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mockerycrow · 10 months

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Frozen Fingertips [1/2] (Ghost x GN!Reader)

ghost masterlist - crow’s mega masterlist - part two

Summary: You and Simon are in an extremely cold and snow covered area of Russia and manage to get separated from everyone else when a blizzard comes out of nowhere. Ghost helps keep you alive.

[WARNINGS: Light descriptions of developing hypothermia and frostbite, angst, hurt/comfort, ghost is actually worried.]

THE EXTREMELY COLD air bit at the little skin that’s exposed on your face and invades your lungs, nearly feeling like it’s sending frost to bite at the most inner corners of your esophagus. Dressed in snow boots, a snow suit as well as a snow jacket with a bullet proof vest, a thick scarf, two layers of gloves—a pair of thin gloves and then your snow gloves—as well as a beanie with your hood up. You tried to tie your scarf in such a way where it covers the lower portion of your face, but movement has made the fabric crumble down. The conditions of the snowy forest you’re trudging through are harsh; the snow is several feet deep, nearly up to your mid-thigh, causing you to have to quite literally pull your leg through dense snow, and of course you forgot your sunglasses for this trip. The bright sun is shining onto the snow surrounding you, successfully blinding you, causing you to squint until you give yourself a headache.

You have no idea what temperature it is, but all you know is that the fact that you’re moving through the snow is the only thing getting you through this. Your nose burns from the cold and so do your cheekbones, and any other skin that is exposed. You hold your rifle tighter to your chest in an attempt to maintain warmth, and despite all of your protective clothing, you don’t feel warm at all. You’re traveling with Ghost, while Soap, Price, and Gaz are infiltrating a nearby safehouse, owned by Makarov. You and Ghost are making your way to the exfil point after providing overwatch—the weather was beginning to pick up, blocking your line of sight. You shudder as some snow lands on the tip of your nose and melt, but nearly immediately freeze due to the temperature.

You keep dragging your feet through the snow, one foot after the other, trying to think warm thoughts to keep you going. Your radio crackles to life and Ghost’s muffled voice comes through; he’s only in front of you, but the snow can act as a sound muffler. “Doin’ alright?” His voice is like a wave of warmth washing over you, and you close your eyes for a moment as you walk. You open them and mumble, “Freezing my ass off, sir.” Ghost lets out a huff that almost sounds like a chuckle. “Keep moving, sergeant. You’ll keep your strength and warmth up.” You don’t bother to respond as you continue to trudge on. The wind begins to pick up as well as the falling snow slowly turns into a mini blizzard. “This is Price to Ghost and [Name], how copy?”

You don’t bother to respond as you’re focused on keeping yourself upright—when did you begin to feel so tired? “Loud and clear, Price. The weather’s pickin’ up.”

When did you begin to feel so.. warm? ..What?

You blink and suddenly you find yourself collapsed into the snow. You don’t question it, because you’re quite comfortable. The coldness of the snow feels good against your suddenly warm skin. You’re violently shivering, but you don’t mind. You’re warm. A pair of hands grab your coat, flipping you over so you’re no longer face down into the snow. You whine and weakly try to push whoever is touching you because their gloved hands are on your face, brushing snow off of your skin. “Stop,” You slur, your voice wobbling. Your hearing tappers out for a moment, and apparently so does your vision because the next thing you know—you find yourself in a cabin.

The first thing you feel is warmth—and then extreme coldness, and then numbness, and it’s a repeating cycle, causing you constantly shiver where you’re laying. Your limbs feel so heavy and you just want to stay laying down, but you’re hit with the thought of Ghost. Did he bring you here? Or did something happen, causing someone to take you? Your thoughts are in disarray, that much is clear. You can’t even form a coherent thought. You blink slowly as to focus your gaze, and you see a tall and bulky figure bent down by a fireplace, which you’re laying near. Huh. You’re somehow stuffed inside your sleeping bag. The figure’s back is turned to you, so whatever they’re doing, you’re unable to see. “C’mon,” The rough voice hisses. Oh, it’s Ghost.. Duh. You let out a choked noise as a weird pain of blistering pain radiates through your skull, and you’re vaguely aware of the feeling of your blood quickly rushing back into your fingertips, the humming sensation in your fingers nearing painful. They were lightly tingling before.

You blink again; time has passed. There’s a fire going now, a steady one, but it’s clearly not enough. Not with the way Ghost’s intense eyes are staring into yours, him saying something about you staying awake, something about how he knows you want to sleep—which he’s right about—but you can’t, and that you shouldn’t. You nearly wanna reach over and smack him about that, and you would have if you could move without the sluggish and heavy weighted feelings in your limbs. Who is he, to tell you, what you can and cannot do?? “I’m tired, Ghost.. Lemme sleep.” You croak out—your voice is trembling and you don’t understand why, but your body doesn’t give you enough energy to properly question it and you lay your head back down, trying to turn it away.

“Need you to keep those eyes open, [Name],” Ghost’s voice is suddenly.. very, very, very close to your ears. Your eyes flutter back open—you don’t even remember closing them—and you’re face to face to his mask. His brown eyes burrow into yours, nearing unreadable, but one thought pops up when your head allows it; he’s worried. Ghost is worried. “M’here,” You mutter, feeling yourself shake in your sleeping bag. “I’m here.” You watch as Ghost gets up from his position, which was looming over you, to add more fuel to the fireplace. The fire cracks and sparks alive once again, and you never noticed it died down. Must’ve been a while, of you being in and out. Your head is finally allowing you think more clearly. “How..” You lick your dry and cold lips before continuing. “How long has it been?”

Ghost looks over at you, pausing for a moment before poking at the burning wood with a fireplace poker. “You don’t know?” He questions, his voice tense. Bad sign. You not remembering how much time has passed is a very bad sign. You shake your head, tugging your sleeping bag closer to your body in a sluggish manner. Ghost’s quiet as he moves back over to you, grabbing his own sleeping bag which is tightly rolled up and attached to his backpack. Ghost begins to unravel the fabric and unzip it, in an attempt to make a blanket. “Well, a big blizzard started up as we were headin’ to the RV. Found you face down in the snow a bit behind me, and knew you..” He trails off as pulls the zippers down, hesitating in his movements. “..knew you needed to rest, needed help.”

You press your lips together because it’s so clear Ghost is avoiding what he wanted to say; what you both know what he meant. A harsh shiver rolls out through your body, harsh enough to make your vision spin, causing Ghost to huff. He drapes his unzipped sleeping bag over your body, tucking the extra fabric under your body. You groan quietly and you shut your eyes for a moment. Ghost is shifting stuff around and you his gloves fingers push your hat up ever so slightly and then you feel.. skin pressing against your forehead?? Your eyes open sleepily to the sight of Ghost’s mask pushed to above his nose, exposing his scarred lips and cheeks. You open your mouth to say something but a quiet whimper leaves you as your vision swims again—not giving you a moment to think about his kiss against your forehead. “Cold.” He mutters as he grabs the edge of his mask and pulls it back over the rest of his face, down to his neck. You watch as Ghost takes off his scarf and wraps it around your neck instead, and then he lays down next to you and wraps an arm around you, pulling you closer. You try to question why he’s doing this, but Ghost is already three steps ahead of you. “You’re not of any help if you’re dead, love.” His voice is steady, but it’s on edge—like he’s scared.

You shut your eyes and you lean into his everlasting warmth, and you decide to not point out how his gloved fingers are stroking the exposed skin of your face in a soothing manner.

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catwyk · 3 months

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(notes and comments next, tumblr will not let me add a cut no matter how hard i try!!!!!!! killing and maiming!!!!)

silt verses wips, some will get finished and some wont :p which is which?? who knows !!! not me !!!!

1) thurrocks and faulkner on their quest to the endless drear, with jasp, tapper and wallace in the background (or at least thats the idea). most of my time on this one has been spent adjusting values on the hills in the background, and its absolutely too vibrant and green for how i imagine the scene lol theyre also really shitty hills if you look at them for less than a second so. dont do that please LMAO

2) faulkner in his katabasian garb, sat in a river for to maximise his solo slay. this one is kinda old atp but the design hasnt changed much. ive mentioned the open-mouthed epaulettes referencing the mouth delivering/returning before, but the green uhhh idk thing is dried and woven seaweed :) the rest of the robes will be more decorated with abstract woven patterns and embroidery if i ever start working on this one again

3) now THIS is the relgious faulkner that was giving me brain damage a couple days ago, that ive since realized wont be fixed with the ideas a couple people offered because of the perspectice. its pretty obviously mimicking a guillaume dufube sketch intended for a ceiling that i absolutely love. the parts ive produced, im really happy with, but i cant work out the composition fully so its gonna be abandoned at least for a while. not to mention the absolute misplacement of a sky motif. its one of those paintings i wish i had thicker/oil paint or gouache style brushes on medibang for

4) my mercer design!! heavily inspired by paleoart from various sources. everything she and gage have is organic, except a very few, like her sheath (oblong metal with a leather "cap" around the tip of the blade, a real ancient design i found references for on google) and her rifle. the original image also features gage playing their flute while squatting, but both of those things are hard poses to draw and hard to find refereces for, and im not willing to put in THAT much effort god lord i draw for FUN if its hard im giving up baby

5&6) snare dog!!!! i love these silly guys but i dont like this design, its too wolfish and i imagine them sorta borzoi/greyhound aligned. i also dont like the way the face opens, since i imagine that as more of a twist. i do like the flopping tongue though and i liked the half assed rendering

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nonuggetshere · 4 months

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(ID start: A species reference sheet for a fan interpretation of a wyrm from Hollow Knight. The animal in the picture is long and snake-like with sharp layered scales in the rows of three, vaguely resembling a pinecone in appearance. It has a cone-shapes muzzle that tappers in the end split into 6 sections, between each section there's an eye further up the head, 6 eyes total. It has two tiny front arms further down its body and multiple sets of hind legs resembling these of a centipede running from lower part of its body all the way to the tip of its tail. It's brown with its belly being a lighter shade, with light green eyes, pinkish eyelids and lips, and cream claws. On the top left corner of the picture there's text that reads: "Common Wyrm. Climate: Highly adaptable, but does best in arid and temperate climates. Diet: Carnivore." On the right side of the wyrm's head there's a close-up of the eye, showing its slightly milky colour and a white pupil, next to it the text reads: "Functionally blind, can only see light and vague shapes". In the middle top section of the picture there's a diagram showing the wyrm's mouth in more detail. On the left, a picture shows its mouth closed and where the hard armouring of its body ends and soft flesh of its lips and eyelids begins. On the right, a picture of its mouth open shows the different parts of its jaws, the front jaws split into 6 ections with large front facing teeth used for digging and fighting and its lips drawn back to reveal them, inside the larger jaw is a smaller set of mandibles split into 4 sections used for eating. In the top right corner is a black silhouette of the wyrm, The Hollow Knight and The Knight, the text reads: "Size comparison to the Pure Vessel and The Knight". The Hollow Knight/Pure Vessel reaches the wyrm's lower chest, while The Knight is roughly the size of the wyrm's forearm. On the right side of the picture there are close ups of the wyrm's front and hind limbs. The one labelled "Front paws" shows its stubby, segmented paw with 5 fingers and long, sharp claws. The one labelled "Hind legs" shows a one-clawed segmented leg resembling that of a centipede. Right below the wyrm, in the middle bottom part of the picture, there's text that reads: "Many hind legs, good for holding (prey, courting and brood rearing)". End ID.)

FREE BASE

Pinecone looking ass

I originally wanted to just make every sub-species of wyrm I came up with and post them all at once but then I started drawing the different morphs and realises I couldn't do that LMAO

Also my toxic trait is forgetting to post my art here if I don't so it immediately after finishing it💜

More info + different morphs under the cut

(ID: A picture depicting 4 wyrms, text on the top of the picture reads: "Common Wyrm morphs". Text in the middle reads: "(more saturated colours and very dark/light colours are rare)". The first wyrm, labelled "Solid", is a solid sandy colour with subtle darker gradient on the head, tail and back, green eyes, light pink lips and eyelids, and cream claws. The second wyrm, labelled "Two-tone", is a dusty brown colour with a lighter brown underbelly, a more visible dark gradient on its head, back and tail, amber eyes, dark pink lips and eyelids, and dark grey claws. The third wyrm, labelled "Point", is a pink colour that slowly turns into dark brown further up its head and down its tail, with yellow eyes, warm pink lips and eyelids the same colour as its main body, and brown-ish grey claws. The forth wyrm, labelled "Horizontal stripes", is a dusty, dark brown colour with a dark brown stripe running down its side, black thin stripes run down its body, one along its back and two on either side of the large brown stripe, it has green eyes, dark pink flesh and grey claws. End ID.)

(ID: A picture depicting 4 wyrms, text on the top of the picture reads: "Common Wyrm morphs". Text in the middle reads: "(more saturated colours and very dark/light colours are rare)". The first wyrm, labelled "White back", is a vibrant orange colour that turns lighter on its head, a black stripe running on the side of its body and a creamy white back, with dark pink flesh, light grey eyes and light greyish cream claws. The second wyrm, labelled "Stripped point", is a vibrant yellow colour that turns brownish gold on its head and tail, stripped front paws and a stripped head, a brown stripe that runs down its side and gets lighter further down its body, cutting off at its front paws and beginning again from their hind legs and running all the way down the rest of its body, getting darker again at the tip of its tail, it has hazel eyes, redish flesh and dark grey claws. The third wyrm, labelled "Two-toned point-stripe", has a greenish-grey body that gets darker and more red at the head and tail, and the same pattern as the last wyrm but with a cream underbelly, it has green eyes, light pink flesh and dark grey claws. The fourth wyrm, labelled "Vertical stripes", is a light sandy wyrm whose colour gets more vibrant and orange further up its head with a thin orange stripe running down its back, one short black stripe on the side of its head, one black stripe on the top of its head and wide black horizontal stripes running all down its body that get lighter and more orange-brown the further down they go, eventually blending into the same colour as the stripe on its back, with its front two paws completely black, light green eyes, dark pink flesh and black claws. End ID.)

(ID: A picture depicting 4 wyrms, text on the top of the picture reads: "Common Wyrm morphs". Text in the middle reads: "(more saturated colours and very dark/light colours are rare)". The first wyrm, labelled "Three-tone", is a greyish brown colour, with a grey underbelly and a dark brown wide stripe running down its back, orangeish red flesh, light grey eyes and cream claws. The second wyrm, labelled "Rosette", is a green-ish brown colour with an orange muzzle and tail, the top of its head is dark and turns into a blurry stripe running down its back, there are 8 large dark blotches running down its back starting from just behind its head with each one having a lighter yellow colour inside it that turns more orange the further down the body the blotches are, it has yellow stripes around its greenish yellow eyes, warm reddish pink flesh and dark grey claws. The third wyrm, labelled "Dorsal stripe", is a light pink colour that gets slightly darker on the back with a dusty pink thin stripe running down its back, redish light pink flesh, dark grey eyes and black claws. The fourth wyrm, labelled "Masked", is a dark dusty yellow colour with darker muzzle and tail, and brown stripes on its head and over its eyes, with the stripes on the top eyes link together with a stripe on its head and neck forming a sort of mask marking, many thin vertical stripes run down its body swapping between dark and lighter brown colours, it has dark green/light green heterochromia, dark pink flesh and black claws. End ID.)

(ID: A picture depicting 4 wyrms, text on the top of the picture reads: "Common Wyrm morphs". Text in the middle reads: "(more saturated colours and very dark/light colours are rare)". The first wyrm, labelled "Leucistic", is a white colour with darker cream head, back and tail, pink flesh, dark brown eyes and dark grey claws. The second wyrm, labelled "Albino", is completely white with light pink flesh, light blue eyes and white claws. The third wyrm, labelled "Melanistic", is black with blue and red undertones, dark reddish pink flesh, dark brown eyes and black claws. The fourth wyrm, labelled "Piebald", is majority white with five blotches of colour on its body, one on the head, one on the tip of its tail and three down its back, the blotches are the same pattern and colour as "Horizontal stripes" morph but lighter, with yellow/blue heterochromia with the blue eye over the white blotch on the lower part of its head, dusty pink flesh and white and dusty dark cream claws. End ID.)

So here they are!

They're mostly Earthy and pink tones, with their eye colours ranging from green to orange with different saturation and hue - including grey and almost white and black eyes. Blue are mostly only possible when there's white over them or some sort of loss of pigment like in albinism. I mostly took inspo from earthworms and hammerhead worms for their markings and colours.

The most common, or at least most recognisable, species of wyrm in my AU. Second largest and highly adptable, these guys dig extensive tunnels spanning kilometres across and deep underground. They're essential to the ecosystem as their old tunnels provide safety for smaller organisms in the harsh wastelands.

They've got 6 eyes, each one between their six front mandibles. When they open them their eyes automatically close, though it isn't a problem as their vision is already poor.

Although they're capable of eating plants they're almost exclusively carnivores, specialising in hunting other colossal prey - including other wyrms. They hunt and fight by holding their prey down using their hind and front limbs and biting them with their powerful jaws.

They're known to be territorial and violent, the kingdoms made by wyrms having a reputation for being very war-focused.

They have litters of 1 to 13 young and are known for being very protective and highly attentive parents, rearing their young until they're old enough to survive on their own.

There was once a time where wyrms and their kingdoms were plenty, but with their rapidly dwindling numbers they're now a rare sight to behold - and wyrm-led kingdoms an even rarer one. Although mostly a solitary species the fear of extinction brought some of them together, and now it's not that unheard of for wyrms to stay in small family groups, with some of them choosing to shed their former bodies to live in larger groups together. These wyrm villages make it easier to find a mate and to find enough food, though because of their inherent territorial nature they're still not that common despite their benefits.

#hollow knight #hollow knight fanart #hollow knight art #wyrm #hk art #hk fanart #hk #hk wyrm #spec bio #spooky arts #faaf au #the base is set as pay what you want but you dont need to pay shit btw #i just set all my bases as that in case anybody wants to leave a tip but its not required #my art

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foreverlogical · 1 year

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Donald Trump, who led a seditious conspiracy against the United States government, has yet another new lawyer. If you're wondering what sort of person would agree to represent Donald Trump despite a history of Trump-allied lawyers going to prison, facing potential disbarment, never getting paid, and/or becoming national laughingstocks, meet Joe Tacopina. Tacopina's been doing his best to become an Important Television Lawyer, now that he's in Trump's employ. It hasn't been going well.

Actually, we're going to need to revise that. "Hasn't been going well" is when you hold a big important press conference and your hair dye starts dribbling down your head like your brain just blew a head gasket and it's going to be a very, very expensive repair. Tacopina's more a fan of the "What if I intentionally pierced the veil of my client's dodgy corporate shell company during a televised interview?" sort of Bad Day Haver.

CHUCK TODD: You keep saying it was personal funds. That was not what Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to. These were funds repaid by the Trump Org TACOPINA: That's personal TODD: So everything w/ the Trump Org is Trump's personal funds? You realize the door you're opening there? pic.twitter.com/CiPJBNjQWs— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2023

WHOOPS. BIG HUGE WHOOPS. One of the things you do not want to do, when you are defending your new client from many crimes and civil lawsuits and possible exorcisms or what have you, is stipulate on camera that the shell company your client hides his money in is actually his "personal funds," blowing up the distinction between the two and making it easy for litigants to scrape money out of both places instead of just one. That is a Lionel Hutz bad court thingy right there.

Even worse, imagine blowing up a significant part of your own defense in an interview with Chuck Todd. That's like being clubbed to death by a Teletubby.

Don't worry, Joe can fix this. He went to big-time lawyer school, he knows how to win back a jury.

TACOPINA: What was he supposed to put in his personal ledger? "Payment for hush money to quiet an affair that I claim I never had so my family doesn't get embarrassed"? CHUCK TODD: How about the truth? Shouldn't it be the truth? pic.twitter.com/XGcWV0Y0J7— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2023

Your honor, of course my client committed business fraud, which I have now explained is indistinguishable from personal fraud because it's the same set of books. It was either engaging in fraud or admitting he cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star, and who among us has not yada yada whatever?

The weekend has not gone well for Trump in general. Here's a friendly legal tip: Just because Joe Tacopina wants to be on television doesn't mean Joe Tacopina should be on television. He's not great at it.

OMG I missed Al Sharpton destroying Joe Tacopina on MSNBC yesterday "What was the intent of the payment? ... if we were in court I would ask you to read back your statement. She came forward two weeks before the election, which meant you were reacting to the election!" pic.twitter.com/hKbRIGTN1b— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2023

Then there's the House Republican efforts to immunize Donald Trump from every last damn crime Donald Trump has ever done. There's no way to argue that without sounding stupid, but House Republicans have a whole bench of people for whom "sounding stupid" is their own personal art form.

JAKE TAPPER: Are you arguing that people who commit business crimes aren't committing crimes? COMER: We're talking about a federal election crime TAPPER: My understanding is that he's being investigated for falsifying business records (This interview did not go well for Comer) pic.twitter.com/SuF8AaxkfG— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2023

Rep. James Comer ought to try out being Trump's lawyer for a month or two. He can't possibly do worse than any of the others.

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flimsy-roost · 1 year

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I'd like to talk about the latest Pokemon Center plush line!

I tend to avoid official nintendo merch, because I give that company enough of my money already. But White was the first Pokemon game I ever played (after saving my allowance for months for it and a used DS lite), so I have a very special place in my heart for gen5/Unova pokemon. When I heard they were releasing a line of Unova "Sitting Cutie" plushes, I wanted to at least check it out.

And I did! And I mildly disappointed my wallet! There are some bangers in here! But there are a lot of... decidedly un-bangers. Tippy-tappers at best. So I wanted to take the time to walk you through some of the ways this line fell short of its central claims: namely, Sits and Cuteness.

"Sitting"

I'd first like to address the distinguishing claim of the line; that each of these plush can sit up unsupported (or, more generously, could be propped up stably).

It would be easy to only give examples of pokemon that shouldn't have been considered for this line at all, of which there are many:

fig. 1) in what universe, praytell

But there were many more that were so, so close to plausibility in the face of physics, that really only needed a modified design direction.

Let's compare Eelektrik (left) to Serperior (right). Eelektrik is extremely top-heavy and prone to tipping, problems which could perhaps have been mitigated by a coiled design (like Serperior), or even as a flat. It could be argued that the current form stays true to the original art, which should always take precedent. I see you, and I hear you, and I disagree

A skosh below the "no way in hell" category of sittability, lay a group of lesser design sins broadly defined as "questionable in the face of a stiff breeze." For many plush in this category, the product designers could learn a thing or two from Toxel:

fig. 2) a well-balanced bean

Put another way, the popular rule-of-thumb "four on the floor," most commonly begged for in the context of starter evolution lines, may be applied to great effect:

Top-heavy Golurk? Four on the floor!

Tall, spindly, misguidedly "source-accurate" Genesect? Four on the floor!

Think of his poor Tepiggy spine! FOUR ON THE FREAKING FLOOR

Purrloin, look! Your big sibling has it down! Get at that generational knowledge, girl!

"Cuties"

I'm not aware of a single official merch line in existence that lacks at least one cursed artifact. Plush are particularly susceptible, and this line is no different.

While I have to give the designers props for a perfectly lovely Mienshao, they canonized my bestie as having a cringe childhood:

All this Mienfoo wants are uppies. How's she gonna kick ass when her feet go straight into her torso? Her glowup will never come if she can't even land a pound.

Entire evolution lines fell prey to design decisions here. Please compare gen5 Elgyem and Beheeyem to their inbred and deformed purebred domesticates:

fig. 3) has IV breeding gone too far?

Let us also more closely examine the full Sandile evolution line compared to wild type examples, as I consider these among the least forgivable offences:

Why is the plush Sandile so sad? Perhaps he knows what is to come.

Where sass? Why snoot so droop????

NO MY CREATCHURE?????? NO NONONO NOT THE SNOOT!!!!!!!

figs. 4-6) look how they slaughtered my boy

Finally, I would like to highlight a subset of the line that has Witnessed The Horrors. These are more subjective in their cuteness. You know the saying; one man's uncanny gremlin is another man's terrified blorbo.

Meet Drilbur, who has recently Seen Some Shit!

fig. 7) the boy who inspired this post, with WT reference

The bug-eyed-ness is what tips this into horror movie prop for me personally. I should not be able to see both his eyes from a diagonal. I could understand how some people could find him endearingly goofy, but my litmus tends to be: would I be amused to open my eyes to see him in the dark at 3am, or would I shit my pants? Drilbur here leans towards the latter.

Here is an example of a shell-shocked friend I find cute:

Crustle, normally hiding safely under their rocky shell, is leaned back to fulfill the barely-followed criteria of "sits," and so turns their eyes to god to ask why he has forsaken them. I love it.

BONUS CONTENT: KERMIT DEINO!!!!

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bookgeekgrrl · 2 months

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My media this week (18-24 Feb 2024)

i'll always prefer the og but this iteration is entertaining

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

The Old Codgers Greatest Hits Album (AggressiveWhenStartled, author; quietnight, narrator) - 57K series, canon-divergent stucky co-starring peter parker. Reread of this hilarious forever fave where first teenage peter is forced to deal with two body-swapped geriatric supersoldiers and then bucky is forced to deal with two teenage spidermen trying (and failing) to stealthily rescue their "dog". Great podfic by quietnight, absolute hilarity

History of American Capitalism (Zenaidamacrouras1) - 85K, shrinkyclinks college AU with superstar QB!Bucky & history nerd Steve - incredible found family dynamics, can't believe @zenaidamacrouras1 made me actually really get into an AU that involved both undergrads AND football. The nerve! The talent! (the fic is single POV but there's an amazing companion piece that's Bucky's convos with this sister that give a his POV on some of it and it's equally amazing)

💖💖 +347K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Half sleep, half waking (softestpunk) - The Sandman & Rivers of London crossover: dreamling, 8K - amazing crossover! I wish there was 60K of this for me to read

Road to Joy (Oddree13) - Stranger Things: steddie, 25K - latest chapter in this omegaverse steddie series that I absolutely adore

Knit One, Purl Two (mollus) - MCU: stucky, 32K - reread; forever fave WS recovery fic with lots of softness in the form of: knitting, dancing, soap making and senior citizens

Red, White & Royal Goose (fairestfaerie) - RWRB: alex/henry, 7K - I just love a good Soulmate Goose of Enforcement fic

This Sunlit Land (eyres) - MCU: stucky, 38K - wonderful canon/timeline-divergent WS recovery AU

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Resident Alien - s1, e1-3

QI - series S, ep 7-9

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "The Fall of New York City" (s7, e1)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Heaven and Hell on Earth" (s7, e2)

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Stress Tested" (s21, e7)

D20: Adventuring Party - "A Negroni and a Bowl of Spinach" (s16, e7)

Ghosts (US) - s2, e16-22; s3, e1-2

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Kimberly Drew

The Sporkful - Can A Restaurant Makeover Make Diners Spend More?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Boston’s Blue Hill

Short Wave - The Life And Death Of A Woolly Mammoth

Desert Island Discs - Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cellist

I Said No Gifts! - Jay Jurden Disobeys Bridger

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Where Does Fani Willis Go From Here?

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - World’s Loneliest House

⭐ Switched on Pop - Adult Contemporary, but make it cool (with CHROMEO)

Shedunnit - The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Green Penguin Book Club 1)

Up First - Julian Assange Extradition Hearing, Egypt Buffer Zone, Louisiana Special Session

Today, Explained - The Panama Canal is drying up

It's Been a Minute - Jada Pinkett Smith, the artist

Vibe Check - Welcome to Tip Check

Outward - True Detective: Night Country’s Lesbian Subtext

⭐ Code Switch - Why menthol cigarettes have a chokehold on Black smokers

Short Wave - When The Sun Erupts

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Stone of Destiny

⭐ 99% Invisible #571 - You Are What You Watch

Films To Be Buried With - Tyler James Williams

Ologies with Alie Ward - Black Hole Theory Cosmology (WHAT ARE BLACK HOLES?!) Part 1 with Ronald Gamble, Jr.

Off Menu - Ep 226: Noel Fielding

NPR's Book of the Day - 'Thank You Please Come Again' pays homage to Southern gas station food shops

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Buffalo Soldiers National Museum

The Assignment with Audie Cornish - Jake Tapper on American Political Scandal

⭐ Throughline - Dance Yourself Free (Throwback)

If Books Could Kill - The Better Angels of Our Nature

Our Opinions Are Correct - We Don't Give a F*ck About Canon

⭐ Today, Explained - Fight at the Museum

The Sporkful - Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Bagels

Dear Prudence - My Friend Has a Master’s Degree in Lying. Help!

What Next: TBD - The Coasts are Sinking

Short Wave - Didn't Get A Valentine's Love Song? These Skywalker Gibbons Sing Love Duets

Endless Thread - Endless Thread: The Musical

⭐ Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - Industrial Musicals

Strong Songs - "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

You're Dead to Me - Queen of Sheba [turned out to be really perfect timing to have this knowledge right before getting to certain relevant bits in my current read The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi]

It's Been a Minute - Have we hit celebrity overload? Plus, Miyazaki's movie magic

Simply Reflecting - Did You Say Delusional?

Under the Influence - Seeing is Believing: The Power of Demonstration Commercials

Hit Parade - The Bridge: Bon Soir, Barbra

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Chromeo

Living Colour

Chicago House Foundation

Presenting Soundgarden

Swing Fever [Rod Stewart & Jools Holland] {2024}

Adult Contemporary [Chromeo] {2024}

Campfire Classics

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dmercer91 · 3 months

Note

Imagine if Quinn got a low tapper fade

i cannot even begin to find words to respond to this

add in frosted tips

#e talks!#HELLO???

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silverstagwitch · 2 years

Text

Quitar el mal de ojo (Removing the Evil Eye)

Ingredients/items -Omiero (holy water) -Sweet Basil -Sprig -White Tapper Candle -White Cloth -Sea Salt

Take the person that's suspected to have the aojo “Evil Eye” lay them down on a flat surface, preferably shirtless unless not comfortable with doing so, and then place the white candle at the Crown of their head 8inches away (keep from catching them on fire!).

Then you are going to pour sea salt around the person into a circle, then sit at the crown where the candle is and then call on to our Lady of Fatima and ask her to take the aojo out of (Persons first and last name) then you're going to move to their right side,

Then take the sweet basil dip into the Omiero and make a Cross on to the forehead, chest, stomach, Groin and Feet while reciting.

“Our Lady of Fatima blessed Among all woman dressed in holy light may you triumph over the mark of evil stomping out all pain and Sorrow leaving nothing but Joy, Love, and Light In the name of the blessed mother amén"

Once you're done going over the body and reciting the prayer you're then going to lay the White cloth down on their chest and dip the Sweet basil back into the Omiero and lay it onto the white cloth, close your eyes, and visualize pulling dark tar out and it seeping into the sweet basil.

Once you have done the visualizing and pulling the tar out you're going to fold up the white cloth over the sweet basil and discard the folded white cloth with the basil at a crossroads preferably buried.

Notes: Please note when working with anyone their comfort is always the first priority, Then and make sure to keep them safe within your working and follow all safety tips you can.

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popolitiko · 11 months

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CNN Boss Chris Licht Meets With GOP Anti-‘Woke’ 2024 Hopeful THE NEW CNN

Lachlan Cartwright Published Apr. 10, 2023

CNN CEO Chris Licht met with longshot GOP 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy last month and discussed issues surrounding free speech, cancel culture, and “wokeism,” two people familiar with the meeting told Confider.

The March meetup, which took place in NYC just days ahead of a Ramaswamy appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, came at the request of the Woke Inc. author as he ramps up his campaign to be president, built around a “national identity that dilutes the woke agenda to irrelevance.”

As Confider’s favorite industry schmoozer, Licht has made no secret of his efforts to court conservatives as he reshapes CNN.

Elsewhere, Confider has learned, CNN is looking to shake up its daily Inside Politics show by likely replacing anchor John King with CNN’s chief political correspondent Dana Bash, who currently co-anchors State of the Union with Jake Tapper. The swap would be doubly notable as King and Bash were previously married and share a son together. A rep for CNN declined to comment.

This reporting is featured in this week’s edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

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sicjimin · 2 years

Note

Can you do pregnant reader with caretaker namjoon where namjoon would've read up everything about pregnancy but the reader gets very sick and he tries to give them a natural remedy which ends up making the sickie more sick

And then they figure out that every pregnancy is unique no matter what the books say

a.n : im sorry this stretching out too long TT hope this up to your liking ! thank you for requesting 🫂

"Joon-ah ..", You calls out, peeking from your boyfriend studio door—he's there, still having his headset on, paper scatters everywhere on table, along with few bottles of drink or water stashed in the corner.

"Joon-ah", You calls once again, louder this time, when the older doesn't budge.

"Uh? Oh!", Namjoon yelps, turning his chair quick once he's realized that's you calling. "What? Do you need anything?"

"It's already 7, love", You sighs, leaning against the door frame, "You haven't eat dinner yet"

"Oh shit", Namjoon curses under his breath, "I lost track", he sheepishly says, "Let me save the file then we eat"

You hums, trudge to their dining room to wait him there—one hand clutching your stomach as you start to feel sick. You take a deep breath, moving in a more careful manner as you sit yourself on the stool. You puffs out a breath—circling your palm over your stomach under your shirt, feeling it bloated over your fingers, and shutting your eyes when a burp suddenly comes along, bringing a lingering taste of your lunch earlier. You parts your lips, swallowing hard as a spike of nausea swept over you.

"Are you okay?"

You startles on your seat, too depth in your misery that you didn't hear Namjoon steps in. Namjoon sits beside you, his warm hands squeezing your shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"Just .. queasy", You shrugs.

"Morning sickness?"

"Mhm", You hums, not daring to open your mouth further as a harsh wave of nausea hit you— lunch morphing into a thick mass at the bottom of your throat. It tightens with the urge to gag.

"Joonie ..", You croaked out, reaching your hand to hold on Namjoon's hands as nausea wrapping all your sense. "Breathe, love .. take a deep breath", Namjoon guides, his hand still moving up and down over your back. You did as his instruction, counting your breath—taking a 3 count deep inhale then exhaling it in 4,5,6 ... You gagged. One that's wet and forceful, causing your eyes welled with tears. You gasps, gulping profusely trying to get the thick saliva to go down.

"Baby .. want to go to the bathroom? sink?", Namjoon starts growing alerted. Both of his hand already settled over your shoulder, like he's ready to brings you anywhere in one swift motion. You shakes your head, tightening your grips on your boyfriend arms as you again counting your breath, willing to push down the nausea. No. You won't throw up. You won't let the lunch that you have been able to keep down for 4 hours to go to the drain. No.

It takes you a minute before the swirls in your stomach tappered down, and you don't feel the urgent urge to vomit. You slowly opens your eyes, chuckling when you meet with Namjoon's worried eyes. "I'm fine, it passed"

Namjoon's shoulder visibly deflates as he sighs. "Good then", he says as he walks around the counter, handing you glass of water. "Want crackers?"

You shakes your head, "I don't think i can put anything solid in my mouth, just in case", you mumbles after taking a small sip of water.

Namjoon hums, busying himself with heaten up your cooking for his dinner. "But you still have to eat later, even just a small portion", he reminds, tearing his gaze from the microwave.

"I will try", You mumbles, watching his boyfriend moves around the kitchen, before he trudge to counter and sits in front of you. "Want?"

You gulps at the bibimbap in Namjoon's bowl. The sight of all the ingredients smashed up and mixed out with a rice set your stomach off. You unconciously brings your hand over your lips. The tips of your jaw starts to hard as your saliva spiked with the image of food .. the spice in it ... the texture of rices—"No .. thank you", You breathes out, taking a small sip of your water.

No .. you won't throw up.

Your resiliance only last for 2 minutes, before you hiccup—causing acid to splash and burned the back of your throat. You shut your mouth tightly, almost feels like your nails digging to your cheeks. Your breathing starts to picks up it's pace.

"Baby .. you okay?"

You shakes your head, shoulder hitched as you gag over your palm. You didn't get a chance to breathe before you hit with a gag again, this one more productive as you felt a chunky surge of your stomach contents come up your mouth. You puffs your cheeks, scrambling to get off the stool and bend to the sink. You let your hand go, reddish chunk of vomit splatters to the sink.

"Love ..", Namjoon calls, slides beside you as he gathers your hair on his hand, and starts massaging your neck, moving it down to your back as well when you jerks forward, a shallow retch echoes through the kitchen.

"Joonie ..", You shuddered, feeling your head fuzzy with nausea. "Don't want to—", You groaned, before a burp escapes your lips, along with small chunks of vomit, then immediately followed by a stronger heave, not giving you chance to take a breath, as a big wave of undigested lunch surging up to your throat. It's heavy, and thick. You coughs at the uncomfortable feeling.

"That's it, let it out", Namjoon mumbles, adding the pressure to his massage. Those touch causing you to succumb completely to nausea, as your head tips with a belch, and began to vomit forcefully into the sink. Namjoon quietly let the tap on, so it drains your vomit quickly, as your baby won't give you a break. All of your food, coming out from your lips, wave after wave.

"Gosh ..", You moans after you gagged for the last time, already bring nothing but air. You slowly lift yourself up, feeling your back and your middle hurts with how hard you have been bending and pressing yourself against the sink. "All of my food came out, Joonie ..", You croakes out, sniffling sadly—feeling like your efforts to keep your food has gone to the drain. "All of it"

Namjoon takes a tissue, and wipes the stain of tears on your cheeks and your lips that was wet. "It's okay .. you can always eat a little again"

"But that was .. a lot. I have been able to keep down a lot .. rice .. bread", You whines, feeling a telltale of tears on the back of your eyes. Another perks of being pregnant—mood swings.

Namjoon sighs, tugging you close as he wraps his arms around you—your little bump getting in a way, but you don't even care as sadness suddenly feeling you whole, and you break.

You barely aware with everything around you, too busy chocking in a sobs—that suddenly you're already seated on the couch. "Hey .. look at me", Namjoon calls once he felt you starts calming down. He once again pads his thumbs over your cheeks, before a new tears sliding down as you blink. "It's normal .. you're throwing up is normal. We will find a way to lessen your morning sickness, okay?", Namjoon comforts you.

***

After those little breakdown—that Namjoon said it scares him a bit, since you never actually have cried, no matter how sick you were feeling—you can tell that Namjoon "changes" in a way. You know that he loves reading, and finding him reading something, sitting cross legged on the couch isn't a strange view. But it become strange, if you look closely at the book he's currently reading.

You frowns, sniffling as you just done with your first round of morning sickness today. 3 bites of your pancakes has gone. Namjoon wasn't there for you as he just woke up, and you have already locked the door by the time he realized that you were no longer in bed. "What is it?", You croakes out, plopping beside him while rubbing your bump.

Namjoon looks up from the book, smiling when he realized that it's you, before it morph into a frown as he get a closer look at you, "Did you just throw up?"

"Mhm .. tried to eat breakfast but", You shrugs, "I make you pancake as well, it's on the counter"

"Why don't you wake me?", Namjoon asks, sighing.

"You were snoring, and you went to sleep late last night. I didn't want to bother you just because i had to puke my guts out", You explains, sinking further to the couch as exhaustion starts creeping on you. Namjoon snorts, reaching to ruffles your hair, "You're not a bother .. never", he says, "But, are you feeling better?"

You hums, nodding lightly, "I always feel better if i already get it out, a little nauseated but yeah .. i can handle it". You moves your hand, holding your bump, "Go eat your breakfast, it's getting cold"

Namjoon nods, "Do you want anything?"

"Water would be fine"

You continues to rub your stomach while Namjoon in the kitchen. The thing about morning sickness is, it always come out of nowhere and you actually never know when will it end or when will it start—like, you just finished throwing up, not even 5 minutes passed, so you can't possibly feel nauseous again, right?

Oh but you did.

You groans, starts feeling icky as nausea hitting you back.

"What's wrong?", Namjoon asks, as he comes back with plate of pancake in his hand and water in others. You mumbles a thankyou, taking a small sip, that falls heavy in your stomach.

"I feel nauseous again", You whines. "Our baby is such a menace"

"Again? You just threw up though, and you haven't eat or drink anything?", Namjoon frowns.

"You tell me", You closes your eyes, while counting your breath. Willing to quell the nausea and once again hoping that it might only be a fluke.

"Ginger", Namjoon suddenly blurts out.

"What?"

"The book says that tea with ginger can help with morning sickness"

"What?", you ask, confused, "Is there really such thing?"

"... the book said so, it must be true then", He smiles softly. "Want to give it a try?"

You didn't get to say anything before a harsh wave hit you, forcing the water you just drink back down in your throat. Namjoon was quick to reach forward, placing the glass of water against your lips. You swallow down the vomit and take deep breaths. You shakily take a small sip, hoping that it could push the lump in your throat down—but soon after, another wave hits you, and you know you have to throw up.

"Joonie.. please, i need to go to the bathroom again", Your face contorts.

"Alright, i'll take you there now", He said, taking the glass and setting it aside, and wrapping a steadying arm around your waist. "Just hold onto my arm"

It feels like hours for you to get to the bathroom as your stomach keeps trying to turn itself inside out, but somehow you manage to make it to your destination.

You quickly peel yourself away, turning to the sink as the toilet seems to far away—for the water that been sitting on the back of your throat. You throw yourself, barely bracing yourself properly before a stream of water spraying out of your lips. You gasps, messily tucks your hair behind your ears as some of it falls.

Namjoon gently pressing his hand on the back of your neck to massages it, while others swiping your hair and holds it, as you retches, struggling to keep the contents from spewing out any further. As your baby in your stomach seems to want everything to Out. You dry heave until nothing else came out except bile. It doesn't help you any as your stomach continues to feel sicker than ever and the heaviness of being pregnant makes things worse, especially when it feels like your insides are trying to rip themselves apart. "Are you alright?", Namjoon asks worriedly.

"No, i'm feeling so awful", you reply, wiping your mouth.

"I'm sorry .. just let it all out, love", he murmurs.

Namjoon stays quiet after, occasionally reminds your to breathe and murmuring soft nothing while you throw up, until all of your food—even water, was out. You gulp for air, leaning forward with a shaky hand to place your head over the edge of the sink. Namjoon leans to grab the paper towel, wiping your mouth and nose before giving a worried smile. "Done?"

You nods tiredly, feeling exhausted, and weak, as you lean more on Namjoon who wraps his arms around you.

Namjoon pulls you close to him, as you curl up in his embrace, resting your head on his chest. You hear him murmur something but you can't quite focus on what he's saying—not when you've just thrown up, and everything feels fuzzy.

"Are you okay?", Namjoon whispers, as you nuzzle your nose into the fabric of his sweater. You nod, feeling him squeeze your hands reassuringly.

"Let's get you back to the couch", he says.

"Let's try those remedies, Joon .. ginger .. whatever is that", You mutters after regaining your consciousness and energy back. You feel desperate—wanting to feel slightly better. Your throat and stomach hurts, and you want to keep something down. You want to stop throwing up.

"You sure?"

You hums. "Can you make it for me? I still feel a little dizzy .. i think we have some ginger left", you admit quietly, closing your eyes.

"Okay, I'll see what we can find"

Namjoon stands up, walking to the kitchen. You hear clattering of utensils from there.

"Joon", you calls, "Do you even know how to make it?"

"There's instructions in the book, love. Have some faith on me!"

You chuckles.

"Here", Namjoon back with a warm cup of tea after few minutes. "Careful, it's warm"

You take the cup, bringing it to your lips to take a careful sip. It does taste sweet, but the ginger is too strong—making you grimace. There's a hint of bitterness there too.

You set the cup back, still measuring the taste on your tongue.

You let out a hum. "It's... bitter"

"It is ..", Namjoon sits next to you again. He doesn't know much about herbs, but the book does explain that ginger was an herb used in certain potions to increase health, so he thinks it might work to help you. "Want to add some honey?"

"Yeah ..", You murmur, "That might help"

He nods, taking the tea and back few seconds after. You takes it, feeling slightly better as there's sweetness in there. But the ginger is still strong, and for some reason it overpowers everything else in that tea.

You groan, covering your face with the sleeve of his sweater, "The ginger is too strong, Joon .."

"But i use as much as the book told me though?"

You takes a deep breath, and takes another sips. Maybe you just need to get used to the taste— it's too strong. Still, it has to work, right? So you take another sip, wincing slightly after a couple seconds. You feel your stomach starts to churn, but try not to show that. You don't want Namjoon worrying, and don't want for his efforts to go to drain—if you throw it up.

But it's become nauseating. Too nauseating.

You put the cup back, rubbing your belly, "I .. don't think it's working, Joon", you mumbles, pressing a fist over your lips as a burp rumbles through your throat. And it tastes like ginger. You swallow heavily, feeling light headed and woozy.

Namjoon sighs, "That bad?"

You nods, burping to your fist again, before shaking your head. "I'm going to throw up"

You quickly stands up, but with how nauseous and dizzy you felt, the sudden movement seems to adding to the damage. Before you can't prevent it—your stomach lurch, and a huge wave of tea splatters to the floor, right next to the couch, as you gag.

" 'm sorry", You chokes out, panting, before you got cut off with new retches—bringing one more bigger stream of pure tea out of your system. You sniffles, staring blankly at the mess below you, waiting for another puke spell. But strangely, you don't feel anything more.

Your baby just want to get the tea out.

"Baby .."

You straighten your body, "Joon .. i'm sorry ... your tea .. and i make a mess, i will clean it up", You began to rambles. Feeling guilty and gross. Not wanting Namjoon to think ill of you.

"No need to apologize, love".

"But-"

"Don't argue, please", he chuckles, "Now, come here," he says. He pulls you away from your vomit, to the bathroom. "I'm sorry for making you drink that"

You shakes your head, exhaustion increasing as you realized that you have threw up 3 times today alone. "It's okay .. you just want to help"

"Go clean up first .. i will clean up in the front. Then when you're done, come sit on the bed and rest", He suggests.

You nod, "I'm sorry, Joon", you mumbles again, "We can try another things in your book .. but tomorrow, okay? I think i have enough throwing up for today"

Namjoon chuckles, ruffling your head before he disappear, "You can choose one for tomorrow. Maybe it will fit more"

#bts sickfic #bts emeto #tw emeto #tw vomit #bts x y/n #bts imagines #caretaker!namjoon

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pandoramusicbox · 2 years

Text

Fish people

Sea kin, theres three kinds of fish people in my setting, mermaids (called mers), finfolk (also called neptonians or neps), and sirens. The main difference between the three species is body shape or more accurately the way they move. mermaids move like dolphins, sirens move like snakes/eals or fish, and finfolk possess legs like a person so they can walk and often use a mix of swimming styles including swimming like a seal, like a person, floating, and swimming like a frog. All of them can be bioluminescent and many of them have some ability to change color all. The three species (technically in taxonomy the same family) live a long time anywhere from 350 years to 600 years

-they also don’t stop growing. so some of the oldest members of the species can get massive they don’t grow at the same rather through their life

so theres that, but because they don’t stop growing, they a bit like trees, have good years they grow more than bad year where they grow less, some species grow at faster average rates than others.

-hhhmmm I wonder how that works for hybrids. ill have to think about that. because instead of growing every year they might just grow every few years or so. would probably depend on the hybrid too. ill cover that particular can of worms at some other date.

Meanwhile I should cover the hair issue---

-Some of the fish people have hair, and as someone who has had long hair and swam, I can tell you it creates drag. That is a bit of an issue for things that live in the water. So for these fishies the hair actually has another use. For one thing its rather different then human hair in texture and structure. its usually black or brown in color. the hairs themselves are sort of hollow and can fill up and be drained of water really quickly. when the hair is exposed to water it has an interesting property of being able to slightly change texture. sort of like an octopus's skin but not as dramatic. another interesting property of the sea folk's hair is its ability to change color. the hair can change to blueish- greenish hair tone or sometimes even a more reddish color. this ability is actually very useful for the sea folk who use ambush as their main form of hunting. using their “hair” as camouflage generally making it look like sea weed. theirs ability to change the hairs texture is nonexistent when their hair is dry but the color-changing property is still there. other seafolk with other hunting methods tend to not have hair, and instead are a much more streamlined body. they dont really have body hair either, made clear by a lack of eyebrows. (though they do have short eyelashes)

the normally dark hair color is rather important to the seafolk because most cases where they naturally have lighter or diffrent hair colors can affect tier ability to use their hair as camouflage, famously blond or white hair is a rather detrimental mutation that prevents the ability to change hair color. the current empress of the Neptonian empire is blond, the mutation is relatively rare still in modern times but at least within the Neptonian empire it is not as detrimental due to strong social networks and not needing to be the sole primary hunter in a family. other examples of nonfunctioning mutations of their hair is for the merrow; a fin folk who live just off the coast of Ralunjas, in a place called the red kelp forest. where their hair has more reddish to maroon-ish pink coloration, though some of them have functional brown hair, their adaptation for that specific environment makes it difficult for them to live outside of that environment. the other major group of sea-folk with strange hair mutations are the sjofru of the northern sea and the ice pass. their hair has none of the camouflage qualities so is generally lighter and thinner than what it is for others, their hair often has colors ranging in the blues, grays and greens to soft reds and oranges that tappers out to a near transparent color at the tips. unlike their warmer sea cousins who use the hair for camouflage the tips of the sjofru hair is covered in tiny poison filled stingers, essentially they have jellyfish tendrils for hair. the potency of the venom depends on family.

-The humanoid appearance of the sea-folk is only skin deep and even then, its barely skin deep as demonstrated by their hair. The first thing that separates them from humans is the fact that they have a hexapedal body plan verses a humans quadrupedal body plan. then theres the whole bioluminescence thing. they generally have a few patches of this bioluminescent skin when they do have it. some sea kin depending on species can have other features like antenie or exess fins or scales or other things.

All regular sea folk have these hexapedal body plans though on some species it is more obvious than on others. the fin folk are usually the most easy to the the six limed body as they have their primary arms, secondary arms (usually just called their fins) and their legs, for sirens and mermaids their “ legs” are internal and generally not easy to see but they do have them.

-Sea folk nails are sharp and claw like, and their teeth are sharp too. most species have at least two rows of teeth. Some larger species have three rows. The only species with a singular row tends to be some fresh water ones, but they still usually have some indication of their second row of teeth. Like sharks if they loose a tooth a new one from the back row just moves up to take its place.

They have webbed hands. and for the neps their feet are long and webbed too. some deep sea species that rarely need to use their hands have more fin like hand. that work better as paddels. the webbing is not all the same either. sometimes it is skin that is elongated and stretched between the diddgets, other-times it is a filament mesh of keratin, other times it is a thin mucus producing membrane. for most species getting the membrane torn is not too painful but is rather avoided non the less and the webbing will grow back in some capacity.

They are all amphibious, able to breath both air and water, though it’s not the most pleasent experience to move between the two substance. As they have to force all of the previous substance out of them, like coughing out all the excess water, with some practice they can do this change in a few seconds as opposed to a few minutes for one who is not accustomed to the change. they are also capable of “holding their breath” for either substance as well. They can have gills in either one or two place. The most common place it right along the neck or where the ribs are located, but some less common but still possible places are, right along the face such as the cheeks, right below/in the armpit area, or the collar bone area. Speaking of collar bones. they dont have them, or at least not in the same way humans do, like most sea mammals they lack them. instead they might have a more flexible cartilage matrix that has a simmular function when they are on land. they also have a bit of an odd structure to their rib cage, they are able to sort of temporarily "collaps" their sternum enabling them to more or less squeeze through spaces they can fit their head through.

The sea folk are able to move between fresh and salt water unlike most regular fish and sea life, but they rarely do this as the transition, especially if it is a fast transition, this can make them very sick. they are also able to temporarily “close up” their gills when they are on land, some species are capable of this for their nosterals as well, and most species have a second eyelid that they close when in water to protect the eye.

the absurd length of their feet makes it difficult to move around swiftly on land when walking. so for fin folk they tend to walk on their tippy toes and can do so quite easily, but when they stand they go down on a flat foot. unlike humans they can stay up on their tippy toes for extended periods of time. some finfolk species often have shorter feet then their other relatives, these are generally the species who spend more time on land, like the kappa who are primarily river dwelling fin folk, other fresh water fin folk also have shorter fins. though they are not the most agile on land they are quite fast in water, the average sea folk usually have their top speeds somewhere in this range. -finfolk: 20-30 mph ( 32.2- 48.3 kph) - mers: 31- 37 mph ( 49.9- 59.4 kph) -sirens: 35- 45 mph ( 56.3- 72.4 kph)

- Sea kin can reach great depths. most surface water can regular reach depths of 6600 ft (2000 m), while species more adept for deeper water can comfortably make it to 15000 ft (4500m) while mysterious deep sea sea kin can reach depths of 19685 ft (6000 m). though they can reach these depths they can be in trouble if they try to leave those deep pressures once they have reached them. most deep presures are easier for older and larger individuals to reach and individuals with deeper blood colors. - speaking of blood color i nearly forgot one of the most important differences between humans and sea kin, and one of the main things that diffurenturates them from other kins, their blood color. For one thing each individual of any of those species can have one of three blood colors. the first and most common blood color is red but not the same kind of red as human blood. the red seakin blood is a darker almost maroon or burgandy color. second color is a purple, a very reddish purple like wine, plum or mulberry. the rarest and final color is pink a richer dark pink, like magenta or royal fusia. each blood color results in some slight differences, the main most notable one is lifespan and apparent durability other than that not too much. as blood color is more important socially among the sea folk.

-They have an ability to create a strange calcium mixture that the use as a glue or cement. this is not an ability possessed by every species or even individuals among species. they do use this ability to create safe nesting grounds for themselves. some species like the kappa have adapted this ability for other pourposes. this is an ability that seems to be shared with a strange sea kin called shell people. one of the downsides of this is the need to eat excess calcium for this sticky mixture, but they do that by eating seashells and bones from whale falls and such. the substance is soft and malmble for the first minute it is created, exhibiting some properties of a non-newtonian fluids, but if produced right it quickly hardens to a solid regardless of being under water or in the air. it hardens more quickly when exposed to air. -Singing, all of sea kin are known by land dwelling people for having haunting voices able to resonate great distances. and that is true even the worst of their singers can be louder and sound more haunting than any human. this is in part due to a general cultural value of singing as a courting ritual, but also due to having a hollow cavity somewhere in their chest they use to create these higher resonances, this is sort of like whale song. at a smaller scale. they also poses more complex vocal cords. They are only able to produse sound with air. some species can come up for air once in a decade and store and reuse the air for sound, but most of their close corders communication is done through a sigh language. so this is a condensed and hopefully understandable description of the primary seakin.

TLDR; Sea Kin and the three sister species of mermaids, finfolk and sirens are rather human looking but the recemblence is not skin deep, they have diffrent hair, blood colors, and skeletal structures. they are good at singing a lot like whales and they can swim fast. main difference between the three spesies is how they swim, like a dolphin, like a shark or like a frog.

#worldbuilding #worldbuildingculture #mermaid #fish person #fish people #siren #fantasy biology #finfolk #fantasy creature #fantasy kingdom #fantasy empire #river mermaid #gills #webbed hands #webbed feet #mermaid tail

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that-salty-ghost · 1 year

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As Above, So Below | Chapter 23: Date Night Pt 1: Not So Smooth Sailing | Viktor [Arcane] // Male Reader | Rating: M Throughout

A/N | TW: It's cut off, but there's mention of the f-slur in here. Read with care please <3

Word Count: ~6.2k

That late v-day life ;_; I almost hit my deadline goal bahaha it's FINE Anyway, happy v-day, enjoy.

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You’re not surprised that Viktor is punctual, but you are a little taken aback when you see him sporting a backpack this time.

In a feeble attempt to make sure the man stays clear of R&R’s and the chaos within, you push your weight off of the door to meet him further down the street, your already heightened heart rate unable to steady as you draw nearer.

A rush of sheer excitement surges through you as you take in more and more of his figure. The tidy academic that you met was nowhere to be found and a grin begins to crawl steadily across your face when you see how positively Zaunite he looks.

Viktor’s jacket is patched at one elbow and completely frayed at the cuffs. The worn-in striped shirt beneath tugs nicely across his chest and is messily tucked in on one side of his trousers that parachute at the knees but tapper at his boots.

…the man is wearing boots.

“[Y/n],” Viktor’s voice is smooth as silk as he says your name, but is tipped with a new enthusiasm that mirrors your own excitement. “It’s so good to see you.”

He catches you eyeing his wardrobe and you arch your brows at him, not hiding how much you’re enjoying the new look. “I almost didn’t recognize you for a second.”

Viktor chuckles and pivots his cane into the ground, outstretching his arm while he holds one side of his jacket open with his free hand—inviting you in for a better look. His focus shifts from down his torso to your eyes as you stop in front of him. “You think I’m always in my Sunday’s best?”

That’s a fair point, you met him the day he was presenting to the board of the Academy. You really had no idea what he usually wears, but this was definitely a pleasant surprise.

“Well, this sure doesn’t look like your Sunday’s worst.”

He tips his head at your almost-compliment and shamelessly eyes you from head to toe, a grin slowly pulling at his lips the more he takes in. It feels like your heart has either gone into full on arrest or time has simply stopped while his gaze moves carefully over your frame.

“I think you look nice too...”

“I…you—”

…[Y/n].exe has stopped working.

It is infuriating how his entire…everything causes your brain to just shut down and render all words in your vocabulary completely useless. You can’t freeze up like this all night, get your shit together.

By the way he’s grinning, you’re sure he knows you’re having an all-out internal crisis, but you’re grateful when he speaks up again.

“Have you eaten yet?”

You shake your head, still trying to gather up some semblance of confidence so you can at least pretend to function tonight. “Uh no, not yet…”

“Perfect, me either.” He nods towards the road ahead and bends his arm at the elbow next to you. “You ready?”

Your heart is pounding in your ears when you realize he’s asking you to take his arm. You feel frozen in place until you meet his eyes. They’re warm, sweet as honey, and pull you into him like they often do.

With a slow nod, you weave your arm under his and feel his chest fill with a quick inhale before taking a tentative step forward with you. Then another. And another until the two of you figure out a pace that works for you both.

Viktor’s shoulder gently bumps against yours every now and then regardless of matching each other’s stride and the tap of his cane against the cobblestones soothes your nerves with how close in proximity the sound is. You weren’t expecting a simple action like walking with him to put you at ease like this and find yourself breathing more easily with each step.

“So…” You’re finally able to find your voice and Viktor glances over with a small reassuring smile. “What’re you hungry for?” Food is a safe topic—even an easy topic. Just start small and see where it takes you.

“How do you feel about seafood?” His brows lift curiously and his lips remain slightly parted after he speaks.

“…Swell.” You exaggerate a sly grin to him, quite pleased with yourself for coming up with that on the spot.

Viktor tucks his bottom lip under his teeth before furrowing his brows and holding eye contact with a silent pause. “…Was that a play on words?”

“No.” You answer quickly.

“…it was, wasn’t it?” A smirk curls up his lips, eyes alight while he pushes for a confession.

But you ignore his question, trying to shut that shit down in case he wasn’t a pun person and regretting not just saying that you like seafood. “Where are you thinking?”

A chuckle escapes him when you dodge his question, understanding that was indeed your attempt at a pun. You’re not sure if he’s entertained by the joke or you avoiding the topic, but cherish the sound of it anyway.

“There’s a food cart near the docks that I’ve heard is noteworthy.” He motions forward, giving the slightest downward nod with his brows raised again curiously. “If that sounds good to you?”

You might know the one he’s referring to, some of your usuals at The Last Drop recommended it if you’re thinking of the right place.

“Is that the one with the fried prawns?”

A small, toothy grin flashes across his face. “Yes, have you been there?”

“Not yet, but it’s been on my list to try.”

“Oh, good.” His tone tips upwards cheerfully. “Then let’s get that crossed off.”

You smirk at that and only make it a few steps until you crack. “Okay, I have to ask.” You eye the backpack Viktor is carrying.

“Hm?” He searches your eyes and follows them over his shoulder. “Oh, this is for later. Post-fried prawn activities.”

“Can’t wait. You have the whole evening planned out?”

“Mm—not completely.” He hums as he tips his head side to side. “Just dinner and what’s in the bag. I thought we could see where the night takes us from there.” He glances over at you with a coy grin. “Does that sound alright?”

The air around Viktor feels different tonight, more at ease…lighthearted even. Something about him just made sense—felt natural. It was hard to place and scary to trust, but you were getting tired of fighting the comfort he brings to you and could feel yourself giving in bit-by-bit.

“Yeah.” You look away with a small smile wondering what he means by ‘seeing where the night takes you’ and shoo away the possibility of mud wrestling before answering. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“…But since we’re on the topic of backpacks—I’m surprised to see that you’re without yours tonight.” You catch Viktor glance at you before keeping his eyes forward again.

“I was…advised to leave it behind so I don’t look like a workaholic.” You answer with Kass’ voice playing in the back of your head.

Viktor chuckles before cocking his brows curiously, eyes still forward when he asks, “Are you?”

“Am I…?”

“A workaholic?”

“Hah. I don’t wanna be.” You laugh lightly before finishing. “But the trade I’m in never really sleeps.”

“You do seem to have a pretty vast network.” Viktor admits before he guides you gently to the side as you almost step in a puddle. You follow his movement and mutter a small ‘thank you’ for steering you away from a night of sadness and soggy socks. He nods in response before continuing. “Is there a craft you specialize in?”

Your brows raise as you exhale against your pressed lips, making a “phhh” sound as you try to narrow that down. “I guess it changes with demand. I’m more of a jack-of-all-trades now, but my roots were in alchemy and apothecary work.”

“Like your mother?” He watches you carefully, unsure if that topic is off the table or not and trying to gauge if that’s something you even want to talk about.

“She was better.” You smile to yourself, momentarily caught up in a memory. “But yeah. Like her.”

“Mm—given what I’ve seen you do create so far; I doubt that you’re far behind.”

His compliment steamrolls over you entirely. Somewhat because it was him saying it, but mostly because no one’s really compared you to your mother before—always your father. It was both liberating to hear and difficult to accept all at once, but you clung onto his words like a lifeline.

You test the waters by tightening your arm just slightly around Viktor’s. It’s a minuscule movement, but he seems to take notice as you feel him lean just slightly more into you with a small hum.

“So, what about the ehh…metalwork?”

You almost forgot that was the first thing he saw you make. “That’s newer. And it’s definitely not my specialty, but…” You hesitate, unsure how much you really should be talking about with your new underground ammunition job.

He’s hanging onto your last word and waits patiently for you to finish.

“I’m…I’ll be…sort of getting into that more I guess.” You shrug and try to not make it a bigger deal than you’d like.

He nods slowly. “I see.” His expression turns thoughtful. He doesn’t pry, but instead dips his head down as his brows arch. “Well, should you need any assistance with that, metalwork is one of my specialties.” Viktor glances over at you briefly with a smirk that widens into a small wink. “One of them.”

The more you thought about it, Viktor’s help wasn’t something you were particularly interested in turning away, especially when you hadn’t made bullets in years. It was more of a matter of trust—something that was hard for you to build with most people to begin with.

But maybe he was worth a shot…literally.

“It’s kind of a ‘hush hush’ project. How good are you with keeping secrets?”

A quiet pause passes between the two of you—slowing your steps to a stop once you feel his weight start to lean further into you. You look over to see him dip his head down closer, breath hitching in your throat as his face comes within inches of yours. Viktor remains silent—responding only by moving the arm he has intertwined yours up so that he can trace his lips with his index finger and thumb, pretending to zip his lips.

You watch as a crooked grin begins to form on him and can only nod as your focus involuntarily darts back and forth from his bright and playful eyes to his slightly parted lips.

“Good.” You manage to answer, although it’s practically a whisper while you try to keep your breathing even. Viktor pulls away to stand back upright, arm still wrapped snugly with yours as he continues forward with you.

You fall into a comfortable silence for a couple blocks until the river and docks come into view. The smell of fresh fish and frying oil fills the air and you suddenly become more aware of just how much you haven’t eaten today.

It’s a little busy with people shuffling between food carts and bars and you wonder if Viktor will want to separate so it’s easier to move through the crowd.

He doesn’t.

Quite the opposite, you feel him pull you just a little bit closer while you weave through the traffic of people and vendors. The masses blur past you as you notice how warm Viktor’s side is as it presses against yours. The faintest tightening of muscles in his arm as he holds you close. The way you catch him peeking at you from the corner of his eye, checking on you periodically as you walk. You relish in all of it.

It felt good to have him on your arm…or the other way around. It didn’t matter, what mattered was amidst the commotion, he only held onto you tighter.

You’re not far from the cart with the fried prawns and tilt your head up to make out the sign above it. “Ziggy’s huh? …I had no idea that was the name.” You tilt your head up to see better and notice the line is pretty long. Must be good.

“Me either, I’ve personally only heard it called the prawn place.” Viktor notices the line as well and turns his head away from you. You follow his gaze to see what he’s looking at and notice a beer cart that has no line at all.

When he looks back to you you’ve already got a grin on your face, reading his mind about grabbing a beer to pass the time in line.

“Good idea.”

“Thought you’d like that.”

After ordering two ales, Viktor insists on buying your drinks and hands off some coins quickly so you can’t go far with your protest.

“Then let me get us the prawns, yeah?” You plead with him as you hand him his drink.

“I asked you out, let me treat you.”

“I said yes, let me treat you too.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Oh?” You grin slyly and reluctantly clink your mug to his when he offers it. “And how does this work?”

“Allow me to walk you through it.”

The two of you fall into harmless bickering about who’s paying for prawns until you hear a shriek, followed by the crowd in front of you shouting. It takes a second for the two of you to put the pieces together until you realize what the word being shouted is.

“Cutpurse.” You look around and sure enough, spot a scrawny man scrambling and sprinting towards the gap behind the two of you.

Viktor turns to see the man rapidly approaching and glances back to you. Your breathing is already picking up—there isn’t much time to think, but you know you won’t be able to reach him with how fast he’s running. Your eyes widen slightly when you look back up, only to watch Viktor quickly extend his arm, tripping the man up with his cane and sending him tumbling.

Shock and awe consume you as you look down at the thief on the ground then back up to Viktor, your expression completely dumbstruck. He nonchalantly hooks his cane over his arm and rolls out his wrist, a few pops sounding out as he stretches the joints back out after the impact.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Not yet at least.” He answers as the man picks his head up, searching for who knocked him down. Once he locks onto you and Viktor, the scowl that forms behind his bloodied nose and lips is downright dripping with rage as he pushes himself off of the ground to stand.

“Good.” You take one more gracious sip of your drink before walking up to Viktor. “Hold my beer?”

Your date glances at the man approaching, then back to you before taking your mug. He doesn’t say a word, but his eyes soften when he realizes why you need both of your hands. You shrug your jacket off, but don’t have time to unclip your holsters and make a mental note not to fall and break the goggles on your side.

“Ya got some fuckin’ balls on ya.” He spits at you before wiping the blood from his nose and taking a fighting stance.

“Hah. You said balls.” You stand neutral, giving none of your positioning away as you run all of Vander’s training through your mind.

‘Analyze what you’re up against.’

People were yelling cutpurse; he’s got a knife on him somewhere, watch for that.

‘He’s also pissed, use that against him.’

You try to shake away your father’s voice ringing even louder in your skull as well, even if he would’ve been right about using this guy’s rage to your advantage.

Check his feet, his right foot is forward in a southpaw stance—he’ll jab with his left, adjust your slips accordingly. Check his posture, he’s leaning forward and trying to stay low—he’s sloppy and he’s going to try and tackle you to get the upper hand. Check his eyes, he’s flicking them down towards your legs with each step.

‘Anticipate his movement, then what’s your counter?’

He’s going to lunge at your legs with his left shoulder dropped. Slip to the right, grab him and throw him back the other way so he won’t get close to Viktor. He’s already staggering, he’s likely going to fall and that’s when he’ll panic and use his knife. You’ll need to taunt him to keep his focus on you and keep him sloppy. He’ll hold it in his left and you’ll need to slip until he tires, then you can grab his arm, disarm him, and outbox him.

You lick your lips as you shift your weight to the balls of your feet, bracing yourself for any sign of movement. You’ve never fought well when you’ve struck first and instead shake out your hands as he creeps closer, waiting for the right opportunity.

Then you see it, his shoulder twitches and you anticipate his lunge before he can get close. Once you slip to the side you grab onto his arm and use his momentum against him, swinging him back the direction he came from and causing him to fall down again, hard.

Your fingers flutter out one-by-one as you continue to loosen up. You roll out your wrists and brace yourself as he gets up.

‘There it is.’

The man draws a small blade in his left hand and looks like he’s about to try and charge at you again. His shoulder twitches a second time, giving away his next move and you shuffle to the side once more, slapping him on the ass so he doesn’t keep running towards Viktor and hoping that’ll spur him back to you.

“FUCK YOU, FUCKING FA--!”

Yep, that worked.

“Was that an offer?” You wink at him with a kissy face and that’s enough for him to lose the rest of his cool. For a moment, you catch a glimpse of Viktor behind your snarling opponent—his eyes fixed on your every movement, wide and worried and it makes your heart sink.

You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t nervous about what was about to happen, but manage to give him the slightest grin and reassuring nod, silently asking him to trust you to be okay. It’s not much, but you see him inhale deeply and give you the smallest nod back.

And that’s all you need to see.

The cutpurse switches his grip and starts to slash wildly at you. You stay patient, keeping focus on his eyes and shoulders that are giving him away and shuffling your feet as you dodge accordingly.

It doesn’t take long for him to get increasingly frustrated and sloppy with each miss—shouldn’t be long until you can finish this up and eat delicious fried prawns with your date. After one particularly awful attempt to cut your throat, he finally loses his footing.

About damn time.

You grab his wrist, dig in, turn his arm, bring your other hand to his shoulder, pull down, and drive a knee into his elbow—fracturing the bones inside before blocking his rogue right hook and throwing an uppercut below his jaw.

Once he hits the ground you kick the blade away and check your hand, growling when you see a small bit of blood form on your middle and ring knuckles.

Not a clean hit.

To your irritation, the man tries to sit up for one more round and you shake your head at him.

“Ah, ah. Down boy.” You step your boot up on his chest and nudge him so he rolls back onto the ground. A relived sigh escapes you when he stays down and you look up to find Viktor amidst the sizable crowd that has formed.

“Thank you so much!” Another man runs forward and picks the unconscious man’s pocket to reclaim the coinage that must’ve been his. “Please, take this.” He hands over a good chunk of change and you shake your head.

“No, it’s really fine I can—”

“Please, I insist.” He places the money into your palm and forces your hand closed, holding eye contact and quietly pleading for you to just accept it.

“Okay, okay. Thank you.” You put the coins in your holster before walking past him over to Viktor. The way his brows nearly meet at the bridge of his nose sends your heart into another frenzy and all the nerves that faded earlier have resurfaced.

“I have so many questions.” His mouth is parted, not in shock but in relief. His eyes are soft, still coming down from being worried and your already pounding heart skips a beat with how affectionately he’s looking at you. You’re not sure when he put your jacket in his pack, but you ask him to hang onto it since you’re currently burning up.

“I know…want to talk over prawns?” You shake your holster so he can hear the bounty you just earned jingle, trying to help settle his mind a little. “Now neither of us are buying.”

His chest heaves as he forces himself to inhale before nodding ever so slightly—an even fainter laugh leaving him at the sound of your jingling. “Yes.” He hands your beer over and your grin spreads from ear-to-ear as you’re happily reunited and take a sip.

Viktor’s guard falters while you lift the mug, his eyes are heavy as they move from your hand in your holster up your chest until they hover over the leather on your shoulders. “I ehh…need to get another drink though.”

“Hm?” You cock a brow as you eye him over the brim of your mug and nearly choke on your beer from laughing when you barely hear him whisper “Fuck.” before turning to get a refill.

As bad as you felt for stressing him out to the point of binge drinking, you would do it all over again to hear that word fall from his lips another time.

The line at Ziggy’s has all but disbanded since your first try and you’re both grateful to finally get your hands on some food. You pay for a giant boat of fried deliciousness with your blood money, happy to be rid of it and grimace when you see your already bruised hand is starting to shake. Viktor notices and you immediately speak up before he can.

“Where to?”

He opens his mouth to speak, exhaling when you beat him to the punch and licks his lips before shifting his gaze towards the docks. “Somewhere we can talk privately.”

You follow him quietly, stomach snarling and breaking up the silence as you catch a whiff of the deep-fried seafood in your hands. The two of you walk onto the dock, swaying gently with the water under your weight as you get further out in the river.

“Is this alright?” He asks as he takes a sip and looks over at you, his hair moving steadily in the breeze that’s picked up.

“More than alright. I actually come here to clear my head sometimes.” You set your drink down so you can sit on the planks without spilling.

“Hold my beer?” He asks with a small grin. You return the smile along with the favor you asked for earlier so he can offload his pack and come down to sit with you. “How so? The water calms you down?”

“A little. But what I like to do…” You lean backwards until your back is against the dock, glancing up at Viktor as he watches you intently. “Is lay like this with my eyes closed—if you focus on the way the dock sways it feels like you’re on a boat.”

Viktor sets the large bowl of prawns between you, grabbing two before leaning back to lie down with you. He offers you one, which you take and playfully tap against his as a small toast before taking a bite.

The two of you stay like that for a minute—dock oscillating back and forth gently between the current and the breeze similar to how a boat would. The sounds of the city now muffled under the soft crashing of waves beneath as your knuckles lightly brush against Viktor’s while the two of you blindly reach for more of your dinner.

Which is fucking delicious by the way.

“These are even better than I was expecting.” You state before you both move to sit up as you continue to munch.

Viktor hums, only nodding before trying to politely cover his mouth with his hand while he speaks. “Whr’ll hehrve terh chrmh behrckh.” He shakes his head when your eyes narrow, trying to understand him through his full mouth and accent. After swallowing and taking a swig of his beer he tries again. “We’ll have to come back.”

The sensation of your stomach grumbling against the butterflies forming from Viktor mentioning going out again is peculiar, more so than his desire to go out with you again given the last hour.

“So, you are…having fun?” You chuckle as you look out at the river—reflections of the moon as it starts to battle the sun for its time in the sky rippling along the current.

“Well, I’m certainly not bored.” He takes another bite and smiles to himself, seemingly enjoying his time again now that no one was actively engaged in a knife fight.

Once you’ve finished your meal, you lean the back of your hand on the side of your mug, reveling in the respite the cold exterior brings to your throbbing knuckles. You try to keep from shaking, but to no avail.

“Is it broken?” Viktor shifts his eyes from the water to you, only barely turning his head when he glances down.

“No. Just a bad hit on my part, it’ll heal.”

“A bad hit? You knocked his lights out.” His confused chuckle makes you laugh under your breath, eyes closing easily while you enjoy his phrasing. “What made that a bad hit?”

“Clipped him with my ring finger.” You hold out your hand for him to see—bruises blotching around two of your knuckles that are trembling against your will. “Should’ve landed it with the index and middle knuckles.” You point to the areas that do better on impact for reference. “Here.”

Viktor tilts his head before gently sliding his hand under yours to stabilize it and get a better look. You inhale at the sudden contact while his fingers meticulously rotate your hand, taking care not to budge any fingers past your index and furrowing his brows at the discoloration that’s formed.

“Where did you learn…whatever that was?” His voice sobers up, reflecting the worry that radiated from him earlier as he rolls small circles on your index knuckle, soothing the pain in your joints below.

You look down at his hand as he traces his thumb from your knuckle up your index finger and back down. A small hum catches in the back of your throat. “My father…and Vander.”

“Why?” Viktor’s voice cracks just slightly into a breath as he tries to wrap his head around what would warrant you knowing how to…knock someone’s lights out—his words.

His feather-light touches send electricity up your arm and you’re relieved that the involuntary twitching in your fingers could reasonably be chalked up to the trauma your hand just went through.

He follows your gaze to your hands and his expression softens while he watches how your body reacts to his touch.

You feel your armor come apart at the seams when Viktor tentatively starts to guide your hand towards him. His eyes meet yours as he pauses—a silent “is this alright?” which you answer with a nervous inhale until you close the gap and feel his leg under your palm “yes.”

The strain on your fingers immediately lifts as they splay out on top of him and you gently rub your thumb along his left knee, grateful for the relief he’s providing. You hear a small sigh leave him before he moves his hand on top of yours, covering it with more gently circles as you get comfortable.

“Vander’s planning an uprising…” You finally manage to answer, both of you now keeping your eyes on the water as your hands absent-mindedly wander along one another.

“Mm. Yes, I’ve heard whispers of that.”

“He’s been training me for years, basically picking up where my father left off.”

“…And where would that be?”

“Back with the scrawny little kid that dropped off your salve almost 10 years ago.” You pause and take a deep breath, licking your lips as you watch the small waves lap up against the front of the dock.

“Is…that why you never came back?” It was hard to ignore the shift in his voice, like the boy that you met all those years ago was still in there—asking the question through him.

“Yeah.” Your own tone dips before take a drink from your mug and feel Viktor do the same next to you. “My father took me away a few days after we met.”

You catch Viktor nodding slowly out of the corner of his eye, mentally putting decade-old missing puzzles pieces together one-by-one. “Where did you go?”

“I honestly don’t know. I just remember it was covered in snow. And so fucking cold.” You take another sip, warming your chest as you continue to explain.

“He called it survival training…was out there with him for about six months until he thought I could hold my own. When he finally brought me back home that’s when he started taking me on his…hunting trips.” Viktor looks up at you and you try to gauge how much he knows about what your father had done. What you had done. “I’m not sure those are quality first date stories.” You admit.

His eyes flick from you back to the river, chewing on his cheek and continuing to mindlessly draw circles on your hand while he assessed your wording carefully. “I take it you weren’t hunting…animals.” It sounded more like a statement than a question, but you knew he still wanted confirmation.

“…No.” Your voice is low, more of a breath than an answer and you can’t take your eyes off of him while you laid out all your demons for him. “But he wanted me to believe that we were.”

You would think the silence that passes after that answer would’ve been tense, but it was far from it. Viktor only nods again, coming to terms that you’ve killed people and takes a deep breath before speaking.

“I have a hard time believing that was something you wanted to do.” You can tell his wheels are turning in his head as he tries to make sense of how you fell into such a shit line of work.

“You’d be right about that.” Your voice falters, softly giving away as you try to ease the rest of your words out. “What I wanted to do was go home and…” you laugh to yourself at how such a small dream was so impossible for you when you were young. “…play with that boat you were making when it was done.” You take another sip before finishing. “While I could even remember that, he—I know I still have gaps in my memory.”

Viktor turns to you with a small smile. He gives your hand a light squeeze before pulling away—the sudden lack of contact making you wonder if you shouldn’t have told him as much as you have. It’s a conversation you weren’t really ready for, but were hoping if he could handle it, you could finally relax around him…maybe even more than that.

You bite your lip nervously, unsure if he still wants to be alone at the docks with you now that he knows your upbringing was a level of fucked up that you could never prepare anyone for. Your heart begins to pound and you take a gracious sip to ease your nerves until Viktor’s voice catches your attention and pulls you back.

“Well, you’re home now.”

You manage a quiet nod when you peek over to find him digging into his backpack—moving your head curiously to get a better look.

“And from the sound of it, this has been overdue for both of us I think, yes?”

You squint, furrowing your brows and shaking your head as you only grow more and more confused when he lifts his hand from his bag, handing you a small key.

“…I just told you I killed enforcers for a solid year and a half of my childhood and you want me to move in with you?”

“No!—No, I mean…” He chuckles nervously as he pulls another key out and sets it by himself before digging into his bag again. “While I’m not trying to trivialize how hard that must’ve been on you, it doesn’t change how I f—” He cuts himself off, but you think you got enough to know what he was going to say and feel your stomach happily drop.

He looks flustered and you try your best to hold back the grin itching around the corners of your lips. “Yes?” You watch as he quickly lifts his head up from the bag—deadpan expression sealing your assumption that he’s not about to repeat a single word, which in reality…said plenty.

Your smug grin doesn’t last long when Viktor finally pulls the post-prawn activity from his bag—immediately forcing your expression to soften as the dream that had felt so unattainable was now being placed directly in your hands.

Viktor’s doe-eyed expression takes you back ten years in three seconds. Although his living room floor has been exchanged for a dock while you sit side-by-side, his crooked grin and breathy laugh is contagious as ever as he hands over the mechanical boat.

The toothy smile on your face only grows wider as you examine his invention, turning the metal creation over and over in your hands as you examine his craftsmanship. You laugh as you flick one of the gears to see the rest of them spin in sync.

“It’s The Nautilus, right?”

Viktor licks his lips before answering, looking out at the water when he does. “Ehm—it was. I…changed the name to Rio.”

“Rio’s great.” You’re still smiling ear-to-ear when you glance over to find Viktor reaching for his cane to pull himself up.

“Sh—uhm…” He stutters and you flick your eyes over him, curious about what he was trying to say until he finishes. “I think so too.” He inhales and shakes out his wrist before holding his hand out to you. “What do you think? Want to try it out?”

You’ve never grabbed this man’s hand more quickly in your life. “Yes please.”

The two of you walk a little farther away from town until Viktor takes you to a runoff where the water is shallower. You walk down a way with your key in hand, turning to talk at Viktor as you get some distance.

“So how does this thing work, just take the key and crank it?”

“Heh, yes that’s it.” You catch his grin as he speaks and give him a nod back while you spin the key around your finger.

You watch from a short distance as he starts to turn his key into the helm, switching his grip on his cane to lean forward so he can set the boat in the water. The gears and pistons push it down towards you and you crouch to stop it once it’s close.

After picking it up out of the water, you repeat the cranking motion Viktor just displayed. The gears turn against one another as it winds up until you feel pressure against the key. Once you pull it out, you can’t fight your breathy laugh as the boat whirls to life in your hands. Pistons move one-by-one as the gears turn on their own—powering the small machine with ease.

Once you set it down in the runoff it takes off downstream towards Viktor. He leans forward again, stopping the boat and repeating the motion to send it back towards you, laughing when you almost fall in as you catch it and continue the game with him.

There’s no way you could’ve prepared for the blend of emotions you were feeling. The pang of feeling robbed of your childhood pulls at your chest as you try to focus instead on just how happy you are right now.

You try not to dwell on the what-ifs as they attempt to tarnish this moment. Not ‘what if you never had to leave?’ or even ‘what if there could’ve been more moments like this with him?’ which only becomes easier as you watch the man standing across from you.

Viktor’s shoulders shimmy while he winds up the boat, causing you to laugh and for him to shout over at you—asking what’s so funny and only able to laugh back when you mimic his unintentional dance moves.

There’s a peace that washes over you more quickly than your regrets could consume you. Despite everything you admitted to him tonight—he’s happy to be here with you, cranking up a toy boat that you’ve been waiting to try out for almost a decade.

It was something you had wanted, even craved; this small semblance of normalcy. You clutched this dream as close as you could while you tried not to starve or freeze. Hanging onto it like a prayer until your mind finally forced you to forget—making room for your survival instincts to take over and develop as you grew.

And now?

All you could hear was the sound of Viktor’s laughter. All you could feel was cold water washing the pain and dried blood from your knuckles. All you could think about was how good this man makes you feel. And all you wanted was to give him the very same.

This was exactly what you needed tonight. What you needed with him as you felt your reservations and nerves drift away as steady as the current below.

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A/N: Next part is in the works! Will have more crimes, specifically on Viktor's part. 👀 And more touchy feely...writing that out as we speak. Hopefully this one was still wholesome even though it wasn't the best start lol

Thanks for reading!

Ghost

#viktor x reader #viktor arcane x reader #viktor #arcane viktor x reader #viktor arcane #arcane viktor #as above so below fic #that salty ghost fic

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