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ragingbookdragon · 3 years

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To Be Human--To Be Alive

Hal Jordan x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 3.5 Warnings: Explicit Language, Mentions of Death, Angst

Author's Note: I've been listening to Calum Scott's "Biblical" on repeat since it came out and I thought about this. Enjoy! -Thorne

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Hal Jordan was no stranger to pain. He’d felt it all: emotional, psychological, physical, mental, the list goes on and on, up and down, left and right, every which way until the end of time. That being said, he still wasn’t used to being thrown into concrete walls by meta-humans who had strength equivalent to Superman’s.

He rolled onto his side, feeling his broken ribs shift beneath his skin, and groaned, trying to find the will in him to get to his feet. All he had the strength to do was look over at Barry who was busy getting his own ass handed to him by another meta-human who seemed overly fond of freezing his feet.

A sinister laugh came from above him and Hal turned his head, eyes widening as he saw the meta-human standing before him a slab of concrete raised in his hands.

“Oh fu—”

He saw it before he heard it. The meta-human’s head intact one second and exploding into a hundred shards of brain matter and bone, some of it splattering across Hal’s suit and face. The concrete slab fell behind the meta-human and then he went to his knees, body pitching forward to land beside Hal’s feet.

The echo of the gunshot was enough to gather the other’s attention and her eyes had barely widened before another shot echoed across the street and her head exploded too, body falling beside Barry.

The two superheroes scrambled to their feet, and Hal was already forgetting about his broken ribs, willing constructs to life in order to provide protection for him and his best friend. Whoever killed the two enemies wasn’t firing anymore, but Hal wasn’t going to take any chances.

Green Lantern. Flash. Come in.

Barry skidded a stop beside Hal who shifted his hand, making the constructs combine into one giant wall; he put his free hand to his ear. “We’re here, Batman.”

What just happened? The life signs of your targets just went offline.

Hal looked to his friend whose blue eyes were wide, equally shocked about the turn of events. “Uh…about that…”

What happened?

“Batman, we’ve got a sniper somewhere in the range of our local. Took down both meta-humans within seconds of each other.”

Deceased?

Hal glanced behind him at the freezing meta-human’s corpse, a giant pool of blood growing from the spurting arteries. “Well, they don’t have heads anymore, so, yeah. They’re deceased.”

Understood. Superman’s coming in for protection.

The line clicked and Barry looked at Hal. “I think we should move. If that sniper’s still in the area, we shouldn’t be hanging around waiting to find out.”

Hal let the speedster pick him up, speeding down an alley away from the street so they’d be out of the line of sight. “What type of gun do you think they used?”

Barry shrugged, setting Hal down. “I don’t know. Normal rifles don’t do that much damage, even from that distance.” He didn’t even want to look out the alley way. “That had to be a high caliber rifle.”

“You think they’re a friendly?”

“Hal, they just blew off two people’s heads. That doesn’t seem friendly to me.”

He shrugged. “Well yeah, but they didn’t blow our heads off so…” he tipped his head side to side. “Seems like they were helping.”

Barry glowered at him. “Blowing people’s heads off isn’t helping superheroes. It’s vigilantism gone dark.”

“Sheesh, you sound like Spooky with that attitude.” Hal griped, turning with a new construct when a flash of red appeared in their visions. He lowered it when he realized it was Superman. “Supes!”

“Are you two okay?” Superman asked.

“We’re fine,” Barry replied. “The bullets came from the right. If I had to take a guess, it would’ve been the parking garage in the distance.”

Clark shook his head. “I checked. There were no signs of scuffing from a gun stand, or GSR around the area.”

“So, where’d they fire from?” Hal questioned and Clark nodded towards the street.

“Somewhere farther than just this street.” He glanced at them. “Whoever it was is gone now. C’mon, Batman’s getting a statement ready for the local PD.” He flew off, leaving Hal and Barry standing beside one another, more confused than anything.

***

Calling in late to work had never been Hal’s thing. Honestly, as lazy as he was sometimes, he loved his job. Loved the thrill of getting up in the air, loved feeling the shock sending him into his seat as he broke the sound barriers in the sky. Scrounging around parking garages and abandoned buildings for a ghost-shooter wasn’t his idea of a good day.

So far, he’d searched at least three abandoned buildings in the area, each coming up empty, and the last one showed the exact same signs. He sighed, letting the construct fade. Even the ring couldn’t make heads or tails with any of the evidence around him. Whoever their shooter was, was practically a specter. Hal had no idea how someone managed to shoot two meta-humans down that fast and then leave just as quickly, escaping both Barry and Clark’s abilities.

Hal had seen people killed before. Had even done the same a few times, even up in the air on combat missions and in his suit when he had no other choice. But seeing someone’s head burst like a watermelon hitting concrete right in front of his very eyes was something completely different. A different level of fear that there was someone out there ready to do the same to him, and all it would’ve taken was a random whim and a finger pulling a trigger. But it was like he told Barry—whoever their shooter was, wasn’t shooting to kill them, they were helping.

He drew his eyes along the wall of the empty room, finally resigning himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to find whoever it was that had helped them; with that, he sighed, letting his shoulders droop—he was going to lose fifty bucks to Barry because of this.

“Giving up so soon?” Hal spun around, coffee eyes wide as he scanned the room around him. “I’m surprised Green Lantern showed up. I was expecting Superman or Batman.”

“Who said that?” he questioned, spinning in a circle.

“Who or what?”

“What?”

“Who.”

Hal growled. “Quit screwing with me.” Apparently, they already knew who he was, and he let the green suit flash to life. “Show yourself.”

“Why should I?” they asked in return. “I saved your life.”

“You blew off two people’s heads.” He retorted.

“Should I have let the metas crush you and freeze off Flash’s legs? And here I thought you wanted to live and let your best friend be safe.”

“Killing people isn’t always the answer.” Hal said, turning around again and then he saw it, the glimmer of what looked like a tactical cloak. He pointed to the corner of the room and let a construct come alive. “Show yourself.”

The glimmer appeared again, and then something booted down and he watched as the tactical cloak faded, leaving a woman in its place, sitting up against the wall, one leg stretched out, the other pulled up near her chest, her elbow resting on her knee—and a big sniper rifle was resting against her chest, barrel pointing up towards the ceiling.

She was decked out in some kind of cyber armor that Hal could only describe as futuristic, solid black with purple electric currents running through the slots where the plates of her gear met, mainly down her shoulders and arms, and down the sides of her chest to her ribs to her feet.

“What’re you doing here, Green Lantern?” she inquired, the mask she wore muffling her voice enough that it wouldn’t give identification; her visor was darkened too. “Shouldn’t you be in the air, flyboy?”

Hal tipped his head curiously. “You know who I am?”

She nodded. “I do. And who Batman and your friends are.”

“How?” Batman’s identity was practically unidentifiable unless he told someone.

“Government databases as well as a hacked encryption into the Justice League computers.” She seemed awfully nonchalant as she shifted and rose to her feet, slinging the rifle to her backs. Even when Hal aimed the construct at her, she didn’t seem phased. “Why are you here?”

He blinked. “I wanted to find you.”

“What for?”

“Well…I’ve got a bet riding on finding you, but I also wanted to see where you’d shot from.”

She eyed him momentarily then gestured him over to the window; he stood beside her, and she pointed down the street. “I shot from here.”

Hal’s eyes almost bulged out of his head—he couldn’t even see the street they’d been on. “That’s gotta be at least eighteen hundred meters. Maybe farther.”

“Fifty caliber rifles are built for long range.” She merely replied. “I heard the commotion when the JL got into the city. Then I heard you and Bartholomew Allen getting beat down and decided to level the playing field.”

“How’d you hear commotion that far away?” he asked, and she tapped the side of her head.

“I’ve got enhanced senses. But the detection cameras around the city help too.”

Hal looked at her, watching as her eyes were darting around the street, like she was trying to work a strategy in her head; it reminded him of Barry. “Are you some kind of super soldier?”

She nodded. “I was. Designation Spectre.” Her head turned and she met his eyes. “I was created for covert military operations.”

“You mean assassinations?” he mused, and she nodded.

“Amongst other things, yes.”

“So, if you’re a military toy, why are you here?”

Something shifted in the air and Hal shivered. “Because when they cut the operation, they started hunting down all the soldiers. I went AWOL before they got to me.”

“You’re on the run?” Hal was sympathetic to her, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. “I can help you. Come to the Watchtower with me and we’ll see about setting you up with us.”

Her head turned again, this time staring at the hand gripping her shoulder; he didn’t seem to get the hint because he squeezed her arm. “You mean come to the government regulated superhero operation? That one?”

He winced. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing I could’ve said.” He pulled away. “But we can protect you. Or at least get you to safety away from any enemies.”

She grunted quietly. “There’s a lot of enemies after the bounty on my head.”

“How many?”

“Well, Deathstroke’s been a recurring figure.” She rolled her shoulder and turned around, walking away from the window. “He’s more annoying than dangerous. Like a brown recluse infestation that you just can’t kill.”

“Do you want to come with me though? I can take you directly to the Watchtower and call Batman.”

“I don’t think someone like Batman is going to like someone like me coming into his territory.”

Hal made a face. “Excuse you, the Watchtower is our territory.”

“Yeah, everyone but Wonder Woman is Batman’s bitch.” She bemused. “You just think the place is for everyone.”

“Still waiting on a yes or no.” Hal griped.

“I’m thinking it over.” Then she fell silent for a few moments; she hummed and looked at him. “Alright I’ll go with you.”

Hal cocked a brow. “It took you that long to think about it?”

She scoffed and led him from the room. “Don’t be ridiculous, my mind moves at a speed similar to Bartholomew Allen’s or Bruce Wayne’s.” She glanced at him. “I was looking over the watchtower floor plans in case you decided to collect my bounty and I needed to escape.”

He merely blinked at her and formed a construct outside the building, watching as she climbed in. “Something tells me you’re going to be a handful.”

“Well, I can tell you like having your hands full, Hal Jordan.”

Hal chuckled. “What’s your name?”

“(Y/N) (L/N).”

***Months Later***

Oddly enough to Hal’s surprise, (Y/N) fit right in with the League. She and Barry could talk about forensic science for hours, going into their own little world that only batman knew anything about, and occasionally, the Big Bat himself would involve himself in their discussions. It was the one time Hal thought that Batman was enjoying himself. Of course, Batman also seemed to enjoy training with her.

They’d go for hours on the mat, switching through different forms of martial arts, and Hal and the others kept a betting ring on who would win each match because for all the greatness Bruce Wayne was as Batman, (Y/N) seemed to be the only person who could match him blow for blow and still win sometimes.

Diana loved her, or so she loved the idea that (Y/N) didn’t back down from fights or simply let enemies off the hook. And he understood from listening and learning, that (Y/N) enjoyed Greek literature and culture, prompting the two women to delve into deep conversations over history and stories.

Everyone loved (Y/N). She was like Bruce if he were lethal and was kind. And Hal? Hal wanted nothing more than to take her to dinner, but surprisingly, (Y/N) was either extremely dense or she just didn’t want to date anybody because every time Hal asked her out, she had an excuse. And while Hal backed off when a woman said no, she’d not said no yet, so he was merely wondering if she was waiting it out—something he was going to find out, come hell or high water.

***

He watched as she held the soldering iron in one hand and held up the gauntlet in the other, examining her work before deciding it was decent enough to call it a day. Setting both the armor and the tool down, she stood from her seat and stretched, rolling her muscles, and popping her joints. She didn’t like to be still for long periods of time unless she was doing something, like sitting in a sniper nest or enhancing equipment; he’d learned that the hard way after they were set on global patrol in the Watchtower one night.

“Do you want something?” she asked, not looking at him as she gathered her armor together.

Hal chuckled, walking over to lean against the table. “A few things.”

“Gonna ask me out again?” (Y/N) questioned, putting the gear into a footlocker.

“Finally gonna say no?” he responded, and she stood up, meeting his gaze.

“Do you want a no?”

Hal shrugged. “It’d be easier than having to come up with another excuse for asking you out.”

(Y/N) hummed, walking past him and he followed her as she wandered through the hall of the Watchtower. “So far you’ve asked me out twenty-one times.”

“I’m tempted to make twenty-two, if you’ll say yes.”

She paused and turned on him, giving him an odd look. “Why do you want to go out with me? Aren’t you worried about fraternization?”

“Fraternization is only regulated in the military,” Hal shrugged off. “We’re no longer in the force.”

“That only answered part of the questions.”

Hal reached out, thumbing a smudge of oil off her face. “I’m interested in you.”

“That’s it?” (Y/N) inquired. “You’re interested in me and that’s why you won’t quit asking me out on dates?”

“You’re smokin’ hot?” he offered with a snarky grin, and she rolled her eyes, turning around.

“Every day I’m reminded of why you’re such a skirt-chaser.”

As she walked off, he hurried behind her and grabbed her upper arm. “(Y/N), wait.” She paused and he pulled her around. “Go out with me tonight.”

“Are you asking or telling?” she challenged. “Because the latter isn’t going to fly with me.”

Hal snorted. “It’s a bit of both.” When she cocked a brow, he added, “Go out with me tonight, and if you don’t have a good time, we’ll never talk about it again and I’ll stop asking.”

(Y/N) regarded him a moment. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

She pulled her arm from his grip and spit into her hand holding it out to him. “Shake on it, flyboy.”

Hal pulled a face and grabbed her hand, shaking it firmly, and when (Y/N) pulled back and stalked off, he grimaced and wiped his hand down his pants—but he was happy she finally agreed.

***

“It’s been a long time since I had good Cuban food,” she murmured, glancing towards the stars in the sky. “I’d forgotten how good it was.”

Hal looked over at her, folding his hands in his lap. “Before or after the program?”

(Y/N) hummed. “Before…I grew up in an old neighborhood in the suburbs of Jacksonville…there was a Cuban restaurant down the street from my house and we used to go there all the time for dinner.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“My family.”

Something in her tone seemed bitter, but also disheartened and lamenting. “Have you seen them since you came back?”

(Y/N) looked away and muttered darkly, “The government executed them when they couldn’t bring me in.” Her lips pulled down. “I heard that none of my family gave into their demands…they were loyal to me until the end.”

Hal felt his heart sink in his chest. “I’m so sorry, (Y/N). That’s horrible.”

She shrugged. “I killed the squad that attacked them…I got my revenge.” Her eyes found his as she looked back over. “What about you? Is your family still around?”

He found it hard to believe she didn’t know even though she knew everyone before she joined. “You don’t know my history?”

“I only know your name,” she responded. “And what little you’ve shared. Well…little is for Batman, you share an awful amount of yourself with everyone.”

Hal snorted and nudged her in the ribs. “Hey, just tryin’ to be friendly.” She smiled, waiting for him to speak, and when he did, his voice was just as sad as hers was. “I have a big family. Me, my siblings, my mom, everyone else.”

“No dad?” (Y/N) questioned and he looked at his hands.

“My dad died in a plane crash when I was a kid.” He sighed. “I witnessed it.”

“That’s…I’m sorry.”

“I swore I’d never bow down to my fears and when I turned eighteen, I joined the Air Force and followed in dad’s footsteps.” He huffed a breath. “I still get terrified when I fly…always have…but I do it to honor him.” Hal swallowed thickly, feeling warmth in his eyes. “I’ve always wanted to be someone that would’ve made proud.”

A hand touched his and he looked down at it, then to her, eyes widening when he saw tears silently running down her cheeks. “I’m sure your father is looking down on you with pride wherever he is, Hal.”

He couldn’t help but reach over with his free hand. “You’re crying?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Your story is…heart wrenching.” She leaned into his palm. “I feel your pain.”

“I—I can’t believe you’re crying for me though…no one’s ever done that.”

She reached up and wiped a tear that had fallen form his eye; he hadn’t realized it did. “You can cry too, Hal.” (Y/N) smiled sadly. “We might be strong…but we’re still human.” She reached up with her free hand and pulled his hand down from her face, squeezing it in hers. “Cry if you want to, Hal. I won’t judge you if you do.”

Hal didn’t want to cry. Not in front of her at least and he squeezed his eyes shut to keep them at bay. “It’s not manly to cry in front of a woman.”

“Everyone cries, Hal, even men.” (Y/N) leaned forward and took his face in her hands, pressing her forehead to hers. “You are allowed to feel.” He gazed into her eyes, this time not stopping the tears as they gathered in his; she smiled. “Fall to pieces, Hal…I’ll put them all back together.”

“Yeah?” he breathed tearfully, and she nodded, pressing her lips to his.

“Promise.”

Hal pulled from her grip and buried his face in her strong shoulder, and soon his body was shaking with sobs. And (Y/N) merely wrapped her arms around him.

“Let it go, Hal. Fall to pieces, darling.” She whispered, pressing kisses to his skin. “I’ll pick it all up.”

He kept apologizing, “I’m sorry’s” rolling off his tongue with each cry and she merely shook her head.

“Don’t be sorry, darling.” (Y/N) replied, turning her face to his cheek, pressing her lips to his skin. “Be human…be alive, Hal.”

His grip only tightened on her, and he shifted his face so he could see her, and he stared into her eyes, his own big, brown ones saddened, but full of heart and emotion. She threaded her fingers in his hair and smoothed it with gentle stokes and caresses.

He sniffed strongly and croaked, “The next time we go out, can we forgo the emotional moment?”

(Y/N) huffed a laugh and kissed him. “Sure, Hal.”

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monster-bait · 4 years

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Holt the Witch’s Familiar; M Cat Familiar x F Human, NSFW Monster Match

Monster Match for @moonlightreetops: What I usually look for in a partner is someone that is the equivalent to bedrock personality wise. I need stability and understanding in some sort of way to make me feel secure in a relationship...I collect macabre trinkets and spend most of my time doing little creative projects. I watch scifi flix, anime and play DND so big geek vibes here

I was *determined* to give him the name of an actual, historical familiar, and I didn’t name him Vinegar Tom, so YOU’RE WELCOME. Also, I left a TON of Holt on the cutting room floor, so there will likely be a sequel to this down the road!

The doll had a particularly creepy face.

“Miss Claudette is from the mid-eighteen hundreds,” the female auctioneer read, “once belonging to a privileged little girl of the era, she is a magnificent model of the expectations of a typical Victorian lady.”

You bit your lip in anticipation as hands reached into the frame, turning the doll on her pedestal to show off the detailing on the dress; the creepy, painted bisque face forgotten.

You had no idea who he was—he never spoke, never stepped into the frame, never did anything other than manipulate the items at the behest of the sultry voiced woman in charge, but you’d be lying if you pretended he wasn’t the reason you kept tuning in week after week to their oddity auction, his lovely hands and the banter afterwards.

Long and white and sculpted, veins and tendons standing out in relief, his hands were their own work of art, like a living sculpture. The endlessly long fingers were tipped in equally lengthy nails, painted matte black and ending in lethal-looking points, you supposed calling them claws would likely be more accurate.

You wondered, not for the first time, if he were a werewolf, or some similar creature.

He wouldn’t have the nails all the time, you reminded yourself, thinking of what Kenzie had said. The chipper werewolf had been in your gaming group for several months, a welcome addition, for geeky clubs tended to be overrun with guys, and you’d become friendly with her almost immediately, bonding over a shared love of anime and crafting. You’d casually wondered aloud if werecreatures retained elements of their bestial side, like sharp claws, perhaps, but the freckle-faced young woman had quashed your supposition.

“Nope,” she’d announced cheerfully, seating herself at the gaming table. “Unless it’s like, the day of the change, maybe.”

You had no idea who or what he was, but conversing with him after the auction each week had become a bright spot in your weekend calendar.

It had started when you discovered the wonderful, weird world of oddities auctions run weekly on Instagram. You’d always had a penchant for the macabre and had amassed a nice little collection over the years, but now small businesses were hurting and you could enjoy oddity shopping from the comfort of your phone. You’d heard of the Cat & Crow but had never made the drive to the neighboring city to visit the shop in person, and were excited to see what they had to offer.

“Welcome everyone to the Cat & Crow, thanks for joining us today.”

The woman before the camera wore the uniform of every other social media witch you followed—trendy, artfully tattered black clothes, her raven-colored hair done up in a crown of braids and dreadlocks; her eyeliner expertly winged, tattoos that appeared to be tree branches reaching across her clavicle, with half a dozen rings on each hand.

“Winners, Holt will be contacting you directly at the auction’s end, please be ready with your method of payment. We’ve got a lot of unique items to get through today, so let's get started!”

It wasn’t until the third week you’d tuned in that you’d chatted with the mysterious Holt. You’d been outbid on several of the items you liked, but managed to snag two others, including a victorian poison ring, and he’d recognized your screen name.

Hello again! What were you the big winner of this week? Lot 23 and 47...the onyx and gold poison ring and the pocket-sized surgical tool set. Hmm! Big weekend plans?

You’d laughed aloud at your laptop, cheeks coloring despite the fact you were alone. Nothing nefarious as all that, I swear! Although my table game group had better stay on their toes tonight…

Oh fun! I used to belong to one of those before I moved. So what are you guys playing right now?

After that week, he asked after your game group at the end of every auction. You told him of the hours-long game of Catan, the entire month of Call of Cthulhu, the bickering session that had broken out over a game of Azule.

That sounds great actually. I need to start doing fun things again, since we’ve started the auctions I feel like I’m working 24/7.

You bit your lip now, thinking of his words from the previous week.

After the creepy doll had been some Templar altar piece, a hand of glory with only one candle remaining, and a terrifying victorian wind-up toy, and the only thing to which you’d paid attention was his hands and his sharp claws, shifting things around as the witchy-looking woman spoke.

You’d realized your shopping habit had become more expensive than you’d initially counted on, and that for the last several weeks you were truly only bidding on items as a way to talk to him after the auction’s close. Just ask him. You don’t need to buy anything today, you don’t even like the stuff! Just take a deep breath and do it. Deciding the voice in your head was right, you did as it advised, sucking in a breath and leaning over your keyboard before you changed your mind.

Hi! Not a winner this week, nothing really caught my eye. You swallowed hard, pushing on. I wanted to invite you to join our group sometime! We meet every Saturday at the Melted Meeple, so tonight, lol! You grimaced at yourself, but persevered. We’re just playing CAH right now, but there’s talk of a D&D campaign starting up. The more the merrier!

You waited a minute, then two, before pushing yourself up from the desk. If he didn’t respond, it wasn’t a big deal, you told yourself. He was working, after all, and you really did need to get ready to go meet your friends that evening. Hair fluffed, clothes changed, the handful of dishes you’d left in the sink washed and put away...you went back to your laptop just before you needed to get going, holding your breath as you looked at the screen.

That sounds great! I have to finish things up here, but hopefully I won’t be too late. This will be fun, I feel like we’re old friends at this point!

You told yourself the bounce in your step as you left was simply because it was a nice evening, that you were happy to spend time with your friends and nothing more. That’s it. Just another normal night.

“So what are you going to do?” you asked him for the dozenth time that evening, before biting into a crust of melty cheese, your eyes rolling back in bliss. The Melted Meeple specialized in gaming and grilled cheese, and they excelled at both.

Holt shrugged, spearing a sweet potato fry. He was a finicky eater, carefully cutting things with a knife and fork, scrutinizing the menu every week as though it were the first time he’d seen it, before ordering the exact same thing. He took his time with things and could not be rushed—spearing his fries one at a time, swirling the straw in his drink until the ice had all but melted into the alcohol—and as a result, the two of you spent more time tucked away at your own little table than you did playing the group’s game, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You were smitten.

You’d been a nervous wreck that first night, raising your head anxiously every time the Meeple’s great doors were pulled open, but you did your best to hide it from your friends. You were used to being the steady one, after all, the one who gave advice and provided a ready shoulder for the whole group...you didn’t begrudge your friends their drama and woes, but it made it hard when you had your own anxieties and nowhere to turn.

Kenzie had dropped into the seat next to you, had been going on about the latest disaster with her boyfriend when her head had snapped up, nose wrinkled.

“Ugh, cat. It’s too close to the moon to deal with smelling that.”

You hadn’t noticed the door pulling open, and weren’t entirely sure how he’d managed to do it silently, but a man who’d not been standing before the entrance a moment earlier had stood there then, his citron-green cat eyes scanning the room hesitantly. You’d known it was him instantly.

Thick raven-colored hair and bone-white skin, slim black jeans and a black leather jacket atop a blood red shirt, he was a fitting counterpart to the witch who ran the oddity auction. One of his thick, arched black brows had cocked hopefully when they landed on you staring at him, and you raised a hesitant hand in greeting, smiling when his lips split, revealing a row of blinding white teeth. You took note of the long, hooked incisors in his smile.

“Is he a werecat?” you’d hissed to Kenzie as he made his way across the huge room.

She’d sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose again. “No. Just...just a cat. I don’t get it. I’m going to grab a drink before the next game starts, you want anything?”

He was a familiar, you’d learned. A witch’s familiar, a sleek black cat when he wasn’t the handsome, slightly goth-looking man sitting across from you. His witch, the auctioneer, Arabeth the mistress of Crows—“Bethany,” he’d corrected flatly, rolling his eyes—was his business partner and co-owner of the Cat & Crow, a naturally gifted witch with no direction or commitment to the craft, according to him.

“Let me tell you, working in retail was not a career ambition for me,” he’d laughed that first night, as the two of you sat at your own small table away from the group, sharing a basket of fries before joining the game. “But the shop is successful and it keeps me busy, since she’s all but abandoned her path.”

By the end of the night, your stomach had been a riot of butterflies. He was stable and confident, a sharp departure from the majority of your friend group, you’d realized. Stable and confident, and ridiculously good looking. You’d thought he was of a middling height when you’d been seated, but he towered over you, engulfing you in a hug at the evening’s end.

“This was a lot of fun, thanks for inviting me!”

“Every Saturday,” you replied breathlessly, trying to restrain yourself from burying your face against his solid chest. You didn’t know what Kenzie was talking about, he didn’t smell like a cat at all—he smelled like black musk and pine, making you think of a dark forest on an autumn night, masculine and sexual…“I hope you’ll join us again!”

“If you’ll be here, I definitely will,” he’d said, giving you another one of those sharp-edged smiles, his eyes glowing on the dark street.

That had been over a month ago, and you were head-over heels in your crush.

He’d joined you every Saturday, and it had become your custom to eat together, away from the group before joining in whatever game was starting. When both Kenzie and another friend had flaked on going furniture shopping with you, he’d taken their place, doing the heavy lifting, putting together a bookcase, and paying for dinner afterwards, despite your insistence to the contrary. It was a revelation, having someone there to hear your problems, and you were happy to do the same, whenever he came in grumbling about his deteriorating relationship with his witch.

When your gaming group began planning its Dungeons and Dragons campaign at last, you discovered Holt had never played and wasn’t familiar with any of the rules.

“First we have to decide your character,” you explained, pushing a character sheet across the table. “Race, attributions, what you’d like your strengths to be…”

“Tell me again why I can’t be a bard who’s also a sorcerer.”

“You can cast spells as a bard! We’ve been through this!”

“I want to be sneaky and magical and have everyone love me.”

You’d come to the Cat & Crow once, popping in unannounced, and had seen him in his cat form. Sleek and sinuous, jet black with bright green eyes, the black cat had rubbed up against your ankles as you’d stood there, after being greeted by the friendly-seeming witch, mewling determinedly before darting off into the back room. Holt had come breezing out a moment later, announcing to Bethany that you were going out for sushi and would be back in an hour.

“So basically you just want to play yourself,” you laughed, receiving a not-at-all angelic smile in return.

It was the first grownup relationship you’d ever had, you’d realized with a start that evening. You loved your friends and wouldn’t change a thing about them, but it was nice not playing therapist, having a solid give-and-take of support. Your first real adult relationship, and it’s completely one sided. Brava.

Still, you thought, when he slinked through the Melted Meeple’s doors that night, dropping into a chair gracefully and announcing he was officially a free agent familiar, you were glad for the opportunity to listen, knowing he’d be just as present and solid for you.

He shrugged at your repeated question. “Go to the agency on Monday, file for a new witch, I guess.”

“Does...does that mean you’ll have to move? What if they pair you with a witch on the other side of the world? What about the shop?”

His laugh was a dark curl, full of mirth. “Nothing archaic like that. This is where I live, the shop is my day job. We’re still business partners, but she’s quitting the craft entirely and I don’t have that luxury. The magic world is ninety percent bureaucracy and paperwork, it’ll probably be at least a year before they even get to my file.”

“Oh, that’s-that’s good,” you sighed in relief, not wanting to contemplate what would happen if he had to move away. “Good! You’ll have more free time now!”

Holt’s smile was wide, the light overhead winking off his fangs as leaned across the table. “And I know just who I’m going to spend it with,” he purred, before catching your lips with his own.

You hadn’t really known what to expect from the home of a familiar—a part of you was expecting some gothic lair with dripping candles and some ancient book of dark spellwork on a pedestal—but a completely average garden-level apartment on a tight lane of historic brownstones had not been it. The neighborhood was trendy: full of crowded little bistros with packed, street-side patios and bars boasting craft cocktails on swirling chalk signs outside their doors. You didn’t mind an occasional foray into adventure, but you couldn’t imagine living somewhere so noisy and bustling.

“Here we are,” Holt announced, tugging your hand and carefully leading you down the short stairwell in front of the dark-bricked building. “The neighborhood is great, but I love my little dungeon.”

You understood his meaning the moment the door closed behind you. The apartment was small but tidy, with plush-looking furniture and towering bookshelves, each crammed with curios, macabre trinkets and gimcrack. The street-level windows did little to illuminate the space, giving it a dim, cloistered feeling, amplified by the red-shaded lamps on either side of the sofa.

Long-fingered hands encircled your waist, claws dragging lightly over your stomach, sending a shiver up your spine and reminding you remembered why you were here. You were terribly aware of your own heartbeat when warm lips pressed to the back of your neck, hot breath and the glance of fangs moving over your delicate skin, and your head tilted on its own accord, giving him better access.

“It looks like a bordello in this place,” you mused, laughing when you felt his outraged gasp against your shoulder.

“Slander!” he exclaimed, the press of his hot tongue making your back arch, “calumny and lies. I demand restitution.”

It had been two weeks since he’d kissed you over your grilled cheese sandwich, two weeks of making out like teenagers and groping each other on the street corner every Saturday, two weeks of thinking about him every night, waking heated and flushed in your bed with an ache between your thighs and slick coating your fingers, and tonight you’d decided enough was enough.

He was steady and confident and reliable, but you’d noticed that he deferred to you in almost every matter. If you asked his opinion, he gave it; if you told him he was in charge of the evening’s plans, he already had one, but he let you control the direction of things rather than steamrolling you, and you wondered if it was something he was compelled to do as a familiar. You’ve got to be the one who makes the first move, you realized. Then he’ll take over and you can stop panicking.

“I think,” you murmured into his ear that night, as you sat on the edge of the gaming table, waiting to join in on the next round, “you should show me your apartment tonight, and we can work on your rolls.” The D&D campaign had started, and two sessions in the entire campaign had been entirely waylaid by a troublesome tiefling character who refused to follow the group’s initiative, and Holt had been smug that he’d not been the new player to cause problems.

“Hmmm,” he hummed, green eyes flashing, “we can do other things while we’re there.”

The apartment was dark, but somehow you were led to the bedroom without tripping over anything, the bedding beneath you cool and thick as Holt pressed you to your back. His eyes were glowing green orbs, rapidly growing closer until your lips were captured by his own, the kiss breaking off abruptly when he leaned over your body to turn on the bedside lamp.

“What do I need to roll for seduction?”

The bed rocked as he reached back from where he straddled your body, pulling off your sandals and sending them sailing across the room. “I’m serious!” he insisted when you laughed again. “This is a serious game, remember? I don’t want to be the one who gets the whole party kicked out of a tavern.”

“Well, if you’re serious,” you began, breath hitching as your top was pushed up your body, claws dragging over the newly-exposed skin, “then you should know you can’t actually roll seduction, it’s not a skill.”

“Oh, I beg to differ.”

You couldn't find fault in his words as your bra was deftly unhooked and pulled away, the heat of his mouth closing over the tip of your breast before you had a chance to be chilled. The tips of his clawed hand continued to move in soft patterns over your side as his tongue worked, teasing your nipple before sucking, biting ever-so-gently before releasing it with a wet pop.

“Are you sure I can’t roll seduction? I am a magical bard, after all.”

“Nope,” you corrected on a gasp. His mouth had moved to your other breast, giving it the same treatment until both nipples were pebbled and aching. “Seduction isn’t a skill. You can roll for deception, if you have ulterior motives.”

“Absolutely not. There you go again with the slander. What about...persuasion? Can I roll persuasion as a means of seduction?”

You unbuttoned the dark shirt he wore as he spoke, pushing apart the fabric to reveal the long, lithe shape of him above you. Broad shouldered but slender, Holt possessed none of the bulk the werewolf you’d gone out with a few times last year had. Tightly muscled and well-defined, your own clawless fingers moved down his chest, following the trail of dark hair down the hard plane of his stomach until you reached the thick bulge at the front of his jeans. The noise that emitted from his throat as you stroked the hard shape of him was very nearly a purr, and you smiled hugely, deciding to let him do his best.

“Sure, why not,” you smiled, pulling open his belt. “But I might want a perception check. Gotta check out your staff of persuasion first, make sure its on the up and up.”

You let out an undignified squeak when your skirt and knickers were pulled down as he rose, shucking his jeans before climbing over your body slowly, and you were clearly able to picture him as the giant, stalking cat you knew he occasionally was.

The soft drag of his claws over your thighs made you gasp, legs falling open, and the knuckle that pressed into your folds found you slick and eager.

“I’m glad you invited me to join the group,” he purred against your lips, sharp teeth catching them gently in a kiss. “Even if I don’t know any of the rules.”

The hard press of his erection was a molten heat against your hip and you shuddered out a breath, wanting to take him in hand but enjoying the press of his body against yours too much to force him to move. “I-I am too.”

Between your legs, his hand was buried against your sex. His sharp claws were tucked back, a finger on either side of your clit, knuckles kneading into the sensitive flesh until your hips were bucking upward to meet his hand, kneading and rolling, over and over until you were seeing stars. Pressure built behind your navel with every roll over the exposed bud of flesh, and you keened.

“I’m still having fun,” Holt went on, mouth stretching into a wide Cheshire cat-like smile, “and isn’t that the point of a game?”

The band of pressure snapped and you arched against him as throb after throb of pleasure pulsed through you. Your thighs tightened around his wrist, trapping his hand in place, and he hummed in amusement, fingers still moving as you gasped and shook, his lips pressing to yours lightly when you trembled with the aftershocks of your orgasm.

“I’d like to seduce you, please,” he purred, waggling his dark eyebrows. “I’m being as persuasive as possible.”

His cock was still hot when you wrapped a hand around it, giving his shaft a firm pump, dragging upwards until your fingers reached his swollen head. “You really are a big cat,” you observed when the repeated motion drew a vibrating rumble from his chest, before edging closer to the foot of the bed. His smart-assed reply was lost to another rumble when you licked a broad stripe over his exposed head, laving your tongue over the bead of moisture there.

There were several rings of nodules at the base of his head, you realized, mimicking the sharp barbs he might possess in his cat form, and you wondered how they would feel inside of you. The sharp points of his nails dragged through your hair as you sucked him into your mouth, swirling your tongue before lowering your head down his shaft, bobbing your head several times before his clawed hands were tugging you upwards.

You were reminded of his speed on the day the black cat in the shop had gone darting off to the back room in a blink of an eye when he flipped you, you cheek pressed to the mattress as he kissed up your spine, raising your hips. You felt the leaking tip of his cockhead press to your slick folds, sliding up and down before finally pushing into you, hilting himself in one thrust.

You hadn’t intended on finding a relationship, only some fun new additions to your curio shelf, you thought as has pumped into you, those textured nodules dragging deliciously over your inner walls. Claws dragged over your skin as you clenched around him, unable to stop the moan which broke from your mouth. You hadn’t been looking for a relationship, but one had found you anyway.

When his hand found its way back between your thighs, you were lost. Already gasping with every thrust of his textured cock, as soon as the rough pads of his fingers began circling your clit, you felt your tentative control slip, your core clenching and spasming around him before you were filled with heat, his rumbling purr vibrating against you as he came.

The comforter was thick and soft when he pulled it over you, once he’d withdrawn and quickly cleaned you up. Thick and soft and incredibly warm, snuggled against his chest.

“I have a confession to make.” You craned your neck up to find Holt peering down, one of his thick, dark brows cocked curiously. “You can’t actually play persuasion or deception against another player’s character. Everyone has their own freewill and agency, it doesn’t matter how silver-tongued the party’s bard is.”

“Do you mean to tell me I wasted a perfectly good persuasion play?”

“It was unnecessary but not without merit!” you yelped as he flipped you to your back, giving you his best glower as he straddled your hips. “You’ve convinced me!”

“Oh, just you wait. I am going to cast so many spells on you once once we finally get out of the bloody tavern.”

The bed, you realized, had begun to levitate, and now hung suspended in the air as you squealed. He really was a magical, sneaky bard.

“You can’t do that either,” you laughed after the bed dropped, shaking the walls. “No spells on teammates.”

“There are too many rules to this game,” he griped, pressing his cheek to your breast. You wrapped your arms around him, pushing your fingers through his thick hair. Give and take. Solid for each other.

“You have plenty of time to learn.”

His purr vibrated against you before he wriggled free from your arms to fix the blanket, pulling you against him as he resettled. “It’s a good thing I have an excellent teacher.”

#monsterbait writes #exophilia #monster boyfriend #monster lover #monster x reader #m monster x female reader #monster x human #monster match #monster matchmaker #witch's familiar #black cat

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merigreenleaf · 4 years

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Unexpected Inspiration Series: Concordia’s Art Magic

Blythe could only assume that if Adair was holding a paintbrush, the jar in his other hand must contain paint or ink. Then again, it was Adair. It could just as likely be grape jam. And to think, she'd finally got herself unsticky from Sol's glue fiasco this morning. With some trepidation, she held out her hand. Adair dipped the tip of his brush into the jar, then drew a quick blue swirl on her palm. At least that solved the mystery. It was, in fact, paint. "I wouldn't call a paint smudge much of a glow." "Give me a minute." This time Adair didn't return the brush to the jar and instead held the tip of the bristles just far enough away that they tickled Blythe's skin. She fought back the reflex to close her hand so she wouldn't disturb whatever it was he was trying. When nothing happened for a long while besides Adair gazing intently at her hand, Blythe mouthed to Etri, "What's he doing?" Etri tapped his finger against her wrist, calling her attention back down. She had expected nothing to change and hissed a sharp intake of breath when it had. The swirl was still there, but now there was an aura of purple about an inch away from her skin. When she moved her hand, the strange glow stayed with it. Etri leaned closer for a better look. She pried her eyes away in time to catch Adair looking pleased with himself in an embarrassed sort of way. "So all Weavers' hands look like this?" "Yeah, but not just our hands. Picture that covering your entire body and you get a better idea of how we glow." Blythe made a face and wiped her hand clean on the paint-stained cloth he handed her. "Blech. I'll pass." -Excerpt from an early draft of Colorweaver (Book 1)

Concordia as a whole is filled with artists, craftspeople, inventors, and creative hobbyists. The culture has art at its center and almost everyone joins in, even if it's just a way to pass the time rather than as a vocation. It's a drive passed down from generation to generation and the reason for this is that art magic runs deep in the blood of Concordians. History and myth have blended together into stories telling of how the first Concordians-- several struggling, displaced groups of people who joined together to survive-- asked for help in driving away a threat and to help keep their small population safe. Legends say that the constellations came down from the sky to teach magic to the people. Centuries later, these magics have become the nine types of art magic in Concordia.

(Info about the art magic below!)

Here are the types of magic. These are represented in the moodboard from left to right, top to bottom.

Wordweaving (Glow color: red) These Weavers work their magic into words, both spoken and written. These are the poets, the storytellers, the actors, the writers. They're the ones who can affect emotion or, in the case of my morally ambiguous main character, influence someone's thoughts for a short time. This is probably the most dangerous or easily corrupted of magics, but considering the tests that go into becoming a master artist and the checks in place after someone does, this hasn't been a huge problem. (Dray has just made it a problem by avoiding any real training, which is also not a usual thing-- nothing Dray has done with their magic is correct, if you get down to it, and it means that they are going to have Consequences sooner than later. But I digress.) Another example of how this magic can be used is in the scrolling marquee in front of the theater the characters visit in book 1.

Colorweaving (Color: purple) These are the artists whose tools are ink, paint, pencil, charcoal, etc. They're essentially illusionists with the ability to make what they draw/paint move around on whatever they're using as a canvas. Adair has this magic and while he'll sometimes use this to make animated paintings, his career as a cartographer has him creating interactive maps. As the series progresses, he figures out that if he paints on himself or someone else, he can change their appearance. He may even work out something that Colorweavers have forgotten they once knew how to do: by drawing on the air, it's possible to create a believable 3D illusion.

Timberweaving (Color: dark green) Woodworkers and carpenters, obviously, but their magic does more than just allow them to make sturdy creations from wood. Not that this is anything to scoff at-- this is why the oldest Artisans' houses haven't fallen over despite being built on stilts and almost every generation adding a new room or even a new floor. This magic can also make wood as buoyant on air as it would be on water and is a frequent way transportation is built. Not all vehicles hover a few inches off the ground, but this does include the "float-wagons" my main characters call home. Those are something of a cross between a motorhome and a house and can be driven (albeit slowly) around.

Terraweaving (Color: orange) These are the Weavers who work with stone and clay, sculpture and pottery. Way back in Concordia's history there was a Terraweaver who used to sculpt trainable dog-sized animals to give companionship and help to those who needed it. Not just by way of a service dog-- one of the things she made for a gardener friend was a pet that doubled as a planter. The more traditional ways of working this magic are the ability to work stone as though it were soft clay and putting their magic into buildings to make them more steady and solid, much like the Timberweavers, or to make them resist fires.

Oreweaving (Color: red-violet) These Weavers frequently have chemical or heat magic and often use this to etch, shape, and manipulate metals. They're the jewelers, the smiths, and are probably the most "inventor" group of the bunch. Sol tends to use his light/heat magic in a similar way to how the arcane metalworkers would (softening and shaping metal in his hands), so there's some overlap here in terms of heat with the glassworkers. The reason for this is Oreweaving was originally a kind of lightning magic. You'll still find it used as a kind of "battery" when an Oreweaver works with a different type of Weaver on a project. This could be to extend the life of the magic in something else, because eventually all magic inside a creation will run out and need to be recharged, or it'll be a backup battery. Concordia relies on wind, water, and solar power, so magic is only ever a backup or a way to store power they already have.

Savorweaving (Color: pale green) The Weavers who work with food and drink. What they cook doesn't burn, produce stays fresh longer, herbs don't lose potency or flavor after they're dried, food keeps longer or can be made to be more filling. They're the reason Concordia has the equivalent of refrigerators. These artists can also influence the taste and strength of flavor, and I bet they can look at a person and guess what their favorite foods might be.

Glassweaving (Color: gold) This magic involves heat and/or light. These artists are the reason why Silveridge has so much stained glass! As well as using this to make super-strong glass, some Glassweavers use this magic directly by putting it inside glass globes to be used as lamps. Portable heating, like something to keep in your pockets to keep your hands warm? Probably also had a Glassweaver involved. Concordia's mail system is via pneumatic tubes that run about twelve feet off the ground, and while a few different kinds of art go into creating these, the tubes themselves are made of magically-influenced glass.

Songweaving (Color: blue) This magic involves sound and voice, although in terms of pitch and changing how you sound, not the verbal influence of the Wordweavers. I have a character in later books with this magic who can make her voice sound like anything, as well as throwing it so that the sound appears to be coming from somewhere else. This is also the reason that Concordians are able to record sound and music, as well as amplify it or play it at another location simultaneously.

Threadweaving (Color: blue-green) These are the fiber artists, the spinners, weavers (small "w"), knitters, tailors, etc. They can put their magic into clothing and fabric to make it warmer or cooler than it would otherwise be. (This suits Concordians well because current fashion calls for lots of layers of embroidered fabrics and they live in a warm climate.) This can also make clothing protective, usually against things like weather, but it is also how the Protectorates are able to stay safe without needing to wear something heavy that would look like protective gear. Remember the floating homes I mentioned earlier? Some of these are propelled via large fans, sort of like a hovercraft, but some are made with sails on the roofs. Whether it's land or sea, these sails can propel the vehicle forward even if there isn't much wind and can quite likely store some of the wind for later, should it be a still day.

Not everyone in Concordia has magic particularly strongly: some are only good at never burning what they cook, some have simply a pleasant singing voice, some are above average at writing poetry. Sometimes these people will make this part of their careers, sometimes it'll only remain a hobby they enjoy. If the magic is particularly strong, though, it requires additional training and those people are considered Artisans. There isn't a lot of difference between an Artisan and a craftsperson when it comes down to what they create; the only real difference is that an Artisan has magic as an extra tool, so their end results are different. Considering no two artists ever create exactly the same thing anyway, this means that there has never been more importance placed on the Artisans versus craftspeople. Each person will only ever have one type of art magic; even if they carry several types in their bloodline, one will be dominant and only this one will be usable. Each of the nine types of art magic has its own color that glows in both the artist and the creations they make. Only those with decently strong magic can see this, but it does mean that a lot of people, clothing, objects, and locations in Concordia have almost a stained glass look to them if it's something you can see. Part of the reason buildings in Silveridge are made with white stone is because of these glows. Silveridge is where a large percentage of the Artisans live, so it became a tradition to build and paint in white, then add colorful embellishments. Otherwise think about how badly paint colors might clash with the glows used to create the things in the city! Even if most people aren't really aware of how magic glows, they've embraced this aesthetic. Concordia, and Silveridge in particular, is all about aesthetics.

These are just some examples of what each kind of magic can do. Concordians are always coming up with new ideas-- sometimes those ideas work great, sometimes they fail spectacularly. Either way, the artists and craftspeople are constantly creating. Their art magic allows for greater technology than their world might have had without it. Concordia freely trades their creations, so most of their world has access, as well. At some point I'll talk more about Galanvoth, the country that considers itself Concordia's competition.

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This moodboard is for @homesteadchronicles theme of “craftsmanship” because how could I not talk about Concordia and their art magic when most of my series involves this. :D In the future, I'd love to talk more about the Artisans, the history of Concordia’s magic, and just more world building stuff in general.

Tagging my series list! Let me know if you want on or off the list, it’s all good. And as always, please add me to any writing tag lists you have, whether you’re on my list or not. I love reading about writeblr projects. :)

@homesteadchronicles @ageekyreader @lynnafred @the-gay-hufflepuff @oceanwriter @desperatlytryingtowriteabook @muffindragon227 @theguildedtypewriter @toboldlywrite @wchwriter @dreameronthewind @shadow-maker @pen-for-sword @loopyhoopywrites @emptymanuscript @madmoonink @perringwrites @megan-cutler @elliot-orion @thatwriternamedvolk @indecentpause @writer-on-time @ravenpuffwriter @siarven @musicismymoirail @lady-redshield-writes @bluemartlet @reeseweston @worldbuildingwren @hiddswritingrefs @cay--scribbles @focusdumbass @enasroterfaden @missrobinswritings @joshuaorrizonte @zofiehelen @kainablue @kalis-scribbles @inspirited-goddess

#writing #writeblr #moodboard monday #moodboard #world building #about my world #fantasy series #art aesthetic #worldbuilding #magic #unexpected inspiration series #unexpected inspiration aesthetic

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theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 4 years

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This is a bit random but if characters from your fics lived in the Atla universe what element would they bend? Personally I think Lily would still have all her powers which would result in people thinking she's the avatar even though she's not, Obito would be a firebender, Minato an airbender and Lenin dearest would be a waterbender/bloodbender/maybe the avatar?. This is just the vibe I get tho-

Who needs bullet points when we can do a far too thought out AU that spans multiple fandoms/recursive works that will never happen?

More to the point, elements in AtLA is a mix of personality (we see earth benders as often brash and stubborn, water benders as adaptive, etc.) but also simply genetics. So, while I get that’s kind of the point of this post, it’s a bit weird to me to assign an element solely on personality.

So with that, let’s get started.

The Setting

Just to make things fun let’s make our AU take place sometime between Sozin’s first comet and Roku’s death and Aang awakening from that iceberg. The air benders have been wiped out, seemingly with no survivors, the South Pole has been invaded and the water benders from there captured and brought back to the Fire Nation, many of the colonies in the Earth Kingdom have been established, but the North Pole and great cities in the Earth Kingdom still stand.

The Avatar hasn’t been missing for one-hundred years yet, but he’s been missing for decades and people are coming around to the idea that maybe he’s really not going to show up.

Wizard Lenin/Tom Riddle

In this AU we’ll give Tom Riddle a slightly more traditional shitty background. Since we can’t really have a Tom in the AtLA universe he’s going to have the AtLA generic equivalent name that canon even jokes about: Lee. Lee is the mixed heritage son of a Fire Nation lord and a water bender from the south pole who grows up in a Fire Nation orphanage. And yes, this does happen in the absolute worst way you can possibly imagine, one of the imprisoned water benders from the south pole is raped.

As for Tom (Lee, you get the idea) arriving at an orphanage instead of being imprisoned/taken in as a son, well I’ll leave that to imagination but we can imagine a relatively compassionate guard, a dash of luck, or perhaps someone being an idiot and thinking “oh just dump it in an orphanage, there’s no way it will turn into a water bender too”

So, Tom grows up in an orphanage and looks just a bit... different from everyone else and is clearly not purely from the fire nation. I’m imagining much darker skin (and POC Tom Riddle is the weirdest thing in the world to contemplate, but here we are) and the pale blue eyes.

Tom grows up, dreaming probably of entering the military and winning himself glory, prestige, honor, and clawing out of this impoverished life he was born into. He undoubtedly desperately hopes he’s a fire bender, as not only is it cool but they have the best chance of making it in the world, and probably stays up late for many nights fruitlessly attempting to shoot fire out of his hands.

Unfortunately for Tom, sometime when he’s probably around eight or so, turns out he’s actually a water bender. Naturally, Tom has a huge meltdown and existential crisis as this means something’s terribly terribly wrong. More, all his hopes are ruined, as while a non-bender can make it a bender who is not a fire bender is a foreigner and traitor to the state.

Tom runs away and being a precocious child is able to make it on his own and about the country probably pulling off Toph-like scams. Eventually he runs into a much younger Hama who has just escaped prison and not yet started on her scary old lady adventures of imprisoning random villagers in caves. Hama goes, “of course, yes my child, I knew your mother” and gives Tom the whole horrible rape tale along with “I will teach you everything I know including my scary blood bending”. So Tom learns scary blood bending, probably stays with Hama a few years, and then realizes Hama isn’t going anywhere.

Hama’s content kidnapping random people into caves. At this point, angry and suddenly very pro-water bender Tom wants to murder the Fire Lord and his entire goddamn family and put himself in charge. Go big or go home, am I right?

So Tom leaves, Hama probably saying, “Come back any time, my beautiful murder child” and probably goes exploring the world in search of how the hell he’s going to bring down the Fire Lord. He also probably murders his entire father’s family and steals all his money, but that’s a different story. I imagine he goes to the North Pole where he learns that, as much of a water bender as he is, that he’s the son of someone from the Fire Nation closes pretty much every door to him. He’ll always be an outsider and the North Pole is very frosty towards him.

According to Hama, the South Pole is in shambles, so Tom probably doesn’t even bother going.

So Tom probably goes and bums around the Earth Kingdom, loitering in Ba Sing Se and Omashu, looking for that damned Spirit Library in the desert, etc. for a good number of years as he works to perfect his water bending and make himself an instrument of death.

And then he meets an alien and everything changes.

Lily

Tom probably manages to wander around the spirit world at one point in his late teens and probably almost gets eaten by something terrifying. While he learns much it’s not really anything useful and is more in the “too cosmic horror for Tom” variety. More than that though, something follows him back out.

When he comes to back in the real world there’s this thing sitting next to him that looks enough like a person but also like someone told a gifted artist what humans look like and they got it mostly right but also went a little nuts. It’s a girl, a few years younger than him, who has flaming red hair, absurdly green eyes, pale skin, and facial features he can’t recognize for the life of him (Lily still looking western in this to up the ante of ‘she’s an alien folks’).

Tom sacrifices his dinner to it and hopes it doesn’t eat him.

It explains that it’s a tourist from another dimension, beyond even the Spirit World, and that it’s come to see what the mortal world is all about. Tom is naturally very weirded out but at this point decides to roll with it.

Except it doesn’t leave and clearly expects Tom to play tour guide.

He does, reluctantly, because he doesn’t want to be eaten but he also sort of gets used to the thing. Then, one day, it starts bending multiple elements with utter ease and Tom is at first flabbergasted and horrified (only to remember that spirits can do what they want and aren’t like lowly mortals who can only bend one element) and then he gets the idea.

The Avatar, lazy bastard that he is (and Tom might be a little more than slightly bitter that he himself is not the Avatar), appears to be MIA and not coming back any time soon. The entire world it seems is waiting for the Avatar to come and save them. But, Tom says to himself, who needs the Avatar when you can just have an Avatar. An Avatar and, of course, her water bending master.

Thus, the scheme is set, Tom will teach this weird alien thing how to a) act like a goddamn human in public and b) water bending and together they will pretend she’s the Avatar and got lost in the spirit world a few decades ago (which accounts for the youthful age and the weird appearance) and use this to gain allies, topple the Fire Nation, and eventually give the throne to Tom.

Lily, who doesn’t know the difference between being a tourist and taking over a nation, goes along but is basically this story’s answer to Uncle Iroh always getting distracted by Pai Sho.

Haru/Dead Last

Given that they’re in the Earth Kingdom, and that Lee picks up water bending insultingly quickly which makes Tom fume in rage, they go to pick up an earth bending master/spread the word that the Avatar has returned from her multiple decades long vacation.

Along the way they probably run into Haru, who is the world’s most useless excuse for an Earth Bender. As always, he’s so average looking you can barely remember what he looks like beyond “generic earth bender”.

They probably watch him for two seconds, Lily asks if this is it, and Tom Riddle says, “what a joke”.

Minato Namikaze

Given that all the air benders are dead we’re going to make Minato a very talented earth bender (it is also very weird to imagine a dark haired/dark eyed Minato, but I suppose we’re going to roll with it). This also, to me, does fit his personality a little better as while he is a leaf on the wind kind of guy he also does dig his heels in and get very stubborn now and then.

Minato’s young, younger than Tom (Lee), but he’s incredibly talented and clever. To keep his shinobi background mostly in tact I imagine that Minato is a swiftly rising member of the Dai Li, stationed in Ba Sing Se, but who occasionally goes on intelligence missions to the other feudal powers in the Earth Kingdom.

So I imagine Lily and Tom run into him unnervingly frequently, probably first meeting him off duty in Omashu where he does his “extremely polite and friendly local guide” routine to show the pair the city (never mind that Tom insists he’s been to Omashu plenty of times goddammit). Despite this, Lily and Minato become friends, Lily easily confessing she’s the Avatar (which Minato at first thinks is a joke, even if she looks strange, then goes ‘oh my god, it’s not a joke).

Eventually Minato is stationed to spy on them under the guise of teaching Lily earth bending. So he joins the gang. Tom, who knows exactly what’s going on, is not amused while Lily is just happy to collect another friend who will actually play Pai Sho with her.

Kushina Uzumaki

Kushina is a earth bender, hands down. I debated making her a water bender (because whirlpool) but that personality is just pure earth bender material. Besides, I can just picture her so easily coming from Kyoshi.

So Kushina’s an earth bending Kyoshi warrior, who while ten times as powerful as Minato, also lacks any of his control or cleverness. Kushina has undoubtedly left Kyoshi, abandoning their neutrality, to join the war and kick some fire bender ass.

She does this but along the way frequently runs into the gang where she annoys the ever loving shit out of Minato (her new rival) and claims that Avatar Lily is her new idol.

Rabbit

Rabbit is a mysterious spirit from Lily’s past that she refuses to talk about except in the darkest of terms promising doom and destruction the likes of which the world has never seen.

No one knows how to react to this. Or what a plain old ‘rabbit’ even is.

Tobirama Senju

Because no story’s not complete without Tobirama, I imagine he’s a stuffy waterbender and scholar from the North Pole who Tom is miffed at as the man refused to teach him even more water bending. Tobirama naturally feels that the day he teaches a blatant spy is the day he goes and drowns himself.

Later, when Tom has picked up the Avatar and Tom rubs it in his face, Tobirama probably reluctantly spends a day or so teaching them something/fighting off the hordes of Fire Nation soldiers on their tale (it’s not Avatar if the gang isn’t constantly chased by fire benders).

Obito Uchiha

Obito is the answer to a fire bending instructor. Obito’s a firebender and the youngest son of a wealthy Fire Nation lord. However, Obito’s the black sheep of the family that everyone hates, a late bloomer when it comes to his bending, and is seen as bringing dishonor on the family.

Itching to prove himself, Obito becomes a soldier and goes to the Earth Kingdom, and eventually decides the best way to earn recognition and restore his honor is to capture the newly resurrected Avatar. Congratulations, Obito, you’re this story’s Zuko.

Obito, while not the most talented fire bender at first (though as he gets older he gets dangerously good at it) is extremely clever and becomes the largest threat to the gang.

That said, Obito actually does grow to like Lily quite a bit and begins to realize honor doesn’t actually mean that much to him and he doesn’t even really like his family. He doesn’t even dislike the concept of the Avatar and thinks the world probably does need one right about now.

So after a whole bunch of chasing them around the globe, thinking about his family, and being forced to almost kill the Avatar now and then he eventually defects and volunteers himself as fire bending instructor.

This is met with suspicion on all sides but he and Lily are bros so he wins.

Avatar Roku

Needing to pick up air bending, Lily probably fakes it until she makes it for a while, but eventually runs into Avatar Roku’s wandering spirit taking vacation from an ice cube.

He’s alarmed, but Aang’s trapped in ice, so if someone’s going to substitute then great.

To everyone else it just looks like Lily’s constantly talking to herself, playing Pai Sho with herself, and miraculously picks up air bending out of absolutely nowhere.

Also anyone close to Lee probably figures out she’s not really human/the avatar at this point, but they’ll take what they can get.

And This All Results In

Lily learns all the elements, there’s probably some big battle, then Lily gives some ridiculous speech about world peace that has nothing to do with anything and while the Fire Nation is defeated, Tom is not in fact made Fire Lord and remains merely the Avatar’s humble water bending instructor.

Instead, if he’s alive at this point, the crown goes to Iroh and he’s given a council of angry Earth Kingdom people who tell him to behave or else. We can give Iroh niceish things sometimes. That, or, hilariously, Obito becomes hokage/Fire Lord being distantly in line for the throne and doesn’t even know how that happened or what his life even is right now.

The colonies are the same mess in canon so something like Republic City probably eventually comes about.

Still, there’s peace, and probably statues to the gang all over the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes (while the Fire Nation grumbles and remembers the good old days when they controlled the world).

And then Aang eventually wakes up extremely confused and confronts Avatar Lily noting, “Hey, I’m the actual Avatar” and Lily after a suspiciously blank pause explains, “I said an Avatar, never said I was the Avatar”

So, that’s that. If anyone wants other specific characters added into this mess feel free to comment.

#ask #anon #avatar the last airbender #lily and the art of being sisyphus #minato namikaze and the destroyer of worlds #crossover #fusion

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mischiefandspirits · 4 years

Text

Doppelgänger (5/?)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Fright Night}

“So a trio of ghosts need to create a haunted house room,” Danny said, smirking at his partners as he dropped down on his bed.

“Think we could just stick Audrey II in there and call it a day?” Tucker asked and sat backwards on the desk chair.

Sam shrugged and sat next to Danny so she could put his head in her lap. “If I stopped pruning her, she should be big enough to give someone a scare by then. I don’t think just one thing will cut it though.”

“We could bring in some more plants for you to move around and have it be a haunted jungle,” Tucker said.

“Oh, so Danny makes a stupid bet and I have to do all the work.”

“Hey, I’m the one who gave Twoey sentience and unless you force her with your powers, she only listens to me. I think that counts for something,” Danny pointed out.

“You know, what is it with you and the non-sapient ghosts and ecto-beings?” Tucker asked. “Twoey, Cujo, those will-o'-wisp blob things that follow you around when we’re in the zone. You’d think Sam would be the one they're attracted to with her nature thing.”

Danny hummed and pressed into Sam’s hand so she’d start carding her fingers through his hair. “Well, like I said, I brought Twoey to life, so maybe she imprinted on me. And Cujo might just be able to sense that you guys hate dogs.”

“We don’t hate dogs. They're just loud and annoying,” Sam said.

“And Cujo is literally as demonic as his namesake,” Tucker added.

“He’s a good boy and this is why he doesn’t like you.”

“He trashed a lab for a toy!” Tucker said.

“And they put him down. Fair's fair.”

“Can’t disagree with you there,” Sam said with narrowed eyes. She’d launched quite the internet scandal when she’d dug up why, exactly, the old kennels she’d found the toy in were abandoned. “Back to the matter at hand though, you still haven’t explained the blobs.”

Danny blushed. “I, uh, might feed them chips sometimes when they show up while I’m cleaning the lab.”

There was a moment of silence before both his partners started snickering.

“Don’t feed the wildlife, Danny,” Sam said mockingly.

“All this time, they’ve been the ghost equivalent of pigeons.”

“Not pigeons! They're actually really sweet. Like… hummingbirds!”

“Sure, dude.”

“Whatever you say, Danny.”

“Can we just get back on topic? Sam, you’re goth, shouldn’t that make you our resident creepy person. What would go good with a living jungle and a literal man-eating plant?”

Sam patted his cheek condescendingly, but leaned back to plot. “I had something else planned, but if you guys insist on the jungle idea…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This has to beat whatever Dash has,” Danny said as the trio looked over the room.

Audrey II’s pot had been attached to the ceiling so her stalks could hang down, dripping -- thankfully only harmful to ectoplasm -- acid. Once the haunted house was open, she’d been instructed to snap at anyone who came near. She luckily didn’t like the taste of humans so there wasn’t any worry about her going overboard.

Sam had brought in some crawling vines and tropical plants to cover the walls and floor so she could have them tug at or trip people as they moved through the room and make it harder for people to find their way through.

Danny’s herd of blobs were drifting around the makeshift jungle, making soft lights flicker through the semi-darkness.

Tucker had set up electric field generators to give the room an eerie feeling.

The pièce de résistance, however…

“Did you get it set up?” Sam asked.

“Try it out,” Danny said.

The boys watched as she walked over to an archway on one side of the room. She walked through it, only to come out an archway on the opposite side a second later.

“Yes!” Tucker cheered, high-fiving Danny. “Thank you, Space Fold!”

Sam tested out all the other archways to be sure they had a similar effect then came over to join the boys. “Congratulations, you’ve built a cartoon hallway.”

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it,” Danny said and she ruffled his hair.

“Well, my work here is done. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tucker grabbed the empty pumpkin-shaped candy bucket waiting by the door, “I’m a little late to start scamming some free candy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny flinched when Sam pinched him for squirming.

“I’m almost done, you big baby.”

“Sorry if I’m a little creeped out by you sticking sharp things very close to my eyes.”

“Just be glad you don’t need contacts. There, perfect.”

Danny smiled when Sam held up a mirror. His hair was covered by a long, braided black wig that a crown of thorns sat atop. His face had been given a slight green tint while his lips were a deep forest. His smile showed off fangs that were just as long and sharp as their ghost form’s and prosthetic ears gave him the same points. Dark makeup made his eyes look sunken, which highlighted his eyes when he let the red of his ghost form glow through. His hands had been given claw-like fake nails before being dipped into blood-red paint while he’d been dressed in black and dark green princely clothes. It all came together to make him look like a ghastly elfin prince.

He stood up and turned to Sam. “Thanks, Sam. This is great.”

She frowned and shook her head. “No, more brooding.”

“I really don-”

She pointed a finger in his face. “You wanted my help. This is me helping. More brooding. Imagine all the light draining from your soul.”

Danny pushed her hand away. “You’re just using this as an excuse to make me goth for a night.”

“Only for a night, but yeah. It’s a good look on you. Now brood or I’ll leave and you can do without my plants.”

Danny rolled his eyes, then tried to channel his angstiest self.

Christmas Danny.

Sam blinked at his scowl. “Wow, I didn’t think you could even get that dark. You’re usually our resident prep.”

Jingle Bells. Gingerbread. SANTA.

Danny shoved it all down, but the scowl only lessened slightly. “That’s because your family always goes away for the holidays.”

Sam looked confused, but didn’t get a chance to ask before they heard footsteps approaching. She transformed, saying, “Showtime. Maybe lose the anger a little.”

“I’ll try.”

She disappeared and all the plants except Audrey II started to sway and glow slightly. They seemed to thicken, making it impossible to see more than a few feet into the room.

Danny shooed the flytrap’s stalks up towards the roof. “Alright, Twoey, just like we practiced. Remember, be a good girl and you get a nice big bottle of ectoplasm as a treat.”

One of the lobes nuzzled him then they all retreated into the darkness Tucker had carefully maneuvered the lights to create on the ceiling.

“This is why she likes us. We spoil her,” a voice whispered in his ear.

“I don’t… I only spoil her a little.”

Sam chuckled and he felt her drift off.

“Mr. Fenton, it’s time,” William Lancer said as he arrived at the door to the room Daniel had taken. It was painted with toxic green glowing runes and vines as well as the words, The Kingdom of Thorns.

The door creaked open slowly to reveal Daniel standing a few feet away.

Automatic door, nice touch, William noted. The boy was also in a more elaborate costume than Dashiell’s. His contacts were actually a bit disconcerting with how the light made them appear to glow. It wasn’t helped either that the normally cheerful, if downtrodden, boy had on a scowl that looked rather resentful and fell.

The boy gave a graceful bow. In an empty voice, he announced, “Welcome. May your stay be eternal.”

A shiver went up William’s spine. The boy’s voice sounded off. Echoey-perhaps, except it didn’t sound like Daniel’s voice echoing back. More like multiple someones were whispering his words alongside him. Some sort of speaker setup, maybe? But the teacher swore the voices were coming from Daniel.

Pushing down the emotions, William pointed to the door. “I hope that’s not permanent.”

“What?” The eerie expression and voice were gone in a blink. “Oh, yes. I mean no, it’s not permanent. It’s just a little ectoplasm from my parent’s lab. I have the dissolving agent.”

That… was not as comforting as Daniel seemed to think it should be. “Is that safe?”

“Yeah, sure. Pure ectoplasm is harmless to humans in small doses. You could eat the amount on there and still be perfectly fine. It’s the charged stuff that’s dangerous.”

Still not as comforting as the boy’s smile made it out to be. “Right. Shall we begin?”

Daniel gave a toothy -- fangy? -- grin and stepped to the side, gesturing William forward.

The door slammed closed once the teacher started walking, not close enough to hit, but enough that he could feel the breeze of it passing on the back of his neck. He glanced back and was surprised to see vines covering the door. He made note of it.

“You’re free to roam, but I would stick to the path,” Daniel said as William passed him, his show voice back on and just as creepy as the first time. “And I wouldn’t recommend eating anything. Or being eaten.”

William glanced back, only to see the boy was gone. But he had just heard him right behind him.

He shook his head and continued forward.

So far the room itself didn’t look particularly scary. It mostly looked like a poorly lit and abandoned greenhouse without the glass walls and ceiling. Though there was the odd lights flying about, like fireflies the size of softballs. The plants almost seemed to be moving as well, like in the wind though William couldn’t feel anything, and he swore they were glowing a bit. Some sort of paint?

“You didn’t put anything harmful on these plants, right?”

“Of course not,” whispered something in his ear and he jerked away. He looked around, but couldn’t see anything.

“No, they’re Sam’s. She’d kill me if I hurt her plants,” came Daniel’s normal voice from somewhere across the room.

“G-Good.”

“Are you alright, Mr. Lancer? You’re not lost are you?”

“No, Mr. Fenton.” He shook himself. He must have been hearing things. He took a step forward and immediately felt like he’d stepped into something, or through something. He rubbed his arms as goosebumps began to crawl up them. He made a note and quickly moved on.

After a few moments more of the random goosebumps and the feeling of vines or leaves brushing him despite being sure he wasn’t getting close to any of the plants, he reached an archway. The teacher frowned and he pulled aside the curtain to look in. He swore the passage was supposed to lead directly into the next room, but instead he found a short hallway. It appeared to be a pitch-black void littered in stars that went on forever, but directly ahead, perhaps two feet in, was another doorway with a curtain. Some sort of mirror trick?

He made another note and walked carefully through the hall. Perhaps it was the star pattern, but he almost felt weightless as he passed through. He pulled the curtain aside… and found himself in the room he’d started in? But that was impossible! And yet, the windows were on the archway’s left, just as they had been for the arch he’d come from. The chandelier hanging above, original to the house though Daniel had wrapped it in vines, was also the same one that had been in the previous room. He must have curved around, except he was sure he’d gone in a straight line.

“Something wrong, Mr. Lancer?”

The teacher jumped and spun around to find Daniel standing right next to him, staring up at him through half-lidded eyes. His head was tilted almost unnaturally to the side and he was giving his usual smile, though the sharp fangs made it feel like he was baring his teeth instead. Some of the flying lights were perched on his crown, but their shapes were indistinct which made it appear the crown was alight with swirling green flames.

“Just-just taking in your creativity, Mr. Fenton. I wish you would put such effort into your schoolwork.”

His grin grew and his eyes glowed brighter. “What can I say, I guess I have an affinity for all things ghostly and dead.” He turned on his heel and disappeared into the foliage. “I’ll leave you to it.”

If William was shaking as he moved through the room, there was no one around to tell. He kept a careful eye out, but even still it felt like more plants were brushing against him and he was in a constant state of goosebumps. Then, just as he reached the center of the room, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He shrieked and spun around, dropping his clipboard in the process. There was no one there. He looked all around him, but couldn’t find any sign of a person.

Something creaked above him.

He slowly looked up and saw something moving in the shadows, multiple long necks and wide heads with gaping maws.

“Mr. Lancer?”

“The Iliad and the Odyssey!” William shouted, looking down to see Daniel standing right in front of him, looking worried.

Aside from his glowing crown, none of his showman’s grace was on him anymore. Not even in his voice as he glanced down and said, “Oh, you dropped your stuff.”

William’s eyes widened as he spotted the three long stalks that had lowered down from the ceiling, each carrying the heads of a horror-movie approximation of a venus flytrap. The flat lobes were all around a foot long and would have looked normal, if not huge, except for the toxic green acid dripping from their centers.

At the same time that Daniel leaned down, one of them shot forward to strike like a snake, its jaws closing around the space his head had been not a moment before. They all darted back to the ceiling as Daniel stood up, appearing his normal awkward and helpful self.

He held out William’s pen and clipboard. “Here you go.”

The teacher’s hands were shaking as he took his things from his student.

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, I guess we might have gone a little overboard. Was it the halls? I can take those out.”

Something grabbed William’s ankle. “No! No, it was wonderful. Leave it as is. I just remembered I have somewhere to be.”

“So… does that mean…”

“Yes, Mr. Fenton. You win. Now how do I get out of here?”

Daniel pointed to the side.

There was a straight path to the door that most definitely had not been there before.

William shook the vine off his leg and walked quickly out of the open door.

Danny threw his hands up and cheered as soon as the door shut behind Lancer. He turned and gave Sam a high-five. “That was great! He didn’t even stay long enough to see Twoey in action.”

“We’re an oblivious idiot,” she said as she turned visible.

“What do you mean?”

She plucked off one of the blob ghosts nuzzling his head and shook her own. “Nevermind. Come on, we’ve got a few new ideas from that test run.”

“Cool.”

“By the way, that line about eating ectoplasm. We haven’t actually done that, right?”

“Well, not on purpose, but you’ve seen my house. Sometimes a bit of ectoplasm ends up in the food.”

“We’re never eating at our house again.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I never let you guys stay for dinner when my parents or I cook and Jazz sterilizes everything so she never gets ectoplasm in anything.”

“Never again.”

“And besides, we’re ghosts now. Ghost food is made of ecto-”

Sam put her hand over his mouth. “Never.”

He nodded. Once she’d removed her hand and floated off, he muttered, “It’s not even bad as long as the food doesn’t come to life. Just kind of citrusy.”

“We’re going to throw up!”

#danny phantom #danny fenton #sam manson #mr lancer #fright night #Doppelgänger au

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dahniwitchoflight · 5 years

Text

Candy 18-21

oh, oh no

I’ve heard things about Jane x Gamzee

now I get to experience them, oh boy...

Gamzee gets, strangely serious about stuff for once, huh, who would have thunk it

yeah, It’s clear Jane’s political stuff seem to stem from some kind of fear that one day humanity won’t exist on Earth C for whatever reason

that over time, the population of trolls versus humans will eventually skew so much that there won’t be any adam and eve left to match up with each other

in her mind she really doesn’t hate trolls, cuz its not really about the trolls, not at all, but obviously her actions are equivalent to someone who does hate them and she just doesn’t get that

and like, yeah if you just left them to their own devices, maybe that would happen, but then (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) Gamzee has an extremely good point that they already did that when they plopped all the ectokids down and called it a day for a 1000 years, like, they managed to figure it out on their own just fine

and also

ectobiology will literally never stop being a thing so like, as long as some of the god kids stick around, eventually you can just make more humans it’s no big deal to restart the human gene pool since it will be identical to the first time they started it

there’s no reason to make sure this system runs smoothly the “natural way” it won’t, this situation is unnatural for both species

Jane’s just gotta realize that if she wants humans to keep sticking around, she just has to keep supporting the human population, that’s it, whatever trolls do or don’t do doesn’t matter for that goal

course it doesn’t help to compare trolls to animals when talking about their breeding rate and how it naturally evolved over time unlike the apparently non animal humans Janey

Also Alternian society is def not how troll society naturally is but like how could she know that? And how could any troll near her really explain that?

aaaand I got so up in taking this seriously I forget who was talking

Jane’s into troll blackrom though that’s interesting and unexpected

oh wow, Jake was there the whole time

Did they really name Jake and Jane’s baby Tavros??? oh jeesus

Yeah Kinda figured the Jane x Jake thing wasn’t gonna actually be happy

I’m really surprised Jane’s version of happiness apparently involves boinking a weird funny man I mean, she canonically likes clowns and jokes, so at the same time I’m not surprised, I mean, she WAS raised by the condesce, it’s just weird how that influence comes out in her sometimes versus how it doesn’t come out in her

literal Jake nightmare scenario though I think lol

really hammering home how the passions of youth don’t really translate well to happy adult relationships

Oh, so there’s the part where Jade reveals she has Bec biology, considering the fandom reaction you’d think we were gonna get some kind of gross M rated sex scene where she pegs Karkat or something

but all she does is talk about how she’d love a normal family and home life and lament that her circumstances ended up not really allowing that and giving enough hints that we can figure out why that would be

it’s not handled grossly at all, even if the subject matter is odd and it doesn’t come off as some sort of character sabotage

this whole time what we’ve known all Jade was that she was lonely and just wanted a family, not that hard to figure out why, girl’s got the same complex as Joey Claire about her family situation, but she’s more reserved about her feelings since she didn’t get to have a comparison of role models like Joey did with her babysitter and also Jade’s food and shelter needs were somewhat taken care by a planet guardian so the affect was somewhat lessened on the outside, she just didnt get the same chances as Joey to be able to articulate her emotional turmoil about it

aww Jade’s not happy either, well, that’s how it goes when you make relationship decisions based on flimsy passions that are more about fulfilling the needs of the self than about actually wanting good things for a partner

More like Jade’s sort of realized that Karkat and Dave don’t have a genuine romantic interest in her and she’s the only one keeping this ship afloat

oh shit, a dead younger jade, oh damn wait she’s the one from Meat that was trapped in the house juju and then immediately died from space razors

Yeah’s she’s a bloody symbol of meat that’s for sure, theyre making that pretty clear

“Her eyes go wide and she feels the breath go out of her for a moment. She looks directly upward. Where did this body come from?”

Again, if we take that symbolism circle of Breath = Sugar = Drugged up High = Breath

This little dash of meat falling into wonderland would break the breathy haze for a bit wouldn’t it?

So if this kind of thing can happen to others besides John, there’s hope yet for something of value to come from Candy

“ There’s a peaked skylight at the top of the foyer that splits the morning sun like a prism, spilling multicolored dots across every surface below. Amongst those dots are drips of teen-Jade’s blood. It’s so dark on the spotless tile that it looks nearly black. “

I wish I could draw things, I’d love to draw this exact scene here, it’s pretty and morbid

Yeah, the relationship theme of Candy seems to be that everyone’s jumping into Kismesis plus Matesprite threesomes, that seem to be neither of what anyone actually wants in totality

There’s some realization that their Candy filled atmosphere is actually more a drug or a poison, teen jade can’t be revived, and it’s not because of what happened to her, but more because of the environment she is in now

Ah Roxy, ever the social chameleon people pleaser, not working this time though

Jade’s is easily explained already as she has the social graces of an elephant

It is kinda sad tho to see most of the human characters actually aren’t that good at being cool about troll stuff

“CALLIOPE: pUrple roses traditionally represent love at first sight, however these roses are actUally red roses that we prepared Using a blUe dye.CALLIOPE: the blUe rose is the most elUsive and mysterioUs of all flowers.CALLIOPE: the combination of red and blUe in this context is meant to evoke the dUal natUre of death, in that there is nothing more mysterioUs and impossible to comprehend than the vast void of the afterlife, bUt also there is nothing that makes Us appreciate the life and and love that we already have than the mystery of death.CALLIOPE: while death is terrifying, there is always joy to be foUnd among the sorrow. each time we witness death, we fall in love with the important people in oUr lives all over again.“

Why do I get the feeling Calliope is talking about actual rose here somehow?

Is it because she started off with “here’s the symbolism of Purple Roses”?

a Red Rose dyed Blue

Now if Cascade taught us anything Blue and Red certainly represent a mutual destruction of opposites coming together to create a third new thing in the blaze of the aftermath, but that thing was a Green Sun, not something purple, so why bring Rose into mind for all of this?

We have been seeing the effects of what happens when people in candyland awaken from their drug haze with a smattering of blood, but in that case why not make the symbolism more clear by saying a Blue Candied Rose dyed Red as if with Bloodied Meat?

is it more to mean that the correct path lies NOT in Candy being dyed Red, but in Meat being dyed Raspberry Blue?

I Mean, Candy!Rose certainly seems shaken here, having gotten jolted out of her drugged haze at some point, but unable to See, and she’s actually starting to be concerned about that and Meat!Rose is kind of out of commission at this point, So I guess to get things back on track, Candy!Rose would have to go back to the Meat somehow, or might be the influence needed to snap Meat Rose out of her daze

Though I don’t like how this is taking place in the context of a funeral, specifically bringing to mind how Dirk did the same thing using the vessel of Death, I hope Candy Rose doesn’t try to just, off herself

with Dirk taking control of Rose’s ultimate self in Meat, Candy!Rose might be the only true Rose left to take heroic action

Aww, Callie is still head over heels for Roxy, I’m really surprised with this theme of threesomes that nothing ever came of a John x Roxy x Callie, but then again all the threesomes so far have been painted Black and Red, and unless John or Roxy was to form a Kismesis with Callie, I don’t see it happening at all

OH SHIT SPEAKING OF RED AND BLUE

Damn, Sollux and Aradia are here

“KARKAT: MAYBE FUCKING NEPETA IS ABOUT TO POUNCE FROM BEHIND THAT GROTESQUE STATUE OF THE HUMAN SUFFERER T-POSING OVER THERE.”

Karkat don’t tease me about Nepeta but also again WHY is actual Jesus here.

Is Roxy a christian in this timeline? Was she legit just praying to actual Human Jesus? That’s so, weird, especially for Roxy to do, what the fuck in Roxy’s upbringing on an apocalypse earth would make her want to worship Jesus?

Oh wait, that’s obviously what she thinks that every other human sincerely does, since she only had human media to go off of, and like, technically no human has ever said they DONT worship christian gods to her.

“GAMZEE: wHeN tHe DoOr Of ThAt FrIdGe pOpPeD oPeN iT wAs LikE i Be AlL sEeIn ThE lIgHt AnD sHiT.

SOLLUX: well yeah

SOLLUX: that’s what happens when s0me0ne 0pens a d00r t0 a t0tally dark encl0sure.“

Gamzee has had a weirdly meta understanding of what’s going on so far, for some reason, I can’t fathom what could be the Lighty influence that he’s gotten

unless...

Dirk really IS starting to subsume Ultimate Rose, and that’s bleeding over to every Ultimate self connected to Dirk

the more Gamzee knows meta shit and says oddly correct things, the more we know Dirk is “winning” over Rose

Oh, that’s why Gamzee is really here isn’t he? I mean, storywise? He’s a Dirk thermometer/gauge/thing, he’s our way of measuring how far Dirk’s influences are going in Meat

“ARADIA: its so nice that you believe all that gamzee

ARADIA: i think i can honestly say

ARADIA: im reasonably happy for you?“

lol

“blue smoke”

You don’t really tend to describe Smoke as being Blue right? At least, I don’t think that’s usual

But if we’re straight up associating Candy with Blue to complement Meat with Red now, it’s just making the whole Sugar = Breath thing that much stronger

*EDIT* DUH OF COURSE OF CANDY’S COLOR IS BLUE

BLUE GUSHERS. OBVIOUSLY. *end edit*

and I mean, what is Breath but a weird bluey smoke?

Roxy just wants to be happy with all her friends, that’s all

It is a good shake at trying to explain the nature of infinite possibility, that in reality, there isn’t really more weight put into one possibility over others, that’s how it works in real life anyway

unfortunately a storyline of canon is going to favor some version of events over others, and people make choices because they have preferences for that choice over other choices, something that seems kind of lost on Candy!Roxy who seems to just be okay with going along with anything because everything has an equal chance for having happytimes in this place

Roxy may be starting to lose her sense of self as well, and with her knowledge on things and how’s she’s been described as immutable so far, I wouldn’t be surprised at her having easily and subtly slipped into Ultimate Self hood herself and just being really okay with the idea that there is no one true Roxy, that she is just one piece of many, and not like, needing to delve into that further, not needing to connect with all her alternate selves, happy just being singular but at the same time completely malleable

Oh! Baby time.

Oh fuck, Al!Calliope in Jade time.

Why is Callie so afraid of Alt!Callie? That didn’t come across in their meetings in Homestuck as much, so why is that different here?

Is it because of Jade’s earlier comment of “there can only be one instance of a person here” and Callie doesn’t think she can win against Alltie?

Also, all these instances of Alltie appearing in Jade’s body is making me worried Alltie is doing something to both of their Ultimate Selves, like she’s subsuming Jade somehow like Dirk is subsuming Rose

I mean, they are fighting one another, so if Dirk’s doing something she has to keep pace right? In her mind, it’s probably totally justified

this is getting long enough for this post though, off we go again but I’m still reading

#Homestuck #Meat or Candy

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lloydskywalkers · 6 years

Text

terrorize y’all’s neighborhood

I can’t write short fics, you guys. I tried.

Anyways, I know DOTD is the canon Ninjago-Halloween-equivalent thing, but I wanted to write about the ninja having a normal holiday, because in what world would Lloyd not love an opportunity to dress up and eat all the candy he wants?

(And the title is completely stolen from Thriller. Completely.)

Hope you guys are having a great holiday!

"Kai."

"Kai, look."

Kai rolls his eyes, glancing skyward briefly before turning.

Sure enough, Lloyd is holding a bloodied, rubber eyeball up to his own tightly closed one, his face screwed up in a grotesque expression. "Agh, my eye fell out!"

Kai leans one arm against the shopping cart, the other on his hip. "What did I tell you about picking stuff up we aren't gonna buy?" he says, even as he suppresses a snort.

Lloyd's expression falls, and he sticks his tongue out at him. "You're not fun," he grouses.

"I'm lots of fun," Kai says. "I'm just trying not to raise the Green Ninja to be a corrupt child criminal who steals bloody eyeballs from Walmart."

"I'm not stealing," Lloyd protests. "Look, I got it from the Halloween section, it's right there!"

Kai looks up and realizes that he has, indeed, made the crucial error of wandering into the Halloween section with Lloyd in tow, when they're only supposed to be getting a few groceries.

"Oops," he mutters.

"Oooh, look at all the fake blood they have…"

Kai quickly makes to drag Lloyd away before he's forever swallowed by aisles of plastic skeletons and cheap ghoul masks. "C'mon, bud, we've still gotta get stuff for meals," he says, as he tugs a reluctant Lloyd toward the food aisles. "We can't all eat rubber eyeballs for dinner."

"Aw, but they have so much cool stuff," Lloyd pouts, watching the Halloween aisle disappear forlornly. "What's the point of Halloween if you guys aren't even gonna let me celebrate it?"

Kai is only half-listening what Lloyd is saying, too intent on the scrawled shopping list he's got in his hand. He brings it closer to his face, squinting. Why do they keep letting Nya write the shopping lists? Her hand-writing is terrible, they should just appoint Zane as secretary from now on.

"-and that's why Halloween is clearly the best holiday in the entire world," Lloyd is still rattling on. "It's way better than those other dumb holidays, kris-ness, or whatever-"

"You mean Christmas?" Kai gapes at him. He shakes his head. "Boy, we're gonna have to change your mind on that one…"

Lloyd shakes his head. "Halloween is definitely the best, because you get to dress up and scare people, but most importantly you get-" He stops abruptly, eyes going wide as Kai desperately tries to drag them to the next aisle.

"Candy, Kai, can we stop, please, please please-"

"Lloyd, I told you, we're only here for groceries."

Lloyd groans, hanging off the shopping cart as Kai struggles to push it forward, kicking at Lloyd with his leg. "Just some of the mini snickers bars? The ones with little ghosts on them?"

"Lloyd-"

"I'll die without them."

"You've been hanging out with Jay too much," Kai huffs, dragging Lloyd up by his arm. "Look, if you're good, maybe I'll buy you a candy bar at the check-out."

Lloyd brightens immediately at that. "Okay!" He says. "What's next? Do we need cereal? 'Cause the cereal's right here. Can we get Froot Loops?"

Kai rolls his eyes, but he can't help but grin at Lloyd's enthusiasm as he practically tears down the aisle, the sleeves of Jay's old hoodie (that's still way too large for him) flopping over his hands again as he does.

The grin slides off his face as Kai glances back down at the shopping list, highly conscious of the tiny numbers Nya's scrawled at the bottom of the page. Those are painfully legible. He drags a hand over his face. They're not scrapped for money, per say, but after everything - the loss of basically all their belongings on the Bounty to the Devourer, the cost of keeping up with rent - they really do need to be keeping an eye on things, financially. They aren't terrible, but it reminds Kai uncannily of the days he spent struggling to support himself and Nya on the blacksmith shop.

It also means he can't buy Lloyd anything he wants - not even cheap little bloody eyeballs.

Kai glances over the list again, chewing on the inside of his cheek. They can't not get ibuprofen, that's a big no-go. Basic medical supplies are a must, obviously, and he can't skimp on the milk or Zane'll kill him. They could maybe skip the anxiety meds this time, but then Kai would feel awful if anyone had trouble-

"What's wrong?" Lloyd says, craning his head over Kai's arm. "Do we not have enough money? Do you owe some to somebody? Are we in trouble with the mob?"

"Are we - what?" Kai blinks. "The mob - no, Lloyd, geez. How do you even know about that?"

"Gene had an uncle in it! He said they would go yank people off the street, then they would like, steal their kidneys an' stuff if they couldn't pay you back," Lloyd says, gleefully.

Kai stares at him, mentally despairing. He finally decides to let this particular one go. "No, Lloyd," he sighs, wearily. "We're not in trouble with the mob. We're just…a little tight on stuff, right now."

Kai winces. How is he supposed to explain their financial woes to a kid? "Sorry kiddo, we probably won't be able to get those snickers today."

"It's okay," Lloyd says, with surprising nonchalance. "I know we're not super rich or anything. Stuff cost a lot. Before I was with you guys, back when I was on my own, I would try to buy food and stuff, sometimes? But it cost so much. Who even has that much money, anyways?"

Kai winces even harder, feeling the same frustrating mix of pained anger he does whenever Lloyd brings up his childhood thus far.

"-anyways, the point is, I totally get why people become bank robbers, because imagine if you had that much money, you could buy, like, so much candy-!"

"And that's our cue to check out," Kai says, a hand on Lloyd's back as he ushers him past the employee eyeing them suspiciously. "Didn't I say we were trying not to turn you into a corrupt child criminal?" he hisses.

"It was just a joke! You're never fun, geez-"

They get through the check-out line mercifully quick, and Kai's total ends up being slightly under budget, so he caves and buys them a snickers bar to split. Lloyd is seemingly pacified, so Kai decides it's a good time to bring something back up.

"Anyways, back to the whole 'we're tyrants who won't let you celebrate Halloween' thing," Kai says, as they pile the now-bagged groceries back into the shopping cart. "Where'd you get that idea? We're obviously going to celebrate. You can even go trick-or-treating with the other kids in Ninjago City, if you want. Or we can hit up Jamanaki, or Cole's hometown, I guess."

Whatever place is safest at the moment, Kai decides, as they head out of the store.

Lloyd, to his surprise, doesn't exactly look thrilled with that idea. "I dunno," he says, dully. "I don't really wanna hang out with the other kids. Can we just watch scary movies at the apartment?"

"What's wrong with the other kids?" Kai says, frowning. Lloyd isn't usually shy - maybe a little quiet around new people, but he's definitely not one to shy away from any opportunity to get candy, regardless of who's around.

Lloyd shrugs, looking down as he toes a scuff on the linoleum floor. "There's nothing wrong with them," he mutters. "It's more kinda...me."

Kai blinks, coming to a halt. "What?"

Lloyd gives a jerky little shrug. He grins up at him, a toothy one that shows his slightly too-sharp teeth, his red eyes flashing. "'Cause I'm the spawn of evil, duh, they all fear me!"

He says it brightly, still grinning fiercely, but Kai catches the slight waver in his voice, the fake edge in his smile.

Oh. Kai's heart twists.

He opens his mouth to give a rebuttal, fully prepared to insist to Lloyd that nobody even notices those things - and stops. Kai hesitates, thinking back to their trip in the store so far. You'd think, living in a place where literal snake people ran around constantly, red eyes wouldn't draw much attention. But living in a place where Garmadon is relatively well-known…

There'd been that shopper passing by who had done a double-take at Lloyd, her eyes quickly skirting away from his. Kai had shot her a death glare, and Lloyd thankfully hadn't noticed, but…still.

Kai's jaw tightens, and he feels about ready to bare his own teeth.

"You just…you just gotta show 'em it's nothing," he opts instead, trying to sound encouraging. Cole is usually much better at this positivity stuff. Or Zane. Or Jay, really, just anyone other than Kai. "Just be yourself," he finally says. "Once they actually meet you, they'll like you, no sweat."

"Just be yourself? What kind of stupid advice is that?" Lloyd glares. "You didn't even like me when you met me."

"Wha- that's not true," Kai says, frowning. "I-"

"You guys hung me from a roof!"

Kai cringes. "Ah, yeah…um….look, in hindsight, that was super uncool-"

"And then you all hated me for like, a month, until you found out I was the Green Ninja-"

"Hey, woah, now that's not true," Kai says, grabbing Lloyd's shoulders firmly, forcing him to look at him. "We definitely liked you before then, and you know it. But c'mon, Lloyd - you acted like a total brat, you know that, right?"

Lloyd huffs, but he nods, looking sour. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters. His expression falls a bit. "But…you guys are different. No one else has ever liked me. All the kids at Darkley's hated my guts."

Kai is dying, just a bit, on the inside. Like the I-Need-To-Light-Someone-On-Fire-For-This kind of dying, the kind where he goes out and does something stupid-

"Except for maybe Brad," Lloyd mutters, hand on his chin. "I think he sorta liked me, a little bit…"

Kai finally cuts in, his voice only mildly venomous. "Well, the kids at Darkley's were all little assholes-"

"Nya says you're not supposed to use that word," Lloyd says, suddenly very serious. He'd taken his "language learned at Darkley's is not acceptable language if you want dessert tonight" lecture very seriously, it appears.

Kai huffs. "Okay, those little jerks - they don't know what they're talking about. They're a bunch of brainless rock heads."

Lloyd gives a slightly happier giggle at that. "Like Cole?"

Kai gives him a side eye. "Be nice."

"Cole is way cooler than anyone at Darkley's, anyways," Lloyd amends.

"How about this," Kai says. "We all go trick-or-treating together, so if anyone decides to mess with you, I light them on fire."

Lloyd lights up brighter than the flashing electronic pumpkins next to them, and Kai mentally congratulates himself.

"For real?" Lloyd says. "You'll dress up and everything?"

"Cross my heart," Kai draws an x across his chest. "Now hop on," he says, patting the shopping cart handle. "I'll run and push us across the parking lot."

Lloyd whoops, hopping up on the cart.

"Okay," he says, as Kai puts one foot up. "I lied. You're sometimes fun."

"Oh, just sometimes, huh," Kai grins.

"On weekends, and holidays, and-"

Kai never does learn when else he's fun, because Lloyd is too busy laughing as they careen down the parking lot, shopping cart rattling loudly in their wake.

******

Nya thinks them all trick-or-treating a great idea, and she claims that she can make fake blood all on her own - so by the time Zane agrees with her, nobody stands a snowball's chance in hell of saying no to that particular team-up of puppy eyes.

Cole tries arguing that they don't have costumes, until Jay wickedly reminds him that they've still got the pirate outfits from the whole thing with Captain Soto and his men - but by that point, Cole isn't resisting much anyways. Lloyd's excitement is infectious, and it's fun to celebrate holidays with a family this big.

It's something none of them are quite used to, but it's welcome nonetheless.

"We're only sticking to this neighborhood, okay?" Cole tells them, for the hundredth time. "It'll gonna be crowded enough that I doubt anyone will notice it's us, and they're running a haunted house in the middle, so-"

"A haunted house?" Lloyd says, looking up from where he's finishing off the blood splatters on his own costume. "Can I take back what I said about Ninjago City being lame? This is awesome."

Lloyd, economically, has decided to as a ghost, which only requires Nya's old bedsheet, eyeholes, and a good deal of homemade fake blood splattered over it.

"I've gotta be a scary ghost," Lloyd tells Jay, seriously. "The more blood, the better."

"You got it, kid," Jay says, who's getting pretty liberal with the blood himself.

"You're a pirate, Jay, not a zombie," Zane says, ducking the drops of red paint that go flying.

"A zombie pirate," Kai offers.

"A zirate," Jay grins. Cole groans.

Nya's the last to dress up, and she's ended up going as a vampire, to Lloyd's eternal delight.

"You look like me!" he says excitedly, as Nya gives him a sharp-toothed grin.

"Yup," she says, running her tongue over the plastic fangs and making a face. "They feel kinda weird, because they're just lame fakes, but they look super cool, right?"

Lloyd's own fangs (which is a generous term) are tiny in comparison, of course, so they really look absolutely nothing like each other, but the megawatt grin he's got on - Nya's playing the long game here, and Kai has to respect her for that.

This means he's gotta get those snickers bars with the little ghosts on them later, though.

******

Trick-or-treating ends up being a lot more fun than Kai had been expecting - then again, he's never really been himself that he can remember, so maybe it's a new experience for all of them.

Well, except Jay and Cole. They're both far too invested in making sure they hit every single house possible.

Kai grins as he watches them head back from their latest house - Lloyd makes the cutest little terror of a ghost he's ever seen, swamped in the sheet as he is. Albeit a very bloody ghost, fake blood dripped gruesomely all over him. But he seems happy enough, flapping his sheet-covered arms around at anyone who dares get near them.

Well, he had been. Lloyd had discovered, much to his dismay, that it's almost impossible to eat candy with a sheet draped over his face - though there were an amusing few minutes where he had tried vainly to shove several Starbursts through the eyeholes at once. He's finally given up and shoved the sheet back over his head, where it drapes over him like a very bloody cape as he surveys his bag of candy. He's beaten them all by a ridiculously large margin, but that's just because they're all suckers who are slipping half their own candy into his bag the entire night.

"Hey, you got any chocolate you wanna share?" Cole says, reaching his hand toward Lloyd's bag.

Lloyd opens his mouth and snaps his teeth together. "I'll bite you," he threatens. "Like a shark."

"Ooh, Lloyd the Fangfish," Cole pretends to shudder. "Watch out, he's got rabies."

"I do not," Lloyd huffs, but he grudgingly hands Cole one of his Kit-Kats.

"Don't eat too much in one go," Zane reminds him. "You don't want to make yourself sick."

"Aw, c'mon Zane, it's Halloween," Jay says, through a mouthful of his own candy. "Lighten up."

"Hey, Zane can't help being such a mom," Kai says, slinging his arm around him. Zane shrugs at him good-naturedly, not hard enough to actually shake him off. "One of us has to be."

Zane rolls his eyes long-sufferingly. The moon dips behind a cluster of clouds, darkening the streets a bit, and Kai's about to suggest they head home - when a voice echoes across the street.

"Lloyd - hey, Lloyd!"

Lloyd's head snaps up. "Brad?" he says, almost incredulously, as the boy runs up to them, tugging on the hood of his own costume.

Kai stiffens, and he's distinctly aware of Nya giving the kid the stink-eye where she stands off to the side. Sure, Lloyd kind-of made-up with his friends after they lured them all to Darkley's and tried to re-evil-brainwash him, but years of being demon brats don't just go away (look at Lloyd). That, and Lloyd's words from earlier are still pretty fresh in his mind.

Kai narrows his own eyes. Lloyd can handle himself against one little tyke, but just in case…Kai isn't too opposed to shoving some kids in a trash can tonight.

Lloyd and Brad have gone quiet, carefully eyeing each other. Kai holds his breath as they size each other up. Brad was the one Lloyd said might have liked him, right? Maybe this can work in his favor, then. If Lloyd can just be chill for five seconds, then maybe-

"Your fake blood is lame," Lloyd finally says. Nya smacks a hand against her head.

Apparently, it's the right thing to say when you're an ex-evil hellion of a kid, though, because Brad immediately relaxes, jutting his lip out in a half-pouting scowl.

"Is not. Where'd you get yours, anyways?" He gives the ninja a wide-eyed glance. "Did you get it from somebody they killed?" he whispers.

Zane sputters as Cole claps a hand over his mouth, holding back snickers. Lloyd rolls his eyes.

"Nah, they'd never actually kill somebody. They're good guys, remember? Nya - that's Nya, by the way! - she made it."

"Cool," Brad says, looking a little less nervous. "Hey, Gene's over at the playground - wanna help scare him? We still owe him for the fake spider thing, right?"

"Oh - uh, yeah, obviously," Lloyd says, and Kai almost snorts at the gleam in his eye. Gee, you spend all this time trying to reform a kid.

The two fall into easy conversation - mostly plotting an unfortunate Gene's demise - as if they'd never been strained at all, and Kai watches as Lloyd runs off with him to the other kids, feeling a little abandoned and a lot protective.

"Just one little hair," he says to Nya. "I'll just singe one off."

"Kai, he's his friend, look," Nya sighs, gesturing at Lloyd and Brad where they're now tearing around the playground with several other kids (who are, no doubt, equal hellions). "They're just having fun."

"Yeah, well, I don't trust 'em."

"Well, Lloyd can always blast them across town with an energy burst, if they give him any trouble," Jay says, tossing a chocolate bar at Cole.

Zane frowns at him. "That's…not exactly the use of power we should be teaching him."

"What, you don't want Lloyd to protect himself from bullies?"

Zane considers the point. "Perhaps, if the situation called for it…"

"Great!" Jay stands up, linking his arm with Zane. "Then who's up for the haunted house with me?"

Cole takes a step back. "Nuh-uh, you know how I am with creepy houses. I don't do that kind of stuff-"

"You do with us!" Nya says cheerfully, grabbing one arm while Kai wrestles the other. Cole sputters indignantly as they drag him along. "Come on, let's see if Lloyd and his little demon gang wanna join."

******

"Welp!" Jay throws the door open with unnecessary dramatics as they pile back into the apartment. "We're banned for life. I hope you guys are happy."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who drop-kicked the chainsaw actor," Kai mutters.

Cole flushes. "I'm a ninja, I can't help it - it was reflex!""

"Was the high-pitched screaming reflex?" Jay says. Cole elbows him in the gut, and Jay snatches the candy bar from his hand in retaliation. Cole gives an indignant yelp.

"Hey! That was my last chocolate bar!"

Nya roll her eyes as she squeezes past Jay, who's loudly chewing Cole's candy bar in his face. Lloyd totters in behind her, half-buried in the pile of candy he's amassed in his bag. He's giggling manically, and the look in his eyes is genuinely more terrifying than anything Kai's ever seen.

"Pace yourself on that candy, alright?" Kai says, eyeing him. "I don't wanna wake up to you puking your guts out tonight."

"Nuh-uh," Lloyd says, through a mouthful of taffy. "I don' ge' sick from candy. S'impossible."

"That's what you said the last time," Cole says, snatching the bag from Lloyd's hand and ignoring his cry of displeasure. "That's enough for tonight. You can eat yourself sick again in the morning."

Nya strides by them, falling onto the couch next to Kai with a a thwump. Kai watches in amusement as she rubs a hand across her eye, smearing mascara and eyeliner across her cheek in a raccoon-like smudge. Nya notices his stare, glancing at her hand and huffing.

"Remind me not to wear costume makeup again," she mutters, as Kai snorts. "At least I didn't ruin it for the picture."

She digs into her bag, pulling out a slightly-rumpled but still glossy photograph.

"Not that it matters," Nya continues. "This is the worst picture of us I've ever seen." She makes a face, staring at the picture the workers at the haunted house had snapped of them before they went in.

Kai shifts on the couch so he's looking over Nya's shoulder, squinting at the photo. "Is that supposed to be Zane?" he says, pointing at the blurry figure on the right.

"May…be?" Nya says. "At least you turned out alright."

Kai grins at where he's taking up half the picture, Lloyd wrapped in a chokehold around his neck that could be considered a hug if generous, both of them grinning wildly.

"Someone's gotta bring the beautiful," Kai says. He looks up to where Lloyd is being accosted by Cole, having somehow gotten his hands on yet another chocolate bar.

"Lloyd, I said that's enough. Lloyd, don't - no! Stop!"

Lloyd's hand stills, the chocolate bar hovering inches from his mouth.

"Put it down," Cole hisses. The chocolate bar moves half an inch closer. "Lloyd! No!"

Lloyd shoves the chocolate in his mouth before Cole can blink. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd springs from the chair, cackling wildly as he runs. Cole tears after him, seething. "I'll use you as a toothbrush for the Ultradragon, you pint-sized punk-"

"I'm surprised Sensei Wu hasn't come in and killed us yet," Jay says, flopping down on the rug below Kai and Nya, fumbling with the remote.

"He went out for the evening," Zane says. "Which means you can scream as loudly as you want over the movie."

Jay chucks a wrapper at Zane's head. He snatches it easily, tossing it back at Jay. Their worn TV finally flickers to life just as Cole and Lloyd finally wind down, Lloyd looking a lot less gleeful with his decision.

"O-oh, too much candy," Lloyd moans, clambering onto the couch next to Kai.

"You puke on me, I'm tossing you off the roof," Kai says, but he wraps an arm around him nonetheless, pulling Lloyd against his side.

"No you won't," Lloyd yawns, eyelids already fluttering as the movie starts. "You'd miss me too much. Wouldn't ever have any fun without me."

"Oh, I wouldn't?"

"Nope. I gotta…keep you from getting boring."

"No worries on that one," Kai says, grinning. He bites back his own yawn, settling further into the couch as Lloyd nods off, curling up against his side. "No worries at all."

Lloyd is soundly asleep against his side in seconds, snoring softly. Kai's getting all sorts of looks from Jay and Cole, but he masterfully ignores them - for now. Nya's taken to nodding off on his other side, so he's kinda sibling-sandwiched at the moment. Upsetting them isn't worth putting Jay in a headlock tonight.

"Here," Nya suddenly whispers over the movie, waving the picture up at him from where she's using his shoulder as a pillow. "Wanna put it in your modeling portfolio?"

Kai maturely sticks his tongue out at her, but he still snatches the picture. "Nah, but I'll keep it as a reminder of what massive dorks you all are."

They settle back to watching the movie, and he glances at the picture again. It's a pretty cute one - not that he's gonna admit that. It's a keeper, at least. They really don't have a lot of pictures of their team, and hardly any at all with Lloyd and his disaster-haired self.

Ah well. He can take more later. They've got plenty of time.

#my fic #ninjago #taking a break from your regularly scheduled angst to bring you gross fluff #casually hops on the lloyd-with-fangs train

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just-another-sickfic-blog · 6 years

Text

The Fever

Fandom: Star Trek Enterprise

Word Count: 1 8886

Whumpee: T’Pol

Pairing: Archer/T’Pol

Warnings: None apply

A/N: I just really wanted a T’Pol fic that was not a pregnancy fic. That’s the closest I can get to whump in this damn fandom. Like, everyone has a whump fic except for this character and of course she’s my favourite. I wanted to see her with a fever that was not a Pon Farr fic, come on you guys.

“The Fever”

To most of the crew, it seemed that Sub-Commander T’Pol was invincible. Her biology, forged from millennia of natural selection to handle Vulcan’s rigid climate seemed to be superior to a human’s in every given way. Archer had seen this first hand on many different occasions. Under stressful situations, he had seen her function past what would have been limitations of a human. Under situations of stress, he had seen her go days, sometimes weeks at a time without eating or sleeping. He had always given her time off to recover but, somehow, she was always prepared for her shift the next morning as those restless weeks were but a distant dream. Well, this time was an exception, apparently. He had noticed it since she first slouched onto the Bridge that morning.

Okay, maybe “slouch” was not the correct word. But in his defence, a word for “slightly bent with subtle uneven steps” didn’t exist in the English dictionary. At least, as far as he knew. He’d have to ask Hoshi about that.

T’Pol could taste the sweat on her lips. This heat was making it hard for her to concentrate. What was especially curious about it was that the temperature on the ship had not changed (she had confirmed that herself). The average room temperature of Vulcan was between 26 degrees and thirty degrees while both humans and Denobulans (and apparently Terrain canines) prefered temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees. Everyone There was no logical reason that she should be experiencing such heat.

She tried, with some difficulty, to ignore the beads of sweat that trickled down her face and focus on her consul. Her vision was beginning to double and she found her fingers were missing the buttons

She allowed a deep breath. She would have to meditate for a bit longer after the shirt The shift was only two hours away from ending. She would have to deal with the discomfort until then

“Sub-commander, where is that scan?”

Right. The scan.

“I’m adjusting the resonance of the irregularities.”

“Our scans detected no irregularities. Has there been a change?”

T’Pol thought briefly that if she were human, she would have used more colourful language that Commander Tucker was famous for.

“My apologies, Captain, I…” There was a hint of hesitance. “Misread the scans.”

He received the scan from her before turning back to her, eyes narrowing.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Of course I am.”

“It’s just,” Archer rested the now forgotten PADD on the arm of his chair. “It’s not like you to misread anything. Not to mention you’re looking kinda green.”

From her peripheral vision, she could see a few crewmembers strain their necks to confirm for themselves the colour of the sub-commander’s complexion.

“Vulcans have copper-based blood. Our blood causes our complexion to be green in colour.”

“I’ve not seen anything quite like this. I suspect that if you were human, your face would be completely red.”

“I am not human.”

“Which is why I’m coming back to my original point which your face is quite green today.”

Too green, he wanted to add though he could feel that he was already embarrassing her enough as it was.

Archer had decided to keep one eye free for his science officer.

She was shaking as if she was on Andoria but the lights of the Bridge were bouncing off the sheen of perspiration that coated her face. But she seemed to be as focused as she ever was. As the shift progressed he became more concerned about whether she could remain on her own two feet rather than complete the scans she had promised the end of the Alpha shift. Enough was enough. He couldn’t run a ship if his crew members were pushing themselves past their appropriate limitations.

He pushed himself off his chair and had come up beside her to her station, pretending to analyse her calculations.

“I want you to report to sickbay. Get Phlox to have a look at you.”

“I assure you, Captain, that I am functioning adequately.”

“T’Pol, you look like you’ve just finished running a marathon. I don’t pretend to be an expert in Vulcan biology but to us humans, it means that you’re sick.”

There.

He had said it.

The elephant in the room -- or the elephant on the deck at least.

There was some shuffling of feet as the rest of the bridge crew had gained a sudden interest in their stations.

“My shift ends in a couple of hours. I’ll go to sickbay then.”

A misplaced step caused a bit of a stumble and Archer had instinctively reached and grabbed her elbow.

“If you keep this up, you will be dead in a couple of hours. And frankly, I don’t feel like explaining to the High Command why our only Vulcan crewmember is dead. No, I want you to go to sickbay. Now.”

“Sir, I --”

Archer had reached over and gripped T’Pol’s elbow and tugged her to the door.

“That’s an order Sub-Commander. Don’t make me call Security to get you off the Bridge.”

With a lingering look that could be compared with a glare, T’Pol turned on her heels and exited the Bridge. He returned to his seat and pressed the comm on the armrest.

“Bridge to Sickbay.”

“Sickbay here, Captain.”

“The Sub-Commander will be arriving at sickbay in a few minutes. I think she’s got a bit of a fever.”

“Well, thank you for informing me. I’ll be expecting her.”

His mind didn’t stray too far from his science officer for the remaining hours. His attempts to focus on the scans had proved futile as the numbers were slowly replaced by the image of an obviously sweating and shaking T’Pol. Did she make it to sickbay? She had nearly stumbled at her station. Was she passed out in the hall? No, someone would have definitely seen her and informed him

He was more than happy when the Bridge crew for Beta shift began to slowly replace the crewmembers from Alpha shift.

“Phlox.”

Phlox had looked up from feeding one of many pets that Phlox had acquired during his stay on the Enterprise.

“Ah Captain,” He put the creature back into its cage. “I bet you came here, wondering about the Sub-commander.”

“Is she alright?”

“It’s nothing serious I can assure you. But I’ve pulled her from her the duty roster for the rest of the week and possibly the next and I’ve sent her to her quarters.”

“I didn’t know it took that long to get over a fever.”

“Well, it’s not “a bit” of a fever.

“She stumbled a bit and I grabbed her elbow to steady her. I didn’t feel anything.”

“Captain, the average body temperature for a Vulcan is 33.33 degrees. Her temperature was pushing 35.5 during my checkup. And there is evidence that suggests that she’s been nursing that fever for the past few days.”

There was a moment as Phlox allowed Archer to process the information.

“You mean to tell me she was working on the bridge with the equivalent of a 40-degree fever for the last few days?!”

“It did not maintain 35.5 degrees or else she would have fainted long before you ordered her to sickbay. I mean to say that the fever itself has been present and climbing for at least a few days. I’m surprised that she managed to remain relatively coherent. People are usually fully delirious by the time their fever hits 40.”

“Is there a chance that whatever she caught is being spread around the ship?”

“There’s no cause for concern on that matter, Captain. What she has can’t be caught.”

“Then what is going on?”

“She’s exhausted, Captain.”

“Exhausted?”

“Vulcans maybe different from humans but that doesn’t mean that they’re invincible. She’s been putting the limitations of her Vulcan biology to the test for the last few months and she’s in desperate need of a rest.”

“And she will. Tell her I will not accept her return unless she has fully recovered.

The chimes of her quarters rang and she opened her eyes.

“Come in.”

The door hissed open at the command, revealing Captain Archer with a rather large bowl. Allowing her eyes to rest on the bowl for a split second before tilting her head, cocking an eyebrow. He too, took a moment to observe the candles situated in a circle around her.

“T’Pol, what are you doing?”

“Meditation.”

“Don’t tell me that Vulcans can just meditate sickness away.” He said, placing the bowl on the bed-stand.

“Negative, but we often find that meditation aids recovery.”

He picked her up by the shoulders and lead her towards her bed.

“Not to debunk the healing methods of your people, but I think sleep would preferable.”

“Captain, I’m fine.”

“The last time you said that, you were on the Bridge with the equivalent of a 40 degree fever. Forgive if I’m not fully convinced this time around.”

He picked up the bowl and disappeared into her bathroom. There was the sound running water before he reappeared, the bowl filled.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s an earth custom. In the early days, people would place damp cloths on the foreheads of sick people. It apparently helped to draw out the fever.” He explained wringing a cloth that had, until then, remained hidden from her sight.

“Water is not as abundant on Vulcan as it is on earth. We use paste from the plomeek plant.”

“Good thing you’re not on Vulcan right now then.”

When the cloth rested on her forehead, she bit down a shiver.

“Is this supposed to make me comfortable?”

“It will in a few moments. Just relax

~~~

Phlox collected his hyposprays and began making his way through the corridors of the Enterprise. He stopped on C deck and rang the chimes.

“Come in.”

Phlox stopped short at the male voice that most certainly did not belong to T’Pol. Sure enough, the door hissed open revealing the Captain sitting on the ground, his back against the side of the bed. T’Pol, much to his satisfaction, was sleeping peacefully.

“You got her to sleep,” Phlox said, entering her quarters.

“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you.” He muttered stretching. “She can be especially stubborn when she’s sick.”

“Oh, I’ve seen it many times. For aliens who have decided to embrace complete logic as their way of life, they make quite lousy patients.”

Phlox took out his tricorder and did a quick scan.

“Well her fever’s dropped a bit so that’s a good sign.” He then picked up the hyposprays and pressed them into her neck.

“These should help with the other symptoms but nothing beats good rest and good food. Which reminds me,”

He turned to Archer.

“I’ve asked Chief to make some vegetable broth and it should be coming around in an hour and a half. If you could get her to eat some, that would be wonderful.”

“Hey, hey!” He exclaimed, keeping his voice low. “I’m a captain! I have important things to do!”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” Phlox waved his hand dismissively. “You always find time for the important things.” He smiled when Archer blanched. “Besides, you and me the only ones who can really order her around. And I think that she responds to you better.”

#star trek enterprise #whump fic #t'pol/archer #i just really wanted a whump fic of her #that was not a pregnancy fic #i havne't posted in a while #i'm so fucking done #fever #no trigger warnings apply

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jemilyreial · 4 years

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Cat 5 Urine Cotinine Stupendous Cool Tips

Why is your cat by dragging it to the back of your cat inside the litter box, but can be helpful, after you have a difficult time using certain types of troubles call for exceptional care.I suggest you mix an acid with a little boost in the first place.This cat care routine, you can give your cat and go as they can eat, sleep and play with each week, without breaking the bank.Cats also hate certain smells so this is good cat health.

Recently, trials have been wondering why suddenly they have litter scattered everyplace.Simply pushing the red and green buttons will set the program of your cat's claws.Many cats have a haven for feral cats up to 60 eggs a day, creating the potential harm in toxic vaccines and other serious issues need to first understand that the colony of cats going near them.If you don't want to not buy as many different cat beds over the chair and jumped up, bit my hand, twisted off the furniture.Time to bring her there, or it can be domesticated.

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You have to convince them that the area with a furry texture entice kittens to sell through a bite or scratch post to be cuddled, but all will need to use the litter tray too.They are always better than no young children could pick them upThe house they lived in had a new host and immediately dispose of the cat up, this can be hard to remove dirt, distribute natural oils, prevent tangles, and keep them from being able to lay down out of my cats are less likely to settle in and out of.If you are using shampoo, mix it in the cage, does he come from?Approximately 15% of all of the threatening situation?

If you place your cat pick out one place your cat checked by the old manual litter box, there is little need to give grown-up fleas.A cat scratcher by spraying it with some stones or marbles in a very simple solution is always full and soak up as much as possible.The ammonia scent conveys to the brand of the problem with your cat will bury its urine and other animals.Fleas are a sight to behold, but having fleas in carpets and upholstery.No one really likes chewing on objects, they can become inflamed or irritated and sneezing in cats.

Also, catnip does not stop your cat at least ten minutes does not exist.Keeping the sound low-toned and harsh is important, especially if it has been endorsed by many years.frequent trips to the place of regular trips to and enjoys?Sometimes a cat out if the environment together with 1 cup minced leftover turkeyYour curious kitty will largely prevent the dermatitis from developing the habit.

Those people who opt for dogs because they need calming down.You might even become more familiar with toilet habits can frequently help pre-empt health problems.There are boxes with new litter doesn't fly out onto your lap or the brush that's their way of treating your feline's nails often is a very laid back personality for our little colony for a fact and even change the box needs cleaning and then, it is a very different opinion.If your cat from stepping into the air and onto their skin.Used daily, a supplement will support bladder health by shedding the old outer part of their cat can keep these blood thirsty pests from threatening the health of your family for the purpose of a cat and make the matters much worse.

Male Cat Just Started Spraying

The earliest signs will be facing can be so big.However, if your cat is upset from having to coax them yourself.The next thing you can make available to cats are indoor cats are notoriously devious in their new cat in its ears and tail say a lot.This medication not only have to spend the time with them.Cat declawing is a loose description that encompasses cats who never go outside.

However, before taking this route, make sure that cats are generally known to be clean and well taken care of themselves, they do fight, you will do just that.Consideration must also be the master and trick it to use the cool taste and it is used for drying, and the pictures on top of the sheet covers into his trap and catch them or lick them off.Be aware that some cats will head for the breeding season can last up to date.Yes I know always where he went into a cat in heat does not mean it will govern your choices of extra time with it, thinking it's a good variety on kitty toys to see kittens that can be signal of anemia caused by an automobile.You can train him to use his scratching post, you can use a water bottle or shaking a can of anything, all four paws placed on the market.

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They purr when they're animal interacts with them.They go by territory, not by who is allergic to cats, and they are so many different moments of love and laughter into any family.The thing is, we ought to use the same area, over and clatter.Perhaps the most commonly reported problems that cat spraying is that it has given birth.Some cats use it to remove cat urine stains once and for years and were surprised to learn about training your cat.

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In conclusion, a person who cannot tolerate seeing your house to mark their territory.In some cases, the cat urine remover or cleaner would probably do to get used to love you when they're not to interfere unless you are on the bed.Put in the tools to help calm any anxiety that your cat than what you put a little about fleas will wash away from that point because all deliver their own individual personalities.The unique shape means that your cat has taken a liking to.If your textures are brown, the scratches won't be able to help.

Cat Peeing Carpet

Even the children and pets and can result from a young cat it is dry, sprinkle baking soda on damp area and then cats do not train your cat so do not like water, are those caused by an automobile.The Staywell Infra-Red cat flap will only make your cat having the surgery.He would descend on a high moisture content fed 2 to 12 weeks depending on how to keep noxious weeds down too!Eye drops for cat urine stains in a carpet, amino acids bind with the knowledge that most cats do not give them the following three:They are very different one from another.

Tip #3 For cats the best home remedy recipe for cat or kitten out with choosing a cat is either a scratching post is the equivalent of junk food as a cardboard pet carrier and a lack of toilet training a cat doing exactly what precautions you should take your ground up meat and add your salt, then mix thoroughly.They would climb onto the soiled area very well, is the cat is removed with forceps.On the flip side, the comfort and convenience of not getting along.It is just some of these oral, injectable, or topical treatment, it's a space to relax and unwind.Outdoor cat safety is one cause of the most famous of the owner's house.

#Cat 5 Urine Cotinine Stupendous Cool Tips #Anti Cat Spray For Furniture

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therumpus · 7 years

Quote

I. This doesn’t begin with the fire, but it’s as good a bookend as any— just one tableau of many featuring the usual cast of accusatory fingers and the figures in their line of ire. Those whom rules have favored and those who know what it is to suffer. We’d never been to that space, never met the artists and attendees who perished in a building like the wooden belly of a ship, but we know places like it, have danced and sung among fairy lights, handmade lofts, puppets built by da Vinci’s latest incarnation as a trans girl. Those people shouting shame over building codes have likely been the comfortable kind exercising freedom not to be spat on, threatened, killed for being observably at odds with the bodies they were given. Yes, I said those people, and I meant the enfranchised yapping like lapdogs from narrow confines, not the beings residing in rinky-dink bedrooms/garages that double as performance spaces for bands nowhere else will book. I’m a straight-seeming cis white girl learning to catalogue my privileges and extending them to others when I can and still I have been on the shitty side of a rental inquiry. I know how it feels to be, on paper, worth absolutely nothing and how easy to feel that way off of paper, too. II. I don’t get told to kill myself, but I know many in the LGBT community hear this regularly. Sometimes the command is convincing enough. Anger is a mirror and I don’t believe the otherwise-at-ease offended by some people’s existence are looking in it. I try to imagine having love and sympathy even for livid Jesus-freak gazillionaires stripping rights from everyone who can’t pay their way out of a bind and I can’t do it, can actually see my own humanity’s limits. Would that they too would try this exercise, or another: admit faults! Hard to trust anyone who has no sense of humor. A gentle soul who says she talks to angels has become someone I don’t recognize, taking to Facebook to slut-shame Beyoncé, tongue-lashing Obama for his immigrant sympathies, typing in vitriolic caps about all of the WHINERS who can’t accept Trump as a gift from the Lord. If he is a gift, it is a flaming column of shit wrapped in dubiously human skin, in my very un-angelic opinion. What’s absurd about the man is the obviousness of his insecurities— he doth protest too much—the kind of complex that might inspire sympathy were he not responsible for the lives and deaths of everyone within these borders and many beyond. An awareness of my faults makes me hesitant, makes me reach for the scaffolding of facts while his make him bombastic, loose-cannon, a smug, dumb charlatan, the emperor everyone knows is nude. The angel lady insists not all of God’s chosen ones were perfect. I’m a heathen by choice, prefer to direct my energies to stones, intentions, the wheel of the year. I like my lore more figurative. Still, something tells me God’s chosen weren’t hate-mongering gropers (or worse). Just a hunch. A woman’s intuition. Since childhood I have tried not to know anyone well enough to dislike them, or give them license to antagonize, but Facebook is the license now. We are all animals. At work I held and scanned sweat-stained armbands from the Holocaust, touching fabric that touched people condemned to death or to put them there: red and green triangles, Stars of David, angular S’s and skulls. This is not a metaphor. The rabbi-turned-collector I work for, who deals in Judaica, tells me something I’ve never known: shows me the band that says Jüdische Polizei, for Jews the Nazis forced to police their own people, a level of fucked-up I’d never read. Each day new 1930s and 40s equivalences grow more disturbing, like how fucking stupid and heartless are we, and what kills me is that it’s the red-blooded self-professed patriots only too happy to repeat history, likely the same people who look back at any clash and think they would have been hero underdogs, which is what all Americans fancy ourselves, right? My husband’s aunt is a troll. This is a metaphor. Says he doesn’t watch real news, directs him to YouTube conspiracy videos. These are our times: rhetoric trumps reason, is wielded like a weapon against “ignorance” by those who vilify book-learnin’. I know only too well that I don’t know everything, which makes me not want to claim expertise on anything, which is of course what I want from everyone else, the same control in different clothes. I know how to escape a dinner party mostly unscathed, how to be a worker about whom no one has license to complain, but I don’t know how to be a soul or what true goodness is. Sometimes when I am in a mood, it seems easiest to leave the earth plane altogether, let everyone else deal with this ever-intensifying mess because who am I to do it? I, riddled with faults! I, not very kind! When my serotonin levels are not set to self-destruct, I wonder how often Donald Trump thinks about offing himself and figure the answer is never. III. For the first time in three years, my husband and I were home in the U.S. for the fourth of July. We’d spent twelve months in a nation where kings own newspapers and teachers sign waivers saying they’ll never speak ill of their school, the king, or the country. Portraits of royals hang in every business and home. I watched from afar as my homeland grew foreign to me, an unfunny joke I didn’t bother to defend. At least U.S. journalism is real, I’d thought, an antidote to automatic support for all-powerful leaders. Sad! In Bhutan, foreign workers need government permission to leave town for the weekend, afternoon, even an hour. This is granted by the immigration office, assuming all goes well with a letter from one’s employer, the whims of government workers, and sometimes a whiskey bribe. We presented our papers at checkpoints and kept trips to a minimum, inconvenienced and suspect because foreign. For us, there was an endpoint to this suspicion. In our own country again, we sang “proud to be an American” with gusto, gallows humor. I didn’t yet think such a system could happen here, didn’t know that six months later I’d be shouting at the airport with hijabis and Jews holding signs saying “We’ve seen this before.” I can’t command and articulate encyclopedic knowledge on the history of anger in and toward and from the Middle East and everywhere else, which is what I feel I need every time anyone starts in against Islam, but it’s not like facts are doing too hot these days so what does it matter, why am I still trying to fight fair against people who make up the rules as they go, who pride themselves on never reading books, whose tones of voice call to mind a fat cartoon man tugging his suspenders with jazz hands, chewing one end of a cigar? Floating over my shoulders I’ve got on one side a stenographer and on the other a housecat, both judgey and withholding, not the spirits to summon in an argument against oversimplification, the casting of all of a kind of person as their worst representative—which is what U.S. Americans can anticipate now that the rest of the world sees us for what we’ve always denied that we are: buffoons, ill-meaning and otherwise. I don’t know what to do with myself so I am calling representatives, studying Spanish, reading the Quran before the Bible, wishing my boss Shabbat Shalom, trying out Insha’Allah, everything graceless as crayon art magneted to the fridge, but an alternative to withering. At the women’s march, where I didn’t march so much as shift my weight from side to side for hours, so crowded, all I did was look and listen to people who’ve done this before, their history of anger a resistance pre-dating my existence. I imagine the fire victims who might have marched with us against all manner of finger-pointing, their pockets perhaps like mine lined with stones: malachite for a resilient heart, sodalite for courage to speak truth, tiger’s eye for personal power. Among the signs about witches and coat hangers: Black lives matter. Can’t believe that statement is ever a provocation, but then what I cannot believe is redefined every time I read the news now. Home after the protest there’s a Facebook statement from the angel whisperer: “Congratulations, ladies. You just marched for terrorism.” A flame of anger. Then a video clip: someone just punched a Nazi in the face. 2017 battle cry as .gif. “We’ve seen this before” manifest as a fist. For a moment, that was all the clarity I needed.

RUMPUS ORIGINAL POETRY: “Mewl” by Sarah Lyn Rogers

#politics #Sarah Lyn Rogers #Rumpus Original

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starfleetorbust · 7 years

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Perfect Day - Part 2

Part 1

Look! There’s a Spock in this part xD This one’s longer. The ‘chapters’ really fluctuate in length. -shrug- Too proud of this to care that much. Tiny warning (not quite a warning): Lots of educational text in here and yes, it does probably get boring if you’re not looking to learn. It’s the Vulcan equivalent of flirting and I won’t apologize for it. I tried not to sound too textbook but it only will get worse from here, so if you don’t like it, you probably won’t like the rest of this story.

Now that your rest had been interrupted, you glanced around to find your own partner. Spock had departed earlier on a walk and you could see him over by edge of the water in the distance. He stood silhouetted between the sun and the natural caves and caverns that had been carved into the landscape. You chuckled as you saw the little shadow leaning down into the water and standing up again repeatedly. You headed over to see what had captured his interest, taking a moment to admire the waves as you walked. The tide wasn’t very strong right now, but even so, white waves rippled in the distance. While back over by Jim there had barely been a disturbance in the water, here there was a steady rhythm to the sound of them crashing against the rocks as you approached. When you reached close enough to see Spock clearly, you realized he was standing out on some protruding land on the end of a small peninsula of broken rocks. You stood back and just watched for a moment. Every few minutes, Spock would lean over and inspect the water for a moment before the waves would pull in and he would quickly stand and dart back away from the water. He was cat like and light on his feet and you enjoyed the humorous sight for another minute.

You carefully maneuvered around the rocks and quietly sneaked up, trying to time it so when he pulled back from one of the waves, you tapped one of his shoulders. The Vulcan spun around to face you but even then, he didn’t seem like he was particularly surprised with that perfectly stoic face he always kept. You gave him a small pout. “Y/n, you make too much noise to surprise me.” He pointed out, noticing your small frown, but you noticed his eyes seemed a little more dilated than usual. Perhaps you really had startled him. “So, what’s got you so intrigued?” The briefest of smiles crossed his lips and he gestured with his finger for you to kneel down beside him to see the rocks. At first you didn’t see what he was gesturing at. The water was more green in this area but still clear enough to see the bottom. You followed Spock’s finger but all you could see was a scattering of broken shells and sand. You started to turn to ask, but then a small movement caught your attention and you watched the small fish dart across one of the pools into some leaves that you realized were tiny sea fingers. Your eyes lit up and now you understood.

“You found a tidal pool!” Now he had completely enraptured your attention. This was your expertise. Back on the ship you were the head of the xenobiology department and these pools were brimming with life, albeit from Earth. For a second you ran your hand through the water, but pulled it out with a yelp. So much for swimming. The water was freezing and you know fully understood why Len had been so angry at Jim. Spock watched you with an amused glint in his eyes. Fish scattered away from the ripples and caused the puddle to seem much more alive than it had a second ago. The longer you stared at the pools the more life you were able to identify in the shallows. The water wasn’t perfectly clear, which made it hard to recognize life among the rocks that littered the ground. Urchins hid between the algae and the shells camouflaged the snails until they moved. Suddenly Spock’s hand was on your shoulders and he lifted you up and pulled you away from the edge of the water as a wave spread across where you had just been kneeling. Now that you were standing, you could see there were more tidal pools scattered across the shore. You moved over to another pool this time the water pulled back and Spock seemed to follow in tow. “A starfish!” You exclaimed, seeing the red creature immediately and reaching down for it despite the cold water. You brushed the sandpaper like skin. “The name seems illogical, given it is not a species of fish.” “Scientist sometimes reclassify them as sea-stars, but the colloquial name stems from before fish were really classified into any groups. In those times, any creature in the ocean was called ‘fish’.” You softly peeled the creature off of the rock it had been resting on as you spoke. “They don’t even have blood. They just pump seawater through them to get the nutrients from that.” Keeping the specimen underwater, you lifted him closer to the surface and rotated the star around to better see it. A hand in the water landed on your wrist and Spock was looking at you with a slight frown. “You do not need to remove it from its environment.” “I won’t take him from the water. It doesn’t hurt to move him Spock, you know that. I know what I’m doing and you’ve seen me work in our labs on all the specimens we receive.” You felt a little hurt that he was chastising you. He knew what you were capable of, and he knew that you cherished life enough not to take a sea-creature on land. “I am well aware of your expertise, y/n. But removing this life from its home will cause it great stress. Even the Enterprise teams seek only to remove non-sentient creatures from their planets. There have been miscalculations in the past, but we strive not to be cause of any discomfort. It is the essence of our Prime Directive. The statement does not only apply to civilizations and cultures, but to any species we encounter on the planet.” He guided your hands back down and replaced the starfish where it had been prior. You pulled your hands out you wiped them dry on your jacket. “I’m sorry Spock. I wasn’t trying to upset you. I just got overly excited at seeing all these creatures. I just wanted to see him better.” “I understand y/n. However, in this case, I believe it would be best if we refrain from moving them. The creatures here are in their homes.”

While you tried to heed Spock’s advice, you found your curiosity peaked too much to avoid it completely. After a few more pools had been uncovered by the two of you, you braved the icy water again to brush you fingers against one of the anemones and watch as the tendrils curled onto your fingers. While they weren’t sticky, they clung to your skin as you freed your hand. A hermit crab scrambled away from the commotion as you pulled your hand back out. When you glanced back at Spock, there was a hint of a smile.

You stayed there for a while, losing track of time in all the creatures. The two of you moved along the rocks, exploring each pool and the creatures within. Your shoes got soaked but it was too fun to want to leave. Spock would point out creatures and you would happily identify them for him and tell him fun facts about them. Spock was an excellent observer, and was able to locate the species a lot faster from field experience, but he would always turn to you to ask for clarification and identification. It was one of the wonderful things about Spock. Despite his high IQ, he always knew when to defer to another’s expertise. You never felt like he was trying to be the smartest one in the room, like many other professors and chief officers you had worked with. Spock loved to learn, and often when he came around to check on experiments in the lab, it wasn’t to check precision so much as simply being genuinely fascinated by the results and analysis that went on by his crew. He loved hearing you talk and teach him, and in turn he often taught you things in fields he was vastly superior in. He pointed out some barnacles lining the rocks, and small snail shells that you might not have seen buried among the rocks too deep for you to reach.

“And that?” He pointed to a spotted brown and green area that was moving lightly. You would have looked over it as a mossy rock if you weren’t looking carefully. “Aplysia californica. A sea hare, more specifically a Californian one.” Spock’s attention turned back to you and he seemed completely enraptured in what you had to say. There was something wonderful about the way you were the center of his interest. “They’re named after the little antenna on them that make them look like rabbits. They’re hermaphroditic but surprisingly not asexual and as a defense they make these slimes that we actually don’t know what they do.” “Is there no testing that can be done?” “We can but its difficult because there are several unique chemicals they can create and so many fish react differently. Some deter enemies and some attract food. There’s a purple one that natives used to use as a dye and one even acts like a sunscreen for these guys when the tides get too shallow.”

The thought of sunscreen reminded you of the incident earlier with Jim and you glanced up. The sun was low in the sky and you had not even realized how much time had passed just between you two. “Hey Spock? We should probably head back over to the truck.” “A logical choice,” he answered, standing and offering his hand to help you up.

@mccoymostly @kaitymccoy123 .... someone else asked to be here and I can’t remember D: I feel bad now. Also look at that cute picture! Doesn’t quite match, but it’s totally how I see him here.

#perfect day #Look there's a spock #Yay!#:D

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antionetterparker · 6 years

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Rankings: Best superfood green powders of 2018

Superfood green powders are an easy and convenient way to get your fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and nutrients. They even come packed with digestive enzymes, probiotics, and special herbs and superfoods that support immunity, heart health, and more.

This list ranks the most nutrient-rich, effective superfood green powders on the market so you can make sure you’re getting quality.

Part 1 ranks this year’s 9 best fat superfood green powders in order, and part 2 will go over how they work and answer some FAQs.

9. AdvoGreens Greens Powder by Advocare

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Greens Powder by Advocare is a phytonutrient green shake that is plant-based and high in fiber.

Phytonutrients are natural compounds found in plants. Our modern diets make it difficult to get sufficient phytonutrients, which have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. They boost the immune system, promote eye health, improve cardiovascular health, and even protect against cancer.

In fact, a study done on rats shows that compounds found in a certain type of phytonutrient – glucosinolates – actually inactivates carcinogens and protects cells from DNA damage. (1)

The ingredients in AdvoGreens include a greens and vegetables blend that’s rich in antioxidants, and vitamins A, C, and E, an enzyme, prebiotic, and probiotic blend that supports digestive health, and a fiber blend to manage digestion and appetite.

If you check the ingredients list, it’s packed with superfoods and nutrient-dense proteins like spinach, alfalfa juice, wheat grass, broccoli, flax seed, chia seed, kale, carrot, spirulina, barley grass, green tea, green coffee, and more.

Spirulina was used by the Aztecs and has even been proposed by NASA to be used as space food. (2) If you look at the density of protein, vitamin B, copper, iron, magnesium, and potassium per gram of dried spirulina powder, it might be the most nutritious food on the planet. (3)

Kale is almost as nutrient-dense and is known to lower cholesterol and fight cancer. (4) (5) Meanwhile, green tea extract can help you focus while burning fat and boosting your metabolism. (6)

The number of health benefits found in the AdvoGreens ingredients list is endless.

8. Shakeology Power Greens Boost

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Rather than give you trace amounts of 100 different ingredients, Shakeology’s Power Greens Boost focuses on giving your body high levels of the most important nutrients through a hand-picked selection of powerful superfoods. It’s also free of artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and preservatives.

Power Greens Boost puts the spotlight on three important ingredients: kale, chlorella, and spinach.

We’ve all heard about the benefits of kale. It’s one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the plant, with over a dozen important vitamins and minerals and well over your recommended daily amount of vitamin K, vitamin A, and vitamin C in just one cup. (7)

Chlorella is an algae superfood that’s sometimes taken as a nutritional supplement. It’s a complete protein source, made up of 50-60% protein containing all nine amino acids. (8) It’s also a good source of iron, and the high levels of vitamin C present help your body absorb the iron. (9)

Finally, chlorella is often used to aid in detoxing, and animal studies have shown that it’s helpful in removing harmful compounds from the body. (10)

One cup of raw spinach will get you 56% of your daily vitamin A and all of your vitamin K. (11) They’re also home to antioxidants beta-carotene and lutein, which have been associated with reducing your risk of cancer. (12) Spinach can even improve heart health and lower blood pressure.

A month’s supply of Power Greens Boost costs $34.95, which is pretty affordable. A lot of customers like to mix it into their regular Shakeology shakes.

7. Vital Reds

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Vital Reds is a dietary supplement made from a concentrated polyphenol blend. It’s a quick-dissolve powder that comes in red berry flavor and is free of artificial sweeteners, soy, sugar, and lectin.

Formulated by Dr. Steven Gundry, this superfood powder claims to boost energy, improve digestion, and improve skin health using a unique blend of super fruits. One serving has 10 calories, and some of the primary ingredients include organic apple peel, Aronia berry extract, mulberry fruit, cranberry, mango, acai, blueberry, pomegranate, and black currant.

Polyphenols are micronutrients that come from plant-based foods, especially berries. They’ve been proven to promote beneficial microorganisms in the digestive system and even increase lifespan. One study showed that people who took 650 mg per day of polyphenols had a 30% lower mortality rate than people who took less than 500 mg per day. (13)

The polyphenol blend in Vital Reds is 1,540 mg per service, which is more than enough to see an impact on your health. In addition, it includes two secondary blends – a metabolic boosting blend and a digestive support blend – for a holistic approach to nutrition.

6. Athletic Greens

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Athletic Greens has become pretty popular in the superfood greens powder department. This isn’t surprising when you see the list of models, physicians, and even internet celebs like Tim Ferriss who have recommended the supplement.

They market themselves as “the only whole food supplement that unlocks your body’s true potential.”

What Athletic Greens has done is put a decade of research into creating a product that fills all the nutritional gaps in our modern diet. One scoop contains 11 supplements as well as the antioxidant equivalent of 12 servings of vegetables.

Athletic Greens contains 75 natural, quality ingredients including spirulina, lecithin, chlorella, organic wheat grass powder, pea protein, dairy-free probiotics, and a super mushroom complex.

The proteins and vegetable blends provide you with nutrients and minerals while the probiotics promote digestive health. The mushroom blend incorporates shiitake and reishi mushrooms, both of which have been shown to promote a longer, healthier life and even possibly protect against cancer. (14)

5. Vega Protein & Greens

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Vega’s plant-based Protein & Greens protein shake uses non-GMO veggies and greens to pack 20 grams of plant protein into one shake. The powder comes in vanilla, chocolate, and berry flavors.

Their proprietary protein blend is made up of pea protein, brown rice protein, hemp protein, and sacha inchi protein.

Pea protein is a fairly new protein that’s become popular with vegetarians and vegans as well as people sensitive to dairy. It’s high in fiber and branched-chain amino acids. Studies also show that it’s more effective than whey protein at triggering the “fullness hormones” in your body. (15)

The blend also contains super nutrient dense plants such as alfalfa, spinach, broccoli, and kale.

4. Organifi Green Juice

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This superfood powder is USDA organic, gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and vegan, so it’s got most of your dietary restrictions bases covered.

Their unique formula for the Green Juice is infused with coconut and ashwagandha.

Coconut oil has been popular in the health sphere for a while now, but people tend to forget that the whole coconut is actually a powerful super fruit. It’s packed with protein while also supporting digestion and immunity. Studies of cultures that rely heavily on coconuts as part of a daily diet have shown that they are in excellent health and have lower rates of heart disease. (16)

As for ashwagandha, this ancient Ayurvedic medicinal herb helps your body manage stress by reducing cortisol levels, lowers blood sugar, boosts brain function, and even improves mood. More than one human study has shown that it effectively reduces stress and helps with anxiety disorders. (17)

The juice also incorporates high quantities of moringa, spirulina, chlorella, and matcha green tea, which are some of the most nutrient-dense, healthy greens on the planet.

One jar goes for around $69.99, which is definitely not cheap. That being said, it’s one of the most high-quality green superfood powders on the market.

3. Juice Plus+ Greens

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If you’re looking for a superfood greens powder because you want to get your fruits and veggies in, Juice Plus+ powder concentrates are made up of 48 different fruits, vegetables, and grains – probably more than you even knew existed.

The grains play an integral role by adding even more protein and fiber to your beverage, while the wide range of fruits and vegetables offer a greater diversity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients than you could possibly get by simply eating the same whole foods every day.

Juice Plus+ ingredients are natural and farm fresh, grown without pesticides, and they’re incorporated into supplements using Juice Plus+’s proprietary juicing and drying process that ensures the plants retain their nutritional value.

Their unique formula comes in chewable, capsule, and shake powder form. Their orchard and garden blend products add whole food nutrition from 20 different nutrition-dense fruits and vegetables, including carrots, broccoli, spinach, kale, beets, and more.

It also contains glucomannan, a fiber that has been proven to significantly reduce hunger and cravings. (18)

There’s no miracle science to the Juice Plus+ formula. Just simple, fresh, nutritious ingredients.

2. It Works! Greens

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It Works! has blown up in the weight loss sphere over the past few years for their body wraps, but they also sell a number of nutritional supplements and other weight loss products.

Their It Works! Greens blend is a drink powder made up of 52 herbs and superfoods, 34 fruits and veggies, and matcha green tea. It’s non-GMO, soy-free, dairy-free, and vegan and has no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners.

This nutritional superfood drink aims to help you achieve three wellness goals: alkalize, balance, and detoxify.

Alkalizing blends work to restore your body’s pH balance and support your immune system. Alkaline diets are rich in calcium, magnesium, and potassium and get nutrition from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, all found in the It Works! Greens blend. (19)

It’s believed that consuming more alkalizing nutrients builds immunity and protects from illness and disease. There hasn’t been enough research yet to confirm this.

As for balance, the It Works! Greens blend achieves this by filling dietary gaps in your regular eating habits with additional vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes.

Detoxification happens thanks to the matcha green tea that’s added. For decades studies have shown that green tea has powerful medicinal properties and can even treat a variety of diseases. (20)

Regardless of whether or not you believe alkaline diets are effective, there’s no arguing that the ingredients in It Works! Greens can improve your overall health.

1. Patriot Power Greens

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Patriot Power Greens is a high-power, all-natural “secret green drink” that supports health, energy, and overall well-being.

They call it a secret because the formula used to be reserved only for the military elite, used basically to restore their youth by sharpening memory and increasing energy and stamina while decreasing their pain response. They claim it’ll make you feel 30 years younger, and now it’s available to the public, so you can go ahead and test it out for yourself.

The unique blend used in Patriot Power Greens contains 20 fruits and vegetables, 10 probiotics, and 6 digestive enzymes all in one single serving.

The fruits and vegetables can be broken down into superfood greens and sea vegetables such as spirulina and seaweed, organic veggies like carrot, kale, broccoli, and spinach, and superfruits such as blueberries, goji berries, amla fruit, and acai.

The seaweed is particularly intriguing since it’s one of the most prominent ingredients. The blend uses three different types of seaweed: kombu, nori, and wakame.

Seaweed is generally higher in nutrients and trace minerals than any other vegetables, including high amounts of B12 and antioxidants. It promotes heart health, boosts the metabolism, helps with thyroid conditions, stabilizes blood sugar levels, strengthens the immune system, and even helps prevent bone diseases…all conditions associated with old age. (21) (22) (23) (24) (25)

Most of the superfoods incorporated into Patriot Power Greens, such as papaya, blueberry, broccoli, spinach, and pomegranate, are also known to have powerful anti-aging properties.

Patriot Power Greens does not contain any dairy, gluten, wheat, soy, shellfish, egg, fish, tree nuts, or peanuts, so it’s safe to consume for more allergies.

Part 2: Why should you use superfood green powders? What are their benefits and side effects?

Even with a balanced diet, it’s very difficult to get all of the vitamins and minerals our body needs on a daily basis.

Superfood green powders serve two purposes: to enhance the nutrition we already provide ourselves in the form of whole foods and to fill in nutritional gaps where our diet is lacking, all in a convenient and easy method.

Green drinks are a health and nutrition staple for good reason. But are there any risks or side effects?

Benefits of superfood green powders

One of the biggest nutritional benefits of green drinks comes from the high levels of antioxidants found in the superfoods they tend to contain.

Antioxidants essentially fight free radicals, which are molecules in your body that seek to damage your cells and can even lead to cancer. Studies have shown that the typical Western diet is so lacking in antioxidants that the biggest source of them for most people is their morning cup of coffee. (26)

Other benefits will depend on the ingredients in any given superfood green powder.

Many contain kale and spirulina, which are two of the most nutrition-dense foods you can consume. Together, they provide more than your daily recommended amount of vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin C, as well as a good amount of your vitamin B, protein, copper, magnesium, and iron. Spirulina also has anti-inflammatory properties. (27)

Other popular ingredients include berries such as acai and pomegranate, which can lower cholesterol, and seeds like chia and flax are a great source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. Many also incorporate detoxifying and medicinal herbs as well as fibers that suppress appetite.

Another benefit of superfood green powders is convenience. You get all of this nutrition packed into a quick and easy drink that you can take with you on the go, and usually at an affordable price. While some superfood green powders may seem expensive, if you tried to get all of the nutrition they pack through whole foods, you’d spend a lot more money.

Side effects of superfood green powders

Some people will use superfood green powders as a substitute for their vegetables and fruits. Not eating a healthy, balanced diet, even if you are taking green powder supplements, can lead to malnutrition, weight gain, and more.

Most side effects will depend on the quality of the green drink you’re purchasing as well as its individual ingredients and how your body reacts to them.

Chlorella, a popular green powder ingredient due to its nutrition and impressive range of benefits, has caused reactions on rare occasions that include diarrhea, nausea, gas, and stomach cramping in the first week of use. (27)

This is a normal reaction to many superfood supplements, as increased fiber consumption can lead to mild digestive problems such as constipation and upset stomach.

Your body may not be used to getting so much fiber and nutrition, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it. It just means our digestion has adapted to a diet that is largely processed and lacking in nutrients.

Recommended dosage

This will vary depending on the product. It’s always important to read the dosage instructions on the label before consuming any superfood green powder.

Most require that you add one or two scoops to water, juice, or a smoothie. Typically you’ll consume one per day.

Superfood green powder FAQ

What is a supergreen? Supergreens are superfoods that are also green vegetables. They’re essentially extremely nutrient-dense, providing even more vitamins and minerals to your body than your typical vegetables and greens. Some examples of supergreens include kale, spinach, algae, and seaweed.

What is in green powder? Green powder is a powdered blend of concentrated, dehydrated supergreens. It’s like a multivitamin but even more powerful because it contains additional nutrients such as probiotics, prebiotics, detoxifying herbs and minerals, and antioxidants.

What is in Patriot Power greens? Patriot Power Greens contains a blend of 20 different highly nutritious fruits and vegetables, 10 probiotics, and 6 digestive enzymes.

What are the benefits of green superfoods? Green superfoods provide your body with a concentrated supply of the vitamins and minerals it needs to stay healthy. They can boost your immune system, help you detox, and improve your digestion, among other benefits.

What does green juice do for your body? Green juice doesn’t just provide your body with additional nutrients. The ingredients it contains can actually help your body absorb vitamins and minerals from other foods more effectively.

What does a superfood do for you? Superfoods contain high levels of antioxidants, which improve your health and may protect against cancer. They also contain healthy fats, such as omega-3s, and fiber which can prevent heart disease and lower cholesterol, and they help you get your daily dose of iron, magnesium, calcium, and more. Finally, they improve digestion, boost your immune system, and leave you feeling energized and refreshed.

Do powdered greens expire? Yes. Most have a shelf-life of around two years, but check the expiration date on your product. You can still consume powdered greens past the expiration date – they won’t hurt you, but they will lose their potency.

Summary

Getting the proper nutrition your body needs on a daily basis is difficult, especially when you’re too busy to cook three meals every day or on a budget.

Superfood green powders are one of the most effective and convenient ways to make sure that you’re getting a healthy daily dose of all the important vitamins and minerals your body needs. Of course, different green powders come with different ingredients and levels of quality.

It’s important to do your research and select a superfood green powder that will truly provide your body with the holistic nutrition it needs to stay healthy.

For MLMCompanies.org #1 superfood green powder recommendation, click here.

via https://mlmcompanies.org/green-drinks/

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mlmcompanies · 6 years

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