#well what she usually does; mine crystals

[killzenin]

☆cw: nsfw content, 𝗠𝗗𝗡𝗜, 𝘀𝗺𝘂𝘁, afab!reader, cuckolding, oral (m recieving)/face fucking, threesome (mmf), pussy teasing, slapping, slight degradation from gojo and lots of praises from nanami, toys, cum eating, overstimulation, hair pulling, aftercare☆ 𝟭.𝟲𝗸 word count

☆𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲!𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢/𝐠𝐨𝐣𝐨 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫☆

part 2 of ♡︎ , also on ao3 @/killzenin !

“i can see the way you look at her.” gojo whispered in the other man’s ear. intermittently looking at you at the other side of the room, chatting with some people and then back at the blond by his side. nanami turned to him, gazing at him puzzled. 

“...huh?” lowering his tinted sunglasses his eyes fell incredulously on his companion, not believing his confused face. gojo snickered as he took a sip of his champagne filled glass. 

“i’m not dumb, i bet after you peeped at us fucking you’ve been dreaming about her ever since.”

“gojo, it's not—'' slender hands reach towards nanami’s face, which lead to face your direction. the blond’s eyes began to capture your figure, there was no hiding in his eyes how stunned his face seemed to be. as a floor-length gown with an open back and subtle sparkle draped your body, perfect for the nighttime auction you were attending. gojo, observing nanami’s wishful expression, reaches out to whisper again.

“look at yourself, it’s so fucking obvious!” he snarked, “...i mean who wouldn’t be mesmerized.” 

then gojo hesitated on his next words as he let go of nanami’s face, “she thinks you’re handsome. or at least those were her drunk words, either way…she’s thinking of a good friend of mine rather than some bastard.”

nanami said nothing, catching a clue to what his friend might be proposing, after that gojo whispered once again into his ear, “call me and we can arrange something.” he then disappeared nanami’s side to be by yours, leaving the blond all alone, pondering. 

that conversation led to where you are now, stuck between the two gorgeous men. as your mouth wrapped around nanami’s hard dick while satoru teased with his gaunt fingers around your entrance, stretching you open. both men had no need to torment your clit or nipples. that job was well executed by the small rotor vibrators attached to you. the vibrations sending you uncontrollable pleasure to those sensitive áreas, weakening you with every passing second.

if it weren’t for gojo holding you in place on the low table, your body would give out straight away as the rotors kept your nipples and clit in a pleasure loop. muffled moans came from deep within your throat, sending shivers to the blonde man. wanting more, he reached out, grabbed a fistful of your hair and started to jerk his hips forward. 

“shit darling! you’re taking my dick so well.” your eyes flew to the back of your skull as your moans became gags. the corners of your mouth had streams of drool seeping over and the tip of your nose repeatedly hit nanami’s pelvis. 

gojo laughs, “of course she does, this little slut loves to take mine.” in a swift move he harshly imprinted his hand on your ass. 

you yelp at the sudden slap and tried so hard not to choke on the blond’s length. so you tapped on the hands that held your hair, telling him to let go. and so he did with care, undoing your mouth from his length, your tongue then traveled through his base, picking up drool and precum all the way to the tip. 

your doe, teary eyes met nanami’s as you smile, such sight enthralled him. with a messy mouth and crystalized eyes looking at him with such desire, he would take you right then and there. his brown eyes followed you every move as you turned your back on him to face gojo. 

“what the fuck was that?” you teased slowly as you removed the rotors from your body. your eyes filled with sudden amusement, it wasn’t the first time he had performed some form of mild impact play, but this one stung a little bit more than usual. 

“are you jealous?” you slithered your arms around the man and faced his ear as you whisper, “that i was gagging on somebody else’s dick than yours? you know we’ve never been exclusive…right?”

“that does not mean i still want that tight little pussy all for myself.” 

“well then, you better keep up with nanami.” your lips merged with satoru’s, a sense of ownership engulfing him as his lips kissed you in a desperate manner. your hand reached out to subdue the urgency of his forgotten cock. while your hand pumped onto gojo’s length your other one gestured nanami to approach you.

once you felt his hot breath linger around the base of your neck you guided your fingers towards your needy cunt, spreading your leaking lips apart. the blond gladly accepted such invite, ripping open the condom wrap, throwing the wrap away he placed the condom on his excited dick. his tip teased around the entrance of your folds, enticing you with each fluttering stroke.

your sopping walls wrapped tightly around nanami’s length while it plunged inside of you with ease. a sudden gasp interrupted your makeout session with satoru, nanami’s girth astounded you. weak moans started to seep out of you as nanami slowly thrusted his way in and out.

your lips then traced downwards flashing kisses from his jaw, down to his chest, abs then pelvis alongside pumping his cock rougher and faster as you went down. 

“the fuck? nanami i told you when we made the deal, you can’t fuck her!” gojo’s icy eyes stared down at the blond as he kept on slowly thrusting into you. 

“yeah, sorry man.” he mocked, drunk on ecstasy of how your walls squeezed on him, but before gojo could do anything you interjected. 

“le-ughh— let him.” with shaky words you voiced how you’d approved nanami’s actions. “it’s fineee-ahh!” nanami buckled his hips forward with more speed and force, making more prominent moans echo through the room.

“fine,” gojo’s low voice resonated, he then leveled to your height, “i’ll make you regret getting your pussy fucked by another guy sweet.”

“open your slut mouth for me, hmm?” looking up towards him, you lolled your tongue out, expectant. he then teased his dick around your mouth, smearing precum on your lips and smacking your cheeks with it until he finally let you take his length in your mouth with haste. “you needy little whore— are you enjoying getting fucked?”

both men started to simultaneously thrust inside you from opposite ends, not letting you for a second to answer coherently. only for the muffled moans and squeals to attest to a positive answer from you. gojo grabbed onto the back of your head as you started to suck him deep, nanami followed soon after on his end. the blond clutched onto your hips as he started to pound on you. the constant motion of pleasure sent your head into a fever. 

your juices began to flow down your thighs, adding more volume to the wet, slapping sounds that consumed the room. nanami became more vocal as bliss overran him. “s-shit, this pussy’s so good.”

every string of praise from nanami made your cunt leak further as gojo’s filthy words made your heart skip beats, you wanted to hear more. of how good of a cock sucker and fucker you were at the get go for both filthy rich men. gojo couldn’t get enough of your mouth, tits, ass and pussy. nanami however marveled himself in exploring every inch of you, begging for more. the lust of both men showed through them in the shape of grunts and stiff moans as they went faster.

“such a filthy whore, next time you’re taking both our cocks in that pretty pussy of yours.” you were a crying, drooling mess and imagining the scenario of gojo’s words made your insides flip and the orgasm brewing even further.

your mouth ached as you freed it from gojo’s dick, “cumming, i- i...” 

“go on darling, cum for us.” nanami adjusted his position as he was also close to cumming as well, taking a hold of your shivering thigh in the air, as he plunged himself deeper reaching your most sensitive area. 

“nana— mi so deep, so deep! yes...more…more!” your brain began to lose any sense of self as you only craved more from the blond’s erratic fucking. 

“want your cum.” you lolled out your tongue once more and took gojo’s length once more into your hollow mouth, bobbing your head fast and fisting onto what was left that could not fit.

“oh sweet, you have it” the silver haired man's head flew back as he reached out his own climax by your hands. silky, white strings of cum settled at the back of your mouth. you heartly swallowed every drop of his cum. removing his length from your mouth gojo mimicked what you had previously done to him, straightening your posture as he went down on your body kissing it.

nanami took advantage of your face now being close to his, “best cunt i’ve ever fucked princess, i would have you worshipping my cock day and night.” his husk words were what set your orgasm in motion while he kissed around the sweet spot on your neck. you began to spasm as your pussy swallowed him deeper, soon finding relief as he loaded the condom to the brim.  

after collapsing your orgasm, gojo cradled your body to his room. your eyes drooped, too tired to hang on as they sought for deep slumber. however, in the fleeting moments your eyes opened you saw how nanami followed closely behind both of you, half clothed. as the tall man laid you down on his fluffy bed he instructed nanami to keep you awake as he went out of the room to bring a damp towel. 

“gimme your phone” you breathed, the blonde romaged in his pocket and reached out his phone, giving it to you unlocked. with fading vision you typed in your phone number into his contact list. 

with what little strength you got left you cupped his cheek and pecked nanami on his lips, “call me whenever you want.”

im open to recieve submissions ! ㅤ ©killzenin

#anime x reader #jjk smut #jjk thirsts #jjk x y/n #jjk x you #jujutsu kaisen smut #cross posted on ao3 #this was so hard to write idk why :P #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #anime x y/n #anime x you #nanami x reader #nanami x you #nanami x y/n #nanami smut #nanami drabbles #nanami one shot #gojo x female reader #gojo x reader #gojo drabbles #gojo imagine #gojo smut #gojo x you #anime smut #gojo oneshot #jujutsu kaisen drabbles #finally leaving latam w these two's money🤞 🤭

[bonbon-bonny]

I don't usually write a whole lot but I wanted to talk about this for a moment

Ahem. *flips through notes*

So I loooove Sailor Moon. Specifically the 90s version. It was my favorite show growing up. My home life was difficult and to see someone like Usagi with a perfect family, a perfect boyfriend etc. getting to live her best life despite the fact she herself wasn't perfect was too easy to become a bit obsessive over ^_^;

well, let's just say I wanted to be Usagi just a bit too much because my world, my family (Side note: I looove my family! They did the best they could to take care of me growing up, but we had to deal with an unusual circumstance that made it hard for all of us), heck just even being myself didn't feel good enough and frankly it left me having to confront a lot of issues just to be okay with who I am now.

And of course ,naturally, I looooved Tuxedo Kamen XD. On the outside to me, he seemed perfect; a knight in shining armor.

But I always kept running into a particular conversation which is "why do you like him so much tho? He seems like a jerk. He seems so different from her. He never shows her affection. She'd be better off with someone like Seiya who's more on her level. He's useless. He's bad for trying to help her because she's a girl boss and doesn't need to be rescued." Like, seriously the amount of criticism I've heard towards this character is wild and he literally gets attacked no matter what he does.

And you know I get it. If you just look at it from a surface level it's easy to maybe get that impression of him but after one particular conversation I was having with a friend of mine about it I stopped and asked myself why. Why does she like him? why does he like her? how can two people who outwardly look so different from each other ever be in a healthy relationship? what could the two of them possibly have in common?

So I did what I do best and I watched the show I grew up with carefully. I observed him. I watched the things he said and did. And in the end I reached several conclusions.

Mamoru isn't perfect, at least in the beginning, but he's always trying to do his best to be. With almost anyone else in the show he's usually calm, collected and somewhat reserved. The only person besides Motoki he seems to act out a bit with if you can call it that IS Usagi and half of the time it's not even that he's actually being mean.

[IF you watch the Japanese version with subtitles, because in the English dub? Ooph! they changed so much of his dialogue and gave him such a smirky voice it's hard to listen to him without wanting to punch him in the face imo.]

It's that the way she perceives him is off. Also, sometimes it's not even HIM that starts the arguments.

Sometimes SHE'S the one who starts their spats and he snaps back at her. Sometimes she hits him with shoes and papers and doesn't seem to care.

One episode that comes to mind is the Dreamland episode where the toy train stops and she rams into him. All he did was look at her and say hi and immediately she got defensive and started making fun of him.

Making fun of an orphan sitting on a toy train who most likely was just trying to do something fun that he never got to because he didn't HAVE a family to take him as a kid.

Seriously. If you were to be in his place, going through this world, it's rather scary, stressful, terrifying, and uncertain.

He didn't get a magical talking cat to walk him through his powers. Instead he got seizures and psychic visions, and a past life version of himself that took over his body without consent until he finally got the rainbow crystal and understood what was happening around him.

He gets amnesia not once but twice, kidnapped several times, and gets trapped in his own mind twice ala brainwashing by beryl and Nehelenia and by stars I wouldn't be surprised if half of the reason he went to study abroad instead of staying with Usagi is because he was afraid if he did he'd only continue to be a burden for her, because the man hardly has any dialogue and seems almost catatonic.

Also let's be real here. As amazing as it was for him to meet and talk with his future self it probably scared him. The responsibility of literally being King of the world, of making decisions that could impact the lives of everyone in tremendous ways. Of being the kind of partner and provider he thinks Usagi deserves or being a good father for Chibi-Usa when he didn't get to have parents to show him what those things looked like.

He didn't get a loving family to support him or tell him that they loved him, he was an orphan who probably hoped someone would eventually rescue him but no one ever did.

He probably feels in his heart that he doesn't deserve to be loved by anyone, and even if someone were to pursue him romantically he probably couldn't reciprocate in any meaningful way because he's most likely too closed off emotionally to be in a healthy relationship with anyone.

Heck the guy only for the most part has only two best friends. Motoki and Saori and frankly I'd hardly even call Saori a best friend since she literally just shows up in an episode in Super S as "Romantic competition" for Usagi and then just ups and vanishes and is never mentioned ever ever again.

So how does someone like him see Usagi and wind up constantly sacrificing his life over and over again for her?

Three words:

She. Sees. Him.

Once she starts to look at him a bit differently instead of seeing him as some tall guy running around with his stupid green jacket with his prickly personality, once she realizes that it was him trying to rescue her when she was so close to the brink of death on occasions and getting injured in the process, once he opens up to her about his struggles she sees him. Not just because he's a hero, but because even if it's hard for him he still tries to help her. A lot of times he even gives her really sound advice that she winds up listening to even if at the time he tells her she doesn't seem to understand him and takes it the wrong way.

He probably also deep down worries that he truly doesn't deserve someone like her.

Even if we don't always see it from the outside he adores Usagi because she sees him for who he is and doesn't ask him to be more outgoing or different.

Usagi adores him because he doesn't ask her to be anything other than who she really is.

Both of them accept the other as they truly are inside. THAT is true love.

You don't really get the chance to see what their relationship looks like from the outside. But he smiles a lot when he's with her which is certainly not something he really ever did with Rei or anyone else from what I could tell. And I bet when he does take her out on dates he's embarrassed and flustered and stumbles but he also probably takes off his mask and tries to make her happy and have a good time.

Also I'd like to add some notes on King Endymion and the violet. Why so much violet? Like....an overwhelming amount of violet XD I never understood why when I was younger but as I've grown up I've spent some time delving into subjects such as Psychology, Spirituality, and Philosophy.

Ladies and gentlemen, Violet is the color of the crown chakra.

https://www.chakras.info/crown-chakra/

Crown chakras deal with the mental and the spiritual. They are a gateway to enlightenment and in my opinion perhaps one could even say that the journey of mental health and enlightenment are two sides of the same coin.

So I'd like to think that for as much as Mamoru might struggle with his mental health, he also walked the path towards true enlightenment. Such a man truly should be King of the World and is more than deserving of being Usagi's partner.

And I'd die for a relationship with a man who is brave enough to confront the things which makes him suffer because I'd know that he'd have the clarity of mind to be a good partner, to treat me with kindness and compassion and show me the kind of love I've always dreamed of having, and that's something only someone who has love for themselves and others could ever possibly be able to give. He doesn't need to be perfect, because perfection is unattainable. He just needs to be brave enough to try even if it makes him deeply uncomfortable at times.

So,

To the men who truly and deeply identify with Mamoru, know I'd marry you in a heartbeat if you asked. That if you showered me in chocolate and flowers I'd do the exact same thing for you because you deserve it. Anyone who is brave enough to do the work necessary to heal and grow, to have kindness and compassion for others, to show me that even if I'm not perfect that it's still okay to be myself around you deserves every happiness in the world.

Not everyone is brave enough to do such a thing and I've come to a point in my life where I'm not interested in what someone can give me externally as much as I am in the kind of person they choose to be and what their values are.

Maybe some people might look at someone like Mamoru and judge him, but Usagi most certainly never would once she got to know him; and considering I've always wanted to be her I'll die on this hill defending him. Out of everyone, Usagi WOULD defend him from the judgement, from the criticism, of the need to be perfect and wear masks, or be something other than what he truly is on the inside.

Mamoru is more than just a knight in shining armor,

He's beautiful imperfection; and I'd choose that over anything else any day.

@heavyheartedprinceofearth

#sailor moon #heavyheartedprinceofearth #tuxedo kamen #mamoru chiba #usagi tsukino #prettyguardiansailormoon #usagi x mamoru #mamoru x usagi #tuxedo mask

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

2023 Fic Round Up (Part 2: Fic Quotes)

For favorite lines, I tried to choose quotes that may have less visibility—maybe they haven't made it into a tumblr post or the summary, but I love them all the same. To make this easier for myself, I'm limiting this to quotes from my three published works that I'm the most proud of, plus the two WIPs that I've worked on the most recently.

Presented in reverse chronological order, I present fic quotes:

Unnamed Porn Star x Filmmaker AU

I literally wrote both of these as I outlined two days ago, so they have not reached their Final Form. Also, Smut Warning.

Alex is jealous of the wax. An inanimate object. For being spread across another man’s body. He’s pretty sure he’s completely lost his mind.

Moments later, Henry comes all over Basil’s hand as he uses it to stroke Henry, coating the deep blue wax that’s slowly hardening on his dick. A completely fucking mess. Alex wants to get his mouth on it.

Honey, You're Familiar (From My Mirror Years Ago) aka the Dads Fic

I've shared a lot of my favorites, but I don't know if I've shared this—pretty prose has never been a strength of mine, so I'm pretty proud of this:

June glances up at Henry, studying him for a moment. He wonders what she sees, if she can tell that he’s a crystal vase filled with a bouquet of emotions—absolutely transparent and if nudged too hard, the carefully crafted container might just crack apart, contents spilling out, shattering all remnants of what might have once been construed as beautiful.  An unavoidable mess. The hyacinths, taking up most of the space, for regret and remorse. Tulips, a bit hopeful, for forgiveness. Purple lilac, stubbornly wedged in the mix from the first moment Alex flashed his smile at Henry, for love at first sight. He thinks maybe June does catch a glimpse of the blossoms, because the next thing he knows, her eyes face softens a bit, and she’s turning back to face her cousins with her hand pressed against Henry’s back. It’s not the touch of the Claremont-Díaz sibling he craves, but it still settles him somehow, even before she speaks.

(Dil)Do It Yourself 

Chapter 1

“Pez, like the candy?” Alex blurts out. He doesn’t have much of a filter on a good day, but hot people make his porous coffee filter turn into a goddamn colander.

Also Chapter 1

"If I find that you have somehow managed to muck it up, how should I plan to contact you?” Alex grins back at Henry. He has no fucking clue why this British elf who speaks like a Victorian orphan and looks like he stepped out of a Calvin Klein photoshoot has him thinking about getting a second apartment key made, but here he is. Mentally googling routes to his nearest hardware store. “Well, usually, when it’s for business I just give out my fax,” he drawls, unable to contain his smile as he gets to the second half of his sentence. “But since I’m fairly interested in mixing this with pleasure, I guess I can share my cell number.”

Soft stuff before the less soft stuff in Chapter 3

What he’s absolutely not prepared for is the look on Henry’s face when he spots Alex entering the shop—like Alex just saved babies from a burning building or cured cancer or something. It’s way too fucking much when Henry doesn’t even know about Alex’s coffee addiction or the way he incessantly taps his foot when he’s focused or how Alex accidentally interrupts people when he starts getting really passionate in a debate. Maybe Alex can accept that Henry’s into his jokes or his smile or his dick. But basically, Henry hasn’t learned about all the other stuff that comes with spending an extended period of time around Alex. He’s not getting his hopes up. Except when Henry smiles, and softly greets him with “I missed you,” Alex absolutely gets his hopes up.

Claremont 2008 

Both of these are from the final chapter of the fic:

Henry’s sitting at his desk, a heavily annotated Norton’s Anthology of Poetry propped open to his left, a notebook full of beautiful, neat cursive laid open to his right. The soft glow of his lamp warms the small space, coupled with the changing light from the window as the early sunset fills the room with an orangey light that makes Henry appear golden, like he’s been blessed by Apollo, or Helios, or some other sun god.

Finally arriving at their door, Henry unlocks it for the first time, the movers having finished up while the two of them went over to pick up a nametag for their new roommate. After taking a few steps down the hall, they enter into a cozy living room already filled with both their book collections and their family photos all jumbled together. The Lightning Thief sits next to Pride and Prejudice like they’re two puzzle pieces aligning, a photo of Henry and Arthur on a sailboat hangs next to one of Alex sitting on his abuela’s lap: two homes side by side. 

Freaky Friday (I woke up in my enemy's body) 

Alex waxing poetic about Shaan's ass

“You can, er , go,” Alex directs him, though it comes out like more of a question. Apparently it was effective enough, though, because the guy exits, and the phrase “hate to see you go, love to watch you leave” pops into his mind when he gets a view of his ass strutting out of the room in that suit.

The Great Dick Soliloquy

Eventually, and to Alex’s great shame, he gives in. He just has to know, okay? It’ll just be a brief glimpse, he assures himself. Alex is not kidding when he says that he took one glance at Henry’s dick and it changed his life. He really did intend on it being a brief glimpse.

Thank you to @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @firenati0n @anincompletelist for the tags!

Sorry if I missed one of y'all doing this, tagging @littlemisskittentoes @ssmtskw @affectionatelyrs @read-and-write- @matherines @rockyroadkylers!

To see all my 2023 fics in Part 1, click here.

#rwrb fanfic #red white and royal blue #firstprince #fanfiction #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor #rwrb #favorite lines #happinessofthepursuit writes

[simply-amelia]

Welcome

Hi my name is Amelia Campbell, I live in Australia. I love pizza 🍕 and my dad is amazing at making it 🍽️ . I am 10 years old and I go to a school filled with fun. Every teacher is nice at our school. I am probably the most clumsiest person in the world 🌍. Just before writing this I walked into the table and banged my knee, OUCH 😓! I have one tabby cat🐈‍⬛ who is a girl turning 3 years old. I love to train her and 💻 research about animals! Tell me if you also love ♥️ animals. A big cat gave birth to 8 kittens under our deck, we took all of them to the vet to get adopted and there was one cat that purred on our laps and did not run away, so we kept her and named her Patty. Comment if you also have a cat. My cat does not like cat beds instead she prefers our chairs, I just sprayed catnip spray that should attract her to the cat bed, she is sniffing it but not going inside 😣. I like nature but hate insects, especially those bloodthirsty mosquitoes 😡. I am a scout in melbourne and I love going on adventures with my group. Christmas 🎄 is my favorite celebration, what's yours? I have been to Greece twice in my life, once this year! I love talking 🗣️ to people and describing how I feel, that's why I began writing blogs. My life is not always interesting although usually there is so much drama at school. Mostly because of 1 girl! I try to stay out of it but I somehow always get involved. I am moving houses and I am trying to make sure some people don't find out, not for any reason , they just don't need to know what I'm up to. Moving on, I’d love to know all your hobby’s i’ll share mine. I love collecting crystals, playing with robots, hanging out with my basketball team, playing basketball, bike riding, reading and writing (which is why I like blogs). I like more things too but you’d be reading for an hour if I continued! I like all coulures, well maybe not brown (brown makes me think of poop). I have a faivroute number, it's 26, all the girls in my family are born on the 26😀! Thankyou for reading.  I will post more

Sunday 15th of October 2023.

#my writing #Life #Introducing #Hello

[xiv-wolfram]

Guest of Honor - Comic Script

A Realm Reborn - lvl 14

Wolfram is invited to a banquet and is treated to an Echo vision he actually enjoys!

Wolfram Saga Comics

This is the script for a future comic. Posting for those who don’t want to wait to get the story. Numbers indicate frame number.

Shot of Admiral’s party. (From cutscene.) Narrator “After Wolfram uncovered the Sea Reaver’s plot and saved Swiftperch, Admiral Bloefhiswin invited him to a banquet as her honored guest.”

Wolfram talking to Merlwyb. Merlwyb smiling “I'm pleased to see you were the adventurer who saved the day! I suppose I should have known, as the reported state of our enemy's corpses matched those you'd dispatched for me before.”

A) Wolf winks “Oh, don't flatter me so. I simply know my way around a fireball.” B) Merlwyb laughs “And a rapier. Twas good luck, given the foe.”

A) Merlwyb nods “Limsa Lominsa is lucky to have you. And you have my thanks.” B) Wolf smirks “This banquet is a pleasant change from the usual pocket of gil delivered by your henchmen.”

Zoomed out, Merlwyb objecting “Oh shush! The thalassocracy thanks you for *all* your service, but this was far more serious than the odd job I throw yer way.” Wolf “How so?”

A) Merlwyb explains “The pirates you killed - they worshipped the primal Leviathan. They sought to kidnap others to forcefully serve the Sahagain’s god.” B) Wolf frowns “That's awful! Bad enough so many Sahagain are enthralled but to actively kidnap Lominsan citizens is a worrying development.

A) Wolf hopeful “Is there no way to save them? The enthralled Sahagain? That would ensure the safety of your citizens as well. Other than the land disputes, which could be negotiated.” B) Y’Shtola glancing over, curious. >ear twitch< Thought ‘Did he just express pity towards *beastmen*? Fascinating.’

Zoomed out, Y’Shtola walking over. Merlwyb - “Save? I need not tell you the depth of the animosity between us and the Sahagin. How any seaman worth his salt could devote himself to the fishbacks’ god is a question for a more temperate mind than mine.”

Y’Shtola standing with them. Wolfram frowns - “Let us not devolve into that sort of language Merlwyb, please. I know you have your reasons to hate them, but I’ve met enough Sahagin to know they aren’t all monsters. Regardless, what those enthralled were doing needed to be stopped.”

Merlwyb smirks “I suppose I cannot fault that bleeding ‘eart of yours. It saved many this day. As for now - thanks to you, our citizens may once more go about their daily lives, safe in the knowledge that they will not be dragged into the darkness by those execrable curs.”

A) Wolf chuckles, “Anytime, your Admiralship.” a glow comes from his pocket. B) Wolf takes a crystal out of his pocket, confused.

A) Merlwyb surprised “By the Navigator!” B) Y’shtola excited “This…is one of the Crystals of Light!” 

A) Wolf chuckles “Aptly named. I’m not sure why I’ve been carrying it around… You know what the blasted thing is?” B) YShtola pondering “After our encounter with the goobbue, you had a vision, did you not? Of a towering crystal?”

Wolf, putting the crystal back in his pocket “Aye, that I did.” Thought ‘Blessedly different than the ones the damned voidsent shows me.’

A) Y’Shtola smiles “You batherd in Her Light…” Wolf, off frame “Light?” B) Merlwyb smiles “Y’shtola’s conclusion is clear, and I see no reason to doubt it. You are the vessel of a higher power.”

Wolf frowns, defensive “H-how did you know? What does that have to do with the crystal?” Thought ‘A hellhound has no use for it…’

A) Merlwyb explains “This… being from your vision was the Mothercrystal. Your description matches what little we know of Her.” B) She smiles “And if She has chosen you, then your deeds may yet shape the fate of nations.”

Wolf forces a smile “Ah. How wonderful.” Panicked thought ‘THE FUCK?! I now have two entities inside of me?! That can't be possible - surely such light would destroy a voidsent. And I still feel the bastard, even through the ale.’ 

Merylwyb smiles “Aye, As once did the deed of the Warriors of Light. Know you the tale? Like you, they were not of these lands, yet they fought to protect us all ‘gainst the corruption of the primals.” Wolf comedicly trying to cover up “Ah, so they were also Gridanian?”

A) Merlwyb smirks “Gridanian?! Is *that* what you tell people? You know, I happen to be good friends with one of your countrymen.” B/C) Yshtola frowns, pondering. Looks from one to the other.

A) Wolf awkward smile “Ah. A friend?” Thought ‘Why had I not put that together… she knows Rau. Of course, they’d be friends!’ B) Merlwyb annoyed “Indeed. Simply friends! Those rumors were utter hogwash started by one of his political rivals. The man is an eternal bachelor and he doesn't even -”

A) She smiles awkwardly. Thought ‘Oh gods stop rambling about the ‘ol Bull.’ B) Wolf beams “He is?! I thought by now he would have found some-”

Merlwyb and Y’Shtola confused. Merlwyb thought 'Does this adventurer know General Aldynn?'

A) Wolf, awkward, hand on his head, >sweatdrop< “Sorry, I meant” *cough* “-please, continue your tale of the Warriors of Light.”

Merlwyb amused “Well… when the Garlean Empire began its conquest of the realm, these heroes joined the Grand Companies, and helped reforge the Eorzean Alliance.”

Zoomed out. She continues explaining “And at the Battle of Carteneau, they took the field beneath our banners, to fight for everything we hold dear. It was on that day, in the midst of that hell… that we lost them.” 

A) (small frame) Wolf concerned. B) (large frame) Personal flashback to Wolfram outside Mor Dhona as he watches the moon crack open.

Merlwyb somber “Every soul who survived that battle will never forget how it was to fight beside them. We are proud to call them our comrades. Yet, whenever we try to shout their names, the sound dies in our throats. And whenever we strain to see their faces with our mind’s eye, naught but their shadows appear to us, set against a blinding light. Ask any true Eorzean who knew them, and the story will be the same. It is for this reason that we call them ‘the Warriors of Light.”

A) Wolf frowns. Thought ‘I must have arrived too late to see them. Or been too busy to notice.’ B) Flashback Wolf healing an injured soldier.

A) Merlwyb smiles “When I look upon you, I cannot help but be reminded of them.” B) Wolf shocked. 

A) Wolf bursts out laughing “Me?! Like a Warrior of Light?!” B) Laughing, covering his mouth as tears run down his cheeks.

Merlwyb eyebrow raise “Take my words to heart or not - but keep that crystal safe. In time, I believe the Mothercrystal will make clear Her reasons for bestowing it upon you. Heed well Her words, Wolfram. For it is Hydaelyn Herself who speaks.”

A) Wolf smirks, wiping his eye “Well this party certainly has taken a mystical turn. I didn’t know you lot were so -” B) He grabs his head, pained expression, echo vision effect.

Screenies from the echo vision at Carteneau. Zoom out of the state leaders.

A) Close-ups of Raubahn yelling on linkpearl B) Rau not wanting to withdraw.

Wolf wakes up in his apartment on the couch, lying on his side. 

A) Doky smile, blushing red. “So commanding…” B) Wolf smirks, flushed. Thought ‘I’m beginning to think you aren’t behind these visions after all. Why would you show me Cartenau focused on Rau when he’s so…’

Wolf sitting up. Dark thought “So stressed? Being an arsehole to his subordinates? Stubbornly hesitant to withdraw while his men die?” Wolf blushes and smiles dreamily. “So hot. So incredibly hot.”

Wolf stands, smiles sadly, resting his hand over where his tattoo is and looking out the window. “Gods... how I miss that man.”

Wolfram Saga Comics

#oc wolfram #ffxiv #ffxiv oc #ffxiv wol #wolbahn #WolframBlogs

[supermacaquecool]

About Tongue-tied.

I find really challenging to write from Miu's pov, partly because of her age but mostly because her personality and interests are very different from mine. I struggle letting characters act out rashly or get carried away by emotion bc I'm usually too much in my own head lol So it's much easier for me to write turbulent inner worlds and sensations than it is to write wild actions. It's for all of this that writing Miu is a challenge, she does not play to my comfort zone as a writer. That said, I'm happy with how she came out in Tongue-tied. I usually lean on using exact wording and phrasings, but I tried to relax the prose to suit Miu

The sky was painted red and orange and purple, all the way to the first hints of black around the edges

This is a sentence I adjusted to become less tight and precise, focusing more on the input of stimuli as it's experienced.

I think I started this one by the middle section, with the idea of Miu eavesdropping on Aoi. Mostly because I thought it was really funny to write Miu getting annoyed at Aoi for asking her about whether she brushed her teeth. "Aoi is like a mother," and so I write her pestering them about their chores covertly through questions. I thought it could be interesting to fill in the gaps of Miu's dynamic with Aoi, since Survive did zero in the motherly qualities playing into the power differential and her desire to be obeyed. Miu, who has been neglected and reacts so badly to Kaito's helicopter parenting and wishes for independence so ardently still needs the emotional and behavioral guidance and for the older kids to look after her and care for her. I find the opposing directions between what she wants and what she needs interesting. So it's a piece mostly on Miu's feelings on Aoi as her second caretaker of sorts. For this reason, I equated Aoi to Kaito in this section:

Aoi sighed, bringing the fun to a halt. "If you're bored before sleeping, you could just say it. There's no need to sneak around."

Miu wanted to say she kind of needed to. She needed to at least be able to talk to Syakomon. Her partner understood this and vouched for her.

"There's nothing to worry about, I'm with her!"

"Yes, but—"

But, well, Aoi was a bit like Kaito about these things. They needed to stay safe.

Making them equal pressences to Miu felt like a good shorthand to establish Miu's mixed feelings about Aoi. It's for this reason that when I worked backwards to write the eavesdropping scene, the one Aoi is talking to is Kaito. This scene is partly inspired by a passage in the "The Haunting of Hill House" where Eleanor sneaks around eavesdropping the conversations all the others are having and confirms her neurosis one way or another. I wanted mine to work in a similar fashion, and it was actually fun to focus on the idea of missing information. I think it might even a bit heavy-handed in the contrasts to Kaito there: where he is loud and aggressive, Aoi mumbles and remains polite. Where Miu understands Kaito's stance crystal clear, she can't parse Aoi's at all. The thing that unites them being their desire to handle Miu with kid gloves 😂 This is something I wanted to make a running theme through the piece, so I tried to make Miu's frustration with Saki run on a similar note: that annoyance others keep things from her and don't talk to her straight (to be perfectly fair, Saki is like that to everyone about this topic 😂 But Miu doesn't have the perspective to see it).

Naturally, Miu's talk to Aoi hammers down on that aspect of her as a child that's being sheltered. I was very pleased with the way I wrote the conversation, having Aoi always be the one in control even if she's not necessarily being domineering. She basically traps Miu into talking to her by telling to sit with her 😂 She tries to do it in a way that still shows regard for Miu, but it's still her imposing her terms lol

Anyway, it was fun to write them running into each other's scripts and getting frustrated lol Aoi feeling bothered by Miu's ghost hunting antics and Miu feeling annoyed at her motherly disposition lol I thought it'd have to be Aoi the one to open the path to swerve the conversation into something more open and sincere, not only bc Miu is younger but because she's been struggling with this issue for far longer with Kaito and her solution has been to sneak out and have things her way where her brother can't see her lol So it really needed to be Aoi the one to bridge the gap, even if she's still doing it ever so carefully as to not to upset the balance lol Labramon was a fun aid to write in the behavior and dynamic Aoi wants to enforce lol

I'm pleased with having been able to pepper Miu's penchant for the supernatural with her idea Saki was a psychic and her excuses to Aoi lol If I were to write her again, I'd hope to be able to integrate this aspect much more intrinsically to her pov (this is what I was struggling with).

That interaction with Minoru was the cutest bridge between scenes I've written lol I do think that while Minoru is still in that position of trying to look after her as someone who's older, he's the one who comes the closest to meeting her on her own terms even in that brief passage lol I'm quite satisfied by how comfortable and relaxed their dynamic comes across.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with this one and I thought I was able to cover what I wanted. I'd like to improve on Miu's voice as their dynamic still fascinates me, specially since Miu does grow quite attached to Aoi and trusts her to take care of her.

#Fic talk

[driftward]

Aurora Laboratory Log Subject: Gloriole Containment Assembly Setup: Initial setup of Gloriole Containment Assembly to establish Demi-Ozma-class aether field. Aetheric Nuolith Array Assembly aligned to apply elemental aether. Researchers: Z. Vauban and R. Sundstyrwyn Notes: Eos-Class Fairy Lavender assisting.

~*~

Experiment 1108-25-01 Preconditions: Zero initial aetheric energy, Demi-Ozma established Experiment: Establish Negative Energy Field Result: As expected Notes: This is just a demonstration run for Ryss’ benefit

Lavender sat on one of the cabinets, kicking her feet back and forth, watching the two scientists below.

“Oh, wow, you really did get it working!” said Ryss, poking at the Demi-Ozma aether field with a stylus. “That is -creepy-.”

Zoissette just nodded distantly as she inspected one of the nuolith arrays.

“You said you were taking it in a different direction than me,” said Ryss.

“Yes. You are interested in the applications for spell craft, I am rather more interested in the applications for observation of the negative field.”

“I still don’t know how you aren’t more excited about that! That’s an experiment that blasts most people across the room. Funny to watch, obviously. But look at you! Nobody’s ever managed to stabilize a negative energy field, but you did.”

Zoissette stepped away from her inspection, and turned to the control panel.

“So… we going to do some science, or what?” asked Ryss.

“What do you suggest?”

“Can we put anything in it?”

Zoissette shrugged, and Ryss dug into her bag.

Experiment 1108-25-02 Preconditions: Negative energy field established, zero aether flow Experiment: Insert item ‘La Noscean Orange’ into Demi-Ozma and observe effect Result: La Noscean Orange on floor. Notes: I’m not sure what we expected. Though at least Ryss gets to keep her lunch snack.

“Huh.” said Ryss. “That was somewhat less exciting than expected.”

“Yours also manifests in reality as a physical object.”

“Yeah but mine starts with mirror surface before aspecting the two poles to astral and umbral.”

“Why do you do that, anyway? Why not just keep it balanced at null?”

“Keeps it stable, so you can do things like ride it.”

“Klynt is a bad influence on you.”

“Klynt is the best lab pal a girl could have!”

“…better than Meya?”

“Well, Meya does bring us food. So, hey! Let’s shift this thing. It’s that weird blackness because you’re not projecting a physical form, right? Just a shadow?”

“Yes. To contain the negative energy field requires a perfect sphere which aether will not leak across, and the ‘shadow’ it is casting into our reality is perfect for that.”

Ryss looked thoughtful. “But aether tied to mass could still be made to be able to get through containment with some adjustments… let me do some math real fast.”

Ryss sat down at the chair in the lab, and began scribbling some spellworks. Lavender flitted down to meet Zoissette as she turned to some crystals that were set in a tray in the lab, and began inspecting them.

“Hey… you alright?” asked Ryss.

“I am just checking the enrichment on these crystals.”

“Yeah, but… are you. Like. Okay?”

Zoissette stood up, and glanced over at her reflection in one of the crystals to look herself over. The polite half smile and lidded eyes of a proper Ishgardian noble woman looked back at her.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

Ryss turned to look slowly at Zoissette, who clasped her hands in front of her and looked evenly back.

“…you just seem quieter than usual. Usually something like this would have you doing the thing where you clasp your hands and bounce on your toes and you’d have a lot more to say about it. Also, you got your face on.”

“I would like to think so. I am not sure how I would speak without it.”

Ryss turned back to her equations. “…here, try punching these in to the nuolith array.”

Experiment 1108-25-03 Preconditions: Changed Demi-Ozma parameters, negative energy field established Experiment: Observe effect on Demi-Ozma Result: Demi-Ozma is now transparent. Negative energy field observed directly. There appears to be a ‘curved space’ effect inside the containment field. Notes: It is making a funny noise I am not sure I like

Lavender was keeping Zoissette between her and the experimental chamber.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” said Ryss.

“I think I want to adjust it again anyroad,” said Zoissette. She glanced over at Ryss’ equations, and stabbed a finger at one. “There. That noise is probably from air displacement. It’s still opaque to aether transfer, but your tolerance for mass transfer is too low.”

“I did that on purpose.”

“And now it is making scary noises.”

“…From the air falling into the negative energy field, I’d guess. Hey, you think we can make an instrument out of this?”

Experiment 1108-25-04 Preconditions: Variable Demi-Ozma parameters applied, negative energy field established Experiment: Observe effect on local soundscape Result: With careful adjustment to Demi-Ozma parameters, we can get it to transfer air movement in such a way that it emits sound at specific frequencies Notes: This is possibly the worst rendition of the Maelstrom Command anthem I have ever listened to

“You know, if it’s letting air through…” started Ryss.

“And I think I would prefer it stop doing that.”

“Can probably try the orange again.”

“You know I have no food here, right? I cannot replace that orange if something happens to it.”

“I have a sandwich.”

“…hmn. It sounded haunting and sharp at first, but actually, here in this second part of the stanza, I think I am starting to like the sound a bit.”

“You’re a weird one, Zoissette.”

“You are the one intent on losing an orange today.”

Lavender flitted into one of the cabinets, closing it behind her.

Experiment 1108-25-05 Preconditions: Variable Demi-Ozma parameters applied, negative energy field established Experiment: Insert item ‘La Noscean Orange’ and into Demi-Ozma and observe effect Result: Orange flexed and bent after passing containment and while traveling through negative energy space. Upon reaching the center of the negative energy field, it appeared to ‘wobble’ but not in a physical way; rather it was as though the space it was occupying was wobbling, but the orange itself was still a spherical orange. And then it rapidly disbursed into several large free floating chunks that slowly drifted to the edge of the containment area and fell on the floor. Notes: I think the end result had less to do with the negative energy field and more to do with the Maelstrom Command anthem starting over again at the trumpet part. Addition to note: Actually, I think the mass may have caused another positive energy pulse of some sort. Though the trumpet idea is funnier.

Lavender stuck her head out from the cabinet to see what was going on. Ryss grinned at Zoissette, who was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

“Aw, there’s my girl!”

Zoissette bit her lip, still trying to keep it in. “Sorry about your orange.”

“Small price to pay to see you come out again,” said Ryss with a grin. “Want a slice? Well, a chunk, really.”

Ryss held out a piece to Zoissette, who looked at it with amusement before taking it and shoving it in the microscope.

“Do not eat any of that,” said Zoissette. “Still do not know what the negative energy field does to, well, anything.”

“Seems to have increased the astringency… and added a bit of sharpness to the tartness.”

Zoissette whirled around to glare at Ryss, who winked at her. “Kidding!”

She sighed and shook her head as she put her eye back to the microscope while Ryss cackled behind her.

“Are all Limsans like this?” complained Zoissette.

“Only the fun ones.”

Zoissette just shook her head. After a few moments of fiddling with microscope, and Ryss still cleaning up behind her, she pushed away from the table and looked over at Ryss, her expression somewhat serious.

“Thank you.”

“Hey, what are friends for, right? What was eating you anyroad, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I do not wish to bother you with what amounts to nothing.”

“Promise to let you know when you bother me, then.”

Zoissette sighed, leaning against the counter, and tapped her fingers on top of it.

“…I do not know,” she said. “Truthfully, I do not. I should be doing well, right? This is… the culmination of what feels like an entire life of work and research. This is genuinely exciting. I thought that once I got here, I would have just so many ideas and things and new avenues of research.”

She hopped off the chair and began to pace around, clasping her hands behind her back. “I mean, just what we have done today! There are other things I can do! It is not just the negative energy field, it is everything around it. The weird way it bends space, the effect it may have on things. And the entire apparatus! I am certain I have only begun to scratch the surface of what the containment unit is capable of.”

Zoissette entered in some adjustments, and the Demi-Ozma aether field once more became the infinitely deep black gap in space. Zoissette ran her hands across its surface once it was stable.

“I mean, even this. This is so interesting, right? A physical object that is not. And yet, for all the tantalizing possibilities, for all the exciting opportunities… and my mind is blank. Empty. I do not feel anything. I just feel…”

Zoissette stared down at her experiment, and sighed.

“…lost.”

“Hey, you know what I think?”

“Hmn?”

“You’re overthinking things as usual, sweetheart. This was a lot of work, and you’re busting your ass still. I think you’re just tired. That’s okay. Take some time, you know? Maybe let this go for a bit.”

Zoissette looked around the lab.

“…I just got this place working, though.”

“And it’ll still be waiting here when you come back.”

Zoissette sighed.

“…maybe you are right. And even if you are not… it does not matter. I need to go back to Old Sharlayan anyroad. There are avenues of research I need to pursue there.”

Ryss gave her a wink. “Oh, I just bet.”

Zoissette frowned at her and tilted her head slightly, but Ryss just shrugged back at her with a grin.

“Nothing, nothing, don’t mind me. Hey, let’s head back to HQ. I want a snack, and my orange seems to have gone missing.”

Lavender floated down to alight on Zoissette’s shoulder. Zoissette was shaking her head while Ryss laughed as they powered down the lab and left.

#The Incident #Thus we reach an end

[agonyaster]

nothing i love more than backstories about how trainers meet their pokemon. so i write one for the train men and theirs because i am always rotating these men in my head

also on ao3!

…

“Why is it frowning?” Ingo asks, peeking over his brother’s shoulder at the sculpture he’s constructing with hands that have started to turn blue from the cold.

Emmet doesn’t answer at first, lost in deep concentration as he presses an icicle they took off of Ms. Dubric’s porch railing into the snow around its eyes. He does the same on the other side before looking up and cocking his head to the side.

“Your Vanillish is frowning. Why?” Ingo points to its downturned mouth, which is made out of a twig his brother snapped in half. “Don’t they usually smile?”

“Yes,” Emmet agrees, wiping his hands on his pants before tugging his mittens back on. “But it's you. Of course it’s frowning.” He hefts the sculpture into his hands and presses it against Ingo’s cheek. “See?”

“No.”

Emmet doesn’t seem satisfied with that answer, twisting the Vanillish around and pressing it against his own cheek, trying his best to mimic Ingo’s frown. It doesn’t look quite right, lips quirking down and curling in at the corners of his mouth, but Ingo gets the idea. 

“Oh! I see it now.” Content, Emmet sets the snowman back down as Ingo scratches at his chin. “I don’t think I would want to be a Vanillish though.”

“Why not?”

“It seems lonely.”

“I wouldn’t let you be a Vanillish alone.” Emmet points to the Vanillish Ingo made. “If mine is supposed to be you, then yours is me.”

“And when it gets hot we’ll stick together so when we refreeze we’ll be a Vanilluxe!” Ingo nods. “You’re very smart, brother.”

“What I do. What I say. Always the same.” Ingo laughs and reaches forward, squishing the two snow Vanillish together, which makes Emmet laugh too. 

After their laughter dies down, they start to make another snowman, playfully bickering back and forth over which pokémon to make next. Emmet smashes Ingo’s Frillish and Ingo kicks Emmet’s Lilligant enough that they call a truce and start to build a Fraxure together.

“Boys! I need you back inside!” 

The twins pull their attention away from the half-formed Fraxure limbs and look up towards the voice of their mother. She’s standing at the railing of the bridge running through the middle of town, hands stuffed into the pockets of her robe as she shivers and shouts down to them again.

“No thank you!” Ingo calls back before turning to the snow in front of him, trying to remember what the armor on Fraxure's back looks like.

“Ingo-”

“It isn’t just me! Emmet doesn’t want to go either!”

Beside him, Emmet nods vigorously, and up on the bridge their mother sighs heavily. She slumps against the railing in defeat before straightening and turning on her heel. “Alright, if that’s what you want. I guess the surprise can wait another year.”

The boys’ heads snap up and they’re on their feet in an instant, racing towards the bridge and chasing after their mother as she heads towards home.

They reach home and take a moment to stomp the snow off their boots and shake the ice crystals from their hair before being herded into the living room, where they’re pushed down to sit on the couch and blankets are draped over their shoulders.

Emmet tucks his knees into his chest and watches his mother with wide eyes. “What’s the surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I told you.”

“Well it’s our birthday and we want to know! Don’t we, Ingo?”

“We do!”

Their mother laughs as her sons stare up at her expectantly, fidgeting with excitement. “Well… double digits are a big deal, so it’s a present. From your Uncle Drayden.”

Ingo gasps. “Really?”

“Uncle Drayden gives the best gifts,” Emmet hums in approval, starting to fidget even more.

“Are you saying I give bad gifts?” their mother asks, barely able to contain the humor in her voice.

“No, just that Uncle Drayden’s are better,” her son corrects and she laughs again, flitting off into the kitchen, returning with two small square boxes in hand.

“These are from both your Uncle and I, so they’re doubly good. According to your logic.” With a smile, she hands one box to each son. 

When they don’t move, she mimes an opening motion and they rip off the lids in unison. Emmet’s grin stretches even further and Ingo lets out a delighted gasp, both reaching into the boxes and gingerly pulling out a singular pokéball each.

The twins launch themselves off of the couch and towards their mother, wrapping their arms around her, mouths spewing out an incoherent stream of thanks and excited babbling. After a moment of surprise, she sinks down to her knees and hugs them back, ruffling Ingo’s hair and swiping at Emmet’s eyes with her thumb.

“So excited and you haven’t even opened them yet,” she teases as the boys pull away, their gratitude morphing into barely-contained excitement as they grip the pokeballs tightly to their chests. “Don’t you want to meet your new partners?”

With two in-unison nods their thumbs press down on the buttons in the center of the pokéballs, the sharp smell of well-polished metal and a strange clicking sound filling the air as the pokémon are released.

A pair of Klink float in front of the twins, four minigears spinning in perfect unison. Klink aren’t the easiest pokémon for a child to hug, but they manage to figure it out.

…

Nimbasa is verrry big, Emmet realizes. 

He doesn’t remember it being so big when he was younger, which seems a little strange. It makes more sense when he starts to think about it, though; when they did come into the city it was only because there was no train that ran from Anville all the way to Opelucid, and they never wandered the streets or the surrounding routes. He and Ingo always kept firmly inside the walls of Gear Station, watching with delight as the trains speed by and the Depot Agents direct hordes of commuters and challengers of the Battle Subway alike. 

Now that Emmet is firmly outside the walls of Gear Station, wandering the streets and surrounding routes, he realizes that it is a verrry big city indeed. There are skyscrapers so big it hurts his neck to even try to look all the way up at them and people every which where he turns. 

He’s probably seen more people in the day he’s been in Nimbasa than his whole life living in Anville. They’re all so sure in themselves, complete strangers united by proximity or something deeper that Emmet just doesn’t know about yet. He itches to know what it is.

Grandfather used to talk about stuff like that all the time before he died. He and Uncle Drayden would debate over truth and ideals so late into the night sometimes they were still talking when Emmet and Ingo got up the next morning for breakfast. Grandfather seemed to really like that he and Ingo were twins, and Emmet vaguely remembers being told stories about two brothers who fought for what was right.

Looking out at the people passing him on the street, Emmet wonders if they ever think about how they tend to fall in line and move forward as one. He almost turns to ask Ingo, but Ingo isn’t on the bench with him; he’s inside the Pokémon Center getting more supplies because they decided to take the long way up to Opelucid. 

Emmet turns his attention back to the street and watches a tired businessman hug a briefcase to his chest as he chatters away on his phone, a woman wipe at the mouth of her toddler with a wad of napkins, a girl in a yellow jacket run her fingers through the mane of her Blitzle as it mouths at her bag, trying to eat whatever’s inside through the fabric.

Out of the corner of his eye, Emmet sees something small and yellow pop out of a grate in the street and scurry across the pavement, weaving in and out of the feet of passersby before hopping up onto the Blitzle’s leg. It scurries up until it's tucked snugly into the crease of the Blitzle’s neck and shoulder and stops moving. 

The smile on Emmet’s face grows as he thinks of the Joltik infestation Uncle Drayden’s neighbor had three years ago, of how the little fuzzy creatures attached themselves to anything even resembling electricity. He’d managed to wrangle one, luring it in with static after rubbing his feet on the rug for ten minutes, but his mom didn’t let him keep it. Now, though, he’s on his journey and no one can tell him no.

Grabbing a pokéball and standing, Emmet draws back his arm and lets it fly. 

It hits the Joltik and captures it, with the Blitzle and the girl only looking a little startled as he darts forward and scoops up his prize before doubling back and making a beeline for the Pokémon Center. Ingo needs to meet his newest partner. Well, after Emmet meets them. 

He pops Joltik’s pokéball open and she squeaks, staring up at him with wide blue eyes. She nuzzles into his palm, fur sending out weak pulses of static that make his hand tingle pleasantly.

Stroking the top of her head lovingly with his thumb, Emmet looks around and realizes Ingo isn’t there anymore so he turns and leaves, in search of his brother. It doesn’t take long to find him because Ingo is just outside, looking a little more than confused as the girl in the yellow jacket glares at him, her Blitzle scraping his hoof against the pavement angrily.

“You really think you can try and steal my Blitzle and get away with it?” she yells, cheeks burning red with anger. She sort of looks like a Trapinch.

“I don’t… believe I did?”

She doesn’t seem to hear him, and if she did she doesn’t seem to care. “Well you’re wrong! Battle me!”

“R-right here?”

“Yeah! Right here, right now!”

“Good luck, Ingo!” Emmet cheers, drawing the girl’s and his brother’s attention.

Ingo brightens but the girl pales, eyes going wide as they dart back and forth between the twins. Even her Blitzle seems surprised. 

“I- there are two of you?!”

…

Ingo tugs down the brim of his hat in an attempt to keep the flying sand out of his eyes, but it doesn’t work very well, the wind just twisting to blast him with more. The sand is one of the many reasons he doesn’t like the Desert Resort, and he’s tempted to turn back and just continue their journey to Castelia, but he can’t. They’ve already been here so long; he won’t let the sunburn be for nothing.

“Wait up!” Elesa calls over the sounds of the storm. “My foot’s stuck!”

He turns to see her crouched down, crying out commands to her Blitzle as it does battle with a wild Darumaka while she claws at the sand enveloping her left foot. Emmet stands to the side, looking mildly amused as Elesa finally manages to pop her shoe out of the sand.

“Maybe it is a sign. We should stop here,” Emmet says and Elesa nods vigorously as she returns Blitzle to his pokéball. 

Ingo gives his own nod of agreement and the two plop down onto the sand dune as he slides down into its valley, adjusting his hat once more before starting to skim his hands over the sand.

“And just to double check, we’re sure Dwebble live here? And not in the ruins?” Elesa asks as she tugs her shoe off and flips it upside down, squeaking out an apology as the sand in it dumps out onto the back of Ingo’s neck. It stings a little, but he ignores it.

“Yes. We asked a lot of people. We are sure.”

She pulls her shoe back on. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Why?”

“The Joltik thing, stupid,” Elesa points out, clearly unimpressed. “If you would have just asked like a normal person-”

“But you are an electric trainer! You would’ve taken her from me!” Emmet defends with a huff.

“You didn’t know that at the time.”

“You look like one.” At Elesa’s confused look, he makes a zig-zag motion near his ears. It only earns him a confused blink. “Your hair! It’s all… spiky.”

Ingo chuckles at the way her cheeks go pink and how she slaps at the brim of Emmet’s hat. “Oh, you of all people don’t get to talk about my hair! I’m still half convinced you’re balding under that hat.”

“We are not balding! Ingo, we are not bald, correct?”

“Not since I last checked.” 

He keeps clawing at the sand as Emmet and Elesa continue to bicker back and forth. Ingo doesn’t hear it, too focused on the shifting sands in front of him, searching for that quick flash of orange or dark brown. The grains itch and scratch at his skin, burning the palms that have been rubbed raw from all the desperate digging he’s been doing over the past two days.

Frustration starts to build in his gut and after a few more minutes Ingo admits defeat, sinking back onto his haunches and spitting out as much sand as possible. “I don’t think there’s anything here. Maybe we should move again.”

“I, uh, do you want us to help?” Elesa scratches at her cheek. “There’s still a lot of ground to cover.”

“You don’t have to.”

She and Emmet don’t take it as the ‘no’ it's supposed to be, sliding down the dune and coming to a stop in the valley before fanning out and starting to dig as well.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, but what’s up with the Klinks?” Elesa asks as she tugs off her sneakers and starts to use them as shovels, kicking up grit behind her as she drags them through the sand. “Like, they’re your starters, right? Why did you both get Klink? Did you both want a Klink?”

“It’s a tradition,” Ingo explains. “Twins are always given Klink.”

“Oh, alright. You catch them yourself?”

Emmet shakes his head. “Nope! Our uncle did.”

“The one we’re going to Opelucid for?”

“Yep! Did you catch your Blitzle?”

He thinks Elesa says something, but Ingo’s attention has zeroed in on the patch of swirling sand in front of him; two orange pincers breaking the surface before the rest of the Dwebble’s body wriggles out of the sand.

Heart hammering in his chest, Ingo reaches into his pocket, pulling out a pokéball and a stone; the Dwebble spots him and squeaks, starting to bury itself back into the sand. Before it can fully submerge itself again, Ingo sets down the stone and waits. The Dwebble stops, eyes fixated on the pebble. It scuttles forward and taps at the rock cautiously before dragging it closer and looking up at Ingo. 

With a shaking hand, Ingo lowers the pokéball to Dwebble. After a moment of contemplation, Dwebble makes a noise in the back of his throat and taps the pokéball, disappearing into it.

On either side of him, Emmet and Elesa cheer.

…

Watching a Joltik eat its way through a Casteliacone is by far the funniest thing Elesa’s seen since she started her journey— maybe even the funniest thing she’s seen in her life. Not that she’ll ever admit that to the twins. 

The damn thing is twice the size of Joltik, so big that she’s comfortably standing on top of the soft serve as she nibbles away at it. There’s a profound sense of determination in her eyes that spikes up into annoyance whenever Emmet picks her up and tries his best to scrub the melted ice cream out of her fur, and he gets a few good zaps for his attempts.

“She’s going to get sick if you let her eat that whole thing,” says Elesa as she watches Joltik chew at the wafer cone, crumbs falling onto the street below where Pidove start to squabble for them.

“Joltik will be fine! She is a sturdy young lady,” Emmet reassures with a smile before diving back down and biting at his own ice cream. 

Elesa rolls her eyes and looks down at the single Casteliacone in her hands, then over to the two in Emmet’s; one eaten down to the cone, the other covered in staticky fur and small footprints. “Isn’t Ingo going to get upset that you let Joltik step all over and eat his?”

“No.” Emmet bites into the cone of his own ice cream. “It was never for him. Ingo is lactose intolerant.”

“Then why are you having one?”

“I am not lactose intolerant. Ingo is.”

“But you’re twins.”

“I do not pretend to understand how it works.” He shrugs. “I simply enjoy cheese.”

Elesa stifles a laugh and licks at her ice cream, staring out into the harbor. It hurts her eyes a little, with the way the water reflects the sun, but it’s beautiful. Off in the distance, she swears she can see a school of Basculin breaking above the waves, leaping out in pairs before vanishing back down below the surface.

“We’re heading out on the ferry tomorrow, right?”

“That is the plan.”

Elesa hums. “Why don’t we just head back up to Nimbasa? There are trains that run to Opelucid. It’ll be a lot faster.”

“We will not learn anything from this journey if we use the train to get everywhere.” For the first time, Elesa sees Emmet frown. It looks… a little funny on him, if she’s being honest. “That is what my mother says. Besides, we have already been to Nimbasa.”

“Eh, not really. You didn’t go see a musical or ride the ferris wheel, or even challenge the gym leader. We’ve still got a lot to do there.”

“Then you will just have to take us on a tour when we make the trip back.” 

“I’m not doing anything for free.”

“Then it will be my reward after I win against you.” Emmet pops the last of his cone into his mouth. “But that can wait. We should head back; I don’t want to leave Ingo alone any longer.”

“He’s not gonna die because you aren’t separated. You’re not a Klink.” Despite her sass, Elesa sends one last look to the harbor and they begin their walk back to the hotel where they’re staying. The Liligant behind the front desk greets them with a cheerful spin and they take a moment to applaud, Elesa tossing her an oran berry before they head for the stairs. 

They enter the room and for a moment Elesa thinks they might have ended up in the wrong one, because there’s no way Ingo managed to stink up the place this bad in the twenty minutes they’d been gone. Her hand flies to cover her nose and next to her Emmet almost drops Joltik, who lets out a squeak of alarm and flees up her trainer’s jacket sleeve.

Ingo is perched, cross-legged, on one of the beds, spraying a potion on something sitting in his lap. The pokémon notices them first, giving a strange little bark and shrinking further into Ingo’s lap; the smell spiking and sending another wave of nausea through Elesa.

“Oh! Welcome back!” he greets as the potion empties. “Did you enjoy your ice cream?”

“Is that… a Trubbish?”

“Yes!” Ingo claps and looks down to the Trubbish in his lap. “Say hello, would you?” 

Trubbish stares at them with wary eyes but barks in greeting and gives a half-hearted wave anyways, preening at the “Bravo!” and thankful pat Ingo gives it in return. Elesa holds her breath and waves back at it, elbowing Emmet sharply in the ribs until he does the same.

Clearing her throat, Elesa side-eyes the Trubbish, trying to think of a way to put this nicely. “Are you… keeping it?”

Ingo blinks, confused. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Trubbish are just kinda… dirty, aren’t they? You sure it's the best fit?”

“Yes, I’m sure! Trubbish love to eat garbage! They make the world cleaner everywhere they go!” Ingo offers the empty potion bottle to Trubbish, who scarfs it down in a single bite. “It’s quite admirable.”

“They smell verrrry bad,” adds Emmet. As if on cue, the stench in the room flares up and Elesa suppresses another gag.

“Well, that’s just because she’s scared and injured!” Ingo defends, hugging Trubbish to his chest. “With proper time and care, she will-”

“Ingo. Be reasonable.”

Ingo stares up at them and ducks his head, starting to shrink in on himself. “I… If it bothers you so much, I’ll let her go. I’ll go to the pokémon center right now a-and find someone to trade her with. I’ll go now so she’s gone by the morning and we can still make the ferry and-”

He stands abruptly, Trubbish falling to the floor with a startled grunt as he picks up his bag and dumps it out on the bed. Tossing aside books and pouches filled with berries as he frantically searches for Trubbish’s pokéball; Klink and Dwebble appear with confused cries as their pokéballs tumble off of the bed and pop open.

Emmet springs into action almost immediately, grabbing his brother by the shoulders and gently leading him to the floor where they both sit. 

“Hey, hey, Ingo. Breathe with me.”

They take a few deep breaths in sync and Ingo melts, posture slumping as he wrings his hands in his lap. Emmet catches her eye for long enough to beckon Elesa over and she sits down on the other side of Ingo awkwardly.

“I am sorry,” Emmet says quietly. 

“It’s not your fault nobody likes her. Or that I am…”

Emmet shrugs. “It’s our fault we didn’t give her a chance.”

Elesa nods and beckons Trubbish over with a wave of the hand and a quick whistle. She tottles over, hopping up into Ingo’s lap but staring at the two seated beside him. 

Cautiously, she reaches out and grabs one of Trubbish’s arms; Emmet grabs the other and they shake. It’s a little slimy, but Elesa can get used to it. For Ingo.

…

“Have you ever been to Opelucid before, Elesa?” Ingo asks, looking out at the rolling waves through squinted eyes.

Next to him at the rail, she shakes her head. “Nope. Never really left Nimbasa.”

“Not like she needs to. It’s a verrry big city,” Emmet pipes up, voice unsteady.

“Shut up and rest, Emmy.”

“Emmy?” he squawks, standing up with an angry huff. But the blood drains from his face and he’s clamping a hand over his mouth as the boat rolls beneath his feet, so Emmet’s back down just as fast as he got up..

“Emmy?” Ingo echoes, giving Elesa a questioning look.

She nods and hums. “Emmy and Iggy. My loyal sidekicks.” Ingo snorts out a laugh and turns his attention back out to the water. “How can you two be so into trains and get motion sick?”

“It’s seasickness! It’s different!”

“Elesa’s right, Emmet. You should rest” 

Emmet grumbles out something that sounds suspiciously like “Betrayed by my own brother” but rolls over on the bench and stays silent. 

“So, what’s there to do in Opelucid anyway? Isn't it kinda old?”

“It’s traditional, I suppose. Old architecture and such. Our uncle took us to the museum once but…” He thinks back to an old urn, toppling to the floor and just barely getting caught before smashing to the ground. “It didn’t go very well, so usually when Emmet and I would visit we would spend most of our time helping him care for his pokémon.”

Elesa snorts. “You seriously got banned from a public museum?”

“I didn’t say anything like that!”

“You totally did, didn’t you?” When Ingo doesn’t say anything, her smile only grows. “Oh my dragons, that's hilarious.”

“You’re cruel, Elesa.”

Her smile grows softer. “You two, you mention your uncle a lot, in passing and stuff. What’s he like?”

“He is… rough around the edges, a little old fashioned, at times. Loud, too, but that just runs in the family.” Ingo pauses, searching for the right words. “He cares, though, and that is what matters.”

“Sounds like a real stand up guy.”

“I like to think so.”

They fall into silence for the rest of the ride; when the ferry finally pulls into port they leave the railing, heading over to where Emmet’s collapsed on the bench. Ingo hoists his brother up by the armpits and slings one of his arms around his shoulder, Elesa doing the same with the other. They manage to hobble their way off of the boat and make their way into the city when Emmet’s finally sturdy enough to stand on his own.

They wander aimlessly through the familiar streets, soaking in the musty smell of the old city and the reassuring feel of cobble beneath their feet. 

“So, you two going to go see your uncle now?” Emmet nods vigorously, turns green, and stops. “I’ll meet back up with you later then, I guess. Don’t want to go for the gym here until I’ve gotten a few more badges.”

“What are you talking about? You should come with us!”

“What?”

“He’d love to meet you!” Emmet says and Ingo finds himself nodding along in agreement. 

Elesa pauses. “If you’re sure.”

The twins don’t even bother to answer, each grabbing one of Elesa’s hands and leading her down familiar streets towards Drayden’s house. When they arrive, Ingo fishes the spare key out from the miniature Drampa statue’s mouth while Emmet knocks on the door so ferociously Ingo thinks he might break it down.

As soon as the door is unlocked, Emmet storms into the house and pulls Elesa along with him.

“Uncle Drayden! We’re here!” he calls out as Ingo slips inside as well.

Elesa freezes. “Wait, did you say Drayden?”

Ingo nods and grabs Elesa by the shoulders, pulling her away from his brother as he starts to feel the floor shake. “For our own safety, it’s best for us to take a step back.” 

Before Elesa can get another word in edgewise, Druddigon finishes his journey down the hallway and slams straight into Emmet. He somehow manages to stay upright and somehow manages to hug the dragon back without scratching himself on its scales.

“Druddigon, down,” a low voice instructs and the pokémon peels himself away from Emmet, returning to his trainer’s side. “You’d think he’d learn how to behave around you.”

Emmet shrugs. “Just proves I’m the favorite.”

Drayden huffs out a laugh and reaches over to his nephews one at a time, popping off their hats and ruffling their hair with a firm hand; then he turns his attention to Elesa. Ingo sees her posture straighten as Drayden looks down at her. 

He feels a little bad, watching her all coiled up like a spring. It’s not easy, the first time being on the receiving end of Uncle Drayden’s stare.

“You must be Elesa.”

“That’s right. You must be the Uncle I’ve heard so much about.” She sticks out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Drayden takes it and they shake hands firmly. “Likewise. Nice to know the boys made a friend.”

“Before you say anything, please know that we were some of the only children in town and the few that did live there were significantly older than us!” Ingo points out, but Elesa just rolls her eyes and laughs.

“Excuses, excuses.”

“Have you ever seen a Haxorus, Elesa? I think you should come see one.” Ingo grabs her by the hand and drags her down the hallway. “Uncle Drayden, we're going to see Haxorus.”

They pass old family photos hung on the walls as Ingo makes a beeline for a room near the back of the house, the one that was always his favorite. Emmet trots after them, mildly amused, and Drayden follows after him.

Ingo enters cautiously and leads Elesa to the back corner where Haxorus is curled up into a tight ball, her tail tucked up under her chin. Her green scales have even more chinks and scuffs on them than the last time he saw her, but she seems happy. She raises her head in greeting as they kneel down in front of her bed and Ingo rubs under her chin.

“Why don’t you touch her? She doesn’t bite.” Emmet plops down next to them, a smug expression on his face. “Not hard, anyway.”

Elesa tucks her hands under her thighs.

“Don’t mind him. That boy’s been spouting nonsense since he learned to talk,” Drayden rumbles. “She might’ve fought hard back in the day but all these years have made her soft; she won’t hurt you. I promise.”

“I’ve just never seen one before. Don’t get a lot of Haxorus wandering around in Nimbasa,” Elesa murmurs. She pulls her hand out from under her leg and tentatively reaches forward, pressing her palm to Haxorus’ snout. The old dragon rumbles and presses against Elesa’s hand affectionately as Emmet strokes down Haxorus’ back.

Her breathing is slow. A little too slow, for Ingo’s liking. 

Elesa draws her hand back and twists around to look at the door. “I, uh, where’s the bathroom?”

“Second door on the left.”

She nods and heads for the door, closing it softly as Emmet takes her place in front of Haxorus, scratching at a chink in one of her scales.

“It’s the right time of year, hasn’t she just laid her clutch?”

“Yes. It’ll probably be her last one.”

Ingo feels his stomach drop. “What?”

“Haxorus… she’s getting up there in years.” Drayden lowers himself to the floor. “She spends most of her time in here nowadays. Sleeping with the eggs. Doesn’t eat much, either.”

“Oh.”

“How much longer does she have left?” Emmet whispers.

“It’s hard to tell, but if I had to say, maybe a few months at most.” Drayden gently runs his thumb across her tusk. “She’s lived a good life, boys.”

As Ingo looks into her eyes, he can’t help but agree. She’s got old eyes, ones that have seen countless generations of hatchlings and human children aike to maturity. They gaze back at him with a gentle, tired love.

“I’m glad you two stopped by when you did. I know she is too.”

Drayden draws his hand back as Haxorus shifts, uncurling her tail and revealing the eggs that had been wrapped up in it. She sniffs around at them for a moment before gently starting to nose one away from the rest, picking it up in her jaw once it’s far enough away.

She twists back around to face the boys and sets the egg in front of them, nudging it closer. 

After a moment's hesitation, Ingo reaches out and picks the egg up. It’s slightly warm to the touch. Emmet runs a hand over it, looking a little perplexed at the leathery texture. 

“I’ll be damned.” Drayden’s voice snaps the twins to attention. 

Emmet yanks his hand back. “What? Did we do something?”

“No, no, you’re doing just fine.” He chuckles. “She hasn’t even let me touch the new eggs yet, that’s all.”

“Oh! Well then, you should-”

“No. That egg is for you two. No one else.” 

Haxorus snorts in agreement.

…

The trainers on Route 8 are not very open minded to double battles, Emmet learns, and he could not be more upset by this fact. His brother and Elesa are having the time of their lives while not one ace trainer has it in them to try something new, so he’s stuck battling at a Goomy’s pace.

Even then he’s still faster than them, so Emmet’s off to wander Route 8 alone while they wrap up their battles. It’s the worst route they’ve been to by far, all puddles and wet socks and Stunfisk who think it's hilarious to shock him while he’s stomping his way through said puddles. 

Oh, when they get to Icirrus he is going to sit in their hotel room and do nothing for an entire day, training be damned. 

He’s sitting in the grass trying to get his vision back to normal since that last Stunfisk attack when he sees a flash of dull gray through the trees. It’s a little strange, considering that only Palpitoad, Stunfisk and Shelmet live on this route.

Deciding to forgo proper safety measures in the name of adventure, Emmet stands and makes a beeline for the trees. Ducking under a low-hanging branch, he blinks the last of the black spots out of his eyes and searches for that metallic glint. 

Instead, there’s a sound of feet squelching in the soggy grass and something’s slamming into his knees with enough force to send him spiraling into the dirt.

Water soaks into the back of his jacket as Emmet stares up into the maw of the Durant perched on his chest; it hisses and spits and clicks its mandibles and stomps its feet right on his ribcage in warning. Saliva leaks out of its mouth and drips onto Emmet’s cheek as she screeches at him again, the sound making his ears throb.

He manages to wriggle his way out from under the bug, wiping the spit from his face and rising to his feet, sidestepping Durant as it charges at him again. Emmet can’t help but find it a little strange, though. Durant don’t live in Route 8 and they especially don’t live in forests. 

This dance goes on for a while until Durant grows tired and heads off into the trees. Emmet, of course, goes after her, following the six stomping legs until they stop to dig at a lump in the grass. She unearths a great ball, cradling it in her mandibles, and suddenly things start to make a lot more sense.

It takes more berries than he’s willing to admit but eventually Emmet has calmed Durant down and lured her out of the trees, getting back to the route proper where his brother and Elesa are shouting out for him. They’re a little more than confused when they find him but he doesn’t have the time to worry about that, tossing another sitrus berry to Durant as he races through the puddles towards Icirrus City. 

He doesn’t end up spending the day resting when they get to the city. Instead, they’re on their feet all day asking every trainer they find if they’re missing a Durant. Then they’re asking any citizen they can if they’ve heard about anyone missing a Durant. They even send word to Uncle Drayden to keep an eye out.

Emmet isn’t surprised when they don’t hear anything, but that doesn’t mean he’s not disappointed. 

Durant’s so determined to find her trainer that she finds a way to get the window in their hotel room open and spends the whole night wandering around the city looking for them. When she’s not eating, she’s holding onto her pokéball and when she is eating she defends it with her life; one of Elesa’s Emolga got a little too close and was hit with an Iron Head so strong that it faints in one hit. 

Watching her makes Emmet sick to his stomach. She’s strong, a little rough around the edges but sostrong and someone just threw her away. It makes the disappointment in him boil up into white-hot anger.

Before he knows it, they’ve all beaten the gym leader and don’t really have any reason to stay in Icirrus. He knows they should just go, but he can’t bring himself to. Emmet can see the worried looks Ingo and Elesa share when he pulls on his jacket and goes back out to scout.

Emmet leaves Durant at the Pokémon Center and runs for the city limits where his brother and Elesa are waiting. He doesn’t expect her to follow him. 

She tackles him to the ground, just like she did the first time they met, only it hurts a lot more this time. Durant stamps on his chest a few times before she hops off and growls until he sits up.

Emmet watches as Durant squeezes her mandibles together, shards of pokéball flying everywhere as her great ball shatters. 

He scrambles to his feet and sends out Galvantula, a smile stretching across his face as he reaches for an empty pokéball and prepares for a fight.

…

Climbing the Celestial Tower is exhausting, not just because there’s so many steps. That’s part of it, but it feels like there’s something heavy making a home lounging across Ingo’s shoulders, settling in further with every step.

They meander on their way up, stopping to battle a few trainers and doubling back to chat with the polite nurse a few times. Ingo even catches a Litwick. Elesa walks up with them most of the way but stays at the base of the stairs on the fourth floor, waving them up with a flick of the wrist before turning to go battle the ace trainer waiting beyond a row of graves.

The wind whips at his cheeks and Ingo feels a little lightheaded as he reaches out for his brother. Emmet grabs his hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze before they approach the bell together. It’s cool and smooth beneath his palm, the sound echoes in his ears, repeating over and over like the wheels of a train running over a track.

Going back down is somehow a lot harder. Elesa meets them halfway and leads them out of the tower, not even bothering to try and get them to shuffle across the narrow walkways hanging above the tall grass.

Ingo doesn’t sleep very well that night. He lays awake in bed, running his thumb over the edge of the scale Uncle Drayden gave him the night before they left. Litwick is perched on Emmet’s pillow, cooing softly as its flame burns bright. 

He sleeps all the way through the next day, only getting out of bed when Emmet drags him out so they can all have dinner together. Emmet does the same the next day and Ingo lets him rest, going out to wander with Elesa through the streets.

They spend their third proper day in Mistralton out training on Route 7, sun beating down on them, tanning the backs of their necks as they wade through grass that tickles at their chins.

“Why didn’t you stop him, Elesa?” Ingo huffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

She scratches behind Emoga’s ear. “Because he’s not my problem.”

“There is no ‘I’ in team,” he points out, which only makes her roll her eyes. 

“You two forget that I’m not responsible for that monster.”

“He is not a monster!” 

Almost to spite him, Axew starts trying to swallow a Pidove whole. 

After a few good zaps from Galvantula, the Pidove flies free and Axew goes back to hacking at the tree he’s already downed. Ingo feels a twinge of guilt as the little dragon starts to chase after a Deerling that poked its head out of the grass to get a better look at the commotion.

Emmet yawns and plunks down onto the tree, resting his chin in his hand. “I am verrry tired.”

“That’s a first.” From her place atop Emmet’s hat, Litwick’s flame flares up in anger for him. “You know, I think she likes Emmet better than you, Ingo.”

“That’s not true!”

Elesa raises a suspicious eyebrow. “You sure?”

Absolutely not. “Yes.”

Emmet yawns again and slaps his hands on his knees. “I am going back to the hotel. Goodbye.”

He scoops Litwick off of his head and hands him over to Ingo, calling Galvantula back into its pokéball and heading back across the wooden walkways. Elesa follows shortly after, but Ingo opts to stay behind.

Ingo wanders through the grass and across the suspended wooden pathways, guided by the light of the moon. He battles a few wild pokémon and a few trainers, even debates heading back up the Celestial Tower.

“Geez, are you ever going to take a break?” 

Ingo flinches and his hand is flying to Klang’s pokéball as he frantically searches for the location of the voice. “Pardon?”

There’s a rustling off to his left and a Ducklett pops out of the grass, followed by a short girl with bright hair and goggles perched on her head. 

“You were out here until dark yesterday too,” she says, bending over and picking up the Ducklett, who squawks in alarm.

“Oh! No, that wasn’t me. It was my brother.”

“Ah, alright.” She tucks Ducklett under her arm and focuses on the flickering flame on Ingo’s shoulder. “You catch that Litwick at the tower?”

“Yes.”

“Thought so. Best to be careful with it.”

“Why?”

“Litwick… steal. Not like Purrloin do, but they’ll sap you of your life to make theirs better.” The girl hums. “Don’t work yourself too hard, mkay? Only makes it easier for Litwick to drain you.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve seen too many trainers waste away because of them.” She puffs out her chest. “Be sensible and get a Ducklett instead.”

“I’ll pass, but thank you.” 

“Your loss.” She shrugs, disappearing back into the grass without another word. 

Ingo’s back at the hotel before he really knows what’s happening, letting Litwick out of her pokéball and watching her inch across the room towards Emmet. His posture sags further when she crawls her way up his leg and suddenly things are starting to make a lot more sense. 

He’s stomping across the room and scooping Litwick up in one hand, using the other to open and close the door as he slides down it.

“No. My answer is no.” Litwick stares up at him, its waxy body slightly warm in his grip. “You need to stop.”

Wax runs as she tilts to the side, questioning. 

“You will stop taking from him. From Emmet.” Ingo narrows his eyes. “You will not hurt my brother.”

…

The boys’ Klangs have been running circles around Elesa for the past half hour now and it couldn’t be more annoying. Her hair is full of static, so when they get too close her scalp is shocked with little zaps. It’s not the worst she’s ever had, of course, but it’s really goddamn distracting.

“Why are they so freaked out, again?” she asks, slamming her shoulder into one of the floating rocks.

“They’re not freaked out!” protests Ingo, coming up from behind and helping her push. “They’re excited to be back home, is all.”

“I thought you guys owned them since they only knew Thunder Shock.”

“Well, yes, but this was their first home! Some of these little guys might be their brothers and sisters,” Emmet, standing to the side and being very unhelpful, says, gesturing to a Klink floating idly nearby.

“Klink don’t have gender.”

“You know what I mean.” 

The rock finally moves and they’re free to continue through the cave, Emmet practically crawling around on his hands and knees as checks every nook and cranny twice over. Elesa’s getting a little tired of breathing in crackling electricity, and that’s saying something. 

“Don’t you think we should head for the lower floors? We’ve been up here forever.” She crosses her arms and kicks a pebble. “This is worse than the Dwebble thing.”

“No. We have to check everywhere.”

“There might be more in the lower levels…”

“See! Ingo agrees with me!” Elesa rolls her eyes. “From what I heard in Mistralton there are more of these magnetic rock things down there and Tynamo are probably attracted to them. We should at least check.”

Emmet crosses his arms over his chest. “Fine.”

Ingo whistles for their Klang and they start to make their way through the cave, looping around a few times at Emmet’s insistence before Elesa grabs both of them by the elbow and yanks them into the descending passageway. 

“There’s another level, c'mon. We go all the way down and work our way up and if we don’t find anything we’ll do it all again.”

“We can’t even do a check of this floor?” he protests, swatting her hand away.

“No. We’re finding the next stairway down and we’re going.”

Emmet grumbles but doesn’t say anything else as Ingo leads the charge through the cave, scattering Joltik as his feet pound on the stone. Elesa’s the caboose, dragging Emmet by the ear when she needs to so he doesn’t fall too far behind. 

“I need you to do me a favor,” he whispers, falling in line beside her, rubbing at his ear. 

“Aren’t I doing you a favor by being here?” she snips, but stays anyway.

“Distract Ingo for me.”

“Why? Isn’t that like, the exact opposite of what we need right now?”

“Trust me, Elesa!” 

“I don’t.”

“I just, I need time by myself to find a dust cloud— you can go find it and I can distract Ingo, if you want!”

“Tynamo never make dust clouds, Em. Only Drilbur do.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Sometimes I doubt there’s anything in your head.”

He sighs and looks around before leaning in closer. “I want a Drilbur so I can give it to Ingo. He loves Clay’s Excadrill and even if he doesn’t end up using it, it can help carve out shells for Dwebble and make slabs once she’s a Crustle.” He huffs out a breath. “I just… I want to thank him.”

Elesa pauses at that. Starts to chew on her bottom lip, something that would’ve made her dad glare disapprovingly. “Since when did you get so mushy?” She groans. “Fine. I’ll go. No promises on how long I can keep him busy, though, so hurry up.”

Emmet beams at her and immediately doubles back, but Elesa doesn’t mind, jogging up to meet Ingo and grabbing him by the hand, dragging him down the stairs into the second level.

“Before you say anything, Emmet’s being stubborn, so we’re leaving him up there while we find a Tynamo first.” She points to the line of slow-moving Joltik on the wall. “I say we follow those guys. They leech electricity off of bigger pokémon just like Tynamo do.”

“An excellent idea!” They start to tail after the little fuzz balls. “You really know your stuff, don’t know?”

“I try to.”

The sound of their footsteps echoes off of the narrowing walls as the Joltik leads them into a small cavern, one where electricity pulses in the air even more intensely. Joltik hops up onto a strand of the webbing spun all throughout and follows it to the Galvantula in the center.

There’s a whole cluster of Tynamo darting around it, crying joyfully and soaking up the electricity it sends out in pulses though its webs. 

“Bingo.”

Catching one is a lot harder than she thought— Tynamo are slippery and having so many Joltik in the room isn’t helping. Ingo’s new Litwick proves to be helpful with that, at least. They do manage to get one, though, and Elesa is forced to follow Ingo as he makes a mad dash for the upper levels.

“Emmet! We found one!” Ingo exclaims, holding the pokéball high above his head. 

“Perfect! I have something for you too!” Emmet calls back and the two manage to find each other through some sort of twin echolocation. They throw their pokéballs are one another and release their newest catches, oohing and aahing as Tynamo darts around Emmet’s head and Drilbur clacks its claws together in greeting

Elesa places her left hand on the nearest wall and starts walking. “You can trade properly or whatever later, right now I need to get out of this cave.”

“Yes ma’am!”

…

Emmet does not know how many more caves he can handle. He isn’t even sure if he and his so-called brother are related anymore because Ingo seems to be enjoying all of this; the smell of wet soil, the lack of sunlight, the thin layer of grimy dust that engrains itself into his clothes. It’s absolutely horrible.

And that’s not even the worst part! His pokémon have betrayed him too! Durant’s spent their entire time in Driftveil trailing after Clay, refusing to listen to him even after he gets the Quake Badge. 

He slumps against the wall and groans, the sound reverberating throughout the cave. Crustle scuttles over and clicks his claws in front of Emmet’s nose, concerned.

Clay raises a brow and casts an unsure look towards Emmet. “Yer sure he’s alright?”

“Yes. Emmet is just being dramatic,” Ingo reassures, not even bothering to look up from the pile of rubble he’s inspecting.

“I resent that statement.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

Emmet grumbles under his breath but rises to feet as Clay beckons them forward, Lampent lighting the way with Clay’s Excadrill beside her standing guard and Ingo’s Drilbur tottling along after the both of them. They walk for a few minutes until something catches Clay’s eye, he and Ingo talking amongst themselves while Emmet is left to ponder the cave. It’s still as horrible as he found it before. 

In frustration, he kicks the nearest rock formation, which only results in a bruised ego and a throbbing foot. Durant, who’s been marching through the tunnels like she owns the place, decides that this non-command is the one she’s going to listen to; stomping over and smashing it to pieces with a headbutt.

She rifles through the rubble, picking up any chunks that are offensively too big and crushing them between her mandibles.

“Leave the poor rocks alone,” he instructs, watching as a Roggenrola hightails it away from its lost home. 

When Durant doesn’t listen, Emmet’s left with no choice but to scoop her up and try his best to keep a hold on her as she wiggles in protest. She does, twisting around in his arms as Emmet tries to pry her jaws off of the rock she’s holding. 

Emmet manages to and goes to toss it back to the ground but stops, running his thumb over a peculiar ridge on the underside. He flips it over to reveal something like an arrowhead just barely raised within the rock. 

“Find somethin?” Clay’s at his shoulder, peering down and letting out a low whistle. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“What did he do this time?” Ingo asks as Clay takes the rock and inspects it more closely. 

“Looks like we’re gonna need to get outta this cave and find Miss Elesa,” he turns it over in his hands, “because that is a genuine plume fossil if I’ve ever seen one, and I know you’re gonna wanna get it revived as soon as possible.”

Emmet drops Durant in his scramble to snatch the fossil out of Clay’s hands and spends so long staring at it that Clay has to steer him out of the cave via a hand on the back of the neck.

Finding Elesa is easy, considering how much she sticks out in a salt-of-the-earth town like Driftveil. It’s even easier to convince her to pack up and leave as soon as possible, so easy that it's not even convincing, really. 

They say goodbye to Clay, Zebstrika taking them across the drawbridge and through the streets of Nimbasa until they reach Gear Station. There’s no line straight to Nacrene, so they have to settle for Striation and book it across Route 3. If Ingo falls off the back of Zebstrika and has to chase their dust trail through the streets towards the museum, that’s nobody’s business.

Finally, they reach the museum, and Emmet just about busts down the doors.

“Hello! I am Emmet!” he says, slamming his hands down on the desk.

The attendant looks a little taken aback, but recovers and smiles politely. “I’m Lenora. What can I help you with?”

“Can you revive fossils?”

“Depends on the kind.”

He places his bag down on the desk and whips out the fossil, handing it over after a moment of hesitation. “What about this one?”

Lenora hums, her lips twisting up into a smile. “We sure can. Have a seat, it takes a little bit.”

She disappears through a door behind the desk and Emmet joins Elesa on one of the plush benches, his foot already tapping impatiently. Ingo comes in a few minutes later, red in the face and already yelling about leaving him behind. He doesn’t pay attention, eyes trained on the door Lenora disappeared behind.

Emmet springs out of his seat as soon as it opens, practically ambushing Lenora as she steps out and nearly making her drop the pokéball she’s holding. He reaches for it but she swats his hand away, a stern look on her face.

“Before you take Archen, you need these first.” She presses a stack of pamphlets into his left hand. “He’s been dead for over 100 million years; you need to teach him how to properly live in the modern world.”

“I can do that.”

“If you have any problems, call the museum. We’re happy to help.”

“I can do that too.”

“Perfect!” Lenora smiles and extends her hand. “Then he’s all yours, kid. Take good care of him.”

Emmet snatches the pokéball out of her hand and releases the pokémon without a second thought. Archen stares up at him confused eyes, the tiny claws at the ends of its wings digging into the flesh of his palms as he cradles it.

“I am Emmet,” he says, because he’s not really sure what else to say to it.

Archen screeches at him and waggles his wing in an approximation of a wave, so he thinks it was probably the right thing to do.

#no ideas if the evos line up with their backwards journey but shhh #the reason their axew egg hatched that early was because they spent so much time walking around icirrus looking for durants trainer #:) #submas #ingo #emmet #subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet #elesa #pokemon elesa #writing

[hibiscus-tome]

FFXIV Write 2022, day 29: fuse

“You cannot be serious,” Thancred grumbles through gritted teeth. He’s dropped to one knee, breathing heavily as he grips the hilt of a blade that continues to sap at his strength with every swing.

“I’ve got you, Thancred!” says Rhea with far too much cheer, and if he never hears the telltale chime of healing magic again, it will be too soon.

In theory, he’d expected this outcome from the moment he agreed to pour as much of his soul as he could manage into those funny little crystal devices. The strength he’d relied on in the First had been cultivated over years, without some of the peskier consequences to having a physical body with physical needs.

—and now that he does have a physical body again, his current strength fails to match up to what it had been in the First, falling apart at the seams to a series of strange and wonderful new symptoms to watch out for — the exhaustion that creeps up on him far too quickly; the heaviness that settles in his limbs when he overdoes it even with the old gladiator’s sword that Raubahn had lent him; the fact that even the most trivial injuries seem to hurt more than they used to.

Gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands, he slowly staggers to his feet. Clearing out the Copperbell Mines is supposed to be an easy job, so this level of exhaustion is inexcusable — but Krile had emphasized that it would take some time for them all to rebuild their strength just to what it once was, at the point of their collapse; building it past that, to where it had been in the First, is another matter entirely.

“Are you sure you’re all right to keep going?” asks Rhea, very gently. He knows, logically, that there’s no judgment in that question alone; with Rhea specifically, there never will be that sort of judgment.

“Hey, don’t you worry about me,” he retorts. “I’ll have to continue relying on your healing more than usual, but beyond that, I should be perfectly fine.”

“Don’t listen to him, Rhea,” Lyse, traitor that she is, quips from over by the blasting device. “He’s just trying to act tough.”

“I am not,” says Thancred, perhaps more petulantly than entirely necessary.

Lyse crosses her arms, frowning. “Oh, come off it. It’s obvious to anyone with a functioning pair of eyes that you’re not entirely well.”

“And to those without a functioning pair of eyes as well,” says Y’shtola, from where she’s leaning far too casually against the cavern wall — leaning… far too much at all, come to think of it.

Rhea gets that pinched look on her face that makes it obvious that she’s about to fuss — and with Lyse at her side, in full agreement, Thancred and Y’shtola are doomed.

“Just a little bit farther, okay?” says Rhea. “We’re almost there.”

“And if you’d like to hang back, the two of us have it covered,” says Lyse, grinning as she slams her fist into the palm of her hand.

—and she’ll probably insist on carrying one or both of them back to Mor Dhona, too. There will be a huge spectacle, as Lyse valiantly strides through the gates with a weary and forlorn Thancred on her back, and a barely conscious Y’shtola tucked under her arm like a bedroll. It had been perfectly lovely, when it had been Rhea to valiantly carry him back home after the small matter of saving his life and freeing him from Lahabrea’s clutches; Lyse will gloat.

How humiliating.

“No need,” says Thancred, slinging the gladiator’s sword over his shoulder. “We’re good to go for a while longer. Right, Y’shtola?”

“As if there was any doubt,” she retorts.

Lyse turns to Rhea, then, the two of them sporting twin grins that all but confirm that Thancred and Y’shtola have fallen into some sort of trap. (Or they could simply be happy that the recovery is going far more smoothly than anticipated — which is more likely, but far less interesting.)

“Well, if you insist,” says Lyse, as she lights the blasting device’s fuse.

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite2022 #ffxivwrite #warrior of light #thancred waters #y’shtola rhul #lyse hext #post-5.3 #the scion training arc that was never meant to be #fic

[certified-anakinfucker]

HIII FOR OMURA PLS

🍉: Does your OC have a particular piece of jewellery that they always wear or refuse to part with?

🍍: Where does your OC feel most comfortable?

🍑: What sort of traits does your OC look for in a Significant Other?

🍆: Does your OC have any favourite form of affection, physical or otherwise?

🍰: What's something your OC counts as unforgivable?

CLAWS MY WAY UP FROM HELL ITSELF I GET TO OMURAPOST EVEN MORE???? and finally back on my laptop can i get a hohyeah?

putting this under the cut bc it got so long oh my god leo ilysm

🍉: Omura has a beskar pendant in the shape of a mythosaur skull that its mother, Usokya'Varhis Vane, placed in its carrier. For years it was used as a teething toy, then pounce practice, and now as a focusing element for prayer. There's a custom headpiece that @calamity-aims' Rishh made for Omura as well, adorned with crystals from Mandalore's underground cave systems, centered around the kyber crystals Omura found from the same systems - although this piece is typically saved for ceremonies or when it has to attend a formal High Council meeting later on in its 30s-40s.

🍍: Usually in a created nest, and surrounded by any number of loved ones. Mace Windu (dad <3), Kit Fisto (dad <3), Dara Idella (@spacerocksarethebestrocks, gender neutral mom and ultimate. yes <3), Agen Kolar (dad <3), Cin Drallig + Serra Keto + Bene McCallum (Kiwigiiii), baby sister Losnook, Bastra (you! Leo!!), Altair (@dilf-archivist the one i would actually heave oceans for), its partners in crime Zeyil and Tan, literally any of its partners - Latil (@penguinkiwi the most beloved), Anakin (mine <3), Sirajaat Tott, Jess (@chiafett my adored), Chomp (@keys-to-the-stars the realest) Kimni Tadodena (shared w/ Leo), Zarthi.. any of its plethora of children both adopted and born, Rishh (Cal's!) just for the fact that she is such a beloved friend... even if you're just in proximity and it's time for Omura to flop.

🍑: That's a hilarious question, since its partners are all have a very wide array of personalities - the polycule web stretches far and wide, with love for every single one of them. Omura couldn't even begin to tell you its real type besides "you are good to me, you love me, you are genuine, and I will put the same love in with you", to sum it up into words? Omura fell in love with Anakin the same as it fell in love with Latil, and the same as it fell in love with Kimni and Sirajaat and Chomp and Zarthi and Jess. All of them bring different things to the table. // Anakin is like, this certain sense of intimacy and trust. // Latil is like the calm and the quiet that settles right after the sun sets and the moon rises. // Kimni is like a rush of overwhelming devotion, but not in the intoxicating sense - more like waking up for the first time to something you adore. // Sirajaat was the first time Omura learned to open its eyes and see beyond what it knew, see beyond fear of the unknown when it came to knowing someone else. But also finding something that was much closer to home and comfort than it even realized. // Zarthi was the love of taking it slow, taking someone in and finding something natural. // Jess was the first time Omura was able to reach out to a Force sect outside of its heritage (Jedi, Mandalorian, Togrutan) and learn more, while connecting with someone in the process. // Chomp was the most happenstance thing to ever happen and it blossomed into a love so fucking true that Omura was genuinely surprised that it was mutual, and wasted no time in ensuring that it felt the exact same. If there is love, and the love is real and mutual and trustworthy, then Omura will nurture it.

🍆: Omura is a very physically affectionate person, and honestly always has been. It's preferred to show its love and care by pressing close to others (if wanted) and purring to comfort them, gently "grooming" them or asking if they want to talk about what happened to upset them. Or just being a quiet pillar to lean on for a moment. Omura likes to bite and kiss and hug and hold (and lick, depending on who you are) when playful. Very much just!! Being present, reminding the other that it's there with them, rubbing cheeks or chinning against them, man I just think Omura really really likes holding people. A good small-space heater for the chilly, a good bed for littles to lay on, MAN!!!

🍰: Betrayal and/or being lied to. Cough cough. O66 AU. Omura was willing to kill all those it loved just to keep Anakin closeby, following him into Darkness and becoming his Grand Inquisitor, just for it to find out that Anakin lied. And boy did Omura fucking LOSE IT. Imagine that the Living Force, corrupted and twisted into a walking amalgamation of death and decay that siphons off life just by walking past someone .. who has taken great care to not physically touch you because it knows it will kill you .. has suddenly turned its cosmic eye to you and is in the process of tearing a wall of solid durasteel apart out of sheer incomprehensible rage. Because you lied. And you killed its loved ones.

#cheeri inquires #oc tag | [usokya’omura vane] #cheeri ocs #this got so fucking long but i realize i never talk abt omura comprehensibly #so this is making up for it heehoo #oc tag | [sirajaat tott] #anakin skywalker (cheeriverse) #mace windu (cheeriverse) #dara idella (madzverse) #latil rais (kiwikipedia) #oc tag | [kimnitadodena] #bastra vargdan (leoverse) #oc tag | [zarthi] #clone sergeant chomp (sarverse) #agen kolar (cheeriverse) #tan yuster (cheeriverse) #oc tag | [zeyil sume] #orishh’kazit’arno (calverse) #altair castor (kebbieverse) #kit fisto (cheeriverse) #cin drallig (kiwipedia) #serra keto (kiwikipedia) #bene mccallum (kiwikipedia) #oc tag | [losnook kuri] #jess (mikeyverse) #holy fuck i think i got everyone

[redolentgrove]

Charade @ Loki: "Loki, was it? You know, not everyone uses the term "hidden type" to describe it--does that mean you know what yours is? How do you use it? Wait--let me guess! Water type, to keep your leaves crisp! Or maybe Psychic, because you're really clever? Oooooh tell me tell me tell me!"

Loki grinned at the sight of her friend's arrival. Though she wasn't in a very verdant patch of the forest at the moment, the area smelled vaguely of lavender and other herbal scents. The moon peeked just over the horizon, the sky dark save for a couple of patches of light from different campfires in the surrounding forest glens. She dug her paws into the bare ground beneath her, waving the feline over to her.

"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes… Charade, wasn't it?" She nodded politely and reached a hand out to offer her that seat on her back if she were so inclined to take it. "Oh yeah, Hidden Power Types… right, I did talk about those, huh? I guess I forgot that the way I mentioned them was a bit poorly phrased. Yeah, I know mine - usually most Pokemon do, at least from my experience. Well, anyway, yeah, these "Hidden Types" are usually viewed as a sort of latent, inner power that gets brought out in the heat of battle, though, not always in the same way in every region."

"Well, anyway, here in Unova and a few other regions, we have Technical Machines that help you bring it out. I don't know if it's like this in your species' home region, though… I haven't been to… Paldea, I think it was? Anyway, a lot of the folks I knew from Galar said they didn't know what a hidden type even was! Can you believe it? A whole region of Pokemon with hidden types who have no idea of what their types are! And your guesses… first of all, thank you for complimenting me on your guesses… but you know what? Instead of telling you, I'll go ahead and show you!"

Loki went over to one of her storage chests, bringing back a long dogwood staff tipped with an amethyst crystal. With a chuckle, she began twirling it in her left hand. "I haven't used this thing since I was part-Delphox… that would've been, what, a few centuries ago? Like, right after I began transitioning…" She shrugged her shoulders in thought, tapping the amethyst with a finger and watching it glow. "Okay, so it's clearly responding to my Hidden Power move… let's see how well I can use this thing. Step back for a moment, my dear."

Loki took a long, deep breath, arching her arm back and whipping the staff forward in front of her. She began moving it in twirling, artistic patterns, appearing to trace a certain shape in the air before closing her eyes thoughtfully. When she was done, she looked back at Charade with a soft grin and a blushing wink, then turned back to her front and moving her staff-arm in a slashing motion. Before either of the two could blink, several bursts of purple light shone for a brief moment, bursting into a heart-shaped array of flames. The fires flickered for several moments, one by one slamming into the dirt beneath it until a tall flame pillar erupted from the spot, arching nearly twenty feet into the air before disappearing without a trace.

Loki briefly held an arm out in front of Charade, watching to make sure none of the sparks jumped and started any sort of forest fire. Once she was sure things were safe, she took both hands to the staff, putting it back in her storage chest and chuckling.

"Well, that was fun. Anyway, I guess if that wasn't obvious, my Hidden Type is Fire. I don't usually make the move look that artistic, but, I mean, since I wasn't in an actual fight or anything, I could get a little more…" She blushed softly at the cat and nodded. "…playful, with things. Oh, hey, you said your Hidden Type was Fairy, right?? I bet if you let out that power, it'd be a pretty magical sight! I'm not sure if my TMs would work on you but we could always try and figure out some way to do it! I'd love to see what you can do!"

INFO UNLOCK: Loki's Hidden Power Type

( @ask-meowscarada )

#answered #loki leafmintaur #charade meowscarada

[eddiemunsonappreciationsociety]

MY WORD IS MY BOND

Part Eleven: You can bet I don't regret it for a second, it's a pleasure, it's a reckoning

TW language, sexual content

"I miss you," Eddie sighs on the phone.

It's four days after the full moon and we haven't had a chance to see each other since. Despite being ridiculously busy the last few days had dragged with the lack of his presence.

"I miss you too," I say and feel myself blush and I seem to gasp a little.

"I can hear your heart race over the phone," he breathes softly.

"That's embarrassing," I try to laugh but it catches in my throat and my heart hammers against my chest harder.

"I like it," I hear him inhale sharply. "I wish I could kiss you."

I'm caught off guard by this and the blood rushes to my face. The thought of his mouth on mine is an image I haven't been able to get out of my head for what feels like a very long time.

"Did you do that just to hear my heart go mad?"

"Not the only reason," he chuckles but it's breathy and deep.

I hear him swallow.

"I'm looking forward to it, I won't lie," I admit, the flush from my skin is not going as my mind runs with the thought of his mouth.

"I like hearing what the thought of kissing me does to you," he purrs into my ear. "I bet you taste fantastic,"

"Eddie," I almost whimper, I cringe at how pathetic I sound.

"I'm sorry," he clears his throat and I hear him change position. "I got a bit carried away there." he tries to laugh but it sounds strangled.

"Don't be sorry," my voice is a little too urgent and it's time for a laugh to get stuck in my throat.

I realise I am clamping my thighs shut and trying to relax.

"It's just, you drive me crazy."

"I don't think having phone sex will fix our attraction."

"That's actually an incredibly valid point, I don't think I can hear you cum and then just kiss your forehead the next time I see you."

"You shut your beautiful mouth, I can't take you saying things like that to me!" I shout at him.

It's briefly silent, we laugh at the same time, then it's silent again.

"I should let you sleep," he finally says.

"Wait, Stella said she wants to meet you properly."

"Oh no,"

"Oh no?"

"I've seen you two together, if she doesn't like me you'll never see me again."

"She is my family," I pause "her opinion is everything... 'Oh no' might be right."

"Scary, but yes, when can we all go out?"

"Tomorrow night?"

"I get to see you tomorrow?" his voice is so excited I can't help but grin like a damn clown.

"If you say yes"

"Yes! Let me know the details, food and cocktails on me."

"She'll be happy with that."

"I will let you get to sleep now though,"

"I'll see you tomorrow, good night"

"I like the sound of that, I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well, love."

He hangs up and I immediately call Stella.

"He says yes for tomorrow," I tell her before she even says anything.

"Yes! Such a green flag. Love that." I hear her inhale.

"Are you at work?"

"I've got ten minutes left of my shift so I'm hiding out back chain-smoking."

"I thought you were vaping?"

Stella goes through phases where she swears she's giving up smoking and weaning off a vape but that usually lasts longer than this time.

"I was, but then some arsehole decided to grab my tit and verbally abuse me because I'm a server and that's what we're here for obviously."

"What a cunt, are they still there? Bring me something of theirs and I'll hex them."

"I love you, you crazy witch." She laughs but I can hear she's tired.

"Come over to mine after work, let's have a sleepover."

"You have the shop in the morning."

"Fuck it, I'm out of all my full moon stuff and that's what they want."

"You're out already?"

"Yeah, word got around about my super-powered crystals and moon water,"

"Isn't it usually top-notch anyway?"

"Yeah, but it's extra potent this month."

"What did you do differently?"

"Eddie went with me." I find myself whispering.

"Holy shit, right, I'm going back in to close up but I'll be at yours in half an hour. Have you eaten?"

"Not dinner."

"I'll grab us some pizza, I love you, and can't wait to squeeze you."

She hangs up on me before I can say it back but I know I don't need to. I busy myself rolling joints and making cocktails and setting up a Seth Rogen film. I light my candles, dim the lights and throw all my blankets on my comfy sofa. It's a zen haven.

Stella lets herself in, greets Chance and flops onto her side of the sofa.

"Fucking hate men to be honest, if this metal guy doesn't work out, can we get married?"

"We've already got that pact made babe," I say, handing her a long island iced tea and a joint simultaneously.

"I'm just sick of getting groped at my night job and not being taken seriously during the day."

She sighs deeply and drapes herself over me dramatically. I stroke her dark curls, up in their usual topknot and she settles on to me.

"You know if you want to come work with me, I wouldn't mind."

"Thank you for the offer, again, but I need to stick this out until I finish my two years at the dumb desk job."

"Well, the offer is always there."

She sits up suddenly, eyes bright.

"So being with Dreamy has made your witch vibes go mad?"

"Our connection has given my magick a huge kick in the bum."

"That's fucking cool,"

"I think we nearly just had phone sex." I blurt, covering my face with my glass as I feel myself blush.

"No fucking way, you little phone slut." Stella cackles.

"It didn't happen, but he said things that got me excited for... anything." I sigh.

"So what have youse two actually, y'know, done?"

"We held hands, hugged, and he kissed my head." I shrug.

"He's kissed your head but you two haven't fucked? Are you two in Pride and Prejudice?"

"It's complicated."

"Well, I'll let you know whether to worry tomorrow.

She leans back and finishes her drink, shaking the empty glass, ice cubes clinking.

"Can you make them with the..." She motions her fingers in a way that actually perfectly mimics how I do it.

I flick my wrist and fingers and the glasses whizz off to the kitchen on their own. Stella squeals and claps her hands at me.

"Even after all these years that still thrills me."

"But it used to be sneaking snacks from the kitchen, not making cocktails."

The glasses come back, full to the brim. I take them both from the air and pass one to Stella. She takes a deep drink of it and moans appreciatively.

"Mmm, that's incredible, maybe the supercharge has amped up the cocktail skills too. If it's his treat, do we have to be thrifty or can we try that new bougie-themed place in town?"

"Oh, we definitely don't need to be thrifty." The drink and a half have loosened me up a little.

"What was that inflexion?"

"Oh darling, he's loaded."

"What kinda loaded?"

"Like pulled up to pick me up in a half-a-million-pound car." I find myself saying, my tongue is always looser with a drink and especially around Stella.

She proceeds to do a spit take with a mouthful of drink, a natural spit take is rare and I appreciate it for a moment.

"Fuck, girl, I see you." 

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

PART THREE:

PART FOUR:

PART FIVE:

PART SIX:

PART SEVEN:

PART EIGHT:

PART NINE:

PART TEN:

#eddie smut #eddie imagine #eddie fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson au #vampire eddie #vampire eddie munson #supernatural romance #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson comfort #eddie munson fics #eddie munson plus size #my word is my bond #eddie munson smut

[lgcbyungho]

SEONG BYUNGHO CHARACTER UPDATE Q3 2022 !

          ↳ do not touch my phone...it’s mine !

“alright let’s get to this” byungho said with a big smile “beside I have nothing to hide on this phone. what do you want to know?”

q: what are the top 5 most used apps on your phone?

“the most use app, isn’t that kkt for majority of us?” the most common form of communication in korea. though he had everyones number he still prefer to use the kkt over regular text messages. “tiktok, youtube...you know just enjoy watching things on.” byungho looked at his phone “does the camera count? I mean I use that frequently.” he said with a shrug, who didn’t use their camera app almost everyday? that’s the question. “oh, and recently i’ve been playing pokemon unit!” he said with a smile. “it’s really fun. and if you know you know I have a pikachu collection so you can say pokemon is my first love.”

q: what is the most random note in the notes app?

who uses the note app? byungho question. scrolling through his phone, byungho found the note app and open it. “I dont even open this.” he laugh looking at the empty note pages. “and If I do use it then I probably deleted whatever that was hidden in here.” turning his phone he showed that his note app was indeed empty. “I dont use this at all.” he said “if someone have a good reason to use this I need to know.”

q: what was the last message or call you’ve received and who was is from?

“well arent we a little nosey.” looking at his call log, it was pretty obvious that it was his mother. byungho would lie if he didn’t admit that “my mother and I talk almost every day. every hour if we could.” to be the only boy in the family came with favoritism. “my mother and I are really close. you can say she’s like my best friend.” byungho laugh looking at the contact on his phone, if only he called her right now. “the last text message was from daeho, you know the guy in type zero.” he said with a shrug it was no big deal. “honestly, daeho and jinseo are the one that gives me a headache but for some reason they always appear in my messages.” but lets be honest, its byungho that usually text the two. 

q: what were the last 5 songs that you’ve listened to?

“I don’t listen to music everyday.” not too shocking right since he mostly focus on studying. music would be a distraction to his study as he would want to sing instead of focusing on what he needs to focus on. “I love love IU, so you can bet she’s on this list.” he laugh “it’s celebrity and eight that’s been on repeat. then we can’t forget taeyong stress, and why.” and the last one should be no surprise “crystallis butterfly! man I can’t for fabula comeback”

q: what were the 5 most recent online searches?

“I think the first one, is future dream. future dream is over and i’m curious to see what the public opinion on it was.” more so he was curious about if there was any opinion on him. “then I also search up newies.” though his role was small byungho still wanted to give his role the best role. “then theres also , crystallis...i’m just a fan of girl groups okay.” or maybe there was more to it but him and soyoun were just friends. “I also search up, pikachu limited edition, to continue building my collection - a collection my father started and last I was searching for new shoes.”

q: what are your contact names for the actors and models that you know?

jinyoung ⇢ my favorite 💕 younggie ( bc obviously he’s the best and the most handsome) jinseo ⇢ the other jin ( the unimportant jin brother) minjae ⇢ yoon minjae ( im not that creative)

mun note: he needs more actor/model friends since a lot of them dropped...pls plot with us :)

#lgc:cupdate004 #( I think this will be my only activity for byungho #but if you want to plot with him for anything pls message me #he needs more plots ) #lgcdaeho #lgcjinseo #lgcjinyoung #lgcminjxe

[the-firebird69]

Freya Ridings - Castles (Live At The Barbican)

He said the mask is 80 miles long and it's the base and I said what is this no one's ever said that I said you've never seen the movie mission to Mars I feel it was sent back and I said oh and it's 2015 not 98 when it happened and I said wow this is clever stuff well it sucks mush for me it starts you can see it right in the movie I don't want to ruin it you'll get it right away and what happens to them is kind of weird they might be in Brazil already and it might cost Star wars and it's in a saucer in Indiana Jones Kingdom of the crystal skulls and it's recoverable problem with the machine does it and she says this is insanity it's not really the form of petrification and it happens sometimes to mummies and if you're cohabitating with a mutated deep sea creature theoretically it's not that impossible and she got a little angry and said I don't understand him but this is weird s*** it might be real I said well it's not too hard to imagine why that would be important and they can't understand it at all said no my friend my clan please check some people so I left that I felt related a little better I started checking into it and they said the mask is gigantic and they have signal emission and I'm checking it and saying the same thing a lot we're stranded here so I looked at a smile that I said it's probably them and they're telling me who they are and I said this is crazy so now there's a group and I'm okay how's calling for help and he's saying all this weird s*** and then he says you know what I think I should look into what you're talking about but it came from Justin cuz he went down to the cap he went down to the buffet and people are now seeing it just no use for him no you're wrong you're very wrong and he's saying these two castles that people look for now are for a symbolism and it's about Jupiter and Elysium with machete tonight was insanity I can't stand it anymore I don't talk like she does he says but he remembers me and I get it it's not calling someone that but really it's like girls don't usually say it and yeah I'm a hippie so I'm pretty pleased with house turned out I can't wait to get him back

Freya ridings

We are talking about these castles and there is one of the West for myself and they're saying it's Michelle audette and we're saying no but they're saying it's their rulership castle and they are big enough to rule over Jupiter and maybe a little bit larger than we would be about 35 ft tall and Higgins armory is his side and that would be without the floors in the middle and the arms would be on the sides and it came around no nobody spoke about it and they said they had to check and they figured out something this place is very evil and they felt afraid and it was the Giants domicile and they did not want to be there and they kept saying it to themselves secretly they tried to find people to take the job over you should see how people really react they are in fear and we're not saying they shouldn't be now I've located a few of mine and he said this isn't going to be that hard that's where I was going a lot of the times and one of them is the international Fair it's like all those buildings and the other one is the science center in LA and it had the body Wells and he said oh great if this is ours I'm going to be thinking of these bodies to your side and I'm saying let's gross and as far as something I would do but yeah it's a little bit worse than when you're thinking about it it's a little different oh gross they got Preston out of it and it's an analogy possibly it's a zigzag and it is he says I'll stay in there Frozen and this is helping a lot and the program is moving and it's great

Hera

I cannot say thank you enough it says well we're in a pickle here things are not going it's like living in a pond so anything can think of that it would work without causing a problem and I'm going to get to it the guys are saying if they get you something they attack it and it's good and we see with the second ebike and it's good. And he appreciates it I said I'm going to start working on it

Zig

We're going at this now and we're going to work at we're going to show people what we're made of. This woman is someone that I work with and do things with and we're getting her business going and she is getting dimensions off the buildings to replicate them and taking lots of pictures and scans to see how they're built answer replicated exactly how they're built in the same fashion the same size for the same roof structure it's going to be intense okay this woman is intense and people are going to want these all over the world and she is going to start construction on one of them tomorrow and she wants to know how it will go if it's cursed or if she can get away with it and people are saying it we need to see it and we need to see what it's like and it's going to be intense these structures are huge and he wants to make one in Las Vegas and she says would this be big enough and he says of course the hallway is the corridors in the rooms are about 40 to 45 ft and there's the main area and it's probably 80 ft and that's exactly what you wanted it'll be a hotel casino and that's what they make but that'll be New Vegas and that hasn't happened and it won't for a bit and she's laughing and she says I'll need plans and what we can do is draw plans and send them over and they'll fight over it and very harshly and try and put it at now and eventually they'll be a New Vegas and she says good I like that so we're going to head now with this

Freya

In closing I'm going to say shut up you son of a b**** next to my husband cuz he forgot what he was doing and it sounded like more than sure he says and it sounded like more than her and I get that and that happens I have a we're moving on we're going to get those places and stick them together eventually this sounds like a great idea and to do it on Earth

Hera

Olympus he said at first I have to write letters and that's fun

#Youtube

[askamethystaddisonandassociates]

Ending Announcement:

Hello, I'm here to say that, after all the silence, that this ask blog is officially over.

BUT! I might still post drawings here from time to time of the characters. There are still a few I never did get around to adding to the cast, but I do hope to draw in the future!

Under the cut, I'll put the "story" (more-so story chunks) I had planned for this blog. I'm going to say this now: There wasn't much actually planned, and all that was was from several years ago at this point. (I was actually hoping to wing it for the most part ^^;)

The first portion of the story, which I did start, was diving into Amethyst's backstory. Originally working at a jewelry store, Amethyst had developed a fascination with gemstones. He saved up a lot of money overtime, and ended up purchasing his own store as well as starting his own mining company. Everything went smoothly for many years. At some point he ends up finding a shadow crystal. The day after, however, there was an accident in the mine. There was an explosion that, thankfully, didn't kill anyone, though many of the miners were injured, and Amethyst lost one of his eyes to shrapnel. After that, he deemed the shadow crystal to be bad luck and stored it in a box, forgetting about it. Many years later, AKA the present, he'd wind up finding it again. After, he'd get a phone call where a Strange Someone would ask him for the crystal, offering knowledge in return. At this point, I was going to rely on the askers to try and get one of the others to check on Amethyst. Whoever it was would end up hanging up on the Mysterious Person, though Amethyst would learn some truth about their world.

I also did plan on having Scarlet have a dream about the light world, and end up painting the sky during the day, only to end up realizing, "Wait, is this what that little one (Spamton) used these same colors for???" I hoped that the askers would bring up that it was the same color as the light world's sky, and end up freaking out Scarlet a bit.

I also was trying to plan something for Robin involving their plants, but never did settle on anything I felt was a good way to go in the plot.

Cocoa never had any weird things planned for them.

A character I still have yet to draw, Alabaster, would have had a tune come to him either in a dream or out of the blue, which would end up being similar to Gaster's theme. (All this was at the time when I thought Gaster was the mysterious person, however idk if he is or not nowadays). Speaking of Alabaster, he is the owner of a music store. His color is beige. He's a bit more up-tight and professional than the others, but he does have a soft spot. His favorite music is classical and while he does enjoy other genres, he usually pretends he either doesn't care about them or doesn't like them.

Another character who's yet to make an appearance is named Sketch. He's a much more shady Addison, mostly doing illegal things as a job (what exactly? I never specified in my notes...) His coloring is half red and half white, the sections between the two colors looking glitchy/blocky. After the scenario with Amethyst and the Mysterious Person, Sketch would end up hijackings the askers' line for a bit. This is when they'd be able to find out a bit about him. My plan for him was that he once knew the same person on the phone as Spamton did, however he only got partially corrupted, unlike Spamton. At one point I was going to have Scarlet interrogate him since they saw him creeping around the backallies when she went to do some graffiti years back. I don't entirely remember what it would be about, but most likely if he had seen either something sketchy (ayyyy) or maybe they wanted to find Spamton to talk to about the light world's sky or something.

There were also two other Addisons I was unsure if I was going to add or not. Both don't exist in reality, now Goners. I wasn't entirely sure how to implement them into the story, though. Their names are Dust and Charcoal.

Anyway, for those of you who read through all this, those who stuck around for a while, and those who sent in an ask or two,

[driftward]

Fanfic Friday question (A day late, I needed to think of a good question): What was your favorite part of writing the Matoya & Y’shtola backstory fic? Was it what you expected and looked forward to writing out, or did other aspects unexpectedly pop as more fun than you thought they’d be?

Aw, thanks for the ask! My favourite part was the transformation sequence, in what ultimately became I think chapter 17? It was extremely self-indulgent, with lots of flowery description, as well as describing some of how I think magic might work. And also adding my interpretation to some of what, exactly, the Crystal Eye could do, as well as exploring the limits of Matoya's mastery of it. There's so little actually happening - the entire event probably would be less than thirty seconds, if animated - but there's so much /happening/ and I went hard on the descriptions.

A fair bit of my writing is exploratory, where I am learning as I go along, but for this one, it actually more or less was already there for me, I just needed to put words to it. Probably because in a way it was something that is kind of personal for me. To answer a different (but similar) question from the one you asked, since I thought of it while I was mulling the one presented, there were other aspects of the story that wound up being more fun than I thought they would be. In particular, I was actually dreading the Louisoix portions. I know so little of the man, having not played 1.x; most of what I have seen of him was his interactions with the twins in the Coils raids. I knew I needed someone to be a foil to Matoya; someone who she would, nevertheless, trust or like enough to interact with and not just turn him out on his ear; but at the same time, hit my usual goals for writing characters that aren't mine, which are 'does this sound like the character?' and 'could this character as I have written them be seen as the same character taking the same actions we see in the story'. However, I went into it, and - while I have no idea if I hit the character accurately in a large scope, the character I wound up with is a delight. I found a man who was smart, intelligent, insightful, with a touch of mischief to him. Someone who could match wits with Matoya, but would meet her stubbornness with softness and a bit of give. She sees things as they are (or at least she think so), and he sees things as they can be (or at least so he thinks). Their bantering turned out to be easier than I had thought it would be, and I am actually excited to write more of those two in the future. Though maybe I will watch some of those 1.x videos first and see if I can't narrow in on the character we know in game a bit more.

#answer hours #final fantasy xiv #ask meme #biot answers #biot writing #the sorceress' apprentice #y'shtola rhul #matoya #louisoix leveilleur