itstombokopoli-blog

[itstombokopoli-blog]

hamadaxrobotics:

“Well, maybe,” Hiro agreed, seeing as he knew his vacuum was useful at least! “My aunt uses it upstairs to clean up spills in the Café, and it works nicely.” 

After the computer began to boot up, Hiro moved toward the work table and slid the blanket-covered artifact to the side so they’d have more space there. “Well, I don’t really… have any set theme to the things that I make, if it makes sense,” he explained. “I… think of stuff sometimes, and start working on it. I don’t always finish stuff. I’m not… very good at following through unless I have clear objectives.”

It’d been that way since he started working without his brother’s help. The project with Kiki and his own project with the scooter had actually motivated him, but other than that, it wasn’t common that he saw any big ideas all the way through. “One of my professors berates me for it, but I don’t usually finish stuff. I attribute it to the fact that I get too many ideas at the same time.” Not to being unmotivated by working alone, of course.

It works nicely, he said. My aunt uses it, he said. I get too many ideas, he said. Tombo wished he could say any one of those things. The sad facts were that nothing Tombo had made worked nicely, his aunt did not use it, and he had been stuck on this one shining idea for years now. He could probably trace himself back through doodles on the side of his notes to when it first came to him, but the bike was really the only thing he had wanted to get done. Maybe, if he ever did, he could think about something else, too.

“But that’s cool, dude, that you can just move along like that,” Tombo said. “It could just be that you haven’t found that thing, you know? That idea that really sticks? Like, I’m sure with an artist they don’t finish every painting or uh, musicians. They probably don’t use everything they punch out on an instrument.”

Tombo turned his head away from the workshop to find Hiro again, offering a smile. “You just gotta keep at it, as they say. Which, clearly, you do. I think it’s great. Of course, I’m just me, I’m don’t have a degree or whatever credentials your professors do, but, I dunno shouldn’t they be, like, encouraging you?”

Basement Dwellers || Toro

#basement dwellers #hiro hamada #toro

[itstombokopoli-blog]

Let’s Be Alloys || Grembo

@notmuchofatail

Chemistry sucked, Tombo concluded. For him! Anyways...for Tombo Chemistry sucked. No offense to anyone out there who was in love with ions and solutions and moles, or whatever. It was not his cup of tea. It had been alright at one point, but now it just seemed like everyone around him was taking to way too seriously. Or maybe he was being too laid back? 

He blinked from where he had sort of zoned out at his desk, looking around as other students started to shuffle around. Oh, right. They were actually doing something today! Maybe that’s why Chemistry had just been a bunch of baloney, they had just been doing it on paper. Going back and forth from the Periodic Table to his notes or a work sheet wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t fun either. 

Tombo slung his bag over his shoulder and walked over to the next open seat at a lab table, not even noticing until he got there that another person was sitting in the other seat. He smiled, ready to introduce himself, but the instructor started up again, getting out all the last minute instructions. Finally, when they were left on their own, Tombo twirled to look at the kid next to him.

“Hey,” he said, sticking out his hand towards the other. “I’m Tombo.”

#let's be alloys #gregory eeyore #grembo #i dunno #i can change it #grombo #?? this was all i could think of lmao

[itstombokopoli-blog]

thestrength-of-thewolf: 

A forest ranger.

Akela snorted at that.

A forest ranger, pah. Those people were pointless, scared, stupid little Mundus. They did hardly anything to help the animals they were supposed to be helping to protect. They did not care. 

Not the way that he cared. Not the way the true guardians of the forest cared. He was a creature of the forest. His primary duty may be to protect his family, but that meant protecting the deep, twisting jungles they inhabited. Protecting the flora and fauna both. 

Akela loved the jungle, the forest. It had given him refuge when he had none. It had taught him how to hunt, how to live, how to thrive. Without the forest, Akela would have died. It provided food and shelter. 

He knew it was pointless to explain this to a curious Mundus. 

Mundus in the forest never meant anything good.

Though, at the same time, he could not be entirely angry. This boy was just a child, after all. And a child’s instinct was to be curious.

“You ask a lot of questions,” Akela mused as this Tombo trotted alongside him. “I will answer one, if you would like, but choose wisely, because I will only answer one.” He paused and looked over, arching his eyebrow. “And my name is Akela.”

One question? One? Question? But that was unheard of to someone like him, who was never satisfied with the knowledge presented to him. It would just beg him to ask more questions, make him rethink and reassesses and need to know more. This man was putting him a box, and Tombo was already feeling the walls closing in.

“Akela,” he repeated. For whatever reason the name fit this guy very well. He didn’t know what it meant or where it was from or, heck, if it was just made up, but it just made sense. He wasn’t one of those people who people stopped and squinted at and then said, ‘You know, you look more like a [insert other name here.]’  “Cool.

“But, also, totally uncool of you to be doing this to me, man,” Tombo sighed, then pulled a hand up to tap against his mouth as he thought about THE question he would get to ask. He opened his mouth, about to ask if he could ask about the rules of the question, but then stopped himself because, what if that counted as his question? That would be terrible. No, no, if he didn’t lay any ground rules besides that cryptic ‘only one answer, oooOOo,’ stuff then Tombo figured he would have free reign.

“Okay, I think...I got it,” Tombo said, smiling, “Tell me everything you know about this forest? The one we are walking through, right now, this one.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf || Takela

#who's afraid of the big bad wolf #akela seeonee #takela

[itstombokopoli-blog]

hamadaxrobotics:

Hiro would lie if he said Tombo’s reaction wasn’t comforting. He liked to see when people saw his workshop and loved it. After all, having put it together was one of his biggest prides.

“All me,” he said with a nod. Of course, he decided not to get into the fact that it hadn’t always been him. “I mean, sometimes Kiki comes here and we work on our secret project,” Hiro quickly added as he walkde around the work table.

“I had some things when I came here from Tokyo,” the inventor said, flipping on the switch in the corner so as to supply power to his equipment. “I remodeled things a bit here, too. And you could say it’s always constantly changing, considering they keep releasing awesome new processors. I even got this cool gaming mouse the other day, with a joystick attached to the side and everything! It cheered me up after I invented an automatic vaccuum cleaner that apparently has existed for years.”

This guy just kept getting cooler and cooler. First he was friends with Kiki, then he was an inventor, then he had his own workshop, and then he just casually mentions he made an automatic vacuum like it was no big deal, like it was something he did on the daily. Tombo glanced around and, well, he probably did do that on the daily. What a life to live. 

He nodded at the mention of the secret project, the urge to ask what it was rising. Tombo knew better, though. A secret between friends was not something to share with almost a complete stranger. And it wouldn’t be fair of Tombo to ask, either. 

“I mean, yours was probably way better,” he said. “My mom used to use one, and it got around alright, but it didn’t pick anything up. So, really, is was like we were letting a little robot wander around our house. It was kinda sad when she threw it away...What else do you make? Like only household stuff or?”

Basement Dwellers || Toro

#basement dwellers #hiro hamada #toro

[itstombokopoli-blog]

the-little-prophet: 

How Charlie studied normally was completely boring. There were no flashy games, though yes, there were flashcards. There were no cute gimmicks, though there was a few tried-and-true techniques to pound the hundreds and hundreds of vocabulary that Charlie needed to know into the crevices of his brain, where that information could live alongside the esoterica of the needs of a prepper. It was his prepper hobby which gave him those memory techniques: acronyms, acrostics, mnemomics, chunking, word association.

There were the 10 C’s of survivability for example: cutting, combustion, cover, container, cordage, candle, cotton, compass, cargo tape, and canvas needle. Whenever he checked his bug-out bag, he could recite that lightning speed and know that he would be prepared.

There was also his personal motto: two is one and one is none. That reminded him that two of the 10 C’s were necessary if space could be afforded, making ti, well, 20 C’s, if you really wanted to be thorough.

So he was straightforward, studious, almost laborious in his efforts to study. When Charlie went through his notes he did not put things in his own words; he recited them, word-for-word. He memorized and spit it back.

Which meant Tombo doing a bit of improvising there did actually catch Charlie off guard for a moment. Just a moment though, because then his eyes lit up and the answer snapped to his lips:

“Spinous Process!” he said, then grabbed another card and stuck it on his forward, grinning. “C’mon, do another one, I got like thirty more seconds!”

Tombo nodded enthusiastically when Charlie got it, lighting up at how quick he had gotten it. Damn, he wished he could do that. Hear some shoddy clues and then just know that he was right, not even having to check because he knew he was right. He went to compliment, tell him how impressed Tombo was, but Charlie was already moving on with the game. Probably for the better.

“Oh, uh,” Tombo squinted up at the card, eyes moving back and forth across it was he read it over a few times. Dorsal root ganglion. Good lord, that sounded like a whole other language. Think, think, think. That was just...? Apart of the nerves in the spinal chord wasn’t it? 

“Okay! Okay, you are...not a bone or a muscle, but you’re still in the back and...And! You’re like, in a group? Is that the-, a cluster. And you’re apart of the game of telephone that’s like, ‘Oh, hey are we feeling that?’ ‘Yeah, we are, let’s hit up the brain to say what’s up in order to not be doing that anymore.’”

Tombo paused, only for a moment before sticking out a hand in front of Charlie’s face, “And you aren’t here,” he said flapping his hand around for a second before moving it over to the side of Charlie’s face, just off to the edge of his vision, “but here. Except you transfer your messages to here,” and he moved his hand back to the center of Charlie’s face before pulling away. 

His eyebrows went up and down once as he smiled at Charlie, waiting to see if he would get that one right off the bat, too.

Study Buddies || Chombo

#study buddies #charlie little #chombo #i s2g i poSTED this #im sorry!!

[itstombokopoli-blog]

kiki-takesthesky:

Tombo echoed her and for a moment, Kiki felt like she’d said it wrong.

Now– to Kiki’s credit, she had not asked for many numbers in her time because she was a Takayama Witch, and they were a traditionalist sort who found technology to be the height of Mundus arrogance and, for the most part, a waste of natural resources. Magic was the pure, highest form of energy in the many universes; technology was man’s ego trying to understand and dissect it. Thus, Kiki only got a cell once she left Ingary, and it was to be used in case of dire emergencies– her father had insisted. Her mother had said something about a beacon spell or using her workbook to send a message to Kiki’s mother’s own spellbook but–

Well, Kiki was not very good with communication spells. So, cellphone it was.

So, there was still much that Kiki didn’t understand about technology. She didn’t get Snapchat etiquette (was recently informed there was such a thing!) and definitely used too many emojis (she thought they were really cute) and would not have been surprised if there was a better way to ask for a person’s number (or “digits” as they were referred to in certain early-2000s TV shows). So Tombo blinked and stared at her and Kiki blinked and stared back and thought uh oh–

But then Tombo put back on that smile and crisis averted! He took out his phone and handed it to her, and Kiki gripped it, smiling. She quickly punched in her number and her name then handed it back to him.

“Um, there you go! I think I did it right,” she said. “You can, uh–text me your name if you want and– we can, er, maybe plan something something.” She gave a small shrug, but the smile was still on her lips.

He watched her at first and then quickly averted his eyes because it was both creepy and awkward to just stare at her, Tombo, come on. He was trying to make friends with one of the coolest people he had ever had the honor of meeting and he had been making a seemingly good first impression, no need to screw it up now. 

He took his phone back from her, and looked the screen over before nodding in confirmation that, yeah, she did do it right. Tombo saved her as a contact and nodded at her suggestion. Honestly he was going to have to restrain himself from double texting her. Or triple texting. He was more of a deca texter, but he would hold off until he knew he wasn’t going to scare her off. 

“That would be great,” he said, sounding a little more relieved than he did excited. Tombo pushed the phone back down into his pocket, knowing he would remember to text her later because who would forget to text a girl who could fly and wanted to hang out. No one. The correct answer should be no one.

“I’ll let you go then,” Tombo said and took another step back with his bike. “Good luck with your delivery. I’ll see you around!” 

It’s a Bird? It’s a..Girl? || Kimbo

#it's a bird? it's a...girl? #kiki takayama #kimbo

[itstombokopoli-blog]

hamadaxrobotics:

Hiro smiled. For some reason, Tombo was assuring. Maybe because Hiro knew he was genuinely interested in these things, and that he would handle things carefully even if he managed to make a bike blow up somehow. He tried not to think about that details as he trotted down the stone staircase to unlock the door.

“Here, come on in,” Hiro sort-of-replied, and pushed the metal door in, stepping aside for Tombo to walk in. The basement of the building wasn’t as big as Hiro would like, but he still managed to find enough space to do his work. There was a metallic work table in the middle of the room, with something covered in a blanket, and the opposite wall was lined up with a computer, his 3D printer, and a few monitors hooked up to both machines. To the right of the entrance was a curtain that kept the rest of the room out of view.

“It’s not as good as the places we get at the school, obviously,” he admitted, walking in after the other had done so. “But I like it! What do you think?”

Tombo followed, trying not to get too far ahead of himself. After all he had just met Hiro and he was trying to leave a good impression here. This guy could turn out to be his long lost technologically blessed friend Tombo had been looking for all his life. Someone who he could talk to about all this stuff when he needed a break from all the anatomy and pre-med mumbo jumbo. 

He stuck to the appropriate amount of distance between Hiro and himself otherwise he would have been on his tip toes trying to look over his shoulder or around his side to see what was up ahead. He was impatient when it came to these kinds of things. It’s why people hated watching movies or reading books with him, he always wanted to know before he had to sit through it.

“Wow!” he blurted when they finally got there. “It’s awesome! This is all yours? Like, no one else works down here? That’s so cool! Way better than where I use to do stuff, which was, you know, the shed behind our house, but this-! Wow, this is great! How long did it take you to set up?”

Basement Dwellers || Toro

#basement dwellers #hiro hamada #toro

[itstombokopoli-blog]

thestrength-of-thewolf:

Children. Thought everything was an amusing joke. University children were no better. In fact, in many ways, they were much worse, just on the cusp of adulthood. Thought they knew everything. Mahkia had just been beginning to edge herself into that bracket. The cusp of adulthood–and taken. Akela would never know the kind of woman she would become.

He’d have only memories.

He sighed through his nose and couldn’t tell if this boy was being facetious or not. If he was Akela certainly didn’t appreciate it. And, if he wasn’t–that was honestly worse, though don’t ask Akela exactly how. He had never really been one to suffer fools. Even fools who were children, which he had a moderate soft spot for, one might say.

“I will take you back,” he informed the boy gruffly before he’d even gotten all of his rambling nonsense out of his mouth. 

“Perhaps, if I do that, you will remember to stay on the trail next time, no?” he asked, rather jovially, though it was obviously sarcastic bravado as he turned to head towards the forest. 

“Keep up,” he called over his shoulder, “and don’t lose your glasses again.” 

Tombo hadn’t expected him to go as far as be his scout guide out of the forest. Again, all he had been looking for was a nod in the right direction. But this was even better! Right? He would not only get back to town without getting lost, he was going to get company! And with someone who seemed like they hung out in the forest a lot. So when the man turned away Tombo had stood there for a moment, a little confused, a little excited, and he jumped on the spot to catch up when the man advised him to do just that.

“Thank you,” he said when he finally managed to match pace and walk next to him, it was a little faster than Tombo usually liked to go but it was getting dark so he could understand. 

“So, uh,” he started, glancing over at the man, “I’m Tombo! It’s really nice to meet you! I didn’t know anyone really hung out here, the way some people talk about this place. Do you...are you like, a park ranger? Or, er, I guess forest ranger, maybe? Hey, is all that stuff they say true? Like the whole sword in some rock, or uh, what was...someone was trying to tell me a dragon still lives out here?”

He was trying to play it cool, you know, keep it casual. He was failing and didn’t notice his excitement pouring out.  

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf || Takela

#who's afraid of the big bad wolf #akela seeonee #takela

[itstombokopoli-blog]

hamadaxrobotics:

@itstombokopoli

It didn’t take long for Hiro to guide Tombo to The Lucky Cat Café. The locale was actually just a street away from the University, and easy to notice thanks to the large sign in both japanese and english, along with the cat decal next to the door.

After arriving, he guided his newest acquaintance (friend?!) straight through the shop and into the door in the back, that’d lead them to a small backyard. There, Hiro looked back at the other and smiled. “My workshop is right through here,” he explained, gesturing at a small staircase that went down into the foundation of the building, as if it were a basement’s entrance. “Uh… Be careful, please. It’s not exactly very orderly, you know?”

“Ready to see it?” he finally asked, after a hundred reconsiderations. He was nervous, but it was normal. The only people Hiro’d shown his workshop to were Kiki, Patty and Jim, and it was the time he did it with someone he’d recently met. But hey, Tombo seemed trustworthy, right?

Tombo followed Hiro to wherever it was they were going. He kinda knew his way around town these days but that was also kind of a lie because he still got lost a lot, especially when he was on foot. It almost felt like the town was rearranging itself around him sometimes. Of course he thought that was cool. Anyways, he knew where they were to the extent that it looked familiar and he recognized the building they were headed into. 

He had never been inside, so as they passed through he took a survey around, his head turning every which way. Hopefully he would be able to return here after this, otherwise the small glimpse he had wouldn’t be enough. Tombo had to tear his eyes away from what he was looking at in order to listen to Hiro. He leaned to the side to get a better look at the staircase, and then straightened back up, smiling at Hiro.

“Yeah, of course! I wouldn’t want to mess anything up,” he said, hoping it was reassuring. He took another step forwards, glancing down the stairs. Tombo shrugged, “As ready as I will ever be. Probably. Are you going first or should I?” 

Basement Dwellers || Toro

#basement dwellers #hiro hamada #torro #i loVE this title omfg

[itstombokopoli-blog]

thestrength-of-thewolf:

“Isn’t that what you’re glasses are for?” Akela asked, his voice lighter but still annoyed. He was teasing but–still annoyed.

This had never been his job back in India. The people knew not to venture too deeply into the jungle. They knew exactly what kind of monsters awaited them within. And not just werewolves and vaaghs. There were venomous snakes and regular tigers, leopards, pythons–all manners of vicious creatures.

The jungle was a thing to be wary of.

It was here too.

There were beasts within the woods. Redcaps and will-o-wisps that would lead you astray. Kelpies who would drown you. Trolls that would kidnap you. Wolves, too. Not just werewolves.

But, the people here seemed stupider than most. They thought these beings were their friends. No respect at all for them.

Akela was going to have to lead this bumbling fool back into town, wasn’t he? Perfect. Just…perfect.

Tombo laughed, awkward and forced. He pointed at the guy in a very, ‘Aye, you got me there, sir,’ fashion. 

“You’d think with all the technology in the world, but sadly I don’t have enough money to afford smart glasses, so, I don’t have a compass,” he said, uneasy. “Please, I...I know I’m just kinda, ruining your day, and stuff, so you don’t even have to say anything! You can just point! Or blink? Maybe? In a direction and I promise I’ll be out of your way.”

And because Tombo didn’t know when to stop, especially when he was uncomfortable and under such scrutiny, he kept talking. 

“Or, you know,” Tombo shrugged animatedly, his arms spreading out and his hands with their palms facing the sky above them, “I could just...stumble around. Get lost, wind up here again, bug you some more. Maybe even then, hey! Someone might notice I’m missing-,” he doubted anyone would, “-and they’ll send a whole search party of people out here to find me!” 

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf || Takela

#who's afraid of the big bad wolf #akela seeonee #takela #i mean same akela #we are exhAUSTING

[itstombokopoli-blog]

kiki-takesthesky: 

He was going to be a doctor because his parents wanted him to be.

Kiki looked up, and it was like a little light went on behind her eyes. She wanted to say: me too! Only instead of doctor, it was…be a witch. Be a witch, be a sorcerer, get a specialty and then… do what witches do. If she were like her own mother she would return to Ingary and then do a graduate programme there after her apprenticeship. She’d publish a paper on something… she would return to her mother’s workshoppe where they would be side by side. Or she could be like her aunt and focus on divinations and spend half a decade putting together her very own tarot deck, handpicking her cards from around the world.

Or she could be her version of a witch. The only version she knew how to be. She could fly her broom. She could make deliveries.

But she would be a witch. One just didn’t get…born into sorcery and decide, nah, I’d rather be a dentist! (Well, that one elf character did in that Christmas biopic about the red-nosed reindeer but…)

Kiki never even… really thought about anything else, you know. She didn’t know if she wanted to be a witch. She just was.

Sometimes she did wanna be something else though. A…saxaphone-playing witch. Oooor a cake-decorating witch!

Maybe… one day, she figured. Maybe.

“Oh, uh– yeah, I uh, do deliveries. Shoot, I actually definitely should be going,” she said, pursing her lips and glancing at her broom. Then she looked back up at Tombo. “It’s this regular of mine, she has arthritis and I have this– special creme and if she doesn’t get it she’ll be in a lot of pain, so I– I really should go.” Her eyebrows pulled down. “I’m sorry. I– we could uh, get milkshakes or something! I don’t really drink coffee so– but tea! I drink tea! Do you want my number?” She swallowed, bounced once on her heel, feeling shy and too forward but– well, he was nice. And he actually liked her flying.

The corner of his bottom lip pulled down in concern. Whoops, that was his fault, wasn’t it? Yes, it most certainly was. He nodded, understanding. He couldn’t just keep her here all day to talk to, even if that sounded like a great way to spend the rest of the day to him, it probably did not to her. Tombo took a step backwards as she repeated that she had to go, his bike rolling back with him, figuring she would need some room to take off again. 

He was on the verge of trying to say goodbye, or that it was really amazing to meet her, or asking if they could talk again sometime, maybe? 

Luckily she beat him to it and he followed along on her string of words, taking mental notes. Milkshakes, good. Coffee, bad. Tea, good. He could agree with that, three for three. Depending on the tea, anyways. But! This was great! She wanted to talk with him again. Hang out. Drink...something! Maybe then he could ask more about her flying and delivery service, because, wow, he wondered if she would get mad if he asked for something every day just to see her fly. 

He probably couldn’t afford that, but. Worth. 

“Your number?” he echoed, because for a second he didn’t understand what that meant. Was that, like, a witch thing or something to do with her business? Wait, no, that was a normal question that people asked these days. Phone, Tombo, get your phone, “Oh, your number! Yeah, right, of course! Here, let me-.”

With one hand he pulled his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, then swiped around on it with his thumb until he had a ‘New Contact’ page pulled up. He turned the phone over in his palm and held it out to her.

It’s a Bird? It’s a..Girl? || Kimbo

#it's a bird? it's a...girl? #kiki takayama #kimbo

[itstombokopoli-blog]

the-little-prophet:

Charlie raised his eyebrows up at Tombo and the grin split across his face again. There were definitely some people looking at them again– Tombo was speaking too loud for there not to be, but for once it was not Charlie. For once he didn’t care because Tombo didn’t care. How did he do that? Not care? Be a total dork as though it were a choice, instead of Charlie who had no idea how to be anything else. He had yet to find the proper manual, see, and if he had no instructions, no system in place, he just… was all over the place. 

But not Tombo, who gabbed and pointed and flailed his hand and then leaned on back, game-face on. 

Charlie almost didn’t want to crush him. He imagined a victorious Tombo would be like an explosion of confetti or a firework whizzing through the air. 

But that might also get them kicked out soooooooo…

“Oh, it’s on,” uttered Charlie right on back. He picked up another card, holding it up to his forehead without looking at it.

It read, in case you were curious: Spinous Process. 

Tombo squinted at the card. Alright. So they were starting off on something not too terribly...terrible. He hummed loudly as he thought about it, bringing a finger up to tap at his chin. Think, man, think, this one should be easy, it was like, right there in the name for goodness sake.

So there was the spine. Good start. The spine was made up of a bunch differing parts that made Tombo’s head spin a little bit as he had to grasp the fact that all of that made up the something inside people. It was cool, the things they learned about. Things like this he could link up to machinery, little pieces all coming together to make up one larger entity. All relying on one another to work.

There was the still so much in the spine, and most of the time they kind of all sounded the same. He just thought of it being bone, nerves, muscle, and soft tissue but he was supposed to know it was way more than that. He pushed back against the chair he was in, the hard surface hitting against his-. Oh wait!

“Okay,” he said, finally, “so you’re made of bone...you’re apart of a very important part of the body, and your job is to keep it together, basically? Or, wait, you’re a point of attachment for like, muscles and ligaments. You can also be seen or felt pretty easily from the outside.” 

Study Buddies || Chombo

#study buddies #charlie little #chombo #wOO #and i hope that made sense fdsjafds #i liked that website!! thank you v helpful #ahaha i leARNED something

[itstombokopoli-blog]

thestrength-of-thewolf:

This Mundus was an idiot.

That was what Akela summarized. It was not a surprise to him. All Mundus were idiots unless proven otherwise. This one just wasn’t even bothering to try and come off like anything else but an idiot. Akela was unimpressed by his excuse. The paths for Mundus (and most Magicks) to walk were aptly marked. Even without his glasses it would be hard to stray from them. 

He could smell the faint trace of blood that came from the boy’s knuckles as he scraped them against the stone wall. He felt the smallest twinge of sympathy. Mostly because he knew Mundus, especially the children were wimpy, weak things that needed an eye kept on them. 

“This is not my land. It’s a friend’s. Though, the forest is owned by none,” Akela said with a little flare of his nostrils at the very thought of humans putting one of their stupid price tags on this precious place. The castle was owned by Adam, yes, but the land was the forest’s no matter what any paper said. 

“And the forest is welcome to visitors, but only those who stay on the paths,” he said, dropping his voice into a low, warning growl–which rumbled in his chest, sounding only vaguely human. “I suggest you make your way back from where you came. Here.” 

He held out the boy’s glasses to him. The sooner he left, the better.

Harsh. This person sure was in need of some kind of r&r. Be it rest and relaxation or root beer and ramen. But that was okay, maybe today was just a bad day for them and here Tombo was, putting the icing on it. His usual smile faded away and he shrunk back, not at the tone he was being given, even though that weird noise they had just made was pretty freak, but because he was making them mad. 

If there was one thing he could narrow down his everyday goals to, just one simple goal, it was to make sure he didn’t make anyone’s life worse because of himself. He didn’t want to be a burden, he didn’t want to make someone feel worse because of something he said. Not directly, anyways. He knew he couldn’t help some people’s perceptions of a kid riding a bike without a helmet or suddenly make the cashier love their job because he was buying a stapler. 

But right now he was making this person’s day bad, he could hear it in their voice, and it made Tombo feel terrible. He nodded, and began to ask one last time if they could see his glasses when their blur moved. He squinted, leaning his head forwards to see what they were-. Oh. His glasses! He didn’t even stop to think about how he hadn’t seen their figure bend down because the thought of someone lying to him just didn’t cross his mind. 

He reached out carefully, taking them and putting them on his face. Tombo looked up at the man in front of him because, wow. “Uh, right. I’m so sorry, I’ll just,” with both hands he pointed and slowly took a step back. He stopped, looking around for a moment, then returned back . “Which way is town again?” 

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf || Takela

#who's afraid of the big bad wolf #akela seeonee #takela

[itstombokopoli-blog]

kiki-takesthesky:

No, she was not new.

Kiki actually felt as though she had been at Swynlake now a very, very long time. Its newness had long ago worn off. Now everything was cozy and familiar to her, even more familiar than Ingary, which…felt nostalgic, kind of, like she was remembering a picture book from her childhood (though only her father ever read her picture books; her mother had her practice tarots and star charts from a very early age.) She hadn’t been back in two years.

She’d gone to her home in Japan, though. She’d seen Tao and her father and would like to go back again soon, for the new year. But she should stay, she knew that. There was a supermoon coming. A super blue moon. Magic would be vibrant in a town like Swynlake. It might be her best bet to try to forge a bond with Jiji again.

All this to say that…Swynlake really was her home. Right? Or the closest thing she had? (Still, it felt like she was transitioning because she’d have to leave her apprenticeship and where would she go then? Would she stay here? Or…?)

“Oh, no, not really. I’m doing my apprenticeship here and so I’ve– well, it’s been almost two years. I came at the end of January,” she said. “Are you– studying engineering and stuff then? At Pride U? My friend Hiro is so maybe you two could know each other! Or you’ve seen him in your classes.”

Two years seemed like such a long time to Tombo, but he thought a week dragged. But he also didn’t think their were enough hours in a day to get everything done. Time was weird. Life was weird. Nice, most of the time, but still weird. 

He got stuck on the word apprenticeship and glanced to her broom. Right, right, she must be a witch! Or, was that the correct term? Sorceress? He didn’t know and he wasn’t about to ask because, what if she got offended and took off? Yikes, yeah, no he was just going to keep that question to himself until he got back to the dorms and could read about it.

“Oh, uhm, no. I mean! I wish I was,” he said, then made a face of regret at how that sounded. Like he was ungrateful, which he was not, he knew how good he had it. Look at him! In University trying to become a doctor. That’s a dream come true. “Not that what I’m doing isn’t good, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. But I’m a science major with a focus on pre-med. My parents wanted me to be a doctor, so, that’s where I am.” 

Wow, he was beginning to sound like a real downer. Tombo shrugged off the feeling he always got when he talked about his future and refocused his attention on what she had been saying, you know, the more important part of this conversation.

“But, you, wow, that’s really cool. Is that what you meant by work earlier?” he asked, motioning to her. “Or is that something you do in your spare time, too?” 

It’s a Bird? It’s a..Girl? || Kimbo

#it's a bird? it's a...girl? #kiki takayama #kimbo

[itstombokopoli-blog]

hamadaxrobotics:

For… twelve seconds? Hiro wouldn’t really  call it an invention if it only lasted that long, right? Or - Well, once he heard it, maybe the guy was onto something. Maybe he did have the basis of a nice invention there!

“Oh, wow! Uh,” he wondered, trying to think of the best way to formulate a question. “And how about… Well, have you been able to do it again? How did you even manage it?” He had to ask, of course. Was it some sort of complicated machine?

“I’ll show you my stuff, for sure,” he said, grinning genuinely. It was nice to have someone place interest in your work. “I… have a workshop. What we’re doing is sort of top secret, but I think I can tell you.” Because he was the only person that seemed to care. But, still.

“No,” Tombo replied with a sigh. A hand came up to rub at his cheek, fingers hitting against his glasses, making them bounce up and down. He used the back of his forefinger to push them into the correct position. For him anyways. “School’s got me really busy this semester. I haven’t had time. And, well, I mean technically I wasn’t supposed to have even been working on it anyways because my parents would have flipped their lid, but, hey, it got me here so they forgave. Probably haven’t forgotten but...”

His eyes looked to the side of Hiro as he trailed off, getting lost on that thought for a moment before he shrugged and returned back to smiling. “That would be amazing! I can totally keep a secret, man, don’t even worry about it. But, I mean, if not that’s cool, too! I’d be happy with whatever you want to show me!” 

Have You Seen This Girl? || Inventors

#have you seen this girl? #hiro hamada #torro #inventers

[itstombokopoli-blog]

the-little-prophet:

Tombo reached into his bag and pulled out–

Yeah. Swedish Fish.

Charlie laughed at once, the sound barking from his lips. Blimey, he’d not seen some of those for a while. This had nothing to do with his personal preference toward Swedish Fish (course he loved them) than it had to do for Charlie’s latest diet trick that he hoped would soften his migraines and spread out his number of night terrors, at the very least. And that was: giving up processed sugar.

Charlie was not great at these diets but he was technically ona roll right now– nearly nine whole days. He always needed something to snack on when it was the middle of the night and it was just him, his fears, and an episode of something pouring out in blue light from his laptop’s Netflix screen. So he’d turned to granola bars and granola and also pistachios, though he missed shoving M&Ms one after another into his mouth. Chocolate, his mother had once said– so long ago now, Charlie was not certain of the memory at all– was the cure for all bad dreams.

Swedish Fish could come in second.

“Now those–” he said, eyebrows raised (though that meant they just disappeared behind that messy dark fringe of his, “– could survive an apocalypse. Those are a real asset, you sure you wanna gamble your fish?” joked Charlie. “Cuz I can definitely take ‘em off your hands when I win this.” 

Oh. Oh it was on. Tombo had no intentions of winning because he knew he couldn’t suddenly have all the know-how and know-what that he was going to need in order to beat Charlie, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Not to say he wasn’t going to before. This was just more incentive to actually try and not think about studying as this terrible dreaded thing he usually did. 

“Don’t get cocky,” he warned with mock-seriousness, pointing a finger at him. “That’s when you become the hare instead of the tortoise. Or the guy Gordon Ramsay has between two slices of bread. Everyone loves the underdog.” 

The rest of his fingers uncurled at the last part, fluttering as he explained, and then fell back to the table. He sat up so his back straight and his shoulders pulled back. Tombo cleared his throat, repositioned his glasses on the bridge of his nose. He motioned to Charlie with a smooth swipe of his hand parallel to the table top. 

“Bring it on,” Tombo said, trying to get through it with a blank face, something like one of the team leaders in a sports movie would say at the beginning of the final show down. Sadly, he couldn’t help but break into a smile. Ah, well. He wasn’t looking to be an actor anyways.

Study Buddies || Chombo

#study buddies #charlie little #chombo

[itstombokopoli-blog]

kiki-takesthesky:

Kiki felt her cheeks heat a little at all of this boy’s compliments. She would think he was just making fun of her honestly if it weren’t for the sincerity that he exuded like some kind of bright light all his own. Kiki could see it. At least, she thought it was something like sincerity, though she’d never seen someone glow so brightly like that. Sincerity was usually so much quieter– so humble, really (humility and sincerity were in the same family of ingredients).

But if it wasn’t sincerity, then what was it, Kiki wondered. It wasn’t something she had seen in her books. There was no diagram that sprung to mind, no table that listed its various attributes.

Kiki was actually–stumped. She had not been stumped like that in a long time since if there was one thing she was good at, it was reagent classification.

Maybe that meant it was a hybrid reagent? A sincere enthusiasm? An enthusiastic sincerity? To figure that out, she’d have to collect it.

But that would be rude, to just go hey, so can I collect a magical ingredient off you? And he was being so…so… nice.

Kiki kinda liked him. He made her smile.

“Oh! Oh, right– I’m– I’m Kiki. Kiki Takayama,” said Kiki, and she bowed at the waist toward him. Then stuck her hand out, that smile growing a little bit more. “It’s um, it’s nice to meet you. A-are you new here in Swynlake?”

Tombo returned the bow and when he looked back up she was holding out her hand for a handshake. Oh man, this had taken the turn for the better. Tombo was over joyed that he had managed to get her to talk to him. Her. Talk to him. If he could just make sure to get through this conversation without her thinking negatively on him then he would call it a success. If it was neutral, that would be good, if she walked away with a positive attitude, that would be great. But he couldn’t think too much about it, other wise he might ruin everything. 

“Nice to meet you, Kiki Takayama,” he grinned, maneuvering himself to reach forwards and take her hand to where he could without the bike getting in the way. He allowed the appropriate amount of pressure and time to be applied to the handshake before pulling away, pointedly not thinking to heavily on how cold his hands were at the moment and how that might have bothered her and-. Nope, no. Moving on.

“Uh, well kind of,” Tombo said, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses as he thought about the complications of such a question. “This is my first year at University, so I am new, but not really new-new. I’ve been here for a few months, but, I’ve spent most of my time on the campus so far,” He took a breath. “I take it from your question that you aren’t, though?”

It’s a Bird? It’s a..Girl? || Kimbo

#it's a bird? it's a...girl? #kiki takayama #kimbo #omg yay #!! #kiki is too cute