#how fun

[adgdrns]

Theyre saying dancestor yuri is the new meta 🤔

[faerieinthehumanworld]

What Evolution Made Us - Interlude

A/N: OH my god, I am not doing this again for a very long time. This was so hard. IDK if you all know what xenofiction is but that's basically what this turned into. Did anybody ask for 2600 words from an alien perspective with weird prose choices? Probably not. Have it anyway.

Btw, if you feel like you're going nuts, you're not. If my idea worked the font is a smaller size to indicate Eridian tone shift into a minor key, which is like introspective thoughts, and bolded to indicate emphasis, because having a larger font didn't work.

Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen

credit to @uzmacchiato for the pretty divider!

Rocky taps slowly on the xenonite glass, thinking. It’s not the most comfortable in the cockpit but xe can’t leave. Xe can’t risk it. From this far away xis vision is hazy as xe looks toward the two humans, and xe jitters a foot, trying to separate the indistinct shape of Grace from the floor/from the walls/from the other human. The ship is very quiet and Rocky is thinking to xemself. 

The large-flesh-teeth-anger-scary-creature with the hoarse song had been so loud that it rattled xis carapace, and Rocky could do nothing but hang on to the handles of xis bubble and try to get Grace to move faster.

It had been so loud, and xe had realized that the ocean was made of a thick fluid, one that xe recognized only because xe had seen Grace bleeding before. It was an ocean made of blood. Friend-Grace had not seen how big the creature was. 

Rocky taps a few buttons on xis console, checking the scans from outside. There is still no sign of movement from the blood ocean they are orbiting over, and that is good. Hopefully the creature has gone away. 

Xe is thinking about xis crew. The creature had been howling in xis ear, the pitch too low/loud/close and speaking Eridian in a way xe thought xe might never hear again.

Rocky reaches up and grabs onto the upper handles of xis bubble, flipping upside down. It is very quiet in Grace’s ship and xe is trying to distract xemself because the alternative is replaying xis crew’s deaths in xis head and xe can’t do that. (Xe is failing at this objective). 

Eridani had never built a spaceship before. The best scientists were working on it around the clock for weeks/months/ages, and still they had no idea if it would work.

Rocky had known xe would be going along long before the ship was complete. There was no other alternative. Xe was one of the best engineers on planet, it would have to be xem. The others were needed on Eridani. Only old Ixtar Who-Watches-the-Rings would be going along. 

Adrian had known too. Rocky rubs xis forelegs together, humming softly to xemself, and tries to find comfort in the inlaid gem there, the reminder that Adrian is waiting for xem. (Is ze still waiting for xem? It has been so long… part of Rocky hopes that ze has found someone else to be happy with, impossible as it is).

Adrian had seen xim off on launch day, and Rocky still remembers zir sad trilling that ze tried to keep quiet as xe left. It is lodged in xis brain, etched into the crystals, and xe wonders if xe will keep thinking about it until xe passes on to the Eternal Warm Plain. But xe will never forget Adrian, glorious/kind/beautiful/love Adrian Who-Is-The-Maker-Of-Things-Warm-and-Beautiful. 

The crew had been so excited to go on the mission, too. They were all chattering happily to each other as Rocky and Ixtar had engaged the ion drive to lift them out of orbit. Ixtar was good at xis job, an Elder who was slowing, xis carapace softening and beginning to crumble, and so it fell to Rocky to scramble into tight spaces to fix the issues xe couldn’t reach. (There were many/many/many issues.) 

The other crew members had skittered around the ship happily for the first few months, chittering back and forth to each other about the mission, comparing notes, and speculating. Rocky spent most of xis time in the engine room, under the rippling dark canopy of the space-tiny-star-eaters, trying to put things back together when they broke. And things broke constantly.

It felt like xe would turn around and find that something xe had just fixed was broken again. It was infuriating. But it should have been expected, since it was the first/only time they had been to space. 

Rocky whines low, frustrated. Xe has been trying to stay calm since they brought the second human on board, and thinking about this now is not helpful. But there is nothing xe can do, and it is making xim jittery. Stress is flowing like electricity through xis body alongside the quick/silver/mercury of xis blood.

But there is nothing xe can do. Rocky cannot get near this new human, cannot watch him sleep, cannot even help Grace to stay calm because there is an energy from space that can kill xim from the inside out, can make xis systems decay and molecules come unstitched from the inside out, and there is nothing xe can do to stop it. It is a distressing thought. 

Rocky flips back down to the floor and taps xis claws together anxiously, trying to peer through the walls. It is quiet in the medical room, and xe has a hard time at first distinguishing the two human shapes from the walls around.

New-Human is sleeping, xe thinks, is horizontal and not moving and not talking, and for a brief moment xe thinks maybe he has died (and xe was not watching), but no, there, the sound of a rhythmic thumping. What Grace had explained was the human blood-regulator-organ.

A heart/beat.

Sounds like Eridian drums, on high-light festival days. 

Xe thinks it is like the Eridian thrum that goes low and quiet when sleeping, that thing that lets xim know xis crew is still there and alive. The crew had started going into sleep cycle more frequently as they approached Tau Ceti.

Rocky didn’t know what was happening to make everyone so tired, but xe focused on managing the engine. It took one Eridian to man the star-eater engine, and that was Rocky’s job. Xe was a Fixer-Of-Things, and so xe repaired anything that went wrong with the ship. 

Doctor Qualoran Who-Is-Always-Thinking-of-Others was the first to notice something was wrong, when the crew members began to report feeling strange and sluggish. It took them all a while to figure out what was happening, but one by one Rocky watched xis crew-mates fall very very ill.

Qualoran had determined it had nothing to do with food, nothing to do with any disease they could think of, but all Rocky could focus on was that xe was hearing the silver/mercury blood flow from tiny pinpricks in the other’s carapaces, draining them of energy/of life, hearing their breath-lung-organs and their food-processing-organs begin to dissolve little by little, collapsing and flooding into the delicate crystalline structures of their brains. 

Halara Who-Hums-Joy-Songs was the first to go. Ze had been young, barely past zir majority, a brilliant biologist along to help figure out why Tau Ceti was alive/stable/bright/not dying. Ze had been in the same learning-rank as Rocky’s youngest hatch-mate, and they had met a few times at festivals.

Ze died slow, and Rocky chitters faintly to xemself as the memory of zir weakly twitching legs floods xis mind. Halara had been scrabbling at the walls unconsciously, unable to control zir limbs, until ze fell still and the thrum faded away, agonizingly slow. 

After that the rest had gone quick. Kyrex Who-Likes-Oceans and Yelna Who-Hops-About-Excitedly, both pilots, who had always swapped jokes and stories with Rocky before sleep cycle, Skrin Who-Writes-Bad-Poetry-On-Purpose, the one to suggest they all get their mission marks together, Tenar Who-Is-Always-Serious, another scientist who pretended not-to-be-amused all the time, they all fell ill, and Rocky helped Qualoran drag each of them into a room near the back, as close to xyr tiny little engine workshop as possible, so xe at least could watch them sleep.

Qualoran had never figured out why Rocky was not affected too. 

By the time they had reached Tau Ceti it was down to Rocky and Qualoran and old Ixtar, and not long after both of the older Eridians began to succumb to the sickness too.

Rocky can still hear the doctor’s voice in xis head, asking xim to watch over the others, and just the thought makes xim chitter quietly, remembering the long hours/days/weeks/years xe spent, waiting beside them, trilling every song xe could remember to try to ease their pain. 

Xe cannot help but think that it is not fair. The others should get to go home too. Old Ixtar had died shuddering, while Rocky laid close, telling xim stories about what they’d do when they got home. Xe had had hatchlings and grand-hatchlings, family who missed xim, and Rocky doesn’t know how xe is going to tell all their loved ones when the ship returns to Eridani that they won’t be coming home. 

It had been a very long time after the others had gone on to the Eternal Warm Plain that Rocky had huddled in xis tiny workshop, listening to the hum of the astrophage, trying to figure out what to do.

Xe was alone, and xe was so frightened, waiting and wondering when the terrible dissolving would start for xim too as the bodies of xis crew, of xis friends, cooled around xim.

Rocky could maybe pilot the ship on xis own, could get it pointed in the right direction and probably even work the ion drive to land, but what would be the point? 

That was the terrible part. Rocky was a Fixer-Of-Things, and xe was very good at xis job. Xe took great pride in being the Fixer-of-Things, in being able to make everything right again for xis crew when things were going wrong.

But xe did not know how to fix this. Xe did not even know what was wrong in the first place.

Xe was unable to fix any of it. 

Rocky was not a biologist. Xe did not know how the star was staying alive, did not know enough about living things to decipher the solution, did not even know where to start.

Xe spent hours/weeks/forever pouring over the scientist’s notes, trying to understand them, unsure of how to even begin. But xe could not go home. Could not let this mission fail. Could not let the others have died for no reason. 

They had all gotten their mission carvings together, and had spent a night dancing and singing to celebrate the grand new adventure they were about to embark on. Rocky thinks xe understands Grace’s inclination to leak a little when experiencing strong emotions now. 

Xe does not know how long xe spent in a drifting spaceship, scurrying around with hushed footsteps because it felt wrong to make noise, trying to fix systems that continued to break and wondering when xe would run out of food and starve, or when xe would give in and go back to Eridani, only to die with everyone else. 

Rocky was alone, and space was cold, and xe was so very scared, and xe missed Adrian. Xe did not know how long it had been when xe noticed the small ship appearing on the scanners. Eridani had been telling stories about aliens for years, about creatures from the stars who might seem very different but had lives just the same, but Rocky had always sort of considered that wishful thinking.

What were the chances?

But here was an impossibility staring xim in the face, and xe did the only thing xe could think of to do: xe said hello, and hoped they were kind. 

That was how xe met Friend-Grace. The alien is cold and strange and leaky and awkward and his ship is oddly shaped but he is wonderful, and he is intelligent, and he is funny, and he is exactly the kind of person Rocky needs to help xim find the answer and get home safely.

With Gracie, Rocky has a chance to get home, to finish the mission and return to Adrian in one piece. Xe even knows what killed the others now, because Grace has taught xim about Radiation. 

It is a scary word, and Rocky cannot sense it still, even knowing now what to look for, but Grace has taught xim about Radiation shielding and reassured xim that the Hail Mary is protected from this threat.

Rocky searches for Gracie’s heartbeat again, and finds xis friend curled up on the floor, leaning against the bed New-Human is asleep in, their hands still clasped tightly together. 

Rocky understands. Xe wants to feel the carapaces of xis crew around xim again. It makes sense that Grace would want the same. Xe is still scared, though.

Xe does not know what Radiation does to humans and cannot bear the thought of finding out. Gracie had explained that small doses of the poison were something a human could recover from, but where was the limit? When did the danger start? 

They were protected by their fluids, Rocky had learned, protected because water absorbed Radiation and helped it move out of the body. But metals, metals like mercury, carried and kept it far too easily.

Rocky paces back and forth across the floor of xis little structure, debating whether to risk rolling down the hall a bit to make sure Gracie is sleeping alright. Xe can watch from here but it is awkward. After the fishing incident xis joints are still stiff and sore, seizing up a bit if xe stays in one place for too long. 

It is infuriating and terrifying, to be stuck here and unable to do anything. Rocky chitters, annoyed, and smacks the wall of xis bubble. Xe does not know this New-Human, knows nothing more than his voice, but xe is scared that he will not wake up.

For all that xe can make and fix and do, Gracie is the only one who can physically help him, and xe cannot even help Grace unless he comes back to the cockpit. 

Rocky cannot bear it if New Human dies. It does not matter, that they have never met, that New Human is a stranger. Xe is terrified of seeing anyone else die like that. 

Xe stamps on the floor again, the fear attempting to immobilize xim. It is so easy to succumb to the poison in sleep, and Rocky cannot fix any of it.

Gracie had explained to xim some of what humans were like, and xe was astonished by some of the stories he told. Humans were apparently very sturdy, and they were very good at traveling space by now, having done it for five or six of their generations so far. 

But the thing that Rocky remembers, the thing that sticks with xim, is that humans are stubborn.

They will dig their heels in and refuse to back down, and this trait is so baked in that it extends to their healing.

Rocky cannot do anything to fix the situation, so xe has to wait and trust that New-Human is the stubborn kind. Xe has to stay here, and trust Gracie, trust that he can fix it, that he will be safe and smart and not die. He is getting sleep, at least. Hopefully he will not be stupid next cycle then. 

Rocky rubs xis forelegs together again, feeling the inlays and carvings, and tries to calm xemself with the thought that they are getting so close to finishing the mission.

They are so close to going home. Xe and Gracie will get to go home.

Xe settles onto the floor of the bubble, curling xis legs up under xim, and settles down to wait. 

Xe will wait, it’s all xe can do. Rocky will wait, and xe will listen, and xe will watch while the humans sleep.

Xe waits, listening to the sound of two rhythmic/beating/human hearts.

Tag list!

@anuwubis  @guppygalaxy  @the-blue-eyed-fallen-angel @im-acatperson @trenchcoathunnybee08  @xothecryptid @fandom-skellyweirdo-jumper @bornwithnochains @machkoolkat @glitteroctopus72  @sophiasharp @cornix-the-void-crow @emjistarflower @dearest-darling-pharma @pink-lily-and-alana-moon  @t00muchanxiety  @zozgreenery @glasssphinix  @reallarks  @just-a-notion  @tir3dace @i-am-so-normal-about-turtles @thethingwithfeathers11 @moon-storm  @phthalocyanine-green  @fin-139 @emmarose17 @grandmaster-penis  @underwatersun @bornwithnochains @myronanempire  @djvance  @fanofsomestuff98  @mug-of-shark @notsoheterosapien @riven-system @marlon-does-art

[rue-x3]

Listening to Pon de replay and it very much makes me think of Dancer SY so here we go

Transmigrated demon SY who has no idea that he lives in PIDW because he hails from a group of minor background/npc demons that didn’t even have a set name. All they seem to do is dance, so Airplane didn’t see a need to name them.

Well this type of demon is a succubus subspecies that hails from the hotter plains of the demon realm, rarely found in the cooler (cool when compared to the human realm, MBJ’s realm is like a different league of coldness) areas of the human realm. Shen Yuan’s group migrated close to the border of the demon realm to score easy prey.

Being a succubus subspecies they can feed off of sexual energy and bodily essence but they don’t really need it to be sexual. Due to the way they’ve evolved and how much they’ve entwined dancing into their demonic culture rather than feeding off of sexual pleasure brought forth by seduction, they tend feed off of the emotions brought forth by dancing (namely joy, awe, and excitement). Because of this they tend to be kept as playthings for nobles who find their dances amusing. SY’s little group comes from the territory of an overthrown demon and after being removed from the land they opted to settle somewhere near the human realm where they could catch easy meals. Working for demon nobles was much too hard, charming some sleazy human nobles with their refined skillsets wouldn’t be too hard.

So SY’s quite young when he transmigrates which gives him the perfect excuse to be clumsy at dancing. It takes him a while to for a dancing pattern of his own and he opts to tell/act out stories (most of them from novels. He’s a reader, not a writer.)

Well because he’s a disguised-demon I’d assume that his group poses as wandering/rognue cultivators because

1.) cultivators rarely come to the small villages the group frequents, so there’s not many who can call their bluff

and 2.) They haven’t caused any harm or done anything to warrant suspicion. They can easily earn the trust of the people and grow their reputation.

Anyways so they post as cultivators and stuff, so SY has opportunities to tell tales of their “adventures” and he does this through the use of dance and another tool. (Haven’t decided if he uses ribbons and/or paper to aid the form of monsters and/or beasts, uses shadows themselves to tell his stories, or something else but I am leaning towards ribbons/paper because it’d make more sense and gives him that sense of nobility because like… what commoner can afford enough paper to play around with the way SY does? Idk)

So it’s like he has this giant paper beast baring its teeth at Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan has a little fight-dance thing where he avoids the monster with fluid movements (dancing) as music plays (Also haven’t decided if he plays the music using his paper puppets or if he has someone else with him playing)

When the song reaches its climax SY likes to act like he’s lost, riding on the way the song seems to calm before preparing for a big buildup at the end where he’ll slay the beast. (Of course with different tunes the way he plays out the story will change. This is his favorite way to do it though)

…

Anyways so there’s like two main routes I was thinking about taking this:

SY—Who’s reputation as an esteemed dancer has spread far and wide—gets hired by the Qiu household once and Qiu Haitang’s awe for everything new she faces leads her to beg her brother for dance lessons. QJL caves and hires SY temporarily (he’s skeptical but SY’s fame is on the level of like… famous merchants, he’s not some typical commoner so QJL can probably rest easy..?)

QHT struggles to keep up and ends up getting SJ to learn alongside her so she doesn’t struggle alone. SJ’s actually able to keep up with SY decently well—namely on the grounds that he’s used to using every part of his body (fights, escaping, sneaking around, etc) so getting into the flow of things is way easier for the wild and untamed him compared to QHT who’s most likely learned some form etiquette since she was young.

Right well stuff happens and yk SJ learns to dance. It’s not all terrible until SY’s tribe calls for his summons (a new baby has been born and they’re hosting a festival for it (they party hard. And having a child in the human realm is significantly harder for any succubus type demon—sub branch/species or not, so one being born here is a definite cause for celebration.) and stops coming for a period of time.

During this period QJL bans SJ from dancing over something small, and SJ’s mental starts dropping. Then the whole stabbing-him-killing-all-men-and-then-burning-the-house-down thing happens. And it happens the day SY is set to return. So SY is just standing in front of the burning manor mildly surprised.

(His years of living as a demon have slightly dulled his humanity—not enough to disregard a life in front of him but enough that such violent scenes are more of a “huh, tragic” moment rather than an “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” moment.)

He sees SJ standing there and he’s like “hmm I taught you, I might as well teach you ‘till the end” so he takes SJ with him and they wander for a bit as SY continues teaching how to dance ‘n weave fighting into dancing. Life’s not perfect but it’s one hell of a step up, and it’s one that SJ absolutely appreciates. He doesn’t talk about YQ, or what happened at the manor much. SY doesn’t ask either.

Yeah so eventually SJ wants to grow stronger and SY’s like huh well I can’t have a kid forever huh, it’d be better if he lived with humans. So he drops SJ off at CQMS sneakily and disappears (he lays low for a long while after that) and gives SJ uncountable abandonment issues. Imagine the reunion lolol.

—

Anyways so the second route is LQG (before the caves incident) meeting SY in the middle of fighting a demonic beast. He’s been chasing this thing down and now he’s frozen at the sight of some slender looking man just avoiding it’s rapid attacks with skillful ease and grace, weaving a song out of the surrounding sounds as he faces it head on. LQG can’t even bring himself to intervene because damn, this is a good fight. Instead he stands back and analyzes the fight for future reference—ready to step in if needed of course. LQG was honorable though and had no intention of joining the fray and stealing this kill unless the person was about to die and there was no other option.

So then SY kills the thing and it’s then that LQG notices that the demonic energy wasn’t just coming from the beast and goes on high alert because this demon clearly has skill…

Anyways cut to LQG trying to fight SY while SY dances around him before escaping with relative ease. It starts a little love-hate game of cat & mouse where LQG’ll chase after SY each time he sees him (which is more times than he’d like) and SY’ll impress him with dance moves LQG didn’t know could be incorporated into battle/action like that.

Uhhh the plot was lost this is kind of stupid

[strayfandomcollector]

Heyo! (about to melt from nerves but I got a dare)

What're five songs you really like right now? My friend sent me this ask game, feel free to send to ten other people ;)

whoo boy…uh…

I listen to a LOT of music, but I’ll see if I can narrow it down a bit…

Phew.

Those are just the tip of the iceberg concerning my interests 😅 I will listen to Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, JVKE, League of Legends, Stray Kids, Alex Warren, plus instrumentalists like Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Thomas Bergersen, etc…you get the idea 😂 My tastes are very eclectic.

Thanks for the ask!

I’m not sure if I can think of ten people…but I’ll tag @redhoodisalive (for obvious reason LOL) @nerdynonnativenarnian, and @bug-lovers-island. (And you, @jesuswarriordaughter, since I’m curious about what music you listen to now!)

[tree-lizard]

They don't even need costumes for Halloween now, so convenient

[ajdoesprompts]

“What are you doing?”

Tony nearly jumps a mile, turning in his chair to see the casual smirk of Natasha Romanoff leaning against the door frame. He hates how quietly she moves.

“Jeez, Nat, you’re gonna give me even worse heart problems if you keep doing that,” he half jokes, hand on his chest as he feels his raised heart rate start to lower down.

Natasha doesn’t speak, only walks forward to stand behind Tony’s desk and look at the screen herself. Tony sighs before verbally explaining himself.

“I wanted to see if I could figure out why the kid was picked. I just- I don’t understand it and I hate not understanding. Figured maybe his family could be the reason,” he shrugs.

“And?”

“And his parents are dead. He was put in a long term foster home for a few years until they found a living relative - some aunt and uncle from Queens who were willing to take him in,” he sighs, frustrated. “The only interesting thing I found was that his parents worked for shield.”

“You think that could be why?” Natasha asks. It’s pretty clear that she’s skeptical.

“I don’t know. Maybe they thought he would have some kind of gut instinct or skill? Problem is, if they had looked into the kid for a second they would’ve realised he’s a weak, asthmatic nerd who wouldn’t hurt a fly, so I still don’t really understand,” he admits. He hates saying the words. He was Tony Stark; no problem should be too hard.

“Hmm,” Natasha sounds.

“How was he at shooting practice anyway? It was a good idea to distract him, by the way. Poor kid seemed a bit stressed about the whole ‘being hunted by a dangerous Nazi operation’ thing,” Tony jokes, looking back to the screen and half listening to her response.

Natasha gave a pause. “He didn’t miss a single shot.”

“What, like, he hit the target every time?” Tony asked, interest peaked. The kid seemed so painfully bad at everything other than math that shooting was the last thing he expected him to excel in.

“No,” Natasha says, slower, like she’s explaining to a child. “He didn’t once miss the dead centre of the target. Kid was more accurate than me.”

The way she said it - like it was was so painfully normal - meant that Tony had to take time to process her words properly.

“So, what he’s some shooting prodigy?” He asked.

Natasha stood fully and began walking away. “I don’t know what I’m saying. He hasn’t lied to us since arriving at the compound,” she said. She stopped, turned in the doorway, “But he didn’t miss, Tony. Not once.” And then left.

And Tony…

Well, he didn’t understand.

—

THIS IS NOW AN AO3 FANFIC CALLED “The Hand that Plants the Seed” by El1zabethJ!!

[tinyblossomjellyfish]

I asked my girlfriend for caption ideas and she went on a rant about how melba should get off her animal crossing island