#and 2 ELEPHANT SEALS ARE RIGHT THERE

[civetcider]

i can’t believe elephant seals are real

#doodles #elephant seal #seal #lil funnies #actually one of my favorite animals they look so funny #like living puppets #i know one would kill me in a half second but boy do i wanna pet that thing #why did blob fish become like a meme thing #when 1 they dont actually look like the pink lil nose guy #and 2 ELEPHANT SEALS ARE RIGHT THERE

[mediumgayitalian]

Will would like to say, at risk of perjuring himself, that he did not intend to fall asleep.

Like, he wanted to.

And he did.

But it was not his original intent.

His original intent was to stabilize his patients (success), climb out the back window of the infirmary (success), stick the landing (failure is good for growth), meet Nico behind the Big House (success), and shadow travel to his cabin without throwing up (fifty percent is a pass). The secondary intent was to sprawl on his boyfriend’s lap, taking up as much space as possible in his massive, against-camp-regulations bed (how it is possible to be Dionysus’ nepo baby without actually being a child of Dionysus, Will shall never know), turn off his brain, and watch him play video games for a while.

The issue is that Nico is so comfortable.

Yeah, he’s bony. And yeah, sometimes he gets really into the game and forgets that Will is there, elbowing him in the face as he cusses at the screen in what sounds like ancient Latin. And yeah, the sound of a CoD lobby is the opposite of a sleep-conductive environment. However.

However.

While he may spend hours of his week standing on tables, lecturing on healthy eating habits and regular circadian rhythms via sonnet, and enforcing said habits via taser (rip Leo Valdez, you would’ve loved watching Will taser people for stress relief, come back alive soon), Will is what his friends and family call a ‘big fat hypocrite’.

He wouldn’t know healthy habits if they painted themselves bright neon blue (the easiest colour for him to see), stood ten feet tall, dressed in Malvolio’s outfit from Twelfth Night, and roundhouse kicked him in the teeth his mother spent thousands of dollars on (braces suck). He has not slept through the night even once his whole life. Yesterday, his two meals were 1) twizzlers and 2) audacity. He once measured how much liquid he had in his system on any given time and then drank approximately two point seven litres of RedBull to become, by volume, one half percent caffeine. (His heart did indeed stop. But it started back up again when Jason shocked him, so it was fine. Plus, he wrote it all down, so in reality it was science.)

Also, his dumbfuck peers keep getting themselves maimed, and he was informed unfortunately by Chiron that he cannot strike and leave them to suffer. (Accusing him of violating his First Amendment Right To Petition got him nothing but stable duty.) As of ten minutes before Nico picked him up, he was on his thirty-ninth consecutive hour of being awake. Probably. (He’s reasonably certain that climbing a tree on Friday morning and belting himself to the trunk, Katniss Everdeen style, for a quick catnap was not a fever dream, but one can never be too certain.)

Regardless. Point is, Will had cute boys to cuddle and Thoughts to Think. He had no intention of falling asleep.

And, yet.

He wakes up warm — the perfect kind of warm, wherein you feel akin to a soupified caterpillar in a chrysalis — or like a croissant lovingly shaped by the hands of an elderly chef in Paris and baked with care in a regulated oven — or like a wonderfully blubbery elephant seal baking on a slick rock — or like a space rock hurtling through the —

“Morning, Sunshine,” murmurs a very familiar voice. Following the very gentle murmur is a very gentle smooch on the forehead. Will, still mostly asleep, thinks he would sign off his soul without a second thought to ensure it happens again. “Or evening, rather.”

“Has anyone ever offered you their soul?” Will asks, fuzzy and disoriented. He tries and fails to blink the grogginess away, but the world around him stays dark, and the hand in his hair remains where it is, and he is so, so sleepy.

“Not yet,” Nico says. Will can hear the amused smile in his voice. “Why?”

Will yawns. “No reason. Timizzit?”

“Late, tesoro. Past curfew.”

Will groans, knocking his head gently back into Nico’s hold.

Of course his dumb ass slept through the evening. Of course he now has to drag himself awake and walk, in the blistering, nose-numbing frost (it’s sixty degrees, Solace) across camp, dodging feral harpy attacks (Apollo kids have harpy immunity, William), and trudging into his sad, small, lonely bed (gods above you are your father’s son) where he will of course be fully awake by the time he gets there. God really does give his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. (You’re an atheist, William Andrew.)

“Why me,” he laments, refusing to move from his boyfriend’s lap. Perhaps he will simply wither here, warm, satisfied, and more importantly away from little siblings who will not stop squabbling even when their long-suffering older brother looks longingly and pointedly at a bottle of cyanide.

Nico snorts. “Because the gods are punishing you for your crimes.”

“I have committed no crimes! This is unjust! Partisan! I am Hester Prynne and she is me —”

“Your mother is going to hell for teaching you literacy.”

“Defamation and libel!”

“Shut up, Will, gods —”

But he softens the blow of his words by leaning down, hands on either side of Will’s face, and kissing him like he’s trying to breathe him back to life. Or keep him quiet, honestly, but he smells like woodsmoke and citrus and old leather so Will doesn’t really mind. Even if he did, the chapped skin of Nico’s lips serves as a very good distraction, as does the brush of his thumb over Will’s cheekbone and the cool press of his ring against Will’s heated skin.

“Stay over,” he whispers, shifting his lips to Will’s chin, his jaw, his neck. He scratches his teeth lightly against Will’s adam’s apple and his hemoglobin briefly forget how important their job is. “You don’t have a shift tomorrow and everyone at camp owes you, like, twelve favours each.”

“That’s very convincing,” Will mumbles, unsure if he’s referring to Nico’s sound logic or the breath he blows on the shell of Will’s ear, which makes his arrector pili muscles go crazy. (He could make a more convincing case for the logic if all the blood had not abandoned his brain. Alas.)

“I’m a very convincing person.”

He slides a hand under Will’s shirt and his already very weak resolve pulls out a suitcase, packs its things, and abandons its family to pursue a career in competitive shoemaking. Or something. Nico’s hands are very very cold and it feels really really good for some reason and Will is just one man, okay. He may have been named after willpower but that does not mean he possesses any. And Nico is a convincing person. He out-stubborned Death.

“Okay,” he gasps out, arching into the nail Nico scratches over the intensely sensitive skin of his hip, “I’m staying, I’m staying, please take all your wiles and ship them out into the sea in a wine crate ala Danaë and her newborn.”

“…You are such a deeply strange person.”

“And yet you love me so.”

Nico presses his smile to Will’s forehead. “Indeed, I do.”

#why is he such a Dweebus at literally all times #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo #heroes of olympus #pjo hoo toa #will solace #disaster will solace #will solace is a mess #nico di angelo #nico di angelo/will solace #nico/will #will/nico #solangelo #soft solangelo #established solangelo #dramatic will solace #100 ways #100 ways to say i love you #my writing #fic #longpost

[massiveobservabletidalwave]

Anyone saying the live adaptation of ATLA was bad, does not remember the series well and/or does not understand how adaptation from cartoon to live action has to function. Is it identical to the original? No. Should it be? No. It's called adaptation not remake/remaster, dummies. I loved shifting more of the Zuko/Iroh relationship earlier and to the forefront. Y'all do not remember Iroh well from season 1. His ass got a whole retcon/rewrite to gloss over the very anime trope of "gluttonous pervy old man" to "talented and emotional statesman who is playing a role". THAT is this Iroh, just from the start.

Is the series "darker"? Yes. Is it ANY different from the darkness of the original? Nope, we just freak out watching real people burn to death. Because yeah a FUCKTON of people burned to death and most of the characters are orphaned, lost one parent, or were traumatized by their parents (or all three Zuko you over achiever). If you just now realized that or disagree, go rewatch the series. The message was always "the world is bleak but the youth will always fight for a better one, so we should listen and help them". In what way was that altered?

Oh you didn't get to see the canyon crawlers or elephant seal riding?? Ooooh poor baby, you miss the filler arcs. Yup, they were fun episodes, but they were very much episodes about teaching little kids morality. That's not this show. It is clearly geared towards an older audience. I am rewatching the ATLA cartoon and I skimmed most of season one, watching it but doing other stuff, because it was a bunch of filler. And the live action literally name drops that those things happen!!!! They just do not have the time or inclination to make a shot-for-shot live action remake. Because that's not what this is. Again, ADAPTATION.

It is more blatant about the message now, and somehow y'all still missed it. It added more lore from the books, cooler fights, more spirit world, more relationship movement. All the things from the original, just moved up a season. Which, my sweet ding dongs, will mean MORE OF THE SEASON 2 AND 3 CAN BE DONE SHOT FOR SHOT. Starting emotional arcs sooner rather than later could mean we get more later, when there is less filler! We could get the swamp benders episode in full. We could get the entire wrestling match. Hama. Boiling Rock. EMBER ISLAND PLAYERS. We could get everything! Yeah I could be wrong, but I could be right. And isn't the god damn Jeezy creezy point of the show that it's not all bad? To find the good?

In closing, any adaptation that gives me this June, Azula, Kyoshi, and the hottest tribe ever (how is everyone on the water tribe so attractive?!?!?) is not bad in my eyes. The acting was great, bending was sick, writing was solid as the original (y'all don't remember how corny and dramatic the show was so you? EIP were there for a reason). Give this an honest chance. It's not the original, but it shouldn't be. Because we already have that, we don't need another.

#avatar the last airbender #atla live action #atla

[beautifulelephantsealsunrise]

Ok another question. Can u rank best seal teeths for me ? Very curious !

ohh cool i've never considered this question before!! seal teeth are pretty interesting, it turns out. seals are born with teeth, unlike most mammals, and they usually have 34-38 teeth, depending on the species. here's my ranking of the top five types of seal teeth.

crabeater seal teeth

these things have to be number one simply because they're cool as fuck. despite its name, the crabeater seal doesn't actually eat crabs. instead, it uses its specialized teeth to filter krill out of the water, just like whales!

2. elephant seal teeth

they're nothing fancy like the crabeater seal teeth, but they have to be big and strong since elephant seals use them to fight. plus I think it's so funny how they just look like two little points when an elephant seal opens its mouth.

3. leopard seal teeth

these look a little like crabeater seal teeth, right? leopard seals eat krill too, but also fish, squid, penguins, and even smaller seals! their teeth look very sharp and pointy. leopard seal probably ranks #1 on my list of seals I would least like to be bitten by.

4. harbor seal teeth

I like how they're so uniform and neat. politely sharp little points. this harbor seal is getting its teeth brushed! harbor seals don't use their teeth for chewing -- they're mostly used to get a good grip on fish, which they will then swallow whole.

5. harp seal teeth

delicate and beautiful. need I say more? the harp seal eats many different fish and ocean invertebrates.

plus: bonus pic of a harbor seal showing off its tongue! seals have bifurcated (forked) tongues. this is because they are beasts of the devil.

#seal education #crabeater seal #elephant seal #leopard seal #harbor seal #harp seal #pinnipeds #nerpa.txt

[blueteller]

have not finished the novel but can you please spoil if the family of original cale knows cale isn't the real one? and did krs!cale tell anyone he transmigrated?

Good question! If you don't mind getting SPOILERS, I'm happy to answer!

In short, no, the Henituse family members don't find out, at least not in Part 1 (as Part 2 is still in progress).

I also do not get the feeling that they ever will, because when Cale meets OG Cale, who now goes by Kim Rok Soo himself, he's encouraged to embrace the identity of Cale Henituse the same way OG Cale had fully embraced his new identity in Korea.

Cale's old team on Earth 1 noticed that their "Team Leader" had become different, but he also seems happier and adopted a daughter (his reincarnated mom), so they don't mind the change and are actually glad for him. Which is the perfect reflection of how the Henituse family reacted when Cale "finally" stopped being "trash", because both Cale and OG Cale were not happy before the transmigration swap and everybody could see it. So them changing so suddenly was seen as them "dropping their mask", so to speak – which is funny because that's exactly what happened. Both of them let go of the burdens of their past lives to fully enjoy their new ones. Everybody involved is all the better for it (the only thing the God of Death ever done right, lol).

But here's the interesting bit. While the Henituses never find out, there are other characters who do.

First comes Choi Han, who practically speaking got "spoiled" by the God of Death himself. He gets the memories of his relative Choi Jung Soo, Cale's long dead best friend. Seeing KRS in those memories Choi Han easily puts the two and two together, as Cale never really changed personality-wise from his old life (especially his desire for slacker life, hahaha!).

Immediately after Choi Han finds out, Cale tells Raon as well, as he was present while everything was going down and the curious Dragon wanted to understand. Cale's explanation of his transmigration to Raon was extremely short, but very sweet.

Third, there was Alberu, who found out during the Sealed God's Test – which is a whole huge plotline which is too complicated to explain in detail right now, so keep things short, Cale was put into his old 20-year-old body to re-experience his biggest trauma, and both Choi Han and Alberu got to join him there to help him out. Alberu did not recognize Cale immediately, but he saw him using his Ancient Powers, so he put it together quickly as well.

Then followed one of the most hilarious yet heartwarming exchanges between the two, as Alberu realized that whatever was going on put Cale in a very vunerable position, so he sincerely offered to hear him out. Then Cale, with his usual subtlety of a rampaging elephant, info dumps about his and Choi Han's dimension travellers status. Alberu's reaction is one of the funniest moments in the book for me.

Shortly after, there was Lee Soo Hyuk in the Sealed God's Test, Cale's old Team Leader, whom Cale decided to tell the truth before he went back to the fantasy world; as it turned out that there was a younger KRS inside the same body all along, and he wanted someone to know the truth why he was acting differently all of a sudden.

So Choi Han, Raon, Alberu and Lee Soo Hyuk from Earth 2 were the characters who found out about Cale's transmigration (and also the KRS from Earth 2, but I'm not sure if we count him....? Let's say he counts). But I said earlier, Part 2 is still ongoing... And it looks like Ron and Beacrox Molan will found out soon.

Why? Because they joined in on one of Cale's dimension trips, and with Cale changing his appearance accordingly, they seem to be finally putting it together why Cale's personality suddenly changed overnight 2 years ago. They've seen enough clues, and they're not stupid. The conversation about it seems to be put on hold right now, however, but I'm pretty sure it's going to happen sooner or later.

If things happens as I predict, then that will be full 7 characters (aside from OG Cale, Earth 1's CJS & LSH, and various gods) who know about Cale. Seeing as Cale is allergic to explanations, I doubt anyone else will found out any time soon, lol.

I hope this helps!

#tcf #trash of the count's family #lcf #lout of the count's family #spoilers #tcf spoilers #cale henituse #cale #tcf cale #q&a #replies #transmigration #tcf meta #tcf predictions

[banterismylovelanguage]

If they were animals…

(Don’t. Don’t even ask where this idea came from…. Actually you totally can but anyway)

ALBEDO

Mouse. The reason for this is because I view Albedo’s storyline similar to that of a mouse test subject. Intelligent, used for experimentation, and quietly unassuming but capable of extreme destruction.

KAEYA

Fox… 100% because of the stereotype but then also because of the fact that he defies the stereotype. It’s just that he is expected to trick others by people like Diluc (and mostly only Diluc since he’s very helpful to everyone else). He just has that way of speech that makes him seem shadier than he is, and he’s probably willing to do things that even Jean isn’t in order to ensure Mondstadt’s safety. Resourceful creature.

JEAN

Golden retriever. Okay, this is getting specific, but how else do you describe the most loyal, most eager to help, most self-sacrificing lady in Mondstadt (okay, debatable, but she’s one of them for sure!). Plus, she probably melts like putty when shown the slightest amount of affection. She’s a big softie.

LISA

Surprisingly, not a fox… but a koala. She’s very low energy, and while for koalas it’s because of their diet, for Lisa I think it focuses on her conserving energy for fights (of which she even has a sort of languid style then, too). In this sense, you could think of her as a lion, but I feel koala is more suiting for her because she has a very approachable demeanor. Soft and… cuddly. Sure. Koalas enjoy the quiet, peaceful times, and this reminds me of Lisa’s tea time when we found her sitting by herself. Plus, she works in a library—is that not fitting for a quiet environment?

VENTI

Dolphin. Highly intelligent, friendly, quick, constantly moving creatures. Shown to be very helpful to humans when they’re in danger. Shown to like to be around humans. Curious creatures. Shown to be very like humans… see where I’m going with this?

(If you heard weird things about dolphins… doesn’t apply here. Wipe it from your mind.)

ZHONGLI

Elephant. Highly intelligent, protective, strong memory. I think one key feature of Zhongli is that memory, that and his geo indestructible abilities remind me of how impossible it is to move an elephant, thus…

TARTAGLIA

Hyena. Something about how a hyena’s laugh isn’t actually a very joyous sound, it’s actually terrifying most of the times you hear it, and the rough upbringing of hyenas in general reminds me a lot of Childe’s backstory and his current state of putting on his bloodthirsty front for a fight. It’s extremely concerning. The only thing that is hard to connect with these two is that a hyena typically fights in a pack while Childe is the lone type, and he seems to prefer it that way.

SHENHE

As a lot of artists depict, the snow leopard is so right for Shenhe’s personality. Elusive, solitary creatures that avoid confrontation not just with other cats, but also with humans!

YUN JIN

Rabbit. Not only because they’re very cute… from my experience with them—which isn’t much—they’re very sociable creatures that range from being a bit timid but also extremely silly depending on the circumstances. Kind of a generic animal to pick, but the strongest qualities that I think resonate Yun Jin for me are that they 1), like to keep their living quarters neat (screams Yun Jin to me who may have a messy quarter due to her busy life as a performer, but I like to think during her “free time” she enjoys cleaning up around her place), 2), are great pets for ‘quiet kids’/are also great at teaching kids patience, and 3), can absolutely be so dramatic in the ‘quietest’ way.

ROSARIA

Orca. One, I really like that the orca is also called the “killer whale” but are, in fact, very friendly towards humans. They’re terrifying in that they are larger than life creatures, and the way they play with their prey (seals in particular) is brutal, but their threat to a human is nonexistent. Two, mother orcas help their sons in particular survive, and while Rosaria is only a sister to Razor, I find this dynamic potentially reflective in that Rosaria is clearly older but also extremely protective of her brother, and I just like the thought of this big sis ready to kill for her only brother.

#i don’t even know man #hope you enjoy #rosaria #venti #childe #tartaglia #zhongli #yun jin #shenhe #genshin lisa #genshin jean #jean gunnhildr #lisa minci #kaeya #kaeya alberich #albedo #genshin headcanons #genshin impact #gotta have the silliest posts between the semi-serious posts you know

[talonabraxas]

Green Tara Talon Abraxas

Unveiling the Maa Tara Mantra and Its Variations

The Maa Tara Mantra holds a special place within Buddhism, with "Om Tara Tuttare Ture Soha" as its evocative expression. This mantra encapsulates the qualities of Tara, an embodiment of courage, wisdom, compassion and liberation.

As a fully enlightened female Buddha, meditating on her helps you attain the qualities of Buddha. She is ready to spring to the aid of beings and that's why her right foot is slightly extended. On her right knee, she has her right hand out as a sign of generosity. The stem of a lotus flower, which is in bloom next to her left ear, rests in her left hand.The "Green Tara Mantra," with its focus on a specific aspect of Tara, invokes her dynamic energy. Chanting this mantra with sincerity aligns practitioners with qualities of Maa Tara mainly compassion and courage.

Rooted in ancient Buddhist traditions, the Maa Tara Mantra finds its origin in the reverence for Tara, the compassionate goddess. Tara's name translates to "star" or "guide," embodying the illuminating path she offers to seekers.

Essence of "Om Tara Tuttare Soha"

"Om Tara Tuttare Ture Soha" represents the Green Tara, a compassionate figure attuned to the needs of all beings. Let's find the meaning of this mantra and know what significance each syllable carries:

Om: "Om" symbolizes ultimate reality, Om is the essence of consciousness and represents the entire universe- past, present and future.

Tara: "Tara" represents compassion as it represents a being who has attained enlightenment but chooses to remain in the cycle of life (birth and death) to help others achieve liberation.

Tuttare: "Tuttare" invokes liberation from eight great fears namely fears of lions, elephants, snakes, thieves, fire, water, bondage, and evil spirits.

Ture: "Ture" helps to alleviate your physical, mental and emotional illnesses and represents liberation from suffering and disease.

Soha: "Soha" seals the intentions and hence, it is said at the end of mantra as practitioners seek aspiration for its positive effects on their lives. Benefits of Chanting the Maa Tara Mantra

Let's delve into the Maa Tara mantra benefits. Chanting the Maa Tara Mantra, particularly the captivating "Om Tara Tuttare Soha," bestows upon practitioners an array of profound and transformative benefits. Let's understand the transformative effects that this mantra can bring:

1. Protection from negative influences and fears: Tara, often depicted with a compassionate and nurturing demeanor, is a source of protection. Chanting the green tara mantra invokes her energies, creating a shield against negative forces that seek to impede our spiritual journey. By connecting with Tara's compassionate presence, practitioners find solace and courage to navigate life's challenges.

2. Attainment of peace, courage, and compassion: The resonance of "Om Tara Tuttare Ture Soha" resonates with the core attributes of Tara: peace, courage, and compassion. Regular practice of the mantra infuses our consciousness with these qualities. If your inner self is filled with negative thoughts then chanting the green tara mantra will replace it with tranquility, fear is replaced by courage, and self-centeredness evolves into a compassionate outlook towards all beings.

3. Growth and enlightenment: Chanting this Buddhist mantra acts as a catalyst for your overall growth. Tara, a Bodhisattva dedicated to guiding others, facilitates our journey towards enlightenment. The mantra's vibrations connect ourselves with higher states of awareness, leading us to discover profound truths about ourselves and the universe. As we chant the Maa Tara Mantra, we draw closer to the luminous heart of Tara herself, reaping the rewards she offers to sincere seekers. The transformative power of this mantra transcends words, carrying us towards the realization of our highest potential.

Variations of the Maa Tara Mantra

While "Om Tara Tuttare Soha" holds a profound place, the Maa Tara Mantra embraces various forms, each with its unique significance. Let's delve into two notable variations: "Om Tara Tuttare Ture Soha" and the "Green Tara Mantra."

1. Om Tara Tuttare Ture Soha: This variation extends the mantra to include "Ture," amplifying its power. "Ture" represents Tara's ability to swiftly liberate beings from suffering. By invoking this aspect, practitioners seek not only protection and compassion but also a rapid path to enlightenment. The addition of "Ture" intensifies the mantra's transformative potential.

2. Green Tara Mantra: The "Green Tara Mantra" signifies a specific aspect of Tara: Green Tara. Green Tara embodies active compassion along with wisdom and courage and symbolizes swift assistance and guidance. The mantra aligns with her energies, invoking her presence to assist in immediate challenges. Practicing the green tara mantra encourages a sense of urgency in your mental growth and a responsive connection to the energies of the universe.

[cariantha]

Favors

Book: Open Heart, Book 1 Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Sawyer Brooks) Rating: General Category: Angsty Fluff, Christmas Word count: 2.5K Summary: Sawyer is worried that her crush is getting the wrong impression and is later hurt when she thinks he has taken advantage of a situation. A/N: This takes place during intern year (pre-Miami) shortly before the events in Merry Christmas, Rookie.

Events/Prompts: • Photo prompt from @jerzwriter • Participating in CFWC Holidays 2023 • Participating in Choices Flashfics Holiday Prompts 🎄12: “The tree isn’t the only thing getting lit this year.” 🎅21: “It looks like Santa threw up in here.” 🎁67: “What’s wrong? Do you not like your gift?” • Participating in Choices Flashfics Week #64 Prompts 👨🏻‍⚕️2: “I’m not in the mood for a lecture.” • Participating in Choices Holidays Winter 2023

While waiting in the lunch rush lines in the cafeteria, Sienna reminded her roommates of their party assignments. “...I’ve got the treats covered, Elijah is handling the music, Jackie is making jingle juice-”

“Hell yeah!” Elijah exclaimed, giving Jackie a high-five. 

“The tree isn’t the only thing getting lit this year,” she said coolly.

“Oh, and don’t forget your white elephant gifts!” Sienna also reminded them.

“Shit, I forgot about that. What are the rules again?” Jackie asked.

“The only rule is you can’t buy anything,” Sienna answered. 

“I’ll go shop the lost and found when we’re done here.”

“Or, I saw some pharma reps in the atrium earlier. You could try to hit them up for some swag,” Sawyer chimed in. 

When the group reached the front of the line, a heavy arm slipped around Sawyer’s shoulders. “Thanks for saving my spot, Brooks,” Bryce winked, cutting in line.

“Do you meatheads have to cut into everything?” Jackie barked.

Bryce chomped into the apple he hadn’t yet paid for. “Yep,” he nodded with a big toothy grin. “I’m just trying to get on the naughty list. If you all want to join me, we could save Santa a trip this year,” he joked.

“You’re already looking at Santa’s favorite ho,” Jackie quipped.

“Brooksie, I actually am in a hurry. I need to scrub in for a lymphadenectomy. Do you mind?” he asked seriously.

Sawyer tilted her head to the register, gesturing for him to go ahead.

“Thanks.” When the cashier asked if they were together, Bryce said yes.

“Bryce, you don’t have to-”

He placed a hand on the small of her back. "I've got you, Ipo. I'll see you later," he promised before hurrying away.

“Girl, what are you holding out for? He's hot and he's totally into you,” Sienna teased, once Bryce was out of earshot. 

Sawyer lifted her tray and turned to her friend. She opened her mouth to say something, but froze when she spotted a six-foot-four-inch, blue-eyed attending at the adjacent register. Not knowing how much he saw or heard, a blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks. Feeling like a shy teenager at a school dance, Sawyer hoped the interaction with Bryce hadn’t given her crush the wrong impression. 

As Ethan raised his eyes to her, he gave no indication. Pocketing his wallet, he stoically turned and exited the cafeteria. 

As their shift ended, Sawyer approached her roommates who were walking in the opposite direction down the hall.

“Locker room is that way, Brooks,” Jackie pointed. 

“I know, I just need to run and check on one more patient before I clock out.”

“Do you want us to wait for you?” Sienna asked.

“No, don’t wait up. I’ll be right behind you.” 

After making sure the coast was clear, Sawyer slipped behind the plastic curtain that sealed off the construction wing. Naveen spiked a fever earlier in the day, and she wanted to check on him before going home. She found him fast asleep, and after checking his monitors and medications, she quietly tidied the room. When she finished, she softly closed the door behind her, whispering, “Goodnight, Dr. B.”

On her way to dispose of some trash, Sawyer’s phone buzzed in her pocket.

Bryce knocked and let himself in, making a beeline to the kitchen to find Sienna. “Help?” he asked, lifting a roll of wrapping paper and tape.

She looked at him puzzled. “Where’s your gift?”

“You're looking at it.” He beckoned her to the living room, where he laid down on the floor. 

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” she laughed, kneeling next to him.

A few minutes later, Sienna placed the last piece of tape, securing the wrapping around Bryce’s torso. Using all of her body weight, she rolled him to his back and slid him under the Christmas tree. 

“Si?” he called, his voice muffled. “Do me a favor and start the game sooner than later. I already have to pee.”

In the locker room, Sawyer traded her white coat for her winter one. As she gathered her things, her phone buzzed with an incoming call.

“Hi,” she answered.

“Hi. By any chance, are you still at the hospital?” Ethan asked.

“I am.”

“Could I ask you for a favor? I’ve had something come up at the last minute. Would you be able to stay with Naveen for a few hours?”

By now, Sawyer had come to know Ethan Ramsey well enough to know that he would not ask for help unless he was desperate. “Sure. Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I’m pressed for time right now, but I’ll explain later. I’ll relieve you as soon as I can.”

“No problem.”

“Thanks, Rookie.”

Sawyer was about to text Sienna when Danny entered the room.  

“Hey, Sawyer,” he waved. “I thought you’d be at home getting ready for the party. I’m heading there now if you want a ride.”

“Danny, I’m so glad you’re here! Could you take something to Sienna for me? I’m not going to make it home for a while.”

“How come?” 

She made sure they were alone and lowered her voice. “Dr. Ramsey got tied up with something and asked if I would look after Patient X for a few hours.”

“You should go and have fun with your roommates, Sawyer. I can stay,” he insisted, having been recruited by Ethan shortly after Naveen agreed to be treated.

“That’s really sweet of you, Danny, but I know you traded shifts so you could be off tonight. Besides, Sienna baked a batch of peppermint chocolate chip cookies just for you.”

“She did?” he smiled.

“Yeah. Go. Have fun. I’ll be there as soon as Dr. R gets here.”

After Danny left with what appeared to be a wrapped bedpan, she updated her roommate.

Later, Sawyer was in Naveen’s room, scrolling through Pictagram when her phone vibrated with a new text notification.

Several hours had passed when Sawyer felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“Rookie?” 

“Hiiiii,” she managed through a yawn. 

“I’m so sorry,” Ethan apologized.

“Huh? What time is it?” Sawyer reached for her phone, noticing several missed calls from Sienna and Bryce. 

“It’s almost four in the morning. I would have been here sooner, but I accidentally dozed off,” he explained, helping her to her feet.

“It’s okay. There's no doubt you probably needed it. And it’s been quiet here. His fever finally broke a little while ago.” 

“Good. Go home and get some sleep,” he instructed, “I’ll tell Ines that you’ll be in this afternoon.” 

“Okay.” Sawyer shouldered her bag and headed for the door. “Good night."

“Sawyer?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Thank you.”

With a shake of the snow from her coat, Sawyer entered her apartment and found Landry eating breakfast at the kitchen table. “Oh boy. It looks like Santa threw up in here.”

“Smells like it too,” he grumbled. 

“I’m surprised you’re still going in early after…,” she circled her hand in the air, “all of this.”

“Yeah, well, not all of us are lucky enough to get preferential treatment from Dr. Ramsey.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“What? This is the second time he’s personally assigned you a case. To my knowledge, he hasn’t assigned cases to any of the other interns in the competition.”

“Wow. Well, maybe if you ever crack the top five, he will.” She let him chew on that as she hung her coat and walked to her room.

Bryce turned from the surgical board and spotted Sawyer approaching. “Finally coming to collect your prize, Brooksie?”

Sawyer rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Do you not like your gift?”

“You’re ridiculous,” she shook her head with an amused smile.

“So I’ve been told. By the way, this gift comes with a night on the town.” 

Unbeknownst to her, Dr. Ramsey inconveniently emerged from a nearby patient’s room, catching the tail end of their conversation.

“Bryce-” 

But before she could protest, he backed his way down the hall. “I’ve gotta run. Check your schedule and let me know when to pick you up. And you should know, I have a strict ‘no rejections’ policy.”

She sighed deeply once his back was to her, then turned to find Ethan standing a couple feet away, his eyes focused on the tablet in his hand.

“Dr. Ramsey,” she acknowledged sheepishly.

Ethan glanced at her with a side eye. “Brooks.”

“Rrrrr! Of course he is here right now!” As they moved on to their next tasks, Sawyer told herself it was time for a heart to heart with Bryce.   

"Excuse me, would you please page Dr. Ramsey?"

A few minutes later, Ethan met an attractive woman at the nurses’ station and led her away from the busybodies seated at the circular desk. As they walked down the hall, she handed him a small box. “Thank you, Jen. I really appreciate this. I’ll send you the outcome report as soon as the trial period ends.”

Stepping in front of him, Jen pulled him to the side until their shoulders hugged the wall. "It was great to see you again." She paused as a couple nurses walked past. "We had a good time last night, didn’t we?"

“It was nice to catch up.”

She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but when Sawyer heard the familiar voice, she wondered if her ears were deceiving her. 

“Listen, I would love to see you again tonight,” Jen continued, reaching for the end of his tie and running it through her fingers. “I’m staying at The Langham. Come have drinks with me and…,” she shrugged, "we can see where things go from there.” 

“I-”

Stepping out from the vending machine alcove, Sawyer turned her head in their direction. 

Ethan’s surprised eyes met hers, finding only hurt. He moved Jen’s hand back to her side as Sawyer spun and walked briskly in the opposite direction. 

“Jen, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to go,” he apologized, watching the woman he longed for retreat and disappear from sight. “I appreciate your assistance. I will speak with you later.” 

“Later tonight?”

“I’ll text you,” he said as he sidestepped her.

Ethan’s long strides carried him down the hall quickly. He nearly collided with a visitor as he rounded the corner. “I’m sorry. Excuse me.”

In the far corner of the cafeteria, Sawyer watched the snow fall in the empty courtyard. The sound of metal chair legs scraping against the tiled floor jarred her from her thoughts.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Why? Need another favor?” she said, words laced with disdain.

“Rookie, that-”

“Dr. Ramsey, I haven’t been helping you to win favor or get a leg up in the competition. If you want an intern to run errands and cover for your ass, then let me suggest Dr. Olsen. He'd be more than happy to fill that role.”

She lowered her voice, hurt replacing anger. “I canceled plans with my roommates last night, because I believed that if you were asking for help, it must have been important. If I had known I was only covering so that you could go on a date and get…” She let the rest of the sentence die on her tongue. “Sorry. I know it’s none of my business how you spend your free time, but I won’t let you take advantage of mine.” 

Visibly disappointed, she avoided eye contact. Ethan keenly observed that her disappointment went beyond merely thinking he would take advantage of her kindness. If he was reading the situation correctly, it was the same disappointment he had felt seeing her with the surgical intern.

“Sawyer, let me explain. Jen works for Phlaum Pharmaceuticals. They are currently conducting a trial on a new antibiotic for sepsis. I reached out to her when I heard about it. Her team is in the area promoting a new product this week. You may have noticed her reps in the lobby. She made herself available to meet with me last night. And after some convincing, she agreed to pull some strings to get Naveen into the trial. She was here this afternoon to drop off the treatment.” Ethan pulled a small vial from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“It sounded like you convinced her all right,” she muttered.

“Rookie. I know we haven’t known each other long, but do you honestly believe I’m the type of person who would trade sexual favors? I agreed to a testimonial and a couple expo appearances. That’s all.”

“What? Can you blame me for going there? She said she had a ‘good time,’ and you told me you were late because you ‘accidentally dozed off,’ then she asked you to meet her again tonight…At. A. Hotel.”

He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose at her teasing dramatization, failing to hide the crack of a smile.

“So, how’d you get out of it?” she wondered.

“I told her I would text her later.”

“You don’t text.”

“Exactly.” His knee touched hers, but neither one attempted to move away. “I need to get back upstairs. Can you meet me later to review the trial protocols?”

“I have a few patients to check on. I’ll page you after?” she answered.

Ethan scooted back in his chair, but before standing, he covered Sawyer’s hand with his own. 

“Sawyer, your contributions and the sacrifice of your time have not gone unnoticed. And as far as I’m concerned, you are my partner on this case. I should have filled you in on the drug trial. I just didn’t want either of us to get our hopes up.” 

“Thank you, Dr. Ramsey.” When he moved to stand, she followed. “I’m finished here. I’ll head back up with you.”

The elevator doors were halfway closed when a fellow intern squeezed his way through. 

“Hi, Brad,” Sawyer greeted.

“Sooo, who’s the lucky guy?” he quizzed, embarrassingly indiscreet.

“Pardon?”

“Come on, girl. Why else would you ditch us last night? Your roommates say you’re never home. You rarely come out for drinks anymore. And, you’ve parked Bryce in the friend zone.” Brad nudged her shoulder with his. “Spill the tea.”

“Sorry to disappoint, TMZ, but I’m not dating anyone. I got stuck here with a last minute case.” She made her eyes big and subtly tipped her head toward Dr. Ramsey as a warning. Luckily, Brad picked up on the cue, sparing her from having to tell any more white lies. 

Ethan hid a smile, pretending not to notice the act.

“Any chance you guys will host again for New Years? You’re the only ones with an apartment big enough,” Brad asked as they exited the elevator together. 

“Talk to Elijah. He’s the party planner of the group.” 

Once Brad was on his way, Ethan reached for Sawyer's elbow drawing her back. “You skipped your own party?” 

She shrugged. “You needed my help, and our patient wasn’t in any condition to be left alone.”

“You should have told me. I would have figured something else out…” He looked into her eyes with a sense of wonder. “Thank you. I owe you one.”

She smiled up at him. “You’re welcome.”  

“So, what excuse did you give your roommates?” he asked as they walked side by side down the hall.

“About that…” she said with a tense grin, “I’m gonna need you to assign some of your cases to the other interns in the top five.”

“Come again?”

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @peonierose @potionsprefect @trappedinfanfiction @jerzwriter @queencarb @coffeeheartaddict2 @quixoticdreamer16 @jamespotterthefirst @liaromancewriter @zealouscanonindeer @tveitertotwrites @tessa-liam @youlookappropriate @kyra75 @socalwriterbee @txemrn @choicesflashfics

#open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfic #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #ethan x sawyer #choices stories you play #choices open heart #playchoices #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #cfwc holidays 2023 #choicesflashfics

[hands0mejack]

Yesterday was the 38th anniversary of the tragedy at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Due to supervisor negligence during a routine test, Reactor 4 was unable to cool properly. [Too many cooling rods were removed and no one noticed] This resulted in steam explosions and ultimately a full meltdown. Of the 6,000 plant workers: 2 people lost their lives in the initial explosion, 237 were hospitalized (134 exhibited acute ARS and 28 died) and 100,000~ people had to evacuate their homes never to return. It will take years for the radioactive isotopes to decay. Projected cleanup year is 2065.

Before the Ukraine-Russia war, people were able to tour the city, staying well away from the 1,000 sq mi exclusion zone around the plant.

The most fascinating thing (to me) is the Elephants Foot. Its a large mass of radioactive and man-made materials that formed after the meltdown. The material flowed 49 ft to the southeast of the reactor and 20 ft below ground level. It melted through 6.6 ft of reinforced concrete before settling in the back of room 217/2.

Radioactivity near the Elephants Foot was approximately 80 to 100 grays per hour, delivering a 50/50 lethal dose of radiation (4.5 grays) within five minutes. Between May and November 1986, a shelter (the "Sarcophagus") was constructed to help seal the radioactive materials inside Reactor Number 4.

In 1996, Radiation Specialist Artur Korneyev took several photographs of the Elephants Foot. Some call him the most radioactive man in the world. Artur took up close photos of the mass and produced a very famous "selfie" seen below. The grainy effect is due to the high levels of radiation.

His current status is unknown, but in a 2016 interview he said he was working on construction of a $1.5 billion arch that, when finished in 2017, will cap the decaying sarcophagus and prevent airborne isotopes from escaping. In his mid 60s, he was sickly, with cataracts, and had been barred from re-entering the sarcophagus after years of irradiation.

Pictured below:

☆ Artur Korneyev with the Elephants Foot 1996

☆ View of the city of Pripyat with Chernobyl in the background 2009

☆ The "Sarcophagus" + a picture of the destroyed reactor right after the accident

☆ The "Red Forest" around Pripyat 2009

☆ A piglet with Dipygus at the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum

☆ Map of radiation levels around Chernobyl in 1996

☆ Radiation exposure to first responders at Chernobyl in comparison to a range of situations

#Chernobyl #pripyat #chernobyl nuclear power plant #reactor 4 #radiation #rads #jack.txt #still cant believe its only been 38 years

[robbie-roo]

People seemed to like my info dump on animal facts last time so here MORE

Prothotheria edition!

for the non zoologist in the group don't worry those are the only scientific names I'll use (lie)

so Prototheria is basically a subclass of mammals and only has one living classification called Monotremata (basically means first-beasts) and they're called this because these are some of the oldest species living today they are the closest we have to the earliest mammals on the planet and we have five whole species alive today!! ISNT THAT SO COOL???

these things are what the FIRST mammalian life on earth could have looked like! this I'd what WE may have looked like millions of years ago evolution is fucking CRAZY

so what is a monotreme? you already know one by name! Perry the who?

PLATYPUS!!!!

platypus are the only species in their genus called ornithornynchidae which basically means "beaked animals" (I know I know I said no more scientific names but monotremes are an exception since they're so fucking COOL)

so obviously as we all know these are egg laying mammals of action I could get into all the science stuff that makes a mammal a mammal but to keep it simple they have fur and they lactate

so elephant the room what is going on with the whole egg thing? so monotremes have a similar structure that birds and reptiles do they have something called a cloaca that is an all in one hole for getting things out of the body. they use it for all the things we have multiple holes for so what's going on with their reproductive structure??? I'm glad you asked it's weird as FUCK so females only have one working ovary- the right one we don't know why it's just the only one that works

(it could be that the only surviving "platypus" that kept the evolution of these things going just happened to have a broken ovary but we have no idea)

male platypus have 5 X chromosomes and 5 Y chromosomes females have 10 X chromosomes to put that into perspective of how fucking weird that is we only have 2 and things still get jumbled up sometimes.

male platypus are venomous 😀 isn't that a terrifying thought? a venomous mammal- but they are! ...in a way- male platypus have extra fur on their back feet that is sort of like a spine but it excretes poison that is strong enough to kill a medium sized dog- for context these things are maybe a foot long or so they are NOT perry sized

females also don't have nipples

but WAIT roo!!!! how do they lactate if they don't have nipples? guess what guys it's ALSO weird as fuck

they have specialized glands in their skin that secrete milk if it's easier to invision imagine a lot of really tiny nipples all over the place. The babies just lick it off their mother's hair. they actually lactate for a good 20 weeks, which is pretty long considering they are only birthed after 13 days. most of the fetal development is done while in the egg but when they come out they look like pink little fetuses they can't open their eyes or walk or smell anything

OK ok we know enough about sex and birth and shit but did you know they can close their ears? they close their ears with tiny flaps like a seal does when in the water and will also close their eyes underwater. their 3rd eyelid which is the one that closes is white and makes it look like they can see in the water but they can't! they use electroreception just like moles do!

they don't have any teeth other than a few flat ones in the back of their bill and an egg tooth when they are born

bonus fact: a baby platypus is called a puggle :)

OK ok NEXT

Tachyglossidae aka echidnas which means "fast tongued" there's a few types of them but both platypus and echidnas are native to Australia with a few echidnas in New Guinea

so these little guys look like porcupines pr hedgehogs to the untrained eye they have specialized hair that act similar to spines.

they have long snouts and no teeth instead they have bumps on their tongue and a hard pallet that they use to smash their food up against just like platypus do

they do exactly what their name says they have fast tongues coated in sticky mucus to slurp up bugs. they have super strong front legs for digging and females have a pseudo pouch- sort of like a domed abdomen to lay on the eggs with

males have extra spurs on their back feet like platypus do for fighting each other when mating

OK I'll leave it here and next time I'll go into Metatheria >:)

#animal facts #zoology #perry the platypus #platypus #echidnas #echidna #i have autism and my special interest is animals #please ask me animal facts #im not even gonna get into the bones #monotematas have special bones #i could add more facts in the tags but im holding myself back

[sayuricorner]

Monkie Kid X Twisted Wonderland prompt idea: Child of Sun Wukong and Macaque!Yuu AU

Next: AU details

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing.

Warning 2: Spoilers for Monkie Kid S4

Here’s a Monkie Kid X Twisted Wonderland crossover idea which I got recently on what if Yuu was the daughter of Sun Wukong and Macaque?

If you want to use this AU go ahead, just tag/credite me in return please! ^^

If you had any questions about this AU don’t hesitate to leave a ask! :)

-----------------------------------------------------

AU concept:

So the AU take place after the Monkie Kid canon, the true bad guy of season 4 was revealed and defeated by MK and the gang with the help of Azure Lion, Peng and Yellow Tusk Elephant, who had realized how they were just pawns in all this mess, and everyone who got trapped in the memory scroll were freed.

The Jade Emperor, who wasn’t dead but had his physical form distroyed, was rematerliazed and took back his position as the emperor.

Since they helped to defeat the true big bad and that sealing them into the memory scroll again wouldn’t bring nothing but trouble again, the Lion Camel Ridge trio recieved a less severe punishment which would permit them to work hard to earn their redemption.

Wukong and all his sworn brothers had long talks about what actually happened in the past and while they realized that things can’t go back like they were and forgiveness will take a long time, they are ready to work together to make things right and building new bonds together.

Over the years, Sun Wukong and Macaque made up step by step, became mates and end up having their own child, a daughter, and named her Yu Mei-Xing.

Yu Mei-Xing, aka “Yu”, had a peacefull, or at least as peacefull as you could get in the Monkie Kid world, childhood at Flower Fruit Mountain with her parents and family and friends.

Until one day, mysterious circonstances spirited her away to another world filled with magic, Twisted Wonderland, at the magic academy Night Raven College.

#twisted wonderland #twst #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #crossover #yuu #shadowpeach #au idea

[mysebacielblog]

The Sebaciel playlist

A Tasteful but Sultry mix of Rock and Classical with a Faustian Twist.

{Dm Me for Spotify Playlist!}

I’m ALIVE!

Becca

Back to Black

Amy Winehouse

Back in Black

AC/DC

Ladies and Gentlemen

Saliva

Enter the Circus

Christina Aguilera

Mary on a Cross

Ghost

Good Days Bad Days

Kaiser Chiefs

Tainted Love

Soft Cell

Strange Doings in the Night

Sarah and the Safe Word

Disobedient

Steven Universe

Paint it Black

The Rolling Stones

No. 13 Dance of the Knights

Sergei Prokofiev, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

AC/DC

Obsession

OK Go

I Come With Knives

IAMX

Far too Young to Die

Panic! At The Disco

Voices of Spring Op. 410

Johann Strauss II, Waltzes and Arias

White Rabbit

Jefferson Airplaine

Friends in Low Places

Worthikids

Do I Wanna Know?

Arctic Monkeys

Second Waltz

André Rieu, Johann Strauss Orchestra

Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor

Hillary Hahn Plays Bach

Put it On Me

Matt Maeson

Serenade for Strings in E Major Op 22

Antonín Dvrorák Serenades

Ocean Eyes

Billie Eilish

Run Boy Run

Woodkid

Get Over it

OK Go

Broken Boy

Cage the Elephant

Social Cues

Cage the Elephant

Sympathy For the Devil

The Rolling Stones

Phantom

Natewantstobattle

Me And The Devil

Soap & Skin

Goodnight Socialite

The Brobecks

Call Out My Name

The Weekend

Do it For Me

Rosenfield

Control

Halsey

Piano Sonata No.14 in C Sharp Minor

Beethoven

Danke Shoen

Wayne Newton

Requiem K. 625 Lacrymosa

Mozart

Pulling Mussels

Squeeze

I Wanna Be Your Dog

John McCrea

Kill of the Night

Gin Wigmore

Bloody Mary

Lady Gaga

The Dark

Beth Crowley

Skyfall

Adele

Monocro No Kiss

SID

The Devil is a Gentleman

Merci Raines

Sweet Dreams (are made of these)

Eurythmics

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

The Rolling Stones

Kiss From a Rose

Seal

Labour

Paris Paloma

Death Waltz

Adam S Hurst

Doll on a Music Box

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Right, Master Bruce

Alfred Pennyworth

Danse Macarbe OP 40

Camille Saint-Saens Orchestra

Ballade No.1 in G Minor

Chopin

Bossa Nova Tails

fazathecat

Eternal Flame

The Bangles

It’s My Life

Bon Jovi

Let’s Never Stop Falling in Love

Pink Martini

Game of Survival

Ruelle

#sebaciel #Black Butler Music #Not Just 15 Melanie Martinez songs and random satanic slowed down music #ACTUAL WELL THOUGHT OUT TUNES #I didn’t add more Panic At the Disco or The Entire Musical of CATS #so it is OOC #I just. I can’t listen to CATS the musical Jellicle Cats #i’m not strong enough

[ironychan]

Scary Monsters

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @30spiders @sweatersexual @angrylittlesliceofpizza

Part 1/? - Rocco’s Closet

Part 2/? - School for Monsters

Part 3/? - The Waternoose Family

Part 4/? - The Terrifying Humans

Part 5/? - Hiding Places

Part 6/? - Nobody’s Fault

Part 7/? - Edge of Disaster

Part 8/? - Caged Monsters

The Waternooses had not come alone. Behind them were at least a dozen people in the head-to-toe yellow suits of the exterminators, and none of them were as small as the tiny one Luca and Alberto had seen in the bathroom. Any one of them was big enough to lift the boys or Curtis right off the floor, and a couple looked ready even to take on Sullivan.

Sullivan placed his formidable bulk between the boys and the approaching exterminators, and roared like a tiger in a cage or an angry elephant seal. He rushed at the oncoming exterminators, and five or six of the yellow-suited figures immediately dogpiled him. For a moment Luca could only watch the fight, transfixed. This was not supposed to happen! They'd tried to plan this so that Sullivan wouldn't get in trouble, and now it looked like he was going to get in more trouble than any of them! What had happened to Louise? Had she gotten out of the factory okay? Because if they caught her in here after she'd already been fired...

A clawed appendage came down on Luca's shoulder, and he shrieked in terror and grabbed Alberto – but it was only Curtis.

“Come on, he'll hold them off, let's go!” Curtis urged.

Luca tore himself away, and he and Alberto ran after Curtis, who went straight for the nearest emergency exit and wrenched the door open. An alarm began to blare and sunshine flooded in, only to be eclipsed by the hulking shape of yet another exterminator. The boys and Curtis scrambled to a halt as this figure ducked through the door, having to bow each of its three heads in turn in order to fit. When they turned to run the other way, an exterminator with a tiny body slung between many long, spider-like legs had stepped into their way.

One of these legs darted out, and the pincer on the end grabbed Luca by the shirt and lifted him off the ground. Then it dashed him onto the metal floor, and two smaller exterminators pinned him down and put cold metal shackles around his wrists. A moment later, Alberto was beside him, also chained up, and then Curtis. A set of keys jangled as they fell out of his fur and tumbled across the floor to land at the feet of a knobby creature with a club on the end of its tail.

This individual, who was wearing a tie, bent down and picked the keys up, examined them for a moment, then scowled.

“Liebermann! So you're the one who keeps taking my keys!” it shouted.

“No! No! I swear, today was the fir...” Curtis began, but an exterminator put a hand over his mouth, shutting him up.

The group fighting Sullivan had him on his knees, and it looked like he would soon be on the floor with the rest of them. Then he seemed to get a second wind. With a snarl, he shoved off the three-headed exterminator, which had been trying to shackle him, and got to his feet. Three-heads staggered backwards and fell against Rocco's door, knocking it out of the clamps holding it.

“Oh, no!” Luca exclaimed, before an exterminator pushed his face against he floor again.

Sullivan knew they needed that door. He moved forwards to see it if it were damaged, but the others exterminators grabbed him from behind. This time, one of them pressed some small object against his neck, which seemed to cause him a lot of pain. Sullivan hollered and his fur fluffed out like a frightened cat's, then he went limp, and the exterminators were able to get big shackles around his wrists and ankles.

At last, all four of them were on the floor, and all that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the exterminators in their suits.

“Mr. Borisov!” said Curtis. “I promise you, everybody borrows your keys! It's not just me!”

The knobbly creature looked around the room. “Do they really?” he asked, suspicious.

“No!” said the nearest monster.

“Never!” another agreed, holding up all three hands.

“I told Lieberman to stop doing it!” a third chimed in.

“Oh, come on, guys!” said Curtis.

The three-headed creature had gotten up, and it picked up Rocco's door. The door looked rather bent, with splinters coming off one edge of it. Luca swallowed. Would it still work?

“Get rid of that,” Waternoose ordered. “Everybody, no need to panic. The incursion is handled. You can go back to work. Sawyer will be around with nondisclosure agreements for all of you to sign.”

The three-headed exterminator crumpled the door like it was wringing out a wet cloth. The knob fell out, and rolled in a circle on the floor.

Harry scuttled forward with a big smile on his face. “You see, Dad?” he asked. “I told you they'd come back! I told you they needed the door!”

Waternoose ignored his son, and put his fists on his hips to look the four prisoners over critically. “Now,” he said, “what are we going to do with you? The two boys from the human world I would have just killed, but now we've got Liebermann and Sullivan involved, and if they vanish they'll be missed. Shame about Sullivan. Your teachers absolutely raved about you, you know that?”

Sullivan scowled.

“Dad,” Harry insisted. “Dad, I was right, wasn't I? Wasn't I right?”

“You pipe down,” Waternoose told him.

“But I told you that...”

“Shut up!” Waternoose barked. “If you hadn't let them escape from the factory in the first place, we could have handled this days ago and we wouldn't have had all this bad press! Next time, think a little before you go running around trying to be clever!”

Harry stared at him, shocked and frightened.

All around them, other employees were very slowly moving to get things set up again and return to work, but almost all were still watching this spectacle going on in the middle of the room. Waternoose looked around and glared at people.

“What are you all staring at?” he demanded. “Let's see some work. The city needs power!” he punched his palm. “For now, we'll just find somewhere to put these four, and deal with them later.”

The exterminators picked up Alberto, Luca, and Curtis bodily off the ground. The one who had Luca and Alberto carried one boy under each arm, while a second, smaller individual slung Curtis over his shoulder like a sack of flour Three people dragged Sullivan to his feet, and he had to shuffle along with his ankles still shackled as they dragged him out of the room following Waternoose.

Harry scuttled beside his father, nervous, but eventually he got up his courage again. “Dad,” he said, “I know I screwed up, but I fixed it, right? I told you...”

“Oh, give it a rest, Harry!” groaned Alberto. “Your Dad is never going to be proud of you!”

“Nobody asked you!” Harry told him. “That's not even true. Dad's proud of me. Right, Dad?”

“Go home, Harry,” said Waternoose grimly.

“Tell them you're proud of me!” Harry insisted, an edge of desperation in his voice.

“I'll be proud of you when you do something worth being proud of!” snapped Waternoose. “I've been waiting eleven years! Now go home. Your mother and I will discuss your punishment this evening.”

Harry stopped. A few seconds went by while he just stood in the middle of the hallway while his father, the exterminators, and the prisoners got further and further ahead. Then he turned and ran.

Luca sniffled. The corners of his eyes were getting sticky from tears he couldn't quite keep in, and he couldn't brush them away or wipe his nose with his hands locked up behind his back. “You shouldn't have said that,” he told Alberto.

“Yeah, I should,” Alberto replied. “It's true.”

Luca supposed that when it came to Dads who were never happy, Alberto was the one to know.

Waternoose led them through a maze of hallways and down a flight of stairs. Luca wasn't sure if all the twists and turns were necessary or if this were just to confuse them in case they escaped. When they arrived at their destination, however, he decided it had to be the former, because there was no way they were going to escape from here. The basement room they'd been brought to had pipes and wires in the ceiling, and bare concrete on the walls and floors. The floor sloped down to a drain in the back corner, but it was only about ten centimetres square, too small for any but the tiniest of monsters to crawl through. Anyway, the big cage in the middle of the room was metres away from it. The bars were an inch thick.

With a chill, Luca realized this had been here for a long time. It hadn't been built for them, it had been built for something else, possibly much worse. Luca wondered who or what that had been.

They were thrown in one by one. The cage was about as big as an elevator car, and while the elevators here were fairly large, being built to accommodate larger monsters, with Sullivan in there it was still a bit of a squeeze. The door shut with a very final-sounding thunk.

“I'll have to mull this over,” said Waternoose. “Write some nice letters to the Sullivan and Liebermann families and tell them how sorry I am about the tragic accident. You two walked right into a slumber party and were overcome by the pack.”

“Why don't you just send us home?” Luca asked.

The others all turned their heads to look at him.

“What?” asked Curtis.

“Why would he do that?” Alberto wanted to know.

“Because he's worried we'll tell everybody that humans aren't dangerous,” Luca pointed out. “If we go back to our world, we won't be able to do that, and we certainly never want to come back here! You can send Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Liebermann with us, so they can't tell anyone, either. You can think of it as...” what was it the ancient Greeks had used to do? He'd read about it in a book, which had used a specific word for when they made somebody leave a city forever. Luca couldn't remember it, so he substituted a similar one. “Banishment! You can banish us!”

His heart beat hard as he watched Waternoose. It probably wouldn't work, but maybe, just maybe, if the big monster could be made to think of it as a solution rather than another problem...

Waternoose snorted. “Send you back to tell the humans that monsters aren't dangerous? I don't think so. Besides, Liebermann knows the door schedules. He'd be back on the next available shift.”

With that, Waternoose and the exterminators left. The lights went out behind them, leaving only a red 'exit' sign above the door. Luca and Alberto could see each other's eyes shining by this feeble illumination. Sullivan's eyes turned out to be similarly reflective, but Curtis' were not. Another book had taught Luca that this was caused by a layer in the back of the eye which reflected light so that creatures like cats, owls, or sea monsters could see in the dark. Apparently only some of the closet monsters could do that.

“I'm sorry,” said Luca, into the oppressive silence left by the shutting of the door. “I didn't really think that was going to work, but I had to try.”

Alberto's shackles jingled as he shrugged. “I mean, you're the idea man.”

“What would we do in the human world, anyway?” Curtis asked.

“We'd find something for you,” Luca promised. “We talked about it with Louise. It'd be the same for you. People in Portorosso don't mind sea monsters, so they could get used to you, too.”

Sullivan just groaned. “My parents are going to be so disappointed,” he said.

“You're worried about your parents?” Curtis asked. “I mean, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he's going to murder all four of us.”

“They were proud of me! Valedictorian of the scare class, with job offers right out of school,” Sullivan said. “I almost didn't talk them out of coming to see me on my first day. I would have died of embarrassment. They're probably wondering why I haven't called yet. I told them I'd phone at lunch every day.”

“Are they gonna be mad?” Luca asked.

“No,” sighed Sullivan. “Like I said, just disappointed.”

Luca nodded. “That's worse.”

“I hope Louise got out okay,” said Curtis.

“Yeah, me too,” Luca sniffled, then perked up a bit, a tiny fire of hope lighting up in his chest. Maybe... maybe Louise could help them. If she were hiding somewhere in the factory and realized they weren't coming back, she could come looking for them. Louise was almost as huge and strong as Sullivan. If she could take the exterminators by surprise, it might just work!

About half an hour later, another group of exterminators came in, dragging Louise. Obviously she had fought – she had a black eye, and one of the exterminators had a sleeve torn off his yellow suit. They stuffed her in the cage with the rest of them, making things even more crowded, and then left once again.

“Ma'am?” Luca asked cautiously.

“Are you okay, Louise?” Curtis wanted to know.

“I'll live,” she grumbled.

“What happened?” asked Luca.

“Maureen smuggled me down into the garbage room and told me I could hide out there,” Louise told them. “Then the exterminators came looking for me and I had nowhere to go.”

Luca hung his head. “I'm sorry.”

By the red light of the exit sign, he could see Louise's resigned smile. “What did I tell you about being sorry? It's not your fault.”

“It's gotta be somebody's fault,” Luca pointed out.

“Then it's Mr. Waternoose's fault,” Alberto decided. “He's the one who made a big deal out of things. If not for him we could have just gone home.”

There was another long silence then. The one red light in the room kept it from being totally dark, but there were no clocks or even windows to give an indication of time passing. Curtis had been wearing a watch, but he couldn't look at it with his hands locked up behind his back. It seemed like all they could do was sit there, and they didn't even know how long it had been.

Alberto was the first to fall asleep. Sullivan was second, and snorted a bit. Luca decided he might as well shut his own eyes, and leaned against Louise to use her as a pillow. He hoped she wouldn't mind, and it didn't seem like she did – when he woke briefly a little later, he found that she was asleep, too. At least with all these bodies in the small space of the cage, it wasn't cold in here, and leaning on Louise was something like having a dog or cat in bed with him, warm and furry and reassuring. Luca settled down again.

The next time he woke up, he heard a jingling sound.

For a moment he couldn't think what it was, although he knew it was familiar. Then he realized it was the sound of keys. Keys meant somebody was coming in, and somebody coming in might mean Waternoose had decided what to do with them. Suddenly wide awake, Luca sat up and shook Alberto.

“Wake up! Somebody's coming!” he hissed.

“Huh?” asked Curtis, on the other side of Louise, then seemed to hear the noise himself. “Oh, no.”

All five of them were awake by the time the door began to open. Sullivan and Louise both stood, awkwardly with their legs still shackled but determined to meet this with whatever show of force they could. Luca, Alberto, and Curtis stayed behind them, but peeked between and around the larger monsters to see what was going on.

The jingling went on as if somebody was trying to find the right key by trying each of several in turn. Then the door creaked open, and several eyes, glowing pink, seemed to check the room out before their owner entered. This small, roundish figure scuttled across the floor towards them, and Luca and Alberto recognized the motion at once. It was Harry.

“What are you doing here?” Alberto hissed at him.

Harry came closer, but stayed just far enough from the bars that nobody inside the cage could reach him. “You said your Dad was terrible, so you left him and found a new Dad,” he said to Alberto.

“Yeah, I did,” Alberto replied cautiously.

“So we got home and he just yelled at me a bunch more, and then him and Mom had a big fight and he called me a disgrace to the family. And I realized you were right, he's never gonna be proud. So now I'm gonna go find a better Dad in the human world, like you did.”

Luca had a feeling that wasn't going to work, but he didn't say so. It would have been nice if Harry's Dad had loved him, but right now they just needed to go home and keep the people who'd helped them out of trouble. When he glanced up at the adults he found them looking skeptical, but none of them said anything, either.

“How are we gonna get there?” Alberto asked. “They broke Rocco's door.”

“All doors lead to the human world,” said Harry. “We'll just pick one.”

Louise's shackles clanked as she tried to gesture, but couldn't. “The one I found you in was fourth shift. I think it was section...” she frowned and looked at Curtis.

“A-113!” he said. “If we can find another door from that sector, it ought to be close.”

Luca and Alberto weren't too sure about that. “How big is sector A-113?” Luca asked.

The monsters didn't seem to care. Harry found the right key and opened the door, and then started opening the shackles as the prisoners crawled out one by one. Luca's arms and legs were stiff after being kept in one position for so long, and he had to shake and stomp to get the feeling back into his fingers and toes. Once everyone was free, Harry cracked the door open and peeked outside.

“There's a lot of exterminators wandering around the factory,” Harry told them. “Just checking up on things. So we'll have to be really quiet.”

“Got it,” Alberto promised.

They crept out into the hall and Harry turned left, which turned out to take them to the elevators. These, however, could not be used. There was an exterminator, in his full suit, sitting between the two sets of elevator doors and reading a magazine with a furry monster in a swimsuit on the cover and a tagline promising two, three – even five beautiful faces! Luca remembered how Marie and Jeanette at the school had interacted, and wondered if a monster with five heads had even more trouble agreeing on things. It would be like having four siblings you couldn't get away from.

Harry chose another direction, and they found their way to a set of stairs. Everybody moved softly on all fours to make as little noise as possible as they climbed. The numbers painted on the wall told them when they reached the ground floor. Curtis cracked the door open, then froze as another exterminator walked, by, whistling. Everybody held their breath, but it didn't seem to see them.

“Okay,” Curtis whispered. “I know where we are now. The door warehouse is this way.”

He took the lead now, escorting the others through the grid of hallways that all looked the same as far as Luca and Alberto could tell. If they heard anyone coming, they would duck into a washroom or down a side hall and let the exterminator or security guard pass. Luca thought he might die of sheer anxiety as they passed through one close call after another, but they finally made it to a set of doors marked warehouse. Maybe they'd used up all their bad luck that morning. Maybe they were going to make it after all.

The doors were, of course, locked.

“All right,” said Curtis. “I guess I'm gonna go get Borisov's keys again. Man, he's gonna kill me.” He sighed. “We'll need a scream canister too, to activate the door.”

“He won't kill you,” said Alberto. “You'll be safe in the human world.” He and Luca were both sure that, if nothing else, the monsters wouldn't follow them there.

“I don't know if I like that any better,” Curtis said, mostly to himself. He slipped away into the dark halls.

It seemed to take a very long time for him to come back, but at least this time there was a clock. It was hung on the wall over the warehouse doors, and showed that it was just after eleven at night. The hands crawled around the face again and again for five minutes, then ten, then fifteen. Finally, after a very slow and nerve-wracking twenty-five minutes, Curtis came back looking apologetic. He was carrying one of the yellow canisters, with a gauge on the side indicating it had a little bit left in the bottom, but there was no sign of keys.

“I can't find them in any of the usual spots,” he said. “I think he must've taken them home or hidden them after he yelled at me earlier, and I don't want to make too much noise by searching for them.”

Sullivan pointed a thumb at the door. “Is this alarmed?”

“Of course it is,” said Curtis. “Closet doors are dangerous. In the wrong hands...”

“Then we'll move fast,” Sullivan interrupted, and slammed his shoulder into the door.

The first blow bent it, but did not break it. Sullivan backed up and did it again. This time, the doors bowed inwards, opening a crack to show the darkness within. An alarm began blaring. The third time, Louise joined in, and the doors flew open, the hinges screaming as they were torn from the wall. More alarms started to wail, and the lights began to flash red.

“Follow me,” Curtis ordered, and dashed in.

Luca, Alberto, and Harry ran after him, with Louise and Sullivan bringing up the rear. The pulsing red lights that went with the alarm made everyone seem to be moving in jerks, and Luca was having trouble seeing where anything was, but Curtis knew the way. He turned right into the A section, and ran down an aisle with doors hung from railings on either side, like shirts in a shop. The numbers above the rails started at A-001, and Luca's heart sank thinking how far they would have to go.

“Second floor!” Curtis said, hurrying up a flight of stairs onto a metal walkway. The numbers at the bottom had been at A-010, but on this level they were at A-110, and Luca felt a little better. Once they'd all reached the top, Sullivan ripped the stairs from the bolts holding them to the walkway, and tossed them to the floor so that anybody following would have to find another way up.

They made it to number 113, and there they paused. It was just one line of doors out of the thousands that were in here, but there were still hundreds of them on the rail. They had no idea where any particular one might take them.

Shouting voices and running footsteps could be heard below. They had to find one.

“Which one?” asked Louise.

Curtis flipped through them. “I don't know. Kids, you got any input?”

Luca followed him down the side walkway, but all the doors looked the same. It looked like they would just have to choose randomly before they ran out of time, and deal with wherever they ended up.

Then something caught Luca's eye. ���Stop!” he told Curtis. “That one!”

Louise took the door down from its hook, and Luca grinned at the sight of it.

“That's Dorotea's door from school!” said Luca. “Giulia and I did a group project at her house once. She said she drew on it with crayon when she was little.” The stick figures of herself and her dogs that she'd scribbled years ago had been party worn away, but were still identifiable. Exactly as Luca remembered it.

The monsters didn't have time to ask questions. They leaned the door against the walkway railings, and Curtis counted down from three before opening the scream canister at the same time as Louise turned the knob. The sound of a child screaming, distant and tinny from being stored in the can, echoed through the warehouse. Lights flickered above doors that were still on the railings, and Louise opened the door. The other side was almost too bright to look at in the dark warehouse.

“Get in there!” Louise pushed Luca and Alberto in, and Harry after them.

Passing through was a little odd, because of the door leaning at an angle. Louise dropped Luca in as if he were going to fall all the way, but after passing through he suddenly found himself going up before dropping again and landing on the floor with a thump. A moment later Alberto was landing next to him, and they rolled out of the way to make room for the larger monsters as Harry came through.

Harry turned around, and slammed the door.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Luca asked.

“We're almost out of scream anyway,” Harry told him. “They're too big, the humans will be too scared of them.”

“They helped us! We have to help them!” Luca took the knob while Alberto pushed Harry out of the way, but when they wrenched the door open again, there was nothing on the other side but Dorotea's closet. She'd stuffed a bunch of clothes and toys into it so her parents would think she'd cleaned her room. A couple of these fell out, including a round object that Harry scooped up and looked at.

It was a doll's head. The eyes opened when he held it upright, prompting him to scream and throw it across the room.

“What's wrong with you, stupido?” Alberto demanded, clearly taking some pleasure in using the phrase for its intended purpose. “It's just a toy!”

Then the other door opened. All three turned to see, and found Dorotea's mother, a woman with short dark curls, wearing a polka-dot blouse, standing in bedroom door staring at them. It was hard to say whether she'd noticed Alberto or Luca. Her eyes were fixed on Harry. She stared for half a second, then pulled the door shut with a bang and they heard her footsteps running down the stairs.

“Oh, no,” said Luca, and ran to follow her.

Behind him, he could hear Harry shouting at Alberto: “don't close the door! Prop it open!” he was saying. “They can't activate a door if it's open on this end!”

“Signora Molinari!” Luca called out, hurrying down the steps. He followed the woman into the kitchen, where she pulled a telephone book out of a drawer and began madly flipping the pages. Luca ran up on the other side of the counter and put his hands on the book to make her stop. “Signora Molinari, it's me, Luca!” he said. “I go to school with Dorotea, remember?”

She stopped short, staring at him. “Luca? What are you doing here? Don't you and Giulia go home in the summer?”

“We need help,” said Luca.

“Of course,” Signora Molinari replied, “but you...”

There was a sound on the stairs. Luca and Signora Molinari both looked, in time to see both Alberto and Harry duck out of sight behind the wall that separated them from the kitchen.

“Okay,” said Luca. “This is Alberto, he's my friend from Portorosso. Alberto, come out.”

Alberto emerged, and gave Signora Molinari a friendly grin as he waved at her. “Hi.”

“Yes, you mentioned him,” she said.

“And this is Harry,” Luca added. “He's, uh... he's the monster who lives in Dorotea's closet. He looks scary, but he's not gonna hurt you.”

“Kinda like us,” Alberto agreed.

Harry came down the stairs, eyes wide as he looked up at Signora Molinari. Luca had to wonder what he was thinking. He looked awestruck to be here in a human's house, staring up at just one in a whole world of creatures he'd only heard about, but had never seen. Signora Molinari needed a moment to collect herself, and then forced a smile.

“Lovely to meet Luca's friends,” she managed.

Luca was thinking as hard as he could, trying to figure out what to do next. Harry couldn't stay here, not any more than he and Alberto could stay in the world of closet monsters. They had to send him home. They also had to find out what had happened to Louise, Curtis, and Sullivan. The adult monsters had only been trying to help, and now they were trapped there and had probably been captured again, at the mercy of Mr. Waternoose and the exterminators. How were they going to do any of that?

At least Luca knew where they were. That was a start. “We need to keep the closet door open so no more monsters can follow us here,” he told Signora Molinari. “And then I think we better go back to Portorosso. Can you please call Signora Marcovaldo and tell her we're here and we need help with monster stuff?” Giulia's mother would at least be partly prepared if she heard that.

“Uh, yes. Yes, I can do that,” Signora Molinari decided, with a glance at the phone book. Luca carefully removed his hands from it, and the woman closed it and dialed Signora Marcovaldo's number... all while keeping her eyes locked on Harry.

Luca pulled a chair out and sat down at the kitchen table. Alberto sat next to him, and Harry would have joined them but quickly realized that the chair was not designed for his physiology.

“I still can't believe you did that,” Alberto told him. “What were you thinking?”

“What do you mean, what was I thinking?” huffed Harry. “You think she'd be calling your friend if those three grownups were here? She'd be calling the police instead.”

He might have been right, but Luca came to a much more depressing realization. “He was thinking the same thing I was thinking when I shouted sea monster,” he said. In that moment, the only thing Luca had been able to do was try to save himself. He'd thought Alberto had already ruined things for himself, and Luca couldn't end up the same way. It had been the worst thing Luca ever did, and he'd regretted it immediately, but at the moment there'd seemed to be no other way. “He was just scared.”

“I was not!” said Harry.

“Hello, Signora Marcovaldo?” Signora Molinari said to the phone. “It's Giada Molinari. My daughter Dorotea goes to school with Luca and Giulia. Um... Luca is here with a couple of friends, and they say they need your help.”

#fanfic #pixar luca #luca 2021 #monsters inc #monsters university #luca paguro #alberto scorfano #scary monsters

[tcvsfiredemon]

Narumayo Week Day 2: Investigations/Caretaking

When Phoenix sneezed it sounded like his entire life force was escaping his body. Maya had learned over the past couple days to get out of his way when he drew in a long, ragged breath, because what came next was a gale force wind of hot air and snot that would inevitably end up in her hair. Luckily he’d graciously waited until they were off the bike to really let loose. A sneeze like that, Maya could understand why medieval people thought demons were responsible.

“Nick, are you sure you wanna do this investigation today? You should probably be sleeping the cold away.”

“It’s fine, Maya. I’ve worked sicker than this before.”

“Have you?”

In the three years she’d spent as Phoenix’s assistant she’d never seen him with so much as a sore throat. Sure he was a major klutz and had been nearly hit by cars on four separate occasions, but for all intents and purposes Phoenix’s body was a temple. The universe must have finally decided to exact its karmic revenge by unleashing the cold to end all colds just days before their latest case.

Really, Maya had hoped this would be a breather for Phoenix, a nice simple robbery case after the whole Xin Eohp saga and all that crazy stuff in England before that. Then Phoenix woke up yesterday with a fever of 102, a splitting headache, and enough congestion to choke an elephant. He had insisted even then that he could work that day, but she’d forced him to stay in bed while she ran around town getting interviews and taking notes, desperately hoping she wasn’t botching the whole thing.

He was feeling better today, but not by much, and while she couldn’t argue that he wasn’t usually better at scoping out the crime scene than she was, the way he was hobbling around with a zombie and making a visible effort to avoid sneezing wasn’t making her very optimistic.

“Just don’t push yourself as hard as usual, okay?”

“I don’t push myself that hard.”

“Nick, have you actually met yourself before?”

They were standing at the door to the upscale apartment of Cynthia Aster, self-help author and (at least until recently) owner of the rare Aster Ruby. She and the defendant, Patrick Xi, were in some weird secret society together, and Aster had let it slip to him that she kept the ruby sealed in a can of diced tomatoes in her pantry. Within days the pantry had been ransacked, the ruby had been stolen, and several perfectly good cans of tomatoes had gone to waste.

As Maya and Phoenix crossed the threshold into the apartment, the first thing she deduced was that this woman was pretty loaded. The place was spacious, all laid out in a weird modern architectural style with no walls and every room at a different height. The stairs that separated them had no railings, which struck Maya as a pretty serious design flaw, but then she wasn’t an architect or anything. There was also a distinct theme to the decor.

All around the place were paintings, photos, statues of hands. Left hands specifically. Words of inspiration were scattered all over the wall, all specifically about being left handed. Maya wasn’t sure what was on the bookshelves, but she wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Aster carefully vetted them to make sure the authors wrote the manuscripts with their left hand.

“Talk about making one trait your whole personality, huh?”

“Remember, Ms. Aster and Mr. Xi met in a club for left-handed people. You don’t join a club like that unless you’re really committed.”

“Maybe you should join a club for people with spiky hair, Nick. You’re definitely committed to that look.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Maya frowned a bit. Usually Phoenix would have snapped back with some comment about her joining a topknot club or something (which would have obviously been inaccurate, because she had a super cute hair bun, not a topknot). He was clearly off his game.

“So, where to first? We can see it all from right here.”

Phoenix seemed to snap out of a daze. Again, not a great sign. He was often the inattentive type, but never during an investigation.

“I guess we should start with the pantry, where the crime took place.”

“Great, let’s go!”

The pantry, much to Maya’s delight, was an actual room, with walls and a door and everything. It was filled wall to wall with cans of everything that could possibly be canned. Soup, beans, fruit, vegetables, pie fillings, even a few stray cans of bread(ew). You could totally build a fort out of all this. In the corner 

“Wow, this is a room a doomsday prepper would have.”

Phoenix rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Yeah, I think a lot of these cans might have been decoys to keep people from finding the one with the ruby in it.”

“Such a weird plan to hide a gem in a tomato can, huh? Seems pretty out of left field to me!”

She turned to give him a silly look, but he didn’t react at all. She would’ve expected at least a groan in response to such an egregious pun.

“Yeah, I guess…I guess…”

Phoenix took in a big gasp of air and Maya ducked for cover as another massive sneeze erupted out of her friend’s mouth. She looked at him, still dazed, and put her hands on her hips.

“All right, that’s it. We’re taking a break.”

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna make you some soup.”

“Soup? What?”

She was already hard at work digging through the wall of cans to find something good. Some of the soups had sell-by dates of over five years ago, so Phoenix’s assumption that they might be decoys was probably correct. Eventually, she found something that looked good.

“Here! Cream of mushroom!”

“Maya! You can’t just make soup at a crime scene!”

“Who’s gonna stop us? We know the chief of police.”

“Okay, but–”

She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up to the kitchen. No way in hell was she going to let Phoenix make himself sicker over some lame jewel thief. She sat him down at the kitchen table and ran over to search for a pot and a can opener.

“Just sit there and rest for a bit, Nick. I’m gonna help you feel better.”

“Maya, everything in this apartment is evidence. We’re tampering with evidence”

“And I’m about to serve you up some fresh, hot, savory evidence in just a second!”

Luckily there was a can opener right on the counter, which she put to quick work. She found a saucepan pretty quickly as well, and after futzing around with the high-tech stove for a bit, she had a good pot of soup on the boil. Over at the kitchen table, Phoenix was sneezing up a storm.

“That’s good, Nick, let it all out.”

“You sound like my mom,” Phoenix groaned

“No talking back, young man,” Maya chirped back, tapping the wooden spoon against her hand in a mock-stern way, “close your eyes and the soup will come to you.”

In a few minutes, she’d prepared a nice hot bowl of soup, served in a beautiful china dish that they definitely weren’t supposed to be touching. Holding the bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, she straddled Phoenix and brought the warm liquid toward his mouth.

“Here comes the airplane.”

Phoenix’s head bolted up. “Nope, you’re not baby birding me. That’s where I’m drawing the line.”

Maya jumped off him, her face heating up. Yeah, that was maybe a bit too much. She carefully set the bowl down and handed him the spoon. He took a spoonful and let out the most satisfying sigh she’d heard from him all day.

“Okay, that’s really good.”

She sat down next to him and happily watched him eat. He looked so cute shoveling the soup down with the dainty little spoon she’d found. When he was done he leaned back in his chair, satisfied.

“Feel better?”

“So much.”

Suddenly, Phoenix’s eyes opened wide. “Maya, how did you open the soup can?”

“What? Uh, there was a can opener on the counter.”

“Was it hard to use or anything?”

“Not really? I’ve used can openers before, you know.”

He rushed over to inspect the utensil, then quickly started searching through all the drawers in the kitchen until he found what he was looking for and held it up for her to see.

“Another can opener?”

“A left handed can opener! The one you used was a regular one. Which means…”

“It doesn’t actually belong to Ms. Aster,” Maya gasped, “The thief must have brought his own to get the ruby!”

“And since Mr. Xi is left handed as well…”

“The thief couldn’t have been him! Nick, you figured it out!”

Phoenix blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, we’ll probably need to find a bit more evidence to get the full picture, but it’s a start.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Maya exclaimed, fists pumping and stars in her eyes.

“Okay, but first I have to…have to…”

Phoenix took in a long, ragged breath and Maya jumped for cover.

#narumayo #narumayoweek2023 #maya fey #phoenix wright #fanfic #these keep ending up way longer than I planned

[daiohficblog]

By the Shoreline Ficlet No. 2

Carlos: Okay Wanda, this is my little sister Maria!

Wanda: Wait, what’s the device in her ear?

Carlos: That’s a hearing aid. Maria’s deaf so she needs them to hear. Mikey and I are able to talk to her with sign language.

Maria: (in sign language) Nice to meet you, Wanda!

Wanda: I…

Carlos: Oh right, you don’t know sign language… (to Maria) Look, my friend here is actually a shapeshifting elephant seal, and she can-

Maria: Wait, a seal?!

Carlos: Yeah! A seal! (To Wanda) Maria really loves seals.

Wanda: I can tell. Well Maria, if you want a seal, you got one! (Puts on her coat and turns into a seal)

Maria: (proceeds to pet Wanda) Big bro! Wanda’s so cute as a seal!

Carlos: Well Wan, you got Maria’s seal of approval!

Wanda: (translated from seal barks) CARLOS!!!

(Maria Ramon is a OC created by @spacefinch )

#magic school bus #by the shoreline #selkies

[miras-false-pr0phet]

I Paired Songs with Every Single Animal Dance in Animal Jam Classic

This doesn't include the patterned versions, like Snowflake Arctic Wolf, Autumn Coyote, Jamaaliday Deer, etc.

BIG ol' list with song links below!

BY THE WAY: Most of these songs are probably explicit! I was focusing mostly on unique takes, beats/BPM, and just general goodness.

Arabian Horse - FΛSHION (Britney Manson)

Arctic Fox - All Men Are Pigs (Studio Killers)

Arctic Wolf - The Night (Voltaire)

Bunny - Fine (Lemon Demon)

Camel - Animal (*repeat repeat)

Cheetah - 8 now (food house)

Clydesdale Horse - Here Comes the Hotstepper (Ini Kamoze)

Cougar - Imma Be (Black Eyed Peas)

Coyote - Crank It Up (Joey Valence & Brae)

Crocodile - Good Vibrations (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch)

Deer - Hey Ya! (Outkast)

Direwolf - Rock It For Me (Caravan Palace)

Dolphin - Booty Swing (Parov Stelar)

Eagle - Lay All Your Love On Me (ABBA)

Elephant - Rasputin (Boney M)

Falcon - The Outside (Twenty One Pilots)

Fennec Fox - Let's Groove (Earth, Wind & Fire)

Flamingo - Funkytown (Lipps Inc.)

Fox - Break It Down Again (Tears For Fears)

Giraffe - still feel. (half•alive)

Goat - Get It Right (Left Boy)

Great Horned Owl - Say It Right [Violin] (Joel Sunny)

Horse - Pretty Ugly (Tierra Whack)

Hyena - Genghis Khan (Miike Snow)

Kangaroo - High (Sir Sly)

Koala - Call This # Now (The Garden)

Lemur - Monkey Tree (Mother Mother)

Lion - Talking, Sleeping, Waiting (JHAS)

Llama - Dancin [KRONO Remix] (Aaron Smith)

Lynx - Upside Down (Oliver Tree)

Monkey - Cool City (Danny Elfman)

Moose - Americano (Lady Gaga)

Octopus - Tennis Court (Lorde)

Otter {Land} - Reflections (MisterWives)

Otter {Underwater} - Sharks (Imagine Dragons)

Owl - Lost In The Rhythm (Jamie Berry)

Panda - Bulletproof (La Roux)

Penguin {Land} - Deceptacon (Le Tigre)

Penguin {Underwater} - My Type (Saint Motel)

Pig - Null 2 (Graham Kartna)

Polar Bear {Land} - Boreas (The Oh Hellos)

Polar Bear {Underwater} - Death Is A Girl (Mini Mansions)

Raccoon - Drunk-Dazed (ENHYPEN)

Red Panda - Space Ghost Coast To Coast (Glass Animals)

Rhinoceros - Birthday Suit (Cosmo Sheldrake)

Sabertooth - Demigod (KT Tunstall)

Sea Turtle - 90210 [Acoustic Ver.] (blackbear)

Seal {Land} - Shotgun (George Ezra)

Seal {Underwater} - Shotgun (George Ezra)

Shark - Wriggle [Edit] (Cosmo Sheldrake)

Sheep - Droopy Likes Your Face (C418)

Skunk - The Russian Music Box (Soon Hee Newbold)

Sloth - Burn The House Down (AJR)

Snow Leopard - Circular Road (Heathers)

Tiger - American Money (BØRNS)

Toucan - Riptide [FlicFlac Remix] (Vance Joy)

Wolf - Roll with the Wind (Alexander Rybak)

#animal jam classic #jamblr #aj classic #animal jam #ajc #animal jam animals #animal jam dances #ALSO #if any artists here arent good #i probably havent heard abt it #i was gonna add the gifs of all the dances but i cant fit them T-T #am i right? am i wrong? let me know bc i may be absolutely insane with these takes #also considering doing some sort of thing with the Alphas #like theme songs or something #not all of them just the main ones