#things are not always what they seem

[thisisalwaysmorethanoneknows]

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Chapter 5

Word count: 3207

Summary: A dragonet, Ray, tries to be more important that whom they are and gets way in over their head. They get involved with everything from pirates and evil queens, to buried secrets lost to the sands of time.

Will she get out of the storm and finally live a normal life, or will the world of dragons crush her?

Warnings: blood, violence

____________________________

Ray woke in the same bed she had been using since she came to the MudWing kingdom. That morning marked the fourth year away living with the MudWing royal family. They had grown close to Queen Newt and her children. They had gone on diplomatic missions to the other kingdoms.

They wondered what younger Ray would think if they saw her now. They looked out of their window at the cloudy sky, it would probably storm later.

She got up when she heard someone knocking on her door, wondering who it could be, as there were a number of dragons in the castle who enjoyed hanging out or talking with them. She opened the door and saw Cypress, who had a big, goofy smile plastered onto their face. Although they weren’t sure why.

“Cypress, did something happen?” Ray asked, confused.

“So, I’m sure you remember how I have been under Gums’ apprenticeship since you got here,” Cypress started, beaming, “well Queen Newt finally fired him. I’m head chef now, Ray.”

“Wait, Gums is gone?” Ray asked, relieved. No one in the castle liked Gums as he was either rude, or they had tasted his cooking.

“Yep!” Cypress said, “you should have seen it, he was so pissed.”

“Ha ha, I’m sure he was,” Ray said, “so is that all you had to tell me?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Queen Newt wanted me to grab you for breakfast,” Cypress said.

“Ah okay then, come on, let’s go to the dining hall before Gharial tracks us down,” Ray said.

“Great idea,” Cypress said, snout crinkling.

And so the two of them walked to the dining hall, where they were greeted by the MudWing family. They seemed to be having a pretty heated discussion. Not exactly a rare thing, but still noteworthy.

“No Gharial, we aren’t telling them,” Queen Newt argued, “I want them to stay out of this!”

“But Mother! We can’t keep hiding this from her!” Gharial argued, “you wouldn’t want her to- oh hi Ray.”

Queen Newt turned to look at her, “oh good morning Ray, sorry you had to walk in on that.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Ray said, shaking her head. She was curious about whatever argument they were having.

“Of course, please have a seat, Ray,” Queen Newt said, “Cypress, you already got the food, so you’re dismissed.”

“Thank you Queen Newt,” Cypress said before leaving the room.

Ray sat down and Gharial must have taken it as a sign to start talking.

“So Mother, back to what we were talking about-” Gharial started.

“No, we aren’t talking about that right now,” Queen Newt interrupted.

Gharial huffed, but continued, “okay then, something related to royal business.”

“Go on Gharial,” Queen Newt said, “but depending on what it is, I may shut it down again.”

“I’m sure you won’t shut it down. See, I don’t particularly agree with how you decide what to tell dragons, specifically Ray” Gharial started. Ray’s attention was grabbed by the mention of her name.

“Gharial-” Queen Newt said, but was interrupted.

“You don’t know where I’m going, Mother,” Gharial said, “what I was going to say was that I think I would make for a better Queen. Just based on how you rule.”

That got everyone to freeze, the line being unexpected. Ray wasn’t royal but that sounded like Gharial was asking for a challenge. Gharial wasn’t even that old.

“What are you saying, Sis?” Caiman asked, “Mom is a pretty good leader.”

“Not really, she takes too long with time sensitive matters, she gets sidetracked way too easily whilst on missions, she chooses to withhold vital information from allies and even castle members,” Gharial argued, “none of these make for a great Queen, as well, at this rate, Queen Camellia may even back out and act on her own. And she is our closest ally, Mother.”

“We will talk about this at another time, Gharial,” Queen Newt said, posture tense, “this is not a conversation to be held while eating.”

Gharial’s eyes narrowed, “okay then, we’ll talk about it after we eat.”

“I’m busy after, Gharial, I can’t,” Queen Newt said, “busy doing the duties every queen has.”

“Dammit Mother! This is the fifth time this month!” Gharial growled, “I get you don’t want to talk about some things, but if you keep using your duties to get out of it, I will tear out every one of my back spines in frustration.”

“Language, Gharial!” Queen Newt said.

“Hey, mom, can we eat?” Crocodile asked, “I get this is important or something, but if you don’t give permission soon, our food is going to be cold.”

“Bad time, Crocodile,” Alligator said, elbowing them.

“Yeah, Queen Newt, now isn’t a great time for an argument,” Ray said, “and depending what you have to do after, I can do it for you, that way you and Gharial can finish this.”

“Yeah, let Ray and us help you,” Alligator said, “that way you can deal with you and Gharial’s thing. And so this tension doesn’t stay.”

Queen Newt looked around the table and sighed, “fine. And yes, Crocodile, all of you can eat.”

“Great!” Crocodile said before digging in.

After that the meal was spent in silence. The only voice being Cypress’ small talk when they grabbed the dishes. Surprisingly, Queen Newt spoke after Cypress left.

“So, Tadpoles, you agreed to do my work while I talk to Gharial, do you even know what that entails?”

“I have some idea,” Crocodile said, “as the second oldest, I’ve been around enough to see what you do.”

“And can you deal with a meeting with my generals?” Queen Newt asked.

“Oh, we can handle that,” Crocodile said.

“Okay then, come on Gharial,” Queen Newt said, “we have time to talk now.”

“Great,“ Gharial said, oozing sarcasm.

And like that Gharial and Queen Newt left the room, leaving Ray alone with Caiman, Crocodile, and Alligator. The room was quiet for a moment, but then Alligator started talking.

“Oh, one of them is so going to die,” Alligator said.

“Oh absolutely,” Crocodile replied.

“What?!” Ray and Caiman asked at the same time.

“Didn’t you see how they were acting? Besides, if you listen to Gharial, you’ll know she’s more than ready for the throne,” Alligator pointed out.

“I guess it makes sense?” Caiman said.

“Huh, didn’t expect it but okay,” Ray said.

“Guys, we still have a meeting to go to,” Crocodile said, “if we’re late we’ll be in big trouble.”

“Shit, right!” Alligator said.

And so the four of them darted out of the room to deal with a meeting

·

··

·

The quartet trudged out of the meeting hall, tired. They had severely underestimated just how awful a meeting would be. It made Ray glad that her and the royal siblings weren’t forced to join meetings.

“Never again,” Crocodile said, “I hated that.”

“Sorry Croc, but this will probably be regular when Gharial becomes Queen,” Alligator said, shaking their head.

“Dammit!” Crocodile shouted.

“Alli, Crocodile, bad time,” Caiman said, “you guys said it yourselves, Gharial and Mom are probably going to fight. We should probably find them.”

“Shit! You’re right,” Alligator said, “where are they?”

“If I had to guess, either the throne room or the courtyard,” Ray suggested.

“Great idea Ray, we’ll check the courtyard first,” Crocodile said.

“But isn’t the throne room closer?” Ray asked.

“Gharial wouldn’t fight in the throne room if she thought she’d become queen,” Crocodile explained.

“Great point,” Ray said.

As such everyone ran to the courtyard as fast as they could. When they got there they saw Gharial and Queen Newt standing off, but not fighting- yet. They were likely just in time. Everyone stopped near Gharial

“Gharial, Mom, what are you two doing?” Caiman asked.

“”It’s like I told you, Caiman,” Crocodile said.

“Yeah, I am taking leadership of this kingdom,” Gharial said, “it’s my birthright, and Mother is slowing down what will help our tribe.”

“I’m being careful,” Queen Newt argued.

“Whatever, are you going to strike first or are you giving me the first blow?” Gharial sneered, “I mean, you could always forfeit.”

“I’ll fight you, you may be my own flesh and blood, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just give up the crown,” Queen Newt said.

“Great, I’ll finally be able to put my training to good use,” Gharial said.

With that, Gharial darted at Queen Newt, ready to fight for her life and the crown. Queen Newt easily dodged the simple attack attempt, and reached a talon out to slash Gharial. Gharial proceeded to grab the attached arm, digging her talons in.

Queen Newt began to charge up fire, giving Gharial time to bite down and tear a chunk of flesh out of the grabbed arm. The attack caught Queen Newt off guard causing her to spit out an ember. With a smirk and blood dripping down her face, Gharial mirrored her mother, and spat out the chunk of flesh; a sight which would engrave itself in Ray's mind. Queen Newt quickly darted around and jumped onto Gharial's back, proceeding to start slashing the Princess' back and eliciting a loud snarl as Gharial tried to buck the larger dragon off with little success. In a last ditch effort to get Queen Newt off, Gharial grabbed Queen Newt's bitten forearm, aggravating the wound.

Queen Newt pulled their arm hard, freeing herself and offsetting her balance, causing the Queen to fall off. Gharial took the Queen's fall as a chance to pin Queen Newt on her back. Gharial raised one of her talons and with a slash to Queen Newt's neck, Queen Newt was dead.

"And that is how you become Queen," Queen Gharial said. She wiped Newt's blood off her mouth before speaking again, "Ray, I would like to talk to you during dinner. I need to announce my reign to the kingdom."

And with that, Queen Gharial flew away, not letting Ray or her siblings get a word in. The four of them looked over at Newt's corpse, left on the ground. It made Ray wonder what Queen Gharial and Newt had been talking about for Gharial to act like that.

Caiman spoke first, "we should probably move Mom."

"Yeah, her body shouldn't be left for animals to eat," Alligator said.

"Me and Alli can deal with the body," Crocodile, "you two go hang out in Caiman's room."

"Yeah, come on Ray," Caiman said, pulling Ray away by the arm

·

··

·

"Ray, Prince Caiman, Pr- Queen Gharial wants you two to come to the dining room," Cypress said, peeking in.

"I almost forgot about that," Caiman sighed, "come on Ray."

"Actually, go ahead, I want to speak to Ray," Cypress requested.

"Okay then??" Caiman said before leaving the two of them to walk by themselves.

"Are you okay?" Cypress asked, "I heard about Newt."

"Huh? I'm fine," Ray assured, giving a smile that felt weak to her, "don't worry about me Cypress, it's not like we were that close…"

Cypress squinted at them, "you two's relationship was positive, no matter how close you two were, it'll hurt."

"Don't worry about it, Cypress," Ray said, "I have to talk to Queen Gharial anyways. If you really want we can talk after, though."

Cypress sighed, "all right."

They stopped at the doors, "whelp, if the Queen wanted to speak with you, I probably don't want to go in. Don't want to be dragged in."

Ray raised a frontalis muscle, "alright Cypress, whatever you say," they opened the doors and walked in.

"Ah Ray, there you are," Queen Gharial said, "I was wondering when you would get here."

"Uh, yeah," Ray said, sitting down, "so what did you want to talk about?"

"A lot," Queen Gharial said after taking a deep breath, "Mother withheld a lot of vital information from you."

"I picked that up from this morning's argument," Ray stated.

"No, before we start, understand that me and our siblings were not allowed to disclose this," Queen Gharial said, "so don't get mad at us."

"Uhh, okay?" Ray said, "although I don't see why I would be mad?"

"Alright, so quick history lesson; like a few millennia ago, like before the scorching, the tribes of Pyrrhia were very different from now, being both stronger, and more suited to their environments. Some of them were very strong and very feared," Queen Gharial said, "fast forward to like one to four thousand years after the scorching, all of the tribes (except Clearsight's descendants) looked the same as they do now, but two tribes still made everyone nervous; RainWings and MudWing. Fast forward to now, and now neither tribe is feared. RainWings are lazy vegetarians, and MudWings are hungry mud lovers."

"And how did you learn this??" Ray asked, confused and kind of lost.

"NightWing scrolls, Queen Nightingale shared with Queen Camellia," Queen Gharial stated, they got up and walked over to Ray, "but regardless, do you understand where I am going?"

"No? I don't," Ray said confused.

"Ray, Mother was trying to ensure our tribe's place in the world," Gharial said.

"What our sis means to say is that Mother planned to have our tribe and the RainWings take over the world in the most violent way possible," Alligator said.

"Alligator!" Crocodile, Caiman, and Queen Gharial said at the same time.

"But you're stopping it, right?" Ray asked, taking a step back, towards the door. Also why was her face wet?

"No." Queen Gharial said, "while it's bad, It's a good plan. We've been looked down on for so long, we deserve this, wouldn't you agree?"

"Wh-what?" Ray asked, backing up more, "that isn't how you gain respect."

"Well, we tried being nice, remember the diplomatic missions?" Caiman asked, "Those were us trying to talk our way up, but they didn't work."

"But still, that won't work," Ray argued, still slowly backing away, "don't you remember Darkstalker? Queen Wasp? The Othermind?"

"It's not the same," Crocodile stated, "no one looked down upon NightWings or HiveWings. And the dragons behind the Othermind were fucking insane."

"But you are still trying to take over through violence," Ray said. They were so close to the door…

"Please Ray, we won't hurt you," Queen Gharial said, closing the gap Ray made, "we're telling you because we want you up there with us."

"I-I can't, this is wrong," Ray said, backing up further, her chest felt tight.

"Ray, do you really want us to be looked down upon?" Crocodile asked.

"No but-" Ray started.

They were interrupted by Cypress entering with a platter of food. They began to speak, "hey, sorry that took so long! One of the chefs messed up but… hold on, what's going on?"

"Cypress, leave, this doesn't involve you," Queen Gharial growled.

"Like hell it is!" Cypress said, darting over to Ray, dropping the food in the process, "Ray, what's going on? Why are you crying?"

"Cypress, last chance," Queen Gharial ordered, "I am not afraid to hurt you."

"Shut it," Cypress growled, "come on Ray, let's get out of here."

Ray just nodded, wiping their damp face. Cypress grabbed her left wrist and opened the doors. Cypress was about to walk out but they were stopped by the snarl of Queen Gharial.

"No, you two will stay in the castle," Queen Garial said, "after all, one of you has highly important information."

"What will you do to stop us? Use your guards?" Cypress asked, "doubtful, you wouldn't hurt Ray."

"I killed my mother, hurting Ray will be even easier," Queen Gharial said.

Ray froze up at the statement, as did Cypress. Neither of them expected Gharial to say such a thing. This seemed to be the straw to break the camel's back for Cypress, as they began running for their and Ray's life, dragging Ray along.

"Guards! Sibs! Get them!" Queen Gharial yelled, "don't let them leave!"

Ray's eyes darted around as she and Cypress ran. There were guards everywhere. All of them after Ray.

"Ray, eyes forward, we can't slow down," Cypress said, bringing Ray back, "we can deal later."

So they kept running, not stopping and barely speaking. Once they got out of the castle they took to the sky, MudWings still pursuing them. One would have thought they were a thief without any context.

After a while, Ray noticed the other dragons, including Cypress slowing down, likely due to their weight being a bit much for a long flight. Ray was concerned for Cypress, what if he couldn't keep up? Would they kill him? They looked over at them, their frontalis muscles scrunched together.

"Ray, what's up?" Cypress asked breathlessly.

"Are you going to be able to keep up?" Ray asked, "I'm worried I'll lose you."

"Don't worry… I'm skinny, remember?" They said.

Ray nodded and kept going. As they flew Ray even started to get tired, with Cypress falling behind. At some point, it started to storm, hard. Lightning came crashing down every few heartbeats. Nothing Ray hadn't flown in, but it was making the flight harder. They couldn't even tell if they were still being followed.

It was when Cypress almost fell out of the sky that they agreed to land. If one of them was badly injured they would be unable to flee. Luckily in their rush they had flown north west, to the sky kingdom. They were able to hide in a cave.

Ray looked at Cypress, both of them shivering, now that they were out of the rain. It was a shame neither were able to make a fire at the moment. But there was a bigger issue at hand.

"Cypress, where are we going to go?" Ray asked, "most of the tribes are on Queen Gharial's side. Where can we go so that she won't get us?"

"What about the Sand Kingdom? They never did like the MudWings," Cypress suggested.

"I don't know Cypress, Queen Buzzard is said to be awful. She could kill us," Ray said, "and the Scorpion Den isn't much better."

"I would suggest the Pantalan tribes, but I don't think we can fly there as we are," Cypress said.

"Yeah, no way," Ray said, "what about the SkyWings?"

"Ray, SkyWings and SeaWings aren't friends," Cypress said, "Queen Swift wouldn't listen to you."

"Yep, and the RainWings and NightWings are a no go," Ray said, "they're way too close to Queen Gharial."

"And Queen Shore is also a bad choice," Cypress said, "and we sure as hell can't go to the IceWings."

"Sanctuary? Possibility?" Ray asked.

"Sanctuary is a meeting place for tribes, and Possibility is in between the Sand and Sky kingdom," Cypress reminded them.

"So do we have to live in caves until this all blows over?" Ray asked.

"No," Cypress said with a determined look in their eye, "you're going to Pantala."

"Are you sure?" Ray said, "that isn't an easy flight, we have to cross the Sky and Sand Kingdom, undetected."

"That's our best bet," Cypress said, "also if we stay here, we will be caught by SkyWings."

"Oh yeah… right," Ray said.

"Anyways, we have a whole storm to plan through," Cypress said, "but you need sleep."

"Fine," Ray said, they laid down and closed their eyes.

#wings of fire #wof #there is always more than one knows series #things are not always what they seem #fanfic

[thebabblingbrookenook]

#things are not always what they seem #poetry #look a little deeper

[certifiablyinsanez]

It’s so cute when people think Crowley is suave and sexy and cool. Like, only under the threat of destruction by Satan himself can make this demon say ‘fuck’ apparently. He has a corny ass voicemail. Don’t give him access to a crystal ball and a fez if you don’t want him to start acting goofy. 20% of his personality is being a Plant Mom. The other 80% is being a Wine Aunt. She cosplays Mary Poppins just cuz. She manages to stay “up to style” and is very bad at it somehow. 90% of his existence can be summarized as “Silly Simp”.

#Aziraphale literally cusses more #“quirky voicemails haven’t been a thing since like 2004 #like she didn’t HAVE to be a Mary Poppins nanny #don’t get me wrong I think they’re drippy but he always sticks out just not as much as Azi #she’s so slay #but she’s not what she seems 🤣 #good omens #aziracrow #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #aziraphale x crowley #good omens 2 #crowly x aziraphale #michael sheen #david tennant

[voltaical-art]

im in agony. a little self indulgent but I think wyll deserves to be told he's loved and have a small breakdown about it

#bg3 #wyll ravengard #tav #wyll x tav #baldur's gate 3 #voltaical ocs #bishop #finally downloaded one (1) font bc i had too much dialog for this #i dont even hate ulder taht much i just thing wyll should talk about ANY complicated feelings he has about him. #also the way wyll always seems to be quoting him like pls what are YOUR THOUGHTS not some cryptic thing your father told you 10 years ago #and rlly if you take the way wyll describes the situation as hard truth #ALL the justification Ulder had for banishing his son #are conclusions WYLL has come to on his OWN since ulder only said ‘one word to him’ #LIKE his relationship with his father could have been SO interesting but wyll isn’t allowed to have ANY introspection at all #so he just apologizes and wyll continues to try and please him

[beaulesbian]

Brad Boimler & Beckett Mariner in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x07

Ensign’s log, stardate 58460.1. The Cerritos has just entered the orbit of Krulmuth-B. Home of the Krulmuth-B portal, one of my all-time favorite portals.

#star trek strange new worlds #star trek #trekedit #snwedit #startrekedit #lower decks #brad boimler #beckett mariner #marinler #mariner x boimler #snw spoilers #bradward boimler #star trek lower decks #star trek spoilers #mine #gif:star trek #i just love everything about them and this episode so much #the way mariner always puts up a front even about things she enjoys - like the museum stuff #but even if she seems uninterested she pays attention a lot #also about what boims is always talking about and what he likes - like the portal #and boimler is always surprised but is also listening to her a lot #they just make a great team i love them <3

[coquelicoq]

what i like especially about the pronouns in the goblin emperor is that this language doesn't just have the T-V distinction (aka informal vs. formal second-person pronouns, in this case 'thou' vs. 'you'), it also has informal and formal first-person pronouns. having BOTH of these distinctions in the same language lets you fine-tune your tone by mixing and matching. with only one axis of formality, when you use informal pronouns, are you being familiar in an intimate way, or in an insolent or dismissive way? when you use formal pronouns, are you being polite or standoffish? you can't tell just from the pronouns; there's ambiguity. but a language where you can use a formal first-person pronoun in the same sentence as an informal second-person pronoun allows you to distance yourself (via the formal first) while also being familiar (via the informal second), thereby achieving the conversational tenor known to linguists as Fuck Thee Specifically.

#just kidding i don't know what linguists call that tenor. or any tenors. i'm not totally positive what a tenor even is #but i can't let that stop me from writing a jokey post on tumblr dot com #register is a very interesting area of linguistics that i know very little about #so i'm probably revealing the depths of my vast ignorance here to all the sociolinguists who surely hang on my every word #but i've always thought of the formal/informal pronoun thing as being about two things: intimacy-distance & rudeness-politeness #and of course you can usually tell from context whether a formal pronoun is meant to indicate distance or politeness #(plus distance and politeness are related to each other (to various degrees depending on culture)) #but it seems like it would be cool to have a built-in alignment chart of sorts just for pronoun combos #instead of prep jock nerd goth...why not try intimate self-effacing polite superior? #the goblin emperor #pronouns #register #sociolinguistics #my posts #f #anyway i know i said i wasn't going to reread the goblin emperor...but guess what. lol #and i edited my tags on that earlier post but fyi the language DOES distinguish between plural and formal singular pronouns #i had said i thought it used the same pronouns for plural and formal but i just wasn't paying close enough attention #so anyway i just reread the part where maia is talking to setheris in formal first and informal second #and you can see setheris going ohhh shit. oh shit oh shit oh shit #i'm in biiiiiig trouble #you sure are dude. that's the Time to Grovel signal #it's interesting because at the very beginning of the book when i first saw the formal first used i just thought it was the royal we #because i knew the main character was supposed to be royalty #but then EVERYONE was doing it. so it's not the royal we it's just the formal we #however. this does make me realize that the way the royal we would function in a language that retains the t-v distinction #is the same way i'm describing here. it's just reserving that particular tone (i'm better than you and am displeased with you) #for royalty only. which makes sense given royalty's whole deal

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

Hello may 31th anon! Look at that, another year behind us and a new one to come. Have a nice day! ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡

#may 31th anon #hello friends!! (｡’▽’｡)♡ how are you!! I missed you so much! #I'm sorry that once again i have not been posting but I did that thing again where I got scared of posting #I do not know why but it is the same with physical paper diarys #I have 3 diarys and they all have 1 entry #I think one just says 'I am ten' #what have you been up to!! did you do something fun? is it summer too where you live? c: #my tumblr messages seem to be broken! I'm sorry if you wrote something :C it just says 'no new messages' despite also saying new messages #not a lot has happened here! I got a tomato plant and then I got very invested into the tomato plant and I have eaten three tomatos so far ( #my roses are also doing well!! I just got a new yellow rose and since she got here she only made orange flowers #I do not know the meaning of that #but I am very thankful! ( ˊᵕˋ )♡ I love it when things are orange!! #I've been trying to buy an orange shirt for the past 2 weeks but they always sell out before I get to them #I'm also thinking about buying a jean jacket #I have not worn a jean jacket for at least 15 years because one time in 7th grade tthe girl behind me said #that I was wearing a cool jean jacket and I just assumed that this was bullying for no actual reason #but maybe she just thought that it was an acutal cool jean jacket #we'll soon have out 10 year school reunion #maybe I should ask her #is anyone else going to a secret Sherlock phase again #I just want to see that silly little hat again #would sherlock holmes wear a jean jacket #have a nice day everyone!! #see you soon hopefully!! #♡＾▽＾♡

[moreaugriffins]

IDK who needs to hear this, but Egon and Ray aren't the only autistic og ghostbusters

Peter is too

Your telling me this man with two PhDs related to psychology, who always has the exact right thing to say to manipulate a situation to his favour (when it's a planned/known situation), but cocks up massively when it's an unknown situation, who has a massive reaction to getting slimed (more so than the others), who would rather joke all the time than take a situation seriously because wtf should he say

you're telling me this man is neurotypical?

nah

Winston's the only NT in this group (idk how he deals with these weirdos (affectionate))

#rambles #ghostbusters #the real ghostbusters #to be specific i guess #peter venkman #egon spengler #ray stantz #winston zeddemore #i've encountered a few autistic people like peter #it's mainly the focus on business and the intense interest in studying people and behaviour and the mind #but he gets so irritated and angry when he gets slimed #the same way i feel when oil or glue gets stuck on my skin #“but he's so good at social situations-” but that's just it! #he is! #because he studies people - studies their reactions - their interactions #a business chat always goes the same way so he can plan what to say to get the best thing out of it #when he flirts with women it seems to be the same way each time - like he's planned it - because he thinks it'll get a reaction he wants #and i dare say that Peter masks a lot more than Ray and Egon. i mean he was a probably more of a cool slacker type at uni and got on well #with more popular students (sorority house students? idk im not american) and yknow it was the 70s! couldnt exactly be fully himself #idk where im going with this - ive lost my train of thought #but yeah #peter is autistic as well and i'll die on this hill

[betweenblackberrybranches]

First meetings part 2

<< < >

In which Sun has a panic attack and Y/N tries their best to help.

Sun and Moon do not share the same memory pool, if they are "sleeping" when the other is active they do not automatically know what happened in that time. Though they do usually tell eachother everything imidiatly after "waking up". They often stay awake when the other is active though to keep eachother company.

But yea seems like Moon was the last one active before, well, whatever happened to them, while Sun had a lil nap.

#dca fnaf #fnaf sun #daycare attendant x y/n #sundrop #automaton au #my art #tw anxiety #tw panic attack #dunno what else to tw if you have any additions tell me #i know that update is a lil more cartoony and has no nice backgrounds im sorry #i hope yall still like it #i just wanna hug sun in this #y/n also wants to hug him but isnt sure if thats a good idea #asking before touching someone is always a good thing #well atleast sun is not naked anymore with his blanket not that there was anything to see anyways but it seemed to really stress him out

[thisisalwaysmorethanoneknows]

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Chapter 2

Word count: 1976

Summary: A dragonet, Ray, tries to be more important that whom they are and gets way in over their head. They get involved with everything from pirates and evil queens, to buried secrets lost to the sands of time.

Will she get out of the storm and finally live a normal life, or will the world of dragons crush her?

_______________________

"WHAT in the three moons is this SeaWing dragonet doing with my children?!" Queen Newt yelled, "did you kidnap them?"

"N-no! I would never," Ray stammered, having not expected this reaction, "I was just-"

"You were just what?!" the armoured queen asked, smoke pouring out of their nose,"what were you trying to do?"

"I had overheard you were looking for them so I-" Ray was once again rudely interrupted.

"So you were spying on me? Of course!" Queen Newt accused, "who set you up for this? Shore? Your parents? Or do you work for some other group?"

“No one set me up!” Ray assured, “this was only my idea, no one else knows about this!”

The MudWing queen squinted at Ray, seemingly looking for something. Ray had no idea what they were looking for but they must have found something they didn’t like, “I can’t trust you, but you seem to be too stupid for this to be a plot. So instead of taking you to Queen Shore, like I should, I just want me to grab your parents and bring them to me, so we can talk.”

Ray was surprised by the rational response, considering how the Queen had blown up. She had expected Queen Newt to blow things out of the water. Ray wanted to work with Queen Newt, but they didn't want her parents to be brought into this as they would be more than pissed, "is there another option?"

"The other option is I bring you to Queen Shore and tell her about this. Then you can explain to her how you found my children and why you were eavesdropping on me," Queen Newt said, "so what will you do?"

"I'll get my parents…" Ray said, head down.

"Good, now go on," Queen Newt said, before adding, "and if you'd like to stay in the ocean, you'll return."

Instead of pondering how Queen Newt could carry out such a threat, Ray decided to do as she said. She left the visitor's pavilion and swam home, the one place they avoided during the day. They swam pondering how they'd explain to their parents the situation without pissing them off too badly.

·

··

·

They carefully poked her head into their home. It was unusually quiet, maybe her parents weren't home (or so she hoped), but unfortunately, her mother and father must have taken a breather from arguing. This was hinted at by her mother's shouting.

As usual, Ray just tuned them out. There was nothing to gain from listening in, after all, they always fought about the same stuff; food, housing, her mother or father being unfaithful, Ray. Ray unfortunately didn't have time for this, so they slammed the door as hard as a dragonet their age could.

Their parents must have heard as they shut up. She heard them swim into the entry room and saw as they stopped. Her father's face scrunched up in annoyance when they saw her while her mother's face went from angry(from her previous argument) to just nothing. So not a great start for the worst conversation she'd had.

"Ray, I thought you'd be with Goblin like you usually are," their mother signed calmly, Ray wondered when she'd blow up.

"Yeah Ray, why are you home at this time?" her father added, "you know what we've told you."

"Yes I do know. But, see I didn't come because I wanted to," Ray started, wringing her talons, "see, the MudWing queen sort of ordered me to get you two."

"The MudWing queen?!" Her mother signed, scales glowing as bright as she could, face twisted into a snarl.

"Ray what the fuck did you do this time?!" Her father asked, just as pissed as their mother.

"Who said I did anything wrong??" Ray signed, annoyed but not surprised by the reaction, "me and the queen just had a bit of a… misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding? So you did something so stupid that it was mistaken as an illegal action?" Her mother asked, "nevermind, of course you did. Come on, let's deal with this, then when we get back, I'll give you a proper punishment."

"Y-yes mother," Ray signed, her parents swam past her and she reached out to take their hands like she had seen her friends do.

"Don't touch me, Ray!" Her mother signed, "and stop calling me that! We aren't around other dragons."

"R-right mo- Crayfish," they signed, taking her talons back. They weren't sure what they even expected there…

·

··

·

Ray's shoulders hunched as they and their parents exited the ocean and entered the Visitor's Pavilion. Her mother and father shook off water before they entered (must always be presentable to others but never to Ray). They walked up to Queen Newt who was speaking to her dragonets. They looked up to see the approaching SeaWing family.

"Ah, you're finally back," Queen Newt stated, "I thought I would have to carry through with my threat. So you're Dragonet's parents?"

"Yep!" Her mother said, putting on a smile (Ray had seen dolls with smiles more real). Crayfish put her arm around Ray, "this is my daughter."

"So Ray told us you wanted to speak to us," her father said (again with the poorly faked smile).

"Yep! See, your daughter has done some illegal actions," Queen Newt explained, "from eavesdropping on me, to getting her hands on stuff she shouldn't have, and entering places she didn't belong in."

"Is that so?" Her mother asked, she turned to Ray and signed, "Ray, you are dead meat when you get home."

"Understood, Crayfish," Ray replied, trying not to grimace too hard.

"So, Queen Newt, is that all?" Ray's father asked, "I'm assuming you informed us so we could punish her ourselves."

"No, I'm speaking to you two because there is no good reason for a dragonet of your daughter's age to be doing anything like this," Queen Newt explained, "so I wanted to meet the parents who could raise such a dragonet."

"Pardon?" Her mother asked, confused as Ray, "we didn't raise her to be like this! Tell the Queen, Ray."

Ray hesitated, they wanted to tell the truth but she didn't want to piss off her mother any further. Though, some part of them wanted to see what would happen if she told Queen Newt all about her parent's treatment of her. Ray tried to ignore it but it seemed better than the other option.

"Come on Ray, do NOT get us in trouble," her mother signed.

Ray didn't obey. Instead she did what that part of her said to do. She spoke up, "no they did not raise me to be like this, in fact, they barely raised me at all."

"Is that so?" Queen Newt asked, putting up a sweet, saccharine smile, "please tell me more, Dragonet."

"Oh don't listen to her, Queen Newt," Crayfish said, "you know how dragonets are, always making shit up."

"I'm sorry SeaWing did I ask you to speak? No I did not, so shut the fuck up," Queen Newt ordered, "now I asked your dragonet to speak, as dragonets are less likely to lie to my face then you two are. Now dragonet, I'd like for you to tell me everything about your parents."

"Okay Queen Newt I think you've overstepped your boundaries. You aren't our queen so I don't think you can order us around," her father said, "come on Crayfish, Ray, we're going."

Her father grabbed her and her mother by the wrist and dragged them away. They heard talons steps following them but her father chose to ignore it. They kept going until they heard Queen Newt speak again.

"SeaWings, stop before I have to do something drastic," Queen Newt ordered.

"I'm sorry Queen Newt but why do you care?" Crayfish asked, "we are one family out of the many in the SeaWing kingdom. Don't you have more urgent issues?"

"Why are you dodging my questions?" Queen Newt asked, "is there something I shouldn't know? Nevermind I won't get a clear answer with you two around so I have a proposition for you two. You let your daughter live with me in the Mud Kingdom for a while, I keep this all on the down low. Sound good?"

"And if we disagree?" Crayfish asked, skeptical.

"Well, I personally wouldn't want this to reach my queen," Queen Newt said, "but if you prefer being in a world of trouble, I can go grab Shore."

"So either, we give you our dragonet? Or you get us in trouble?" Ray's father asked, "that's not a hard bargain, you can take her."

"Yep," Crayfish added, "go on Ray, go with Queen Newt."

Ray just stared at their parents in surprise. When she said she didn't want to be a background character this isn't what they meant! She didn't really care for her parents, sure, but that didn't mean they wanted to leave. They wiped their eyes, she really should have seen this coming. Why was it even a surprise, her parents clearly didn't care about them. So why did it hurt so much?

"Go on Ray, me and Crayfish are busy," their father said.

Ray silently walked over to the MudWing Queen, head down. They didn't want to leave the SeaWing Kingdom, they had friends here, all of her connections were there. Why did things have to go like this?!

Queen Newt looked sternly at Ray's parents, "leave the Pavillon. I never want to see either of you again. If I see your faces I WILL kill you."

"Whatever, come on, Crayfish," Ray's father said, before walking into the ocean and swimming away.

Ray watched, silent. Queen Newt didn't say anything for a long moment, letting Ray process this. Ray didn't want to process this.

"Dragonet- Ray, I'm sorry all of this had to happen," Queen Newt said, "just know it isn't your fault."

"Why are you acting like this?" Ray asked, "you got pissed when I approached you but now you're calm."

"I just have a soft spot for dragonets with shit parents," Queen Newt explained.

Ray huffed, and looked at Queen Newt, "so what now?"

"First, I finish some diplomatic stuff, then you'll come to the MudWing kingdom with me," Queen Newt said, "if you'd like you can use the time I'll be talking with Shore you can say goodbye to any of your friends."

"How long will that take?" Ray asked.

"Only a day, unfortunately for you," Queen Newt said. She proceeded to clear her throat before speaking in a louder tone, "anyways! I need to get going. I have things to do today!"

Ray wasn't really surprised, adults never had time for them. She shouldn't really expect much to change. It was probably just a constant of her life.

"Don't look so down Tadpole," Queen Newt said, "it had to be done."

"Why?" Ray asked.

"You'll understand as you age," Queen Newt answered. She proceeded to leave the pavilion and fly off.

Ray stood there for a moment, before also leaving the pavilion and swimming to Goblin's house. The swim was easy, memorized. They wouldn't need the knowledge for long though, they wouldn't be here for much longer. They wouldn't know any of their friends for much longer…

She just kept swimming until she reached Goblin's house. They knocked, and Goblin swam out shortly after. They smiled seeing Ray but it dropped when they saw her face.

"Ray," they signed, cocking their head to the side, "did something happen?"

"Yeah," Ray answered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Goblin asked.

"In a bit, I just want to talk to you right now," Ray stated.

And so, the two went inside to talk. The last time Ray would ever speak to Goblin. They didn't want to think about it, so they just talked for a while.

#wings of fire #wof #there is always more than one knows series #things are not always what they seem #fanfic

[tsuchinokoroyale]

Sweater season is OVER… nakey time once more…

Miss sassy grumps is back… I kiss her anyways…

#haters will say she’s yelling at you when her sweaters on too what do you mean she is nicer with the sweater on #they may seem correct but they just don’t get it… it’s her right as a silly baby to always be yelling at her dad for all his botherations #AND my right to weave unnecessarily complicated backstories for her ft. a lost twin sister and sweaters that restrain her evil tendencies #I’m also right btw but that’s a story for another day/just play KH BBS it’s basically the same thing #gpoy #gpoyk

[somegrumpynerd]

Killer goes stage 3 when Nightmare isn't around, so the boys have to contain and calm him down themselves. Luckily they know what they're doing and make a good team, so nobody gets hurt.

And, because I can't make anything serious, bonus from the next day:

#UTDR #UTMV #Killer Sans #Cross Sans #Horror Sans #Dust Sans #My Art #Truce au #Look I cleaned up those sketches! #And added some new ones because I was having fun with them #If you're wondering about what happened #Killer always seems to go for Dust first when he loses control so Dust is the one that gets the knife away from him #After that Horror restrains him since he's the strongest physically #And Cross tries to talk him down since he's had training in the royal guard to stay calm in dangerous situations #Dust stays on alert to blast him if things get out of hand #(Not because he really hates Killer and sees a chance to hurt him #but because Killer had asked him to make sure he doesn't hurt any of them like this. He would never forgive himself) #After Killer calmed down they had a little quiet movie night since everybody was kinda drained #And subsequently forgot to tell Nightmare when he got home (oops) #It's fine he's proud of them and only mostly stressed out by this news

[canisalbus]

Different Italian anon, but the thing with Tuscan C is that it's pronounced like a very strong H sound, which is extra weird cuz the letter H makes no sound in Italian, normally. It sounds the way Spanish pronounce the J. We say it's "aspirato". So then people from there will say things like Hoha Hola (coca cola), and it's funny. It's also extremely contagious, I got family in Florence, you spend 3 days with them you start doing it too before you even realize.

.

#that sounds really endearing actually #answered #anonymous #this is entirely beside the point but I still feel sort of bamboozled by languages that have silent letters #or when letters have multiple pronunciations that vary wildly from word to word #and when the sound and the letter don't seem to match like how J sounds very close to H in Spanish like you mentioned #I'm generalizing a little but none of these are really a thing in Finnish #in Finnish words are pretty much always pronounced the way they are written if that makes sense #I don't know the language terminology but I think phonetic spelling is what you call it #each letter represents a specific sound and you string those together #when you hear a word you can always tell how it's written and when you read a word you know how to pronounce it #even if you're encountering the word for the first time and have no idea what it means #it's comparatively direct and predictable there's practically no need for guessing or memorizing #also the stress is always on the first syllabe and it's so subtle it might as well not be there at all #which sometimes makes spoken Finnish and Finnish accent sound kind of monotonous there isn't a lot of intonation #I was extremely confused by the concept of spelling bees as a kid #anyway long tag ramble but this stuff is just interesting to me

[good-to-drive]

My favorite comments on How Do You Sleep

#i have to admit that i grew up on 90s/2000s rap and hdys always seemed pretty mild to me #but i understand that in context paul took it very hard #tbh the absolute worst thing anyone could ever do to him is to criticize him publicly #to take away his ability to define himself by manipulating his reflection in others' eyes #bc paul was denied self actualization and relied so heavily on his reputation to function as his identity #and john knew that and that's why that's what he fucked with #the beatles #paul mccartney #john lennon #beatles #shitpost #ringo starr #george harrison #how do you sleep #hdys

[jeiyuuen]

Honestly, how am I supposed to live normally with the knowledge that Luffy's flower is sunflower while Law's is Queen of the Night?

#I'm not usually insane over sun and moon things but #they can have it #And looking into Law's flower has been very fun and productive #gave me much to think about #this may seem like a jump but all I can think is that Luffy would absolutely treasure Law #I wish I can articulate my thoughts better but we know Luffy very much treasures what is currently in front of him #He thinks of the Law that's in front of him #Not the one who might not be there tomorrow #Sending my brainwaves to fellow mentally ill people #lawlu #lulaw #jeiyu txt #No because the sad connotations of Law's flower is the part that HE would focus on #But it's okay because Luffy is different #And has always viewed him as a good thing in his life ever since Law saved him in Marineford #Their reunion in Punk Hazard is insane btw because Luffy was really so happy to see him again I'm gonna cry

[sysig]

It’ll all go fine if you’d just don’t worry about it, probably (Patreon)

#Doodles #Handplates #UT #Fellplates #Gaster #Toriel #And technically Sans and Papyrus are offscreen in that last one but they're there! #Starting with a dress because Gaster always needs some pretty clothes! #His cute little angel wings expanded into a shawl :D With a feather-themed dress as well #I was thinking he'd look good in a bleeding-heart pigeon getup - just a little on the nose symbolism hehe - but it'd be very stark as well #But I mean Monsters don't bleed it's fine probably it's just a pop of bright red! Doesn't mean anything! #Thinking about the symbolism of his decorative wings normal-like as well...and of Gerson talking about the Angel of Death.....hmmmm #I'm sure it's nothing haha :) #Thinking again about Toriel taking issue with Gaster's new hole punches but not necessarily of her knowing what they mean #He has to be careful how much he shares of his progress! If she knew what might she make of him? Of them? #Two new little things to be subjugated? Or worse? All the more reason to keep them secret #I like both so much but hmmm he also wouldn't be held as accountable if he kept them secret #It's interesting as well - Gaster had a lot of growing pains with his experiments initially - I wonder how much Fell!Gaster struggled? #He always seems so placid and put together but surely Something breaks him - hard to avoid where and how he is now #Maybe not forever but just for a moment! A moment of weakness is all it takes after all ♪ #All the more reason to have safeguards in place! #Like teaching the boys how to heal! :0 Fellplates!Gaster would be able to heal wouldn't he? But nobody else could haha #Would the boys be able to from the beginning? Or do Fell Monsters have to develop it? :0 Through inaction or through intention? Hm ♪ #It'd be nice proof of concept if they could heal :) No time like the present!