#vet school adventures

[deancaskiss]

today is the day; NAVLE attempt #2 is finally here. I’m about to leave home and drive like an hour to the testing site and then the exam is 8 hours long, and then an hour drive home where I will be drinking wine and napping afterwards. wish me luck, yall, I need all the luck and good thoughts today to pass this exam!

[equinesandeducation]

Had a nice little walk with kitty and spent the rest of the day studying in bed 🙌🏻💖

[notquite-docbirdy]

Vet school is hard so here are some unhinged quotes that have gotten me through these first weeks:

“Basically, cats love pyramid schemes.”

“So what is Potomac Horse Fever?

Well, there’s this place called the Potomac river…”

“Bones are wet, get used to it.”

“I think horses should have more toes.”

[labvet]

At a repro conference this week:

Speaker A: “This gene is highly conserved…except in horses, pigs, and zebra fish.” My PhD/DVM lab mate and Me: “Of course. Of course it’s horses.”

Labmate: Spindle poisons=great band name

Speaker B: Women love to give up their ovarian cancers! But not their normal ovaries…

Also Speaker B: and now our aging mouse study! *throws this image on the screen*

Session Chair: I know these talks are presenting a lot of evidence about extreme heat decreasing fertility, but that’s no substitute for birth control. I lived in Oklahoma for 6 years and have 5 kids.

[stridingmywaydowntown]

Absolutely love that people at all stages will always be immature and find joy in the little things because my professor literally has his doctorate in reproductive biology and he still laughs at the word penis

[doodlehorseafternoon]

Animals and how we relate to them is baffling. Because, like my small animal classmates are scared of horses for good reason and would rather work on doggos

But I’m scared of dogs and feel completely at ease with something that could snap me like a twig accidentally

We all have our own delightful brand of crazy

[jarotopal]

The sinus time bomb decided to go off this week and I’ve been sick. I have a lot to do but I’ve also got my Anatomy teacher in the back of my head saying ‘take care of yourself and rest’.

So im taking her advice for rn and this is also a gentle reminder to all my friends too.

[magicalink]

The Catboys' dreams

What do they desire with all their hearts?

Venti, Xiao, Albedo, Kazuha and Scara x f!reader separately. Fluff, romance, sfw until Scara's which is the last one and there will be a warning before so don't worry👀 and domestic slice of life.

Venti

To escape Inazuma and build a life with you in his homeland. He wants to go back to Mondstadt, the land of freedom, where hybrids aren't hunted down and people can marry more than one person. He wants to buy a pretty cottage in the countryside, decorate it with both your favorite flowers and take you and Xiao to live there with him. He no longer wants to pursue the agitated life of an idol but he still loves music, so he wants to keep composing and playing at home and perform at local clubs and theaters.

He thinks you would live there peacefully, happy ever after without having to worry about the government, being honest with your identities and your relationships. You already make a great family together, so he's sure that in Mondstadt you would totally thrive! Xiao could go to an actual doctor instead of a vet and he would be safer there. You could finally have the tranquil life you always desired.

Albedo

To be able to reincorporate to society, get back his job as a prestigious scientist and be able to pay you back for everything you've done for him.

Albedo is beyond thankful to you for sheltering him and giving him a place at your table, he makes sure to show it by helping you run the household every day. He doesn't want to leave Inazuma, he is hopeful that the situation will change in a couple of years because he says that "Countries are cyclical after all". That's why he still works incessantly on what he can from your house. He plans to have detailed reports of everything that happened under the decree to be able to take things to court when the time comes.

He is sure that when the storm passes, he will get back his power and prestige and not only will he be able to help those who were damaged in the process, but also to thank you properly for all the love and cares you gave him. He wants to honor every person in the resistance who helped hybrids escape from prison, such as Yoimiya and her group, and specially you ♡

Xiao

Xiao wants to learn how to be a proper human, to become the man you deserve to have by your side. He wants to control his powers to be able to turn into a full human, to finally get a place in society, and, like Albedo, get a job so he can pay you back for all you did for him. He also wants to marry you and have a baby with you, make one of those pretty liyuean fairytales' families.

He is a bit unsure of himself and doesn't think he will be the best father, but there's no doubt he'll do his best, just like whenever he does something for you. He would love them as much as he loves you, he would protect them with his life, he would always be by their side, watching them grow and teaching them everything he can. He would carry them and feed them and kiss their foreheads and pat their heads and hopefully be able to send them to school, something he couldn't experience himself. He wants to take them to school and pick them up afterwards to carry them home on his shoulders. He's worried bc he knows he won't be able to help them much with school things, but he is sure you will definitely be good at that.

The simple thought of being the father of your child makes his heart thump hard in his chest. He couldn't keep his little dream to himself, so he practically begged you that if you ever want to have a baby, pretty please let him be the father. You told him that sure, whatever but you still don't know where he got the idea that you wanted a baby 😳 Like seriously, you're barely able to make ends meet with so many refugees under your roof.

Kazuha

To take you on adventures with him!

Kazu's dream was to live with Tomo, the love of his life, but since he presumably died when they were ran over by a car last year, he had to rebuild his life 🥺 He is pretty happy now, knowing that he has you and that he has your house as a home to go back to at the end of the day. He likes roaming the city free as a cat, exploring and adventuring by himself now. Then he comes back to you at night to cuddle you and tell you about his adventures. He wishes he could take you with him! If only you could turn into a cat too...he would show you the best spots in the city to nap under the warm sun, the most amazing places in the heights of trees and roofs to enjoy amazing sights...and along et cetera. But since that's not possible, he wants to take you on human adventures!

He is planning some, but sadly many of them would require money he doesn't have :( He's trying to gather some money to be able to take you to some nice places of the city that you will surely enjoy! Like the amusement park, the port, the different festivals that are held in different momentsof the year in Inazuma...

Maybe if he gets a way to contribute with money, you and Venti would agree there's budget for a vacation trip??? He would love that! Nothing would make him happier than taking you to the beach, to the forest, to a lake...anywhere pretty, and keep on telling you his stories and poems and teach you the constelations he knows how to identify. You could even invent new ones together! Camping as a human would be so much fun!

Author's note: Now I'm tempted to write one of those fan service chapters for when the characters go to the beach or sth like that 😂

Scara/Kuni/Wanderer

Scara wishes you were a hybrid too! He won't tell you, of course, but he thinks you would make the hottest, sexiest, beautifullest catgirl in existence!

(Art by INNIYIK on Pixiv)

He also wishes the situation was the other way around, with him being the independent adult who has a house and a job and you being the catgirl in need of shelter. With his unbearable personality, he wouldn't be mature at all and would probably drive you crazy, but he likes to think you would enjoy and appreciate how rotten he would spoil you despite nagging you all day long.

He is a tsundere and still doesn't know how to adequately express his love like a mature person, so he would mock you and tell you that you are his pet, but he would make sure to take good care of you just as you do for him in real life. Shelter, food, love, attention, reassurance, you gave everything to him and he wants to do the same for you. Still, he would invent some needs you clearly don't have, like the one for all sorts of cute and/or sexy outfits with unnecessary amounts of frills and various heart-shaped pieces of jewelry like bracelets and necklaces that he would keep buying you.

You insist that you're not his personal christmas tree to decorate but he won't listen and obnoxious things will keep appearing in your wardrobe. You indulging him by wearing them when you want to seduce him doesn't help either. But you just can't help it, he's so fun to tease! He wants to pretend he doesn't even like you that much but the way his heart throbs deafeningly in his chest gives him away. You're just too beautiful in his eyes, he can't help but keep wanting to see you in different outfits.

You would pretend to ignore him all day just for him to be grumpy when you surprise him by wearing one of those beautiful dresses he gifted you, yeah that one with the ridiculously short skirt. He wants to punish you back by trying to ignore you but the moment he realizes you're not wearing panties all of his self control goes out the window.

It's just too much, the way you sit on his lap and grind on his still clothed cock, leaving his slacks wet with your juices. He can't stop pawing you, touching and grabbing everywhere he can like the touch starved man he is. You lick your lips as you devour his neck in avid kisses. He's simply too delicious. Too handsome, too inebriatingly attractive for you. He simply overloads your senses and you need to turn him into a panting mess.

His collected grunts turn into moans when he desperately unbuckles his belt and you instantly pull down his pants and underwear. They end up pooling around his ankles, at the feet of the couch he's sitting on.

You sit directly on his cock, grinding his precious pink tip all over your vulva which by now is a drenched mess. He desperately grips your hips and tries to sink you down but you smirk at him defiantly, resisting his push. You love the shocked expression in his pleading eyes. Finally. Finally. He's lost all control. Exactly the way you love.

You torture him deliciously, sinking down inch by inch at an insufferably slow pace. You can see his chest heaving under his white shirt that you've already unbuttoned. His tie lies on the armrest of the couch. The panting sound of his breath is music to your ears.

He enjoys each and every second you lower down on his stiff cock, fucking him raw. The warmth of your folds and their honeyed humidity is like the sweetest heaven for him.

After you bottom out several times you let him participate in setting the pace. You're so pleased with the sounds that escape his mouth. You wanna have them for yourself. So as he thrusts his hips up and down like a madman while trying to quench his unending thirst for you, you grab him by the undone collar of the shirt and throw your lips over his.

The make out is rough, intense, your teeth clash as it seems like if you were trying to steal his tongue from him.

"My kitty is exceptionally touchy today," he manages to say with a still kind of trembling voice.

"I just missed you way too much," you whisper with a little smirk and his heart skips a beat because of your words. So you do love him back after all?

His arms wrap you in a tight embrace as his hand gets lost in the hair of your nape, pushing your face impossibly closer to his.

"I thought you didn't even wanna look at me," he says in between pants, slurring his words. His sight is all hazy due to the heat of the moment but he still manages to manifest his hurt feelings.

You giggle. You giggle and he bites your lower lip in retaliation. He knows the game you like to play with him. He knows you can't let him tease you without teasing him back, knowing that he just can't take it. But it doesn't matter what game you play. As long as you end up together, merging in a desperate and sloppy mess, you both have won.

You give him a naughty smile, and when he sees your glossy eyes he confirms again that he is hopelessly in love with you. You wrap your arms around him as you sit on him again, burying him deep inside you. You softly blow warm air in his ear and kiss his neck lovingly. He squeezes your cheek between his neck and his shoulder due to how sensitive and ticklish his skin is getting, but it doesn't matter, he doesn't stop embracing you for a single moment, he hugs you tight and moves his hips as intensely as he can.

A needy moan escapes his lips in between your kisses and his thrusts, and he is still hesitant to keep opening his heart. But before he can retract back to his shell and be ashamed of his lewd sounds you grab him by his nape and stamp a huge kiss on his lips.

"I love you..." you whisper in between your love bites, separating your lips from his as little as possible, just enough to be able to speak. And those words fan up the flame in his heart, which thumps deafeningly in his chest.

"I love you more!" he wants to declare, but the words get deformed into a growl, all he can pronounce while he kisses you fervently, devouring your lips and holding you impossibly closer to him.

He wants to merge with you. Nothing seems to ever be enough for him, that's why you keep on going at it until your bodies can't move anymore due to exhaustion. That's when he gathers his last bit of strength to pick you up and princess-carry you to the bed so you can snuggle up.

That's probably the best part of it all. When you sleep close together, side by side. When he wraps his arms tight around you and you nuzzle your pretty face against the warmth of his chest. When he looks down to see your lovely eyes closed and you shuffling in your dreams. And he feels your soft breath against him. And you begin to purr. That's when his love-stuck heart melts and all he can do is kiss the top of your head until he falls asleep as well.

Another wonderful and usual scene would be the way you wake him up in the mornings. You love to play with his heart. So after going out of the house to wander the roofs like a wild cat just to make him miss you, you climb to his bed transformed into the pretty girl that plagues his dreams. Yes, wearing that pretty outfit you lied saying you didn't like, just to mock him. That one with the open cleavage and the adorable little bell dangling from the necklace.

When the sweet jingle of your bell wakes him up early in the morning, he first thinks he's still dreaming. But then he feels your full weight on his body over the bedsheets and your wet kisses bring him back to reality.

"Look who finally decided to come back!" he reprimands you, still offended by your previous abandonment. But you shut him up with warm kisses to his lips and using your pretty hands to pull from his clothes once you enter under the covers with him.

"I loove you..." you purr and you seduce him with mellifluous words and naughty kisses and of course, with your sexy outfit, to forgive you.

He caresses you whole from the back of your head, following the curve of your body down.

"Fine, just come here and show me how much you've missed me," he says while a smirk curves the corner of his pretty lips upwards.

You do exactly what he asked you, yanking his nightshirt off him and wrapping your arms around his neck to attack his mouth with kisses.

Also, your legs wrap around his hips when you sit on his crotch to rub against it furiously. He helps you by pulling his boxers down. And when he does a crazy moan escapes his lips upon realizing by touch you're not wearing panties under that pretty short skirt.

You can't possibly be this wet and warm. That's what he thinks while you engulf him with your humid and velvety walls, driving him crazy.

There's nothing better in this world than being inside of you, he is sure of it. So he enjoys this heaven like it's the last time, just like he always does.

He kicks the bedsheets away as you straighten up your back while on top of him. The way your boobs bounce over his face and the little bell jingles at the rhythm you ride him hypnotizes him.

It's too much. Too much for his senses. So he tries to make this heaven last for as much as he can until he can't help but empty himself inside of you, filling you with that sweet warmth you love to feel drip down your legs.

You smile with a feline satisfaction as you hover over his fucked out face, all blushed and sweaty. But before you can laugh at him, he pulls you down for another kiss, it doesn't matter if he has no air in his lungs. Breathing is secondary, first, he needs you. He needs to love you crazily.

And he needs to make sure you are as crazy for him as he is for you, so he turns you on your back to be able to rub your clit with his fingers. He ain't stopping until you cum. And when you do, he finds his energies renewed.

You'll keep on doing it until you can't move, or until he has to go to work, whatever happens first.

But now nothing else matters except for merging with you again and again and again.

Maybe if your love bore fruit and he could see your lovely belly full of your kids, his heart would feel a bit less desperate and a bit more fulfilled. Maybe. So he has to keep on going until one day, maybe, this dream comes true.

But for now, he has to wake up, because the situation is the other way around. You're no catgirl, you want no kids and he is one of five catboys being sheltered in your house, hiding from the government. And his situation might be even worse since the so-feared government is no other than his mom, making it double the scary. He can't go back home, he can't tell his mom he fell in love with a commoner, much less can he tell him to stop tormenting her people, and the worst thing of all: He can't have you all for himself!

Oh, but things are going to change.

He'll make sure of it!

Finally finished it! :3 As always, it was hard for me to come up with an ending I liked. Now I'm free to keep working on requests and CITH and Assembled Love chapters except for the exams I still have to sit for Writing for Xiao and the other boys has been hard for me lately because Kuni has me in a chokehold 😅 Anyway, when I finish my exams I will have more free time and I'll invest some more in writing bc it makes me happy :3

Have a chonky Scaracat I made with AI in the meantime bc he is the cutest :3

[stardewremixed]

Justice for Stardewies

Because people need jobs and purpose...

Jodi

has been a single mom for so long, even though Kent returns in Year 2. She was a Registered Nurse, and replaces Maru at the clinic when Maru decides to go back to school. Jodi starts to feel her confidence grow as she works outside her home. And Harvey is a good boss, letting her work around Vincent's school schedule.

Maru

Inspired by Harvey, Maru wants to pursue and advanced degree in medical technology. With her poor eyesight, her dreams of becoming an astronaut faded. But she still gets to tinker and play with technology, which is something she loves.

Marnie / Marlon

deserves better than a "secret" relationship with Lewis. His family has wealth and historically held positions of power. The Governor is his cousin after all. Still Marnie deserves real "out in the open" love. Marlon asks her out one day after she visits the Adventurer's Guild with the weekly dairy delivery. Their first official date is the Flower Dance. And they dance together for the whole town to see. Lewis is jealous but... he had his chance. #sorrynotsorry

Shane

is sober and working at the movie theater during the evenings. He attends vet school during the day. Shane wants to open an animal clinic, with an emphasis on chickens... 🐔 er... farm animals. And he makes his famous pepper poppers for all town events.

Pam

Pam went to rehab. She is now reemployed at Pierre's. She really enjoys helping customers find what they are looking for, and she joined Caroline's class to get fit. She has already dropped almost 20lbs.

Robin

Robin does so much for the town. She is convinced by the people to run against Lewis. And then she actually wins. Since she finally has help from Alex, Robin's business is booming. She is able to hire on another employee so she can focus on her new important duties as Mayor of Pelican Town.

Linus

Is anyone surprised he actually has money? And lots of it? Linus gets involved with other veterans like himself with much encouragement from Gus. Now with properly flowing taxpayers' dollars, Linus is able to build a tiny Veterans Village for former military men and women to "get off grid," find healing, and a fresh start. Kent gets involved too after he starts counseling for his PTSD.

Alex

Robin hired Alex as a handyman. Alex is surprisingly good with his hands and figuring things out, especially electrical. With no formal training, he can rewire televisions and stereos. At first, he just tinkers in Robin's workshop. But then he starts doing bigger projects. After getting an electricians license, Alex helps wire houses and rewire faulty electrical in other homes and businesses around the Valley. It's blue collar work but it pays really well, and his skills are sorely needed. And he can work as he wants. So he still has plenty of time to toss the gridball around with friends, and take Dusty to the dog park, and even help Granny in the kitchen.

Evelyn / George

Ev still helps out at the community garden. She starts growing spices and herbs to bake in her breads and cookies. Once the Community Center is repaired, Evelyn hosts a bake sale to help with the upkeep. And Haley joins her in organizing a cake walk. George gets motivated, with encouragement from Jodi (since she is a vet's wife), to do the Valley's own version of Special Olympics. Alex helps his grandpa train.

Abigail

finally graduates after six years. She knows what she wants. She is going to pursue a master's in folklore and mythology. While it isn't business like her dad wanted, Pierre is still proud of his little girl. Abi leaves for Zuzu City (on the repaired bus line). She also has an internship lined up, translating manuscripts (since she learned ancient Dwarven).

Sebastian

takes coding to the next level. He finds a partner in Zuzu. They start a tech company together. Seb still comes home on weekends to spend time with his family (he and Demetrius patched things up ever since his stepdad got his official diagnosis as autistic). Seb always brings rice pudding for Demetrius, from the Asian Market he lives above. Seb is also working on releasing his first video game, inspired by his experiences in the mines.

Sam

After the band breaks up, Sam decides to go solo. He leaves for Zuzu City for some gigs. The first weekend he is there, he makes a connection with a talent scout who thinks Sam is really good. Sam starts landing bigger and bigger shows. Next thing he knows, he's traveling the world, opening for big name bands. It is a dream come true. He never stays in one place too long, but that's just what he loves about his "work."

Elliott

publishes his romance novel. And then his editor suggests a series. It is super successful. With his new steady income, Elliott upgrades his cabin to a proper beach cottage. He teams up with Penny to write a children's book.

Penny / the children

returns to school and obtains a proper teaching license. With help from Robin, she opens an after school enrichment program for Vincent, Jas, Leo, and a few other children. And she partners with Professor Snail to offer summer camps on Ginger Island. Penny also organizes a beach clean-up day.

Vincent starts an entomology club with the Prof, much to his delight.

Jas works with Emily to create costumes for a play. The story of the Winter Star is the first show they put on for the town. And this seriously helps Jas' confidence.

Leo repairs the treehouse with the help of Alex. And Pam, who attended cosmetology school, gives him a proper "big kid" haircut.

[bokettochild]

for semi conscious how about wind and legend?

i just like giving suggestions ^^

I love getting suggestions!

This one was fun to write, so thanks for the request! I never get to write Legend and Wind bonding or hanging out very much, but I love their dynamic so much!

Rating: Teen

Wordcount: 7,385

Summary: The Chain experiences the delight of dungeons, which of cours ehvae Warriors in shock and wonder, Legend running about like a giddy school girl, and Twilight and Wild acting like the gremlins they really are. Well, that is, until they get split up by a particularly challenging room, leaving Wind and Legend to fend for themselves until the rest can find them, but it's fine! Legend's an expert and Wind's no rookie either! They got this!

-

Puzzles, by nature, attract heroes like bait. 

Wind was never particularly keen on them before starting his adventures, but in the midst of all of the sailing and fighting and worrying, they’d become something of a balm; forcing his attention to focus fully on what was directly before him, on things that had logical answers that were achievable with just a little work, and results that granted a little piece of satisfaction that most other things in his life at the time didn’t. Logic, reliability, and visible results for given efforts, yet still with the thrill of a challenge, of just enough struggle to keep him at it until he’s done, determined not to fail, it’s nice. 

With two adventures under his belt, Wind’s solved and enjoyed his fair share of puzzles. With more adventures than he’s willing to let on, it’s little wonder that Legend seems to show a similar fondness for puzzles too. What had been a tired scowl had quickly faded from the older boy’s face the moment they’d found the hidden entrance to what Hyrule had quickly announced was a dungeon, and the vet’s eyes were glinting eagerly as he’d pushed to the front of the group to get a good look at what they had before them. Now inside, even Wind and Time, who both have more experience than most of the others, are left more than just slightly impressed as the vet quickly solves the various puzzles and riddles within the sprawling chambers.  

If farm life shows them Time’s natural home, and sailing brings out his own, then dungeons definitely are the natural environment of their collector and scholar. Wind doesn’t think he’s seen the vet’s eyes shining nearly this bright ever before in all the time they’ve known him! It’s pretty cool to watch actually. 

He’s a decent hand at puzzles, and even though Legend’s a whizz at them, even the vet still gets stumped or second guesses himself here and again, which allows him to offer his own suggestions and try things. At first, the others had tried to tackle it themselves as well, but by now, they’ve given up offering their opinions, letting their brother take the lead with bemused smiles as they hang back with the captain and champion, who regard everything about them as though seeing it for the first time. He can’t speak for Wild, but the sailor knows that Warriors has only ever been in the prison sort of dungeon before, and this is definitely his first time seeing most of the mechanics of these places, and the threats that they conceal. It’s kind of funny really! Legend’s darting all over the place like a particularly eager piglet and Warriors is just gaping at it all, at how it works, and he doesn’t think Twilight is ever going to stop laughing and chuckling at the shock and awe on the face of their brother as he discovers for the first time what most of them simply consider part of life. It reminds him of when he first started teaching Aryll how to fish and make things, but funnier because Warriors is old enough to be teaching children of his own. 

“You might want to close that maw of yers,” Twilight nudges the captain as the vet starts moving towards the next chamber, “a keese might mistake it fer a cave.” 

Where usually the other would roll his eyes, shove the rancher back, shake his head, or just scoff at the mockery, Warriors doesn’t even seem to notice, instead still staring at the carefully arranged statues in the room. There hadn’t even been a guide or a riddle, just a room of statues. He’s not sure how Legend knew to move them here, there, and the other way, but the moment the vet had stood back, dusting himself off and wiping away sweat with a wide grin, the walls had trembled, and the ground shook and the stones of the north wall had fallen away to reveal another opening. “How on earth does it do that?” 

“Do what?” Hyrule asks. He’s been keeping close to the captain as of late for some reason or another. 

Warriors nods to the door, the one Legend’s already darting through. “Does it repair itself later? And how does it make that particular part of the wall fall away without jeopardizing the entire structure?” 

He’s not sure himself. Wind’s never really wondered before. Once the puzzle is solved, he doesn’t tend to think about it again later, just what comes after and maybe taking a nap or eating something. The others seem to have some ideas though, and a few of them move to answer, only to be interrupted by Four. 

“Puzzle gods.” 

He turns to stare at the smithy. “What?” 

“I believe,” Four pronounces, stopping to look at them all, “that there must be some sort of deity or spirit that goes around building places like this, just for the sheer joy of seeing little mortals like us try to solve them.” Four kindly ignores the pointed remarks and chuckles that follow his adjective choices, which Wind thinks is rather grand of him because he certainly wouldn’t. “Every hundred years, some hero type or daredevil comes through, solves the puzzles and wins the prize, but then it all gets sealed up again and there’s another prize the next time someone comes through.” A shrug of the shoulders signals the decision to start moving again. “It really is the only explanation.” 

He’s being silly, Wind thinks. Fac-facetious? Is that what Legend calls it? Anyway, Four’s messing with them, messing with Warriors, and its beautiful watching realization dawn on the captain’s face only to be quickly replaced by a sharp little smile and a headshake that’s half warning, half repressed laughter. Time used to get that one all the time when they were kids. “You ass.” 

“Our ass is currently up ahead.” Four retorts, smirking over his shoulder. 

“Your ass is currently getting his ass whooped!” Legend’s voice yells from the doorway they’ve yet to cross. “Get in here!” 

They hurry, but there’s no panic. Legend is short-spoken when he’s actually worried, and the clear humor in his tone was obvious enough that they know not to worry too much. They don’t need to anyway, it turns out. Legend’s foes are a bunch of chu-chus and like-likes, which are annoying, yes, but hardly worse than an annoyance all said and done. Once they can clearly see the door on the other side of the room, Wild tells them to book it across, a glowing bomb lifted high and attracting the monster population’s attention long enough for them to obediently book it. Wild joins them on the other side a moment later with a sharp grin as he taps his slate, spinning to catch the glow of the blast. His eyes shine like lanterns.  

“Sick,” Wind laughs. 

Legend, leaning against the wall next to him, stares. “What does that even mean?” 

“Who knows,” the captain sighs, long since having given up decoding the slang that some of them use, (probably because he knows full well how quickly he’ll get hooked once he knows what he’s saying), “kids these days say weird shit.” 

Their leader smirks. With only one eye, it’s hard to tell where Time’s looking, but it’s over the heads of Wind and Four, so it’s not at them. “I believe it’s similar to ‘groovy’.” 

Wind has no clue what ‘groovy’ means. Legend and Hyrule, on the other hand, nod sagaciously, exchanging a brief look of understanding. 

“Groovy,” The vet snorts. 

“Groovy,” Hyrule answers back, grin wide. 

“Good grief,” Warriors declares, sweeping past them with barely disguised laughter. 

There’s some varied laughter and jostling of each other as they set out again. The room they’ve darted into holds very little, just a chest with a key and some dark inky looking blobs that the vet warns them to avoid, only to step on himself. It’s because his magical boots protect him, he says, but Wind sort of doubts that; he thinks maybe Legend just likes stepping on monsters sometimes. He can’t blame him, considering how fun he finds it to watch enemies be plowed over by Tetra’s ship, be he in it or not, so he doesn’t exactly have room to speak here. 

They move on from the key room, back into the chu room, which is now void of anything save some wobbly chunks that Sky screws up his face at the sight of and Twilight and Wild gather up as though they don’t stick to their fingers. The sailor follows Legend as he moves to the locked door on one side of the room, well aware of the fact that once the chu jelly is gathered, Twilight and Wild will be looking for something to wipe their hands on, and if it doesn’t end up being the captain’s scarf, it will be one of the rest of them.  

Warriors knows too, and is already bundling up his scarf, Warning Glare already activated.  

Four’s hood is very much in danger now (everyone respects the sailcloth too much and Hyrule gets snappish when touched unexpectedly). 

Avoiding the issue entirely is in his best interest, and the vet seems to think the same, sniggering a bit into his hand as he steals a look back at the rest of them, who stand about like sitting ducks, as though unaware they can now actually escape gooey hands and wolfish grins. “Who’s getting gooed, d’y’think?” The vet whispers to him, violet eyes sparking as he pauses just inside the wide arch of the door, but not yet into the other room. Somehow, apparently, that stops monsters being able to reach him, although how, the sailor has still yet to figure out. 

He shrugs back, risking a glance just as the two finish their messy work. “Don’t now, but I sure as stone don’t want it to be me!” 

Like silly toddlers, they’re fighting back laughter, ducking out of sight as Twilight springs towards the group, Wild on his heels. Getting out before someone notices them watching is the best way to avoid getting caught in the crossfire or being selected as a far less dangerous target. Good as they may be in battle, Twilight is still stronger than either of them, and Wild is scary fast; there’s no avoiding getting slimed once those two have chosen you as their target. Not even Legend’s Death Kicks or a spell would be enough to dissuade Twilight once his mind is set on being the worst big brother in the world.  

It’s a big sibling thing. 

Instead, they hide away, Legend pressing a finger to his lips and Wind nodding as they listen to the shouts of the others, exchanging a look and a silent laugh before the vet turns to look through the other side of the doorway. When he does, his smile falls. “Shit.” 

Not a good thing to hear, especially since Legend’s been rather in a good mood all afternoon because of finding the dungeon. He stares at the other for a moment before daring to glance out into the next room. “What?” There doesn’t seem to be any monsters within sight, although it is pretty dark ahead. That said, other than the fact that he can’t see much of anything, it doesn’t look nearly as bad as the water filled chamber at the entrance of the dungeon, the room where various aquatic monsters lurked, and they’d been swimming and fighting in the dark. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as the puzzles, not by a long shot. 

“Look at the floor,” the vet sighs, slumping a bit. 

Wind looks. “There isn’t much of one.” 

A nod. “Yeah. A thin path with precious few safe spaces, lighting that goes out within a few minutes, and, of course, the floor disappears as you walk on it.” 

Of all the things Legend’s showed them in the dungeon, this is definitely moving to the top of his list of things he doesn’t like in land-dungeons. His own are odd in their own ways, but rapidly disappearing flooring is not preferable. “What do we do?” Because asking Legend is always the best option with dungeons, or so he’s finding. Warriors is the battle master, Time the most lived, Hyrule and Wild best with travel, but Legend is definitely the one you ask when it comes to anything unnatural or excessively confusing. Dungeons, magic, and history are the vet’s expertise, and if the vet doesn’t know it, it’s probably not worth knowing anyhow. 

The older boy scrubs at his face with his hands. “Run.” 

“From what?” The others have joined them again. 

“The floor.” 

“The what?” 

“The floor,” Legend repeats, motioning out into the room before them. “It’s going to drop out from underneath you as you run across it. We won’t be able to make it in one go, just two at a time until we’re all across.” 

“I can’t see,” Sky isn’t pouting, but he looks very aggravated. There’s slime in his hair. “How do we know where to go?” 

The vet shrugs. “We guess.” 

There’s a pause, and then, “What? You have tips and tricks for everything else, but when the floor falls out from underneath you, you just guess where to run?” 

Violet eyes glint, a snort and half-smile appearing again. “Got a better idea?” 

“We’ll live,” Hyrule is the one speaking now, pushing past the others to look out into the new room. “I think these things usually respawn after ten minutes or so. So even if we take a wrong turn, we can go back, it just...” 

“It takes a bit,” Legend finishes, snatching his cap off to ruffle at his hair in agitation. “And longer if you don’t have a hook-shot ready. If you drop, you’re probably going to fall back to the first room.” 

“How?” Warriors doesn’t sound bemused anymore, just confused. 

He hears Four snort more than he sees it, what with the smallest being at the back probably due to hiding behind Time. “Puzzle gods.” 

The comment goes ignored, and any serious answer to the captain’s question never comes. Instead, the vet sets out onto the temporary path, striking ahead like he tends to in unfamiliar territory, and simply by virtue of already being there, Wind is the first to follow. He’s not sure if he likes it or not that the captain, who’s behind him, doesn’t follow immediately. Not having his back guarded all of a sudden isn’t very pleasant, but the path does, indeed, start falling away not long after their feet leave it behind. 

Legend darts. Wind follows.  

Corners are tricky, and the vet seems to cut them altogether if he can, sprinting along while casting fireballs out into the darkness, just long enough to show the way before they dissipate. It would be easier to light a lantern, but it’d leave one hand busy, and neither of them can risk that, not without backup as they dance out into the darkness. There really is no rhyme or reason to their path, just wherever they can manage, and when the sprint is starting to get to him (he’s a sailor, not a landlubber, he doesn’t run much), they finally pull off to a small floating island in the middle of the room, and though the path falls away before them, they're left stable. 

The vet heaves a breath, flames licking off his fingers to fill a sconce set on the little isle of stone. “Well, having fun yet?” 

He just groans in answer, earning a snort and a hair ruffle in return. 

“Come now, Maliit, where’s your sense of adventure?” 

“Above ground?” He tries, smiling through now very messy hair; whatever damage running did is now made so much worse by bejeweled hands. “Maybe with Hyrule, I think he stole it.” 

His answer is a scoff as Legend darts his own hair out of his eyes, nose wiggling some with silent laughter as he shakes his head, much like Warriors usually would. Their traveler’s light fingers are no secret, unlike the captain’s. Hyrule’s propensity to pluck things from their possession without their knowledge, especially when he’s mad at them, is something of a joke by now, and watching Time returning the favor is hilarious as they battle it out until the captain will force them to stop. Warriors, in contrast, rarely employs his own skills, but there have been times, and he’s good. 

It’s unlikely that either can actually steal an aspect of someone’s personality though. Still, Wind knows better than to presume; for all he knows, maybe there is such a magic that one of them have!  

The vet doesn’t push the matter though, just cracks his back and rolls his shoulders a bit, staring into the area around them, occasionally letting off a flame into the darkness, peering and squinting to try and see a path. Wind would do the same, but he’s only of use for that sort of thing above ground. Sailing, he can spot land faster than most of the older pirates, but in caves? Tunnels? He’s no good to anyone when it comes to seeing. Legend says that that’s to be expected though. Apparently, his timeline has evolved so hylians have much better dark-vision and hearing, something Hyrule and he display quite clearly. Twilight is the same, but they think that’s part of the whole wolf-deal, since the rest of his era doesn’t have the same blessings. Anyways, Wind doesn’t have them, so he sits and catches his breath and watches the vet until at last the other turns and offers him a hand. 

“Path is back.” 

“Here we go again,” he sighs, smiling up at where the vet’s eyes glint in the already dying firelight.  

Legend waits until the flame in the sconce dies, which as he warned, happens quickly. It’s lighted again quickly with a snap of the fingers, and then they’re off again, darting down the path that collapses even out from beneath them as they move. 

Somewhere, out in the darkness, he hears shouting, hears what sounds like Warriors, or probably Sky with how loud it is. 

He waits until they reach another stopping point, flames licking life across the vet’s features before his face, before he asks a thought that’s suddenly come to him. “You think Sky can handle all this running?” 

There’s a snort in answer, a tremble of the shoulders in a laugh that isn’t set free but plays in eyes that flicker red in the firelight. “He’s fast, even if his stamina is shit. I think he’ll live. At worst, Twilight can just carry him around.” The image is sort of ridiculous, and it makes him laugh. A knee-slapping, shoulder shaking laugh that echoes back in a wiggling nose and creasing eyes as barely contained cackles tremble through his brother. 

- 

They make it through the dark room eventually. The sounds that ring and echo through the darkness have Legend despairing that the others will be along at any time soon but considering he’s the one doing all the puzzle solving anyways, he apparently decides there’s no reason to wait up. Instead, when they reach the ledge at the end, one that has a door and a passage onwards, he sets a lantern in the doorway, lit and capable of holding his flames longer than the little beacons they’d run across on the path. Beside it, he settles his blue cap, a quickly written ‘catch up already’ scrawled on a note he pins to the soft fabric. 

“They’ll know we went this way when they see it.” He tells Wind, and the sailor nods back. It’s a good plan. A lantern could be a sign of a new puzzle. Legend's lantern, Legend’s hat, are a way to say that Legend is here, that he’s ahead, but didn’t have the patience to wait for the rest, something which Wind quite agrees with. 

As before, Legend pauses in the doorway to the next room, staring out into the new chamber and assessing its contents before he ventures forwards. He’s done that with most of the rooms in this dungeon so far, the only exception being the key room, where they were too eager to escape Wild’s bombs to care about what stood on the other side. Wind’s sort of glad they’ve stopped too, because inside the room, wispy figures appear and disappear without any rhyme or reason, waves of magic and piercing screams emitted from their flickering forms just moments after they appear. 

“Wizzrobes,” the vet hums, brow furrowing. “Fought those before?” 

He stares. “y-yes...?” 

Twin red flames, because the vet’s eyes glint red in the darkness, the only clear feature on his face as it’s turned on him, stare into his eyes. “Is that a question or an answer, sailor?” 

“I’ve fought them, but...” he glances back at the ghostly looking figures with wide-brimmed hats, “mine are very...different.” 

“Do they appear and disappear at seemingly random and attack you with magic?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then there’s no real difference,” the vet proclaims. “Just don’t get hit, and strike them after they attack, because there’s not much time before they do. Hit hard, hit fast, and keep light on your feet. You can do that, right?” 

He nods. He can. He's a sailor, he’s good at darting around and avoiding random things trying to hit him. Ust because these wizzrobes don’t look like tropical birds in long robes doesn’t mean they’ll be any harder to fight! Although, it is going to be weird to try and connect what he knows about the enemies to his experiences with their counterparts in his era. Still, he can do this. 

“One more thing,” Legend adds, shield lifted and sword ready, “the doorway is an option. If you need a breath, cover, or a moment to assess your foe, don’t be afraid to lurk in doorways. They’re life savers.” 

“Got it.” 

And just like that, they set upon the enemy. Legend really does dance across the room as he works. Darting and spinning and plunging through the enemies. Avoiding this blow and that, even as the five different foes all try and take aim at him. It’s like he can predict where they’ll appear, and it’s like he’s waiting for them when they do, sword flashing in the light of the enemy magic as he dispatches them. 

Wind holds his own rather well, he thinks, downing two of the five. Again, the vet has been doing this far longer and knows much more than he does, but he’s not a beginner himself either. They make it through the room with nothing more than a little damage; a little curse that Legend plucks off of them and dissipates with a glinting of golden magic and a disgusted expression that has the sailor sniggering to himself. “Wish I could do that.” 

“It’s exhausting,” comes the answer, “I’m going to sleep like a log once we get out of here.” 

He has been using rather a lot of magic, what with the fireballs and everything. Does he run out eventually, or will they be alright to keep going? “Do you need a green potion?” 

“I need a nap,” Legend snorts. “Although yes, if you have one, that would be nice too.” 

He does, but only for a moment or so more, because it’s gone the moment it’s in the scholar’s hands. Bottle carefully tucked away to give back to Wild to be refilled at a later date. “Thanks.” 

“Of course.” He might not be able to use much magic, beyond the Wind Waker, but that doesn’t stop him carrying magic potions for his brothers. Wild had laughed a bit when he’d asked the older boy to teach him to brew them, and while he’s not very good at it and actually needs Wild to do most of the work, he does make an effort to have most potion types on him at all times. He doesn’t need anything for heat or sun, doesn’t have much magic and rarely uses strength, stamina, or defense potions, but the others need them, so he wants to have them on hand. Sky needs stamina potions and never has them. Hyrule and Time frequently exhaust their magic, and goodness knows all of them are constantly downing health potions after battles or skirmishes with various foes. He'd done the same thing during the war, and Midna had taken to calling him “Bottle Boy” as a joke, because when Warriors eventually was on the edge of collapse or someone else needed something, he always had what they needed. She’d say it like it was a mockery at first, but he sort of misses hearing the tease each time he hands one of his brothers the potion they need. Time still says it though, grinning and winking, and even Warriors will repeat it on a rare occasion, relieved and warm and fond. 

Legend doesn’t know about it, but in many ways, the older boy reminds him a bit of that blasted imp, especially with how much he likes to tease and ruffle up Wind’s hair. He wonders if the other two see it as well, or maybe they’ve forgotten. Time probably has, what with how old he’s gotten since then. 

“What now?” he asks, looking around the room at the fallen magic staves and hats. He’s a bit tempted to put one of the hats on, but he’s also got the feeling that that may or may not get him cursed somehow. Legend just removed a minor curse, and he’s not asking for a repeat because he’s being stupid. He'll ask the vet what would happen if he did, but later, once the other doesn’t actually think he will do it, or that he even can. 

The lights have come on now that the enemies have fallen, something Warriors would definitely be gaping at if he was here and puzzling, yet again, on the ‘how’ of it all. With the aid of said light, he can properly see the vet’s dark eyes roving over the room, now violet again as they search for some key or puzzle that will point the way forward. “Not sure yet.” 

It takes a moment, some darting around and looking here and there, but at last the vet finds the way forwards, pushing a large stone block one way to reveal a hole in the floor. 

“Sky’s not going to like this,” he observes, crouching to look down into the darkness below.  

Legend. Leaning against the just moved block, snorts his agreement. “Wars either.” 

He, however, is not scared of the dark, even if he can’t see well in it. Still, he lets the vet take the lead, because quite frankly he doesn’t think Legend ever lets himself follow others into danger, or the unknown. No, he lets Legend go first and then drops down after him, only after they’ve made a very obvious arrow shape on the floor with the magic staves to point towards the hole they’re plunging into. The others do still need to be able to find them eventually, after all! 

Dropping into the hole though, he sort of regrets not waiting for them. 

There is a door in the room, but it’s locked, and there’s no key in sight and the little ring the vet keeps on his belt, apparently expressly for dungeon keys, is currently empty after opening the way to the room with the falling walkways. The one the others may or may not still be stuck inside of at the moment. So, unlike before, there’s no doorway to hide in at the moment, and the very large gleeok that takes up most of the chamber definitely makes that a very big problem. 

“Oh, come on,” Legend doesn’t look worried so much as tired as he lifts his shield, just in time to block them both from the first burst of flames, “seriously? No warning? No boss key? No crazy fancy door? This is just breaking all the laws of dungeon etiquette!” 

“What?” he stammers, unashamedly hiding behind the other as the flames sputter out. 

“Dungeon bosses are always marked, and if this isn’t even the main foe, then I dread to think what the ‘puzzle gods’ decided to put in the boss room. Gleeoks are overkill to begin with!” 

He’s handling this a lot better than Wind was expecting. Like it’s a nuisance rather than an actual threat, which, for the vet, is kind of unusual. Legend always takes things seriously on the battlefield, at least as long as their enemy is something more threatening than a blob with teeth. Gleeoks sort of fall under Wind’s ‘extremely dangerous, do not engage’ list, and he’s rather certain it’s the same all around, except with Sky, who thinks they’re friendly for some reason. 

“Plan?” he asks, already grabbing for his own sword again, and wishing, not for the first time, that he had more spirit power. Stopping time long enough to get some heavy hits on their new foe would be pretty convenient, even if it wouldn’t let Legend help him at all. Still, he can take on foes without the others, so he wouldn’t need the vet’s help, although it’s nice to have; Legend treats him like a competent equal on the battlefield, and other than giving advice on how to take on foes or tricks the other uses himself, he’s mostly left Wind to do his work without interference. It’s nice, and a pleasant change from having the older ones always trying to protect him. 

The vet puffs, mind whirring so loud he can almost hear it. “Kill it? Weakness is probably it’s eyes.” 

“It has three heads.” 

“We each take on one and tag-team the third.” 

“Got it.” 

Uncomplicated but also very vague. Still, Legend’s a scholar, not a tactician. He’s good at killing things and he’s fast on the field, but the vet doesn’t tend to do the strategizing in their group, or the commanding, unless of course the others are losing focus and need someone to remind them that they are, in fact, in the middle of a battle. Even then though, legend’s plans are on the fly and generally rely on them all being actually competent enough to think for themselves on how to do what they’re told. Like now. 

Take down one head, join Legend for the other one. Easy to say, but not nearly as easy to do. 

He wishes gleeoks had a limit on how much fire they could produce at a time. It would make fighting them so much more fair. 

As it is, there’s so much fire in the room it’s sort of hard to make out where, exactly, legend is at any given moment. He keeps having to duck behind his shield too, and dart away as the beast thunders across the floor. Getting close is a nightmare, but once he does, managing to climb up between the two giant wings, he finds himself face to face with his companion again. 

“Long time no see,” Legend smirks, and then springs across the scales to his side, lowering his shield to offer something to him. “Forgot to give you this.” 

He takes it without question, because he rather doubts a prank is incoming considering they're in the midst of a fight, and he’s pleasantly surprised to find a red ring in his possession, one that makes the heat around them a fair bit less painful as he slips it on. Flame protection, he guesses, watching the vet spring along the neck of the beast, the other two heads turning towards him as the tempered blade lifts to take a plunge at one of three giant eyes. 

Well, best cover his brother’s ass! He follows suit, jumping up and climbing the neck of the wriggling beast, catching its attention as well, just as Legend’s sword plunges home, once, twice, and a burst of flames explodes around them. 

It’s hard seeing, smoke overtaking his vision and, again, his eyes aren’t the best in dim spaces, but he plunges where he thinks the head is. 

The gleeok shakes him off before he can be sure of the damage he’s done. He manages to tuck and roll as he hits the ground, and his shield arm takes most of the impact. Pain explodes from his shoulder down, but he’s still able to stand again, sword still in hand as he turns again to face the three great eyes that now fix on him, one of them, and only one, leaking blood profusely. 

Well shit! 

A clawed foot swipes at him, and he has to roll again to get away, shield up and arm screaming. He's probably sprained his wrist or shoulder or something, something that’s going to make this unnecessarily hard, because of course that’s how this works.  

He hears Legend yelling from the other side of the room, but the gleeok doesn’t turn, and a wide sweep of the wings sends the sailor skidding back, feet fighting to stay upright, and shield still raised as the force sends him flying backwards and into the wall. The impact hits after than he was expecting, and his guard falters just a bit under the force of it, leaving him open to the next burst of flames. Sages bless Legend for giving him the ring. He can feel the flicker of flames over his skin, but the effect, while painful, isn’t anything close to what he’d seen the same sort of attack do to the captain so many months ago. His skin bubbles and sleeves burn, but it’s no worse than sticking his hand into a fire for a moment, and the flames die suddenly with a scream from the monster as Legend’s blade must find a home in it’s tail or some such. 

Suddenly, he’s free to breathe again, a doorway of opportunity giving him a moment to muster himself and fight down the pain surging up his arms and across his face. His feet falter some on the floor, even without the force of the wings blowing him back, but he finds his land legs again after a moment, and then he’s headed back into the fray. 

Legend’s hissing insults, shouting things to keep the focus of their foe on himself, and while it definitely does nothing more than agitate the creature, it gives Wind opening to dart along towards the tail now turned to him. 

He doesn’t manage to climb on top, because a head comes rolling down his way, forked tongue still sticking out, and the vet’s shout to “hit the head!” distracts him from joining his brother on top of the thing. He does as ordered though, pouring his pain into a strike that has the thing splashing blood up and over him, one glowing yellow eye fading to grey as he hacks and stabs until the thing stops rolling and bouncing across the floor. 

One head down, two to go. 

Legend’s mounted the monster again, but it’s caught on, and the head he’s not standing on is snapping at him, large teeth closing just short of pink hair as the man darts and dances out of reach, sword plunging up towards the attacking beast, balance somehow unfaltering despite how the creature beneath him bucks and writhes, shaking to try and dismount him but only succeeding in foiling the attempts of the other head as its target is lifted and dropped and sifted out of reach of snapping teeth. 

It’s too much movement to let Wind get ahold of scales or spikes and pull himself up, and even trying sends the harsh texture of the hide scraping over fresh burns, a shout of pain catching in his throat as he immediately pulls his hand back. Instead, he determines to hack away at the sweeting tails and stumbling claws, doing at least some damage until at last the head snapping at the vet turns to him, a snort of ire signaling the shift of attention and giving him enough time to lift his shield and dart back from the next wave of flames. 

The flames die again with another blow to one eye, but the head doesn’t fall. Instead, the spattering blood makes feathered boots slip, and Legend’s shout rings out beside the roar of the gleeok as he plummets to the floor. Like Wind, the vet tucks and rolls, but unlike the sailor, he doesn’t land on his shield arm. 

Legend lands on his head. 

As though he actually has phantom powers, time seems to slow for a moment as he watches the tight all of his brother uncurls, limbs and sword clattering against the floor, violet eyes fluttering briefly. 

“Legend!” 

He’s not sure, exactly, how he manages to climb onto the monster that’s still writhing in pain from the latest blow, but he does. He does and he manages to get himself atop the singular uninjured head, slashing away at the scales by his feet until they give way to flesh and bone, and then finally the head falls away altogether, leaving only the one sightless one instead as the second head plumets down to the floor where Legend is still lying. 

The vet’s trying to move, but a faint cry of pain, bitten off but heart-rending sounds with the motions, and considering how he’d fallen and how heavily, Wind doesn't think it’s likely a good idea at all to let Legend move. 

He jumps. Rolls down the scaly back and popping up again just a short distance away from the head that bounces up again from the force of its fall, black and crimson ichor and blood spattering everywhere with the motion. It takes more effort this time to keep after the head, the eye still glowing in a signal that it can and will return to its body through whatever twisted magic it is that keeps this thing alive. 

He thinks he hates the puzzle gods. 

The head is just beginning its returning path to the body that writhes and snarls with all the force left in its remaining, blinded head, but he manages a blow. It roars and hisses, but a plunge into golden sclera stops that, and a second one, just to be sure, because being certain never hurt anything when fighting monsters, ends the things motions as it dissipates into a cloud of miasma. 

One head remains, flailing around as fire spills from its open maw, filling the room with smoke and flames. 

He wants to look over to Legend, making sure the fire isn’t touching his fallen brother, but he can’t risk taking his focus off the foe. When its head lowers, wings raised as it blasts fire forwards, he springs, rolls out of the way, feet slapping the stone beneath as he darts in while its neck is lowered enough to sever, and with a mighty shout, a shooting pain up his arm and as much force as he can muster, the phantom sword plunged into the scales. 

Flames die with a cry, the beast rearing up, his blade still imbedded in its flesh and his hands holding tightly, feet sweeping off the ground as wings sweep out with a blast. 

He hears another pained cry, a shout of agony as the bet’s body is sent rag-rolling across the floor. 

Oh sages, his spine! You shouldn’t move people who might have hurt their spines!  

The gleeok’s roar of agony matches in pitch to the cry of the fallen hero, and Wind’s own brain is screaming in kind as he wrenches himself upwards, swinging his feet up to mount the final head, blade tugging free only to plunge again, force sending shockwaves up his aching arm and definitely screwing it up more than it had been initially. Wars is going to chew his ear off for this one, he knows it. Still, the head falls free, and again, he manages to roll down the spiney back, across the floor, body sore all over as he darts like a mad thing across the stone to the final head. 

When the last golden eye goes dim, purple smoke rising, his whole body feels like one giant bruise. 

He doesn’t have time for that though. Doesn't even bother to try and clean his sword, something that will earn Four on his ass as well as the captain, but that doesn’t matter nearly as much as hauling ass to the form of the vet who lies on the floor, breath shuddering and hands still somehow gripping ahold of the faintly glowing tempered sword.  

“Legend?” His knees sting as he sinks down onto them, hands hovering as he tries to assess his brother’s injuries without moving him. He shouldn’t move him at all, and much as a red potion would help, it never does anything for broken bones if they’re not set properly first, something he is definitely not qualified to do. They need Warriors. Seven Sages, where are the others? How are they taking this long? “Vet, come on, can you hear me?” 

There’s a puff of breath and a gritting of teeth, but long ears flick, responsive even though no verbal answer comes. 

“Stay with me, Ledge,” he pleads, trying to peer through the soot to see if blood is stemming from anywhere. There's no large puddle of it or anything. Although, like himself, burns do stretch over any exposed skin he can see. “Just stay awake. Wars will be here soon, and we’ll get you all fixed up.” 

“’kay.” It’s more gasp than speech, but it’s an answer. 

He reaches for one of the vet’s bejeweled hands. Moving those, treating the burns at least with the salve he’s carried with him since the captain’s battle with Volga, won’t jostle his brother enough to do more damage than what’s already been done. 

Long fingers squeeze around his own, but he doesn't pull away, just lets the vet grip as tight as he needs as he wipes the ash and dirt away with a cloth wetted with his canteen, cleaning and applying what knowledge he has about burns to treat the injuries before wrapping them. 

He talks as he works. He doesn't know how much Legend’s actually listening, but the vet’s long ears follow him as he talks, twitching occasionally at what he says. There’s the occasional attempt at a smile on cracked lips as he recounts one or another of his adventures with Tetra, and while they're pained, the smiles are undeniable as he talks about Aryll and Granny. 

The others still haven’t joined them by the time Wind’s exhausted his knowledge of wound care and run out of burns to tend, both on the vet and himself. He feels like a jerk, downing a potion to tend his own injuries and not granting one to the other, but he can’t risk having any damage done become permanent from the potion’s magic, so instead he holds Legend’s hand in his own and keeps talking. By nervous habit, he starts toying with pink hair, just like he’d do with Aryll at home when he’s nervous, braiding and unbraiding and stoking silky hair to calm his own mind. Legend doesn’t tell him to stop either, and while the tension and pain that lines his body doesn’t go away, it’s clear that the comfort is appreciated as they wait for the others to join them. 

He checks in every few moments, reminding legend to stay awake, to keep his eyes open. It works for a while, but eventually long lashes flutter closed, despite his every warning and plea, and they don’t open again no matter what he says. The only assurance that the vet isn’t fully unconscious is the flicker of his ears as Wind speaks, so he keeps talking. He keeps his eyes fixed on long ears, and hands soothing silky hair as he rambles about anything and everything he can think of, trying to keep going at least until the others arrive. 

When at last he hears feet overhead, voices echoing down into their chamber, Wind could nearly cry from relief. Based off the tears that streak ash covered cheeks, Legend does. 

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Masterlist 

The Flip Side (on hiatus)

Part: 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7, 8,  9, 10, 11,  12

Ao3

Silver Springs

Part: 1,  2 ,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12 (completed)

Ao3 

Growing Pains (post mob-life fic -- in progress)

Part: 1,  2,   3,   4

Ao3

Silver Spring AU Drabbles

Ao3

Little Nat Adventures :)

Rescue ~ Adopting Boone 

Rivals ~ Y/n meets another mobster

Couched ~ Wanda gets in trouble

Recon ~ Wanda and y/n meet 

Sushi ~ First date

Burn out ~ Wanda gets sick

Faux pas ~ Pietro gets drunk

Midnight ~ Wanda visits after being away for work 

Surprise ~ Wanda gives Y/n a gift

Graduation ~ Wanda crashes a graduation party. (18+)

Decoy ~ Y/n and Wanda get a new addition to the family 

Bickering ~ Grocery shopping 

Nine lives ~ Fletcher visits the vet 

Don’t Blame Me ~ Y/n witnesses Wanda’s drug deal. (18+)

Sunrise ~ Proposal 

Crisis ~ Finding out we’re pregnant

Caught ~ Wanda gets in trouble…again

Dreams ~ Y/n deals with old demons 

Training ~Y/n and Wanda spar

K.O. ~ Y/n and Wanda spar part 2. (18+)

Trials ~ Navigating pregnancy and parenthood 

Not As Expected ~ Wanda has her baby

Role Reversal ~ Y/n, the mob boss

Intruder ~ Coming home to an unpleasant surprise 

Field work ~ Boone helps Wanda at work

Broke ~ Y/n is introduced to the darker side of Wanda’s job

Ambush ~ Y/n and Wanda have the odds stacked against them

Wrath ~ Wanda comes to Y/n’s rescue 

It ~ Movie night with Wanda

Birthday ~ Y/n celebrates a birthday

Minefield ~ Y/n meets Bucky

Aberration ~ Y/n meets Nat

Nerves ~ Y/n and Wanda get married 

Reunion ~ Y/n and Wanda go to a high school reunion

Reunion pt. 2 ~ Y/n sets things right with Wanda

Repair ~ Y/n fixes the dishwasher and Wanda is very grateful. (18+)

Ennui ~ Wanda comes out to her brother 

A Night Out ~ Y/n meets Pietro 

First Time ~ Y/n gets a tracker 

First Time pt. 2 ~ Y/n and Wanda begin to recover 

Troublemaker ~ The dogs’ babysitting skills are put to the test 

Anonymous ~ Pietro receives a disturbing letter 

Night In ~ Y/n is left in charge

Girls Trip ~ Y/n takes a trip to the beach with some friends

Serendipity ~ Y/n meets Wanda’s high school crush

Serendipity pt. 2 ~ Aftermath of Wanda’s reunion. 

Reminiscing ~ Wanda’s midnight musings 

Preparations ~ Y/n and Wanda get ready for their baby 

Infidelity ~ Wand realizes her wife is hiding something.

I Did Something Bad ~ Wanda carries out a hit

Abduction ~ An outing with Boone goes wrong  

Struggles ~ Real world attention problems

Traffic ~ Y/n and Wanda travel abroad

Mama ~ Just another weekly dinner with the fam

Cross The Line ~ Wanda takes her wife to a club

Anniversary ~ Y/n spends a special day with Wanda

Honeymoon ~ How Y/n and Wanda spend the last night of their honeymoon (18+)

Better Than Cake ~ Y/n and Wanda celebrate a birthday (18+)

Out of Commission ~ Wanda breaks her wrist 

Kinks ~ Pietro brings his sister a gift

Road Kill ~ Y/n learns something new about Wanda

Stealth ~ Y/n has a lapse in judgement

If Anyone Falls ~ Y/n and Wanda’s first time together ❤️ (18+)

Appreciation ~ A break from taking care of new baby Natalya

2, 4, 6, 8... ~ Pietro misunderstands his sister-in-law’s intentions 

Separation ~ Wanda makes a horrible mistake while arguing with her wife

Separation pt. 2 ~ Continuation of part 1  

Competition ~ Wanda catches her wife with another woman

Late Night ~ Wanda catches onto her wife’s sleepless nights

Coming home ~ Fletcher’s adoption

Feud ~ Wanda betrays her wife

Playdate ~ Boone and Fanny hang out at the compound

A Day in the Life ~ Y/n and Wanda go out

Nightmares ~ Wanda wakes up to an unpleasant surprise 

Cocaine Bear ~ Movie night

Wild ~ Y/n gets an unpleasant surprise 

Blackout ~ Y/n's first experience with expensive tequila

Phoenix ~ Lazy Sunday musings 

HBC ~ Y/n and Wanda take Boone to the farmer’s market

Brawl ~ Y/n trains with a recruit

Graze ~ Y/n finds herself in a shootout without Wanda

Decompress ~ Wanda helps her girlfriend relax after a hard day at work. 

Sick Leave ~ Y/n is forced to take some time off of work

Rainbow Bridge ~ Dog-centric drabble 

Trade off ~ Y/n saves Wanda’s life 

Breach ~ Natalya first break-in

Triage ~ Aftermath of Breach 

Stunts ~ Wanda makes a mistake 

Limbo ~ Important relationships landmarks 

Storms ~ Disruptive late night thunderstorms 

Karma ~ Family getaway

Negotiations~ Y/n sneaks out one night 

House call ~ Y/n receives an unconventional offer

Mile High Club ~ Y/n and Wanda fly to Europe

Better Help ~ Y/n goes to therapy 

Pretty Girls ~ Heart eyes 

Staying In ~ A Lazy Sunday

The Sticks ~ Wanda needs a favor 

Something old, something new ~ New adventures 

Insomnia ~ Sleepless nights

Alternate endings

Too late ~ Y/n dies

Laid to rest ~ Y/n dies part 2  

Complications ~ Wanda dies 

Headcanons: (where I will ramble about my favorite alternate universe)

Silver Springs AU

[deancaskiss]

it’s finally here. in just over 12 hours I will begin taking the NAVLE (a 7.5 hour exam! - the longest exam of my life holy heckie!) to become a licensed veterinarian. im absolutely shaking with nerves and anxiety. I’ve been studying since june, but I still don’t feel ready. all I can do is my best, and whether I pass or fail the exam, im going to do the best that I can and im proud of myself for everything I’ve done to prepare and study for the next exam. and then finally after the exam is over I can have a little break from studying and working to actually enjoy life again and to spend time with my family and be online more to cry over destiel. I won’t find out the results until mid-January, so it’s going to be a nerve wracking month of waiting. but tomorrow im gonna celebrate finishing the exam, for better or for worse, because completing this exam is such a huge deal. anyway… all of this to say, wish me luck on the NAVLE, yall! im gonna need every single ounce of luck and prayers and good thoughts for the exam tomorrow 💙💚

[bigjimbopickens]

Jim Pickens lore in point-form!

(Aka the CMK sims 4 series that ran from 2016-2022)

Recently I’ve noticed that newer CMK viewers don’t know the whole Jim Pickens universe lore so I’m going to explain it in the simplest way I can so they can know too :)

The story begins with Urp John. He moves into an apartment and has 6 kids with multiple women.

Jim Pickens moves in across from him and tries to get Urp to move in with him by attempting to kill off a household member.

Focus shifts to Jim.

Jim moves the family to the Sandtrap Flats, the first house in the series to feature a dungeon (called ‘chambers’ at this time).

To generate profit, he locks the family in the chambers and forces them to paint so Jim can later sell whatever they made. The only household members not in the chambers are the kids (Tim, Beejey and Urp’s kids). This is where the iconic Jim Pickens portrait comes from.

The cult unofficially forms. As members start to die, Jim begins taking an interest in the Grim Reaper.

Jim finds the Book of Chaos, which allowed him to kill people with magical abilities. He uses this to kill off rich families and inherit everything they owned as well as getting with the Grim Reaper.

Jim starts a graveyard business.

Jim and Grim officially become boyfriends. Grim moves in, gets pregnant and spawns Grimey. Grimey is given to another family in trade for Jules Cooper, Beejey’s boyfriend. Jules dies soon after.

Jim tries to kill Dennis Racket and pose as him but Dennis kept coming back. He was unkillable. But Jim bangs his wife anyways.

Jim robs people as Santa.

Jim opens a vet clinic and gets scarred for life by cursed dancing dogs. He also adopts a cat named Pumpkin during this time.

Beejey passes away and Jim goes on a jungle adventure to mourn his loss. Dennis also finally dies.

Jim moves to a new house with a proper dungeon and becomes a vampire.

Jim officially starts a cult, the same cult the fandom is.

Jim opens a joint restaurant/graveyard that only serves pufferfish. Many die.

Jim has a kid with Emma Racket, Dennis’ wife. His name is Project. He also became a cop briefly during this time. Weird era.

Jim dies and takes the universe with him so he jumps to an alternate timeline where he didn’t die.

Jim hosts a winter pool party. Many die and EA later patches this.

Jim kidnaps two Father Winters, Ryland and Clement. He tries to kill them but they cannot die, so instead they become permanent household members. One of them gets pregnant with aliens twins who end up being First Name and Second One.

Grim starts a painting club and Jim opens a store that sells the paintings. Jim also starts a band around the same time.

Jim goes to therapy and we learn about his past. Jim’s parents were Dick and Janice Pickens. He was forced to live in a closet, his parents didn’t care about him and his father was also a serial killer. Jim was taken away to military school due to the neglect.

What happens in between the sims 1 and sims 2 prequel videos is unknown and up to speculation. My theory is that it’s where he met Dennis, since they were around the same ages and were both taken from neglectful parents. Though Dennis turned out more stable and Jim was considered a lost cause because of his violent tendencies.

As a teen, Jim is somehow back in custody of his father and lives in a house with mole people in the walls. The moles are Mole1, Mole2 and Mole3. He tries to get a girlfriend but Dick kept throwing water balloons at her.

After therapy Jim becomes even more unhinged. Starts a YouTube channel and kills people on camera for content. He also did a twerking video.

Jim moved to his universe’s equivalent to LA and drives a man to suicide after ruining his life so he could inherit everything from him. Jim didn’t inherit anything from this.

Jim starts a content farm in his basement. Kevin totally isn’t a subject of it and this whole series isn’t just a documentary.

Jim opens a bar that doesn’t let people leave and he loses it. He starts killing people for simply existing and Grim stabs him to get him to stop. 💔

In attempt to fix his relationship with Grim, he goes camping with Grim but forgets he’s a vampire so it didn’t really work. So instead Jim cures his vampirism. Second One also drowns during this time.

Jim moves everyone into an abandoned prison and hosts a battle royale. Shrek wins and joins the household.

Jim falls in love with breadsticks and literally couldn’t let go of them.

The family moves to Strangerville and Jim becomes dedicated to solving the mystery of that town. He discovers the Mother Plant and is killed in battle against her.

Jim comes back as a ghost and defeats the Mother Plant. During Shrek’s sex dungeon era (that’s a weird sentence) Jim comes back to life. A miracle!

Jim somehow goes to the future to chase after his father who had gone there. Jim gets a bunch of half-siblings and Dick gets a boyfriend; Mole4.

Back in the present time, Jim becomes a merman and he’s absolutely beautiful. First Name also becomes a drug lord and they smuggle drugs across borders together.

Jim and Grim get married and Jim’s last name briefly changes to Reaper.

Jim starts a gang and goes to war with another gang. It ends with the other gang dying and Jim going to prison for once. They finally got him.

Once he was out of prison, the zombie apocalypse starts and Jim starts a restaurant that serves human flesh to accommodate the zombies. Jim also makes the two Santa’s fight to the death. Clement was the winner, he eats Ryland. Dick and Mole4 now join the family.

Jim goes to the magic realm and learns more magic. He uses the magic to terrorize other families and moves into a new house he killed the previous members of.

Dick declares himself as King and starts making people pay taxes to him. Jealous, Jim kills Dick for the title and doesn’t do anything with it. He was just fed up with Dick’s bs.

Jim goes to university. He becomes the worst landlord and also gets pregnant along with a few others. His child’s name is Aaaahhhhhh.

After that he moves the family again and tries to get as many people as he can to live in one tiny house. First Name dies and comes back as a demon to forever haunt Jim and terrorize the land.

To escape First Name, the Pickens family now lives in a bunker. Jim tries to enforce the “nobody can go outside” rule by locking people inside their homes.

Jim launches a nuke and destroys that section of the world because the people were annoying him. He is now the only remaining family member, besides Grim.

Jim meets Turg and the two team up to become the ultimate crime-causing duo, even if Turg doesn’t want to admit it. The two rob several homes with Turg as the distraction and Jim doing all the robbing.

Jim starts a knitting business with someone who won the lottery. Default joins the family.

Jim goes to the Star Wars. Idk if this is canon or not.

The cult compound is now here. Kevin only does one video on it despite streaming the building of it for hours. Nice.

Jim, Turg and Default go on a winter vacation to the mountains. Jim ages into an old sim and loses his sparkle 💔

Jim and Turg move into a haunted house together and Jim takes on several new jobs such as paranormal investigator, house renovator and murder speedrunner. Jim dies of old age during this time but comes back.

Jim starts an industrial farm, Turg is there too but he starts becoming irrelevant after this 💔

After dying to pufferfish, a clone of Jim shows up and Jim kills him.

Jim starts kidnapping people and making them play sick twisted games that results in people’s deaths solely for his own amusement. Karma catches up to him and he is shot.

Jim starts going absolutely insane. Even more than before. He spawns 100 babies, goes through strange changes and gets stuck in an apartment with 99 other people. Turg dies off-screen during this time.

Jim marries someone and that is the last we see him. That’s the end of the story.

I don’t think the current sims 4 series is canon to this one. It’s separate.

Hope this helps and gets you caught up/refreshed on the lore :) hopefully I didn’t miss anything. I did this entirely from memory :3

Jim is one of my favourite characters ever I love him so much. He was the only queer representation I had growing up too lol.

[notquite-docbirdy]

T-minus one month until I start classes 😳 I’m very nervous but also excited.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

The Orchive

Get it? Orchive? Orca?

Below is a master list of (mostly) my original posts that address frequently asked questions! This is a living document and may not be comprehensive. I also utilize an extensive tagging system!

Please note that some topics contain multiple links, so look carefully!

Zoos & Aquariums (General)

How do I know if a zoo is ethical?

Stereotypical behaviors

Unethical animal sanctuaries

Why are so many zoos "for-profit"?

Elephants in zoos

Zoos & Aquariums (Specific)

The Beluga Whale Sanctuary

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

The National Aquarium

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Greensboro Science Center

SEA LIFE aquariums

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park

Brookfield Zoo

Dolphin Quest (and Dolphin Connection)

SOS Dolfijn

Killer Whales & SeaWorld

Why I'm "pro captivity"

Is SeaWorld AZA accredited?

What about Blackfish?

How SeaWorld helps animals

SeaWorld's marine rescue program

Why is public sentiment against SeaWorld?

Why do orcas' dorsal fins collapse in human care?

Should whales and dolphins have larger tanks?

SeaWorld's killer whale breeding program

Life expectancy of SeaWorld's killer whales

Should SeaWorld have ended their breeding program?

Why did SeaWorld use artificial insemination?

Are killer whales "too smart" to be in captivity?

Why does SeaWorld teach their orcas to do "circus tricks"?

Keiko (Free Willy)

Tilikum

Tokitae

Morgan

Dawn Brancheau

Toa & Ingrid Visser

Kiska & Marineland Canada

Killer Whale Ecotypes

Should Tokitae move to SeaWorld?

Why are those orcas attacking boats?

How do whales sleep?

Other Cetaceans

What's it really like for a whale or dolphin in an aquarium?

Aren't scientists against cetacean captivity?

What are some sources supporting cetaceans in human care?

What do we learn from having cetaceans in aquariums?

Do dolphins do well in captivity?

Don't wild dolphins swim hundreds of miles a day?

How long do dolphins live in captivity?

Swim-with-dolphins Programs

Dolphin shows

Wild dolphin tours

Do dolphins enjoy being touched?

US Navy Marine Mammal Program

Hvladimir the "Russian Spy Whale"

Indoor vs Outdoor marine mammal habitats

Why reproduction is important to cetacean welfare

Opposing the SWIMS Act

Cetacean ultrasounds

Why sea pens aren't the perfect solution

How come we can't just free the dolphins?

Are dolphins still captured from the wild?

Pets

Adopt don't shop?

Vet Medicine & Vet School

Zoo opportunities for vet techs

Client abuse

Animal Rights vs Animal Welfare

Veal crates

Dairy hutches

Dissections

Animal rights groups spread misinformation

Why don't you support the Humane Society of the United States?

Do you support the ASPCA?

Trophy hunting

Other

Commercial fisheries

Shark finning

Red wolves

Fun facts about eels

[sirianasims]

Insurrection - Part 2

While my parents were obviously very upset at the time, my brother was excited and wanted to go. The strangers, his uncle and grandmother, would take him with them when they returned to Sixam. Until then, my mother would teach them about her new technology.

The next few days, before they left, the rest of us tried to spend as much time with my brother as possible.

I admit that I was angry with him at first. I felt that he was abandoning me. Who was now going to help me with homework and make me laugh when I had a rough day at school?

Luckily, we managed to make up before he left. And I could see why he wanted to go – it was both an obligation and an adventure to him.

My father also had a heart-to-heart with my brother, the last night before he left for Sixam. It was a warm night and I could hear them outside my open window.

I know my father and brother both consider themselves true father and son, despite my brother’s origins. I hope spending time with his biological father on Sixam hasn’t changed that.

When the Sixams left, my dear brother left with them. I knew that it could take years before he would be able to travel back and visit us, especially if the wormhole technology never worked.

Trying to overcome the sadness of my brother leaving, my mother threw herself into her work. Sometimes I would barely see her for days, because she would stay late at the lab every day.

We now know that it was worth it, that she finally managed to secure a communication link, so we can get updates from my brother every few months, but she still hasn’t succeeded in establishing travel, and my brother is too busy to leave Sixam for a year or two just to visit.

My father tried to compensate for my mother’s constant working by spending more time with me.

But my father’s job was also very demanding, and I often spent my afternoons alone.

Most days, I only had Maggie for company.

But she was more than enough.

It’s not that I didn’t have friends, I had good friends at school, but I couldn’t exactly schedule playdates every single day.

One day, when I was alone at the playground, I saw a stray cat. She was limping and very dirty, and would not let me get near her, but I wanted to help her.

I spent the entire day trying to befriend her, and she finally let me pick her up so we could take her to the vet.

The cat had no chip or ear tattoo, and when no one came forward to claim her, my parents decided that I could keep her. I named her Winky.

Seeing how the veterinarian expertly diagnosed her problems and treated her while being kind and respectful made me realise that this is what I want to do with my life as well.

My parents tell me that I would play vet constantly, and bring home any animal I found. I was allowed to keep smaller birds and a couple of mice while nursing them back to health, but my parents helped me take any stray cats and dogs to the shelter, or I would have had an entire zoo.

A few years later, one of our neighbours had to move into a retirement home, and had to find a new home for her old dog, Milo. I had often been walking him for her, and she wanted me to have him. This time, my parents did not object.

Animals are what keeps me going, my reason to be courageous, kind, and disciplined. These are the qualities I will bring to Foxbury.

Thank youoooo99999ggggrrrrr;;;;;;;;33333333333

“Winky, seriously? Thanks for helping, but this is a very important letter.”

Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope this essay gives you a better idea of the passion I bring to everything I do, and that I will bring to the field of veterinary medicine.

I look forward to speaking with you again in the future – hopefully as a student at your esteemed institution.

Sincerely, Eric Fyres-Munch Duchelli Asphalt Abode Newcrest

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