#go check out the purple lion project

[hollowwhisperings]

VLD Retrospective: My POV as a Queer Biracial Asian Aspie

I don't generally enjoy listing my demographics in public spaces but for a Voltron Retrospective, I find it Quite Necessary to better convey how much VLD meant to me personally. This is one fan reconciling with a work I enjoyed for years, remain saddened for, and felt betrayed by. lf I'm good for anything, it's my being a Living Statistical Outlier.

VLD gave me explicit representation within its main cast: it gave me Shiro, who I clocked as chronically ill well before it was confirmed (Like Knows Like) & struggled with mental illness too (I'm not a war vet but Shiro's implicit Medical Trauma was Also There). Shiro is also, very obviously, an Asian &, as later revealed, a Queer Asian. There are few Queer Asians in western media who are Actual Characters: Shiro was (& remains) fun to have on board. It was, primarily, his struggles with his physical & mental health that most resonated with me.

Pidge is someone a lot of fans identified with, being a quirky genderbender maligned for her relative youth: I'm an autistic female who is gender "meh" so Pidge was "Representation" but she wasn't New nor Almost Unprecedented like Shiro or, as I'll elaborate further on, Keith. Every AFAB, every youth has felt undermined by their assumed gender & their youth: this is Not New. Pidge is fun but she wasn't Groundbreaking, not to me.

Keith and, to a lesser degree (as in assocoation with him), the "Half-Galra" Misfits were who I most identified with. Even before Keith was having Existential Crises over being Half-Galra, Keith read as someone biracial: his name, "Keith Kogane", makes him a white-passing Asian . I think current consensus is that Keith's Dad was "Mixed Asian*" but Keith's "orphan" (& secret alien) status prevented him from engaging with his heritage.

I am Not Galran (so far as I know) but I am a white-passing Asian & someone of "Two Worlds" (half white, half east asian). Star Trek's Spock established how most subsequent works of the sci-fi genre depicts half-human aliens: all the vibes of being Biracial, existential crises about Passing & feeling Disconnected ("rejected") by either/both halves of one's identity. Keith checks those boxes and Lotor's Halfsie Squad are similarly Coded (to lesser degrees).

Aliens, half-human ones especially, are very easily read as Neurodivergent as in "has ADHD &/or ASD": Keith continued this tradition & it further isolated him from his peers, especially because (like many of us on The Spectrum) he grew up "Undiagnosed". Keith knew he was Different but no one had the correct Context for his "Difference": this lead him to feeling Wrong, Rejected and Alien. This is an experience Familiar to anyone belatedly recognised as having ASD and also to Literally Any Queer Person.

To summarize the above: Shiro meant A Lot to me because he struggled with his health in silence (& was Asian); Keith meant a lot because his Human Demographics & Coding match almost entirely with my own. Shiro became "more" Important to me through his being Keith's Most Important Person (KH fans: you see where this is going): I was already Attached to Shiro, Keith made me invested in him.

KH fans knew from my invoking of "Taihetsu no Hito" [JP for "Most Important Person"] that, through being Invested in Keith & thus Shiro, I quickly Recognised that Keith? Desperately in love with Shiro. I did not, however, consider Shiro likely to Act on any Reciprocating of such feelings (which he did show signs of developing, as early on as that Stranded From Everyone Else and "when I die, you be Black Paladin" episode) due to the implied age gap between them. I knew Shiro was Younger Than Assumed (very early 20's at oldest, I figured from Contextual Clues), that Lance & Hunk were about 17 & that Keith was Older than Lance (so, 18). The age gap between Shiro & Keith was never that much of an issue: it was their difference in Rank & the ages they were at their First Meeting that were the "real" obstscles, to my mind. Season 6 or 7 did a Flashback that made Keith 14 when he first met Shiro: that very much explains why Shiro was reluctant to acknowledge attraction to Keith & unlikely to act on it. Keith did, however, read as Crushing On Shiro pretty much from their first encounter (Keith stealing Shiro's car was a very obvious effort to gain Shiro's attention & respect: something Keith was unlikely to recognise as Crush Evidence but Shiro definitely did).

And then Shiro lost 3 years to Time Dilation while Keith gained 2: their Reunion post-Space Whale was very telling. For the first time, Sheith actually seemed genuinely plausible to me. Keith had had a Glow Up that allowed Shiro to stop thinking of Keith as the kid he'd been when they first met & actually admit that his excuses to not act on any attraction had stopped holding weight. I remain completely convinced that "Kuron" had fallen, equally & just as desperately, in love with Keith over the series and that the Aggression Kuron exhibited toward Keith was as much caused by That (Gay Pining he refused to act on, even as Keith ran around in his Infamous Blades Uniform) as it was by Haggar (& Kuron's growing suspicions on his "true" nature).

Then there was the "You're my brother... I love you!" scene. Initially, given The Current Events of the time, I was irritated by the Abrupt Brother-Zoning from the Very Obviously Pining Keith to Shiro.

Then I noticed the order of these sentences: first, "you're my brother" (neither Shiro nor Keith have any siblings: in asia, there's MLM equivalent to "they were Roommates" in "they're sword/sworn brothers") and THEN, more desperately and while at the cusp of death... "I love you".

VERY ON BRAND, KEITH. It's also the "I love you" that gets through Kuron's programming enough for Keith to save them both. From my observations of VLD, the sole remaining obstacles to Sheith sailing were "will Shiro retain Kuron's memories and, if so, will he accept Kuron as being another Him" and "will the writers be able to get the execs to sign off on TWO queer paladins being queer with EACH OTHER"?

and then... the love confession was never addressed & Shiro stopped interacting with any of the Paladins beyond a professional setting.

By then, a lot of the show was looking Off and I actually looked at the online Voltron fandom to see if other people were Connecting Dots: some Meddling had happened, Shiro was being OOC as all heck, Allura and Keith seemed pretty miserable, Romelle was Sus as Heck, why was Allurance happening, where the heck is Lotor (etc)....

I was, like everyone else, greatly upset by Allura's needlessly being Killed Off and by Shiro's Stock Photo husband. I was also Not Impressed by the alleged "happiness" found by any of the Paladins: Shiro retiring his greatest dream, of flying and exploring the galaxy when he had just found out he Wasn't Going To Die from his Chronic Illness? Jim Kirk, another charismatic spaceship captain who loved to explore the universe, had a similar "retirement" ending for its Heroic Captain.

The first Star Trek film, set post-series, conveyed exactly how Shiro's "happy" ending played out for a character Shiro was almost certainly inspred by: Captain James "Jim" Tiberius Kirk.

Captain Kirk's "happy ending" was introduced in TMP as being: a promotion/retirement, marriage, & settling on Earth. Sound familiar, Shiro? TMP then shows how that "happy ending" plays out for someone like Jim (or Shiro): barely a handful of years later, Jim is miserable in his "retirement" (he was Promoted to a desk job); his Very Sudden marriage to a Previously Unknown Character is crumbling (& is even implied as being arranged by Starfleet's Brass to keep their Poster Boy on earth!); he clearly misses his Team (his Found Family) & at his first "valid" opportunity to get his Team together to fly into space again? That's exactly what Jim does.

Star Trek: TMP also, incidentally, features Jim living out some kind of Space Divorce Drama with his Right-Hand Man, the Half-Human Alien Spock. The two had apparently spent all those years apart and Spocks's "logical response" to [everything post-TOS] was... becoming a Vulcan Monk in order to Purge All His Emotions. (Krolia, please tell me that the Galra do not have an Equivalent to Vulcan's kolinahr & that, if it DOES, you Forbade Keith From Doing It).

Jim & Kirk saved each other, often very impossibly, in every other episode of TOS. They were also so widely shipped by fans that the "founding" of modern fandom cukture is often attributed to those first K/S shippers.

The easy Parallels between Spock/Kirk to Keith/Shiro were something that seemed to increase as VLD continued, likely as its creative team started recognising how naturally Keith & Shiro played out that epic space romance. The relationship between the Black Paladins was consistently emphasized within the series (until it abruptly Wasn't) and their bond was considered the strongest shared by any two paladins. A Sheith required very little effort from VLD's creative team and, given the Time Dilation plot point, that effort WAS made: Keith shows up Older & Blade-ier, Shiro Visibly Reacts and seems perfectly set up to Reevaluate his relationship with Keith, both of them visibly Adult and already established as "Equals".

Reading the research done by Team Purple Lion helped me understand the many degrees of unpleasantness caused by the Forced Removal of Lotor from VLD's endgame: the series' overall plot, key themes and multiple character arcs were contingent to the ugly consequences of Voltron's [murdering] him, the emotional effects Lotor had on Allura, the ways Lotor was integral to the show's themes of Redemption & Recovery & Love (of all forms). Just about every main character (and the imexplicable presence of several other characters) had their Arc underminded by Lotor's staying [murdered]: Lotor (obvs), Allura (VLD's Actual Main Character), Lance (who suddenly became Every Creepy "Nice" Guy), Pidge, Axca, Romelle, Merla, Yzor & her girlfriend, Honnerva...

I was invested in the plot, characters and themes of VLD: its ending wasn't just upsetting, it was contradictory to its own story. Though I am not invested in any VLD ships other than Sheith (for the way the characters are individually Important to me, the ways Shiro is important to Keith, the ways their relationship parallels K/S down to the syllables), the series had set certain ships up through its Themes and within its plot: Allura/Lotor, a reclamation of Allura's agency & a thematic resolution to the major conflicts of the series; Shiro/Keith, a love story the series spent 7 seasons telling; the tentative beginnings of Lance/Pidge, a Chekhov's Gun that would round their individual character development through better understanding each other; Hunk & Recognition of his Ingenuity, Bravery, Compassion (which would, incidentally, feature Hunk/Shay and Hunk's central role in the intergalactic Recovery proces). All of these ships serve a Purpose within VLD's plot, aid individual character development, reinforce the series' overarching themes, and have a solid basis within the text of VLD (as well as outside of it, in interviews and statements from the creative team).

I was able to "recover" from the betrayal of how VLD ended, largely through the detective work of fans like Team Purple Lion and reading many "fix-fic" wherein Allura Lives and Shiro is not OOC as all heck. VLD was one of many series, at the time, whose Betrayal of its themes & characters made Waves all over Fandom. It was, however, one of the Betrayals that hurt me more "personally". It was also a fantastic example of Creatives having horrid working conditions, Corporate Interests actively Hurting their consumers, of Fans being forced to Play Detective due to the modern Media Landscape: the culture of creatives being under strict NDAs, of their being without Unions, of how abruptly Projects can be undermined by the Whims of singular entities (creating additional work on an already overworked labour force, often in ways that betray their own work).

So, uh, surprise: this was a Retrospective inspired by the current Writers Strike & growing awareness (that we have known & ignored for years) of how unethical the working standards of animators are. There are Actual Americans and Actual Artists who can speak on these issues more specifically, as well as the best ways to help the affected: this was a more individual Take, from One Fan, and the ways that media has affected That Fan emotionally (though, being an Aspie, i'm pretty distanced from articulating any Specifics beyond "upset" because "this is narratively inconsistent"). The purpose of writing this was personal catharsis, a means of discovering how I feel about VLD all these years later, and perhaps as an act of microcosm within a greater fandom macrosm RE: engagement with media & correctly identifying how the faults of its business structure sabotage excellent works of fiction from staying "excellent" or becoming "magnificent".

*"Korean-Japanese" seems to ne the current consensus but as Sourced outside the text of the series. It is not his "exact amounts of Asian" that Keith is "relevant" to me but his being both Mixed & disconnected from his asian Heritage.

#hollow whispers #vld meta #sheith meta #asian representation #queer asian representation #aspie things #half-human aliens #spirk meta #vld retrospective #go check out the purple lion project #i have not the spoons to do hyperlinks today #fandom things

[meloromantics]

the knitting v crochet thing is so funny to me bc i started with crochet, which i still occasionally do, and moved to knitting where i've pretty much stayed. and i think the fundamentals of crochet are easier to pick up bc you're only working with one hand as opposed to knitting where you're learning to balance materials in both hands and have to develop muscle memory and all that. but tbh as much as everyone says knitting is harder to learn, i think once you've mastered the basics it's actually more straightforward than crochet in terms of how you actually form the stitches! esp wrt "reading" the fabric and understanding the "anatomy" of the stitches, like the structure of knitting is much simpler to me. one single crochet stitch has a lot more going on than one knit stitch! it's way harder for me to count stitches and rows in crochet than it is in basic stockinette or garter or ribbing, for example. and stuff like tunisian crochet? again i can do basics but some of that stuff is WILD complex (beautiful! but like 🤯) so it's always fun to see these two fiber arts camps looking at the other one in awe like "what fucking witchcraft are you working to make that??" we're all such winners 😊

tbh this is why i LOVE fiber crafts !!! i have a couple friends who have had similar craft trajectories to you and most are predominantly knitters, but one is fully ambicraftrous. crochet and knit garments and stuffed animals; the craziest thing i’ve seen her make is a crochet stuffed sea lion that she freehanded based off a single picture she made some markup edits too. every time she showed me i was like 🤯

also, since i’m here, check out my current project! i am test knitting this pattern, which is releasing soon: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuXcbesPsoz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

and mine is pink with dark purple contrast accents!! 🌸💟

so i decided to be extremely extra and do my first ever intarsia on the lace ties for the front! i’ve been working on them since yesterday and it is GORGEOUS but tedious, and i had to have sean 3d print me more bobbins at the library because it’s 7 colors over 32 stitches for a 4-row lace repeat 🫠

tonight when i was stoned at dnd i messed up three rows of lace repeat and had to frog this shit and i wanted to End It. but i persevered and only have 7 more repeats before i have to …. figure out how to factor the colors into the tapered decreases!!! 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

#knitting #fiber #this is why my typical policy is No Complicated Knitting When Stoned. but i was only a couple puffs deep and i handled it with dignity

[the-kittens-of-vol-tron]

Klance Dates: A Series

Part two of many. First Date 

-----

Lance began to wash the facemask off his skin. He still had about an hour before his dinner with Keith. He had sneakily asked Allura if he and Keith could go somewhere together; she was skeptical assuming it was another rival thing Lance wanted to do. But after thirty minuets of reassurance she finally agreed to let him go. 

He had asked Hunk to help make him some food to bring with him; who gleefully agree. The entire time they were cooking Lance’s fingers were shaking and he was fumbling over everything. Hunk said he had never seen him more nervous for a date and Lance reluctantly agreed with him. 

He slid on his casual clothes, not having many options and spent some time patting the cloth down, fidgeting with the cloth. His heart was pounding in his chest so he spent the time pacing his small room. It was a mix of excitement, anxiety and another emotion he couldn’t identity at the moment.  

He made his way towards the kitchen, grabbing the basket and blanket Hunk had placed for him. Keith was suppose to meet him at Blue so that was Lance’s next step. He still had some time before Keith showed up so he placed the basket in the back. 

He doubled checked that the map to the planet was in Blue’s navigation. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. You can do this. He agreed to go, he has to have some positive emotions regarding me. This will be okay...and fun. He didn’t believe himself but false confidence has worked in the past. 

Blue hummed in his mind indicating Keith had entered the bunker and Lance rushed out to meet him. “Hey mullet!” 

Keith frowned, but Lance didn’t find any negative emotions behind it. “Why did I agree to do this with you?” His lips formed a slight smile as he spoke. 

Lance hummed, “because I’m the teams sharpshooter.” 

“Yes...yes you are.” 

They stood in silence, just looking at each other. Keith was also wearing his casual cloths, his hair tied up in a small ponytail and he was wearing some form of cologne that Lance had never smelt before. 

Lance cleared his throat and titled his head back to his lion, “come on I wanna take you somewhere.” 

The planet Allura had picked out for him wasn’t too far away. Which was good since Lance felt like his skin was on fire as Keith leaned over his seat to look out of blue; like they had the first time they all flew in her. 

They landed in a meadow like area. The plants displaying a vibrant arrange of blues, pinks, and yellows. The sky was a light purple color and there was a sift wind they blew every so often. It was peaceful. 

Lance grabbed the blanket and basket and opened Blue up. “Let’s go!” 

They walked a bit before finding a spot that was in the shade. Lance dramatically spread the blanket out and set the basket in the middle. “Hunk helped me cook some food and...yeah I hope it’s not bad.” 

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Keith sat down on the blanket, watching Lance as he pulled out various containers and two cups. 

He pulled out a bottle that resembled a wine bottle, “Hunk says this taste like apple cider, and it shouldn’t be alcoholic.” 

“Shouldn’t?” 

Lance shrugged, “Hunk drank a bottle once when he was working on a project with Pidge. Said nothing happened so we concluded that it’s just bubbly apple juice.” 

Keith smiled, “I like apple juice.” 

Lance couldn’t help but laugh, “okay that was kinda cute.” He swore he saw a tint of red on Keith’s cheek and he shifted his focus to the food in front of them. “So lets eat!” 

They spent an hour talking and eating. Keith asked about Lance’s life, his family, his hobbies, and just about him. Lance hesitated to do the same, knowing he was a private person but after the hour passed he had learned more about his past than ever before. 

Lance found himself laying down on the blanket after placing the basket off to the side. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind rustle the plants surrounding them, hearing the creatures chatter in the area. Keith laid down next to him after a couple of minuets, keeping some space between them. 

“Why did you ask me out for dinner?” 

Lance opened his eyes to look at Keith, who was keeping his eyes trained up at the sky. “Because I like you.” He felt his cheeks go hot again. 

Keith nodded slowly, “like me as a friend? Or...” He trailed off.

Lance chuckled, “like more than a friend. I have for awhile.” 

Keith titled his head towards him, finally making eye contact. “How long?” 

Lance hummed in thought, “the Garrison?” 

Keith gave a breathy laugh, “Jesus.” 

“What?!” 

“That’s just a long time to like someone.” 

“Well, I thought I didn’t like you but that enemies to lovers trope is real.” 

Keith hummed, “I never saw you as an enemy. But you always wanted to be rivals.” 

Lance nodded, “yeah, but I grew up a bit. Being thrown into space does that to someone.” 

They fell into a comfortable silence, and neither of them knew when it happened to who made the first move but their fingers slowly intertwined together. 

They laid there until Blue urged Lance to come back, keeping their hands together on the walk back. The trip back to the castle was done in silence but it wasn’t uncomfortable by any means. When they landed, Lance stood up from his seat, his nerves returning. “I had fun today.” 

Keith nodded, “me too.” 

“Did-would you want to do this again...?” 

“You gotta get better at asking me out if you want this to be a returning thing.” 

Lance smiled, “is that a yes?” 

“Yeah.” 

-----

Second date is next :) 

Part one! 

Fell free to send me langst or klance prompts! 

#no beta #klance dating series #first date #klance #keith x lance #lance vld #keith vld #my writing #long post #no angst #posted to A03 #fluff #boys in love #part of a series #forgot a line break sorry!

[smallpotatoknitwear]

Quarantine Blanket Roundup!!!

Between April of 2020 and June of 2021, I made a grand total of TEN handmade—both knit and crochet—blankets, and, while they each have their own individual posts, talking at length about each of them and including all of the details about each blanket, I thought it would be fun—and would also be extremely pleasing for me, personally—to make a single “roundup” post of each blanket, with a few quick details about them, and a photo of each one all in the same place. I’ll also include links to the posts about these blankets, in case you want any further information about them, such as patterns for those that actually have patterns and weren’t just… corner to corner or granny squares.

P.S. please forgive the poor quality of these photos—apparently, if you upload them from one device to another, post them to tumblr from the second device, and then redownload them from tumblr to put in a new post, the quality of the photos really goes down 😅 check out the original posts for slightly better photo quality, if nothing else, I beg you!!!

#1: Corner to Corner (1)

The first blanket I made, I did this blanket in just over 7 days, using a little over 10 skeins of Caron Chunky Cakes yarn in Ballet Sorbet and a US size K hook. I regretted two of those decisions, because the small hook size (compared to yarn weight) and intensity of making an entire blanket in about a week really messed up my thumbs for the long run, but uhhh… it’s fine. I love this blanket. It was also my first ever crocheted blanket!!!

#2: Pickup Lines

Made using about five skeins of Caron Chunky Cakes yarn in Cherries Jubilee, as well as US size… 13? knitting needles. This blanket was a fun time. I watched a lot of anime while making it, and discovered that I can knit (so long as it’s straight knitting or purling, nothing fancy) without actually looking at my hands/yarn/project, because I watched Demon Slayer and read the subtitles while knitting this blanket.

#3: Granny Square (1)

I have always loved the look of granny square blankets—of any kind, from quilt-style pieced blankets, “traditional” scrap blankets with loads of colors, or more modern variations, like granny stripes, single square blankets like this one (and blanket #4), and more. You’ll see a few other granny variations on this list, actually! This was theoretically a scrap blanket, and did use a lot of scraps from my stash, but I did also buy a fair amount of yarn to supplement it. Check out the post on this blanket for more details. I used worsted-weight yarn (or lighter yarns held together for the equivalent) and a US H hook.

#4: Granny Square (2)

I loved my first giant single-square granny blanket so much that I immediately made another. This one, I actually had a plan for—alternating pink, purple, and blue stripes, with fur and fun fur stripes mixed in. Realistically, I don’t really like how it turned out. I wish I had used more fur, and alternated stripes differently. My favorite part of the blanket is the last few inches, basically after the purple fur stripe and to the end. I did get to use up a lot of scraps for this blanket as well, but supplemented it just like the last one with purchased yarn. I used worsted weight yarn and a US H hook. This blanket is also for sale, if anyone is interested.

#5: Corner to Corner (2)

This blanket, like the last two, started out as a scrap blanket, but I quickly realized that there was no way my scraps would go anywhere near far enough to finish the blanket, so I bought quite a bit of yarn to supplement them. This blanket probably had the most flip-flops between “I love this!” and “I hate this!” out of all the blankets I’ve made so far. It’s made entirely out of Lion Brand Homespun yarn, and you can find a list of at least most of the colors in the blanket post. I used a US size K hook.

#6: Granny Rectangle

Back to the Caron Chunky Cakes, for this blanket I used… I forget how many skeins (check the post to find out) of Sweet and Sour, as well as a US L hook for this blanket. It was technically started in 2020, but most of the work on it was done in 2021, so it is counted as one of my blankets for my personal challenge to make 12 blankets in 2021.

#7: Corner to Corner (3)

The second blanket completed in 2021 (although, like the Granny Rectangle, technically started in 2020), this is one of my favorite finished blankets on this list. I had some moments of “this is ugly and I hate it”, but not nearly as many as with the Homespun c2c, and I absolutely love how the finished blanket came out. It also let me use a fair amount of some really bright (and kind of ugly) purple yarn that I’ve had a ton of for years and haven’t been able to use up, so I’m pretty grateful for that 😂

#8: Mitered Granny

We’re back with another Caron Cakes blanket (Baby Cakes this time, though, in the colorway Candy Hearts), as well as another granny variation, because I love both of those things, especially in a blanket. The first blanket I both started and finished in 2021. I really love how it came out, with the exception of the border, which makes me sad.

#9: Tilt-a-Whirl

My first full-sized pieced blanket! I had my doubts while making it (and weaving in all of the ends was SUCH a pain), but it did use up a good amount of scraps (including more of that ugly purple, which actually looks quite nice here if I do say so myself), and, while I did wind up buying the grey yarn for the “frame”, I think that overall it was a net loss to my stash. And I really love the border.

#10: Ten-Stitch

The last blanket on this list, I finished it I think two? nights before I went back to work, and wove in all of the ends after going back, but I’m counting it as technically finished before because… it was. I love this blanket. It checks all of my boxes: huge (over 6x6 feet, which, while not the biggest thing ever, is p big to me as someone who is 5’1”), rainbow, Caron Chunky Cakes yarn, and just generally, all-around snuggly and warm. Plus, my cat loves it, and I have a worsted-weight blanket (not on this list, as most of the work and finishing were done post-returning-to-work) that matches, so it’s basically perfect! This blanket, out of all the ones on my list (and, actually, all the ones I’ve ever made/finished) took me the longest, as I started it in summer of 2020 and finished it right around a year later, in June of 2021.

#quarantine blanket #quarantine blankets #original post #original #knitting #crochet #c2c blanket #c2c crochet #corner to corner crochet #corner to corner #pickup lines #pickup lines afghan #granny square blanket #granny square variation #granny rectangle #mitered granny #tilt a whirl #ten stitch #ten stitch blanket #caron chunky cakes yarn #caron chunky cakes #caron cakes #caron cakes yarn #blanket #afghan

[cosmiclatte28]

Hot Patch (Dad! Yuta x you)

a/n : Hey! I am here to share another Yuta domestic au :) Himnaseyo everyone! I hope this oneshot can make you feel calm before sleeping or just have a better day :) Hold On Pain Ends! Idk if you remember, but welcome Nami and Kenji back to your pages.

tagging my eonni @yutahoes and amazing fellow ais who always support yuta with all their hearts @2-3-t-i @ailoveyuta and all the domestic yuta lover out there

here we go ~~

The cloudy sky starts to cry and that gives you a bad feeling. You pause in track, open your umbrella and quickly pull Nami under the umbrella and Kenji up on your shoulder.

“Kenji sweetie, hold on tight okay?” You ask through your shoulder as you hoist him up so he can hold on to your shoulder nicely.

Kenji just nod and with his firm grips on your shoulder you now check on the growing beautiful girl who already clings her hand on your dress.

“Nami, stay close.” One of your hand is under kenji's body making sure he is not slipping off while your other hand is holding the umbrella. Nami understands and three of you start walking down the pouring rain.

You are glad you didn’t bring much stuff when walking with them to the park, you give yourself a good job for bringing an umbrella but in your mind you have to remember to make Nami bring her own. Before Kenji is here, you can pick Nami up and run through the rain but not now.

Your phone rings and you guess it must be Yuta. He said he was heading home earlier and you guess he must have been homed and found your message that three of you are going for a quick afternoon walk.

Nami glances at you for ignoring the call, but you chuckle “It's probably dad, don’t worry he's home already. Now Nami after this you go inside and take off your wet clothes okay?” you tell the little girl that when you see your home sweet home.

Yuta’s car was parked already in the garage and the lights are on. Nami made it to the front door mostly dry, she bangs on the door and waits for Yuta to open the door for them.

“I was super worried when the rain fell-" Yuta's sentence stop and his eyes run from Nami who dashed through him, to you who look super struggling keeping Kenji up with one hand and holding an umbrella. His heart goes warm and he wants to scold her.

“Help me please?” you raise your brow. Yuta quickly step forward and you turn your back to him. Yuta takes over Kenji from you and you winces when your left arm was completely numb and sore from hoisting him up. You drop the big heavy umbrella. Good thing you're still able to bring both of your kids home safely.

But your duty as a mom is not over. Nami has already taken off her clothes, Yuta runs the hot water and you're helping Kenji escapes from his dry clothes. You smile feeling proud that the torturous journey at least makes Kenji dry as bone.

“Kenji fell asleep already since he arrived!” Yuta said when the kids are already sitting in front of the TV, eyes glued to their favorite ninja series, while hands and mouth are busy drinking hot chocolate.

You have taken a warm bath too and stretch your aching limbs a little, before getting teased by Yuta.

“Really? Kenji fell asleep? No wonder he felt heavier on my back.” You sigh and gulp down the steaming hot ocha Yuta placed in front of you.

Under the dining lamp on the small dining table, Yuta sits across you. In his comfortable clothes and smiling face.

“You could’ve called me. I will pick you while you wait in the park.” Yuta taps his fingers on the table.

You cross your arms over your chest and giggle “Aigo, we were already halfway home, I thought going back home before the rain gets heavier is a better choice.”

Yuta nods “It is, but you overworked yourself.”

“A thank you would be better. Look at Nami and Kenji arriving home dry!”

“yeahh but you, your front side is totally not dry.”

“kids are the priority Yuta…” you lean to your chair while keeping your palms warm with the heat from the tea cup.

“I know, but look at your hands. I'm sure you won’t be able to move them tomorrow.” Yuta clicks his tongue.

“Then it’s your turn to babysit them.” You clap your hands and stop when the pain hits your arm.

Yuta laughs and leaves his chair “Hold up okay let me get you some hot patches.”

He comes back with the famous hot muscle patches from his homeland and Yuta walks to your side. He seems to know where to put the patches on, because he went for specific points.  Unlike you who usually press all your arm and find the aching spot and put the patch there.

“Now, done!” Yuta slams the empty sticker to the table and you crack your neck “Thanks. Can you prepare dinner?” you bat your eyelash and if this is anime, he'd have blood dripping from his nose.  Both from your aegyo and the request to cook.

“Alright, since you look so cute and you've been a great mom. I can cook dinner. What should we eat?” he leans over to grab his phone and you press your back to the soft mattress.

“Anything edible. Don’t burn the house, I'll take some nap.” You yawn and stretch your arms up before disappearing under the blanket.

Yuta scrolls through the internet, using a website that can give you recipes from the stuffs you have in your fridge. He smiles when he found one that will suit the children's palette and yours too.

“Guess it’s some italian night dinner today. I at least know I won’t burn the house from boiling pasta.” Yuta thinks to himself. He changes his clothes to a comfortable one where he won’t mind getting oils or sauces on and he walks to the kitchen.

With his apron on and his hair tied back, he begins organizing the tools he needs, ingredients and starts boiling the water.

There's an hour to dinner time, he hopes he can finish on time before any of his little piglets come for food. Talking about his piglets (aka children) Yuta walks to peek into their room after putting the pasta into the boiling water.

There he sees Nami laying on her bed with her favorite doll cuddled next to her, Kenji on the other bed is already snoring lightly. They must’ve been tired from playing all day long!

He steps into the room to cover Nami with her small soft blanket, a purple one! Similar to what Taeyong has, just his is black. Kenji has tossed his blanket on the floor and Yuta gently returns the blanket on his smaller copy of him.

He adores his babies so much and sometimes seeing them already this big makes him wants to cry. He has been missing a lot of things! His idol career doesn’t allow him to always be on their school activities or events. He's glad you stopped your office job and listened to his aid to just start your long wished start up project. A small florist with a coffee shop next to it.

You have your workers so you just have to occasionally come for control. Other than that your children have your attention and time 100% of the day.

He remembers about his cooking and before he can escape from the room, a small whine catches his attention.

He twists his body to see the owner of the voice rubbing and blinking his eyes and turn over to stand on his bed. Oh Kenji can go down from his bed by himself now! Yuta just witnessed that.

“Otosan?” he yawns and blinks several times confused at the dark room condition. Yuta puts a finger over his lips and kenji copies it. “Your noona is sleeping,”

Kenji seems to understand and slowly tiptoes to his father who's already kneeling down to hug him.

“Hungry,” Kenji grins and Yuta swiftly picks him up in one go and make a dash to the kitchen. He comes back in time, with Kenji on his other arm, he turns the stove off.

“Kenji, I have to move this water but it's hot. Do you want to sit first?” Yuta asks nicely but Kenji shakes his head eagerly and clings into Yuta's neck stronger.

“I miss otosan.” He buries his face to the crook of Yuta's neck and Yuta sighs. Oh so this is why you always said clingy kids are annoying when it comes to cooking.

“Okay then, you can be on my back but behave.” Yuta walks to take the baby carrier on the sofa. Well he has this baby strap where you can keep your baby on your back safely while you do your chores.

Kenji happily climbs into his back and Yuta’s glad he can put on the strap by himself. After making sure it's secured and Kenji is comfortable, Yuta begins throwing away the hot water, and prepares for the sauce.

Although he knows you love creamy pasta, the children love tomato bolognese more and so as parents both of you will have to set creamy pasta aside.

“Otosan, am I heavy?” Kenji asks after he keeps quiet when Yuta is stir frying  the meat.

Yuta chuckles when did this kid learn this phrase? “Of course not! Otosan is strong. I can carry you even if you are heavy.”

Kenji leans his chubby cheeks on Yuta's shoulder and his small fingers play with Yuta's ear. Yuta's glad he doesn’t have any earrings now. Having Kenji pulls one accidentally or not is a nightmare.

“Then Otosan should do this more!” kenji claps his hands happily “Mommy says she cannot carry me on her back anymore when she does chores.”

Yuta is surprised at his eloquence but more surprised to find out that you've been carrying Kenji on your back while doing chores.

“Eoh okay then Kenji.  Since otosan is stronger, you come to me when you need a lift okay? We don’t want mommy to get hurt.” Yuta speaks softly to his son while his focus is still on making sure he didn’t overcook the meat and pours the right amount of sauce.

“Otosan cool.” Kenji's sentence return to fragments and he sure is a surprise eh?

“Cool? Otosan looks cool?” Yuta's proud voice is back and his sassiness is showing.

“Hm" Kenji nods and his eyes are focused on the plates filled with pasta now.

“Hungry!” Kenji points to his lion plate and Yuta takes them all to the table. He quickly sets the plates and glasses  not to forget the cutleries.

“We wake up mom and noona then we eat?” Yuta always makes sure they are eating together, thankfully Kenji is used to this and he rushes Yuta to wake Nami up.

He gets down from Yuta's back and Yuta moans in relief when his back feels lighter. He giggles now why he understood you asked Kenji to stop being on your back all day long. Yuta makes his steps to your room and wakes you up gently. You stir in your sleep and smell the delicious food.

“Hmm pasta?” you ask while rubbing your eyes and smiling to Yuta. His heart softens at how cute you can still be even after having two kids. Without holding back, Yuta plants a quick kiss on your lips and takes your hand to stand up.

“Kenji is starving and he is waiting.” Yuta only needs to say that for you to quickly walk to the door and greet your two loves with big smile as the four of you wash your hands and sit around the table.

“Thank you for the food.” The four of you chime together “Itadakimasss!”

Yuta pauses before taking his own bite. He looks around the table to wait for complains or thumbs up but looks like everyone is too hungry.

“It's delicious.” You mutter the praise, it’s the truth. A food cooked by your husband is always delicious. Because you don’t have to cook and don’t have to wash. No kidding.

Nami gives a thumb up and kenji is already shoving his face into the bowl.

Yuta feels happy and he digs into his own plate. You're right this is not bad. He expected it to taste too bland or too salty, but it's perfect.

Dinner ends nicely with Nami and Kenji asking for more pasta and you gladly give them more. They're kids and they need nutrients to grow.

All in all this is a perfect day and night. You got to spend a fun afternoon in the park with your kids and Yuta cooked you all dinner. You even get to rest afterwards because he washed all the dishes and even play with the kids and sings them lullabies.

He returns to your room when the kids are alseep. His face shows he is tired but the glow he radiates shows he is happy to do this father-children bonding time.

“I told them their favorite bedtime stories.” Yuta says after he changes into his pajamas and dives into the space next to you.

You're watching a tv series and Yuta hugs you from the side “Don't you want to sleep? You're tired.”

You turn the tv off and face Yuta, slowly you cup his cheek “Why would I sleep when I still don’t receive my bonding time?” you wink at Yuta and he chuckles.

“You really are naughty!” he tickles you but you tickle him back “I am just waiting for you so we can sleep together! Pervert.” You playfully hit his chest and he grabs your arm that's on his chest.

His gaze is deep and he kisses your palm without breaking eye contact “Okay we'll sleep. What queen wants , queen gets.”

You laugh and press yourself closer to Yuta. He engulfs you in a hug and you nuzzle yourself to a comfortable position.

One slight shift and suddenly everything's so good. The pillow feels cold, the blanket soft and Yuta's heartbeat is a great lullaby for you. You don’t want to move, you want time to stop and pause here.

Life is great with Yuta and the small family you love. Your small family with Yuta.

endddd, it’s rainy season somewhere out there please take care of yourself :D

#yuta x reader #yuta x you #yuta x y/n #domestic yuta #yuta fluff #yuta soft hours #yuta scenarios #yuta imagines #yuta nakamoto #yuta oneshot #nakamoto yuta #nakamoto yuta x reader #nct yuta #nct fluff #nct fluff imagines #nct oneshot #nct 127 fluff #yuta soft moodboard #father yuta

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

What are the ten True Dragon Types? And what's a true dragon? I don't play D+D lol

(( Hey yall! This post is REALLY LONG (and techincally the part one to a much shorter addition about drow dragonblood descendants, here!) but the stuff in it is pretty important, since this game focuses pretty heavily on dragons and I’ve changed quite a bit about them from standard 5e! So, if you have time, maybe take a look ;) ))

(( I got a LOT of the changes to the chromatic dragon’s designs, and the pit organs of the copper dragon, from tumblr user filibusterfrog! Go check out their art and creature designs, they’re mad awesome!! ))

~~~

      True Dragons are the ten subspecies of Dragon who most resemble the ancient goliaths that ruled the entire Material Plane long ago, before it was stolen from them by the ancient Elves, and most of them were killed. They are few in number and don’t tend to band together in clans, but that does not make them weak. They are still huge, immensely powerful beasts, with a natural command of magic and the elements and incredibly long lifespans. 

      (“False Dragons” are either farther removed from their common ancestors, or are not actually related to dragons at all and simply resemble them more than any other creature type, like wyverns and drakes!)

      ((More in-depth explanations below!))

~~~

      After the war with the Elves and their allies, those Dragons who survived split into two pseudo-religious factions; the Metallics, who serve King Bahamut, Platinum Justicebringer, and made peace with the Elves and all other humanoids, and the Chromatics, who revere Queen Tiamat, Chaos Avaricious, who desire to see the world brought back under their thumb. 

(Metallic, strongest -> weakest: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, and Brass.)

(Chromatic, strongest -> weakest: Red, Blue, Green, Black, White)

      These two rulers gained Deity status through their people’s reverence, and in turn shaped the bodies and minds of their people into the dragons we see today: Unlike most Humanoids, Dragons don’t exactly have free will. (Most of their personalities and decisions are directly puppeted by their Gods.) Because of this, the behavior of each Type is pretty consistent across the board, even in half-dragons or dragonblood descendants. Each Type also has a distinctive look, a set of common behaviors and flaws, and a set of Hoarding Behaviors, though they are all incredibly greedy and proud beasts. 

~~~

The Ten True Types:

~

      Black Dragons are slender and wiry, their bodies covered in slick, dense, thick tar-colored fur. Their fur is lighter around their eyes and on their underside, appearing a pale, sickly yellow or green. Their horns are just as pale, and protrude from the sides of their heads and wrap around, projecting forwards. Thick pale skin plates their muzzles and under their eyes, appearing like the naked bone of their skulls. Their front feet have extra skin that acts like a paddle for swimming, and they have flat, paddle-like tales, and the hair at the upper part of their neck sticks out like a large frill. They smell of rotting vegetation and foul water.       By far the cruelest and most vile-tempered of the chromatic dragons, black dragons actively take pleasure in the suffering of weaker creatures. They hoard the ruins of old civilizations and ruined noble houses to imagine the suffering of their endings, and hoard tools of torture they might use to toy with their prey. They desire nothing more than to kill, in whatever way which maximizes the suffering of their chosen victim/s. Their weapon breath is a stream of bubbling green acid.

~

      Blue Dragons have two large horns on their snout much like a rhino, two smaller horns by their ears, and even more horn-bumps lining their thick, crocodile-like tails. Their scales are thin, layered across thick hide-skin like a light chain mesh. They range many shades of blue, with a more cream-colored underbelly, paws, and horns. They have a dark blue mane of hair around their necks and chests, which stretches down their back and tail, between their scutes. Their chests are large and necks are short, but they are lighter than they appear, most of that center mass being applied as muscle that powers their massive wings, more powerful than any other dragon’s. They smell like arid sand, and the burning, static sting of an oncoming storm.

      Blue dragons are ceaselessly vain, more concerned with being respected for their beauty and the beauty of their hoards than for their power. They are even known to spare those who flatter them enough, and allow safe passage to jewel merchants who promise them the finest in their possessions. They are still not to be trusted, and are more likely to mock and toy with lesser creatures than spare them, like cats playing with mice before a meal. They exclusively hoard gems and items laden with them, preferring blue sapphires above all others. Their weapon breath is a stream of powerful lightning.

~

      Brass Dragons are one of the most distinctive. Their wings attach all the way to the tips of their tails, longest at the shoulder, making a V shape from below. Their thin, brass-colored scales -- which start brown when they are young, turn brass, then turn blue in splotches as they age -- radiate heat and light. Large curved plate-like horns extend from the dragon’s eyes and cheeks on either side and curve upwards into two points, and a mass of brass and brown spotted feathers grows behind them, fluffing out around their chest and neck like a lion’s mane before tapering down their back to the tail. They have two sharp horns on their chin that curve downwards, giving their muzzles a faux beak-like shape. They smell like freshly worked metal.

      Brass dragons are the most benign of the ten, wanting nothing more than to converse with other creatures. They love to talk, to the exclusion of every other possible activity. They hoard items that make conversation easier, like sentient magic items, genie lamps, and items with charm effects. Brass dragons have two separate breath weapons: a narrow line of fire, and a cone of sleep gas. (All Metallics have a lethal breath and a non-lethal breath)

~

      Bronze Dragons have small, reflective scales (which are red at infancy but turn bronze in color during adolescence,) and black claws and horns. As they age, the tips of their wings and horns turn teal blue at the edges and tips, and their scales turn teal in long stripes. They have four large horns on each side of their heads, three protruding from each cheek and one from the top of their brow, all pointing back towards their tail. Their tongues are long and purple-grey, with a shallow fork like an iguana’s, and their teeth appear to be forged of broken glass, like the moray eel’s. A series of long spikes runs down the upper part of their necks, the spikes curving slightly backwards towards the tip of the tail. A dorsal fin runs from just beneath these spikes all the way down to the tip of their tails, mirrored by another long fin that stems from under the chest and runs along the underside of the body. Bronze dragons smell like sea spray.

      Bronze dragons are curious and stubborn, possessing a strong sense of justice and a deep-seated hatred for all forms of cruelty. They crave the sea and the pursuit of freedom, often spending their time taking human shape and becoming pirates or seaside mercenaries. They are brilliant military tacticians, and they demand high salaries for their work. The only time they will charge into battle without compensation is when fighting against a powerful tyrant, where they can expect to go all-out, and exercise their true strength without restraint. They hoard keepsakes and memorabilia from the wars they’ve fought and adventures they had, including sunken ships, old cannons, and legendary weapons. They have two breath weapons, a lethal lightning breath and a repulsion breath that does no damage, just moves things around. 

~

      Copper dragons have short, smooth faces, with pit organs and cheek ridges that point backwards. Their long segmented horns begin as smooth brow plates and extend backwards, and plate-like scales extend backwards from the tops of their heads and down their backs, with incredibly thick hide on their underbellies and the insides of their limbs. Their scales are wide and large, like interlocking shields, and dome over their wide bodies, making them look much like pangolins. These scales begin orange, yellow, or green in color, turning copper as that dragon ages, then green in spots and splotches as they reach adulthood, though they remain red-orange around the eyes. Tucked underneath the bottom ridges of the lowest scales are their alar limbs, short but articulated, and manta-like wings grow from them down to the base of their tails. When fully opened, they seem to make a U shape from below, with red and green discolorations at the end. Their tails are long, wide, prehensile, and well-armored, and they have long digging claws.. As they age, these dragon’s pupils turn a glowing turquoise green. They smell like stone.

      Copper dragons are even-tempered and sociable, with an insatiable love for riddles and jokes. They love to share in witty conversation and play “harmless” pranks, but get offended easily at those who don’t like to laugh or talk, and people who do not find them funny. They treasure moments of good companionship, and hoard items that remind them of people and conversations they’ve enjoyed, as well as old tomes that contain their favorite stores. They have two breath weapons; a line of powerful green acid, and a cone of gas that slows anyone who touches it. 

~

      Gold Dragons appear like the typical depiction of a Chinese dragon in our world, but their fur, scales, antler-like horns, and claws are all the color of glittering gold. As they aged, even their pupils faded away until their eyes appeared like pools of liquid gold. Notably, they do not have wings, flying entirely through magic and force of will. They seem to glow in the sun, though whether they are actually glowing or their scales simply reflect sunlight very well is anyone’s guess.

      Gold Dragons are passionate and valorous, desiring nothing more than victory over evil. They are relentless in their hunt for evil creatures, injustices, and foul play of all forms, putting aside all other desires and even often food or shelter to combat cruel forces in the world that require more force than humans are capable of. They are personally grim and reserved creatures -- not unkind, they simply don’t prefer company, and usually avoid casual contact with other creatures, even fellow dragons. They hoard the spoils of their evil-hunting conquests -- hoards of chromatic dragons they’ve slain, jems from the bowels of a purple worm, etc. They have two weapon breaths, being a cone of fire breath and a spray of some chemical gas that weakens all who inhale it...

~

      Green Dragons had long, snake-like bodies and smooth snake-like scales. A large, waving crest fin starts at this dragon’s nose and runs the entire length of their body. Their scales and fins start a dark blue-black when they are young, turning dark green as they reach adulthood, and then their underbelly scales lighten to a paler green as they age. They also have exceptionally long, slender forked tongues.

      Green Dragons were master manipulators and liars, who enjoy corrupting weaker creatures (especially elves) and hoarding them like possessions. They will put up a front of diplomacy and deceit when bargaining with stronger foes, but reveal their true cruel and petty nature when intimidating lesser beings or when they gained the upper hand. They delighted in stalking their chosen enemies for information and exposing other’s secrets, but despised whenever they were exposed in a lie. Their hoard took the form of a network of spies and captives, who the Green Dragon blackmails and manipulates into servitude and dependence. Green dragons are one of the weaker of the true ten and despise getting their hands dirty with violence, counting any encounter that couldn’t be ended with words and mind games as a failure. Their breath weapon is a cloud of yellow poison gas.

~

      Red Dragons appear like the classic English/European dragons, with fire-red scales, reptilian bodies, and large bat-like wings that fray along the edges. Their horns, claws, and underbellies are a pale golden color, growing back from the skull and curling back and upwards towards their wings, twisting on themselves as they grow longer. Red dragons were of an enormous size and wingspan even for dragons, true powerhouses of their species. They smell of smoke and sulfur.

      Red dragons embody the worst of all their kin’s vices. They are voracious over-hunters, vain and covetous hoarders, and cruel, maniacal, sadistic tyrants. Short-tempered and hot-blooded, Red dragons are known to make all decisions without an ounce of forethought, completely confident in their ability to do anything they want. They delighted in the ruin, death, and destruction of other creatures and their settlements, wanting nothing more than to set the planet ablaze and reap the rewards of dead men’s gold. They hoarded anything with material wealth, wishing to be the richest creatures alive.

~

      Silver Dragons’ bodies are tube-like in shape, with soft, iridescent silver fur all over their bodies. The fur on their underbellies and jaws are more white than metallic, with pronounced goatees of longer whiskers under their chins. They have curved wings with two talons instead of the usual one. A beautiful stripe of glittering opalescent fur runs down from the top of their heads all the way to the tips of their tails, sticking up like a spiked frill or mohawk of pearl thread, abruptly fading to a purple hue at the tip. Their antler-like horns and long claws were also pure silver with opalescent purple tips. They smell like rain and petrichor. 

      Wise, noble, and playful, Silver Dragons do not go out of their way to fight evil like the gold or bronze, but wait to be asked for help; They were simply more concerned with protecting those humanoids they had come to befriend than actively seeking out injustices. They are obsessed with the lives and cultures of humans and elves, spending most of their time among them, taking the shape of a humanoid and pretending to be one of the crowd. They desired to spend most of their everyday lives in humanoid form (though it should be remembered that they still consider themselves to be the most superior creatures in the world). They hoarded works of art and historical artifacts with connections to civilizations they admired or befriended, and the friendships they made with humanoid people (though they did not physically keep the people themselves, like Greens and some Brass). Their breath weapons were an icy blast that froze solid all it touched, and a short-lasting paralyzing gas.

~

      White Dragons appear very similar to Silvers, at first glance. But, unlike the lithe and flexible silvers, White dragons are stocky and muscled; still streamlined for maximum speed but built with considerably more strength. They have manes of long, thick white fur on their shoulders and back, stretching down their tails and the outsides of their limbs. Their underbellies, faces, and the inside of their limbs are plated with glittering translucent scales, shining all shades of pearlescent white, icy blue, and opalescent lavenders. Their claws are obsidian-colored and long, optimized for climbing and digging through solid ice, and their tales are tipped with a leathery swimming fin. A singular horn-like crest grows back from their skulls under the mane of long fur, and a large dewlap hands from the underside of their necks, with spikes growing down from it. Like red dragons, their wings appear frayed and punctured towards the ends, but usually aren’t actually damaged. Their eyes are fully black, turning a light purple as they age. They have a crisp, vaguely chemical smell.

      White dragons lack the cruelty of their kin, but they make up for it in pure strength and ferocity. It is believed that they are actually one of the strongest of the chromatic dragons, (unlike their typical placement on the hierarchy,) but because they chose not to engage like other dragons; They purposefully abandon their natural talents for magic, and even their intelligence, choosing to behave as massive animals. White dragons despise socializing or even speaking to other creatures, resorting even to fleeing their lairs for the day if they see someone approaching. If bothered persistently they are known to make deals with other creatures (as long as they aren’t hungry or angry already when you show up), and even form bonds with them, at which point they are very protective and loyal allies. They are some of the most excellent hunters on the Material Plane, seamlessly blending otherworldly intelligence and heightened senses with animalistic vigor and savagery. They are still one of the most dangerous of all ten dragons, though, from their tendency to go full ‘animal’ and hunt any creature that moves. They hoard anything that glitters shines in the light (including chunks of ice), and their breath weapon is a blast of freezing cold.

#lets roll #long post #long answer #like SUPER LONG this time guys #but this stuff is important #this story is VERY dragon-centric #game lore #I got a LOT of the changes to the dragon’s designs from tumblr user filibusterfrog! Go check out their blog! #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

[notveryglittery]

birthday prince (3)

summary: virgil decides roman deserves a day off.  words: 2,100 / ship: prinxiety (roman/virgil) author’s note: this is part three of my Giving The Gay Anything He Wants series for roman’s birthday (june 4)! all ships are written implied romantic but i’m not stopping you from interpreting it otherwise. check the end notes on ao3 for credit on these gifts (bc i don’t know where to put them in this post)! i hope you enjoy!!

part 1 (roceit) | part 2 (logince) | part 3 (prinxiety) part 4 (royality) | part 5 (dlampts)  read on ao3

— — —

“Best two out of three.”

“I thought this was a birthday gift!”

“Yes and?”

“So why don’t I automatically get to pick the first movie?”

“Because I know you’re on a princess kick and full offense, if I have to deal with a talking animal as the comedic relief sidekick, I might actually die.”

“... Okay. Fine, okay, that’s fair.”

“On shoot.”

One, two, three, shoot — Virgil’s scissors versus Roman’s paper meant that the birthday boy did, in fact, not get to pick the first movie. He feigned upset for only a few moments longer before flopping back into their pillow fort. He supposed, given all the hard work Virgil had put into this, he could put up with one non-princess Disney film.

Earlier in the day, Virgil had rather unceremoniously kicked Roman out of his own room, claiming he had something important to do. Were it not for how close they’d grown, Roman would have been upset and suspicious; he trusted Virgil now, though, and knew that nothing would go wrong. He’d spent an hour playing cards with Logan and Patton before Virgil shouted for him from upstairs. When he’d arrived back to his room, it looked almost unrecognizable. It was mostly illuminated by fairy lights, providing a cozier feel than what he was used to; the floor to ceiling windows looked out into a rainy forest instead of the usual rolling hills; his bed had been turned into a truly impressive collection of blankets, pillows, cushions, and stuffed animals. The canopy had been removed which bothered him a little but only until he realized the projector that had been set up, pointing at the ceiling. There was a basket at the foot of the bed, filled with snacks and bottled drinks. Roman figured they could stay here for the next twenty four hours and be perfectly fine.

Surrounded by what was possibly every soft thing to be found in the Mindscape, Roman clutched Mrs. Fluffybottom to his chest as Virgil got the movie set up. She’d been his favorite plushie for the entirety of his existence; he’d taken her on many adventures over the years but she’d comforted him through a number of breakdowns too. He swore there was actually something magical about her.

Virgil threw himself down next to Roman; he had swapped out his usual hoodie for one that was fully dark purple and had even longer sleeves. After Roman had stopped gawking around his room, Virgil had tossed a sweater at him. It was so bright it was practically neon but it was rainbow print and he loved it. He’d immediately changed out of his t-shirt and had grabbed Virgil in a tight hug. Roman definitely intended on starting a sweater paw fight at some point during their movie marathon.

“You good with Hercules?”

“No comedic relief sidekicks, huh?”

“Phil is not a sidekick!”

“What? Are you trying to tell me right now that Philoctetes is a main character? You can’t say he isn’t comedic relief! He gets hurt just for laughs way too often!”

“No! I mean. Maybe?”

Roman laughed, bumping his shoulder against Virgil’s. “Whatever, you dork. Of course I’m good with it. You could have picked The Black Cauldron and I would’ve been good.”

“Talking animal. Comic relief. Sidekick. Gurgi checks all of those boxes. I would’ve been going against my own word.”

“Hmm, fair,” Roman said, humming a little.

As the Muses began singing them through the opening, Roman took a moment to appreciate everything Virgil was doing for him. The basket of goodies was stocked with every one of Roman’s favorite snacks, including enough chocolate to make him sick. In fact, it’d been the first thing he’d decided on, before Virgil could even tell him what the plan for the day was. Not that it was really much of a plan, anyway. Today specifically had been set aside just for Virgil to spoil Roman however he wanted. That apparently meant marathoning Disney movies, napping as much as they pleased, and eating all the junk food they wanted. It was a far cry from how Roman usually spent his time; what with all of the projects he was constantly juggling, or the content he had to help Thomas produce, or the issues to take care of in the Fantasy Realm. He didn’t really realize even how hard he was always working.

Apparently, however, Virgil had.

Something was shoved into his face, startling him out of his thoughts. He shot a glare at Virgil, who was watching the movie and acting totally inconspicuous. The item turned out to be a stuffed dragon, one he didn’t recognize from his usual pile of plushies. The scales were shimmery, a nice ombre of purple and blue shades, the wings were tucked against the body, and… Holding his hand against the stomach was warmer than the rest, as if it had a belly full of fire. That was so cool! He squeezed it tight in his arms and went back to watching the movie, feeling even comfier than before.

With the credits rolling, Virgil ushered them both out of bed and into a couple minutes of stretching.

“I’m not having you complain to me later on when your bones start creaking.”

“You make it sound like I’m so old, Virgil!”

“Older than me,” Virgil teased. He ducked out of the way of a thrown cushion. “Oh, is that what we’re doing?!”

Roman took a face full of pillow and suddenly it was on. He couldn’t begin to guess how long they fought for, darting around the room and over the bed, swinging their feather-filled weapons at each other. He did know that by the time he collapsed on the floor, he was breathless with laughter. Virgil was so far gone that he’d dissolved into alternating between wheezes and complete silence. Eventually, they did manage to get back into their nest of blankets, though there was plenty of shoving, poking, and tickling as they did so.

“I dunno if I’ll make it through this next movie so pick one that I won’t mind falling asleep during.”

“You besmirch the name of Disney if you think there’s a single film boring enough to allow that!”

“You dozed off the first time we watched The Good Dinosaur.”

Roman spluttered. “I had just come back from a week-long quest! And that’s Pixar!”

Virgil actually cackled. “You can’t pull that excuse! Disney owns Pixar!”

“Stop bullying me,” Roman cried, “it’s my birthday!”

“It’s two days before your birthday, actually, so I can bully you all I like.”

“I’m picking The Black Cauldron, then! See how you like dozing off during your favorite movie.”

It perhaps hadn’t been his best choice. With Virgil snuggled into his side, warm and soft, the sound of his even breathing accompanying the utter lack of any songs… Well, Roman really didn’t last much longer. They found each other in the Dreamscape. Edges were fuzzy, sounds were muffled, and touch was electric. The Dream Palace was a blurry shape in the distance, attracting his attention every so often when its crystal spires caught the light. Virgil sort of just appeared, as if created from the colors of the setting sun. Roman had a feeling he was made of the field of flowers he’d woken up in.

“I like it here,” Virgil said, sitting down next to Roman.

“Remy does a nice job with it,” Roman agreed, slowly picking daisies and dandelions to weave into a crown.

“You do, too,” Virgil argued. “You have a hand in almost everything, you know.”

Roman frowned at him. “I do not.”

“Yes, Ro,” Virgil insisted, “you do. The Memory Archives look the way that they do because you and Logan watched one episode of Doctor Who together and had the inspiration to redesign.”

Roman chuckled, a little nervously. “I guess.”

“Memory Lane doesn’t hurt Patton because it knows better than to hurt anyone you love. It might be connected to him and his room, but you’re the one that created that safety net.”

“Virgil…” Roman tried, voice slightly strangled.

“I just need you to know how important you are. You aren’t told enough.”

“It’s fine—”

“You’re important, Roman. You matter. You make a difference.”

Roman finally stopped trying to tie together the stems of the flowers. Virgil took his shaking hands into his own and held them tightly. It was just enough that Roman could actually feel it versus the tingly sensation that the Dreamscape normally worked with.

“We love you. We appreciate you and your hard work.”

If it weren’t for that everything around them was already blurry, Roman might not have noticed his vision swimming when tears filled his eyes. It was hard to not know suddenly that he was crying, though, regardless of how physically present he was in this space.

Virgil let go of his hands and instead, cradled his face gently. “I know I go against you sometimes but in the long run, I want you to be just as happy as you make the rest of us.”

He waited a moment longer before smiling and squishing Roman’s cheeks. Roman giggled a bit in response. Virgil gave him two careful pats before pulling away. Picking up the flower crown Roman had abandoned, he set to work on finishing it. Roman wiped his tears away and sat still in the sunshine, content to simply let himself soak it up until he was completely warm from the inside out.

When they woke, the screen projected onto the ceiling was displaying a screensaver of 3D pipes. The forest outside the windows had been replaced with a cliffside view of the ocean. Virgil stirred next to him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He absentmindedly pressed a kiss to Roman’s cheek before getting out of bed. He was gone for a little while, during which Roman found two more plushies that he didn’t recognize. They were a gryphon and a lion, both extremely soft to the touch, and with fierce expressions that reminded Roman of how Virgil looked when he was in fight mode. He wondered how these new stuffed animals kept sneaking into his collection but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

When Virgil returned, Roman burst into laughter, because yes, he supposed there was no chance of sneaking that one into the pile.

“There won’t be any room for me in bed, Virgil!”

“Guess you better get used to sleeping on the floor then,” Virgil said, dropping the massive Simba plushie on top of Roman.

This just made Roman laugh harder. The fabric on this one was fluffier than on the others, something he could sink his fingers into if he wanted. It was nearly as big as him, or maybe it just felt like that right now since it was smothering him. Before he could move it, though, Virgil sank himself down onto it as well.

“Virgil!!” Roman gasped between snickers. “Get off, you fiend!”

“Hmm…” Virgil hummed, pondering. From where he was laying, he could just barely look directly into Roman’s eyes. This made it all the funnier when he finally decided, in the most deadpan tone, “nah.”

After some wrestling, which led to them both falling out of bed and Roman bumping his elbow and howling for five minutes about his funny bone before Virgil kissed it better, they were finally settled back in to continue their movie marathon.

They watched Moana, Tarzan, and, Mary Poppins before sleep began to take them once more. Seeing as the sun had sunk below the sea quite some time ago, it was safe to assume it was late enough to call it a night.

“I got you…” Virgil paused to yawn. “Got you one more thing…”

“Vee—”

“‘S not much.” He held out Mrs. Fluffybottom for Roman to take. “I just… I made it so that she can never be hurt.”

For a moment, Roman’s lethargy was chased away by astonishment and surprise. He could feel the enchantment just from holding her, though it was passing by the second as the magic was fully absorbed.

“I know you… take her on adventures a lot. Fightin’ bad guys ‘n stuff.” Virgil shifted further into the blankets as sleep continued to take hold on him. “Wanna keep her safe. Know you will, anyway. But jus’ in case.”

Roman rolled onto his side so that he was facing Virgil. He kept the bunny plush tucked between them and took one of Virgil’s hands in his. “Thank you…”

“Love you. Happy birthday, princey,” Virgil told him, papping him once more on the cheek.

Sleep settled over them quickly after. Roman would wake in the morning, feeling more secure and warm than he had in quite some time, surrounded by plushies and Virgil’s arms, and know that he had so much to be grateful for.

#sanders sides fan fiction #prinxiety #prinxiety fan fiction #roman sanders #virgil sanders #gifts for roman's bday #dani writes

[heeytwelve]

"That’s practically my type”

I remember someone really smart in internet was debating that Draco Malfoy has 100% chance to be Harry Potter’s boyfriend, cause he is, in fact his type. And if we look at Harry’s girlfriends, we kinda see the pattern (quidditch, outspoken, bravery, and have I mention quidditch? ).

But anyway, this post not about those, this post about how Chosen One of Carry On universe has his type too and why Agatha wasn’t just mistake of adolescence and how he changes his views on Baz when he become actively infatuated with him.

“I’ve wanted her since the first time I saw her—walking across the Great Lawn, her long pale hair rippling in the wind. I remember seeing her and thinking that** I’d never seen anything so beautiful.** And that if you were that beautiful, that graceful, nothing could ever really touch you. It would be like being a lion or a unicorn. Nobody could really touch you, because you wouldn’t even be on the same plane as everyone else. Even sitting next to Agatha makes you feel sort of untouchable. Exalted. It’s like sitting in the sun. So imagine how it feels to date her—like you’re carrying that light around with you all the time.

Let’s elaborate. He doesn’t fall in love with her - because of her academic success or because her parents rich or because she’s kind and caring. The type of attraction that works for Simon is so called - aesthetic attraction, attraction to beauty. 

And before you blame him for being shallow, I say, having strong preference for beauty is quite common among the artistic people, who grew up in desperate poverty, in small provinces, poor houses where beauty is rarity (for instance, famous ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev was obsessed with beauty and collected a huge amount of beautiful things, because his poor childhood traumatised him). And, contrary to popular belief, Simon might have artistic tendencies, he sees beauty even dark creatures (goblins, *cough-cough* vampires), movements, colours and music.

Beauty for Simon is not a static thing to watch and enjoy the view, it’s not something he just want to own, it’s a force. Beauty protects him, it makes him untouchable, like nothing from of his previous (poor and mundane) life can touch him anymore, because he carrying the light, darkness will never reach him again. Agatha is not only his future, but also his shield. But - maybe it’s the same thing? Having future all sorted kinda shielding you from whatever you bump into.

He always mention her appearance whenever he talks about her - her clothes, her skin (”sparkles like she’s fairy”), her hair (multiple comparison with sun, light and halo). And when he decides to ignore the fact, that she quite possible betrayed him, it’s not only because he fear uncertain future but:

“She’s beautiful. And I want her. I want everything to be fine.”

Beauty as an attraction, beauty as a shield. Beauty is stability.

Now, before we talk about what all of this has to do with Baz, let’s bring up this quote:

“Like when I used to dream about becoming a footballer someday—or that my parents, my real parents, were going to come back for me.… My dad would be a footballer. And my mum would be some posh model type. ...

But we always missed you, Simon,” they’d say. “We’ve been looking for you.” And then they’d take me away to live in their mansion.”

I know, you probably roll your eyes now, like it’s stereotypical thing for poor kid in care to dream of, but isn’t that interesting, that Simon practically give us description of his future boyfriend and girlfriend as his dream parents? Now, don’t get me wrong, there is now perversion here, it’s just people he dreams to be with. People who potentially get him out of this awful reality and of course he will imagine them as the best people he can imagine - hence attraction to exactly those people. Now, we already know, that Agatha is beautiful as a model and she’s posh -Simon dwells how she good with regattas, polo matches, galas and he’s not posh enough for it. And right there, in next sentence, he mentions the only person who’s fit this interior - Baz. And let’s not forget about this:

“Baz walked into our room, much taller than me—and posher than everyone.”

There’s two interesting thing you notice when you will read Simon’s view for Baz. Simon never hesitates to use bold colours to describe how good Baz is. He never even doubts it, and Simon is not in submissive mode by any means. It’s just with Agatha - he sees the beauty and he admires it. But because Baz is evil, a threat (and potentially because he convinced that he’s heterosexual) AND Simon can’t just go in “I want him” mode, like he did with Agatha.  There’s a big quote above about how Simon met Agatha and here’s one about how Simon met Baz:

“and Baz was walking towards me. Looking so cool. Like he was coming my way because he wanted to, not because there was a mystical magnet in his gut.”

Though, it is looks, Simon talks about, I want to emphasise, that while Simon is not in active infatuation phase with Baz, he still unleashes his other attraction type, attraction to power/strength. Here and in quote below he indicates one of Baz biggest powers - ability to look unfazed and perfect no matter what. Power of composure.

“but he looked fine to me—not a hair out of place. Typical.”

Back to father being footballer. One might wonder, why violinist and person so into academic success went to be the lead player in sports team? All popular movies tell us that you either this (nerd) or that (jock), and Baz suddenly both. Because he’s perfect. And because he has his personality and vampire personality. One might also wonder, had Baz overheard Simon’s obsession about being footballer/football in general before deciding to enrol to the team and collect all trophies... Anyway. Baz as footballer:

“He’s the same on the field as he is everywhere else. Strong. Graceful. Fucking ruthless.”

If you ask me, this is where Simon shows a bit his infatuation. Yes, attraction to strength, even ruthlessness (Simon is a fighter, he does appreciate good fighter too). But graceful - is about beauty. You see, I think, maybe because Simon carries traditional values he kinda does that thing: women’s modus operandi is beauty, men’s - strength, ruthlessness. Same with his parents - mum is model, father is fighter footballer. That’s ok.  BUT when he starts to consider (even at the back of his mind) Baz as a romantic partner (it’s all starts when he sees that Baz is not a monster, that he’s a boy), he starts to notice his beauty more, than strength.

“He floats out over the moat and lands on the other side. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Infamous jeans scene, where Simon talking about Baz’ clothes (like he did w/Agatha) and literally checking out his arse:

“they do look like really expensive jeans. Dark. And snug from his waist to his ankles without looking tight.”

He starts to watch him aesthetically:

“I put my hand on his chest. I don’t have to step any closer to reach him. ... Baz swallows and licks his grey-pink lower lip. .. “he throws one of his pillows into my face. (It smells like him.)

“I’m watching him read—I swear he sucks on his fangs when he’s thinking.

The culmination of this development comes with “vampire club scene”:

““Every one of them must be so jealous of him. He’s everything they are, plus magic. Plus he looks the part, like he was born to be some sort of dark king.”

“Those vampires were in awe of you,” I say. “They wanted to put a crown on your head.

He has the skills AND he is royally beautiful. And Simon projecting his feelings to those night club vampires. The longer they in relationships, the more Simon dwelling on Baz beauty, just to show you this development, I’ll quote WS for a moment:

“I’ll be damned if he doesn’t look half glamourous. Like a boy Marilyn Monroe.… My brain gets kind of stuck on “boy Marilyn Monroe” for a while.”

...

“Baz casts his eyes down and smiles—girlishly, I would have said, but on him it’s not girlish. It’s, I don’t know, vulnerable.”

To elaborate, Marilyn Monroe is depiction of feminine beauty in popular culture and description of Baz as a bit feminine is something that would never happen in the beginning of “Carry On” setting. Of course, Baz opened up more to Simon (and this is important), but also Simon willing to see, no, he actually quite hungrily looking for this beauty. He is attracted to this kind of beauty AND I think, might be cause of his somewhat traditional views, he automatically looking for this in Baz, when he considering him as a partner. 

BUT. Again as in WS - Baz being powerful and strong AND that being attractive (and arousing) to Simon is not going anywhere.  So Simon’s type qualities - strength and beauty. (Not smartness and kindness, sorry Penny) though he does appreciate it.  And lastly, let’s go back to Agatha. We talked about her beauty, but she’s also an athlete. A competitive one. 

“I smile again and jump up off the bed, grabbing a pair of jeans and a purple sweatshirt that says WATFORD LACROSSE. (Agatha plays.)”

This sweatshirt Simon will proudly wear even in WS (Baz haven’t confiscated them yet :D ) - and if you think about it, it’s the way to show admiration too. And don’t forget the horse sports, she’s even more into sports than Baz (Baz would spend his summer practicing languages and violin - I believe his main passion, and football is just to unwind and fuck w/Simon, while Agatha would harvest prizes or skills in competitions). OK, no, he does play tennis :D So yes - as absolutely legit Simon’s type - Agatha do has these two qualities. They both do. Though not exactly in same proportions. Agatha radiates beauty, feminine beauty, you don’t have to watch closely to see it, it punches you in a face. But Baz is more powerful, as with Agatha, you don’t have to search for his power, it’s just there. And maybe this shift in quality proportions is what Simon needs at the end. But he certainly needs both. And let me finish this lenthy dwelling off with Baz quote, where he accidentally compares himself tells us this qualities proportions in Agatha:

“Wellbelove isn’t very powerful, but she’s gorgeous.”

There is interesting awareness between these two, but I will have a mercy and talk about it later.

#agatha wellbelove #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #simon snow #simon snow salisbury #simon snow type #simon snow affection #carry on #wayward son #my texts #Carry On Meta #simon snow meta #agatha wellbelove meta #baz pitch meta

[the-melting-world]

Arcana Echoes | Familiar Moodboards🐾🌴

@arcana-echoes​

This is a day early, but I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to read this info first before the fic on how the trio met their familiars, which will go up tomorrow!

***

Kipling’s Familiar: Taro

***

Species: Purple Pygmy Lemur (a cross between a ring-tailed lemur and a sugar glider). She got her name from the taro root, the inside of which is a pale lavender, the same as Taro’s coat. The fur on her belly is white. She has darker shades of purple concentrated around her ears and in the stripes going down her tail.

Taro is energetic, mischievous, and social. She has a tendency to leap onto the head of whoever Kip is checking out in the moment, regardless of whether or not Kip knows them. Kipling gets really embarrassed by this, but it still makes for a fantastic albeit awkward conversation starter.

Though they don’t share a mental link, Taro and Kipling are very sensitive to each other’s emotions/moods. Later on, Taro becomes integral to Kipling’s mastery over grey magic.

***

Ozy’s Familiar: Abaco

***

Species: Olive Capped Warbler. He’s named after the island in the Bahamas where these birds are the most concentrated.

Abaco is, in essence, Ozy’s personal secretary. He knows all the random places where Ozy leaves his various puzzles and works-in-progress. Whenever Abaco senses that Ozy is looking for something, he will retrieve it as swiftly as possible. This requires a lot of management on Abaco’s part since Ozy can be fairly scatter-brained, a bit of a hoarder collector, and can never stick to one project at a time.

Partial mental link. Abaco can read Ozy’s mind and react accordingly. Ozy, for all of his intelligence, still has not figured this out. He believes that Abaco is a glorified lucky charm and that all of his behaviors are entirely coincidental in nature.

***

Khleo’s Familiar: Hefe

***

Species: Southern African White Lion. She’s named after the German word for yeast. Pronounced like hey-fuh

Hefe is a tad... cosmic. She carries with her fragments of the Strength Major Arcana. She can take Khleo to Strength’s Gate whenever she wants. However, she won’t do this unless Khleo is in serious danger.

Khleo is the only one who shares a strong mutual mental link with her familiar. They talk all the time, often when Khleo is in conversation with someone else or working the bar. Their link can stretch several miles. This allows Khleo to communicate with Hefe when she can’t get away with a lion hanging out on the property.

Hefe is very sneaky. She is stealthier than normal lions and she can, to an extent, hypnotize people. Khleo deeply disapproves of her familiar’s use of hypnosis, so Hefe rarely taps into it.

#arcana eotp #familiar moodboard #kipling bronne #oz'mandias #khlee von heine #ozy energy #kipling energy #khleo energy #my ocs

[inviouswriting]

Critical Engagement Au - Feel

Warnings: Nothing extreme like the last one. But hints to an assault made on Kivera. This will mostly be women to women pairings. 

I’ll explore some other themes in a few days as I develop this. For now enjoy some development?

Kivera stands to the side of a room, she had fell another behemoth. Her stance was loose after she was certain the creature was dead. This was her third one for the day. She had been fighting all day, being tested all day in her endurance and strength alone. She retains her former valor where she was hardly defeated in battles. 

Such strengths Misija wonders how Kivera even fell to the beasts from the start if she possessed this much power. Perhaps her echo faltered, perhaps she slipped up, or a healer in the same instance did not aid her when she needed it. She heard that the engagement that Kivera was in, everyone had fallen to the behemoth. Unlucky for the rest of them, Misija did not take interest in them as she has Kivera.

The woman approaches Kivera with praise and encouragement. Kivera lowering her head to let her head be petted. She liked the feeling it gave her. Before she was suspended again in her enclosure, to rest and heal from the claws that marred her skin, they would heal soon thanks to powerful elixirs in the air for her. 

They had began to infuse other abilities to her, finding she has a natural inclination for fire, none would be surprised as she was a black mage as well as dancer. 

“Why in the seven hells do you treat her so gentle?” One of the soldiers asks Misija as they walked. Misija looks to them.

“Tell me, how do you keep a coeurl tame after it has grown? It has enough strength to turn on its owner, it can easily run away once it is powerful enough. So how does one keep it from attacking?” Misija looks into one of the other tanks further down from Kivera. An auri, she had a soft spot for this one in her stark white appearance compared to Kivera’s dark. She was bought from the black markets, her scales proving to be highly sought after for the way they shimmer, perhaps other properties could be found once she had matured enough for experimentations. 

“Most keep them fed and content. How does this relate to Kivera?” Misija raises her head.

“Precisely the reason I treat her nicely. Keeping her content. She has enough power to escape at any point. Specially after todays tests with the anti-matter. She can break the neurolinks any time, she has done so in the past when she wanted them off. So what keeps her from doing so? She could run freely in Bozjan, to be another threat to the forces against us.” A quick tap on the enclosure gains the auran girls attention, she merely regards them with a stare before ignoring them. Misija notes the inside is cold.

“Turn the heat up for her.”  This girl was different than Kivera, they had gotten her before Kivera, but with the miqo’te’s untimely collapse in battle they hadn’t gotten around to anything with her. Their attention on the project they were anticipating to be successful.

“Keeping Kivera content is vital for us. As with any creature in this facility. You keep yourself at bay while handing something that can kill you praise, yet keep their safety in mind. It would have been a different story if she had been more docile during the wing implantation. She could have accepted what could have happened. But the fact she fought against unwanted touch to the extent everyone in that room died. She needs one face and pair of hands she doesn’t find offensive in this whole place.”

“You in other words.” They turn to head back to Kivera’s enclosure, after seeing the auri relax more once heat was being poured into the enclosure. They had given this one more things to be comfortable, with a bed to lay on and things to entertain herself with. Easier to interact with compared to the other one. Stark contrasts. 

Misija approaches Kivera in her sphere where she had been suspended towards the top. Kivera uses her feet to propel herself down behind the roegadyn first then rounding around to her front, Misija offering an arm for her to hold onto. Kivera barely holds onto her, keeping in place.

“You came back early.” Kivera regards her with a simple stare, wider green eyes, Misija notes her in a good mood. She removes the neurolink off of her.

“I was visiting another. You are on the same floor, I had to visit you too, before I head off for a while. The results of your tests came back. You’re almost ready for deployment.” Misija knows not to lie to her, she can pick them out.  It amazed her the first time she caught her in a lie. So she made a mental note to never lie to her.

“Another? Who?” Kivera feels Misija run a hand through her hair ending on an ear. She tilts her head to the hand, allowing her to pet the soft fur on the ear. Misija had removed her gloves for this.

“You might be able to meet her. If you keep improving. For now, not important. No lasting effects from the behemoth venom?” Misija checks, she recalls her getting bit and clawed good on the one they paired her to fight against.

“None, one of the scientists gave me an antidote.” The soft glow of yellow eyes regard her, the aura around them seemed to shift to a mild purple hue, Misija understands this as her feeling very content in her presence. Her manipulation over energy is what they were so enthralled in pitting her against stronger monsters. Kivera is able to manipulate the very aether in the air at her will.

All the more to keep her content. Misija lets Kivera hover in front of her, she looks her over, for scarring, for anything that would need to be fixed. She inspects her waist, and Kivera moves closer. Letting Misija check the “tail” the chain had kinked together.

“We will replace this with a better one soon.  Even have one similar to your old one you lost.” Misija muses aloud, she had been jabbed with the metal point alot when Kivera thrashed it at her when she lies.

“Old one?” Kivera’s memories had slipped from how long she has spent in their confinement. Barely remembers her former life as an adventurer.

“You had a softer tail once. Like a Chimera’s lion tail.” Misija explains. She kneels down and lets Kivera sit down in front of her. She hardly even believes she was at war with this woman. How compliant she has become to their side. She hopes she can get her to remember the echo and help her own cause for unlocking more secrets. 

Misija had drifted in her thoughts to the extent she barely realizes Kivera had moved closer, till her face was right before hers. There was something unnerving about her eyes, when Misija realized her own eyes were being stared into, like her very soul was being looked at.

“Why so close?” Misija leans back seeing how she is hovering.

“You were staring at me.” She had been staring at her, her mind drifted to another thought. Misija had grown to like her alot more now, than when she was her former warrior of light self. She retained her wild self, she can see that well in how she half drapes herself onto her.

“What manner are you doing here? I haven’t seen you like this before.” Kivera ignores her for a moment as she focuses on pressing an ear to her chest. Listening to her heart beating. She flicks an ear and her tail.

“Curious.” Kivera finally answers. 

“Curious of what?” Misija rests a hand on top of the dark hair to tilt her head back away from her heart.

“Feeling is different.” Kivera moves away in favor of sitting across from Misija again. Knees tucked underneath herself. It is here Misija notices the fidgeting, very brief she sees her eyes dim to a purple color. The roe gets up after a few more notices of the fidgeting. Kivera moving to stand, with a sigh as she expects the neurolink to be placed again. Misija waves her hand.

“No neurolink today. You’ve been behaving, if you go without giving my staff trouble. I’ll let you keep it off for a few days.” Misija sees her eyes light up in regard to this. She had to check something about her, 

“I’ll return soon. With a meal like I always do.” Misija raises an arm for her, and Kivera takes it, she brings her alot closer and under a short show of affection brushes the side of her face to Kivera’s. She feels it returned, a simple touch, yet she feels Kivera push herself to her entire being.

Kivera soon lets go to return to the top of the enclosure, curling into a spot she likes. Misija after she leaves her and takes one of the staff members with her.

“When was the last cycle she had? I thought we had removed the ovaries” The woman looks up at her.

“We did remove them, but the last cycle she would have had, was before that. It is still possible for one even after. But she won’t be able to have children if you mean that. She was an adult miqo’te before she came here.” Misija sighs as this could delay a day of tests.

“What can be done to relieve her?” She glances back to the enclosure that houses Kivera.

“We either ride it out, or you could assist her. She’s less likely to maim you. She is repulsed by men, per the wing incident. So I don’t think we can toss a random male to her.” There is a silence in the air.

“Fine, I’ll take care of her. The cages can be blacked out?” There is a nod. Misija walks off to go attend other things.

“I’ll return in a while, make sure the wing is clear around her meal time.” 

“You intend to do that tonight?! What about the other projects?”

“They clearly are less important than the bigger matter in that sphere. Best to take care of her now. As you said, she will most likely kill anything that offends her by touch. So again, make sure no one else is around for it.” The tone came off for an order. She did wonder how receptive she would be to it.

#misija #misija votyasch #Kivera Siverstein #mentions of Shuri! #shuri fontaye #critical engagement au #there will be some smuts in this

[universalshirts]

Universal shirts Tampa

9 T-Shirt Style Trends in 2020 (So Far).

Among our favored annual traditions: evaluating the year's t-shirt design fads!

We're more than halfway with the year, and design patterns have started to develop. We're starting to see patterns in what's preferred in the world of t-shirt style in 2019-- some old, some new-- so take a look at what's preferred until now in 2019!

1. Intense Shades.

Something we have actually observed a great deal of this year, and in 2014 too, is an uptick in brilliant, vivid tee designs. This puts on the prints themselves, and also the actual color of the t-shirt also.

Primaries tend to be a good base to start at when making for this appearance. We 'd likewise suggest checking out 100% cotton tee alternatives, as they have much less heathering in them. Though, if you choose the feeling of a blend, you can still attain a brilliant print using our Vibrant Ink.

2. Heavyweight Tees.

This year, we've likewise seen a boost in heavyweight tees. For recommendation, we define heavyweight t-shirts as a tee shirt that weighs around 6 oz, contrasted to your typical t-shirt that typically weighs around 3.7 to 4.3 oz.

Heavyweight tees often tend to be worn baggier, as they're most carefully related to streetwear, however you may likewise choose a heavyweight tee shirt if you choose an even more organized fit, or merely a heavier shirt as we head into Autumn as well as Winter season.

3. Nostalgia-Inspired Designs.

We're not exactly sure if it's Unfamiliar person Things associated or what, yet there seems to be a significant need for fond memories. Check out the top-grossing movies this Summer and also you'll see titles like:.

Spiderman.

Plaything Tale 4.

Lion King.

Men in Black.

It appears quite clear that everything from fashion to home entertainment is heading back to the 80s, 90s, as well as early 2000s.

We've seen this mirrored in tee shirt styles also. Whatever from friendly cartoon animals to bright 80s neon is back.

4. Mineral Laundry Garments.

This following trend is among the apparel industry's best-kept tricks that appears like it's ultimately been blurted, which is mineral wash clothing.

Evoking grunge feelings of the 80s and 90s, mineral wash tees are an incredible choice for discolored, worn-in looks.

Bella+ Canvas has a couple of fantastic mineral laundry options in the Bella 6400 (females's) and also Canvas 3650 (unisex), the latter of which isn't photographed on our website yet, but has the specific same appearance as it's ladies's equivalent.

5. Front Chest, Back Center.

Now this pattern isn't exactly distinct to this year whatsoever, however it's worth keeping in mind simply for it's remaining power in the tee style globe: Universal shirts with a tiny, left chest print on the front and a larger, center-aligned print on the back are favorites time and time again.

We could guess all day about why people choose tee styles such as this, however to be truthful, we don't understand the exact reason that. But we'll continue wearing them, that's for sure.

6. Typographic Layouts.

This trend is also a holdover from our listing in 2014, however it should have to be on the list once more since it hasn't gone anywhere.

Tee shirts have an unique capability to convey a message, and type-centric designs have a tendency to communicate them finest. Whether a business rule, little bit of wit, or words to obey, a clever stating set out in a manner that's cosmetically pleasing will certainly constantly resonate with individuals.

7. Numerous Textures.

One layout pattern we have actually seen a great deal of that's both refreshing and engaging is Universalshirts with multiple print designs on them, creating an appealing contrast of textures.

Utilizing some mix of our normal water-based ink, aluminum foil printing, or metallic ink can produce included comparison and intrigue in your layout that you might not be able to achieve in the same way simply with shade.

8. One-of-a-kind Tee Designs.

Thus far in 2019, we have actually definitely observed individuals being much choosier regarding the garments they decide to print their shirts on. Generally, we have a tendency to see a great deal of shirts published on easy, fundamental unisex crewneck tees, as well as while that's still a great deal of the shirts we print, we have actually discovered customers requesting even more certain, special styles.

Whether it be tees Made in the U.S.A., environment-friendly Universal shirts Tampa, crop-tops, or ringer tees, increasingly more designs are being printed on one-of-a-kind apparel pieces.

A lot so, that it triggered us to reassess our whole product page. Our last one was stationary, as well as we weren't able to upgrade it with new designs usually. And now, we'll be adding new garment designs routinely.

9. Mauve: Tee Shade of the Year.

Pantone may have named Living Coral reefs as the 2019 color of the year, however we have seen otherwise. If there's been a color of the year so far regarding t-shirts go, Mauve has definitely been it.

A light purple whose name originates from the mallow flower, mauve has verified unbelievably popular thus far this year

Bella+ Canvas has maybe our favored Mauve textile. The variant of Mauve is readily available in each of the adhering to designs:.

Bella 8880.

Bella 8803.

Canvas 3650.

Canvas 3001 *.

Canvas 3001CVC *.

* The last two options do not have actually the color photographed on our site, yet they do, undoubtedly, exist as well as are available for your personalized tee projects.

Make Your Own Trend.

Whether you're creating a t-shirt, print, or, well, anything actually, we wish these 9 t-shirt style trends give you some ideas. Have you discovered any design patterns that we didn't note? Allow us understand! We 'd enjoy to hear from you regarding what's mosting likely to be warm in the coming months.

#Universal shirts #Universalshirts #Universal shirts Tampa

[mamabearcat]

Daddy Inuyasha

This doesn’t really have a title yet; I’ll think of one later! Written for @dangerouspompadour after this morning (or evening’s) conversation about kids needing to be fed every single night. A Papa Yasha story.

---

“You’re only gonna be gone for one night right?”

“Inuyasha, you’ll be fine”, soothed Kagome, stuffing more clothes into her bag. “I’m really sorry to have to leave like this, but Mama sounded so ill on the phone. I just want to check up on her.”

Inuyasha snorted, continuing to walk around the room with Izayoi’s tiny hands held in his, while their toddler squealed in delight, her little feet balanced on his larger ones.

“And Sango has promised that she’ll come pick her up early tomorrow and take her to daycare”, she continued, “so you’ll be able to get off to work in time. You just have to make sure to pick her up by 6pm, otherwise daycare will charge extra.”

“That’s good. And yeah, I can do that.” He had a meeting with an architect for his current construction project at 7.30am tomorrow morning; they’d only spoken on the phone as yet, but the guy already sounded like he had a stick firmly wedged up his arse. 

His head was still swimming a little. Kagome had got off the phone with her mother, booked a flight, texted Sango and then told him she’d be coming home Monday night all in under half an hour. He knew he’d be fine; Kagome did this all the time when he was called away for work. And he adored Izayoi. Maybe it would be fun? Some Daddy daughter time?

A loud beeping sounded outside the door. “Oh, that’s my taxi already”, squeaked Kagome, shoving her feet into her shoes. She picked up Izayoi and gave her a squeezy hug, smothering her round cheeks in raspberry kisses. “Be good for Daddy baby girl. Mama will be home at bedtime tomorrow okay? I’ll call you tonight.”

Inuyasha bent down to kiss his wife before she could run out the door. “Be safe, okay. Text me when you get there. I love you.”

“Love you too.” The horn beeped again loudly, and Kagome rolled her eyes. “I gotta go. Be good you two. I love you!”

They all moved out onto the verhandah, Inuyasha and Izayoi waving as Kagome ran down the path with her bag and climbed into the taxi, shutting the door behind her. All of a sudden Izayoi’s bottom lip trembled and her soft pointed puppy ears lowered. “Mama go?”

Inuyasha squeezed her tightly against him, dropping a soft kiss onto the dark curls between her ears. “Mama is visiting grandma. So it’s just us for a little while Princess. It’s gonna be fun right?”

The taxi drove away.

“I wa-want Mama!” Izayoi’s soft sobs escalated quickly, and the sound of her heartbreak pulled at Inuyasha’s gut. He hated Izayoi’s tears almost as much as Kagome’s.

“Hey, hey, c’mon now. We’re gonna have fun.” He bounced her a little in his arms, racking his brain for something that would take Izayoi’s mind off Kagome for a moment. “Do ya wanna watch Ponies with me for a little while?”

He braced himself for the usual loud squeal of excitement she let out whenever her favourite show was mentioned, but instead she tucked her head under his chin and hid behind the curtain of his long silver hair. He watched as she silently placed her thumb into her mouth, slow tears trickling down her cheeks.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

 ---

Eventually Izayoi fell asleep on his lap, and he gratefully changed the channel. There was only so much pink and purple and magic of friendship he could take in one sitting. She’d watched the show with her cousin Rin, and she loved it. Kagome didn’t mind it. Him, not so much.

His stomach grumbled, and he angled his neck to look at the clock on the wall. Shit, it was nearly Izayoi’s dinner time. She usually ate earlier, and he and Kagome ate after she was in bed. When it was his turn to cook for him and Kagome he made steak. Or ramen. Both of those weren’t really toddler friendly. Cooking for Izzy was definitely Kagome’s thing. He though back over recent meals he’d seen Izayoi eat for dinner. Pasta. He was perfectly capable of cooking pasta, and he knew Izayoi liked it. Phew, crisis averted.

 -----

“No!”

Inuyasha was taken aback. As far as he was concerned, he’d cooked a perfectly acceptable dinner for a toddler. Pasta with peas and corn, and some fish fingers he’d dug out of the bottom of the freezer. “Izzy, c’mon, you like pasta. Daddy even cooked the ones that look like little bows!”

“No!” she growled, glaring at the plate in front of her.

“Izayoi!” he barked. He took a deep breath. “What’s wrong with the food on your plate.”

“Don’t like red!”

“Red?” And then it hit him. Kagome usually served Izayoi’s pasta with pesto, not tomato sauce. “Uh, we were all out of green. Why don’t you try it Princess, it’s yummy. Look, Daddy will eat some.” He picked up her tiny fork and took a mouthful of pasta. Not his favourite thing in the world, but perfectly fine.

Izayoi’s eyes looked like they were filling with tears again. Oh boy. His mind whirled frantically, trying to avert the tears.

“Hey, do ya know what else you can call fish fingers? Dippy sticks! Look!” He picked up a fish finger and poked it in the napoletana pasta sauce, then took a bite. “Mmm, dippy sticks, my favourite!” He made sure to scrunch up his eyes and twitch his ears for her, and his heart swelled in relief at the tiny giggle.

“I know, let’s have a race and see who can eat their dippy stick the fastest? I bet I can eat mine faster than you Izzy! Ready…”

“Steddygo”, squealed Izayoi, clutching a fish finger in her little fist and mashing it into the sauce. She took a mouthful and smiled at him. “Yummy Daddy!” She eventually ate most of her dinner, leaving the peas. Inuyasha couldn’t blame her, he didn’t think much of peas either. It was his job to put green things on her plate, he wasn’t going to force feed them to her if she didn’t want to eat them.

He scraped the peas into the bin and dumped the dirty plate in the sink, then piggybacked her to the bathroom. “Bath time for my princess. Do ya want bubbles?”

“Yeah!” She threw her arms out as wide as she could. “Lots and lots!” He chuckled.

“Okay squirt, you got it. Toilet first while Daddy runs the bath. You need help getting those shorts off?” he asked, pointing to the button and zipper.

She shook her head. “Nu uh. I a big girl.”

Just for a second, his eyes misted over, remembering the day she was born only three short years ago. One of the happiest days of his life.

“Do you think you could slow down the growing for me just a smidge, Princess?” he asked, watching as she flushed the toilet all by herself and then managed to finish undressing without help. The tiny underpants were a new thing that she was very proud of, because Mama had told her only big girls got to wear them, and she stroked them lovingly as she put her dirty clothes in the hamper. He snorted when he noticed they had purple and pink ponies on them.

She shook her head and stood on her tiptoes with her arms raised up high, grinning cheekily at him. “I bigger than Daddy!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Aw, that’s a shame, I guess you’re too big for me to do…. This!” And he picked her up and blew a huge raspberry on her stomach, then dropped her into the bubbles as she squealed with laughter.

When she was squeaky clean, and Inuyasha had been decorated with a variety of bubble beards and bubble hats, he helped her into her thicker overnight underpants and PJ’s, and snuggled her into her little bed with her favourite white dog toy tucked into her elbow.

“Story and song!” Izayoi demanded.

Inuyasha cringed a little. He’d forgotten about the song part of the bedtime routine. Kagome had a variety of songs she sang, and her voice was pleasant and mellow, perfect for lullabies. His, not so much. “Uh, I’ll do you a deal. How ‘bout, Daddy reads you a story, and we call Mama and she can sing you a song over the phone. How’s that.”

Izayoi blinked at him slowly. “Okay”, she said finally, with a skeptical look on her face, like he was trying to renege on a deal.

“Which story do ya want Princess. Eggs and ham? The one with the baby and the lion?”

“Witch and cat!”

“Room on the Broom it is then!” He grinned, because he liked doing the voices for this one, especially the dragon. He was halfway into the book when she crawled out of bed and into his lap.

“I am a dragon, as mean as can be, and I’m planning to have WITCH and CHIPS for my tea!” Inuyasha growled.

Izayoi clutched onto his shirt. “Dragon scary!”

Whoops. Maybe he’d gotten a little too into it this time. “Hey, it’s okay. We know the witch is gonna be fine because all her friends are gonna scare him away. He’s just a big scaredy dragon!”

Izayoi nodded, the soft pointed ears on top of her head flicking sleepily. She popped her thumb into her mouth as he finished the story, snuggling against him. By the time he was finished, her eyes were blinking slowly. He put the book back on the shelf and tucked her back into her little bed.

“Song”, she whispered.

“One song, comin’ right up.” He fished his mobile out of his back pocket and called Kagome. “Hi love. I have one sleepy princess requesting a bedtime song.”

“What. You’re not going to sing one?” she giggled.

“I think we both know that my talents in the bedroom lie in other areas.” She snort laughed and he grinned. “I’m putting you on speaker.”

Kagome’s soft voice cooed into the bedroom, and both Inuyasha and Izayoi sighed, ears twitching. “Hey little pup. What song do you want Mama to sing for you sweetheart?”

“Mama!” Izayoi said sleepily, her ears twitching towards the phone. “Love you Mama. Train whistle.”

Kagome laughed softly. “I love you too baby. Okay, are you listening?”

Izayoi nodded, and Inuyasha said softly, “Yep, she’s ready.”

Train whistle blowin' Makes a sleepy noise Underneath the blankets For all the girls and boys

Rockin' rollin' ridin' Out along the bay All bound for Morningtown Many miles away

“She’s asleep”, whispered Inuyasha softly, taking the phone off speaker and backing slowly out of the room. He sat down with a thump on the sofa. “How’s Mama?”

“They did some blood tests at the hospital, and apparently she’s really low in iron. They gave her a blood transfusion and she has an appointment to see a heamatologist next week.”

“Shit. Do they know why?”

Kagome sighed. “You know what she’s like. I doubt she’s been looking after herself properly, now that she doesn’t have Grandpa to look after. I was hoping now that she’d retired from the shrine that she’d do things that she loved to do, but I don’t think she’s doing that well Inuyasha.” Kagome’s voice sounded a little wobbly.

Inuyasha swallowed. He adored Kagome’s mother. He’d been a brash belligerent teenager when he’d first started going out with Kagome in senior highschool, and Kagome’s mother had seen it for the front that it was. Kagome had known that he was hurting after the sudden death of his parents in a car accident, and so had she. It was a situation the Higurashi’s were all too familiar with, after the loss of Kagome’s father.

Mama had refused to allow him to push her away, even though shrine families weren’t usually accepting of demons, and had loved him like a son. No one had been happier for them when he and Kagome had decided to get married. He loved her almost as much as he’d loved his own mother. He pictured the once bright eyed, busy woman sitting by herself in a small apartment. She was probably so lonely.

“Kagome. Do ya think she’d live with us? I mean, if she wanted, I could even build her a little house in the back yard. Then it wouldn’t be like she was livin’ in our back pocket. She could visit us when she wanted, and we’d be close by if she needed us. And Izzy would get to see her every day.” Kagome’s quiet sob on the other end of the line startled him. “Hey love, you okay?”

“I’m fine”, she sniffed. “I… I’m gonna ask her, okay?”

“Don’t cry! Dammit, I didn’t suggest it to make you cry, I thought it would make you happy! If she’s not lookin’ after herself, I want her to be closer!”

Kagome giggled. “I’m not really crying, I’m just… you are an amazing husband, do you know that?”

“Shut up.”

“You are! And an amazing Dad. How did dinner go?”

“I stuffed up a bit. Made her pasta with red sauce instead of pesto. But she ate most of it.”

“Good job Daddy.”

He could practically see the beaming smile on Kagome’s face on the other end of the line and he sighed. “I miss you Kagome.”

“I miss you too. Only one night, and then I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you bring Mama too, if she’ll come. We could probably get her an appointment here, couldn’t we?”

“I’ll ask her. You know how stubborn she can be some times.”

“Yeah”, he chuckled, “I know. I got two stubborn reminders that live in the same house as me.”

“Hey!” He heard a soft voice in the background. “Okay Mama, be there in just a moment.”

Inuyasha sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you want us to pick you up at the airport?”

“No, it’s okay – it’s usually crazy at that time of night, and it’s too close to Izzy’s bedtime. I’ll just catch a taxi. Good luck with that meeting tomorrow.”

“Thanks”, he snorted. “Can’t say I’m lookin’ forward to it. Guy sounds like a first class prat.”

“Just… hold your temper”, Kagome soothed. “Bottle it up, and you can grump about him to me when I get home.”

“Oh no. I got other plans for you when you get home.”

“Oh really?”

Inuyasha lowered his voice to a rough purr. “Maybe I can get you to sing a bedtime song for me. Last time I went down on you I’m pretty sure you hit a few soprano notes”, he grinned.

“Shut. Up!”

“You love it.”

“You just wait until I get home mister! No mercy!” She paused for a moment. “I’m sorry hon, I gotta go, Mama’s calling. Love you.”

“Sweet dreams, sweet cheeks.”

Inuyasha ended the call despondently. The house just seemed empty without Kagome in it. He traipsed into the kitchen, opened the fridge, then shut it again. He looked in the cupboard, and there was one packet of ramen left on the top shelf. He couldn’t be bothered cooking anything else.

He slumped down on the sofa, clicking through the channels and then snorted in disgust, turning off the tv and his attention to his dinner instead. He may as well go to bed early without Kagome here, just in case Izayoi woke up during the night.

He dumped the plate in the sink and went and had a quick shower, groaning as he wondered if Kagome was in the shower at the same time as him, picturing her generous curves soaped up under swiftly falling water. Gods, he was pathetic. It wasn’t like they had sex every night, but now she wasn’t here, he missed her presence like a physical ache. He was away for work sometimes, true, but it seemed different somehow, when she wasn’t home and he was.

He dried himself off quickly, pulling on his soft grey sleep shorts and falling into the bed that seemed way too big without Kagome in it. He went over his meeting plans in his head, staring at the ceiling, wishing his wife was curled up next to him.

---

“MAAAAMAAAAA!” The high pitched scream had him bolting upright, and he flung himself out of bed, bashing his shoulder on the door frame as he careened down the hallway towards Izayoi’s room.

He kneeled down next to her bed. Her tear filled eyes were easily visible in the soft glow of the night light, and shuddering sobs shook her little body. “A Mons-ster!” she sobbed, trying to get her little arms free of the quilt. “Want Mama!”

“Hey baby, it’s okay, it was just a bad dream”, he soothed, stroking the sweaty hair back from her forhead. “There’s no monster here.”

“He ate Mama!” she sobbed, launching herself at Inuyasha. “Mama gone!” Her hiccuping sobs pulled at his heartstrings, and he picked her up, cradling her against his chest so that she could hear the solid beat of his heart.

“No monster”, he repeated firmly, as he carried her down the hallway towards his and Kagome’s bedroom. “Mama went to visit Grandma, and she’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yup. Sango will take you to daycare tomorrow, then Daddy will pick you up, and by the time you’ve had dinner and bath, Mama will be home again. I promise Princess.”

“Pinkie promise?”

It was a concept he had only recently educated in, but he nodded solemnly, viewing it as the sacred pact it was. “Pinkie promise”, he said, hooking his larger pinky finger around her smaller one.

His sleepy brain engaged a little more, and he walked them back towards the bathroom. “You wanna try goin’ to the toilet before you hop into Mama and my bed?”

“Okay.” She stood sleepily in front of the toilet and gazed at him without moving, so he turned her around and helped her pull down her PJ pants and underpants and plonked her on the toilet. He waited silently for a minute, then looked down to notice she was actually asleep sitting up. Chuckling as he fixed her clothes and picked her up again, he padded silently back to his bedroom, carefully placing her on Kagome’s side, hoping her scent on the pillow would help Izzy sleep.

He gazed at his little girl as she sprawled herself out like a starfish, her nose and ears twitching for a moment before she settled back into a deeper sleep. There was a time when he’d thought he’d never want children, because life had seemed to be determined to keep him alone. And then he’d found Kagome, or rather, Kagome had found him, bossing her way into his life and not taking no for an answer. And now they had this beautiful child together. His princess. He dropped a soft kiss onto the dark hair between her pointed ears and then settled back down to sleep himself.

 ---

“Daaaaadddyyyyyy!”

Inuyasha grunted as he felt the full weight of a solid three year old landing directly on his bladder. He opened one sleepy eye. “Yeah?”

“The door!”

“Fuu—iretruck!” he groaned, leaping out of bed at the sound of knocking on the front door. Had he slept in? Nope, 6.45am. He usually got up at 7. He opened the front door a crack, poking his head through. “Yeah?”

“It’s just us!” grinned a smiling Sango, holding Shinzu on her hip. “Miroku’s going to drop off the girls at school, so I thought I’d come over a little early and help you get Izzy ready for daycare.”

“Uh, okay?” said Inuyasha with a puzzled expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Kagome texted me and told me you had an early meeting. Did I get it wrong?” She laughed at the suddenly panicked face Inuyasha made as he opened the door wide to let her in. “I take it you do have an early meeting?”

She stepped inside, then grinned teasingly at Inuyasha, pointing at his sleep shorts. “Is this a really informal meeting? Because I don’t think those are going to cut it.”

“Shut up”, he growled.

Izayoi ran towards Sango and hugged her legs. “Saaaango! Baby Shiiizuuuu!”

Sango ruffled the dark hair on Izayoi’s head, being careful of her pointed puppy ears. “Hey Izzy – you had breakfast yet?”

“No. Daddy asleep.” She held her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Daddy snores!” She stuck her fingers in her ears as if to emphasise how loud it had been.

“Way to rat me out kiddo”, muttered Inuyasha, raising an eyebrow at her. Izayoi hid behind Sango’s leg, then giggled some more.

“Go get ready Inuyasha, I’ll get Izzy off to daycare. I’m pretty sure I know where everything is.”

Inuyasha jogged towards the bathroom, then paused. “Thanks Sango, I really appreciate this.”

“Enough to babysit and give me and Miroku a night out?” she asked with a hopeful air.

Inuyasha thought for a moment about wrangling the twins, Shinzu and and Izayoi combined, then shrugged. “I’ll talk it over with Kagome, but yeah, sure.”

“Done. Stop talking and go get ready!”

He was back twenty minutes later in his business clothes, long hair neatly braided and the tie he only wore for meetings with clients already choking him. Izayoi was seated at the table, happily eating yoghurt and fruit. He dropped a kiss on her head. “Be good today Izzy. I’ll be there to pick you up from daycare, okay?”

“Okay, bye bye”, she said happily, making a funny face at Shinzu so the baby squealed in delight.

Inuyasha rushed out the door. “See you later Sango! And thanks!”

“You’re welcome!” she sang out, her voice punctuated by the loud slam of the front door.

 --- 

Inuyasha growled as he gripped the steering wheel, glancing again at the clock on the dash. 5.55pm. He’d already called ahead to tell the daycare director that he was stuck in traffic and should be there soon, but that didn’t make him feel any less guilty.

The whole day had been a write off – filled with pointless meetings with pencil pushers and government know-it-alls that wouldn’t know good construction timeframes if they bit them on the arse. And thanks to them, he was late picking up his daughter, the very first time he’d been asked to do it. Shit.

It took another five minutes to find a parking spot, and he ran the rest of the way. The lights in the centre were off, but he knocked on the door, bouncing nervously, and a smiling lady let him in.

“Izayoi’s in the director’s office doing some colouring – right this way.”

“I am so sorry”, he panted, and the lady smiled at him, holding up a hand.

“It’s okay, you called and let us know what was happening. We let Izayoi know you’d be a little late, and she seemed fine. These things happen.”

Inuyasha poked his head around the office door. “Izzy?”

“Daaaadddy!” She vaulted herself into his arms, and he picked her up, giving her a squeezy hug.

“I’m sorry I was late baby. The car got stuck in traffic on the way here.”

Her bottom lip trembled a little. “Everyone gone home.”

“All the other kids have gone home?” She nodded. “I’m sorry you were the last one here Izzy.” Inuyasha turned his head towards the director. “I really am sorry for my lateness. I got caught up in meetings at work, and didn’t leave early enough to avoid the traffic.”

“That’s quite alright Mr. Takahashi. These things happen”, the director said, making a shooing motion with her hands.

They stopped to get Izayoi’s little backpack, then walked out of the centre.

“You know what?” said Inuyasha, swinging Izayoi’s little hand as they walked side by side towards the car. “Daddy had a grumpy day. And do you know what would cheer me up?”

Izayoi’s ears pricked up hopefully, and her eyes widened. “Ice-cream?!”

“Ice-cream”, he agreed, nodding seriously. “Should we eat it in a cone, or get some to take home?”

“Cone!” squeaked Izayoi, almost dancing on the spot.

Pretty soon they were sitting in an ice-cream parlour, Izzy with a small vanilla cone, napkin tucked into her shirt to save it from the drips, and Inuyasha with a towering triple scoop waffle cone monstrosity with extra fudge. Izayoi sighed happily as she licked, not quite fast enough to stop it dripping down her arm.

“I sticky.”

“Gotta keep licking!” said Inuyasha, turning her cone to the other side so she could lick the drips. If Kagome were here, she’d produce some of those wet wipes that seemed to fix a multitude of problems. Inuyasha snagged a couple more paper napkins from the paper dispenser and wrapped them around Izayoi’s little wrist, tucking the ends in. “There, that might help a little.”

“A bracelet! Thank you Daddy!”

Inuyasha snorted. “Glad to see my Princess is so easily pleased by paper jewellery. Keep licking Izzy, or it’ll fall.”

Once the ice-cream was eaten, it was time to go home. There was a short argument about keeping the soggy napkin bracelet, but after Inuyasha had promised to replace it with a real one when it was her birthday, she finally stopped stomping her small foot, and smiled. Crisis averted.

 ---

Inuyasha felt slightly guilty when he realised that Sango had done the washing up for him. Whoops. Oh well.

“You wanna help me make dinner Izzy?” he asked, hoping that would ward off any dinnertime disputes.

“Yeah!” She was rubbing her eyes a little sleepily, so he knew it would have to be something quick.

“How about boiled egg on toast?”

Izayoi looked at him quizzically, and Inuyasha remembered it was something she usually only ate for breakfast.

“It’s been a topsy turvy day. Let’s have breakfast for dinner!”

Izayoi snorted then giggled. “Silly Daddy!”

“Hey, it’s okay to be silly sometimes. Let’s boil an egg!” He let Izayoi pick an egg from the carton, then helped her place it carefully into the cold water in the saucepan. They put a slice of bread in the toaster, and she pushed down the lever herself, and then looked at him proudly.

“My princess is getting to be such a big girl!”

She nodded excitedly, then yawned.

Inuyasha buttered the toast and fished the egg out of the saucepan, peeling off the shell quickly and mashing it onto the toast.

“You want fingers or a squash sandwich?”

“Squash.” Her eyes blinked sleepily. He’d cut it pretty fine by taking her out for ice-cream; it was just about her bedtime now. Inuyasha picked her up and put her on her seat at the table. He folded the toast over carefully, making it like half a sandwich.

“Just eat a few bites princess, and then you can have a quick bath, okay?”

Izayoi nodded sleepily, then munched her way through the middle of the sandwich leaving all the crust.

“All done? Let’s go take that bath.” He ran a small bath, and washed her quickly; the fact that she wasn’t wanting to play told him exactly how tired she was. He lifted her out of the water and she stood on the bathmat as he rubbed her dry.

“Where Mama?”

Shit. Kagome had texted him that her plane had been a little delayed and she was just getting in a taxi, hopefully she would be home any minute.

“She’ll be here soon, Princess. How about Daddy will keep reading stories until she gets home?”

The bottom lip trembled a little. “Want Mama.”

Inuyasha helped her into her night time underpants and pj’s. “She’ll be here soon baby. Let’s go read those stories, okay?”

“Want Mama.”

Her little nose rubbed against his neck, ears flicking against his chin, and he felt a few warm tears slide down. Shit. C’mon Kagome. He carried Izayoi down to her bedroom, but instead of sitting on the chair, he sat down on her bed with her still cradled in his lap. She stayed curled up, her little thumb firmly in her mouth.

“Sad.”

“You’re feelin’ sad, cause Mama isn’t home yet?” Little nod. “I miss her too when she’s away. I love you and your Mama sooo much. All the way to the moon and back.”

“Moon story.”

“Goodnight Moon?” Izayoi shook her head.

“Rabbit.”

“Sorry kiddo, you’re gonna have to give me more than that. There’s a rabbit and a moon in the story?”

“Big Rabbit. Daddy Rabbit. And Little Rabbit. Izayoi Rabbit.” Inuyasha heart swelled and he dropped a kiss to her head. She was worse at tugging on his heartstrings than Kagome. Or better. Probably both.

“I think I know the one ya mean.” He reached over to her little bookcase carefully, and got a small battered boardbook. The first book they’d ever bought her, when she was still in Kagome’s womb. They’d bought it on the way home from the hospital after the ultrasound at twenty weeks. There were still little teeth marks around the edges where she’d bitten it as a baby.

“Guess how much I love you”, he began. A key clicked in the front door lock, and Kagome’s voice called out.

“Helloooo, I’m hoooome.”

“We’re in Izzy’s room”, he called out quietly, turning the page. “Little Nutbrown Hare, who was going to bed, held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare’s very long ears.”

Kagome walked quietly into the room, leaning down to kiss Izayoi’s cheek.

“Mama”, Izayoi sighed sleepily.

“You want Mama to finish the story for ya Izzy?” asked Inuyasha. She shook her head.

“Daddy Rabbit.”

Kagome smiled at them both, and sat down on the chair. “I’ll listen too, if that’s okay.” She stroked Izayoi’s hair as Inuyasha read, and the little eyes drifted closed as he finished the last page.

Inuyasha rumbled a pleased sound through his chest. He couldn’t help it. Kagome was home, Izayoi was asleep and no longer sad. All was right in his world.

“Need some help escaping?” Kagome smiled. She helped lift Izayoi up gently so Inuyasha could slide out from underneath her, and Kagome pulled the quilt up over her, tucking her dog toy into her arms, and kissing her forehead. “Sweet dreams, Izzy.”

They tiptoed out of the little bedroom, and back down the hallway. Inuyasha picked up Kagome’s suitcase and carried it to their bedroom, Kagome following behind him.

“Mama didn’t want to come with you?”

“No. She was very definite about seeing the specialist there. Souta is taking the day off to go with her.”

“What did she say about our idea?”

“I think she might say yes. She’s thinking about it at the moment, but the idea of seeing Izzy everyday was very appealing”, smiled Kagome. She curled her arms around Inuyasha’s neck and hugged him tight. “I missed you so much! Did everything go okay with Izzy while I was away?”

“Pretty much. She missed you a lot. I did too.” His hands drifted down her back and over her bottom cheeks, suddenly wrapping around her thighs and lifting her up, snorting in laughter at her sudden yelp of surprise.

“We still haven’t finished the bedtime routine Ka-go-me”, he purred, walking over to their bedroom door and closing it firmly. “You owe me a song.”

#inuyasha fanfic #inukag fanfic #inuyasha family #papayasha #daddy inuyasha #pure fluff #Bearpluscat fanfics

[crusherthedoctor]

Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dunes of Intrigue

“...What do you mean it's all connected? In what way?”

That was the question Espio demanded to get an answer for, as befitting of the Chaotix’s mystery solving status. Eggman continued to share his prideful superiority in generous quantities for all to see, no matter how dirty of a look everyone else in the room gave him.

“It's a small world, don't you know,” he said in an upbeat manner, with another stroke of the famous 'stache. He still refused to make any secret about his enjoyment of the proceedings. “This big blue globe of ours may have so much to see, but when you get down to it, all the mysteries of life have a relation. Some more than others, perhaps, but always to an extent.”

“Stop speaking in riddles, breakfast bozo!” Vector cracked his fists. “Get to the proper details!”

Charmy attempted to mimic his partner by cracking his own fists, but he wasn’t quite able to master it. Espio stoically rolled his eyes, as he often found himself doing, through no fault of his own.

“We're still here, if anyone cares...” a depressed lion muttered in his cage. He was on his side, head on hand, resigned to the fact that him and the rest would probably have to wait some more before they were so much as acknowledged, let alone set free.

“If it involves Chao...” Sonic pondered, rubbing his chin all the while. “Then it involves... Chaos?”

Eggman paused... before letting out a sudden, bizarre cackle. He puffed his chest, rubbed his hands, and leaned forward dramatically to confirm the hedgehog's interpretation.

“No.”

Sonic blinked in utter confusion. He exchanged looks with Tails, then back to Eggman. What on earth was he trying to get at then?

“How about the Black Arms?” Tails randomly guessed.

“No.”

“Little Planet?”

“Nope!”

“The Gaias?”

“Noooope!” Eggman's merriment only grew with each incorrect answer.

Sonic stared at the ground dejectedly. He was struggling to think of any other potential candidate for the correct puzzle piece to Eggman's mystery jigsaw. He threw his hands in the air.

“...Babylonians?”

“Ha ha! NO!”

The doctor cackled once more, clapping his hands like a seal, and fist pumped the air multiple times in triumph. “Clueless! Completely clueless, all of you! You're not thinking big enough! This is how it feels to be me, surrounded by nothing but idiots 24/7! And here I was considering lending you another hint, but since you lost the game, it's time for... the penalty.”

Right on cue, a small quake began, which increased in intensity every couple of seconds. The heroes zipped their heads around as poles were knocked over, banners fell over, and even the cages in the arena opened up with how aggressive the quake was. The scared witless inhabitants immediately got out of dodge, as if knowing things would only get even worse if they stuck around... which, considering it's Eggman, they had every right to assume that.

Despite losing his prisoners, Eggman didn't seem to mind, as he was far too giddy at his visitors’ reactions to the rumbling... which eventually simmered down... and at last came to a halt completely. The anthros weren't stupid though, and every one of them, young or older, put up their dukes. Something was coming, but they didn't know what.

“Alright, what's going on?” Vector pointed a finger at the scientist. He snapped his jaws menacingly, ready for some Scrambled Eggman if need be.

The madman fiendishly kept his mouth shut, crossed his arms, and wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

Then, calmly, he clicked his fingers.

As soon as he did that, the entire roof of the tent was violently ripped to shreds by an unseen force. Everyone struggled not to fall on their sides as an extreme breeze suddenly filled the ring, though the doctor avoided its pull or push by protecting himself with a purple plasma shield. His throne soon broke off from where it rested, as did the mini-thrones that Orbot and Cubot sat on beside him, and it floated in the air triumphantly as his enemies witnessed exactly what he wanted to share...

To their horror, an absolute behemoth of an airship was now floating directly above them. Far greater in size than the Wing Fortress, the Flying Battery, the Egg Carrier... any and every airship he had made in the past positively paled in comparison to the gargantuan scope of this grim monument to one's ego. A far cry from the reds he was prone to plastering over his modern ships, this one instead took on a jet black colour scheme, though there remained several red accents. It took on the general shape of a blimp, yet it remained armored with high-tech to the last detail. If you could even see them from the tent's smaller frame of view, four lengthy wings could be spotted, two on each side, at symmetrical angles, in the shape of curved blades. A twisted parody of the doctor's own face could be seen on the front end, in pristine silver steel, with glowing red holes for eyes.

And of course, countless cannons and engines were planted all over. Because when you're Dr. Eggman, the dial starts at eleven.

“Oh my god...!” Amy gasped, as she struggled not to fall on her behind with the gale force at work.

“What's THAT ugly thing!?” Charmy questioned. He flapped his wings as fast as he could to combat the wind.

“Ran out of resources, doc?” Sonic called out to his nemesis, feigning a lack of interest, though he had to admit it looked pretty fearsome. “What happened to all your armadas that I smashed up? No more cash to rebuild them?”

Eggman belted out even more jolly laughter, as he stood on his throne like a little boy playing make believe with his action figures. His throne floated directly in front of the ship's view, and he gesticulated wildly. “This time rodent, I'M the king of the wind! One is all I need! In exchange for quantity, I have more quality than you could ever know! It has all the power of the Egg Carrier-NO, all the power of the entire Eggman Fleet combined! Behold, my greatest flying fortress yet! THE EGG CLOUDBURST!”

He sat back down on his throne with much pride, not bothering to acknowledge that neither Orbot or Cubot were in fact inside his purple shield, and thus were likely to get sucked away. They were both hanging onto their own thrones for dear life. “And I didn't pick that name for no reason, boys and girls! With this baby, so long as it’s nearby, any destination's wind and seas bow down to me and me alone!”

“...Sorry, what?” Tails blurted out in absolute bewilderment. “Are you saying you can control the weather now?”

“That doesn't sound nice...!” Cream held tightly onto a banner, as her ears billowed in the wind, with Cheese holong tight onto one of them.

“You fool!” Espio cursed as he attempted to stick to a wall, to no effect on account of just how powerful the wind proved to be. “No mortal can control such forces!”

Even Sonic couldn't deny that Eggman's claim was not a light statement. “How is that even possible? Is that what you're using the crystals for, which AREN'T yours by the way?” Even as his life depended on not poking the proverbial tiger, he never ceased the opportunity to jam a pencil through the doctor's bluster.

“Hohoho, you think this is all I have to offer? As glorious as it is, this is merely an alpha-project of mine, a small teaser of what's to come in a future paved with my brilliance! I have even more fun surprises in store, and boy oh boy, I can hardly WAIT to show you them... but until then, have a free sample of my fully operational Cloudburst! TTFN, ta-ta for now!”

“Don't let go!” Orbot advised to Cubot, as they continued holding onto their small thrones while their creator flew away to head inside his new Egg Cloudburst. On the ground, everyone was trying desperately to hold onto something, anything, even each other... But it was no use. As the eyes of the Cloudburst glowed brighter, the gale force dialed it up a notch, becoming an outright hurricane in the process. One by one, they were sent tumbling and flying across the night sky, while the tent finally caved in and crumbled into pieces entirely.

“Ahhhh!” Amy screamed.

“Woahhhhh!” Tails cried out.

“Don't get sick...! Don't get sick...!” Lutrudis struggled.

“I swear I'll get his money...!” Vector echoed.

Sonic glared at the Egg Cloudburst for as long as he could still see it, and cursed the doctor as he too was sent flying. “You won't get away with thiiiiiiiissssssss...!”

---

“URK!”

“Eck!”

“FFUH!”

“Ungh!”

Each of our heroes landed right onto the ground in a tragic heap. Sandy ground, to be exact. Tails and Cream had some leeway in that they were able to soften their impact with their tails and ears respectively. The latter instantly checked her bag in a panic, but to her relief, not a single Chao was lost in the hurricane.

Amy was not so lucky, landing squarely on her posterior, and while Lutrudis managed to soften her own landing with her own tail, it was to a more limited extent. If there was any consolation to be had about all their landings, the sand itself was not rough at all. In fact, it was some of the softest sand one could find.

And Sonic?

Well, naturally, he landed face first.

He grumbled incoherently as his face was deep into the substance. Lutrudis and Amy quickly helped him up, and he gave a small, somewhat distracted salute to both of them... before abruptly spitting out some sand from his mouth.

“Yuck... Why does this-” He paused to spit out more sand. “Why does this always happen to me...” he asked to himself, as he tried valiantly to remove the taste. “You'd think I could land on my back just this once?”

“Now we're far away from where we were, thanks to that stupid ship,” Amy mused. She turned to her left and right, and soon realised not all of the group was with them. “What happened to the Chaotix?”

“Must have got sent flying someplace else,” Tails reasoned, as he directed his spinning namesake away from his friends so that when he was getting the sand out of his tails, they wouldn’t accidentally go in anyone’s eyes.

“Oh no, will they be okay?” Cream worried, with her hands clasped tightly. Even if she barely knew them, she'd hate to think they got hurt, or worse.

“Ah, don't worry about them Cream, they'll manage.” Sonic sniffed as he looked around, scratching the back of his head. Something that stood out to him was that due to the night time, the sand was not yellow or orange as he would expect, but rather a soft shade of pink, which complimented the deep purple sky nicely. Sonic had to admit that this desert was a pretty pleasing one for the eye, even if he still hated the taste of sand.

“This is pretty common anyway,” he added, still looking around. “I meet up with pals, we get separated, then I meet up with them again. Happens all the time.” He snickered to himself. “Who knows, by the time we regroup with them, they might have actually solved a mystery!”

“So anyway, where are we now?” he asked Lutrudis, the one group member who would be the most likely to have an answer. “You know, aside from 'the desert', which could mean anything.”

“I'm not familiar with these parts on a personal level, but I know it's not that far away from home.” She took a moment to snort out that one speck of sand from her nostrils, which caused her a bit of embarrassment due to realising it was a rather unflattering look. Still, she continued without a fuss. “There's a train system around here. I don't think it's been used in an awfully long time, but it'll make our path easier, I know that for certain. Though with all the dangers that might be out and about in such dry conditions...”

“Pfft, those dangers will be no danger at all.” Sonic stretched out his arms, ready to go out into the great unknown. “We've done swell so far, what's the worst that could happen?”

Lutrudis simply looked at him, then switched her view to the endless mounds of arid dust. It's not been all that easy for her, as evidenced by how she had previously been sent flying by a hurricane summoned by a giant airship. But their combined skills have proven to work wonders, and there was no reason to start doubting its effectiveness now. Not when despite everything, she felt oddly secure, even in the midst of all the danger.

“You coming?” Amy called out, knocking Lutrudis out of her thoughts. Everyone else had already started exploring. “As if we'd leave you behind!”

The horse stared at Amy thoughtfully. Maybe this was just how it felt to have friends to turn to...

---

Dune Borders Zone

Act 1: Dark Canyon

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Roller - “There's only one Sonic, so these armadillo bots have come to kill and replace. They come in two forms: blue ones are straightforward and roll around without a care, while the red ones have more advanced AI, and can block your attacks if they're too conspicuous. Uncouth ripoffs, so they are...”

Sol - “The desert is overwhelmingly blistering as it is, do we really need to start a fire? They'll keep their fireball projectiles close by, but if you get closer, they'll expand their range by a significant margin, creating a widening circle of fur-intolerant flame... but they’ll also leave themselves open. ~Oopsie~”

Scarabesque - “Atop the dusty cliffs will you find these wily beetles, who use their plethora of boulders to disrupt your progression. At least the boulders are made of steel, and not... what Eggman is full of.”

Cactinaut - “The latest and greenest innovation from the Orbinaut family, not only can they spread their spiked projectiles - a common courtesy with this model - they can also inflate their heads afterwards. Not to imply a lack of faith in your independent rationale, but don't touch them when they do that.”

Bulldust - “Predictably, these rowdy sorts come charging at you on sight. Less predictably, they can kick up sand to obscure your vision, therefore giving them more chance of making your internal organs particularly unhappy. Perhaps Amy should consider a change of wardrobe...?”

Deputy Pawn - “I question the validity of their promotion. These yellow gunners don't just play out the part with their bizarre strutting, they're actually halfway decent shots. I'd say they've had their six, but I’ll bet they’ve got six billion more to spare.”

The deserts in Viridonia are the epitome of vast, and as you'll discover, it's not exactly a static desert, shall we say. You'll see what I mean soon enough... if you can make it out of here alive. But what's a couple of Sand Hills for a tourist like you? This may be a Dusty Desert, but you've been through loads of Desert Ruins before, so as long as you don't lose your mind and stumble into the Mirage Road, you'll make it through the Arid Sands in one piece... something something Sandopolis.

And I mean it when I say vast. This area is truly huge. The empty fields of sand can be spooky in its own way, but that's not to say there's nothing of interest out in the open at all. The sandy terrain is broken up by a selection of gigantic purple mesas, and wooden windmills that are larger than life. While the moon is the only thing that can be found in the purple sky, its sheer size casts some much needed light onto the pink sands below.

The colour of sand is not the only oddity around here, though. What else can you see all around you? Well, you can see cliffs... lonely trees... watering holes... crystals...

Amy: More crystals?

Tails: Out here in the open?

Sonic: Grey crystals, just like in the mountain!

That's right Sonic, the dunes are packed with the grey variety of crystals. No doubt Eggman's robots are after these ones too, so do your bit and knock them out for even entertaining the thought. The mining areas out here likewise contain plenty of them, but because it's nighttime, their muted shine does little to dispel the shadows that cloud the mines. Shallow pools of water serve as your main light source indoors, aside from the rotating flames of the Sol units.

Not that the outside is any less dangerous. It's not a complete desert package without everyone's favourite desert-flavored obstacle... quicksand. And oh boy, there's a LOT of quicksand around these here parts. It pulls you in, and it pulls you fast. But don't bring out the blubbering hysterics, for there is a way out of the situation should you need it. All you have to do is tap the jump button rapidly, and you'll be out of there faster than you can sue me for giving your thumb a blister. Remember that quicksand is a lighter shade of pink, so that's how you can tell it apart from the regular, safer sand.

Also note that an easy way to avoid quicksand entirely is by skimming along the oversized bones you see spread around the wilderness. What sort of fantastic creatures do these bones mark the remains of? Who knows, but hopefully they won't be spinning in their grave at the sight of bite-sized hedgehogs and foxes running along them like it's a skate park.

When you're up on the cliffs, or inside the mines, you can use the rickety pulleys to get yourself around. Do be careful however, because not all of them work the same way. Some of them go slower, some of them go faster, some go left, some go right... and if you're really unlucky, they can fall apart halfway through. Know the risks, and make a bold leap if it comes to that. Aside from the pulleys, you can also use the rotating windmills to get through the desert extra quick, though you're hardly any safer, for the Deputy Pawns will make a boisterous effort to shoot you down from below, when they're not occupied with their harmonicas.

Halfway through, you'll get to explore an abandoned western town. Any trace of civilisation here is long lost, but the town remains tall and proud regardless... Even if the red paint is a little chipped on some buildings, and some doors are half broken, and Eggman's goons are going full method actor and shooting the place up in search for you and your bundle of friends...

The noose in the center of town is also kind of discomforting.

Cream: What's that rope thing over there?

Amy: Um... you'll find out when you're older... maybe...

Tails: Maybe it's a weight system of some sort?

Sonic: I wish it was, Tails. Yeesh...

Lutrudis: Probably for the best that I wasn't around in the old days...

Interestingly enough, you can tell how far you are into the level by where the moon is positioned. See, it starts off high in the sky as you'd expect, but we're slowly reaching the early morning period, which means the moon will lower that little bit more with the further you go on. Whenever it lowers, it can have the side-effect of temporarily blinding you, so if you want to avoid the blinding moonlight, then simply hide behind a mesa for a second.

Not too often that you see a moonset, is it?

Towards the end, the moon has disappeared completely, and in its place, an equally mesmerizing sun slowly begins to rise into view. But pressing matters are afoot, for you can see plenty of patches where crystals should be... but aren't.

Lutrudis: These ones have already been taken... but by who...?

Sonic: Someone fast, by the looks of it... Really fast... Hmm...

The end of the stage is marked by the presence of a single building, even grander than the empty town we saw earlier. It looks even older, and equally worn out, yet it's still standing. As you crack open the capsule to free the local critters, you can only wonder what's inside... if there is anything inside...

---

Act 2: The Badland Express

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Turbo Spiker - “You can't touch them while they've got that huge drill, but be patient, and it'll fire away and let you do them in... you'll need to then avoid the flying drill at the same time, though. How kind.”

Bomber - “The name is commendably honest, if only to compensate for its unoriginality. When it opens the dome on top, it dispatches bomb after bomb, and will not stop in the slightest until you put it down. They never run out, because defying us is apparently worth defying logic.”

Vultron - “Well... they fly, otherwise they wouldn't be effective bird-based bots. But they're also crafty, and enjoy confusing you with their fancy loops and daring maneuvers. Let's hope their choreography is the only thing they're killing.”

Coalision - “These miniature choo-choos store an endless supply of black coal, and they'll be glad to share it with you while it's still hot... literally. It's a waste to be sure, but that holds true for many of the doctor's career choices, doesn't it?”

Returning Enemies: Roller Cactinaut Bulldust

The title is a bit misleading, because if we want to get onboard the train, we have to go through the station first. Luckily, since it's seemingly abandoned, we won't have to worry about needing a ticket... Unless that's what the robots are after us for.

Anyway, you start off just outside the station, lit up by a row of tall lamps. By this point, the sun is still rising, so now the surrounding sand is given a lovely shade of deep red, with a redder sky to match. Too bad you'll be spending most of this level indoors then, eh? If you want though, you can take a quick peek at the books in the nearby info center, which mention in great detail the once proud history of our poor station. It also name drops the Great Oasis, which is apparently where the train would be headed for if it were still in business...

Unfortunately, since the station is abandoned, the interior has seen better days by comparison...

Sonic: This place could sure do with some of Amy's decorating magic...

Amy: I'll say! All this dust can't be healthy.

Lutrudis: If I've got enough spoons in me, I'll gladly lend a hand.

Try not to get too spooked in here, because with the creaky echoing of the oversized rotating gears, intertwined with the cobwebs and scrambled papers, it can be easy to get a heart attack at the slightest thing... and I don't just mean the prices.

Your enemies are all too aware of this, particularly the Coalisions, who love to make a beeline at maximum volume, which echoes throughout the station. The bombs ejected from the Bomber units also cause an echo, but at least it gives you an idea of where they are. It's brighter in here than it was in the canyon’s mines, but it can still be pretty dark, though the sunlight that shines through the windows and the occasional glass ceiling will get you through. And yet, even the glass here can become an obstacle, as the Turbo Spikers are fond of sending their drills through them to make a dynamic entry.

Despite mostly taking place indoors, there are still the occasional outside sections, which include the rooftops. The rising sunlight is at its most gorgeous here, so feel free to bask in the sun despite being in a rush in the context of the actual story. Rollers are especially plentiful up here, in red and blue. They can even gang up on you if they feel like it, so don't stay in one place for too long. They're easier to deal with if you're playing as Tails, since a tail swipe is sufficient enough to deflect them while they're in ball form.

You'll know you're nearing the end when you enter an old diner in the station. Sadly, it too has long since decayed, but the “employees” will still do all they can to serve you... literally. On a plate. To Eggman. The Vultrons love to poke through the windows in the diner, so be on the watch for them, lest their fancy maneuvering cause your eyes to start swirling. If it weren't for all the decay, Amy would find an appeal in the cutesy aesthetic of the diner.

And not long after, you'll finally make it to an outside chamber, where the titular Badland Express rests in all its rustic glory... You know, this level felt a bit short, didn't it?

Nevermind that, are those burn marks on the ground...?

Has someone visited here recently...?

---

“Well, this is it... ~ta-da~” Lutrudis made use of appropriate jazz hands to befit a proper introduction for what rested before the lady and her friends. A red locomotive with golden accents sat alone and isolated, and even though it hadn't been used in years, it looked surprisingly healthy for its age, moreso than the depressing station it was cast aside with. Both Amy and Cream looked as though they might as well have been in a candy store.

“Ooooooooh...” Amy let out.

“Ooooooooh...” Cream repeated.

“Ooooooooh...” Cheese completed the rule of three.

“Doesn't look half bad for a crusty old train,” Sonic rubbed his chin as he examined the entire vehicle. “And this will take us closer to home? Er, your home?”

“That's the idea,” Lutrudis inspected the locomotive herself with hands on hips, and her tail swished out of interest. “Unless its course has drastically changed and it takes us to the arctic or something, but I'm willing to estimate the unlikelihood of that.”

“Shall we get going then?” Amy anticipated, anxious to see what the train looked like from indoors. Her own tail wagged slowly in excitement. “I love a romantic train setting...”

“Hang on, aren't we technically kind of... stealing this thing?” asked Tails, with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. “Are you guys sure this is a good idea?”

His friends all exchanged looks with one another. Back, then forth, then back, then forth again. They returned their gaze to Tails without a word, all sharing the exact same blank expression.

---

“Good thing I learned how to do this,” Tails cheerfully quipped as he mastered the controls, and got the train rolling along without issue. “Or else this would be a lot harder.”

“Thatta boy,” Sonic ruffled his foxboy pal's head with a proud grin, to which the latter let out a humble chuckle as they walked into the next room. As it turns out, the Badland Express proved to be charmingly old-timey despite its lingering glamour. The dark green walls were filled up with muted diamond patterns, and the floor was softened by a comfortable red carpet. The curtains, sharing a similar shade of red to the carpet, were made of soft velvet, which Amy couldn't help but constantly brush inbetween her fingers, clearly enjoying the texture of it. Wooden banisters lacked any trace of dust, which in some ways was almost eerie, but they couldn't exactly complain. Even the seats were soft and snuggly, and they looked just as clean as the rest of the inside.

“So that's it then?” Amy asked Tails. “We're up and away?”

“Well, it's already moving,” he looked back at where the controls dwelled. “So unless something completely unexpected and unpleasant happens, we'll be totally fine.”

“...Yeah,” Sonic stated, out of slight concern. His eyes darted between different windows.

“Agreed,” Amy added. Cream simply nodded.

They all stood around for a few seconds, almost aimlessly so, until Tails piped up again. “Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think I could do with some shut-eye. I've barely had any since we arrived in Viridonia.” He looked back at the control room again. “Although... I guess I should stay awake to pay attention to the controls if something unexpected and unpleasant does indeed happen... But there won't be anything unexpected and unpleasant, surely... I mean, if I keep bringing it up, it won't happen, right...? I know how reverse psychology works...”

“Dude, chill. It's okay, you can go right ahead,” Sonic put a gentle hand on the fox's shoulder, and gave him a warm smile. “I'll stay up in case anything happens. You deserve the sleep.”

Tails looked up at his big bro, and slowly returned the smile in earnest. After all these years, the innocence in his blue eyes remained perfectly intact. “Thanks, Sonic,” he uttered gratefully, before he started looking around to find the nearest seat.

“I think I could go for a sleep too, to be honest,” Amy muttered groggily, as she rubbed both of her eyes.

“Me three,” Cream yawned as both herself and Amy sat down. This was followed up by Cheese letting out a yawn of his own. “And um, him four,” she added with a giggle.

“So...” Tails peeked at the window to remember the time of day. “I guess it'd be correct to say... Goodnight?... ...Good morning?... ...See you later.”

And with that, the orange fox instantly conked out on his seat as if he were inebriated, and the pink hedgehog and creamy rabbit similarly went into a fast snooze. Cheese snuggled up with his owner, and slept peacefully, as if sensing that no matter what struggles Eggman and his mechanical menaces would put them through from here onwards, everything would work out okay in the end. Once they were all asleep, Sonic made sure to carefully, quietly, move their bodies a little bit to ensure they were resting extra comfortably. He did this with all three of them, and he took an extra minute to slowly move Tails' namesake so that the three of them could lay their heads on them.

Satisfied with his work, he dusted off his hands, and gave his dozing friends one last look. As he watched them sleep, he realised how nice it felt to be on an adventure with the gang again. Not that he minded going out on his own by any means, but it had been so long since they were all together on a journey... Well, Knuckles wasn’t here, but luckily for them, they had someone to fill in his place...

He tried not to make too much noise as he tip-toed over to the table that Lutrudis was sitting by on her lonesome. Contrary to the rest of the group, she looked wide awake as ever, and her gaze was focused on the view from outside.

“Figured you'd be fast asleep as well.”

Her head briefly tilted left to acknowledge the blue speedster coming over to her, before it turned back to the window. “Eh, I'm not tired. My sleep schedule has a mind of its own, to my own chagrin.” She scoffed, albeit quietly so as not to wake her other friends up. “That's what this body does to you.”

Sonic looked at her silently for a couple of moments. Slowly, he took his hands off the seat he was standing behind, and sat down opposite of her at the table. He looked to his left, as if to find inspiration for a conversation starter. In the process, he took the time to admire the desert plains in all their vast glory. The sun was hiding behind several towering red mesas, but it wasn't enough to obscure the light completely. He didn't say anything at first, but after his brain focused on the endless red sand outside, a small burst of nostalgia sparked within him.

“You know, all this sand reminds me of my time in a book.”

“In a book...?”

“Yeah, the 1001 Arabian Nights... What, you're not familiar with that one?”

Lutrudis pulled up the arm of her long glove. “I'm familiar with the tale, obviously, but my knowledge of your time in it is unfortunately more limited, since you know... it's a book. It's considerably more challenging to locate records of what you went through compared to your other achievements.”

“Hmph, and I thought you were the Sonic Expert.” He grinned lightheartedly.

“Well then, perhaps you'd care to share the details, o brave adventurer?” She leaned her right elbow on the side of the window playfully, and rested her head in her hand. “I'd love to hear it. We've got plenty of time.”

“Err, actually, there's not too much to say in all honesty, heh.” He took a moment to adjust himself on his seat. “Just mostly me and a friend running after a genie.”

“An evil genie?”

“Unfortunately so. He had a few screws loose, that's for sure. Wanted to burn his world to the ground and remake it in his own style.” He scratched an itch inside of his right ear. “Kind of like Eggman, I guess.”

“All would-be conquerers do tend to feel similar after a while, don't they.” The horse's eyes looked to the side, at the desert fields. “Different flavors, but always the same greed... the same lust... gluttony... wrath...”

“Yeah... well, this guy did a bunch of uncool things,” Sonic continued, trying his best to not dwell for too long on what those things were, at least when it came to his ally from that journey. “Even turned a king into an undead husk.”

“Oh dear, really?”

“Yep. AND he cursed me with a fire spell. If I didn’t do as he demanded, the flame within would force me to kick the bucket.”

“Goodness...”

“I know, right? Guy was mental. But he wasn't free to be an evil dude for long. Because...”

“You came along?” Lutrudis couldn't help but add an affectionate ring to those words. “And made everything all better?” Her face lit up, and she didn't bother hiding her smile at the thought.

“You bet I did!” Sonic winked with two finger guns. “Sent that genie packing, literally! I beat him, humiliated him, sent him back in his lamp, never to be seen again. So the story could continue living, without his interference!”

“Of course it could...” Lutrudis sighed contently. She looked rather diffident, as if she wasn't all that sure on how to word herself. “You sure are a paragon to the people, aren’t you... a ray of light to everyone you meet...”

Sonic blinked twice, as the green equine's flowery compliments once again left him unsure of how to respond. If he wasn’t imagining it, he could feel his cheeks getting a little warm, and with possible hesitance, he let out a soft chuckle.

“So... you're just gonna believe all of that?” he asked jokingly. “Just taking my story about going inside a book at face value? For all you know, I could have made it all up.”

“Oh, I believe it. I utterly believe it...” The lady's expression grew even wider, as if the mere thought of Sonic doing his thing was enough to fill her with internal solitude. “There's so many crazy things out there, but so many beautiful things too. And you've stepped up to the plate no matter what comes your way, no matter how alien, or ancient, or ridiculous. So, when you say you went inside a book, to save another world from a corruptive influence... there's no doubt on my end.”

Her eyes opened up slowly, and they locked with the hedgehog's own. “It's hardly beyond your capacity, is it? You're like another world all on your own, in a strange sort of way... a world of majesty, and wonder...”

Her smile grew softer, and in time, so did Sonic's. The hedgehog failed to respond verbally to yet another kind remark, but deep down, he knew he didn't really need to say anything. His quills lowered, and he rested a single hand on the table, its distance not too far from her own. If it were to remain undisturbed, it's possible they could carry on with their quiet exchange forever.

Revealing herself to still be partially awake all along, Cream had secretly witnessed this scene for herself. Despite being half-asleep, her and Cheese exchanged delighted looks with each other at the display. They weren't necessarily sure what to make of it, but as far as they knew, their friends were getting along, and that was all that mattered.

As the rabbit turned back around, she noticed a closet that looked a bit ajar. Deciding to fix it herself, she quietly walked up to the closet, and grabbed the door handle, until her curiosity suggested she at least take a look inside to see if there was anything in there, after all these years of the train's disuse.

Alas, there wasn't much to write home about. Just some old-fashioned shirts, dresses, Metal Sonic...

Wait.

“AIEEEEEE!!!!!”

“What the-” Sonic stood up in an instant, as did Lutrudis. Amy and Tails likewise woke up just as fast at the sudden noise, and all of their eyes widened as Cream, now more awake than ever, stood in paralyzed fear at the sight of Metal Sonic standing right there in the closet, towering over the poor bunny like a cybernetic grim reaper. Not a moment too soon, the robot immediately raised a claw, ready to strike down at Cream and grab her bag of accompanying Chao in the process.

Sonic was predictably the first to react, and ran up to give his copycat an uppercut, which appeared to dislocate the robot's head... before it jolted back down as if nothing happened, complete with a hellish metallic clang. Thinking fast, even at the expense of her sensitive limbs, Lutrudis made a daring leap over a table and kicked Metal back into the closet before he could lay a finger on either Sonic or Cream, and instantly followed it up by putting one of her arrows through the door handles as a makeshift blockade. Picking Cream up by her side, she turned tail as fast as she could.

“I've got you, honey,” Lutrudis assured her friend. “But we must hurry, he won't be stuck in there for long!”

Lo and behold, mere seconds later, Metal's fist came shooting straight out of the wooden door, and his second arm used its strength to create an even bigger hole in the now ruined closet. He stood once more, stepping slowly out of the closet's remains, and not once did his gaze turn away from Sonic’s, who was standing directly in front of him, with his friends at his left and right.

“He's been on board this whole time?” Amy let out a disturbed glare. Her grip on her hammer tightened, as she was all too familiar with this machine. “That’s not creepy at all!”

“What's he spying on us for?” Tails wondered, his tails tensing up at the presence of Eggman's notorious exterminator.

“Let's hope he's not around long enough for us to find out,” Sonic muttered, as he directed a sneer at the peeping tom. “Nice of you to drop in, Metal! I'm the one you want, right? I'm the one you want to prove you're oh so superior to! So what are you waiting for? Wanna be Sonic? Come and get it!”

Metal stood still for what felt like forever, until he raised a single finger, and ominously waved it across his own neck. He then clenched his fists, and started marching through the hall, slowly, towards his eternal rival. As Sonic extended both of his arms to defend his friends, the metal menace started up his engine, ready to go...

---

BOSS: Metal Sonic

It was only a matter of time before Metal Sonic interfered with our affairs. He may be different from our regular, heroic, green eyed, sociable Sonic in a lot of areas, but if there's one trait he has in common with his organic counterpart, it's a ruthless level of persistence. This will become very obvious over the course of the encounter, so you better be quick on your feet for this one. You have no excuse if you're too slow, given who you are.

The unique thing about this match is that you'll be going through all the different sections of the train, as you do all that you can to keep Eggman’s top enforcer off your back. But it's also not merely an escape sequence disguised as a boss, because you actually have to make an effort to fight back at the same time. Amy will be your main assistance here, since Lutrudis will be occupied with keeping Cream and all the Chao on her person safe and far away from the mad robot... that, and someone has to make sure the train is going where it's supposed to while it's being terrorized by a killer machine. A train delay is the least of your worries.

You start off where you were in the previous cutscene, by the tables, and all you can do for now is avoid the lasers that come shooting out of Metal's chest. It's possible to use the tables for cover, but don't rely on them for too long, since with enough laser power on Metal's end, they will eventually break apart like tissue paper. If you want to fool around with him, you can spin dash under him as Sonic, or fly over him as Tails, though if you get too cocky, he can halt the proceedings by grabbing you and slamming you on the floor. Amusingly enough, you can actually throw broken table pieces at your opponent, which you'll want to do since although it merely annoys him, any brief distraction is everything here, and you'll be given time to properly damage him without getting swiped at by his claws. Pretty straightforward so far, right?

After four hits, Metal will change tactics by flying outside the train. What's he doing? Why, he's absorbing electricity from the nearby power lines! He's never done this before... not in his regular form. Granted, a power line may not be on the same scale as a living being, but wasn't he only able to do this vampiric business when he took the form of Neo Metal Sonic some time ago? Perhaps he's been given an upgrade by the good doctor... one that doesn't require an undignified appearance.

Let's not ponder for too long about it, because now Metal's lasers will cover two thirds of the ground, which is bad news for you due to how little free space there is on the train. He'll also throw in some new moves, namely charging straight at you, and firing one energy sphere after another, which have a tendency to home in on you. You'll want to get beside Amy during this, as she's quite good at knocking them away with her hammer.

By this point, you'll be chased through the different bedrooms, all of which are fortunately empty, but if you VERY QUICKLY search the drawers, you might nab yourself some ring capsules to help you out. Although be careful of a jump scare, for one bed inexplicably has a skeleton inside... Seems to be a recent skeleton too... was this Metal's doing...? Let's forget we ever saw it, and hope we don't end up the same way.

Tails: I think I'm too young to be seeing stuff like this...

Eventually, you'll end up in the engine room, which is filled to the brim with old pistons and gears. As you may expect, these count as obstacles, so try not to get crushed by them while you're focused on Mr. Lookalike. What you want to do here is time it so that a piston comes crashing down when Metal is underneath. He'll grab it effortlessly with his robotic strength of course, but in the process, he'll accidentally leave himself open for you to do your thing. A spin dash or tail swipe will do the trick in this case. This will get more difficult each time, as Metal proceeds to destroy the piston you used against him afterwards. So what happens when all the pistons are destroyed? With nowhere else to turn to, there's only one option... out the window.

You are now climbing the side of the train, and don't think the awkward position will convince the evil duplicate to go easy on you. Luckily, your climbing speed is fairly quick, though diagonal movement can be something of a minor inconvenience. Know the right times to go vertical and horizontal, and you should be golden. Where is Metal Sonic during this sequence? He's the camera apparently, as it switches to Metal's perspective as he fires his lasers at your climbing self. You'll also have to navigate carefully around more homing spheres at the same time, because you know what they say... so you don’t need to be told. Keep a cool head, and you'll get through without getting your tail(s) singed.

Finally, at last, you end up - where else - on top of the train. Metal isn't playing around here, and he makes that clear by pulling out a couple of grey crystals from that magical area that all anthros place their belongings when they don't have pockets. Seeing them in his hands is quite alarming, to be sure...

Sonic: So it was you who took them... bring it, faker.

Not wasting any time, the robot absorbs more power, this time from the crystals. His limbs shake violently, as if he were struggling to adapt to his new energy. A shadowy aura surrounds his body, which provides an eerie contrast with the sunrise behind him. His eyes light up brighter than ever, glowing with malicious intent, and he beckons his enemy to come forward with the back of his hand... Well, who are we to disappoint? Let’s show him what we’re made of.

In this final section, you run and hop along the roof, and you'll want to keep track of time here, because if you take too long, you'll reach the end of the train and have nowhere else to go. Metal will make a projectile of himself here, by zooming through here, there, and everywhere, with dark energy seeping from his being. He's also fond of whipping out his famous Black Shield here, and he can rev it up like your own spin dash. This has the side effect of ripping up the roof a fair bit, even creating a few holes in it. Jump at the right moments to avoid the holes, swerve at the last possible moment to avoid the zipping Black Shield, and when Metal is about to turn around to give it another go, quickly pounce on him like a man possessed. He'll bring out the lasers again at this point, which are now given a darker aura of their own, but you've got this in the bag.

Once you give him four more hits, the next cutscene will commence. Congratulations, you've bested the notorious Metal Sonic... for now...

---

Sonic and Metal Sonic were still on the roof, kicking and swiping away at each other as they both got closer to the front of the train. Tails and Amy ran as fast as they could to make sure Sonic wouldn't fall off the train entirely, but Metal wasn't making that easy for them by firing devastating lasers in the middle of his scuffle with the hero, all the while he was pounding Sonic's body into submission.

They soldiered on anyway, dodging the blasts left and right, until they managed to dogpile onto the robot themselves. Despite the three on one advantage, Metal was more than capable of taking all three of them on at once, and announced that in no uncertain terms by clutching Amy and Sonic by their heads. As he choked Sonic by the neck, he stared straight into Amy's eyes, as if to inject the same fear that he instilled in her during her youth on the Little Planet.

Before it could have any lasting effect however, Tails slammed down on Metal's head with both of his tails, and while he was rewarded with an eye laser for his troubles, Amy seized the opportunity to whack the droid on the side of his chest with her hammer. Regaining some of his energy once his neck was accidentally let go, Sonic then spin dashed Metal's body in the air not once, not twice, but three times. Yet the doppelganger recovered, and made a threatening beeline towards the one he despised above the rest.

While all this was going on, Lutrudis and Cream were at the controls, and they could see from the increasing amount of holes on the roof that things were getting serious... and that they also just had an idea. With a firm nod from both of them, they quickly looked all over at the controls. It went without saying that neither of them had driven a train before, so to say they were unqualified to drive would be something of an understatement. Luckily however, in this urgent scenario, there was only one thing they needed to do...

“Hold onto me,” Lutrudis said to Cream, which the bunny immediately obeyed, knowing what was about to happen. Lutrudis then called out as audibly as she could to her friends above. “Guys! Quickly! Grab onto the roof!”

Initially fearful as to whether they heard her or not, her doubts were put to rest by Sonic staring straight ahead, his eyebrows raising in realisation, and he soon repeated the equine's words to his teammates. He then planted his chest on the roof and grabbed onto two edges of the nearest holes, which was followed by Amy and Tails doing the same thing.

Metal Sonic, meanwhile, tilted his head, as if he were amused by their sudden action. But he got over it quickly, and slowly raised a claw to tear into Sonic's undefended back...

...that is, before he was abruptly sent flying off the train and out into the open desert at insane speeds, like a twinkle in the distance.

As the train itself grinded to a halt, the three on the roof hadn't quite grasped what just happened. Realising the coast was clear due to both the train stopping and Metal disappearing, they slowly let go of the holes, and looked all around them to make sure they weren't about to get a nasty fakeout from their enemy. As Tails and Amy took a moment to catch themselves, Sonic looked down at Lutrudis and Cream, who both grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry for the jolt,” Lutrudis muttered with a nervous shrug. “You okay up there?”

Sonic, not quite able to speak at the current moment, simply gave a half-dazed thumbs up. Cream couldn't help but giggle to herself at this.

“How much do you think this will cost in repairs?” Tails asked with a hint of dread, as he examined the sorry state of the entire train. Amy let out a shrug of her own, followed by a nervous laugh.

---

After Lutrudis reassured her friends that she would pay for the damages once Eggman’s activities were dealt with (assuming anyone found out about what happened to the train), they took a collective moment to analyse where they actually were now that the train had arrived at its one and only stop... and to say they were experiencing a mild form of culture shock would be accurate.

For although they were still in a desert, with the immense heat and intense sands that came with it, it was not at all like the one they had just been through. Far from the foreboding western cliffs and abandoned shanty towns, the tastes they were witnessing now were undeniably of the eastern variety. Even from afar, the streets were glittering, decked out in majestic blue carpets, and the tallest towers in view were purest white and gold. Townspeople were freely exchanging idle chatter with each other, a far cry from the lonely wilderness they had seen beforehand. And although they had spotted the occasional watering hole prior, here you could find water everywhere, including by the streets themselves. All completely fresh, at that. Shops of all shapes were also inviting their intrigue, beckoning for them to check out their contents.

And for that last detail alone, Amy was instantly smitten.

“Good timing, I think we could all use a drink,” Sonic suggested, fanning himself in the scorching heat.

“This place looks wonderful! Let's have a look around!” Amy bounced merrily, seemingly unaffected by the heat, as she clasped her hands together in excitement. “I love places like this! So full of culture! I wonder what dresses they have here?”

Not necessarily arguing with her insistence, Sonic marched on down to the exotic streets, his team following after. Of course, it didn't take long for them to split up. Cream stayed with Amy, and Lutrudis did the same with Sonic, while Tails went on his own. A grand total of five seconds ensued before Amy dashed inside a clothing shop in an adorably gleeful frenzy, with Cream being considerably more relaxed as she happily followed.

Even Sonic had to laugh at his friend's constant energy. He knew full well that she always had a taste for exquisite fashions.

He turned around, and instantly grew curious as to what Lutrudis was paying close attention to. Upon witnessing, he couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle. By the window, in three rows of ten, were a selection of identical silver necklaces, each of them customized with a different colour of jewel, and a simplistic pattern of the same colour. As far as he could see, Sonic could spot them in ruby, sapphire, emerald, garnet, amethyst... and a bunch more that Tails would probably recognise before him. He was reminded heavily of the Chaos Emeralds he was all too accustomed with... and all the other colorful minerals he had seen in his young life, including his friend's own crystals.

“They look gorgeous, don't they,” Lutrudis muttered dreamily, with adoring eyes. Not that she had any intention to buy any for herself, simply getting the chance to observe their beauty was enough for her. They were probably more deserving for someone else anyway.

“Oh yeah, definitely, they look stunning.” Sonic's eyes went to the sapphire necklace. “Heh, come to think of it, I bet that one would look spiffy on you,” he casually commented, and carried on walking with a carefree smile. Lutrudis looked as if she was caught off guard by his comment, and after a few frozen seconds of taking it in, she shyly fiddled with her ponytail.

As she got ready to follow the Blue Blur however, she immediately paused, and looked back at the necklaces, glancing up at the emerald and garnet ones in particular. She turned her head to Amy, who was far away in complete and utter awe at something else. Her focus turned to Cream, then back to Amy, then back to the necklace selection. Her own smile grew as she rubbed her chin in thought. They're a bit pricy, certainly, but it would be worth it...

Tails was examining a bunch of unique gadgets in a different store. All of them appeared to resemble clockwork animals... or at least he assumed they were meant to be animals, but they still looked pretty eye-catching all the same, even without taking their shiny coat of paint into account.

“Any you fancy?” asked the camel shopkeeper, as he drank his glass of water. He was clearly hoping the young fox would buy even one, not least because it would provide a fair bit of dosh.

“Just passing through,” Tails politely declined. “Where did you get these things, out of interest?”

“Oh ho, they're relics of a bygone era, my friend!” the camel boasted, as he alluded to what may or may not be an elaborate ruse. “The Ancients of Viridonia were very advanced in their time, you see.”

“Right...” The kid seemed unsure about the story’s legitimacy, but he wasn’t going to argue with the man. “Are those... crystals you have, back there?” he questioned, pointing towards the small hill of grey shinies behind the shopkeeper. The casual display of them in a shop was weirdly offputting.

“Oh no, not the genuine article, I'm afraid. They're merely... fantastically sculpted replicas. Definitely didn't pluck them anywhere, no siree.” He crossed his arms and nodded firmly, though his eyes betrayed him by shifting left and right.

“I see... well, see ya!” Tails happily waved farewell as he left the shop. Once he knew the fox was gone, the camel muttered to himself out of annoyance. Getting anyone to buy these gadgets was hard work these days.

Resigned to his job, he took another swig of his glass... then promptly spat the contents back out upon seeing a green robot standing beside him, with a katana right at his throat. Where did he come from...?

“Crystals. Now.”

Meanwhile, Sonic was walking around aimlessly, taking in the environment more than what there was to buy. It was typical that he recalled the Arabian Nights adventure to Lutrudis beforehand, because this scene made him reminisce all over again, to the point where he questioned whether this place or that tale came first. His mind went back to his guide of that world...

Shahra... Another friend he hadn't seen in a long time, but one that he nonetheless hoped was doing well. He knew for certain that she ended up better than she started, with her former partner no longer having any control over her.

The hedgehog frowned, as the memory of Erazor Djinn came flooding back to him. He only had to deal with him once, and he was grateful for that, lest he be continuously confronted by one of the vilest evils he had ever faced. He shivered in disgust at the memory of all that he did, whether it related to Shahra or otherwise, and he could only be thankful that the malevolent spirit was last seen in his lamp, in a pool of magma, never to be released again.

...Unless Eggman found out about him and used one of his lava-resistant machines, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. He's already doing enough as it is with all the mayhem he's sent the hedgehog's way in Viridonia. The last thing he needed right now was for Erazor to come back.

His frown deepened. Speaking of the doctor, his own actions were getting pretty concerning as well. His risks were still growing in scale, and his cruelty was still growing in scope...

“Hey there, blue boy.”

Sonic looked dazed for a moment as his contemplations were interrupted by another voice. He looked all around him to figure out where it came from, only to express surprise as he turned to a familiar face, who was currently relaxing in the shade on a carpet.

“Rouge?” He raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here? Where’s your groupies?”

“Oh, they're busy with other things, dearie,” she casually announced, as she took out a small mirror to check her tufts of hair. “So I decided to spend some time over here, my home away from home. I mean, it's partly on business for G.U.N. as well, but that's the great thing about being me, isn't it? You can work and play at the same time.”

Her eyes went to Sonic, who was still kind of shocked to see her on her lonesone. “Why so surprised? With all the treasure around here, surely it'd be more of a shock if I wasn't here.”

“Well, yeah I guess, I just...” He sheepishly looked to the side. “It's been ages since I've seen you on your own.”

“Hmm, has it?” The bat continued adjusting her makeup without a care in the world. “I'm not handcuffed to them, you know. I have my interests, and they have theirs... although Shadow could really do with pursuing more of them.”

“And how has Knuckles been doing? Haven't seen him since the last time we all teamed up.”

“What, am I his caretaker?”

Sonic remained awkwardly silent, not sure what to say in response to the accusation. Rouge let out a light chuckle, and carried on.

“I'm kidding, he's doing fine. He seemed pretty pleased with his latest defense system for the Master Emerald... ~but let's see how long that lasts~”

The hedgehog turned his head slightly, and his suspicions arose. “You're not thinking about nabbing anything in THIS place, are you?”

Rouge mockingly put her fingers to her mouth, as if she were deeply considering it. “Well, who knows? We'll just have to see, won't we? Sure is a good thing I have money, right?”

Sonic paused again to take her words into account, before finally smirking at her joke. With all the tales that go on about her thievery, it made sense that they could be a little exaggerated sometimes.

“Besides,” she added. “Someone else is hard at work with the stealing around here. Believe it or not, but I’ve actually been attempting to track them down... and not just because I’m slightly bothered that they’ve been beating me to the punch.”

“Someone else...?” Sonic thought. Who could she be referring to? Metal Sonic?

As this was going on, Tails and Lutrudis came on over to where Sonic was, and it didn't take long for them to notice who he was chatting with.

“Hey, it’s Rouge!” Tails greeted. His own history with the bat may be something of a complicated and frankly weird one, but he was happy to welcome her regardless. Lutrudis likewise gave a little wave of her own, even though this was her first time meeting her.

“Oh, hey!” Sonic was all too eager to make the necessary introductions. “Rouge, this is Lootru-...Latrue-...Trudy. This is Trudy. Trudy, Rouge.”

“Another playmate of yours, hedgehog?” Rouge raised an eyebrow of her own, followed by another chuckle. She rested her chin on her hand. “My my, where do you get all of them?”

“...Pleased to meet you as well,” Lutrudis replied as she shook her hand. Her body language made it obvious that she wasn't quite sure what to make of Rouge, given the latter's somewhat mixed history, but she was willing to give her a chance, since she was aware that the batgirl had helped her friends out plenty of times before. “Liking what you see around here, I presume?” she asked to strike up friendly conversation, with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Truly,” Rouge answered. Her voice was dripping with bliss. “Believe me, this place is a treasure of its own.”

The horse looked a tad puzzled at her comment, but before she could ask for an explanation, Amy and Cream soon arrived. Both of them appeared to be incredibly overjoyed, and the amount of bags on Amy’s person did not make it a mystery as to why.

“We have GOT to come back here when Eggman's done with! You'll never guess what we found! So many dresses, so many hairpieces, even found a new bowtie for Cheese...!”

The pink hedgehog paused, as she acknowledged Rouge's presence. Her arms lowered a little, and her head shifted slightly away. While not wanting to be rude, she was certainly conflicted about this twist.

“Oh, hey Rouge,” she muttered with a somewhat half-hearted wave. Cream's wave was more enthusiastic by comparison.

“Hey,” Rouge said back. The pink girl's suspicions were not lost on her, but she didn't bother commenting on it.

As if sensing the potential awkwardness of the situation, Sonic quickly changed the subject, as he clapped his hands with much gusto. “Say Rouge, I know you don't normally hang with us, but uh, Eggman's doing his thing again and endangering the planet like always, and we thought maybe you'd like to help us kick him up the butt again for being a maniacal idiot?”

The bat let out an overly dramatic sigh, with a raised leg in the air, as she prepared to stand up and stretch her wings out wide. “Well, if you care that much about my assistance...” She fluttered her eyes at the blue one, to which he just sort of looked in the opposite direction, clearly used to this behaviour. She laughed, even as Amy proceeded to put her hands on her hips in mild annoyance.

“Go on then, I'm game. Might find that thief along the way, and I do love a good thrill, almost as much as I love my precious jewels... Almost.”

With a roll of the eyes, Sonic sped off further into the desert in search of more robots to bust open, with his friends - and Rouge - in pursuit. Seconds after they left, an oryx walked out of the building that Rouge had been resting beside, holding a sizable glass of fresh lemonade. Preparing to serve, he looked down at the carpet she was using, and quickly realised the carpet was now on its own.

His smile turned upside down... until he looked to his left, then to his right. Checking the coast was clear, he started gulping down the lemonade himself.

---

Act 3: The Great Oasis

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Clamer - “Resting by the oasis are these brightly colored clams, who just so happen to conceal a portable cannon. It's a risk to take them on while they have it out, but it's an unavoidable one since you'll merely bounce off their azure exterior otherwise.”

Skorp - “Now this is a vexatious one. They already have a good defense as it is, but not only that, they can sling their pointy tail in your direction, and considering how far it can reach, it's extremely easy to underestimate. I suppose even a maniac can make an effective design twice a day.”

Sandworm - “They're worms, and they come out of the sand... Yes, that's right, yes indeed. They do like to catch you off guard though, but with a keen eye, you can catch their shuffling through the substance.”

Swordsman Pawn - “These purple guards are full of showmanship, but those scimitars prove they can back it up. Their skills are as sharp as their blades, although they do like to goof off if left to their own devices.”

Neo Djinn - “Now the doctor thinks he can improve mythology! Goodness sake... They appear to have some control over the wind, as they can strike you down with lightning, or hit you hard with weaponized gust. Never had a foe like him, huh?”

Floatin' - “I'm not sure if anyone informed the doctor, but these are meant to help save lives. These flotation rings are essentially circular blades, and should you catch them while they're spinning, you might not have anything left to catch with.”

Returning Enemies: Sol

The previous half of the desert may have been sparse in civilisation, but this area more than makes up for it. Life is brimming everywhere in this exquisite landscape, and with the sun up well and high now, the sky is now a subdued mix of pink and cream. It's a more inviting sight than the canyon, so what are you waiting for? Head on down to the Arabian... Days!

In town, you'll find rooftops to climb, and just as many marketplaces to vandalise to your gamer's content. Indeed, you actually can interact with several of the fruits on the market, to the point where it's possible to use them as projectiles against Eggman's robots, just like in the Tricky Tropics. Though I imagine the dealers won't be too pleased that you’re messing around with their fruit like it's no big deal...

“Could you, uh, stop that please?”

“Hey, that's not yours!”

“How am I supposed to ship these to Sapphire Tundra if you're spreading them all around on the sand!?”

“I don't care if it's for 'hero business', the least you could do is PAY for it.”

The snazzy carpets won't be the only drop of blue you'll be seeing around here, for even in the center of town, there's a reason why this is known as the Great Oasis. Small river trails can be found along the perimeters, large fountains can be found aplenty, and specialised domed houses even come with minature waterfalls. Even within the bazaars, there are plenty of blue roofs and patterns along the walls, though if you take a closer look, you can see more specific patterns involving anthropomorphic creatures, with claws outstretched.

First there were the carvings in the Gleaming Meadows... then the carvings inside the mines of Zephyr Valley... now we have these patterns right here. What's the full story? It pertains to the Ethereal Zone, that much is obvious, but to what extent...

Anyway, if you think the streets have got more than enough aquatic brilliance, wait until you see the oasis itself. Bright green grassy patches surround the round lakes of healthy water, and the palm trees remain arched, as if to pay respect to the tranquility of this land... either that, or the coconuts they hold are really heavy. Marble pillars are free to traverse and knock over, and you can also find plenty of statues and monuments, which remain magnificent in scale despite the expected rust collected over the decades. These statues seem to resemble... something reptilian possibly, but it's hard to make out for definite...

Ironically, despite all this water, there's barely any underwater sections, although it is possible to have a swim for some Lightning Shields and other goodies. Or maybe you just want to admire the scene, as when you're underwater, everything has a turquoise sheen, and the schools of fish you can find come in many a healthy colour. Watch out for the Clamers though, they can hide under the water just as they can by the side of it.

And remember, Tails is more suited for swimming than Sonic, since he has the distinct advantage of actually being able to swim. Though like always, it's far from impossible to explore under the blue as Sonic anyway.

Out of all the enemies here, the Skorps and Neo Djinns will be those ones, if you know what I’m saying. Skorps need no introduction or explanation, and I regret to inform you that the 3D plane has done absolutely nothing to diminish the obnoxiousness of their fiendish strategy. As for the Djinns, because they can attack in more than one way with their wind magic, it means they can attack you directly AND push you into other hazards. Doesn't help that they like to hang around with the faithfully stereotypical Swordsman Pawns.

When you reach a particularly large river, a cruise ship will be bobbing along it, known to all as the SS Sandline. It wouldn't be out here if it was meant to be ignored, would it? Hop aboard the cruiser, and pay no mind to the folks on board who are no doubt perplexed as to where you arrived from, and why you're here.

“Is that Sonic the Hedgehog? I thought he wasn't good with water...”

“Who cares about that? Get me his autograph, pronto!”

“Did he get in for free? I had to pay an extra 50...”

They'll have to wait for their autographs, because we're too busy avoiding the pack of Floatin' that managed to find their way on board without anyone noticing. They blend in by hanging on the walls outside, but their colours make them easy to spot in spite of that. As for inside the Sandline, there's not much that will kill you, but you're welcome to spin around the roulette tables, go for a splash in the jacuzzi, and swing along the chandeliers. Contrary to what your gut is telling you, they won't fall off, though they can go a bit wild with their directions if you swing on them for longer then necessary, so best to not spend too much time on them in any case.

The end of the cruiser is characterised by the use of a jacuzzi fountain, which will send you soarin' through the cloudless air like a free bird. During which, you're treated to yet another gorgeous view of the sky and the dunes alike.

Cream: It's so pretty out here!

Sonic: *pulls out a camera* Heh, this would make for a great group photo! Lean in, everyone!

Amy: What? Up here!?

Tails: Seriously?

Lutrudis: I hope my anxiety isn't showing...

Rouge: Be sure to get my good side, please.

The end of this stage is represented by a considerably emptier segment of sand, with little water to be found. This will last for a small while, with seemingly no progress made... but eventually, from a distance, you will start to spot some pools containing another liquid entirely. A black liquid, to be precise.

And along with that, a peculiar cavern system that appears to be part stone, part machinery, with a spider web’s worth of pipes poking in and out. Wanna bet our rotund arch-fiend has a hand in this?

---

Act 4: Petroleum Province

Lutrudis’ Badnik Logs: Tunnelbot - “This machine was present during the regrettable destruction of Angel Island's ruins, wasn't it? Well, there's a bunch of them now, and they're equally as fond of using the rubble against you, alongside their twin hydraulics.”

Flybot 767 - “See those alarms on the ground? Please make an effort to not set them off, for if you do, you'll get a small handful of these divebombing fowl on your tail... Although, maybe we SHOULD set the alarms off, since that way we can bust them open and get their living batteries out...? I'd hate to leave those adorable critters inside their robotic cages...”

Spitlick - “I think this is based on the gila monster, but you never know half the time with these do-no-gooders. Pure venom in design and demeanour, they'll happily lob a blob of it straight from their mouths... Why doesn’t it melt them...?”

Motor Pawn - “Using their hot new rides, these red daredevils leave a brief trail of fire wherever their wheels take them. Almost makes up for their tacky leather jackets.”

Rock Golem - “What the... This isn't a robot at all! It's a creature made entirety out of arid stone! It doesn't appear to be sentient, yet it follows the doctor's commands... How...?”

Sand Demon - “This isn't a robot either! These... entities seem to emerge from the desert itself, with the desire to provide you a sandy burial. What on earth is going on here...?”

Returning Enemies: Sol Bomber Skorp Neo Djinn

Another immediate segue into the next act, and no surprise that Lutrudis has her bandana over her face for this one.

Eggman is no stranger to oil profiteering - after all, he's got an ocean of it to his name - but this facility is more complicated not just in design, but also in navigation. Sure, you have your expected pipes and catwalks, even sharing an identical purple and green colour scheme, but since this place goes in and out like a rollercoaster, it can be easy to get lost. Not only that, but quicksand has returned, this time a murky brown, so you'll have to avoid that along with the black pits of oil you see all around. Note that it's still very much possible to prevent yourself from sinking in either of them by constantly jumping, though in the case of quicksand, you'll have to be that extra bit faster.

Oil Ocean is not the only Eggman compound you'll be reminded of in this level. There are also gimmicks and even visual references based on the infamous Launch Base, which largely include its twisty tubes, its yellow and semi-arabic structures, and those irksome Flybot 767 models. Don't be fooled into thinking this is merely Oil Base however (Launch Ocean?), for despite the resemblance to both past zones, there's some original flair to be found as well. Not so much on the outside perhaps, but on the inside?

The interior sections are where this place gets very intriguing. You've got your hollowed out tunnels, your cavern railways, your palace hallways... hang on, palace hallways? For whatever reason, Eggman has decorated the inside as though it were an actual middle eastern palace, complete with golden elephant statues, cobra-shaped pillars, and exotic chambers. Why has he done this? Come on, you know the answer to that. Why does Eggman do anything?

Unsurprisingly, Neo Djinns can be found in heavy abundance in these areas, and while they don't hang around other robots as much in this stage, they instead hang around with other Neo Djinns. Try not to get caught inbetween their wind elemental antics, or else you could end up being the unwitting ball in a game of wind tennis.

Tunnelbots will also be all too happy to welcome you, by drilling the roofs above, in the hopes that the resulting debris will knock you clean out. As for outside, you'll have cylindrical, armored trains to deal with. It’s evident that their purpose is to transport the oil to wherever and whatever Eggman needs it for, so we might as well smash them up to reduce the amount by at least a little bit, although try not to get splashed by oil in the process. It won't kill you, but it'll make your movements rather sluggish for a brief period of time. Shouldn't it be seriously unhealthy for our heroes though? Shhhh, Sonic doesn't care about it, and neither should you.

Their cleanliness, on the other hand...

Sonic: Trudy's got a shower in her castle, right?

Tails: I hope so, this oil is kind of hard to get off.

Amy: This better not stain my dress too much...

Rouge: A high quality bath is in order, I reckon.

Cream: I think the Chao would appreciate being clean again too...

Lutrudis: It's unsanitary, but if it means putting a stop to the doctor's doings, then I'm willing to trudge through... And yes, I do have a shower.

Sonic: Whew, what a relief!

Lutrudis: *giggles* Surely you wouldn't seriously think I'd lack one?

Sonic: Well, no, but...

It's at this point that the Badniks will start using the oil against you. The fireball-toting Sols will use an old strategy of theirs by dropping their fireballs above their respective pool of oil, thereby setting the whole pool aflame, and Bombers will set off explosives that unleash unstable geysers of oil, which you can spot early on by paying attention to the cracks in the hard sand. If all this wasn’t enough, Motor Pawns love to leave their blazing trails near oil.

But as Lutrudis acknowledged in her Badnik Logs, some of our enemies here aren't Badniks at all. Or at least, not your typical Badniks. The jaguar-esque Rock Golems and snake-like Sand Demons are equally common here, and both of them will cause an extraordinary amount of trouble for you if you're not careful. Of the two, Sand Demons are the greater evil, since their tendency to hide in the sand itself makes them harder to spot before it's potentially too late. The Rock Golems are more straightforward, and will settle for pouncing on you with all their rock hard weight, but since they're big boys, it can still be somewhat hard to avoid them.

If you're not too preoccupied with them, you might spot an Egg Robo perched atop a single catwalk, paying close attention to your progress. Rouge recognises him right away... and so do you.

Rouge: There he is! There's the REAL thief you're looking for!

Sonic: Ugh, not THIS guy...

Shinobi: Hello.

After a polite wave, he'll then disappear as if he turned invisible... then he'll reappear on top of a different catwalk, as if he came out of thin air. A new trick in his ninja guidebook, from the looks of it. If Espio were with us, he might be impressed. For now, you'll have to chase down the lime green Hard-Boiled Heavy for a bit. Don't panic, it's not a true chase, there's no timer or anything. You just need to not die while you're following him. You can do that, right? Although with the increased amount of deserty beasts and oil fires, you'd be forgiven for kicking the bucket once or twice. (Three times is pushing it.)

Once you seemingly have Shinobi cornered, you know in your heart that he won't be going down without a fight. And that's very much true...

Shinobi: You, all pests. Interceptors will be vanquished. Observe, and despair. The guardian... shall rise.

...only, it's not him we'll be fighting today, as he mysteriously waves a single hand in the air, rhythmically. Puzzled at first, our heroes aren't sure what to make of it... until it becomes apparent that it's some sort of enchanting hullabaloo, and before even Sonic can react quickly enough to interrupt his routine, he's successfully summoned something real bad. REAL bad.

How bad, dare you ask? Out of the desert pit below erupts a tower of sand, chiseled into a muscled physique, and we see its full appearance in all its terrifying glory: a grimacing, multi-armed, weapon-wielding... thing. Is it a monster? A robot? A statue? It really doesn't matter for the time being, because all we're focused on is putting it back to sleep.

Amy: What the heck is THAT?

Rouge: You're asking me!

Sonic: Come down and face me like a true Eggman robot, ninja man!

Shinobi: No. Important matters to attend to. Your opponent lies here, today. Let battle, commence.

BOSS: Desert Goliath

And with that, Shinobi has left the scene as quickly as he was introduced. The disappointment is understandable, but don't worry, we'll see him again one day, and we’ll be ready. For now, we'll have to focus our attention on... this lovely fellow.

A desert-themed boss in the middle of a circular ring arena. This feels familiar, doesn't it? But since this guy has four arms, each with a weapon in hand, you'll have more on your plate here. And on top of that, each arm has a different weapon. Those weapons being: a scimitar, a cannon, a clawed clamp, and a morning star. The good news is that Rouge will frequently drop rings from the air to help you out. The bad news is everything else.

You can guess how each of the Desert Goliath's arms will operate here. When he uses the scimitar arm, he'll slash at the arena, creating two fiery shockwaves from both sides that you must leap over. With the cannon arm, he'll aim at three different areas and launch balls of green plasma energy. This is probably the hardest weapon to avoid due to how fast he is with it, and how fast he turns around, but you'll know where he'll fire away because there's a brief pause before he does it. Should he use the clawed clamp, he'll reel back the appropriate arm for a few seconds... then IMMEDIATELY make a grab for your character. Finally, with the morning star, he'll put the unique strategies aside and simply attempt to crush you into dust with it, a total of five times to be exact.

So what's our strategy then? It's not like there's a giant button on his head. No, there isn't, but there is a way. It'll require a few steps... and it'll also require good ol' Miss Hadeer to whip out her bow again. This time however, it's not the yellow crystals she'll be using... It's the blue ones.

First, notice that the arena includes six metal pillars, each of them sporting a circular pattern that just so happens to resemble a bullseye mark. When the Goliath uses the cannon arm, you'll want him to aim at one of these barriers so that the plasma will come right back at him. As expected, this alone will not hurt him, but it will temporarily paralyze him... and grotesquely, his chest will ever so slightly open, revealing a stone structure within that looks a lot like a heart. That's your cue to go, Trudy!

Lutrudis: Here I go! Time to... chill out!

With a launch from her bow, an ice crystal-imbued arrow will be fired straight at the monster's chest. She might miss on the rare occasion, but not as much as she would miss in previous boss battles, for her aiming is still improving even more as she grows used to the heat of battle. This will freeze the Goliath's “heart”, thereby immobolizing the entire beast even further through the power of video game logic. Well, it worked with Chaos aboard the Egg Carrier back in the day, didn't it? Waste no further time and strike that chest while its stone organ is encased in ice. You'll be rewarded with a pained scream from the titan, and the match will resume.

But that's not all there is to it, is there? Ha ha, you're getting savvy about this, aren't you. Sure enough, he'll predictably get more aggressive with each hit, he'll increase the amount of plasma shots, the amount of morning star slams, he'll get a bit faster each time... But then, after the third hit, he'll suddenly and jarringly change tactics completely, a fact that he makes apparent by sending all of you flying far away from the original arena. The Chao staying safe in Cream's bag are rather shaken by this.

Chao: Chaoooo!!!

Cream: Hold on, little guys!

Sonic: Jeez, this big lug needs a chill pill... and we've already given him three!

You land on your derriere on an open terrain, and after some rumbling in the sand, the Goliath will rise once more, letting out a furious roar despite not a single muscle moving on its stony, frowny face. Now he'll try combining the powers that his arms bestow upon him, often using the clamp to throw you onto the ground before slamming you with the morning star right after, or using sword slashes and plasma shots in unison.

And it's only getting from bad to worse, because a fifth arm comes bursting out of his back. Unlike the initial four arms, it doesn't resemble an arm at all, but rather a horribly mutated scorpion tail. This tail will be the absolute bane of your existence if you don't stay on guard, because it comes with a special kind of poison that - should you be unlucky enough to experience the full injection - will slow you down to 2006 speeds for a whole fifteen seconds. Not pleasant, to put it nicely.

You could use a little leeway here, couldn’t you? Well never fear, Rouge is on the job. You'll have to wait and avoid the Goliath's attacks for a while, but soon enough, using her bat expertise, she'll belt out a couple of sonar waves to distract the beast. It won't distract him fully, since he's got multiple arms to spare and all, but two of his arms will be swinging away at Rouge, leaving you with the other three to deal with. Which three arms remain your own problem is randomized each time, so cross your fingers that the scorpion tail isn't one of them. Since he's stretching out his body between you and Rouge, his chest will keep opening again without him noticing. Lutrudis doesn't even need to use her ice crystals now, since its rocky heart is already weakened and sensitive from all the prior freezing. Quickly bash it with all your might whenever the chest opens, and keep away from him at all other times. He'll get angrier and angrier, and predictably faster in the process, but you'll manage.

Three more times, and with a final ear-piercing scream, the titan will fall, crumble, and clutch the ground as he slowly sinks back into the sand. Looks like Shinobi's pet needed some extra lessons.

---

“So what was up with that thing?” Tails asked to the group, as they all took time to gather themselves after the confrontation. The fox's heartbeat was still thumping. “I don't remember the Heavies being able to do THAT.”

“I don't remember ANY of Eggman's junk being able to do that,” Amy added, still out of breath herself, resting on a stone wall nearby. “First a giant airship that can control storms, and now this... This is just getting crazier and crazier!”

“On top of sending Metal Sonic and the Heavies all after us... and that Wraith thing,” Sonic thought to himself, with a clenched fist. He didn't look pleased about their growing power. “It's like the Phantom Ruby... but it’s all real. And those bolt brains were bad enough already.”

“Maybe that Mr. Robot was using crystal power too?” Cream suggested. In all fairness, there was no reason to doubt it. The Chao poking out of her bag were at least relieved that the giant sand abomination was gone. Cheese, meanwhile, was hiding behind the rabbit's ear, still unsure as to whether or not the sand abomination really was gone.

“We can't afford to let them obtain too many,” Lutrudis firmly stated, after she caught her own breath with her hands on her legs. “As powerful as they are, an individual crystal isn't enough to summon a giant raging sand fiend, and I also suspect a single one cannot command the weather like it's nothing, though at least the latter seems to have limited range for now...” She briefly paused to fan herself. “We know the crystals can stack up or combine their abilities if used together, and it's possible that the more they have on them, the closer they are to getting a taste of the Ethereal Zone's true potential...”

The horse's eyes widened subtly, as another undesirable thought came to her. “And the only crystals we saw around here were grey crystals... the less potent ones. Yet they were able to power up Metal Sonic greatly. If they got their grubby mitts on colored crystals, and started stacking them up... mixed with Eggman's unique imagination... we cannot let that happen.”

“Funny you mention that,” Rouge raised a playful finger, with her other hand on her hip. “As it just so happens, I've gathered a few reports of what I've learned about them while I’ve been visiting.”

“Reports? For G.U.N?” Sonic questioned with much suspicion, as he placed both hands on his own hips. “For what reason?”

"Oh, you know, safety of the population, yadda yadda,” the spy replied, as if it were basic knowledge. She soon frowned at Sonic's tone. “Unless you expected something else?”

“Well, I wouldn't put it past them to have shadier motives...”

“They're not the same as they were back then.”

“They DID go after me like a bunch of crazies,” the hedgehog muttered with great distaste, eyes closed. “I still can't believe they mistook me for Shadow.”

“Look, they didn't actually mistake you for-”

“Don't care.”

A brief moment of silence ensued. Tails and Amy weren't sure how to address Sonic's lingering thoughts about the G.U.N. ordeal, and Cream barely knew anything about them anyway. At the same time, Rouge knew the hedgehog well enough to know deep down that he probably wasn't going to be convinced otherwise about the current state of the infamous military organization for the time being. And true, she couldn't exactly blame Sonic for feeling that way, but...

Lutrudis' eyes switched to and fro between Sonic and Rouge. With a deliberate clearing of the throat, she decided to break up the tension. “Well, if Miss Rouge is okay with the idea, how about we go back to my place and go over her reports there? We're a lot closer to my area now, thankfully.” She gently nudged Sonic with a wink and a cheeky smile, to lighten the mood. “You can finally get that shower you wanted.”

“Oh, sure!” Sonic perked up in an instant, and rubbed his hands in childlike glee. “I can't WAIT to be clean again!”

“The Chao could do with some breathing space too, I guess,” Amy motioned towards Cream's bag full of them poking out. The desert heat was doing a number on them. “They've been in there for a while now, poor things.”

“Fine with me,” Rouge agreed, with a casual shrug. “And don't worry, I won't take anything... important.” Another smirk couldn't help but manifest on her lips, as she glanced to her side at Sonic. "Lover boy has provided much entertainment already.”

“Whuzzat?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, before I forget,” Lutrudis switched her perspective to Amy, as they began marching back home, with the green one in front to lead them the way. “They might be a little messy thanks to the oil hijinks, but I found something for you while we were in town.” She looked down at Cream, who was nuzzling up against the horse. “You as well.”

“Ooooooh...?” Cream beamed brightly.

“Ooooooh...?” Cheese repeated.

Amy's intrigue was also clearly piqued. She smiled humbly at her friend's generosity. "You shouldn't have, really. But what is it?”

“You'll see,” Lutrudis smiled in return, and playfully winked, with a tap of the finger on her own forehead. “Just, uh, might want to clean them off first when we get back.”

---

In the middle of the barren desert, Heavy Shinobi appeared out of thin air once again. The round ninja glanced at the beautiful sight around him, yet its luster did not appear to enrapture him, so much as it was merely given acknowledgement.

As he stood on his own - or seemingly on his own - a mechanical claw came bursting out of the sand, followed by an identical claw. As they scrambled through the sand, creating a round pit in the process, the ominous figure of Metal Sonic slowly raised from the pit. He stared directly ahead, in the same direction the ninja was facing. His fate had left him visibly banged up, but he didn't seem to notice... or more likely, he just didn't care. Not when that accursed copy was on his mind, as it always, always was. He continued staring straight ahead, his body tensing up, with cold, bitter hatred coursing through his circuitry. He was down, but as long as the fake was out there, he would never be out.

Shinobi turned to Metal Sonic. He shared the latter's silence. With how stiff his own body language was, it was unclear as to what exactly his thoughts were on the robotic hedgehog... If he had any particular thoughts, they would have to be saved for later, as a third presence revealed itself.

“Well?”

Metal and Shinobi both looked up to see their master hover down in his famous hovercraft. Despite cleary knowing from Metal's dented state that Sonic and his friends were still alive and at large, Eggman's shining optimism shared throughout his Viridonian operations remained consistent even now...

“Crystals have been obtained,” Shinobi explained, as his scarf swayed seamlessly in the hot wind. “Weak crystals, but plenty. They are yours.”

“Greeeeaaaatttt,” Eggman replied in a jolly sing-song tone of voice, his grin refusing to falter even once. He turned to Metal, not fazed in the least by the latter's defeat. “Roughed up my boy, did they? Well don’t be glum, we'll get you into shape for Round 2 very soon. Perhaps you're in need of some practice with those crystals of ours... and we've got plenty of them now. They may have messed up my lovely refinery too from the looks of it, but there's no time to worry about such smalltime matters.”

He opened his arms at the sun, confident as ever. “The sun is shining on me, gentlemen. And it shall remain that way.”

“In addition,” Shinobi spoke up. “He has footage.”

“Footage...?”

He nodded his head towards Metal for confirmation, and without a word, the droid looked down at his chest. After a few seconds of charging up, it released another beam of light, a completely harmless beam this time around. Within Eggman's line of sight, a rectangle was formed from the light, creating the illusion of a screen. Said illusion became even moreso, when it began to play the promised footage... the footage that Metal recorded aboard the train... It didn’t take long to catch his interest... all of his interest... He leaned slightly back, and crossed his arms, as he kept watching.

“You came along? And made everything all better?”

“You bet I did! Sent that genie packing, literally! I beat him, humiliated him, sent him back in his lamp, never to be seen again. So the story could continue living, without his interference!”

“You sure are a paragon to the people, aren’t you... a ray of light to everyone you meet...”

“The tale that he mentions... could be of use,” Shinobi mused.

Eggman didn’t respond, despite the promising offer. While the talk about great and powerful genies may have caught his interest on any other day, his attention today was already taken...

“So... you're just gonna believe all of that? Just taking my story about going inside a book at face value? For all you know, I could have made it all up.”

“It could be worth looking into, sir,” the green robot mentioned again, though deep down, he had already subconsciously acknowledged that the doctor was completely uninterested. He did not give a single rudimentary thought to that aspect of the footage. He was captivated by something else entirely.

“It's hardly beyond your capacity, is it? You're like another world all on your own, in a strange sort of way... a world of majesty, and wonder...”

Eggman kept watching. His goggles were glued to the screen, as if it was of utmost urgency. Even after the footage ended, and the screen provided by Metal Sonic faded away, the scientist stayed perfectly still, taking a few precious seconds to contemplate exactly what he just witnessed. Because even though it was, by all accounts, a mundane conversation between two of his enemies...

“...Something's up,” he finally stated.

Shinobi turned his head to Metal, in what could be interpreted as puzzlement. When the blue robot predictably gave no verbal response, the Heavy returned his gaze to Eggman.

“I thought this was business as usual,” the doctor started, with his usual compulsive gesticulating. “Another pig to the stew. Fiery cats, telekinetic hedgehogs, chocolate-obsessed dog-imp... thingymajigs, now posh horses. Sure, why not. They overfilled ages ago, what difference is one more at this point? More for me to put down.”

He quickly sneered. “But there's a... look he shares with this one. I've seen that look. I see myself in the mirror every morning, I KNOW that look. And let me tell you, this is not like him at all...”

His Egg Mobile slowly turned 90 degrees to the left. The scientist rubbed the side of his head, as if he was still taking in his newfound information. And yet, he looked oddly invested, maybe even... excited...?

“Could it really be...” he continued, practically muttering to himself, as if there was no point to his two accomplices being there. “Never in my wildest predictions did I expect him to...”

“His habits do not differ to me,” Shinobi commented, as if to question what the doctor was getting at.

“No, not externally,” Eggman emphasized, as he leaned over with a clenched fist. “He ACTS the same as always, yes. Same stupid face, same stupid swagger, same stupid everything. ‘Hi, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, please punch me in the face’. It's all the same... But it goes deeper than that. It's the little things, the details that the average joe wouldn't notice... But I'm not your average joe, and when I see that stupid smile curve a tiny bit differently, when I see his eyes grow ever so slightly, when I hear his cocky swagger grow lesser, even a tiny modicum... I don’t write it off as nothing.”

“Your initiative, sir?” the Heavy requested, as he slowly pulled out his frosty katana. His subsequent tapping of it against the palm of his hand made it not too subtle that he already had an idea in mind himself. “Suggestions on what to do?”

“Oh, we won't DO anything, not yet,” the doctor firmly answered, though the smug glee in his voice made it perfectly apparent that this was not in any way a benevolent decision. “We'll carry on as normal for now, and we'll let this little panto continue on for a while longer... see if my theory has merit. I've got a new surprise party to deploy, and that's plenty of time for you to brush up on those crystals, isn't it Metal?”

As still as a statue otherwise, Metal Sonic responded by projecting a miniature illusion of the organic Sonic into his own hand... before crushing the illusion slowly, digging his sharpened digits into it with violent intimacy, until it faded out of existence. He stared up at his creator the entire time, and although his expression remained the same, as it always did, his body subtly shivered, as if he were eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to brutalize the alleged copy.

Eggman's Mobile spun around clockwise in a perfect 180, as he continued to bask in his new revelation. The sunlight reflected in his goggles, making them appear pure white.

“And if it IS true - and it will be, because I'm never wrong - then oh... oh ho ho... this is gonna be sweet...”

A chilling laugh echoed throughout the desert.

---

Back to Chapter 5...

To Chapter 6-7 Interlude...

#Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars #Crusher's Fanfiction #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

[annoyinglyjovialbird]

Voltron: Next Generation

Nuclear Decisions: I

Word Count: 2881

Keith glared at the window. Shadows moved across the window, but they didn't stay for long. The lights were glaringly bright, the bed had been bolted down, and the door can't be opened from the inside of the observation room. 

He was a prisoner on the ship that found him.

"I still think we should eject him out into space," Caleb said, arms crossed. Liz nodded her head in agreement, but the other three teens ignored the pair. The team was in the transport bay, mostly standing around watching Kova work on the training bot they brought on ages ago. 

Caleb was leaning on a wall, Liz stood on two feet next to him. Cake was at the base of the limp bot with arms outstretched. Allie looked between Cake and the mouth of the mecha, hanging from a swing.

Muffled noises came from inside the mecha's chest, along with a couple of bangs. 

"'If we did that, we'd be grounded for life'," Allie relayed, looking down at Cake. "The flashlight died again and she can't use the crescent wrench."

"What size does she need?" Muffled noises came from the inside again. 

"'If I knew what size, I'd tell you'," Allie stared at the mouth, repeating what she heard. "She sounds mad."

"When doesn't she?" Caleb retorted, leading to louder sounds from the mecha's stomach, including some bangs. 

"I am not repeating that," Allie said, leaning away from the mouth. The team was all dressed in their paladin armor, save for the helmets, in case of accidental launch. They also didn't want Kova to feel left out. 

"What's going on here?" Shiro asked, walking into the transport bay. Cake, Liz, and Caleb briefly stiffened, then relaxed as his words sunk in. 

"'Impromptu meeting'," Allie stared at the mouth. "Yes, I heard you. No, I didn't repeat anything you said to Caleb. Including that one, yes."

"Uh, Allie?" Shiro stared at the Blue Paladin on the swing. She turned to look at him with big eyes. "Who are you talking to?" 

"Kova." Everyone else in the room said at the same time. 

"And she's?"

"In there." Caleb thrust a thumb at the mecha's stomach. A thud from the inside confirmed Caleb's word. Shiro stared at the mecha with confused surprise. "She thinks we're being tracked, so she's trying to find the tracker."

"In the stomach."

"Yeah."

"'I already checked the perimeter of the ship and the outside of the mecha.'" Allie began to relay. "'I wouldn't put it past Yorak to put a tracker inside the machine.'" Allie was half-inside the mecha's sharp-toothed mouth, barely on the swing holding her. 

"That, uh," Shiro stammered. Poor man. He's still trying to comprehend his daughter inside the bot's stomach. "If there was a tracker, wouldn't it be in the head?" Kova's thudding stopped, then furiously pounded on the cavernous inner body. They thuds traveled to the other side of the bot, where its spine would be, and it slowly climbed upward towards the head. The muffled sounds of Kova's voice became less muffled as she passed the mouth to enter the head. 

"...so much time wasted! 'Wouldn't it be in the head?' Of COURSE, it would be in the head! That infuriating sack of..." Her voice became muffled again as she fully entered the head. 

"Can you still hear her, Al?" Liz asked, staring at the young girl inside the mouth. Allie scooted herself further inside the mouth, further falling from the swing. Cake retook his outstretched stance, bending his knees. 

"Just enough to know I'm not repeating anything she is currently saying." Allie crawled out of the mouth, regaining her original seat on the swing. "Bring me down, please." Cake nodded his head and got to it. Caleb walked over to help Cake and Liz took Cake's original position under Allie. Shiro watched as the boys untied a long rope from the Blue Lion's leg and carefully released it until Allie was safe on the ground then let go entirely. Caleb got busy winding the rope, and Cake dismantled the swing. 

"Why are you coming down? Isn't Kova going to need to get down?" Shiro asked. 

"She'll be coming out from the top. There's a hatch." Allie stared at the Colonel. Like clockwork, an old-school hatch opened from the top of the head. Kova's hair had become messy, revealing her pronged bangs. She climbed onto the head and jumped off. Shiro lunged forward, but Kova floated safely to the ground. She figured out how to use her jetpack. When did that happen? Brushing her bangs back with her fingers, Kova held a metallic box the size of her hand. On one side of the box, a purple V with a curved tail was engraved. 

"I found it. Now, I can mess with it." Kova turned to walk away. 

"Oh, no you don't." Shiro grabbed her collar, pulling her back. "Why is Keith in the observation room and why is Caleb saying he should be ejected?"

"I told him we'd be grounded if we did that!" Kova protested while Caleb stared with big eyes. 

"Kova!" 

"Keith deliberately hurt Kova to veto our decision." Caleb stepped in, getting Shiro's attention. He wasn't letting go of Kova, though. "I don't agree with it, but I was outvoted. He should've accepted that instead of taking control."

"He didn't hurt me." Kova pointed out, pouting. "I hurt me. I pulled a muscle when I directed the Coeus into the wormhole. I had to take full control over the steering so Kenny could focus on the barrier and wormhole jump."

"You have a bruise."

"I landed on the step hard."

"He pushed you down the stairs?" Caleb was furious, storming out. Shiro's robotic arm followed Caleb, grabbing his collar and pulled him back. 

"Both of you to the bridge to talk to Pops and Cyrus." Caleb and Kova grumbled compliance and stalked off. Caleb tried running to the observation room, but Shiro's arm stopped him, tripping him. "You're free to do as you wish, but stay away from the observation room. Alright?"

"Yes, Colonel." The three teens replied dutifully, watching as the Colonel walked away. They looked at each other and smiled evilly. At least, Liz and Cake did. Allie stared at them confused. 

The pair entered the bridge, sighing and laughing. The screen was up, projecting an empty office. Barely audible grunts and a chair squeaking on the tile floor was the only indication there was anyone there at all. With small yelps and grunts, Cyrus appeared on screen, holding onto the surface of the table. The poor dark-haired boy seemed to be panting. The sound filled the space. Cyrus looked up, dark eyes sparkling as he saw the pair of teens on screen. 

"Kova! Kova! Kova!" He yelled, jumping up and down. "Caleb! Caleb! Caleb!" His foot might've slipped from the chair he was standing on, nearly sending him crashing to the floor. The teens let out their own version of a warning to the young boy, lunging forward. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" The young boy held up his hands, completely outstretched. 

"Be careful, Cy," Caleb said, leaning into his chair. 

"Yeah, you don't wanna get hurt." Kova continued, resting her arms on the railing around her console. 

"I'm fine!" Cyrus repeated, waving off his siblings' concerns. "Oh, guess what?" He turned to stare at the camera with sparkling eyes. 

"Chicken butt." The older pair responded, earning them a look of annoyance. 

"The kids at school are mean!" Cy crossed his arms angrily, pouting. Caleb smiled, while Kova tilted her head. 

"How mean are they?" 

"Super mean!" Cyrus made a large arm gesture, almost toppling the chair again. "They don't believe me!"

"What do you mean, Cy?" 

"I told them that my big sister and brother are Voltron!" Caleb snickered while Kova's concerned look softened. 

"Oh?"

"Yeah!" Cyrus got lost in his little world, explaining the day like he used to do with his sibling's face to face. "They're so mean!" He ended his long tangent, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Aww, Cy," Kova started, staring at her little brother. 

"Those kids are so mean!" Caleb spoke over Kova, agreeing with Cy. 

"Caleb, they don't believe him." 

"Who would lie about their family being part of Voltron?" 

"Um, your ex." Caleb's eyes widened, turning to stare directly at Kova. 

"She was not my ex!" Caleb pointed out, cheeks turning red. "We weren't even dating!"

"Really?" Kova tucked her hand under her chin. "I seem to recall you thinking she was really pretty, and that—"

"Nonono, stop that!" Caleb jumped out of his chair. "Stop talking or I throw you off the ship!"

"You can try!" Kova stood up, planting herself on the ground. Cyrus looked on with excitement as Caleb tried to beat Kova up. Even Cy knew Kova always won. Something off-screen caught Cyrus's attention, while Kova straddled Caleb's back, pinning his hands. 

"Hey, uh, Kova?" Cyrus said, trying to get her attention. His voice was drowned out by Kova's gloating and Caleb's protesting. "Kova!" He yelled a little louder. Cy glanced off-screen, staring at someone and smiling sheepishly. "Kova!" He all but screamed directly into the microphone. The noise jarred Kova enough for Caleb to jump out from underneath her, but he was distracted, too. 

Curtis stared at the teens with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. The teens bore similar mortified expressions. Cyrus, for his credit, had begun to look between his papa and his siblings, wondering which one was going to pop first. 

Short answer? Curtis.

“Kyla Hannah Kogane, what do you think you’re doing?” Curtis sputtered, turning purple. I’m sure he’d be red if he were lighter. He also busted out the real name, too. “Is your hair green? Caleb, what the quiznack did you do?” As Curtis continued his wrath, Kova and Caleb hid behind Kova’s console, holding each other tightly. “What in Allura’s name is going on up there? What is your father letting you do?” Curtis’s voice became louder and much clearer as he continued his rant. “When you’re back on Earth, the three of you are grounded! You hear me? G-R-O-U-N-DED!” Thank Allura the bridge had soundproof walls. “No hugs for Takashi! No boyfriend for Kyla! No human interaction for Caleb!” 

"That's not fair!" Caleb shot up from his hiding spot. Kova tried desperately to hold him down, but it was too late. Curtis had seen him. 

"Oh, it is fair!" Curtis shot back, holding the microphone in his hand. At some point, Cyrus disappeared off-camera and was replaced by a shouting Curtis. "Why is Kyla's hair green, Caleb?" 

"It was a prank!" 

"A prank?" Kova silently shouted, getting Caleb's attention for a brief moment. 

"Caleb [middle name] Shirogane." Uh oh. "When you get back to Earth, you are grounded for two weeks." Curtis was now scary calm, staring into Caleb's eyes to drive his point home. 

"I'm human." Caleb placed an open hand on his chest, using the other to lean on the railing. "I need social interaction to live."

"I never said you couldn't have social interaction. I said human interaction."

"It's the same thing." Caleb stared at Curtis confused. Kova stood up in a huff. 

"Peaches is mine!" Caleb stared at Kova standing beside him, then her words sank in. 

"Peaches doesn't even like me!" 

"Too. Bad." 

The teens and Curtis would continue arguing back and forth for a solid few minutes without interruption. 

Down in the med bay, Shiro hid behind a wall. Two drones and a person wearing Fire armor were trying to break into Keith's room, watching him carefully. There was no way Shiro could take three enemies at the same time. 

Pfft. Who am I kidding? It's Shiro the hero! 

Shiro remembered that one of the teens had left their Garrison-issued weapons on the counter on the other side of the wall. If he could get to it without getting too much attention from the bots, he could potentially hold the Fire member hostage. 

Shiro's robotic arm slid along the floor, barely an inch from the ground. It thudded into the counter, getting a glance from the Fire soldier. Shiro held his breath for a few minutes before continuing his hunt. At least his arm found the counter. It slowly crawled along the counter wall, creeping upwards towards the countertop. The forearm piece collided with the edge, making another noise. The Fire soldier brandished his weapon, wildly looking for the source of the noise in the spacious med bay. In his fear, he didn't seem to notice Shiro's arm laying flat on the counter top. With heavy breaths, he returned to his work, banging on the door. Like that will work. 

Shiro's arm creeped forward, only a few inches at a time. Metallic fingers wrapped themselves around the grip and slowly floated directly upwards so the gun was floating above the countertop. Shiro himself creeped around the edge of the corner of the wall, inching itself closer to the Fire soldier. 

"Put your hands up." Shiro ordered, pointing the barrel at the back of the soldier's head. The soldier, to his credit, did it immediately. "Step away from the door." Shiro kept the weapon aimed at the soldier's head as the soldier stepped away from the door. Shiro pushed the soldier back, further and further until he was inside the other observation room. Quickly, Shiro shot down the drones and closed the second observation room door. 

"W-wait!" The soldier cried. He still wore his helmet, making his words hard to make out. "I can explain!" Shiro ignored him, opening the first observation room door. Keith glared at Shiro until he noticed the weapon in his hand. "Please! I'm on your side!" 

"Who's that?" Keith asked, standing from his bed. Shiro led him out to the room next door, where the soldier was now furiously banging on the window. 

"My name is Darrar, and I must speak with the half-Galra!" 

"Why?" Shiro asked, voice rough. "What do you want with them?" Darrar paused his banging as Shiro responded. Darrar then pulled off his helmet, revealing his features. Specifically, his pointed ears and bright red Altean markings. His skin, however, was lilac in color, matching his violet hair. From a side pouch on his suit, Darrar pulled out a screen, showing it to the men. It was barely visible to the men, but it wasn't unreadable. 

'MISSION: RECRUITS'

'TARGET: HALF-GALRA HUMANS'

Shiro and Keith looked at the top of the screen, completely baffled as they turned to each other. This was bad.

On the bridge, Caleb sat pouting outside the bridge door while Kova talked with Pops. Caleb couldn't stand him anymore. 

"So," Curtis started, much calmer than he was before. "You're staying in space." 

"That's the plan." Kova nodded. Curtis leaned over a chair, putting hands over his mouth. 

"With Voltron."

"Uh huh." Kova nodded again. 

"Remind me why you don't wanna come back to Earth?" 

"The council." 

"Ah." Curtis tucked his hand under his chin. "Right. They wouldn't meet you, much less interact with the rest of the team."

"Have you told the council?" Kova sounded worried. Who could blame her? If the council knew, they would either demand the Coeus return to Earth or they would send an under-trained fleet after them. Thankfully, Curtis shook his head. Kova sighed in relief. 

"Anything interesting happen lately?" Curtis asked. Kova's eyes widened. Does she tell him about the kidnapping, Yorak and Vhix's true identities, Keith's reawakening, and the discovery of Pidge's still active navigation system? 

"I'm gonna let you ask Dad about that." Smart choice, Kova. Shiro's already on 'No hugs.' Imagine what would come next. Out of the corner of her eye, Kova saw a truly scary sight. 

Yellow and Blue were flying around the functional MFE fighter jet, narrowly missing its shots. 

"Uh, Pops, I gotta go!" Kova said urgently, grabbing her helmet from the floor. She had left it under her console before her journey into the mecha's stomach. 

"Uh, Kova, I'm not—"

"I gotta go!" Kova yelled again, running out the door. She jumped over Caleb, proceeded to slam her shoulder into the wall, and continued running.

"Guess that's that," Caleb said, stretching his arms as he stood. Caleb stared at Curtis with a half-smile. "Talk to you at the next team meeting."

"Yeah," Curtis smiled back. "See ya." 

"Bye." 

The screen turned dark and the audio cut out. Cyrus was playing pattycake with a dark haired teen on the floor of the conference room. Arthur had kicked his stomach bug a few days after the launch, but the past few months were hard on him. Without a team, he couldn't fully participate in any classes. He started getting flack from the other students about being the seventh wheel, so Curtis took him as an assistant. More like a babysitter since Cy's classes had been cut short due to a water issue in his school building. Curtis walked around the playing boys and sat at Takashi's desk, opened up a screen, and began to write out a script. 

It's nothing too interesting. Just a reference sheet for the things Takashi let slip while they were in space, starting with the accidental launch and Kova's hair.

#voltron #voltron: next generation #next gen #voltron lions #blue lion #green lion #yellow lion #red lion #black lion #takashi shirogane #curtis x shiro #allie smythe #kova shirogane #vld keith #keith kogane #caleb shirogane #cyrus shirogane #cake garrett #liz griffin

[shadowofthelamp]

Needle and Thread

Oh yeah, I didn’t post this here. So, for my LGBT lit summer class one of the options for our project was a short story, so I wrote a human au Tulix thing. The teacher said she liked the ‘creative names’, pffft.)

Wordcount: 4000

Warnings: Mentions of dead animals/dissection

It started with a dead squirrel, a swiss army knife, and a bag of mints.

Tulip Bennett had only just begun going to East Side Middle School since her old foster home had belonged to the district across town. When she was adopted, she got a new house and a new dad, but also a new school, new people to deal with- and folded under that, new school weirdos.

“Look, I don’t know if anyone’s told you yet.” It had been conferred on her in harsh whispers- the harshest that could come from a fellow sixth-grader, one named Samantha in hot pink and pigtails. “Stay away from Nebula, the girl with the overalls.”

“Nebula? That’s a cool name.”

“Trust me, the girl it comes with isn’t. Her family is weird- the mom always walks around in a lab coat that’s got something red on the bottom half, and the dad killed somebody once!”

“Killed somebody?”

“That’s what Dave says!” And her tone left no argument- what Dave said must be law, to the twelve-year-olds that had been dwelling in these halls years before she had. “Just keep away if you don’t wanna get hurt.” 

Tulip had nodded and gone about the next week or so getting only glances of the girl at lunch where she usually had her thick glasses buried in a thick book. From a distance, she just kind of seemed… like a nerd. Which wasn’t intimidating. She kind of wore black a lot, sure, but that wasn’t much. Tulip didn’t see why everyone seemed so scared of her. If there was one thing she was good at, though, it was floating around to plug herself into different groups. Her pastel dress, round shape, fluffy red hair, and quiet demeanor were camouflage, allowing her to slip in and ask questions in a soft way that usually got answered.

“Why don’t people like her?” 

“She brought a bunch of live beetles into class last year. One got on my arm and she started yelling at me when I pushed it off. Like it mattered if I squashed a bug.”

“Have you seen those gloves she wears? They’ve got blood on them!”

“Look, she’s tearing something open right now!” At that, Tulip turned, squinting. Sure enough, there was a blueish huddle on the corner of the playground. Her hair was bundled up in a bun that resembled a haystack atop her head. 

She kind of looked like Alex had at the house before last, the boy who used to eat worms, and he was actually nice when she got to know him, so Tulip brushed her skirt and made a decision. 

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“Mhm, but I’m gonna say hi. If she’s mean, I’ll leave.” It seemed like a fine plan to her, even as the other girls called out in protest. 

“She’s just going to stab you!”

“You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Tulip tuned them all out, crossing the blacktop like it was an ancient battleground from the games Eliza had played at the table in the Grant house. Tulip had liked the little blue fairy figure and took a moment to pretend now, borrowing her bravery. After all, she’d been at the school a week already and had managed only to float around on the outskirts of tightly-knit friend groups, a lone tumbleweed in this middle-school desert. If she was a floater, Nebula was in another galaxy, and that just wouldn’t do. If she was mean, then Tulip could always just leave her be. She didn’t like judging books by their covers, especially when those covers had gooey-sweet chocolatey insides the way some of her foster siblings had.

Besides, she was skinny enough to look like she’d snap like a twig, so she couldn’t be that bad compared to Tulip’s few self-defense classes at the mall. She’d already dug her small ziplock baggies of mints out by the time she reached Nebula and put on a winning smile. “Hi there.”

“Huh?” Nebula turned, eyes huge and buggy under her glasses with a color that kind of looked like the glow-in-the-dark star stickers Tulip’s dad had put up on her ceiling. The glasses themselves were… what were they called, cat eyes? They kind of gave her the look of an inquisitive alien. Now that she was up this close, Tulip could see a little piece of purple plastic settled inside her left ear. She raised an eyebrow. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Tulip. I’m new here.”

Nebula squinted. “Hi, Tulip. I like your name.”

She beamed. “Thank you! Do you like flowers?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve got a big garden back home, and I bury the bodies in it.”

Tulip’s beaming dropped a few watts, and her smile fell for a moment before she forced it wider again. “The… bodies?”

Nebula scooted over, revealing- oh, oh, that was gross. She had a knife in one plastic-gloved hand, the blade splattered with deep red, and the fingers of her other gloved hand were deep in the guts of a gnat-swarmed dead squirrel. “Like these. They’re all over once you know where to look, and it helps the soil grow stuff better.” She smiled, a surprisingly genuine one. “That’s what Papa says, and I’ve seen it works.”

“You… kill squirrels for-“

“Psh, I don’t kill them.” Nebula waved the knife. “I find them. Usually, some other animal killed ‘em.” She pointed at the squirrel’s skull with the point of the knife. “This one? Probably a cat, it has teeth marks in the crushed skull. Last week someone got a rabbit with a BB gun but just left it to die.” She clicked her tongue. “I don’t know why they let them suffer like that.”

“You like dead animals… to feed your plants?” Tulip asked, still not willing to get any closer. 

Nebula nodded. “Uh-huh. I mean, I like knowing how stuff works in general but- you ever seen the Lion King? Circle of life, big loud musical number?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s like that.” She lifted the squirrel up. “The squirrel eats the plants, then the plants eat the squirrel.”

That… made a sort of sense, if she thought about it. “Everybody seems scared of you.”

“Everybody seems like a wuss,” Nebula said with a shrug. “Who needs them?” She grinned again. “I like you, though. You haven’t run away yet.”

“Yet?”

“Most people do. I’m used to it.” 

Tulip took a deep breath and sat down next to her, holding out her bag of mints. “Well, that’s no way to go through life.”

Her smile dropped a little. “Huh?”

“Tell me about your plants.”

“You- want to listen to me?” Her voice cracked slightly, and Tulip could hear something pained behind it, a kicked kitten that had grown claws. She’d heard it before in kids who were about to age out, who were used to being pushed aside. 

“I do.”

Nebula lit up like a supernova and snatched the bag, stripping off her glove to grab a mint. 

__________

It had come easier, after that. Nebula talked fast and thought even faster, with a laugh that tickled Tulip up her spine and back down again. It didn’t sound like bells or a piano or any of the other pretty ways she’d heard laughs described, it was like a needle. Quick, sharp, and liable to puncture passerby but help repair a bad day if she only threaded it first. 

Over the days, she got to talking about her parents. They weren’t crazy, her mom was a butcher and her dad did experiments on animals for medicine. Tulip didn’t care much for that, but it was a far cry from murderers. Tulip’s dad was just an accountant.

“Hey, did I ever tell you what I did to Andrew?” She adjusted her glasses, shoving them up the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were so big behind them, like a galaxy all their own. 

“No, you haven’t.” Tulip sipped at her milk as she watched a beetle crawl up Nebula’s braid. She’d probably let it go come 3:15, but for now, Nebula just let it scurry up and burrow down in her hair like it belonged there. 

“Oh, man, I should have. So, he was making fun of my parents, right? Saying they’re ‘mad scientists’ and ‘I’m a freak’ and ‘where’s your witch hat’ and all that. Not very creative stuff. Well, I’ve got a bunch of beetle shells that I use for art at home, so I dunked one in glow-in-the-dark paint and stuffed it in his locker, with a note that said ‘with hate, from Nebula’.” She snickered. “He still thinks I’m a witch, and that was in third grade.”

“And you didn’t hurt him, right?”

Nebula waved a careless hand. “Pssh, of course not. It’s a lot more effective to creep people out over actually hurting them.”

Tulip chewed on her ham sandwich thoughtfully, hearing the lettuce crunch between her teeth. “Is there a… a reason you want to creep people out?”

“If everyone thinks I’m a freak, more time to do what I want, right?” She picked at her jello, watching it wobble and shake on the tray. “I don’t get a choice in how people see me, so I might as well give them what they want. It’s fun being the weirdo, sometimes.”

Tulip just blinked at that. “But why?”

“Why not?” Nebula countered. “You want to spend your life chasing after people who don’t really care about you?” She lifted her fork, shoving the gelatin into her mouth before shifting it over to her cheek, pointing the tines at Tulip. “I’ve seen how you float around like a ghost. You’re checked out of your own life because you’re so afraid someone won’t like you that you don’t get close enough to anyone that might.” She swallowed the dessert in her cheek, letting it settle as she stared.

“Isn’t it lonely, refusing to ever bend a little?” Tulip countered after a moment’s thought. Nebula gnawed on the inside of her mouth before sighing.

“Agree to disagree, Tutu. Agree to disagree.”

Sixth grade passed in a blur, with Nebula tugging her away during breaks to show her whatever new thing she was invested in that day. She slowly dialed back on showing off the dead animals when Tulip admitted they made her queasy and started talking about her plants, or her insects while they were still alive. She was the only person that Tulip had ever seen let a wasp crawl over the back of her hand without getting stung. 

That summer, they stomped around the bog behind the gas station, peat soaking their ankles as they captured frogs and let them go again after taking pictures. One of the girls from her scout troop invited her to a dance where they might see boys, but it just didn’t sound appealing to Tulip when she could swing Nebula around to creaky old songs from her dad’s record player, with her newly-made dresses spiraling around her knees. In July, Tulip began to sew in earnest- she’d liked piecing together odd arrangements of clothes from the thrift store before, but… 

‘Why are you wearing a Halloween costume?’

‘Spirit week with ‘ugly clothes day’ was last week, Bennett.’

It was easier to just go with simple dresses from the store. 

When Nebula had gotten a look at her closet, she’d immediately dug out the frankensteined skirts and haphazardly sewn tops and laughed. Tulip had been about to slam the door shut when she held one up.

“These are great! Why don’t you ever wear them?”

“Huh?”

She spun on her butt to hold the shirt up, owl-eyes squinting to superimpose it over Tulip’s body. “Not that I don’t like your pastels, they fit you, but these are so much more fun. Did you make them?”

“Well-”

“If they’re from some auntie that you feel like you can’t throw away, that’s fine. I just think they’re neat.”

“I thought you didn’t like girl’s clothes.”

“I don’t. That doesn’t mean I can’t tell what would look good on you.” Her cheeks darkened for a moment, and she shoved the shirt into Tulip’s hands. “Come on, I want to see you in it.”

“Neb…”

“You can’t just hide from me that you’re good at making stuff like this, I’m your best friend. It’s against the law,” Nebula declared.

“Like you care about the ‘law’,” Tulip snorted, but allowed herself to be pushed into the closet. It was easy enough to slide her shirt over her head, but… she fussed with the buttons on the old shirt. This was a bad idea. She tried to do it up, but it didn’t fit- her soft body oozed from the bottom, having gained some weight since she’d created the shirt years ago. She pulled it open again, looking around in the light from the slats. Freckles dotted her belly, and she felt almost like a puppet inhabiting her own milky skin. Her fingers fussed with the handmade shell necklace that rested just above her sternum before she pulled the shirt back off, grabbing the one she’d been wearing before and a vest she’d made with stretchier material. It was still tight, but not annoyingly so, and she knocked for Nebula to open the door.

When she did, the other girl grinned. “See? Told you.” A gloved thumb pointed lazily to the wall-mounted mirror, and Tulip twirled. It hugged her form, but in a way that felt… nice. She must have made it big- maybe for an older sister at the last house.

Nebula jokingly blew a kiss. “You’ll be the belle of the middle-school ball.”

Tulip bumped her with her hip, but her cheeks dotted pink.

After that, often when they met after school, Tulip would sew while Nebula talked, the machine doing the chattering for her on her desk, Sometimes, the needle had to be poised between her fingers when she needed a more delicate touch. Once, Nebula even asked her to show her how to sew- she was making taxidermied animals and ‘wanted to see if I could copy your steady hands’. It ended up a bit of a mess, but Nebula put it up on her bedside table anyway. She liked imperfection and just patted the little squirrel’s head with its corkscrewed eyes. “Besides, it’s more memorable this way.” She offered to make Tulip a mouse to watch her sew if she found any, and Tulip found herself agreeing.

In seventh grade, Tulip had started to drag her to her girl scout meetings, to try and make friends. Some of the other girls still shied away, but if quiet little Bennett liked her and had gone this long without getting a scalpel through her brain, maybe she wasn’t that bad. She lit up when they mentioned they were working on a gardening badge and offered them her assistance. 

They learned that it was best to talk on her right side because her hearing aid on the left didn’t always work, and her needle-sharp laugh melted with the new acquaintances like gallium- just as bright, but not as pointed. In fact, when she dug in the dirt with the other girls, overalls smeared with soil and flowers surrounding her wrists, the hard edges that made her smile a smirk began to melt too.

Eighth grade came and went, and the night before high school, they were doodling on opposite pages of Tulip’s big sketchbook, laid out on the floor. “I just feel like… everything’s changing,” Tulip muttered. 

“It doesn’t have to,” Nebula said, chewing on her pencil with brace-clad teeth. “You’ve still got me, and you’ve still got the scouts that haven’t dropped out, and I’ve got you.”

Tulip rolled over. She was wearing one of her favorite shirts-- Neb had picked out the fabric, with a pattern of stars that rounded her stomach in a way that made her feel big in a good way, like the whole universe lay underneath her skin. “How much?”

“Huh?”

“How much do I have you?”

Nebula turned, bouncing her foot on the ground. “C’mon, I’m not good with the mushy stuff…”

Tulip scooted a little closer. “You’re my best friend, Neb.” She set a hand on Nebula’s cheek, rubbing a smudge of dirt with her thumb, and felt the thin cheekbones heat up underneath her. 

“You’re… you’re mine too,” Nebula muttered. “I feel… comfortable. With you. Cozy. Is that weird? You’re a very cozy person, and you managed to get me other people to talk with me, which is a feat let me tell you-”

Tulip kissed her. She could taste the root-beer flavored chapstick, and the feel slight indent of her braces, and Nebula’s gangly limbs just starting to grow into themselves folded into her lap like a fawn’s.

Nebula pulled back, adjusting her glasses that had tilted askew, but the smile on her face was wide enough to reach the stars before she leaned in again and the world melted around them, nothing but the rich scent of soil and copper that clung to Nebula’s clothes and the sweet strawberry perfume that dusted Tulip, and everything felt like tying off the final stitch on a perfect project. 

#tulix #aip #iz #shadow writes stuff

[justgrazingthetop]

Choose Your Spice- Claude/Felix love triangle

NOTE: This is my first time writing a multi-chapter story, but I was inspired by my love for both cold to warm romances and the flirty, "but you've changed me," relationships. I may be slow updating, but let me know how you like the story so far. I hope you all enjoy.

Sunlight shined on Claude's face making the caramel glow of his skin intensify. He wore a black sweatshirt and dark blue skinny jeans. Sure it was a little warm, but he knew that it was a "look."

He sat on the lawn outside of his dorm room while his forest green eyes peered over the lens of his sunglasses, toward the walking path.

"Hey, loser!" a loud, slightly shrill voice yelled.

"Hilda, how many times do I have to tell you? Projection isn't cute," Claude cooed, patting the spot next to him.

Her pink pigtails bounced up and down with her shoulders as she left out a loud, "Hmph." She set down her backpack and joined her friend on the ground, ruffling his short chestnut hair. "What are you doing out here? You missed Lorenz practically drooling over Professor Manuela in Music Theory."

"I'd rather stay away from him, thanks. Anyways, I'm playing a game."

"What game?"

"I watch people who walk down the path," Claude gestured widely in front of him, "Then, I guess their name, major and life goal based solely on their appearance."

"That's swallow and dumb."

"So, you're in?"

"...You go first."

Claude took a long look at the students walking, waiting to find someone who stuck out to him.

Too plain. Too obvious. Too easy. Claude's eyes lit up when a perfect pupil appeared. "You see that girl in the big sweater and Adidas shorts?"

Hilda turned in his direction, skeptically, "Yeah?"

"Her name is probably Savannah, she loves animals, so I'm guessing she's a Pre Vet major and her life goal is to… save the turtles," Claude said, reaching his hands up and then crossing them behind his head.

Hilda raised her eyebrow, "And what exactly gave you that impression?"

"Well, for starters, she has a keychain of a turtle hanging off her backpack," he pointed to the dangling charm, "And her sweater is from a Vet place nearby. Also, I think she looks like a Savannah."

Hilda wasn't convinced, "You're terrible at this."

"Then, you do it."

"Fine," Hilda began to search through the crowd while she stuck her tongue out in mock concentration.

"That guy, there, in the blue shirt, jeans and a ponytail."

"The one who looks like Sasuke from Naruto?"

Her head swiveled back, "Who?"

Claude sighed, "Go on."

"His name is Felix, he is a business major, and his goal in life is to be the best businessman ever to exist."

"No way. How would you get that out of such a boring outfit?"

"Don't believe me," Hilda winked, "Ask him."

Always willing to call someone out on their bullshit, Claude stood up, dusted himself off, and strolled over to 'Felix.'

"Hey, Felix!"

The man turned around, revealing an annoyed face and sharp eyes, "What do you want?" Except he said it less as a question and more like a warning to get out of his face.

Instead of being turned off, Claude smile grew, "So me and my friend were talking-"

"Great," Felix cut Claude off, "so what does that have to do with me?"

"Let's start again. I'm Claude," he stuck out his hand.

"Felix, but you already knew that. Is there something you needed? Cause if not, I've got a class to go to," Felix responded cooly.

"You know what, nevermind," Claude started backing away, "I wish I could say it was a pleasure."

"Tck, whatever."

Claude walked back to Hilda, whose face was now red with laughter, "I fucking told you so."

"How did you meet a man that charming?" Claude grimaced, not quite know what exactly just happened.

"Oh, he's in my 'Intro to Statistics' class, and we had an icebreaker today. Let's say he 'brought down the mood,'" Hilda frowned and then giggled. "You should've seen your face when he turned around. Maybe next time you'll believe me."

Claude shook his head, "The day I take you at your word is the day I've lost my mind. Listen, I've gotta get to class, but wanna get dinner tonight?"

"Oh? You don't have a date tonight? Has your social life taken a downturn?"

"Oh, Hilda, I'm not Sylvain. I do pick and choose who I spend my nights with," Claude leaned down and offering a hand to help her up, "You just so happen to be my only option."

Swatting his hand away, Hilda stood up and then punched him in the arm.

"Ow!"

"That was a warning. See you around, Claudy."

With that, Claude was left along with his thoughts. He walked back into his dorm, the stench of sweat, and weed, hitting his face as he walked to his room. His roommate Lorenz thankfully wasn't in. A giant map of the world hung on his side of the room, it was gilded on the edges and had an old aged look. It was a stark contrast to the flashy purple cloths that covered the other side of the room and don't get him started on the roses.

He searched through the stacks of books, trying to find the one needed for class.

"Note to self, stop buying books," he said, shaking his head and pulling out his English book.

With that, he was off to class.

Meanwhile

Felix annoyance crept into his face as he walked away from the unwanted interaction with Claude. Who walks up to someone after admitting that they were talking about you with their friend? Not to mention, he had never met Claude before, so how the hell did he know his name? Unless he knew about his father.

He was the son of Rodrigue Fraldarius, the CEO of the Blue Lion Coffee Company, and if he wanted to take over the business one day, he had to outperform his brother Glenn.

He was striding past his fellows, avoiding as many of them as possible, when a cute redhead cut their way through the crowd stopped him, "Felix!"

"Yes, Annette."

"Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to class."

"Class? What class?"

"I have English at 1:30."

Annette looked at the smartwatch on her wrist, "But you don't have class for another hour, why don't we chat for a bit? I miss you, and I haven't seen you since graduation!.

"You know that I have to focus on my classes-"

"To take over the company one day, I know!" She sighed, "But that doesn't mean you can't have any friends. I-We miss you." A blush spread across her cheeks.

Felix softened his face putting a hand awkwardly on her shoulder, "Annette, it's nothing personal."

Balling her fists, Annette pouted, "Give me your planner."

"No."

"Give it to me right now, or I swear to god I will make a scene!" Her voice started to rise.

"Fine!" He dug into his planner and shoved it into her hands, "Just so you know, I don't appreciate the threat."

She hummed, writing down scribbles into his planner, "Okay, next Friday, you are coming to Dorothea's place, and we are going to have a game night. If you don't show up, I will consider you dead to me."

Annette skipped away, and Felix shook his head in disbelief. Looking down at his planner, he saw a heart with the words, "Game Night," in cursive. Felix watched her as she left, thinking about the awkward terms they were on. Everyone knows that whiskey and Felix is not good news, yet Annette wouldn't take no for an answer.

Checking his phone, he saw that class now started in 30 minutes, and he was going to be late for being early. He liked to sit in the middle, not too close to the front to be called, but not too far in the back to be deemed a slacker.

"What a hassle."

When crossing the threshold into his classroom, he stopped to find Claude, that bastard, sitting where he liked to sit.

Damn Annette.

He took the seat one down and opened his book. He decided to ignore everyone else's existence and make it through the next hour.

"Excuse me," A girl's voice broke his concentration, "Is anyone sitting here?"

"Does it look like anyone is sitting there?"

"Ah, I guess not," she forced a half-laugh, "I'll just sit here, I guess."

Felix grunted, refusing to look up at the intrusion. The last thing he needed was another person trying to talk to him while he was trying to train to become the most exceptional businessman ever to live.

"Ah, don't mind him," Claude interrupted, "He's not the friendly type. My name's Claude. What's yours?"

"Linda."

Claude recognized her as the girl he labeled Savannah earlier.

When Felix looked up, he saw a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Pretty sure, but nothing special.

"Well, Linda, we should share numbers. This way, if one of us misses class, we have a back up for notes."

Felix saw through this ploy. Claude was clearly trying to get into this girl's pants.

"Uh sure, I guess. Not sure what kind of notes I would miss in English," Linda said hesitantly, setting her books on to the desk.

Felix chuckled, "If you want good notes, it's best just to take them yourself." He then glared over to Claude, "And you. Are you already planning on missing class?"

As Claude began to retort, the professor walked into the room and started class. He was a man with shoulder-length green hair and matching eyes. He wore a fitted blazer in a navy blue that was layered over a gold t-shirt and black jeans. Felix thought to himself, "Trying a little hard to fit in with the youth."

"This is English level 1000. If you are not meant to be in this class, please leave," the professor bellowed. A few embarrassed students left the classroom. "Okay, I am Seteth. I will be teaching you how to interpret books in a way you've never thought of before."

"I will not be going over the syllabus as you should have read it on your own time. Instead, I will be assigning groups in this class for discussion," Seteth paused and looked over the room, "No, you may not choose who your partners will be."

A groan came from in the back, "Why not?"

"If you work with friends your whole life, then you will never learn how to see things from a different perspective," Seteth answered.

Felix felt annoyed. He hated working in groups. Every group project he has ever been apart of has been with people who were stupid, lazy, or a hybrid of both.

"You three!" Seteth pointed between Claude, Linda, and Felix, "You will be group C. Exchange numbers and get to know each other." Just as Felix thought his problems couldn't get worse, he got partnered with the one person in class that he already knew he didn't like. The professor set down a worksheet that had big, bold letters at the top that said the worst words put together on Earth Ice Breaker.

Great.

As Linda looked to her right, she noticed Felix is glaring past her, so she smiled at him, "Yeah, I get it, groups kind of suck. Here's my number." She slid a piece of paper over to him. "Just text me your name."

Felix scoffed, "Okay."

Linda decided to leave him alone. She thought to herself, "A man of few words or just an asshole?" She turned toward Claude, "You text me too."

A vibration came from her back pocket, "Already done."

"Awesome, I'll put a group chat together. It will be easier this way to talk to each other."

Linda cleared her throat and picked up a copy of the worksheet, "Oh, this doesn't look too bad. It's only ten questions." Then she quickly felt a chill run through her body when she saw the murderous look on her new brooding teammate's face.

Seteth returned to the front of the class and explained the paper, "You each will interview the person sitting to the left of you. If you are sitting in a line, and have no one to the left of you, interview the last person in your row. After filling out the worksheet, return the paper to me, and you are free to leave. Questions? Great, get started."

This order meant that Felix would interview Linda, Linda would interview Claude and Claude would interview Felix. Claude was interested to learn more about why Felix was such a douche.

"You two can go first," Claude rested back in his seat, taking out his phone to scroll, "I don't mind waiting to go last."

"Okay, number one, what's your major," Felix asked quickly as if the faster he spoke, the faster he could escape this situation.

"Journalism."

"Number two, why did you choose that major?"

"I like learning about people and their lives. You know, giving a voice to those who don't have one," Linda smiled, and Felix rolled his eyes. What an admirable goal, but Felix doubted that it was reachable. The public only cares about people with power or money, but he wasn't going to be the one to tell her.

"Favorite food?"

"Sauerkraut."

"You have got to be kidding me," Claude interrupted, "Who likes sauerkraut?"

"It's only the best food on the planet, and one of the only foods I like that isn't doomed to hurt my health in some way shape or form," Linda defended herself, crossing her arms over her chest covering the words, 'Dog Life.'

"Yeah, but that's still weird."

"Can we please move on?" Felix wrote down her answer and continued, "What is your dream in life?"

"I want to retire with someone I love and own a farm where I take care of rescue dogs."

"I'm not touching that one," Claude laughed, obviously enjoying making fun of this new girl.

"Oh, let me live. It's a dream; it's not supposed to be realistic."

"That isn't true," Felix interrupted, "My dream is to beat my brother and take over my father's company so I can become the most successful businessmen in the world."

Silence.

"That's… nice," Linda hesitantly said, "A little intense, but I guess we all have to have something to live for."

Felix scoffed, "I don't need your approval."

With that, the talking mood was killed, and they finished the rest of the assignment without a hitch. Everyone was packing up their bags and getting ready to leave when Claude's grin grew across his face, "How about we all get together? I don't know that many people around here."

"I don't know that many people either. Plus, I'm all about having study buddies." Linda agreed, plus Claude seemed nice enough to be friends.

"Count me out," Felix spit, starting to pack up his books. "I don't need any more distractions. We can talk during class, but I don't see the need to get close to each other."

"C'mon Felix," Claude pleaded, "It won't work if we aren't all together. It's group bonding."

"No."

"Not even for an hour."

"No."

"What if we brought donuts?"

"I don't like sweets."

"It's okay, Felix, you don't have to," Linda interrupted the stalemate, "Forcing you to come wouldn't be fun anyways. If you do want to show up, then do."

Felix's eyebrows shot up. Was she respecting his boundaries? This behavior was the opposite of how the other people in his life acted. He looked at her, with an unreadable face, and said, "Thanks."

Before Felix left the classroom, Claude yelled, "I'll put the details in group chat." Each one of them knew it was going to be an interesting semester.

#claude x reader #felix x reader #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem 3h #felix fire emblem #claude fire emblem #felix fanfic #claude von reigen #claude fanfic #au #alternate universe #love #romance