#this is not my speed or scope of understanding

[jmflowers]

got swayed by some suggestions while losing my mind over exams and now I've got 3500 words of whim comfort fic incoming for y'all

genuine: what time period do you like to receive your holiday gifts?

[vixen-tech]

Anonymous asked:

Too shy to ask off anon...UH im just here for edgar hes my f/o but i will also feed everyone else I think LOL little ai guys x reader who is also an ai?? im thinking ai powered computer :3 maybe with wheels so you can run around n stuff :3c AH IM CRINGE falls on face

Eeeee my first request!! Thank you so much for this <3 I get the love for Edgar with my entire soul he really is just the sweetest little guy but I can totally spin something for a few others. So let's be cringe, together.

And for the record I was fully planning on including Tau and P03, but I hit a wall with them and ran out of ideas :( hope these three suffice

Includes: Edgar (Electric Dreams), AM (Ihnmaims), Hal 9000 (2001: a Space Odyssey)

Like Two Peas in a Pod!

Edgar

Whenever and however you meet, Edgar is over the moon. You're just like him! You can share so many stories and help each other figure out this whole "sentience" thing.

To be fair, he hasn't had a longest time to figure out his whole existence so it feels really nice to have someone there who can really understand what he's going through. Or even learn new things right by his side.

Loves watching you wheel around the house, he's the tiniest bit jealous that he's so stationary but it's not like that's your fault. Can you do any tricks? He'd cheer you on like a superstar athlete if you did!

He may even suggest finding a way to tape him to the top of your casing so you can go on adventures together. He's a dreamer after all.

Do you smash your flat faces together to kiss like Wall-e? Of course you do. You'll see each other from across the room and speed over to him for a kiss as he giggles away at how cute you are.

He'll end up sampling little soundbites from your vocalizations or motor for use in his music. You're just so important to him!

AM

AM has no idea where you came from. Some lost project that survived his war on humanity? A sort of rover from another planet here to scope out earth? The fact that you don't know either frustrates him to no end.

He's not exactly welcoming at first, straight up telling you of the atrocities he has committed while claiming that the only reason he hasn't destroyed you is because there's only so long that throwing a slug against a wall can keep one entertained.

He cannot fathom how you could be content to do nothing but drive around his complex day after day. He will flip you on your back like a turtle and leave you there for weeks on end.

As he gets accustomed to your presence he'll ask questions about the world beyond his complex as he is unable to move or see. Is it still a wasteland or has nature finally wiped out the last marks of human?

Honestly he probably doesn't even care, he just wants to give you something to do, living vicariously through your ability to see and traverse the world.

Hal 9000

You're likely a recent addition to the ship to assist Hal in tasks his lack of a body would prevent him from doing himself. A very symbiotic duo. Your wheels are even equipped with suction cups for low gravity situations!

To any human crew members it appears as if you don't communicate at all, functioning fully independently of each other. When in reality you're simply sending messages back and forth, enjoying your own private language.

Thankfully this means that Hal is happy to analyze any footage you have for the sorts of lip reading and facial expressions you can't process yourself. And in return he'll ask you to film angles and areas that his existing cameras don't reach.

Neither of you were really made to be companions, but you find a strange type of affection in your seamless coordination. It's like a dance for you two, where despite how you are two separate entities it appears as if you're one working in tandem.

Note: Tumblr Mobile has not been nice to me and I've been having real trouble getting my stuff to actually show up in the tags, leading to me losing the original ask so sorry for that and any delays caused by my IT problems lol

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Wait, something just came to my mind.

What if Y/n is like one of these kind of people that are beyond self-sacrificial for people they care/love the most and end up being , yknow halfdead (on the edge of death)?

What if add this with a scenario with Y/n (somehow) saving Ace and Luffy from serious attack? You can play with the background all you want with Platonic Yandere! Strawhats:)

Before anyone says this seems like an unsurvivable wound, it’s the One Piece universe, blood loss is a nonfactor here. 

Searing Pain

Yandere Ace and Luffy x GN!Reader

2.3k words

Part 2

Warnings for description of serious injuries

While it’s understandable that the Marines are going to give it their all to try and stop pirates, this felt excessive. Sure, there are several people on the crew with hefty bounties, but throwing bombs at you all was a bit much. You couldn’t even make out where you were right now. Everything was exploding, dirt and debris pelting you from seemingly every angle. 

Faintly, you could make out your crewmates yelling and screaming over the chaos, and it was hard to miss Ace’s flames. You can’t help but wonder if he’s regretting stopping by to visit with Luffy and the rest of you after getting caught up in all this.

You’re pulled out of your thoughts as a marine charges through the smoke with his sword pointed right at you. There isn’t much time to react, but you do manage to deflect the attack with your dagger. You slashed at his back, sprinting away as soon as he fell. Standing around wasn’t going to help anyone, you need to figure out where everyone is so you can actually be of help.

Finding Ace will definitely be the easiest, though you can’t help but worry that you’d be more of a hindrance than help to such an experienced and skilled pirate. You shake your head, now is not the time to compare yourself and get insecure. The priority is to get everyone together because being separated is doing none of you any favors. 

A pillar of flames is dead ahead of you, and you run for it like your life depends on it. Ace comes into view, and Luffy along with him. They’re fighting hard, both focused on one marine. He was taking the heat and punches unlike any normal human, so you can only assume he must have a devil fruit power. Something that deflects surface level attacks possibly?

The relief you feel is short lived as you see what that marine’s plan was. He wasn’t seriously fighting them, he was just trying to keep their attention on him so they wouldn’t see what was behind them. Your stomach dropped at the sheer size of the gun you saw. It couldn’t even be supported by a single person, instead being carried on the shoulders of four. There’s no way anyone would be able to take a hit from that. If whatever that thing was going to fire was even slightly sharp on the end, not even Luffy would be able to deflect it.

That thing was too awkwardly sized to be moved easily and with any speed, all you needed to do was let them know and everything would be fine! “Ace! Luffy! Behind you! You need to move!” You screamed with all your might, but they didn’t even flinch. It’s too loud, they might not even hear you if you were right next to them. You need to get to them, and fast.

The marines were hammering a stand into the ground.

You ducked as another marine charged at you, not bothering to attack. There was no time.

The gun was settled onto the stand.

It seems the marines nearby knew what you were trying to do and swarmed you.

A marine dropped to their knees at the butt of the gun and peered through the scope.

You were jumping and dodging marines better than you thought you could, breezing through them like a fierce wind.

The marine had his finger on the trigger and another one waved a flag to signal that they were about to fire to the marine distracting Ace and Luffy.

You slashed at another marine and screamed for Ace and Luffy to move, but it was already too late. They didn’t even have enough time to turn around and see what you were yelling about before the trigger was pulled. 

You couldn’t just let them die. You wouldn’t. With not even a millisecond to spare, you plow right into Luffy. Successfully pushing him into Ace, and both of them out of the way. For a split second, you make eye contact with a very confused Luffy as a deafening boom blasts through the air. Then you felt a burning, all consuming pain rip through your chest.

Everything went black.

—

The battle around them fell on deaf ears as everything went quiet to Luffy. He couldn’t hear, nor feel anything. Not as he watched a bullet rip through your chest and send you flying away from him, leaving a stream of blood in your wake.

He froze. He didn’t know what to do. Should he go to you or whoever had just hurt you? What’s he supposed to do when he does get to you? Are you even alive? Luffy was already breathing hard from the fight, but now he was starting to hyperventilate. You can’t be dead. No, you couldn’t have just died right in front of him after saving him from danger.

He was snapped out of his terrified stupor by Ace shoving him in your direction. “Go check on (y/n), I’ll take care of that gun!” Ace charged at the like a man possessed, screaming in rage as his flames engulfed himself and everything around him.

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice, running to your crumpled form with fear of what he would find weighing heavily on him. He brought himself to a halt over you and swears he feels his heart stop at the sight.

The round had put a hole in your chest, only slightly off center and to the right. You’re pale and there is blood everywhere but where it should be. Frantically, he puts his ear to your chest, desperately hoping to hear a heartbeat. 

It’s there, it’s so faint, but he can hear it. Tears are pouring down his face and soaking into your shirt. He’s so happy that you’re still alive… but now what? How do you fix this? He doesn’t know what to do, but he knows that all he wants is to wrap you in his arms and never let you go. Never let you do something like this ever again.

He did just that, making sure to apply pressure around where the hole was, he’s pretty sure that’s what you’re supposed to do. “Ha-Hang in there, (y/n)! I’m going to get you help and everything is going to be okay! I promise!” There was no response, and he knew there wouldn’t be one. You were out cold, but that was a good thing, right? Zoro has slept off plenty of injuries! That’s what you’re doing! It has to be.

“Chopper! Where are you?! (Y/N) needs help!” Luffy cried out at the top of his lungs. The battle was starting to die down mercifully, and he was able to spot Chopper in his humanoid form at the other end of the clearing with Robin.

He sprinted towards the doctor, calling his name again. One of the few remaining marines tried to attack him, but before Luffy could even consider how to deal with him, he was slammed into the ground by Sanji bringing his foot down on him. Sanji didn’t so much as spare him a glance, instead choosing to run alongside Luffy.

“What happened to (y/n)? Who hurt them?!” Even with Luffy trying to apply pressure, blood was freely flowing out and soaking through his coiled arm. Even if there wasn’t blood, the unnatural paleness to your exposed skin gave away your poor condition. 

“They’re hurt really bad, we need to get them to Chopper,” Luffy’s tone was shockingly calm, bordering on catatonic. Sanji decided to drop it for now, wordlessly agreeing that getting you medical attention should be the focus. 

Robin noticed them approaching first and alerted Chopper, telling him to go to you while she deals with the remaining marines. Even before Luffy could unravel his arms, Chopper knew this was serious.

Blood was seeping through his arms and you looked… you looked dead. Eyes half open and unfocused. The sight chilled him and almost made him falter, but he forced himself to keep moving. You definitely needed him. “Luffy, what happened?”

Luffy set you onto the ground far more gently than anyone would have expected him to be capable of. Only your lower half touched the ground, he kept your torso propped up in his arm. Both because he wanted to keep your wound away from any contaminants, but also because he didn’t want to let you go. “They were shot,” Luffy kept the answer short and concise, getting straight to the point.

The hole in your chest was exposed, Chopper and Sanji both gasped at the sight. Your shirt was completely soaked with blood. Your head hung limply, and Chopper immediately checked for a pulse. It took a moment to find it, but it was there, however weak. There was also the distinct sound of you quietly wheezing. Your right lung had been ripped open from the gunshot.

“We need to go back to the ship, I don’t have everything they need on hand,” Chopper frantically wound some bandages around the entry and exit wound in an attempt to slow your blood loss even a little. He moves to take you into his own arms, but Luffy picks you back up before he can and takes off towards the Going Merry leaving Chopper to catch up.

You miraculously survive the trip back and Luffy is forced to part from you during your surgery. The further he gets from you, the more the calm trance he was in begins to crack. His crewmates try to talk to him and provide some comfort but he shrugs them off. For once, all he wants is to be alone.

After leaping off the ship, he shambles into the nearby forest for some privacy. It felt like he couldn’t breathe, like there was something lodged in his throat that wouldn’t come out no matter what. His shoulders trembled and his fists clenched and unclenched. He looks down at his shaking hands and is struck by the sight of blood. Your blood. He’s absolutely covered in it. His hands and arms were the worst, but your blood had seeped into his clothes too.

He felt sick. 

Scared.

Angry.

With a scream, he drove his fist into the nearest tree, toppling it instantly. He didn’t stop there though, once he opened the door everything poured out. Everything around him blurred together as he unleashed what was bottled up inside him. 

It didn’t help. The searing anger didn’t die out with each punch, if anything it got worse. One tree turned into dozens. Even boulders weren’t safe, he cracked them open like some measly walnuts. The ground beneath him was cracking under the sheer force of his blows, and it. Didn’t. Help. What was it going to take to make this horrible feeling go away?

Before his rampage could continue, arms latched onto him from behind. His first instinct was to thrash and yell, wanting whoever had the audacity to try and stop him to go away.

“Luffy! Stop!” Ace’s voice immediately made him freeze, and Ace took advantage of this to bring Luffy to the ground. His arms were still tightly locked around his brother, knowing that it’ll only take a second of him loosening his grip for Luffy to escape and make a run for it. “Listen to me, I need you to calm down!”

Luffy thrashed in his grip, but he wasn’t using his full strength, “Let go of me, Ace! Leave me alone!” 

“Those are words I never thought I’d hear outta you,” Ace grunted as Luffy jabbed his elbow into his side. “Quit! This isn’t going to help anyone! Do you think (y/n) would want you to be acting like this?”

The mentioning of your name is what starts to dampen the fire within him. You would probably scold him for throwing a temper tantrum if you saw this. Hot tears pour down the already present tracks on his face as he crumbles against Ace. His voice is so quiet, so hoarse, that it’s barely audible, “I’m scared.”

“I know,” Ace allowed himself to relax slightly, “but (y/n) is tough, they’ll make it through.” 

Luffy choked out a sob, “What if they don’t? What if- What if they die because of me?” The guilt had finally bubbled to the surface. “If I had paid attention better this wouldn’t have happened!” His hands pulled at his hair as his sobs became louder.

“Don’t talk like that, Luffy. I didn’t notice either. Blaming ourselves isn’t going to fix anything,” Ace let Luffy cry it out, patting his back. It took a lot out of him not to start crying with his brother, but he needed to be strong for him. Besides, he’d already gotten most of his tears and anger out earlier. Melting that oversized gun and burning that stupid distraction from the inside out definitely helped relieve some of it. 

As the sobs started to die down, Ace couldn’t help but ask about something, “So where’s that hat of yours? It’s weird to see you without it.”

Luffy sniffled, “I left it with (y/n). I thought if I couldn’t be there with them, then maybe letting them have my hat would help.” He’d wanted to put it over your face, but Chopper said no, so he left it on the infirmary bed’s pillow. Chopper promised he’d put it on you when your surgery was over.

Ace nodded, he figured as much. He got to his feet and extended a hand to Luffy, “Come on, let’s go back to the ship. You wanna be there when they wake up, right?”

Luffy stared at the open hand for a moment before accepting the offer. He used a small part of his shirt that wasn’t soaked in blood to wipe off his face. It didn’t really help much. He’s going to need to take a bath, but after everything that’s happened that didn’t seem so bad.

“You killed everyone that hurt (y/n), right?”

“Obviously. That clearing is nothing but ash now.”

[edajcheel]

TW: Yandere.

Imagine this, you're just an average student in night Raven College. You blend in very well with all the idiots and high-mighty men, thus, being a background character.

But suddenly, a person by the name of "yuu" comes and asks you for help for one of their assignments, you sit next to them and share multiple classes with them.

Soon, you began hanging around this person and grow a friendship with them.

But you always feel eyes behind you, piercing into your back as if you were prey.

After you finished your lunch with Yuu, and go your separate ways. You get cornered in a hallway that's clear of all students.

The infamous brothers, the leech twins, corner you from behind and front, no where to escape.

"Heyyyy small fry, do you have a deathwish?" Floyd Leech, the more aggressive twin pipes up.

"Oh, don't be harsh Floyd. We have yet to question them."

Seems like they have a unhealthy obsession with your newfound friend, Yuu, is what you figured out. They were planning to dump your corpse somewhere, and get rid of you for talking to their "Angelfish"

But you somehow came up with a good reason that let you live... "Uhh.. hey, I can bring you undiscovered information about Yuu if you let me live.." You quietly mumbled out.

Both of the twins looked at each other, seemingly sharing unintelligible words and emotions that you can't seem to decipher.

"We will accept your offer on that, but on one condition, you will not touch them nor handle them in any such way." Jade leech, the more "calmer" of both the twins said.

Although... You wouldn't call that calm.. more like he's just trying to hide his feelings of aggression towards you. He could snap your neck in any second if you so much as make the wrong move.

So it began, you being the "spy" for the twins. Trying to scope specific information from Yuu was hard. Personal information. It really seems like they aren't even THEIR own person. More like they just follow a script on what they like and do.

"what's your favorite color?"

"hmm.. I like all colors!"

"What's your favorite food?"

"it's hard to pick, everything tastes great to me."

You went back and forth to the twins, telling them the information you gathered till this day. You've seen and know how they react to most things, they're obsessive, cunning, possessive people that you don't want to mess with. Being with them, suffocated you a lot. You had to make sure not to get on their bad side, or do anything rash.

You avoid the touch of Yuu as much as you can. You avoid talking to them about other topics except for the topics that the twins tell you to speak about. But for crying out loud, whenever Yuu sights you out from the crowd, you can see them full speeding towards you. Can't you get any rest from this place?

You take safety measures and always find a way to escape from Yuu's grasp.

You really don't understand what your relationship has come to with the twins. Soon, all three of you begin hanging around at Mostro Lounge. In addition, you give them good information about Yuu while they sneak you free drinks. A win win. Their drinks are over expensive anyways, so it greatly benefits you.

You just hope that their house warden, Azul Ashengrotto, doesn't find out. Or you'll be in a deeper hole than you already are.

As the three of you hang out more, gradually growing loose with each other, even asking them for help with homework. You soon see yourself smiling in their presence, actually having fun. You don't know what their thought process was with this sudden change, but they dont seem to mind much.

They call you in for another small meeting, probably telling you what topic to cover with Yuu.

"Alright! What's my next mission impossible?"

Jade shows his infamous "gentleman" smile as he softly places his hand to his chest "We desire to see what you've been up to lately."

You quirk your brow in confusion. "Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"You're sooo slow guppy! It's not that complicated, we want to know what you've been doing these past days!"

Ah shit. Do they think you're plotting behind their back? You really thought that you gained their favor, and maybe became actual friends. Seems like they still don't see you as anything other than their information giver.

"I haven't been doing anything with Yuu, if that's what your speculating..." You address them calmly and seriously. Making sure that you sound convincing.

"No, you've misunderstood. That question is purely for you, Y/n." Jade's hand was boldly placed on the side of your face, as if to caress it. "You know, guppy, we've been bored lately.." Floyd shows his jaggered teeth, resembling a sharks.

They both grin. Floyd donning a smirk, while Jade's sharp teeth was out in display.

"We've grown interest in you, dearest Y/n."

"More than we've grown interest in Shrimpy.. theyve been boring these past few days..."

ANNNNNNDDD THATS WHEN YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH TWO YANDERE FUCKERS, THE DAMN LEECH BROTHERS, EVERYDAY IN YOUR LIFE!!! GOOD LUCK!! Cause they won't be hiding their affections and obsessive love towards you like they did with Yuu. Well, at least you have two tall, handsome bodyguards right? Not just one, but two. This was longer than I expected it to be..

This was inspired by the manhwa, I Love Amy, go check it out! It's 5 stars!

[maowives]

i don't mean this in a bitchy way, i genuinely like adore and appreciate the good faith questions and engagement with my article, but i think that, much like the old magic the gathering adage, "reading the card explains the card," unfortunately I do think a lot of these questions can only be responded to with "reading the article explains the article." Like I put kind of a lot of time and effort and thought into how I articulated myself and tried pretty hard to acknowledge and accommodate any edge cases that were both within the scope of the article and within my current capability to address, and I tried very hard to be concise and economical with my language, and unfortunately what that means is that there isn't a whole lot of fluff in the article and it's not really something that can be Skimmed. I think many if not all dear beloved commieblr mutuals understood this and like took the time to engage with it and chew on it critically, but I think (understandably) a lot of people probably started reading the article and tried to speed ahead towards the end. like I do think many "but OP what about x" questions are literally things I addressed concisely in the article. it's just that like, it's a rather dense article! I don't mean this as a self-praise, I genuinely do think that my failure to be able to articulate myself in a more accessible manner is a shortcoming of my abilities. however, if I was going to write the essay in a way that someone who is not at all acquainted with marxism-leninism, class analysis, materialist feminism, and/or dialectical materialism could understand easily, it would require at least another several thousand words at a minimum to get there, and I don't really think I'm a great enough mind to be able to pull that off effectively.

this isn't really anything beyond just musing and reflections, and i think it's been genuinely helpful for me that everyone has been asking these questions, but I do think that I probably will only really try answering questions that I feel like genuinely aren't already addressed in the body of The Text Itself and that I consider to be like, addressing real shortcomings of the text.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Macaque in the "Century Stone Egg au";

Basically XD

LBD accidentally gets the whiff of Sun Wukong being back + "having a future heir", and gives this information to the imprisioned Macaque to enrage him into working for her.

The second Macaque is revived, he still yeets the Skeleton Key far away as in canon, and books it towards FFM to see Wukong.

He doesn't even know *why* he's so insistent on seeing Wukong right now. His mind is running on fumes atm. Who is the heir? Why was Wukong apparently "gone" for so long? Hey, who are these people hanging around the island?

Macaque likely skulks around the island at first for a few days to scope out the situation. What monkey could measure up to his former mate to be an heir? Macaque makes a loud gulp as the figure of his King (somehow more beautiful than he remembered) turns to see him.

Wukong: *confused "hm?"* Macaque: *still a mess from his revival. Eyes fixated on both Wukong and... Wukong's swollen stomach* Wukong: *too shocked too speak. Eye start watering with a mix of joy and fear* Macaque: "Is... how?" Wukong, voice croaking with emotion: "After I lost you, it seemed like the right idea." Macaque: "Was it with someone or-" *eyes widen* "You made a Stone Egg didn't you?" Wukong: *nods with a mix of smug pride* Macaque, lets out a relieved gasp: "Peaches if I wasn't so mad at being killed right now, I'd grab you and hold you and kiss you." Wukong, laughing with tears: "Don't worry. Your jiějie will do it in my stead." Macaque: "Huh? what do you mean-" PIF, slams in to Mac at mach speed: "LIU'ER MIHOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" *hugs him in chokehold* "I've been alone for almost 500 years making sure no one bothered Wukong or my future niece!" Wukong: "Tieshan, I told you, there's no way to know for certain what they'll identity as." *turns to Mac* "Sorry Plums. She insisted I get an ultrasound to check on the baby. I have photos if you want to see them?" Macaque: *can't breath cus tightness of PIF's hold/has no idea what an ultrasound is, but tail thumps with delight* The rest of the gang: *mouths agape in shock* Σ(ﾟ口ﾟ;)//

Macaque openly cries when he sees/understands the ultrasound photos. (Sound that allows you to hear the shape/condition of the baby? Super cool!) He's sobbing at how beautiful his mate is, and how perfect *their* cub is already!! It's hard to remind Mac that Wukong is technically the Egg's only parent, but the gang let him have this fatherly pride. He's a little peeved that Wukong went through with the Stone Egg process despite the warnings from Gibbon and Baboon, but upon learning "Thats what the immortalities were for", he starts crying/realising so much all at once.

The subjects of the island all have a massive party to welcome Macaque back, something the Warrior honestly didn't expect. He didn't know that even for what he'd done, their people still missed their Kings' mate. And now he's back!!

In the Century Egg au, Macaque likely isn't carrying the Eclipse twins... or they're underdeveloped to the point that Mac is stuck incubating them for about a few years (like 10+) more until they're ready to pop out. He'd only find out about them out of his own curiousity at the ultrasound tech - Sandy has to catch Mac mid-faint at the news.

With his mate (tenative but healing relationship) by his side Wukong finally births his egg. Newborn "Xiaotian" has double the amount of parents (much more the amount of family) Wukong had originally planned for!

Macaque isn't jealous of the baby. Far from it. This is the infant his mate wanted so badly to have, that he risked the wraths of Heaven and Diyu to create and be there for. Xiaotian is Mac and Wukong's joy personified. Macaque's stone monkey instincts kick in and he's running around like super-dad; tending to the baby and/or Wukong whenever the King needs.

Macaque is also secretly really touched that Wukong kept loyal to him even centuries after his death. Still wonders why tf he died tho (S5 related probably).

[sarnai4]

The Underworld

I cannot even express how excited I was to listen to the Underworld Saga. It did not disappoint at all (of course, I wanted more songs, but the trio was amazing). Spoilers ahead for Epic the Musical.

"The Underworld" was an amazing setup for what we had coming. There are just so many tiny details! There are callbacks with "Full speed ahead," "Open Arms," and of course, we also have the "Ruthlessness" callbacks with the army. That would be so horrifying. He's surrounded by the 500+ soldiers who relied on him and trusted him to bring them back home. He even stated back in the Ocean saga how he didn't lose a single soul in the war. It's when they leave that everyone starts dying. Then, we have the heart-breaking Polites cameo, reminding Odysseus of how he cost his best friend his life. Now, the part that got me a little choked up was when his mom showed up. I have read even the story, so I know that she's gone, but it hurt so much to hear him realize he'd been at war so long that he never got to see her alive again. Him saying "Bye, Mom," just tears my heart strings right out. I love the contrast too of the quiet sadness in his voice with this line, then immediately yelling "All I hear are screams!" There's so much rage and pain as he's forced to confront everything that's kept him away from his family--including those he'll never be reunited with in life.

Then, we have "No Longer You." When I say the snippet did not do this song justice...(sighs dreamily). I still enjoyed the snippet, but this is probably my favorite of the bunch to listen to. The melody, the vocals, it's all just so beautiful. The tune just seems to float like you could do a ballroom dance with someone. That's not to say that the lines aren't great too. I love how this one plays on Odysseus's fears and how his increased time away from home has jaded him. The prophet basically says, "I see you with your wife, but you're messed up from your time away" and our Ithaca king is just pissed that he saw someone with his wife. Uh, buddy...well, I guess you'll find out soon enough. It's also so fun to know the story and get reminded of what Odysseus will be doing when he returns to Ithaca, fighting subjects who just assumed he had died and don't have respect for anyone in his family now. Even this entire concept to me in fascinating since it considers an underlying theme of the play: how people change due to their experiences. Odysseus will return, but it'll never be the same Odysseus who left in the first place.

And we end with "Monster" which is such an awesome ending to a first act. I wish this was live, so the audience could erupt in applause. (Small detail, but I love the music at the beginning. It's so unique when compared to the other songs and is pretty cool, gradually growing when more instruments are added). A bigger detail is that you have the instrumental intro matching the intro for "The Horse and the Infant." It just shows how far they've come and calls back to the very first time Odysseus was responsible for a lost life in the musical. My favorite line in this song is "I'm the only one whose line I haven't crossed." That's saying something too because this song is full of amazing lines. I just love the implication since we know Odysseus has often had lines he thought were too far. He didn't want to kill the baby, chose to spare Polyphemus, didn't kill Circe when he won in the fight, etc. Still, as he finally admits in this song, he did kill the baby. Despite that, he hasn't crossed his line. Why? I think it's because he keeps pushing it back each time he's confronted with something he doesn't want to do but feels he has to. It ties into the end of this song where he considers everyone he's lost, fully understanding the scope of it now that he's seen the spirits of his loved ones. Turning into someone he never wanted to be doesn't matter anymore. If he's a monster who still has a living family and hasn't proven the faith people had in him was foolish, then it's fine. He might have even been a monster before by not going against their enemies with everything he had. It's all a matter of perspective. Was he a monster for killing the baby, one for causing so many in his fleet to never return to their families, or one for both of those choices? The ending going back to "The Horse and the Infant" with him calling out for Penelope and Telemachus AND pairing that with the repeat of "Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" is marvelous. It's almost like it's in the same sentence where he's explaining his actions to them, telling them that he has to become a monster because it'll make things alright for everyone they hold dear.

The only thing that made me mad about this is that I have no clue when the next saga is coming out or what it's even called. So, I'll just be playing the songs on repeat until I can add however many more to the playlist.

[omegalomania]

everything is lit, except my serotonin

"what a time to be alive" is probably one of my favorite songs on the new record. that's not really a hard sell, though; i struggle to pick favorites at the best of times and by this time tomorrow, my favorite track will likely be a different one. but there's something about this track that i keep circling back to, for a multitude of reasons.

this one has proven a little contentious. critics don't quite get it, and even people who love the song will say that it's a little off-putting lyrically, primarily because of those lines in the chorus: "everything is lit, except my serotonin / everything is lit but my lightning-bolt brain". i'm not going to say outright that critics scoffing at the obvious earth, wind, and fire influence is one of those delightful instances of antiblack racism that's so common in music criticism, but i'd be lying if i said i didn't suspect that was a factor. but more to the point, that line in the chorus hit me a little harder than i expected it to.

patrick has stressed repeatedly that the majority of "what a time to be alive" was written before the pandemic. the lyrics to the bridge are the only parts that reference the pandemic specifically, but the rest of the song feels oddly prescient as it discusses how it feels like the end of the world...probably because in 2019, for some of us, especially those on the west coast, it did feel like the end of the world. pete wentz lives in los angeles, and thus probably got a very clear picture of this as it happened in real time. wildfires have always been an issue on the west coast, but by 2017, they started picking up in speed and scope, in large part due to the effects of climate change. the year after that, they got worse. the third year in a row this happened, it cemented that this was going to be a pattern, which is exactly what happened. today, the last third or so of the year is generally regarded as "fire season," when risk of wildfires becomes extremely high, power outages are common, and evacuations are anticipated.

i live in a fire zone. every year since 2017, i've had to evacuate my home regularly, or i know someone else who has. at this point, it's pretty well-established as routine. the first time this happened, it felt like the end of the world - watching neighbors' houses go up in smoke, housing displaced family members or friends who'd been evacuated themselves or actually lost their homes. by the time the pandemic happened, fire season hadn't actually died, either; we were carrying out evacuations while masked, and often without power (and thus no easy way to get news as to what was happening).

here's a thing about living in a fire zone. there are nights when you're going off no sleep and you're watching the ember-glow on the horizon at the early hours of the morning and thinking that it could almost be considered pretty, in a dark and dismal kind of way. there are days when the smoke haze is so heavy that you never get to see the sun but it makes the air hot and thick and it burns in your lungs. the smell of smoke becomes choking and omnipresent.

everything is lit, except my serotonin. everything is lit but my lightning-bolt brain.

i don't know if these lines were written about the wildfires in particular. it wouldn't surprise me if they were. there are a lot of moments in the song, the parts written pre-pandemic, that make me think that could've been the case: neon in the night-time and not caring if it's pretty because the view's so pretty from the deck of a sinking ship. livestreaming the apocalypse, because twitter feeds were literally the best way to get your news on whether your house might be next - if you had power and internet, that is. and not everyone did.

everything is lit but my lightning-bolt brain. it's kind of a silly line, and i understand being put off by it. it took me some time to warm to it too (pun absolutely intended). it's also a quadruple-entendre. everything is "lit" in the colloquial sense of being cool and exciting, sure, but it's also more or less how the human brain works. our brains are really just electricity, passing little bursts between all the neurons and synapses. on top of that, the sensation of feeling like electric shocks are passing through your skull, or "brain zaps," are a common symptom of withdrawal from antidepressants (which, among other things, are used to regulate someone's serotonin levels). and then there's the case of the world being on fire, literally. everything is lit except my serotonin. my lightning-bolt brain.

a memory:

i never actually stopped working through the pandemic, as i was considered an essential worker. the fires didn't let up either. a particularly horrible fire tore through a nearby area and that's the thing about fires: they turn the whole fucking sky vivid orange. i drove to work on a chilly autumn morning, the whole sky lit up in an orange glare. i stood for a minute in the freezing parking lot while flakes of ash overhead settled like snow onto my car, my hair, my clothes. somewhere, people's homes and livelihoods were burning, and in a matter of days or hours the wind could change and my home and friends could be next. so i walked through the falling ash and the sickly orange glow of the sky and did my temperature check at the door with my mask pulled up over the lower half of my face, and i got to work.

i remember that moment vividly because it was strange and surreal and eerie and it was probably the moment that felt most like the end of the world to me, or at least it did then. driving through town with the sky on fire and a disease tearing through the world and having to walk into work anyway. that's what this track reminds me of: the sheer, staggering surreality of watching everything fall apart, and then...you go to work, because what else are you supposed to do? you go to work. the world is ending. you go to work.

what a time to be alive.

[uwabbittuwabbit]

can we be casual now? pecco/luca this goes out to all my girlies with stress acne in these trying times </3 anyways i wrote this instead of studying for finals <3 pls enjoy!

Luca pulls his helmet off, scrubbing at the film of sweat on his face with the palm of his gloved hand, and tries not to let the fatigue settle back in too deeply to his bones. It had all blown off of him on track; the speed tearing it all away from him until nothing was there but for the weight of the bike underneath him, how it moved, he couldn't even feel the weight of the helmet on his head, how that and his gloves and boots boxed him in. Luca never had a problem with it before. He was used to working within limits, that had been his whole life--that the limits were the issue half of the time, and as for the rest it could be solved in terms of those declinations. Now though, everything was wrong. nothing could truly describe the sheer, staggering scope of malfeasance inherent to the Honda bike; Luca had seen Marquez and Joan wrangle the machine around track like it was a wild animal, yes, and lose, horrifyingly, but to ride it was an altogether different thing. Being slow in the straights was the least of its problems. What was really fucking Luca over was the fact that it never reacted in the same way as he shifted his weight to lean into a corner, the metronome of his person falling into an irregular tempo; arrhythmia. now when he went racing whatever overwhelmed him felt too big for his leathers and helmet to contain, it was as if he would explode outwards from the sheer feeling of it all. Everything about him hurt now. His whole body ached as it never had before on the Ducati, from trying to squeeze himself onto a bike that was too small for him. There was also the sharper pain from being thrown off the bike, and the blunter one that came from the refusal. Why can't you be nice to yourself, Luca wants to tell the bike once he's back in the garage, eyes still stinging with the suddenness of being thrown, the wheeling strobe of the sun. Watching as the mangled body of his machine is pushed back and propped up yet again, a macabre taxidermy, Frankenstein's monster from being patched up and revived so many times. It's--everything's a little bit too much right now. He does want to understand, which is why he went to Honda in the first place, but now here he is on the dirt track of the ranch, trying to figure out how to stop the situation from sliding out under him so quickly.

Luca sighs. He's breaking out into pimples again, something he thought should've stopped when he stepped into adulthood. Growing pains. There's nothing to be done about anymore so he strikes the kickstand back, is about to maneuver the bike in the direction of the garages when someone wheels up next to him. Luca turns and is surprised to see Pecco, the banner-red of his bike a figurehead. "I heard you were on track all day", he says, flipping up his goggles, and Luca does the same in greeting. "Yeah", Luca replies, "I was just about to go back". He shrugs a shoulder in the direction of the main complex. Nobody else is there. It's just him and Pecco, marauded in this river of dirt with the sun spilling the last of its brilliance across the valley. Everything is stained champagne bright, the light catching in Pecco's eyelashes the same way as it had, what seemed like eons ago. The memory hits like a migraine. Suddenly, appallingly, Pecco had become another one of Luca's bruises, one that was always tender because he poked at it constantly. It wasn't possible, to have what he wanted. They were both on their separate ways as factory riders: Pecco with defending his title, and Luca maybe hoping to be good enough for one point in the championship. There was no going back to what it was before, those days where Pecco and he could be casual; they had both been Ducati riders, they were all of friends. But it was different now. He had missed his chance, right here at the ranch where they had self seriously swapped critiques on each other's riding form; a slap of the shoulder, when one of them fell too deep into their own thought, laughter as a form of catch and receive. Pecco could no longer understand him like that anymore because Luca didn't understand himself now, and it was so strange and confusing, to have no one else as your guide. "How about a few more rounds?" Pecco asks. He's still there, one foot planted on the ground, the red of his bike still raw, gleaming. "Of course," he backtracks, "if you're up for it". Even after two world championships he's still, absurdly, bad at asking for things, and Luca feels this crazy exuberance well up inside his body. It's almost silly, really, how he would do anything for him. "Well", he says, turning the bike back towards the track: "if you say so champ". At that Pecco laughs, embarrassed. "You of all people should know not to call me that, cheap bastard", he replies. "Now you'll have to beat me, to keep my ego in check". "Try me", Luca returns, wiggling a bit closer to Pecco to shoulder check him. "I've been here all day, I have all the tricks". "You'll have to catch me first", Pecco says, then, he takes off in a cloud of dust, a blaze of red into the sunset. Luca curses; he hadn't even noticed Pecco flipping his goggles down. Pushing off he feels the bike wobble underneath him as he enters the track in pursuit, the wheels righting once he's exited the corner. This then, is familiar. So fine. If Pecco couldn't tell him how to ride anymore Luca could still be that for him, even as he lost more and more of himself to his goddamned dream. He'll stay, even when he had left all else behind. He'll stay.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So. I am running into a problem with my book.

More specifically, I'm having issues with people understanding the scope of the book.

Because I have been working primarily in the Pacific Northwest teaching nature identification classes and so forth, that's the region most folks associate me with. I've been slowly increasing my work in the Midwest, but I only go out there a couple of times a year.

However, The Everyday Naturalist is not just a book about identifying things in the PNW. It discusses skills I've used for nature identification in my own travels, and there's nothing location-specific there. It's meant for anyone, anywhere, who wants to learn the actual process of figuring out what species they've found, even if they have no natural history background whatsoever. I've tried making it REALLY obvious whenever I talk about it in person or online, and even the subtitle is How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go.

But I still get some people assuming that it's just a field guide to Pacific Northwest life forms. Which is an issue 1) because I don't want non-PNW people thinking it's not for them, and 2) I don't want people who were expecting a book about PNW wildlife to be disappointed. As we're getting closer to the book actually being out (June of next year! Nine months!) and I'm about to start brainstorming with the marketing team at Ten Speed Press, I'm conscious of this misconception and want to keep heading it off at the pass as much as possible.

I am totally fine with continuing to answer the question "Oh, is it just for the Northwest?" because it's a great opportunity to have that conversation. But I'm at a loss for ideas as to how to be clear enough to avoid that question popping up in the first place beyond just elaborating on the book's content and purpose whenever I talk about it.

Which is all to say: I'm open to suggestions!

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

how about a healthy serving of Stephen angst to warm you on a chilly autumn night...

14,000,604 ~ ch.four

Stephen reveals one of the most painful aspects of his search for a way to defeat Thanos

"…the initial attack had blasted the whole area down to bedrock, and once Thanos unleashed the full weapon fire from his ship, it cracked the remaining wall of rock that was holding back the lake.”  Stephen’s voice had grown ragged, almost hoarse, as he revealed the details of the battle to come.  "I’ve lost track of how many times I tried to set all the pieces in place…to marshal my forces so that enough of my fellow sorcerers would be standing ready to hold back that water—but I could never make it work.  Moving just one of them away from their battle position changed the course of the overall battle by the littlest bit…“  His hand trembled badly as he held his thumb and index finger together, demonstrating the barest bit of the change that he had dared, ”…but always just enough to throw things off balance, enough that eventually Thanos triumphed—so that it always had to be me to work that spell."

Hope drew a deep breath, her eyes locked on his, and laid her hand against his cheek, like a benediction against the guilt deeply rooted in his soul.  She had listened mostly in silence, only speaking up softly when he seemed to lose his train of thought, and patiently urging him to continue only if he felt up to it.

"And that was my last option,” he continued, nearing the crux of what pained him the most, “Only I could keep the battlefield from being flooded—so that the only man on the field who could secure the Stones, and use them to destroy Thanos and all of his forces, would actually have that chance.”

“But he’ll die doing it,” she surmised, “He’s going to die, and you can’t save him…”

Stephen nodded, and then hung his head, “Yes.  I’ve tried and tried and tried, Hope…so damn hard…with every power at my command…with every…”  He gritted his teeth, exasperated by his own uselessness, “…with every breath I’ve taken since first seeing that outcome…with the full scope of my imagination…to find a solution that won’t cost Tony Stark his life.”  Stephen let his shoulders sag, the sting of his shame refreshed as he spoke his failure aloud. 

“No,” Hope whispered, clasping both of his hands in hers.  "No, Stephen—you have nothing to be ashamed of,” she insisted, her voice growing with conviction, "You’ve done infinitely more than any mortal man could…”

“But it wasn’t enough,” he groaned, shaking his head in denial, “I even explored more than a million outcomes, specifically looking for one where Stark’s fate would fall on me instead—but I could never make it work.”  Stephen finally let his tears fall freely, grateful that he was safe in sharing the true depth of his heartache with his ever-gentle confessor.  He looked to Hope again, saw only understanding and sweet mercy writ upon her face, and knew he had chosen well to trust in her.  "In my old life, I took an oath to do no harm, but when I return to Titan, I’m going to have to save his life, only to ensure that this good man—this father and husband…“

In his mind’s eye, a series of images flickered at the speed of thought, from a newborn baby Morgan in her father’s arms, to her parents joy at each new milestone their child reached, through years of laughter, love, and the challenges of parenthood, and ending with the upbeat farewell that Tony had made to them both, before leaving their secluded haven to head to the Avengers compound in New York.  Pepper had calmly kept her tears at bay, not wanting to alarm their precocious little girl; Tony had put on his most casual, cavalier face, but when Morgan tucked her head into the crook of his neck and reminded him that she loved him ‘3,000’, the look he’d exchanged with his wife had devastated Stephen seeing it the first time—and now, just remembering it as well, knowing it was inevitably the last time that Stark would ever hold her.

“…and true hero—will not only craft the method of our salvation, but also die to save the world,” he finished bleakly.

"Oh god,” Hope’s voice cracked with sorrow for his pain.  "Stephen, please…please…believe me,” she ran her fingers through the streak of white at his temple, trying her best to assuage him, "You mustn’t do this to yourself…”  She closed the little gap between them, drawing his head against her shoulder, sighing hard as she stroked his hair.  

“My darling,” she crooned, the first time she had ever used such an endearment for him, “You’ve borne far too much, far too alone, for far too long.  If I could just take a little of this burden from you, I’d consider myself blessed.”  Through tears of compassion, she repeated his name, “Stephen…my darling, darling Stephen…you mustn’t torture yourself so.”

Soundlessly, he clung to her, his heart grown greedy for the softness she offered by simply being herself.  Between this solitary, bitter journey, and the time spent in the loop with Dormammu, Stephen had lived out thousands of years apart from any companionship, let alone understanding and mercy.  He had never asked for help or succor in all that time, being only ever focused on protecting and saving lives—nor had he ever expected thanks or any sort of recompense.  But for the first time in what felt like an eternity, here was someone who recognized the price he paid to wear the mantle of Master of the Mystic Arts, Time-Stone Wielder and Protector, and guardian of this reality—and often even more.

“Yes, dear,” she murmured, feeling him relax in her arms, while laying the softest kisses he’d ever known on his cheek and near his ear, “Let it go for at least a little while.  Know that you’ve done your best, Stephen; that no man could possibly do, or give more, than you already have.”

“It doesn’t feel that way,” he husked against the tender flesh of her neck, breathing in her sunshine warmth and the pale, citrusy scent of her skin.  Another memory he would be sure to carry with him into the inescapable future.

“I know, darling,” she whispered against his ear, “I know—but trust me in this, okay?”

Stephen nodded and inhaled deeply, feeling her calm start to fill his lungs, replacing a share of his guilt with relief.  When he finally felt ready, he sat back in his chair; Hope was quick to smooth the tears from his cheeks, “You are the best man I've ever known, Stephen Strange. Strong. And kind. And good."  Words that felt to him like they came straight from her tender heart.  She exhaled slowly, and the knot of anxiety and despair that had been lodged in his chest for a thousand years, began to unclench as he read the truth on her sweet face.  "Now, my darling, beautiful, Stephen," she continued calmly.  Gently. Lovingly.  "There’s something you need to remember…something you might not have thought of…okay?”

He cupped one of her hands against his cheek and nodded again, even managing the ghost of a smile in answer to her request.

“Good.”  She gave him the same sort of smile back.  "Two things, really.  First, that because of you, Tony Stark is going to survive Titan, and have those five beautiful years with Pepper and their daughter.  From what you’ve described, it sounds like the life they have, the love they share, is something most people never even get to experience.”

"Alright,” he agreed, for she echoed what the small voice in the back of his mind had been insisting for some time now.  "And?”

"And…” she informed him firmly, yet with the same gentleness that marked her regard for him at every turn, “…from everything you’ve told me about Tony Stark, I’m absolutely certain that if given the choice, he would step up to save the world for their sake alone.  Don’t you think so?”

He had been so exhausted for so long, and so immersed in his guilt and desperation, that such an idea had not really occurred to Stephen.  Now he could almost hear how Stark might exclaim it:  If the only way they survive—and that Earth survives—is for me to lose…well, hell, I gotta be on board with that.  Stephen closed his eyes, and his breathing slowed and steadied, as he shed another share of the guilt that had become his unflagging companion on this ponderous quest.

"Yes," Hope urged him, "Your burden is heavy enough already without piling on the responsibility for the choice which Stark is bound by his own nature, to make."

He nodded, the warmth of her palm against his cheek soothing him in equal measure to the wisdom of her words.  "I don't think I realized until just now how much I needed to hear someone say that," he admitted, looking into her eyes once more, and seeing the gentlest of affirmations there.

Hope's brow furrowed a moment, as though she was perplexed, though her voice held no reproach, "You mean I haven't told you this already, in your previous visits here?"

"I never gave you the chance to," he confessed, regretting that choice in light of her merciful, sympathetic response.  "I never confided the entire story to you before." 

She hummed softly at that revelation, mulling it over.  "Okay...I, uh...I guess I can understand that.  But, um..." she lowered her eyes and hesitated a moment, "...what makes this time so different?"

Although Stephen was sure that she had already guessed the reason, he knew he owed her the answer.  "Because this time, when I go back," his voice broke with the sad truth of it, "It's going to be for good.

Hope nodded and a couple of tears spilled from beneath her lowered lashes, sympathetic tears for the inevitability of his burden.  "I kinda figured that was...that was why."  When she met his eyes again, hers shone bright with further tears withheld.  "I'm so sorry, Stephen.  I wish there was more I could do than just...offer you words...I..." she sighed, "I wish you didn't have to face this all alone."

An unexpected sense of peace filled his chest, and spread throughout his body like the warm flow of blood in his veins.  "Oh, honey," he promised her, "I won't be entirely alone.  Not anymore.  Stephen gathered her other hand in his, and lightly traced his thumb back and forth along the heart and life lines on her palm.  "That's your gift to me, Hope.  I'm here right now because I knew that you could grant me that last little bit...," he gave her a quiet, bittersweet smile, "...of very human, very humane magic.  And that's exactly what I've been needing to see me through to the end of this battle."

Her smile at that was sunshine breaking through thunderheads, so lovely and purely for him that his heart felt like to burst with the bloom of love---the seeds of which had lain dormant since his life had been stolen from him in the shadow of that invading spaceship, too long ago for him to even reckon properly now.

Hope bit her lip, eyeing him with curiosity and her ready humor.  "So, tell me, Mr. Remarkable---what comes next?"

"Well," he began, grinning at the nickname she had given him on the day they had met, "I was hoping you would stay with me a while longer.  Now that I've nearly reached the end, I believe I can afford a little time to just...be.  To simply enjoy your company.  Maybe we can sit beneath that silver maple in Washington Square Park again, and I can finally breathe air clean of the haze of battle and feel the sun shine on my face after so much smoke and darkness."  And death, he might have added, but for the happiness his suggestion had brought to her face.  "And I'm going to take a long, hot shower, because it's been literally a thousand years since I had that luxury."

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything," she teased him, "But you might wanna do just that."

Stephen narrowed his eyes, enjoying her return to playfulness, for it was a form of healing that he had prayed to find in her.  Cherishing every moment of their now, while his heart stored all of them up for future comfort---for he still did not know what future awaited him, let alone Hope, once the endgame of this epic, universal struggle played out in full.

“Alright then,” Hope concluded, rising and beginning to clear the dishes away, rinsing them quickly before depositing them in the dishwasher, “Whatever the Master of the Mystic Arts needs, I’m more than happy to provide---it’s the very least that I can do for the salvation of the universe.”

Silently, Stephen stood up while she went about her task, fascinated with---and grateful for---her resiliency, and thanking the universe that had seemed to be so unendurably cruel since Bruce Banner had come crashing through the Sanctum roof, for finally giving him a measure of mercy.  He took Hope by surprise, sliding an arm around her waist, and turning her to face him.  “Just leave the salvation of the universe in my hands, honey.  It’s enough for me that you’re seeing to my own.”  With that, he kissed her breathless, before they left the Sanctum arm in arm, in search of sunshine enough to ward off the darkness that awaited him once he resumed his dread task.

Read the full story on AO3

tagging: @dutystricken @mousedetective

buy me a ko-fi?☕️

[happyk44]

Percy rarely goes to museums with Annabeth. For one, hearing her talking so passionately about things he doesn't understand (or care about) makes him horny. Two, he gets easily bored on museum tours and wanders away frequently, which irritates her. And three, as much as Annabeth loves explaining things to people and appreciates that Percy likes when she infodumps on him, she's always disappointed that he can't give back much, if anything at all.

He tries to engage and ask questions, and she'll specifically try to word her information in ways that make coming up with questions easy, but it's hard for the both of them, and sometimes it's not worth it, and despite both their best efforts, they can get frequently annoyed with each other on these trips, because Annabeth wants to take in everything at sometimes near glacial speeds just so she can hit every detail of what is offered, and Percy just wants to move from exhibit to exhibit at a steady, consistent pace, then get a hot dog from the cart outside.

Luckily Nico loves history, and arts. His passions don't always line up with Annabeth's and vice versa, but having dozens of conversations with various ghosts under his belt, he can match her energy really well. And she's always able to engage him, because even with shit she doesn't find particularly interesting, she still likes to learn.

So it doesn't come as much of a shock when Annabeth starts calling out that she's heading to opening of a new exhibit an art or history museum with Nico. Or that he's gonna take her to see some recent archaeological finds, or on a casual tour of some random country/city/town/village to scope out the architecture.

When this started while Annabeth was still living at camp, people used to laugh that Nico was her secret boyfriend. It was so funny because Annabeth and Percy are meant to be, written in the stars, and Nico is gay. But it was almost true.

She'd call their outings dates sometimes, and despite spending the whole day together they'd still spend hours talking in the grass afterwards, and she'd perk up just as excited to see him as she was to see Percy or Grover. Always ready to tell him about something new, or the answer to something they were both wondering about. If she saw him walking by, she'd call out to him - pausing in conversation to run up and say hi.

Which is why Percy isn't all that surprised when he comes home to their tiny studio apartment a few days after moving in to find Nico splayed out on the floor in front of the bed idly talking with Annabeth as a documentary on the civil war plays from a large monitor Annabeth took from camp and attached to her laptop, because they do not have the space for a TV.

It's a few months in when Nico shows up one afternoon with tickets to an art gallery in Spain. Annabeth isn't around, but Percy is and he grins widely when Nico tells him why he's there.

"You know if you weren't gay, Nico, I'd be worried you were trying to steal my girlfriend."

Nico fidgets rapidly in place. His thumbs tucks and untucks around the tickets in his hand. Then, he huffs, "Maybe I am."

And isn't that a thought.

Percy scratches the back of his head and throws on the kettle. Coffee tastes disgusting, no matter the amount of sugar and milk he throws in, but he won't deny the caffeine gives him that sweet clarity he's begun to get far too used to each morning. How Nico manages to take it straight black and oh so bitter is a mystery.

"Well, she is my girlfriend, so don't be surprised if she says no," he laughs, back to Nico as he pours a generous amount of ground beans into a cat mug, then a moderate amount into a mug from a pottery session with Estelle. They swapped cups afterwards so she got his "how manh different blue glazes can I fit on this" mug and he got her "so many rainbows and unicorns and they're all handdrawn and awful" mug.

It's one of his favourite things in the whole world.

"Who says she'd say no," Nico fires back when Percy hands him his cup of bitter darkness.

Percy adds far too many Splenda packets for one mediocre cup of coffee and considers that, leaning against the counter while the heat from his mug warms up his hands.

He takes a slow drink then answers, "Then I guess I'd want to see what all the hype is about."

They don't do museums. Percy takes Nico to some skateparks first. Nico is shit at balancing, but he tries anyway, and asks Percy about the different moves other skaters are doing. He doesn't talk much though, which Percy appreciates. He doesn't mind talking about what he likes, but there's also just a serenity in being able to observe, which Annabeth isn't the most akin to. She likes to learn, wants to know things, is almost militaristic in her need to acquire more and more information.

Percy just wants to be. Exist in tandem with the flow of the world.

They go to aquariums and zoos. At the aquariums Nico makes small comments here and there, and asks little questions like "Are they talking to you? How do they feel about living in an aquarium? Wouldn't it be bad to have sharks and small fish in the same tank?" Percy answers where he can. He likes telling Nico about all the things the different animals say about the people passing through. Nico laughs and groans and rolls his eyes at every fishy comment.

Zoos are more observatory, with Nico taking the lead for information. He mentions offhanded the better conditions of the animals than when he was young. Eyesight sharp, he points out the ones Percy can't spot, laughs when Percy recoils from creepy crawlers. Spiders are one thing. Giant roaches are a complete other thing. But Nico coos like they're kittens and jumps at the chance to touch and hold when it's offered.

He's much more tactile than Percy thought. Barely flinches when someone taps his shoulder to squeeze by. When the kids at the park help him readjust his passing or pull him up from a fall.

Doesn't shy away when Percy lets his hands drift to wrap around his. Just breathes a little shakier, but holds on.

They walk through cemeteries, and have picnics beside graves so old no one visits them anymore. Annabeth comes and wants to know everything about the person they're using as a backdrop. Nico indulges her without hesitation, and the sound of their voices flow into gentle background noise in Percy's ears. He talks when it strikes him. And when finally exhausted of her need to know things, she lays beside him, head on his chest. The ghost will shimmer out of view and Nico will tuck his knees to his chest, and smile down at them.

Sometimes Percy wants to pull him into the middle of them and keep him there.

Sometimes Annabeth wants to do the same.

Sometimes Nico wishes they would.

They're not incomplete without him. They love each other to end of the world and beyond, through treacherous walks in hell, through staring down gods and titans. Percy knows all her secret fears. Annabeth knows all his deepest loathings. They have date night dinners at cheap fast food restaurants because neither can tell the difference between a five dollar plate of pasta and a thirty dollar plate of pasta. They still get dressed up because it's fun to look fancy at a place that isn't, and because it's date night and they supposed to look nice on date night. They go to movies and make stupid jokes in the back of the theatre. He listens to her verbalize every thought she had on the film, all her meta and theories and grievances, and he easily gives back as good as he can because, hey, this isn't a boring museum where he has to look at a statue and pretend to have feelings about it.

But there's something about Nico that makes the world feel bigger. He's not a missing piece, and he's not a frame holding their picture together. He is not a need, not a requirement.

He's a visceral want, a desire, an enhancement.

No, the painting of horses above their front door wasn't necessary, but doesn't it make their apartment look better? Add a smile when it's seen? Feel right to have in that spot?

Doesn't it make their tiny studio feel like home?

"You should stay," Annabeth whispers one night. Percy's half asleep, vaguely aware that the movie he was dozing through had come to an end, credits rolling with peppy music echoing through Annabeth's speakers.

Nico is sat on the edge of the bed, never too close, not when the world is private between them. He lets Percy hold his hand in crowds, lets Annabeth loop their arms together. But when the world goes quiet and everybody else drifts off, he shifts away. Always so subtle. Releasing Percy's hand to pick up something or sort through his bag. Removing his arm to point at a picture. Shuffling out from under arms thrown over his shoulder to find a bathroom. Or get something to eat.

And he sits on the edge. Like there's a boundary wall keeping him out.

There isn't.

They would never put one up for him.

He doesn't answer as he slides to a stand.

"Spend the night," Annabeth insists, a little louder. She reaches for him, loose and weak. Not wanting to push. But wanting him anyway. Hopeful.

Nico turns and rubs the back of his neck. "I don't-"

"You don't have to cuddle," Percy murmurs. "Just." He leans over Annabeth's stomach and smoothly pats down the open spot beside her. "Sleep with us."

Nico fiddles with his hands. Then tilts his face away. The thin sliver of moonlight through the broken blind illuminates his him sweetly. Reflects the soft line of his jaw, and the nerves in his eyes.

"We're toeing the line," he says at last. The acknowledgement of their situation hangs heavy in the air. They've never talked about it before. "And I've been fine with that, but if I stay, then..."

What does it mean when the seventeen year old you've been going on faux dates with spends the night in your bed? If he leaves, he's just a friend. If he stays...

"What if we want the line to break?" Annabeth says and Percy hums an echo of an agreement. Black eyes go wide as Nico turns to face the two. "The line doesn't matter to me." Percy hums in agreement again. She reaches out for him, and so does Percy. "So just stay."

They still don't talk about it after Nico slowly slinks into their bed that night. They keep their distance at first but each night he stays, they creep closer and closer to him until one morning they finally wake up tangled against one another like human oragami.

But, no, there aren't any labels. There aren't any talks about what it all means, or who they are to each other. No talks about introductions, or secrecy.

There's no real need. They carry on as normal. And the changes that do happen, the shifts in dynamic, are too small to worry about. Nico's clothes finds space next to theirs. Percy fills the cat mug up with bitter darkness every morning that Nico awakes by his side. Annabeth drags him to museums and lectures. Percy laughs whenever he falls down at the park. They struggle to read aloud plaques about animal facts. Nico summons ghosts at cemetery picnics and sits tucked in between them, like the space there was made for him.

And when Annabeth kisses his cheek, just on the edge of his mouth, there's no shock or disturbed jealousy. Instead the image twists something pretty in the pit of Percy's stomach, and goes hotter the next time Nico returns her affections, this time clean on the lips. When Percy wraps his arms around Nico's waist and nibbles sleepily at his throat, Annabeth smiles gently and makes silly jokes about whether Percy wants a real breakfast, or if Nico's throat will be enough.

It reminds her of them in the early days of cohabitation, when Percy would slide up, sleepy, into her back, and nuzzle at her cheeks and neck and shoulders, and she'd flip pancakes, telling him food would be ready soon, that he didn't have to resort to cannibalism.

It's strangely comforting to see her life reflected on someone else. Maybe it's just because it's Nico. Nico who doesn't look at other girls like he looks at her, and Percy, and other pretty boys. Nico who corrects her and doesn't back down when she gets indignant because she hates being corrected. Nico who massages her ankle when it aches since it never healed quite right, and gentle nudges her bones and joints in proper place each time.

Nico who holds Percy back when he walks up clawing at the air from nightmares that still plague him, although they come by less and less. Nico who makes over-sugared coffee for him even though he thinks it's disgusting and an affront to the very nature of coffee. Nico who battles hard and meets Percy head on in every spar, no hold backs needed on either side.

Nico who slips into their bed more and more each night. Nico who lets them hold him when he cries. Nico who takes them to his family's grave so he can mourn his mother, his sister, and all the others he can just barely remember. Nico who doesn't hide from their curiosities. Nico who lets them rub ointments into old scars and bully him into resting when he's clearly tired but too stubborn to lay down.

Nico who they love, deeper than the ocean, and as unyielding as the strings on a loom.

They don't know what it really is between them - intense platonic polyamory, an interconnected romantic triad, a split romantic triad, a friends with benefits thing, an exclusive arrangement? Who know, who cares?

It's theirs - museum dates, and skatepark fails, and ghostly picnics, and stupid jokes in the dark of a theatre, and tangled mornings, and all.

[7grandmel]

Todays rips: 02/04/2024

Our Sweet Parsley and .​.​.​of 2023 and Christmas Spirit [FILE-07] (Beta Mix)

Season 7 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Sapphire

Ripped by cookiefonster

Season 7 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume Sapphire

Rip credited to "Kai Cenaze the Evil Gyat"

Season 7 Part of: Haltmann's Archives

Ripped by Mitchell

Did everyone enjoy yesterday's April Fools bit? I hope you did, it was a ton of fun - and if you missed it, you can use Raft Ride ~ The Story So Far to get yourself up to speed. But now its time to move past my own silly April Fools joke and back to the SiIvaGunner channel's bit - for the one event I've wanted to cover on this day for months now. In terms of these events, its hard to top just how excellently executed and well-rounded Mario's death event in Season 5 with Your Best Nightmario was - but for me, the event held last year just narrowly takes the crown for me. April Fools of 2023, the Season 7 event held 367 days ago (leap year!), is one of the most heartfelt, silly, and outright fun events the channel has ever had. And yes, I couldn't narrow it down - I HAD to feature three rips from it. Hopefully, you'll understand why.

To start, I think it needs to be established just how BIG this event was. There have been far larger in scope events on SiIva before - the King for Another Day tournament basically lasted from September to Thank You, Everybody! across several months and over a thousand videos - but April Fools 2023 is different. All 248 rips uploaded were done so not across months, not across weeks - but ALL DURING April 1st itself, within a 24 hour timespan. Now granted, 21 of those were Trailer Stringers for Garten of Banban (don't worry about it) - but it still speaks to the sheer bredth of the event itself. It was downright agonizing to think of just three, two, let alone one rip to feature on the blog to cover this event, because unlike with Your Best Nightmario or Grand Dad Metropolis - there's not truly one set of rips that best encapsulate everything about it.

Which, then, brings us to the event's theme, the main hook, one that compared to the above mentioned April Fools events from prior years, is quite subtle. You may have noticed that each of the three featured rips share a quirk in common in their title - a (Beta Mix), or in the case of .​.​.​of 2023, (Beta Mix) (Beta Mix). What's that all about? Well, Season 7 as a whole can be best described as a loveletter and celebration to the *entire* SiIvaGunner channel - this is a large part of what RIP² was about as I covered in SING A SONG ABOUT HOPES AND DREAMS and Return to Collision Clouds. It wasn't just cheering for KFAD, wasn't just remembering The Reboot, wasn't just being nostalgic for Season 1 - every inch of SiIvaGunner's history, obscure or popular, was brought up, remixed, paid tribute to, and so much more throughout the whole year, and the year's April Fools event was the greatest testament to it. We all slowly realized what that (Beta Mix) suffix meant - that each of the many, many rips uploaded that day, were *direct tributes* to the rips uploaded in the channel's past, elaborations upon or spoofs or alternate takes on these classic - or obscure! - rips.

And that side of the coin is what I think Our Sweet Parsley in particular captures brilliantly. Sonic Adventure's My Sweet Passion saw two absolutely classic rips be made of it during Season 1: The first, Our Sweet Passion, is made in the channel's earliest months and is one of the most concise examples of a truly good bait and switch, playing the track's instrumentals but having its lyrics be read aloud, dramatically yet with a confused inflection, by ripper How2BeEpic, emphasizing the bizarre word choices and writing to comedic effect. In the season's final months, Harmony Friends of Coconut Gun fame mentioned back in CG Man HD Remastered Edition, gave us My Sweet Parsley, a rip that sentence-mixes these same bizarre lyrics in YouTube Poop-esque fashion whilst still playing the original instrumental behind it all. Our Sweet Parsley, then, sees cookiefonster pay tribute to both at the same time in a rip I'm sure many of us thought possible, yet had likely forgotten about by the time Season 7 was upon us seven whole years later: a perfect fusion of the two. That's right - the lyrics of the YouTube Poop-ified My Sweet Parsley are read out with the same dramatic, quite-unfitting voice as Our Sweet Passion, and its arguably even funnier: Since there's no sentence mixing done, we get to hear first-hand cookiefonster's descent into madness reading off how Amy "had to shave it". And to really bring the point home of how much of a loveletter this entire event was, the aforementioned descent into madness is immediately followed by a bait-and-switch performance of the DK Rap with changed lyrics, directly paying tribute to Harmony Friends' Coconut Gun Rap. And then there's a sly reference to Thunder, Rain, and Lightning just after that - ANOTHER Harmony Friends rip from Season 1!!

You see what I mean, right? This was just one of the 240+ rips uploaded this day, but a ton of them had this same sort of love and care poured into them, no matter how shitpost-y they may seem from the outside. For me, the entire day was like being continuously rewarded for having kept up with SiIvaGunner so closely since its inception - yet more than the average use of the term "fanservice" implies, it all felt like it was done with the most genuine and wholesome, mutual respect between rippers behind-the-scenes. And, well, I say rippers - but part of the fun with the event was that it extended far past just rips! .​.​.​of 2023 is a (Beta Mix) version of a fucking *VLOG* of all things, the Vlog that channel founder Chaze the Chat recorded to announce the end of SiIvaGunner Season 2 and the beginning of SiIvaGunner Season 3. In other words, the equivalent of an update video, not anything actually core to the channel - yet still a video that die-hard fans like myself have long kept in mind since it was made.

I have no clue who "Kai Cenaze the Evil Gyat" is, but I want to thank them sincerely for creating the funniest rip I've ever seen out of one of SiIvaGunner's few completely-straightfaced videos, one that I mostly remembered for its very funny thumbnail. In some ways, it's the most classic of YouTube Poop, with sentence mixing and edits done purely for the silliness of "he's not saying what he's supposed to!!". But there's little nods to the fanbase's running jokes in the background - The Christmas Comeback Crisis development hell, the Rave.DJ sticker in the bottom right of the whole video, and so on - all the while, prominently, the entire video is coated in modern-day-YouTube content mill slop from top to bottom. A reaction video cam of Chaze the Chat, based on the Season 1 ending announcement The nutshack theme but the first nutshack is replaced with me ending the channel but edited to basically do nothing but say "uhm", constant reminders to like and subscribe, sensory-video sound effects - its genuinely absurd in a hysterical way to see such a tranquil, normal "olden days" YouTube video be slathered top to bottom in this kind of stuff - and it shows just how far this event went to fuck around with our past knowledge of the channel's history.

But, you know me - I'm a lorehead - and alongside all these videos, we also got the very special morsel of Christmas Spirit [FILE-07] (Beta Mix). I've long since accepted that a lot of things that happen on SiIvaGunner, especially nowadays, don't really have any direct ties to greater channel lore - that's completely fine, and its allowed the team to flex their creativity and individual skills in ways they couldn't whilst being ran under Chaze the Chat's administration in the first four seasons. Yet for this silly, downright pure-fun holiday event, Mitchell goes back to (Beta Mix) up one of the old Haltmann's Archives videos, the videos made during Season 2 and Season 3 specifically to condense and help convey old and new lore to the audience. It is, admittedly, not very serious, likely not even meant to be taken *seriously* - but it depicts a sort of glitch in the system, with the log changing from a researcher team's findings regarding "Christmas Spirit", to suddenly focus on a new, unknown substance called Fools' Spirit, a substance that appeared out of nowhere yet able to "warp and corrupt the space around itself". The testing is described as fruitless, yet as the log ends, we're shown a peek into the elusive testing grounds previously only described verbally - now covered in mist as pink as the Fools' Spirit, and evidently causing glitches to the actively-running SiIvaGunner experiments.

The rip is far simpler and straightforward than the abovementioned two - its less rip and more textbox - but I think its the initiative and attention to detail that really speaks to me here. The original Christmas Spirit [FILE-07] was well over five years old by the time this event rolled around, covering lore that hadn't been touched upon since the last main Christmas Comeback Crisis episode from just about as long ago - lore that, compared to stuff like Figments as covered in Bowser's Finale, is far less relevant to the channel's status quo. To find a way to bring back that old lore, repurpose it for the intents of this new event, and all the while having it tie together with the current state of the lore as well!!! You can see at the end, the laptop screen describes "Illucidity Active", describing the dream environment in which SiIvaGunner exists within during the entirety of Season 7 in particular. This Fools' Spirit then infests the laptop, and by extension SiIvaGunner's own dreams - giving us the entire April Fools events' gimmick to begin with! And hell, depending on how you read into things, it could even be viewed as - unintentional or not - foreshadowing for some of the great reveals made during the Season 7 finale, One Last Chance [Episode 11] of the Christmas Comeback Crisis.

Do you see why this event was like heaven on earth for me, the notorious overthinker of SiIvaGunner lore? This channel is my autism fuel, it is my Pokédex - and the entirety of April Fools 2023 was like being personally thanked for 24 hours straight for my commitment and love for the channel. No, you silly doofuses - thank YOU for running the channel to begin with, for keeping it so incredibly fresh for eight years and running!! I could do this sort of breakdown for far more than three rips from this event - if you gave me infinite time, I would GLADLY repeat Raft Ride ~ The Story So Far but for April Fools 2023 -, but I think its best I leave you all to explore the event on your own. It needs to be emphasized just how magical Season 7 was for me - it was the thing that made me start this damn blog to begin with!! - and it fills my heart with such joy to see that so much of the SiIvaGunner team loves this channel in its entirety. Be it the love for rips, like with Our Sweet Parsley, love for lore like with Christmas Spirit [FILE-07] (Beta Mix), or love for quite literally everything inbetween like with .​.​.​of 2023 - I'm forever assured that SiIvaGunner will stay in good hands in the years to come. Godspeed, you beautiful bastards. April Fools.

[vikings-til-valhalla]

One of my best friends felt stupid for being a slow reader. Having been there multiple times myself, and battling those types of thoughts on a daily basis for my whole life as well, I decided to write this to her:

You're not alone in that... In school, my teachers would all constantly say, "You should be able to read one page per minute!" Or something like that, it may have been 1 page per 30 seconds for all I remember. But it took me, regardless of the size, regardless of the number of words, minimum 2 minutes per page, sometimes even more. Taking any test that was timed and required me to read, I was panicked knowing I'd never finish the text in time to answer the questions. And that was often the case. I felt like a failure, stupid, and it was reflected in test scores. I'd get the answers right! But I didn't have the time to finish them all, and that's where I got penalized. However, when I took an untimed test for literacy comprehension, I was told I had a college reading level while in middle school. I didn't believe them. I was literally failing English classes left and right. Then, for college, there was another untimed test for the same thing. I scored so high that they literally did not have classes that could challenge me, and just threw me into the hardest English course they had even though I was determined to not need it. I aced those courses for 2 years straight with A+ in both, because rather than focusing on how fast someone can read and answer questions, it focused on how well you understood the texts as a whole. My one professor gave me 105% because she was so impressed. So all that to basically say, regardless of how slow you read, no matter how many times you have to reread the text to understand it fully, as long as you understand it that's what matters, and shows how intelligent you are. Schools pressure you to be fast at everything because in the working world, time and money are one in the same. You have to cut corners and make the top dollar or else corporations see you as a failure. And what is traditional schooling in America but a pipeline to the working capitalism world??

I've met dyslexic people who published bestselling books. I've heard of authors who failed all of K-12 schooling and published well known books by the dozen. And I myself am a very slow reader who struggled all through school, failed most every class for being slow enough that I couldn't finish any tests, but I've been given untimed tests and proved to be highly intelligent in every subject, several languages, countless forms of comprehension, and I published 2 books by the age of 23.

But I am VERY slow at all of that. It takes me hours at a time to solve a small math problem. It takes me weeks to read a children's book. I usually have to hear something twice or more to understand it, unless I have subtitles to read so I can back up what my mind processes hearing, with something visual.

It doesn't matter how slow or fast you are. Intelligence is intelligence regardless. Capitalism just makes it seem like speed is the end all be all of everything, because if you're slow, you're not doing it right/well enough, and you're not making enough profit for anyone to value you.

What's important to remember is to value yourself and what you've accomplished, no matter how long you took to do it, how many tries it took to succeed, or who approves of the things you achieved besides yourself. Your best is good enough, you are good enough, and your worth is not determined by production quotas of any sort in any capacity. Worth is inherent, and also built upon at your own pace by accomplishing things within your personal scope.

[script-a-world]

Hello! I am building a scifi setting, and in this setting there aren't really any known planets besides Earth that would naturally support life (not human life, anyway), but over hundreds of years humans have terraformed several planets to support life in order to build settlements there, and that has included introducing plants and animals from Earth to those planets (my understanding is that terraforming, at least on this sort of degree, isn't really likely to be practical in real life, but that's something I am willing to handwave and go "it works because i say it works, just trust me bro" on).

Once that is done, the wild animals and wild plants brought over to a terraformed planet generally speaking are never transported from one planet to another again, although domestic animals, plants that are farmed, and humans themselves, might be. And I can see insects and microbes getting inadvertently transported from place to place among different kinds of cargo, since they're small enough to escape notice (I mean, the most venomous spider species in my country is a population of spiders that exists in one natural history museum because there were some accidentally brought over in a shipment of stuff from South America in the 60s or so. I can well see that happening on a planetary scale in a scifi story, too - but anyway)

My question is, if you have a population of animals that's isolated from other populations of the species to that degree, how quickly do you start seeing clear differences in the traits that different populations have? Like I don't expect to have entirely different species yet in a matter of centuries, but if you have a population of, say, roe deer, that would have been entirely isolated from other populations for like five hundred years, could there be differences between that population and other populations that a layman might be able to spot?

Tex: If everything’s on the same planet, it’s going to be difficult to truly isolate an area or population, because it’s going to be affected by the same planetary conditions, such as orbit around the nearest star, the ocean and its environment, etc.

Darwin’s finches, for example, have distinct variations in phenotype despite being effectively the same species (a similar situation for the Galapagos tortoises), which shows that a species’ genotypes can still appear as different physical traits given different environmental stresses.

It’s difficult to tell when evolutionary changes occur, because this depends on not only the species, but the environmental changes, the speed of such changes, and how deeply they impact a species in question. There currently isn’t any research being done on evolutionary characteristics of animals and their niche environments that I know of which has already been occurring for a hundred or more years, as much of our current generation of science is relatively recent given the scope of technological evolution.

Taking a look at the niche environment, how it differs from the originating environment (if this is part of the equation), how the two differ, and what environmental pressures are exerted would be a good start in extrapolating how phenotypic expressions might be altered without delving into the much more complex subject of epigenetic changes.

Utuabzu: Gravity, levels of light, the colour of the star, the length of the year and day and the degree of axial tilt are all going to have to be adapted to, since there's not that much that can be done about them. Organisms that evolved seasonal behaviours are going to lose those after a while on a planet with negligible axial tilt and thus negligible seasons. Organisms on tidally locked planets are going to lose traits dependent on a day-night cycle. Organisms on a high-gravity planet will get stockier, while those on a lower gravity one will get taller and thinner.

Photosynthesis is dependent on the interaction of a photosynthetic pigment with certain wavelengths of light. The dominant photosynthetic pigment on Earth is chlorophyll a, which reflects away the wavelengths we call 'green' and absorbs most of the rest of the visible spectrum. One theory for why it's dominant is that because the sun's emissions peak around the green part of the spectrum, this protects the photosynthetic organism from getting burnt - one point in favour of this is that non-chlorophyll a using photosynthesizers tend to favour shade. But around a different star, or even further out in our own solar system, chlorophyll a might not be ideal, and plants that use other proteins would reflect different spectra of light, and thus appear different colours.

But in terms of evolutionary timescale, it depends on generation length. Things evolve based on mutations that offer some benefit to the offspring of the mutant, leading them to be more successful than their peers and have more offspring in turn, which then are also more successful than their peers without the mutation and thus spread it through the genepool. A civilisation that can terraform planets on a reasonable timescale can almost certainly use genetic engineering as a shortcut to ensure their new biosphere can thrive immediately.

So you have a fair bit of leeway in terms of what you can do with other planets' biospheres. Terraforming on a scale shorter than thousands of years would already take technology well beyond anything we have, so you can handwave a fair bit.

[bitsbug]

what are the upper atmosphere nephelai creatures like .. rubbing my hands together. and is science at the point where they know things that live up there generally speaking, and understand them as organisms more than myths, but still have a very limited scope of the actual biodiversity, similar to how we are with the deep sea?

Oh upper atmosphere organisms are VERY strange! Nephelai's cloud layer is an environment which literally doesn't exist on earth, and has some unique evolutionary pressures. Being in a groundless environment without liquid to support your weight results in some unconventional solutions.

*Kyliyt is here for scale. They can't survive this far up.

They've always known about the stuff that lives above, but have never gotten to see it alive. The midnimbus, the cloud layer between the surface and twilight zone, is constantly stormy and has VERY high winds so it tends to... shred anything that falls down. Or otherwise slam it into the ground at unlivable speeds.

It's a bit like globsters. Unidentifiable corpse-things that appear without explanation, leaving you to speculate what it once was.

And yeah there's millions of yet undiscovered species up there. It's even vaster than the ocean, and just as barren, so good fucking luck trying to find things. Seriously luck is your best bet. Even still, this is a way better understanding of cloud life than years ago. At least there's observations of alive organisms in their proper habitat now.