#its going to be so different from Juniper

[roadkill-dreaming]

♡

[pestilentbrood]

VERY long Ramble incoming

honestly now that I'm looking at the auraboa lore situation, I'm just disappointed. There was such POTENTIAL in the idea of the Loop and the horror of a new generation inexplicably being disconnected from it, forcing the newly hatched children into a world totally separate from that perceived by their parents (I mean, hell, they perceive TIME differently!).... but then the writer(s?) just fell ass backwards into Icky Tropes.

I feel like I can see what the idea was, especially with the recent alterations to the Encyclopedia entry... It seems like staff fundamentally understands the true Horror potential here, but... Instead, through the short story, they proposed it through the lens of a condescending outsider character, turning the fears of the older generation into something trivial. And also weirdly demeaning the Auroboa's situation by portraying them as overreacting.

Why... why would you do that? Like, from a storytelling perspective? What's gained from that? Why not embrace the true horror and even Emotional significance of that disruption? Why instead go for "ohh we NEED outsider help we NEED to be saved because we are so helpless and it is so Silly that we, creatures who have never experienced such things, do not know what sleep is"????

And if they WANTED to have a condescending outsider, I feel like they COULD have done that, but it would have to have that character realize the horror at some point. And make it obvious that their attitude towards distressed parents and children facing Eldritch Shit and the Sudden Deconstruction of it was not cool!

(or at the very least be a bit more...idk. Consistent with said outsider character? Juniper just goes from "omg I am so honored that the fascinating creatures of the behemoth have chosen me to speak to" to "oh their wasting my time because they don't know what sleep is. I'd rather be sleeping!! 🙄" like girl... c'mon now. Why are we trivializing it like this. Do you want me as the reader to be invested in their plight or not.)

I mean come on. They're beings connected through one networked hivemind-like system, yet each still maintains a silver of individuality that allows them to move freely throughout the Behemoth that they care for. And they've got an eldritch understanding of time that no other dragon could understand. They're seeing the future, past, and present unfold simultaneously. They're witnessing the birth and death of the world at the same time, and have no way to communicate it to other dragons. The best they can do is maintain their home, and even then, they see its roots spread and decay all at once.

And then the newest generation is suddenly disconnected. An inherent link between parent and child and all dragons in-between, that has existed since the creation of their species, is just suddenly GONE for the newest births. With NO explanation for it. The children have no easy way of communicating with their parents. The children are experiencing time in a way that was not meant for their species. They've forcefully been shoved into a circadian rhythm that they are Not! Built for!

The only way a parent could communicate properly with their child would be when the latter is sleeping, something that is also completely foreign to this species. It would be terrifying for all involved!!!

They are literally experiencing eldritch horror from the perspective of the eldritch being forced into the mortal.

Like why WOULDN'T there be panic!!! And why would that panic be trivialized! Why are we only shown the perspective of an outsider who looks at this situation and goes "Oh the silly tree beasts are being so silly over nothing, it's no big deal!"

That and the way the auraboas talk to outsiders. Like. There was such potential there. Real opportunity to explore how ancient, time-bending beings would communicate to someone who couldn't even BEGIN to understand the intricacies of it.

Instead we got what feels more like baby talk (even described as though they were hatchlings enunciating their first words, which... I dunno man, maybe we don't want to compare them to children like That) and less like... Beings that experience all of time at once. I mean, the hatchlings and the adults speak the exact same way, and that doesn't make any sense given the literal time barrier going on.

I totally get why people thought there was just a language barrier and that auraboas had their own language, thus causing the disjointed speak, and not that it was because They Do Not Experience Time Like We Do. And I feel it would've been far easier to get it across by just... I dunno. Do anything else?? I saw someone on here suggest they speak in the "wrong" tenses, or using multiple tenses in the same sentence, which I think would've been far more clear.

Like, as opposed to "saplings wilt! saplings silent!" just "the saplings will wilt in silence, they've wilted in silence, they are wilting silently." Said all at once like all things are true simultaneously. And if we're going for hivemind, have each auraboa speak in a different tense, all at the same time, and have them switch it up every time. Have our outsider get confused and be like "which is it? are they wilting now, or have they already wilted?" and the cluster of auraboas respond in a cacophony of yes's, no's, and maybe's all at once.

Would've probably gotten across the "alien" vibe they were supposedly going for far better than wide-eyed desperation for an outsider's guidance conveyed through disjointed, in-world described as baby speech.

And also maybe would've had less accidental connotations. Because as it stands, I completely see why people have made the connections to the real world where they have. This doesn't read like eldritch timey-wimey intrigue, or even a respectful look at how younger generations can become detached from their families' cultures over time and the struggles that come with it. It reads like a culture being perceived by an ignorant outsider who (despite supposedly respecting these dragons) scoffs and rolls their eyes because the tree beasts with their funny words are being silly again, and that Hey, isn't it actually a great thing that the children are fundamentally different in all manners now? Because now they can join the rest of us in the "real world."

Yknow. Ick.

(I Personally think it would've been better to have the perspective be one of the Auraboas themselves, especially one of the children, to really understand what was going on here. Give us the full brunt of the mind of a creature experiencing all of time interwoven as one shape. The waters fall and the oceans crash with waves. They've now fallen to drought. The ocean has yet to be born. Caves have been carved out through the waters' currents. And when I break from this timeline, I open my eyes to see a child, the child not yet born, the child born now, the child born yesterday. Why can't I hear it? Why couldn't I hear it? Why won't I ever hear it?)

I dunno. People more qualified than me to speak on this matter have already torn the lore apart, I'm just... dropping my own two cents. Potential got weirdly squandered and we ended up instead with unfortunate implications and tropes that could be connected a liiiittle too awkwardly to irl situations.

*Also, before anyone points out: Yes, I know the hatchlings aren't COMPLETELY detached from the Loop and can join it when they sleep. But the fact is, these thangs never had to sleep before. That wasn't in their species' nature. So that's still weird and foreign for them on both sides. And since the hatchlings now have a circadian rhythm, they can't stay connected to the loop permanently. And also Also, seeing as the previous generations aren't experiencing time linearly, who's to say they even recognize when their child joins the loop? They'll speak with an echo of their child when that child was last asleep ages ago, not knowing that it's not them presently, because there is no 'present' for the older generations.

[forlorn-crows]

𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 5: 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔

words: 911 pairing(s): mountain + hank the raccoon/juniper the cat catch up on the hank lore [here] and [here] and [here]

✿

A thumbtack. An acorn. A loose ribbon. A big lilypad snatched from the lake. Pebbles, flowers, and petrified chips. Even a lost earring without its twin, the worn gold star glinting from where it’s buried in the pile of random trash and trinkets.

Mountain stares. The only reason he noticed it at all was because he had to scoot out the storage cabinet to get to the stone planters. He sets down the tower of pots he was shuffling from one end of the greenhouse to the other and wipes his hands on his apron. Curiosity reels him in; he squats down to inspect the squirreled-away pile of things at closer proximity. 

The little stash is actually quite unique. Hardly any duplicate objects besides the pebbles—even the dried blooms differ from each other. Mountain pokes around some of the objects with his finger, rummaging for the more buried items. A broken plastic bubble wand. A scrunchie. Part of a grucifix. A cork. Even a guitar pick. And . . . are those . . ?

“My glasses?!” Mountain frees them from the pile and stares at everything open-mouthed. He’s been looking for them for weeks; swore he left them in here, just on the bench, but when he had come back the next day they were gone. He had come to terms with having to get a new pair (though he quite liked these ones)—and yet, here they are.

There’s a rustling behind him, and when a round little body toddles up to him, the puzzle pieces click into place.

“Hank,” the earth ghoul accuses. He dangles the pair of readers in front of the raccoon’s twitching nose. “Why’d you steal my glasses, dude?”

Hank chitters and whips his fluffy tail back and forth, ears pinning back to his head. 

Mountain sighs and offers him a scritch under the chin. Too cute to stay mad. “I’ve been blindly potting flowers for many days, little one,” he scolds, albeit with a kinder tone. 

The animal squawks and pushes past Mountain’s legs to his trinket stash. He whines when he sees the state of it, all scattered about and disorganized.

“Well you can’t blame me for wanting to look,” the earth ghoul defends himself. “You’re not stealing from other people, are you?”

Hank screeches at the accusation.

“Sorry, sorry. Just me then, hm?” He gets screeched at again and bapped in the shin with Hank’s tail. 

Lucifer give him strength, he’s arguing with a raccoon. “Okay, let’s just say you found them, then.”

Hank is pleased with this answer. He chirps and begins to re-arrange his items. 

“Why do you have all this anyway? I mean, I’m a lover of a good trinket myself, but you aren’t exactly the collecting type of species . . . also I’m not sure that all of these things count as trinkets.”

The animal gives him the best side-eye a raccoon can muster.

“Hank, there’s a dead bumblebee in here.”

If a raccoon could roll its eyes and lift its chin indignantly, Hank would do that. Instead, he chitters what can only be a string of small mammalian passive aggressive statements. 

“There’s no need for such language.”

Hiss. Chirp chirp. 

Mountain rubs at the bridge of his nose. “I’m not saying you can’t—listen. Little one. My darling. Little. Creature.” He emphasizes each word with a sigh, chopping his pressed-together palms down as punctuation. Hank stops fussing with his objects and looks at the earth ghoul with those black little orbs. “Could we, perhaps, just find a better place for them? Put them somewhere I’m not going to accidentally crush them with an old armoire, yeah?” 

The animal screes happily, bouncing over to the earth ghoul and standing up with his little hands outstretched. Mountain snorts and picks him up, rising back up to his feet and flipping him over to rub his belly. 

“Why do you have to be so cute?” he asks, playfully pinching under Hank’s chin. The raccoon only kicks up a scratchy purr in response, swatting at Mountain’s wrists weakly. Mountain bounces him like a baby for a few moments before setting him down again, glancing around for something to use for his friend’s treasures. 

“Hm. I think there’s an old basket or . . . something around here,” he mumbles. He taps his hands on his apron as he scans the rows of tables and shelves. No . . . no . . . no. Suddenly, Mountain stops. Scrunches his face up and turns back towards Hank fully confused.

“Why are you hoarding things anyway?”

As if to answer his question, Juniper squeezes her way through the back door. Mountain had put a kitty door in it for her and Hank—though, Hank still prefers to force himself through the gap in the opposite corner of the green house where the windows have bowed out throughout the years. 

The white cat offers a mrrow in greeting, striding up to the both of them with an unbothered, graceful aire. Hank chitters excitedly and bounds over to his pile of trinkets, quickly selecting a mystery bauble between his thin little paws. He shoves it in his mouth and runs over to her side, chirping in greeting and dropping the object at her feet.

A close-to-fresh dandelion. Juniper mrrp’s at the gift and leans down to inspect it, the buttercup yellow petals tickling her nose. She seems pleased with the gift and rubs her cheek affectionately against Hank's with a purr. Two little unlikely lovebirds.

“Ah. Should have guessed that’s who those were for . . .”

𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 ✿

[modawg]

major yap warning; deep dive into parecabeth (parent!percabeth)

what age were we thinking percabeth would have kids ?

to me annabeth has always been such a planner that i always thought she'd plan all that out, like on their wedding night annabeth pulls out like three binders with ages on the front '20-30's, 30's-40's' and is like "bitch you better be ready"LMAO, though i KNOW percy is DYING to have children i also know percy would def respect her decision to have kids a little later after she's settled in her career

i think i always saw them (having a girl teehee) in their early 30's and i will always stand by the at home dad percy would def be

like maybe up until their ready he works to save; working maybe at an aquarium or some other random places that work with his skills (also dependent on what he actually goes to college for) then once annabeths secure they have their first kid percy stays home and writes his books based on the stories he would tell his daughter (like rick did)

this also gives them another source of income; he prob uses a fake name (cough rick riordan cough) so he doesn't get like stalked or smth but its still nice money to have

i think they'd have a simple two, maybe two girls (teehee) and reference camp as their other kids; their kids growing up surrounded by hundreds of other demigod kids along with the kids of their friends

i once read this fanfic where annabeth designed and built the home they have kids in and i agree with that deeply i think she would get pregnant right as the house would finish up and use the rest of her pregnancy to decorate and really home it up until she gave birth

i think they would stay close to NYC to be closer to sally and paul (and prob annabeths job too) but it would be further away from the city and closer to Montauk

I think that house (and family tbh) would be the pillar for everyone else like most of the time if their friends want to see them they go there rather then the other way around

they probably have cookouts every other weekend, porch jams into the night when apollo kids come to visit, i think the house def has enough room for guests, demigods dropping by every so often for a place to stay but I also think its common curtesy to not try and pry like they don't try to get them to join they just come to shower, to get some wisdom and leave; I think having percy and annabeth as parents would cause a shift in CHB like they always do, percabeth is literally the next generation of adult greek demigods even if they aren't the first to have kids they're the first since the first war to LIVE this long, and to have a fulfilling life that they're willingly sharing with CHB and i think that would really start to give greek demigods hope pushing them more towards the future CJ has (GOD I LOVE THEM)

speaking of room; theres a guest room on the first floor with big windows and house plants that they call the g-room for green room, built for the man himself, g-man. Juniper and Grover come to visit alllllll the time (along with tyson) like its basically their second house, everyone refers to their kids as cousins and even when they grow up theres no questioning that

^ jumping back to having kids i could def see apollo blessing annabeth with an easy pregnancy, safe birth, and quick recovery; i could see percy and annabeth telling CHB and CJ just a couple days after and them pulling up to camp with a big, but quiet, celebration; big feasts and sentimental presents, i could see CHB burning shrouds like they did after their first quest all beautifully embroidered, the campfire dancing with different colors from everyones emotions

i wish we knew more about CJ traditions but i know they would have a feast too and it would be like unlocking the next level being able to explore CJ from the new lighting of parenthood; they probably have an honorary small house gifted to them so they can come and visit whenever but i feel like most friends would come to CHB for the bigger celebration first

god and don't get me started on the hunters GOD i just know thalia is BAWLINGGG and she def comes to visit all the time bc she's probably the god-mother like how grovers probably the god-father

and i know that convo was a hard one having literally everyone in the room crying when they asked

[wayfayrr]

So here's something I've been working on for a while where one of the links and reader get split from the chain, ending up on present-day Earth. And because Totk has now consumed my focus near entirely he's the lucky one to stick with the reader (as a separate link from wild, for extra ✨drama✨ with the chain - thanks to @neverchecking for sparking that Idea for me)

also if anyone has any ideas for what this au could be named any suggestions would be greatly appreciated I cannot come up with a name for the life of me

I've ended up writing a Part two where sage gets to adjust now as well! And a third to go with it!

It’s been a long few months with the chain since I ended up in Hyrule; being torn from your world certainly isn’t an experience I would wish on anyone.

being chased through all of Hyrule's different histories was bad enough, and now getting dragged through the portals that thing creates by those who once told me they would protect me?

It’s exhausting.

The links are welcoming, mind you, there's just something off about them in that uncanny valley where you know something is wrong, just not what. They’re still well, they're still links. And they’ve had to have known me leaving is always going to have to happen; no matter how overbearing they get; no matter the denial they have; no matter how much they may try fight it. 

I will never belong in Hyrule, that’s a fact.They know this. I have told them time and time and time again, they swore to me that they’d help me get home and now? 

god have they gotten attached, it's like I've been dunked in a potion or something with how comically obsessed most of them are, with how they look at me and treat me like I'm a glass doll.

Time takes advantage of being the oldest, of being the "leader" to arrange shifts where I'm next to him or partners with him for whatever needs be, Warrior seems to be following him to the blueprints when he gets the chance. The smithy looks like he's on the verge of a breakdown when I get within five metres of anything remotely sharp, even just a simple butter knife as if I'm so stupid that I'll injure myself with it. Twilight thankfully doesn't take after his ancestor although that doesn’t mean he’s not without his quirks, that wolf side has indeed left its mark on him after all. Wind’s just a clingy excitable kid, it’s not like he’s doing anything wrong. The Traveler seems clingy while at the same time, he doesn’t seem to think he deserves to be around me; Legend acts both similar to him but also his exact opposite, seemingly hating me with his very soul but being a leech at my side. Sky may play dumb about it to my face but he's down just as bad as the rest taking every opportunity to stake his claim over me with at least one of his clothes, it's uncommon now for me to be without his sailcloth about my shoulders. 

Sage is the one I would have to describe as the one who is the worst, it’s not like I don’t know the exact reason either - it’s only natural they handle it worst. Similar to Wild naturally, acting almost identically but with anything even remotely possessive amped up drastically. He’s the one who’s had to deal with loss the most; with the worst possible circumstances, I’m the one who should’ve expected this.

I mean - I guess it’s sweet as well? If having someone cling to you at all times as they’ve glued themselves to your skin is what you’d consider cute. Since he realised I’ll be leaving eventually, the bare minimum doesn’t even come close to how little time I’ve had alone - no not even alone, just existing without Sage holding me in some way.

“[name]? Were you listening to me?”

And there he goes again - looking at me with the saddest of eyes, like I’ll vanish if he ever takes his eyes off of me.

“Sorry juniper, I zoned out a bit there - what were you saying?”

And wasn’t that the wrong thing to say. His reaction to that was immediate, now he’s looking up at me with puppy dog eyes like I’ve just hung the stars in the sky for them; I can barely breathe with how tightly he’s holding me. I hadn’t even said anythin- I called him by a nickname, right. 

“... can’t you stay? I don’t- I don’t want to lose anyone else...”

And with that, he’s decided to press his face into my shoulder. Is- why is my shirt getting damp..?

He’s crying... Oh, damn it. How do I respond to this - I can’t stand to see him so broken up like this but what can I say?

"You know I can't Sage, I don't belong here and it's not safe for me either"

"but I can make it safe for you! And you do belong, you belong by my side. I know you do!"

Sage's sobs have to be the most heart-wrenching sound I've ever heard, even worse still when I know I'm the one who's the cause of it; not being able to comfort him with anything that's not an outright lie.

There's something else in his voice though, something much darker than heard from any of the heroes let alone Sage, and it sounds dangerous. 

"I have a house, I can hunt, I can fight, I saved Hyrule. I can make sure you're safe and I can keep you happy. aren't… wouldn't you want that [name]? please?"

He's gotten so desperate to keep me here that he's begging me through tears?

"Sage I - you know I can't. it's not fair for me to stay"

"I don’t care that it’s not fair! I just - I just… please, please don’t abandon me. I can’t - I can't lose you as well"

It took a few hours to calm him down but eventually, I managed to get him to stop crying. Granted they did pass out onto me shortly after. 

It was after about fifteen minutes of resting there that things started to feel odd? That seems like the best way to describe it. 

We were just resting after lunch; of course, due to Sage we were a bit further from the rest of the group when it hit, everything got blurred and distorted. Similar to the portals throughout Hyrule’s history but different. Stronger. It felt as though my very cells were being torn apart and remade, like when - like when I was brought here.

“[NAME], SAGE YOU NE- TO -VE”

Is someone screaming? It’s like everything’s been thrown underwater it's all muffled and faded. Even as I try to get up with Sage’s weight on me, I can barely shift, let alone get away from this portal drawing me in.

...

And then I was back on earth.

There wasn’t a large ceremonial goodbye, there wasn’t even really anything special about the portal.

I'm just here.

And with an oddly familiar weight on my side actually, a very very familiar weight on my side…

“SAGE???”

Sage’s here, of course, he is. Of course, the shadow hasn't had enough of just sending the links between different Hyrules. Of course, Sage gets thrown into my world with me. Do the rest of the chain know we’re even still alive? Know we’re safe? Or do they think - think that we were killed? How long have I even been gone? I spent months with the chain, months, did anyone report me missing, was I gone long enough for that? My phone should have resynced with the time here, I just need to check it.

It’s not even been a day.

All of that, everything and it's been less than a day. I have to slot myself back into everyday normal as if nothing has happened. 

Snap yourself out of this [name], there’s no point in getting stressed. Just deal with everything as it comes.

“Sage, wake up, please.”

He’s moving now, okay, that’s fine, he’s fine, He’s alive. He’s alive, the gloom didn’t worsen, can’t have worsened and…

There’s someone who should be fictional, who is famous in his own right, lying on my side in my living room. I've been gone for barely a day and now to everyone else, there's a stranger with a funky-looking arm in my house. How will I - is there even a way to explain this?

Everything in my life is upended now, this isn't a normal thing, not something that can just be explained away. how do I? Where do I-

I don't know - this isn't something I've ever considered dealing with.

Now I wish Sage was up and being clingy, anything would be better than sitting here in silence with my thoughts like this. There are a couple of ways I could think to wake him properly, but just as I move to shake him he sits up immediately. Panic set in at the same moment leading him to hold me close while looking over every corner of the room we’re in.

“Where are we? Did the others abandon us? This isn’t like anything I’ve seen in any Hyrule.” “We aren’t in Hyrule now.” 

Might as well just bite the bullet and get this over with.

“Welcome to earth link, in all of its awful glory.”

[violetstormms]

Sun and Moon x reader Mermay fics 2024

Its May so you know what that means: mermaids of all shapes and sizes. I have assembled a good selection of Sun/Moon x reader stories here each with their own styles and vibes so remember to check the tags and enjoy :)

Eating Krill by NaffEclipse

  archiveofourown.org/works/55954168/chapters/142093987

You are a humpback siren. You are large, powerful, and untouchable, but one rivals you—an orca siren. The lone siren challenges your might with his very presence, refusing to flee your waters nor concede to your superiority.

With blood and pride, you will sink him.

The Seal and the Stones by Robin_Green

  archiveofourown.org/works/55603084/chapters/141126004

A Fishy Business Rewrite

Attacked and almost killed by sea devils, I manage to escape and hide in a cave only to be found by something... not quite human. Too weak to get away and with the beasts that wanted to eat me waiting outside, this landwalker kidnaps me, taking me to his ship. This is where I find that there are not one but two of these metal creatures.

A story where the main character is a mermaid and is rescued/kidnapped by Sun and Moon

(Yes. I did lift this summary directly from Fishy Business.)

Black Waters by JokerSVendetta

  archiveofourown.org/works/56002483/chapters/142229146

You stayed away from other pods after your loss, but your heart still aches for company. You are social creatures, after all.

Will you ever be able to let someone in?

Mermay but you're the mer

Caught in Your Net by EssenceDoesStuff

  archiveofourown.org/works/54984274/chapters/139386190

You’re the captain of the most feared pirate ship in the seas, the Star Runner. However, when you raid another pirate’s ship and find two mers trapped in his nets, things start to change. You expect to never see the mers again, until they start gifting you with treasures to express their gratitude. Will you eventually return their affections? And what’s going on with all these storms?

A Lucky Charm by Existenial_Crisis

  archiveofourown.org/works/55609099/chapters/141143251

Sailors tend to be superstitious, and sailors of the stars are no different. It’s tradition to bring a good luck charm with them when they go on a long voyage for safety.

Unfortunately, that means me.

And I think my luck ran out.

Warmer Waters by ClaysBots

  archiveofourown.org/works/56008525/chapters/142246252

You are a deep sea mer, living alone, far from others. But when the amount of good prey drops to almost nothing, you're forced to venture into the shallows.

What will you find in this unfamiliar territory, and what will find you?

Under the Juniper Tree by Snufcake

  archiveofourown.org/works/55607443/chapters/141138769

One storm leads to your whole life changing, In more ways than one.

Another Great Day of Saving the Sharks by Kezibun

  archiveofourown.org/works/56002465/chapters/142229113

There are many benefits of being a marine biologist, one of which you enjoy is researching Mer-creatures, more spesifically Celestials.

Celestial Mers also known as The Sun and Moon Sea monsters, are fish mimicking mer creatures, one active at day the other at night, they usually pair up in a mutual symbiotic relationship they rely so heavily on eachother that now it's almost imposible for one to survive without the other. So what happens when one is seporated from it's daycare? An impending rescue mission of course.

Celestial Scales byAnxiouscr0w

  archiveofourown.org/works/56163733/chapters/142673113

A hotspring surrounded by dense jungle, only two miles from Baywind village, acts as a safe space for you after long days. With each passing day over the years, you've felt like you're being watched, eventually being approached by a small group of merfolk. One wants to befriend you, one would die if it meant killing you too... and neither of them are telling the truth about the pair of eyes in the fissure.

The Treasure of The Equinox by Chat_Rivary

  archiveofourown.org/works/56091979/chapters/142472371

When his sailors caught a Mer in nets, Eclipse, the infamous Capitain of the Equinox, knew that he was going to be rich. It wasn't every day that a specimen of the Mer like you was captured, and he knew he could sell you at a more than fair price.

What the pirate captain didn't know was that your arrival, in addition to the promise of gold, would bring him something he'd never dreamed of.

Whether it was because of your personality, your beauty, your intelligence or your species, Eclipse knew that his life would never be the same again because of you, whether it was because of the money you were going to bring him or the feelings you were inevitably making him develop...

A Step by Step Guide on Mermaid Courtship by foggystarrs

  archiveofourown.org/works/55731688/chapters/141477898

You find two merpeople stuck in a fisherman's net and decide to help free them.

You don't expect to see them again after that night, but it turns out that they have other plans. As you're suddenly being showered with gifts and shiny trinkets from the depths of the ocean, you start to wonder what you've gotten yourself into.

After all, you didn't expect the two mers to suddenly start courting you.

or basically, Mer! Sun & Moon try to romance the reader, but reader is as dense as a rock.

[gollageek]

Jake Long: Nice jacket.

Danny Fenton: Thanks, its new.

Randy Cunningham: But that's Ben's jacket.

Danny: WAS Ben's jacket. Now its MY jacket till he pays me the money he owes me.

Ben 10 in the other room talking to Kim, Ron, Rook, Jenny, Juniper, Rex, and Zak: Jokes on him, the longer he wears it, the more the press thinks we're dating.

Rook: True! The ship name has been number 2 on trending for over an hour now.

Zak Saturday: Only number 2? What's number 1?

Rex Salazar: Bet its the Juniper/Jake ship. That's been hot lately.

Juniper Lee: Ugh, like that would happen! I bet its the Rex/Jenny Ship! Ray Ray heard a friend gushing about it the other day.

Jenny Wakeman: Danny and Ben might not be number 1 yet, but I'll fix that soon enough!

Kim Possible: Listen guys, it doesn't matter who's number 1 on that list. Its has nothing to do with our actual relationships!

Ron Stoppable: Its the Kim/Danny ship... isn't it?

Everyone: ...

Zak Saturday: You okay dude?

Ron Stoppable: Yeah, no, all good! Just gunna go over behind that pillar for a moment.

Ron: *walks behind a pillar*

Kim: Sigh, be right back guys...

Kim: *walks behind the pillar*

Rex: ... Think we could raise the ranking of the Rex/Ben ship?

Jenny: Give me an hour and some photoshop and you'll be rolling in likes and shares!

Zak: All right! I can set up a camera shoot!

Ben: HECK YEAH! Let's drag Miss perfect down a few slots!

Juniper: I know our base of operations is here... but I'm banning you all from my city.

A/N: After the Dimensional collapse caused by Aku, the group decides to use Orchid Bay as their base of operation since Juniper can't leave and her presence holds Aku's prison seal in place. Rex's universe has avoided the compression due to its incompatibility. However, he must round up stray Nanites that bleed into other universes due to the damage caused to the veil between the realities before they cause trouble.

The different realities adjacent to the compressed universe can be accessed via Jimmy Nuetron's recaller portals.

Aku is an outlier, and the incident has torn these worlds from their prime timelines to protect other realities. If Aku cannot be stopped, the universe will fold in on itself killing everyone, and tear open a hole to the rest of the multiverse. Allowing Aku to corrupt and destroy everything.

All rules are shattered, and there's no safety net if our heroes fail. So no pressure guys!

Also, jokes on Juniper, she's going to marry that scaley menace if they don't all die!

[rachiekiszka]

Christmas Traditions

You take Jake up to your family cabin for Christmas and he offers to read to you.

Jake Kiszka x Female reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: 18+ explicit content, unprotected sex, fingering, a *hint* of cockwarming

You loved spending Christmas at your family cabin on the lake. You had been going every year since you could remember. The small town of Kewadin, Michigan sat just about as far north as you could get in the lower peninsula, about an hour outside of the nearest city. The town was small and quiet in the summer, but in the winter it was downright deserted. Very few of its residents lived here year round, with the majority of houses being summer homes on Lake Michigan. One year when you were young your family decided it would be interesting to see what it was like in the winter. Snow on the ground, the bay practically freezing over on the coldest days, a fire roaring in the fireplace, card games all day, skiing in Boyne City. This was how you spent your winter breaks. You and your family in your own little world.

This year would be different though. This year was the first year you were taking your boyfriend Jake to your family Christmas. You weren't sure why you were nervous. You knew Jake liked your family and they liked him. He would fit in just fine. But it would be a change from your usual traditions. 

The two of you were flying out earlier than the rest of your family, so you would have a few days to yourself in the cabin. You flew through the Detroit airport and picked up a rental car, stopping to see his family in Frankenmuth before making the rest of the 4 hour drive up to Kewadin. You offered to drive, knowing the backroads closer to the cabin might get confusing, but Jake insisted. Against your better judgement, you fell asleep. You woke up several hours later as Jake gently shook you, the car pulled over on the side of route 31.

“Okay, so I may have gotten a little lost” Jake looked at you with a sheepish smile.

You shook your head, smiling, and took a look around, trying to figure out how far away you were. You noticed the sign for the maple syrup farm to your left, cluing you in to the fact that you hadn’t passed the turnoff onto Quarterline just yet. 

“I'll take over now, we’re close, but these next few turns are easy to miss.”

Before long you were pulling into the frozen gravel driveway of 4398 Juniper Drive. You were greeted with the same faded red paint on the one story house. The screen door screeched open as you and Jake pushed through with your bags. You grabbed the spare key from the hook hidden on the back of the porch chair, unlocking the front door. You showed Jake around the cabin. The small kitchen without a dishwasher, the big dining table that was often covered in puzzles, the path down to the lake. He took it all in, listening to you recount stories of years past. He paused in the hallway, looking at all of your family photos along the wall. 

“Is this you?” He laughed, pointing to the worst picture of you in existence. You were 11 years old, wearing your headgear and a nightgown. This was in fact the only picture to exist of you wearing headgear, and had made the family photo wall as more of a joke than anything else. 

“Oh my god, don’t look at that!” you laughed covering the picture with both hands.

“Oh no, let me see!” Jake tried to move your hands, a shit eating grin on his face. When you wouldn't budge, he reached his hands down to your sides, tickling you mercilessly. You squealed, writhing under his touch and immediately moving your hands in hopes of stopping him.

“Aww look at you,” Jake smiled, now able to see the full picture “Adorable as ever.”

“You don’t play fair!” you pouted, leaning back into his chest. His hands now rested comfortably around your waist. He leaned in, pressing a kiss to your temple, gently swaying you side to side. 

“So, why don’t you go give me a tour of the bedroom?” Jake spun you around to face him, pulling you in for a kiss. You pulled away, placing your hand on his chest. You could feel his heartbeat picking up at your touch.

“As much as I would love to explore the adventure that is sex in a bunk bed, we need to go grocery shopping.”

************************************

The nearest grocery store was a small market about 20 minutes outside of town. You had considered not even bringing Jake with you because you knew exactly what you needed from the store and where to find it, but you knew he’d have nothing to do at the cabin without you, and you enjoyed his company even if he did slow you down. 

You loaded the paper grocery bags into the trunk of the rental car as light snow fell around you. You could hear the faint sound of the Christmas radio station playing in the store as customers filed in and out. 

“So what now?” Jake asked as you climbed into the driver’s seat, turning the heat on high as you rubbed your cold hands together.

“Well, usually at this point my family would pick up a pizza from the place next door and decorate the house for Christmas…” You trailed off, a slight twinge of sadness in your voice.

“But you want to wait for them to decorate the house, yeah?” Jake gave you a soft smile, placing his hand over yours on the center console. “Well, why don’t we pick up a pizza, just us. We’ll go back and light a fire, and do something else to get us in the Christmas spirit?”

You grinned, nodding.

After a short wait, you were on the way home with your pizza and your groceries. Jake had hooked his phone up to the car and was playing Christmas music, singing along wholeheartedly. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as you drove, your smile never leaving your face. 

When you made it back to the cabin you quickly unloaded the groceries, putting away the things that needed to be kept cold. You and Jake were starving and you were ready to dig into that pizza. You opened the cupboard taking out two plates and two glasses, popping open the bottle of wine you had just bought.

Jake cringed, shaking his head as he watched you plop a few ice cubes into your glass, “Y/N you’re lucky I love you because under any other circumstances that would be a dealbreaker.”

“Hey! I like my wine cold, and seeing as we just bought this bottle,” You paused, holding the bottle up to his eye level, “It’s room temperature.. Yuck” you made a face, sticking out your tongue. Jake simply laughed in response.

You handed him his glass and a plate of pizza, taking your usual seat at the dining table. The sun had long since set, and it was pitch black outside, devoid even of stars in the snowy winter sky. But it was warm and comfortable in the cabin. Jake’s hand rested on your thigh beneath the table, his thumb tracing small circles against you. You met his eyes, taking a sip of your wine. Neither one of you said a word. Just finished your meal enjoying each other’s company. 

Jake offered to get the fire started while you did the dishes. When you returned to the living room, he had a strong fire burning. He had found a few candles around the room and lit them as well. The blankets and pillows from the couch had been made into a little fort on the floor in front of the fireplace. Jake sat on one of the blankets, holding a worn copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

“I promised we could do something to get us in the Christmas spirit, and I saw this on the bookshelf earlier,” he said, gesturing to the book, “Come sit with me, I’ll read it to you.”

“Jake,” you whispered, a soft smile forming on your lips “You didn’t have to”

“Come here darling” Jake patted the spot next to him on the blanket. You curled up next to him, placing your head in his lap.

Jake began reading, running his fingers through your hair absentmindedly as he went. 

“One Christmas Eve, Scrooge, an old man, still sat busy in his office. The weather was cold, and he could hear the people in the street outside beating their hands upon their breasts and stamping their feet upon the pavement to keep warm. ‘A merry Christmas, Uncle ! ' cried a cheerful voice. It was Scrooge's nephew. ‘Bah ! ‘ said Scrooge. ‘Humbug!’ “

Jake had never read to you like this before, but it was nice. Intimate. His voice had a slight rasp to it, and you found it relaxing, although it also made your heart flutter. He made up little voices for each of the characters, occasionally peering down to gauge your reaction. 

You stayed this way for a long time, as the fire began to die out in front of you. Jake never moved, never complained or shifted beneath you, just kept reading with your head in his lap, offering the occasional touch or squeeze to remind you he was thinking of you as he read. 

As he reached the end of the chapter you sat up, stretching. Jake put the book in his lap, eyeing you up and down.

“You look beautiful, Y/N.”

“I look disheveled and half asleep” you shook your head, tucking your hair behind your ears. 

Jake however, Jake looked beautiful like this. The now low burning firelight danced across his skin giving him a soft orange glow. You leaned in and kissed him, softly, just barely dancing your tongue across his. He pulled you in closer, kissing you again, his hand finding its way into your hair.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?” your faces rested millimeters from each other, foreheads pressed together.

“I think you should give me that tour of the bedroom now”

*****************************

You lay naked in the bottom bunk of your childhood room in the cabin, your legs spread for Jake. He had made short work of your clothes, hungrily pushing you down onto the mattress. He was bent over in the cramped space, unable to sit up fully. His left hand rested on your inner thigh, keeping you on display for him. With his right hand, he teased your entrance with one finger, making slow languid circles through your wetness avoiding where you wanted to be touched most. A frustrated moan escaped your lips as Jake just barely brushed over your clit.

“Impatient are we?” Jake teased, stopping his motions entirely.

You wiggled your hips, pouting.

“Please, Jake. Please!”

“Please what darling?”

“Please touch me”

Jake met your eyes as he plunged two fingers into you without warning, drawing a strangled cry from your lips. 

“Fuck, Jake!”

His skilled fingers curled into you mercilessly, hitting you at just the right spot over and over again. Before long, you couldn’t focus on anything except Jake's hand between your legs, your thoughts scrambled as a string of profanities fell from your open mouth. You wished you could keep your eyes open in these moments to watch Jake, sweat beading on his forehead, mouth hung open, looking down at you, focused; but your eyes were screwed shut with pleasure. 

Your legs began to shake as your orgasm began to build in earnest, fighting against Jake’s hold on your thigh, keeping your legs open. 

“You can take it darling, come on, show me how good you are for me and cum all over these fingers”

Jake had no sooner finished his thought than you were clenching furiously around his fingers, your orgasm crashing into you at full speed. Your mouth hung open, wordlessly, unable to process the intense feeling. 

Jake watched in awe as you came down from your high, licking his fingers clean from your wetness. He rose from the bed, undressing himself slowly. His throbbing erection springing free of his boxers, curving up onto his stomach. He stroked himself with his hand a few times, just watching you. 

“Be careful” you cautioned as he positioned himself over you, fearing that he would hit his head on the low hanging bunk bed.

“Hmm, actually I have a better idea. '' He positioned himself on his side lying behind you, pulling your naked body against his. You could feel the warmth of his bare skin against yours, lighting your skin ablaze with need and anticipation. You felt Jake’s hand slide between your legs again, sliding a finger between your folds. “That's my angel,” he whispered against your ear, “always so ready for me.”

He replaced his fingers with the head of his cock, teasing your entrance. You couldn’t help but to shift your hips in response, chasing the desire to be full, to have him buried deep inside of you. 

“Shhh” Jake stilled your hips with a firm hand, “We’re going to take this slow and sweet darling.”

He lined himself up at your entrance, pushing into you tantalizingly slowly. Soft moans fell from both of your lips as you gave into the feeling. He paused deep within you as he bottomed out, your bodies pressed impossibly close together. His arm reached around you resting on your abdomen.

“You feel this here angel?” he pressed down lightly, “Feel me so deep inside of you?” You nodded quickly, placing your hand over his. 

He began to move inside of you, slowly, drawing out the motion, heightening every sense in your body. His hand had made its way up to your breast, massaging it, pinching your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. You could already feel your body working its way up to another orgasm. 

Jake began increasing his speed. Bringing his hands back down to your hips to hold you in place as he began to thrust into you with more force. You bit your lip, stifling a moan as he drove into you, your eyes fluttering shut as you focused on the pleasurable feeling building between your legs. 

“Don't hold back darling, I want to hear every noise that falls from those pretty lips while I'm buried in this tight, pink, cunt of yours.”

“Oh, God, Jake!” you cried out as he picked up his pace again, working his middle finger against your clit. You could feel the sweat forming between your bodies, his hot chest pressed to your back. You tried to focus on the two sensations overwhelming your senses. His throbbing cock repeatedly slammed into your g spot as his fingers worked quick tight circles over your clit. You felt your body stiffen involuntarily as you grew closer to the edge, whines and moans flowing freely from your lips. 

“Relax for me darling, relax and let it go. I want to feel you cum again all over my cock.”

You willed your body to relax, letting your orgasm wash over you. Jake pulled you in tightly to his chest as he continued to fuck you through your orgasm, soon following suit and releasing deep inside of you. You both stayed like that for a moment. You panting sweaty bodies pressed together as tightly as they could be, Jake’s cock softening inside of you. It felt warm, intimate. 

Jake pressed a kiss to your temple as he pulled out of you, heading to the bathroom to grab a towel for you to clean up. 

“I love you” Jake said as he wiped gently between your thighs.

“I love you, too”

You crawled under the covers, placing your head on Jake's chest, listening to his heartbeat. He traced small circles on your back absentmindedly. You don't remember when you fell asleep. 

*****************************

You woke up to the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Soon, Jake appeared with two mugs, handing one to you in bed. He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a black sweater you had never seen on him before. It looked nice on him, hugged his body well… and had a little bow on the collar. That's when you realized he was wearing one of your sweaters. You chuckled to yourself, taking a sip of your coffee. 

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Jake smiled at you, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

“Interesting choice of outfits this morning”

“Ah, yeah, this.” he said, gesturing to your sweater. “I didn't want to wake you by opening the blinds but it was pretty dark in here when I woke up, I thought I pulled something out of my suitcase, but it turns out it was yours.”

You chuckled to yourself again, imagining him looking at the sweater in the light and deciding to put it on anyway. 

“Mhm, and did you happen to notice the little bow on the front babe?”

Jake looked down at the sweater, eyebrows raised.

“No, actually. No I did not. But I must say I think I'm pulling it off, don't you?” He was laughing now too. 

“Actually babe, I think you should keep it on, it looks nice on you.”

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Jake took a sip of his coffee, looking at you with his eyebrows raised.

“Not much, figured we could take a walk along the lake so you can actually see it all in the daylight. My family flies in tonight”

“Ok, well how about we start our morning with some breakfast, and I read some more of the book to you?”

“That sounds great babe” you smiled, getting out of bed and following him down the hall.

And that’s how you spent your morning. Curled up on the couch with breakfast and a cup of coffee while Jake read to you, your legs tangled together under the blankets. And just like that, you had made a new Christmas tradition, just the two of you. 

[redux-iterum]

Two naming questions here as someone taking inspiration from your expanded version of the traditional naming system for a few fanclans in other locations:

When it came to making additions to the existing ailuronomy prefix list, how did you go about picking what to exclude or include? I’m curious what your process was in regards to things like animals or plants named directly after human concepts or just after the latin name of their genus, words with 5+ syllables, just prefixes that technically work but sound clunky or unnatural when rolling off the tongue in general.

For prefixes that could potentially encompass a lot of colours (Prefixes like Moth-, Moss-, or Beetle- where there are a bunch of different species with wildly varying colours, or tree-based prefixes where you could be referencing the colour of several things like the bark, the flowers, or the fruit), how do you go about deciding which colour to categorize it under? Is it just a matter of what’s the most recognizable?

While Grey's parameters make for good guidelines, a lot of it can boil down to Your Mileage May Vary.

Compound words are especially this. Definitely don't include things that are compound words that end with a suffix in your lineup, such as Coltsfoot or Strawberry. Some will argue against having Mistletoe- being a prefix, but Mistle- and -toe being a prefix and suffix respectively is dumb, because you're essentially saying "piss-twig", and -toe is a dumb suffix the point of suffixes is flexibility and I am getting off-topic reining this thought back in. You could likely get away with Goldenrodpaw and Rainbowpaw, but I doubt you could get away with Sparrowhawkpaw or Horseradishpaw. Something about the latter two hit different.

For prefixes with over five syllables, I'd advise against it. Four syllables is probably the most you could get away with. Dandelion-, Salamander-, Amanita-, you're running out of space there. Salamanderflower and Amanitawhisker are gonna be a pain to write over and over and over again.

Some prefixes that are human-ish in feel are really hard to disassociate, such as Phoebe- (a bird), so again, YMMV.

For the wide berth of colors, just go with whatever is the most common example in the territory. Most moths are brown or gray or white, so that'll do. Beetles are usually black or brown too, so just focus on like, the really common varieties. If the bug is somewhat uncommon, disregard it for the most part. Maybe have one cat pop up every few generations with the color befitting the moth.

For tree prefixes, it usually depends on its most defining feature(s). Maples and rowans blaze red in the autumn, so they get thrown in the ginger category. Laburnum, wisteria, and cherry have beautiful flowers. Plums, junipers, and oaks have funny fruits and nuts. Larches and pines have their unique needles. And alders and birches have distinctive barks. If all else fails, check their flower or bark, and run with brown.

[dracocheesecake]

THOUGHTS ARE BREWING ABOUT REWRITING KFP4

Brace for impact cause I’ve been ruminating for weeks on how to redo it because like, there’s so many directions you could take it. BUT IM THINKING OF AN INTERESTING WAY TO REWRITE THE CHAMELEON AND AUGHHH I MUST BLAB

Cause obviously it’s a bullshit thing that her excuse for being evil is that she wasn’t allowed to know kung fu because she’s too small. We all know its dumb with Shifu, Mantis, and literally Master Chicken existing. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ISNT STUPID? The womanly coded rage of “I don’t need to be good, I need to be GREAT” and like sure its not like a characteristic of female rage but when that thought process is within a woman it takes on a whole different kinda tone compared to a man. Miss Chameleon who, while living in a universe where there isn’t really overt sexism, still feels overlooked by all the men around her.

In my rewrite of her story, not only would she have known kung fu, but she would have been a master herself. But her problem (like the running themes of all the kfp villains which ties her to the bunch we’ve seen already) is that she wants for more than is her lot in life. Her flaw is that she can’t live in mediocrity. She can’t accept that the skills she has developed are the best she’s ever going to get. Especially when it’s not garnering the same attention from others the way Master Ox or Master Bear have. It develops this intense superiority complex and innate jealousy within her that she feels she pales in comparison to her colleagues. Which leads to her trying to copy their styles. It doesn’t work, people shame her for trying to be a copycat.

So, she tries a different approach, and see if there’s any new skills she can develop. And wouldn’t you know, she’s heard of all the tales of Master Oogway and his spiritual powers and you know, he invented Kung Fu and is known and loved far and wide, so he had to have done something right! So, she tries to learn chi. She fails. Or, in her mind, she fails. It’s not as strong as she wants it to be, again, working but living in mediocrity. She wants to stand out, she wants to shine.

So, Master Chameleon disappears mysteriously from the kung fu world. Nobody knows where she went or what happened to her, but her village checked her training grounds and all of her pupils (the iguanas/lizards we see fighting for her) are just. Gone. Deserted.

That’s when she pops up in Juniper City. A place that doesn’t know anything about kung fu or its masters, a city she can make entirely for herself. She presents herself to the government/council, introducing herself as the solution to all the crime running rampant through the place, and proves herself by actually showing off her intelligence and skills at apprehending and beating the criminals. It’s not long before she’s hailed as a savior to the city and has the council paying tribute to her and building her her own fortress so that she can train others (in reality, she makes her training intentionally too cruel on the people in the city who volunteered to learn to discourage them so she could sweetly suggest she ask her pupils back at her side) to defend the city more strongly.

She’s basically the kingpin of the city now. She’s manipulated the council into doing whatever she wants. And all along she’s making deals with the criminal overlords for more money and glory and such. The only ones who don’t bow to her is The Den, due to their structure being more familial rather than hierarchal. They fought a lot because of this power struggle, and similar to that drabble you wrote, The Chameleon would be brutal, taking the lives of their friends and such, to the point where the neutral point is Han taking what’s left of his community under ground to keep them protected, and Chameleon considers them too puny to waste her time when she’s got bigger goals.

Namely, Zhen. Zhen was a consequence of all the fighting done, the last victim from The Den so to speak. Only, the little fox wasn’t killed. Similarly to the movie, Chameleon notices her drive and skill and decides she’s worth the time to apprentice, and she needs something to busy herself with, because in the meantime, she’s basically inventing sorcery.

Using chi the way it has been used didn’t work for her. But she heard through the grapevine about Po’s battle with General Kai, how he perverted chi for his own gain, which gave her an idea. She wasn’t going to do it the way Kai had, she didn’t just want the power of their energy, she wanted to take everything from everyone who thought they were above her. Their soul, their skills, their everything. This thought process leads to her true plans and motivations: to be the only kung fu master.

She’s still having some troubles working out the kinks of her sorcery while she trains Zhen, grows close to the little fox. Only, Zhen isn’t like her other students. She’s trained them to be competent, sharp and know their jobs, but Zhen was pushed farther, and took things farther. And once again, that burning jealousy took root in Chameleon as she saw her pupil flourish more than she originally thought capable. There was pride of course at first, molding Zhen to her ideals and image. But the fox turned from student to competition as she began to experiment with her own style. In turn, Chameleon experimented on her. Zhen wasn’t expecting it, but when called to her, Chameleon threw her beta tested move at her…and it worked. That trick we saw in the movie, only it took everything from Zhen, and by the end of it…there was nothing left of her. All of her spirit, skills and even appearance was given solely to the Chameleon. She can only shapeshift into the people she’s absorbed in my rewrite. She hadn’t fully expected it to work, and a small, miniscule part of her felt guilty for doing that to her dearest little pupil who trusted her so blindly. But it opened a gateway for her.

And yeah! I won’t go into everything because I’ve talked so very much but omg I needed to get this out. And it’s necessary, because there are two running themes with kfp villains: they are greedy for more in some twisted goal, and they end up hurting somebody very close to them, there’s always betrayal somewhere. Tying that into her story makes her feel like she’s an actual villain of this universe in my head.

(Sorry this took so long to answer I had to get my thoughts together because OH BOY-)

Holy smokes this is all genuinely so, so good and a hundred times better than what we ended up getting. Because first of all: you turned the Chameleon into a character, instead of just a villain. Not to mention you gave her a motive that gives her complexity and makes her actually interesting (and the audience can't justify, but understand why she's doing what she's doing!). AND YOU MADE HER SCARY! An actual, serious threat! That imagery the description of poor Zhen's fate this conjures is spine-chilling. I wouldn’t mind seeing this version of the Chameleon on screen!

Also the way it actually follows the lore and continuity of the previous movies in a way that makes sense! The running theme of "being the best you you can be"- in this sense, her version is a twisted version of Po's journey; wanting to be the best version of herself...at the cost of all others! I could go on, but yeah this is an awesome rewrite idea!!!

[ratking-pkmn]

From what we see of it in game, would Absol be a feliform carnivore or a caniform carnivore? Or would it be omnivorous? Because I've been writing my Absol OC, Juniper, as being very similar to canids but other places seem to place them as feliforms?

You gave me quite the first question! Absol is a guy who's inspirational origins aren't as obvious as some other quadrupedal mammalian pokemon. More info under the cut so I don't clutter anyone's dash :)

Content Warning: Real life animal bones. Discussion of anatomy in depth. Beware.

LET'S TALK ABOUT ABSOL, HELL YEAH. FULL NERD RAMBLE TIME.

So, this is a bit of a complicated question to sort out. Is Absol a feliform or a caniform? The answer is... Well, neither? Maybe both?

Ultimately pokemon may be inspired by real life animals, but they have an entirely different biological evolutionary tree than ours do- meaning our assumptions about their wild behavior and skeletal systems are all just that: assumptions.

That said we can make observations based off of their anatomy. However, due to these being Pokemon, their skeletons are not available to inspect, neither are their muscles or organs, but I can give it a shot just from eyeballin' em.

So, what's the difference between a Feliform and a Caniform? Well....the answer to that is in the skull, specifically in the anatomy of the bones of the inner ear. On Absol we don't have that information. But there is general traits that can be assigned to both suborders of animals. Let's list a few so we can get it out of the way.

Please remember these are generalizations, so there are some exceptions to these!

(Images credit to Wikimedia Commons)

Caniforms: longer snouts, more teeth, less specialized teeth, non-retractable claws, usually plantigrade, almost always terrestrial. Feliforms: shorter snouts, less teeth, highly specialized teeth, retractable claws, many are arboreal/semi-arboreal, and they're usually digitigrade.

Soo.... What about about Absol?

Well, oh balls, that's a mixed bag.... No problem! Let's use the anatomy to come to our own conclusions. Well its weight of 103 Lbs (47kg) and its height of 3'11" (1.3m) at the tip of its scythe tells us that it is a "medium" sized animal. Very scientific, I know. Medium.

So a medium sized quadrupedal animal that thrives in temperate and cold climates with thick fur and a prominent mane. Parts of its body, specifically the tail and the snout/face, are completely hairless. It has thick, long claws that are unable to be retracted or hidden. It has a large "scythe" which it can use for both offensively and defensively, as it can be used to defend the vulnerable back of the neck area where otherwise the animal would not be able to reach. Its mouth is small, and it has relatively small teeth. This animal is also lithe and slim and has slender legs that would allow it to run well.

How can this be interpreted? Well, let's try this: Due to its size and having developed a defensive horn, it is likely not at the top of the food chain- most big predators don't exactly develop over-the-top extra weapons for fun.

Second thing, what about its diet? Well, I would suggest it's definitely a carnivore. I mean, all animals are omnivores technically, but I would fit Absol into the hypercarnivore tier, with over 95% of its diet being made up of meat. With the size of its claws, it's likely its adept at digging, so it may sample on roots and tubers in a pinch. As for its behavior, due to its size and fur patterns, as for its process of finding food, I'd suggest an opportunist hunter/scavenger.

It can hunt, but generally will avoid doing so if possible. It's much more to try and sniff out an already deceased meal than grapple down one yourself. When it does hunt, it would go for smaller prey animals, rodent-like pokemon, small bird pokemon, and other small mammals. If it happens upon a larger carcass, due to its small mouth it will more than likely use its claws to shred the meat into smaller more manageable bites it can tear off. In personality, I suspect Absol leans heavily into the feliform stereotype; it is solitary and generally quite unfriendly and skittish by nature. Due to its size, it is instinctually hyper-aware of being preyed upon by larger animals, and that includes humans. As for the sounds it makes, it probably sounds a bit like a bobcat or cougar. Growls, hisses, and more horrifically, almost human-like screeching when cornered/threatened. Bobcat noises linky.

So..... there's no actually SIMPLE answer to "is it a feliform or a caniform?" oops. But I at least hope this helps ;;

[thesugarclubs-blog]

The Safehouse - AU Bucky Barnes x OC

warnings: post-TFATWS Bucky, one bed, hurt.comfort, smut, 18+

word count: 10k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/story/328379898-the-safehouse

Masterlist

Juniper stretched out her neck the best she could in the passenger seat of the undercover police car as she brushed the tangles out of her messy brown hair. Her long legs had started to tingle and her butt was numb from being in the car for twelve hours. She wiggled her toes before pressing them against the rubber sole of her converse and pushing it free of her heel. 

She scowled. Her bottom lip jutted out upon seeing that her one sock, the cute lavender one with the cat on it, sadly had a hole in it and she could see the chipped red nail polish on her last three toes. The lump in her throat, the horrible one that had been lodged there since the day she watched John Walker shoot that man in the back of the head unprovoked, wouldn’t dissolve. 

Her stomach growled forcing her out of her silent bubble of safety, she looked over at him and anxiety flooded her. His scruffy jaw tensed tightly the second she cast her blue eyes on him. His gloved fingers gripped tighter on the steering wheel as her stomach growled louder filling the silence between them. 

“I’m driving you to the safe house in Washington, I’m not your friend.” 

He hadn’t spoken a word to her since he had taken her into possession. She wasn’t sure he would stop to feed her even if she asked nicely. Juniper went to open her mouth but was left silent when he turned to look at her. “Whatever it is. No.” He snapped. “We’re an hour from the first safe house, we aren’t stopping.”

Juniper sighed before she spoke but her stomach grumbled audibly before she could say anything. His piercing blue eyes turned to face her, a look of annoyance marred his rugged features. 

 ''Alright, let's get some food in you before I get accused of letting you die of starvation'' he said his voice low. 

Somehow the tone of his voice got under her skin and a wave of goosebumps formed on her skin. Fucking hell it's cold. He might not let me die of starvation but she might as well freeze to death.

“Thanks,” she muttered bitterly, turning her head to stare out of the window once more.

The highway was lined with pine trees, their branches laden with snow. Through the gaps in their trunks, she caught turquoise flashes of water, a lake she presumed, the grey of the sky reflecting from its still surface. It would be beautiful here, Juniper thought, if she were here for a different reason and with someone, anyone, else.

Juniper pulled her hoodie sleeves over her hands to try to keep any and all body heat enclosed. How the hell is he not cold? Juniper thought to herself. Her escort had turned off the heat about four hours ago and it seemed he wasn’t going to turn it back on anytime soon. 

Juniper decided that maybe talking would take her mind off the tragic scene she had witnessed and her continuously growling stomach, “So, quick question, we’ve been driving for twelve hours, and the last time I saw a sign for food was about five hours ago. Where exactly are we going to find food out in the middle of nowhere?”

She turned her attention back to the road in front of them when he didn’t answer her. There were hardly any cars on the road. 

“You know, if I had known we would be driving for hours I would have packed some food. It’s kind of hard to pack a bag without any warning or details about where I am going or for how long” she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Sure princess," he sneered, his icy blues turned in her direction for a second causing her face to heat up, "next time your life is in danger, we'll be sure to let you know beforehand so you can pack food." 

The car sped up a little before slowing down as he finished, leaving Juniper flustered in anger at him and the situation she found herself in.

Bringing her hand up to the window for the fourth time within twenty minutes, she wiped the foggy window clean in hopes of distracting herself from her hunger. 

“How much farther do we have to go? There’s no possible way that this isn’t a dead end,” Juniper slumped against the seat. 

The man beside her sighed as he shot a sharp glance in her direction. 

“Are you ever not complaining?” He asked. His voice was rough, probably from the lack of talking, and Juniper twisted in her seat to face him a little better.

“I’ll have you know I’m a ray of fucking sunshine when I’m not starving… or in a car with Sergeant Mood-killer who won’t even let me put music on… for twelve whole hours.”

He clenched his jaw at her remark. She watched him carefully as his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat while he clutched the steering wheel harder, his leather gloves squeaking against it. 

"My job is to keep you safe, not to satisfy your whims. Which means I need to keep my senses sharp and I can't do that listening to whatever mmbop crap you wanna listen to."

“Maybe that’s what you and you’re friends listen to in your free time since you already seem so much fun to be around, but it’s not what I would prefer when I think of music, Mr. “I wear gloves to drive a car”. What are you? 87?”

“Can you shut up?” He responded annoyed. His jaw was clenching so hard she was afraid he would crack it…but on the other hand…

“No, I won’t shut up. I’m bored, hungry, tired, and cold! Sorry that I’m not a robot like you. I am a human and I need those things like food and sleep once in a while!” 

He didn’t respond. All he did was slow down the car, making Juniper hope they had arrived at the safe house. But to her surprise, he stopped the car on the side of the road. 

“What are you doing?” She asked confused.

He didn’t answer and got out with a blast of freezing cold air, slamming the door shut behind him as Juniper sat in shock. She watched as he flexed his left hand a few times, clenching it into a fist before opening the door and getting back in. 

“D-done with your temper t-tantrum?” Juniper sniped, although it was slightly ruined by her chattering teeth.

He narrowed his icy gaze on her face, “you should try insulting me once your lips stop trembling, tough guy.”

She pouted at him and the muscle in his jaw tensed as he leaned into her space, “my only job is to keep you alive until you can put a man behind bars. It is hard to do that when I want to kill you myself. Shut up and let me drive.” 

Juniper could feel the heat rolling off his body. Sandalwood and cinnamon filled her senses and she fought to keep her cold lips still as he scolded her. He leaned back into his seat, satisfied with the fear he had instilled. Proud of himself. A horrible clinking sound, followed by a long painful muffle screeched sounded as he forced the keys into the ignition. 

"Fuck. Of course, this happens," he growled hitting his gloved hand on the steering wheel letting out a string of curses under his breath. Somehow how seeing him mad made him look infuriatingly attractive. 

"If you move, I'll tie you to your seat," he grumbled before getting out of the car. 

"We are in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, why would I leave?" Juniper retorted ironically.

She heard the snow crumple under his heavy footsteps as he rounded the front of the car and popped the hood.  She couldn’t see him from where she sat shivering in the car but she sure as hell heard him when he swore loudly and slammed the hood back down.  The car rocked when his boot connected with the tire and she let out an involuntary yelp when he drove his right fist into the hood once, twice, and a third time, leaving craters in the smooth black metal.

For the second time, Juniper is hit with a blast of ice-cold air as the agent gets back in the driver's seat. 

“FUCK”, he yells as he pounds the steering wheel, bending it with the force of the hit. 

Juniper gasped, “LANGUAGE! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?!” 

At a time like this, humor was the only thing that kept Juniper from having an absolute breakdown. Apparently, that wasn’t the case for her escort. 

His blue eyes pierced into her as he whipped his head to stare at her. “Get out.” He said sternly. 

“Wha-what?” Juniper stuttered as her eyes widened.

"Did you not hear me the first time?"

"You need to calm down, dude."

"I am calm," he snarled through gritted teeth. "You know what would make me a lot calmer, is if you did as you're told, dude."

Juniper shivered beneath the weight of his gaze but got out of the car. She didn't want to mess with him, or piss him off after he just dented the hood. She shut the door and crossed her arms over her chest to conserve her body heat. She could feel his eyes on her.

"You cold?" He asked, his voice clipped.

She didn't answer, still shaken by this violent outburst. Her escort sighed and shrugged off his jacket, holding it out for her. She sneered at it and he huffed.

"Take it." His voice softened, along with the permanent scowl he seemed to wear. Slowly, Juniper grabbed the coat, but apparently, even that was too slow for him and he wrapped it around her shoulders, zipping it up. She smelled leather and the cinnamon from his cologne. He sighed softly and looked around. "We have to walk. Car's busted."

"You sure?" She asked with a raised brow. "You wanna hit it again? Maybe roundhouse kick it a few times? I heard mechanics do that a lot."

He rolled his eye at her comment and walked around to the back of the car and opened up the boot and grabbed his bag along with hers. He closed the boot and started to walk along the road.  She began to follow him and reached out her hand.

“I can carry my bag, I don’t need you to carry it for me,” she said as she caught up with him. He handed her bag over in silence as he continued to walk. “So are we just going to leave the car here or…”

“I’ll call someone when we get to where we are going… hopefully they will be able to fix it,” he replied with a sigh.

“And where are we going exactly and how long will it take? Because I rather not be walking out on the road when it gets dark and even colder,” she said trying to keep up with his pace damn this dude could walk fast.

“You’ll see,” is all he had to offer. Juniper sighed as she rolled her eyes- this guy was going to make this ten times harder than it should be. 

In hopes of entertaining herself, she looked up at all the wildlife around them; the beautiful pine trees with their branches covered in snow, the few birds that actually liked the cold decorating the trees with their nests. 

It was beautiful as the late-day sun made the snow glisten with a sparkle similar to that of a diamond. 

Where ever they were going, it was quiet and peaceful- something she could get used to. 

“So…what’s your favorite food?” She asked, her chipper voice breaking the silence.

“Pizza,” he muttered, voice lost to the wind as he marched ahead. Juniper skipped to keep up, huffing and puffing as the cold air hit the back of her throat. 

“Booooring,” she breathed out, smirking when he growled in frustration. “What kind of pizza?” 

“Listen, sweetheart. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you this, but we’re not gonna do the whole ‘getting to know you’ shit. Stop talking, keep up, and stay alert. You talk again, I’m throwing you over my shoulder.” 

Juniper stared up at him, eyes drawn to where his jaw ticked before they tracked up to his mouth and the way he clicked his tongue against his teeth. 

“Yes, sir.”

They continued their trek along the side of the road for what felt like ages for Juniper as she tried to keep up with her escort's long strides. She felt like her legs were going to give out, both from exhaustion and the cold seeping through her clothes. No matter how many times she'd rebundled herself into his coat she just couldn't shake it, all the while this man walked around completely unfazed at the dropping temperature. At one point she felt his cutting gaze on her as she adjusted the coat and her bag once again, she assumed the scratching and rubbing of the fabrics was also annoying to him. She cast her eyes downward and continued walking. This was the worst thing that could have happened to her, they could have at least assigned her someone with compassion.

She began to feel a little dizzy and just as she was about to ask him how much longer it would be, he stopped. He turned to her, giving her a once-over at the sight of her slumped shoulders. For just a split second she thought she saw a glimpse of worry in his eyes. 

"It's through here. Just a few more steps, okay?" He voiced as he nodded towards a barely there path between a string of cedars.

The sudden bout of dizziness grew stronger and she thought if she opened her mouth, everything would leave her stomach right away, so she answered with a quick nod, looking down at the white snow beneath her feet. 

“You okay?” He furrowed his brows.

She didn’t respond, so he took a step closer to her. 

“Talk to me.” His tone was commanding, but it felt like he was concerned about her.

Juniper swallowed before she answered. “What is your name?” She was still looking at her feet, covering her stomach with her arms. 

“You answer my question first-“

“What. Is. Your. Name?” 

He sighed before he answered, a little confused by her sudden change in behavior. “James.” his voice was soft. 

She nodded, “Okay…James?” She made a quick pause before she continued. “I’m not feeling good.” 

He let out a deep breath before he stepped closer. She yelped in surprise when she felt his strong arms lifting her up into his arms, carrying her the rest of the way.

“What? I didn’t mean- you don’t have to carry me, I just needed to rest,” Juniper said quietly, unable to stop herself from snuggling into his warm embrace.

“Better to get there faster,” James said gruffly, staring straight ahead, jaw ticking again. He didn’t seem to be under any strain at all, just annoyance. 

“Thank you anyways,” Juniper whispered, and she felt his arms tighten around her briefly before James cleared his throat roughly. 

“It’s nothin’,” he rumbled just as a cabin came into view.

She followed him as he slowed down his steps through the snow-covered path. The trees interlock each other as if walking through a tunnel. He stopped them just outside the porch. It may not have been much for the world but for Juniper, it felt like walking into a new untouched world. It looked picturesque with the cabin that was nestled back in the woods. The snow lay like a thick blanket on the roof, the snow barely hanging on the edges with a brick chimney. She could already see herself sitting in front of the fireplace with her hands reaching out to finally replace the cold with warmth again.

“Is this it?” She asked as she looked up at him. 

He narrowed his eyes in front, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “No, the Hilton is just behind it. Do you think you can make it?”

Juniper huffed and rolled her eyes. She became acutely aware of her arms wrapped around his neck and felt a blush creep across her face. “Put me down.”

James said nothing, just suddenly dropping his arm from underneath her body. She felt her Converse land against the snow, sinking slightly into the pillowy white. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the sudden loss of James’ body heat had her trembling. She exhaled deeply and watched the cloud of her breath fill the air as she stared up at the porch. 

The safe house. Her new digs for the next… however long. With this giant, muscular jerk. Great.

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly. He put his hand on the small of her back and ushered her up the wooden steps. The planks creaked under their weight as if they haven’t been used in years. James reached up towards the porch light and Juniper winced as she heard the crunch of spider webs. He procured a single key and shoved it in the deadbolt, pushing the front door open. He stood behind her as her shoulders trembled, and pursed his lips.

“Alright, princess. Get in.”

“You know I have a name right?” Juniper muttered as she stepped inside the cabin with a small push from James. 

The wind blew against the side of the house and she could feel the draft through the walls. The furniture had a thin layer of dust clouded around them and it reeked of must. 

She shuddered again feeling the cold seep further into her bones. Juniper set down her bag, coughing slightly at the dust cloud that formed around her. 

James pulled the old door closed and rounded the old green couch that took up most of the living space, tossing his bag onto the cushion. She stood, watching him as he inspected the fireplace and then the wood pile next to it. 

“It’s not much wood,” he sighed, tossing a few logs into the fireplace, “do me a favor darlin’, check the closets for blankets, paper, anything we can use to keep warm.” 

She stood, almost frozen in place her legs ached and her stomach still growling. James glanced up at her after not hearing her move, his eyes a bright ocean blue against the harsh darkness around them, “Juniper? Can you do that?” He asked but it sounded more like a command.

She curled up her toes in her wet shoes and bit her lip, staring around the cabin. She had stepped out of a winter wonderland and back into the horror movie that her life had become. 

“Alright,” he stood wiping his hands on his pants. “I know that you’re tired, hungry, and scared but if I don’t get you warm now, you’re going to wish being hungry was your only problem.”

“I get that being an asshole is your whole personality but some of us can’t compartmentalize our needs,” Juniper whined but James didn’t falter in his order of her. “Fine, blankets, paper.” 

“Good girl,” he smirked and suddenly she wasn’t so cold anymore as a wildfire spread through her belly. She turned her back on him, wandering around the cabin using the tiny bit of sunlight that peered through the dust-caked windows until she found a closet. The doorknob and hinges were covered in a thick coating of dust and webs. "Spiders," she shuddered, kicking her foot against the ground like a child, "I fucking hate spiders."

She pulled the sleeve over her fingers and twisted the doorknob just hoping that the spider had long fled the rotted wood.

She found a stack of old newspapers which she tried to pick up as a spider fled the stack over her feet. Juniper let out a high-pitched screech that sounded through the whole cabin.

Seconds later, James barged into the room.

"What's going on ?" a slight concern laced his deep voice.

Juniper's face marred with disgust. 

"Fucking spider." She murmured under her breath.

“You’re kiddin’ me, right?” He said with disdain, frowning anew.

“Look,” she shuddered, “everyone has limits and this is mine.  Are you gonna protect me, or are you gonna keep frowning at me?”

“Can you at least grab the blankets?” He asked.

“I fuckin’ told Sam I wasn’t the right guy for this. Shoulda asked fuckin’ Torres,” James grumbled under his breath as he picked up the stack of paper.

James walked back to the fireplace again, leaning down, and began to stuff kindling and starter paper around the larger logs. 

Juniper looked around her and saw the doorway to a small, kitchen. “Finally”, she breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped towards a row of cabinets next to a refrigerator she was sure was as old as her grandma. With caution, she opened the first cabinet to be greeted with no spiders and canned food goods. 

Her stomach growled again as she grabbed a can of fruit cocktail and spam, not her favorite food, but they would have to do. She began rummaging through the drawers looking for a can opener and a spoon.

“What are you doing?” James appeared in the doorway, a look of annoyance still on his face, “Do you always make so much noise?”

She sneered at him, her hunger bleeding into pure agitation. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, do regular sounds that humans make bother you, Your Highness? I'm looking for a can opener."

James rolled his eyes and walked toward her, pulling a knife out of nowhere. She gasped and put her hands up as he flipped it in his hand and then grabbed the can. He bit down on his bottom lip as he used the tip of the knife to dig beneath the metal lid. It popped off in an instant and he slammed it back down on the counter.

"Don't say I never did nothin' for ya, princess."

"What about a spoon... or a fork?!" She squeaked. 

"You've got perfectly good forks on the ends of your arms," he called as he strode back toward the fire to start working on it.

Juniper crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him.

"Are you going to be an ass this entire time?"

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes glittering. Her knees knocked together and she had to lean against the counter to keep herself from falling over. She could feel the flush in her cheeks and her throat clenched as James flashed her a cocky grin. 

"It's my specialty, sugar."

Juniper stuck her tongue out at him once he had turned his back to her. She decided she was too hungry to look for a fork and opted to use her fingers to eat the canned fruit.  Leaving the kitchen she decided to explore the rest of the cabin. When she came across the bedroom she found that there was only one bed. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. 

“What?” James called from the living room. 

“I’ve read too many books to know what this means. And a lot of fics on AO3. Nope, not happening” she said, shaking her head back and forth. 

“Huh?” James asked.

“There’s only one bed…” Juniper said. 

“And?” James asked coming into the room.

"And?! It's not happening, mister!" Juniper snickered at him, only to be met with his vacant stare. 

"What?" He huffed out after a beat, confusion mixing with irritation on his face. 

She marched to the bed, canned fruit in hand as she planted herself in the middle of the bed, cross legged and staring at him while picking a pineapple slice and talking around the bite in her mouth;

"I'm taking the bed, and there will be no sharing it or warming up together. No sir. None." 

She swallowed the piece of fruit as he marched out of the room, mumbling to himself.

“Hey!” She launched a piece of pineapple at him, hitting him square on the back of the head and he froze as it made impact, “I need confirmation that you’re not gonna try anything.” 

“I’m not gonna try anythin’, sugar, don’t you worry.” 

Juniper huffed, “well now I’m just gonna think you don’t find me attractive.” 

“Jesus Christ,” James stalked back into the bedroom, stopping in front of her. Her eye line fell level with his chest, the hard muscles pulling his shirt tight as inhaled deeply and let out a heavy breath. “It would be unprofessional of me to comment on your looks, Juniper.” 

“But you kinda want to, don’t ya?” She grinned.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated huff. 

"I don't want anything and I'm not entertaining this conversation anymore." 

"Oh come on, James. Indulge a girl a little, one compliment won't kill you." she voiced peering at him through her lashes. 

He let his arm fall to his side as he stepped forward, pressing his hands onto the mattress as he leaned down to meet her gaze. Juniper swallowed slightly as he inched closer to her. Their noses were just inches apart, ocean blue eyes boring into hers, his breath fanning her face as he responded. 

"You're not sharing the bed, I'm not indulging you. With compliments or otherwise. Eat your fruit and behave, Juniper." 

Her brows knit together, her brain failing to put words together at the moment as he brought himself back to his height and turned back to leave the room.

“Jerk,” she muttered to herself, enjoying the rest of her fruit. 

The next couple of hours were exhausting. She didn’t know what to do besides walking around the house and looking at the spider webs, giving them names to have at least something that makes the time go by faster. After a couple of hours, she got tired and decided to lie on her bed. Bucky was still at the fireplace, heating the cabin up a little, though the warmth didn’t reach the bedroom. He looked through some blankets to make sure they were free of spiders before he went to the bedroom, laying the blankets onto the bed. 

“Here,” he said softly. Looking up at her he saw that she was changing her wet sweater. 

He cleared his throat and looked away, giving her privacy.

After she changed into a dry t-shirt, she voiced a soft  “Thank you,” which made him turn to look at her again. 

He responded with a quick nod and left the room.

Juniper stepped over to the pile of blankets, picking one up and delicately shaking it out, relieved when no spiders fell out. As she wrapped it around her shoulders, she heard James’ voice through the open door. 

“…and then the damn car broke down! Don’t laugh Sam, it wasn’t funny- she was exposed, she could’ve died.” Juniper shuddered and started to turn away when there was silence but James spoke again. “Ha ha Sam, you just might have to stop me still, she’s a goddamn pain in my ass!”

Her shoulders sunk down, the blanket fully enveloping her frame. Hot tears filled her eyes and before she could recognize herself as upset, they spilled over. Her cheeks burned as her thoughts spiraled. She wanted to run into the other room and smack James, giving him a piece of her mind. She could still hear him talking to Sam- probably still complaining about her. 

She didn’t ask to see what she saw. She didn’t ask for her entire life to be upended. She certainly didn’t ask to be stuck in the middle of the snowy woods with Agent Sunshine.

Juniper felt the flames of white-hot anger deep in her belly. She felt the words bubbling up in her throat- this guy was being such a dick, and she was gonna let him know-

“G-goodnight,” she said suddenly. She heard James stop talking. A little louder, more confident now- “Goodnight, James.”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond before she walked forward and closed the bedroom door, hearing a firm click. The blanket sagged from her shoulders as she collapsed on the bed in a heap of tears, finally letting the reality of her situation sink in.

Juniper woke to the sound of something thudding against the side of the house. Her eyes shot open as the images of yesterday started flooding back in. She quickly sat up, her heart hammering in her chest as she wrapped the blanket from last night further around her frame. 

“J—James?” She sucked in a burst of cold air when the thudding suddenly stopped. It had to be him, they were in the middle of nowhere. Walker couldn’t have found her so soon. But what if he did. 

“James?” She asked again, a little louder this time as she reached for the bedroom door handle. Her fingers wrapped around the frigid metal before turning it carefully. 

Juniper poked her head out, her eyes searching the room. She finally let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when she saw him standing in the doorway, an arm full of damp logs, kicking his boots against the threshold to rid them of the matted snow. 

Crystal blue eyes fell on her face, his brows furrowing for a moment but softened as she opened the door fully. 

“Morning’.” He muttered, his voice raspy and still full of sleep. 

“Morning,” she whispered watching him move about the room stacking the wood against the fireplace. 

The tension between them was thick, and his words from last night still hung in the air. She’s a pain in my ass. 

“How long are we going to be here?” 

James sighed, glancing up at her like suddenly her presence was a burden, “I don’t know, June. Probably until Walker isn’t planning on hurting you anymore.”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t joke about that,” she huddled her arms around herself as she walked toward the edge of the couch and sat on the arm. He rolled his eyes and went back to stacking wood, this time within the fireplace.

 “It may be normal for someone like you but I’ve never seen…” she stopped shaking the images of the blood pooling on the ground at her feet from her mind. 

He paused his process of stacking the wood, his shoulders tensing at her words. She didn’t expect an apology for his crass remarks over the last twenty-four hours, but he could at least stop making them. 

“Torres dropped off a vehicle this morning, I’m going to go into town and get proper food and supplies,” he started, as his lighter clicked to life and the fireplace roared to life. The dull flickering illuminated his face as he turned on his heels to look at her again and like he was reading her mind cut her off before she could speak. “You’ll stay here and don't bother arguing you can’t be seen in town.”

Juniper sighed loud enough for him to hear.

“Stay by the fire, inside Juniper.” He warned. 

She wouldn’t win this fight but she could at least make his life harder, she spun around and stomped back to her room, slamming the door behind her. 

“Brat!” She heard him call as he slammed the front door in response. 

The hours ticked by and her own thoughts ate away at her as the wind ripped around outside the cabin. As the sun began to dip low in the sky, darkness engulfed the tiny cabin and the wind turned to a vicious hailing of snow. She trembled, wracked with chills even under two blankets as she talked herself off the cliff. 

Each snap of the branches made her blood dip in temperature until the front door swung open. Slamming uncontrollably against the inside wall she dipped her head under the blankets as her heart pounded uncomfortably within her chest. John had found her. She was sure of it. 

“June?” A muffled voice called out to her, “hey,” warm hands reached out in the darkness and wrapped around her shoulders as the bed dipped behind her. “Fuck you’re freezing,” James swore as he pulled his jacket off and pressed himself against her. 

“Get away from me,” she pushed against him even though his warmth felt so good, it was intoxicating and made her sleepy. 

“You have to get warm June, you don’t have a choice,” he grumbled, pulling her against his chest he wrapped his arms around her tighter and forced her face into the crook of his warm neck.

Deciding that it would be fruitless to fight against this annoying, muscular giant she slumped against his hard body, breathing in his scent. His skin radiated a heat that spread through her body pooling low in her stomach. 

"Thank you," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"You're welcome, sunshine," he murmured as he began to stroke a stray strand of hair out of her face.

Goosebumps appeared on Juniper’s arms, her not knowing if it was from the nickname and low, sultry voice of the human radiator holding her, or just the heat in general. Suddenly, Juniper felt herself being lifted off the bed. 

“What are you doing?” Juniper whispered as she raised her head to look at James. 

James tilted his head to look at her, “Well, княжна, you let the fire die while I was gone. So I need to start it again and warm you up completely before the hypothermia sets in”. 

James had moved easily through the cabin and gently placed Juniper on the broken down couch in front of the fireplace, keeping her wrapped in the blanket he had found her under. 

“And you’re not going to get sick? You have on jeans and a t-shirt just like me!” Juniper snipped back, pulling her knees to her chest trying to keep what body heat James had left behind wrapped around her. 

James looked over his shoulder and smirked, “I’m a super soldier doll, I can’t get sick or cold.” He then turned his attention back to the fireplace.

She watched him start the fire, his muscles rippling beneath his t-shirt.

"What did you call me?" She asked.

A chuckle escaped his throat.

"I call you a lot things."

Her cheeks burned with humiliation. She was fixated on the Russian word-- at least it sounded Russian. It was probably something mean, and he was probably going to lie about it. He hated her, and she didn't understand why. She huffed softly and looked out the window as the snow fell, tears misting her eyes. She was stuck here with this asshole who hated her. The loneliness was starting to sink in and her throat clenched as she struggled to swallow the lump growing at the base of it. She just wanted to go home. 

Suddenly, she heard the fire crackling and then felt a warm hand tuck beneath her chin.

"June?" He whispered. "Can you look at me?"

She shook her head and heard a soft, disgruntled sigh, a gentle crunch of knees as he crouched in front of her, leaning until his eyes met hers. Tears dripped down her cheeks and she tried to flick them away before he saw them but it was futile.

"Go away," she whispered, her chin trembling. She felt like she could choke. 

"княжна means princess," he breathed, turning her head to face him. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Why are you staying? You could just leave me here, no one would know." Juniper hiccuped between tears, her voice thick with a held back sob as her eyes connected with his.

A tired sigh left him as James shuffled closer to her while he kept his eyes on her, lips pursed into a thin line. 

"Look June," he lifted a calloused hand to grasp her own causing her breath to stutter, her eyes flitted down to his hand covering hers before looking back up at him, "I know this is hard on you. I know that I haven't made it any easier and I know you feel trapped here but.. I wanna keep you safe, okay?" 

She could feel the warmth radiating from the fire starting to warm her chilled bones but it was nothing compared to the heat washing over her from his words, enough to quiet down the doubtful voices inside her head at his change in attitude. 

His thumb running soothing lines over her hand was distracting enough on its own.

"Nothing is gonna happen to you, because I'm not leaving you." He whispered with conviction lacing his tone.

“You promise, James?” She whispered, still not fully convinced. He nodded with a soft chuckle that made her heart flutter. His hard exterior seemed to melt with each passing second that they stood in front of the fire. 

“Are you warming up at all, darlin’?” A hint of a Brooklyn accent poked through his words, making her smile sheepishly. She had always found accents attractive. 

But she couldn’t lie- neither he, the fire, nor the two blankets were helping to warm her up. Shaking her head, James sighed as he frantically looked around the small cabin for something to help.

Time seemed to move painfully slow as his taut chest was fully revealed and Juniper felt like her eyes were going to pop out of their sockets at the sight. The contour of his arms and chest was illuminated in tinges of orange from the flames dancing in the fireplace. 

"We need to get you warmed up fast, June and cold pieces of fabric between us isn't going to help get that done." 

She felt her heart begin to beat faster and her throat ran dry as a taunting heat crept up her neck. This has to be a dream. She felt his warm hand brush against hers and broke from her trance meeting his gaze. 

"I need you to trust me, Juniper. Let me help you. Please?"

All she could do was nod, as a violent shiver wracked her body, making her grab James’ hand to steady herself. He raised his other hand to her waist, gently touching the hem of her shirt. 

“Take this off?” he asked quietly, lifting the shirt an inch before Juniper took it, raising it and pulling it off the rest of the way. 

James kept his eyes firmly on hers, but raised his hands to her pants. “It’ll help if these come off too.”

“R-remember no f-funny business,” she said as she nodded her assent, James flashing a quick grin as he undid the button and pulled down the material. 

“I gotcha doll, strictly professional cuddling happening now,” James said seriously as he quickly shucked his own pants and held his arms out for Juniper.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach and gently leaned towards him. She was hesitant, but honestly- she was too fucking cold to wait any longer. She could feel the warmth radiating off his chiseled chest, and her options could be worse.

A blush crept up her chest and spread to her face as her eyes quickly glanced over his now exposed lower half. This man was made of muscle- his hipbones could cut glass, and his thighs were so burly that she felt icy butterflies in her stomach.

As she continued to blush and move towards him, she wasn’t sure how her blood was still flowing- every part of her was as cold as ice. She felt goosebumps rising to the surface of her skin as James wrapped his arms around her. 

Juniper dropped her forehead against his chest and immediately felt a surge of warmth. She swallowed a moan in her throat as she flung her arms around James, closing her eyes tight and holding onto him for dear life. Her body trembled against his, aching to get closer.

“Whoa there, sugar,” James cooed, lowering them both towards the couch cushions on the ground. He held her small frame alongside his, covering them both with blankets. “Let’s get you comfy by the fire.”

“How are you like a million degrees?” Her voice shuddered softly as a chill wracked through her and she curled further into him. 

James laughed, the vibration in his chest hitting her straight in her core, “are you complaining? Because I could just,” he feigned scooting away from her but her fingers gripped into the taut skin around his waist, holding onto the soft spots that melded to her fingertips making him laugh again. 

“I was not complaining, just… making an observation.” She rolled her lips between her teeth, holding back a smile as she watched the flames flicker and dance in front of them. 

“Right.” He breathed, tucking his hands around her waist.

She tilted her head up, pulling away from him a touch so she could really see his face. The hard lines of his jaw and how it angled behind his ear in a sharp swoop that she wanted to trace with her shaky, frozen fingers. 

His lips hovered near hers, watching her as she studied everything about his face in the flickering light of the fire. The flames licked and danced behind his blue eyes as his lip curled up in response to her staring. 

“More observations?” He whispered and the husky tone of his voice mixed with the feathering touch of his fingers rubbing circles into her bare skin made her thighs clench together. 

She nodded, words evading her. He leaned in closer, his spicy cinnamon scent overwhelming her and making her stomach twist into knots. His lips parted mere inches from hers as his eyes flickered from her gaze to her mouth, it was a languid movement that made her inch closer begging for him to close the distance.

“June, this is the part in those books when the boy kisses the girl,” he huffed, hot air brushing over her lips.  

Her brows furrowed and her hand came up to lay flat against his hard chest, her nails digging into the skin, “you read romance books?” She laughed, unable to believe that and her bottom lip brushed against his sending sparks through her. 

Juniper gasped at the electricity running through her from such a small touch. She would blame her brain for being frozen and unable to filter her next words. “Why don’t you show me what happens in those romance books you read?” With each word, their lips continued to touch in the tiniest ways. 

James chuckled as his eyes gazed into hers again, “Now doll, I thought this was professional cuddling only?” 

Juniper saw the blue in James’ eyes become smaller, she slowly moved her hands down his chest to rest on the waistband of his boxers. Rolling her hips closer to him she said, “The tent you’ve pitched isn’t very professional, agent.” 

Before she could close the distance to finally kiss him, James had her laid flat underneath him. 

Resting on his left forearm so as not to crush Juniper. 

James moved her legs apart with his knee, getting closer to her face again, “It’s Sergeant” He said as his lips eclipsed hers.

The kiss was crushing at first, all of the tension that lingered between them communicated through clicking teeth and tangled tongues. She didn't understand it. One minute, this man couldn't stand her, and the next, he couldn't get enough of her. On the plus side, she was a hell of a lot warmer. 

Juniper drew in a sharp gasp through her nose as her fingers found the dog tags hanging around his neck, tugging on them. He broke the kiss to drag his lips along her jawline, tracing it as her eyes fluttered until his mouth met her earlobe.

"I thought you hated me," she whined, and then smirked before adding, "Sergeant."

The groan that spilled from his lips made her back arch. James pulled back, his eyes nearly black from his blown out pupils. A smirk eclipsed his face and her eyes followed the soft constellation of freckles that ran down his razor sharp cheekbone.

"Oh, darlin', I don't hate you. I was just afraid I wouldn't be able to stay away from you." She felt his knee glide higher and higher and moaned at the scorching heat from his skin. "And I hate it when I lose a bet with myself."

"What was the bet?"

She felt his knee grind against her cunt and moaned softly as he grinned, his face turning bright pink.

"I don't know,"  he laughed, his nose scrunching up. "I just wanted a cheesy romance book line to say."

Her fingers tightened around the chain and she pulled him close enough that his nose was pressed against hers. He rubbed it gently against hers, both of them giggling softly. Juniper hummed as she scratched his chest lightly with her fingernails. 

"We've got a fireplace, one bed, I'm freezing, you're warming me up... looks like we're ticking all the boxes."

"Looks like it," James breathed. His metal hand came up to brush her cheek. "Can I kiss you again, княжна?"

His voice was so much softer this time, sweeter. She bit her lip and nodded before his mouth pressed against hers once more.

The second kiss was needier, messier as the fire flickered behind them. Between the fire and the kiss, Juniper was finally warm. 

“Do you want to stay here or move to the bed?” She whispered a love drunk smile spread across her bruising lips. A calloused hand made its way down her side, the roughness sending waves of arousal to her core. 

“I don’t know darlin’. Right here is just fine by me,” Nodding, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down. 

His rough hand found its way to the band of her panties, trailing across her stomach before he stopped. 

“May I?”

Juniper dragged her nails softly across his scalp, fingers interlaced in his soft chestnut strands as she brought their lips closer together. 

"Please do." she voiced before pressing her lips to his in a searing kiss. 

James bit her bottom lip lightly and pulled back, releasing it with a pop as he sat back. He hooked his index fingers under the waistband of her underwear and pulled them down her legs, his eyes never leaving hers in the process. She sucked in a breath at the sudden chill before feeling his flesh hand grasp her calf as he placed a tender kiss to her leg. 

"You let me know if you wanna stop at any point, ok Juniper?" She nodded in response and he squeezed her calf gently and shook his head. "I need to hear you say it sweetheart." 

"Yes, I won't want that though. But ok, I will." she bit her lip holding back a smile at the sight of him as a slight pink blush crept to his face, nose scrunched with a smile. A soft laugh slipped from his lips followed by a whispered behave, Juniper before he began laying a trail of wet kisses up her leg. His fingers kneaded her thighs as he laid down, his hot breath fanning her wet cunt as he draped her leg over his shoulder. His vibranium hand found hers and he locked their fingers together as he licked a stripe between her folds. The tip of his warm tongue circled her tender nub before he took it between his lips.

Juniper moaned, fingers back in James’ hair she clenched tight and pulled lightly, directing him to put more pressure on her clit. He groaned into her, vibrations traveling through her cunt to her fingers and toes. 

“James, oh my God your tongue,” Juniper gasped, feeling him smile into her wet heat before he curled his tongue and licked at her walls. “Fuck!”

James pulled back, nipping at her inner thighs, teasing her back down from the edge. 

“Easy darlin’, we’ve got all night,” he murmured with a wink before he pressed back in, tongue gliding through her folds again.

He lapped at her clit with his tongue, moaning into her soaked core. He unlaced his metal fingers from hers and ran them up the length of her frame and back down the column of her throat, over the lace of her bra, cupping her breast in his hand. The fire had warmed up the cool metal, and Juniper’s skin was addicted to the warmth.

“James-“ 

He palmed at her right breast with his metal hand, lightly pinching her nipple. The entire time, he continued working her clit. He wrapped his lips around it and sucked. She gasped as he started to roll her nipple between his fingers at the same time, causing it to pebble beneath the fabric. 

He grasped at the fabric between her breasts and in one swift move he tore through the fabric like it was nothing, left staring at the flimsy lace in his hand. 

He pulled away from her cunt, his mouth slick. “Oh God,” he started, his breath hitched in his throat. He looked from the bra back up at Juniper who didn’t recognize the guttural noise that bubbled up from her core. It was half shock and half primal lust. 

“That was so fucking hot,” she breathed, looking down at him through her lashes.

All doubt and fear fell from James’ face as he heard her words. He grinned as he dove down and captured her lips in his. Juniper moaned into the kiss, tasting herself on his tongue. He tossed the bra across the floor and slipped his metal hand between their bodies, running two fingers through her slick.

She whined as he slipped his fingers inside her with ease. “James-“ she whined, his teeth taking her bottom lip between his. 

“Call me sergeant,” he growled against her jawline, moving his metal fingers in and out of her wet cunt.

Juniper gasped as his fingers curled inside of her, tenderly stroking the spot that made her toes curl and sent shockwaves of pleasure through her body. 

"Yes, Sergeant" She breathed, her eyes slamming closed as her hips rolled upwards between them, meeting the movements of his hand. 

She raked her fingers down his back, trailing along the band of his boxers. Juniper felt his body tense for a moment, making her open her eyes to meet his. They were completely black now, his chest heaved with his pants as he stared down at her. 

"It's okay," He whispered, his lips barely hovering over hers as he gave her permission to move. 

Juniper gently dug her nails into his skin, forcing a groan to spill from him. Her fingers grasped around his cock, already wet with precum and sensitive. He bucked into her hand at the slightest of her movements, whimpering as James buried his face into her neck. 

"I need you," She whined, her body feeling like it was floating as he coaxed her further towards the edge, "please Ja--Sergeant."

“Whatever you want, sweetheart.” James muttered into Juniper’s neck. He then pushed off her to shed his boxers, the absence of heat sending a cold chill through her body. She couldn’t take her eyes off James’ cock as it slapped against his abs, making them glisten in the firelight with precum. She was sure he would split her in half, not just due to his length, but his girth as well. 

“Such an observant girl”, James smirked as he crawled back atop her, trailing soft open mouth kisses all up her torso. 

“Please, Sergeant” was the only words Juniper could form.

James lifted his head up, “Look at me June”, his voice low and soft. 

Juniper locked her gaze with him. “I’ve got you pretty girl, just relax.”

His hand cupped her face and she reached up to lace her fingers with his. He smiled softly.

"You ready for me?" 

She bit her lip.

"What do you think?"

He exhaled and dipped his head to kiss her softly. 

"I wanna hear it, gorgeous... I need to hear it." He paused, his voice low and rumbling as he peppered kisses along her cheekbone. "Tell me you need me."

Her heart pounded. It felt like it was lodged in her chest. She could almost swallow it as his hands roamed her body. 

"I need you," she breathed. 

James grinned, pride filling his face. He grabbed the base of his cock and slowly began to push himself into her. Juniper's breath hitched and caught in her chest as a deep, familiar sting filled her body. Her eyes closed, the tip of his cock buried inside of her. He stopped and kissed her forehead softly.

"You're okay," he soothed. "I gotcha."

"More," was all she could whimper. "Please, Sergeant."

He grinned, his forehead resting against hers as he pushed deeper inside of her, whining with her as she cried out. The sensation was electric, crawling down her spine and her toes pointed. Her muscles were taut, twitching.

"As you wish, princess." Finally, he bottomed out and she let out a ragged and raw cry as her back bowed. James grinned as she quivered around him. "Atta girl."

He pressed a sweet kiss to her lips as he lay still giving her a moment to adjust to him. Juniper brought her hand to his face, brushing the hair at his forehead softly as a content smile graced her lips. 

“I’m okay, James. You can move.” 

James smiled and took her bottom lip between his as he moved his vibranium hand to the small of her back, lifting her hips slightly as he pulled back and thrust back into her. She dragged her nails down his back as she relished in the way his hips rolled against hers his movement sure to leave bruises along her hipbones.

Juniper but down on her lip, holding back but James thumbed it free, “Come on pretty girl, sing for me.” 

He thrust forwards harder the tip of his cock brushing past that sensitive place inside her making her moan. 

“There we go, angel, found the right spot,” James grinned as he slowly pulled his hips back, dragging his dick along her walls before slamming back into her spot. 

Juniper desperately grabbed James’ dog tags, swinging wildly from his neck, holding on as he began fucking her with deep, powerful strokes, moans and whimpers falling from her lips.

"James, oh my god" she breathed, her voice sounding so far away as he repeatedly hammered against her g-spot. 

"No, just me darlin'," he smirked down at her. 

His hips moved at a vicious but calculated pace that made her skin burn and ignite with goosebumps that trailed her entire body. James' mouth trailed along her jawline, down her neck nibbling on the sweet spot making her eyes roll back. 

Every one of her senses felt overwhelmed. She could still taste him on her tongue, cinnamon and wood smoke filled her nostrils, the soft praises that spilled from his lips, the way his body felt under her fingertips and the way his hair stuck every which way, little tuffs sticking to his forehead from the sweat and his blown out pupils admiring every inch of her. Everything she was experiencing pushed her towards the edge, fueling the fire in her belly making her clench around him. 

A sinful moan left his lips as his movements started to become erratic and quick paced. She knew that neither of them were going to be able to last much longer.

“Sergeant, please, I’m gonna come,” Juniper begged as her back arched more to take him as deep as she could. 

“Fuck, what a good girl you are asking your sergeant for permission”, James growled into her ear as his metal hand slid between them and he began to roll her clit with his fingers. 

The fire in the hearth had nothing on the fire resting in Juniper’s core. It continued to increase as James kept swirling her sensitive nub with his fingers and drove his cock as deep as he could to hit her g spot. Her head fell back, eyes slammed shut as she moaned using all the air in her lungs. 

“That’s right Juniper, no one but me can hear you out here. It’s all for me. Come for me, beautiful. I wanna feel you can squeeze me.” James’ hip movements grew more erratic, chasing the high that waited, but his fingers worked steadily at her clit, the praise and permission sending her over the edge.

Juniper let out a sinful moan as the initial wave of her climax hit her, followed by a scream that emphasized just how intense her orgasm was running through her body. 

“Fuck, you’re so fuckin’ tight. Been thinking of how perfect this pussy was ever since you spent 12 hours squirming in the car.” James’ words were as chaotic as his thrusts, but Juniper was in no state to stop him. As wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, all she could do was whisper “yes” again and again. 

Finally with one last bruising thrust James coated juniper’s walls with his cum. “Oh FUCK”, James screamed to the ceiling. He slumped slightly to where his and Juniper’s forehead’s were touching, both panting to catch their breath. Juniper could feel their mixed arousal moving down her thighs and onto the cushions as James’ softened within her.

A small huff made its way through Juniper’s lips at the loss of him as he slipped out from her and pressed his back against the cushions under them. He pulled her body flush to his chest with his vibranium hand, her head falling against his shoulder as he dragged the fingers of his right hand lightly up and down her spine. 

She focused her attention on the steady rise and fall his chest with every breath and the way his heartbeat felt against the palm of her hand, beating almost in sync with hers as he seemed to relish in the lingering sensations of their highs and the feel of her body against his as she did the feel of his against hers. 

Juniper pushed herself up slightly, leaning her weight toward the leg she had slumped over his hips until she laid chest to chest with James. She peppered kisses across the freckles scattered along his chest before she placed both hands flat atop it to support her chin as she took in every inch of his face, committing his content look to memory. 

A satisfied hum left James’ lips as he crossed her arms at her hips as if he was unwilling to let this moment go. 

His eyes met hers and he threw a soft whispered “Hi” her way. 

“Hi.” she giggled, her breaths steady now but her heart rate picking back up under his gaze. 

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, June?” he asked 

“Just wondering,” she hesitated and he raised a brow slightly, urging her to continue, “I just- what were you thinking about me after you were ‘assigned’ to me? Honestly.” 

James let out a chuckle, bringing his flesh hand up to brush a strand hair off her face before he responded, 

“Well, I think still- that you’re an incredibly brave woman. Especially for willing to speak against what you saw, putting the wellbeing of other people above yours to make things right. I think that’s- you’re admirable Juniper. The world needs more people like you around.” 

She felt tears well in her eyes at his words. It had been the worst thing she had ever witnessed, and she was scared out her mind to have to be in hiding after deciding to talk, but this is why she did it. To keep it from happening again and for however long she had to be holed up in this cabin because of it, she was grateful the universe had at least gifted her with James. She felt him shift under her weight as he brushed his thumb across her chin. 

“You okay?” 

“Perfect” she whispered, placing a kiss to his lips before she laid back down and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

[mothbeasts]

funny enough, I'm thinking about the mimic mask for once. I see it come up fairly often, but something I don't see talked about as much (from what I recall, anyways) is that...

... It isn't really Juniper's. Not really.

It was designed for his use, yes. But it was not designed to be his. It was a tool of Zor's, a way to get what they wanted. It was made by the Fabricator. He likely had little to no say in its design. The mimic mask is not an extension of him, at least in my mind.

It's a mark of Zor's power over him. This feels more obvious when you consider the electrocution mechanism. He has no idea it's there, or he would have acted differently. Zor had the Fabricator install it without his knowledge as part of their fail-safes.

And his acting style. It's so different from the way the mimic mask works. All of his other masks are domino masks. They don't cover his full face - the mimic mask does. In fact, it seals to his face.

... I don't really know where to go with this actually I'll leave it here. gestures. someone who thinks about this aspect of the games more than me can take it from here.

[coulrology]

So what's the lore with Juniper n their relationship with Vitimir n Hettie?

WELL for both, their relationships go back to their school days! Although the difference being that Juniper and Hettie went to St. Epiderm together, while Vitimir went to a different school (Glandus at the time he met Juniper).

I’ve briefly touched on how Juniper and Vitimir met here, so that explains their first meeting. To reiterate, Vitimir was a shy kid that didn’t really have any friends growing up (aside from bugs/whatever little creatures they spent their time around) and was bullied frequently, so that single positive interaction with Juniper, though small, really stuck with him and he never forgot it. Juniper didn’t forget it either, but being the sociable type meeting and talking to lots of different people, that moment sorta blended in with the rest of their memories. So fast forward to them both working as Coven Heads at the same time, Vitimir immediately recognizes Juniper. Despite Juniper changing a lot since his child self, that one good memory left such a big impact on Vitimir as a kid that he still held that soft spot for them. So of course, when Juniper eventually approached him on their own time, Vitimir already had this layer of vulnerability. Even though they might not have recognized him, from Vitimir’s perspective, there was that sense of familiarity and comfort; Juniper might have changed, but that kind kid was still in him. Now that they have the chance, Vitimir wants to actually get to know this one person who had plagued so many of their thoughts as a kid. And the rest is history!!

As for Hettie! Again, she and Juniper attended St. Epiderm together. Hettie was just as terrifying as a kid as she is now. She was everything- a jock, a princess, a bully, a weird girl, whatever you can think of. Though she’s very open about who she is, everyone around her was always so intimidated by the fact that she was unpredictable (and the fact that she’s both the smartest AND strongest person you’d ever meet is terrifying enough on its own). Most everyone- except for Juniper. To Juniper, Hettie was always such a character. She’s always been so confident and unapologetic, able to command people’s attention without even saying a word. Her unpredictability made everything she did so interesting. Juniper so deeply admired this about Hettie. And the fact that she’s 100% his type only drew them closer to her. Hettie was Juniper’s first ever crush, and that love Juniper had for her never faded. Though as kids, they weren’t in the same social circles, they did cross paths a lot, whether it was through Sonia (Scooter Crane’s daughter and childhood best friend to Juniper, who was also in the Healing Track), or Juniper getting injured for whatever ridiculous reasons. At this age, Hettie didn’t reciprocate her feelings (yet), but she had a fondness for Juniper because he was so different from the other kids for the fact alone that they had a (very obvious) crush on her. And while their crush may have caused them to do embarrassing things, and foolishly being used as her own guinea pig from time to time to practice her magic on, Hettie had cared about Juniper. To her, he always made life more fun and interesting. Fast forward to them as Coven Heads- Hettie has grown a stronger affection for Juniper. He’s changed over the years, but he still makes life so much more fun and interesting. Perhaps now, Hettie admires Juniper for the same exact reasons they always have her. They’re still a bit pathetic around her, but Hettie finds it endearing. Not to mention, Juniper still makes for a good doll to experiment on, and she takes good care of her favorite dolls ;-)

[okaystoptellingmetomakeanaccount]

Okay alright part 2 ive seen now. I think i can start to scribble down some rambly thoughts. Spoilers for Oceanic Magica against the volcanic witches part 1 and 2.

So this is going in a very different direction than I was expecting. First chapter, I wasn’t a big fan of this whole oceanic and volcanic witches segregation thing. Thought it was quite silly and that it made the witch part of the universe feel less diverse. Now my stupid ass is realizing that’s exactly the point.

So world of ice is currently more of a fantasy political drama. The world of the witches is divided between two parties that already don’t get along well which each other. They try their best to cooperate and make the magic world inhabitable and not destroy their entire system, but as we saw in the court of law in chapter one, it’s difficult. Both sides are screaming at each other during a legal session, can you imagine how their political debates are??

Their legal system is in shambles, as we saw when they tried to prosecute Magica and Grilla. The judges are 2 people, both incredibly biased to their own side, trying to make every session come out in their own favor. Magica literally gets a lighter sentence because she personally knows one of the judges.

The tensions between sea and volcanic witches are pretty high throughout their entire society (it seems they just get out more in court. Kinda like with football in our world), as we see in the second chapter as well. When the 7-2 volcanic witches arrive at Roberta’s (LETS GOOO BTW ROBERTA GOATED why is she so tall though) house and a bunch of sea witches arrive to help her, they immediately grab the chance to insinuate negative assumptions about them. And to make it even more clear, we have our villain proclaiming everything is going according to plan. Like it wasn’t obvious enough.

So let me lay it down ever more obviously. Basically it’s: witch society= two party system that doesn’t work. Bad guy is trying to stir up as much polarization as possible by framing two people from both factions as having committed a terrible crime. Those two people are Magica and Grilla fugitive lovers running away together trying to bring justice to the table and fix society. The whole ice world thing is just a metaphor for problems that we refuse to solve because we’d rather make the other look bad than working together.

So thats the basic gist of it for now. Im especially curious to see how Enna will handle it at the end. Now lets talk about the other fun stuff.

Grilla and Magica are still gay

Some nice character moments that are probably set ups for later (like how magica completely changes character the moment she sees the number one dime. Great scene now that i looked at it again)

Of course it’s not all politics. We also have a lot of great action sequences. And its still a MAGIC society in which this stuff is happening, and its all delightful.

AND ROBERTA KSKSBEKSKSM For some reason Facciotto made her like twice Magica’s height. Look at this.

They used to be the same height now magica has to stand on a stone WHAT DID THEY FEED HER

But I like Roberta she’s a sea witch which eh we’ll see how that turns out. Interesting that she has a whole island for herself. I thought she was more of a traveler. But nothing actually matters except for the fact that shes here and i love her.

Irma is in the magic equivalent of Coral Island. (OR IS SHE??? Oooooohh mysterious who is the figure walkinga round in her house then?) She looks like Juniper from pkna. I guess prison just makes you look younger. I’m gonna sit in a cell for a few weeks and see if my skin has gotten nicer.

The prison looks cool. I wouldn’t mind if it’s gonna be the main setpiece for next week. It honestly looks more interesting than Coral Island already but that could also be recensy bias.

Scrooge is a huge dick which is fun. Feels very Barks. Magica’s line to him: “I’m not a good person, but I would never want to get rich by profiting off a dying world”(very loose translation but thats the general vibe) is great. I’m not expecting anything special with him (he’a just a side character here after all), and you already know when he comes back he will have realized what is right and use what he got for good, but it’s still a nice classic Scrooge thing. It’s at least not DT17 or Rosa Scrooge. I’m sorry I love Gervasio but I’ve just seen too much Rosa Scrooge lately, so this is nice.

Have we talked about Facciotto yet? I feel like I have but I forgot. Doesnt matter because Facciotto deserves all the praise he can get. This is 100% his best work yet. Every single panel looks absolutely stunning. Feels like a completely different art style compared to like 10 years ago. New Facciotto begins here guys.

His designs for the new ocean witches are great too. Character wise i don’t really care that much, same with the volcanic witches. They kind of all blend together except for obvs Grilla.

So that was weekly rambly magica thoughts from me. Remember to ocean your witches okay love you bye

[henriiiii-1001old]

tmc fairy tale au!!!

SO this is actually a concept i had a few months ago that i never rly expanded upon.

first, let me explain the basics:

i assigned different tmc characters to different fairy tales, but they all exist in the same universe.

Adam - Rapunzel Evelin - Snow White/Flynn Rider Jonah - Little Mermaid Sarah - Gretel/Daughter from The Juniper Tree Mark - Hansel/Stepson from The Juniper Tree Cesar - Frog Prince Thatcher - Lumberjack guy from Red Riding Hood Ruth - Red Riding Hood Dave - Father from The Juniper Tree Six - Gothel Gabriel - Stepmother from The Juniper Tree Preacher - The Sea Witch Stanley - The Candy Witch Alt!Thatch - Big Bad Wolf

next, some art i made for the au!!!

and now, huge lore dump! >:)c its gonna be long so buckle your seatbelts LMAO

so, the main plot of this au is basically that adam has been stuck in a tower in the middle of nowhere for almost 21 years. he had been raised by six, who is actually a witch set on taking over the kingdoms that surround the nearby areas (aka the counties). one day, six it out doing stuff, and while he's gone prince evelin (yes she's a prince bc fuck it) ends up finding the tower. she decides to climb it out of curiosity.

she ends up in a standoff against adam, but to try to deescalate things, they introduce themselves to each other. all of a sudden before they could talk more, adam hears six coming back and hides evelin in a nearby closet. evelin sees adam and six get into a fight abt adam wanting to go out into the world for once, but six is all "you're not ready" and it just gets really bad. all until six lovebombs adam and leaves again to get something for adam's upcoming 21st birthday.

evelin had exited the closet as six left, and she's like "you let him do that to you?" adam is like "uh yeah? he always does? i dont see them problem" and evie starts making adam question everything. she promises to take adam into the world but return him by night in case six came back. they'd also stay near the tower just in case as well.

cut to jonah's pov! he's a simple merman wanting to be a part of the human world! he sees evie and adam having a lot of fun and wishes he could join them. his dad (yes, if jonah is the little mermaid, the fucking mervin marshall is the king by proxy DCFVGBHNJ) is all like "nuh uh too dangerous, especially with most of the witches residing on land anyway" and jonah is like "FUCKING BET!"

he goes to the sea witch, preacher, and asks for legs and talks about seeing adam and evie hanging out! and preacher is like "im sorry WHO????" bc she knows that adam shouldnt be out and about. she makes jonah promise that as part of the deal, he must return adam to six in three days time, otherwise he'll turn back into a merman. he quickly agrees, and the whole deal is made. preacher does go tell six about this, and while he freaks out at first, preacher is like "it's ok dude i got this. i got a client to promise to return him home as part of our deal. you're fine m'dude."

jonah ends up on land and tries teaching himself how to talk while finding a cloth to barely dress himself with. adam and evie do eventually see him and they're like "yo who tf are you?" and while jonah cant talk, they do find a way to write to each other and they become friends!!!!

they do also eventually meet sarah at some point, and oh b o y does she have a backstory.

SO, in order to explain her backstory, let me explain the story of "the juniper tree" (copy pasted from discord LMAO)

"so a mother is peeling apples under a juniper tree and accidentally cuts her finger. the blood drips onto the snow on the ground, and that (somehow) grants the woman's wish to have a child as white as snow and as red as blood. she dies after giving birth to her perfect child, and the father soon remarries, having a daughter of her own.

she loved her daughter but hated her stepson and abused him every day and is all "i want my daughter to inherit your father's money." she then leads her children to a chest of apples one day. she lets her daughter pick an apple from the chest, but when her stepson came to pick one, she slammed the chest on his head and decapitated him.

she then set it up to where the same thing would happen again but the daughter would be there to witness it all, and her mother would gaslight her into thinking that she murdered her own brother. she then literally turned her stepson into soup and fed him to her husband. the daughter was so grossed out and distraught the entire time, but she couldn't rat her mother out. she ended up burying her brother's bones under the juniper tree.

then, he reincarnated as a bird and sung a song to some townspeople to convince them to help him get revenge on his stepmother. he gathered a golden chain for his father, red shoes for his sister, and a millstone to crush his stepmother. he reveals himself to his family and they live happily ever after."

here's the changes i made to the original story:

instead of just the mother dying, both of mark and sarah's prents die, and now they are in the sole custody of dave

instead of having the caretaker marry someone, dave asks his friend "o'brien" to help raise mark and sarah

instead of the stepmother dying, it is revealed that o'brien was actually the great mage gabriel trying to steal something important to their plans that dave just so happens to have

and thats it CFVGBHNJM. gabriel does try and come back every once in a while to coax gabe into either letting them come back or trying to make dave give himself up for sarah's sake.

cesar's story is also p cool imo! he is the prince of bythorne and evelin's cousin! they got along great when evelin was younger, but that stopped once cesar disappeared.

this was caused by him saving mark and sarah from the candy witch, stanley, who had lured them in to specifically kill mark. cesar saw what was going on and saved the two of them before it was too late.

later that night, stanley decided to be a petty bitch and curse cesar into being a frog so he wouldn't be able to save anyone else from her or her sisters' (in which six is her like. brother but i'll explain why later LMAO) plans. cesar hid in the shadows of mandela kingdom's palace for years since then.

since cesar's disappearance, evelin had wanted to take the role of prince to honor him. she also used it as a way to not have to be trapped inside the palace walls and coddled. she ended up still feeling stuck anyway, which led to her sneaking out to travel through the woods, which ofc led her one day to find adam's tower.

at some point (if anything this would be after evie and adam meet and stuff), evelin finds cesar in his frog form on the windowsill of the guest room he would regularly stay in whenever he would come to mandela to visit. he finds that she isnt revolted by his new appearance and is actually willing to help him out!

he explains that he learned that most curses can be cured by "true love's kiss", which in storybooks was always seen as romantic. he had always viewed evelin like a little sister, so he felt that he was hopeless.

that was until evelin thought of a loophole, since the stories never explicitly said that it was romantic, she would try to break the curse purely through the love she has for him as her cousin. she kisses the top of cesar's head, and cesar has returned to his human form!!!

...well, somewhat. the curse had altered his human form due to it not being broken for years on end, so cesar came back deformed. his limbs were too long and half of his face was always covered by a dark shadow. cesar did freak out about this, but evelin assured him that he'll always be her cesar, no matter what he looked like.

evelin and cesar explained the situation and cesar was finally returned to bythorne. he did write a letter a bit after wards telling her that he has resigned from his princely duties to become a princess! maybe it would help him not have to struggle with the expectations of needing to be brave and bold, and it would be a thank you to evelin for taking his role as a prince!!!

speaking of evelin, let's go back to her for a minute. so, i had also put her as snow white, but we haven't really seen her fulfill that role yet. weeelllll...

at some point in the story, six finds evelin alone in the forest and offers her to take a bite of an apple in exchange for knowledge about adam and his past. the thing is, evelin HATES fruit so she's like "ewww do i have tooo" and six is like "if you really wanna know, then you gotta."

evelin agrees and bites into the apple. it tastes so fucking gross, but she feels like she was to swallow it to finish her end of the deal. once she swallows, the pieces suddenly cling onto her throat, choking her in the process. as she struggles to breathe, six begins to tell her who adam truly is.

adam is a regular boy who six took as part of a deal made by his parents. lynn had been getting pregnancy cravings and wanting the rapunzel frm the neighbor's garden. she made jude retrieve them for her, but it wasn't enough. eventually, jude got caught by six and agreed to give up their firstborn child in exchange to continue taking the flowers.

once adam was born, lynn and jude were killed by six, and he took adam away to raise him as his prodigy. as a catalyst for the witches' plans.

as six is explaining all of this to evelin, she is trying her hardest to take him down with her. fuck the info he's giving her, he tricked her, and now he has to pay. she swings with all her might but falls in vain. her vision goes black as six walks away from her dying body...

there's probably a "mother knows best reprise" moment here and six is all like "oh you might wanna go save your friend if you care about her so much" and adam freaks tf out. she's desperately trying to think of something to help evelin.

eventually, the group remember's cesar's story with "true love's kiss" and they're like "fuck it let's try that". adam, while literally sobbing, plants a small kiss on her forehead and prays for her to wake up.

while this is all happening, evelin ets visited by mark's spirit. he basically hypes her up and is like "you got this girlie!!!" and she wakes up after adam plants his kiss on her. she starts to choke again, but adam helps her with it and heimlichs the apple out of her throat. she's finally able to breathe, and the group celebrates.

however, the happy moment doesn't last for too long. jonah does eventually return adam to six behind evelin and sarah's backs, but afterward he feels so guilty for it. they literally sacrificed one of the first human friends he's ever made for legs. how stupid is that? they eventually go to sarah and evelin and they quickly figured out what happened. while evelin goes to the tower to save adam (with help from a certain spirit), sarah and jonah confront preacher.

there is gonna be a plot abt preacher almost taking over the seas, but jonah and sarah do eventually take her down and retrieve jonah's voice. and yes, sarah gets to see that jonah is a merman and she's actually like "YO WAIT YOU GUYS ARE REAL???" and jonah is like "UH YEAH?????"

and yes, adam does eventually escape as well, but i dont have those details either so ye :')

that's the main plot at least! i do have a subplot for thatcher's pov tho! more copy paste from discord

"thatcher and ruth are friends and live nearby each other. ruth usually helps out w raising mark and sarah, though mark by this point is dead so dave DEFINITELY needs help. he and sarah havent been taking his death well, especially since dave literally ate mark’s remains without knowing. and sarah feels guilty enough for being gaslit into believing that she killed mark.

so ruth is about to go to dave’s place and has to walk through the forest to get there. she eventually meets what seems to be a very friendly wolf. she is a little weirded out by it, but she eventually tells it how dave lost mark and that she’s helping out! and the wolf is like “oh thats cool! i wish you luck on your journey. though i must say, these flowers smell beautiful! maybe you should pick some and take them to your dear friend!” and as ruth collects flowers as the wolf suggested, it found thatcher nearby and took his appearance to take a visit to a particular dave lee." ...

"she gets to dave's place who has been escorted out by the wolf/alt thatcher, right? so he's like "dear friend, why don't you rest! you've spent all day walking here, and you should be able to rest" aaaaand he tries to turn her into a werewolf but then thatcher comes in and is like "AYO TF YOU DOING TO MY BESTIE????" and he and the wolf fight. thatcher ends up getting bitten but is able to ward him off with his axe that was laced with silver just in case. so ruth is saved, but overtime thatcher feels more pain surge throughout his body and just kinda. turns one night.

unfortunately, he ends up killing ruth. alt thatcher tries to take this as an opportunity to maybe make him join the witches, but thatcher ofc refuses and makes a break towards dave's house. thatcher ends up telling dave what happened, and dave is okay with helping him hide it as well as hiding his newfound lycanthropy

sarah overhears this convo and becomes EXTREMELY angry at thatcher bc ruth was helping dave raise her after mark died. she was basically the mother figure sarah had always wanted, and thatcher took that away from her."

that's it for plot!!! now for some witch shenanigans >:)

so the witches are basically all the alts who usually practice shapeshifting magic to like. deceive others and all that jazz. ive made it a running joke that six is technically the only guy there FVGBHNJ

like, stanley is fem, preacher is female, alt!thatcher is copying thatcher who is transfem in this au, and gabriel dresses fem. six (and by proxy adam) is literally the only guy there DCFVGBHNJ

i am. running out of energy but i think that's everything for rn. hope you enjoy this au though!!!! ive put a lot into it <33333