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whaleofatjme1920 · 3 years

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On the Coffee Table - It’s Not Entirely Comfortable (Eyeless Jack X F!Reader)

[Eyeless Jack X F!Reader]

[Warnings: NSFT, creampie, rough sex, degrading, slight praise, “daddy”, “good girl”, marking - like, biting and love bites, jealous/possessive sex, squirting, slight blood? Nothing major though, also there’s three tongues in here and once again, a knotted dick/knotting. If you are a minor, DNI]

[AN: I started this at 2 am trying to finish it after downing some melatonin and only finished it now. Please tell me if I translated wrong!! I unfortunately only speak English. Doja Cat - Freak. This is 5.3K words.]

Part 1 Part 2

Jack trusts you so, so much. That much is apparent. It’s been about a month or so since he took you away from your old life, and you’ve never been happier. In fact, it’s been nothing but good things!

Why do you say that? Jack is so sweet, caring, and attentive. He knows what you want when you need it, and still, you’ve only ever kissed him.

In a sense, it’s maddening, but at the same time, it’s kinda cute. You like that he’s willing to go at your pace, and you like that he’s so mindful of how you’re feeling at any and every moment. You’re just really, really happy he chose you.

When that man from the grocery store came up to you, trying to speak to you… Well, you thought he just wanted some help! Honest to goodness, you had no idea what he was trying to do. Which is quite odd, considering you’ve been considered a goddess in your own right figuring those tells from miles and continents away.

You stood at the cart, waiting patiently for Jack to come back from the other side of the grocery story because something you’d wanted slipped his mind. So, you familiarized yourself with the fresh produce instead, looking over the pretty colors before that cute little shower system kicked on paired with the little rain noises as they gave water to the vegetables.

You were honestly minding your own business when some man came up to you, a shy smile on his face.

“Uh, hello, ma’am?” He started, a pack of berries in his hand.

You whip around and turn your attention to him, putting down the leaks as you did so. “Yes?”

“Do you know how this is pronounced?” He said. “Is it… A-kai..?”

You motioned for him to come a little closer - close enough for your shoulders to brush up against each other. Your eyes scanned over the words. “Oh! It’s açaí ,” you giggled as you read over the words.

“A-sigh?”

“Açaí,” you repeated with a small smile. “See? Say it with me,” you said, as you watched the man’s face light up.

“Oh, okay, açaí,” he finally said correctly, that same smile bloomed on his face. “Y’know, you’re really good at this,” he smiled.

You lit up. “Thank you!” Beaming, you gave him your full attention.

“It’s nothing, did you take Spanish?” He inquired, still maintaining his close distance to you.

You nodded vigorously. “I took four years of Spanish in high school. Señora Chika always said I had an ear for language,” you said in a semi-serious tone, index finger tapping your right ear lobe in a way that made that man blush.

The man smiled back. “That’s so nice to hear,” he continued, building off your words. “Look, I’m gonna be going to Mexico pretty soon, it’s a work thing,” he brushed off, “and I wanna know if I could get some of your tutoring services?”

You blinked a few times. “Me?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “I think you would make an excellent-”

“An excellent what?” Jack’s clipped voice cut through, his glamour’s eyes glaring deeply at the man who dares breathing in the same air as you. When he saw the man pause, he waved his hand a bit as if to signal him to hurry it up. “She’d make an excellent what?”

“It’s… It’s nothing,” he mumbled before brushing past you and Jack. “Didn’t know she had a boyfriend, sorry,” he harshly apologized as he disappeared back into the aisles.

You tilted your head as you looked up at Jack. “What about his Spanish lessons?”

Jack sighed in deeply and took hold of the cart, tossing the thing you asked for back into it. “Él no quería clases de español.”

Your eyes widened in response. “Oh.”

Jack was silent to you the entire car ride back home, and you wondered if it was because that man came up to talk with you. You frowned in the seat. You honestly didn’t know that man’s intentions! You didn’t mean to push Jack’s buttons like that, in fact, you didn’t even know that man was flirting with you! He came up asking about pronunciation, not a number!

You pouted all the way until you made it back home, helping him bring the groceries back in as you did so.

“Put this one in the freezer,” he said as that frown continually pulled his lips downwards.

When you opened the fridge, he tsked his tongue.

“The freezer.”

You relented and did as he asked. Once it was in, he nodded at the now empty bags and began balling them up to throw away, maybe reuse and put in the bag drawer before leaving you to yourself.

And that’s how the rest of the day went. Jack looked like such a stick in the mud and you couldn’t stand it. What was eating him up so much?

You decide to confront him after dinner when the two of you are sitting on the sofa, watching some stupid program you don’t really care for. You just know you like being near him.

“Why are you being such a jerk?” You ask out of the blue as the program moves to commercials.

Jack visibly tenses before he relaxes again, raising his eyebrow. “Excuse me?” He deadpans, almost surprised you have the gall to speak to him in such a manner.

You huff and cross your arms over your chest as you turn fully towards him, brows furrowed and face cross with frustration over his behavior. “You heard me the first time,” you reply. When you watch his expression turn from vague amusement to slight anger, you backtrack. “I just - why are you so mad at me?” You finally ask, your eyes dark and stormy. “What on the gods green earth could I have done to offend you so greatly?” You huff, arms still crossed and face determined.

Jack lowers his eyebrows and reclines back, trying to give you the illusion that he’s not interested in your challenge. “You wanna rethink that tone?” He hums. “You’re messing with fire.” There’s a slight tease that laces his words and you catch it ever so slightly.

You’ve heard that tease before. “Maybe… Maybe I wanna feel the heat,” you murmur, voice dipping to something low and sultry. You uncross your arms on your chest and move your hands over to his lap.

Jack watches you carefully as he feels your index and middle fingers walk up his thigh and to his chest. “You’re gonna get burned.” His voice is so much lower and more alluring than whatever he was showing to you before.

Your eyes sparkle as your fingertips walk up to the neck of his hoodie, hooking in it and pulling slightly as if you’re asking him to take it off. “Maybe you’ll just have to kiss it better,” you mumble, bringing your lips closer and closer to his.

Jack doesn’t move and instead, allows you to lean in further and further. He’s got a budding smirk on his lips as you draw closer, his dark sockets watching you with intrigue.

You finally press your lips to his, eyes closing as he invites you further and further into him. You smile through the kiss, and giggle when his hands hook around your waist and sling you onto his lap, your thighs now resting on either side of him, bottom planted firmly on his thighs.

“You’ve been such a bad girl,” he mutters through the kiss as you move more fervently against his lips, his clawed fingertips now digging into the curve of your ass.

“Have I?” You breathe against him before smashing your lips back onto his, your heart rate already picking up and drumming wildly in your chest. You feel it’s harder and harder to breathe as he practically crushes you against his chest.

“You have,” he reaffirms, briefly disconnecting from you. “And that means you’re going to get punished for it.”

You practically squeal in delight as Jack’s sharp claws dig into the hem of your shirt and travel upwards, cutting through the fabric like it’s nothing. The torn fabric drops from beside you like it’s weightless, leaving you just shy of being exposed.

“You want me to break this too?” He hums, his fingers lightly feathering up your back to the clasp on your bra.

“I don’t care,” you giggle, leaning into his warmth.

Jack hums again and decides on unclipping it, briefly cooing in amusement as you lean back on his lap and slip the thing off before tossing it over your shoulder. He whistles deeply as he gazes at your chest. One of his hands plants back down on the curve of your ass before sliding back up to cup your chest, his large hands practically engulfing your breasts in their entirety.

You giggle once more and move your hand upwards to rest on top of his, gripping him gently and pushing him just a bit harder as he fondles you. You feel a rush of excitement every time his claws just barely ghost your nipples.

“No,” he suddenly says, his hand leaving your bottom half to pry you off of him. “You don’t have a right to touch me tonight,” he states as if it was nothing. He gestures to your hands. “Keep them on your thighs or on the back of the couch,” he commands, watching as you pout and settle on gripping your thighs. He smiles devilishly at you. “Good girl.”

You break your pout for a moment before he squeezes your breast, making heat rise to your face. The warmth that he gives off is almost intoxicating. You’re almost lost in it when he suddenly leaves, picking you up and off his lap, almost roughly placing you onto the far end of the sofa. You’re looking up at him with wide eyes as his fingers hook into the waistband of your pants.

He hesitates.

“Well?” You egg him on. “What are you waiting for?”

And just like that, Jack is tearing your pants off, his claws slicing through the material like it’s nothing. You watch as he towers over you, snaking in between your legs as he pries them open. Jack’s face goes dark as he cuts off your underwear, his clawed fingers tracing your already glistening cunt.

Your mind goes blank when you catch him smirking and three long, thick, inky black tongues slip from his mouth, twirling and twisting against each other like snakes as they creep over each other, dripping with clear saliva. The tip of the longest tongue - which you recognize as the middle one - slinks forward and broadly licks you from top to bottom, making your thighs tense on instinct. Then, it takes a few more teasing licks, mostly building you up, wondering to see if you’re getting impatient, testy.

“EJ-” you barely wisp out before the middle tongue finally slips in past your already puffy lips, slowly, dragging against your walls lightly moving back and forth as it slips deeper and deeper in.

You let out a ragged moan at the sudden contact, thighs tensing once more. This action garners Jack’s attention and his arms maneuver under your slightly propped up legs, his claws digging into the soft flesh of your thighs. It’s not hard enough to draw blood, but it’s enough to remind you of your place. You bite your lip in pure ecstasy as his middle tongue wiggles inside of you, thrusting light as it does so, his second tongue lathering your lips up in his saliva and applying delicious pressure to you. His third tongue begins to prod your pearl, and when it finally touches, you hiss in the contact.

You honestly didn’t realize just how warm he was. It gently circles your clit before taking slow, languid kitten licks, working you up to little circles that render his hands free to keep you from bucking him. Your wandering hands, which you had been gripping in vain on the cushions of the couch for support, feel useless under your iron grip. On instinct, your hands fly down to Jack’s head, wanting to push his face in deeper but he pauses.

His middle tongue stops twisting and curling inside of you, it’s no longer hitting that spot that has you seeing stars and his other tongues have retracted entirely.

You pout. “You’re such a meanie!” You exclaim as you throw your head back down onto the arm of the couch.

He shoots you a look as his tongue begins to retreat from your pussy, almost as if he’s asking if you want to rethink that statement.

You feel a heat rush to your cheeks.

He gives you that look again, eyebrows lowering and lids halving. There’s a faint smirk on his lips as he seemingly gestures to your hands, telling you to keep them to yourself. Jack is telling you that you aren’t allowed to touch him right now.

You glance away before he hums against your aching cunt, his tongue retreating from you just a little faster. You relent. “I’m sorry,” you mumble.

His brow raises. ‘What else?’

“I’m sorry, daddy,” you finally say before cutting yourself off with a loud gasp as Jack’s tongues are once again on the assault. His middle tongue is fucking your pussy with a heat you didn’t know possible, and you can barely even think as he rubs and sucks at your clit with his others. You feel his lips lightly graze you every now and then, his shark-like teeth coming dangerously close to nipping you but you don’t care.

In frustration, you ball your hands in fists and throw your arms over your head, struggling in vain to not touch yourself or Jack as he works you closer and closer to the edge. Your pussy feels like an ocean by how hard he’s working you, and the sounds that come out of your mouth are just downright sinful.

Jack’s thumb rubs small circles on your thighs, almost as if he’s complimenting you for not touching him before he works you closer and closer to the edge.

You clamp your eyes shut and arch your back as he removes his second tongue from your lips and wiggles it in with a powerful thrust from his middle tongue, the two intertwining and combining, bringing a new sensation to your overloaded cunt. Sweat beads all over your body as he thrusts a bit harder and flexes, the sudden thickness making your stomach and heart flutter.

His third tongue remains playing with your clit, circling and licking.

You can practically hear Jack goading you to cum.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you whine, your thighs threatneing to clamp shut but Jack’s strong grasp holding you wide open and accessible for him. “Fuck!” You cry out again, back arching once more, hands balling so hard into fists you feel like they’re going to fall off and a raw cry of ecstasy pouring from your lips as you release onto his face, coating his tongues and face in nectar.

The white hot pleasure continues to bead and wash over you as his tongues begin to clean you up, the middle still refusing to leave your creamy cunt. It makes you tense, and that gets a soft chuckle rumbling from the back of Jack’s throat.

After he was sure he slurps you clean, Jack slowly, almost teasingly, removes his tongues from your cunt and then licks his lips like the bastard he is. He looks so smug. “That wasn’t very fast,” he notes as his lips begin to press kisses to your slightly bruised thighs, his teeth gracing your flesh every now and then.

You pout as you begin to sit up on shaky legs, body feeling like jell-o. “Give me a chance,” you challenge.

Jack raises a brow before dropping it, his face leaving from in between your legs and drawing closer and closer to yours. “I don’t think whores should get chances.”

You immediately bristle and smash your lips to his, hands angrily grabbing at his still clothed form, almost goading him to take it off. You hide your squeal of delight as he kisses you back just as fervently, his large hand groping aimlessly for yours.

Jack grabs your wrist and brings you down to his pants, allowing you to rub the large bulge that’s grown as he ate your pussy.

You stifle your giggle and unzip hi, after you worked on his belt - it’s not like this is the first time you’ve done something like this - but when you reach in and feel for him, your eyebrows raise slightly.

Jack feels you pause and laughs, effectively breaking the kiss. He pulls away from you to look at your face. “Go ahead. Take it out.”

Gently, your hands peel back his pants as he makes minimal movement to help get them off and easier for you and you are greeted to an absolute monster. He’s not even rock solid but you can tell he’s huge. Interestingly enough, there’s also piercings in it - you recognize the ones on the length of his cock as ladder piercings followed by a ring at his tip. Your face rushes with heat when you see he’s got a thick knot as well, already waiting to fill you up.

“Not what you’re used to?” He teases, his legs open as he rests back on the couch, waiting for you to touch him.

Your fingers gently trail and crawl up his muscular thighs before you wrap your fingers around him, taking note of the texture on his cock. It wasn’t anything like a human man’s, and that made you excited. That same coiling white hot heat began to pool in your lower stomach as you slowly began to pump him.

“Spit on it,” he states in passing.

“Yes, daddy,” you reply, lips pursing as you thickly spit onto his head. Your thumb sneaks it over his dark dock that fades almost beautifully into his actual skin tone - you take notice of the silver specks that look like stars - and begin to grip him just a bit harder. You watch Jack’s expressions for anything of approval or disdain when you realize he’s not going to give you any satisfaction. You’ve been a bad girl. Of course he’s going to make you work for it.

“Use your mouth,” he then cuts through. “If you even think about using your hands, I’ll bite you.” He’s only half teasing. He absolutely would draw blood on your pretty flesh. His large, clawed hand that was gripping the back of the couch slinks upwards and over and buries itself onto your scalp, both soothingly and roughly guiding you down to his precum covered tip.

You open your mouth as wide as you can, mouth salivating as you finally taste him and the metal that decorates him. You’re so careful as he begins to pump your head on him, tongue flatly covering him in your spit as the head of his cock gets closer and closer to hitting the back of your throat. You struggle to breathe through your nose as he pushes you down harder and harder.

Jack hums out deeply as you suck him, your tongue swirling when he finally brings you back up. He switches hands eventually, the hand that had been holding your head now with its fingers trailing down your bare back as he cups the curve of your ass.

‘What on earth is he doing-!’ You moan against him as he twitches in the back of your throat as his ring finger and thumb slowly pull your lips apart just enough for his index and middle finger to slip in, filling you - but not to your limit. You squeeze your legs together and feel slick once again leak down your thighs as he finger fucks you while you still struggle to breathe on his cock as he pushes you down rougher and rougher.

In a way, you become his toy as his fingers make quick work of you. Your mind is lost in a lustful haze and you don’t even recognize he’s practically pulled your mouth off his cock as his fingers thrust into you harder, his nails so close to cutting you but instead, curling upwards in the best ways. Your face rests pathetically on his lap, your ass in the air as he trades his ring finger for his pinky and slips it into your needy, aching cunt.

“What a slut,” he whistles as you breathe raggedly against him. “I haven’t even fucked you properly and you’re rocking against me like a bitch in heat,” he cruelly observes, stifling his amusement at how you buck back in tandem with him. “Would you have treated that man in the store like this?” He asks, his voice dipping down to something sinister.

Your mind peers through the fog and you weakly shake your head as his fingers continue to fuck you. “Of course not,” you manage to squeak out. “N-Never, no one could make me feel like this,” you breathe out before squeezing your eyes shut, clamming your legs even tighter together to attempt to give your swollen clit some pleasure.

“You’re lying,” he states in a sing-song tone, his fingers roughly thrusting into you, curling upwards and rubbing you intimately, making you see stars. “Liars don’t deserve to cum,” and just like that, he’s pulling his long, thick fingers from your greedy cunt.

You gasp and look up at him almost wantonly and certainly pathetically. “EJ,” you begin before his other hand presses to your lips.

“You know better than to call me that,” he chides.

You swallow your pride, gradually composing yourself to a sitting position. “Daddy.”

“Better.”

“Please,” you start, moving off the cough and onto the coffee table. You turn around, planting your hands on the glass, poking your ass up and wiggling it side to side in an attempt to entice him, “please. I’ve been… I’ve been bad.”

“Just bad?” He hums as he stands up, palming his pierced cock for a moment or so, hissing as his precum weeps from the tip and onto the cheeks of your ass.

“I’ve been really, really bad,” you continue, still wiggling your hips and ass, swaying ever so slightly.

His tip just barely ghosts your entrance, hand gripping your hip. You feel his claws on your stomach, just barely poking the skin, ready to draw blood. “I think you’ve forgotten who you belong to,” he murmurs. “Why don’t I show you?”

You glance back over your shoulder and look at him with absolute desire and lust, nodding fervently. “Yes, daddy, please.” Your breath hitches as Jack’s hips sharply dart forward, filling you and stretching you almost painfully as his sheer size envelopes your form entirely. He’s still inching inside of you - you haven’t even reached his knot yet - and your arms almost wobble down on the coffee table as he piles you into it.

“Silly girl,” he tuts as he loosely backs up his hips and shallowly thrusts in again, making you gasp and squeeze your eyes shut in both pain and pleasure. “You’re always gonna be mine.”

You’re not even able to challenge the notion because he begins to absolutely ravage you. You feel like you’re stretched almost impossibly wide as he fucks you against the table, his breath picking up and becoming something more feral as you become a toy, an object, as he uses you. Your tongue lolls out of your mouth as you rest your cheek against the cool glass, chest pushing against it and leaving marks as you grip as tightly as you can onto the opposite edge of the table.

Jack begins to grit things in a language you don’t understand under his breath as he thrusts into you harder, his veiny cock pulsing inside of you as he drives in deeper and deeper. His balls slap against your clit, bringing you that much closer as he ruthlessly uses you. Judging by his tone, you assume he’s insulting you. “Fucking whore,” he seethes as he pulls you harder and harder against him, muscles tensing and all cares of breaking the coffee table being thrown out the window.

The tall, muscular, grey skinned man leans over you and begins to harshly breathe in your ear, his teeth nipping at the shell as he rolls his hips into you harder. The sound makes thick, meaty claps, almost sending you flying forward from the sheer force but him holding you back anchored you. “I can’t believe you’d even look at another man this way,” he continues in that same language, his lips and teeth leaving your ear and to your neck, nibbling before finally roughly biting down and sucking. It’s going to bruise. When he detaches, he harshly whispers to you again. “Wanton and waiting for someone else other than me, what the fuck were you thinking?” Jack harshly questions before biting yet again into your neck, his claws drawing the faintest of blood that drips like rubies down your skin.

You cry out in that same pleasurable and painful ecstasy and weakly meet his thrusts, barely able to think through the sheer force of him. “I-I-I’m sorry!” You cry out as one of his hands reaches your clit, fingering it as his balls continue to slap against it, making your legs wobble. “I’m sorry for making you mad, daddy!” You exclaim, finding yourself cut off with how his hand leaves your clit and snakes back up to your mouth. His fingers are coated in your juices and his - and he forces your mouth open.

“Lick them clean,” he harshly demands, hips still smacking against you. His length twitches every now and then, and the drag of his piercings feels so delicious against your stretched out walls.

You mumble against his fingers and lick your tongue on him, careful not to cut yourself on his talons as he shoves them deeper into your mouth. You suck on them, closing your eyes once more and feel tears well within them simply from the overload of pleasure.

When Jack pops his now clean fingers out of your mouth, he lifts you like you’re weightless and pops you off his cock, thoroughly amused at your bewildered expression before he plops you back down onto the coffee table, your legs still spread wide open from him, cunt still aching and hungry, absolutely needy for him to fill you to your brim.

The glass feels cool against your back as you realize he’s flipped you over. Your chest doesn’t feel as cramped anymore, so that’s nice. You’re barely afforded a moment with your thoughts before Jack is planting his hands on your left side and the other cups under your ass, lifting you slightly before pushing his thick, veiny cock back inside of you.

And you see it.

He’s building your lower abdomen out just from hsi size alone, and the thought, the image, the feeling, it makes you moan out again. Heat spreads over your entire body as Jack roughly works you up again, his cock bulging your stomach and weeping precum as you tighten your legs around his waist in vain, attempting to grasp onto something - anything to anchor yourself.

Your heart rate is flying, racing and your breaths are just picking up. You almost forget to breathe when Jack is back at the crook of your neck, biting, nipping and sucking, his tongues traveling over your slightly salty sweet skin like salt water taffy as you come closer and closer to breaking.

“Come on,” he hisses, hips roughly thrusting into you, making you gasp each time. “Squirt for me. Make daddy happy,” he continues, accenting each word with an even harsher thrust, stealing your breath each time. He grabs your wrist when you attempt to play with your clit and chides you with a snarl before finally rubbing you in a way that brings you over your edge.

You scream as his knot finally pushes past your bruised, puffy lips and practically becomes swallowed whole. The pain turns to pleasure as tears well in your eyes as you release all over him, sweet fluid splashing all over you and Jack as you vice grip his knot.

Jack pants out as he ruts into you as you squirt all over him, his knot still pushing into you with such hunger, filling you so much further than what you think is possible before he curls against you, his large form wrapping around you as he roars, releasing thick, creamy, white hot liquid into your needy cunt.

“Fuck, Reader, fuck,” he sneers like a mantra, hips weakly bucking against you, still very much connected by the knot as he continues to unload oceans of the warm, creamy liquid into you.

You feel tears roll down your cheeks from the sheer pleasure as you wrap your legs around his waist even tighter, nails raking against his back as you mumble his name and take in his deep scent. He’s otherworldly. You don’t even mind that Jack is still lighty rutting into you as he continues releasing, teeth bared and eyes shut in the pleasure your body is giving him.

When he finally empties himself fully into you, he breathes out deeply and rests his forehead against you, gently, tenderly, sweetly.

You feel hot, much too hot, and the only thing keeping you cool is the glass of the coffee table. You attempt to move off of him, to somewhere more comfortable when you wince in pain. “Ow! What is that?” You grumble as your eyes glance down to where Jack still remains buried inside of you.

He sighs out and follows your gaze. “Knot,” he states simply. “It’s gonna hurt-” He’s barely able to even get the words out as you’re already working on getting him out of you, wincing and hissing at the pain as you remove yourself off the thick, bulbous knot. Tears once again well in your eyes from the overwhelming stimulation, and Jack’s shaking his head as if to say ‘what did you expect?’

“I swear,” he mumbles as his thumbs gently wipe away your tears, not even noticing how his creamy cum pools down your legs and practically creates a waterfall onto the coffee table and onto his once immaculately clean floor. “Don’t force it out next time,” he grumbles as he slowly stands up, stretching slightly.

“Sorry,” you apologize, mind still hazy from the pleasure.

Jack relents and picks you up like you weigh nothing, already subtly checking if you’re hurt in any way from him and the rough coffee table. “It’s whatever,” he hums, holding you in his arms, simultaneously pleased and displeased with how harsh he was. But at least you smell like him. “C’mon, let me take care of this,” he offers, gesturing to the scrapes, cuts and bruises that are blooming on your body due to him.

Not wanting to say anything, you sleepily smile up at him and burrow into his chest. You look up at him.

“What?”

You yawn slightly. “Was I a good girl?” You ask playfully, resting your head on his chest. You can hear his heartbeat pick up.

Jack chuckles quietly. “You sure were.”

“Did I make daddy happy?”

Jack purrs slightly as your fingers brush against his cheek. “Without a shadow of a doubt.”

#eyeless jack x reader #eyeless jack #creepypasta #creepypasta x reader #nsft #creepypasta scenario #x reader #reader insert #eyeless jack headcanon #ej

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honeypirate · 3 years

Text

He’s my soulmate

Kuroo x f!Reader soulmate AU

There is no importance with Jeopardy, it’s just something that popped in my head so I went with it.

You can communicate telepathically with your soulmate, sending thoughts and feelings to them. it’s a skill that develops through time after you hit 17. it takes a few months for the connection to grow so for the first little while not a lot comes through. So far you have similar songs getting stuck in your head and thoughts will come through quietly. You tried once to send specific messages but you never had any responses to them so you tried to just go about your day, excited with any thought or songs that come through.

(Touch is what strengthens the connection)

♡´･ᴗ･`♡♡´･ᴗ･`♡♡´･ᴗ･`♡♡´･ᴗ･`♡♡´･ᴗ･`♡♡´･ᴗ･`♡

“God y/n I don’t know why you like to watch Jeopardy so much” your best friend, Michimiya, says from her spot in your bed, textbooks surrounding her and notes spread out, across from your matching space that has a small circle where you were sitting. You had gotten up to stretch your legs from sitting so long studying, Jeopardy reruns running on your tv in the corner, “I feel like watching it makes me smarter and I need all the help I can get” you say with a laugh and she rolls her eyes. “You’re doing a lot better. I almost don’t worry about you” she says with a sigh and you laugh more.

The signature Jeopardy song that plays during the final round starts and you can’t help but do one of the tiktok dances that you were trying to learn, usually set to that love shack mix but now set to this slower pace, you hit all the correct moves after days of practice and when the segment ends on the tv you bust into giggles with Michimiya, falling to your knees by the bed and wiping the tears from your eyes from laughing so hard at your stupidity. “Your crackhead energy is why we’re friends” she says as she catches her breath, holding her stomach.

His game was flawless, his receives were perfect, but his team couldn’t help but be so damn annoyed with him. “Oh my GOD if YOU DON'T stop humming that damn song I’m gonna PUNCH YOU” Yamamoto shouts from across the gym “calm down” Kenma says and Yamamoto turns back to him “HE'S BEEN HUMMING THE JEOPARDY SONG FOR DAYS NOW! I CAN'T TAKE IT.“

“Take a lap Yamamoto and relax!” Kuroo says with a laugh as he bounces a volleyball on his forearms “and I’ll stop humming the song… for now” he laughs again as Yamamoto groans but nonetheless follows orders

You were handed your exams but you’re too afraid to look, if you fail this one you’ll have to stay here and won't be able to help with the training camp. You shove it in your notebook, you couldn’t bring yourself to look at the score. you’ll just wait, you’ll ask someone else to look first. Once your class ends you hurry out to the gym as fast as you could, hopping the last few steps of the stairs and holding your backpack down as you run.

“Y/N! Did you pass?!” Tanaka shouts as you run through the door, leaving your street shoes by the door you run over to him, your feet sliding across the wood floor in your tights, “Tanaka please, I haven’t looked, you gotta tell me” you say in a rush, holding out your notebook. He laughs and takes your notebook from your hands, his eyebrows furrow as he opens it, looking over your test inside the flap, he sighs “oh I’m so sorry Y/n..” your heart drops “..no” you say and he starts to giggle “i’m so sorry that you’ll have to deal with us for two days at camp!! YOU PASSED!” you gasp and then laugh, punching his shoulder “Tanaka you ass!” you take your notebook back and look at the score, pride filling your heart, you did it. You feel amazing. “Kiyoko! Yachi! Our girl’s coming to camp with us!” Tanaka says with tears in his eyes walking toward Kiyoko with his arms out for a hug, Kiyoko walks under Tanaka’s arm, ignoring him and walking over to you “we knew you’d do it” she says with a smile patting your arm, Tanaka getting comforted by Noya in the background.

That night as you packed your bags you closed your eyes, thinking hard about your soulmate. “I don't know if you can hear me, but I passed my exams. I am so happy and I hope you are having a good day as well”

Kuroo stopped in the middle of his sentence, his phone call with Kenma forgotten about for the time being, as your voice drifted into his thoughts, it’s been a week since he last heard anything from you other than Jeopardy or vines you have on repeat in your head. He hasn’t even seen the vine that goes ‘a potato flew around my room’ but he knew that song was stuck in your head for four days. Your voice fades from his mind and he registers Kenma saying his name repeatedly in his ear “sorry what was i saying?” Kenma sighs “we’re talking about camp tomorrow”

“So this is Nekoma High” you say as you exit the bus with the team, two players standing waiting for you as you arrive, one tall, handsome, albeit cocky looking, with dark hair that reminded you of a rooster, the other gave you the impression he was like Tanaka, who was currently was pointing out a nearby tower with Noya and getting excited thinking it was Tokyo tower. “Woah is that?” Noya exclaims “i think it is!!” Tanaka answers him, when they spoke at the same time “the sky tree!” they were so excited you knew right then and there they shared the same one singular brain cell.

“those poor idiots” you think to yourself as you look at them. “No that's just a regular old steel tower” says one of the boys, you turn your head seeing the tall one holding his stomach in laughter.

You make your way around to stand by the other girls to see if they knew who these two were ``hey who is the tall one?” you whisper at Kiyoko she leans in close to your ear and whispers “Kuroo. Their captain. The other being Yamamoto ” you look over at him “Kuroo…He is really cute” you think with a smirk and then blush as he makes eye contact with you, his eyebrows raised as he first sees you, almost like he heard you say his name.

Really cute…” the last bit of your thought echoes quietly in his mind in a voice he is semi familiar with, from your voice singing songs in his head, your laugh that comes through sometimes. Of course he didn’t know it was you yet, he looks up and notices you staring at him, “who is she?” he thinks to himself, barely catching Yamamoto talking about how jealous he was that Karasuno has three girls! One sexy, one cute, and one beautiful. “Take a look, Tiger Head. behold the glory of going to Karasuno high!” Tanaka says jumping in front of you and the girls. You were so beautiful, he would be blind to think otherwise, but he quickly pushes the thought away, focusing on the rivalry and not the pull he feels to go to you, continuing his conversation with Daichi. “Lets go” Kiyoko says and you all just ignore Tanka and the Tiger head, walking around them and going on ahead.

After getting settled in the room you were sharing with Kiyoko and Yachi, you three made your way back to the gym, your thoughts stayed fixed on the captain. You maintain the water bottles and chat with the other managers as your team warms up.

Your body was acutely aware of where Kuroo was at all times. You could look up to where he was at any given moment, like a small vibration is your body pulling you in his direction, you tried your hardest to push that feeling away. You had a soulmate, you knew his inner voice and got some of his thoughts from time to time. He loved alternative music and hated this one commercial that comes on the radio for cat food. The jingle getting stuck in his head always came with a feeling of annoyance every time it came into your head. just because the connection wasn’t strong yet didn’t mean you could like someone else!

You felt semi guilty about feeling this way, feeling like you would like nothing more than to talk to someone who isn’t your soulmate. You tried to forget about it. To just get through this camp.

You watch as your boys do their penalty lap, you zone out, the Jeopardy theme song going through your head and you chuckle to yourself at how dumb it is. “I swear to GOD Kuroo if you don't STOP with the Jeopardy song already I’m going to quit volleyball and I mean this” your eyes flash over to where the Nekoma team is playing, your eyes immediately landing on Kuroo who is laughing at Yamamoto. “Wait,” you think to yourself, His eyes flash to you and he cocks his head at you with a smile. You mouthed the word “Jeopardy?” and raised your eyebrows in a questioning manner.

His cheeks flush, your questioning eyes on him made him feel slightly embarrassed for some reason, he just scratches the back of his neck and shrugs with a smile at you. You smile and shake your head slightly, it couldn’t be him, it’s just a coincidence.. it had to be. You break eye contact with him when Kiyoko gets your attention, needing help with something. He watches as you follow Kiyoko out of the gym, smiling back at you when you turn back to look at him with a smile before you exit the gym.

He stays looking at the door, a smile on his lips, until Yamamoto hits him in the side of the head with a volleyball “you’re being creepy” Yamamoto says and Kuroo scowls “ I am not being creepy! I’m just being nice” “yeah whatever” Kenma says, not really caring about whatever was happening “just toss the ball”

You cheer for your boys while keeping an eye out on the rest of the teams you could see, making little notes in your notebook about moves you see that your team could implement and do better. Writing down things you wanted to talk with Kiyoko about later. Your notes were very organized and split into sections on your paper. You rejoiced in your heart when Kageyama and Hinata made it on time for the last game, cheering outwardly when they won. “Nice one guys!” you yell and begin to discuss plays with Kiyoko.

When your voice rang through the gym his body erupted in goosebumps. What a weird reaction he thinks, he shakes his head and gets back to his own team.

You stay behind for a few moments, watching the Nekoma game, watching Kuroo especially. You couldn't drag your eyes from him, he was beautiful and he played beautiful, if anyone noticed, and by god Kiyoko and Kenma both had, you had stars in your eyes for that captain.

“Y/n let's go” Kiyoko says and you nod “of course” you respond and follow her and the rest of the team out of the gym, Kuroo catches the sight of you disappearing out the door, frowning at the reaction he had in his chest, a longing he didn’t understand.

You ended up getting to shower later at night, you got distracted talking to some of the other managers and when you went back to your room you found the other girls already back from the showers ``sorry guys, i’ll be quick and come in quiet if you go to sleep” “don’t worry about it y/n. I'm sure Saeko will be back late since she went out.” Kiyoko says and you nod with a bow before hurrying out of the room and down the hall to the women's locker room.

Okay, running down the hallway in the dark was probably a bad idea, but in your defense you assumed everyone was in bed already. You did not expect to jog face first into someone.

Your face hits someone's chest, you know it is a man because of how he smells. Like clean clothes and mint. You hit your butt with an “oof” quickly picking your clothes up from the ground and shouting “I'm sorry!” the man chuckles and crouches down, picking up your shirt handing it to you, “hey don’t worry about it” his voice is soft, sending tingles down your spine and you look up into his face “Kuroo!” you say in shock and he chuckles some more, taking your hand and helping you up. Now that your eyes have adjusted to the dark hallway you can see him now, wet hair slicked back and a towel around his neck, a small nervous smile on his face lit up from the outside light through the window, “I don’t think we've met yet but yes, I am Tetsuro Kuroo” he holds out his hand to you.

Your belly fills with butterflies when you take his hand, giving it a firm shake, “Y/f/n Y/l/n. It's nice to meet you” you smile up at him and his chest tightens, you are so beautiful he hardly knows what to say. “Are you okay?” his voice was soft, nervous, he tries to hide it by clearing his throat “yeah i'm okay. How's your chest?” you feel bad for hitting him so hard and before you realize what you’re doing your hand is already on his chest, softly smoothing down his shirt and feeling his muscles through the thin fabric. He chuckles softly and your hand stops above his heart and you feel your cheeks flush with heat at your actions ``my chest is fine. Don’t worry about me.” you hesitantly look back up into his eyes “uh.. Sorry” you say quietly and go to drop your hand but he places his over yours quickly “it’s okay” his lips never moved, his mouth in a small smile as he looks down at you, you didn’t notice that his voice came into your thoughts.

You stayed like that, standing in the dark, smiling at each other with your hands together on his chest. You could feel his heartbeat strong under your palm, your heart racing as hard as his, you felt like the world stopped for you two.

The sound of footsteps pulled you both from your bubble, you dropped your hand and you both chuckled softly, when Kenma appeared in the dark you took it as the perfect moment to slip away, quietly running down in the opposite direction to shower and pretend like that moment never happened.

The next morning you were watching the team warm up, “How do you think we will do with their new player, Lev?” Kiyoko asks you and Yachi as you sit on the sidelines together, “I don’t know, Hinata’s quick attack works great but I feel like it’s nearing the end, these teams are getting better at combating it since Hinata doesn't aim at all with his eyes closed and Lev is t a l l” you watch them warm up with your hand on your chin, chewing your lip. “their attack is really amazing though” Yachi says, sending heart eyes towards Hinata. You chuckle at the sweet girl’s obvious crush.

At first he thinks the laugh is in his head, a familiar sound he has heard many times. He’s almost convinced it’s in his head but then his gaze is drawn to your sweet smile as you laughed at the girl beside you. “Her laughter is so sweet” Yamamoto says with a sigh a smile, Kuroo slaps the back of his head “focus on the game” he just got mad at him for paying attention to you but he can't seem to stop looking at you himself. It’s just a coincidence your laughs are similar.

“y/n it seems Kuroo can’t stop looking at you” Kiyoko says and you chuckle again, your face flushing as you remember the night prior, you try to inconspicuously look at him but fail when you make eye contact with him. You raise your hand in a small wave and he blushes with a chuckle before he raises his hand, waving with his fingers. The butterflies in your chest will remain for the rest of the day.

You look at your notes, a thought coming through so easily, stronger than before, “She's so beautiful. But I don't want to think about that. I have my soulmate, she’s here, in my thoughts. why can’t I get this girl out of my mind though? Just focus on the game” your body floods with tingles. That was the clearest thought you’ve ever got. “if I can hear you can you hear me?” you think back, not noticing Kuroo across the gym practice serving the ball and missing it at thelast second, the same second your voice entered his head.

“You’re here?” His voice enters your head, its so strong instead of it seeming far away or weak like usual. Kuroo’s laugh fills the gym followed by remarks from several members of his team but all of that seemed so far away compared to your soulmate connection. “How did the connection suddenly become so strong?” you think back and immediately get a response “I don't know but I am not complaining” his excited laughter and joy fills your thoughts, and you feel his energy flood into you as well “me either” you say back and then the volleyball game begins “talk more later?” you ask him in your thoughts and he sends back “definitely” why did his voice sound so familiar?

The game ends, Karasuno taking another penalty lap as you go to refill water bottles. “You still there?” his voice makes you smile “of course” you send back “Now that the connection is open I don't know what to say” his chuckle in your mind makes you feel deja vu, where had you heard it before. “Should we tell each other our names?” you ask and put the filled bottles back in the holder, walking back to the bench with a smile on your face. “Yeah that makes sense, my name is Tetsuro” you freeze, your eyes flicking over towards Kuroo who was talking to Kenma about something, his cheeks were flushed but that could have been from the game. Is that why his voice in your head sounds familiar now? Is that why you feel so drawn to him?

Your thought was gentle back to him “Tetsuro...Kuroo?” you watch him, watch the shock that went through his expression, heard him laugh nervously as his voice came into your head “do you know me?” it sounded nervous, you watched him with a smile, “i know of you. Mr. Captain of Nekoma’s volleyball team, tall, incredibly handsome, has rooster hair.” you watch his expression, his smile on his lips, his blushing cheeks, he was gorgeous, now that you knew who he was it made sense why you connected with him from the start. “Are you going to tell me who you are?” you look away from him when you see him turn towards you “I will. After your camp is over. Don’t want to mess you up or anything”

You glance back at Kuroo who is about to start another game and you find him looking right at you, Kiyoko did tell you that he is a highly observant person. He raises his eyebrows and you hear his voice in your head “and do you happen to be at this camp too?” he asks and you can’t help but grin at him, you felt like you couldn’t hide anything from him, your previous plan of teasing him is now out the window as you bury your face in your hands, your cheeks feeling warm against your fingers, a smile on your lips. “Focus on your game Tetsu” you say back to him “you are so unbelievably adorable” you look back up at him through your fingertips and he laughs out loud before waving at you. You drop your hands and smile shyly, waving back at him. “What will you give me when we win this game? A kiss?” you scoff “you’ll have to win to see” he laughs and winks at you before turning his attention back to his practice game. “Are you paying attention?” Kiyoko says and you turn back to your game “sorry! I am now!”

The moment his game ends you can feel his eyes on you, after everyone’s had some water “would you mind..” his voice comes through softly, you can feel how excited he is, how antsy he is, your feelings mirrored back at you “where?” you glance over at him, standing next to the wall with his teammates cooling down, he pushes off the wall, saying something to his team before he is headed in your direction, never taking his eye off you “meet me in the hallway” you nod and then turn to Kiyoko “excuse me for a second” she nods and you stand, walking out to the hallway, Kuroo right behind you.

The moment you’re alone he takes your hand and pulls you to his chest, taking a deep breath with his face buried in your hair “hey” you say softly into his chest, your hands wrapping around his middle and holding him close despite how sweaty he was, his sweat actually smelled... nice? You couldn't explain it. It just felt right. “My girl” he says and pulls back just enough to look into your eyes “so what is my prize for winning the game?” he asks and you laugh “am I not enough” he laughs with you “you are a thousand times more than enough and probably too good for me too. But I can't lie, I’m dying to kiss you” your cheeks flush “then do it” you whisper and move your hands to his neck, standing on your tiptoes to get closer to him. His hands move to cup your cheeks and he blushes as he leans down slow, closing the distance between you both.

“Is she tongue kissing the enemy?!” Tanaka shouts behind you, causing you and Kuroo to separate quickly, looking over at your team who just came out into the hallway. You blush and go to explain but before you do Daichi is herding the team the other direction. “Mind your business Tanaka. y/n we are leaving in ten minutes” you laugh embarrassedly “okay i'll be there in a minute”

Kuroo takes your hand and pulls you into an empty room “I don't want you to go” he says with a laugh and you nod, wrapping your arms around his neck “me either” you whisper and look into his eyes as you close the distance, pressing your body against his and he holds you tight to his chest, a blush rising on his neck and cheeks as his eyes flick down to your lips for a moment “but I’m sure we will figure it out, plus i’ll be back with the team for the summer camp as well” he nods “you’re right” his voice, you realized, was in your head again, your eyes flutter closed as his lips finally connect to yours, you can feel him smile against you and your body feels electric as tingles run from your head to your toes, you felt as though you were weightless. A soft sigh exiting your lips has him licking your top lip, taking your chuckle as a good sign to rub his tongue gently against yours, you moan quietly and his heart races, his stomach knotted with butterflies and electric sparks running down his spine.

You bite his bottom lip and pull back a little before kissing his chin and the pepper kisses down across his jaw, pulling yourself tight against him as you kiss his neck “I have to go, they might leave me” you whisper and he groans, half in protest against you leaving half because you started to suck a small part of his skin on the side of his neck.

When you were satisfied with your handiwork you pulled back, kissing the hickey softly before finally pulling away from him “something to remember me by” you say with a cheeky grin and turn to go, he laughs and grabs your hand, pulling you back to him to give you one last kiss. “Be safe, send me” he taps your temple “your phone number, tell me when you get home” you nod and smile, your heart bursting at the seams with happiness “I will Tetsu. Don’t worry” you kiss his lips once more, looking into his eyes for a few seconds, before forcing yourself to open the door and run down the hallway towards the exit and the bus that is taking you back to Karasuno.

The whole team looks at you with raised eyebrows and silence as you walk on the bus, running your hand through your hair, panting from running all the way there, “what?” you say with a laugh, your cheeks flushing with slight embarrassment as you make your way to an open seat seat by Yachi, “he’s my soulmate”

If you like soulmate AUs check out my Tendou one here and be sure to reblog if you like it ♥️

#kuroo #haikyu kuroo #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo testuro #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo x y/n #tetsuro kuroo soulmate #soulmate au #haikyuu soulmate au #tetsuro kuroo x you #tetsuro kuroo x y/n #haikyuu tetsuro #haikyuu tetsuro kuroo #kuroo fanfic #kuroo imagine

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phineasandferbtheories · 3 years

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Hi! Who's your favorite PnF character? And what headcanons do you have for them? x3

Oh ho ho ho my favorite character 😏

Hmmmmmm wondering.....

It’s fucking Ferb Fletcher

Alliteration at its finest.

First I’m explaining why because if you go through my blog you will find so. So much. Ferb content.

It’s not even my most liked content! That, my friend, goes to Perry the Platypus (my second favorite character, thank you very much). So, it isn’t about likes (like all good things are that aren’t about likes). So what is it?

Also side note I’ve already taken my sleep medication, one of which is an anxiety pill, so that’s why this is so. Hyper I guess is the word.

Scenario: you are a young, semi verbal, probably autistic kid. Your parents have already put you through speech therapy and blamed your sister when you didn’t want to talk, so help them. You also think 16 years old is the epitome of coolness and never want to be 16. You like TV, but more as a morbid fascination. You don’t see yourself on that screen, just caricatures of what you believe you’re going to grow up to be (you won’t, btw).

Suddenly, there’s a show called Phineas and Ferb. It’s animated (which is already proving to be a preferred genre for you) and the people have weird shaped heads. You’ve seen commercials about it’s premiere but you didn’t think you’d see it! Later you learn it was a rerun, but besides the point! The characters appear and the triangle boy (you don’t remember names, of course) seems like a bitch but you don’t know that word so you don’t think it. You think it’s funny instead.

Then you have a realization. The F shaped boy isn’t.... talking??? He was in the main title! Has as much screen time as the triangle shaped boy! Oh, and triangle boy works with it, not pushing it away????

Do you know how fucking humanizing that feels? I was a kid. I didn’t even know what ableism meant. I still thought that my speech therapist was a baby sitter that played games with my sister and I! Now, Phineas and Ferb is not a perfect show. However. That was the first AND best way I’ve ever seen myself in a character. I normally see myself in the aliens. The robots. The mole people. But there he was. Ferb Fletcher.

Now, you didn’t ask for that. I did. I wanted to say it. So, now onto what you did ask! Theories! What this blog was made for!

He and Vanessa never dated. They were just friends. Fuck that romance bullshit.

Sometimes he gets in moods where he doesn’t shut up. Most the time, these only happen around Phineas because he feels most comfortable around him, but it occasionally will happen around other people

He randomly gets noises stuck in his head but he never lets them out because that only makes them louder to him so they stay stuck in Ferb land

Never fought anyone, but would (for others, of course)

If you ever get into an argument with him, well. The best you can hope for is a soft defeat.

Collects stickers but never sticks them anywhere

Also marbles. Seems like a marble guy.

Doesn’t like water until he’s in The Mood (except water slides :))

Knows the difference between except and accept

Chaotic until lawful. No in-betweens

Random glow up either junior (16-17) or senior (17-18) year. No explanation.

Stylish dude

Popular online

Hates cleaning his ears

Hates having long hair or facial hair

Really likes sunflower seeds

Very picky about Mac and cheese

Actually hates eating a lot of stuff but doesn’t tell Linda or Lawerence cause he doesn’t want to seem ungrateful but, combined with what Lawerence already knew and Linda’s Mom Sense, eventually everyone who cooks for him knows what he does and doesn’t like

Hates the smell of bacon. Not meat. Just bacon.

Really likes muffins

Hates bracelets

Likes charms tho :)

Customizes everything

Can’t stop itching mosquito bites (he puts band aids on them so they don’t bleed)

Never picked his nose. Like. Never (besides the nose picking machine, of course)

Likes turtleneck sweaters :)

Likes vests too :)

Has to get ripped jeans with rips below the thighs because he’ll pick at them otherwise

Actually, he really likes chains on pants as well, but only if they can be unattached

Hates that jumping raisin experiment. Absolute hatred.

It’s so hard to get him to hate someone but once he does :)))))))

Candace and him got along really well until she started hating on Perry and then he went :( and dipped until she stopped

Doesn’t like the number 5

Even though he’s a great editor, he loves shittily editing stuff just to fuck around

Brain goes 😐 sometimes and he can’t stop it

But then again sometimes it goes 🤩

Does NOT like snow

Rain is itchy

Likes Megamind but not as much as Phineas

He and Isabella are best friends

They shop together and talk shit >:)

Will creep people out randomly (sometimes on purpose sometimes not :))

Loves tattoos and he and Isabella get a matching one

Now, that is all for now because I feel sleep threatening to take over me. If you wanna see more Ferb theories well. Just. Look at my blog.

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sortavibing · 3 years

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haikyuu!! boys as surfers pt. 1📼

osamu, iwazumi, tsukishima, and semi

i just watched wave!! and let’s just say i’m obsessed they are all so hot and for what so i wanted to write about some haikyuu!! boys as surfers! i might do a part. 2, but we’ll see.

osamu

he’s actually pretty good at surfing, but he doesn’t brag about it like a certain someone cough cough atsumu so you wouldn’t really know unless you saw him.

his favorite time to surf is when the sun is going down, because there aren’t as many people there and the waves are pretty big.

he likes to wear boardshorts that cut off at the middle of his thigh and they usually are just grey with black strings, but he does have a few pairs with onigiri print on them, and when he wears them, everyone pretends that they don’t know him.

his favorite trick to do is the tail slide, and he takes pride in the fact that he learned how to do it before atsumu, and he constantly makes fun of him for it.

osamu has a surfboard that is dark grey with white pretty minimalistic designs (idk you can think of whatever you want)

his hair is crunchy because he’s always in the saltwater, and it’s made worse because he bleached and dyed it.

he wears one of those basic surfer necklaces and atsumu has one too, but the beads are brown instead of black.

osamu’s favorite place to surf is Niijima Island in the Tokyo Prefecture because it is really nice in the summer and the water is pristine.

iwazumi

he’s really good at surfing and he competed in a couple of competitions and he did pretty well.

he started surfing at the age of like 5, and when he first goes out with his friends they are shook. oikawa fell in love all over again and they immediately all wanted him to teach them.

he doesn’t really care when he’s surfing, but he has made the best memories with his friends when he is out on the beach at like midnight, when it’s a little cold, but it’s silent and completely empty, perfect for doing whatever he wants.

he wears a long-sleeved wetsuit, but halfway through the surfing session, he unzips the top part and ties the sleeves around his waist so only the pants part of the wetsuit is in use.

his favorite trick to do is the tube ride, because he loves the peace of mind he feels while inside the wave, and he loves to just feel the water in the tube while he’s going along it. he can never forget the first time he successfully attempted it, because he was in blissful shock for a good hour.

he taught oikawa how to surf in middle school, and the first time oikawa stood on the board on his own, he started bragging about how he was so good at it and he was going to attract all the girls, and iwazumi pushed him off.

iwa’s board is white with 4 thick stripes on it in 4 colors, black, grey, turquoise/mint green, and light grey.

his favorite place to surf is in the wakayama prefecture, because there are really good waves that some professional surfing companies use, so it’s good for him to practice.

tsukishima

he’s average at surfboarding, but he wishes that he could get better faster, so he goes out to practice about 3 times a week, and yams usually tags along so tsukki can teach him.

tsukishima likes to surf at dawn/ the early hours of the morning because he likes the waves look when the sun hits them, and there’s basically no one there who can bother him hinata and kageyama and get in the way of his surfing.

he wears a full body longsleeve wetsuit, and its just black with 2 dark grey stripes going down each side. he has these special glasses that are waterproof, because he hates contacts with a passion. once, yams convinced him to wear green board shorts with little dinosaurs on them, and he did, but he only let yams see it yamaguchi has so many pictures.

his favorite trick to do is the roundhouse cutback because it looks really good and it is a pretty “cool” trick to do and it is respected by most surfers.

he never shows any emotion while performing tricks, and girls at the beach love his “mysterious” demeanor.

tsukishima’s board is 4/5 white, and the other 1/5 is exposed wood (covered with coating of course) and the 2 sides are split with a thin black strip.

yamaguchi surfs with tsukki most of the time, but he isn’t very good so he lets tsukishima do his thing for a little bit and then comes out to surf with him.

his favorite place to surf is in the tokushima and kochi prefectures, because there are big waves, but it’s a pretty chill place with not that much noise or commercialized places.

semi

he is pretty good at surfing, and has competed in a few competitions, but he didn’t do really good or really bad, so he just surfs recreationally now.

semi usually goes with the shiritorizawa team, and he is one of the best surfers there, but no one really notices it because tendou is running around like a feral child and everyone is just trying to keep him from not doing something too crazy.

his favorite time to surf is during the day, because it’s a nice temperature, and it let’s him get in enough surfing time so he’ll be able to relax on the beach at night.

after he surfs, semi likes to play his guitar by a bonfire the team made as he watches the moon reflect on the shoreline so aesthetic holy shit

semi wears a dark grey wetsuit with sleeves that end just above his elbows, when he’s done with surfing, he wears turquoise board shorts with an unbuttoned light blue hawaiian shirt with a pretty minimalistic pattern, and sunglasses. he also has a leather necklace with a fish hook on it (the basic surfer necklace), which he calls “his good luck charm”

his favorite trick to do is the off-the-lip because you need to put a lot of power into it, and that’s what he does best.

his surfboard has the top 1/3 black, and then the middle third is really dark grey with a red and orange flower pattern, and the last third is white.

his favorite place to surf is the chiba prefecture, because it has big waves and a powerful reef break, which makes it a really good place to surf. since it is pretty popular it can get a bit crowed, but he doesn’t mind because he really likes surfing there.

i hope you enjoyed!

requests are open btw so don’t be afraid to ask for something!

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyu #semi eita #tsukishima kei #osamu miya #iwaizumi hajime #iwazumi headcanons #semi headcanons #tsukishima headcanons #osamu headcanons #osamu #iwazumi #tsukishima #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons

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bookofmariokingofmaiami · 3 years

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MUSHROOM KINGDOM LIFE BETA PART 2

You probably saw the last one so you know how this works, enjoy chapter 3 and 5. Chapter 4 is the longest one so it didn't fit

lets a go

SUITS

HAMMER SUIT & BOOMERANG FLOWER

The Hammer Suit and Boomerang Flower are less of a household item and more used for military purposes. Very fitting, given the nature of the transformations. These items respectively give the user a semi-unlimited supply of hammers and boomerangs, and increased throwing skill and strength. As such, they are among Fire Flowers in their use among troops, though with the caveat that these items (the Hammer Suits in particular) are rare and costly to produce/cultivate. Scientists in the military fields are at work creating a version of these items that transforms the user entirely into a Hammer or Boomerang Bro, for the purpose of stealth missions and operations behind enemy lines.

BLUE SHELL

The blue shell is a shell like suit wich gives the user the ability to slide like a koopa troopa can wich while is very dizzying it is very strong and resistant making it great for defense and for breaking brick walls, the flying variant isn't wearable and is used in the mushroom kingdom's mushroom kart sport where it flies and stuns the first place for a few seconds, the spikel blue shell is used in the military as front lines and breaking down defenses from enemy kingdoms

BULLET BILL MASK

The bullet bill mask is less of a mask and more of a bullet bill that someone can fit inside, it can fly like a bullet bill and it will fly until it hits something then it explodes, do not worry it is generally made with an highly resilient and hard suit wich protects the user from the explosion,it can be worn as a mask but users say that their neck hurted afterwards, this suit is also used in warfare for reaching the enemy fast

BUZZY SHELL/HELMET

The buzzy shell is a helmet made out of a buzzy bettle shell, it is commercially available for citizens even though it is a piece military equipment, it is used as work helmets in works like construction workers and mining, in warfare it is the standard helmet for soldiers, it is very sturdy and sell for 35 gold coins

CANNON BOX (HELMET AND GLOVE)

The cannon box is a a small box with the mechanism of a airship cannon, it is combined with the superball flower for ammo production, both helmet and glove shoot metal balls at slow yet deadly speeds, the helmet cannon box shoots standard cannon ammo while the glove shoots superballs, it is military equipment so not many legal sellers of this equipment,its military weapons of mid rank soldiers,

CAPE FEATHER

The cape feather is the official name of the super cape, a cape made of super feathers and super leafs, it is very powerful and gives the user the ability to fly and the cape can be swung to hit enemies and stun them,the power cape started production in dino island, it's not very common and isn't a piece of military equipment, while it can be bought you need a flying license to use it like all other flight items,some say the first edition of the cable was covered in liquid pownon wich would explain the earthquakes that happened when the item was first introduced

DRY BONES SHELL

The undead have some interesting properties, the shell of a dry bones is very hard and lava proof, because of the fact that is lava proof is why many lava boats use dry bones shells as the main platform, it is also used as "armor" but it's not recommended as dry bones armor is well hard to make and just dont work,it can be used to hide from other dry bones by entering it upside up

FROG SUIT

The frog suit was the mushroom kingdom's main swimming suit for deep sea exploration for many decades until the creation of the penguin suit,it gives the user a huge improvement in swimming ability and also gives water breathing abilities,even now with the new penguin suit it Is still used regularly amd is considered one of the greatest water items ever, the suit is commercially sold for 125 gold coins in the mushroom kingdom and 200 exported

GIGA BELL

The giga bell is an item native from the cat islands,it is an ancient shrine that turns whoever touches it (after the giga bell has recharged) into a giga cat version of themselves, it gives abilities similar to the super bell and the extra size of concentrated mega mushroom extract, it is not legal to remove the giga bell's from the island and doing so you will be fined 3000 gold coins,the giga bell's where used to fight off fury bowser during the cat island catastrophe

GOOMBA MASK

Goombas are bowser's frontline soldiers, while the weakest they are very voracious and dangerous, but not very smart and the goomba mask shows it, the goomaba mask is a helmet shaped like a goomba head made of mushrooms, goombas are easily tricked by this oversized goomba head wich while not great for infiltration missions in many koopa locations, it was used in some infiltration missions in goomba filled bases

GOOMBA SHOE

While the goombas in the koopa kingdom arent very smart doe to the lack of schools the goombas from other kingdoms have good education and the goomba shoe was invented by a goomba, it uses pownon to make giant shoe wich can be entered and used, the goomba shoe is very strong and can be used to smash enemies, the flying variety flies like a charm using pownon both liquid and gas and also wings for changing the direction

ICE SKATE (VEHICLE)

The ice skate (vehicle) is another object created by the goomba university, it similarly to the goomba shoe is an oversized footwear wich now is used as an vehicle, it works as a ice vehicle for snowy biomes as it was designed for snow and ice use as it is very fast while used in the snow,its used in many ice villages and locations as the main transporting vehicle on said location

INVINCIBILITY BELL

The invincibility bell like all the other super bell variants creates a suit like thing around the user made of magical cat fur wich is made of magic and not cat,the invincibility bell is covered by super star dust and mini star paint, these 2 celestial oddities cause the invincibility bell to make the user invincible for 30 seconds before it runs out, after running out it becomes like any other super bell,it is quite rare so many don't use it and use it as decoration

LIGHT BOX

The light box is an mechanism wich works like a flashlight but it's the size of a head and is a box, it is also wearable, the light emitted from the flashlight is bright and energy efficient, it can light up whole rooms with its powerful glow, it also emits an light that undead are allergic to, it can stun anything if turned on too fast and boos will temporarily die, these lights are used in cave exploration and containing ghosting outside of haunted area

LUCKY BELL

The lucky bell is a variant of the super bell know for being similar to the tanuki suit as the user besides the normal super bell abilities it also gives the user to turn into a statue, but instead of being made of stone and depicting the tanuki version of the user, it is made of gold and depicts a lucky cat version of the user, it is said those who encounter it gain eternal luck wich with the fact it's rare makes it one of the most expensive bell commercially available at 500 coins

LUIGI CAP

The luigi cap is the hat worn by the brother of famous mario jumpman mario ||, luigi, while he is awesome and his hat is too, we are talking about the luigi disguise cap, a disguise cap developed by the smartest people in the koopa kingdom, it turns the user in a perfect copy of luigi wich was used for infiltration, it fooled the mushroom kingdom multiple times but probably wasent realy useful because luigi doesn't go to the locations they wanted to infiltrate so they didn't allow the impostors to enter

MARIO CAP

The cap worn by mushroom kingdom hero mario Mario || is one of the most well known hats, but we are talking about the koopa developed mario disguise hat, this high tech hat turns the user into a perfect copy of mario, wich when it was created was a big problem sinse mario is one of the highest member of the mushroom kingdom government making so impostors were able to go to high defense locations easily, many technologies and info was stolen and the following years where full of chaos and high tech machines in bowser's hands

METAL CAP

The metal cap is a mushroom kingdom developed high tech cap wich turns the user into living metal, this metal version is very strong and durable, it is used in seafloor exploration as the metal man body dosent need oxygen and the weight pulls the user down, it is not advised to use it on the middle of the ocean because the most optimal way to get back on land is climbing up close to land floor,once a unamed toad got stuck on the seafloor for a whole year

P-WING (POWER WING)

The power wing is an set of wings made of bird feathers, mushroom cloth, and pownon gas, it gives the user the ability to fly, unlike the usual super leaf the pwing doesn't lose flight power over time making for indefinitely flight, it is very rare thought because it is very hard to make, it also explodes after a few weeks of use doe to the pownon gas turning into liquid because of extreme use

PENGUIN SUIT

The penguin suit is a better version of the well known swimming equipment known as frog suit, the penguin suit not only gives the user faster movement speed, it also gives the user the ability to slide like a penguin with much control for super fast movement, it also has the effects of an ice flower, the penguin suit has been the new main swimming gear sinse 2009 when it was first developed, it is a bit expensive by 175 coins locally and 300 internationally

PROPELLER BOX

The proppeller box was the mushroom kingdom answer to technologically advance flying gear for citizens before the discovery to how to cultivate proppeller mushroom effectively, it is still found and used today but is much more rarer than decades ago where it was used everywhere, it is still used and manufactured in the sprixie islands where the proppeller mushroom isn't viable for cultivation doe to the unique soil of the land

SPINY SHELL/HELMET

The Sony helmet is the much spikier variety of the helmet, the helmet is unlike the non spike variety it isn't sold for citizens, it is the standard helmet for mid to high ranking officials and soldiers, it is made out of spinies the buzzy beetle's spike cousins,it is very durable and any attempt of using shoes will fail,the spikes can break through many tipes of objects making it good for offence as well, the spikes are also used to make spears

SUPER BELL

The super bell is an object native to the sprixie kingdom and cat island, when used it makes a suit like clothes giving the user cat like abilities such as sharp claw attack, cat dive and climb, this item is loved between cat lovers and normal people alike,it is very common and easy to manufacture making it cheap, it is made of a strange transformative metal found in abundance in the sprixie kingdom and many asteroids also have this metal, wich leads many to believe there where somekind of interstellar asteroid hit the area resulting in the abundance of these metals and green stars

SUPER CROWN

Before anything else, the rumor spreaded throughout the world that says that whoever wears it turns into a "peachfied version" of themselves is not true, the super crown is to the mushroom species what royal honey is to bees, it turns any member of mushrom sapient species's will turn into a mushroom princess, it happens if the princess hasn't gotten an heir when they reach the age of 40, of course peach the current leader is not dead so these candidates arent yet princesses, but they are put in high ranks, as the number of super crowns goes down the new candidates are set

TANUKI SUIT

The tanuki suit an suit made of mushroom cloth and super leaf's, it gives the user the ability to fly like the super leaf but it also gives the user to turn into a stone statue version of themselves wich can not be broken,it was developed in sarasaland where the super leaf is native to,the tanuki suit is one of the most well known of these magical suits and was used in many battles as stone statues are a staple decoration in castles wich makes hiding easy

VANISH CAP

The vanish cap is one of many high tech hats developed by the mushroom kingdom science institute (m.k.s.i), it was developed to give people the ability to go invisible and go trough wall with none of the side effects of the boo mushroom or just dying, this hat is transparent and when activated makes the user temporarily invisible with the ability to go trough walls, the prototype was stored in one of peaches castles wich was useful in the the 1996 invasion where mario used it to rescue peach, 2 years later is was finished and a few years ago it got a green light for being allowed to commercially sell copies of this hat

WARIO CAP

Wario is one of the richest man in the mushroom kingdom and is considered by many as a vilain sinse he did use his wealth to try and take over sarasaland, fornutally he was stopped but that doesn't means he ain't rich, that's why when the luigi and mario disguise caps where made bowser also made a wario disguise hat to steal this wealth wich lead to over 37 million gold coins being stolen from many of warios vaults, a gold statue of wario also went missing

WING

The wing or as many call it super wing is the first man made power up way back in 1986, it's a set of wings wich can be attached to the back of clothes that gives the user the ability to fly, of course doe to the inexperience of making power ups of the time makes it very weak and breaks after a few minutes of use wich depending when it breaks can be realy dangerous so the production of super wings stoped in 1987 and stoped selling in 1988, it now very rare and expansive

WING CAP

The wing cap is another high tech hat developed by the mushroom kingdom science institute (m.k.s.i) this hat utilizes concentrated gas pownon to give the user the ability to fly in definitely as long you can get enough momentum,it like any other flight power up it requires a flying license to use it, it like the other hats where stored in one of peaches castles wich helped mario in the 1996 invasion, however this one took the longest to develop and was only released in 2012

WINGS

Not to be confused to the super wing, the super wings was a second try by the creators of the super wing also known as the special company, for a feather based flying power up, it is way better than the super wing it wasn't very successful because of the many flying already around, by the time it was released in 2004 other items like the super leaf and super cape where already widely spreaded and cultivated and this wings is still very crappy, and also their only successful product was way more known wo that's another reason for its failure

YOSHI WINGS

The yoshi wings is the special company's only succes and is why the company hasn't gone bankrupt yet, the yoshi wings is an accessory for the Yoshisaur Munchakoopas species also known as just yoshi, the yoshi wings can be worn by yoshi's to give them the ability to fly, the reason why it wasent a failure is the use of super feathers instead of normal feathers with small balloons of pownon they usually use, this item is a success and many yoshi's and yoshi owners love this item

OTHER PLANTS

DOUBLE CHERRY

Double Cherries are originally native to the Sprixie Kingdom, but imports have led to a native supply beginning to grow in carefully cultivated orchards in the Mushroom Kingdom. The duplicative effects of these fruits has found great use in the agricultural industry, and fertilizer created from the pits is able to double or even triple the natural yield of many crops. Double Cherries have also had a recent popularity surge among some sports clubs for the twist they can add to the game

BLIMP FRUIT

The blimp fruit is one of 3 magical fruits discovered by mario jumpman mario || during the second mushroom intergalactic expedition, this fruit like the power flower is an natural producer of pownon, unlike the power flower instead of constantly releasing the gas the plant stores the pownon in these fruits, it causes a very similar effect to inhaling the pownon-gas from p balloons but in species like yoshi it becomes twice as powerful making the user float for a long amount of time, It can be grown on the mushroom planet but it takes some time to be grown

BULB BERRY

This fruit like the blimp fruit was discovered during the second intergalactic expedition, this berry is an glowing yellow fruit that grows on bushes, this fruit produces light and bioluminescence liquid,this glowing berry is very delicious and in its purest form makes the user glow temporarily, this fruit can only grow in dark places and will only start glowing after being plucked out of the bush,this fruit is a great light source so some adventurers have some in case they find themselves in somewhere dark

SUPER CARROTS

The super carrot is an species of carrot with magical properties wich first became popular in the early 90s, this carrot tastes like any regular carrot with a hint of super leafs, this carrot carrot makes bunny ears appear in the use4s head and said ears also gives the user the ability to float like a super leaf would do,this carrot can be grown anywhere and is a ingredient in many foods and dishes, in 2001 a super carrot powered sewing machine was made……...for some reason

DASH PEPPER

The dash pepper is the last magical fruit discovered in the second intergalactic expedition, this pepper like fruit is currently the spiciest pepper in the universe, not only is it realy spicy making so many dishes uses it for spiciness, it also has high amounts of energy wich transfers to the user giving them "super speed" for 30 seconds, during this time the user will be able to go up walls and walk on water, it can be grown in any soil except rocky and star soil

INVINCIBILITY LEAF

This rare variant of the super leaf can only be grown in concentrated star soil wich currently is only found in the star road but artificial ones are being tested, this leaf gets its yellow and white coloring from the stardust of the stas soil and the white from ministars found around the star road, because of the concentrated stardust it has a similar effect to the super star and the effects of a super leaf, this rare plant is pretty expensive costing as much as 2 power star or 500 coins

PIRANHA PLANT POT

Piranha plants are vicious plants that consume meat and will try and kill anything that gets in its way ……...why not make it into a pet?, as bad that may sound it actually works, from 2005 trough 2013 scientists from the mksi worked on a smaller less dangerous version of the piranha plant, the Potted piranha plant is way smaller and less dangerous and is considered a pet, theyre very cute and lovely, they eat plant food but any kind of meat works too

STATUE LEAF

The statue leaf is a subspecies of the super leaf but with the statue magic from a tanuki suit, this plant appears to be made of rock and can only grow underground, this leaf is rare and scarce and many people who owns one use it as decoration but if you were to it it has the same taste as a super leaf but crunchy, the seeds make great tea and drinks, this item is found all over the world specially in super trees

SUPER LEAF

The super leaf is the most famous flying power up of all time, this plant is the leafs of a super tree or tanuki tree, because of that one tree can make up to 2000 super leafs a month, it makes for great tea soup and can be used as spices in many dishes, in its purest power form it makes a racoon tail grow wich js very strong and can be used as a weapon, it also gives the user the ability to fly for certain amount of time and the flight power was extracted to make battleship flight generators used at the time and even to this day with the rise of pownon it is still used

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writingmyselfout · 3 years

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Because I Could Not Stop for Death - Chapter One

Language: English

Rating: Teen+

Pairing: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter

Tags: AU - Canon Divergence, Reptilia28′s Don’t Fear the Reaper Challenge, Manipulative Dumbledore, Black Hermione Granger, Slight Ron Weasley Bashing

Prologue

Chapter 1: Death Tore the Pages All Away (2/?)

Summary: Harry's final chance begins...

HARRY Potter awakes to the sound of heavy footsteps pounding down the stairs, alerting him to the fact that his cousin Dudley was awake. Soon, either his Aunt Petunia or his Uncle Vernon would note that he had not yet gotten up and call for him. Unless they very specifically didn’t want to see him, he wasn’t allowed to linger in bed late into the day unlike his cousin. Still, he finds himself not quite ready to get up as he tried to remember what he’d been dreaming of just moments ago.

He has this lingering sense of déjà vu, but can’t quite place why, and a niggling feeling in the back of his mind makes him think that whatever he’d been dreaming of was important. Try as he might, though, he just can’t recapture any of it. Not a word or image to even hint at what it might have been. Finally, after a few minutes, he heaves a sigh, opens his eyes, and sits up in bed, careful not to hit his head on one of the shelves.

Not for the first time, he wonders what the Dursleys will do when he becomes too big to fit in the bed wedged into the cupboard. A part of him hopes it will force them to give him the spare second bedroom upstairs, but another worries and thinks it more likely that he will have to forever fit himself into this tiny little space. It might be best then for him to stay rather small as he gets older.

“Get up, boy!”

There it is, Uncle Vernon realizing he’s still in bed. Without further hesitation, he gets his glasses on and gets up out of bed. His nose wrinkles as he opens his door and the faint whiff of whatever is happening in the kitchen. It’s not until he’s finished washing up and goes into the kitchen that he finds out that the smell is coming from his soon-to-be new Stonewall High uniform. Hopefully, his looking like he was dressed in giant flabs of elephant skin wouldn’t keep him from enjoying his Dudley-free school life, but somehow he doubts it’ll do much in the way of keeping him from becoming the target for other bullies. At least with bullies unrelated to him, he’ll only have to deal with them at school, and if he has to fight back, he’s less likely to get in trouble the way he would if he tried to ever hit Dudley. He can already imagine the amount of trouble that even just thinking about hitting his cousin back would result in, even if it is in self-defense.

There is suddenly the sound of the mail slot opening as the post arrives, and without looking up from his newspaper, Uncle Vernon says, “Dudley, go get the mail.”

Unsurprisingly, his cousin whines and Harry instead is the one made to get it. His inner grumbling about his cousin’s laziness is halted as he spots his name in the pile, written in fancy script on an envelope between what is likely a bill and a postcard from Vernon’s nightmare of a sister, Aunt Marge. The green ink on the thick yellow paper--unlike any he’s seen before--sparks that same déjà vu feeling from before, only this time he does remember something.

The Dursleys will take this letter; hide it.

It’s as if the words are spoken in his ear, and he doesn’t quite know where the thought comes from. He’s certain as soon as he thinks it, however, that it’s right. Who hasn’t the faintest idea of who might be writing him, but whoever it may be, he can’t imagine his aunt or uncle allowing him to know the contents, regardless of whether it was meant for him or not. They hadn’t asked him about the school he wanted to go to, he was never allowed to go anywhere even on the rare occasions over the years that he’d been invited by other students or their parents to partake in birthday parties or outings, and aside from his sometimes-babysitter Mrs. Figg and the other kids or adults he encountered at school, he was virtually kept isolated from strangers otherwise. No, it is best he keep this to himself, at least until he’s gotten a chance to read what it says.

With no hesitation, he slides the letter under the doormat, checking to make sure that stepping on the mat makes no sound, before quickly heading to the kitchen. He’d considered hiding it in his pants, but his clothes are so loose and baggy, he can’t be sure the letter would have stayed unnoticed. Instead, he hopes by hiding it under the mat, he can get to it later when no one is paying him any attention. It takes every ounce of patience he has to sit through breakfast, listening to Uncle Vernon tell Petunia about Marge’s postcard, and for them to discuss her vacation and whether or not they should look into a trip as well. He’s careful to not let his eyes stray out of the room or seem impatient, but he nearly groans when he’s ordered to clean the kitchen up while Petunia goes to hang her horridly home-dyed uniform for him in the yard to dry. His uncle and Dudley go to watch TV, their version of father-son bonding time, as Uncle Vernon always took additional days off throughout the summer to spend more time with Dudley.

He had hoped to immediately grab the letter to read upon finishing the dishes, but as soon as he’s done, he’s roped into helping in the garden. His aunt insists on keeping the garden as immaculate as possible, but it’s Harry who does most of the work to maintain it, and during the summer it meant slaving away at it in the middle of the hot afternoons. Normally, he only minds the heat, but is otherwise fine with it as it means he’s out of sight when Dudley’s friends arrive and his cousin is unlikely to interrupt him mid-chore. Today, however, his mind strays to the letter waiting to be read. All he wants is to get a few moments alone to read it, sate his curiosity, and decide if it’s worth telling his family about.

Of course, that means today is a day he is kept busy non-stop. After washing up, he’s sent upstairs to wash up because his aunt can’t stand the smell of him, and then told to clean the bathroom while he’s up there. Nevermind that he missed lunch while out in the garden. He’s lucky she remembered to set out a glass of water for him. When he’s done, he’s set to mind the dinner Aunt Petunia began cooking, as the phone rings and she instead sits gossipping on the phone. Then he’s made to clean up afterwards again, only for his aunt to call for him to make some tea to bring in to them before he’s even finished.

He comes in just as the show they’re watching cuts to a commercial break. Shots of a family in a circular raft on water, shouting and laughing as they go down a river to some upbeat music that then cuts to a newly open ride called the Dive Bomber, and an announcer enthusiastically encouraging all and sundry come and check it out with the kids, assuring great family memories were to be made. It is barely over before Dudley is on his feet, demanding his parents take him. Harry appreciates the excited shouts, sure that his aunt and uncle will pay him little to no mind as they attempt to placate their spoiled son.

“Duddey-kins,” Aunt Petunia starts. “Ilkeston is quite far, my darling.”

“Near three hours,” Uncle Vernon agrees. “Not sure it would be worth the money.”

Dudley stomps his foot and Harry slowly moves back to leave the room. “I don’t care ! We have to go! I want to!”

Petunia is the first to cave, as she always is, and turns to Vernon. “We could rent a room, do a short weekend trip?” She stands up to put an arm around Dudley, the both of them giving Vernon their own pleading looks. “A late birthday gift, to make up for that horrid trip to the zoo.” Harry freezes where he’s standing just inside the doorway at the mention of the zoo trip as eyes flicker briefly in his direction. He shifts from one foot to the other, trying to seem semi-interested in the conversation if only to not arouse suspicion, but he’s frankly more interested in the letter.

“I suppose a small trip would be nice,” Vernon says slowly.

He may as well have said yes, and they all know it. Dudley breaks out into a grin, going on and on about how jealous his friends will be. Then he stops, throws a malicious grin in Harry’s direction, and suddenly adds, “But he can’t come! He’ll ruin it like he did the zoo!”

This time, Vernon half turns on the couch to look at Harry, then back to his wife. “Mrs. Figgs is better, right? See if she can take the boy for a few days in a week or two--”

“A week ?” Dudley is indignant. “It’s Wednesday, why not this weekend? Let’s go this weekend!”

Aunt Petunia places a calming hand on his shoulder. “I’ll call tomorrow, sweetums, and we’ll see what she says. If she can take Harry, you can invite Piers to come with us.” She is careful not to specify that it might not be that weekend.

It does the trick, and soon their attention is back on the television. Harry slips out of the room, grabs the letter from under the mat, and then makes his way to the cupboard. Finally, he can see what this is about.

The light in his cupboard is dim, but he can still make out his name on the front in the fanciest script he can ever recall seeing.

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4, Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

He only now notices the rest of the address and frowns. How do they know where he sleeps? He flips it over and runs a finger over the wax seal, feeling the ridges of its design and holding it up closer to his face to study the seal, only just making out that there are four animals surrounding a capital letter ‘H’. The snake and lion are easy enough to make out, but he can’t quite make out the last two. A bird and a fox, perhaps? He’ll have to try and see it in better lighting later.

Carefully, he picks at the seal with a nail until he can get a finger under, trying to keep it as intact as possible. There’s a novelty to getting his first ever letter, addressed to him personally. Once he gets the seal off, he opens it, smoothing it out and moving the letter closer to his face to better making it all out.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry blinks at the letter in disbelief, not quite believing what he’s reading. If it weren’t for the fact that he knows how much they despise magic and such, he might think this was an elaborate prank his aunt and uncle were playing on him. It could still be a prank, he thinks, but by who and for what purpose? Dudley wasn’t smart enough to pull something like this off, and his friends wouldn’t think to do something like this either. He also doubted that his cousin could’ve managed to not give something away had he been keeping a prank secret. No, this was either someone else’s doing entirely or the thing was real.

That previous feeling of déjà vu hits him again, though he can’t quite place what about the letter is causing it. He flips to the second page, curiosity momentarily overtaking his confusion and doubt.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils’ clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

Very carefully, he folds the letter back up, then folds it even smaller to hide it under his pillow. His mind is racing, trying to process it all. If this is a joke, it’s a very thorough one. It looks so official, though, that it’s hard to think who would go through this level of effort to fool him. And to what end? He can’t figure that out.

If it’s real, though, he’s not sure that’s any better. A school for witchcraft and wizardry, accepting him as a student? He remembers talking to the snake at the zoo on Dudley’s birthday, and the glass disappearing, plus all the other weird, unexplainable things that had happened to him before. In light of this letter, it all suddenly seemed to make much more sense. But how? Perhaps from his parents? It might explain why his aunt and uncle refused to talk about them or the accident that killed them, considering how much they despised all talk of magic.

He couldn’t imagine, then, that they would be happy about this letter, much less at the thought of him even attending. No amount of begging on his part has ever worked to get them to give him anything he’s ever wanted, and somehow he doubts this will play out any differently. But without their approval, how can he hope to afford even half the things on this list? Where would he even buy it all even if he could somehow convince the Dursleys to not just let him attend this mysterious school, but also part with enough money to buy him his supplies?

The questions plague his thoughts, keeping him awake long after the rest of the house has turned in, and he’s sure they haunt his dreams for he wakes up still thinking of the letter. It keeps his mind occupied and distracted from all else, earning him a few shouts when he fails to do as he’s told all morning, until finally Vernon takes Dudley’s smelting stick and hits Harry with it.

He yelps in surprise, instinctively moving away as he rubs at his shoulder. Uncle Vernon is holding the stick out, arm almost fully extended, and the thinks the shoulder blow might have been a hit to the head had he been slightly closer. He wonders automatically if Hogwarts has dorms. They probably do, right? Meaning he could live most of the year away from the constant threat of verbal and physical abuse, and maybe that was worth trying to make the impossible possible after all.

“Are you listening, boy?” Vernon demands. Harry mutters an apology. “Pack a bag. We’re dropping you off in the morning to Mrs. Figg’s for the weekend.”

Harry nods his head, wondering if he can use the time away from the Dursleys to his advantage. If he can’t figure out a way to make this school work without telling them, he can at least figure out how to bring it up once their trip is done so that they might be inclined to let him go. After all, the letter had clearly stated a response was required by 31 July, his birthday, so he only had six days left to work something out.

~~~

WHEN they drop him off at Mrs. Figg’s house, it’s all Harry can do to hide the fact that’s actually quite glad to not be going on this mini-vacation with his family. Especially as any sign that he was happy while they were all grumpy would likely not go over well. Dudley had made his displeasure at having to wake up early on a vacation day quite plain, and no amount of pointing out that it was for the trip he’d wanted was going to change that. But Vernon was also not much of a morning person, and his own patience had worn to the point that he’d threatened to cancel the trip when Dudley had finally complained one too many times. Which resulted in a minor tantrum, until Petunia promised him all sorts of treats would be bought at the park that they couldn’t get at the store. She’d been pinching the bridge of her nose the way she did when she had a headache, so she was ready to promise just about anything to get some quiet.

They were going to be in for a long trip, Harry thinks. They still had to pick up Piers, and then drive three hours.

“Come on then, Harry,” Mrs. Figg tells him after they’ve watched the Dursleys drive off. “You have breakfast? ‘S quite early, I imagine you might have been too tired for it.”

“Breakfast would be nice,” he agrees.

Really, he wants to put the plan he thought up into action. He had slipped the letter into his shoe, just in case Petunia wanted to check his bag before they left this morning. All night, he had pondered over his dilemma and perhaps actually reached a solution. Plenty of the more expensive schools offered scholarships, so perhaps he could reach out to the headmistress and ask about it. Having never heard of the school, he isn’t sure what requirements for scholarships they might have, but he figures asking won’t hurt. Plus, at least he can make his wanting to attend clear, so maybe if he can’t get his aunt and uncle to agree by the deadline, he might buy himself some extra time to convince them. He really wishes he’d received the letter more than a week before they needed his response.

So he plans to write to them. Coming to Mrs. Figgs would help, as she would likely agree to let him use some pen and paper of hers to write it, and if he said it was for a school thing, maybe she wouldn’t bring it up to the Dursleys, figuring it was something they already knew about. At the very least, she’s not likely to stop him from writing the letter. Perhaps she might actually help him send it out, considering the one he’d received has no return address, and so he’s not sure how to actually get his letter to the school.

After breakfast, she shows him to her guest room so he can put his things away. She’s barely left him when he pulls the letter from his shoe and then follows her back out into the living room, where she immediately sits down, sets her crutches aside, and props a leg up before reaching for some knitting next to her couch.

“Mrs. Figg,” Harry starts. “Could I get some pen and paper? I needed to write something for school.”

“Oh? Homework already?” She looks up at him, smiling. “There’s some stationary at the desk over there. Help yourself. I hadn’t asked, where are you going to school after summer?”

Harry goes over to the desk, hesitating for a moment before he says, “Well, that depends.” He sits down at the desk, half turning to look at her. “I was supposed to go to Stonewall High, but I was accepted somewhere else I want to go to.”

Mrs. Figg frowns, hands stilling as she looks up. “Stonewall, huh?” At his nod, she goes back to knitting as she asks, “But there’s another school?”

“Yes, maybe. I, uh, don’t know if I’ll be allowed to go,” he says, trying to decide how much to say. “Maybe my aunt and uncle might let me go if I can get a scholarship to attend.”

“So you’re writing to the school?” At his affirmative, Mrs. Figg nods her approval. “Good. Just let them know and I’m sure that he’ll-- they’ll help you attend.”

“I hope so,” Harry admits. “I’m not sure where to send it, though. There’s not an address on the envelope for Hogwarts.”

She stops knitting again and gives him a smile. “You just write that letter, dear. When you’re done, I’ll take care of sending it out and you can try and get some more sleep, okay?”

Something about the certainty with which she says she’ll send it out has him agreeing to her plan. He pulls out a pen and some of the stationary located in the desk’s middle drawer, then stares at the blank page for a moment before pulling out the original letter and opening it. He pauses in his re-reading to frown at the headmaster’s name, which immediately gives him that same niggling déjà vu feeling once more, and then moves on. He decides he’ll write back to the one who signed this first page, the deputy headmistress, and begins.

Dear Mrs. McGonagall,

He hopes it’s ‘Mrs.’, but wonders if he shouldn’t address it to her title? Too late, he’s already written the beginning, so he just continues.

My name is Harry Potter, and I just received the letter from your schools, Hogwart. It is very nice of you all to accept me to the school, although I have never heard of the school and never applied. It seems like it would be an interesting school to go to, but I am not sure my family can afford to send me there. Does Hogwarts offer scolarships? If so, could you tell me what I might do to get one?

If not, then I don’t think I will be able to go there. Maybe if my aunt and uncle say yes, but probably not if it will cost a lot. Since you needed an answer by 31 July though, I wanted to send this letter just in case.

He taps the pen against his chin in thought, rereading his letter. He notes a few mistakes, but decides to leave them as opposed to scratching them out. He considers asking if he can use a different page, but he doesn’t want to push his luck on the older woman’s generosity when he still needs her to send the letter out for him. Harry thinks he should just keep it short, then remembers that letters are supposed to have return addresses and he frowns again.

Should he address it the way they sent it to him? It shouldn’t need where exactly he sleeps, at least he doesn’t remember anyone mentioning that in class, but he worries if he doesn’t give them the same address, they’ll think maybe he’s a different Harry Potter. He decides then that he’ll put the full address as they put it inside , but keep the cupboard part off the letter on the outside .

You can write back to the same address where I got the first letter:

Harry Potter

Cupboard Under the Stairs

4, Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Hope to hear from you soon.

Harry Potter

He hasn’t yet mastered writing his name in cursive, so he doesn’t sign it, only writes his name. His other mistakes are embarrassing enough; he doesn’t want to make the letter look worse than it already does. Instead, he folds it carefully, find an envelope in one of the desk drawers, and slips the letter inside. He licks it closed, then stares at the front for a moment. Putting the school’s full name would probably be best, but he worries that Mrs. Figg will see it and change her mind. Plus, shouldn’t he address it to the deputy headmistress, to make sure she gets it? Finally, he decides he may as well write both her name and the school’s full name, just in case there happens to be more than one place called ‘Hogwarts’, and scribbles it across the front directly in the middle. On the back, he puts his return address without the cupboard line. Then he stands up and walks over to Mrs. Figgs.

“Finished, then?” she asks, smiling at him as she lays her knitting on her lap. She holds a hand out and he passes the envelope over after only a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll get this out. Why don’t you go get some sleep? I’ll wake you for lunch.”

She glances at the envelope, but doesn’t bat an eye or ask any questions, and Harry finds himself relaxing. If she’s not saying anything about the name, maybe it’s not as weird as he thinks? Or maybe she’s more open minded than his family. Regardless, he isn’t as anxious anymore and he agrees that a nap would be nice. He can only hope now that the school gets his letter and can help him.

~~~

A MERE hour later, the sound of the heels of a pair of well worn boots echo off the stone walls of the hallway their wearer is hurrying down. Minerva McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration, Gryffindor Head of House, and Deputy Headmistress does not like to be caught by surprise, especially where her students are concerned, and that one had done so before ever setting foot inside the school did not bode well for the coming school year. With a letter written on flimsy Muggle paper in hand, she heads for the office of a certain wizard who has some questions to answer.

In a few minutes, she is barging into his office with barely a knock. “Albus Dumbledore, you have some explaining to do.”

Two men look over at her as she storms in. Severus Snape half turns, an eyebrow raised at her tone. It’s well known that she and the headmaster are close friends, but the woman is very careful about being respectful even when she disagrees with a decision so long as there are students or colleagues around. Yet here she is, speaking to the older man as if he’s one of her wayward students.

For his part, Albus only raises a single eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. “Why, Minerva, whatever is the matter?”

“This, Albus. This letter I just received, and you’ll never guess who from.” She waves the offending letter in the air. “Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. How has he never heard of Hogwarts? And asking about a scholarship ! Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, how does the Boy Who Lived not know about this school?” She slams the letter down on his desk, finger pointed down at it as she adds, “And look at the address. I checked the outgoing letters, and that is how his letter was addressed. Care to explain that?”

Albus looks down at the letter, and although he is quiet as he skims it, the amused smile is no longer on his face. He’s done in a moment, looking back up at the angry face of his deputy headmistress. Snape moves forward, holding a hand out to look at the letter for himself. He knew the boy would be among the incoming students, but it hadn’t occurred to him the boy might arrive completely ignorant of the world he would be entering.

“It appears that my instructions to inform Harry of his heritage have gone unheeded.” His calm demeanor only serves to further annoy McGonagall.

“I told you I didn’t like the idea of leaving him there,” she reminds him. “Horrid, horrid Muggles. I couldn’t imagine a more unlikely sister to Lily Evans--”

“You left the boy with Petunia .” Snape did look up now, surprise evident on his face as he stared at the headmaster. It had never occurred to him to ask where the boy had been placed. He hadn’t cared, to be quite honest, but that had been because he never imagined Dumbledore putting the hero of the wizarding world with someone who had so openly despised all things magic.

Albus frowns. “It is the safest place for him.”

“They have him in a cupboard , Albus! I hardly think that’s the safest place for him.” Unbidden, Snape recalls some of the cruel things Petunia had called her sister, someone she had once grown up with and been close to, and tries to imagine her with Lily’s son. Somehow, he can’t see her being any kinder to the boy. “Is this the first you’re hearing of this?

“Didn’t you go to see him, ever? In these last ten years?” McGonagall’s question draws Snape’s attention to the headmaster, who stands up and looks over at neither of them as he walks over to his phoenix, who sits on his perch in a corner watching them all.

“I have been too busy these past ten years,” he admits, “to go see the boy. Plus, it would have only served to confuse him. I thought it best he grew up as normally as possible before he could enter into a world where his fame will follow him around forever.”

McGonagall scoffs. “Normal? He isn’t normal , Albus, and now he is completely unprepared for joining the world he belongs in.” Snape finds himself silently agreeing, imagining all the things the boy won’t know the first thing about. “What’s more, what’s ‘normal’ about being shoved into a cupboard? I don’t even want to think of what else he may have endured there,” she adds, voice low as she shakes her head, clearly imagining what else people who put a barely 11-year old boy to sleep in a cupboard might be capable of doing.

She shakes her head, then asks, “Is Gringotts in possession of the Potter vault key? A scholarship, as if the son of James Henry Potter and only heir to the Potter estate would need one.”

“I am in possession of that key,” Dumbledore informs her.

McGonagall frowns. “I will need that, then. I will have to go see Mr. Potter this week about his letter, and I imagine he’ll need to be taken to Diagon Alley. Really, if I had known what his situation was like, I’d have included him on my list of visits along with the Muggle-born students.”

“There’s no need, McGonagall, for you to go out of your way. Hagrid was going to handle some school business at Diagon later this week. He can take the boy.” Dumbledore was still facing the phoenix as he spoke, and behind him McGonagall and Snape shared a look.

“If I may, sir,” Snape spoke up, although he did not wait before continuing. “Sending Hagrid to speak with Petunia Evans will hardly help the situation.”

“Dursley,” McGonagall corrected. “Her married name is Dursley . And I insist on going. The boy wrote to me, and after leaving him there all those years ago, I would feel much better seeing how he’s fared firsthand.” There was a pause, then she added, “Perhaps you should come with me, Severus? Since you know Lily’s sister.”

A sneer crossed his face, “Knew. I knew her sister. We were hardly friends.” Frankly, he had hated her from the very beginning, and it seemed unlikely time had changed the girl he’d hated into anything other than a woman he would hate as much, if not more.

“All the same, I never met Lily’s sister as she was out when I went to go speak to the Evans’ when she was accepted. A familiar face might help persuade her that Mr. Potter will be coming to Hogwarts. Besides, you knew the boy’s mother and can tell him about her time here.” She knowingly said nothing of telling him about his father.

Nevertheless, Snape’s immediate instinct was to deny the request. He wanted nothing to do with Potter’s son beyond what was required of him as a professor at the school. Dumbledore looked back then with a knowing look, as if he anticipated the man’s refusal, which only served to rouse the Potions master’s ire. Instead of the no he had been fully prepared, he found himself agreeing to the scheme.

They had things they each had to take care of the next couple of days, but it was decided that come Wednesday, they would venture to Surrey together to speak with Harry Potter.

Story Notes:

Chapter title comes from a Kenny Chesney song.

#Because I Could Not Stop for Death fic #BICNSFD #Harmony fanfic #HP fanfic #Harry Potter

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sixtyfivehundredmiles · 4 years

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Great Lakes Moment: River otters return to western Lake Erie

Most people know river otters from zoos or YouTube videos as endearing playful creatures that can put a smile on anyone’s face.

The river otter, once common throughout much of North America, was first reduced by trapping and then displaced from many areas by loss of habitat from urbanization and pollution. But sightings along western Lake Erie at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, and evidence of a return of river otter to Toronto Harbour, raise the prospects that they just might return one day to the Detroit River too.

The river otter makes its home near the water. They live in a den by the edge of a lake, stream, or marsh. One fun fact is that River Otters don’t dig their own dens, they either use a natural hollow or burrow made by another animal. Otter dens feature numerous tunnels with easy access to water, especially for night hunting for fish, amphibians, crayfish and other aquatic delicacies. They can even close their nostrils to keep water out during long dives and stay underwater for up to 8 minutes.

Trail cam photo of a river otter from the Toronto and region watershed. (Photo credit: Toronto Region Conservation Authority).

Historically, river otters were present throughout most of North America, including southeast Michigan and southwest Ontario. One Monroe County, Michigan, creek is even named Otter Creek, a testament to how common they were during the late 1700s. However, that all changed during the Fur Trade Era when river otters were harvested in large numbers for their valuable water-resistant pelts. While hunting and trapping reduced otter numbers in Michigan, Ontario and Ohio, urbanization and water pollution proved to be the final blows. By the early 1900s these semi-aquatic mammals were gone.

In 1986, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources began a 7-year project to reintroduce river otters to areas with clean water and abundant food supply. More than 100 River Otters were captured in Arkansas and Louisiana, where they were still common, and transported to eastern Ohio. They were then released in the Grand River (a tributary of the central basin of Lake Erie) and Killbuck Creek, Little Muskingum River and Stillwater Creek, which flow into rivers that are part of the Mississippi River watershed.

By all accounts the river otter has not only survived but thrived in these watersheds. Monitoring has shown slow but steady growth of the population, and in 2002 it was even removed from Ohio’s list of state endangered species. But as the river otter population grew, individual otters began to adventure out to new watersheds – what scientists call expanding their range.

Some of the adventurous otters have now found a home in western Ohio. River otter sightings have occurred annually for more than 10 years from Cedar Point south to Darby, Ohio, near Columbus. Along the southern shore of western Lake Erie, not only have they been seen in Cedar Point, but Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge located just 15 miles east of Toledo, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and the Toussaint River. Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge manages 6,500 acres of wetlands, grasslands and woodlands for protection of a wide diversity of waterfowl and other migratory birds, resident wildlife, and threatened and endangered species. Refuge biologists and volunteers have confirmed that they are now reproducing in refuge. What a thrill for conservationists and nature lovers to see them frolicking in the waters of western Lake Erie after an 80-year absence.

In March 2019, a naturalist discovered a set of tracks in the snow at Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, on the northern shore of western Lake Erie. The tracks were discovered near the DeLaurier Canal and immediately they knew that they were not the mink tracks often seen in the park. There was a set of mink tracks nearby for comparison, which were much smaller, narrower and of course did not have the “slide” marks characteristic of otters.

Suspected river otter tracks at DeLaurier Canal, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Point Pelee National Park.)

Then in June 2019, two Parks Canada team members were in a boat entering the channel to West Cranberry Pond in the park marsh when an otter swam very close to their boat before diving underneath. Within a couple of weeks of that sighting, another team member working at the marsh boardwalk saw an otter swimming in the open water just to the left of the marsh tower. You can imagine how exciting it would be for a naturalist to see the return of river otters to this revered national park for the first time since it was established in 1918.

Situated on the northern shore of Lake Ontario is Toronto – Canada’s largest city and a key hub of the nation’s commercial, financial, industrial and cultural life. It has long been recognized as a pollution hotspot. In 1985 the International Joint Commission identified Toronto and region as a Great Lakes pollution hotspot and area of concern. Since then, substantial cleanup of pollution and habitat restoration have occurred, resulting in a surprising ecological revival.

More than $80 million alone have been invested in habitat restoration in Toronto and region since 1987. One exciting wetland restoration project has been Corner Marsh at Duffins Creek. For decades it had been in a degraded state, and over 10 years ago it was restored to the point where wetland vegetation, nesting birds and amphibians were flourishing again. Corner Marsh now has the highest population density of muskrats on the north shore of Lake Ontario, which attracted river otters to the area. River otters then spread from Duffins Creek and now occupy the entire Toronto waterfront. It has been over a hundred years since river otters freely inhabited the Toronto waterfront.

Knowing that river otters have returned to the once heavily polluted Toronto Harbour, that they have been successfully reintroduced into eastern Ohio, and that they have now been seen along western Lake Erie in Point Pelee National Park, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and other locations, is it possible that they just might return one day to the Detroit River?

I say yes.

Skeptics might say no. But we must all remember that as recently as 1985 there were no bald eagles, peregrine falcons, or osprey reproducing in the Detroit River watershed because of eggshell thinning caused by pesticides like DDT, no lake sturgeon or lake whitefish were reproducing in the Detroit River, and beavers had long disappeared.

Today they are all back. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had one more ecological surprise?

Check out the Detroit Zoo’s live otter cam HERE.

(source: Great Lakes Now)

By John Hartig, Published May 4, 2020

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.

#great lakes #lake erie #news #environment

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dayseternal-blog · 5 years

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A NaruHina fanfic based off of shamy’s doujinshi posted May 31, 2019. Please check out her 5-panel illustration!

Read Chapter 1 here.

Read Chapter 2 here.

Chapter 3: Better than J-dramas

She was looking at me a lot, right?

He slumps down into his couch at home, pondering the girl he just met.

It could just be that she was shy, knew him the best, and so she felt more comfortable turning to him during their lunch break.

Or, it could be his imagination, his ego, talking. But he doesn’t want to be one of those guys, who thinks that every time a girl smiles at him, that means she’s into him.

Or…

He tilts his head in thought. Maybe she liked me a little?

True, they just met, but he’s a pretty attractive guy, right? He knows he’s not ugly, maybe not a 10, but not like a 3, either. He works out regularly, and in his own, awesome opinion, he thinks he’s pretty nice.

Would I like that?

If she is interested in him?

He wouldn’t mind it…

She was rather pretty. She had a nice face and nice skin. Nice, interesting eyes. Nice hair. Nice voice. She was a nice girl. Cute.

Not very fashionable, with her long skirt and sweater layered over another sweater, but maybe that just means she’s not high maintenance (unlike his semi-serious, acting-major ex Shion from sophomore year).

It’s not like he’s really fashionable, either.

He recalls her quiet smiles and determined expressions. Yeah, she was cute. She definitely seemed sorta innocent, which is a quality he doesn’t see too often in girls his age anymore. That seems to really up her appeal to him in ways he doesn’t want to self-examine.

Wonder if she has a boyfriend.

He remembers everything she told him and the things he learned about her online. He knows she doesn’t have any social media accounts, or they at least don’t pop up on search engines. And nothing she said hinted at a special someone.

She did talk about a few friends.

He frowns at the extent of his contemplation. I should just ask her out! It wouldn’t be a big deal because if she says no, he’d probably never see her again after the concert, unless she has another concert, but it’s whatever.

He’s old enough to ask people out casually, isn’t he?

It’s just not something he’s ever really done. With his “free” time in college spent in various theatres around town part-timing, building his network, or watching other shows to learn new design ideas, he doesn’t exactly have a strong dating history. Usually Sakura makes it her personal mission to hook him up with someone, but it’d be nice to not wait for her to find him his next maybe-we’re-together-but-maybe-we’re-just-seeing-each-other fling that inevitably ends because the girl can’t handle his fluctuating work schedule (Monday and Tuesday or Thursday off, work some weekday nights and every weekend).

Imagine if he told her he started dating someone without her help! Hah! He’s not a helpless case after all!

Anyway, it’s not a big deal.

He can do it.

And, if he doesn’t start now, Sakura will run out of willing friends eventually, and he’ll have to start signing up for those dating apps and “sliding” into random people’s DMs, and, well, he’d rather not?

Yeah, yeah, I’ll ask her out for coffee or something.

With that matter settled and tucked away for later, he grabs the remote, turns on the streaming app, and navigates the site to the drama. It’s only 13 episodes long, one hour each. He can definitely marathon it, especially since he doesn’t have to go in for work in the morning.

He’s halfway through the first episode when his flatmate, his best friend, walks in. “Oh, you’re watching Picture Tomorrow.”

Naruto turns to hear Sasuke dumping his stuff in the kitchen. “Yeah, did you watch this?”

“Sakura made me.”

Figures. Naruto turns back to the show.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“I’m not?”

“Well, of course not since the girl dies at the end.”

Naruto turns furiously to see him standing there indifferently. He throws his hands up. “Sasuke!”

“What. You didn’t know that? How could you not know that?”

“Well, I didn’t!”

“Oh.” Sasuke retreats back to the kitchen.

With the end spoiled, Naruto continues the show with less enthusiasm than before. He watches the love interest gaze at the simpleminded heroine curiously. She’s gonna die! Don’t fall in love with her! He sighs as he realizes every single moment watching this drama will now be colored with those thoughts. “Did you like it?” he questions loud enough for Sasuke to hear over the sound of the sink’s running water.

“...”

Naruto watches Sasuke silently deliberating across the serving counter. If he hated it, he would have said so already. “So it’s a good show, then?”

“It’s interesting.”

That’s pretty much Sasuke-speak for ‘it’s great.’ “I’m gonna marathon the whole thing tonight. You wanna join?”

Sasuke grimaces at him.

But a couple minutes later, after he microwaves some leftovers, he joins him on the couch.

“Oh, this is one of her songs,” Naruto comments aloud as the episode flashes a few sponsors before a commercial break.

Sasuke turns to look at him.

“Hinata, the pianist. She’s having a concert at HKT this Saturday, and I’m her point person,” he explains.

Sasuke silently nods.

Throughout the drama, he vocally notices her songs. “This is her song, too...think this one’s called ‘Finally Arrived.’” He mentally considers that the music sounds different from her online profile, like with other instruments added, and he doesn’t doubt that she composed the music for them, too. “Gee, she’s really talented.”

“Hn.”

Eventually Sasuke leaves him alone, and it’s a good thing because when the heroine tells her love interest her diagnosis, but they start dating anyway, Naruto finds himself tearing up.

By morning, he’s got a permanent frown on his face when she tells him she wants to break up with him, while keeping her terminally ill prognosis secret.

Sasuke comes out, readying for work.

“Sasukeeee...why…” he exhaustedly whines.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“No, no, I like it...I think…”

“Are there still tickets for her concert?”

“Wha? Oh, I dunno...probably…ugh I hate this show...I mean I don’t hate it…”

“Stupid.”

“Noo, this is your fault.”

“Later.” The door clicks shut, and Naruto is left alone to wallow in his misery.

Sasuke doesn’t come back that night, probably staying over at Sakura’s place, so he doesn’t have anyone to voice his thoughts to until the next day when he goes in for work.

He tells the rest of the crew about how his jerk of a flatmate spoiled the ending, and how touching it was that the boyfriend ended up becoming a cancer researcher.

To which their only reaction of note is how Naruto didn’t know that the girl was going to die at the end. “How did you not know that?” “The novel’s been on the best-selling list all season!”

“I just didn’t know!”

When Hinata comes in for her rehearsal, he unthinkingly engages her in his venting. “I finally watched Picture Tomorrow!” he informs her.

Her lips turn up slightly. “Oh, did you like it?”

“Yes! I hated it.”

“Oh…”

“It was so sad,” he bemoans.

“So...you didn’t like it?” she asks.

“No, it was great! It was awful,” he clarifies for her.

It starts quietly, her giggle. He watches her light grey eyes disappear into small slits under dark lashes, and he’s momentarily struck by the realization that he made her laugh.

“Your music was great, too,” he adds, and he suddenly finds himself much more taken with her smile than the drama. She’s wearing make-up today. And a dress. “It completely tied together every scene, it was really nice.”

Her eyes, her entire expression, shines up at him. “Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yeah...” He works his hand into the back of his neck. Right before the rehearsal starts would not be a good time to ask her out. So, he redirects his thoughts to his work. “Are you ready to get started?”

She nods, her shy gaze still focused on him, her cheeks still lightly pink from her laughter.

And he notes how she still looks happy as she follows him toward the stage.

He and the rest of the crew clap and give her cheers as she bows to the empty seats.

She turns and looks at him, smiling a scrunched up, embarrassed and amused expression at their antics.

He grins at her, making sure to holler an extra loud “Wooh!”

Her mouth seems to drop open in surprise, her brows furrowing in confusion at his enthusiasm as she comes off the stage into the wings.

“We won’t be able to cheer you on tomorrow night, so we gotta do it today,” he explains. Tomorrow they’ll all be in work-mode. Silent and invisible.

“Oh,” she answers thoughtfully. “Thank you.”

“Yeah! Everything sounded great. Looks like we’re ready for tomorrow!”

She smiles in agreement and nods.

He feels his weight tipping forward toward his toes, an antsiness that urges him to bounce on his feet. Now’s the time, now’s the time.

His senior’s yell bursts through his thoughts. “Hinata! Before you go, I wanted to know if you’d sign this sheet music for my wife. She teaches your songs to some of her piano students.”

She turns from him, her smile directed away. “Oh, sure!”

Naruto lets out a silent sigh.

He doesn’t get another moment alone with her, and he doesn’t want to subject himself or Hinata to the pressure of asking her out in front of everyone.

It’s only later that night when he’s leaving the theatre and walking to the bus stop that it occurs to him he could message her. He has her number saved, at the time it was for “just in case” as her point person.

Well, but asking her out in a message seems like a cop out.

He fiddles with his phone for a few seconds before opening a new thread.

“Hey Hinata this is Naruto”

He sends it before he can regret it.

He waits a minute.

Nothing.

She might be one of those people who doesn’t obsessively check their phone’s notifications.

He starts typing again.

“We’re all getting dinner around 4:30 tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us before your warmup”

He stares at his phone for a few seconds before pocketing it. Based on her response, he might be able to gauge her interest in him. If she responds.

His phone vibrates when he’s nearing his stop, and he’s relieved to see that it’s her as he exits the bus.

“Hello, Naruto, thank you :) I’ll be there!”

A positive response. A pretty normal, positive response.

He doesn’t gauge anything from it, and now he has to figure out how to reply. For anyone else, he would just “like” her reply.

But she’s not exactly just anyone, and he kind of wants her to notice him the way he’s noticing her.

“Great, see you tomorrow”

He considers adding “have a good night,” quickly decides against it, and presses send.

Her reply comes almost automatically. “Yes, have a good night :)”

He frowns at his phone. He should have just added it the first time. Now is it weird to drag on the conversation? Why didn’t she just say “see you tomorrow” in response?

Before he can take any longer thinking about it, he sends a short message.

“You too”

He lets out a long breath.

The last time he exchanged messages with a girl (that wasn’t a platonic friend) was three months ago. That contact didn’t last past the first date, set up by Sakura.

They were incompatible. Little attraction on both sides when it came to conversation.

It would be nice if he could have a relationship. None of this waiting around, none of this feeling the other person out, none of this second-guessing every move, or just trying to make a move.

He’s ready for more.

He's ready for someone to share some sweetness with.

#naruhina #fanfic #music au #theater au #modern au #piano au #thank you shamy #shamyliciouss #romance #fluff #naruhina fanfiction

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archigalaxy · 4 years

Text

1 BHK Flats in Udaipur

Archi's galaxy is the township under chief minister jan awas yojana which breathes in an exotic elegance with 6 towers followed by 1 bhk flats covering all facets of contemporary lifestyle.

Only 1% gst charge will be applicable

Instead of 5% registry stamp charges only 1% on 1 bhk

Semi modular kitchen

1 bedroom and 2 toilets

Open living space

Open balcony for breathtaking views of the surroundings

Ro water supply

Windows & sliders - Aluminium section Sliding

Sanitary ware - Hindware / Cera or Other Equivalent Brand

Doors - Both side laminated flush doors

Electrical - Syska leds or other equivalent brand

Benefits of investing in a 1 bhk flat

Affordable - 1 bhk flats for sale are among the most affordable residential property types well-Known, even if you plan on taking a loan for purchasing such a property, you will benefit from smaller down payments and monthly instalments. Hence if you want to save some money while buying a home, one bhk flats are what you should be considering

Low cost of maintenance - Another big benefit of buying 1 bhk flat in udaipur is that it requires less work, which means the upkeep is easier than it is in the case of multi-Bedroom apartments. The property tax on small properties is lower too.

Rentable - 1 bhk flats also make for good investments because they get rented especially in big cities that are commercial hubs.

#flatinudaipur #1bhkflatinudaipur #affordablefaltsinudapur #buyflatsinudaipur #saleofflats

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palettesofrenaissance · 4 years

Text

all strings attached

characters: peter parker x michelle “mj” setting: modern, ceo au summary: this is the AU series about CEO!MJ and her assistant, undercover journalist Peter Parker. the chapters order is on ao3 link: ao3 + story is prompt-driven sent to my /ask

prompt: peter goes to michelle’s apartment to drop off some important documents and she invites him in for dinner.

—

When Michelle Watson leaves her apartment late that morning, lazily dressed in a pair of drawstring pants, a sweater and scarf, strolling out into the bright sun unabashed and exposed in one of her rare moments. Likewise in one of her rarely fully relaxed moments, she doesn’t have a particular plan made for the day or destination pre-set in mind but she has somewhat of a goal made—albeit poorly constructed. Michelle exits the building of her condo home on the second day of her weekend off, and it feels like it’s been forever since feeling this free—it’s followed by her ungraceful tripping around a dog zig-zagging on its leash, and then almost stumbling into a fucking parking meter. A man on a mo-ped in a parking spaces pauses to watch her narrow misses of public embarrassment. When catching his incredulous stare Michelle sniffs, slightly sneers, slides her dark sunglasses on to conceal her embarrassment and walks off with a high-held nose.

A shiver runs across her shoulders from the chilly air. She’d been under-prepared for the weather but continues on, determined.

It’s early spring, the winds carrying on the last chills of winter, and it’s half past one in the afternoon in the first of the month of April. Michelle had gotten her day started late.

There’s police sirens echoing in the distance along with other noise that fill the area residing just outside the city’s core: a child shrieking in joy, squirrels scampering, a bike’s bell, a whoop, a holler, a vehicle’s horn and its wheels swerving over asphalt.

Her thumb slides across randomly selected song from Today’s Top Hits playing through Michelle’s earphones and she's like a normal civilian again. Nodding her head in a semi-timed rhythm to the attractive beats and vocals, she tries to take the day as it goes, following the advice to ‘relax, and it will chart its own course’—that was read on the back of an energy stone spontaneously purchase two weeks ago from a university student. It’s now shelved on her industrial entertainment center.

On previous self-appointed days off, she’d spent hours at a bakery one morning and thirty minutes at a gym; she’s had dinner in a nice Dominican restaurant and read through half of a novel in a single afternoon. When she’s able to put on a movie, usually the second half of the movie watches her as she falls asleep.

But those have all just been hours taken out of her work day, not an honest off-day. So as a chance and to help pass the time, today she was able to make a simple breakfast of eggs, buttered toast, and grape juice after woken up by an email alert—it had been from work about more paperwork. She responded whom to forward the paperwork to instead of waiting for her to return. She’d watched the morning news and sat in shared confusion with the news anchor as the previous red-suited Spider-Man appears on screen, swinging in the background to assist the current black-suited Spider-Man against team of powered armed convicts. The news station cuts to commercial.

Her morning ended as Michelle washes her dishes and showering before heading out into the city. But while under the water, she thinks about the Spider-Men and daydreams, wondering if she were to have abilities like theirs—to sense and hear and know—then she wouldn’t have the reputation of her inherited company in danger. Maybe she wouldn’t even be in this position in the first place.

Michelle secures the shower cap on her head and around her ears. She thinks about the Spider-Men, about her retired predecessor, about the small hand-notes of reports she’s received, about her own future. And, she thinks about Felicia Hardy.

— — — — — — —

Dressed in the most unflattering ill-suited outfit for a CEO, she dresses like she’s unexpecting to run into anyone familiar—and she isn’t, pretty sure that everyone is at work today. Michelle isn’t expecting to see anyone from work. She’d been very careful and chose this day off because it had the least likely chance to run into any employees.

But she forgot one recent dividing factor.

Which is why Michelle has a brief but heart-dropping run-in that’s a four-second-long stand-off in the middle of a bustling sidewalk on her way to see what theatre tickets are left for purchase. Michelle grips the shoulder strap of her bag a little tighter. She doesn’t quite glare but she isn’t smiling either—mainly because she’s out with no makeup, her hair barely brushed and pulled up and away from her face, her clothes frumpy and unflattering, and mainly because she’s standing feet away from Mr. Peter Parker who’s leaving the same food truck lot she introduced him to three months ago, an older woman at his side. They both had been laughing; they aren’t anymore, Peter’s dying coldly while the other woman is gradually understanding the situation.

The sun’s blazing overhead. A chilling gust of wind blows. Michelle’s tongue sticks to the roof of her mouth.

It’s a brief standoff that goes mostly unnoticed because the woman at Peter’s side stops to rummage through her purse and Peter’s holding her food in one hand and his own in his other, and he looks…bad, Michelle wants to say. Unprofessional. Unconsidered. …At least he isn’t wearing those damn jeans with a suit jacket like he assumed what their "business casual" dress was.

But in this situation, Michelle is a hypocrite.

Wordlessly, Peter hands the woman back her red-and-white-striped paper tray, and as they continue walking again, he runs a hand through the mess that’s his hair, partially hidden beneath the green hood of his sweater. The woman beside him still doesn’t seem to notice...

And Peter knows he shouldn’t look, because if he looks, May will look, and if May looks...

But Michelle is walking away now, though still their paths will intersect anyway and by now they’ve already seen each other so there’s no real avoiding at this point, and Peter he knows he should say something, because it’s polite and expected and Michelle’s his boss, technically, and it’s best to stay on her good side, secondly…but maybe he shouldn’t say anything with his chest clenching and speeding in indecisive anxiety, and Peter doesn’t really hear his aunt May still talking...

May notices anyway.

Without looking Michelle directly in the eyes for long (which she’s grateful for, too) Peter blurts out an equally improper “Hello, Ms. Watson” and forces a grin in Michelle’s direction.

She pauses....shuffles on her feet. He smiles and she inwardly curses this terribly executed avoidance. Fuck.

For the quick beat of a following second, Peter thinks Michelle’s scrutinizing him. She blinks and her gaze is sharp and piercing, eyeing the jean jacket worn over his green hoodie. Then there’s that expecting frown to her face.

“Mr. Parker.” The returning greet is quick and to the point, paired with a curt nod. This is her day off and she isn’t prepared to be seen, so she desperately wants to get away as soon as possible.

May, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be on the same wavelength or doesn’t consider.

At Michelle’s response, May pipes up an unconcealed, “Ms. Watson? As in, the Ms. Watson?” She then goes off in excited storytelling about how grateful they are that Michelle was able to introduce May’s nephew to a connection at a brief meeting that had potential to greatly boost his career—a Dr. Connors, May blurts, some scientist that was looking for funding but whom Michelle herself hadn’t spoken to. May had greatly misunderstood Peter’s story and isn’t listening to his hints for her to stop talking. Then May’s infiltrating Michelle’s personal bubble to pull her hand from her side and shakes it enthusiastically, graciously, and speaking so.

At May’s side, Peter is looking equally parts embarrassed, like a child listening to his parent spill every bit of information, and he’s equally parts mortified by his aunt’s blabbering about his career and how much he’s shared about it, about the snippets of information he’s told about her—Michelle. It’s all good things shared but May considered it extraordinary to have connections so far up in a business latter, with a nice boss to boot.

“It’s always flattery,” May informs of her nephew’s talks glorifying his boss. “All good things. His eyes always light up.” She leans in a little and winks at that last statement.

It’s meant in play but Michelle still swallows nervously.

Horrified, Peter grips May’s arm and tugs her back to his side with a strained smile, gritting through his teeth. “That’s enough, Aunt May. We should go. We should go now.”

And he knows he shouldn’t look at his boss after this. He knows—he shouldn’t—he can’t after this embarrassing blunder opening. May’s half-empty beer bottle rests in the crook of his elbow. (It’s not that his aunt is tipsy, because she isn’t and has a strong stomach too, but her lips are loosened by the beer and she’d been too relaxed when she started speaking.) Peter feels his ears beginning to warm so he refuses to look his boss in the eye. But Michelle’s standing hardly five feet away and they're already near the line for the ticket-window, and, for which he thinks is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event, notices she isn’t dressed up—that, and he can practically feel Michelle’s smile radiating as he focuses on anything but her face.

May continues to talk and Peter doesn’t look.

Michelle’s laughing. Of course she’s laughing.

Peter looks.

Her favorite designer sunglasses are sliding from the tangles atop her head, and she’s clearly hiding her quiet chuckling behind the hand pressed against her mouth. The grey scarf wrapped around her neck is of thick yarn and it’s long, hanging to the waistband of her pants. Peter blinks. He’s close enough to see that all she has on is lipstick and—maybe—is that eyeshadow? He takes in how haphazardly her brown hair is pulled back by a scrunchie, loose curls a halo in the sunlight; takes in her light-brown skin and high cheekbones and a face that’s just as fascinating as she’s beautiful—

Wait.

Peter’s mouth goes dry. He blinks again

May’s studded earrings reflect emerald green. Michelle makes a comment about Peter’s loose lips, about how he swings between speaking so freely or not at all.

He finds it surprisingly stings.

Of course it stings.

Michelle wraps her extra-long scarf wrapped around her wrists as she tells how May’s nephew is stubborn yet good working, and that he’s briefly mentioned his aunt before over dinner. Michelle doesn’t go into detail, but still May’s brows rise and her lip pouts in exaggerated fondness, and gives her nephew a look that he still isn’t going to look her in the eyes to see either.

“Oh! Dinner? I didn’t know about that. It must have been fancy,” May smirks.

Peter rolls his eyes.

Michelle’s smile is more of polite than amused, and it’s near painful to watch.

At that same moment, Peter pipes up: “Ms. Watson doesn’t like those restaurants that overprice everything for small amounts.”

May speaks that she already likes his boss—as if this is a romantic set-up instead of a coincidental meeting.

Michelle’s strained smile turns to him. “I can speak for myself, thank you.”

He squeezes his eyes closed, head bowing, mentally kicking himself.

“And I never said anything about not liking fancy dinners,” Michelle’s arms cross. “Especially if they have good bread…” She then explains to May that she’s partnered with several charities and tries to practice sustainability within the company. That Peter’s chin snaps up at her first sentence about fancy dinners goes unaddressed.

He’s quiet as the conversation continues on without him, as it dwindles, and the line for the ticket-window shortens. Peter is twisting the neck of the beer bottle in his hands. May is talking about something related to past events, a way to impress Michelle, he’s sure, as Michelle wordlessly reaches into her purse for her cellphone and unlocks the screen. May finishes her story and Michelle gives another polite smile, and Peter squints after her as she says goodbyes and hurries for the ticket window.

He gulps down the remaining two-thirds of his beer. His aunt hides her impress.

Michelle waits behind an indecisive woman with sleek hair, pressed clothes, and who’s face she doesn’t immediately see. Michelle fiddles on her cellphone, waiting her turn. She decides to purchase a ticket for a show she saw advertised on the theatre’s website, and proceeds to the restroom. It isn’t until she exits, heading towards the door to her assigned theatre, does she stop cold in her tracks for a second stand-off, coming face to face with an old friend—an ex—an ex a lot of things: an ex friend, an ex coworker, an ex employee, an ex follower on social media, an ex partner in crime, an ex—

Felicia had been an ex “sister,” almost. Practically. And as she turns, threateningly slow and smoothly, Michelle feels like she’s being scrutinized like one.

She had been the one in front of Michelle at the window outside.

She’s also seen Michelle at her worse as well as her best, so the other doesn’t feel too embarrassed about her attire in front of Felicia. But still, Michelle would have felt better to be more appropriately dressed.

Felicia stalks around Michelle like a wary feline, her eyes dragging slowly from Michelle’s quickly chosen baby-doll shoes, to her lazily fashioned hair. Michelle stands her ground, equally vigilant. Felicia sniffs.

Finally, she mutters a rude acknowledgment of “Watson.”

Michelle answers with equal vigor and vileness, “Hardy.”

Felicia frowns.

Michelle blinks. Her grip on her purse tightens.

The women stare at each for a long, long moment, features carefully arranged in blank, impossible-to-read masks—and then Felicia’s lips twitch. Suddenly, like a light-switch, a bright smile lights her face. Michelle hears a small family entering through the entrance doors before Felicia speaks.

“I heard about your job. That’s so unfortunate.” It’s fake sympathy as bitter as the lemonade she once tried to make from scratch, horrible judgement of substituting brown sugar instead of cane sugar.

Michelle doesn’t reply.

“It was all over the news,” she continues, face and tone bright and devoid of any venom. “I just can’t imagine,” and a hand raises to her chest, sympathetically, and Michelle wants to rip off the brightly colored pin on the other’s blouse—it was one Michelle gave to Felicia for her birthday.

Michelle wants to rip it off, and she regrets ever gifting it.

“I mean. The fact that that was going on behind the boss’s back, and they never knew,” Felicia presses. “Who knows what else could have happened?” She mingles the company’s name with words like “promiscuity” and “gambling” and “stealing” in a light tone as the parents and two children walk past and to a different showing; Felicia says it purposely loud to earn the sneer from one of the two mothers.

Michelle glares. It wasn’t her fault, and Felicia knows. She knows that Felicia knows. And yet still...

“You have been there as long as I have. I knew just as much as you did.”

Felicia clicks her tongue. “But see here…” A long nail curls under her chin as she steps around Michelle, clearly toying with her. “This is the difference between us: it didn’t happen under my authority. It happened under yours, boss. But…” She stops herself. Shakes her head. “You wouldn’t listen anyway.”

Michelle’s hands ball into fists. “Stop the bullshit, Felicia.” The other tries to play coy and Michelle isn’t having it. “You don’t need a fucking audience; everyone already knows. And before you have anything else smart to say,” she steps closer, threatening, “I’ve already hired investigators that are looking into it.”

One of Felicia’s stenciled brows raise in apparent impress. “Have you?”

Music begins playing from inside one of the theaters—the one Michelle bought a showing for. She blows a breath of hot air through her nose as she starts to turn to catch her showing before the doors lock. “One of us has to be responsible,” Michelle says and she can tell that that burned.

Felicia scoffs. “Fair enough.” Her smile isn’t as strong as before, hanging limply by the ends.

Michelle glances back to study the other briefly, gaze flitting from Felicia’s eyes to her mouth to her painted nails and then narrowing slightly when she rises back up to that plastic guise. To her, Michelle is so transparent—Michelle believes she can read Felicia like another book, another fault that Felicia had often called fault to.

Without another word, Michelle stomps to the entrance where the show she’s paid for will begin playing in the next five minutes.

Felicia raises her voice pointedly so Michelle doesn’t miss but keeps it low enough to not echo in the lobby: “And you thought you were the smarter one. See where that got you?”

Michelle takes two more steps inside the room when she stops. Above her, the EXIT sign glows an annoying muted red. Covered in the darkness of the entrance to the theatre, she debates whether to retort back—to even turn around and continue—there’s bile in her words bubbling up her throat, choking he. However, several seconds when Michelle decides to return to the lobby to retort, Felicia is nowhere to be found.

The ending to Michelle’s time off was spent resenting and brooding within the dark room of a theatre performance.

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lyndareno · 5 years

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My midcentury modern renovation

After buying myself a duplex in Perth built in 1979, I decided it needed renovation. Little had been done to the house since it was first built so it was looking very tired and starting to collapse in places. Building oversite was obviously not strict at this time as many roof beams were not nailed in place properly and the weight of the concrete tiles was collapsing the roof in the lounge area. This also resulted in the eaves dropping, allowing water to seep into these areas. The glue holding up the ceiling in many of the rooms was also failing and many of the ceilings were collapsing. As such, these were the initial works I had engaged workmen to undertake. After these works were completed the roof was painted a very pale orange colour to reflect the sunlight and reduce the heat entering the roof space and solar panels were added to reduce my power bills.

Then it was time to start renovating the inside. The lounge had a large window that overlooked the front garden which was beginning to leak so the first thing I did was replace it with wooden French doors. These open out onto a newly paved patio area with a patio built from the wood used in an old carport that someone advertised on Gumtree. The kitchen and dining room were dark brown brick walls with four arches. As arches were a feature of the retro era, I decided to keep three of these in the lounge/dining room wall so set about painting them with two coats of undercoat and two of a semi-gloss white paint. The bricks all had to be dusted first as they contained 30 years of dust and the whole job took me at least 2 weeks. But it was worth all the work as they now provide a clean-looking, textured wall for this space.

Next, I had to decide how I was going to renovate my kitchen. This small area was walled off with dark brown bricks on two sides and a small archway to communicate between the kitchen and dining room. This limited my ability to interact with guests while I was cooking. After much deliberation I finally chose to knock down both these brick walls, virtually gutting the whole kitchen area. Next came the exciting task of designing my new kitchen. Two large windows and an air conditioner remained on the far wall so I had to include these in my design. I had purchased green kitchen appliances to match a retro fridge I had bought at a second-hand shop a few years earlier so knew what colours I wanted, which is a big help when doing any renovation. The fridge had also influenced my decision to have a retro design for my house. After hours researching retro kitchens, I also knew the features I wanted including: drawers with cupboards underneath, a row of drawers and open, circular shelves at the end of the cupboards. I also wanted a small cupboard with glass doors on the wall, an island and a floor to ceiling pantry.

I had already collected some Jason green kitchen cannisters for flour, sugar etc so knew I wanted some shelves to display these. Fortunately, my small-sized fridge allowed room for these shelves to be placed above it. I did a lot of research on-line until I found the right shade of green Laminex Laminate for the benchtop. Simon, at the kitchen renovation company I engaged to do the work, was a great help in deciding what was possible and what materials I could use. I wanted a matt finish so used a white Melamine Sheen for my doors and panels and found some retro-looking handles to place on them. I knew I needed as much white as possible with the dark green benchtop and chairs so decided a white stone benchtop would look best on the island. I found a lovely white stone with a greyish-green fleck in it at the kitchen company which was just what I wanted.

After the walls had been demolished my kitchen cabinets arrived and after looking at them, I realised the white was overwhelming and needed breaking up. To do this I asked for a small strip of green Laminex to be placed on the front of the exhaust fan and a larger piece to be placed on the back of the island where the green chairs would sit. This made a big difference to the overall look of the kitchen as it helped to balance the colours and I’m really pleased I did this. After the kitchen had been installed, I then had to decide what tiles would be placed above the benchtop and what I would use for the splashback.

I had visited a small shop in Fremantle that sells hand-made tiles of vintage design so researched their website and found some lovely tiles with a green art-deco design. Having only these tiles would have made the small area look too busy so I decided to scatter a few amongst some white tiles the same size. They were also very expensive so with this design I was able to do the tiling for a more reasonable cost. I tossed up whether to get a lovely picture on the splashback but decided in the end to get a plain colour as I didn’t want it to dominate the kitchen. I decided on a silvery-white look and did a bit of research trying to find something that would give me the look I wanted. In the end I went to a company that designs and sells splashbacks and found one that had a slight silvery sheen to it but it also had a greenish tinge to the glass. When it was installed the green was even more pronounced and it came out looking great with the green benchtop.

Next, I needed to do the floor. I also wanted to replace the carpet in the dining room, lounge and passage and during my research found a company selling natural fibres which I liked the idea of. These are mostly made of jute, coir, sisal, wool sisal mixes and seagrass. I felt these carpets were more environmentally friendly and thought they might be less attractive to dust mites. After much deliberation I finally found one made of sisal I liked and had this installed. Then I needed to find a lino or tiles for the kitchen that would match the colours and retro look I had designed. I wanted green and white tiles but could not find them anywhere. My research led me to commercial linos and I found one in green that I liked. However, when I ordered it, I was told they had stopped making that design and I was provided with some other samples to choose from. The one I chose has actually turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made for the design of the kitchen. It is exactly the right colour and the pattern is also similar to that found in some older houses. Perhaps some things are meant to be….

I had been buying second-hand furniture advertised on my local Gumtree website for years as I didn’t have much furniture when I shifted into the house and I like the retro style of furniture. Someone had sold me her grandmother’s sideboard which was lined with a blonde-wood Formica. A year or two after this I found a lovely dining suite in the same Formica style with 6 turquoise chairs that matched the colours in my lounge. This completed my dining area nicely.

While I was waiting for my kitchen to be installed, I spent lots of time plastering, sanding and painting the walls in the lounge, foyer and kitchen area as these had had a lot of hard wear over the 30-odd years they had been painted. I mixed my own paint so I could get different shades in each room of the house. I wanted very light shades of blue and green which meant a lot of trial and error. (This ended with me having to sell a whole 4L tin of paint for $20 I had tinted but couldn’t use because it was too bright). I then decided to wallpaper the foyer wall. This wall consisted of a few pieces of gib-board that had been placed onto the wall and poorly joined. As a result, I had to do a lot of plastering and sanding. Then I bought lining paper and with the help of a friend, we placed the paper vertically across the wall to help cover the joins. I found that an English website, Spoonflower had by far the best wallpaper designs and after a lot of searching I found a retro, atomic design with the right colours I wanted. I had wallpapered a house before when I lived in New Zealand so had a fair idea what I was doing. I also found the new wallpapers with glue on the back are very easy to slide into place. The design on the wallpaper also helps to match each strip.

I was so happy with the look of the foyer wall that I decided to put wallpaper on one of the walls in the lounge room. I needed a wallpaper for this wall that wasn’t too bold or bright so that it didn’t conflict with the tartan in my lounge suite and that had an atomic look to it. Another extensive search on Spoonflower ended with me finding a new design that really suited the colours in my lounge suite – green, turquoise and blue.

It is interesting how sometimes things just fall into place. Not long after completing the wallpapering of the lounge wall I noticed an advert for a second-hand lounge suite in exactly the right colour – turquoise - that was in the atomic style. I was able to buy this and renovate the wooden parts of it. The upholstery is a little faded in places but it is in reasonable condition for the age of the lounge suite so I didn’t have to spend much on it and it is perfectly suited to the wallpaper on the wall. It was also a plain colour which worked in well with the other tartan lounge suite I had already purchased a few years before.

An art-deco style piano, an old stereogram that works and a retro-style coffee table make up the other furniture in this room.

I have also purchased other collectables on Gumtree or second-hand shops that help to enhance the retro look of the lounge room. Bright teal curtains and a green mat have finished off this room nicely. My last job is to renovate the coffee table top.

The spare bedroom has also been renovated in a retro style. After fixing up the plaster and painting the walls, then varnishing the windowsill, I proceeded to paint a lovely retro dressing table I had acquired off Gumtree. I also found some interesting bedside lights and altered them to hang on the wall above the bed. Lastly, I have bought a brightly coloured new bedspread to brighten up the room. All that’s left to do is to renovate the bedside table.

This renovation has taken nearly 2 years with many hours of research and work. But it has been achieved using a modest budget. It has been a labour of love and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to use my creative abilities to create a home that I really enjoy living in. I hope it gives somebody some ideas for how they can create a midcentury modern look to their home on a modest budget.

#mid century modern

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agritecture · 6 years

Photo

Enter Sensei: A New Approach to Hydroponics and Health

By Mike Nasseri

A multi-trillion dollar opportunity is emerging at the convergence of food, technology and rapidly evolving consumer behaviour. In 2017, investment in the AgriFood/AgTech industries rebounded, with some serious money and a strong digitization theme. Parallel to this series of investments, we have seen a flood of interest from notable tech billionaires into the Agrifood and AgTech industries.

Among those billionaires, Kimbal Musk led the pack as the first to frame the opportunity and went on to co-found Square Roots in 2016.

A re-creation of Kimbal’s slide from his 2016 presentation “Food is the new Internet”.

Eric Schmidt was next with a signal to entrepreneurs with his formation of Farm2050. Only a few months ago, the largest ever AgTech investment to-date saw Schmidt’s fund, Innovation Endeavours, join with Bezos Expeditions in Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Vision Fund’s $200 million dollar series-B investment into vertical farming proto-giant Plenty. With Jeff Bezos’ participation in the round, there is an obvious strategic alignment and potential for a billion+ dollar exit tied to the recent Amazon-Whole Foods acquisition as well.

The current projections— Courtesy Farm2050

Additionally, Alphabet X, Google’s “Moonshot Factory” (and semi-autonomous proxy of skillionaires Larry Page and Sergei Brin) ran a project that successfully invalidated the current economic viability of hydroponically grown staple dry commodity crops and has recently announced a new interest in technologies around agriculture. Also, a billionaire sponsored X-Prize is in the works for 2018 based on “The Future of Food” that will likely include a theme of empowering individuals and institutions to improve the quality of life of the marginalized.

This brings us to the latest entrant, and catalyst for this article: Larry Ellison.

Ellison’s experience at Oracle would have provided him with a unique, front row perspective on the healthcare industry, as Oracle was built on enterprise level IT services for large institutions such as government and hospitals. They have had a hand in the ongoing digital transformation of the healthcare industry and made a lot of money in the process.

Enter Sensei: a brand new approach to marketing a hydroponic food production company. By framing their products and services within healthcare instead of food, they are positioning themselves in a more sophisticated industry niche. Unlike agriculture, healthcare has long been in the process of digitization and has more complex research, services, products and supply chains. And in my estimation, biomedical industries are twenty to one hundred years ahead of the capabilities deployed in a large swath of the agricultural industries.

“Despite the first farm management software platforms’ introduction to the market more than a decade ago, not to mention Microsoft’s debut of Excel in 1985, most farmers, according to the study, still rely on pen, paper, and non-computerized tools (69%).” — Nina Sparling, AgFunder News

Image from: 2015 Industry Digitization Index — Mckinsey Global Institute

Healthcare services and industry typically holds a larger share of GDP than agriculture in more developed countries. Total healthcare expenditures at the federal level of developed nations usually exceeds investments and costs associated with agriculture, which still has governments involved in strategic aspects of the sector.

At the consumer level, healthcare and food are likely to be nearly endless areas of growth for individual expenditure, as companies combine new technologies such as machine vision, UAV, UGV, food computing, and digital phenotyping, combine in a massive arms race for the best inter-operable digital platforms and machine learning algorithms.

HMOs and single payer systems have been transitioning to patient driven outcomes as the new metrics of success. This means recapturing value at hospital scale is no longer only about wait times, capacity and bed usage rates. “Let food be thy medicine” is just as engrained in the minds of people as the Hippocratic Oath, and patient diet remains one of the easiest areas for doctors and institutions to boost patient outcomes through quantitative personalized medicine, and the qualitative psychological benefits of well prepared food.

The fact that this new “food boom” has become personal for a few billionaires with experience in building pillars of the business worlds bodes well for entrepreneurs with small scale to moon or mars-shot level ambitions. I saw the proverbial once in a lifetime opportunity to join something big at the ground floor when I joined a vertical farm in 2014.

I would still describe today’s window of time as ground floor for most opportunities in this great game. Some people still think competition is a barrier, but the truth is there is still blue water everywhere and if competition exists, consider it a signal that you are at least on to something.

Hydroponics, or some variant, is the base technology for most new commercial food production technology companies seeking massive investments such as Aerofarms (Aeroponics,) and Plenty received. In my experience speaking to the public about our indoor smart garden product at AVA, hydroponics still hasn’t penetrated the mainstream zeitgeist.

Tomato plants in U.S. Military Pacific Theatre Hydroponics Greenhouses

An overlooked element of the applications of hydroponics is highlighted in the book “The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century” (Dickson Despommier, 2010). In the Pacific theatre of the second World War, hydroponics were used by the American military not as a means to produce the base caloric intake for GIs and Marines, but to provide fresh foods that dispensed a glimpse of the feeling of ’home’, and a psychological boost in what was a vicious campaign fought mostly on inhospitable rocks covered in deadly jungle.

A Russian cosmonaut brought an onion onboard the International Space Station for a second time for exactly the same sensory nostalgia and associated sense of well-being that can keep us that much better prepared to deal with adversity. Beyond better integrating personalized nutrition into hospital recovery programs, the current hydroponics boom places the general concept of wellbeing as a positive externality that is also a driving factor at all levels of urban and local growing movements.

We are on course for a future of food that will begin to look unrecognizable to previous generations.

#urban agriculture #Vertical Farm #investment #agtech #agrifood #technology #food #agriculture #healthcare #hydroponics

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