and you’ll zee my zcreen.” Explanation demonstrated as I executed, being brought to a spreadsheet filled with items.

Giving a nod Lopasis checked over the first crate, pressing everything as they flashed on and off “Everything zhould be regiztered, main thingz are checking if they are ztill here, vhich givez one tick. And checking if they are fully functional, vhich givez tvo tickz. If not here or vorking then give the zame amount of X’z.” More explanations shown as they gave two final ticks, closing the crate; looking down I saw the double ticked tablets, wireless pens, gps scanners, droids, AR and VR goggles, body camera and lights.

Nodding, we looked into the second crate seeing “Polarized gogglez one through five, unpolarized gogglez one through four, zelf trackerz one through ten, wirelezz communicatorz one through six.” All I ticked as they counted off, giving a check over and nod before closing the crate. Lopasis pointed to the shelf above, as I pulled down three different ropes “Zcaling rope, check for kinkz or tearz. Nilon rope, check for vater or veaknezz. Aramid rope, check for cutz or tearz.” Giving a general check of everything I saw nothing wrong, each got two ticks and placed back.

Right beside were two shelves filled with books “Thiz iz more a general item, ve lable them az guidez. They have information on mozt organic and inorganic life, medical aid per zpeciez, terrain landmarkz, galactic diplomatic hiztoriez and changez, galactic languagez and culturez, planetary ecoztudiez.” Leaf green hands pointed to the sectioned areas of both “Huh, that’s a lot of books, do we have to memorize them?” They laughed, waving a hand as their petals shook “Oh no. Mozt itemz vere brought vhen Bett and Lezz joined, after that ve all got in the habit of getting one nev book every rezt ztop.” “Oh? Wait, who’s Lezz?” “Nottalizh, just a small nick name.”

Walking to another area, Lopasis handed me the key card taking out a second for themselves “You have the bazic understanding, so ve vill divide. If you have queztionz I’ll try to have anzverz.” They reassured beaming a light blue green “Alright, I’ll make sure it’s checked over.” Words said as I tapped the crate, we watched it open as they left; looking within I checked over bolts, harnesses, helmets, hexes, nuts, picks, pitons, pullies and slings. Giving both a look and feel before all received two ticks, closing the crate looking over to the one beside it. Tapping I checked over the carbon-fiber plating, first aid kit, medical bags, respiratory masks, resuscitator, pulse oximeter, thermal blanket, trauma blanket, and slings; all were checked and ticked as I looked to Lopasis “Lopa?” “Yez?” “Does it get confusing having two items labelled sling?” Tapping their tablet they walked to the furthest wall “Not really, one zling is by itzelf, the other iz attached to pulliez. Though, Kleef did offer the zame queztion vhen ve firzt made the lizt. Changing might good, if you find any other overlapz do tell.” Checking over items while speaking.

Dark brown chests stacked along the wall, rowing three racks of two. “What are these?” Lopasis looked across to me “Ah, thoze are our perzernal ztorage. Apologize.” They blipped unlabelled on my, as Lopasis tapped their screen “I, per rule, cannot discloze vho iz vhoze. Forgot they vere on that zide.” “Ah. That makes sense. Which is mine?” Lopasis tapped their screen a few times, before a blip of my name appeared by a chest. “Middle right rov. Kindly do not dizcloze thiz information unlezz needed in emergency, thiz iz an agreement of general zafety and security.” “Sir yes sir.” I saluted, getting a head tilt “Oh, humanz actually zay that?” “Well, yea. Half serious half joke, like a real fake.” “A vhat?”

“Human joke, don’t worry.” Chuckling I opened the chest, with all my knickknacks still there. “Hmm, might change up the room when we get back from the planet.” Quickly taking out a framed picture and chain. “Zpeaking of, hov are you enjoying the room?” “It’s spacious, I can pace, lay down, or watch the stars stream by. So, quite lovely actually, I’ve always wanted to do this.” Lopasis shimmered, moving to another section. “I’m ecztatic hearing that, you’ve alzo bonded vith the crev zo zvell in just four and half hourz.” “Huh? It’s been that long? Or is that short, hmmm. Time didn’t flow for me, especially since there’s no sun. No wait, suns are stars. Wow this a lot.”

Lopasis put down their tablet stepping close “Are you alright?” “Yea? Just, been thinking a lot. And a lot happened, and there’s a lot of people, or aliens? Species? Look, I’m alright.” I tried to finalize, as Lopasis’ eyes sprouted. “Have you had a rezt today?” “Well, kinda? Every now and then nothing would happen, then something. But, it wasn’t a lot or anything, so it’s fine.” “Had zomething happened today?” “What? No. Well, nothing but just me thinking and I guess overthinking. I don’t know situations are awkward sometimes.” “Zituationz? Lopasis echoed.

“Well, I make things awkward, and I don’t know I think about it, and try not to make it more awkward and then I think it works out, but then I think about that. And I don’t know, I’m worried if I offended them.” “Offended vho?” Rolling my hands I tried to think specifically “Someone, anyone. You say I bonded well, but I just tried to follow what they were doing, and even at first with Nottalish I thought he hated me, but he’s super nice.” “That iz a fair primary and zecondary interaction with Lezz.” Lopasis added. “And Rousptera…” Lopasis squinted “Did zomething happen vith you tvo?” “Well. No, but I think I thought something might? And made them worried they did something. And maybe caused Kleef to say something to them. And maybe I won’t be able to be friends with them.” I rambled as my hands whirled, only slowing down at the end.

“O…Oh?” Lopasis glowed with the word “I zee nov, vell, vhile I don’t knov vhat happened that doez explain Kleef zeeming different after a zhip zcan.” My face paled “So he did see us? Oh no, do you know what he said. Was he angry?” My panic rising “Angry? No, maybe upzet. But-” They added stopping my reply “-Kleef had talked vith, and underztood Rouzptera’z zide. The manner I do not knov, but haz calmed him.” “O…Oh, alright. Thank you.” I calmed down, still rushing from panic “Um, did Rousptera say anything to you?” Lopasis closed their eyes. “Well, Rouzptera did vant me to check on you. But, mainly mentioned you valking into a panel, and an apology. I think I underztand the latter part nov.” “Yea, I did walk into a panel. I was trying to make the situation unawkward, it. Yea.”

“Do you need medical aide?” “Nah, it wasn’t that serious. Just the old noggin taking a hit. I’ve been through worse.” I laughed but Lopasis didn’t join in. “Lavrence, I do not underztand theze human jokez. Are they all thiz oddly roundabout?” “Not all, a lot of mine are. But then I just mash different joke genres together, see how they get lost from my brain to my mouth, and let it play.” Lopasis tried to laugh. “That vaz a good one.” “That wasn’t a joke, that was a genuine explanation.” “Ah, I can zee vhy you bonded so vell vith everyone.” Lopasis lightly glowed “Why?” “You’re quite eazy to talk to, I enjoy vhen you let yourzelf talk. It addz to any conversation.” I didn’t reply.

After a few second of staring Lopasis’ glow began to fade “Are you alright Lavrence?” “Yea. You just gave such a genuine complement I needed a few seconds to factory reset and process it. But thank you, that means a lot.” Lopasis spot lighted the room, receeding back to a dim oceanic blur. “Of courze. I vill alvayz be genuine and honest, it iz proven to be mozt helpful in many cazez.” “Wow a complement dispenser, and fusion cell collector. What can’t you do.” Lopasis hummed, turning to grab their tablet “I cannot vorry about my crev, and the zhip at the zame time. You are alvayz firzt priority.” They blipped a few more items “Alzo, az ve don’t have much itemz left, juzt to confirm. You are alright.” “Correct.” “Nothing iz ailing you?” “Nope.” “Iz there anything you vant to talk about, even vith Rouzptera.”

Focusing on the day, I tried to find more questions “Nothing really? Um, did you suspect Rousptera did something, or think it was more serious?” “Oh, no. No, no no. Rouzptera is the gentlezt of crevmatez you could find. He lovez to learn and inveztigate, but iz quite avare of boundariez and limitz. Hiz speciez, zimilar to mine, can feel the zhift in chemicalz and changez in frequenciez through the air around uz.” “Oh, that makes sense for you guys. Wait you can tell when I’m anxious?” I focused at the end “In a zenze, yez. Though, you’ve been anxiouz all day, zo it’z been quite muddled. I perzonally haven’t been focuzed on it, just noted itz prezence and zhiftz. Rouzptera is zlightly lezz zensitive with zcentz, but better in temperature and frequency fluctuationz.” Sighing I slumped against a shelf “How nice to know my anxiety was known all day.” Lopasis checked more items off “Vell, did you expect to be calm? You vere put vith a nev zhip, crev, outfit, tazkz and responzibilitiez. Did you expect to be relaxed in your firzt hourz?”

“Yea? Well, no. But, I didn’t want to make anyone worried, so I tried to just keep at it?” Lopasis rounded closer to my side “Vell, everyone iz going to be vorried about you. Ve vorry about each other all the time, that’z vhat being a crev iz. Making zure everyone iz alright, zo they don’t have to be vorried alone.” “Yea. But, like. I don’t know, I was overthinking a lot.” “You did indeed zay that. Then may I remove a vorry?” “Sure?” Lopasis clicked through the last items, waving for me to follow to the front “You didn’t make anything avkvard, everyone’s been talking about your achievementz and hov much they enjoyed interacting vith you.” “But, I didn’t do anything yet, I just got here.” “Exactly, you’ve just gotten here. Imagine vhat ztoriez you’ll create vhen you do zomething.”

Lopasis glimmered, tapping the container and placing their tablet inside. I stood there, letting the words sink in ‘I’ve done nothing, everyone has been here so long. And now I get to be here with them, I get to go on adventures and do whatever I want.’ The excitement whelmed within “Alright, thank you. That did help a lot.” “I can tell. Quite poverful joy you’ve got there.” Lopasis joked, taking my tablet. “What, this old thing? Nah, I bet you say that to all the serotonin you meet.” I fanned my cheeks, faking embarrassment as Lopasis laughed louder. “Vho knovs, thiz type iz quite zoothing, I rather enjoy it.” “O…Oh?” True embarrassment flushed up, Lopasis leaves tilting in response “Oh, zomething nev?” “Uhhhhhhhhhh, hey when do we land by the way?” I desperately tried to change the subject.

“Hmmm? I think three more hourz until landing. You really zhould rezt before though Lavrence.” “Yea, maybe. I just keep learning so much from everyone, so it’s hard to keep still.” “What did you learn from me?” Petals pointed up “You are way more observant than you let on. I am rethinking so much situations right now.” Lopasis bloomed, pressing a panel to open the door “Of courze, I am the navigator and field medic. Vell, Zecond field medic Notalizh iz primary.” We stepped out, into the still empty corridor “So there are sectioned roles?” “More zpecialized, a preference. You can learn all, but mainly a captian needz to. For crev it’z zimpler zticking to tvo or three. Alto iz zpecialized in all five.” “I am not surprised by that.”

“They are quite good at mozt anything. Eazily picking up and adapting to mozt zituationz.” “Yea, they did win the Rock-Paper-Scissors game.” “Indeed, their ability to overcome limitationz iz their mozt valuable trait.” Lopasis turned, making way to the kitchen, as I followed “Huh, interesting. So what are all the specialization?” Mumbling words Lopasis tapped their leaves a few times “I think the order iz field medic, explorer, engineer, navigator, and armz zpecializt. In terms of what iz trained firzt.” We stopped by the table “Oh, so field medic training is also storage training?” “In a zenze, the bezt vay of learning hov to aide. Iz knoving vhat iz available, and keeping important itemz ztocked. But, thiz izn’t a training zezzion, juzt debriefing.” Lopasis stepped over, dispensing another cup of water from the panels.

Placing my chain and picture on the table, then looking out the window to spacy abyss I thought on everything “So. Would I be trained for explorer when we land?” “Potentially. Or any of the otherz, I zimply lizted the recommended order ve zet, if you feel ready to learn one primarily, that iz alzo up to you.” “Huh, you know it’s a lot less imposing now that I know what to expect.” Lopasis paused their water pour, tilting to look at me “Did your planet not inform you of the zpecializationz for thiz zhip?” I gave a shrug and head shake “So far, everyone knows more than me about what I should know. I didn’t even get a translator until I stepped on board.” “Your zpeciez becomez increazingly alarming vith each added information.” Lopasis poured their drink, tapping for another.

“Yea. That’s humans, the more you learn about us. The more you wish you didn’t know. Like our oceans.” “Vhat about your oceanz?” “Do you really want to test your hubris again? Have you not learned from actions passed?” “…Vaz that a human joke?” Laughing I walked beside Lopasis to the panel, tapping for my own drink “I’ll let you decide that yourself.” Grabbing my cup, I sat back in my original spot.

Lopasis hummed for a second “Vell, thiz haz been quite an informative interaction. I can zee vhat you mean by learning a lot from everyone.” “Oh yea, what did you learn about me?” I excitedly pointed to myself. “You're unique. I cannot quite explain it, but. I am alvayz learning zomething about you, and I never knov vhat vill come next. Maybe interezting might be a better vord?” Slightly dejected I settled back in my seat “Ah, so still just unique and interesting. Yippie.” I twirled a finger with the word.

“Apologiez, did I offend you?” Lopasis worried. “No. I just always got told I was unique, interesting and special all my life. It never really meant anything growing up, and I never understood why it was all I got. It’s not offensive, just thought I was something more than, the different kid.” Honest words pushed past, as I looked to the framed picture. “I didn’t knov. I’m zorry, I can think of better vordz.” Waving the matter off I sat properly in the seat again. “Nah. You literally couldn’t have known. And besides, what I learned about you wasn’t much of anything. So just even assessments of first few talks.”

Lopasis gave another long hum “You alvayz find the vordz to zettle a matter. Then I zhall vorry no longer, but vhen I do find proper vordz I vill tell you vhat I learned.” They pressed the screen, making a panel turn, depositing their cup. “I’ll take that offer. And when I can, I’ll do the same. Watch, I’ll out observe you.” Lopasis gave a wave and laugh “I don’t knov, I might have an advantage with my eyez and senzez. You might be learned firzt.” Their five eyes grew at the mention. “Oh yea? I’ll hyper analyze you until you get stuck in my mind. Then, I’ll have the advantage of only thinking about you.” I pointed to them feeling triumphant, taking a sip of my drink.

Lopasis froze for a moment, eyes glued to me “I didn’t expect you to go that far for me. Zurely there are other thingz that dezerve your full attention.” Confused I replayed the conversation, trying to understand the reaction ‘It’s just hyper fixating? Little brain rot on Lopasis only…’ “Ohhhhh. I didn’t think my words through.” I admitted out loud, getting more laughter from Lopasis “Even though it’s not the best vord. I ztill think interezting fitz for right nov, talking vith you is alvayz great fun.” My mind stuttered at the complement “Why are your words so genuine and nice. I can’t handle such positivity so close, I might barf out sunshine soon.” I tried to hide by taking another drink.

“Alright, I zhall contain my honezty for nov. I must return to the helm, and make zure everything there iz recorded. Do try to rezt before ve land, a lot haz happened today, giving your body a moment of break vould help.” Lopasis nudged out, closing their eyes. “I will. I mainly came out here to eat earlier, so resting should be easy. Oh-" I called out as they turned away “-Thank you again. For everything today, it was also nice talking about my worries.” Lopasis gave a curtsy, beaming bright “I am happy to have aided you. And never feel like you can’t come to me. I’ll alvayz be here to talk and lizten.” With a final wave they turned, walking into the next corridor.

Staring at the wall, I waited until the door sounded open then close, before slumping back into my chair ‘That was so nerve wracking. How are they so easy to talk to, yet intimidating at the same time. And their reactions, even when they were concerned. Like, man… But, at least a lot of my stress is gone. And I got answers.’ I gave a long, slow sigh “I’m so tired. Maybe I should sleep, they did keep reminding me.”

With another sigh I arose, finishing my water and sending the cup away. Grabbing the framed photo and chain I returned back, the hallway was still clear with muffled mummers barely picked out behind walls. My room door appearing as I tapped in the code, the sanitized smell unaffecting my nose as I stepped in. Placing the picture and chain on the table, I flopped onto the bed, fixing the sheet atop me. “Alright. I’m tired. So I can’t keep thinking, just gotta drift off to slumber town. Easy, just try to relax, and don’t even think ab-" my words cut out as I fell asleep, thoughts drifting away as my body settled into bed.

[zgvlt]

stick to the script sebek zigvolt x reader

summary: You and Sebek don't quite get how you're supposed to play your respective roles when you can't stop arguing with each other

tags: gender neutral reader, sfw, rivals with mutual pining, repressed people, AU: no magic, AU: theatre, kissing, 1.7k+ words, not beta read

author’s note (see end notes for more): trying something new? i usually write sebek softly, and i don't really write dynamics like this, so i thought i would try it for fun + practice... i also just really want to write more theatre AUs the rook fic was not enough

[you can also read this on AO3]

Sebek couldn't tell anyone how he got into this situation in the first place. One minute he's getting recruited for their school's theatre club due to his good projection and wonderful diction, then he's telling his seniors that he doesn't have the time for such frivolous activities, and the next thing you know he's learning his lines and arguing with you about how to go about a scene.

Well, technically he knows what convinced him to join—Malleus and Lilia, the two seniors he respected most. They both said something along the lines of... exerting his energy somewhere productive?

Sebek never considered that he would have a talent for art—he's aware that his drawings dare not compare to the portraits he's seen in museums, his writing dare not compare to the poetry and prose of his favorite books. Still, perhaps something like this was doable. All he had to do was memorize these lines, right? The action scenes were relatively easy, too—of course they were! He was in the martial arts club, after all!

Besides, his seniors said they would watch him, so obviously he had to...

"Sebek, it's just like you to slack off when your precious seniors aren't in sight," you said, clicking your tongue as you strolled in the dressing room. "Shouldn't you be practicing? The Sevens know you need it."

At the sound of your irritating voice, Sebek immediately regretted joining the production. He should have not signed up at all, even if it meant disappointment on the ends of Malleus and Lilia. How could he even think to do good, no, passable with you of all people as his... stage partner, he would settle calling it.

"I just can't get rid of you, can I?" he retorted, snarling in response, "FIRST you follow me from elementary to high school, SECOND you appear in all my classes, THIRD you join the debate society after I do, and NOW in theatre?!"

"As if!" you huffed, smacking your script onto the vanity table. The thickness of the papers created a resounding thud. 

In the back of his mind, Sebek compared his copy of the script—binded nicely in a clear folder, the plastic sheets keeping them from being dirtied—to yours—bookbinded, with tabs and markings all over. Were you trying to brag, to deliberately show that you read through it more often than him?!

 "You're the one who's following me!” you insisted, with your typical response of trying to turn the tables back on him. “You just can't get enough of me, can you? I mean, I don't blame you. If I wasn't around, your life would be so boring."

He loathed you, he told himself.

"You must be the vainest human I've ever met." 

You grinned then—that cheeky, fiery one that you only ever threw at him, and none of those sickly sweet smiles that you presented to everyone else when you wanted someone to swoon over you. 

"Better vain than delusional, Sebek," you looked at the mirror to begin fixing your appearance, and by his mistake he looked at you through your mirror as well. "Stop staring at me—we should be productive."

He ignored your first comment—it was entirely your fault for being distracting, intrusive, like an invasive species. Anyway, this wouldn't be the first time either one of you had done this routine. He could put aside his... loathing of you for a mutual interest.

"From scene 3?"

"Scene 3, line 17," you specified. It annoyed Sebek, even though he was exactly the type of person to do the same unto you given the chance. "Start already!"

Sebek knew he was supposed to be looking at you in this scene and that you were supposed to be looking at you, too, but he could only withstand looking at your reflection. By the looks of it, by where your eyes were directed, you felt about the same. 

He was sure if he had to lock eyes with you, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Sebek began, performing his part by memory. He knew you would scold him for reading through the script when he’s had a whole month to memorize him. Never mind that everyone else was willing to give the both of you some slack for not being a part of the drama club in the first place—anything you could do, he could do better.

“Why shouldn’t I?” you replied, with as much sweetness as you could muster in your voice. It sickened Sebek, how perfectly you could falsify that tone, a loveliness directed at him that made his stomach churn and his head spin. “We made a promise, didn’t we? Wherever one goes–”

“–the other follows,” Sebek continued, attempting to emulate the same tone as you. You scrunch your face for a moment, but by the way you don’t try to correct him he knows he’s said the line exactly how you wanted him to. 

“I know that, and I know I can’t stop you from coming along, but—”

“Sebek,” you were clicking your tongue again, and as he watched you through the mirror he thought, for the nth time today, of how annoying you were. “You messed up the line—you always mess up this line. Haven’t you gotten used to it already?!”

Sebek flushed red in anger—it was one thing to be wrong, and it was another to be told by you, as though you were disappointed in him, as if you had expectations of him.

“Like, come on Sebek! Get a grip!”

“Do you know how hard it is to call you these… names?! You of all people?”

“Well it’s difficult for me too!” you exclaimed, standing up only to face him properly, finally ready to throw all your emotions at him. “Do you think it’s easy for me to look you in the eye and call you darling and my beloved?

“But I’m at least trying to say them as naturally as possible! If you don’t wanna be replaced, you better start working on doing the same… honey.”

The pet name should have sounded awkward coming from your mouth with how you forced yourself to spit it out, but Sebek’s ears must have been malfunctioning today. Like the substance you mentioned, the word came out viciously viscous, and with every drop of attention you gave him—the huffs and puffs and glares and stares—he lapped it all up, as if watching to see if you would finally break first.

“As if you could find anyone to replace me, dear,” Sebek commented haughtily, knowingly, “maybe YOU’RE the problem, have you considered that? Maybe I’ll get myself a different partner, then!”

Never mind that should either one of you leave, the other gets no real say on the replacement; never mind that should either one of you leave, the other will clearly do so as well.

With all your fighting, nobody knows you as intimately and deeply as he does. That is to say, nobody else will know just how bothersome and downright maddening you could be.

“Will you, now?” You don’t even sound doubtful anymore, don’t even try to pretend. 

With all your fighting, nobody knows him as intimately and deeply as you do.

“I suppose I pity who you end up being partnered with, then,” you feigned a sigh, “having to pair up with someone who always has a stick up his ass.”

“Better than someone who always wants to have it their way,” he replied in unkind, “always wants to have the last say, can’t stand the fact that someone is capable of being better than them.”

You grit your teeth, and Sebek stared at your mouth, eyes trained on the movement of your lips.

“Gods, do you ever shut the fuck up?”

“YOU’RE the one who won’t stop talking when I’m just trying to practice our script!” he stood up from his seat, as if preparing to leave you alone in the dressing room. “You’re wasting my breath with this.”

“Then do us both a favor and stop talking.”

It’s an invitation for something. The most logical as to what for would be to continue arguing with you, to call you a hypocrite or some other word in the thesaurus synonymous with your name. 

Ruling with his head, however, is hardly ever an option around you.

“As long as you stop talking as well.”

And then Sebek takes a few steps forward, smashing your lips together. He’s unsure if this should count as a loss against you—him being the first to initiate this—or if he’s won with how quickly you reciprocate the act. 

Sebek, if caught in this position with you—his hands cupping your face, yours perched atop his shoulders—would claim that he had not expected the argument to end like this. However, nobody had entered the room, so there would be no need for anyone to question his honesty.

He’s burning brightly, and the warmth on his hand, lighting his fingertips aflame can come from nowhere but your neck and cheeks.

He’s lost. He’s definitely lost, but when you pull him closer he knows that so have you.

Sebek makes a sound of irritation as your lips leave his, and in the midst of catching your breath you whisper, “you’re annoying.”

Then you lean in again, because apparently you like kissing people you find annoying. 

You said that last time, too—or perhaps it was vexatious you had called him. Whatever it was didn’t matter too much as last time, you also insisted there would be no next time. He supposed nothing was definite in the four walls of the dressing room.

Or the four walls of any other room.

When Sebek breaks away from the kiss, masking the pants of his breath and resting his forehead against yours with far more intimacy than he should allow to happen, he wants to tell you it was awful. You didn’t ask, but he knows it would irk you to hear it, and he knows it would lead to another heated argument.

That heated argument would turn into you trying to prove him wrong, and maybe that’s why he doesn’t tell you it was awful—because it would lead to him kissing you again.

That, and, because he would be lying if he said it was awful. He has no intention of telling you, however, that it was anything but.

“You’re the bane of my existence,” Sebek confesses, and you smile as though you had gotten exactly where you wanted to be with him. 

“The feeling’s mutual.”

my other (softer & longer) sebek fics: [one] [two] my rook x theatre actor reader fic

end notes | masterlist

[ 1 ] My past Sebek one-shots, they've all had reader be very nice to Sebek, because I want people to be nice to Sebek and he deserves good and sweet people in his life. I also had Sebek warm up to them very quickly. This time, I went with the opposite -> Sebek and Reader who have known each other for years but still argue everyday. It just seemed fun, so I wrote it.

[ 2 ] The general prompt I was going for was "two people who are very repressed and can't accept that their feelings towards some can change, and maybe it's because they're afraid of change". Of course I don't really explore it, but hopefully I've hinted at the fact that they're very much into each other it's just... easier for them like this.

[ 3 ] I also wanted to write a different reader this time, someone kind of insufferable. You might wonder if it's just to Sebek, and you can imagine what you want, but I think it's more fun if reader genuinely is kind of smug and a bit of a know-it-all, they're just more self aware than Sebek is.

[ 4 ] I wondered if I should call them "enemies" but as much as they would insist on it, they don't hate each other, they don't try to ruin each other's lives or anything. They compete, they argue, and they kiss on the side 🤷‍♀️ They challenge and motivate each other.

[ 5 ] No basis for what play/musical they're doing since I didn't want to restrict myself. In my imagination, though, there were action sequences, and Sebek and reader fought other characters on stage together.

[ 6 ] "How often do they kiss" uhhh enough for Sebek to not freak out about it too much (in front of you), make your guesses

Anyway, if you have any further questions about reader and Sebek for this fic feel free to drop and ask I probably have the answer in my head nyehehe

[renae-the-turtle]

I have an idea and I gotta tell someone about it or else I won't be able to stop thinking about it.

It's a concept for a rottmnt au focused on the Disaster Twins, which I'm calling the Hybrid Twins AU. Full concept is under the cut, but if you don't wanna read my whole explanation, the idea is that Donnie and Leo got mutated with each others' DNA as well as Lout Jitsu's.

So you know those pods that Draxum stuck the turtles in when he mutated them? Well, in this AU, the gargoyles accidentally broke one after they captured Yoshi. Draxum decides it would take too long to fix it first, because he finally has Lou Jitsu and he's not going to risk giving him time to escape, even if he seems remarkably content in that cage.

So he has decided to go ahead and mutate the turtles, but he only has three pods, and four turtles. He's aware that if he sticks two turtles in one pod, they will mutate with each other's DNA as well as Lou Jitsu's, which could be unstable – all his experiments so far have involved combining only two sets of DNA – but, he reasons, if two of them... don't make it, then he'll still have the other two.

Obviously, this means he has to consider which ones he'd rather keep, and which ones have the most compatible DNA, to increase the chances of a stable mutation. After some consideration, he picks the red-eared slider and the spiny softshell. They're both aquatic species, and are similar in size and approximate age, so he estimates that they have the best chances of survival. And it could be interesting to see how their traits combine.

Draxum goes ahead with the mutation as planned, but with two turtles sharing a pod. All he actually gets to see of their combined mutation is that they now share similar markings, before Lou breaks out and snatches the turtles, just like in canon.

From then on things aren't really any different, except for the twins looking different and having a slightly different dynamic.

I really wanna draw out what they look like properly, as that's what I was focusing on when I came up with this, but I literally only thought this up today, and haven't had a chance to sit down with my sketchbook yet. For now, have this reference sheet I made for their markings and colour:

Interesting things to note, which should be visible here:

- their skin tones have shifted towards each other, so Donnie's skin is a little lighter and Leo's is a little darker

- they both have yellow sclera (in canon, Leo has white sclera and Donnie has yellow)

- their shoulder markings go all the way down to their elbows

- Leo's markings are a bit brighter than Donnie's

Other things I came up with:

- their shell markings also match now, though Donnie's still a softshell and Leo is not. So Donnie gained lighter-coloured markings that perfectly match Leo's shell pattern, and Leo has dappled darker spots on his shell like the spots on Donnie's.

- both of the twins are sensitive about their shells being touched. And they're very defensive of each other, so when they were tots, if one of them got his shell touched by someone when he didn't want to be touched, then both of them would try and bite the offender. Splinter has scars on his fingers, yes

- you know how rise!Donnie always wants to blow things up? And how his brothers always stop him? Yeah, in this AU, the only ones trying to hold him back are Raph and Mikey. Do not leave the twins alone together, because Leo's definitely not gonna be holding Donnie back from going lethal

- related to the last point: moral alignments! The way I see it, rise!Raph is neutral or lawful good, rise!Mikey is chaotic good, rise!Leo is... probably chaotic neutral, and rise!Donnie is chaotic evil. In this AU, the twins are both chaotic evil

- how about I let Leo swallow a sandwich whole. Even better, let the twins have eating competitions that focus solely on "how much can you swallow at once without chewing", which Raph and Mikey might try to get involved in, but it would eventually just become a twin thing. Mikey would always be the first one out, and Raph would last a bit longer simply by being bigger, but then it would be down to the twins

- can't believe I almost forgot this one, but they have actual twin sense. The mystics involved in their mutation, combined with their Hamato genetics, plus the fact that Leo and Donnie got mutated in the same pod and share enough DNA to be almost (but not quite)as closely related as identical twins, means that they have the ability to sense each other's emotions, and will probably figure out how to do the Ninja Mind Meld before even unlocking their ninpo. Or even before using any mystic powers whatsoever. Because yeah. I'm a sucker for giving them twin telepathy hehehe

- outfits! Have you noticed that in canon, whenever the turtles get dressed up, Leo and Donnie's outfits usually complement each other? Most notably the sweaters they wore for the family dinner in Repairin' the Baron, but other times too. Yeah, I definitely wanna draw them in matching/complementary outfits.

- I considered having Donnie wear a different mask, one like Leo's, because of his stripes, but I don't wanna get rid of Donnie's eyebrows, and neither does he, and trying to draw eyebrows on a mask like that would be too difficult. However, when little Leo failed to convince Donnie that they should have matching masks, he wouldn't stop crying over Donnie "trying to cover up his stripes" and "not wanting to be twins" and stuff like that. So, to get him to stop crying, Donnie drew red stripes on his mask, above his eyes where his natural stripes are (I can totally picture it and I absolutely need to draw it soon). He likes the way it looks and likes matching with his twin, so he keeps drawing those stripes along with his eyebrows

- with how similar Donnie and Leo look, there's no way anyone can deny that they're twins, not even Donnie, but it still bugs him that he doesn't know how they are twins, because he can tell that they appear to be hybrids of two different turtle species. He can't find the answers on his own, and so he bugs Splinter about it until he finally caves and tells the boys that they were mutated using human DNA (not specifying which human) and that Blue and Purple got some of each others' DNA as well. So when Leo is wailing about thinking Donnie doesn't want to be twins with him, Donnie comforts him in his own logical way and assures him that there's no way they could ever NOT be twins, pointing out that they share more DNA with each other than they do with Raph or Mikey or even whatever human they got their DNA from, and adds on that even if they didn't have that much genetic material in common, he'd still want to be twins. (I need them to be soft, plz! Turtle tot twins are adorable!)

- speaking of Splinter, whenever the twins aren't wearing their signature colours, he has a really, REALLY hard time telling them apart. He was worried about being able to tell Raph and Leo apart in canon; you can't tell me he wouldn't get these twins mixed up All. The. Time.

- the twins are nearly inseparable. They always wanna do everything together, especially when they're young. Because of this, they end up knowing a lot of the same stuff, because they are each others' favorite person to info-dump to when they learn something new. So this Donnie has a bit more respect for Leo's intelligence, which is to say he won't outright say or even imply that Leo is stupid. Calling him smart would still be going too far though, duh. Gotta have some squabbling somewhere in here.

- yeah I guess they're really competitive. They compete over everything. Including rights to being the older twin. I'm a firm believer of the the fact that they have no way of knowing which of them is actually older, even in canon, so there will be no "older twin" or "younger twin" headcanons here. It's way more funny if they're constantly arguing about it, anyway. Or if they switch it up depending on their mood, cuz sometimes being the second youngest of four can be pretty appealing.

- uhhhh let's see do I have anything else...?

- oh yeah, I'm considering giving Leo some sort of shell cover? 'Cause I said that he's sensitive about people touching his shell, like Donnie is, but he has a hard shell so he doesn't actually need a battle shell.

- leading from that, though, I think both twins have a lot of similar sensory issues. And they're both neurodivergent. Donnie is autistic, and Leo is AuDHD (that refers to having both autism & ADHD, in case you didn't know. It's what I've got)

Anyway that's all i have for now. Might edit this post if I think of anything more later.

[ganzdraw]

Character sheet:

Tamara Dremurr (princess and second daughter of Empress Toriel).

At the beginning of her creation, Toriel did not think about creating a being capable of being revived in her name. And that the idea was given by Emperor Gaster to create perfect and better beings than the ones she was making, her sister Toriel in her creation phase or rather in the "Zero" timeline. Something that bothers Toriel because of those words from her brother saying that it was not good to play with her life and her limits nor should she judge those that already existed made by her hand since they were perfect.

(Important fact: The ZERO timeline is a limbo between character planning and the story that PromisedTale will have. This was done to have a linear and written story) oh, that's what I thought...

Their first fights and differences began between them and it was evident that Gaster was envious of not being able to create life like his sister.

But what made her change her mind some time later was giving her first daughter, Zoey, a sister. since she wanted to give him a family and accompany him in difficult times in the future. So why did she make an agreement with Gaster and it was only to create 1 more soul with him and not another (even though she had doubts that Gaster would respect that rule) but for the love of her brother she wanted to at least fulfill her wish of creating one. The single life is more like what they did with Zoey as her first try.

  thus entering the first phase of the universe, creating the island that was named by Toriel as Ebott Island where the inhabitants created on the Zero line will live their lives in special places suitable for all species where they will be surrounded by snow and lava. and lakes.

And this is where Tamara appears! as the founder and symbol of peace with her older sister and being the first human and returned soul created in the first timeline where this year's canon would begin. And at the beginning of the first years in this timeline. The Au entered its prime and a golden age where humans and monsters lived in harmony. along with a just empire. And Tamara was surrounded by great friends and a sister with a big heart. giving a perfect and peaceful story.

Until the arrival of Core! Frisk who came to warn the Empress that her life is in danger... a danger arising from a truce between Error! Sans and Ink! Sans. Tamara taking an important role as the hero of bringing that golden era to her world after the fall of her mother who sacrificed her life to create a magical barrier that will prevent the advance of the corruption of error!sans in the inner core of the PormisedTale universe. . LEAVING A UNIQUE ANOMALY IN MULTIVERSE.... A route never seen before... The chaotic route... a route where the pasifist, neutral and genocidal fight each other to see who is dominant in a timeline that is in fragmented into 22 parts and Tamara must put them together to recover her reset ability and restore order to her world and bring back her mother and friends.

(She has a soul as powerful as her older sister Zoey, which is also determination, but the difference that makes them different from each other is that Tamara is the first human being and "alpha reborn" to be able to resurrect from the dead. through a magic necklace that is attached to your soul)

Something that her sister Zoey, being also a revenant, does not possess this ability to rise from the dead, being a "delta" revenant of a rank lower than the "alpha".

(And another important point. The ranks are only seen in the revenat species and knowing what their rank is by the shape of their tail)

Description: (In battle⚔) The princess of the Ebott empire challenges you to a battle. You think it was a bad idea to mess with her. (Social🥰) It seems that the princess liked you, so much so that she even gives you her hand on her shoulder with that warm smile. You blush, what are you going to do about it? (???⚠) You think it was a bad idea to challenge Tamara's limits- Now you feel your sins running down your back under the aura she releases. an unusual fear....

Typical Phrases - Hey Buddy, SNAILS!, Me, weird? What's up, I'm one: Limited edition.

Personality - Outgoing, Friendly, Courageous.

(Birthday September 1)

Taste:- Rock music itself (Fact: He has a guitar called Gunter, a gift from his mother Toriel when he was 5 years old).

She loves chocolate with hazelnuts.

Fears:-

  Arsonphobia (Pathological fear of fires, due to the collapse in the first timeline when she was just a child).

Nightmares- (Due to the constant dreams where she remembers the past timelines, it causes great fear. Deaths and screams of her people AND THE IMPOTENCE FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO HELP THEM) She usually has many dream catchers in her room made by P !Natpstablook

Extra facts and curiosities ●

She has a Gaster blaster called "Punky" and is very mischievous and biting.

It is known that he also speaks Windings language but he is not as fluent.

She has a tattoo that refers to her creation in timeline number 1 and she has had it since she was a child but she hides it.

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

Music in the grimdark future

So having the windows open and hearing some of my neighbors practicing their instruments (some definetly better than others, looking at you here, parent who had the genius idea to teach their elementary kid the trumpet) reminded me of this "humans are unable to NOT do art"-thing, even in the most dire of circumstances. So how does it all apply to the sentient species of 40k?

Imperium: you got regular (as regular as things can be so far in the future) instruments for the aristocracy and their servants in their hive-spires, but for the lower classes it's mostly singing and kocking on something to get a beat, often with religious songs at its core. In its functionality its often work-songs designed to go with the processes in a Manufacturum.

Fun Fact: "Ave Imperatoris" had once 20 verses, one for each legion, but it got cut down for obvious reasons. Rarely knowing the original text, people came up with their own versions, those becoming increasingly funny and crude the further the singer is away from a Commisar or Inquisitor.

Astra Militarum: very similar to the regular Imperium, but with the benefit of having some simple instruments aviable to them. While there are dedicated musicians for formal events, most musical tradition is just some guys around a campfire improvising. There's a stark contrast between serious songs (often mourning dead comrades and fallen worlds) and upright silly nonsense meant to liften the spirits ("I shot *insert enemy here* IN THE NUTS!", "What should be do with the drunken conscript?")

Space Marines: Often very chapter-dependant, but in monastic tradition the general constant is the choir. Often the history of the chapter is tought and kept alive through the songs performed together. It is always a very serious affair, altough when the Astartes are truly alone without regular mortals around certain parallels to the Militarum can be seen.

Inquisition: The fact that the average chaos-specialized inquisitor can in the heat of battle pronounce the true name of a warp-spawn which is usually absurdly long and not made for human mouths in the first place, and can do so fast enough to banish the foe before it murders them and without stuttering, has turned them into unintentional rap-gods.

Sisters of Battle: Full-on church choir, not much of a surprise there. Sometimes however, maybe out of being in a good mood that day, someone starts to perform their usually spoken prayer with a little melody to it, and if its a nice tune other Sisters might copy it.

Adeptus Mechanicus: *modem dial-up sounds composed as opera*

Adeptus Custodes: ever had that weird tune in your head that you just could not get out but everyone who might have known the song has been dead for 10.000 years so you have no clue what it is? Generally not a very musical bunch, although rumors have it their individual tastes can be somewhat eccentric - seriously, what is "aztec dubstep" even supposed to be?

Imperial Knights: Out of all the places where it could have been, this is where swing and jazz have prevailed, and that for a good reason: piloting a knight is a group effort. Sure, there is the Princeps at the top of it, but without their supporting crew, they are severly limited in their power. So a princeps and their crew need to work together at all times, knowing each other better than anyone else and be able to collectively improvise in the heat of battle. Performing together as a group with no sheet music and mostly improv is their way of practicing this outside of actual exercises and drills.

Such practice is however a very intimate thing for the households, so outsiders often only see the "typical imperial"-stuff at official events.

Everything Chaos: *is music, flavor depending on divine influence*

Craftworld Eldar: Significant focus on mastery over a singular instrument, time passed from start of practice to first performance might reach several centuries. Usually answered with polite applause. The performance is deemed less important than the act of practice, so sharing said act with someone is considered very romantic.

Dark Eldar: Love to perform - the more extreme the performance the better. It's not a real concert if there's not a casuality report in the news the day after. Due to their highly individualistic nature it is near impossible to get a group-act going for longer than a few moments before someone starts backstabbing the other.

Exodites: "Unga-Bunga" followed by the most mathemathically perfect bongo-solo ever heard.

Harlequins: Wandering musicians, always practicing their craft.

Orks: They literally have "Goff-Rockers" so nothing new here.

Necrons: There is no joy in performing music for a Necron noble as they can play every instrument flawlessly that their protocols let them work with. What is however VERY interesting is the act of composing, especially when you have eternity to get it just perfect. Given how high-ranking Necrons tend to pick up considerably weird hobbies, having a composer among them is not exactly weird.

T'au Empire: the wildest mix of genres and crossovers you have ever heard. Especially Dalyth, the Sept most known for being a multicultural hotspot full of different alien species, has an insane music scene - add to such wealth of culture the technical possibility for easy recording and remixing aviable to most of the population, and you got quite some bangers releasing every year.

Tyrranids: The Hivemind is suspecting that "music" was something the swarm ate last week. It would explain the weird sequence of sound-information sticking to some parts of the collective neurology.

Genestealer Cults: Völker, hört die Signale! Auf zum letzten Gefecht!

League of Votann: The Votann give access to countless musical records predating even the Dark Age of Technology at some point. So if there's anyone driving into battle with Britney Spear's Toxic blasting from the Hekaton Speakers, it's the Squats.

[solarcal]

@amity206 i wrote out and organized the world building a long time ago, so it’s not exactly up to date with the newer seasons and season area’s but i guess if someone’s interested i should maybe look into updating it? hm something to think about ig lol either way, here’s my whole world building sheet its veryyy long so uh take your time reading it, im totally willing to answer any questions you have too :3

Isle of Dawn-Binial

where all moths are born

Moths are Megabird shaking off their feathers

those feathers fall to isle in a meteor type fashion and when they land, they are a ball of Megabird’s light which soon reforms into a classic moth with no cape, the basic moth hair, pants and mask

this happens at random which is why sky kids must keep constant watch over the beach for new arrivals

its rare for more than one moth to be born at a time but it can still happen

they are usually considered siblings more than most and its strongly encouraged not to separate them

they can leave each other when they are old if they so wish but most dont

Moths are called Mids, the species of sky kids are called Skids, and butterfly sky kids, so someone between moth and vet are called Butids

Caretakers-a whole “job”(i say job very loosely) you can have as a vet where you simply wait at the beach in isle for moths to be born to then help them adjust to their new bodies and take them to one of the various house in isle to grow up and either get adopted or picked up by a guider or just get old enough to choose to set out on their own

Guiders-more similar to mentors than a parent

they wont adopt the moth into their family but simply help them learn how sky works and take them through the realms til either they reach Empyrean or find a place they want to live or an apprenticeship learning sometime of art or craft

they can take more than one moth too where people adopting rarely do

they usually are either near the end of their lives or they are simply bored for a while, sometimes they do it just to be nice, it depends on the guider

Guiders and sky kids come to adopt moths here

Some stay for the community feeling because its like a suburban neighborhood with many moths and elder skids sticking around

Others like it for the quiet they can find by the shores as mids are typically contained to the center of Binial for their safety

houses above ground and houses built into caves and buried in the ground

Cave of prophecy

It's more like a fun training ground! Or an obstacle course

They don’t actually die, the prophet just laughs and helps them back onto the course

They're more like a referee than a prophet

Daylight Prairie-Digarem

Fisherman type region

Everyone here fishes or builds the various types of boats, water or air

They can also train mantas for various jobs

Some people are butterfly breeders/keepers

Other don't have an area specific job but like the peace and quiet

Sanctuary Isle

A beach type resort place

People commonly go to just relax and play with the flock of mantas and swim in the water

Hidden Forest-Hirthlim

Mainly filled with artisans and researchers

only place in this world you can die unnaturally is from the deadly rain of Hirthlim

Very dangerous which is why younger skids are rarely wandering alone and if they are, everyone will constantly check up on them and ask if they need help

Wood carvers, painters, jewelers, metal workers, forgers, etc etc

They just carve out like mini statues and then plop them down, scattered everywhere across the forest. You can just find one hidden away a little bit as you’re walking/flying your way through the forest

there's hand crafted stuff everywhere in forest, various sculptures littered along side the paths, crystal garlands hung from branch to branch etc

at night you see the reflection of flittering fireflies in the rivers and lakes that make them look like the stars in the sky that is actually hidden behind the leaves and branches above

The cave in the tree has gems, metals and stone that they mine to use for decorations

Treehouse

A big commune basically

People go there if they need to hide from someone or they simply need to get away from it all

It's also where mids who’s guiders/family have died or the mids who got lost in Hirthlim are taken to

Sometimes the mid isn’t a good fit for the family either they are brought back to Binial or brought to treehouse to be readopted or if they are old enough, to simply figure out if they want another family or if they wanna go off on their own for a while

the mids take a while to show their personality and sometimes the family either cant properly take care of them for some reason or its detrimental to the family itself and the mids are well taken care of and due to being so young, they quickly forget the past family and harbor no sadness or trauma from the parting

skids who work/live here commonly go searching through Hirthlim looking for lost moths

Flight

The mail center

Also a huge manta training grounds but only for riding or helping with pulling carts

Also used as training grounds for flying in tight spaces or with really strong winds

the mail is carried by the wind currents and birds pass messages between the spirits and skids that work there

like the big current that takes you all the way around flight but hundreds of tiny ones

mail leaving flight is either put on a cart dragged by a big manta or given to mail skids who have a specific section of each realm that they deliver to

they ride smaller mantas to travel around quicker and deliver the mail

the skids do the sorting and taking them out of flight

The widespread corruption and the fall of King Resh and of Sky has not happened yet

Its is starting to though, with small infrequent dark plants sprouting in Hirthlim and the corruption of the first manta in Gaial

The draining rain is not caused by the corruption, it is part of the natural Sky world that people have come to live with

Valley of Triumph-Valem

Large bustling city, think new york and street fairs

Valem + Empyrean hold like 70% of all skids permanent homes

It has many markets and schools and overall is just a huge culture landmark due to its size and population

Anything you can think of, they have have

A lot of mids stay here a long time before making the journey to Empyrean and some just never leave

Super big on competition and flying

Many sports and they hold a ton of games and celebrations

Village of Dreams

Moth epicenter

Basically the suburbs

Many many families have their permanent homes here

Huge houses

Where ice skating lessons are held :3

Hermit Valley

Where a lot engineers and inventors and scientist and researchers live

many move up to hermit valley because no one else lives up there so they dont have to worry about bother anyone with their creations and since everyone is a researcher, they are used to dangerous stuff

They are the ones making the flying boats and looking into the dark plants and the power crystals

There’s also the normal types of researchers like how the world works and there’s a lot of researchers investigating the old murals and trying to write of of sky’s history and religion down

There’s also a lot of people looking into helping disabled sky kids and making better gear for various jobs + mantas

They’re looking into creating fake wings for skids that can’t fly but so far are unsuccessful

They mainly focused on saddles for service mantas as well as other needed aids such as googles to improve eyesight

at the peaks of this giant mountain range where it snows and is giant enough to fit whole villages and a city

Along side all the birds you fly up to the top to Valem and suddenly you burst through the blanket of clouds and you’re soaring above them

You can either take a boat or manta up or fly up a wind tunnel/highway to get up

Golden Wastelands-Gaial

mainly farming fields before the big border wall for Empyrean

inside that wall are smaller villages

basically like the midwest, farms for miles and miles

a canyon is in the west but people rarely venture that way due to being so far out of the way (where the first corruption of a manta, the first step towards krill and the person who has semi control over it)

a small town/castle thing lies on that coast

Forgotten Ark

there's no ark there

its just another farm but since its an island, they have different crops and such

very floral and such, think tropics

Abyss

very veryyyyyyy small fishing village

its very hidden and people rarely go there

the fishers there venture out sometimes to sell their catches but its mainly made up of 2-3 large found families that dont want to interact with other sky kids nowadays so they just stay in their village

Vault of Knowledge-the library

its filled with researchers and scribes

all of the kingdoms history is recorded here

this is where the “priests” live too

priests arent actually priests but more the high level scribes, because they know a lot of information and can offer good advice

no one can actually talk to Megabird obviously but they have studied the memory cubes for most of their life so they know more than anyone else which is why people go to them for advice

this is like home base for all researchers

any researches elsewhere come from the library and will return there if their research is finished

they also send all their reports there

Starlight Desert

the childrens library!

this is where moths can learn about the history or just hear stories

sometimes older sky kid will leave their moths here for a while like a daycare

there’s people who live in eden that are like school teachers basically that work in starlight

Eden-Empyrean

this is like a huge spiraling city

i saw someone compare it to the tower of babel so i’m strongly referencing that

there’s multiple levels, getting smaller as they go up

the very top level is where King Resh and his advisors live and work

lower level down is where they hold meeting with the elders and just general important stuff idk

floors 1-4 are split in half basically

one half is purely the library and the other is normal house and stores and workshops and such

spirit mantas are used to move large groups of people around like buses or to travel around on one floor if they dont want to fly or have a large package or something

spirit mantas are also used in the library to reach the memory cubes higher up because that way the scribe would be stable instead of having to flap up and down

spirit mantas are used instead of regular mantas because they are calmer and easier to train

they also grow up quicker and can fly stationary in the air which is great for the confined space of eden

that’s all the like physical world, the rest is the culture and society of my world

Culture/Lore

Families are called flocks and some flocks have a bird as their emblem kinda thing

Memory cubes

the things that line the walls of vault, you can record information in it like a book, you can either record a little hologram like a video or your voice reading out words like an audiobook

they are how sky stores all its information and how they send information thats too much to fit in a letter

King Resh

the King of sky (he’s also the one that caused its downfall but that hasnt happened yet in this world and won’t for a while)

the ruler chosen by Megabird and he oversees all of sky

lives in eden and mainly is in charge of big transportation projects like new boat systems like in dreams and hermit valley

theres a lot more of them in this world due to the fall not happening yet

he also can request the researchers/scribes to look into certain topics like the darkstone/power crystals and such

also gonna have a huge religious role but i have to finish the religion first

Geography

the world is one big island surrounded by ocean

its just a straight line from one realm to the next

Binial is a flat beach

Digarem is rolling hills with lots of rivers and both sides are by the ocean

it gently slopes up as you get further from Binial but you can still reach the ocean easily

Hirthlim is a big forest that starts to slope up more rapidly

there are streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes formed from the water run off from Valem and the constant rain

at the beginning it doesn't rain and you could still kinda reach the ocean below but there's no beach anymore

as you get higher, on the ocean sides is a sheer cliff face with no beach below, just like rocks

Valem is the mountain range that separates Hirthlim and Gaial from each other

you pass through the clouds to reach the snowy peaks of Valem

then there's a kinda steep slope down to Gaial which is closer to the ocean

the sides near the ocean slope down to meet it so fishing can occur here too but rarely does due to most people farming here

then there's the border wall to Empyrean

the villages inside with smaller farms and then the circular city rising up

Darkstone

a mysterious stone that is mined from the mountains

Power crystals-darkstone is refined into a power crystal which is used to power machines like the boats and doors

Powered by light, either the skids natural light or the sun

Theres a job of just refining darkstone

Gives a connection between life and their machines

sky kids bodies are made of light and as they grow up their light get stronger

thats how you gain your cape and more flaps

you gain a lot when you’re younger and then it slows down as you get older til you start losing it

then eventually you lose all your light become extinguished and you turn to ash and scatter in the wind

so its very common for families to take them to their favorite spot so their ashes can be scattered where they love most

basically the rain leeches away your light and so you are slowly drained and if you get extinguished here you just die

Megabird

basically god and the universe and light

its where all things come from and all things go

it created all of sky, people and everything and is a being of pure light

its also semi the sun?

it doesn’t really dictate what people do but is part of sky’s natural rebirth cycle where when anything light dies, their light/soul returns to Megabird to then later be sent back down to sky

its the deity that the spirits and sky kids worship

its who appointed Resh as king

its commonly depicted as a bird in all the murals in sky which is why ive just made it a bird

Megabird is like straight vibing, making the universe but at the same time is the universe but is also traveling through it

its complicated

Megabird is the very fabric of the universe and each atom and plant and animal is made up and created by Megabird

but Megabird is also just a giant bird thing made up of pure light and stars gliding across the galaxies

but like at the same time the trail left behind it is what makes stars and planets and comets and everything

Logic behind why Days of Rainbow and Lights exist is because Megabird is a semi physical being

it cares deeply about all of its creations which is why it returns to check up on Sky twice a year

Rainbow being a brief pass by on its way elsewhere and Lights is Megabird checking in more closely on everything, that its all going well and nothing is horribly corrupted or anything

Jobs

the whole thing about sky is there is no “jobs”

no one is forced to work

you can quit or change jobs because everything is basically an art or a genuine love for what they are doing

some sky kids dont have a profession at all, they are simply wanderers or just like vibing and exploring or staying home with their flock or whatever

Death and Rebirth

you dont die in eden

basically your light returns to Megabird and for a while you are one with it until your feather falls down to sky again

reborn as a new moth; people reborn wont remember their past life nor will people from their past life recognize them but they will have similar characteristics to their past life and sometimes feel deja vu from their past life

skids are rarely reborn while their surviving family is still alive as it takes a while for their feather to be shaken off again so past family and reborn moths rarely exist at the same time and even rarer do they meet

skids dont remember what it was like to be one with Megabird but they know that it is nice and Megabird is kind so people dont fear natural death

when someone dies its a happy sadness because their family knows they are “whole” again and they will return to sky as well as when the family dies, they will meet up with their loved one in Megabird

Moths learn about the rebirth cycle from a young age but in a soft happy way

Spirits-??? still unnamed

arent actually spirits, cause they arent dead yet

basically they were the species Megabird sent down before the sky kids

they've lived in sky a long time before sky kids

they have a very long life span so when we arrive they are tired from their long life which is why they rarely move from the area theyre in

a year to sky kids is like a day to them so they are content to watch us enjoy ourselves and be so lively and free

they still give us the cosmetics and such but its like kinda a spell

like your body is made of light and they are teaching you how to manipulate that light into that specific hair or clothing style

The first time they help guide your light into the right shape so you know how it feels and then you can recreate it

Kinda like this

the spirits having the skykids just sit down while they give like a magic lesson lol. One spirit standing with a bunch of lil skykids sitting around them on the ground staring up at them with awe. It’s dark out, and you can clearly see that they are a spirit. The stars are twinkling up in the sky and then they start to demonstrate how to make their hairstyle. The spirit is like “now follow my hand movements” and then they do like a twirly thing with their hands and lights are sparkling around their hands and poof! Wow suddenly a hairstyle! “Now let us go through the movements together. Picture [insert cosmetic here]. Feel your light magic flow through you. Feel it building in between your hands.” The little skykids follow and mimic what the spirit showed them

you can get all the cosmetics, including seasonal cosmetics and past ults

ults are more rare as they are only given by quest givers to those they like or gain their favor

some give out ults more easily than other, everyone has flight ults as Ms Flight gives them out freely but Prophecy or Gratitude’s ults are harder to obtain due to them being more picky/higher standards

Clothing/Cosmetics

because the cosmetics are the spirits teaching you how to manipulate your light, theres no physical object you obtain

if you buy clothes or a mask that another sky kid made, that would be physical and you would have to pick it up and put it on, to replace the spell you’re wearing

if you are wearing a sky kid made cosmetic, you have to take it off like actual clothes

the only cosmetic a sky kid cant make is a new style of hair due to that being pure light and you cant cut that

some of the older sky kids can combine two or three hairs to make a new style, but that takes a lot of discipline and concentration to achieve which is why only older kids can do it

researchers are looking into making new hair style spells but unsuccessful so far

Skids can talk and emotes and calls arent a thing, you can see and talk to people without lighting or friending them

Bc of this you have to actually learn to dance and do the various emotes, you cant just perfectly copy it

Economy

There isnt rlly any

money doesnt exist

usually sky kids will just give things away for free or trade things

like if youre a seamstress and you want a special wood carving you can offer an outfit or something in exchange

people are incredibly kind and if you give them something for free, they will remember it and be sure to pay it back later

Bc of this its next to impossible to be poor

you dont have to buy or pay for a house

if youre down on your luck, people will just help you out, giving you clothes and food, a place to stay for a while so you can look for your own house comfortably

Housing

since sky kids are so nomadic almost? many families will have more than one house in different areas

they have their permanent house which is where they live most of the time and have most of their stuff in

sky kids will have extra, usually smaller houses, in other areas to vacation in or move to if they want a change of scenery for a while or if they travel a lot

they can stay in their extra house while passing through, like a large family could have a big house in village of dreams but then have a beach house in Binial for when they want to adopt a moth or one in Hirthlim to stay in while passing through or maybe they’ll get a house just cause it looks pretty while passing by

houses are free

there are sky kids that just build them for fun and as long as its structurally sound, they can build it however they want

so theres many different types and colors and shapes of houses and lots of empty free ones

if you want a house, you simply need to hang a wreath of flowers on the door to show its claimed and that no one else can have it

every house has basic furniture which is needed because if you a wandering sky kid, you can stay in an empty unclaimed house for a day or two instead of sleeping outside, though some still do that

theres not rlly any hotels, well there is a couple in Valem and Empyrean but you mainly go there as a vacation, to relax and not have to cook your own food or make your own bed or anything

Army

sky doesnt have an army, cause theres nothing to fight

there are people who like spar for fun, like boxing or martial arts or like archery and fencing

most sky kids are trained in basic survival like climbing and fishing, just in case for when they are out exploring or wandering

most people are nice but there are a very very small amount of sky kids that others might need to defend themselves against

Calendar

Normal january to december, 24 hours, monday to sunday system

they have clocks to keep track but nobody really bothers with them

they go off of the sun or moon in the sky and its always a vague time

if they do use a clock, like two friends could agree to meet at like 3 pm and it wouldn't be uncommon for them to actually meet at 3:30-4 pm

scribes in the library are the ones keeping track of the years and major events and such

Holidays

each holiday lasts a month, so there are 12 major holidays

people dont celebrate every single day of the month obviously but it makes it easier to meet far away friends and family and making time for everyone, plus the mood and festivities can continue for longer

most of the holidays are based off of ones already in the game but theres two ive added and ive changed the others to fit better

Days of Fortune-Fortune

January, specifically the first as the big celebration day obvi

theres fireworks and wishing everyone happiness and success

its incredibly popular time to change professions or try something new

moths come down more often in isle as well

Days of Love-Love

February, specifically mid feb

this is when you just let people you know you love them

adoptions and confessions are very common during Love

its a very soft emotional month

Days of Prayer-Prayer

March

this is when everyone thanks Megabird for all its done and wishes it well in it’s journey through the universe

usually they ask for advice or wishes during this month as its rude to do it any other month

this is also generally the month when moths learn more about Megabird and the religion

Days of Bloom-Bloom

April

celebrating the start of spring

the flowers are blooming and the air is sweet

everyone is energized for the coming months

moths born during this time are more playful than most

Days of Nature-Nature

May

everyone takes a little time to appreciate the world they live in and how well it takes care of them and they take care of it

people visit their favorite locations and enjoy the scenery

photo taking and painting/sketching rises dramatically in this month as everyone wants a memory of where they’ve been

Days of Rainbow-Rainbow

June

rainbows appear frequently around the world of sky

due to the fact that Megabird flies in front of the sun and the rainbows are a sliver of its brilliance reflected on the world

Days of Sovereign-Sovereign

July

this was the month that either Resh was born or made king, depending who you ask

generally people send gifts to him as thanks or be grateful for the services he provides such as the boat transportation system and the researchers

Days of Summer-Summer

August

the crops are growing and being harvested food is plentiful

it's a time for long days of hard rewarding work and storing the food away for feast

sky kids that arent farmers come to help them with either temporary labor or taking care of them after the long days in the fields

Days of Lights-Lights

September

Megabird draws closer to Sky so everyone’s light grows brighter so for this month people start glow

the glow starts at the beginning of sept grows brighter and then mid month starts to dim so by the end of sept everyone is normal again

moths born in this month naturally glow a little year round and is the brightest sky kids during lights, makes them very easy to spot

Days of Mischief-Mischief

October

time for funny pranks and tricks

everyone can dress up and be a little crazy

it's a giggley time and people are relaxing after the harvest

Days of Remembrance-Remembrance

November

this is when people remember those who are gone

its days of the dead type thing

its a sad kind of happy, cause they know their loved ones are safe and well and theyll see them again and it isnt forever, theyll return to sky one day

they cooked their favorite foods and visit their favorite places and tell stories and memories about them

its a very mellow time

Days of Feast-Feast

December

they've celebrated their lost family now time to celebrate their current family

huge huge meals

people coming from all over to meet up, gifts are given and merry times are had

Basically you have Remembrance with remembering your dead family and friends, then Feast with appreciating your living family and friends and then Fortune where you look forward to new family and friends to come

Realm specific holidays

Binial- they celebrate every time a new moth is born of, they make sure to mark down the exact date and time so the moth can always know when to celebrate; they also celebrate fortune extra hard

Digarem- celebrates when a group of mantas completes training or there is a particularly big catch of fish

Hirthlim doesnt have many forest specific celebrations, sometimes flight will have a “theres no mail for a few days lets chill” celebration

sometimes older vets will go out and dance in particularly heavy rainfalls

some specific artisan groups will celebrate the completion of a big project or a particularly good mine from the caves

but the only forest wide celebration seems to be the quiet mourning that comes with finding someone turned to ash too early

Valem has so many celebrations that people physically can't celebrate them all so they just celebrate what's important to them, there's sports celebrations and arts celebrations and family ones

Gaial also doesn’t have many celebrations just the first planting, first harvest, end of growing, last harvest, everything stored til feast

Empyrean has a random assortment of celebrations, most of them religious or related to the researchers/scribes, i never finished the religion so maybe i should do that lol

Food

basically there's a lot of fish and crab dishes

there's food crabs and pet crabs but pet crabs get a distinct marking painted on their back so people know not to eat it

Crabs aren't corrupted yet and thus are passive

but those are the only meats in sky, so its mostly vegetarian foods and such

they do have eggs from birds but they grow like corn and sugar and wheat and rice and such

how it works

basically everything is made/grown with light from the sun which is Megabird so food is what helps grow and maintain your light

when sky kids are younger the effects are more obvious, they gain more stars on their back and cape strength

when they get older and this slows down, food helps maintain the amount of light u have and basically like slows the aging process

because aging is just losing your stars and food makes that happen slower so food is vital to growth and maintaining a sky kids light

people also tend to eat a lot more often in forest to survive the draining rain and replenish their light so it's less likely they'll die and can stand out in the rain longer

Arts

Every art is revered

Everyone plays their part and enjoys what they do and its incredibly important because it’s what people fill their lives with

Theres no job to do, no money to worry about, no school that you must attend so people have time to fill with whatever arts they chose

Spirits do still hand out music sheets to those who ask but they don’t make new ones

Sky kids can and do create new sheets to share with others

i am only now realizing how long this, oh god. i should have split the world and the culture into two posts or something, im really sorry Amity (is that your name? i just guessed from ur username) but heyyy uh if u manage to read all this, good job! and also im dying to talk about this again so yea just reblog this with whatever questions or comments or anything u got

[duckbang]

Two Dots

Two dots form a line. Two electrons form a bond. Two people form a friendship.

It gets a bit more complicated after that.

Three dots don't make two lines. They can make three, or they can make one. But three electrons don't form three bonds. They form a free radical - well, they can make two bonds in certain circumstances, look at diborane, but banana bonding is weird… it isn’t exactly a three electron bond either. Three people still form a friendship, but it can be tilted, and as they say, three is a crowd.

Where the laws of gravity devised a smooth dance between two planets, between three it is chaotic loops of who will be kicked out first. With three comes the chaos that two had successfully covered in its simplicity.

There were three of us. Me, my brother, and my sister. And well, there is our dad - single and adoptive- and our honorary aunt, who has no relation to our dad apart from friendship. But the three of us were together from the start, since before we met the adults we call family.

We're not three anymore. We could be, we still talk to each other, through telepathy if not face to face. But we aren't together anymore. My brother and sister live together, in a remote, almost inaccessible location. One could go there, but the trip is harsh and not at all forgiving. I live with my dad and aunt, helping them with work.

But right now I stand on a stage, to give an interview with the news stations, one that is not related to dad's research but to my own. I started out helping with his work, but over time my interest deviated to researching animal behaviour within and without their herds (or flocks, or whatever the groups of specific animals are called). There's a hierarchy in both pack animals and lone dwellers. It is challenged often, but the top boss is the top, and not easily defeated. No matter how hard the planets try, they can't make the sun revolve around them. (Well, in a way, the sun does revolve around them. Its the pack leader’s job to make sure their pack is safe. Its a position that comes with both power and responsibility.)

My aunt stands to the side of the stage, hidden by the curtains. I glance at her before turning back to the press. My latest paper created a buzz, for reasons I don't quite understand. It was obvious, wasn't it..? "I simply find it surprising that no one has written anything about it yet, so after detailed research I decided to do it myself," I say in response to a question.

It took years to get enough data. 

"You taught a gryphon how to write with a pencil."

The gryphon in question is, of course, the brilliant silver and earth coloured beast sleeping on the stage, unbothered by the lights and noise. I met it in the beginning stages of my research, when we were scouring out the dry canyons the species calls home. Gryphons aren't pack animals, they prefer to stay alone, but at the same time they're not territorial and let other members of the species prowl and hunt in their area. Mine was a youngling at the time, possibly separated from its mother, because gryphon parents do not look for lost children. I decided to take it in, a decision I have never come to regret.

"It has been known for a long time that gryphon intelligence is comparable to, if not exceeding, human intelligence. It should not come as that great of a surprise," I point out gently. 

Their body design is different from humans, but with specialised tools and lots of practice and explanation it was able to hold a pencil, and with a few more months of work it managed to write it's name on a large sheet, and it was readable.

Maybe that could be a strategy used to help children with learning disabilities, I muse, but don't say it out loud. It's not my area of expertise, but maybe I'll bring it up with a teacher later. Journalists are not good people to discuss things like this with. 

My sister's presence makes itself known via a slight pressure on the back of my head, silently asking if I'm free. Wait, I tell her. Not right now.

I feel her nod as she retreats further into the back, enough that I can focus, but she's clearly interested in what I'm doing. I don't blame her. I'll never get bored of my job either. 

"Look at it this way," I say in response to a question I didn't entirely hear, "Gryphons don't see other members of their species as threats. They challenge each other for territory, yes, but they share their resources. The hierarchy is more of a gradient than a stepcase, with the largest and oldest member of the species usually at the top of it." And its often hard to tell who that is, it took me close to a year to find the leaders of the respective areas I focused on.

Even mine, who had started off obeying commands without question, had become more assertive as it grew older and larger. And now it is bigger than me, our mutual understanding and the gryphon nature being the only things keeping it obedient. Still, it was smart, and would refuse to do a task if it sensed that the job would harm someone, friend or stranger. 

My brother's presence curls around in my subconscious as I keep speaking, curiosity and warning intermixing as he decides to not detract my attention and talks to our sister instead. "Gryphons have been seen to treat even those who hurt them with compassion and kindness, and it is only in extraordinary situations that they seriously injure anyone. We could certainly learn something from that."

A babble of indignation meets my statement. “Humans are perfect,” they say, furious. “We don't need to learn from dumb animals.”

Both of my siblings bristle on hearing them.

I do, too, but keep my composure as I narrow my eyes.

"Humans have often killed each other over minor misunderstandings. Is that what you call perfect?"

No species is perfect. Human capacity to understand and adapt our behaviour is unmatched, so it gives us more avenues to grow. It is a shame that even 'simpler' animals like dogs, then, outmatch us in understanding, cooperation, and compassion.

Once, before I started working as a researcher, before we started living separately, the three of us decided to follow a pack of wild dogs to see where they would go. We were old enough to be trusted alone by then, and with school being on vacation we didn't have anything to worry about. So we packed our bags with enough food and clothes to last us a week and set off behind the pack.

It was an interesting experience. But what stood out to me most then, and even now, was how they made sure no member of their pack was left behind, and if one was injured they would slow their pace considerably so it could keep up. Gryphons don't do that, but they're not exactly social species. That was the incident that kicked off my interest in behaviour research in the wild, instead of trained behaviours in the lab.

Sure, my gryphon knows how to write, but it is a lab animal. I taught it mainly just to see what would happen, as with the landshark we taught to buy groceries.

I should probably take up researching dogs behaviour again, but for the foreseeable future Gryphons have a chokehold on my research. The latter is also what I tell a reporter asking what's next for my work, and after answering a few more questions and dodging those about my family, the conference moves on to some other scientists I forget the name of. But I'm free to leave or stay now, as I wish. I decide to stay, finally getting time to talk to my siblings who've been waiting for about an hour now.

It must be serious, if they decided to wait. 

So, she projects, amusement laced in her voice, You know how two dots form a line?

I don't have the patience for this, I decide immediately.

Well, I was thinking, and you can't have a combination of points that makes exactly two lines, if you want to connect all of them. Two dots form one line, but three form three, or one, and four form four or three or one, and so on, but no assortment makes two. That's weird, isn't it?

I thought you hated maths? my brother replies.

Get to the point, I tell her as I take the complimentary lunch box the organisers had so thoughtfully put together. Is the number of lines really that important?

I do, I was just thinking. And well... There really isn't any point. I just thought it was weird.

And here I thought it was something serious, I think. Unfortunately they pick up on my thoughts.

Aw, you worry about me? my sister teases as I settle down to eat.

Not if you keep being annoying like that, I respond. My brother laughs at that.

With that sorted out by tracking down a mathematician or two who were free to talk to my sister and giving them her address - which, again, directed them to an almost inaccessible area, and with my gryphon finally awake enough to fly us back to our home, I decided to finally head out of the conference hall. The sky, already orange and pink from the setting sun on one side and fading to the deep blue of night on the other, cloudless and the air without much in the way of wind, stood perfect for flying. My gryphon's wings reflected the fading light of the sun as we rose into the air, turning to gold from silver and the deep browns gave it a brilliant shaded look. It was a work of art, through and through. 

It takes two people to form a friendship, two souls for a connection. I know it's silly, but I've never felt more connected to anyone more than my silver and earth gryphon. Even my siblings, and we can talk to each other through telepathy, never made me feel the same way as simply being with my gryphon does. I ruffle the soft feathers on its back, feathers that almost look like fur from a distance, so soft and small. I have never regretted bringing it home with me, even if it does challenge me for my bedroom sometimes. 

I space out during the flight, almost falling asleep to the beating of its heart and the occasional flap of its wings. There's no danger of falling, my gryphon is a graceful and careful flyer. As such, with the last rays of the sun dipping below the horizon and the only thing lighting up the sky being a pale twilight, I doze off, trusting my friend to keep both of us safe.