#this stuff is not a priority right now of course considering the reason this is happening is a matter of justice and accountability

[mcflymemes]

PROMPTS FOR BEST FRIENDS WHO DON'T REALIZE THEY'RE TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER *  assorted dialogue, adjust as necessary

what do you mean? i've always been okay with you dating other people. for some reason, this time just feels different.

do you think you could ever see us as more than friends?

i compare anyone i ever date to you. is that weird?

did they actually think we were dating? that's a little strange.

do you get asked a lot if we're a couple?

you're my best friend. i would never want to risk our friendship.

our friendship matters more to me than anything. i don't ever want you to leave my life.

i'll admit. i've started looking at you differently... in a good way.

guess i never realized how beautiful you are.

would you consider this a date?

seeing you with them... it made me so mad. i can't explain the feeling.

i'm afraid i'll lose you. i can't risk it.

you're not just my best friend, you're my... nevermind. forget i said anything.

sooner or later you'll probably realize you've been in love with me this whole time.

i don't want to ruin our friendship. that's the main issue i have.

but what if you're the one for me?

do you believe in soulmates?

no one else compares with you.

of course i care about you. you're my best friend. you always will be.

wow. you look... absolutely breathtaking.

i know i'm not supposed to have feelings for you, but i do.

they said we'd make a cute couple, you know.

if no one asks you, and no one asks me... maybe we could go to the dance together. as friends.

i'm always going to be by your side. that's what best friends do.

i won't let anything happen to you. i promise.

you have no idea the lengths i would go through to keep you safe.

you don't treat anyone else like this. just me.

how long have you had feelings for me?

whatever happens, we can't let this get in the way of our friendship.

what's a kiss between friends?

best friends cuddle. this is normal. this doesn't have to be romantic.

i've always viewed you differently than other people.

you're so special to me, and you don't even realize it.

i've never cared about anyone like i care about you.

i just don't want them to get in the way of our friendship.

when were you going to tell me you were seeing someone? i thought i was the first person you told about that stuff.

don't you get it? they're not you.

i'm not in love with them. i have feelings for someone else, someone i can't have.

would it make things weird between us if i kissed you right now?

no, i'm not staring at your lips. what are you talking about?

my parents keep insisting that we'd make a great couple.

you've always been my first priority.

you said something earlier about the people you love.

could you ever see yourself loving me?

and what about me? do you love me?

maybe we could go on a date sometime. an actual date where i plan nice things and bring you flowers.

i've been in love with you since the day we met. there. i said it. happy now?

[maple-the-awesome]

It's Over? ||

Pairing: (any) Peter Parker x Reader

Words: 3,728

Overview: (Loosely based on this) After overhearing your conversation on the phone, Peter begins to worry about the status of your relationship and a miscommunication over text only makes matters worse.

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Peter Parker's such a terrible boyfriend.

...Okay, so maybe you've never said that to his face, but he's convinced it's true and he's also certain you agree. He's been a massive idiot lately which is a realization that makes him sick with worry and rotten with guilt.

Peter feels no hesitation with his feelings towards you and has always put effort into proving it: he gets you hand picked flowers collected during his patrols, writes loving messages for you with webs outside your window, and even texts you pictures of sunsets from the best views in New York, wishing you could be there in person with him because he absolutely treasures you, counting himself lucky every single day solely because of the fact that he can call himself your boyfriend.

Unfortunately, he fears that the title might change here soon because no matter how boundless his love is for you, he's done a real shitty job of showing it - at least in the ways that really count the most.

Originally, Peter didn't notice the flaws to your relationship and even when he did, he foolishly brushed them off. Once your smile began to fade little by little each time he returned home wounded, he reminded you that you don't need to stay up waiting for him every night and can go to sleep earlier if you're just going to be tired and annoyed with him when he gets home. He didn't mean to word it so harshly. He was worn out himself and didn't take the time to consider that you wait all night because you're worried about him.

Your complaints about him returning from work without getting any groceries would simply be met with new promises to do so after patrol. If there was no food in the fridge for dinner, then he suggested ordering take out. As a man who could easily survive months on Top Ramen alone, he didn't think you'd mind Chinese food two days in a row.

Even when you'd beg him to stay home for a date night because you haven't had one in weeks, he'd push you away, insisting he needs to protect New York without once stopping to wonder how his priorities might translate in your mind: 'I need to protect a city of strangers as I do every single night, so no, I can't spare a few hours for my girlfriend'.

Throughout every sigh to part your lips, Peter turned a blind eye to it all. Sure, the two of you argue, but all couples do, right? He still loves you and you love him, it's just...a little rough dating a superhero is all, however you'll both get through it together, he was so sure - and that's the key word: Peter 'was' sure, but after your fight today and the self-reflection he's done since, he's not too confident anymore.

It seemed so minuscule this morning. He was eating a bowl of cereal when he heard you huff from the other room. Upon investigating, he found you holding a red and blue shirt in hand, frustration written all over your face. It was your favorite shirt and it definitely wasn't supposed to be that color. Of course, the reason for its unplanned dye job wasn't difficult to guess.

Peter apologized while explaining he was really tired the night before and must've thrown his suit into the wash without checking the other items first; an "honest mistake" he called it with a shrug. Once again, you huffed, throwing the shirt back into the hamper in clear defeat which only made him press further about your suddenly foul mood. From there, the situation only escalated into raised voices ending in you slamming the door directly in his face when he tried to follow you into the bedroom.

Looking back on it now, Peter realizes his apology came off as halfhearted as he merely continued to stuff another spoonful of cereal in his mouth in between sentences and he probably should've stayed at that locked door to give you a proper apology, yet regrettable that's not how it played out. Instead, he purposely sighed as loudly as he could, asking why you "act so bitchy anymore" before stomping off...Not the greatest way to resolve an argument.

Unfortunately, Peter can't say that was the first fight he's merely walked away from with you. You would think Spiderman would know better, but alas, he's an idiot. In his own immature mind, he didn't see anything wrong or unhealthy with this strategy of simply dropping 'unfavorable conversations', after all, it seemed he had a fifty-fifty chance of you either getting angrier or never bringing the topic up again, the latter of which has been occurring more frequently lately. It wasn't until this morning that he realized just because you don't bring it up again, doesn't mean it isn't still hurting you.

When Peter went back up to the bedroom door, prepared to tell you he'd be leaving for work soon, he heart shattered upon hearing your silent sobs from inside. You were crying because of him. Your tears have always been his weakness, but it was in that moment that he learned there's something else that can deal even more damage to his sorrow and that's the broken words you sniffled to presumably MJ on the phone:

"I-I just can't do this anymore! It doesn't matter what I do! I've tried to not be clingy. I've tried to give him space and let him do his thing, but he never comes back to me! I don't even remember the last time we've gone on a date. It's always New York this, Daily Bugle that. Hell, he volunteered to work a few extra hours the other day yet can't be bothered to stay home just to eat dinner at the table with me! It's like I'm last to everything else in his life even when I put him first in mine!"

The thought of your relationship ending turns Peter's nerves to mush. How could he be so stupid? So ignorant? Such an asshole when he has the perfect girlfriend who has kept putting up with his bullshit for all this time? You don't ask for much in return; you never have. You ask him to help with small chores in your shared apartment. You request that he texts you regularly throughout the night not because you need attention, but because you need to know he's safe. You want date nights every once in a blue moon because he's your boyfriend, goddammit! What's the point of saying you're dating if he feels more like a lazy roommate than an equal lover?

You're slipping right through his fingers and he has no one to blame except himself. He knows that now and he's been spending the entire day thinking about it along with some way to apologize properly.

Part of him wishes he would've just pulled himself together and done something right then, bursting into the room with the promise that he can change - that he will change. Hell, he'd burn his suit in front of you if it means you'll give him another chance - if you'll believe for a second that the relationship is worth saving...But alas, he couldn't bring himself to interrupted your call, feeling it would only betray your trust if you knew he had been listening to a private conversation.

Instead, Peter sat like a statue on the couch, waiting not so patiently for you to leave the room on your own accord. When you did, he leaped up only for you to walk directly past him while sternly reminding him you have work. Of course you had work and, no matter how far he followed you through the apartment, begging you to listen to him for even just a minute, you wouldn't so much as glance his way...The karma he deserves.

While you may not have given him any time to explain himself this morning, hope is not completely lost. Shortly after your departure, Peter came to the realization that his nerves will last all day if he doesn't do something about your earlier argument, thus he decided to text you:

Your final text hadn't come until ten minutes after his, but at least he has a chance to plead his case which he doesn't plan on letting go to waste. He's practiced his apology about a hundred times each hour, engraving the thought-out speech in the deepest corners of his mind despite none of it sounding quite right. Of course none of it sounds right! You sounded so convinced on your phone call - like your mind is already made up on ending the relationship. What if you can't be swayed? What if you don't love him anymore? It did take you ten minutes to text those words back. Maybe you weren't even wanting to say them to spare you both the extra pain at noon.

It may seem hopeless, as Peter worries, however he refuses to give up. Too tense at home, he took to swinging around New York while sometimes reciting his speech aloud. He's tried his best to predict any possible response you may have so that a counter argument can be prepared. He wants to show you that he means this - that he's confident in his ability to fix your crumbling relationship. He's even picked up a nice bouquet of flowers at the corner store, ignoring the weird looks the florists gave as Spiderman dropped from the sky just to nervously request the best flowers to avoid a break up.

Needless to say, Peter's heart nearly jumps out of his chest when his phone alarm finally rings at noon. By this time, he's already sitting on the rooftop of your workplace, waiting nervously for your call while reviewing everything he's prepared in the meantime.

Bad boyfriend or not, Peter still knows you. He knows you find the break room too crowded, so you prefer to grab your lunch and take it back to your desk to eat. That's when you'll likely call him. The plan is then for him to pour his heart out into his speech before hanging upside down outside your office window with the flowers. Sappy, yes, but it's the best a desperate wreck like Peter Parker can think of!

His focus is glued to his phone screen while waiting, only shattered by the sound of sirens nearby. Lifting his head, Peter's heart drops at the sight of several cop cars racing down the street to a location he's learned all too well throughout his time as Spiderman: the damn bank. Of course, someone has to rob the bank now! Crime has been quiet all day, but the one time Peter needs it to be so, it decides to be blaring loud instead!

He curses under his breath when standing only for his ringer to be the new sound in his ears. You're calling now! You're calling and there's a bank robbery a few blocks down! Why does the universe hate Peter like this?

"Hello -"

"- Hey, (Y/n)...Sweetheart - Listen, I'm, um," he bites his lip, watching a few more cop cars zoom by in the company of a firetruck," I am so sorry, but I'm gonna have to call you back, okay? There's a robbery at the bank and I -...I promise I'm going to call you back before your break is over. I promise."

You don't respond too quickly much to Peter's concern - as if you already know to start weighing the worth of his promises. When you finally sigh, you sound just as tired as this morning, "...Sure, alright. Just...be safe, Peter, okay?"

"I know, I will be! I promise I'm going to call you right back so just hold tight!" Swinging into the air, Peter holds the phone to his ear with his shoulder, soon removing it with his hand but pausing to say before hanging up: "Have a good lunch, I love you!"

"...I love you, too..." Another delayed response, one Peter barely hears before pressing the little red button on the bottom of his screen.

He's dealt with lots of bank robberies before. He can make this quick. Swing in, keep the sass to a minimum, web up the badies, save the hostages, and return your call with plenty of time remaining for your break. It'll definitely work out that way, no sweat!

It didn't work out that way...No, of course it didn't, this is the life of Peter Parker; a man the universe just seems to hate most of the time. Forty two minutes; that's how long it took to deal with the whole fiasco at the bank. The robbers were armed with homemade weapons each packing a punch which are already annoying to deal with on their own, but sided with the worry of hostages and his already stressful day, the fight wasn't as easy as Spiderman had planned.

Nevertheless, no matter what the universe decides to throw his way, he has gotten good at recovering. Yet again, the bad guys were defeated and left webbed up for the police, however Spiderman had no time to deliver a clever pun before his exit. Instead, he disappears the second the threat is gone, his phone already in hand as he prepares to face another:

"Shit, shit, shit!" Peter curses, pacing across the rooftop he lands on while frantically texting you back:

Swinging a bit further, Peter begins his way towards your work with his phone balanced against his ear. He mumbles desperate pleas under his breath as he listens to the seemingly endless ringing before, to his relief, your voice finally picks up on the other side:

"Yeah?"

"Oh thank god! I didn't mean it's over as in 'I'm over with you and our relationship', but over as in 'I got the robbers'. I'd never break up with you especially over text, I swear - Listen, I really need to talk to you, but in person. Are you still at work?"

"Whatever it is, can't you just tell me now? I have that meeting in like ten minutes."

"No, I need to tell you in person. I need - I have to make sure that we're okay...I want us to be okay..." He's nearly in tears which is obvious to you by the sound of his voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"I really don't want you to break up with me. I know I've been a terrible boyfriend lately and I know I've made you feel like shit so I probably deserve to be dumped, but I swear I never meant to and I want to fix everything - I will fix everything, I swear! You're the most important person in my life - okay, maybe second to May because she's my aunt, but compared to everyone else! I love you more than Spiderman or the Daily Bugle or - or even those super good sandwiches at the corner deli!"

"Peter -"

"- My point is I can do so much better! I'll start doing all the chores, I'll take more days off from the Daily Bugle and I'll even stop being Spiderman if it means you'll be happy with me, I promise! Just please give me one more chance -!"

"- Peter, hold on!" He instantly shuts his mouth under the strictness in your voice. You hesitate on the other end before a sigh can be heard, "...How quickly can you be here?"

"Give me two minutes tops!"

"...Alright. Meet me on the rooftop - and don't be late. My manager's already an asshole as it is, so I can't be late to this meeting."

The sound of Peter landing on the roof causes you to turn around, yet you have no time to say anything before he's running towards you with his mask already crinkled in his hand as well as a few measly roses with broken stems in the other, "(Y/n), I’m sorry. I promise I’m sorry.”

“Peter, your face…” Perhaps it’s just instincts and routine at this point, but the first thing you notice is the nasty bruise already forming under his eye, not that he’s the slightest bit concerned about that, in fact he doesn’t even acknowledge your comment.

“Please give me another chance. I’ll fix everything!” When Peter officially reaches your side, he moves to hug you - desperately wanting to do so, however he stops himself with his hands on your arms, having no more confidence to push his luck. You could shove him away at any moment, after all, “Like I said, I’ll do the chores, I’ll go on as many dates as you want, and I’ll stop being Spiderman even -”

“- You wouldn’t stop being Spiderman. You’d never stop being Spiderman,” contrary to his expectations, rather than being angry, you run a hand through his hair, your voice a soft whisper, “You love being Spiderman too much, Peter.”

He bites his lip and bows his head in shame. You’re right. He doesn’t want to stop being Spiderman, but…

“...But I love you more…”

“...Peter,” your heart swoons. Brushing his bangs away from his face, you tilt your head to get a good look at him, “I know you love me and I love you, too. That’s why I could never ask you to give up something as important to you as Spiderman.”

“I thought…” He trails off.

“You thought what?”

He glances at you quickly before directing his eyes away, “...I thought you were mad at me because of Spiderman? Because I spend too much time working - that’s why you want to break up with me, right?”

You blink in surprise, “Huh? Why would you think I want to break up with you?”

“I accidentally overheard you talking on the phone,” now it’s your turn to look away in shame, “You said you couldn’t do this anymore…That you were pretty much fed up with me which you have every right to be. I’ve been a terrible boyfriend lately -”

“- You’re not a terrible boyfriend -”

“- I am, though!” Peter cries, “It’s like you said! I leave you second to everything else - I don’t mean to, but I made you feel like you’re not as important to me when you really are. You’ve always been important to me, yet I’ve been ignoring your feelings and I pushed you to the ledge -”

“- Peter Parker,” you move your hands to his cheeks, moving him gently to look at you as you speak quietly yet sternly, “...You’re right. You haven’t been the most ‘attentive’ lately and yes, it really hurts to be tossed aside compared to everything else. I know deep down that you don’t mean it and I know you love me. I love you too - sooo much which is why I really don’t want to break up…It’s just…Something needs to change.

“That call you heard - I was only ranting if anything because honestly, I haven’t felt like I’ve had anyone to talk to lately,” you squeeze your eyes shut, blinking back the tears, “I’ve been so worn out with it all. Work’s been crazy lately with my manager constantly up my ass for reports and then when I go home wanting nothing more than to spend time with the one person who makes all that stress go away, you aren’t there. I’ve…I can’t keep that up.

“...What’s important right now is that we both realize that. I don’t want you to give up being Spiderman, but you could take a night off once in a while, right? There’s like a zillion superheroes in this city, after all. Make the Avengers handle it or - I don’t know, that devil dude. Take a break not just for my sake, but yours, too” you let your hands fall down to Peter’s, holding onto them with a sigh, “...You’re not the only one who needs to change, though. This is partly my fault, too -”

“- It isn’t your fault. Why would it be your fault?” Peter interrupts with concern, yet you shake your head.

“I should’ve communicated to you that I was upset. I should’ve made sure you actually understood how I was feeling instead of just assuming or expecting it. Clearly, you care about us as much as I do and you want to make fixes now that you’re aware of the problems. If I just would’ve said something sooner, it wouldn’t have had to get to this point. It isn’t fair for either of us to suffer without the other’s knowledge nor is it healthy. We shouldn’t have to get pushed to the ledge or worry about a break up before ever once sitting down to actually talk about our concerns like grown ups…That’s what we’re supposed to be now, right?”

“I think so, although it’s not that easy, is it?” Peter mumbles then throws his head back dramatically with a groan, “Ah, May and Ben made it look sooo easy!’

You chuckle, resting your forehead against him, “I’m sure they had moments like this…We just have to learn, is all.”

For what feels like the first time today, Peter smiles and breathes his relief, “How about this: I’ll promise to start spending more time with you and doing more chores around the apartment if you promise to start telling me when you’re upset. Even if it’s something that seems totally stupid, okay? I won’t walk away anymore. I’ll sit and listen and if I don’t, you have my permission to call May on me.”

“It’s a promise,” you press your smile against his for what you intend to be a quick peck, however his arms finally wrap around your waist, pulling you closer into a longer kiss he’s been dying for all day.

“I love you,” he whispers once pulling away.

“I love you, too,” and there’s no hesitation or delay to your response this time.

[stephaniebrownslover]

★彡[! General Nina The Killer Headcanons!]彡★

Warning: This Is so crappy and I don't like it. So it would be better if you just skip this post.

: ̗̀➛Nina really likes to eat ice cream, she likes it so much that even in a snowy weather in the middle of winter, she can open a crappy romantic comedy movie and eat ice cream.

: ̗̀➛The reason Nina dresses like a scene kid is because this style was a trend when she was a little girl. Even when she saw this style for the first time, she was literally fascinated. When she encountered people dressed in this style, she was truly amazed. She decided that she wanted to dress like this and started at about the age of ten. She became one of the people who proved that this style of clothing is not just an phase.

: ̗̀➛She is very careful about her knife, she cleans it often. She hates having blood on it, and that's her first priority until she cleans it up.

: ̗̀➛Nina, contrary to popular belief, is no longer an obsessive fangirl. She survived this period with the help of her friends and Ann.

: ̗̀➛She regrets her past, but that doesn't mean she hates Jeff to death either. She thinks most of the fault is hers and she doesn't like Jeff. She just doesn't want to be around him. But just because her friends Clockwork or Toby hang out with Jeff, she doesn't say anything to them.

: ̗̀➛She has a ton of lip products with different flavors. She prefers what tastes good rather than what looks good, for no reason.

: ̗̀➛Her musical taste is a little mixed. Unlike her close friends, she doesn't listen to rock or metal much, if she gets suggestions, she listens that song for 1-2 times, but usually forgets afterwards. She listens more hyperpop, electronic pop, dance pop, bubblegum pop, nightcore and a little indie pop/rock. Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Kesha are among the artists she listens to.

: ̗̀➛Although this is a difficult thing for her, she visits her brother Chris's grave every month. He is the person she regrets the most when she killed her family, and she can hardly hold her tears the time she visits his grave. Of course, she doesn't always manage to do this.

: ̗̀➛She also tells Chris what she did when she visits his grave, how her day was going, and a ton more things she would have told him if he were still alive. Although she doesn't get answers, she doesn't care about it, Chris is her little brother, and Nina failed to protect him. That's why there's nothing she can do but stand the consequences.

: ̗̀➛Nina's not a very meticulous person, but she's not a dowdy either. It's between the two of them, but there are some stuff that she's sensitive to. For example, her knife, her room, her clothes.

: ̗̀➛She's aware of popular culture because she spends a lot of time on the phone. She even has a Snapchat account that she uses constantly to send photos to others, she tried to get everyone she loves to download this application.

: ̗̀➛She has a pretty good relationship with Jane, when she has a difficult situation, Jane treats her like a protective mother. She considers Jane a really valuable friend and would never want to lose her. If Jeff vs. Jane happens, she would take Jane's side in this argument.

: ̗̀➛As a child, she was really good at gymnastics, even got medals in small competitions. Thanks to this, she has a very flexible body right now.

: ̗̀➛She thinks Toby and Clockwork are very cute together, so whenever they argue, she tries to make things right between them.

: ̗̀➛She doesn't like Slenderman because of what he did to the others. Especially since she personally saw what a bad time Toby is going through, she hates his methods and keeps her distance.

: ̗̀➛When she was a little kid, she was bullied a lot because of her style. That's why she has no tolerance for things like bullying in any way, and she needs to control herself, even though she doesn't kill anyone anymore unless she has to.

: ̗̀➛She loves animals very much. Cats, dogs, snakes, rabbits and more, doesn't matter. But if she had to choose one, her favorite would be wolves.

: ̗̀➛Since listening to a song is like breathing for her, she constantly carries spare headphones with her. She takes it everywhere she goes because there is no life for her without music.

: ̗̀➛She doesn't like camping very much because there are a lot more annoying bugs than she would like.

: ̗̀➛She has a tattoo on her waist. This is a butterfly tattoo. She made someone do it while she was very drunk, and she definitely can't decide if she regrets it or not. But from what she has heard, the tattoo removal process is very painful, and she's afraid of it.

: ̗̀➛When she lands in the city, she wears a surgical mask on her face. Although the cuts on her face have healed, the scars still remain and she does not want anyone to recognize her with the mistake of the past.

: ̗̀➛She doesn't drink much, but one time she got really drunk and completely forgot about that day.

: ̗̀➛She really likes to celebrate New Year's Eve. She loves that the environment is colorful and that people pretend to care about each other, even if it's just for a day. Oh, and also cookies. Lots of cookies. Cute, decorated cookies.

: ̗̀➛She likes to eat strawberry lollipops and chew strawberry gum. In general, her favorite flavor is strawberry.

: ̗̀➛She doesn't really believe in a religion, she's more at the questioning stage. But she wouldn't deny the evidence if it will ever shown.

: ̗̀➛If she still had a normal life, she would want to become a singer instead of going to university and joining academia. There are even some lyrics that she has written before, but no one can see them.

: ̗̀➛When it snows, she gets excited just like a little child. She's definitely the kind of person who would take snow in and ruin the house for the sake of throwing it at someone.

: ̗̀➛She absolutely sucks at cooking because she changes the recipes according to her head. But she makes some desserts very well. Especially the fruity ones.

: ̗̀➛The clothes she wears in winter also stand out very much because they are very colorful. That's why when they have a snowball fight, she usually gets pretty wet.

: ̗̀➛She can't play much of a musical instrument. She can only play a few guitar songs. However, she has a voice that is considered quite good, despite the fact that she has not received an education. For a non-expert, she can hit high-pitched notes easily.

: ̗̀➛She is neither very successful nor very bad at drawing. She just has a slightly different, even interesting style. There are a lot of characters she created, and she remembers the name of each of them.

: ̗̀➛She can ride a motorcycle, she learned it from Clockwork. Sometimes they go on long motorcycle trips.

: ̗̀➛She learned to skate by falling a lot when she was a little girl, and even though she took a long break, she never forgot. She can do both ice skating and normal skating. Even if she feels confident enough, she can make cool movements in normal skating.

: ̗̀➛She misses her family, she misses them very much. She wants them back, but she knows she can't do it. That's why the only thing she can do is to take the bouquet of black roses she chooses to their graves every month and apologize to them.

: ̗̀➛She has a lot of posters and stickers in her room about everything she loves. Her walls are covered with these and photos she took with friends.

: ̗̀➛Because her phone is old, she has a few photos of herself before all these events. For this exact reason, she refuses to replace her phone and only increases the storage space with an external booster.

: ̗̀➛Nina is not stupid. Just because she's an average student in her classes does not mean she's stupid. People usually see her as very careless, but she's definitely not that kind of person. Her intelligence level is higher than average.

: ̗̀➛She acts like a complete big sister figure to Sally. Although she is more of an older sister who says yes to everything Sally wants because she does not want to offend her. But she is aware of where she should say no.

: ̗̀➛Because she had unlimited internet access when she was little, she was exposed to many traumatizing things, and these began to normalize for her. That's the number one reason why she has such feelings for Jeff.

: ̗̀➛She also likes Heather Musical.

: ̗̀➛She doesn't swear a lot despite her friends.

"Aww, look! A puppy!"

"Nah, I'm too cool for that."

"You're doing amazing sweetie!"

"Ew, what's that smell?"

"Yeah, let's kick their fancy ass!"

"Oh my god, you're such a dumb dumb. How did you even survive without me?"

"I want to join too!"

"I'm famous baby."

"I'm so sorry for everything, Chris. For not being a better sister, for not protecting you, for... stealing your life."

"Hey mom, dad. Did you miss me? Because I missed you guys a lot."

"I'm gonna kill that bastard!"

[trans-axolotl]

hi, I really like your blog and your antipsych thoughts have been very helpful to me. i hope this is ok to ask for advice (sorry i have brain fog and this question is vague)? i think i'm looking for 'unconventional' advice or suggestions, the kind that someone in the psych system would not necessarily recommend to me.

i have had a bad history with therapy, but i very much need some kind of mental support that i am not getting otherwise in my life (issues like CPTSD, DID, among other things). im in a position where i /can/ go to therapy, and i've been with a therapist that specializes in the things that are causing me the most problems for a year and theyre fine (i.e. has not ever helped me figure out anything about how to improve my life but has been someone who can perscribe me stuff, and hasn't done anything actively harmful to me like other therapists and psychiatrists have), but going is so upsetting for some reason (maybe because the therapy environment has been so bad in the past?) and not at all helpful. it's useful for me to have a relationship to a psychiatrist/therapist for medication and other 'navigating the system' reasons, but it's absolutely unhelpful. i am very frustrated and disillusioned with the whole concept of 'therapy' in general (maybe due to my history)!! but i don't know how else to get help!

it's harder because of the brain fog. i also feel very isolated partially because i'm in a not great environment, and partially because i have multiple mental illnesses in addition to not being a very nice person. i have felt really let down by supposed friends i've come to for help who just said therapy speak stuff like 'you should get help....' and 'sorry i don't have the emotional bandwidth to help <3' and stuff like that. it really makes me feel like i'm too messed up to be able to ask for help from regular people and i have to go to the psych industry but of course i've already been failed by them too :(

hey anon!

I think what you've said makes so much sense. I feel like we're so often told "go get help" but when we do try to seek support, it isn't as simple as just going and easily finding a therapist who is able to provide all the support and care we need. It can be so hard to find and pay for therapy in the first place, harder still to find someone who specializes in a therapy style to meet our needs, and sometimes we might not just be in a place in our life where we are in an environment that allows us to do in depth therapy work. And I just want to say that it isn't your fault if therapy isn't meeting your needs right now--that doesn't mean that you're failing at therapy. You absolutely aren't alone in feeling dissatisfied with therapy and wanting other options.

For me, what's helped when I've been considering making changes about how I approach my mental health has first been sitting down and really taking a thorough look at what things are working and what things aren't working. It seems like you've done a lot of that already--you know that it's helpful to have a therapeutic relationship to get meds and for help in the system, you know that the therapy environment hasn't been particuarly helpful for other types of healing work, and it seems like another thing you're thinking about is how to get mental support from your friends and other people in your everyday life. I think those are really good starting places to consider where you want to go from here. It might be helpful to make a list of what feels like priorities to focus on right now--do you want to develop more skills for navigating crisis? Do you want to focus on changing your relationship with dissociation? harm reduction for self destructive behaviors? building resilience and cultivating relationships in your life? There's no right or wrong answers here--you're going to be the expert on what feels most important right now.

I also just want to say that I think it's really shitty when we're made to feel like we're too crazy or too needy or too messed up to be able to be cared for and supported in our community. I've definitely had people tell me that, and it really hurts and makes me feel hopeless, like I'm always going to be struggling and that there's no chance that I'll be able to get better. But fuck that. We deserve to have meaningful connections in our community, access to resources that help us, and to be able to build resilient relationships where getting emotional support isn't considered an unmanageable burden, even if we're mad/mentally ill/ neurodivergent. I'm sorry that you haven't been able to rely on your friends and community that way, although I know it's hard when everyone we know is struggling and people don't have the energy or skills or knowledge to be able to help each other.

This is getting long, so I'm just going to list off a ton of random tips and suggestions, and I hope some of them might resonate with you.

Join a peer support group aligned with antipsych values. Hearing Voices Network, Alternatives to Suicide with the Wildflower alliance, Multiplied by One, FEDUP trans/intersex eating disorder support groups are all great options.

harm reduction! this can be especially applicable for self-destructive behaviors, but just in general moving outside of an "abstinence-only model." working to understand your actions on a spectrum of totally chaotic, unmanaged behaviors to more managed, intentional relationships with those behaviors. embracing any positive change as an important step instead of self-blame and all-or-nothing thinking.

Trying to think of the best way to describe what I'm thinking here, so I might not have the best phrasing. But basically, spending time separating your ideas for what wellbeing and quality of life look like for you from the psychiatric system's ideas of what a "normal," "healthly," quality of life looks like. For me, this looked like realizing that I wasn't actually interested in getting rid of all my hallucinations, but instead I just wanted to lessen the distress I experienced and find a way to hallucinate without panicking. So I guess just in general--really exploring what is actually important to you for your wellbeing and not limiting yourself to mainstream definitions of "recovery."

Unconventional coping skills, or coping skills that traditional psychiatry deems "risky." I've talked with some people who things like getting tattoos and piercings are actually incredibly healing for them, and are an important part of their "therapeutic" journey. Not going to go into detail or promote other "risky" coping skills on Tumblr lmao, but more just say that it's okay if there's things that therapists view as risky that you might have another perspective on how it fits into your personal healing.

Building up your and your loved ones capacity for community care. This can be a really hard one, because I know it always frustrated me when I would see people talking online about how great things like care webs or the power of peer support when I just didn't have any of that in my physical everyday life. So I'm not just going to put this here like it's a magical solution or something that's easy to accomplish. It's something that can take a ton of work and we're allowed to be frustrated about that. I think one strategy that helped me with this was spending a lot of time building my own understanding of my own capacity to help, my own needs, and what ways I would like to be cared for. That helped me start small, just by having conversations with my loved ones when I wasn't in crisis and saying "Hey, this is how I would like things to go when I'm in crisis. This is something that helps me when I'm hallucinating. This is a way you could let me know that you can't support me tonight but still leaves room for us to have connection. This is how I can help you. Let's talk openly together and develop and practice how we want to care for each other." Starting with just one person and one conversation really went a long way for me in terms of eventually building up an actual support network and for me was super instrumental in healing work.

Setting out an hour a week that's my "self therapizing time." just using one hour a week to look up new resources, try out new skills, journal, do self-inquiry, participate in activism, do something that brings me joy, read something new about mental health, literally anything that feels intentional in that hour. trying out a lot of new things and quitting a lot of new things!

Incorporating your physical needs. I'm sure we've heard a million times things like "get sleep, nourish yourself, go outside," and all that is great but often feels fucking impossible when we're mentally doing not great. but I guess just saying it can be good to be aware of how our physical body impacts our mental health in other ways. things like trying to get our sensory needs met, embracing movement that feels good + making space for rest, embracing things that bring our physical body pleasure whether that's tasty food, sex or other kinds of physical intimacy with other people, if it's using substances in a way that feels helpful or joyful or fun--anything really!

Here's a bunch of random orgs and resources that I have found helpful: Fireweed Collective, Wildflower Alliance, Project LETS, Mapping our Madness, Mad Survival Tools, Organizing Guide for Psychiatric Survivors, MindFreedom Resources, Multiplied by one (I can't personally vouch because I haven't been to their groups, but I have a friend with DID who attends these groups and had positive things to say about them.)

I'd also add on this book: "Psychosis, Dissociation, and Trauma: Evolving perspectives on Severe Psychopathology" although I do want to give a warning that this book is a heavy academic text that has a lot of clinical and stigmatizing language. For me, it had some helpful information that helped me make connections between my experiences of trauma, dissociation, and psychosis, but I would not recommend reading it unless you feel like you're in the right headspace and can deal with wading through a lot of the psychiatric narrative.

These are all just some things that sometimes work for me, so please feel free to disregard anything that doesn't resonate with you. I'd also love it if followers could add on with any tips, resources, any "unconventional" advice!

thanks for reaching out, anon, and I hope you have a good night 💜

[purplekoop]

Each time I look at Necro I think they have a crow on top of their hand. It takes me a minute to register it’s actually their fingers. It’s just the shape and all the evil sorcerer motifs. This isn’t a dig at your art, just a funny mistake I keep making. Evil-looking robots are always a favorite of mine.

Huh... no no, I see it, you have a point. Probably doesn't help that I was lazy and made that the only shaded part of the entire sketch aside from the eye, so I can see how it'd stick out as a separate being. No offense taken though, I totally get that kind of visual mixup even for art that does have more effort put into it.

Also a random tidbit about Necro (or Nekross, not totally certain on that yet but it's plausible) I wanna bring up now that you mention it is that I don't actually consider them to be necessarily "evil". Not necessarily "good" or "moral" either, but I definitely wouldn't call them a villain. Both in a functional sense, since I want there to be at least a reasonable explanation for any character to work with the rest of the cast in canon, even if they don't necessarily like each other.

Necro's morality is unique due to a lore detail I've yet to share: while making new bots obviously requires metal, it's taboo and illegal to take any material from a dead bot unless they consented to it in life. This definitely makes sense for bots who've died since the reawakening, who've had a consciousness and since lost it, but this is a more contentious rule in-universe for the millions of lifeless husks who never were "alive" in the same way as the ones who reawakened to begin with. That's a lot of material left unused, especially for a society who needs it to rebuild and repopulate on a planet where those materials are relatively scarce after humanity used what was readily accessible.

Necro, as you might expect, rejects this whole notion of "respecting the dead". They're a survivalist, their philosophy is "do whatever it takes for the greater good". They think that taking any lifeless bot body is justifiable for any ends, since when the consciousness is gone, they think the metal should be used by someone who actually can use it. Of course, the rest of the cast thinks this is morbid at best and actively despicable at worst. Easy comparison is like Moira, except for a character with similarly dubious methods for "the greater good" but a much less aggressively antagonistic demeanor and with more justifiable circumstances.

This dissonance with the other characters, even the similarly menacing Velenna, is very much deliberate. I wanted somebody who stuck out from the rest of the crowd, both in design and in narrative. I wanted them to look alien and inhuman more than the rest of the cast, with the inscrutable face and uniquely non-human anatomy. But I also want them to still read as "intelligent", mostly with the cape and the pose. Off-putting, but they're still a person just as much as the more pleasant-looking bots are. And that's not too far off from their relation with the others narratively: strikingly off-putting, but still recognizable as more than just a monster or a supervillain.

Anyways uh. Yeah that was a bit of a tangent, but it felt topical and I wasn't sure where else to put it. I really should make proper character story stuff sooner than later, but that's gonna take some effort. Slowly but surely though, as I feel like it's important to define this world along with the stories of its individual characters. Necro is an instance of one where I get to do both at the same time, defining how this society would have unique views on death due to their unique circumstances, and how this character interacts with those views. Admittedly it's something that should be lower priority than... coding I guess, but right now I don't have a computer that can safely run a programming software, so I have an excuse now! yay?

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I try to keep a pretty.....not necessarily positive, but forward momentum based attitude on my blog about most things. This is less because of my actual beliefs on these subjects and more to do with the idea of limiting my exposure to spirals of content that I know would negatively impact my mental health.

This often means choosing posts to reblog very carefully to walk the line between what I consider to be realistic and informative content, and what I consider to be emotionally toxic framing. The difficulty there of course is that the toxicity can come from both sides. It is just as depressing for me to drown in toxic positivity and bootstrap-esque talking points as it is for me to drown in people wailing that nothing will ever be okay again.

Anger can be motivating, but it depends on the anger, it depends on how overwhelming the source of that anger is, it depends on the person and their ability to process that anger. Most importantly, the anger has to balance with the fear. When the anger comes, as it so often does with injustice, from the fear for our survival, sometimes the fear is great enough to paralyze us against anger based motivation.

For me this is where harm reduction as political praxis comes in. To ease the fear for our survival enough that the anger at our being abandoned or persecuted can be sufficiently motivating. This is very antithetical to the crowd who believe that "having nothing to lose" is a political tipping point requirement. I understand the conflict and don't necessarily disagree. But I also think that having nothing left to lose is easier reached than one might think if one can present people with what they have to gain as well. For many of us, our lives are actually pretty bleak once you get around to comparing them to reasonable standards of life quality. But living like that grinds you down and makes it harder to imagine "asking" for much beyond the bare minimum. Trust me, I've seen that process enough times in enough social movements/individuals to recognize it by now.

So my personal politics are not necessarily reflected in the way I talk about political action and praxis and vice versa. This is not because I' hiding them, but because my personal politics are not, in my opinion, helpful to the cause of change and progress outside of the way it drives my contributions as an individual. I still talk about that stuff! But not here. Not where I don't know who is listening and how they are likely to hear me.

This is all to say that I'm feeling.....pretty bleak right now about notions of change and progress and the future. I don't like feeling that way. I think those feelings influence me in ways that make me less of the person I want to be in life. But here I am, and for a lot of reasons. And the end result is that I am taking my own needs way more seriously than I ever have before. Politically, that feels subpar, because my work is largely very collectivist and I struggle with the idea that I am deserving of the disruption that shift in priorities will create for others I work with. Personally, it feels increasingly like if I do not make this choice, there is no one else considering my needs of their own will. Basically, if I don't prioritize my needs, no one will. And I think that's probably true. Which hurts a lot given everything I've given and done over a lifetime. I think I am now one of the people for whom harm reduction must exist in order to be capable of change making, and I don't see enough people making those resources available (to scale) to meet the current level of need, so I have to be able to obtain those resources myself. I hope that changes soon, but in the meantime, hopefully I am able to recuperate a bit.

[thatcheesyler]

The last one

Summary: Both Kaido and Saiki have a sweet tooth, but what happens when Kaido manages to get the last coffee jelly in the shop? Let's find out shall we 😏

A/N: This is a Saiki K sfw tickle fic, if you do not like it, please dni. Also @ticklish-n-stuff suggested this so go check their blog out, that's all, enjoy <3

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Kaido's mum had officially agreed to let him go shopping for some sweet treats (to share ofc).

"Okay, but I want you back within an hour or no video games for a week" His mum had said. Of course Kaido would obey, there was no reason not to afterall. So there he was, making his way through each aisle and grabbing anything that would catch his eye.

There was one thing, however, that seemed to always yank his attention. Coffee Jelly, Kaido had been wanting to try it since he's always seeing Saiki with it. He had considered himself lucky as he quickly realized that it was the last one on the shelf. Kaido took it and laid it carefully in his basket. And just like that, it was time to pay and then head home.

-Meanwhile-

Saiki had just finished his homework, and felt that he needed a break. So, off to get coffee jelly he went, Saiki could practically taste the whipped cream as he came to the shop doors and casually walked in.

-5 mins later-

The horror on his face was indescribable, it was a mixture of panick and hatred for the one who stole his precious dessert. After making the swift observation that no one was looking, he used psychometry (the ability to retrieve info on an object by touching it without his transparent gloves) on the shelf to figure out who took the last Coffee Jelly.

A short cinematic of Kaido taking the Jelly played in Saiki's head. 'So it was Kaido' he thought, 'hmm, I can't hurt him, that's against the rules of my psychic abilities...wait, I remember something about Kaido stealing Aren's glasses and Aren tickled him to get them back' just then a childish but revengeful idea popped into Saiki's head. The coffee jelly would unfortunately have to wait as Saiki had a bigger priority at the moment, so he just walked home.

-Meanwhile with Kaido-

Kaido had just finished putting everything else away and headed upstairs, a delicious looking jelly in-hand. He figured he would save it for later as he wasn't that that hungry right now. Kaido placed the confectionery on his desk and pulled his notebook out from under the bed. There, he wrote all his Jet Black Wings scenarios and his study notes.

So there Kaido was, writing up any fake superhero fanfictions he could think of, deep in conecentration. All of a sudden, he felt a slight itch on his lower ribs, he tried to scratch it away but it just kept coming back. It became more of a tingling now, then it went from a tingling to what felt like someone lightly poking him in the stomach.

Kaido couldn't help the wobbly little smile that formed on his face and the little titters he let out every now and again. Then...it stopped. Kaido was still processing what the f*ck just happened when all of a sudden he got a big ticklish sensation I his right foot. He was full on giggling now, luckily his mum had gone to meet up with friends so he was alone. "Whahahahahat thehe hehehehehell ihis hahappehehenihing tohoho mehehe?!" He managed to get out through his constant laughing.

"Dahahahahark rehehuhunihihohon, is thahat yohohu? Ihihi swehehehahar ihif yohohohuhur behehihihind thihIS- NONONONONOHOHOHOHO NAHAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHERE!!" Kaido practically screamed when the sensations got to his armpits (aka death spot number 1). Kaido had fully doubled over at this point, rolling around on his bedroom floor and clutching onto his armpits for dear life. It only worsened though, as the ghost tickles metaphorically spidered along his spine (aka death spot number 2).

"NAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEHAHAHAHASE STAHAHAHAP!" He yelled while squirming like his life depended on it. Tears of mirth formed in his eyes, only then did Kusuo show mercy and slow the tickling down to a halt. Kaido had never felt so relieved. And so, with leftover giggles still spilling out, he scratched and scratched until the tingling was out of his system.

Once his stamina was restored, Kaido's first thought was 'water' as all that laughing had made his throat a little sore. Saiki was merciful, so instead of taking the Coffee Jelly for himself, he let Kaido enjoy it as a sorta-deserved break.

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The end! Hope you enjoyed this fic, thank you @ticklish-n-stuff for suggesting this and I hope you all have a lovely day/night <3

[markantonys]

Just to chime in, not that I feel much engagement toward Min as a character, but as part of an ensemble, I think she has some importance, BECAUSE she "doesn't do anything." She lacks powers or resources, and her go-to move in a crisis is "find a competent person to handle it" b/c she's the regular person who is trying to cope with the apocalypse, and just keeps on plugging away. She's not a killer so her knives always miss, but she's about compassion (Fedwin Morr).

fair enough! i personally am never interested by the Everyman character archetype (if any hbo rome fans are out there, i was so bored/annoyed with vorenus and pullo for that reason) so that's just a taste thing on my part. plus, i think elayne in particular really delivers the idea of "soft power/compassion as strength over combat skills" in a way i find more engaging - yes elayne can channel and is very powerful, but in her succession plot we see that channeling is useless to her in a bloodless conflict like this (and in fact it would actively make things worse if she started attacking the other claimants with saidar) and she has to rely on her intelligence and her good heart and her political skills to win people to her side. whereas, from what i've seen so far (i'm only on crossroads of twilight so this may change later on) min's compassion doesn't really Do anything or help any character or plotline in a meaningful way, aside from when she helped siuan escape. i suppose it might help rand eventually, but so far all she's really done for rand is sleep with him to distract him from his problems rather than actually talking through them with him, and coddle him but fail to truly understand or help with his mental health problems in a meaningful way. (and elayne is a more compassionate person than min on the whole since elayne thinks and cares about more people than just rand lmao fedwin morr was a rare time min cared about someone who wasn't rand, and even then she was at least as concerned about the effects of his death on rand than about his death in and of itself)

Min2 Rand's friends & lovers are too important and have too much going on to be there for him. Min can, because she's NOT important and no one needs her to run a country, lead an army or perform channeling. Even her viewings are really only for the reader. For friends, she only has the power to spoil pleasant surprises (make Elayne's life suck via pregger fussing), since she can't avert danger. But she can make Rand #1 priority because for her, it's not criminally neglecting something important.

Min3. All that being said, I think you are 100% right that there is absolutely no plot contribution, physically or emotionally, that Min could not have made as Rand's bestie. We use "platonic" to indicate a lesser relationship, but Plato taught a sexless friendship was a SUPERIOR relationship, because it's friendship where you aren't seeking anything for yourself (i.e. orgasms). I think Min's role would be even MORE true if you couldn't say "well of course she's on his side, they're fucking"

i agree that platonic relationships shouldn't be considered inferior to romantic ones, but i disagree that they should be considered superior and that romantic relationships are inherently selfish and that lack of sex means people don't still want to gain something positive out of a friendship. much as i love rand and want him to have support, i don't WANT him to be min's or anyone else’s #1 priority. that is not a healthy relationship for either party, not to mention it's boring to read about and unrealistic - in real life, everybody has their own stuff going on outside their partners, family, work, friends. min has none of that. i think that elayne, avi, mat, perrin, and nynaeve (and maybe egwene, tho i think she's probably too entrenched in aes sedai-ness now to be able to get through to rand) would all have been absolutely capable of helping rand emotionally in various ways despite having their own things going on, the problem is that the narrative split them up so far geographically that they physically can't be there for him and have been far away from and out of touch with him for so long that they have no idea about a lot of the traumatic things that've happened to him - all but perrin of the above list still don't even know that dumai's wells happened. non-min characters often get flak for not being there for rand, but the simple truth is that they quite literally aren’t even given a chance to be by the narrative.

even if min's relationship with rand was platonic, i still wouldn't like her revolving around him the way she does. a partner OR friend who exists to be the emotional support animal of another person is not a good thing, whatever media might want us to believe about it being a great act of love. i love rand but hate the idea that he needs an entire person whose sole role is to support him, and i think this is where i diverge with a lot of rand stans who get mad at any other character who dares to disagree with or not support him (definitely not saying that you're doing this tho anon! it's just a common attitude i've seen around over my past months in the fandom). i would rather him have a whole group of friends and partners who take turns being there for him when they can than one person who's there all the time because they have no other reason to exist. people need an emotional support NETWORK, not an emotional support person, and rand needs that sort of network more than most. and it certainly isn't fair to min to be the sole person bearing the vast weight of rand's issues lmao in real life that's a great way to burn out.

[lilacmoon83]

Operation Castle

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 6: The Banshee's Cry

"What do you mean, ripped out? Cause this doesn't look like it was done with a knife. There's no knife wounds," Emma reasoned.

"Because it wasn't," Casey said.

"Wait…are you accusing someone of ripping a heart with magic?" David asked.

"It's possible…but we're not sure. The only two people we know about that can do something like that were accounted for at the time of death," Casey replied.

"Yes…they were with us at dinner last night," Killian agreed, referring to Gold and Regina.

"Which means we have someone that has either figured out magic or a way to use science to replicate a heart rip, as I understand it's called," Alivia said.

"That means it's someone from our land…or someone from your ranks and since you've assured us no one else is awake…that means it's the latter," Gold replied. There was a pregnant pause between them.

"We're aware that this could be the case, but the General isn't ruling out the possibility that this could be another magical creature that's popped up as another anomaly," Casey said. David raised an eyebrow.

"And they just got lucky and happened to choose someone from our land to kill?" he asked.

"Dave is right…what the bloody hell are you hiding? Is someone from your damn government hunting us?" Killian accused. Emma noticed the slight widening of Alivia's eyes, like she was surprised that he had made that conclusion so quickly. So they were hiding something.

"I'd watch your tone…Captain," Casey warned.

"I'm more than three hundred years old, mate. I've seen more bloody carnage and just pain bonkers stuff than you can imagine. The only thing I know about government or royals…" he said, as he paused for a moment.

"Save a few in my company…is that they can't be trusted," he growled.

"You have no power here…and you know it. We have told you what we're authorized to tell," Alivia said sternly.

"That wasn't a no," Emma said.

"Indeed," Gold agreed.

"Look…finding who did this is top priority. Regardless of who it was…someone has been killed with magic," Casey said.

"Or what looks like magic," Gold replied, as examined the autopsy photos.

"When I rip a heart…my hand passes cleanly into the chest. These are burn marks, if I'm not mistaken," he added.

"So someone did come up with a synthetic way to do it," David said.

"Enough," General Shaw bellowed, as he appeared on screen.

"Tell us the truth then. Are we being hunted?" Killian replied. There was another long pause.

"It appears so…we have another body, from your land," he revealed, as a picture of the body, post mortem, appeared on screen.

"Do you recognize him?" Emma asked.

"Not this one…which begs the question on how exactly you know he's from Storybrooke," David replied.

"That's classified," Shaw responded. He snorted in response.

"Of course it is," he replied, as there was an alert.

"Guess you're saved by the proverbial monster…for now," Emma said, as the image came in from the NSA main office, where they were monitoring all paranormal activity.

"What the hell is that thing?" Emma asked, as she watched an wispy, astral-like apparition float around what seemed to be a four block radius. Then they were all covering their ears, as it screeched an unholy sound.

"A Banshee…" Killian said.

"Yep, definitely, which is kind of new, but not all that surprising, considering our current situation," David replied.

"What do you mean?" Alivia asked.

"He means that a Banshee, at least in our land, heralds the death of someone. Usually it's a family member, but in the grand scheme of things, one of us is dead," Rumple reasoned.

"Wait…are you saying that the banshee has appeared, because someone from your land is dead?" Casey asked.

"There's no way to prove such…but it's a reasonable theory," Rumple replied.

"What kills a banshee? It looks like it's transparent," Alivia said, clearly freaking out a bit.

"It looks transparent…but she can be banished. They hate iron and steel. The reflections from our blades will eventually get her to flee, but the bright light of magic works even better," David said, as they armed themselves.

"Which we haven't figured out yet," Regina argued.

"No time like the present…" he said.

"It's not that easy!" Regina argued hotly.

"Then we'll have to figure it out…because right now, there's hundreds of cameras on this thing and this one won't be so easily explained away," Alivia said, as they hurried out to the cars.

~*~

Snow looked up from the papers she was grading. This was her free period, but she was covering a seventh grade study hall for an ill teacher that period. She noticed a couple boys on their phones, whispering about something, while occasionally casting looks at her.

"Is there something I can help you boys with?" she asked, calling them out. Others around them snickered and they clammed up pretty quickly.

"This is study hall and I'm sure you have homework to do," she said sternly. She was sure the boys would have needed further reprimanding, but fortunately for them, the period ended and she proceeded to the teacher's lounge to grab her lunch. She noticed a couple of the other teachers gathered at the table, watching something on one of their phones. Oddly, they looked up at her and back down at their phones, almost in disbelief. She didn't have time to ponder this though, as she turned when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Mrs. Nolan…I'm Dana Bishop, your new student teacher," she said, introducing herself with a meaningful look.

"Of…of course, I'll show you to my classroom," she replied, as they stepped out into the hallway.

"What's going on? I assume you're really from the NSA?" Snow asked. The woman nodded.

"There's another attack…your husband and the others are enroute already. There is a car waiting out front for you," she said. Snow sighed. It's not that she didn't want to go, but she had a feeling that people were already noticing something was off with her.

"How exactly are my absences being explained?" Snow asked.

"The Principal was informed that you are an asset and nothing more. No questions will be asked," Dana replied. Somehow, Snow doubted that, but walked away toward the front entrance of the school. She wanted to be there to watch the backs of the people she loved, after all.

~*~

Neal and Robin arrived at Lake Nostros a few hours later, but whatever Neal was expecting to see when they got there…it was anything but this.

"I guess we now know why the locals think it's quick sand," Robin mentioned, as they saw the dried up lake was nothing but sand again. But in the center, the sand was moving continuously.

"Except quicksand doesn't actually look like that. Usually you don't know you're in quicksand until it happens. It certainly doesn't move like that," Neal replied, as he cautiously moved closer. He knelt down at the edge of the moving sand and touched it. He saw it turn green at his touch and then he moved more sand around, again seeing green, just like the portal he had fallen through.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"Call me crazy…but I think this is a portal," Neal replied.

"But how can that be? Portals don't stay open," Robin reasoned.

"You're right…that we know of. I've never known of a continuous portal opening. If the wrong people knew there was an open portal to other realms…" Neal realized.

"What are you going to do?" Robin asked. He grabbed his pack and shouldered it.

"I'm going to take a really big chance…and jump through it," Neal said.

"Are you crazy? You have no idea where that thing goes," Robin replied. Neal looked at him.

"I know…but this might be my only chance to find Henry and Emma," he said, as their eyes met and Robin understood. Neal would do anything for his son, just as Robin would for his.

"This…this isn't normal and it means something. If there is even a chance that Henry and my family are in danger of some kind…I have to take it," Neal said.

"You think Storybrooke is in trouble?" Robin asked. Neal snorted.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Who knows what Tamara and Greg did after I fell through the portal," he said. Robin nodded. He was familiar with them from the story that Neal told.

"I'll travel back and tell Mulan about this. It is likely that Phillip will want to send a rotation of guards here now to keep watch on this portal," Robin said. Neal nodded.

"It's a good idea. Trust me, Storybrooke doesn't need anymore crazies," he replied, as he took a deep breath.

"Good luck, my friend," he said, as they shook hands.

"Thanks…something tells me I'm going to need it," Neal said, as he took another deep breath and jumped into the moving sand. It flashed green briefly as he did and then returned to the moving sand. Robin sighed and took Roland's hand.

"Come along Roland…we need to go visit Mulan," he said.

~*~

They arrived at the scene where people ran screaming through the two block radius that the Banshee was terrorizing.

"Level with me…is this about where the body was found?" David asked.

"Yes…this is the neighborhood that the victim lived in," Casey confirmed.

"Mate…in my three-hundred years, I've never seen a Banshee act like this. It wails and shrieks, but flees once the victim is either properly buried or avenged or both," Killian mentioned. David clenched his jaw.

"But the body is probably in a morgue right now, being dissected. She's angry," Rumple said.

"That's standard procedure," Alivia said.

"Your procedure created this one!" David snapped.

"No…we didn't create this! This doesn't happen in our world!" Alivia shot back.

"Well, it does now…so how do we get rid of her?" Emma asked.

"Not sure…we've never seen one that wasn't able to go away on their own or one that turned violent," David replied.

"But it's an apparition…it can't really hurt anyone," Casey said. As he said that, an electrical box exploded above one apartment building, sending downed electrical phone lines into the streets and people scurrying to keep from being electrocuted.

"No…but she can cause a lot of damage that could," David said, as they rushed into the street to confront the being. A car arrived moments later and Snow and Belle got out, rushing to join them.

"A Banshee…" Snow realized.

"Yeah…I'll fill you in later, but we could use a magical solution right now," David said.

"I'm trying…I can almost feel it in the air, but it's not answering my call," Regina replied, as she held her hands up.

"She's right…it does not flow in the air like it did back home," Rumple agreed, as they saw his hand spark red momentarily, before fizzling out.

"There may be another way…" Snow said.

"Really?" David asked. She nodded.

"I saw the villagers deal with them a lot…you know, after many people were slaughtered by…" Snow said, as she looked at Regina, who shook her head in annoyance. Emma ignored the Queen though.

"How'd they do it without magic?" the blonde asked.

"A bonfire…which the Banshee's hated and would flee from, except they weren't able to, because of the rattling," Snow said.

"Rattling?" Killian asked.

"The villagers would rattle tin cups or whatever metal they could against another metal object to create a rattling noise. The Banshees can't stand it and they plunge themselves right into the fire," Snow recalled from her memories.

"This is absurd! You want us to build a bonfire in the middle of Brooklyn?" she asked. David spotted some trash cans in an alleyway.

"We don't need a bonfire for one," he said, as he dragged one that was only half full into the street. Casey rummaged through the glove box in the SUV and tossed a pack of matches to the Prince. David tossed a lit one in the can and a fire was soon roaring.

"Now for the rattling," Killian said, as he pulled something from his belt, revealing his old hook and grabbed a trash can lid. He started banging the metal hook on the tin trash lid and the Banshee shrieked and covered her ears in agony.

"That's it…more!" he called.

"This is insane…" Alivia growled, as she picked one up and started banging on it with a piece of discarded scaffolding from the alley. Emma grabbed a tire iron from the trunk and started banging on another trash can lid. This was enough to drive the one Banshee insane and it dove head first into the fire, burning up and dissipating. They all breathed a sigh of relief. And there was no way to hide this one, as they looked up at the dozens of apartment windows where people were filming with their camera phones.

"This is bad…" Emma said.

"The NSA will handle it," Alivia argued.

"There's no handling this! We're exposed like a vein! Believe me…I know what this world does to you when they think you're a freak!" Emma shouted.

"Enough…back to Castle," Casey ordered. Snow and David joined hands, as they walked toward the SUV.

"David…why was there a Banshee? They only occur under certain circumstances," Snow said. He looked over at her.

"I'll explain everything on the way back," he promised, as he kissed her cheek.

~*~

"Well…that wasn't inconspicuous at all," Tamara said, as they watched the spectacle taking place in Brooklyn now.

"Yes…there will be no keeping this under wraps now," General Aza replied.

"Guess it's time for our first broadcast, live from Brooklyn," Greg said, as his phone chimed. Tamara smirked.

"I'm going to enjoy this. Do you want us to reveal their identities?" she asked.

"Not yet…but dangle the reality that you will soon know who they are. They'll regret not masking their identities. Let the public do the rest," Aza said.

"Fine…as long as the Queen eventually pays," Greg said.

"She's already paying in a way…she doesn't have her son," Tamara reminded him.

"Not good enough…she killed my father and I want the whole world to know. I want her locked up at the very least," he said.

"And that time will come…if we do this right," Aza said, as he gave him a steely look.

"Do not think for a second about going rogue, Mr. Mendell. It will not end well for you if you do," he warned, as they were dismissed to do their first broadcast. They would be introduced as rookie beat reporters, but the subject of their reports would quickly see to it that they became very well known.

~*~

Unfortunately, on the way back to Castle, they discovered that there was a second Banshee and they had gone to deal with it too, much in the same way as the first one. Now it was clear. Two deaths of people from Storybrooke. The mood was somber, as they made their way into Castle for debriefing and General Shaw was waiting on the line.

"Who is hunting us?" David asked bluntly, as he stood at the head of the table, leaning against it with his hands firmly gripping the edges. Snow had seen this stance many times before, back in their land, in the castle war room.

"At ease, Agent Nolan," Shaw warned, but David didn't soften his stance or his glare.

"We don't know…but we fear we have a rogue operative. It is the only way someone could even know about your kind," Shaw said.

"Uh…our kind? We're human, just like you," Emma protested.

"You are…except your hearts are not like ours and it shows up as an extra marker in your DNA," he revealed.

"Bloody hell…" Killian said.

"So I was right…you've cataloged us all in your little database," Rumple said. Shaw gave them a stern gaze.

"As far as we know, your lot is the reason for all this insanity we're facing," he said.

"You can't know that…" Snow protested.

"I'm afraid we can and we do. The magical radiation from the trigger has so far had untold consequences for this country and possibly the entire world. The only reason you are walking free is we think you can help stop it," Shaw said.

"Then we need to know everything…but you're hiding half the picture from us," Emma replied.

"You'll know what you need to know. For now, you'll stand down," Shaw said, as his image blinked out.

"Stand down? He's got to be kidding! We're just supposed to stand by while one of our people could be the next victim?" David shouted.

"We've got more problems than that…" Casey said, as he unmuted the television, which was broadcasting a special report.

"Oh my God…" Regina uttered.

"Is that…" Snow also uttered.

"Bloody hell…these wankers," Killian said.

"They survived too…" David said.

"Greg and Tamara…" Emma said in shock.

~*~

Neal felt himself deposited unceremoniously on the hard ground.

"Oof…definitely need to work on my landings," he joked, though no one was around to hear him. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was, but he instantly saw something he recognized. He smiled and saw the well, before he hurried through the woods and when he emerged from the edge of the woods, expecting to see the familiar site of the clocktower, his smile quickly faded to a frown. He found there was a small clearing, but then more woods where Storybrooke should have been.

"What the hell happened?" he wondered, as fear gripped him. Storybrooke was gone…and so was his family.

[rotationalsymmetry]

The other thing is, apart from anything else, if someone was actually going on to tumblr and going “I think nobody should ever do anything about the environment, because everything will take care of itself” (emphatically not what happened) so what? Obviously there are a lot of people who are climate change deniers or otherwise just not that motivated to fix things. Is going “hey I need to disagree with you in your notes right now” a constructive use of anything? Some people are going to decide that saving the planet isn’t their problem. It is what it is. What’s more important from where I stand is that there’s people who want to do something who don’t have clear direction. Those are the people worth talking to, if you have a sense of where they should go. Plus people who vaguely intend to do stuff but sometimes it gets shuffled behind other priorities so they need a reminder.

it’s GOTV all over again. Effective getting out the vote for Democratic candidates means identifying people who intend to vote Democrat and 1. identifying and removing barriers to them voting (needing to register to vote after a move, needing a ride to the polls, etc) and 2. reminding them to vote, a lot. This is what is most likely to be effective in getting more people to vote Democrat, because in every election there’s a ton of people who intended to vote but life got in the way. (If you ever get paid to GOTV, this is mostly what you’ll be doing. Although one time I got to ride around on a yellow fire truck and shout, which was fun.) It’s actually super common for people to have an intention and not follow up on it. And it tends to be easier to push someone into doing a thing that THEY believe they should be doing — pushing them in accordance with their own will — than to convince someone that what they think they should be doing is wrong and get them to actually do the new thing.

And as with voting, once someone has voted (/has a clear plan to vote and almost certainly is going to do it) and wants to do more, it’s relatively easy to rope them into giving money or time or otherwise being engaged at a deeper level. Likewise for treehugger stuff. When someone isn’t with the treehugger program to start with, they haven’t even done the first step. But someone who’s already with the program can be leaned on to do treehugger basics (whatever you think those are), and people who are solid on recycling or whatever can be leaned on to show up to city counsel meetings. Or go to an oil pipeline protest. Or regularly spend a few hours hauling plastic bottles out of a river. Or whatever the next step is. And the thing is, it’s not that hard comparatively to get someone who’s unsure to get with the treehugger program and that’s worth doing, but most of the useful effort is geared at people who already understand that it matters and just need a little help figuring out how to live their values in practice. And hardly any effort that gets put into trying to persuade someone actively hostile to the program that they’re wrong is going to actually pay off.

and that’s if they’re actually hostile and you’re not just fighting your own side.

(which is another thing to consider: it’s within the realm of possibility that an ask of that nature isn’t actually coming from someone on our side. It could be of course, there’s a lot of reasons it could be. But it’s possible, especially when these things are on anon, that it’s coming from a troll who wants to stir up shit because it’s fun, or from someone who actively dislikes treehuggers and wants us to fight each other over stupid things; doubly so when this comes up in any sort of social justice discourse such as queer discourse or disability discourse and racial justice discourse, since there is An Enemy there and hoo boy do they hate us and want us to suffer. So yeah, when someone is well meaning it’s better to not do that sort of thing. But also, not everyone who does that sort of thing is well meaning and it’s worth recalling that too, especially for people with the sort of ND stuff going on that means they tend to assume everyone is on the level, and people who assume everyone is on the level just because they are.)

Sometimes it’s Amelia Bedelia “reading comprehension” people getting used to seeing enemies until they start seeing ones that aren’t even there shit. Sometimes it’s malice.)

[linksthoughtbrambles]

Not thinking about apples.

Part 3 of Adventure Log+ (Sequel to Link’s Thought Brambles. There’s a lot of context that you’ll lose if you read Adventure Log+ without having read Link’s Thought Brambles. I highly recommend reading in order!) - Edited 1/29/23 to improve voice and tighten up language.

Plan.

We need a smart, solid, fool-proof-certified plan that actually makes sense.

Planning… is not my strength.  I come UP with plenty.  I execute few.  I complete even fewer.  I did pretty good on the festival, but Zelda had a huge part in that, too.  The two of us together and a lot of manpower made that work.  AND coffee!  That stuff was good. Could use some right now.

It’s true the end of the festival wasn’t great… but that wasn’t down to our planning.  Not really.  Some stubbornness- NOPE, not thinking about that!  Not here.

Zelda has that look on her face again.  The one that wrinkles her entire forehead.  She might’ve had it when Rionee galloped up to her at the shrine in Tabantha, but it changed so fast I’m not sure.  I’ve seen her concentrate on problems, but usually sciencey ones she enjoys.  Not something that could be life and death for us, so long-term we’re stuck with it for months if we get it wrong.

…I’d looooove to eat one of those leftover caramel apples.  No one else has reached for one.  Resist, Link.  Resist.  Don’t look and don’t drool.  This meeting’s important.  Someone’ll go for them once their dinner’s digested.  There’s a reason they brought us those, right?  They saved some tasty things for the fancy people so they didn’t have to slobber messy food while otherwise busy in public.  They can slobber them behind closed doors in peace instead. This is their chance to eat one as much as it's mine!

I want one with the pink peppercorns even though I just ate a whole plate of spectacular goose-potato-onion hash and wow those itty-bitty orange thingies were so good.  I’ll ask Zelda what they are later.  Too weird to ask in this room.

…Am I one of the fancy people now?  I’m sitting at the king’s receiving room table with him, Zelda, and Jeralt.  Kind of surprised Ahadis isn’t here.

Well… maybe this isn’t the “fancy” table.  I never thought of Jeralt as fancy.  He’s captain of the royal guard now but as down-to-earth as you can get. Aurexler, now HE's fancy.

I guess I never thought of father as fancy.  Huh.

“I’d already spent a good deal of time on this itinerary.”

Aaaaand I’d stopped thinking about the plan.  Again.

“Considering recent events, I must alter it considerably.  What I thought I must accomplish a week ago seems, now, less immediate and more suited to Purah and her teams.  Please, father, Link, Jeralt—I shall enumerate my goals, but interject your own thoughts.

“The overarching goal is to ensure Hyrule is as prepared as possible for the oncoming Calamity.”

Same goal for the last twelve years.

“We still must accomplish previously existent goals in relation to that.  Difficulties the champions are experiencing with their Divine Beasts must be resolved.  I’d originally intended to visit the domain first to address Ruta’s gait.  That’s still of high priority.”

No arguments there.

“I’d visited Daruk and Revali relatively recently and addressed some issues- ah, that is to say I’d addressed a mechanical issue on Medoh.  I’ve no idea what assisted Daruk, but by the time we left he seemed an expert at controlling Rudania.”

Don’t blush, Link.  Not important right now.

“We ought to check on Urbosa, though she hasn’t complained of anything specific.”

“Phhhh.  Agreed, daughter, though I find my own mind drawn to the problem of this field around our castle.”

“Yes.  That may be the most urgent issue.  Fi said the field is strengthening.  Who knows what it will be capable of in future?”

“So Fi needs energy so she can do something about it.”

Indeed, master.  I require either you or the Princess—preferably you—to provide it.

“So how do we get enough? Do I just eat?”

“Eat?”

“Sorry, sire, it’s Fi, she- thanks, Princess.”

“Of course—here-“

“It’s fine. I can see, daughter.”

...We need to access a significant energy source, master. You would need to eat an extremely large amount of food.

“How large?”

Large enough as to make it impractical.  You do have physical limitations, and your body can only digest so much food at once.  If we waited a long time, it would work.

“Okay… I’m… not willing to do that, anyway.  This is already a winter we think some kinds of food’ll be scarce.”  I mean… I LOVE food, and I know I eat more than it seems like I should have to.  I’m hungry, so it must be doing something, but you know what, Link?  You’re going to have some goddess-damned self-control this winter and NOT eat whole pumpkin pies all by yourself because you can definitely survive on a lot less than you can eat… aaaaaand everyone can read this anyway even though I’m not talking, including the king, and won’t my mind just shut up??????

Uuuugh, they’re smiling at me.

“Heheh.  Goodness, Link.”

Yeeeaaaah, I know. "So, not food.  What are the other options?  You said I could convert things, but like what?”

There are a myriad of options, master, but you are still contained in a physical body and limited by its ability to survive exposure to certain energies.  For example, you are able to convert solar energy, but just as any Hylian you are subject to sunburn.

“Um.  Is that why I like sunshine so much?”

That, I do not know.

“Okay, so… can I hang around outside all day and soak up Sun?”

The rate of energy transfer is too slow. To build up the quantity of energy required would take years.

“...I'm out of ideas. It's not like I can stick myself in a bonfire.”

Forgive me, master.  My intent is not to frustrate you.  There are few energy sources I know of in this era which either of us would be capable of absorbing in great quantity.  I am curious how the Divine Beasts are faring.

“Though we don’t understand the energy sources, the Divine Beasts appear to have plentiful energy for operation, if that’s what you mean.”

In part, yes.  I have little knowledge of the beasts' design.  I am uncertain how they draw power.  I had boarded the beasts in the past as well as with my current master during his visit to Vah Rudania, but that is all. 

Ooooh, Zelda didn’t know about that.  Hehe, hi.  Yeah, I see you looking at me, can we talk about it later?  It’s really not that important.

“If you say so, Link.”

“Kmph- I think so!”

“Indeed!”

“Skies above, it is most disorienting to see your thoughts appear on this screen, Sir Link.  In your place, I doubt I’d be able to put up with it.”

“It’s not so bad, sire, not now that I’m used to it.”

“Mmmph.  Most wouldn’t get used to it, I think.”

I’m just glad I’m not thinking about apples.  Caramel.  Peppercorns!  Table. Table table table table table THINK, Link, think think think window!  Uuuuuuh CROWN!  Crown frown down town clown NOO not clowns, they’re fricking terrifying, uuuuh surround around astound found wound bound crowned ooooh look at that, that’s crown used twice, nice, rice lice mice thrice slice-

“What in blue blazes are you doing?”

“S-sorry, sire.  Just trying to be normal.”

“…This is not normal.”

“Yeah, that’s true, you’re right sire, I just, well, I like rhymes.”

.

“That explains nothing.”

No, it doesn’t, does it?  I can’t explain though because if I explain I am in SO much trouble, not that he doesn’t know about it, not really, but I mean who wants to find out exactly what stone thrown clone blown throne bone alone moan NONO lone-

“Sir Link, would it help you to leave the room?”

“It would make no difference, father.  The slate records his thoughts regardless.”

“Auph.”

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about it, too.

“What of the ancient furnaces?”

Huh?  “What about them, Princess?”

“The blue flames are a highly concentrated form of energy.”

Blue flames?

“Yes.  They burn ceaselessly in two locations, one in northeastern Akkala and one near Hateno in Necluda.  The facilities from which they spring appear nearly identical to the main control units within the Divine Beasts.”

Fascinating.  With a few exceptions, location names in this era have altered since my previous awakening.  Where is Akkala in relation to this castle?

“Akkala is the northeastern-most province of Hyrule, to the east of Death Mountain.”

Thank you, Princess.  I would extrapolate that these ancient furnaces tap into the energies of the sacred flames.  The remains of the far more ancient Fire Sanctuary may be beneath this furnace you speak of.

“These furnaces did not exist before?”

I cannot confirm that.  My previous master was not always privy to the Sheikah’s plans.

“Did they not trust him?!”

To say that would be untrue, but he was not involved in that civilization’s infrastructure.  It’s possible the flames were already in use and therefore went unremarked.  They also may have been created or accessed during his time or afterward.  It is unknown.

“Yet the locations are significant to you.”

Thus far, Princess.  One sacred flame burned in the Fire Sanctuary far to the northeast past Death Mountain, and another burned in the southeast—south of a heavily forested area yet west of a large expanse of water, within a mechanized cistern.  The third burned far to the west in a free-moving vessel.

“Three flames, yet only two ancient furnaces.  The location you describe in the southeast would indeed fit the location of Hateno Village.  But there is nothing we know of in the west.”

It may be belowground.

“I suppose.”

If the energy sources are in fact the sacred flames, I am capable of absorbing them directly.  Each may still harbor distinctive properties which would leave me unbalanced were I to absorb a great deal without also absorbing an equal amount of the other two.  Since one is as yet undiscovered, this presents a problem.  I could, of course, expend the energy of only one flame shortly after absorbing it.

Oh, of course!

…Consider reigning in your sarcasm, master.

...They’re all looking at me.  “… Sorry.”  It’s not like I trained myself to control the snark in my head.  Only out my mouth.

Another option would be to collect these energies in other vessels, return them here, and apply all three at once, were the third available.

“It is possible to transfer the blue flames with a torch.  A series of lanterns leads from each to a nearby location.  They allow the flame’s relatively easy transfer and utilization at facilities at the end of each path.”

Fascinating.  How long do these lanterns burn once lit?

“Typically not more than a day.”

How were they constructed?

“We don’t know.  They pre-date our own efforts.”

Have any attempts been made to re-create them?

“The team in Akkala has attempted exactly that without success.  Purah and Robbie may know more than I do.  Or Impa, now I think of it.  Regardless, we could deliver some of this energy to the castle for you, or you could absorb it yourself?”

Either is possible.  You and my master can also absorb and store a large amount of this energy, if it is indeed that of the sacred flames.

“…May I ask what the sacred flames are?”

They are, in essence, a type of potential energy remaining from the Goddesses’ presence in this realm, in a time so ancient even I did not yet exist.

“I thought potential energy was more of a mathematical model than an existent energy form.”

Mathematical models which make accurate predictions tend to represent reality, Princess, even if the reality seems too strange to be true.  The chemical energy you gain by eating can be considered a form of potential energy, for it is simply energy in storage: not currently in use.

I do not know whether these blue flames behave as the sacred flames did; energy may change form.  You have already provided evidence the flames have done so.

“What evidence is that?”

They are blue.  Yet the ones you’ve discovered would match the flame of power and the flame of courage, which appeared red and green respectively when I last encountered them.  Only the flame of wisdom—in the west—was blue.

“These flames were left by the Goddess?”

No, master.  The Goddess Hylia did not create these flames.  The Goddesses did.

.

“Goddess…es?”

Yes.

“H-how many Goddesses are we talking?”

Three, master.

“So there’s two more?!”

No.

“Wh- three minus one is two.”

Apologies, master.  Hylia is not one of the three Goddesses who originated before the creation of Hyrule.

“What?!”  “Holy Hylia-“ “Merciful Goddess!” “Hhhh!”

Yes, your forebears ten-thousand years ago had also appeared unaware of them.

.

It’s not just me, this time.  The entire room is flabbergasted.  Four Goddesses.  FOUR.  And we didn’t know about three of them?

“Fi... is Link correct?  Are there four Goddesses in total?”

…

?!!?!?!  Holy S@#$- “there’s more, aren’t there?!”

…

“That is SO a yes!”

Not necessarily, master.

“No, no, I’m calling definite bulls@$# this time, Fi.  No way.  You clam up when there’s something I’m not supposed to know.  If there were four, you’d have said so.  Right?  Am I right?”

“…I’m afraid I quite agree with my appointed knight.”

I may need to alter my protocols.

“OH!  Oh ho, so there are at least five!  Who’s the fifth one, then?  You said there were three Goddesses who came before Hyrule, and for some reason you’re okay with letting us know that, but not that there’s a fifth one out there?”

If I reveal too much, all it will do is hurt you, master.

…The king, maybe she’ll listen to the king?  “Sire?”

“…I must admit the difficulty of taking it in.  Fi.”

Yes?

Wow.  No title?  I wonder if that’s why he’s taking so long to answer her…

“Hphhhhhhhh.  There is no delicate way to phrase this.  Was Zelda praying to the wrong Goddess?”

…Holy sh-

No.

OH thank you for that.

Prayer was inconsequential.

And now his head's in his hands.

What was he hoping for?  Either way, he was wrong.  I guess if prayer mattered, but to someone else, at least he wouldn’t’ve led her too far astray.

Still… if I was a Goddess, and someone was praying but just didn’t know my name, I’d answer anyway. Seems petty not to.

He’s still holding his head.

Zelda keeps switching between him and the slate, like she’s not sure where to look.  Maybe I’d better say something?

“Fi, can you tell us what they’re called?  The other three Goddesses you mentioned?”

Farore, Nayru, and Din.

“Wow.  Wow-“

“Those names are in the song of the Goddess.”

Yes, Princess.

“…It’s not gibberish.”

No, Princess.

“Would you please translate the words?  I assume you know the song.”

I do, and I can honor this request.  The translation is:

Youth, guided by the Goddess’ servant Unite the earth and sky and bring light to the land Youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the light tower-

“The two what?”

You have interrupted my flow, master.

…Er.  Sorry?

Thank you.  The rest follows:

And before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear.

Spirit Maiden, guided by blood and memory Nayru, Farore, and Din Trust you with life and the gift of the Moon And skyward a song you and your youth shall sing.

…Is it sacrilege if I think some of it is still gibberish?

Yes, master.

!!!!

…

…You’re joking.

Why would you think so?

I can tell!

How, master?

Your tone went all funny.

What tone?

THAT one you just did!

With all due respect master, you are not the most adept person in this room when it comes to interpreting tones of voice.

Your voice is in my head.  I have advantage.

“Fi.”

Ooh.  Okay—Princess privilege.

Yes, Princess?

“Spirit Maiden is one of the titles you listed as mine.  One you could apply to me in lieu of Your Grace.”

That snapped the king’s head up.

It’s a highly exalted title.  The kind of thing usually reserved for the king and queen and only under extremely formal circumstances, like royalty from across the chasm or sea.  Not that it’s happened at all in my lifetime—everyone’s too afraid of the Calamity.  The highest of high priests/priestesses at the temple of time sometimes get called that, but again only in very formal circumstances.

That is, if my father’s descriptions can be trusted.  Sometimes he’s… a little off.

And Fi hasn’t answered her.

“Fi, why didn’t you answer the Princess?”

The Princess did not ask me a question.

“The question was kind of implied.”

Was it, master?

“Yeah.”

…And she’s still not answering- “Fi, is Spirit Maiden a title you could use for Zelda instead of Princess?”

Yes.

“So… the song’s talking about Zelda?”

You are jumping to conclusions, master.  Calling the Princess ‘Princess’ does not mean every Princess referred to in a story is her personally.

“Fair enough, so what’s a Spirit Maiden?”

A spirit maiden is a living person able to wield the magics of the Goddess Hylia.

 “Okay… so the song’s about the person from an earlier time who was wielding that magic.  There’s also a youth and a servant of the Goddess.  Blood and… memory?... guide the spirit maiden, and the three Goddesses we just found out about trust her with life and whatever the gift from the Moon is.  And she’s gonna sing a song with the youth, ohh and then there was all that weird stuff about showing two whirling sails to the light tower?  What’s that about?”

…

“Fi?”

…

“Seriously, why translate it if we’re not allowed to know?”

…Are you certain you wish to know this, master?

“Sure, why not?”

…Very well… the whirling sails refer to a pair of windmill-like sail structures atop two stone pillars.

“…And?”

…The youth needed to turn the pillars.

“…Okay…how about you don’t make me ask for every part of the explanation, and just tell us the whole thing?”

You are unaware of the nature of the knowledge you seek, master.

“Fine, I’m unaware!  Enlighten me.”

…

A pair of mock-windmill sails built into the pillars controlled mechanisms to turn them.  The youth needed to spin the wheels a sufficient amount to point the large sails toward a nearby navigational light-tower.  He did so with a device intended to expel air. The-

“Goodness, that sounds complicated.  Why not simply turn them by hand?”

Why indeed, Princess?

Wh-? What’d I do to deserve that hit of irritation-?

Regardless, the youth turned the pillars to face a nearby tower-

I can FEEL it when you get huffy like that!

I do not get huffy, master.

...Okay. Sorry. Please continue?

I appreciate your cordiality, master. The tower then activated and allowed the youth entry to an internal ladder.  He was then able to reach the top of the tower-

“Seriously?  How tall was this tower?”

…Approximately forty feet, master.

“Wow.  Not a strong climber, I guess.  I’d’ve just slogged my way up there by hand, no spinning pillars required!”

“It does seem inefficient.”

…Quite.

Do you wish to hear the remainder, or may we move on?

“Oh, for sure, let’s hear it!”

“I concur.”

As you wish… the youth activated the light tower which focused a beam of light upon a thunderhead, opening a path to fly through it.

.

“That’s it?  What about the second verse?”

We discussed that.

“Not all of it.  We covered what a Spirit Maiden is and that the three names are Goddesses.  The rest of it, about blood and memory, and trusting with life, and the gift of the Moon, and the song-singing—well, I guess the song-singing is pretty self-explanatory, but not the rest.”

Master, do you not agree that the first verse’s true meaning was, in fact, quite mundane?

“Silly.”

Then why force me to recount the meaning of the second verse?

“…You have a point.”

I do.

“…This tangent sprang from our discussion of the flames—that they could serve as an energy source for Fi.  Let’s return to that, please.”

Sorry.

Oh.  I get a smile?

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, Link.  It is… tempting, is it not?  To delve deep into the unknown territories of knowledge.”

Oh. Ohhhh.  “I’m not as smart as you, though.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, but let’s return to the subject of greater urgency .  The rest can wait.”

Yep.  Control yourself, Link.

“As I understand it, Fi, Link and I are each able to collect energy from these flames.  Correct?”

Yes, Princess.

“Link’s pouch is able to store energy extra-dimensionally.  Could we store blue flames within it?”

It is possible, Princess.  If time essentially does not move within it, a lit torch should not go out.

“Excellent.  Link, how much can your pouch hold?”

“I have no idea.  It’s never NOT let me put something in, not unless it was really huge.”

“How huge?”

“Well.  I, ah.  You know, like, a… a moblin.”

“A moblin?!”

“Yeah.”

“What possessed you to attempt that?!”

“They start disintegrating when they die.  I figured if I could put it in the pouch it wouldn’t happen, and they could study it at the lab.  But… you know.  It didn’t work.  The opening didn’t expand to let it in.”

“Ah.  That makes sense, now you explain it.  Alright.  Let’s attempt a test with an ordinary torch.”

Okay.  Hopefully the pouch won’t catch fire.

…Not a pleasant thought.  I do NOT want to lose it.  Guess we could go back to the woods and ask for a new one, but—oh s$#%, what would happen to all the stuff I have in there if the outside burns?!

“Due to the travel time necessary to collect energy from the flames, I propose we also attempt a shorter-term solution of some kind.”

No one else is thinking about this.

Any solution involving me will dissolve as soon as I leave this place, Princess.

“Yes.  I thought we might try to disperse the field temporarily and note any effects.”

Do I let Zelda potentially destroy my awesome pouch?!

“I also wonder if Purah and Robbie might be able to manufacture an object which would serve a similar purpose.”

Maybe I empty the whole thing out first.

“We’d intended to visit the royal lab soon, regardless, and I intend to propose this to them then.”

Prudent, Princess.

…Maybe we don’t test it until we have a duplicate, I bet the Koroks would-

“Sir Link, forgive me, but please attempt to curtail your mind’s wanderings for the moment.  It is difficult to follow Fi on the screen.”

“Sorry, sire.”  Stupid stupid stupid stop thinking so stupid, stare at the tasty apples or something.

“…Let’s consolidate.”

Yes, please, Zelda!

“Divine Beast Ruta in the Domain.  Divine Beast Naboris in the Gerudo Desert.  As it happens, I also received word from Urbosa regarding several shrines unearthed there.  It makes sense to survey them.  More urgent points of interest—the ancient furnaces at Hateno and Tumlea Heights in Akkala.  There ought to be a third energy source westward.  Fi, if you absorb all three, will that heighten the effects of your magic?”

Yes.  I will also be able to absorb extra energy from the final one if tempered by the other two.

“I believe it unwise for us personally to search for this third flame, but we have quite a few parties out on surveys and digs.  Father?”

“Yes, let’s send word to them—direct them to begin searching.  The teams at Tanagar Canyon and eastern Hebra already are, essentially, but we’ll notify them nonetheless.”

“Alright.  Fi, is there any need for me to visit the springs of power and courage?”

Not specifically, Princess.  The waters of the springs served their primary purpose before written memory.  There may be reasons for you to return at a later date—but traveling there now would net little.

“…As you say.  We skip the springs.  I did want to visit the survey team on the Great Plateau owing to your declaration of its importance, Fi—of an ancient medical facility.”

It may or may not exist.

“Indeed.  The Temple of Time is also near there, and—correct me if I’m wrong—one of our goals is to spread hope throughout Hyrule.”

“Yes, daughter, though readiness is of greater import.”                                                                                         

“Agreed.  I… would at some point like to attend a service at the Temple of Time as myself.  Not in disguise.”

The heart of Hyrule’s faith.  “The Yiga clan might expect that.”

“Perhaps.”

“… Can we think on that one a little more?  And if we do it, can we save it for the last leg of the journey?  It feels… like it’s the same level of risk as the bailey.  That didn’t turn out great.”

“We don’t need to decide immediately.”

…I really want one of those stupid apples.

“I also propose we assist the populace in dispatching monsters as we travel: hope for our people, and incentive for us—yes, Link?”

“Yeah.  We should try not to give our identities away, though.”  And it means Zelda being near monsters.  I’ll be pulling my hair out in tufts.  Biting my woah!  Table-smack!

“We have all failed to consider something else of concern.”

…Training Zelda?

“Father?”

“Link, your mother and sister need an escort home, and I’ll be damned if I don’t assign at least three men to stay there and keep watch.”

…S%@#.  S@#%, he’s right.  “Yes, sire.”

“…We’re already undermanned, sire.  Ahadis and I have begun restructuring the guard schedule for threes instead of pairs.  It’s hell.  We need more people here, not less, and after what happened we know even re-assigning soldiers from other posts is risky.”

“Sir Jeralt, I flatly refuse to leave Link’s family unprotected.  That assassin did not hesitate to send an arrow toward a young girl’s heart.  I doubt his compatriots will be kinder.  We let them go home unprotected, and next we’ll find a ransom note demanding Sir Link’s head in exchange for their safety.”

“We could ask them to remain here at the castle.”

“You’d ask them to give up their home to avoid hiring a few more people?”

“I- eh.  No, sire.”

“Mmph.  Good.”

“Might I make a suggestion, father?”

“Of course.”

“Anyone we send with them must be trustworthy.  I’d… hesitate to choose those we know less well.  It ought to be people who have been here many years and demonstrated unwavering loyalty and strength of character.”

“…You’re going to suggest members of the royal guard, aren’t you?”

“They are loyal to Link’s father and to you.”

“…Sir Kertiss was a problem.”

“Sir Kertiss is prejudiced, but even that is steeped in loyalty to Sir Lyle.  I am tempted to suggest him specifically, since he presumably will be up for hire and certainly will not impact castle rotations.”

…She… is she serious?  “Zelda… he hates me.”

“I'm not so sure. He is loyal to your father.  His treatment of you stems at least in part from that.”

“He’s an asshole!”

“Yes.  A prideful misogynist to say the least.  I have little doubt that misogyny extends to chivalry.  He would not have intentionally harmed me at the tournament.  He will not harm your mother or sister.  Perhaps your sister may inundate him with criticism and put him in his place.”

“Or maybe she’ll annoy the s@#$ out of him and he’ll hit her.”

“Link… do you honestly think he’d do that?”

“I have no idea.  He was wiling to break my ribs.”

“He was also in the field at the time.”

“He- oh.”  Zelda has a point!  He was acting like such a nasty f@#$er, but what’s he like if he’s not on this island with a creepy-crawly signal to hate me and Zelda poking at him?  “…Okay.  Alright, I’m willing to give this a shot, but I want to talk to him AND my mom and Chee about it personally.  We’re sending people in threes, right?  So he’d only be one of three.  If we’re choosing from the guard, I nominate Turro right this second, but do we really want to do that?  Jeralt?”

“Hphhh.  Some of the men on the guard have been there a long time.  Some not.  Turro’s been here about six years and got promoted real fast.  Damn skilled.  Would be useful to have someone who can hit long range reliably.  He’d be useful for hunting while they’re all waiting it out at your parents’ home.  Cahz and Kertiss were pretty new.  Eberoy woudn’t want to go, most likely.  Either he’d have to leave his wife until this was over or she’d have to leave her home here. Virn’s good, but he’s less independent than Turro.  If we’re choosing from the royal guard specifically, I think I’d have to say Merendith.”

“We could also take someone from my guard.  If we’re gone, we don’t have to be extreme about that.”

“Oh yes we do.”

“Link?“

“We can't travel openly after what happened.”

“W-well-“

“No way.  Either we travel incognito, or your entire guard joins us.”

…That’s some quiet right there.  I wonder if she’s feeling at all like I am.  I’d looked forward to traveling alone with her-

“If I travel with a large party, my movements will be obvious.  There shall be ample opportunities to attack us, and even if I take the entire guard they would be quite easily outnumbered.  It makes far more sense to leave them here--the castle is already short-staffed for the new procedures to be put in place, and their presence will help.  We... could still spare someone from that group to go with Link’s family, if we don't want to take too many from the Royal Guard.”

Ohhh, Link.   Ideas.  Sometimes, you have them.  “If we’re not in the castle, the Yiga clan could easily find out we’ve left.  We have to still seem like we’re here, at least at first.  Your guard rotation still has to happen, and it needs to stay strict, and we need doubles.  People who look like you and I, at least from far away.  We can… pretend we’re being really careful after what happened at the festival, like we’re not mixing with people much, or maybe that we’re taking a break, staying in our chambers more.”  Which isn’t far from the truth anyway.  “Farniha’s about your height, and Wenn’s small like me.  It could work.”

“…You’re suggesting we disguise them to look like us?”

“Yep.  We dye their hair.  Wenn might take some convincing, but I think Farniha’ll do it no problem.”

“Wenn will do as he’s ordered.”

“…Yes, sire.”

“Hmph.  You’d give him the option, wouldn’t you?”

“…Yes, sire.”

“It’s good to respect those under your command, but autonomy should only go so far.  If it jeopardizes you, it isn’t acceptable.”

…Okay.

.

“Well.  With all this in mind… I believe my new itinerary by default should take us toward Hateno first.”

“Wh- woah, Princess, I don’t want to be near my family.  That’ll make them more of a target, not less, just like in the bailey!”

“We won’t be us, Link.  We’ll be Farniha and Wenn.  We shall dye our hair and wear their uniforms.”

Oh man.  Rub your forehead, Link.  It’s late.  You’re tired.  Of course, it makes sense!  It’s Zelda.  Oh- “The people in Hateno’ll recognize me.”

“Not if you keep the helmet on.”

“… Okay.  Yeah, okay, I can do that around everyone else.  So, we deliver them, we visit the first ancient furnace, we collect energy-“

“And I inspect the shrine.”

“Yep, shrine inspection.  That makes the next stop the domain.”

“Indeed.  I imagine Mipha would like to travel with us, though she may break off beyond the Dueling Peaks.”

“Maybe.  And if we’re headed to the domain next, it makes sense to continue north into Akkala from there.  I… think we should avoid the citadel, Princess.  Guessing there’d be people there who would recognize you, and while I’m not sure that’d be much of a problem in the domain, it might be in Akkala.”  And there's also that general’s wife I’ve heard about, and how she likes to invade everyone’s privacy.  I’d rather not be in disguise around someone like that.

“I agree with you, Link.  Vayden and the soldier from Carok Bridge infiltrated Hylian ranks easily.  It seems unlikely that would occur in the Domain, but we still ought to be wary of any travelers.”

Extremely wary.  So wary we don’t even talk to them.  Or… no, because then you seem suspicious.  Something in between is the right way to go.

I’ll be bad at this, won’t I?  I’m not exactly good at saying the right thing at the right time.  And I’m terrible at lying.

“It would seem prudent to then return to the castle for respite unless we receive news which diverts us to Daruk.”

Yeah.  “Makes sense to come back here, anyway.  We’ll need to see if there’s news about a third flame.  If not, I figure the desert is the next stop.”

“Yes.”

…Well.  That’s it, isn’t it?  The Plan. We set up decoys to seem legitimate as long as possible.  Some people’ll have to be in on it.  Damn, the whole fricking castle might have to be if it goes on long enough, and that’s just not realistic if there’s even a single Yiga clan member still here.  But I figure it’ll buy us a few days if our decoys hide out up here, mostly.

…Is anyone going to eat an apple, or am I going to have to leave the room without one?

“Oh- haha, Link.  With all that sorted, I believe I shall try one of these caramel apples with ginger.”

“I haven’t eaten a caramel apple since I was a kid.”

“Now’s your chance, Sir Jeralt!”

“...Maybe the one with the salt.  Unless either of you would like it, Sire, Link?”

Nnnnnope.  “I’m eyeing one of the pink peppercorn ones.”

“Ha.  As am I, lad.  Shall we?”

You can see they’re not quiiite in their prime because they’re not as fresh anymore but wow is that still good.  Don’t let your eyes roll back in your head, Link.  You’ll seem possessed by a poe or something.  They got the caramel right where it’s still gooey but not so much so that it all ran right off the apple and the pink peppercorns are a little different tasting than black ones and they’re almost pepperminty when mixed with the caramel and then the apple just mellows the whole thing out and it’s almost as good as sehhhhhhhhhhhhlebrations.  Celebrations.  They’re great!  Except when you get shot during one, then they suck ass.

Zelda’s the only one looking, at least.  For now.

____

Read Next: How our [k]nights should be.

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[deafeningbreadblaze]

The 10 Scariest Things About keretaapi

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[beinfriends]

( Alright, pretty sure I've basically collected everybody in the Mother RPC at this point, so looks like it's time for me to say... hello! I'm Rabbit, or better known as Psy in this community (which you can see I continue to go by... because I am too fucking lazy to redo my promo assets. But I still really do just use Psy still.), and I was in the Mother RPC previously from 2018-2021 (I think? or 2020, I don't really remember) and wound up leaving due to mental health reasons, but recently I randomly got the urge to come back, so here I am with a remade blog. I was previously twinsmily, pigmonarch/allhailkingp, and beinfriends, a blog I have since moved from in order to make this blog.

I've added a lot of muses since the previous iteration of this blog. I feel like I should warn people, even if you knew me prior to rejoining (i.e. Neg and Star. hi btw) that my muse priorities have shifted quite a bit, although Lucas/Claus/Porky are still main muses for me. I replayed Mother 3 last June and got really into the Tazmily villagers for some reason, hence why I added all of them to my muse roster. If you remember the original version of this blog, my list was like <10 muses. We're at 50 now, and I didn't even list everybody.

As to why this even happened... I was playing chapter 3 and read Paul's text during the scene where Fassad tries to get everyone to pick up Happy Boxes and he said "I don't need happiness. It's standing right next to me." and I just really admired his wifeguy-ness... I thought that was so cute, since I'd never really thought about him before. And then my brain decided I liked literally all of them so here we are.

As mentioned in my rules, I did recommend the worldbuilding page + considering reading my fic recs per each character, but overall, I feel I should plug this directly. If you're interested in seeing the Tazmily that I have built in excruciating detail, consider giving A Change of Heart a read. The fic is about Leder telling everyone the truth about their past and everyone being forced to reckon with their trauma and memories.

Up front, it's 200,000 words. But it's a fic I wrote over the course of 5 months last year and is a huge basis for how my Tazmily now functions. The main verse of this blog is directly tied to this fic. Per my timeline, the final events of ACOH concluded one year prior to the events of this blog. BUT it's okay, I do not expect you to know all this shit. I will tell you things as necessary, I just thought I could cut out the middleman a bit is all.

What do you need to know about the default universe of this blog? Here's a few simple things to make it clearer:

The events of Mother 3 concluded 4 years ago.

ALL Tazmily villagers have regained their full memories of the past. The story is generally gone, though people didn't abandon their roles/jobs.

Tazmily has been rebuilt in the old style, but the world is a mix of old and new; people still use DP, but bartering has come back in a major way in terms of doing business.

There are multiple new settlements to account for all the New Porkers.

In all, it's pretty simple, but again, highly recommend you check out my worldbuilding page for a more in-depth rundown of the world, but still shorter than a 200,000 word fic lol. I still have some stuff I wanna add, but I got a lot of it done yesterday.

Also, I have a lot of posts queued from my personal about villager lines, or edits I made, so on, so expect to see those posts in the coming days. I have chronicled a vast majority of lines you can possibly see the villagers say. I got plenty o' lines you've probably never seen. There's only a handful of lines I cannot find, and am assuming went unused. So yeah, enjoy that!! It'll be your crash course on the villagers if you, like everybody (including past me), know very little about the villagers. I look forward to it.

This blog may or may not wind up being low activity, but it remains to be seen. I start my new job today, so I'll see how the work-life balance is. Bios are still a WIP. As I said yesterday, I have 19/50 completed. I will hopefully do the secondary bio batch soon, but probably not today, and probably not tomorrow, because work. But everyone in the main tier has a bio, so check 'em out!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope I get to know all of you better in the coming days and weeks! Starter call will come after this post for everyone. See ya soon! )

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Hidden Oracle: Chapter 32 (SPOILERS)

"'Peaches!' He . . . chomped the lit match from the emperor's hand" Peaches! Our hero!

"I am trying so hard to keep the Beast at bay." Doubt. He's just saying that as a dramatic lead-up to throwing his grand temper tantrum.

"allowed you to roam around Manhattan so much on your own, playing the street waif" That answers my question about why she was just hangin' around Hell's Kitchen's alleyways.

"You told me never to lower myself to my enemies' level." You tell him! Softness toward enemies is not a virtue, but burning your enemies to the ground is not a virtue, either.

"I remembered how my father used to punish me centuries ago . . . Zeus used to say, Don't get on the wrong side of my lightning bolts, boy." "Don't blame me, his tone implied. It's the lightning bolt that seared every molecule in your body." Yeah, I didn't shoot you, the gun did! *eyes* I don't know why I expected Zeus to not beat his children (or zap them, which sounds exponentially more painful). He's literally the guy going around abusing his power, raping people and abandoning the children, assigning scapegoats for his own mistakes, etc. Of course he would also be the guy to beat even his immortal kids. And now we know Nero does the same thing and the Beast isn't some fantasy monster, it's just Nero (who is arguably also a monster). Apollo and Meg trauma bonding...? I didn't expect it to actually dive into that sort of stuff in a PJO book, but I'm happy it did.

"Peaches . . . get the matchbox." Yes! Meg makes the right decision in the end. Never doubted her. "'When we get home...' He shrugged, his expression full of regret." She got on the wrong side of the Beast.

"Happiness approaches. The fall of the sun; the final verse. Would you like to hear our specials today?" Yes, I would like to hear the specials. I don't think "Happiness approaches" is part of that ominous "fall of the sun" line, but I can't be 100% sure. Also, I'm almost certain that the "final verse" refers to the Triumvirate's attempt at a rise to power will be the last "verse" of the Great Stirring mentioned in the first PJO series as the reason for Kronos's resurrection.

"From his vest pocket, he produced a silver cigarette lighter." Of course he had a backup. Of course he did.

"Help." Our protagonist actually knows his limits and calls for help when he needs it! Hurry or you'll miss it! This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion!

"I felt hollow, guilty, and ashamed." Don't worry. I'm sure they did it as much to save their fellow trees as they did it to save you and your children. "Then it occurred to me how many times I had asked for sacrifices, how many heroes I had sent to their deaths." He finally clocked it! He finally realized how many lives he's ruined! It truly is a day for celebration! "I was no less of a monster than Nero." Ye--hmm--yeah, he's right about that. He might actually be worse since he's lived longer and thus had more time to commit more atrocities. What sets Apollo apart from Nero is that he's actually realizing the error of his ways now.

"their next beautiful reincarnation." Oh, nice. So nymphs get reincarnated kind of like satyrs do.

"After all these centuries, Zephyros has accepted my apology." SORRY? Apollo's the one who has to apologize to Zephyros? He's done many horrible things, but Zephyros is the one responsible for killing Hyacinthus. He's the one who should be apologizing!

"The Grove of Dodona had stopped its wild chorus of screaming." The trees are probably mourning the dryads' deaths. Considering the cacophony they were making before, I thought they'd mourn louder.

"Also, where is my saxophone?" Austin, priorities! Although I guess that would count as a useful weapon for him and he was carrying it with him in the maze, wasn't he? Nero probably confiscated it. "Sensible questions." Haha. I see we're on the same page.

[liskantope]

[Content note: not going to be very charitable or thorough about my views on the general issue of recent developments on Roe vs. Wade, or bother cluttering this up with qualifications.]

Caught in the midst of another wave of work, I've been a little late in picking up the details of the leak of Alito's document and the fact that it represents the soon-forthcoming opinion of the Supreme Court as a whole in favor of overturning Roe vs. Wade.

I distinctly remember 4-5 years ago stating confidently to people that I just couldn't imagine it ever being overturned, not because the public tide would ever shift overwhelmingly in favor of pro-choice (as has been the case with same-sex marriage for instance), but because enough of the country favored the legality of abortion (a clear majority), and enough of that subset felt strongly enough about it, that there would be massive protests and rioting such as those of us who are reasonably young would have never seen in our lifetimes. The Supreme Court was clearly to a great extent a representation of political winds (much as this was against its premise of course), and the politicians-that-be on both sides of the aisle would surely be far too afraid of the violent public backlash to dare allow RvW to be overturned. Chipped away at through incremental legislation in dozens of states perhaps, but not straight-up reversed on the level of SCOTUS.

Then in summer 2020 I got a taste of what severe social unrest and widespread angry protesting/rioting look like. And still I remember saying (probably to myself, because I wasn't talking to many people at the time), "If RvW gets overturned, there will be protesting and rioting on a level that makes all this George Floyd stuff look like a joke in comparison."

But now that it's actually happening, I'm not sure that there will be anywhere near that much of a reaction. And I have complex feelings about that.

On the one hand, it's very easily possible to exaggerate how disastrous the effects of the overturning will be (I expect a good percentage of Americans sloppily confuse it with a ruling banning abortion everywhere for instance, alternate routes to abortion are more feasible than they were 50 years ago, etc.). And I consider protesting to have some positive but limited utility (while rioting has negative utility). On the other hand, I still consider it disastrous enough that I feel a desire to become much more activist about this than about most other things.

But on the third hand, I want to see a reaction that reassures me at least a tiny bit, when compared with the unrest two summers ago, that liberal social activism has some rational understanding of practical effects of laws and priorities and abstract narratives versus concrete facts and so on. In a way, I want to see far more protesting, far more domination of the national discourse, far more emotion, far more passion, far more raw force as a social movement attached to this than was ever attached to George Floyd's murder and the vaguely-understood cloud of oppressive attitudes it represented. There are concrete laws at stake here which affect vast numbers of people in a highly tractable way that doesn't depend on vague principles or desires for revolution or nebulous "understood truths". There are highly measurable ways that large demographics in our society will suffer, a more firmly-founded fuel for our emotions than anger over several individual outrageously tragic incidents.

In that vein, I want to see a moral panic over female reproductive rights. I want to see awareness and tension over these issues seep into almost every facet of our society. I want to see every major company speak up on it. I want to see widespread treatment of the perpetuation of poverty as a result of lack of control over reproduction, and those who think it's worth it because of their convictions about the sanctity of souls or possibly more unsavory beliefs, as a scourge on our culture. I want to see dating profiles, in the midst of the usual dog and sarcasm enthusiasm, explode with exhortations of "if you don't like women having choices, swipe left".

[bewitchingbooktours]

Ice Floe by Melissa Birling  #YAFantasy #YARomance #PNR #Mermaids

Ice Floe

Ice Floe Series 

Book One

Melissa Birling

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance, YA PNR 

Publisher: Purpance Publishing

Date of Publication: April 28, 2022

Number of pages: 320

Word Count: 87,000

Cover Artist: Thea Magerand

Tagline: Secrecy is safety. Sisterhood is everything.

Book Description:

Seventeen-year-old Glacia didn’t plan to track a kidnapper, stick a middle finger to the government, and fall into a forbidden summer fling. This is simply what happens when you’re the resident odd girl out, in a shoal of all-female mermaids whose values are a little cracked. Or a lot cracked, if you consider government-endorsed murder and the seizure of male infants to be an issue.

When society rules, family, and romance collide, Glacia fights back the best way she knows how: by taking the matter into her own combat-trained hands and kicking some tail. The problem is, no amount of training can prepare Glacia for the crime circle she discovers, secrets she unveils, and human guy she can’t get out of her head. Glacia finds herself at a crossroads where she must decide whose rules to follow. Who she can trust. And ultimately…who lives and who dies.

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Ice Floe Excerpt: Chapter 6

We’ve been sitting on the ledge a while now, mostly staring at the view. I steal occasional glances at Tucker. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a force between us. Energy. A pulse. A magnet. Something. Every time I focus my thoughts elsewhere, he pulls me back in. It’s distracting.

“You ready to head down?” he asks.

“You might as well get started. I can’t climb down with all your equipment in the way.” “I have an extra harness. You should come down with me.” He reaches for his pack and stands up.

I jump up to join him. “No way. I’m not hooking myself into that death trap.”

“Glacia, come on. This cliff is super challenging, and it’s way more difficult to climb down than up,” he says, his voice growing louder. Here we go again.

“I’ll be fine once you get your stuff out of the way.” I raise my volume to match his. “It’s not safe. I would feel horrible if I let you climb down and you got hurt.”

“Let me?”

“Not let you. It’s your choice.” “I choose NO.” He clenches his jaw tightly and grinds his teeth. I take a few steps back in preparation. There’s enough room up here to land a solid kick to the face. That should knock him out, then I’ll have to figure out a way to climb down his cat’s cradle setup. Tucker crosses one arm over his chest and raises a hand to cover his mouth. We glare at each other – at an impasse.

“Let’s make a deal,” he offers. “You climb down with me using a harness and rope, and I’ll take you on a boat ride.”

This catches my attention.

“That’s right, I saw you light up when I mentioned my dad’s boat shop,” he continues with a cocky air.

He’s more perceptive than I gave him credit for. Volatile and perceptive. A hefty combination.

“Have you ever been on a boat?” he asks.

I shake my head. I would love to go on a boat. Tucker knows how to fix them and can teach me everything a trainer could, plus more. What am I thinking? This is crazy. I can’t go on a boat with a human. What excuse would I give if I got caught? I can’t pretend I’m seducing. Everyone knows that’s not high on my priority list, and you’re not supposed to seduce alone. Maybe I could say that I’m collecting information to share with the girls I teach… Hmm. That’s almost believable, given my dedication to the studio.

Tucker can tell I’m on the fence about it and ups the ante. “I’ll teach you to drive the boat.”

Unfair. Of course, I want to learn how to drive a boat. That’s a beyond useful skill in my back pocket. I peek down the cliff face to assess the reliability of Tucker’s wedge-rope system. Stupid. Like I know what I’m looking for.

“Fine,” I agree. “We need to be hooked together, so if I die, you die.” “Seems reasonable.”

“AND I get to drive the boat.”

“Deal. Let’s see, today is Monday, and I already have plans tomorrow. Wednesday?”

“What time?”

“Eleven a.m. on the Ula pier.” “I’ll meet you there.” Tucker flips his pack around, unclips a belt, and offers it to me. “Do you know how to wear a harness?”

I snatch it from him, compare it to his gear, and step into the leg holes. When I have it all clipped in, I throw my hands on my hips.

“Now what?” I ask.

Tucker leans in toward me, rope in hand, then pulls back and reconsiders. “That’s not quite right,” he says haltingly. “Can I fix your harness?”

“I already agreed to this mess, didn’t I?”

He rolls his eyes. “I think that’s a yes. Pull the harness up – it has to sit higher on your hips.”

I follow his instructions, and he flops the rope over one arm. He moves in closer and bends down to reposition the harness. His fingers wrap around the loop against my leg as he pulls it up below my hip. My heart beats faster and my insides twists. I evaluate the top of Tucker’s head in an effort to distinguish these sensations from other emotions. He secures the loop and raises his gaze to meet mine.

“Is that too tight?” he asks. His hazel eyes penetrate mine. The edges are a deep brown that blend into a murky green with an amber starburst around the pupil. I shake my head and look away. I hope he can’t tell how disoriented this is making me. “Pull the tabs on your waist tighter,” he instructs.

I cinch the waist while he rearranges the other loop on my leg. Why is this making me so agitated? He’s only fixing my gear so I don’t fall to my death. Tucker gathers the rope into his hand and reaches out to tie it to the front belt loop. As he does, his fingers brush my skin just below my belly button. A jolt of electricity shoots through my body. I take in a small gasp of air and hold my breath. He freezes, his fingers lingering on my stomach. Did he feel that too?

 About the Author:

Melissa Birling strives to experience life from a “both and” rather than “either or” perspective. She enjoys living in metropolitan cities and on a small farm. She appreciates burn-your-tongue Mexican cuisine and delicious London pub food. Lately, Melissa spends her time engaging with cyber security professionals and mermaids. Not actual mermaids, although if you know any, she’d love to meet them.

The revelation that one can be both a successful corporate consultant and a fantasy author who writes about mermaids, encouraged Melissa to finish her debut novel, Ice Floe. The emotional high of typing “The End” at the completion of her first draft, triggered a writing spree that hasn’t stopped since. On any given Saturday or Sunday, you will find Melissa writing. She won’t respond to any attempts at human engagement, because she’s “at a good part,” but you’ll find her typing away, nevertheless.

Melissa lives with a ceaselessly supportive husband and their dog who enjoys hunting neighborhood skunks.

https://melissabirling.com/

https://www.instagram.com/melissabirling/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMelissaBirling/

Sample the First Four Chapters for Free at 

www.icefloeseries.com

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