#to which she said of course not

[softquietsteadylove]

Oh my dear, please continue the mermaid AU.

Maybe something where Thena tried to protect Makkari from a fisher net and got caught. Gil seeing the boat at the dock, Thena in the net and he cuts her free when no one is looking.

🖤✨ Hugs an much looove!!! ✨🖤

Gil went still in the middle of pulling the chord of the small motorboat. He was just about to head home, but he leaned over the edge, staring into the water. He saw it--he knew he did.

There!--a streak of red, so quick if he had blinked at the right time it would have been gone. But he had seen it, he was certain. He wasn't sure why, though. He looked around him, making sure no one was around his end of the docks to see them in the dark. He whispered, "Makkari?"

A little distance away, a head popped out of the water to glare at him. Just like Thena.

He waved at her, although she disappeared from view. Just a for a second, though, before popping up in front of him again.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered, knowing that even if she couldn't hear him, that she could tell what he was saying from watching him say it. "You shouldn't be this close to land!"

She rose slightly with the help of her tail thrashing rapidly under her. She moved her hands too fast to follow, too.

Gil blinked and shook his head. "I-I don't know what-"

Makkari huffed, slapping her hands down and splashing him as she did so. She pressed her fingers together before bursting them outwards, like an anemone. Her lips moved.

"Th-Thena?" he guessed, and she pointed at him and nodded.

Makkari pointed to herself, and then moved two of her fingers around in a swimming motion.

"You and Thena were swimming," Gil narrated as he watched. Again, Makkari confirmed he was right. Her other hand dove down over them, but she flicked one finger against the other. Her left hand pulled up only one finger. "You and Thena...then you got caught?"

She shook her head.

"Thena," he corrected, his heart dropping when she stared down into the water. "Thena got caught."

Makkari nodded, gesturing over her chest.

"Thena protected you from a net?" Gil guessed, to which she offered a miserable nod. He didn't have time to dwell on it, though. And neither did she, since she had endangered herself plenty just to come and find him. He leaned so far over the edge of the boat he was close to falling in. "Makkari, what boat was it?"

She turned in the water, pointing over to where the larger, more heavily equipped boats were docked. The crews were probably in the pub currently, drinking away a long, hard shift.

Gil finally took the plunge, slipping into the water as quietly as he could. Makkari looked a little bewildered, but he released the edge of the boat in his hand. "Can you show me?"

She appraised him and how serious about this he was. She just swam off, although Gil could tell she was moving at a snail's pace for her own ability. It was for the sake of leading him. He moved gently in the water, kicking minimally and angling his hands. "If I go by dock, someone might see me. The less people who know about her, the better."

Makkari seemed almost impressed by his reasoning. She eyed the boats they passed, seeming familiar with each one. When they finally arrived at the largest boat, she pointed, spelling it out with her hand.

Gil frowned at it: the Deviant. "I know this guy."

Makkari looked at him, splashing him slightly again to prompt him to continue.

Gil huffed, pulling himself up to the ladder. "Kro--it's illegal, but he'll take poaching contracts sometimes."

Makkari tilted her head at him, and again he was reminded of Thena. His heart lurched in his chest.

"We have a responsibility to fish only what's needed, avoid species that are endangered, that kind of thing," Gil listed, moving up one ladder wrung at a time as he looked at Makkari below. "Kro will basically hunt anything if he's getting paid. And he's pretty cruel about it, keeps trophies and stuff."

Gil's blood chilled even further, and not just after his impromptu evening swim. If Kro thought he had truly caught something as magnificent as Thena, then who could say what he would do with her?

Gil looked around the deck, making sure no one was on it. It seemed unwise to leave her unguarded, but maybe they had all left to go spread the news and gain even more of a crowd for their big reveal. He snuck onto deck, soaking wet boots and all.

The arm was still held aloft, the net with their catch still suspended. Gil's gut twisted as he saw a few shimmering scales scattered around under it. "Thena?"

"Gil?"

He rushed to her as carefully as he could. Her voice was small and fragile. She was obviously exhausted from the struggle, and he couldn't imagine what it felt like to be captured like a wild animal.

Gil collected the scales on the deck and shoved them in his pockets, determined to leave not a trace of evidence for them to keep. He stood, hooking his fingers through a loop in the net. "I'm so sorry, Angelfish."

Thena sniffled, blinking her tired, bloodshot eyes at him. "I didn't think anyone would come."

Gil shook his head at the mere suggestion of it. He could see her eyes were raw from crying. Her skin had red marks from her struggling against the net. He could even see where she had tried to gnaw at it with those fangs of hers. But these nets were thick, made to be durable--they had to all but be sawed open.

Thena leaned into his touch as he brushed two fingers against her cheek.

"It's okay, I'm gonna get you out of there," he whispered, pulling out his pocket knife. He reached up, sawing at the top of the net with the serrated back edge.

"How did you find me?" she whispered, her voice unable to muster more strength to it after the worst day of her life.

"Makkari came to me," he whispered back, sawing desperately at the top of the net. It was a terrible angle for it, and his arm was already burning from the effort.

"We were swimming," Thena sighed, shifting miserably in the bottom of the net. "The whole boat shook when it blared its horn. It interfered with her echolocation, and she didn't realise the net had hit the water. I moved her out of the way of it."

No wonder Makkari had looked so miserable when she finally found him.

"I knew she'd find someone, but I assumed it would be Ikaris," Thena murmured, her fatigue getting the better of her. "Although I guess he wouldn't have been able to rescue me up here, anyway."

Gil tossed his knife down catching Thena in his arms before she could fall to the hard deck of the boat. She clung to him, and he held her tighter than he ever had before. "You're okay."

Thena buried her face in his chest, her whole body trembling from head to tail.

"You're okay," he repeated in a fragile whisper. He felt around for his knife, shoving it back in his pocket and adjusting Thena in his arms. "We gotta go, Angelfish."

She held tight as he stood, moving towards the back of the boat. "What if they know it was you?"

"They won't," he rushed out as he slid down the ladder, just barely keeping them from splashing into the water by one hand. Thena's tail came to life once submerged again, able to keep her afloat better than he ever could.

Makkari was by her side in a flash, wrapping her arms around her.

Thena nodded, weakly but firmly, "I'm okay."

Gil swam closer to them, still watching around them for signs of people on the pier. "You two have to get as far away as possible. I mean it--don't come anywhere near the surface for at least a week."

Makkari balked at him, although Thena didn't seem surprised.

"Kro won't be happy his catch got away," Gil murmured, looking up at the side of the Deviant. "He'll be looking for you specifically, and he'll cast wider and deeper until he finds you."

Makkari nodded, ready to speed away already. She pulled at Thena's arm, frowning when she resisted.

Thena moved closer to him again. "I want to stay with you."

Makkari's jaw dropped.

"Thena," Gil sighed, but she cuddled right up to his side in the water. "It's not safe, Angelfish."

Makkari startled even more at the little nickname.

Thena shook her head at that, though, burying her face against the sopping wet sleeve of his shirt. "The safest I can be is with you."

Gil hated to admit it, but maybe she had a point. If her other option was staying at the bottom of the ocean for a month straight, maybe it was better to just keep her with him. With any luck, it would be the last place anyone would look for her. "I don't know, Thena."

"Please?" she whispered, using those big, amazing green eyes of hers on him.

He sighed. What a sucker, he was--a suckerfish. His hand found hers in the water. "Okay."

Thena looked at Makkari, her hand moving as she spoke. "Tell them I've found somewhere safe to hide. That's all you need to say."

Makkari gave Thena a look, shrugging widely at the total lack of explanation it offered.

"Just tell them," Thena asserted, and certainly Makkari only acquiesced given what Thena had been through. "And you: like Gil said, no more boat chasing for at least a moon cycle."

Makkari made a face at both of them, moving her hands and flicking water at them.

Thena rolled her eyes at her.

Gil smiled; for all their squabbling, the two hugged each other tight as they prepared to part ways temporarily. Gil received Thena at his side again, although he nodded at Makkari. "I promise I won't let anything happen to her."

Makkari narrowed her eyes, hissing at him before slipping under the surface and speeding off in the blink of an eye.

Thena sighed, burying herself against his shoulder and using her tail to keep them both afloat. "Can we go home?"

Gil pressed a kiss to her forehead, "yeah, Angelfish. Let's go home."

[sergle]

man, you know, nobody asked me, but I have such conflicting opinions on some of the fat falin art, where on one hand: it's always nice to see A Fat Body in fanart anywhere + it's being done in positive ways, for funsies and on the other hand, there is something so familiar about how you are automatically The Fat One if you are a woman simply standing next to a more petite woman, bc I've had a 0% hitrate in seeing people change Marcille's body type and keep Falin's, or change both of them. it's just Falin

[ryssbelle]

Poppy for N2 au, it took me so long to make her design cuz I didn't really know what I wanted to do only because I feel like her design is pretty perfect.

But then I just thought about fun outfits to give her or outfits that I would find comfortable if I was wearing them and it all came together.

Poppy here is pretty much the same as here movie counterpart, as nothing really changes on her end of things other than having more insight on Branch through his brothers, and through Lief. Shes also a bit more understanding a bit earlier on because of it but it doesnt do much to change her own character arc I would say.

Bonus

Part of Poppys design was based off a design I had made for previous rulers of Troll Village/Tree

Namely Queen Protea who I designed as Poppys grandmother

Named after the Protea flower which part of her design is based off :D

In the context of this Au Protea was the one who conceptualized the tunnels while her son, King Peppy, was the one to follow through after her death

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads

The Spider And Her Demons

YA Australian urban fantasy/horror

about a Malaysian-Chinese girl who’s half spider-demon, just trying to keep her head down and survive high school

when she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of the most popular girl at school, they strike up a strange friendship and she starts to learn more about herself and the supernatural world

aroacespec/sapphic ish

[anna-scribbles]

h-how do you ever finish any of your work? genuine question because you seem to be productive despite your agreste syndrome and I need to learn your ways. but also how do you ever finish any of your work

unclear. last night i stayed up and finished a report worth 25% of my grade at about 5am, arrived on time for my 9am lecture, and spent about half of it zoned out while thinking about seventeen year old emilie agreste. and i was one of the most active participants in the class discussion

[lune-redd]

wait what's up w tara if i may be nosy

[deoidesign]

.

[sugarcoatednightshade]

Israels actions against Palestine make me sick to my stomach. Every time I look at the news I see some new horror they are committing, and see how they are justifying the inexcusable, I feel sick to my stomach with rage. But now, in the heart of Ramadan, the word angry feels too small for the fire I feel in my chest.

Palestine will not be able to properly celebrate Ramadan this year. Trying to explain the situation to people who have never interacted with the community is difficult. Even when thinking to myself, I have the urge to compare it to what I know. "Imagine if there was no Christmas." "Imagine if someone took away Easter." "Imagine there was no food on Thanksgiving."

But Ramadan is not any of those things. The fact that there is no Ramadan in Palestine should be enough to make you angry.

I've been living in a muslim country for six months now. Ramadan is not nearly as festive as Eid was, but its presence is unmistakable. You can taste the joy in the air. Children here get out of school early this month. There is a school across from my home; I hear their laughter every day. String lights hang from the balconies of my neighbors, wrap around palm trees, dangle from streetlights. In the news I read that the Sheik has pardoned hundreds of prisoners, paying off their fines himself in the spirit of charity. Shops here are decorated to match, with cut out stars and crescent moons and streamers. Many shops offer discounts. "70% off home delivery."

There are festivals in the streets and lectures in the colleges.

It is wonderful. And the people of Palestine do not have this. Their fasting is forced, their children out of school by force, their houses lit by firebombs and not crescent moon LEDs, homes that smell of gunsmoke instead of oud.

I hate Israel. It feels childish to admit this. It feels like a shortcoming; hate is what causes this crisis, I should be able to focus on loving Palestine instead of adding more hate to the world. But it is a word I can't help but feel when I think about what Isreal has done, is doing, will do to the people of Palestine. What injustices they will force upon them next. Hate. It's not something I say lightly, but it is something I feel I must say.

I am not disappointed in Israel. I am not sympathetic to their 'cause.' I will not censor myself to sound more moderate, to convince the undecided. I hate Israel. I hate Israel. I hate Israel.

[shorthaltsjester]

honestly as someone who has been in various fandoms for a long time now and who also watched campaigns 1 and 2 without really getting into cr fandom it isn’t Shocking but it is annoying how often people will look at the stories that cr tells and make absolute claims about the goodness of characters (goodness here meaning Moral goodness, not I Like This character and think it’s well made goodness, which is a separate post entirely). particularly regarding the gods and pc parents. and honestly like, typically in fandom i get annoyed by people bending over backwards to woobify characters who are active in their choice to be unkind and generally horrible but in the cr fandom it’s tended to be the opposite where like. a character is just. a human being (in the sense of being Average not in the sense of Fantasy Races) and huge swaths of the fandom act like that’s the most unforgivable thing someone can be. and maybe it is, but one of the most powerful things about fiction is that it tends to encourage people to expand their empathy and exercise their ability to forgive. because fictional characters, no matter how much people like to project onto them, tend not to cause anyone harm, so it’s easier to learn how to forgive and accept things you don’t understand without also villainizing them.

this is mostly prompted by the recent 4sd and the fact that matt’s response to what’s up with the dawnfather was a very insistent “He’s not bad!” and also seeing the online reaction to the mention that the matron would punish vax for saving keyleth that has taken the as usual completely bonkers tune that the raven queen (Who When Met With A Brother Asking A God To Kill Him In Favour Of His Sister, Gave Him A Job, and Later Extended His Natural Life To Help Protect The World And Have More Time With His Family And Allowed Him To Visit His Sister On Her Wedding Day) is a horrible evil abusive bitch of a god. like. can we grow up? can we understand the world and fiction that represents the multitudes of experiences found in it in shades of grey? is that too much to ask (i know it is).

but also specifically the like Extremely Adamant way that both matt and laura were like no no no no relvin isn’t Horirble he’s average. he’s not good he’s just. he’s A father, not a good or bad one. and on the surface it’s hilarious that they’re both so like. enthused to point out that he’s Average because typically when people respond to a claim of a characters badness with the level of immediacy they both did it’s a rebuttal of “no, this character is good actually.” but it was just to affirm that relvin did harm imogen, but not because there’s some aspect of his character that is inherently cruel or especially Bad. and like. yeah actually. yeah you should react like that to a claim that this average person who Has hurt someone, the way that nearly every single person has hurt someone in a way they cannot repair, with immediacy to say this person is a Person and thus imperfect and capable of great harm, but that isn’t some all encompassing judgment on their morality or capability to also do good or be fine.

anyway this is kinda just a rant post but also is just me saying i’m very grateful that when surrounded by a fandom that tends to paint characters as Good or Bad and even while using a game that can encourage that with its alignment system, cr has always told stories that see goodness as a persistent choice that might sometimes falter and that can be chosen even after a lifetime of Badness. i can’t remember exactly what the quote was so forgive me if it’s incorrect but when jester is talking to caleb after he claims he’s not a very good person and she says “good people do bad things sometimes. even bad people do good things.” that’s it! that’s one of the most consistent themes across campaigns. and yet.

[manglam-marfach]

dyke!Chilaios has me understanding breeding kink all of a sudden

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

For a moment I thought Doumeki was going to mention that Kohane was worried about Watanuki and asked Doumeki to look after him - but instead he pivots to the thing I had completely forgotten about and mentions the balloon. 

How long ago was the balloon. Forever ago. It was from before Watanuki fell out the window. 

NO WAIT I WILL FIND OUT. PLEASE HOLD.

Balloon appeared in Chapter 50, which I seem to have read in 2017, and Watanuki gives it to Kohane in Chapter 58. So this balloon is seven years old for me. This balloon is the age of a small child. 

I suppose it’s not as extreme if you go by publishing date. Volume 8 was published in Feb 2006 and Volume 14 was Feb 2009. But that’s still three years!

Clamp really playing the long game here as if we would expect anything else at this point. 

[good-to-drive]

In a similar vein to the Paul and Linda question: would you say George was a good husband to Olivia?

I’m afraid I don’t know a whole lot about their relationship, unfortunately! I feel like Olivia is playing it pretty close to the vest, possibly out of respect for George’s passing, or maybe she just doesn’t like people in her business. 

I’ve outlined my thoughts on George and Pattie and why that didn't work out, but as for why things did work out for George and Liv I really can’t say. It may be a Paul and Linda situation where he continued to be a black hole of emotional need without a huge amount of regard for his partner’s needs or feelings, but he found a woman who thrived on emotional caretaking so it worked out for both of them. Or maybe George really did change as a person and they had a much happier relationship than you’d think looking at all those affairs.

The truth may lie somewhere in between. Maybe Liv, as compared to Pattie, was more in a position to be in a relationship that was “about” her partner’s needs over her own (Liv is older, their lives were more stable, etc), and George’s emotional needs were also less overwhelmingly powerful than they were when he was with Pattie (he was older, their lives were more stable, etc).

All this being said, George and Liv did genuinely seem very happy together and Liv is still so madly in love with him, so whatever arrangement they had behind the scenes must have worked for both of them. And honestly, just like with Paul and Linda, I think that's the most important thing.

[safety-pin-punk]

yall Im so fucking tired. This month has been exhausting. I promise Im alive, just barely functional atm.

[celestialecho]

🌦️&💤

on childhood best friends.

via ill give you the sun by jandy nelson // via the art of ponyo by hayao miyazaki // jack johnson, we're going to be friends // a message from my childhood best friend // mitski, i guess // via a little life by hanya yanagihara // adventure time, island song (come along with me) // via unknown // abba, chiquitita

[morninkim]

What is UP we're back with more TF: Reconstruction!

Check out the Triple-Changer cadets who joined the squad a couple Earth weeks before Rod and Arcee did!

Hot Rod admires and loves working with Blurr, but thinks Springer is a little too "cool guy jock" for her taste - meanwhile Blurr and Springer themselves have been best pals since joining up with Ultra Magnus.

[oui-maitre]

god you know this whole show has been building up to the trial. in episode 6 we briefly see Claudia and Madeleine being happy and then the trial starts and you can't help but think 'Claudia had barely left the nest, she deserved to have more time'. but of course that's the tragedy. the parent burying the child, a perversion of natural order. Claudia was inspired (at least in part) by Anne Rice's daughter who died at 5 from leukemia. there is no version of this story where Claudia lives.