#the only mosquito I approve of
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Platonic Yan ROTTMNT
「 ✦ 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐌𝐍𝐓 𝐱 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ✦ 」
Hello everyone! You can call me N and welcome to my first oneshot! I come from wattpad so forgive me for some possibly cringey writing 😅 I'm fairly new to Tumblr, so I don't know how a lot of things work but I'm doing this for a side hobby. Sorry if any of the turtles seem out of character. I tried. Anyways, enjoy!
This was heavily inspired by @autisticdonni with their Of the Ocean 2 part series.
Words : 2,079
Also the reader's turtle species is a spotted turtle!
THIS IS IN NO WAY APPROVING OF A ABUSIVE OR TOXIC RELATIONSHIP.
Warning(s) : Nonconsensual touching (nonsexual), kidnaping, Delusion, Drugging (sedatives).
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
You walked across the street, your hood over your head hiding your dark scaly skin. Mutants roaming around the streets in New York wasn't very uncommon. They were always disguised to blend in with humans. After being stung by a strange looking mosquito, you had turned into a mutant. A turtle mutant. It was a shock to you, and you immediately grabbed whatever of your valuables you could find and ran away from home. You didn’t want your family and friends seeing you like this, so it had to be done.
To hide your true appearance, you wore a large jacket of your favorite color, a backpack for all the things you could cram in there from your home and large baggy pants. You wore shoes as well, and while you admit it was uncomfortable and strange for you to have only three toes and fingers instead of five, you could manage. A dark pair of sunglasses and a face mask covered your face even more. You probably looked like some creep or criminal, but it was the best you could do. Cloaking brooches were hard to find and too expensive for you.
Once you reached the other side of the crosswalk, you picked up the pace a little, narrowly dodging the people in your way. You were hurrying to get out of the crowded streets and maybe go somewhere more secluded, like the park or a rooftop. Anywhere with not a lot of people. The crowd soon became a bit too congested for your liking. The feeling of shoulder’s brushing against yours made you shiver under your hoodie.
You hurriedly managed to make your way to a nearby alleyway. Walking deeper into the dark alley, you lowered your hood from your head and sighed. Oh, how you wished you were human again and could normally walk up and down the street without having to hide in large baggy clothing and things to cover your face. You could hang out with your friends and not get weird looks from passersby.
Straying further into the alley and away from the crowded street you stopped at the end of the alleyway and laid your back against the wall. You slightly winced at the feeling of pressure being applied to the injury on your dark spotted shell.
A while ago, you had gotten into a fight with another mutant, and they had landed a nasty hit to your shell. You had managed to flee, but not without some bruises. The pain became bearable after some time, but you still take extra precaution to be more weary of any aggressive looking mutants.
A loud thud from above you caught your attention, and you whipped your head in that direction. You saw a large shadow above you, looking down at you from the rooftop of the building you were leaning on. The figure was definitely not human, and if it was it would have been the largest human you had ever seen. The figure was very tall and wide, and the moon highlighted the tip of a spiky shell on their back. You noticed the top half of their face was covered by what you assumed to be a bandana from the ends of fabric swaying in the wind behind them.
You sucked in a breath, and stood there frozen for a moment before you broke from your shock and sprinted towards the exit of the alley. You didn’t make it far, and skidded to a stop when the figure landed right in front of you, making you almost lose your balance from the way the ground rumbled and shook from their landing.
You defensively stood in front of the figure that you could now see clearly. Whoever was in front of you was bigger than you thought. The mutant easily towered over you, and could probably snap you in half if he wanted to. You were surprised when you realized it was a mutant turtle, like you. You still remained extremely cautious however, not knowing what his intentions were.
The cold breeze tickled your skin as you shivered. You contemplated just running out of the alley as fast as you could, maybe you could lose him in the crowded streets of New York. You flinched when one of his three fingered hands slightly reached over and hovered above your arm. You looked at it, then glanced up at his face.
His face had softened, his eyebrows had scrunched up visibly under his mask and one of his large fingers grazed your arm gently. His eyes were scanning you, his gaze lingering on the bruises scattered across your body, a frown spread across his face. “You’re hurt..” You stiffened at his surprisingly soft voice. His thumb traced over one of your bruises on your forearm, making you wince. “What happened..?”
You took a step back from him, your breathing wavering. Even though this mutant seemed nice, you still felt cautious. Everything about his appearance screamed danger to you. His sheer size intimidated you greatly enough to not buy his caring act. You tried to bolt out of the alley, but was stopped by another mutant landing ahead of you from above.
Two others came down as well, and you were surrounded. With a shaky breath, you kept your defensive stance. Your eyes wandered around your surroundings, trying to spot anything you could use as a weapon to defend yourself with. You let out a yelp when you saw one of the mutants lunge for you. Too slow to dodge it, you were tackled from the back. In panic, you yelped and struggled to break free from whoever was holding you. They were laying across your back, applying a mass amount of weight on your injured shell.
You were wincing and yelling in pain, thrashing around. In panic, you hid in your shell, peering out from the neck hole to see what was going on outside. You were then suddenly picked up, a disappointed ‘aww’ from the turtle that was holding you. The mutant then hovered their head over the neck hole of your shell, peering inside with one eye closed.
You could see he looked like a box turtle, and wore an orange bandanna with short bandana tails tied in a bunny ear knot. His black eyes peeked into the inside of your shell, interest swimming in his eyes. A disappointed frown was stretched across his lips, his bottom lip jutting out. You could only stare up at him from within your shell with narrowed eyes, glaring at him. That didn’t seem to work though when he kept his hold on you, and didn’t look like he was going to put you down anytime soon.
“Aww! Come on, you can come out! Pretty pleeeeeeeaaase?”
“Mikey, they’re obviously not going to come out after you literally tackled them to the ground.”
Another voice commented, making the orange turtle, who you assumed was Mikey, pout. You continued hiding, hearing Mikey and the other mutant bicker. You had contemplated trying to escape, but with your shell being hugged so tightly by the orange turtle, you doubted you would be able to get away.
“Enough with the arguing. You’re scarin’ them outta their shell.”
You were yanked out of the box turtle’s arms as he squawked in protest. A new face peered into the neck hole of your shell. He wore a red bandanna with longer bandanna tails and had spines along his shoulders. He was the one you had noticed on the rooftop first.
“Hey there little buddy. You can come out. Raph ain’t that scary.”
You stayed put, not amused by the turtle’s childish and babying voice on you, like you were some stray cat he was beckoning to come out of its hiding place. From what he had said, you assumed his name was Raph. You could see the turtle’s face scrunch up in disappointment when he realized you weren’t coming out.
“Raph, they’re obviously too afraid to come out. Let’s just take them back to the lair while they’re not escaping.”
“I disagree. I can tell their blood pressure and heart rate have significantly quickened in the past couple minutes. The smartest thing to do would be to calm them down before introducing them to an entirely different environment-”
“Well, we don’t have all day now do we, Donnie?”
You could hear the two other mutants bicker with each other. Their arguments, however, made you tense. They wanted to take you? To their lair? Why? You didn’t do anything to them. Hell you hadn’t even met them before today. Their argument faded into background noise as you were stuck in your thoughts.
A sudden squeeze to your injured carapace on Raph’s plastron made you immediately pop out from the shelter of your shell and yelp in surprise. Raph had hugged you quite harshly while the other turtles were arguing. You heard him try to apologize, but was cut off when you began thrashing in his strong grip, kicking against his plastron as you tried to free yourself.
Yells you couldn’t make out came from the other mutants when you almost slipped free, but before you could run, Raph had caught you and held up back against his bulky plastron with his arms under your armpits.
“Donnie! The sedatives!”
The what!? You paused, only for a moment later to be struggling against Raph’s grip even harder when the mutant in purple came closer to you with some sort of machine over his shell. A claw arm came from the machine, holding a needle that was dangerously close to your arm. You babbled out pleas as tears filled your eyes, blurring your vision.
The purple turtle, who you learned was Donnie, frowned at your panic, continuing to move towards you and took the needle from the claw hand. The metal claw seized your wrist, holding your arm in place as Donnie glanced at your terrified state before looking down at your arm as he held the needle to your dark spotted skin. He slowly brought the needle to your arm, the sharp tip piercing through a soft piece of skin and injecting you with its contents. Your squirming increased when he pulled the needle out of you and released your arm as he stepped back. He then tapped on a blue screen on his wrist.
“Since I amplified the effects of the sedatives, it shouldn’t take long until they fall unconscious. We should be okay to take them to the lair now.”
As if on cue, your struggling ceased as you shakily panted, feeling lightheaded. Your vision blurred as you began to double of everything in your sight. The other turtles seemed to notice your discomfort, the blue one smirking in your direction as he came up to you and patted your head. You only gave him a dazed and uncomfortable stare back.
“Don’t worry lil’ sib, your super cool big bro’s gonna bring you home.”
“Leo, just open the portal. ”
The turtle in blue, now known as Leo, huffed at Donnie’s remark, giving you one more head pat before he turned around and brought out a sword with a blue hilt that rested on his back. He swung the sword over his shoulder, pointing it in front of him as he swirled the sword in a small circle. The sword flashed and crackled blue electric looking sparks and shocks before a blue mist came from the tip of the sword, expanding and turning into a circular glowing blue portal.
You would have been shocked if you weren’t feeling so dizzy at the moment. You could recognize that the sword Leo had was a mystic weapon.You could tell it was powerful. It was practically oozing mystic energy, leaving a tense and electric tension in the air. How did he even get such a powerful mystic weapon? You couldn’t dwell on it any longer as your mind began to blank and your eyelids felt heavy.
Still being held in Raph’s arms in a more comfortable position, all you could do was helpless les fight to stay awake as your captors took you through the blue portal, blinding your eyes for a moment before you fell unconscious. The last thing you saw was the glowing full moon that beamed a spotlight on your figure and the stars in the inky black sky, glowing like fireflies that beckoned you to stop fighting and fall into a deep sleep.
#yandere rottmnt#rottmnt x reader#rottmnt yandere#yandere rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#first post#x reader#yandere
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Our Skyy 2 x Bad Buddy X A Tale of Thousand Stars Ep 4 (Finale) Stray Thoughts
Yesterday, we transitioned into the A Tale of Thousand Stars portion of this crossover, and the mood shifted to match. There’s been a lot of consternation about the episode, and whether it represents a weak outing from Aof and friends. I have decided that it doesn’t matter for me, because it mostly worked for me. I understood the intention of having these characters get lost in the woods repeatedly no matter who they were with. I’ll have more to say this weekend, I’m sure.
Not these two coming for my man Phupha’s back during their roleplay!
I’m glad Pat and Pran got to have a cute montage before they left.
We will finally be free of the Our Skyy 2 theme.
I like that Pran made a friend out of Tian on this trip. Pran has so few friends, and I’m glad he was able to make one on his own.
Pat, please never stop terrorizing Phupha.
Unsurprised that Tian broke first on the apology, but glad to see Phupha getting flirty.
You just knew he was going to sign. I’m not even worried about the conditions. He wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t force you to meet him where he is.
I really hope tourists don’t tarnish this waterfall.
It’s not time for Only Friends yet, so we can’t have someone fondling tiddies yet on GMMTV. Mark, Neo, and Book, you are to be our champions.
Ah, Oishii tea is here. We can relax now.
Okay, I’m having fun with flirty Phupha.
We’re finally acknowledging the mosquito net as foreplay!
Finally, we the people have received what we needed. I wanted them to kiss so badly the first time they were here, and I’m finally sated.
Tian is wearing the Nong Nao sleeping mask! This is not a drill!
They did the Bad Buddy score scene. Few things make me happier than seeing older gays learn something from their juniors. Good for Phupha to get flirty in the morning.
I don’t think I mind Phupha surprising Tian in Bangkok, since it’s always seemed like a long drive. I get Phupha wanting that time to collect himself and put on his best face.
“People here let their cameras eat first.” I hate this description, but he’s correct.
GAYS IN A PHOTOBOOTH! I’m just going to pass out now.
Yes, Tian. Please upgrade this man’s fit.
Phupha is being so brave about how nervous he is about new clothes and their costs.
I’m so glad we’re getting to play dress up with Phupha like he’s a Ken.
Oh, I’m crying a little bit. Asking that Pat and Pran portray them feels like the exact restriction Phupha would apply. He would want their story told by people who know them and who they can trust a bit. I think Pran definitely gets Phupha.
Mix has such an incredible way to shift his face slightly and be suddenly so smitten.
Ink and Pa are at the play!!
This play was cute. I loved this.
Not the reversal on the finger suck into a genuinely decent kiss once again interrupted by Pa!!
White cameo!! I hope he continues to pop up in BL for the next 60 years.
Phupha and his surprises. I’m okay with it for today, but I hope his next step is being more forthright.
I love that Tian’s parents led the conversation for Phupha. He needed their approval, but respects them too much to ask for it.
His errand was a ring for a proposal. I forgive him for everything.
“We finally have a thousand stars now.” Okay, gonna lie down and cry. I don’t know what it was, but something old in me just snapped.
I really like Mix and Earth as a pair. They play their dynamic differently with each couple. Tian and Jim kiss differently than Wen and Jim.
Yes, give us the same unhinged outro that Pat and Pran gave us in episode 12.
Final Verdict: 10, Highly Recommended (Primarily for Gay Reasons). I understand a lot of the complicated feelings everyone has about Pat and Pran, but I personally loved all of this. I respect Aof telling something mildly dissatisfying with Pat and Pran, because that is honestly at the core of their dynamic. They are constantly subject to outside influences that make it difficult for them to be happy the way they want to be, and that is most evident in Pran. I really liked them crossing over to meet Tian and Phupha, because we got to see both couples really face who they are.
Part of the big difference here is that we are still seeing Pat and Pran in the middle of their story, and Pran especially still has things he needs to sort. With Tian and Phupha, we’re seeing them after their show ended. We’re seeing them face themselves with the help of the Chaos Gays that showed up on their doorstep. As a result, everyone got to see themselves differently, and we the audience got some of what we needed from both shows.
For me, I just love that both of these couples are “in repair” and are trying to be present for each other. Like Uncles Cheep and Dej said, once the infatuation fades, it’s about trust and commitment. I like that we walked away from this with me feeling like that’s the goal for both of them.
Shoutouts to @shortpplfedup @lurkingshan, @ginnymoonbeam, @waitmyturtles, and @wen-kexing-apologist for talking through episode 3 yesterday.
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Imagine this; Yandere! Splinter who sees reader as their own daughter, their interaction is like father and daughter bond and how reader is sweet and gentle also has a motherly figure it reminds him of his mother, but noticed how his sons falling in love or having crush on reader, Imagine Splinter would been like; "Y/N, be my daughter in law and Marry one of my sons"
and reader been like "…eh? (• ▽ •💧)"
Of course, the (yandere) turtles HEARD what their father's words and they start like having competition and who will have reader's hand in marriage. What do you think or react like if one of turtles won? and one of them lose?
With all the feminine-based phrases in this ask, let me confirm that MC is gender-neutral, as always. (I was considering copying and re-wording it tbh)
Tw: isolation, kidnapping, depressive state
Splinter was never the most attentive when it came to what his sons liked or what they did on uneventful days. But recently, he’s noticed a significant change in their behaviour, especially when a certain someone is around.
Leo tends to do everything they ask for, even if it means getting up from a comfortable position. He gets aggressive when someone interrupts his time with them, even if it’s the most innocent creature to exist.
His youngest, Michelangelo, talks about them for an eternity, and not a single word is hateful. Once, when Splinter wandered into his room, the rat man found a shrine of photos, some hoodies, and even a book titled, “Praises for your Divinity”.
His eldest had considerably changed as well: the boy will start to tear up if they announce they have to leave, and on some occasions cling onto them. The worst part is the fact he killed a Foot ninja for following them once (and possibly more).
And finally, his genius son, Purple. He was always inside his lab, only coming out when needed, but if the special someone arrives, he’s already out there waiting at the entrance 10 minutes before. Additionally, he complains how unhealthy their other friends are and mutters about putting more trackers.
Even a mosquito could see that the boys are hopelessly in love, and Splinter can’t help but find it endearing. The person who they admire, Y/n, had always been so caring to this mutant, albeit broken family. It was no surprise that this would happen. Splinter knew in his mind that Y/n would be a great addition to the family. Speaking of which…
“Y/n, would you be willing to be my future child in-law?”
“What do you mean?”
“You see, my boys may not ever marry. They may never find love. It would be dishonorable of me if I didn’t see at least one of them get married so…Maybe in the future, are you willing to accept their hand?”
“Uh…I’ll think about it.”
Meanwhile outside the very room are the four sons, their eyes widened in shock. Someone is gonna be able to marry Y/n in the future, with their father’s approval. They slowly slide off into another room, not wanting the pair to hear the conversation.
“Marry? I get the honour to marry them? This may be the greatest moment of my life~!”
“No. I get to. You can’t even provide what they need, something a truly good husband would do.”
“Leo, you do realize that we’re on the same level, right? Either way, none of you can do a decent job of keeping them safe, which is much more important.”
“Look, maybe we shouldn’t compare ourselves because we have different points here. We should have a competition, with Dad as the judge.”
“Fine, but I’m going to beat you all anyway~”
“What ‘Nardo said except it’s going to be me.”
“I’m getting my spot. You guys aren’t true devotées.”
“May the best brother win.”
Since that day, they’ve amped up their flirting to the point it’s glaringly obvious. They’re trying so hard to get you to love them, and for you to let them love you back.
If they win:
Regal Foot Cloth:
He knows it’s in the future, but the thought makes him so gleeful. You’re going to be bound to him for eternity, and you’ll never leave him. I don't know if it's possible, but he gets even more clingy. Gets teddy bears that have wedding attire as a celebration.
Lather Thou Bald Head With Butter:
We all know he's gonna be cocky. It's like that quote from the Zootopia spin-off, "It's not entitlement if I deserve it." If we were to speak his true feelings he's very honored to serve this position now soon (bro is so excited he forgets the time frame).
(I think my grammar was shit but oh well)
Don't Touch My Flipper Floppers:
He's honestly going to doubt it at first. Like he actually won? Sure, he's never worked so hard for a competition before, but it still shocks him. Marks the day on a data table, and starts to count the days until the actual event.
Mad Raccoon Ate My Bees:
Cries. I kid you not, he will cry. Already starts creating art of you guys getting married even if it won't happen for a while. He's definitely designing all the decorations and attire in his works and obnoxiously hangs them everywhere around the lair.
If they lose:
I don't mean for this to get too dark, but with the circumstances, I think it's the only way possible.
Regina:
It depends on who wins. Worst situation, most likely Leo. He first goes into a depressive state before confronting so said turtle for a rematch. Sure the only way to win the competition is based on your feelings, but he's going to try again because he's not going to let you leave his grasp.
Lin-Manuel Miranda:
(His Vivo soundtracks are so great)
Gets into a big fight. He argues and yells with whichever brother, his emotions completely unhinged. He's so upset he won't talk with anyone for a few days...and kidnaps you to a different dimension only he can see you at. He knows that he shouldn't be a bad loser, but he can't help it.
Donald Duck:
Doesn't accept it. He thinks it's odd that you would pick someone else over him. Mind you, he knows all your likes and dislikes so he finds it puzzling why the outcome isn't what he expected. Similar to Raph, he'll be persistent, but if things don't go well, he might lock them into his lab.
Mort Is The Root Word For Death:
Accuses that you got threatened into saying yes. He fully believes you are at no wrong, so the only conclusion he can come to is that someone intervened. Tries to find all evidence that there was wrong in the competition, to the point they might have to restart.
(This was supposed to be a blurb, but there was so much I had to make it a longer piece. I'm still putting it under the blurbs tag tho.)
#blurbs#yandere rottmnt#yandere tmnt#rottmnt#tmnt#rottmnt x reader#tmnt x reader#tmnt 2018#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the tmnt
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☆ WVBA At A Camping Trip☆
hehehe this is gonna be so fun, also none of them got proper sleep unless stated otherwise because im evil like that
Glass Joe
- harassed by mosquitos & any other bug devious enough to bite him, covered in bug bites
- burnt his marshmellow while trying to melt it over the campfire, settled for a croisssant instead
- couldnt get any sleep, at all, only physically present at some point
- fed a moose and accidentally caused kaiser to get attacked by said moose (when you feed a moose it will attack whoever doesnt have food/doesnt give it any)
- tried to go swimming in a lake and got scared by a fish
Von Kaiser
- gathered some bug repelling herbs & used them to not end up looking like he has 3 trained assasins aiming at him (bear hugger approved)
- gathering mushrooms & other fruit, knows whats not edible & whats not
- brought a shotgun to go hunting, Joe thought he was gonna murder him
- "put the gun down please i have loved ones at least let me say goodbye to them im so sorry for whatever i did PLEASE"
- "Joe why would i shoot you"
- his insomnia is kicking his ass
Disco Kid
- spiders really like to bite him for some brilliant reason, nobody knows if they were non poisonous or not, either way hes still thriving look at him go!!
- climbing trees to collect fruit with kaiser
- tried to go kayaking, fell into the water instead
- trying his hardest to befriend a random fox, disco please stop it probably has 20 diseases & cares about you only for the food
- fell face first into poison ivy :(
- tried to chop down a tree and almost got crushed to death
- traumatized but also thriving
King Hippo
- hes a natural bug repeller, by that i mean he enjoys eating bugs
- traumatized everyone by eating a living spider in front of their eyes
- only person who actually got proper sleep
- rolled down a hill at some point and knocked over disco kid, kaiser and joe like a bowling ball, aran yelled out strike before also rolling down a hill and hitting a tree trunk head first (ouch)
Piston Hondo
- bit by a few mosquitos but nothing that serious thankfully (other than an entire colony of ants biting him when he got stuck in a log)
- best person to go kayaking with, going at it like hes going to war
- collected flowers and made a flower crown & gave it to bear hugger as a thank you
- holding spiders in his hand like theyre nothing & info dumping about them
- Just happy to be here
- climbing trees to also help kaiser, trying his best not to not fall on anyone
- fell asleep in a log at some point, waa super traumatized when he woke up because what the fuck why is he in a log get him out of there
Don Flamenco
- not bitten at all but chased by a scorpion
- hes too diva for nature
- got scolded for using perfume that harms the ozone layer by bear hugger for 3 hours straight, had to stink for a while because of that
- stepped in poison ivy, got treated insantly thankfully or he would have cried for a hour straight
- traumatized, depressed, mentally scarred, not flourishing, not in his lane, un-moisturized, not hydrated
- also couldnt get any sleep, went straight to sleep after getting home and showering (and drying his hair, he doesnt wanna wake up looking like a hedgehog)
- never doing that again, fuck you
Bear Hugger
- got bitten by every kind of bug out there but hes still alive
- flourishing, in his lane, moisturized, happy, mentally healed, hydrated, thriving
- stepped on poison ivy but pretending nothing happened
- chopping down trees (he then plants another because deforestation is not very cash money)
- went hunting & almost shot Aran Ryan because he put branches on his head pretending to be a deer
- "BEAR!! ITS ME DONT SHOOT ME IM NOT A DEER!!"
- "why would you do that?? especially when you know that i was going for deer" he proceeded to scold him for half a hour and how he could have injured himself
- went gathering with kaiser & bull
- did kayaking with disco kid, theyre a really good team somehow
- gathered wood for the campfire
Aran Ryan
- got bit like a thousand times, but its ok because he also bit them back
- hit his head on a tree trunk while he was rolling down a hill at full speed, passed out for a while after that and woke up on a kayak out in a pond, had to swim all the way back thanks to don flamenco getting pissed off at him
- climbing trees & throwing stuff down at whoever walks under him, airstrike bitch
- touched the wood under the campfire after it got put out expecting it to be cold, got his hand burnt instead
- "ooh this piece of wood is shaped like a gun"
- "wait for it to cool off"
- "im sure its not THAT hot" cue irish screech in pain
- went hunting & laughed like a psychopath whenever something got shot
- did kayaking & got thrown off the kayak by Mr Sandman when he got too loud
Soda Popinski
- his legs are covered in mosquito bites, hes literally their favorite capri sun
- Just swam a lot & ate berries
- tried to make up a scary story to tell during the night and failed miserably at it
- "And she.. sneezed out a worm!! Ooohh!!!"
- "so creative, never make a story again"
- ate a piece of wood, delicious!!
Bald Bull
- got bit a few times but not that much
- picked flowers & gathered berries
- helped bear hugger make the campfire
- tried to hunt but he didnt have the heart to shoot such a majestic looking animal, bear hugger did though, got traumatized
- "they might look good but they also taste good"
- "yeah" And he has the 1000 yard stare during dinner
- couldnt sleep well after what he saw during that hunting trip (i hc him to be afraid of blood & not be able to handle it well) he sometimes has nightmares about it, pretending to be okay even though he knows hes not going to be able to sleep for a few days after that
- he started out all happy & got traumatized midway through
- Just sat on a hill & enjoyed the wind during his spare time
Super Macho Man
- harassed by mosquitos
- also too diva for nature
- tried to climb a tree and fell on his ass
- cannot fish to save his life
- had a "swordfight" with soda popinski (by that i mean they just fought each other with sticks)
- making up really weird stories during the night & telling them in front of the campfire, really good at making it sound like bad improv comedy, thinks its fooling everyone
Mr Sandman
- got bit by everything BUT mosquitos
- making sure no one gets shot during the hunting trip
- cooking fish over the campfire
- picking flowers, explaining literally every detail about his favorites
- tried to catch a fish with his bare hands
#punch out#headcanon#punch out wii#don flamenco#bald bull#piston hondo#glass joe#punch out headcanons#aran ryan#von kaiser#soda popinski#super macho man#disco kid#king hippo#bear hugger
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INTRODUCING THE MYSTERY SHACK SOUVENIR TEE
https://notsandpapproved.etsy.com/listing/1550252902
A souvenir shirt from Oregon's shackiest shack, The Mystery Shack. Printed on 'Soos Shirt' green (Specially colour-matched, unlike most similar tees on Etsy!)
EU Sizing - please check the size guide!
"Hey! Have you had the prestigious experience of dropping your cash at The Mystery Shack? Or do you really want the prestige of having visited without the mosquitos? Either way, I've got you covered. These shirts are from my very own gift shop, where everything is only in one colour in order to save costs on ink, and every print has been done by magical t-shirt printing gnomes!
These tees are special stuff, trust me. They're 100% organic, approved by hippies and clothing connoisseurs alike, and I've made sure they're about as ethically sound as it gets. Because I know you kids love your ethics. Back in my day, we loved cigarettes. Times change is what I'm saying.
Every shirt is made to order in small batches by an artisan team, before being shipped to my gift shop. Each one will be properly inspected for quality and maximum 'Soos-ocity' before being sent out to you. I dunno what Soos-ocity is, but it sounds great."
Direct to Garment print on a unisex, casual-fit T-shirt.
100% Organic ring-spun combed cotton
180gsm fabric
Set-in sleeve
1x1 rib at neck collar
Inside back neck tape in self-fabric
Sleeve hem and bottom hem with wide double-needle top stitch
Certified by GOTS, Fair Wear Foundation and PETA-Approved standards
We'd recommend sizing up for larger sizes in order to maintain comfort
Please note that we can't accept returns on shirts that have been worn, in the interests of hygiene. We will be able to tell. We've got a literal pig on our product team.
#gravity falls#gravity falls fandom#gravity falls fanart#disney#alex hirsch#grunkle stan#gravity falls fans#etsy#gravity falls merch#fan merch#gravity falls fan merch#fanmerch#etsyseller#etsyshop#etsyuk#shop small#small business
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Been rereading the comic Les Nombrils and one of my favorite things about it is that Megane fell in love with the actual Vicky, not the persona she plays..
With everyone else, Vicky has this super confident, cocky mean girl facade, but Megane met her as the girl who wore so much perfume mosquitoes wouldn’t leave her alone, couldn’t tell aspirin from ecstasy and still swallowed it to look cooler… I don’t think Vicky has ever embarrassed herself more in front of the same person and yet 🤣
And I really think this played a part in Vicky falling for Megane. She never drops her persona in front of anyone, even keeps it up with Jenny and Karine, her only friends… but after a few weeks of knowing Megane, they’re already talking about Vicky not having an identity of her own, wanting her parents approval ect.. even if it’s just for a few panels, I don’t think she ever got to be so… completely herself with anyone else ever :(
#les nombrils#the bellybuttons#vicky#crying over a comic that’s never getting a real ending…#vicky x megane#wlw
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Of Ballads & Bumpy Black Toads
A tiny tale for teatime reading | ~10 minute read
The Prompt:
🍄 A bumpy black toad reads the poetry of a prince hidden in the enchanted hollows of a secret tree
The Art:
Illustration of a tree stump stacked with a prince's secret poetry journals. A bumpy black toad sits atop the stump, guarding the hollow against a woodland critter trying to sneak his own works into the collection.
Illustrated by Zack Castro @paintcapsule
The Tale:
The small child with wild brown curls and chocolate smeared across his chin was back again. He stumbled through the weeds and thorny bracken towards a small, hollowed tree stump, carpeted with lichen and tiny golden mushrooms.
In the child’s grasp was a thick stack of pages, roughly bound with cloth and bark. Resting against the stump—to the chagrin of one small, bumpy-backed amphibian observing from the liquid shadows of a nearby puddle—the child spread out his pages across the grass and began to scribble.
The sun was near to setting when the child finally packed his mess away, stowing the stack of pages in the tree’s dark hollow. The child fought his way back through the grass and, at long last, away from the peace of the observer’s domain.
The child returned the next day, and the day after that. Day by day, week by week, month by month, the observer took to hopping up atop the stump when the child was too absorbed in his writings to notice, watching as the scribbles became letters, and then words.
They were beautiful words. Well chosen and scribed in wobbling lines and dashes. Beautiful words became beautiful sentences, and the observer learned to think entirely new thoughts. They rose and curled, like smoke and the scent of new leaves, germinating, quickening, burgeoning into feelings the observer had no name for.
The observer flicked out his tongue at a passing mosquito and waited for the child to return.
Return he did. Year after year, the child and his curls grew, his bearing as wild as his thoughts, both exquisite in their chaos.
The child had long since discovered the observer, and had begun to ask his opinion.
“What do you think of this line here? I don’t think the rhyme scheme quite conveys the way a dance feels like swimming, but only when you let yourself fall from step to step...”
The observer blinked and snapped his tongue.
“No, you’re quite right, the stress is all wrong, how about...” the boy took several long moments to scribble over his words with new thoughts. “...this?” The observer tilted his head in regard and decided he quite liked both ways, and gave a loud croak to say so.
“Well that’s not spectacularly helpful, Gale. Do you mind if I call you that? Gale? I think it’s a rather regal name for a black toad, especially one so bumpy as yourself. I’m a prince you realise, and a prince must have a regal familiar.”
The observer considered the new word. It felt like marshland and the howl of a spring deluge. Gale approved.
Gale took it upon himself to guard the prince’s words. His deepest secrets and most beautiful thoughts. Book after book, stack after stack, piled up within the hollow.
Sometimes the witch with livid hair and eyes like a deep lake would come, and Gale would have to learn the new skill of how to share his prince. After a bite to the witch’s finger, a stern scolding from his prince, and gifts of glimmering moonflies from the intruder herself, Gale’s jealousy was appeased.
Sometimes creatures would scamper up to the hollow, sniffing curiously at the cloth and leather bound pages. For these, Gale bore no patience, and would scare them away with a croak like thunder.
Sometimes the rain, like his namesake, would pour down and threaten the prince’s treasures. Yet Gale, having learned one or two secrets from the witch, bellowed back, diverting rivulets and sheets of cold rain away from the mouth of his prince’s hollow.
Weary from a sleepless night in battle with a summer storm, Gale basked in the prince’s praise of his stalwart service. The prince fed Gale worms and crickets, and allowed him to sleep in his coat pocket.
Sometimes the prince would forget Gale was there, and Gale would get to go on adventures through the palace and the catacombs, forgotten crypts and half-buried libraries, lush gardens that sprouted in caves, and dark thickets of a forest whose heart keened with sorrow.
Gale saw the prince’s world in fragments, snatches of sounds and sensations, strange scents and stranger tastes. Much like his prince’s poetry, Gale learned a new world, stanza by stanza.
Gale slept on silk pillows, watching over the prince as he dreamed up new ballads.
Gale forgot about the hollow.
Until.
Gale woke to the sound of thunder and the tickle of curls beneath his chin.
The prince sat up, disgruntled, as lightning flashed beyond the window, dislodging a still more disgruntled toad from his soft bed.
The prince blinked at Gale, and Gale blinked back.
“Oh... Oh dear, if you’re here, then... My books!” The prince scrambled from his downy bed and pulled on his boots. Gale croaked and leapt into the prince’s coat pocket as he pulled it on with a violent shrug, tearing out of the room into the hall beyond.
Ignoring the shout of the guard by his door, the prince raced down stone corridors, thumping over lush woven carpets, and dashed out into the rain.
Puddles splashed, showering Gale in mud as the toad clung to the lip of the pocket. Sodden footfall chased behind them as three guards pursued the prince, who was now leaping over logs and crashing through the underbrush towards his hollow.
“No...”
The prince sank to his knees as they entered the small clearing, the fabric of his trousers soaking through with muddy water.
Icy rain was pouring sideways into the hollowed tree stump, drenching the whole stack of books from top to bottom. Shuffling forward, the prince tried in vain to shield the books as he lifted a leather-bound journal from the top of the pile.
Gale hopped from the prince’s pocket to once more stand guard atop the rough, mossy stump. With a croak that shattered the driving rain and whistling winds to stillness, Gale watched in shame and misery as the prince grieved his words.
The crash and cracking of leafy brambles heralded the arrival of the three pursuing guards.
“Fate’s sake, child, what are you thinking of chasing out here in the middle of a storm— Oh... oh dear.” The guard in front holstered his club of carved bone and placed a hand on the prince’s shoulder. The child turned and presented the ruined book with a tearful grizzle.
With a heaving sigh, the guard wrapped the prince’s coat tighter about him and lifted him from the earth in a cradle hold.
With a few terse, muttered instructions, the other guards retrieved the rest of the books and made to leave the clearing, following behind the guard holding the weeping prince.
Gale croaked in despair, his chest aching with failure. Had he been here, he would have staved off the storm. Had he been here, instead of content and dreaming on a silk pillow which did not belong to the likes of bumpy black toads such as himself, his prince would not be mourning years of beautiful thoughts now ruined.
Defeated, weary, and heartsick, Gale nestled into a patch of moss and closed his eyes, listening to the rustle and snap of ferns as the guards stomped away.
Gale doubted he would ever see his prince again.
As the footsteps faded into the distance, and Gale’s magic melted away to allow the rains to fall across the clearing once again, a voice cried out from the far thickets.
“Wait!” the prince called. “Gale! We have to get Gale, turn back, please!”
Gale sat up as the chatter of a frustrated and longsuffering argument approached. The guards re-emerged through the dark and soggy trees, the prince still curled up in the lead guard’s arms.
The prince stretched out, nearly toppling from the guard’s grasp as he reached his hand towards Gale.
“Oof, hold still will you— What? That’s Gale? Good gander, little princeling, you’re going to be the death of us,” the guard grumbled, lips twisting in disgust beneath his avian mask as he caught sight of Gale huddled on the tree stump. “Fine... why not, shall we go fishing for leeches next? How about a nice stew of tree slime or—”
The prince took no heed of the guard’s muttering as he beckoned for Gale with pleading brown eyes. Coiling himself against the rough bark, Gale kicked out his legs in a great leap—arcing, arcing through the air—and landed with a squelch on the prince’s chest.
“Gale!” the prince cried in joy, caressing the bumps across his snout.
“Blegh,” the guard gagged. “All ready then? Got your swamp thing? Got all our diaries? Excellent.” The guards about-faced, crunching across the sodden earth back towards the palace.
In the days that followed, Gale watched as his prince laid all his pages out in the wan autumn sun to dry. All the charcoal writings had smudged, but only a very few pages were completely unsalvageable.
Day by day, as the pages dried, and the prince examined his work, the ache in Gale’s chest eased. All had not been lost, and the prince was very kind to his familiar.
“I think,” the prince mused as he fed small glowing bugs to Gale where he sat atop a stone windowsill, “that we need a better place to hide our poetry.”
Our poetry. Gale croaked a contented agreement, the warmth of affection filling his stomach as surely as the glittering flies.
Gale listened and watched and wandered with the prince. He chased away all the scratching and scrabbling terrors of dark places as they renewed their adventures in search of secret havens.
The prince spilled more words across fresh pages, and Gale learned the names of new feelings. The witch would visit and trade flowers for a prince’s thoughts, and Gale was only a small bit jealous.
Gale lived in pockets and the silky beds of feather pillows and, more often still, the silken nest of his prince’s bark-brown ringlets, curling up to dream of ballads.
~~~
✨ Read more tales!
#fantasy#writeblr#amwriting#short story#flash fiction#fantasy writing#world building#fairy tale#fairy tale art#tales for teatime reading#charming#the prince is an absolute goose#and needs a hug
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Can I ask you for mosquito facts that will hopefully help me get over my anxiety around them so I can go outside in the summer again (live in a high mosquito area, only ever hear about them bc of some blood born disease being spread by them and the sound they make freaks me out for some reason and my issues with them are becoming. A problem) (feel free to not answer this I just saw you giving mosquito facts earlier)
well for the record, there's groundbreaking research every year regarding genetic research involved in collapsing disease-ridden mosquito populations. tons of vaccines for mosquito-related diseases have rolled out or been approved in the past few years. so try not to stress yourself about blood-born diseases.
again, only female mosquitoes will bite you. that cuts your potential bites in half. if you're worried about mosquitoes, wear colors like white, green, blue, and purple. mosquitoes enjoy dark, usually black places to hide, so those colors are a better alternative. if it's summertime, avoid lots of layers so you can easily brush away mosquitoes and can spot them as soon as they land on you.
try going outside on a bike, or actively moving. public transport. ways you can duck inside and outside, like a mall. wear over-the-ear headphones to block out the sound. it also helps you avoid the fear of mosquitoes landing in sensitive areas around your face.
remember, mosquitoes are tiny and small and if you make a lot of movement, its quite easy to brush them away. it's also very easy to think they're everywhere all the time, but take a few excursions and see how many times you're actually seeing them. wear long sleeves, and a little bit of bug spray goes a long way (don't overkill), especially around the wrists/ankles.
i hope these help. headphones are my savior. if you're in a very very high mosquito-populated area, electrified rackets are great and very effective. <3
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So for Day 16 of the event, I used prompt 15, number 7 for Fujishima from K Project. I love this boy so much and I always enjoy writing for him, so I hope ya’ll enjoy this little peek inside part of him!
Favourite animal? Why?
This is an absolutely impossible question to answer for Fujishima. Honestly, he’s such a big animal person. While he doesn’t hate people or anything, he almost does prefer animals over people a lot of the time and if he had his way, he’d have almost a veritable zoo at his house. It’s only because he lives with his parents and then in an apartment that he doesn’t get his way.
It’s easier to say which animals he really wouldn’t want as pets. It’s not that he hates the animals or something, but he doesn’t really want them around him a lot of the time. He doesn’t like bugs like mosquitoes and earwigs and such, but he’s also not a huge fan of spiders. He’s not scared of them, but he doesn’t get keeping them as pets. He’ll squish spiders in his house, since his mother is afraid of them, but overall, he just kind of lets them live and just doesn’t interact with them.
I will say that while he also does the live and let live thing, he doesn’t like handling snakes a crap ton. He can do it, but it’s not something he overly enjoys. They’re mostly out as pets for him because he can’t handle the idea of live feeding.
Fujishima definitely has a fish tank in his house though, since those are pets that his parents approve of, and he puts a lot of effort into taking care of them. He has probably around five or six of them in this great big tank and he definitely splurges on some cool decorations for the tank (or five finger discounts them).
He definitely love cats and dogs both. He has no problem feeding strays and does everything he can to find safe places for any strays that look injured or in need of help.
Overall, I do think he’s more of a dog person over a cat person. His ideal dog is one of the friendlier, more energetic breeds and he loves longer-haired breeds. I think he’d love Newfoundland’s personally, but also collies.
That being said, he’d love to have a Maine Coone.
He also finds learning about the extinct animals really interesting and there’s quite a few of them he regrets going extinct, because they would have been cool to interact with.
That, of course, includes dinosaurs, and despite not being incredibly book smart, he knows a lot of random dinosaur facts.
#unrequested prompts#k project#project k#headcanons#homra's alphabet boys#fujishima kosuke#kousuke fujishima
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Barry, it worked!
Did you see the giant flower?
BARRY:
What giant flower? Where? Of course
I saw the flower! That was genius!
ADAM:
- Thank you.
BARRY:
- But we're not done yet.
:
Listen, everyone!
:
This runway is covered
with the last pollen
:
from the last flowers
available anywhere on Earth.
:
That means this is our last chance.
:
We're the only ones who make honey,
pollinate flowers and dress like this.
:
If we're gonna survive as a species,
this is our moment! What do you say?
:
Are we going to be bees, or just
Museum of Natural History keychains?
BEES:
We're bees!
BEE WHO LIKES KEYCHAINS:
Keychain!
BARRY:
Then follow me! Except Keychain.
POLLEN JOCK #1:
Hold on, Barry. Here.
:
You've earned this.
BARRY:
Yeah!
:
I'm a Pollen Jock! And it's a perfect
fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves.
(The Pollen Jocks throw Barry a nectar-collecting gun. Barry catches it)
Oh, yeah.
JANET:
That's our Barry.
(Barry and the Pollen Jocks get pollen from the flowers on the plane)
(Flash forward in time and the Pollen Jocks are flying over NYC)
:
(Barry pollinates the flowers in Vanessa's shop and then heads to Central
Park)
BOY IN PARK:
Mom! The bees are back!
ADAM:
(Putting on his Krelman hat)
If anybody needs
to make a call, now's the time.
:
I got a feeling we'll be
working late tonight!
(The bee honey factories are back up and running)
(Meanwhile at Vanessa's shop)
VANESSA:
(To customer)
Here's your change. Have a great
afternoon! Can I help who's next?
:
Would you like some honey with that?
It is bee-approved. Don't forget these.
(There is a room in the shop where Barry does legal work for other animals.
He is currently talking with a Cow)
COW:
Milk, cream, cheese, it's all me.
And I don't see a nickel!
:
Sometimes I just feel
like a piece of meat!
BARRY:
I had no idea.
VANESSA:
Barry, I'm sorry.
Have you got a moment?
BARRY:
Would you excuse me?
My mosquito associate will help you.
MOOSEBLOOD:
Sorry I'm late.
COW:
He's a lawyer too?
MOOSEBLOOD:
Ma'am, I was already a blood-sucking parasite.
All I needed was a briefcase.
VANESSA:
Have a great afternoon!
:
Barry, I just got this huge tulip order,
and I can't get them anywhere.
BARRY:
No problem, Vannie.
Just leave it to me.
VANESSA:
You're a lifesaver, Barry.
Can I help who's next?
BARRY:
All right, scramble, jocks!
It's time to fly.
VANESSA:
Thank you, Barry!
(Ken walks by on the sidewalk and sees the "bee-approved honey" in
Vanessa's shop)
KEN:
That bee is living my life!!
ANDY:
Let it go, Kenny.
KEN:
- When will this nightmare end?!
ANDY:
- Let it all go.
BARRY:
- Beautiful day to fly.
POLLEN JOCK:
- Sure is.
BARRY:
Between you and me,
I was dying to get out of that office.
(Barry recreates the scene near the beginning of the movie where he flies
through the box kite. The movie fades to black and the credits being)
[--after credits; No scene can be seen but the characters can be heard
talking over the credits--]
You have got
to start thinking bee, my friend!
:
- Thinking bee!
- Me?
BARRY:
(Talking over singer)
Hold it. Let's just stop
for a second. Hold it.
:
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, everyone.
Can we stop here?
SINGER:
Oh, BarryBARRY:
I'm not making a major life decision
during a production number!
SINGER:
All right. Take ten, everybody.
Wrap it up, guys.
BARRY:
I had virtually no rehearsal for that.
This is the kind of shit I came to Tumblr.com for
Peak performance
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Pomegranate Ink: II
Series Synopsis: Unable to heal but willing to fight, with a fiancé in Kyoto and a last name that looms over everything you do, you accept an offer to study at Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. What you did not know was that your salvation and your ruination alike would soon join you at the school, neatly wrapped in the form of a boy followed by death.
Chapter Synopsis: You meet your new classmates. Later, Gojo approaches you with a strange request.
Series Masterlist
Pairing: Yuta Okkotsu × Female Reader
Chapter Word Count: 5.5k
Content Warnings: angst, misogyny, naoya zenin, forbidden relationships, canon-typical violence, character death, original characters included
A/N: i’m a big lover of Y/N having relationships outside of her love interests
Gojo said that your new classmates were excited to see you, but this didn’t stop you from fiddling with your uniform, straightening out nonexistent wrinkles and brushing away invisible dust particles. You wished to make a good impression on them, after all, these strangers who would soon become your closest allies. You would have to rely on them above all, this trio whose school year you were somewhat-rudely barging into.
When you had asked Gojo who, exactly, your new classmates were, he had only giggled ominously and told you to wait. Patience, he claimed, was a virtue, so you were left entirely in the dark.
You hoped they would not hate you. You had never had many friends as a child, and indeed rarely spoke to people your own age at all — besides Noritoshi, of course. You were too busy trying to carry on your family’s name to make time for such things, which meant you were somewhat in the dark on how to approach this first meeting.
“Your worry is making the air all heavy and gross,” Gojo commented from where he was writing equations on the blackboard, “Relax. They’re good kids, honestly.”
You sat in the very front seat, hands neatly folded in your lap and books arranged in a careful pile on your desk. Your legs were crossed at the ankles, and every five seconds, you’d look up at the clock.
“They’re going to be late,” you said.
“Class doesn’t start until 10:30,” he said.
“It’s 10:29,” you pointed out. Gojo shrugged lazily. He had donned the bandages today, the white cloth obscuring his eyes and making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.
“They’ll make it on time, though I don’t much care if they don’t. As long as they’re here eventually, that’s all that matters,” he said.
“You’re rather relaxed,” you observed, “It’s disconcerting.”
“I don’t see a point about stressing over such things. Might as well enjoy life, ya know?” he said, and if you thought about it more, you might’ve realized his smile was a little too forced, a little too candy-bright to be entirely genuine. But you were distracted by the door creaking open and the shuffling footsteps of the other first-years entering the classroom.
The first in was a girl, her dark hair pulled back in a neat ponytail and a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Her sharp stare trapped you like a mosquito in amber, though there was no malice to it. Indeed, she even smiled in approval.
“Finally, another girl,” she said, flouncing over to sit next to you and sticking her hand out, “I’m Maki Zenin.”
You accepted it hesitantly, hoping she was nothing like her kinsman, Naoya. She did not seem the type, but, then, perhaps she was just a good actor.
The next in was a panda. Nobody seemed to find this out of the ordinary, though Gojo’s lips twitched at the expression of shock that crossed your well-schooled expression. The panda walked upright, even settling at a desk and nodding at you in greeting.
“Yo. I’m Panda,” he said. You startled at the speech, giving Maki a worried look. She was unperturbed, though, so you gathered yourself and dipped your head in acknowledgement.
“Nice to meet you…Panda,” you said, realizing no explanation would be forthcoming. You supposed that in a world filled with curses, a talking panda was probably the least odd thing you’d have to face.
“Where’s your final classmate?” Gojo said.
“He had to pick up some cough syrup from Shoko, said his throat’s been itching more than normal recently,” Panda offered. The door scraped open, and the third student entered. To your surprise —
“Hey, I know you!” you said, pointing at Toge Inumaki, hardly having expected him of all people to be standing there, a bottle of medicine in one hand and the other pointing at himself in surprise.
“Salmon?” he said politely. Though a teal collar covered his signature markings, the brilliance of his irises left no question about it: in front of you was the very boy you had once wanted to marry.
“You both have met before?” Gojo said.
“Bonito flakes,” Inumaki said, forehead creasing in apologetic frown, as if you’d hold it against him.
“We haven’t,” you confirmed, “My parents have mentioned him once or twice before, that’s all.”
“I see,” Gojo said. Before he could continue to speak, Maki interrupted him, a frown on her pointed face.
“So who are you, anyways?” she said, leaning forwards eagerly, the tip of her nose nearly brushing yours. You flinched but did not otherwise move away — what if it were a test of some sorts? If that was the case, then you were determined not to fail, so you stayed still.
“Y/N L/N,” you said. She drew back in surprise, jaw dropping and then her eyes narrowing. It was obvious she recognized your name — and just as well, for she belonged to one of the Big Three clans.
“L/N? Of the L/N family?” she said.
“That’s right,” you said uncomfortably, knowing what her likely next question would be.
“So you can heal?” she said, as you had thought. You shrugged halfheartedly.
“Nah,” you said. Maki at least had enough tact to not question it further, humming thoughtfully in response.
“Seems like we have a lot in common, then,” she said. You did not fully know what she meant by this, but there was a pain disguised deep in her voice that spoke of troubles worse than anything you had ever had to face.
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. Maybe you and Maki did understand each other, in more ways than one.
“Perfect!” Gojo said, grinning and flashing all of you a double-thumbs-up, “Now that you’re all finally acquainted with one another, we can get on with today’s lesson.”
“Woah, hold on a second there,” Maki said, holding out a hand as if to stop him, “You’re going to have to give us more to go off of. Why is she randomly transferring into our year? What can she even do, if she can’t heal?”
“I still have my family’s cursed technique, I just can’t use its Reversed form,” you said before deflating, “Though, I don’t really know how helpful that is. It doesn’t really give me much advantage in battle.”
Maki scoffed. “Better than nothing, though, I’m sure. Don’t go about whining as if we all should feel sorry for you.”
“Bonito flakes,” Inumaki interjected.
“Toge’s right,” Panda agreed, “Don’t be too harsh on her.”
You were certain how Panda had managed to interpret all of that just from two words, but you still gave him and Inumaki a trembling, delicate smile.
“It’s alright. She’s right; I am more well off than most. At least my technique has some use; through it, I am able to see a target’s weak points. It’s just the rest that I have to come up with,” you said.
“And that’s why you’re here!” Gojo chirped, “We’ll help you hone your technique to its most effective, and then you can get out there and exorcise curses with the best of us!”
Inumaki popped the cap off of his cough syrup and took a swig, moving his collar down for only an instant before returning it to its previous position. Though the fabric covered his mouth once he was finished with the medicine, you could tell he was beaming in welcome. A warm feeling spread throughout you, and you pursed your lips, looking away to hide how flustered the simple gesture had made you.
“That’s right!” Panda said, high-fiving you with his large paw, nearly knocking you over with the force of his exuberance. “You’re going to love it here!”
“There’s room to work with,” Maki acquiesced, looking you over critically, “Yeah, I think you’ll do just fine.”
“Okay,” you said, gaze still trained on the floor and heat creeping up your neck at their kindness, “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Isn’t she so shy?” Gojo said, clapping his hands together and swooning, “It’s adorable! Ah, if only she had met Megumi before Noritoshi.”
“Megumi?” you said.
“Maybe I can convince the Kamos to annul your engagement, so that you and Megumi get the chance you deserve,” he said instead of responding to you, lost in thought.
“Uh, please don’t,” you said in alarm, “I am not even certain who Megumi is.”
“Unimportant,” Maki said, waving dismissively, “And stop trying to set him up with someone, Gojo, you know he’d kill you if he found out about all of this.”
“He’d certainly try,” Gojo said smugly. Of course — no matter who this Megumi was, he could not so much as hold a candle to Gojo. Gojo was the strongest.
“Moving on,” Maki said, unimpressed, “Do you actually have anything important for lessons today, or can we train?”
“I was going to teach you all about differentiating equations,” Gojo said.
“Math?” Panda said with a groan, “Why do we even need to learn about that kind of thing? We’re going to be sorcerers, not engineers!”
“You never know what your future will hold. And, anyways, education is always good!” Gojo said.
“Bonito flakes,” Inumaki said.
“Exactly! Are you even qualified to be teaching about this kind of thing?” Panda said. Again, you weren’t certain how Panda had managed to interpret an entire train of thought from the simple utterance, but you looked forward to the day that you could do the same.
“Nope!” Gojo said, “But it’s a good way to waste time.”
“You — you useless miscreant!” Maki said, pointing at him.
“Heh, miscreant? That’s a new one,” he said.
“Why do you wish to waste our time?” you said, as non-confrontational as possible. You were just as curious as the others, only you did not have the same comfort level as, say, Maki — who by now had drawn her spear and was brandishing it at Gojo threateningly. For his part, the white-haired sorcerer did not even bat an eye, though it wasn’t as if you’d be able to tell if he did.
“Well, I am required to teach you about normal school subjects, too, not just sorcery. It’s a new standard Principal Yaga set up,” Gojo said with a disdainful sniff, “One hour a day. Then we can get to the fun stuff!”
“He did mention that,” Panda mused, stroking his chin. “I suppose we’ll have to suffer through it, then.”
“Salmon,” Inumaki said, shaking his head and taking a notebook out. His eyes lit up as he stared at the paper, and while the rest of you begrudgingly got out your supplies, he hastily scrawled out a note and then handed it to you.
Hi! I’m Toge Inumaki, you can just call me Toge though. I only really speak in rice ball ingredients, so I’m afraid we probably won’t be able to talk a lot, but it’s nice to meet you! Sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier :(
He had drawn a little sad face at the end of the message, and you folded up the paper, tucking it away in your bag where it would be sure to be safe.
“It’s okay,” you whispered, softly so that only he could hear, “I wasn't expecting you to. It’s nice to meet you, too — in person, I mean. I look forward to getting to know you more.”
Satisfied that you were not upset with him, he relaxed slightly before returning his attention to Gojo, who had begun his attempts at teaching the four of you Calculus. It was somewhat futile, but you found it entertaining to watch his mounted frustration, so you did not complain as much as Panda did.
“Finally!” Gojo said, near tears from relief when an alarm on his phone went off, “We’re finished!”
“Thank goodness,” Maki said, shaking her head, “That was awful. Never try to be a math teacher, Gojo, you’d be awful at it.”
“I’ll leave it to my colleagues,” he agreed with a shudder, “I don’t understand how some people actually dream of such a lifestyle.”
“It confuses you and me both,” Panda said. Toge didn’t even speak, merely gathering his things and heading out the door, Panda trailing after and continuing to rant to him. To his credit, Toge did not interrupt nor respond — though this might have been because he mostly could not.
“Where are we going now?” you said.
“Training to beat curses, which is what we actually do at this school. At least, when Gojo isn’t dabbling in mathematics,” Maki said.
“It wasn’t by choice!” Gojo insisted, though Maki was deaf to his protests, “I was forced!”
“Anyways,” Maki said, grabbing your hand and dragging you out of the room with her, “I’m a Cursed Tools specialist. Toge uses Cursed Speech, as I’m certain you already knew, and Panda mostly uses blows made of pure cursed energy — he has more than typical beings his size. What this basically boils down to is training sucks.”
“Why?” you said.
“It’s so boring just fighting Panda day after day! I tried sparring with Toge once, but he just told me to hold still, and that was the end of it!” she said, obviously aghast at this transgression.
“That’s pretty useful. For him, I mean,” you said.
“But it leaves me to fight with a giant bear all of the time! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have a partner at all, and Panda definitely challenges me a lot, but there comes a narrowness to one’s experience if there is no shifting in partners,” she said.
“I don’t see why you’re telling me all of this,” you said, “I can’t commiserate. I’ve never really fought much before.”
“Because,” she said, the sunlight reflecting off of her glasses as you reached a large, open training field, “You are going to be my new partner.”
This made you pause, your brain rapidly turning this information over. You were to be Maki’s new partner; the thought was so absurd you nearly burst into laughter. But when you looked over at her, she was dead serious.
“Is this your version of a joke? I told you I have never fought before. I do not even know what kind of weapons I would use. And you are a Cursed Tools specialist? For me to fight you would be suicidal!” you said.
“It’s not like I’ll go all out. It’ll be training; even a glass butterfly like you can handle that, right?” she said, one hand on her hip and eyebrows raised.
“In all honesty, I have no idea,” you said, “There is something to be feared about you.”
She grinned. It was a feral, predatory expression, and you swallowed hard at it.
“I’m glad you noticed. I was beginning to think I hid it too well.”
You looked around desperately for some sort of escape. If you darted over to where Toge and Panda were talking, she’d undoubtedly follow you, and perhaps make them join in on the torture as well. But, then, standing here and waiting would do you no good either, not when she looked one breath away from forcing a katana into your hands in some orchestrated fight that would end with you on the ground in defeat.
“There you are!” Gojo said. You nearly kissed his feet, you were so grateful. His appearance gave Maki cause to back off; what’s more, it seemed that he needed you for something, which meant you had escaped your fate — for now.
“Where else would we be?” Maki deadpanned.
“Doing…womanly things?” he said. Despite your earlier fear of her, you exchanged an exasperated look with Maki. An irritation with men provided solidarity amongst all women.
“Well, we’re not, so what do you need?” she said. There was no sense in correcting him; you doubted he would listen, anyways.
“Miss L/N here! We have to figure out what to do with her cursed technique so that she can actually exorcise curses, and I think I have the perfect idea!” he said, clapping his hand on your shoulder.
“You do?” you said.
“That’s right. It was actually inspired by what you did on that balcony,” he said.
“And what would that be?” Maki said.
“Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that if this works, you might find yourself more grateful than not to that cursed technique of yours!” he said.
“Let’s hear it, then,” you said eagerly. Anything that meant you would be stronger was welcome. Increased competence was something to be celebrated, after all.
“Take a look at these!” he said, whipping out a small container and letting you inspect it. It was a tiny box, clear and probably able to fit in your breast pocket, but it was packed with hundreds upon hundreds of thin, sharp silver needles.
“Did you pick up embroidering or something?” Maki said, wrinkling her nose, “Interesting hobby. I was always bad at it.”
“I’m pretty good, though I don’t know why that matters. Did you need me to monogram your uniform or something? I mean, I can, if you want,” you said, somewhat put-out at this development.
“Oh, can you do mine? I tried once, but I had to quit because it was so ugly it made me cry,” Maki said eagerly.
“Sure, what color?” you said.
“White —”
“They’re not for embroidering!” Gojo said, cutting her off, “They’re for fighting. I cursed them the way you cursed that hairpin, see? The concept is the same. You use your technique to pick out a weak spot and then hit it with one of these. The difference is that these needles are far more deadly precise than any mere accessory ever could be.”
“That makes more sense,” you said.
“Seriously? Seriously? I finally found a new partner, and you make her specialize in long-range attacking? I’ll never forgive you for this!” Maki screeched.
“It’s not really my fault. Blame it on her cursed technique!” Gojo said. Maki was fuming now; you could practically see the steam pouring out of her ears.
“The next person you bring me better want to learn close combat, or so help me, Gojo, I’ll — I’ll — ugh!” She threw her hands in the air, stomping away and leaving you standing with Gojo.
“Will she be alright?” you said.
“She’ll get over it,” he promised. “Don’t worry.”
“I feel bad she’s disappointed, but I won’t lie and say I wanted to train with her,” you said with a shiver as she began to trade brutal blows with Panda, neither of them holding anything back.
“I don’t blame you,” Gojo said, tone far away and dreamy, “She reminds me of someone I knew once, and if she’s truly anything like that, then you’re right to be scared.”
“Thanks for the boost in confidence,” you muttered.
“Count yourself lucky that you’re friends with her, then. There’s some people that Maki Zenin would go to the ends of the earth to protect; it would not surprise me if you are one of them. And if you are not yet, then you will be, soon enough,” he said.
“That almost feels worse,” you said, “I don’t want to be the reason someone goes to the end of the earth. I want the people I care for to be safe.”
“We can hardly control what others do for us out of love,” he said before flicking you on the forehead, “Now enough depressing talk. Let’s throw some needles!”
You pouted and rubbed the now-sore spot sadly. Gojo ignored this, snickering and setting up a target while you waited patiently for something to happen.
“Obviously, since this isn’t a living being, you won’t be able to use your cursed technique on it, so I’ve taken the liberty of creating several false weak spots. Your job is to stick a needle in all of them! It sounds easy, but I foresee it to be quite difficult. After all, who ever heard of throwing needles?” he said.
“Not me,” you said, “This was a bizarre idea.”
“True, but needles are far easier to store than knives, and anyways, I thought it somewhat ironic, you know? The failed healer, using needles to kill people. Creating wounds instead of stitching them,” he said.
“Wow, you’re a regular poet,” you said dryly, accepting the box he gave you.
“Thanks, I know. These needles aren’t the cursed ones, by the way; I didn’t see the sense in wasting the good ones when it’s unnecessary. Not that it’ll be hard to create more if needed,” he said.
“Right,” you said, taking the first needle out and rolling it over in your hand. The metal was smooth and cold, warming only slightly in your palm. The sunlight glinted on it, causing an almost unbearably bright glare. You tore your eyes away, focusing them on the target.
Taking careful aim, you tossed the needle towards it. The silver object did not even make it halfway before its arc petered out and it fell to the ground, lost in the dusty sand of the practice field.
“I told you!” Gojo said. “It’s hard. You have to think of it less like a ball and more like a bullet.”
“What does that even mean?” you said, throwing another needle. Just like the first, it fell far before the target, and you winced at the abysmal failure.
“You’re throwing it, but really, what you want to do is shoot it through the air. It should go straight, not in an arc,” he said.
“This is all so complex,” you said, adjusting your stance and then trying to do as he had instructed. To your surprise, it worked — the needle stuck in the target, though your aim was wildly off. You were nowhere near any of the weak spots Gojo had marked, but you still allowed yourself to feel a little bit of pride at the small improvement.
“Nice improvement. Now I want you to not think about the needle at all,” he said.
“What? What do you mean?” you said. He hummed in thought, perhaps trying to find the words to clarify his statement.
“If you focus on the needle, that means you’ve lost sight of your target. In order to actually hit something with finesse, you can’t think about the action but rather the end result. That’s all that matters, right? Don’t worry about what might happen. Don’t worry about your hand wavering. Just — just hit the target,” he said.
“You make it sound so simple,” you said, clenching your jaw and trying once again. You missed this time, too, and it made you groan in dismay.
“I know. I’m sorry,” he said, though that hardly made anything better, “It’s something that will come to you eventually. All that you can do is practice.”
The entire afternoon was whiled away in this manner. Everything faded into the background; the only thing remaining was the sharp tang of sweat, the feeling of metal between your fingers, and the burn in your muscles as you pushed, harder and harder. You were determined not to quit until you did it at least once; until you hit one of the weak spots. Gojo had created three, none any bigger than the head of a pin. You were barely able to see them from your distance, another barrier to your success — though this was not a permanent one, as your cursed technique had no such limitations.
Gojo tried halfheartedly to get you to stop a couple of times, but he was too willing to back down when you refused. He wanted this as much as you did, so you sacrificed sanity for strength and kept going until the sun began to set.
“One more try,” you begged when you saw him open his mouth, “Just one more.”
You both knew it was a lie. It would not be enough until you hit the target, but he did not point this out, only nodding.
“One more try,” he agreed.
You closed your eyes and tried to take apart your movements. What was it that you were missing? What were you doing wrong? What minor shifts could you make that would ensure success? What, what, what?
“Bonito flakes.” A voice startled you out of your rumination; you were not sure when the others had gotten there, but Maki, Toge, and Panda were all standing and watching you. Maki was scowling, Panda seemed contemplative, and Toge’s face was carefully blank.
“True enough,” Panda said before adding for your sake, “He says you’re overthinking.”
“And he’s right!” Maki said, “Ignore whatever Gojo’s taught you. I’m your combat instructor, and don’t you forget it! I’ll admit I don’t know much about throwing weapons…but it’s certainly more than he does!”
“Okay,” you said dubiously.
“You’re so concerned about getting everything perfect that you’re forgetting the truth of it — once you’ve thrown, the needle’s out of your hands, both literally and figuratively. Don’t be scared or try to overcorrect before the mistake even happens! Throw it and be done with the affair,” she said.
“Huh?” you said. She knocked on your skull, as if checking to see whether it was hollow or not.
“I know you heard what I said, so I won’t repeat it, because I’m not in the business of wasting anybody’s time, unlike certain individuals. You’re so stuck in your own head that you’ve already mentally gone through an infinite amount of failures before you so much as lift your hand. Trust in yourself a little more,” she said.
“Salmon!” Toge said encouragingly.
“You’ve got this, Y/N!” Panda said. You were overwhelmed, both at their support and at Maki’s words. Stupid, stubborn tears sprung to your eyes, and you wiped them away hurriedly. There was no reason for you to cry; they were only being polite to a classmate.
“Go on, then,” Maki said, standing beside you with arms crossed, jutting her chin out at the target, “Hit it so we can all shower and get something to eat.”
“You guys didn’t have to wait for me,” you said.
“Yeah, we did,” she said brusquely, “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t? Now hurry up.”
Biting your lip, you listened to her advice and pushed every thought out of your mind. Gojo’s words rang in your head, too, and surprisingly they helped as well. Your vision sharpened and everything came into crystal-focus as you took a deep breath.
“Thank you, Maki,” you said. You knew the needle would hit before you had even thrown it; it was just something you were certain of, deep in your bones.
“This is what I specialize in. It’s nothing. There’s no need for you to thank me when I was just giving advice to a fellow sorcerer,” she said. The needle struck true, piercing the mark over the target’s heart. Gojo whooped, and Panda burst into cheers.
“Tuna tuna!” Toge said, pointing at the target, as if you had not already seen, as if he had to drive home the fact that you had done it.
Your attention, though, was only on Maki, who was blushing slightly, a frown twisting her features, arms folded across her chest protectively.
“That’s not what I was thanking you for,” you said.
“Whatever,” she said, turning away, tossing her hair, “Like I said, it was no big deal. You can thank me by taking a really good shower — because right now, you’re disgusting.”
“Sounds like a plan,” you said, “And…Maki?”
“What?” she snapped. You smiled brightly at her.
“If you drop off your uniform in front of my room, I can have it embroidered by the end of this week. White, right?” you said. Her expression softened, and she nodded.
“Yeah, white is…white is good.”
Embroidering was familiar and comfortable, the repetitive, painstaking motions of the needle soothing your racing mind. You were lost in the monotony, a peculiar calm settling over you. You did not think nor feel; you simply existed, with nothing and nobody to worry about besides getting the next stitch right.
This was why, when your door slammed open, you did not so much as look up from your careful work. You continued until you had finished, breaking off the thread with your teeth and tying it in a nearly imperceptible knot. It was perfect, the lines ruler-straight and even, the thread flat, without any gaps where the fabric might peek through.
“You really are good at embroidery!” Gojo said, clapping in delight as he peered over your shoulder.
“Thank you,” you said, setting aside the shirt and turning to face him, “Is there a reason you burst into my room? What if I had been indecent?”
“I knocked for about a minute. When you didn’t respond, I got a bit worried!” he said.
“I was distracted,” you said.
“That much is evident. Anyways, I’m here because I need your help!” he said.
“You do?” you said. He considered this.
“In a manner of speaking. See, reports have it that there’s a dangerous curse present in a high school nearby — I’m talking special-grade,” he said.
“Oh, no,” you said, a pit forming in your stomach, “That’s not good. Does it have any victims?”
“A few. See, the thing is, it doesn’t behave like a normal, wild curse — it’s been tamed somewhat, in a way. Or, more likely, it’s attached itself to someone at this school. I’ve identified a likely suspect, and the story checks out. The people the curse attacked were bullies of the boy, so he almost definitely thought it was a sort of self-defense. We have to apprehend him, though, can’t have wild curses roaming about for no reason and whatnot,” he said.
“Who’s we?” you said, “In what world can I handle a special-grade curse?”
“None of them! Er, no offense,” he said.
“None taken. That’s exactly my point. I won’t do much good at all, so why bring me along in the first place?” you said.
“Ah, see, I want to avoid a firefight. Who knows what the consequences of that might be? If it comes down to it, I’m confident I can subdue the curse, but I shudder to think of the destruction that might follow such an event. And, contrary to popular belief, I don’t relish in carnage, so I was thinking that you could join me and convince the curse’s wielder to come along without a struggle,” he said.
“How do you expect me to do that?” you said.
“I’m so glad you asked. Well, Y/N, it comes down to this: you’re a pretty girl, and he’s a high school boy! Turn your charm up, darling, flutter your eyelashes or whatever else it takes to make him view you favorably. He’ll be more willing to let his guard down with someone who looks as harmless as you always do!” he said.
“Explains why you didn’t go to Maki,” you said, trying to imagine her flirting and finding yourself unable to even picture it.
“So, will you? I can do it without you, of course, but it would be a great way to get more practical experience before your first mission tomorrow,” he said.
“Tomorrow? My first mission is tomorrow, and you didn’t tell me?” you said in horror.
“These aren’t the sort of things you know about well in advance,” he said awkwardly.
“I’m not prepared at all!” you wailed. Though you itched to get into the field, this was tempered with the good sensibility to know that joining a fight while so untrained was a death sentence.
“You’ll have Toge with you. He’s more than capable; he’ll look out for you,” Gojo said. This only lifted your spirits slightly.
“Then I’ll be a useless deadweight!” you said, cringing at the thought of dragging poor Toge down. He would not only have to worry about exorcising the curses but also protecting you; it made you shudder.
“So come with me! That way, you’ll be more prepared and not likely to fold under the pressure when you have to go it alone. I’m not asking you to fight. You won’t be in any danger,” he said.
“Fine,” you allowed, “but do not tell Noritoshi about this. He might burst a blood vessel if he finds out you’re using me in this way.”
“My lips are sealed,” Gojo said, miming a zipper shutting his mouth, “Though you know your presence will come out in the report, right?”
“Yes, I thought so. Just…don’t tell him why I’m really going, okay? I know it’s not truly infidelity, but it still feels like a betrayal of sorts to even consider looking fondly upon another man, feigned though it may be,” you said.
“Your secret is safe with me. Though, for what it’s worth, I doubt you have anything to worry about. Nobody could consider it a betrayal…unless you plan on actually falling in love with this kid?” he said, watching as you grabbed a coat and pulled it on.
“Don’t be stupid,” you said, doing up the buttons with an air of finality and tucking your needles in your pocket, “Of course I don’t.”
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me, finding out they now have a genetic test for psychiatric drug tolerance from your post that just came up on my dash: technology is great but time is cruel. i went through The Trials for 4 years nearly 10 years ago and nearly died multiple times. only got approved for tms a couple years ago and luckily it worked Well Enough, but man. glad they have that for people now. hope you're doing well.
I'll tell you what. I was FURIOUS when I was told about it. But also informed it hasn't exactly been around here in the US, at least, for very long. I've been on and off meds for more than 25 years, and took 2 that gave me anaphylaxis, and one that made my mental illness so much worse, I ended up in an acute care psychiatric facility to detox off of them and find something else.
So now that there IS a way to mitigate that for some people, I'm more than happy to share it. Especially because, from what I've seen, it still isn't a very well-known thing among the doctor community.
And for many insurance carriers, it still does require Ye Olde "proof of failed first line treatments" before being covered, so most of us still had to play medication roulette for a year before receiving coverage for the test. It's still better than decades, but I think it will become far more common as a first line treatment as it gains recognition.
I advocate for it being part of psychiatric first line diagnotic criteria, like as part of the first or second patient establishment assessment. But that may be pie in the sky for now until more insurance companies learn how much money they're saving by not forcing patients to try a half dozen other meds for at least a month before even considering another way. It's all about the money in the world's most expensive fucking medical industry, after all.
Regardless, I hope all of us who HAVE suffered for it, and people who have the potential to, at least see SOME of the information I have and can advocate for themselves and spread awareness to their doctors and providers.
I've worked in insurance, and I grew up with a family of doctors and counselors, so I've learned a lot. And while change can be slow in the medical world, persistence can also pay off as an advocate for yourself or finding an advocate to help. Nobody likes mosquitoes buzzing in their ears all the time, do they? ;D
Anyway, I hope you stay as healthy as you can be!
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youtube
Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared
The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!
#ACLA24#ACLA24Leaders#youtube#youtube video#climate leaders#climate solutions#climate action#climate and environment#climate#climate change#climate and health#climate blog#climate justice#climate news#weather and climate#environmental news#environment#environmental awareness#environment and health#environmental#environmental issues#environmental justice#environment protection#environmental health#Youtube
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Fractured Moments (D’Marre Orlay)
The kid had a point, you know? Allagan technology was truly fascinating in its own way. D’Marre could attest to that. There was something compelling about it, a certain pull that made him want to learn more, even when they were in the throes of Syrcus Tower, and Nero and Unei and Doga had been abducted by the remains of a pact made by the most prominent (and ambitious) Allagan emperor. A certain amount of cruelty was to be expected, at times like this. You couldn’t last thousands of years without something vile stinking underneath the advancements they praised so much. Rammbroes was right. It needed to be sealed off.
…still.
“I feel as though there is something I must remember,” was what he’d said. D’Marre disliked it. Though he’d gotten used to his presence and even thought him (more than) valuable for the task at hand (an observer, though? What a waste of his skill), G’raha Tia was beginning to say some worrying things.
He’s just a kit. He decided. A man, surely, by the way he carried himself, but- well. It was hard not to notice his glances, his hopes for validation and approval, and think he was still a kit.
“Oh, really?” He’d tried to sound interested, but it was suddenly hard for him. Nothing good was going to come of this. It was like the calm before the storm. He’s going to do something rash.
It was inevitable. Though it wasn’t like G’raha’s intentions were in any way concealed from others.
“...I fear with everything I learn, I am less myself.” A familiar feeling. Not a kit or salve-maker in training anymore. A Wood-Warder. Nothing more. What can one do about destiny? When it eats you alive from the inside, threatening to spill from your throat the moment you part your lips to protest? “Might I make a request, D’Marre? When you go inside the tower again, I wish to come with you.”
The fakeness of his smile made his stomach roil with discomfort. “Not like I can stop you,” he shrugged, though it dropped when the young man turned away from him, his eyes fixed on something far over the horizon. “...hey, kid.”
“Hm?” Expectant and open. Hidden strength beneath the youth that stared back at him, waiting and wondering what someone like D’Marre could possibly say to him.
…what could someone like D’Marre possibly say to him?
“...nothing.” Shame biting at his back, at his neck like mosquitos in sticky heat. Don’t be a hypocrite. “See you in the morning.”
----
He kept it in pretty well. Or, well, he thought he had. The next best thing to keeping your mouth shut is keeping it off of your face. When G’raha told them he was sealing himself inside, he didn’t say a word- though of course his gaze flickered to D’Marre, as though approval was the least of his worries.
Don’t hate me. Was what it said. It made him angrier. Stupid kid. How could he know the extent of his wish to hide? To stay in control? To conceal the pouring rain and flashing lightning within him that nearly compelled him to drag G’raha Tia to the other side like some child that was separated from his mother?
“It was the Ancients’ most fervent wish that I could do this,” he smiled, though D’Marre could feel his own gaze tightening. “In a few hundred years, people will see the tower and I will guide them.”
The Ancients are dead, was his first thought, but he kept it to himself. It only hardened his jaw more, tightened his fists- then relaxed them, when he realized how it looked.
He let the moment pass. He would neither give approval or disapproval. All he needed was to say goodbye.
He tried. Very much so. For someone who was practiced in saying goodbyes, he found the words stuck in his throat. So instead, as the doors closed and G’raha showed them his back, all he managed was;
“Boneheaded kid.”
#d'marre#ffxiv#d'marre orlay#idk i like their relationship a lot#ive been playing dmarre more and so. ive been thinking of him#he has such a temper and i love that abt him#fic
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Photo safari to Tanzania Jan. 2024, part 1
Nancy and I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on a photo safari. A friend of Nancy's mentioned she was leaving in 30 days for her 30th trip to Africa. Nancy said that would be cool and her friend said “come with us.” So we did.
Ruth and Bob had been with our guide Raffy recently and he was starting his own guide service. So here we are on a 10-day safari with a new business owner who is going to pull out all the stops for his first clients. Plus Ruth is almost as knowledgeable about the birds and animals of Africa herself.
Above is Ruth, Nancy, Dana and Bob at the gateway to the Serengeti about day 7 of our adventure.
Here is Raffy, Nancy and Ruth having breakfast in the middle of the Ndutu Conservation Area. This is typical of our days. We are always the first jeep out of camp as the sun is just lightening the sky. After several hours of viewing lions, zebras, wildebeest, and gazelle. Raffy parks us in the open and we break out the breakfast provided by the camp.
Did we get to see animals up close?
You bet we saw them all, here is a tonsil check on a male lion of the Upper and Lower Marsh Pride. Hopefully, I have your attention and will start over at the beginning of the journey.
Nancy and I flew Miami-Philly-Doha, Qatar on American Airlines. Doha is about the cleanest prettiest airport in the world. Since we had a 7 hour break there and needed to get on Tanzania time. We opted for a private cubicle to sleep in. Pay by the hour, nice bunks and just what we needed. Leaving Doha at 0115 in the morning we flew 5 hours to Killamanjaro Airport (JRO) in Tanzania.
Changing of the Guard. Turns out that the Captain flying us from Miami to Philadelphia is none other than a former First Officer of mine in Miami, Brandon Lozano. On our flight was his soon-to-be in-laws, Dawn and Mike. We have to get back quickly from this journey since we are invited to Brandon and Jackie’s wedding in Key Largo. Super smooth flight, Capt. thanks for the ride!
Doha airport and Nancy in our “Sleep N’ Fly” bunk room.
Kilimanjaro Airport and Qatar aircraft we arrived on. My visa had been approved prior to the trip but Nancy’s had not. Turned out not to be a big deal, and they allowed her in the country. Everyone we met in Tanzania could not have been nicer, starting with the Customs and Immigration officials. This country knows their future lies with tourism. Every person we met including all the camp staff, asked us to tell our friends about Tanzania and to come back soon.
This is “Simba” a 10-year-old 300,000-mile 4-wheel drive Toyota Jeep Land Cruiser. Raffy and John met us at the airport and drove us to our first lodge, Shamba. We were the only guests at the five-cabin lodge. Outstanding staff and great food. “Simba” is Swahili for Elephant.
This cabin has a loft with a huge bed upstairs, bath and kitchen downstairs.
Mosquito nets surrounding the beds is standard in Africa. Even though there very heavy rains the weeks before we arrived, we only had one or two mosquito bites.
Sitting by the “Camp TV” in the evenings as it chilled down. Nancy at dinner.
While we waited for Ruth and Bob to arrive in Arusha, Tanzania. We spent one day with Raffy in Arusha National Park. This was going to be our appetizer for the parks. A small park but it did have a monkey we would not see in any other park. So we got to see our first giraffe, elephant, zebras and baboons.
Once into the park, Raffy took a side road through the heavy woods. It was a road less traveled. Which is Raffy’s style. We ran across several giraffes which made the entire safari worthwhile in Nancy’s eyes. Things would only get better. The only giraffe in Tanzania is the Masai Giraffe.
Above is a very elusive “Harvey’s Red Duiker”, which is a very small deer. We saw a couple and were lucky to get this photo. I think they get the prize for the homeliest-looking deer.
This is the seventh-highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Meru at 14,980 ft. It is inside the park. Many hikers spend three days hiking up to the summit. Each group of hikers is required to have 2 armed Rangers to protect them from predators.
Above Nancy is standing up in the jeep and taking photos. Tremendous viewing with the top raised.
Nancy face to face with her first of many elephants. This is an older male. He was a half mile behind a female with a juvenile. Elephants have 7 sets of teeth. They wear each of the sets out in about 10 years. This guy was probably on his last set. He was not in great shape. You may have heard about elephant graveyards. Where there are multiple elephant skeletons. These graveyards are in the easiest food-gathering places for elephants that have lost their teeth. Once they lose their teeth they basically starve to death.
This is our lunch break at a park site, that provides picnic tables and restrooms. Armed park rangers are nearby and ready to escort hikers to the top of the Mt. Meru.
This is life in a third-world country. Using gravity, not much to break; just saying….
Out of permitted photos. check out part 2. above.
If you are interested in your own African Safari, check out Raffy’s website: https://maweafricanventure.com
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ok so i just got back from seeing atsv and just oh my fucking god.
like first of all THE ENDING?! LIKE HOW OUT OF ALL THE (honestly small amount of stuff) SPOILED FOR ME HOW DID NO ONE TELL ME THERE WAS GONNA BE A TBC AT THE END?! I CANT WAIT HOWEVER MANY YEARS ITLL BE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT LIKE-
and like half the stuff in this film felt like a maaaaassssssiiivvveeeee metaphor for coming out like the “promise u won’t love me any less” (or whatever see said i’m bad at remembering exact quotes) and the fact that during Gwen’s speech to her dad EVERYTHING TURNED FUCKING PINK BLUE AND WHITE like cmon they aren’t even being subtle abt it u guys (@ the ppl who r denying it not u) just don’t wanna see queer ppl in media they literally could not make it more on the nose w/o making it an actual queer coming out story and not a metaphor (also when Miles and Rio were talking and he was trying to tell her “a secret” aka that he was spider-man and he was going all “i- i’m- i’m-” before bailing she 1000% thought he was trying to come out to her like as queer idk what other way she couldve interpreter that like srsly)
also not to be horny in asks but i need Miguel to fucking rail me for fuck’s sake hes hot and usually it’d be more likely i’d be into a mosquito than a muscular guy (it’s normally too generic yk)
and yeah that’s all my thoughts on the movie that’s i can turn into words (final random ones that idk how to format: Gwen and Miles were like extra baby in this one esp Miles + ik he has a wife and all but Peter and Miguel r definitely doing smthn like the vibes r there u cant deny it + Gwen x Miles is one of those ships that i don’t rlly care whether they’re romantic or platonic but i prefer them platonic and unfortunately the writers don’t seem to agree with me (kinda like Jopper except Jopper kinda grew on my entirely because of Willel being siblings bring extra extra canon) + not related to the contents of the film but there were these group of rlly annoying Neds sitting behind me and my friend who wouldn’t stop talking and going on their phones and i only heard one but according to my friend 2 ppl yelled at them to shut up and i heard them stop for like 2 seconds then start being bitches again it was so fucking annoying) and yeah damn that was a kinds long final thoughts thingy but yeah will this become my entire personality? idk we’ll have to see now if u’ll excuse me i gotta remember how to be a normal human again (hope this wasn’t too long lmao) :p
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH(sorry had to let that out) (it’s happy btw)
yes yes the metaphors, made me cry n everythin,, miles n rio were just !!!!!!! i loved it mostly bcuz i wish that was how my mom would’ve reacted if i ever came out to her (spoiler alert, she didn’t and she found out on her own. she was not at all accepting which is typical)
i mean at first, i thought miguel was comical very comical for having beef with miles, who is half his age!!!! yeah after i got out the theater, i wanted to beat his ass 😡😡😡 but then i could kinda see his attractive still not an excuse, i’d still fight him on sight
peter + miguel, i mean mj would obviously approve,,, they’re my poly couple ok??? miguel n mayday get me in my feels,,, 😭😭😭 like i’ve posted before PETER B PARKER AND MIGUEL O’HARA ATE EACH OTHERS ASSES!!!!! yeah great times
miles + gwen, i don’t really see or care for them romantically.. idk i just can’t see their romantic coding… them platonically just seem so much better to me
sorry abt those Neds,,, they seem like total bitches and you make this movie your whole personality bcuz it will be worth it (secretly goin to make the movie my personality again)
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“If you mean to take me captive, you need only ask. I would come willingly.”
"Is that so?" Tristan drawled as the eyes of a sleeping demon fixated on her with an invernal, unreadable insinuation of peculiar diversion. "Does this habitually work for you? Gaining a position of power by means of martyrdom? My human yesterdays were slightly more confrontational when facing visiting immortals but to each their own tactics, I suppose." Her reassurance was dismissed in nonchalant devilment.
"Tell me. Exactly how much of a fool do you perceive me to be? You are the closest thing your merry band of quaint, local adventurers have to a leader. A werewolf. A novice witch from a rather prestigious if tediously close-minded lineage. A determined duo of lovesick mosquitoes fighting for your affections. In might and power most of your loved ones vastly surpass you. And yet, if you are to examine the picturesque chapters of the secret history of this town, it is your hand, words and tenacity that often guides their fate. Impressive weapons at your disposal, are they not? Grief and pain turned ferociousness. The unyielding desire to protect your people. And most feral of them all, what the world too often deems obsession, devotedly and passionately guided towards the well-being of those you cherish. So yes. I'm perfectly aware that you would obediently respond to my beckoning with the most submissive of dispositions if that was the sacrifice to pay in order to keep any of them safe. Just as I am equally certain of how rapidly you would pulverize my bones and reach to crush my heart in violent greed if such impossible was ever within your reach" The shadow of his smirk could have been interpreted as approving.
"Did you also mention what a well-behaved girl you would be to our naive Elijah before allowing the hidden dagger to reach his heart? I appreciate the bravery but I'm afraid that I don't share his historical weakness towards your pretty face. Although it makes, I will admit, for a perfectly pleasant sight." His gaze finally withdrew in capricious dominance.
"You are mildly amusing, Elena Gilbert. Proceed with caution or I might decide to conquer that interesting loyalty of yours. You would be amazed at just how willingly you could find yourself following me if that was my intention."
@the-last-doppelganger
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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc
The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!
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