A random axolotl that gained sentience and became a god | they/them 21 | Im in so many different fandoms it's hilarious, who knows what you'll find | aspiring Writer and Artist
Hello people of tumblr, I dont know if anyone will see this but I've gotta try.
So I have an issue where I find stories, really like them, and then loose them and forget their names and cant find them ever again.
I am now turning to tumblr for help because this has happened twice now and I know the more recent one is possible to find.
Story 1) Its a comic where everyone in the world develops physical traits as a result of life events. Like a very curious baby will get a 3rd eye, if your an asshole you get thorns on your arms, stuff like that. The main character was a girl who had a 3rd eye, rainbow freckles, long but floppy animal ears, a tail of some kind, maybe gills??
There were a few comics of her growing up and developing said traits, one where shes a baby in a crib and a 3rd eye appears and one where shes embaressed in school and I think the rainbow freckles appeared? There was also a blonde kid with pink arms with thorny vines (also pink) wrapped around them i THINK (i have aphantasia, details are fuzzy)
This comic used to be on Instagram but was deleted and the creator said they would post somewhere else. I do not know the creators name nor where they said they'd post, but it had a very recognizable ans memorable art style. Like you see it and you know thats it.
Story 2) Admittedly, this is much less likely to be found. Because here's the issue: I do not remember the name, or plot, of this book.
However this was a real book, printed hard cover, that I read as a kid in the early 2000s. It was at least 2 inches thick, and it was a larger width and height wise as well.
The details I remember are it was a blue or purple cover with a circle and some sort of image in the center, i Think it had scales within the circle but I dont know for sure, I just remember running my hands along it.
I do know FOR SURE that on the inside of the cover on one side was a purple amulet, and the other inside cover was some sort of magical spell circle. I remember because I had a similar necklace and would trace the spell circle with my hands because it made me feel like I was magic.
I ALSO know that while the book was mostly words (not your usual kid book, im not even sure it was for kids) every once in awhile it would have an entire page full of art that depicted a scene in the book. If memory serves well one of these images is of the side of a castle wall with like half castle half sky. The Other image I remember is of a princess in a beautiful garden with some sort of arch way and light shining on her. I believe she had blonde hair and a pink dress but that part is a bit fuzzier.
The art wasnt typical cutsie children's book art, it was fully illustrated and detailed, like something from like. The old Disney fairy books? Just really beautiful and insanely detailed and fantasy.
It was a fantasy story and there was magic and possibly dragons, and the princess was important, but thats about as much as I remember.
The book I actually used to have my own copy however during a bad rainstorm in elementary school my whole bookshelf got water damage and I lost many of my books. Ive only been able to find 1 of them again, and this book ive just described ive been searching for for years and none of my friends or family remember it because it was so long ago.
Please tumblr. Help. Ive legitimately been trying to remember things about the book for years, the comic is one that I just remembered before writing this post but the book has been a multi year journey and has slowly been driving me insane. It was really really good.
Please tumblr. Work your magic. (Ive already tried google and reddit. Im desperate)
I hope so TwT classes kinda snuck up on me so I havent been able to work on it like I wanted.
I actually took a writing class as well so that might influence the eventual part 3
However ive also been considering starting it over since it started out more as a story idea than an actual story, it would still be the same plot and characters but written differently if that makes sense?
Either way, in some way or another I do plan to continue the story
yeah i like to give my blessing to the most pathetic looking weak little knight at the tournament. she can’t even look me in the eye when i give her my flower and she stutters out that she’ll do her best or something of the like. i think its funny when she has to cry and beg my forgiveness and i get to say “such a shame, i suppose my hand in marriage will have to go to someone else…” and then i get to hear her whimper like a dog. ive done this like 6 times alrea-
Constant hits and vibrations could be heard from the outside of the cave, the beast hitting the ground where once their enemies stood on
Now they were no more than a mushed blob of meat, broken bones and twisted iron, that once was a party of bounty hunters with expensive armor and tools, now their remains were made worse by the constant flurry of hits that resounded with a wet impact every time their limbs went down onto the puddle of corpses, clearly giving a signal that the creature was receiving more damage the more it kept at it.
The sound of grinding remains was accompanied by melodic haunting wails and whimpers.
You saw as the sun rise once again, it has been what? Two days after Jared’s party went to take care of a monster problem?
You used to live in a small mountain town, helping to care for horses in your family’s tavern. Enjoying a normal calm life, but for some reason your uncle started to pick on you, stressing to your aunt how soft you were, how you were lacking some toughening to grow correctly
It went long enough that your Aunt started to agree with him, telling you that you should start to look for more opportunities, spread your wings and try to survive on your own
Luckily for you, your uncle was old friends with Jared, the leader of a bounty hunter party and they were oh so gracious to take you in.
You were basically relinquished, sold more like, to his party by your uncle.
Of course you would need to pull your weight, and as you weren't as experienced as them with weapons, you were given all the housekeeping tasks, clean their clothes, make food, brush and care for the horses, and so on
You didn't really like them as you felt they saw you as beneath them, but they weren’t outright abusive, and the bright side is that you traveled places you would have never thought to see in your lifetime, each new experience made you excited, being able to see places and creatures that you only heard of in story books your parents used to read you before bed
Like now, you guys traveled near the sea, the party went to a tavern to drink and settle down, and they let you go explore the little coast city known as Parsea, you were completely enchanted by the mass of water, never had you seen a beach or the sea before, and went to feel the water on your feet and hands, you did not try to enter as you may have known the basic of how to keep afloat but you were sure that your sad paddling would be no match for the large body of water
You saw and waved to some of the locals near the shore, you enjoyed taking with people, often getting to know some gossip and stories running around, this time was some ghost stories from the fishermen, about how a creature came to town, a sea giant that they could only see the shadow from, swimming under the boats, accompanied by a faint song, a calming tune that they could feel in their bones
Since that sighting there has been more bountiful fishing trips, and even the farmers have remarked this was a better harvest lately.
Some old ladies said it was thanks to a guardian, an old legend that talked about creatures that were here since the start of time making life flourish and protecting the lands they habit, said that once every thousand or more years they came out of their nests deep underwater to the places they were born, to birth their young and bring a new era of prosperity to the nature around it
When you were tired from walking and exploring you went back to the tavern hopping to have some dinner and rest for the day
So imagine your surprise when you found the party getting ready, and got a berating about how you took too long and that they needed everything packed as quickly as possible
They heard that there were sightings in a forest to the north of Parsea, a nest of very destructive creatures that were thought to have been vanished long ago, and if they were allowed to take root once again it will bring doom to the little town as they didn’t have the man power they used to have to deal with such vermins
So they were paying handsomely to any adventurers that would go out there and deal with the matter, of course bringing the dead adults back as proof
It seemed like an easy enough task, the creature mostly destroyed their crops and went for their fishing nets and boats so they weren’t truly dangerous to humans. They just reproduced extremely quickly making them difficult to deal with once they spread
And the promise of easy money did it for the group, so here you were, taking care of the camp that you set up for them
The thing is that they should have been back for the night of the first day, yet they didn’t come. The next morning you had guessed they came into the night when you went to sleep and left early in the morning, but after the second night you could clearly see that nothing was touched so even if you didn't feel them come into the night it is impossible they didn't touch anything before going out again
you thought that maybe they abandoned you but it didn’t make sense that they left you with all the equipment and resources, it would have been easier if they wanted to get rid of you to leave you in the town when you were distracted
You gave them until lunch to come back, but still you were alone when you finished your rations for the afternoon. You would have packed as much of the camp as you could and taken it back to town but Jared, as much of an asshole as he was, wasn’t truly evil, and you weren’t that cold hearted to at least see if you could find some clue to what happened to them to get some help finding them
Arming yourself with what you could find, a dagger and a walking stick, you started your little investigation on their whereabouts
After a bit of walking around, and making sure you didn’t get lost on your quest, was when you heard a strange kind of sound
Walking towards it you could see a big hole in the ground, and the closer you got, the stronger the sound got, now you could feel vibrations under your feet
The sound was strange, like something wet hitting the floor over and over again
You couldn’t see clearly what was inside of the hole so you wanted to get a bit closer for a better advantage position you couldn't see anything near the entrance so when you were almost to the opening you were going to try to peek inside when a wail-like scream scared the shit out of you.
It didn’t sound human
And it sounded like something big, very big
You immediately ran back to where you came looking back to see if anything was following you or trying to get out. So you could not see the crack on the ground that on its own at worst would have made you miss your step, but thanks to the constant hits, it has been compromised, so your weight was just enough to finish opening the crack, immediately plumbing you into the darkness of a cave
You landed from a decent height so when you fell the air left your lungs with a punch, you were sure you broke something, your chest hurt and a blinding pain came from all your body, but strongest on your arms and hands, you are sure you screamed all the way down
When your vision stopped swimming and the dust from your fall settled a bit you could focus on other things apart from your pain, you got a bit of a scare once again feeling something wet on your body, your mind immediately jumped to blood when you looked at your hands
Thankfully it was some kind of strange slimy liquid covering you, looking around you saw that you were in some kind of goopy surface, a mix of what looks like seaweed, furs and other things under a slime looking thing, on top of it were shards of something, some of them even had cut you and stabbed some parts of your body, nothing very serious but painful enough to have you bleed a bit, you couldn't recognize it at first, your brain working on figuring out what it was
Broken rock looking things surrounded you, some bigger, some smaller. But nonetheless everything was destroyed, dried up slime going out from them. It had a strange color, it was mostly green pale almost white, but smudges of red and brown, it wasn’t until you saw inside that one of those things that you connected the dots
Eggs, these were eggs. Thankfully you didn’t destroy them, someone already did it first and left no survivor if the little bones and half formed blobs were a sign of it. Just thinking about it and that liquid covering you made you feel bile creeping up your throat
You were still recovering from that discovery when something else caught your attention
You felt it before you heard it
Vibrations on the ground became stronger bit by bit, you could hear muffled wails of the thing that scared you, and it was getting closer
You tried to jump out, get on your feet and look for a way out, escape any way you can. But as soon as you try you are reminded of the bad fall you had, for some reason your legs don’t have as much strength as to stand up, and you drop back down to the wet surface unceremoniously
You try to think about what you could do while cleaning some of the slime off your face, but nothing comes to mind, you feel frozen, and before you know it your time runs out.
It is here
With an ear-bleeding screech it arrives and its presence is just extremely imposing, fitting for such a large creature
It has more than two eyes, completely black but you could feel the anger coming from it, translucent shinny tentacles appeared near its head, even at this distance you could feel something in the air, electricity? Pressure? Wild magic? Difficult to say but you could feel it reach out
You thought it would try to hurt you in any way, after all its limbs were covered in fresh and dried blood, whether it's from itself or another unfortunate creature was a mystery and not a priority right now
It came closer and you uselessly tried to crawl away from it
You could feel its maw getting closer to you, curiously sniffing you, the bright tentacles closing on you, and the pressure from it was getting stronger
A sudden current of electricity strikes your brain, like something enormous was trying to squeeze inside you, somehow both compressing and opening your mind, a violating sensation that you couldn’t escape
Your throat hurt, it burned, you think you are screaming, from your blurry vision you could see the shiny appendages closing on you, not fully computing that they were touching you
In the middle of this indescribable sensation you could feel a presence, similar to the feeling of someone looking at you, but you were just so overwhelmed by everything, i was difficult to know what was going on, your mind was receiving a lot of stimuli, feeling and sensation that weren’t yours appeared in your mind
A profound sadness and feeling of loss filled you, rage and sorrow fighting the fear that also tried to eat you alive, pain, and hope burning your chest.
Like you didn't lose them all
What did you lose?
Something cradled you to a surface, it was smooth and warm, if a little humid. You could feel it touching you. Where were you?
Memories speed through your eyes, yours, from your first time of conscience to this very day. Other ones, that you couldn’t recognize, creatures and places you have never been in, feelings and sensation you never had
What was inside you?
A final push brought your mind over its limit and everything quickly fell to black, a final feeling being left into you, the one of calm, and happiness
Something was trying to reassure you that everything will be okay
It could feel your mind give out, it was sorry they were still gauging how much they could push you, and the emotion to find hatchling still alive, still breathing, it put all its emotions in a high, difficult to keep it down to not overwhelm this poor youngs mind.
You were bathered, those monsters probably thought they ended you, thankfully they did a poor job at ending you, it feels horrible at how they did not see you still breathing in the nest.
as with octopodes, cuttlefish have donut shaped brains. the esophagus passes through the center, which is why they straight up die if they try to swallow anything too big! stretched out the brain :(
cuttlefish are filled with love, as demonstrated by their 3 hearts
but they are also filled with venom. good for them!
oh and also blue-green blood. yes they have teal blood, i love that for them
smaller male cuttlefish will disguise themselves as female in order to mate with females who are guarded by large males. sometimes they even use fake egg sacs as props. let's hear it for transfem lesbian cuttlefish!
btw their eggs look like boba, which is why mermaids add them to beverages
their pupils look like this:
they have an internal shell called the "cuttlebone." (it is not an actual bone, as cuttlefish don't have bones.) they use it to control buoyancy, and it's freaky:
multiple people replied with "cuttlefish are fish." they're not. they! are! mollusks!
and of course by far the most important cuttlefish fact, they change color for hunting, camouflage, and disguise purposes.
say thank you to our beautiful rainbow murder mollusks!!!
- They have 8 shorter arms (the ones you see) and two long tentacles that are normally kept hidden except for when they burst out to grab their prey like this:
- after they catch their prey successfully they will occasionally do a little flash of a different colour. It's currently uncertain why they do this, but one theory is that it's an involuntary response to being happy at having food!
- many sources, including the BBC, have claimed that they rapidly flash different colours before catching prey to "hypnotise" them. The current scientific consensus is that that's probably not really true. Instead, it's likely that they do it to break up their silhouette and so the prey isn't really sure what they're seeing - think like zebra stripes but strobing!
- they can change texture as well as colour. Since their skin is almost entirely muscle, they can make elaborate shapes and patterns out of their skin by retracting some muscles. That's why they sometimes look very spiky and sometimes very smooth
- Some of the smallest species of cuttlefish, particularly the flamboyant cuttlefish, Ascarosepion pfefferi, are so small that their cuttlebone doesn't even work as a flotation device, so they have to waddle around on the seafloor instead and it's so so cute
Please tell me if I got anything wrong btw I'm not an expert just extremely autistic ^.^
In all your life you never imagined you would end up homeless, but when landlords are allowed to raise the rent whenever they want, however much they want, affordable housing essentially becomes non-existent.
You couldn't afford a car or gas yet, hell you could barely afford groceries, and your family was struggling as much as you where back at home, so they couldn't help out when you were forced out of your apartment.
You were abandoned by the system.
Thankfully, you were able to keep your job, but everyone's hours just had to be cut short at the worst possible time, including yours.
At least you were still making money though.
Which just left the issue of housing.
You'd tried a few homeless shelters, but they weren't very reliable. They could only let so many people in before they had to stop accepting people for the night, and your work hours made it incredibly difficult to get a spot.
For awhile, a few of the employees tried to save you a spot, knowing your situation with work, but they where eventually caught and ended up in some serious trouble with management.
You still feel bad for them.
All in all, it wasn't looking good for you.
That was until you remembered an old abandoned apartment building.
It was supposed to be demolished a long time ago, but you remembered hearing on the news that the project had been cancelled, so the old, dilapidated apartment was officially abandoned.
You had never been more scared in your life when you broke into the building, praying it hasn't been turned into a crack house or some serial killers body drop-off.
To your surprise, not a sign of life was in the building (well, besides a few rodents and bugs here and there).
It was no safe haven, there was plenty wrong with it, and at any point someone dangerous could make themselves at home in this building as well, or cops could come searching at any time, so you had to remain cautious.
But it was the best thing that'd happened to you in a long time.
You'd found one apartment on the second floor that wasn't in terrible shape, and made yourself at home.
You laid out your pillow and the few blankets and stuffed animals you had on the floor, hid your food supplies and cash, and kept what little regression supplies you brought with you safely tucked away in your bag.
You'd pray your stay here would be safe until you could finally afford a place.
Just getting off of work, you where not pleased to hear that not only was it raining outside, but there'd be a cold front that night as well, snow too.
Just wonderful.
You walked through the pouring rain with your hood up, but after awhile your clothes were completely soaked through, and you were protected from the cold no longer.
When you finally managed to make it home to your dark room, the battery nightlight you'd found in a different apartment barely illuminating the place, you where completely drenched.
Unfortunately, the only clothes you had that you could change into wouldn't be nearly thick enough to keep you warm throughout the night.
"Fuck" you sighed, changing your clothes.
It's better to be dry once the cold front comes through, even if the clothes didn't provide much protection.
The room already had insulation issues, so it was no surprise the apartment was completely freezing when you got back, and you began to worry.
What if you can't stay warm enough? What if you get sick or become hypothermic or get frost bite?
You shivered, teeth chattering as you laid beneath your thin blankets, holding tight to one of your few stuffed animals, a small light blue bunny, its white lined ears patterned with snowflakes.
You tried to think of good things, like how anytime police had come to check the apartment for trespassers, something always distracted them before they got to your door.
Whenever strangers broke into the building, something always scared them off, causing them to rush out screaming.
Sometimes you'd find money left behind in the hallways that you're positive wasn't there before.
You don't know why or how these things happen, but it makes you feel like maybe, just maybe, you have a guardian angel watching over you.
Hopefully their protection would be enough to keep you safe through the night.
You snuggled your face further into your soft bunny, growing weaker as it got colder, and drifted off to sleep.
You wake up in the night shivering, the sounds of sharp winds swirling outside.
Your body feels cold and numb like you're buried beneath snow, you feel ill and achy as you toss and turn.
Suddenly, you hear a... twinkling sound? What in the world could that be?
You listen as closely as you can, and that's when you realize footsteps can be heard roaming the hallway outside
Your eyes quickly become wide open and you feel panic spreading throughout your entire body.
This cannot be happening right now.
You take a blanket and your stuffie, turn off your nightlight and hide in your closet, praying whoever it is out there won't find you.
As the footsteps get closer, the wind grows sharper, and your worst nightmare is realized.
They've opened the door
They're entering your house.
Your heart beats out of your chest as you shake uncontrollably, tears welling in your eyes, you clench your jaw shut so your teeth won't chatter and alert whoever it is outside your room right now.
You flinch when the intruder speaks up.
"Hey snowflake, I know your there. It's okay you can come out." You hear him call out from the living room.
Oh God... this can't be happening this can't be happening
The door to the bedroom opens and you feel your heart drop to your stomach.
"I'm not gonna hurt you baby I promise. I've scared away anyone one who could hurt you, remember? I even left you little gifts in the hall."
That was... him?
Is he some kind of stalker?
Are you about to be kidnapped?
You try to get ahold of your rapid breathing, but you can't, you just can't.
A whine escapes you and the footsteps stop, then move carefully right in front of the closet.
You feel like you're going to throw up.
"Are you in there snowflake?" He asks.
You don't move.
"You should come out baby, it's not nice to ignore Baba." He warns.
You can't even process what he's saying as tears spill from your eyes.
"I'm going to give you 5 seconds to come out, okay?"
You don't even try to hide your sobs or whimpers or chattering anymore, you don't know what's happening but you know you're already screwed.
"Five..."
You shake harder.
"Four..."
You can't escape.
"Three..."
You fearfully whisper goodbyes to those you'd never see again.
"Two..."
You hold onto your bunny like a lifeline for the last time.
"Don't make me come in there..."
You curl into your self, accepting your fate.
"One..."
The closet door opens and you let out a startled cry, choking on sobs as the figure looms over you.
"Oh, baby, don't be scared, Babas here..." The figure leans down and picks you up, carrying you like a small child.
You try to fight back, try to claw and wrestle out of the figures grip but you're too cold, too weak.
There's nothing you can do.
"Hey there shhh... It's okay Y/N, you're safe, you're safe."
You hear a twinkling sound with a swish of his hand over your face, and for a brief moment, you get a glimpse of the figure, bluish white, frosty skin and hair like snow.
"No..." You try to cry out weakly, squirming and thrashing in his grip, "... no..." you mumble, soon asleep against your will.
"Shh it's okay, you're safe now little one, you won't ever be abandoned again, I promise..."
You wake up groggy, warm, the sound of a fire crackling, wind viciously blowing outside.
You open your eyes and find yourself on a couch in front of a fireplace, bundled beneath a moutian of blankets.
You're in a blue and white tudor style living room, bookshelves on each side of the fireplace, frost covering the windows.
You try to get out of the blankets, and you manage, though it takes an awful amount of strength from you.
God you feel so weak right now.
On the upside, whoever that stranger was brought you into what you believe is their home and didn't hurt you, so that's... good.
On the downside, you have no idea what they plan to do with you, and you don't want to stick around long enough to find out.
You pull yourself together, shakily making your way to the front door, but when you open it, you're met with... a snowstorm in the deep mountains, and nothing but snowy hills for miles.
How the hell did you end up here?
Suddly, a wind slams the door shut, and the door somehow locks by itself.
"Going somewhere snowflake?"
You jump in surprise and turn around, quickly backing up and hitting your back against the door.
"Please don't hurt me!" You shout, closing your eyes and ducking your head, shielding yourself with your arms.
The tall figure kneels and gently moves your arms back down, and lifts your chin.
"Hey there now look at me, I'm not going to hurt you I promise." he reassures you softly, and you open one eye.
It's the same man as before, with an unnatural blue-ish white skin, patterned with sparkling frost, and snowy hair, blue eyes that look like ice, wearing blue, white and gold formal attire.
You freeze. You've never seen a person who looks like that before, if he's even a person that is...
"My names Jack Frost, but please, call me Baba" he smiles warmly at you and guides you with his ice cold hands, leading you over to the couch, still weak and in shock.
"Easy now don't trip dear" he guides you down onto the couch and wraps you back up beneath the blankets "You where on the verge of frosbite when I'd checked in on you, you're lucky I did" he pats your head and hovers over you.
Jack Frost...? Like, the fairytale character?
"Are you joking?" You ask, baffled.
"Hey now, don't have that attitude with me, you should be greatful I found you in time" he warns
"I didn't mean it like that- I mean... you're supposed to be 'Jack Frost'?" You question, the absurdity of the situation drowning out your panic.
"Oh that's right! I forget humans think I'm a fable." His eyes widen in understanding
"Yes, I am the one and only Jack Frost" he smiles proudly, and motions his hands in the air with a twinkling sound. Which, to your surprise produces a snow flurry, shifting around until it produces a giant snowflake, which then bursts back into glittering snowflakes before disappearing into the cold air.
"See?" He smiles at you, your jaw agape and eyes wide.
You look at his hands, then around the room in disbelief, looking for any sort of way he could've faked that.
"Am I dead? Concussed? How did you do that?" You begin to question because no way in hell was that real
"are you a magician on a TV show where you kidnap impoverished people for your own sick form of entertainment?" you ask with a mix of anger and shock.
You're trying to make sense of it, you really are but nothing about it makes any sense.
The man stares blankly at you for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter
"Oh my goodness no! I'm serious, really, I can show you more later just trust me baby, okay?" he pinches your cheek until you shake out of his grip, and he just coos.
You're completely stunned, you still don't know if you can believe it but what else can you believe?
There's no way he looks that unnatural with prop makeup, it's too real. There's no way he could've faked that it's not possible.
Maybe you really have lost it.
"I know it's a scary and unusual situation, but you're just going to have to adjust." He hums.
"I've been watching over you for awhile, saw how alone and scared you where staying in that old place, how you try to act like an adult but deep down you know you're still a kid. You never truly grew up did you?"
You stare at him in horror.
Had he... seen you regress?
How in the world would he have even seen that?
Oh God you feel like your heads spinning, did you really have a stalker this entire time?
He continues, "I was so curious about you, y'know. I'd never seen someone act such a way before. I became completely obsessed."
What, the hell, does he mean by that...?
You don't like the implications at all...
"You see, I always wanted a child of my own, but that's not possible for me unfortunately... I always thought about taking someone else's kid home with me, but I never acted on it... That is, until I saw you." He smiles, brushing your hair out of your face.
You quickly pull away, appearing extremely uncomfortable "Okay do you mean like... in a creepy guy way or... did you mean you want to be my, uh, caregiver... I guess...?" you ask, unsure of his intentions.
He appears shocked, almost offended
"Oh heavens no! I assure you I mean it completely platonically, I suppose in a 'caregiver' sense yes." He clarifies quickly.
He clears his throat awkwardly, before continuing.
"I saw how much you where struggling, and I knew I needed to help. Society failed you my dear, but I won't" he says solemnly.
You don't know... what to make of this, everything's happened so fast and so far nothing has made any sense.
Why in the world would some... magical entity kidnap you to be your caregiver? Things like that don't 'just happen', this is fucking insane. As much as you want to believe him, there's no those are his true intentions, right?
But something about the way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, tells you otherwise.
"I have you now, and from here on out you will be staying with me here. I finally have a room and playroom set up for you, I can show you at any time." He clasps his hands excitedly, and sparkles of snow drift from his hands.
"I have plenty of food for you and will keep you warm, I promise" he offers with a warm smile, his eyes filled with determination.
You squirm uncomfortably "How do I know I can trust you?"
He sighs disappointed and his shoulders slack "I know it sounds too good to be true, but you must believe me, please darling."
You think about it.
No more cold winter nights in the apartment.
No more scavenging behind the work alleyway trash for the good food your restaurant throws out because it's "not fresh anymore", despite being far from expired.
No more work in general actually.
Getting to regress not only with your own room, but with your own playroom?
You want to believe it.
You need to believe it.
You've been warned by other people at the homeless shelters to be careful in these situations.
They'd warn you that your desperation can lead you astray, that red flags may start to look green, that this is how people get trafficked and murdered.
But you're tired, you're so, so tired.
And so you agree.
Your voice becomes shaky, tears welling in your eyes "I can stay here...? R-Really? You m-mean it you're not l-lying to me...?" Your voice breaks towards the end, your emotions causing you to involuntary regress.
Jack Frost appears heartbroken, surprised from your tone shift as he reaches over and holds you in a tight grip
"I mean it baby, I swear, Babas got you and he's never letting anyone abandon you again, he promises with his entire heart."
You burst into sobs, tears staining his shoulder as he caresses you, shushing your cries and rocking you back and forth.
"It's okay, it's okay shh... why don't I take you to your room, hm?" he whispers softly, and you nod, too small to fight back or question things any longer.
He picks you up gently, cradling you in his arms, and carefully brings you down the hallway to a bedroom.
It's beautiful, shades of sparkly blues and whites decorate the room, reflective stars scattered across the ceiling, a crib with a canopy and a mobile with snowflakes hanging just above it.
He wasn't lying?
Is this actually real?
Emotions well up tight in your chest once again, and you sob even harder into Jacks chest.
"Shh, shh... I know baby, I know..." He whispers, sitting the two of you down in a large cushioned rocking chair.
"You don't need to worry anymore, Babas got you..." He places a cold kiss against temple and wraps a nearby blanket around your shoulders.
You settle down leaning against his chest, breathing calming as you grow tired.
You want this to be real so bad.
You need it to be real.
You can't afford for this to be a mistake.
And so far, it's proving to be better than you could've ever imagined.
(even if you have to keep ignoring all of the red flags)
❅ yayayay I hope y'all like it!!! sorry if it's a bit feverdreamish lol I did my best!!! please lemme know what you think!!!! (˶◜ᵕ◝˶)
❅ Second note re-reading this I apologize for how dorky and self-indulgent this is haha (◜▽◝;)ゞ I'm still trying to improve my writing so hopefully it's not too bad!!
I love forced agere where the little acts out only to be met with an ever patient, gentle and immovable force.
Like you've been kidnapped, and you have tried everything to escape but it soon becomes clear that this is impossible. So you just become angry instead, fighting your captor at every turn. You scream. You kick and hit. You try to break things. You throw your food.
And every single time, your captor just picks you up and places you in the same damn corner, neutral face, neutral voice, and says "five minutes."
Of course, you don't stay in one place. You run only to be picked up and placed back in the corner, the timer restarting, "five minutes." And again and again and again. Until you've exhausted yourself. Meanwhile, your captor has not shown an inkling of anger or impatience. They could do this all day.
You're a wreck, sitting slumped in the corner, face red and blotchy, hardly keeping your eyes open, and they haven't even done anything to you.
You almost want them to finally lose their patience, to shout at you, to hurt you, so that you can be proved correct. So that you can tell yourself they really are cruel and terrible and you were right to fight them all along. It does not make sense to you that someone would keep you hostage to take care of you. This gentleness is foreign to you. It has to be fake.
Finally, you've stayed in the corner for the full five minutes. They walk over to you, and kneel down.
"Do you know why I had to put you in the corner?" They ask.
You do not respond, but they don't mind.
"I had to put you in the corner because you kicked me. We must use gentle hands in this house. Do you understand?"
You nod faintly.
"I would like you to say sorry now."
"S'rry." You mumble, but it's enough.
"Good girl! Thank you, sweetheart. Let's go and have our lunch now, hm?"
A caregiver who understands you're only little and you will need time to adjust, of course. You're only misbehaving because you are lost and confused. You've been lacking structure and guidance for so long. They can see the little one underneath all the bravado, the one begging to be loved.
----
This form of punishment just makes more sense to me. Because eventually, you would learn that you can never win. That caregiver will never lose their patience or give up on you, no matter how badly you behave. Acting out is just pointless.
and i would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling... monsters???
CONTENT ID UNDER CUT
a series of images depicting the scooby gang as monsters.
Velma is a zombie with pale green skin that is segmented by stitches. The skin below her knees is a deeper green, mimicking her original orange socks, which she's missing in this design. Her body is walking with it's arms out, accidentally kicking along her head. The caption says "My head! Where's my head?"
Daphne is a ghost. She is slightly transparent. Her dress is torn at the bottom and at the sleeves. She is wearing thick bracelets. She's floating above an open trapdoor and looking down at it in surprise. The caption says "OH! I think I was supposed to fall down there!"
Fred is a vampire. He looks the same as his canon design, except he has pointed ears and fangs. He hangs from the ceiling, arms crossed. He has a cocky expression on his face. He's facing a man in a sheet ghost costume, who is startled. The caption says "Going somewhere?"
Shaggy is a werewolf. He's furry all over and has short paw-like hands and feet. His feet are busting out of his loafers. He has a tail. He has a bone in his mouth, and is sheepishly waving at an angry skeleton.
Scooby is a were-human. His humanoid design is a man wearing a brown vest and brown pants. His shoes are a lighter shade. Under his vest is a black short sleeved collared shirt. He has a thick neck. His face mimics his original dog face. He has a big nose and shallow chin, a few scraggly facial hairs, some moles on his chin, thick eyebrows, small ears, and wobbly mouth. His hair is short and brown. Shaggy is holding him in his arms and struggling under the weight.
The pepper grinder is small and copper with a brass knob at the top that allows you to hand-turn the grinder. You’re never sure where you picked it up – it’s not a gift or a purchase, otherwise you’d have the saltshaker to match – but it feels right sitting next to your fruit bowl. Logically, it should go by your stove where the rest of your spices have congregated in a misshapen mob, getting stained by Bolognese and fry oil. However, your fruit bowl is a stoneware behemoth you found in the crawlspace under the house, and the shine of the copper next to the earthen tone reminds you of spending long hours excavating in the Italian countryside as an archeology sophomore in college (about two years before you became an English major), so it stays.
Then, of course, you’re too busy to eat fruit before it rots and the bowl sits empty- barring a lemon or lime here or there- and that’s no good either because it takes up over half of the counter to the right of your sink and backs up against the blank wall at the end of your galley kitchen where you can’t hang anything because both the fridge door and the pantry door swing into it.
So when your mother gives you another worry stone for your birthday – rose quartz this time, which means she thinks if you’re not worried about being single in your 30s, you should be – you hold it while staring out the kitchen window, drinking coffee over the sink, and when you finish the last sip full of grounds you toss the mug in the sink and the rose quartz in the bowl. It clinks loudly and then settles between those two lemons that you need to find a use for before the weekend, lest they go hard and unusable except for cleaning your sink.
After that, belated birthday wishes show up in the mail, and you can’t bring yourself to throw them out. Your Aunt Sylvia sends a postcard from Peru that she’s been holding onto for “a special occasion” for the last five years and, -aren’t you lucky?- you’re the special winner of a National Geographic photo of Machu Picchu. And you’re not a monster. The card may not hold the same significance to you as it did to her, but the thought does and so tucked between the bowl and the wall it goes where the very tippy top of the ruins rise over the brown rim, as if from the depths of a valley.
Then your college roommate (the archaeology one who made you want to do the study abroad program in the first place), Audra, sends you a shard of Roman pottery and a note in Latin that you can’t read but understand perfectly by the coffee stains littering the edge of it. The sight of the coffee stains warms your heart more than the pottery shard, so both go in the bowl where you can occasionally glance at them as you drink your own coffee over the sink and reminisce over study dates and the few regular dates you shared before her passion stole her abroad.
(And if the clay and the rose quartz lie next to each other and you suddenly think of marriage and nostalgia and her stoneware eyes that led you to save the same-colored fruit bowl from the depths of your house in the first place, it’s a natural series of associations and doesn’t prove your mother right at all.)
The driftwood isn’t from anyone. Your agent calls to tell you that you won an award for one of your books. The driftwood is in your hand, scavenged along the Potomac from amidst the pebbles deposited by the last storm, and it’s suddenly your only tether to reality as she explains what this means. It means reviews and author readings and an interview - of you! – and a guaranteed sequel. The stick is smooth under your fingertips and you wave it in the air is if it’s a wand in an attempt to burst your bubble.
Only you’re home the next moment and you’ve still got the driftwood in your hand and your bubble is unburst. It feels significant that you brought it back with you so you put it across the top of your fruit bowl as if it’s the award itself. You have a decaf coffee to celebrate that evening and see that stick guarding your rose quartz and your pepper grinder and your pottery shard and you think, I’m doing okay. And the joy you feel from that is so powerful that your next thought is, I’m happy.
Which is, of course, when the power goes out.
Outages happen all the time in a block as old as yours. Before, you’d see it as free time and go lay down in bed and wait for the world to relight or for morning to come. But you don’t have time now. Your agent is planning to call you soon. You are an award-winning author and you have things to do before your 42% battery runs out.
You make your kitchen your base and set the six pillar candles on your counter, lighting them one by one. They’re the rainbow ones from last June your mother bought you in a sweet yet confusing show of support and you’ve never found a special enough occasion to burn them. You smile at Machu Picchu peaking over your fruit bowl. Your aunt is the one who taught you about special things.
Then your agent calls and, while you’re hammering out the details, you see that the candles are about to drip colored wax onto your white, plastic countertops and even though you really want to replace them, you can’t afford to (at least until you sign a contract). You snatch up your driftwood and use it to scoop the wax from the sides until a kaleidoscope of color is collected and you have to keep spinning it to keep it from dripping.
You blow on the hot wax, thinking of Audra and your family and the future your agent is painting for you until it cools. Then you place the driftwood over the bowl where it belongs.
It’s just a bowl. Of course, it’s just a bowl. It does a good job of taking up a huge amount of your counter and of holding onto things you’d forget in a junk drawer. It looks good in the candlelight, warm and earthy and welcoming with the three bright lemons scattering amongst your treasures. It’s nice to see reminders of your loved ones every morning from the summit of Machu Picchu to your worry stone to that shard of pottery, but it’s not anything more.
At least it’s not until you put your driftwood, wax-covered wand back and think, I wish I could see her.
The flames of the candles sputter and turn gold, radiating a pure and steady light that could never come from a mundane fire. Your agent stops herself midsentence, apologizes, promises to call you back when she has a better connection, and hangs up. The bowl rattles and shivers and you take a step back as your copper pepper grinder tips over. You must not have put it together correctly because it spills when it does, little peppercorns that roll across your counter towards the edge.
You expect to hear the dried pepper hit the ground, but it doesn’t. Each peppercorn stops unnaturally.
G…
R…
A…
N…
T…
E…
D…
What?
The candles splutter and return to normal flame. Your bowl is still. The lemons seem less appetizing than they had a moment ago, but your treasures are still there and lovely.
You pick up your Roman shard.
Your phone rings. Audra. Although you can’t imagine talking to anyone after what you’ve just witness, your body isn’t on the same page. Muscle memory and association has you answering before the second ring.
“Mal, I got the job!”
“…The job?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Not because I was hiding it! But nobody ever gets it and I didn’t want you to get your hopes up and then my hopes up—”
Her rapid-fire word is grounding. You laugh. “Because my hopes are your hopes.”
“Obviously,” she says. She takes a deep breath. “I got the Smithsonian. The curator role. The job.”
She’s coming home. The realization hits like electricity, raising all the hair on your arms and almost making you drop the shard. You blink quickly to stop the automatic tears.
“Mal?”
“I’m here,” you say. You go to put the pottery shard back with more care than you ever have, as if it’s Audra herself. She can probably hear the way your voice trembles, but you can’t compose yourself. “Oh, I’m so happy. When?”
“In a month. I have to hand over some current projects, which should only take a week, but finding someone to take over my classes might take a little longer, but not too long! I promise. After that it’s packing—”
You put the pottery shard back in the bowl as gently as you ever have. Audra’s voice is the sweetest music as she says goodbye, in a hurry to start packing. You hear that music long after she hangs up. Your knees are weak. She’s coming home. She’s coming home. Thank whatever god, she’s coming home—
Your fingers touch something coarse and feather-light. Your brow furrows as you pull a scrap of ancient paper from the fruit bowl.
You’re welcome.
“Oh,” you breathe.
The lights flare as the power returns.
---
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Thanks for all the support! Excited for another year on this blog. I'll probably make a mushy post about it at some point, but...EIGHT years! And counting! What an amazing time this has been :D
Art vent post feel free to ignore, might delete later
I kinda feel like im not a real artist. Like my art isnt good enough, ive been drawing since middleschool but im progressing so slowly, and literally ALL of my friends make art in some way and everg single one of them is miles ahead of me, and it just. It feels shitty. And I know a big part of my problem is I need to practice and experiment more, but I mean come on I JUST took a figure drawing class for a whole semester and I feel like I draw people even worse now.
And i cant actually talk to my friends about it, ive tried, most of em tell me about practicing specific things and like studying by looking at other artists and stuff, and I get it its good advice I just. Idk. It feels worse coming from them for some reason.
Like it feels invalidating????? I dont know why, I know they mean well theyre my friends, one of thems in art school. They also talk about like theres no bad art and no wrong way to do art, but mine feels wrong so maybe thats why it feels so invalidating????? Idk.
I know what I need to do to get better at art, but I feel like irs just not clicking for me.
I also cant tell if part of why I dislike my art is because of mt skill level or my style, I feel like i dont really have a style its weird. Like im just missing something.
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