#so i married a pinniped

[commarogue]

idk even know what the list is but tell me about SO YOU MARRIED A PINNIPED or i will expire thank you for ur service ily

ok ok i suppose you have more than earned it considering how often i've crowed at you about this one, and i do actually have the opening drafted out!

2. so i married a pinniped (cn: death of aging parent, talk of death of parent in the past) modern au attempt at a black comedy wherein brienne comes home to get her dad settled in a senior home except whoops nope he's dead and shenanigans ensue from there:

“The last O’Tarth, now,” one blue-hair nodded sagely, crushing the bones of Brienne’s hand between her own veiny ones. Brienne found herself drawn downward, yanked to the face of a woman who disregarded manners and politeness as allowed by her age. “You’ve spent quite enough time on your quest to save the bloody mainland, certainly. Time to come home now, isn’t it? Find you a nice young man—or woman, of course, I don’t judge. Just someone to help you look after your family’s legacy. Make up for lost time?”

Brienne heard herself croak out some noncommittal reply before Asha, preceded by dissipating cigarette smoke, ushered the mourner on into the living room to leave Brienne holding a warm loaf of probably another zucchini bread. Everyone was emptying out their gardens—what luck they could do it into the O’Tarth household.

The last time her dad’s house was this crowded, Brienne remembers there being less bread. Fewer people, too, for her mother had been an outsider, and they had never recovered her body from the water. Everyone on the island loved her father. Everyone here had probably asked him for something at one time or another. They all probably had experienced her father’s generosity whether they consciously knew it or not. Lucky, and ungrateful.

She thanked another face she wished she couldn’t remember, and followed their eyes down to where she was indenting the loaf such that it seemed to be sprouting a ribcage between her fingers. It gave a hollow thunk as it landed on the top of what used to be her father’s dining table until Asha had dubbed it “Condolence Carb Mountain.”

Her mountain, now, though hopefully not for long. Maybe she could foist the mountain off in the sale as well. Everything goes, complimentary funeral loaves non-negotiable.

An immaculately dressed woman passed through the hallway beyond the arch on the other side of the mountain, followed by her partner, equally immaculate and so entirely out of place here on the island. Here, you dressed for the weather and for pragmatism. And you did so a couple decades behind the mainland, as trends and fashion trickled slowly past the bluster of the bay if at all.

Brienne regarded her own too-big dress pants and wrinkled blazer. Those were her father’s as well. Her own were floating somewhere in that bay. It had been an acceptable loss, before. She wasn’t supposed to have seen anyone. Her dad wasn’t supposed to be dead.

“That crown moulding,” the woman said, loud even as she made her way deeper into the house, past the living room where the viewing was taking place.

“I know, but hush.”

“It’ll have to come down.” Come down?

“Babe, we should have waited for the realtor.”

Brienne bumped the table on her rush into the hallway, sending a plate of cookies plummeting to their carpetty deaths. As she called out to redirect the couple disappearing up the back stairs, the doorbell and subsequent dirty looks from old women gossiping under the pretense of mourning silenced her. At her elbow, Asha sucked her teeth.

“Who’re they?”

“Buyers,” Brienne said. “I forgot about the showings.”

“Holy shit you’re selling the house?”

Her dad wasn’t supposed to be dead, she wasn’t supposed to be here, and the house wasn’t supposed to be her problem anymore. She was supposed to have been back on the ferry to Stormsend by now, her father safely set up in assisted living where he would be less likely to get himself into more trouble. Where he wouldn’t be breaking any more hips or terrifying neighbors he didn’t recognize off of public property. She wasn’t supposed to be eating up two days’ worth of time off dealing with every person who lived in Evenfall who expected that she’d finally be moving back to Tarth.

She was supposed to never have to come back to Tarth again.

The back door opened and a voice commented on the smell of baked goods. Asha swore like she was excited.

“Want me to kick them out?” Asha said, and Brienne got the distinct impression she would be granting her a most fervent wish.

“No.”

“No?”

“I need to get this over with.” She needed to get back to her life, back to Winterfell. Delaying the house viewings would be another day before she could get home, more lost time, would feed the island’s gossip that she was back. Back-back.

“How?”

“I’ll get the door, can you—?” But before Brienne could finish her question, Asha was a shark after immaculately-dressed albacore. It didn’t make sense; the realtor was supposed to have met her this morning so she could turn the keys over before the scheduled appointments.

“But the advertisement said this was an open house?” The potential buyers on the porch regarded Brienne with suspicion as she informed them they were double-booked. Fair, she was actively hiding a dead body from them in her living room. Brienne stepped into their line of sight, though it was obvious they had already seen her crowded living room. Why hadn’t she drawn the drapes?

They grumbled minimally but retreated to their car to wait. The notification drawer on Brienne’s phone stared blankly back at her—despite her father’s passing it seemed the island’s charms remained intact. Had she known she’d be on Tarth for this long she would have brought her old pager. At least then she’d have had some kind of warning from the realtor.

From inside the house came a startled shriek and the murmur of a group of people remarking disapprovingly to each other, followed by heavy hurried footsteps. Three figures emerged in a rush through the front door, two looking alternately like they’d seen a ghost and then vomited, and Asha after them doing a decent impression of the kind of teacher who lets you stick your finger into a socket to teach you a lesson about electricity.

“You’re sick,” the first spewed at her as Brienne attempted to apologize. The second looked like they were holding more vomit in.

Another car pulled up. It was the couple from the porch. The tall one rolled down their window: “Can we go through now?”

Once they realized the viewings would just keeping piling up, Asha parked herself on the porch, a wake-cum-open-house bouncer directing people this way and that.

“Open house or open casket?” turned into “House or body?” turned into “Shopping or mourning?” and eventually Brienne stopped caring. She smiled her most welcoming smile at potential buyers and frowned her grieving frown at people who still called her Little Bri and told her how proud her father had been of her, even though she ran away.

endless wips meme!

[ellecdc]

continuing from this post that @wandasfifthwife tagged me in <33

last song: Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

favorite color: yellow

currently watching: The Simpson's on repeat lol (I don't watch TV really)

sweet/savory/spicy: fuckin hell, I'm a foodie so this is a question that would have me shot if I had to answer it with a gun to my head........savory I guess :(

relationship status: irl: single, tumblr: happily married

current obsession: Marauders (obviously) also Millie and I walked down to the beach and I found a cool bone/fossil that I'm cleaning rn so I'll be obsessed with that for a while

last thing you googled: what kind of bone I just found lol (it's a pinniped scapula of a seal/sea lion [i.e., a shoulder blade type thingy])

NPT: @unstablereader @luizd3ad @aremuslupinsimp @jemssafespace && anyone else (pls tag me in it if you do!)

[atarahderek]

Song of the Sea: A Criticism of Bronagh

Bronagh is probably my second least favorite character in the entire Irish Folklore Trilogy by Cartoon Saloon (nothing can beat Oliver Cromwell, but at least him we're supposed to hate). It's not that I hate her, but I do think she's a terrible person who didn't deserve her family, because the only reason she had them was to use and lose them. So in this essay I will explain how Blue Diamond pulled a Pink, but in Ireland and with pinnipeds.*

Who is Bronagh? A Recap

For those unfamiliar with Cartoon Saloon's Song of the Sea, Bronagh is the mother of Ben and Saoirse, the protagonist and deuteragonist of the film respectively. She is a selkie, which is basically the Celtic version of a mermaid. She can shift between a seal and human form, and is considered to be part of the fairy (or fae) race. She wears her seal coat at all times, which allows her to move between land and sea at will.

On the night her second child, Saoirse, is born, Bronagh falls ill while in labor and is forced to permanently return to the sea, allowing her newborn to wash ashore for her father, Conor, to find. Bronagh's departure traumatizes both Conor and Ben. Conor believes his wife has abandoned him and has no idea why, and he's left in deep depression, especially on Saoirse's birthday. Meanwhile, Ben develops aquaphobia because he believes his mother drowned at sea. He wears a lifejacket wherever he goes for this reason.

Bronagh remains absent for six years, until one Halloween night when Saoirse, embracing her selkie heritage, sings the titular Song of the Sea, opening a pathway for all fairy kind to travel to Tír na nÓg, the land they originally came from. Bronagh does not stay long, however, and bids her family farewell for the final time, taking Saoirse's seal coat so that the girl can stay with her human family. They never see Bronagh again, and are honestly happier for it.

As they should be. Because frankly, Bronagh is a grifter.

Selkies

The legends surrounding selkies typically involve either humans or selkies seducing one another (usually men of either species seducing women of the other species), resulting in an inter-species marriage. If a selkie woman marries a man, this is usually because the man found and hid her seal coat, preventing her from transforming back into a seal. When she finally finds the coat, she returns to the sea forever. In one legend, a selkie maiden willingly takes a human husband, and when he goes out to sea in a storm against her warnings, she's forced to rescue him. But because of the specific rules established in her legend, she is then unable to transform back into her human form, and has to remain at sea, separated from her family. In some forms of the legend, the selkie is able to hide their identity from their lover, out of fear they will lose their seal coat and be trapped on land forever. But in these legends, the selkie is always forced to return to the sea by one circumstance or another, thus having to abandon their lover.

The gist of all this is that selkie-human marriages always end in a broken family. And the selkie frequently leaves behind children.

Bronagh's Secrets

Now, in SotS, it's established that Bronagh and Conor are happily married, with seemingly no coercion from either party. Bronagh is free to wear her seal coat all she likes, and Conor knows she's a selkie. It's only when Saoirse is born that Conor makes a habit of hiding away the seal coat for fear of losing her like he did her mother, resulting in Saoirse becoming mute without it. It comes as a shock to Conor when Bronagh returns permanently to the sea, abandoning him and their children. Obviously he was previously unaware that Bronagh could not continue living both on land and at sea, and that she would eventually have to return to the sea.

But this isn't the only secret Bronagh kept from Conor. As one party in selkie-human marriages is wont to do, Bronagh was using Conor for her own gains.

We learn from a group of fairies that a selkie is needed to open the way to Tír na nÓg by way of her singing. Saoirse specifically seems to be the selkie required to do this. Because Saoirse is half human, she thus represents a connection--a bridge--between the human realm and the fairy realm. Ben did not inherit Bronagh's selkie magic, so even though he is technically half selkie himself, he's unable to become that bridge. There's also an implication that Bronagh knew that in order to assure that Saoirse had selkie magic, she would have to birth her at the expense of her life on land. Saoirse is the product of Bronagh's real goal; to create a bridge and open a pathway for her kind to their realm. For this she needed herself a patsy.

Enter Conor.

The Grift

Conor is a gentle lighthouse keeper. He is strongly introverted, has a love of the sea and doesn't let his overbearing mother dictate his life. He is well aware of the legends of selkies and is determined to not be that kind of husband. But he doesn't know everything he needs to know about them, and that suits Bronagh just fine. What he doesn't know can't hurt her, right? So Bronagh tells him all about where she's from, and together they dream up an idyllic life split between sea and shore. But what she doesn't tell him is that she wants him for his DNA, and once she gets what she wants, she's outta there. She leaves him bereaved and confused, with two children to raise on his own, both of whom can be read as having special needs because of their trauma and/or the circumstances of their birth. And one of those children she only produced to be a tool, just like Conor.

All this, of course, leaves poor Ben in the painful and unfair position of having to repair his entire family practically by himself at ten years old.

While I can understand that Bronagh would be hesitant to tell Conor exactly what her mission was, the fact is that by not telling him, she was exploiting him and their children. Conor was just a cog in Bronagh's machinations. She didn't marry him out of love, and she basically captured him and held him captive. Which makes her no different from any other selkie legend, except this time it's the wife doing the exploitation rather than the husband.

Basically, Bronagh is not a good person.

Consequences and Conclusion

If Conor had known the truth about Bronagh's mission, there's certainly a decent chance that he would've opted out. But what if he hadn't? What if he was so in love with this seal maiden that he agreed to help all her people? Had that been the case, he could've better prepared his children for not only the day Bronagh had to leave, but also for the day Saoirse would fulfill her purpose and open the path to Tír na nÓg. And he would've been better prepared himself. Bronagh could not have foreseen that her actions would ultimately lead to the main antagonist Macha's redemption, and the fairies whom Macha had turned to stone being set free after Ben was forced to confront his own trauma and the emotions that came with it. So Bronagh pretty much just traumatized her son because she wanted to keep her secrets. The trouble and pain she caused did ultimately have a greater good come out of them, but that was certainly not her doing.

Now, while I don't think Bronagh is a good person, I do think she is an effective character. As I said, her actions ultimately lead to all of the fairies being freed and Macha being redeemed and reunited with her son MacLir. Had Conor been completely on board with Bronagh's plans, there might not have been as important of an impact on Ben, and he wouldn't have been in a position to help Macha. So from a story writing perspective, Bronagh works quite well. But as a wife and mother, Bronagh fails utterly. As a selkie, she's so typical it hurts.

Moral of the story: Don't marry a selkie unless the contract includes an ironclad absolutely-no-secrets clause. Or just...don't marry a selkie, period. Save yourself the heartbreak.

[oatslemonade]

More world building fun facts about sea life for MerMay!

This time it's Seals, Sea Lions and Selkies. I'm including Selkies, even though they are mythical, because I like them and also because they are in Leviathantale.

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

----- _______Selkies_____ --------

A quote from Wikipedia:

In Celtic and Norse mythology, selkies (also spelled silkies, sylkies, selchies) or selkie folk (Scots: selkie fowk) meaning 'seal folk'[a]

1) There are both Male and Female Selkies. Both are said to be gorgeous, an unearthly beauty.

* Female Selkies are more often featured. More often tragic. Due to the nature of their magic/nature, they are often forced to become brides to human men.

* Male Selkies on the other hand, appear to be more often the "one night stand" to lonely human women. Although there is potential for them to become forced husbands.

2) Human/Selkie Offspring

* It is thought that the myth of the Selkies was used to explain why some people were born with webbed hands and feet. Called "selkiepaws".

* In more modern stories/artwork it is common for Selkie children to be as beautiful as the Selkie parent. Often with dark eyes and hair.

***** This part is from memory,*****

But I could of sworn that the children would be gifted swimmers and great fishermen... But for the life of me, I can't find a good source for that, so call that some flavor text.

3) What are Selkies?

*** This is debated, some think their origins are Fallen Angels, humans that came to an "unfortunate end", and some debate that Selkies are fairies or Fae.

* Selkies are shapeshifters. They live their lives as seals for the most part, but can turn into a human form when they shed their seal skin.

* In some artwork/adaptations the skin can look like a skinned seal, or it can look like clothing, such as a cloak or a hoodie.

4) The Selkies Skin

* The skin allows the Selkie to transform from Seal to Human

* If a person steals a Selkie's skin, they can force the Selkie to marry them.

* If a Selkie gets their skin back, they'll be drawn back to the sea. Even if they love their spouse, and even if they have children... The Selkie will go back to the sea.

* I have a vague memory, I can't find if a Selkie never returns to the spouse, or if it's a set time like seven or ten years or so.

5) Species of Seal?

*Since Selkies are mythical creatures, it's difficult to have a solid species for the seal. It would be similar to pinning down the species of wolf for a werewolf. But there are some seals I think fit the bill, location wise

* There are two species of seals that are native to Irish waters: the Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) and the Harbour (or Common) Seal (Phoca vitulina).

* But in modern/worldwide/just for fun, there are lots of seal species that would be fun to have has a Selkie base.

-----------_____ Seals and Sea Lions______-----------

1) Seals and Sea Lions and Walrus are pinnipeds, a group of Marine mammals. Pinniped means fin or flipper-footed in Latin. Seals and and all Pinnipeds are semi aquatic mammals... Try to get that one song about secret agent animals out of your head.

2) Most Pinnipeds will spend most of their time in the water, sometimes they will even sleep in the ocean. Like most marine mammals, they can sleep in water by turning off parts of their brain, so they are alert enough to gauge when to wake up and breathe.

3) In general, Seals and Sea Lions will go to land for a few reasons. Breeding, raising their pups, sleeping and warming up in the sun.

4) Baby Seals and Sea Lions babies are called pups.

* The season when pups are born is called "Pupping season."

* Seal mothers and their pups will gather together for safety. The mother/pup group/area is called a rookery.

* Seal mothers nurse their pups for around a month or so, depending on the species. They'll nurse until the milk supply runs out. So once that is done, the pup needs to be independent.

* PSA if you see a pup in the wild, leave it alone, because they are living off the milk from its mother, and then hunt for itself. It wastes precious energy fleeing from humans and dogs. The pups are still learning how to hunt. Also lots of countries have laws to protect marine mammals breeding areas.

5) Main differences between Seals and Sea Lions

Sea lions tend to bark loudly, they are better at 'walking' on land using their large flippers and have visible ear flaps. Sea Lions are much more social. Sea Lions eat with just their mouths, they don't use their flippers to hold food. The foreflippers are not covered in fur, this aids them in swimming fast. Tend to be a solid color.

Seals have small flippers, wriggle on their bellies on land, and lack visible ear flaps. Seals tend to be more solitary. Seals use their foreflippers to hold their food while eating. The foreflippers are covered in fur and have sharp claws, this helps them in holding their food. Seals can have spots or ring patterns in their fur.

______________________________________

_____________________________________

Extra: Story potentials. I might explore these ideas myself, but please feel free to explore them yourselves! I'd love to see the art/read the stories!

*** Fallen angel Geno Selkie...***

- Reaper, doesn't matter what version, "Hey, did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?" Geno asks, confused and irritated.

"When you fell from heaven." Reaper says in a flirty manner.

"Who told you?" Suddenly transforms into a traditional scary angel type with a thousand eyes and wings. "That I, Genocide, was a fallen angel!"

"Chill out Geno! Reaper was trying to flirt!" Blue tells Geno.

Reaper has a fear boner.

***** An AU where Geno was part of an aquatic monster Underground.****

The Undertale's story plays out, but in an underwater/underwater cave instead. Geno is a Selkie. He gets stuck in the save screen. Is not affected by Reaper's death touch. Reaper gets a hold of Geno's skin and they become married. Geno gets his skin back much later after having Goth. But since Geno's home AU is gone it gets corrupted and transforms Geno into Error. Not only is the Selkie nature of returning home working against him, but the corruption makes him forget about his previous life and family.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: a simple digital painting of a mermaid sitting on a rock with waves splashing around her, smiling and playing with her hair. She has a very humanoid torso with tan skin that has some visible purple scale shine, and a long shiny purple tail with translucent fins. Her hair is also purple. She is wearing an off-white seashell bra. Her tail looks like human thighs under scaly skin, and then bends like knees and tapers off into a long skinny curve. The image is titled "Happy Mermay!" and at the bottom there is text that reads "I have a pet peeve". End description.)

No hate if you're just an independent artist who likes to draw merfolk with the funky knee-bend tail and the fancy translucent fins and the little visible seam/skirt top that separates the humanoid torso from the fishy tail. You do you, your art is fun and cute and pretty and the aesthetics are nice.

But oh boy do I have a personal pet peeve about the knee bending mertails! It's nothing against any other fellow artists, I just do not personally enjoy it lol. Looks like a human wearing a fake tail, and that on its own is not necessarily a terrible thing. But you all know already how much I enjoy making fantasy anatomy with more sense and doing speculative evolution for fantasy people. So yeah, I am going to start making posts on merfolk anatomy! I've been busy this week because my sister got married!

This post will serve as a master post for all my merfolk anatomy posts:

Basic Mertails fix

Some Mer-skeletons

Pinniped Merfolk

Invertebrate Merfolk Examples

(and also my patreon page, where I put process sketches and previews, as well as more details on my story writing, characters, and worldbuilding. And nude art on the highest tier.)

[guymaito]

For the ask thing :3:

Top 5 animals? Top 5 fav/comfort movies? Top 5 fav cartoons/shows?

I’m honestly glad to know theres other people including you who actually like Pakku and his character :3 Yes he was a completely asshole at the start but he did change, it’s just that it was so subtle that not everyone saw it

Also random song associations with characters:

Fighter by Jack Stauber reminds me very well of Piandao, Pakku, and Jeong Jeong as their younger selves during the war.

Why do I associate Grace by Lewis Capaldi with Bumi? (the music video tho would give more context to why it might make sense)

Oh Klahoma by Jack Stauber reminds me of Piandao and his overall anxieties for his partners.

Consider some of these songs as sorta song recs? Idk but still :3

1. Giraffes!! the reason why their tongues look like That is cause of extra melanin and to prevent sunburn!!

2. Seals!! there are 33 different kinds of pinnipeds and there over 50 extinct pinnipeds

3. Dogs!! they can only see in shades of blue and yellow, so bright red roses look yellowish brown and lively green grass look dehydrated and dead

4. Crows!! a group of them are called a murder

5. Cows!! they’re actually colorblind, they can’t see red specifically, so male cows, bulls aren’t getting mad at the color, they’re getting angry at the movement

1. The Losers movie from 2010, it’s a action mystery movie about Clay and his team that are a part of an elite US Special Forces Unit and are approached by a mysterious woman to exact revenge on their handler, Max, who betrayed them and just,,,the characters, CHRIS EVANS, jake jensen and all of his kinda weird glory, THE ELEVATOR SCENE, also cougar!!

2. Captain America and The Winter Soldier movie, it’s a action movie, which makes me realize that a lot of my faves are prolly gonna be action something, but anyways, it’s about Steve Rogers, who now lives in the nation's capital as he tries to adjust to modern times. An attack on a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague throws Rogers into a web of intrigue that places the whole world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, and a new ally, Sam Wilson, Steve struggles to expose an ever-widening conspiracy, but he and his team soon come up against an unexpected enemy. oh my god,,,just,,,the fight scenes, the running scene at the beginning of the movie, steve meeting sam that way, just everything!! this was also my introduction to marvel so in my mind no other marvel movie can live up to this (other than spiderman away from home)

3. Spiderman Far from Home, again, it’s a action movie, i’m not gonna explain this cause the post is getting long, but!! mj and peter!! just,,,all of their scenes!! also jake gyllenhaal!! the fight scenes!! the soundtrack!! everything about it is amazing!!

4. Thunderforce, again, i’m not gonna explain, it’s an action adventure and comedy movie (ofc it is look at the other 3 🙄 /s), the relationship between lydia and emily!! the relationship between lydia and emily’s daughter!! the humor!! the fight scenes!! the soundtrack!!,,,,just everything about is good despite the bad ratings

that’s more like a top 4 than a top 5 but that’s like,,,,all the movies i genuinely like and will rewatch if given the chance and for that where’s a honorable mention: Hamilton (the movie version on disney+ that came out i think nearly a year ago), the soundtrack is amazing, the characters are better, got some funny moments and is mostly historically accurate, like yeah angelica did forget her name cause at the time of her meeting alex ham, she was married to a man named john church (or something church idk) so her last name was church but she introduced herself to alexander as angelica schuyler, not angelica church, so in satisfied she was telling the truth about forgetting her own name, but in the same song she said that her father had no sons even though the real angelica had 3 brothers.

1. Avatar the last Airbender, ofc or else i would have a blog (mostly) centered around it and it’s sequel /s but fr though?? it’s such a good show!! zuko’s redemption arc, iroh’s redemption arc (even though his more subtle than zuko’s) , aang!! love him and his character so much, especially when he gets to be a sassy little shit, sokka and his shit humor and brains, katara, toph, hakoda and HIS shit humor, the fight scene with hakoda (he fights kinda like a waterbender, using his opponent’s momentum against them), bato and his lovely, lovely voice, piandao, aang going ‘how about he get on YOUR back and you can fly us to the south pole’ or something like that to sokka after he complained about appa not flying higher, the boiling rock episodes, hakoda apparently being a good dad but a shitty prison riot starter (love that for him), just!! atla is such a good ass show, im not changing my mind. also!! i like the way they introduced ozai, not showing his face but still presenting him as not only a shit dad, but a shit person as well, like up until book three, we only saw him like, the neck down and in like, a flashback or two (i don’t really remember how many flashbacks ozai was in actually cause it’s nearly been a full year since i last watched it) and that’s it, so it made seeing his face for the first time all the more better cause you was already like ‘what the hell does this shitbag look like’ and then you see him and now ur like ‘oh!! THATS what he looks like!!’

2. The Legend of Korra, again, ofc or else i wouldn’t have a blog (mostly) centered around it and it’s prequel, just,,,,korra’s arc from being hot headed to calm is fantastic but also sad considering the way she went from that to this, korra’s book 1 character!! for whatever reason i really like b1 korra, just,,her design, her hair style (even though she had it for nearly the entire series) just!!! book 1 korra <3, also the entirety of book 1!! just amon posing as a anti bender nonbender despite being a waterbender himself, the scene where tenzin and his kids nearly lost their bending, which would’ve meant that, if tenzin did lose his bending but his kids didn’t, that would’ve meant the strongest airbender would’ve been his 11 year old daughter, the gruesome way to end the season finale episode by doing a murder suicide which was dark as fuck for what?? a kids show??, also the villains in this show!! their good as hell!! the backstory of the red lotus and how and why they were created?? amon and his anti bending?? kuvira and her plan to basically rule the earth kingdom (idk i haven’t finished book 4), unalaq and his spiritual stuff and wanting to become a dark avatar and fusing with vaatu?? also!! the other disturbing scene of korra basically getting tortured near the end of book 3, i mean?? it deadass left her hella traumatized and unable to walk, again hella dark for a fucking kids show

3. The Walking Dead, even though i haven’t finished it or watched in like, 4-5 months, i just,,,the way the presented negan!! practically foreshadowing him the entirety of season 6!! him appearing at the very end of the season 6 finale and pretty much having an entire episode dedicated to him in the very beginning of season 7 (which is why some fans argue he was introduced in s7 not s6 cause of the fact that he didn’t show up until the very end of the s6 finale but had an entire episode with him in it in s7, while others say vice versa cause the very the first time we see him was in s6 not s7), the fact that the walking dead logo was getting progressively more and more decayed as the series go on?? the fact that the WALKERS (the zombies) are getting more and more decayed as the series go on?? dale’s death scene?? shane’s death scene?? negan’s relationship with rick’s daughter?? the fact that this show also has what?? 11, 12 seasons?? which reminds me that i’m still on season 9 of twd

4. Sabrina the Teenage Witch, just,,,salem and his sarcasm?? sabrina’s aunts?? sabrina herself?? just!! everyone is just so fucking funny in this show it’s unreal, specially salem!! a lot of my favorite scenes have salem in them, the ‘are you on a women’s chat room again?’ (or something like that) and salem saying ‘i like the attention’ in response, that one harvey and salem scene that i don’t know how to describe without turning this into a giant paragraph like the ones before this one

5. blue’s clues, it was my favorite childhood show and i love the reboot of it so much!! especially p for pride moment in that song i don’t remember the name of, blue themself!! steve leaving which was sad but getting an equally amazing host in the process?? amazing!! the scene where salt and pepper introduced their baby, paprika?? just,,,it’s such good show and i loved it when i was younger and i still love it now!!

[queenmuzz]

Deep Blue Sea: Chapter IX

Lost in Translation

Read the full story on Ao3 HERE

You stood there, sweating half to death, as the priest droned on and on about “Mawage and Twoo Wuv” (he had a very noticeable lisp). You were stuffed into a corset that was much too tight, much too revealing, and your arms were itching from the taffeta. It was awkward and tedious, and you'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Fredrick stood in front of you, oblivious to your discomfort, beaming brightly, and for this reason alone you hadn't just picked up your floofy skirt and walked out.

“If anywon has any Owbjections to this union of man an wife, speak now, ow fowevew hold youw peace” The priest spoke out, and a moment of silence passed over the crowd.

In the distance, the sound of what seemed like barking dogs got louder, and louder..but they sounded odd.

arf! Arf! ARF! ARF!

And then the heavy oak church doors burst open, revealing two massive sea lions, their entrance causing the congregation to scatter. Seagulls followed, squawking noisily. It was complete chaos.

In the centre of the storm, being pulled by the two sea lions, was a wagon with a large fish aquarium. It looked as if Cinderella's fairy godmother had drunk a little too much gin and tonic when granting her wish.

There, seated up to his waist in sloshing water, was Vergil, as handsome as ever, lounging back as if he was King of the Ocean, and looking very dapper with his blue bow-tie that matched his scales. On his wrists were matching cuffs, which on any other man, would look like a knock off Chippendale's dancer, but just added to his good looks.

The pinnipeds made their way to the steps leading up to the altar and stopped. Vergil, calmly and with great conviction spoke loud enough for the priest and the wedding party to hear.

“I object”

“Now listen here,” Fredrick's father, red with fury attempted to say something, but Vergil shot him a glare that could have cut diamonds. The man turned pale, and stepped back, hiding behind his wife. (she was wearing a garish fox stole over a white dress)

Vergil's glare vanished when he saw your face, “Please, my love.... will you choose me instead?”

You needed no other persuasion, as you launched yourself at the man, for a passionate kiss. Vaguely, you could hear your mother shriek “THE DRESS!” but you couldn't care less as you leapt into the tank with him, and with a sound that reminded you of a dolphin click, Vergil commanded the lumbering beasts to turn around and pull the wagon out of the church, leaving the congregation flummoxed at what just happened.

You, on the other hand, were the happiest woman alive......

*****

You awoke, your eyes wide in the early morning darkness.  You could still feel the pressure/pain of the corset squeezing your ribs, despite the fact you were wearing dry, loose fluffy pj’s.  The sickening sweet smell of lilacs still lingered in your nose. It had been so realistic...but it had all been a dream.

So, why did you feel so disappointed?   That the wedding was still going ahead as planned? Or…

You looked over to the surface of the water, almost as smooth as glass, reflecting the dawn sky, purples, pinks and oranges giving the water the appearance of being made of flame.  And at the edge of the inferno, his head resting in crossed arms on the platform, was Vergil, softly dozing. He must have been asleep for some time, as his hair was dry and swept back, aside from a few unruly strands that fell over his face in defiance.  His face looked calm, almost peaceful, and you idly wondered if that was how he truly was in the wild. The more you admired this side of him, the more you…

Oh

Oh no…

You loved him.

The realization hit you like a tidal wave, threatening to pull you down into an endless vortex of emotions, both good and bad.

With Fredrick, you felt like you were separated emotionally by a pane of thick glass that could never be shattered.  He’d listen to your problems, but everything was just a credit card swipe, or a written check away from being solved in his mind.  He respected you as a person, but as a partner? Never.

Contrast this to Vergil, who while most of the time, was literally separated from you by a pane of glass, had gotten closer to you than anyone ever had.  You’d laughed with him, discussed human and merfolk culture, tried foods, and built up a closer bond with him, closer than only a few other people including Fredrick .  And now, you were growing feelings for him.

Which led to the turmoil.  You knew there were several roadblocks to your feelings.  First was the fact that you were human, and he was a merman.  Despite the fairy tails, something like him turning into a human was an impossibility (and the fact there was no way in hell Vergil would ever want to).

And you were certain that he would never reciprocate your feelings.  He might be cordial, even friendly with you, but the fact was: he was your prisoner.  Anything he would feel would be tainted by the fact that he could never escape, despite him denying your requests to free him every morning.  (You still didn’t know why he said no, but you remember Doctor Griffon had something called a ‘leash’, did it have anything to do with that?)

This wasn’t right.  You shouldn’t feel this way.  You were practically a married woman, only a month and a half to go.  Fredrick would be home soon, and the final preparations were already in progress.  You couldn’t hurt your fiance like this, you couldn’t hurt yourself, and you certainly couldn’t hurt Vergil.

So, you made up your mind, you needed to set him free.  But if he kept saying no…. Well, you’d find a way to convince him, or find a way to get him home.  That way, he’d be happy and free.

Even if it broke your heart….

A slight splash took you out of your morose thoughts to see the still sleepy, yet piercing grey eyes watching you curiously.  His head was cocked to the side, and for a brief moment you panicked, terrified that mind reading was another merfolk ability.  But you needn't have worried, as he gave you a small smile.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, and you faked a smile, masking everything you felt at the moment.

“Never better” It wasn’t a lie.   Even after the emotional rollercoaster you had been on yesterday, and the most awkward dream (you were pretty sure merfolk couldn’t command sea life), you felt more refreshed than you had in months.  You looked up at the skylight, still flooding the room with burnished bronze.

“I don’t usually wake up at the crack of dawn, it feels weird,” you stretched and yawned.  You got up to make some breakfast, (bacon did sound delish right now), but his hand gripped your forearm, causing you to freeze.  Oh god, merely his touch, which once had been easily brushed off, now had the ability to stop you dead in your tracks.

“I... “ he asked, attempting to put words into a sentence, “I haven’t seen the Dawnfather rise in a very long time, not since my capture,”  your chest caved in at that realization. He’d spent most likely a year or more trapped indoors, and the fact that he hadn’t gone insane was a miracle in itself.  A lightbulb went off in your head. Perhaps, even if he declined your offer of freedom, there might be a way.

“Hey Vergil,” you asked hesitatingly, unsure if he'd get offended, “I have an idea…. I, uh… how averse you are to be being carried?”

******

A few minutes later, you and him were sitting on your back patio, with him wrapped in a wet towel.  Surprisingly, despite his size he wasn’t too heavy to lift, and other than him being a bit slippery, you’d managed to carry him as if he was a fishy bride out of the house, and into the fresh air.  All nervousness you had about him being insulted at being carried around like a prized tuna vanished as he let the first rays of sun hit his face. His eyes closed, his breathing stopped to nearly nothing, and for a moment, you’d thought he’d fallen asleep, but then… he smiled. It was soft, gentle, and absolutely genuine.

“It has been far too long,” he murmured.  To himself, or you, you had no idea. It just made you feel so happy to see him look so content.  You let him sit in the late dawn light in silence for a few minutes, just soaking in the natural light and air, fearing that reminding him of your presence would shatter the moment of calm.  While he’d smiled at you before, this was unlike anything he’d done before. Was he like this in real life, out of captivity? Or was it just the reaction to being outside his little prison for once?  

“I… I can bring you out more often, now that the weather is much better,” you stammered, “Or if you’d like I could just let you go back home…” the sentence hung in the air, lingering for a moment, before being blown away.

“While I appreciate the offer, I must still decline,” his smile did not abate as he looked at you, but there was something different about it, some sort of sadness?  What was he hiding?

A robin chirped and landed a few metres away from the patio, pecking at the dewy soil, before breaking out into a song, as it’s mate came down to join it.  Vergil watched in fascination as the two of them hopped and sang to each other, in a cute ritual of courtship.  

“Do all birds do this?” he queried, “we do not see them very often on the open ocean, they’re usually either feeding or en route to a new location.  Their cries are not as musical, or perhaps they do not sing while on the wing.”

“Not all, some use their plumage to attract their mate, some do dances, some sing, and some do all three” you explained, watching as the birds flew off in tandem, before disappearing into the branches of a nearby spruce tree.  You closed your eyes, enjoying the first rays of sun, and listened to the distant chirping and song. For once, there was no wedding preparation, no business deals, just you, nature….and your feelings for the man beside you. You attempted to shove those intrusive thoughts back into the deep recesses of your mind, including the latter.  ESPECIALLY the latter.

A beautiful melodious sound seeped into your ears, one that confused you.  No bird that you knew of had that crystal clear tenor song. Perhaps you were just imagining it?  You slowly opened your eyes, worried that it would be carried away like a dream upon waking. In the clear sunlight you saw what it was coming from, and you were entranced.  Not a bird, nor the wind, nor a tune coming from your cell phone.

It was Vergil. Singing.

Isil shem’ore

Isil lin’ore

Mira pharar, mira ofar, mira kanar,

D’rashana karif’ore

Isil dilshonin sa oplalim

Sa kintal o sa polim

Sa racarto shipal o sa whelik

Nekalin parand’ore fa pishim

Ah, mira sifa, mira sifa

Winik fa pishim lin’more.

His eyes remained closed as he finished the haunting melody, leaving everything else seeming muted and drab in comparison.  You let the silence linger for a few moments, hoping against hope that perhaps he would go into another verse. And also because you had to take a minute to keep the tears from flowing.  You didn’t want to give him the wrong opinion of why you were crying.

“That was…. beautiful,” you slowly spoke, just above a whisper, as you quickly wiped your eyes.  Vergil smiled at you, just like he had when he had taken his first breath of fresh air, and you felt yourself heat up, and you hoped it was because of the intensifying sunbeams.  “That was Old Mer, right? Do you mind giving me a rough translation of it?”

He cocked his head and averted his eyes, and for a brief moment you thought you had overstepped your bounds.  “It’s… an ode to the rising of the Dawnfather, a celebratory song.” “You know,” you joked, “we have legends of the alluring sound of merfolk, whose entrancing songs would lure ships to their doom.  I guess there’s a kernel of truth in that.”

“Well, we never wished to draw attention to ourselves” he explained, “but when you humans are spending multiple cycles alone on your ships, I suppose any source of singing could be considered captivating”

You laughed of the mental image of some poor godforsaken sailors being lured in by a bunch of mermen singing the equivalent of a raunchy ballad. “Well, it’s absolutely gorgeous, would you mind singing it again?  I mean,” catching yourself, “if it isn’t against your customs or anything.”

He chuckled, and closed his eyes, and with that, began singing again, just as beautiful as before.  The only thing that worried you was that he was turning a bit red. You hoped that his stay indoors for such a long time wouldn’t cause him to sunburn.

******

So, for the next few weeks, you’d added a new habit to your morning routine.  You’d wake up earlier every morning, wrap him up in a wet towel and carry him to the back patio to soak up the sunshine.  Occasionally, you’d cook up some breakfast to bring out to him, sometimes you’d just sit out and enjoy the mid spring air.  And every so often, he’d start singing. Sometimes that song, sometimes others, but they were all beautiful. You really liked those times.  You tried to bottle those feelings you had for him, but you couldn’t help it, his smile and singing would reel you back into admiring him.

But not today.  You awoke to a deafening bang, and as you sluggishly panicked for a few moments, thinking an accident happened, before a flash of light from outside made you realize there was no issue, it was merely a thunderstorm.

You padded out, cheap instant coffee in a mug (despite your father’s insistence that you could afford better, your fellow college students had introduced you to your addiction) to the platform to see Vergil already primed and ready to go outside.  There was electricity in the air, and not from the storm.

“Sorry, looks like the weather’s not great for our usual get together.” you apologized, but his eyes seemed different, eager.

“I don’t mind storms, in fact, I enjoy them very much” he replied, “If you are not against the idea, I would like to experience it first hand.”

So, you sat there, soaked to the skin within a few minutes as the rain poured down.  You didn’t mind, especially when you saw the look on his face as the rain and wind hit him.  With the sun, he had seemed the very picture of contentment. But with the storm, he looked practically ecstatic.  There would be no singing today, especially with the howling of the wind and the roaring of the thunder drowning out everything, but you were willing to put your selfish desires away to watch him truly enjoy himself.

“It’s nice to have someone to enjoy the storm with,” you spoke, “my mother was always terrified of the things, father was always too busy, and my friends thought I was crazy to go outside during times like this.”

“I have always enjoyed storms, the sharp divide between the calm of the ocean, and the chaos when one breaks through the surface”  he responded, a nostalgic smile on his face, “my brother and I would enjoy these times as finlings, seeing who could stay above the surface the longest before being swamped by waves.”

“Your brother?”  you stiffened at the revelation.  In all the months you’d known Vergil, he’d never divulged anything about his family.  You’d never asked, letting him have as much privacy as you could give him, but you’d always wondered.  If there were family members, perhaps you could contact them, to find a way to free him safely.

“Yes,” his smile faded, “had you told me that I would miss his annoying presence, I would have said you had been playing with the pufferfish for far too long.  But now…”

“You had a falling out?” you probed gently.

“I suppose that would be putting it lightly,” he grimly explained, “you would have liked him, he was much more friendly with humanity than I ever was, even after….”

“Vergil, you don’t have to tell me anything, if you don’t feel comfortable,” you slowly told him, even though you were dying to know about this mysterious family member.

“No,” he replied firmly, his eyes going as hard as the driving rain, “you deserve to know this, after all this time,” and despite being soaked to the bone, and beginning to feel a chill, you focused intently on him.

“I resided with my brother, and my mother and father, most of the time to the north, where there were once innumerable fish.  A few seasons ago,” he paused, refusing to face you, “a ship with one of those infernal nets that scoured the bottom of the ocean passed through, and despite my parents best efforts to evade it, they both got caught up in it.” he took another deep breath, and you held yours. “By the time my brother and I were able to cut through the ropes, it was too late, both were suffocated by the mass of fish that crushed them.” His hand went out and began to draw on the sole dry part of the wood, sheltered by the awning.  “The ship had an unusual design on its hull, instead of the figure of the merfolk in better times, it was three marks…” he drew them out with his wet finger, three circles, one for each corner of a triangle, a jagged line connecting them. Your heart sank. The official logo of Mundus Inc.   “I was furious, I would have sworn to wipe out every damn ship off the surface of the ocean at that very moment.  But,” he pulled up his fins, hugging them close, “I knew that was impossible, so I decided to destroy every ship that carried that cursed mark.  My brother, Dante, soft hearted as he always was, told me that going on a rampage ‘wouldn’t bring mom and dad back’ as he said, but my anger clouded my judgement, so when he attempted to stop me, we fought.  It was a vicious battle, but in the end, I was victorious.”

“You didn’t...” you asked, horrified.

“No, I did not kill him, I’d already lost my parents, I was not going to destroy my last blood relation. We merely went our separate ways.  Although,” he sighed as the wind and rain began to wind down, “perhaps it would have been better had I lost to him, captivity can be rather humiliating,” he turned to you, his smile returning, “at least it hasn’t been as bad as I had feared.  I met you, after all.”

You flushed at his compliment, and you hoped he didn’t notice.  His disdain for your father, and humanity in general now made perfect sense.  Guilt by association flooded you. The fact he even tolerated you was more than you deserved for what the company you were about to take over had done.  And now to add insult to injury, he was being kept prisoner by the killer of his parents. How he had restrained himself from strangling you these past few months was nothing short of amazing.  The leash….. Perhaps that was the key to it all.  

You shivered, partially out of the thought of how he must have hated you, and partially at how chilly you felt, now that the storm was over.

“Are you cold, Sifa? ” his voice intruded into your despondent thoughts.  You looked up, to see him watching you in what seemed to be concern.

“A little…” you admitted, before the thought of what he said, “Sifa? What does that mean?”

Vergil was taken aback, as if he didn’t realize he spoke the word, before cautiously answering, “It’s an old mer term… it means, ‘human’.  Not in a derogatory term though,” he clarified as you picked him up to bring him back into the warmth of your home, “more of a nickname. You do not mind…?”

“I like it!  It sounds so beautiful!” you exclaimed.  Vergil’s reaction seemed to be one of relief, which was odd.

You came back, dressed in dry clothes, and with some time to think.  Perhaps, there was a way to get Vergil to the freedom that he so desperately craved.

Toweling your hair as Vergil scarfed down a plateful of sardines, you ventured, “Vergil, do you think your brother would want to know how you’re doing?”  

He froze, brows furrowed as he thought hard about it.  “He is fairly easy going, slow to anger, and quick to forgive,” he chuckled mirthlessly “a bit too quickly in my opinion.”

He seemed amenable to the idea of reconciling with his brother, so maybe… “If there was a way to contact him, to let him know you’re still okay, how would I be able to give him the message?”

There was an agonizing period of silence, before Vergil slowly reached for the amulet that was around his neck.  To your astonishment, he took it off and handed it to you, like it was the most precious thing to him.  

“This was a gift from our parents, I was given one, and Dante the other.  It was a way for us, being twins to ‘sense’ each other’s presence. Taking this to the ocean should alert him to me, and if he is amenable to a reconciliation, he will come.”  He looked at you, his gaze hard and fixed. “This information is not to be revealed to anyone aside from him.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Vergil, I’m honoured that you trust me enough with this”  and he softened, smiling at you, “I swear to you,” you firmly proclaimed “I’ll keep this secret safe.”

*****

It was the third day you had taken out your personal sailboat out into the bay. The fates could not have aligned better.  The weather was perfect for sailing, the last of the wedding preparations had been completed, and your father was still out on business, leaving you with days of free time.  And due to it being mid week, any nosy pleasurecraft were nowhere to be seen.  

Well, it would have been perfect, if the guest of honour had shown up.  Three days you’d been sailing, looking like Captain Ahab searching for your Moby Dick, except he hadn’t appeared.  You’d spend all morning, docking around noon for a quick lunch and a phone call to Fredrick (He was planning to come home with your father, but business would keep him in Japan until the very last moment, much to your dismay), before heading back out, sailing far enough from the shore to give you some privacy, but close enough to the shallows so that it was safe for your small vessel.

Each day ended the same, with you coming home, looking at Vergil despondantly, shaking your head and handing back the amulet for him to keep for the night.   Your failure seemed to affect him as well, and you could have sworn his tail was losing its newly regained lustre. But he would always seem to be hopeful when he handed it back to you the next morning.

So, this afternoon was no different as you fingered the precious gem around your neck.  It felt wrong to wear it like that, but he had assured you that he didn’t mind, and besides, it would be less likely to get lost.

The only difference was that instead of eating a sandwich, or a smoothie, you had treated yourself, and bought yourself a pizza.  So you sailed around the cove, humming the tune that Vergil had sung for you, attempting to take your mind off the fact that you’d seen neither fin nor gill of his brother.  Part of you worried that perhaps this Dante wasn’t as forgiving as Vergil had said he was, or worse, he’d been captured as well....

PHUNK!

You lurched forward, nearly face first into the wheel, as the boat lurched to a stop.  You picked yourself up, attempting to figure out what went wrong. You hadn’t hit anything, as the sudden stop didn’t feel like something blocking the boat, more like something pulling it.  You quickly checked your anchor, assuming that perhaps in your worry, you were unaware that you had set the anchor by accident. But nope, the metal contraption still lay on the stern deck, the chain only mildly disturbed from the sudden stop.

Perhaps kelp?  You closed the box of pizza, before grabbing your jackknife to cut whatever obstruction was holding your boat back.  Heading to the stern, you crouched down to see what the hell was going on. You’d passed this area before, and never had any issues, and yup, even in this shallow water, you couldn’t see much vegetation, let alone anything that could snag your boat.  Taking a deep breath, you plunged your head into the water to get a better look.

Of all the things you were expecting, a pair of eyes, white hair, and brilliant red scales wasn’t what that.  You stared shocked for a few seconds, a few dumbfounded bubbles blurping out of your mouth, before the man’s (who aside from fin colour, looked like a carbon copy of Vergil) hands reached out, and with a vise like grip on your shoulders, yanked you clear off the deck.

You panicked at the sudden submergment and began flailing wildly, but his hands never loosened.

All you could hear, over the stream of terrified bubbles that contained your screams, was a voice echoing through your skull.

Where the Hell is my brother?

[realthoughts-and-feelings]

Well it’s 4.17.21 and I’m in Miami doing the Animal Training Internahip with their pinnipeds so I got the internship lol I moved out here in early March, started March 18th. My bf drove with me down and that was fun. We officially have been together a year. Now he is looking for a job and he is hoping to get one in Ft Lauderdale which is like 30 min -1 hr from me. Which is really nice. I am 95% sure I want to marry this man but there is just nagging in the back of my head. The typical “divorce” Shit playing. I’ve been thinking about marrying him since 6 months and we both want it just when the time is right but I’m afraid that time will never come. What if we never get a job near each other? We are both in the animal care field and it’s just tough since you have to go to where the job is. And he knows he wants reptiles which is pretty much everywhere except the one place I would love to go back to aka Alaska. I love pinnipeds but I’m not sure I want to be a “show” trainer. I liked the research training ASLC does and it’s less focused on shows and more on conservation and there are not a lot of marine mammal facilities that do that. And I know that. But I love pinnipeds and I do want to work with them. It’s just, so I sacrifice my mental health to make a show persona or give up marine mammals and work in zoos, which don’t get me wrong I love but I can probs never get back into marine. UGHHHHH

[ninaivanenko-blog]

a/n: sorry it’s a bit choppy, especially at the end, but enjoy anyways!

Pinnipeds are a clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semi aquatic marine mammals. There are currently 33 species and 50 extinct species that have been described from fossils. Most species prefer the colder waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They spend most of their lives in the water, but come ashore to mate, give birth, molt or escape from predat-

I’m interrupted by a knock on the door. My cousin, Imogen, strides in and takes a seat on my bed, next to my hedgehogs.

“How’s your essay going?”

I drop my pencil and bang my head on the table in frustration. I continue to slide onto the floor, faced down and groan.

“Does this answer your question?” I ask with a muffled voice, still lying on the cold, bare ground.

“Let’s give a round of applause for that dramatic performance to Nina Ivanenko! You should drop out of marine biology and go into acting school” Imogen said sarcastically as she attempted to pull me up.

This is my cousin, Gen. You may know her as Imogen Bezrukova. She’s a well known model in Illéa, who happens to be my best friend, cousin, and roommate all in one.

“Hilarious,” I said, rolling my eyes. “How was your trip?”

She just came back from a modelling shoot in Angeles. I usually went with her to these things but unfortunately, I had to spend the day writing an essay for school. One thing that you should know about me; My life revolves around animals. I’m currently studying at the University of Columbia for my Masters degree in Marine Biology, while I have a part time job at the aquarium.

FISHY FISHY SNORKLE SNORKLY BLUB BLUB.

“Same old, same old…. Did you hear that Prince Dom is finally of age for his selection? We should sign up!”

Living in a palace with 35 girls, hundreds of maids, butlers, and the royal family? No thanks

“I don’t know if you know this, but I don’t like being in places with lots of people. A palace is the least preferable place I’d like to be.”

“Come on, Nine! It’s not like either of us will actually get chosen. And plus, you have to face your fears,“ she protested. “You have to learn how to make more friends, because I’m not always going to be there for you… You can’t stay at home all day with your animals forever.”

“I will have you know that I am perfectly fine with that. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get to work,” I said, slamming the door.

I walked down the street as slowly as I possibly could. My shift wouldn’t start for another hour, but I didn’t want to stay at home with Imogen bothering me more, or else she would probably end up persuading me to sign up. It’s part of her charm. That is partly how I got into some modelling gigs. While Imogen was born into a family of twos, I was a three, so it was a miracle that she could even get me into modelling.

She’s been there for me through thick and thin ever since my family fell apart. Fun fact about me; I’m a triplet. Or at least I was. Long story short, Lilia and Callum Ivanenko died in a car crash while the I suffered from a coma. As you can all tell, I did eventually wake up. I woke up to a new life without my best friends by my side for the first time in six years. Though I still had a younger sister, named Ayla, I was still absolutely devastated when I learned that they hadn’t made it.

Time passed by as I finally starting coping with the fact that I was now the eldest. Three years later, a miracle happened. Ayla and I had a new baby sister named Roza. We thought that our family was finally healing from the loss. We thought wrong… The following year, my mother, Nadiya, was diagnosed with PPD (Postpartum Depression).

I’ll save you from the gory details. Let’s just say I lost my mother a few months later out of nowhere. Losing so many close family members took a toll on me. I isolated myself from everyone and everything for the longest time. Later that year, Imogen’s family moved over to Columbia from the Ukraine to help us heal. My father ended up marrying another woman and starting a new family, while my two sisters moved in with my aunt and uncle. As for Imogen and I, we moved out when she turned 17.

“Nina!”

I turned around to see my friend, Kyomi, running towards me.

“Hey!” She took a breath of air. “You going to work?”

“Yep, just like usual.”

“Are you signing up for the selection by any chance?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not, Nina? It would be so fun!”

“I just don’t feel like it.”.

She babbled on and on about the book she was writing, while I was too busy lost in my thoughts. “-ave to go now, but let’s catch up next time!”

We parted ways and I headed went to work.

I unlocked the front door and walked inside, surprised to see papers scattered everywhere. Imogen was sitting in the center of the mess, scrounging through boxes. Maisie, my border collie, made his way over to greet me.

“Oh how are you doing, Maisie?” I scratched her head and turned my attention to the mess. “What’s all this?”

“I FOUND IT!” She screamed, jumping in the air. “HA TAKE A LOOK AT THIS, NINA!”

I took one look at the orange construction paper and groaned. “No. I am not signing up for the Selection because of this… this bet we made when we were five.”

“Read what it says out loud,” Gen responded with a smirk.

I sighed. “I swear that if I don’t get married by the time I am 17, I will do whatever Imogen and Lilia tell me to do.”

“So I guess we’re signing up for the selection!”

“We were five! And this is expired already.”

“There is no expiry date! A bet is a bet, Nina.”

“No.”

“Come on.”

“I said no.”

“… Do it for Lilia. Remember? She always wanted to sign up.”

She knew this was a touchy subject for me. Bringing up your dead siblings always are.

“Fine. Only signing up. I cannot promise that I’ll get chosen, alright? Are you happy now?”

“I’m absolutely ecstatic!”

Don’t worry. The chance is one in a million, so there is no way you’ll get chosen. It’ll be alright.

I filled in the application form and handed it to Imogen so I wouldn’t throw it away. Truth be told, I had social anxiety, if you couldn’t already tell. I spent the whole night twisting and turning, panicking about what could happen if they picked me.

What did I get myself into?

[commarogue]

Endless Works in Progress meme

I stole this one from @sdwolfpup, and so I will simply do as my predecessor and say if you wanna do this one please blame me 💗

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

These bad boys are all Jaime/Brienne from ASoIaF! Shocking, I'm sure.

arranged enemies (to lovers)

so i married a pinniped

made in wonder

courts of the sun and moon (first sheath, first draw)

letting go

barf weirwood

brat lord of the rock jaime lannister

brienne got game

ELIZA

isabella-de-fortibus inspiro

kingstealer

leverage (but not really)

leverage, yes really

robb zombie

selfie au

starlight

television doesn't have to be soulless

waterbender fail

twins of the black sun

werebear

westerosi slayerverse

westerlands vs stormlands

winterfell werewolf