#*remembers he made prosthetics for a cat* ''.. and animals''

[didderd]

9 ヾ(•ω•`)o

9. Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

(specified with Kins in dms, and this was for Gill) in short, no. kjhbjh Gill doesn't have a lot of empathy to spare to begin with, and the little he does is for monsters.. and animals.

[300iqprower]

Ya know SMTIV, what this is actually perfect. Remember what I said about how Nasu could never be asked to show even a modicum of respect to Tezctalipoca as a figure, and how the "Tezcatlipoca" in FGO in no way has the spirit of their alleged origins?

Well I don't care much for this design either.

In fact I don't like SMT's (or more specifically Soejima's, who is still very much talented as I'll make clear) Tezcatlipoca design at all. I personally find it ugly and having an aesthetic I'm not that fond of, particularly the sort of "Bigfoot sighting" pose he has going on.

But i don't hate it, and I certainly am not morally opposed to it like FGO's, because even if I personally dislike it, ya know what it is? It's still undeniably based on Tezcatlipoca and keeps that spirit in several ways evident through design alone, let alone the way he's implemented into the game itself. It's a design that feels like it respects the culture it's taking its name from, and I'd much rather it do that than have an aesthetic I'm more fond of but lack any representation of its source material.

Just on a surface level you can see the ways in which this is meant to be Tez.

Holding a human heart with one arm, which were sacrificed to him in Aztec rituals

His body is visibly black and navy blue and made of a stony substance, which is a reference to the association many aztec gods but especially Tez had with obsidian rock, and the main symbol of Tez is an obsidian mirror.

Despite this, his other arm and legs are dissolving into smoke at the end, which is a reference to his main title of Smoking Mirror.

His skull-like head is pretty clearly meant to invokes a Calavera, which even if you didnt know the name of you've probably seen if you've ever witnessed a Day of the Dead festival.

That's all just the surface level stuff. There's plenty more if you know to look for it.

While one of his arms is visible, neither of his legs are, which fits with how Tezcatlipoca lost at least one of his legs to the giant crocodile Cipactli when the world was created

While blue isn't the primary color Tez is associated with, the use of teal/navy blue specifically fits with how he was often depicted with an almost interchangeable combination of grey-ish dark blue and black.

Despite my "bigfoot posture" remark, it very much fits Tezcatlipoca, whose spirit animal was the Jaguar, an animal well known for stalking and ambushing prey (rather than chasing it down like African big cats are known to do).

the way the smoke curls around as if forming an extremely distorted prosthetic foot matches how Tez's missing foot is specifically portrayed in the Codex Yohualli Ehécatl (AKA, the source of the image on Tez's wikipedia page), particularly with how the coloring shifts to orange-yellow at the end.

The most shaky but still worth noting claim: The emphasis on the blood flowing from the heart, combined with the gems embedded in Tez's head, could even be a reference to the Ezpitzal, which while looking very different in mesoamerican art still is no doubt connected, given how the key traits are flowing blood and embedding precious stone in [a crown above] the head.

So....do I like this design? No, personally, not really. I'm way too much of an edgelord to settle for such a toned down and subtle design for a figure like Tezcatlipoca.

Do I respect this design? Absolutely, zero question. It's the kind of design you could never get if they didn't at least TRY to research Tezcatlipoca, let alone do so well (at least i can only assume well based on the result). That's the difference between this design and "some white guy from the GAP who likes guns". You can tell they gave a shit, not just in general but specifically in regards to the culture being referenced.

(Oh, and also unlike FGO Tezcatlipoca, I don't need to be told "someone famous drew it" to be able to figure out someone talented drew it. )

[powderrblue]

Please explain all the genloss characters to me

All I know is the stuff from the live I haven’t kept up with anything else

oh boy you're gonna have a TIME reading this one brother i'm gonna spend hours typing out the insane stuff the randy collective has come up with

okay so the insaneification of genloss started with sneeg. FANON IS WRONG ABOUT HIM HE IS WRONG IN EVERY FIC THE MASSES DO NOT UNDERSTAND HIM . so basically to be true to the canon sneeg mutual started actually talking about the trauma he would have and how genuinely fucked up he would be and that's how the randy collective started. anyways i touched on the whole being raised by showfall thing which ties into kids theory. charlie and sneeg would have been so so so codependent and toxic and they love each other and they're all over each other like animals but they'll also fight to the fucking death because showfall can just revive them. (there's a creature au as well that is very cool but i'll talk about that later if i remember.) frank was sneeg's boyfriend and he got permakilled for it and i will come back to this (but also. side note. yellow is frank's color. that's the color of the number code ran chose to put into the computer. maybe this doesn't mean anything but i think the yellow connecting to frank and the fact that he was dead was foreshadowing but take that as you will. moving on)

generation loss charlie. everyone talks about him. everyone loves charlie. they don't care about sneeg. charlie knows this and he will use it against sneeg any way he can. he's the favourite and he flaunts that at sneeg and knows showfall would kill sneeg if he said the word. at the same time sneeg knows this and he would be so fucking jealous of that. he would kill charlie for it. he'd regret it but that wouldn't stop him. it's the cain and abel symbolism and it could be explained so much better but i really really love this point so i had to mention it.

another thing about charlie being the favorite. charlie genuinely doesn't have anyone without sneeg. so when frank comes along and starts talking to sneeg and basically taking his brother away from him he gets jealous of that. there's multiple endings to this one but it was an interesting point.

last thing about charlie for now the charlie mutual made headcanons for transfem/transmasc charlie separately and they are so cool. i can't remember who had the idea of aroace charlie but we love that too. we spin him in the washing machine

i have my own version of ran as well. in all my post escape aus they use hearing aids and prosthetic eyes from where the box messed up their face. (SHOWFALL EMPLOYEE AUS GO SO FUCKING HARD WITH THIS ONE. TO ME. i literally cannot forget to talk about this later.) but yeah that's my basic design idea and the headcanons for this guy are crazy. one of my favorites is the one that sneeg and charlie were literally on top of each other all the time being brothers so ranboo adopted that kind of show of affection post escape. they're fucked up brothers your honor

hETCH IS NOT THE VILLAIN. HE IS A VICTIM TOO. the popular headcanon is that he's also gay for the founder and sometimes we like to think about how it would be funny if the founder were gay for him too but honestly hetch is most likely just their emotional support wet cat. but yeah charlie mutual started making headcanons about charlie and hetch being blood brothers and i was never able to erase that from my memory /vvpos . i love thinking about that dynamic too for so so many reasons. hetch staying with charlie and sneeg and basically raising them and there's just so much in there that i can't even get into yet because i haven't explained the employees BUT I WILL I PROMISE

niki is such a fucking fun one to think about too. i don't have much on her because she's actually characterized decently well from what i've seen but @/white-collar-cannibal has an au where she cuts off her hair and just. the butch niki headcanons. it's such a cool concept. because we've discussed her too and as popular hcs go niki was brought in as a teenager. i think we said 14-15 (but don't quote me on that i could be wrong). but the basic idea is showfall made her be pretty and she wants to be like sneeg. she wants to fight and be able to stomach stuff like all the gruesome stuff showfall fed sneeg and charlie as kids and ough. it's just so cool to think about i love her character

I'M GONNA REBLOG WITH STUFF ABOUT THE OC SHOWFALL EMPLOYEES (AND ANYTHING ELSE MAJOR I MISSED SO FAR) BUT I'VE BEEN TYPING FOR SO LONG AND THIS PROBABLY MAKES ZERO SENSE THE WAY I WORDED HALF OF THIS SO .

EDIT: tumblr notifs ate it but @/white-collar-cannibal actually came up with the transfem charlie hcs! my bad on that one i don't remember who does what sometimes!!

[porter-pumpkim]

tarnished silver crown

decided to redesign tarnished to better fit the story I'm working on ^-^ honestly I'm pretty happy with how it turned out

more info dump rambling below,

OK so changes wise I turned him to a moose beasteal to better fit the story he's in and his role in it, I also made his eye more just look like another carved bit in his silver to show that it doesn't really work anymore compared to the gold eye that still mostly functions,

I also changed the silver bracelets to a leather band that holds his hook to his arm stump, and what's pretty much a wristwatch but with a compass instead, these two items are very important to him, both because they're gifts from his boyfriends, and the hook is the only hand prosthetic he can really make sense of, (he has no idea how to controll cybernetic limbs, they just don't really work for him)

He is also missing several teeth, both from fights and from scurvy, hook and compass still nag him about remembering to eat fruit so the scurvy incedents won't happen again (tarnished often forgets that he in fact does need to eat and will skip meals without really noticing if he isn't reminded)

I also changed the birth mark on his forehead, it used to be a swirl heart, just like the other royal family members, but over time and magic use the mark warped to more be a broken heart that's supposed to resemble harsh waves, using too much magic tends to warp the body, hence the marks changing, it also caused what is the object veriant of nerve damage in his hand and foot, the magic that animates objects doesn't fully flow properly for him anymore, making his hand and foot feel numb.

Also his mustache is a fake one, he just likes wearing it.

Tarnished crown is the captain of a pirate crew made of escapees and misfits that had nowhere else to go, and he tries to provide them with better lives with what he has, he's in the sort of robin hood pirate section, stealing and plundering from those who he deems already have too much in order to provide to those who actually need it,

Tarnished absolutely loves animals, having had several pets over the years, primarily mouser cats to keep the ship clean of Rodents that may spread disease, plus they help with stress,

Tarnished is obsessed with weaponry, he has several books on different types of weapons as well as quite the armory abored his ship, he's specifically interested in fusion weapons, like dagger guns, halberds, and bladed shields, he's also obsessed with boats, he's fascinated by the different builds and just how they work, also collecting books on different ship types, he absolutely loves when things are made with proper effort and good craftsmanship, looking like they have flare and personality while still funftioning practically, tarnished often ends up rambling on end about his interests to anyone who will listen,

Tarnished has a very hard time with certain mechanical technology and advancements, (he especially struggles when the digital age starts but that's a situation for about 200 to 300 years ahead)) mechanical prosthetics like the ones compass uses tend to confuse him when he tries to use them, he doesn't hate technology, he does think it's cool and is happy that certain things have become easeir for those around him, he just can't wrap his own head around it on his end.

Tarnished is very emotional and very blunt, often making him seem irrational or rude, when things feel overwhelming to him he can't hold back the tears, weather it's positive or negative, if it feels like too much he will get emotional, though he doesn't feel the need to hide it, he's set up a crew environment that's supportive and non judging, they won't be offended if he gets overwhelmed, just like he won't be offended if a crew member is overwhelmed and needs some time.

Tarnished is quick to jump to conclusions and stick with them, even if his conclusion is very wrong, once he's made up his mind it's hard for him to change it, which has led to unnecessary confrontations and wild goosechases.

(Sorry this is long and badly written! I just wanted to note down everything I have so far, very much still a wip but I got attached to my pirate guy, also I did steal a lot of my own traits and some of my dad's when it came to making him, such as the weird emotional situation and unnecessary urge to cry coming from me, and the boat obsession coming from my dad ^-^ ))

[kerberosstyxnixcharonandhydra]

I would wish to see

OK OH LORD THIS IS GONNA BE LONG, some is stuff discussed w/ my pal @idiotv2 and some is just mine (we each have our own versions but there's some stuff shared so!)

without further adieu: These are kinda old lol. I'll be doing an eventual post about their USC interpretations

ALL:

yeah theyre all related in this one.

They're also all italian immigrants!

There is a front related to each one (Charon's Ferry - clothing store | and i cannot remember the others tbh. kerby's was a trampoline park tho. they go feral in there)

ALL SOME FLAVOR OF NB (they/them) and all of them aroace...except hydra who is the token allo /hj

all our cogs have some slight basing on animals so. furries the lot of them (affectionate)

All have some form of bone/joint/frame/shell issues (The head attorney does too) <- that's their Zizi btw (italian gender neutral for aunt/uncle figures)

All lost their shells but in different ways

(Left is relationships, right is an old reference with their shells + my friend's oc joey. hes funney i like him.)

Charon:

the oldest and tallest

got put into a leadership position but would rather not TM

I'm pretty sure that with their shell Charon was considered to be pretty attractive

Wolf based, i believe they're a timberwolf but we may not have been that specific

Our designs and HC's diverge around when they all lose their shells so -- Charon (to me) becomes a spotlight thing

(Based on the light almost looking like a moon and how wolves howl, and them not wanting to be IN the spotlight)

legal surname is Christy

Gorgon thing also, can reflect damage back at you. maybe also turn you to stone if you step into the beam of light and theyre MAD)

SO SCARED OF BUGS THEY CRY AND GAG AND THROW UP IN THEIR MOUTH (i joke but they are terrified)

COFFEE SNOB

Lost shell due to illness (from their Zizi)

Styx:

Second oldest/second tallest

The affair child TM (this is unfortunately true!)

Their animal was a hyena and boy they laugh like one

THEY ARE ALSO A DHAMPIR (male vampire and human woman) or the rough equivalent. the trait of fucked up bones appears in frame issues x2!

used to do ballet for fun in italy, fell and fucked up their foot/leg so bad they had to stop (it also required a transtibal amputation)

they have a wheelchair for bad days, but often use forearm crutches, or a cane + prosthetic (styx and graham and the foreman in the prosthetic legs club)

NO ACCENT BTW. i cannot stress this enough their voice is a dead monotone with no accent or inflection

Surname is Showalter, despite relation to Charon

DOES IN FACT DRINK BLOOD SOMETIMES. and has a life drain ability (i think it should be through their voice and this is my HC list even though i share many w/ my friend)

Showed a few symptoms of the same illness and skipped right to "get this thing off me NOW before it gets worse"

Nix:

The forgotten middle sibling (REAL) who has a passive cheat that makes people unable to sense their presence (They are a cognitohazard)

This can be rectified if you're around them a lot, but it fucks up your brain forever pretty much. They can also amplify the effect to sneak around if they want (but machines like automatic doors and cameras also forget they exist)

Almost perfectly identical to the head attorney, even when they had shells

They use this to fill in for Nyx (originally when Nyx was too ill to work even after using sick days) and they now intend to go to law school

They're why everyone hates lawbots bc they would give fake CnD's and court orders

Weird bird/cat/bat hybrid thing. cat with feathery wings (and they have white patches which are remnants of their freckles)

Surname is Christy

my freak child with an eating disorder (due to derealization and the feeling that "well im not real why bother" yeah cosmos doesnt take kindly to that.)

Weird luck powers. once made buck roll BAR 7 times in a row just by looking at him weird

Also lost shell bc of illness.

Kerberos:

doberman pinscher (parents weren't going to straighten their ears but i assume another family member did under the guise of getting their ears pierced. sickness and despair in the world

SO PROTECTIVE OF HYDRA FOR REASONS THAT ARE SO FUCKED

conspiracy theorist (but not in a fucked up way, in a funny way. like cryptid hunting) (theyre also so oblivious. we had a joke about them asking THE PERSON THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT about... well themself, without knowing)

One time Hydra got dumped on their doorstep at 8 years old and they never got a moment of peace since (they were like idk 10? 11??)

can obtain messages thru electronic signals ("MOOOM THE TV CALLED ME A BITCH AGAIN" "lol youre so imaginative")

Surname is Showalter

GOT HIT BY A TRAIN AND THEIR SHELL BROKE APART

HYDRA:

IDIOT BLACK CAT ENERGY

The shortest and youngest, but oh so feral

talked to god once we dont need to focus on that

IMMIGRATED ON ACCIDENT I CANT STRESS THAT ENOUGH

kind of a brat but in a PTSD way (neglectful/abusive parents)

"mommy why do you have beef with me im 4"

had 2 imaginary friends growing up, a greek fish who's name translated to Jabberwocky, and a talking house (both are in fact real dw about)

their parents didnt wanna immigrate but they were 8 and didnt understand so after a tantrum their parents packed a suitcase and dropped them with kerberos

they also didnt get a chance to learn english for for like the first few months they only spoke italian (and some greek)

vessel of fate sort of.

Surname is... well they legally changed their name to be.... hydra Hydra. after the mario movie (the live action one) where mario's surname is also mario. theyre wacky.

lost their shell in a drunk driving accident (the designated driver was drunk and drove them right into another car head on)

anyways have some funneys

[fox-daddy]

What's the best gift they've given/received

Kyle;

The best gift ever received from Asra was a simple necklace during his first Christmas he remembers. Ordinally part of a gift it become the best due to the fact Kyle enjoyed chewing on it and fidgeting with it. The slightly sharp end having eroded overtime to a blunt end.

The best gift to Asra was a tea pet Kyle had made himself to look exactly like Faust. Having bribed her with a few rats to keep quiet about it while he used her as a model. If you don't know what a tea pet is when you make tea with loose leaves typically the first cup you throw away, or dump onto a tea pet. This is because the first one is less flavorful due to the leaves having not opened up yet. (or that's what I was told by a tea youtuber)

The best gift ever received from Nadia was a small cube. While it was originally a puzzle (which Kyle did figure out) he mainly just enjoys the fact one side makes a satisfying clicking noise. Like how some keyboards just click so nicely.

Best given gift to Nadia was a small plush owl. It fit perfectly inside the palm of Nadia's hand and the bead weights just cause it to slightly flop in the most adorable way. They can just plop the plush down and it just slightly leans over. Did I mention it fits perfectly inside the palm of her hand?

Hunter;

The best gift received from Muriel is a knife. Okay, let me explain. At some point Hunter tried to learn how to carve and while they could use the knife they had it wasn't exactly designed for cutting things harder than food. So they got a proper carving knife that actually is designed for carving wood and is a good size for Hunter unlike Muriel's one's that fit his larger hands.

The best gift to Muriel was a pretty amateur carving of Inanna that almost looks like a dragon. However, it was Hunter's first carving and while they had told Muriel they destroyed it because it sucked truth was they kept it and ended up giving it to Muriel for Christmas along with an updated better version but it's the almost dragon shaped one that Muriel likes the most.

The best gift received from Portia was a knitted pair of mittens designed to look like cat paws and a knitted beanie with matching cat ears. They refused to take them off for days due to how adorable they are.

The best gift to Portia was a hoodie with a cat pouch hoodie where Portia can put Pepi while working so she can hold Pepi and still have her hands free. Since it's like a pouch it's super cozy for Pepi.

The best gift received from Julian was a pair of not horrible looking sunglasses. Hunter denies it. After a small bit of back and forth ended up realizing just how bad their eye sensitivity really is on bright days. Still denies it, maybe even harder but it's hard not to wear them when Julian is always adorable when they do.

The best gift to Julian was a new medical bag. At first glance it's not as impressive except Hunter actually got someone to design it for them so that it would be perfect for holding up to three books on the side, jars in the main pouch area and a bunch of mini pockets for different items. Perfect for a in a rush dr to grab while rushing out the door.

Bluebell;

The best gift received from Lucio was convincing him to let them rehome some of (a lot of) his exotic animals so that their in a proper home with someone who can look after their needs properly. Especially since their albino meaning eye problems and could have other medical issues Lucio wouldn't notice getting worse.

Best gift to Lucio was a type of cream for his amputation. While he wasn't super impressed at first after a bit he realized it was super packed with a few different healing spells designed to make his prosthetic a more comfortable fit along with helping the skin feel nicer and genuinely just makes it feel better, even if it can't heal it.

[poltergeist-coffee]

Hey, it's me again, I living in ask box now btw

I've already asked about your favela six headcanons, but how about the others? There somes you really like and wanted to share?

Like, I'ike the idea of the eggs getting traits of their parents. Which gets a bit chaotic with eggs like Pomme and Richarlyson, because they have a lot of parents

I could write abou them but it would be too long and probably a bit boring to read

Also, WHERE THOSE PHOTOS WITH THE EGGS ITEMS ARR COMING FROM??? School won't let me watch the streams:(

I'm confused because the eggs didn't left their items when they disappeared?(or they disappeared after some time I don't quite remember)

I miss Richas so much

WHERE IS THAT LITTLE DEMON???:(

Also I've just noticed because I saw someone talking about how Bagi says that the eggs might be something the federation did to keep the people on the island and such, but she talks a lot about them

Like, just yesterday she was talking about how would be to have Richas helping her build, yeah, he's already her son

- 🍽️

the richas photo bagi found last night!! i dont know where they're all coming from but its very suspicious

I NEED RICHAS TO COME BACK NOW TO MEET BAGI!! SHE HASNT MET HIM BEFORE BUT SHE ALREADY CALLS HERSELF HIS MOM AND TALKS ABOUT HOW IT SOUNDS FUN TO DO QUESTS WITH HIM IM So :(((

some of my egg hcs under the cut because its loooong ajnvjkasd

YEAAAH I AGREE one of my fav egg headcanons ever is that they can shapeshift

it's unconscious mostly/they don't realize, like the longer they hang out with certain people they'll take on traits of that person :))

so after like the first few days of getting the eggs they started to take on the appearances of their parents!!

for eggs like richas and pomme since they have so many different parents it's slightly different!

for me, richas looks the way he does because he was inspired by a bedtime story cellbit told him :)) one of the characters cellbit was describing richas loved a lot that he shapeshifted to look like that character!! his hair tho he kept to be a similar-ish texture to felps!!

so richas mimics his parents more though his personality, less with how he actually looks (his prosthetic leg tho was made by tazercraft)

for pomme i think it would be similar being inspired by a character in a bedtime story one of her parents told her. i think her hair would be blond when she first joined because she was closest with baghera but then it became split (like half blond hald brunette/brown) because she was getting close with aypierre and wanted to reflect that since he has a different hair color!!

she has star freckles like etoiles and her tail has a star on the end as well (at least in my design because i like to draw them human w/ dragon-ish features)

uhm some other hcs... i like to think that tubbo is a shapeshifter as well :)) i love shapeshifters sorry i love them subconsciously changing how they look to reflect they people they hang around a lot/love

his 'default' like appearance is to be part goat but he can also shapeshift to look like a dragon, a bee, and a bunch of creatures!!

philza being an avian is an obvious one <33 i love it sooo much he can't be anythign else to me

very briefly i thought it would be cool if qmike was like a triton from dnd (fish man) because cc!mike has a sleeve of super cool sea animal tattoos!!!!

speaking of dnd, i got this idea from somoene on twitter but qniki is a Tressym because she can get cat ears (like her skin) and wings (like her mascot? on her streams)

i like her as a tressym specifically because of the line in the dnd wiki that says "Tressym were carnivorous, like cats, usually hunting birds, rodents, and insects. However, they did not prey on baby birds or eggs." and qniki saying she would protect the eggs with her whole heart like right after meeting them <33

okay this is where i stop because this is too much KJNVJKANDA i have too many thoughts

[tired-teacher-blog]

Emotional orgasm with our grumpy cat. After that damn wars, after he retires, after you start building the life you want so much, one night you just let it go.

In the missionary position, you are both very close to the white pleasure that awaits you. His thrusts are so intense that every time his pelvis touches your clit there are thousands of electric currents going through your body. The coldness of his prosthetic leg contrasts with the unbearable heat between your bodies.

You can't believe how many times this man, who made love to you desperately thousand times, came face to face with death, how many times he came close to leaving you behind, alone. But now he is with you, warm and alive.

He has the scent of the day, his cologne, of sweat and sex on his body, oh how enticing. His hard and scarred skin fits perfectly with your soft skin. You need to feel him more and more, your nails dig deeper into the skin of his back, Aizawa's eye roll back. When he came deep inside you with a low groan your heartbeat is about to go crazy. It left you shivering and whimpering.

He wants to pull out but the grip of your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist gets tighter. You just couldn’t let him go, you loved him so much, so fucking much. His name comes out of your lips as a whimper, "Please don't leave me, stay with me, please." When did you start crying, you don't know.

Aizawa understands, you had intense one, of course he does. He always does understand you. The fear and anxiety you experience while waiting during these two wars, the suffering with him. His hands slide between the sheet and your sweaty body and hug your waist tightly, his face right next to your ear.

"I got you baby, just hold onto me." His breath is very hot, tickling a little, but comforting. You manage to calm down with lot of I love you's and lazy kisses placed on your shoulders or necks. You feel safe in your lovers arm, he will never leave you and you will never leave him, you know that. No matter what.

Baby I have read this countless times I swear! This is perfect ❤️

And with what's going on in the manga and anime, this managed to make me cry real tears. I always remember how you and I envision his future to be, and this is sadly a part of it but it's inevitable.

This is one of my all time favorite prompts, you really know me too well beautiful 🥹💕

[nerdywriter36]

To Help the Helpless

AO3

FFN

erik sees himself in all the sick, injured, and abandoned pets he sees in animal shelters and is determined to give them the love and comfort that they deserve in their time of need when he wasn't granted the same as a human being. christine and their friends could not be happier to help.

this concept was born out of a discussion about erik and his pets with @ofserien, so thank you to her for helping to bring this idea to life :) it's been so long so I've posted on here because of my hiatus, but the first oneshot I've written since officially returning to tumblr. i really hope you all enjoy it! likes and reblogs are always appreciated <3

~

"You brought in another one, Erik? Isn't your house full enough already?"

Erik simply rolled his eyes and turned to look back at Nadir, who was glancing at the variety of dogs and cats residing in their crates throughout his living room. "There is never too many rescues, Nadir, especially not when I'm taking them away from people who will put them down simply because they aren't getting adopted," he replied.

"And what's wrong with this one?" Nadir queried, gesturing to the puppy that his friend was carrying rather like a football - tucked against his side and laying along his forearm. "It looks fine to me."

"He had an old injury that was never fixed before he was turned in, so he doesn't look as perfect as people want," Erik said as he held the puppy up so Nadir could see his bowed front leg. "Otherwise, he is completely happy, energetic, and healthy, but people don't care. Looks are everything in this world."

His voice broke a bit, he noticed, and he knew that Nadir had heard it too. Every day was a different story when it came to how emotional he would get when it came to explaining why the animals had been abandoned and why their little lives were at risk. He hated that it still happened; he had been rescuing shelter animals for the better part of two years, not to mention the fact that most of his own struggles because of his appearance were behind him, but some days were simply harder than others.

He really was fortunate for all that he had to make his life as "normal" as possible, even with his physical differences. A prosthetic nose saved him far more grief than he believed people could understand and the mask he wore was so realistic and close to his skin tone, as remarkably pale as it may have been, that he hardly got rude stares anymore when he was out and about. It made quite the difference in his professional life as well; no one at the Paris Opera House wanted to accept compositions from a deformed freak, no matter their talent. His heterochromatic eyes were enough to put people off sometimes.

"I know, Erik, I'm sorry," Nadir piped up as he shot him a sympathetic smile. "I think what you're doing is great, you know that, I just worry about your stress levels. Not having to worry about you financially, but you're a composer making consistent contributions to the Paris Opera, you run an animal rescue, and now you have a girlfriend. That's a lot for one person!"

"Nadir, I'm fine," Erik replied, passing the puppy he held to his friend and smirking as it eagerly started to wiggle and lick at Nadir's neck and chin. "I'm managing it all, and having a girlfriend doesn't change much."

"Right, you say that now." Nadir turned his head away from the eager puppy, wiping his chin on his shoulder. "What is this thing anyway?"

"Australian shepherd, hence the energy." Making his way around the room, Erik checked the status of every food and water dish, but a buzz from his cell phone made him pause. As he pulled it out of his pocket, he couldn't help but smile when he saw a message from the new light in his life: Christine.

He still wasn’t exactly sure how he had gotten so fortunate as to have Christine in his life. After all, their first introduction had been at the Paris Opera House when he had nearly run her right over in his eager rush to leave the very same building. As intricate and realistic as his mask may have looked, he never enjoyed being out in public, and he knew that everything about him was under harsh scrutiny when it came to the committee of men taking his submissions and suggestions for the music at the Opera. He wouldn’t have become a successful composer, having his music played at one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, without them, but with the way they stared at him whenever he walked in, it certainly wasn’t easy to face them.

“Is that the new light of your life?” Nadir asked with a smirk, watching the lovesick smile growing on his friend’s face. “What did she say?”

“Just ‘hi’,” Erik replied, his unmasked cheek already flushed pink as he replied to the message.

Nadir scoffed and set the puppy down in a small pen filled with blankets off to the side. “You are in deep, my friend. How long have you been dating, three months? And just ‘hi’ still manages to make you blush? Does she not make more flirtatious comments than just that?”

“Oh, like you were any different when you and Kheya first got together,” Erik retorted.

“Hey, now, that...that is not a fair comparison.”

It was his friend’s turn to blush and Erik laughed at the sight. Mockery aside, though, he genuinely was happy for Nadir; he had been through a rough patch before meeting Rookheeya one year before, his father's death hanging the heaviest over him and stealing so much of the joy that Erik knew was in him. Once he met her though, everything seemed to fall into place; Erik still remembered the moment Nadir practically choked on his drink when he first noticed her from across the room at a small gathering at the Garnier. She was a beautiful young woman who shared his faith, many of his interests and balanced out his almost painfully realistic views with the necessary imagination and optimism that he needed. A match made in heaven, if Erik were to pair a phrase to their relationship.

“Sure it is,” Erik replied, smirking when he caught a glimpse of Nadir’s lock screen as he pulled out his phone: a photo of the happy couple themselves, both smiling wide. “You’ve practically wanted to marry her since the moment you met, you’re lovesick.”

“Okay, I love my girlfriend, so sue me,” Nadir retorted. “And I will have you know that I plan on proposing in the next few days.”

“Well, it’s about time!” Erik said with a laugh, patting him on the back as the pair walked into the kitchen. “Congrats, Nadir, that’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” Nadir chuckled, crouching down to scratch the elderly golden retriever lounging under the kitchen table. “You and Christine have to catch up now.”

“No, no, this is no race. We are taking our time, I refuse to mess this up.”

“You aren’t going to mess it up, Erik.”

“I could. You remember how things ended with Lucy,” Erik said in a soft voice as he leaned over his countertop and scribbled on a notepad.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Nadir sighed. “She was a toxic mess, the end of your relationship was no fault of yours.”

Erik shrugged ever so slightly. “She ran off with some other guy and slept with him when we hadn’t even taken that step. I clearly did something wrong or she wouldn’t have left.” That breakup had hung over him like a dark, heavy cloud for weeks and still did at times. That said, the very same bout of depression and dejection had pushed him into the world of animal rescue that he still found himself in two years later, so for that he was thankful. Now, though, Luciana hardly ever crossed his mind; he had found someone to get him out and keep him out of that world of darkness.

“You didn’t, but anyhow, it doesn’t matter anymore. You have a girl that you love and who loves you, an amazing career, and an animal shelter in your living room. You’re doing alright for yourself,” Nadir pointed out. “Speaking of that, has Christie been over here yet? To meet the pack and all?”

“No, not yet. Believe me, it is on the list of things to do,” Erik replied, still scribbling away on his notepad as they spoke.

“That along with two hydrotherapy sessions, settling the new puppy in, getting groceries, working on your new composition, and going to see if you can pick up two tuxedo kittens. When do you have time to breathe, Erik?”

“In between everything. I manage just fine and I will slot Christine meeting everyone in. It’s a delicate process with some of these guys, you know that.”

Nadir scoffed. “Yes, I remember how slow it all was when you first introduced me,” he said, putting a hand up when his friend opened his mouth. “I know why it was slow, but that doesn't make it more enjoyable.”

“Right, well, unlike you, Christine is very patient, so it’ll be fine,” Erik replied. “She’s coming with me tomorrow to pick up those kittens, so I’ll probably ask her over after and try to introduce me.”

“Let’s hope it goes well. We wouldn't want you to have to choose between your lady friend and your pets. I don't know if you’d survive that.”

"Thank you for helping me today, Christine," Erik said, smiling over at his sweetheart, who sat beside him in the front seat of his car with two tuxedo kittens on her towel-covered lap (she had insisted on the towel, even though his car was covered with fur on practically a daily basis). "These two seem like a very sweet little pair. I doubt I'll have trouble finding them homes."

"Why weren't they getting adopted just at the shelter?" Christine inquired, an inquisitive frown on her face as she turned to him for an answer.

Which he did not really have, so he simply shrugged. "They don't let enough time pass to give people a chance, frankly. Not to mention that this would mean adopting two kittens at once, what with how closely bonded they are, and not everyone is willing to take on that kind of commitment."

"It doesn't seem like too much trouble." Christine looked back down at the kittens, her sweet giggle escaping her as one of them mewed and set its paws on her chest to get closer to her, almost inspecting her. "Hello there. You're not trouble, are you? You're just a sweet little baby."

Erik couldn't help but chuckle when he heard the voice she put on to talk to the animal - a light tone, using grammatically incorrect sentences, almost as if she were speaking to a baby. Which she was, in a sense.

"You'll have to help me name them. I name so many animals that I end up running out of options after a while."

"One of them - the boy, that is - should be...Sylvester. Like from Looney Tunes! He looks just like him, it's too good to pass it up!"

"A very good choice, I think," Erik nodded as he began the drive towards his home. "I'm not sure about the girl yet. Perhaps I'll call her Christine."

His girlfriend scoffed and glanced over at him. "Erik, you can't suggest naming any and every female animal you bring into your house after me."

"Why not? I like your name."

"I know you do, but once you get to Christine the Eighth or whatnot, there's a problem."

He couldn't help but laugh; her sense of humour and mild sarcasm had been part of what had endeared her to him in the first place. "I suppose there might be. I do like your name, though, I wouldn't mind it too much."

"Yes, I know that, and if we ever had a daughter, she would be Christine Junior, I know how much you like my name." She giggled again, and he noticed her look over at him in his periphery; he was just glad that he had his mask on so she wouldn't notice him blushing at the thought of sharing a child with her. "You need some new options."

He tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I...I just think it's a nice name. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he said softly.

The comment must have been the right one, as he was rewarded with a quick peck on the cheek. "You're very sweet," Christine replied as she turned back to the kittens and stroked their backs as they cuddled together on the towel. "So once we drop these little ones off, I suppose you'll just take me home? I'm sure you'll have lots to do."

There it was - his opportunity to make the offer to her to finally come over so he could truly introduce her to his life in its entirety rather than trying to hide parts of it. A glance over at her was enough to tell him that she was disappointed at the idea of having to go home, as she so often was, and he hated to upset her, so he would do his best to fix it as best he could at that moment.

"Actually, I was thinking...would you like to come in today?" he asked, looking at her briefly again and smiling a bit when she looked back at him, wide-eyed and shocked at the question. "I'll have to settle these two in, but I would love to-"

"Yes," she replied, cutting him off rather abruptly. "Yes, I would love to. Do I have to do anything? Not do anything? Can I help with anything, wh-what can I do?"

"Just be yourself," Erik said, unable to stop a quiet laugh from escaping him at seeing how enthusiastic she was. "Your sweet, gentle, caring self, my dear. That is all that I can ask of you when it comes to meeting the little pack that I have at home."

"That much I can do," Christine said with a firm nod, clearly very dedicated to her mission. "Thank you, Erik."

He frowned. "What for?"

"For trusting me with this, with meeting them. I know that their health and security means a lot to you, so knowing that you trust me to come in and make myself a new part of that arrangement that you have really means a lot to me."

"Of course I trust you, my darling. I...I love you." The phrase still felt foreign in his mouth after not using it for so long after losing Lucy, but he was making an effort to use it as often as he possibly could with Christine; she meant more to him than anyone ever had before and she deserved to hear that from him.

"I love you too," Christine said with a warm smile on her face. "Come on, then, drive! I have puppies to meet!"

~

"Are you ready, Christine?" Erik asked from where he stood at the end of the hallway, having just collected a young bulldog puppy from her kennel and was presently walking towards the bedroom, of all places, where his sweetheart was waiting. An unconventional setting, yes, but there was a purpose to it.

"Of course I'm ready!" he heard her call back, her excitement practically dripping from her voice. "There's a puppy involved, how could I not be ready?"

"Alright, alright," he said with a quiet laugh as he stepped into the room, the puppy starting to squirm in his arms at the sight of the new person and the sound of Christine's giddy squeal. "This is Lily."

Christine gasped, a hand to her chest. "Lily, oh, how precious," she said with a giggle. "Can I hold her? Or would you prefer that I didn't?"

"No, you can hold her. She's generally good with people," Erik nodded, sitting next to his girlfriend beside his bed and setting the puppy on her lap. "Just watch her back legs."

"What's wrong with her?" Christine asked softly, looking at the puppy's legs that splayed out behind her rather than tucking beneath her to hold her body up.

"It's called swimmer's syndrome. They can't really say what causes it; some people think it's hereditary, others think it's because their environment as newborns kept them from getting around a lot, even others say it was because of defects before they were born, so I'm not entirely sure," Erik explained. "Still, as bad as it looks, it's treatable, which is why we are here in my room."

Scooping the puppy up again, he stood and walked a few steps away to a sling apparatus set up against the wall and slipped the puppy into it so she hung with her paws just above the ground. "She'll sit in the sling for about 20 minutes every day, and I'll just massage her legs and try to mimic walking motions with her. I do this a few times a day."

He carefully began to act on the same procedure he had just described, smiling as Christine stepped over to join him while he carefully rubbed the puppy's legs and helped her to move them the way she would if she were walking as she should. He knew that there was always a risk that the therapy he tried to do for the animals that were struggling wouldn't work, but he was going to try his best. Very few people had ever tried to help him throughout his life, so he thought he would allow the animals to have that, whether they knew they had it or not.

"How many others do you do this kind of thing for?" Christine softly asked a few minutes into the therapy session.

"A few. Whether it's for little ones like this who have defects of some sort or for older animals who struggle with arthritis and different things like that, therapy does a lot. I do this kind of thing, as well as hydrotherapy, which entails me getting very wet," Erik replied with a chuckle. "But it's worth it when I see the results. True, it doesn't always happen, and they end up turning into hospice cases more than anything, but if I can try and get them back on their feet, as happy and healthy as can be so they can go to a good home, then I'll do what I have to do to make that happen." He turned towards her and smiled just as she cupped his face in her hands and drew him into a gentle kiss, distracting him from his therapy session momentarily. "You are one of the most kind-hearted people I know. You know that, right?"

"You tell me that enough, so I suppose it carries some truth. It's never occurred to me much otherwise, though."

"Well, you had better believe it because it could not be more true," Christine said with a grin.

Erik couldn't help but chuckle as he gave her another quick peck on the lips. "If you are trying to earn yourself brownie points or extra kisses or something, I admire your effort, it just might work out in your favour," he replied, returning his attention to the puppy.

"Fantastic," she giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder and watching while he worked. "Did you have any other plans for the day for us? Dinner, perhaps?"

"Yes, I was hoping you would help me with dinner," Erik nodded, letting the offer hang for a moment before he added, "For the dogs and cats, that is."

"Ah yes, how romantic, exactly what I had in mind," Christine said with a laugh. "Filling food bowls. I can't wait."

Ever since Erik had given her the go-ahead to come over and spend time with himself and his little pack of rescue animals, Christine had taken full advantage of it. Whenever she could manage it, she was at his house, helping him with feeding and bathing all of the little pets in his care, keeping him company while he was cleaning, and even learning how to do hydrotherapy on a few of the dogs that happened to need it. A couple of months had already passed since that day, unbelievably, but she had cherished every second that she had gotten to spend with both Erik and all the animals in his care. She found herself getting close to every single one of them, and she could see how happy it made her sweetheart; Erik smiled even wider than he normally did when she was around, a photo of the two of them with one of his eldest dogs - a golden retriever named Buddy - had become the photo on the lock screen of his phone while others had been printed and framed on his wall. She knew that he had had little joy in his life, but if she could contribute to that happiness along with allowing him to pursue one of his passions, then she would happily support it.

Getting to play with cute puppies and kittens while she was at his house was a nice perk too.

A short while into the arrangement - about a month after Christine herself had been introduced, - she had convinced Erik to let Meg have a gentle introduction of her own to all the animals he cared for. Her roommate had just about lost her mind when she had found out that she had finally gotten to meet all of her boyfriend's pets and hadn't stopped begging her to get Erik's permission for her to meet them until she had finally agreed to give it a shot.

Erik had been hesitant at first, that much was for certain, but she promised him that Meg knew how to keep calm and quiet when she had to be. Eventually, with a slightly skeptical expression on his face, he had agreed to allow her over to meet some of the animals, much to Meg's delight.

As Christine had predicted, the introductions had gone perfectly fine and Meg was quickly scooped up into the little pack Erik seemed to be steadily building. Their visits brought them closer to the animals, to Erik, as well as to Nadir and Rookheya, Erik's best friend and his fiancée. There was something endearing about seeing her sweetheart interacting with someone other than just herself; she knew that he did it for work and all, but watching him so at ease and laughing with his closest friend warmed her heart, even if Nadir didn't seem completely at ease around the animals in the house. For a while, their little group was complete and happy, enjoying every moment they had.

But not every joyful moment could last, unfortunately.

It was the middle of the night when she got the first phone call. Her ringer was quiet, true, but it lulled Christine out of her sleep, though she didn't bother to look at the screen to see who was calling. 'Whatever scam caller it is can just leave a message for me to delete,' she thought to herself as she rolled over onto her side and buried her face in her pillow to attempt to fall back to sleep.

Her phone fell silent for just a moment, but within moments, it had started ringing again.

With a huff, Christine sat up and grabbed her phone, squinting at the brightness of the screen, and saw her boyfriend's name and picture on her screen, which made her frown. It was just past two in the morning, why would he be calling her? Her heart was already racing a bit as she pressed the green 'Answer' button and held her phone to her ear.

"Hello? Erik, what's going on?"

Hiccuping breaths were what she heard first, which only serve to worry her more. "C-Christine, come over," Erik finally managed to say, his voice choked with tears. "Buddy is...something's wrong, please come over."

"Okay, it's okay. I'll be right there and I'll bring Meg with me," she replied, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible despite her own worry about the dog that she'd become so close with. "Have you called Nadir?"

"He's here already. Rookheya too," Erik said, sniffling quietly. "Just please come over, Christine, please."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."

Not hearing a response from Erik told her how distracted and worried he was - he always returned her affections, and she wasn't even offended by the lack of reciprocation; she was only worried.

Christine quickly climbed out of bed, deciding not to bother changing out of her pyjamas given how warm it was outside and only grabbing a pair of socks to quickly slip on. Throwing open her bedroom door, she hurried next door to Meg's room, walked inside and over to her bed to shake her gently. "Meg. Meg, get up, come on."

She rolled her eyes when her friend simply moaned sleepily and pulled her covers over her head. "Meg, please get up. Erik just called me, something's wrong, we have to go over there."

That was enough to make Meg's eyes open rather quickly and she moved the blankets to look up at her friend. "What's happening?" she asked.

"I don't know, all I know is that it's Buddy and Erik is crying, so it's bad," Christine replied with a sigh. "Please get up so we can go."

"Okay, I'm up. Go get your shoes on, I'll be down in a sec," Meg said, clambering out of bed and shuffling past her friend to get dressed.

Within minutes, the two of them were in Christine's car driving towards Erik's house, the open roads with that time at night helping their travel immensely. Not knowing what was wrong was driving Christine half-mad, though she was drawing some unfortunate conclusions, considering the animal that was involved. If she was right, it made sense why Erik had sounded so upset; she knew how much he loved that dog.

"Nadir just texted you," Meg said softly, looking at her friend's phone while she couldn't do so herself. "Asking if we're going to be there soon."

"Just tell him that we will be. That I'm driving as fast as I can without risking getting arrested in the process," Christine said, managing a quiet laugh.

She saw her friend nod as she typed away, the clicking of the keys the only sound in the car. A moment later: "He says, 'As long as you hurry. Get here before'..." Meg trailed off at that, making Christine turn to look at her.

"Before what? What did he say?"

"'Before we lose him.'"

Christine's heart seemed to leap into her throat and, without a word, pushed her foot down ever so slightly harder on the gas pedal, just praying they'd arrive in time.

~

The two young women burst through the house's front door as soon as they arrived, Christine making use of her spare key. She didn't even need to wonder where everyone else would be; she knew that Erik kept that golden retriever by his bedside every night so that he could monitor him. Nothing had ever happened before that had warranted any action, but something had obviously changed that night. Drastically.

Bolting up the stairs with Meg right behind her, she quickly arrived at her boyfriend's room, which was completely dark save for his bedside lamp, and her heart sank when she saw him in the middle of the floor holding Buddy in his arms, Nadir and Rookheya close by.

"Erik, I'm here," she whispered as she moved to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I came as fast as I could, what's happening?"

"I don't know," Erik replied with a sniffle, stroking the dog's fur as he spoke. "They said he had more time. Not much, but more than this, I don't understand."

His words were drowned out by his tears as he leaned forward and buried his face in the retriever's fur, so Christine simply hushed him and rubbed his back. "I know, I'm sorry," she said with a quiet sigh. "You've done so much for him and for all the animals you take care of, Erik, you have to remember that. Whatever happens tonight is not a result of what you've done, you have done everything possible for him."

"Not enough, though. This wouldn't be happening if I had done enough," Erik managed to say through his tears, a sob slipping out of him.

Christine's own throat tightened up hearing the heartbreak spilling over through his words, so she was fortunate that Nadir shuffled over, set a hand on his friend's back and took on the role of the comforter from her; she couldn't trust herself not to cry, so she simply focused on trying to give the elderly dog as much love as she could possibly convey.

"Erik, you know it isn't your fault," Nadir said softly. "He's ill and I know that you've known that for a while now; you always knew he was going to be a hospice case from the beginning. You have to keep that in mind because if you don't, I know that you will blame it on yourself and you can't do that. He's had a wonderful life with you."

"He's right, Erik, you've given him so much," Christine said, finding it in her to dry a few stray tears and contribute to the conversation again. "He's had a beautiful life here with you, he knows that you love him."

Erik's only response was a nod as he lifted his head enough to gently kiss the top of the dog's head. "I love you, Buddy. We all do," he whispered, trying to force a smile as the dog turned his head to glance up at him, and Christine noticed Erik move his hand to rest over the dog's chest, clearly to feel for his heartbeat and wait for when it inevitably ceased. Not knowing exactly what else to say, she simply set her hand over her sweetheart's resting her head on his shoulder as everyone simply waited for the inevitable.

It didn't take long, in the end, and Erik didn't say a word; the way he muffled a sob and leaned over the dog to hold him to his chest told everyone what they needed to know. Christine hadn't quite expected to get as emotional as she did. She knew that she was attached to all of Erik's animals and that even the thought of her love in pain made her heart ache, but there had been something different this time. Erik had loved Buddy probably more than any of his other rescues, and she had a strong feeling that that love had been mutual.

It turned out that she wasn't the only one getting emotional; she had expected to see a few tears from Meg, and there they were, but looking over at Erik's other friends, she found Rookheya with her face tucked in the crook of Nadir's neck, the slight shake of her shoulders the only clue that she was emotional, while even Nadir - Nadir 'I don't like pets much' Khan - had tears in his eyes. Whether it was Buddy's death or Erik's reaction that had made him cry, she couldn't tell, but the show of empathy for what his friend was going through was something that she appreciated and knew that Erik would too.

Quickly drying her cheeks, she leaned over and gently kissed Erik's cheek. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she reached up and gently wiped his tears away. "But you gave him such a beautiful life, just like you're doing for all the others you're caring for. They needed someone and you were there to rescue them. I'm so proud of you for that, and Buddy was proud too."

Erik managed a weak smile as he turned to look at her, leaning forward just enough to press his forehead to hers. "Do you think so?" he croaked.

"I know so, my darling. I have no doubt of it."

[alish-artie]

Yaaaayyy another oc ask game! Love these so much! So - I was actually curious about these details:

14 - briar

15 - Hugo (crutches when he was human)

19 - Oliver

2 - katsu

12 - Arson

10 - stethoscope

21 - Tech

8 - Kinoko

4 - Vincent

Thank you so much, and sorry if this is a lot! Love your art, love your ocs, and I'm grateful for all you do in general!

Hehe well thank you, I'm glad you like my art and characters !! (*^▽^*) let’s see…

14) Choose an AU you think would be interesting for them to be a part of. Who would they be? (Briar)

The Peter Pan au ! If I didn’t already finished the mermaid drawing of it, I would have added her as a mermaid in it ! She plays a lot with the Lost Boy Oliver, though here it’s as friend more than one sided love !

15) Are they the type to adopt strays (animals or people?) What or who have they “adopted” over the years? (Hugo/Crutches)

As a human, Hugo liked to take care of small stray animals, but he was ready to let them leave when they wanted to ! A lot of cats came and left in his house, so he always had a bowl ready for them !

(It’s more Stethoscope/Jack who adopts "stray" people, even as a Patient-)

19) What do they wish they knew more about? (Oliver)

He knows the melody of the Teddy Bear's picnic as it was played a lot by his parents' old gramophone (a family treasure !), but he wished he remembered the lyrics…maybe that would bring more happy memories…

2) What were they like as a child? Were they quiet and reserved, outgoing, or a bit of both? (Katsu)

Though he's an ambivert now, Katsu was more reserved when he was younger. Then he found out about mockery and we can’t stop him now-

12) Are they hot-headed or even-tempered? What frustrates them the most? (Arson)

Crazy mood swing. He can snap easily if he is dissatisfied with something or if something happens to Switch.

10) Favorite place? Do they go there often? (Stethoscope)

He likes to travel a bit everywhere in the hospital, but he likes the prosthetic room a lot ! He wants to go there as much as he want, but it’s off limits and he doesn’t always find something to break into that room.

21) What are they most afraid of? What made them fear this? (Tech)

His older brother. Tech's whole family is very nasty but his older brother was the worst to him, being very strong physically and all. Tech is scared that his brother will find him again if he didn’t become a Viewer.

8) What will always make them smile? What will always make them cry? (Kinoko)

Kinoko always smile when others are happy thanks to her actions : mostly feeding them her mushrooms ! But it happened that kids betrayed her trust and only used her as a walking food reserve, only to left her when danger was near…she cries every time she's alone again, she hates that feeling…

4) What are 3 of their irrational fears? (Vincent)

Vincent is very scared of thunder, being alone and spiders (he saw a living hand once and almost stabbed it with a scalpel as a reflex-)

[chestnut-b]

Himawari Chapter 10

“Is he happy there, Kakashi?” Sarutobi asked.

The man had looked oddly sheepish.

“Frankly, if I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have thought we were talking about the same person.”

Then Kakashi cast his gaze down in thought. Looking up again, his eye turned into a thin crescent.

“When he’s with the children, you couldn’t tear the smile off his face even if you tried.”

Chapter 10 of a Demon Slayer AU

“Please make yourself comfortable, Hatake-dono. I’m afraid the Master was called on some urgent business, but will be returning shortly.” 

The servant bowed apologetically, and left Kakashi, who had just arrived at the Sarutobi estate, to his devices. 

The former Flame Hashira was one of the lucky few who had lived to retire, with most of his parts intact, having lost only a leg vanquishing an Upper Moon demon. After he was sure the performance of his successor and students were satisfactory, he’d taken the ridiculous salary afforded to his position, and charted what was one of the first expeditions West by ship. For all his worldliness, Sarutobi was soon dubbed ‘The Professor’.

The collection of paraphernalia and tomes from his years abroad was proudly displayed in the room he favoured for entertaining guests, and Kakashi was only too happy to browse. 

Grabbing the nearest book, curiously bound in animal hide, he found it unsurprisingly filled with words foreign to him. The illustrations; of man-bull beasts, winged men, one-eyed cyclops’, of ships rocked against cliffs, all seemed to depict epic myths and cautionary tales. 

Between its pages were several loose sheets of paper, and as soon as his eyes settled on the writings, his lips quirked into a smile.

The language, familiar. The handwriting, even more so. 

Ever the studious one...

He could easily see a younger Iruka listening intently to Sarutobi narrate these fantastical tales, enthusiastically writing these down for his own future references. Browsing through the notes, it seemed the book was about ancient mythology, of civilisations long past. 

He closed the book, not wanting to deny himself a chance to quiz the teacher about it later.

Kakashi turned his attention to a shelf along the edge of the room, lined with framed pictures. Products of one of the more fascinating curiosities Sarutobi had returned with. The first time he’d had his photo taken, it was on his last visit here together with his Father. A camera, he’d called it. 

Among the photographs one seemed to draw his attention. A grinning boy, and a young child with dark eyes, sporting the traditional doll-like hairstyle, dressed in kimono woven with wisteria motifs typically worn by the Senju girls. 

Before he could conjure any particular thoughts about it, he heard a happy giggle from the corridor. He turned to see a brown-haired toddler staring at him from the doorway. His appearance was followed by the sound of mismatched footsteps, and the child was quickly scooped up from the floor, into the arms of the person who had summoned Kakashi in the first place.

“Excuse my lateness, Kakashi, I had some troublesome things to attend to.” The master of the house called for a servant, and one came running in, taking the baby from his arms and retreating just as quickly. 

Soon, he was sitting on the tatami floor with a cup of tea before him. Sarutobi always took pleasure in the ritual, something Iruka had obviously inherited from his master. Kakashi wasn’t nearly as fond of it, but the grateful smile that usually followed his efforts was not something he disliked.

“I appreciate you taking the time for the detour.” The elder started, reaching for his pipe. “How is Oyakata-sama?” 

Still alive, for some reason. Is what he would have liked to say, but Kakashi was here on a little mission of his own, and so he reconsidered.

“His condition was not as favourable as it was on my last visit, I’m afraid. But it’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen him, things might have changed.” Kakashi replied. Sarutobi’s brows furrowed unhappily.

“That is unfortunate to hear, but I suppose it is unavoidable. Tell me Kakashi, how fares that foolish student of mine?”

He’d expected a little more fondness, and a little less frustration. It only served to prick at his curiosity. 

“Iruka seems to be managing just fine.” He said jovially. “Last he wrote, he was having some fun with gunpowder.” There was a series of coughs, and the smoke made his own nose itch, but he resisted the urge to react. 

When he recovered, he flashed Kakashi a considering look, but instead of asking what he really wanted to, he grunted. 

“Trouble and him are never far apart, as usual.”

“It is as you say.” Kakashi followed, secretly hoping for him to divulge a little more.

Sarutobi directed his attention past Kakashi, towards the rock garden beyond the room, bathed in afternoon sun. The troubled look on his face erased any doubts that he was recalling something unpleasant.

“Iruka has already told you most of it, I presume.” Kakashi nodded, affirming his suspicions. There was a deep, long sigh. 

“It’s been nearly three years since he left here with Naruto, and frankly, I still get ulcers thinking about it.” 

“Then why let him go?” 

“Hmph, you think I wanted to? Of course not.” He scoffed, taking another drag of his pipe. “I thought he would have moved past it, but his reaction ended up being inexcusable. Still too impulsive, too hot-headed.” 

Kakashi thought of the person he’d come to know. On the surface; easy smiles and laughs, a warm hand. Sincere.

But then he remembered the flickers of darkness, the wildness of his gaze, barely reined in when it was directed at Kakashi one night, but completely unbridled when he’d met the demon in the cave. The teacher had known full well Kakashi was there, he could have requested help and spared himself further danger and potential injury, but chose not to. 

He’d seen many warriors in his time, and the need to prove oneself was something he’d witnessed again and again. They didn’t always survive it.

“That much I told him. I suggested he return to the Senju where his skills would be of some use, and what does he do? He proceeds to prove my point!” Sarutobi seethed, and Kakashi waited with bated breath. 

“The fool steals a horse, disappears for a month, and comes back near death with that scar on his face, and a complete map of the forest, Gods!” 

If Kakashi weren’t himself, he’d be smiling, rubbing his hands together while urging him to continue, but he figured he’d have a lot to answer for if their meeting had induced an aneurysm. 

His friend would be most unhappy, and not in the fun way.

With a cool look that belied his interest, he took a sip of tea. 

A few minutes passed, and several drags of a pipe later, the elder had calmed down, somewhat.

“So you did too good of a job, perhaps.”

It induced a regretful sigh. The man got up from his seat with practiced ease, despite the wooden prosthetic. He walked towards the shelf of photographs, and stood nearly in the same spot Kakashi had. He was even looking at the same photograph, he realised.

“This is not what his parents intended for him.” 

It was subtle, but he could feel Sarutobi’s heckles rising as he stared at the photo. 

Kakashi recalled the Senju girl in the photograph. Familiar dark eyes. His mother, perhaps? He could see the resemblance. But he quickly realised his mistake; there was no way it could be her. At that age, Sarutobi hadn’t yet acquired his camera. The boy’s grin was familiar too, and in hindsight, obviously belonged to that of a Sarutobi. So who-

“Asuma was a terrible influence.”

Ohhh.

-------------------------------------------------

“I trust you’ll make sure these reach him, Kakashi.”

“Why of course, the Hashira Delivery Service always comes through.” Kakashi murmured as he finished securing his sandals, furoshiki tied and slung across his shoulder. 

“Hmph. Make sure the demons don’t get your tongue, boy. Unlike theirs, ours don’t grow back.”

Kakashi stood to take his leave, but Sarutobi quickly retreated back into the room. He began to rummage through one of the more well hidden cabinets, and having found what he was looking for, emerged once again. 

“There is a saying in the West, you know,” 

Kakashi turned to face the man.

“Care will kill a cat.” 

“Oh, I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve always been more of a dog person.”

“I wasn’t referring only to you.”

Sarutobi continued. 

“I’d ask you to be a friend to him, Kakashi, but it seems you already are. You have my thanks.”

“None necessary, really. I happen to enjoy his company.” 

There was a laugh, and it disturbed Kakashi somewhat, to see Sarutobi smile at him so smugly. The elder held up whatever it was that he’d fished out, and Kakashi took it from his calloused hand.

Almost against his will, his gaze softened.

What could only be a younger Iruka, his features just a bit rounder, cradling a sleeping Naruto in his arms. The toddler was dressed in more clothes than he’d probably ever been in, and was obviously spent. If Kakashi wagered a guess, they’d just returned from receiving the blessings for his third year of life at the temple. 

To anyone else, it was a sweet, touching momento. A pair of mismatched brothers, on a memorable day.

To anyone who knew the story, it was...complicated.

Set in the garden during the day, implied that it’d been taken not long after the youth had learnt of Naruto’s true nature, and just over a month past the anniversary of his parents’ deaths.

Iruka’s visage still lacked the distinct scar that highlighted his eyes; the line that moved like a wave on the shore in tandem with his ever-changing expression. But unlike the smiling self that Kakashi had come to naturally associate him with, the boy in the photograph was looking upon the child’s sleeping face with an almost unreadable expression. 

Vaguely, it brought to mind the portrait of a merciful, motherly deity. 

His eyes were warm, yet burdened with melancholy.

Kakashi recalled Iruka’s confession, as he recounted everything he’d lost, and later lived for.

Looking at the scene, it made something in his chest ache.

“Are you sure about this one? Might be a bit of a downer, you know, considering everything else.” Kakashi asked cautiously.

Sarutobi did not rescind. 

“Tell that foolish son of mine, not to lose his way.”

“Which one?”

“Both, if you happen to see the other one.”

-------------------------------------------------

Sarutobi watched from the gate as Kakashi left the estate with his hound.

“Well, you might not need to worry about that. Iruka’s probably got the best sense of direction I know of.” The Hashira had said without turning back.

Yes, but tunnel vision is a fearsome thing. 

He felt a tug on the sleeve of his haori, and looked down to see Konohamaru gazing up at him. Once again, he scooped the toddler into his arms.

The boy sends you and Konohamaru his regards, sensei. 

He remembered his meeting with Jiraiya seasons prior. His former disciple had arrived with news that only added to his worry for his two former charges, along with Iruka’s specific request in writing not to divulge any of it to Kakashi.

Frankly, he did not know why he was agreeing to it at all.

Carrying his grandson back into the guest room, his gaze settled again on a single photograph, to a pair of eyes that were once free of the terrible burden of loss and guilt.

He wondered what they looked like now. 

After a newborn Naruto had been delivered to him, he’d searched everywhere for Iruka, but there wasn’t a trace left amidst the chaos and destruction. He’d spent a year thinking he’d failed Kohari, who’d been like a daughter to him, and Ikkaku’s empty scabbard, delivered by the Kakushi, loomed over his conscience like a phantom.

Then came a cold autumn day; a boy arrived at his doorstep, clothes threadbare and mangled with tears, and without so much as a pair of sandals on his feet. Almost unrecognisable, if not for the nichirin blade he carried, rusted and chipped, and a kunai hanging at his waist. 

“Now that I’ve been left behind, what should I do, Jii-ya?”

His eyes then were devastatingly hollow.

It was a memory so vivid, the bitterness was still palpable in his throat. When Iruka had accepted his proposal to stay with him as his student, he’d stopped calling him “Jii-ya”, as his mother did when she wanted to tease him.

He’d never told him, but the day they’d found out about Naruto’s immunity to the sun, Sarutobi had been ready to commit seppuku for having allowed it to go that far. If not for Hashirama’s intervention, he wasn’t sure if they’d both be alive today, with him carrying Konohamaru in his arms like he was doing now.

“Sensei, please allow me to go with Naruto!” 

Soon after, upon hearing Naruto would be sent to the Forest of Death, he had barged in, pleading desperately with his forehead glued to the ground, but he’d been staunchly, repeatedly denied. The eyes that looked at him held the same terrible hollowness, just as the day he’d learned of Naruto’s origin.

It was the look of someone who’d been once again, stripped of a reason to live.

A month passed. 

When he’d ran, stumbling, to Iruka, collapsed outside the estate near death in a slayer’s uniform that was clearly too large on him, his eyes were gilded with a fierce determination he’d not known the boy was capable of. 

They burned, just like Kohari’s had when she told him they had deserted.

“There has to be...some reason why I’m still alive, sensei. Let me stay by his side, please.”

He was utterly defeated. It was the moment he knew he’d have to let go.

“Is he happy there, Kakashi?” 

The man had looked oddly sheepish.

“Frankly, if I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t have thought we were talking about the same person.”

Then Kakashi cast his gaze down in thought. Looking up again, his eye turned into a thin crescent.

“When he’s with the children, you couldn’t tear the smile off his face even if you tried.”

That alone was worth having called the young Hashira here. 

He looked at Konohamaru, who had fallen asleep in the nook of his neck, much like in the photo he’d sent along. 

It brought back memories of a time when he’d carried Iruka like that too.

Take care of that foolish child of mine, Kakashi.

-------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 10

-------------------------------------------------

Author’s Notes:

Ohh, another fun chapter to write! I can’t wait for Asuma to get in here (though it won’t be for another 2 chapters or so). I really wanted to explore the relationship between Sarutobi, Iruka and Naruto more, so I was quite satisfied with this. 

As usual, I’d love to hear what you think! Is it moving too slow? This is all very self-indulgent, I know, haha. 

See you in the next chapter!

-------------------------------------------------

Fun facts and Terminology:

Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) Festival

In Japan, ages 7,5,3 have always been celebrated as prosperous milestones for children to have reached, even way past in the Heian period. They’re dressed up and brought to the temple to receive blessings. It falls on 15 November, and Naruto’s Birthday (and by extension, Iruka’s Parents’ death anniversary) are in October. So yeah, just over a month between them.

“Care will kill a cat.” 

The origin of the phrase “Curiousity will kill a cat”. I didn’t want to use it in that exact phrasing here (it also wasn’t recorded till 1868, which is a bit later than the setting of this story anyway) 

In this case, care = “worry” or “sorrow for others”.

I felt it fitting for both Iruka and Kakashi. :D

Jiiya - An affectionate way of referring to elderly men. Kinda like “Gramps”

Photography/Cameras - The first camera was imported into Japan in 1848 through a Dutch Port. The story takes place a few years earlier than that (more or less)

[starkeaton]

the adventure zone: graduation character list

Well, i accidentally deleted the original graduation character list post, so here i am making another one. Oops. And as always, if anyone has important details i should add then feel free to suggest them!

Here are all the characters introduced in episodes 1-25. Named characters only!

Also i can’t hide spoilers! So, um..... I can’t put spoilers on this one. If you need the version with spoilers try this version of the post that i made on the adventure zone subreddit but youre not missing out on much.

# -EPISODE 1- (19 characters)

Hieronymous Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Hero/Villain school. at least 400 years old. wears shining blue armor with gold accents. also an elf. according to Tomas, he led the charge at the "battle of blood valley", brought the Kingdoms of Rickart and Dawnbreak to a peace treaty, and founded the school. a little boastful, a little prideful, [SPOILERS OMITTED], and overall a pretty good dude.

Higglemas Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Sidekick/Henchperson annex, cranky old elf. has a dog named hero who shows no signs of anything strange at all, ever. 

Gary (he/him): friendly room gargoyle. pseudo-hivemind.

Groundsy (he/him): the groundskeeper. a pretty nice fellow. don't go in his shed.

Hernandez (he/him): beautiful centaur professor of animal handling.

Jimson (he/him): human battlegrounds trainer for sidekicks/henchpeople, world famous featherweight champion, wields a staff. married to crushman.

Crushman (he/him): silver dragonborn with a sickle, and self-described beefy boy! heavyweight blood champion married to jimson. never lost a match for 8 years. full name Frostus Crushman.

Rolandus Fontaine (he/him): former prince, son of deposed king, kind of an asshole, maybe. wears a cape (important detail)

Zana (she/her): "terrifying" tiefling villain sorcerer, friend of rolandus. barkept the test tavern in ep2

Rhodes (she/her): hero ranger, friend of rolandus.

Buckminster Eden (he/him): hero guy. son of "The Iron Lord". their dad is stronger than rolandus's dad. his wiki page says rogue so i think hes a rogue? i never caught that and ive listened more times than i wish i did

Leon (he/him): softspoken buff, bald "fighter" (although i dont remember any clarification on how exactly he fights), sidekick of buckminster, around 28. anyone else keep forgetting he's bald? i keep forgetting it. >!gets sorta-drafted into becoming a falcon for higglemas and so far hasn't done much else.!<

Rainer Michelle (she/her): cheerful villainous necromancer with a floating chair. also, her name is pronounced "rainier" despite not being confirmed as such? travis ships her with fitzroy.

Tomas (he/him): human man with "kind eyes" and a good (psychic???) memory. guidance counselor.

Stewart LeBoeuf (he/him): brawny human man. serves food. there is no joke here, i promise

Mulligan (he/him): teaches potions. mentioned but doesn't appear yet. and we're like 25 episodes in. maybe we'll see him someday

Germaine, Victoria, Rattles (he/him,she/her,???/???): Skeleton crew. They live in the training room i guess, and as a result can never die, because "no one dies in the training room!" (note: someone now HAS to die in the training room). also their races are never explicitly stated but i guess they're probably human? in episode 3 travis brings up something about how many bones are in "the human body" and at this point i think i'm looking too deep into this so i'll just forget about it and you probably should too.

# -EPISODE 2- (9 characters)

Riveau (he/him): halfling, blame-taking teacher.

Mimi (they/them): gnome sidekick who builds cool robot prosthetics

Bartholemus (he/him): owl aarakocra accountant teacher, known for being the best accountant in the land and having a face some might describe as "smoochable". very pro capitalist :’( hope he gets better

Ramos (she/her): goliath teacher of shieldwork. *

Dip (she/her): sidekick, half-orc twin of pip

Pip (she/her): hero, half-orc twin of dip

Festo (they/them): fairy with "beautiful gossamer wings", independent study teacher of magic, loves to party

Snippers (he/him?): Let me tell you my story about Snippers the magic crab. When Travis gave the list of animals that Griffin could choose as Fitzroy's familiar's current form, he listed crab near the start, and this gave me excitement. Now i knew that crab was pretty unlikely but god i hoped that he would choose it. When the list went on- Bat, Cat, Crab, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Owl, Poisonous Snake, Fish, Rat, Raven, Seahorse, Spider or Weasel- I nearly lost hope. I was hoping so hard that Griffin would choose the crab, but i was ready to accept a non-crab familiar. It was just buried in that list. It wasn't the most useful animal and it was an obscure pick. And as Travis informed him that it didn't have to keep the form for the whole campaign, Griffin said those five words i wanted to hear so, so badly. "Well then it's a crab." Folks, I do not often react physically when something happens in media. But in that moment, i remember very clearly, i fist-pumped and yelled, "YES!!!!!!"

so anyway, Fitzroy has a crab.

Jackle (he/him): kenku teacher of sneakery. creepy dude. apparently knows something about argo? also his name is not spelled "jackal" for some reason. Also in later episodes theyve started calling him "The Jackle" for some reason??? *

# -EPISODE 3- (1 character)

Dakota (they/them): tavern instructor, clad in black/red leather. no race stated? probably human. *

# -EPISODE 4- (6 characters)

Gerry & Tom (she/her, he/him): shopkeepers at barns and nobles who seem to have very bad names. also constantly competing for customers? these guys got dropped faster than the heathcliff quests, which is honestly just sad.

Barb (she/her): the bartender. runs Springs Eternal in Last Hope. has a sweet seeing-eye hawk familiar. 

Jaryd Reginald (he/him): owner of Reginald Ore. Wants the workers to be held responsible for the damage caused by the xorn. (fun fact: originally i wrote down "Jerrod" because i wanted it to sound like a fantasy name, then realized it was probably "Jared" because theyre named after listeners, but i was pleased to find it confirmed that it's actually "Jaryd")

Candice (she/her): A Miner. thought those werent allowed in bars but, i guess not. Wants the mine owner to be held responsible for the xorn's damage.

Jade Johnson Esq. (she/her): lawyer.

# -EPISODE 5- (1 character)

Xorn: a big hungry gem eating guy from the plane of earth Low-Down Deep with 3 arms and 3 legs. why did travis just say "multi-armed" instead of specifying it was 3? who knows! Anyway it leaves

# -EPISODE 6- (3 characters)

Osric (he/him): the man, the myth, the bursar. finally shows up after being mentioned in episodes 2 and 4. he's an elf. 

breeze through the willows (she/her): Pegasus attacked by demons, lost her parents. introduced in ep1 but gets a name here so fuck it. also in ep>!16!< we find out shes a "white arabian pegasus" and i dont think thats a spoiler bc we shouldve really known it from the beginning

Sabor (he/him): Librarian/research teacher. also a TORTLE. Really good at recalling stuff, i guess. kinda reminds me of Tomas's memory thing but i'm sure that's just a coincidence... *

# -EPISODE 7- (1 character)

Mosh (he/him): The goliath blacksmith who welcomes argo into the unbroken chain. Also, and this is specific to the tumblr version of this post, all the characters with an * at the end of their descriptions are also members of the unbroken chain. if someone knows how to do spoilers on tumblr please tell me

# -EPISODE 8-

:)

# -EPISODE 9- (2 characters)

Eeiïäá#æ&éñn (pronounced like "Ian") (he/him?): an imp but without a shitty voice. also happens to not be violent. what a coincidence?

Terence (he/him): a chain devil with a real demonic name. minor boss of the imps. very convincing and very threatening. has the frightening ability to make you zone out during his fight

# -EPISODE 10- (2 characters)

Althea Song (she/her): elf with autumn-orange hair. representative from heroic oversight guild. i'd like to personally thank travis for spelling her name out.

Crabtree (she/her): Artificing teacher. Long gray hair with a long grey beard. no mentioned race, one might guess dwarf but that would be an assumption i suppose. also unbroken chain member, presumably the dwarf argo didn't recognize in episode 7.

# -EPISODE 11- (3 characters)

Marie (she/her): Grey-haired elf woman. She's the school's physician, i guess. Member of the unbroken chain.

Dendra Maplecourt (she/her): Fitzroy's mom. Has hot mint gum, i guess. She was mentioned earlier but i wasn't convinced she was a real person until this episode

Cool Gary (he/him): AYY ITS ME GARYR

# -EPISODE 12-

no new characters again!

# -EPISODE 13- (7 characters hhhyyyuu)

Kale (???/???): Head of the Placement Department, in charge of real world assignments. First mentioned in Ep4 but i missed that the last few times bc it is so brief. Gives exposition about missions i guess????? is that the only reason this chara cter exists

satyr thief (unnamed) (he/him): tries to rob thundermen, dies instantly

Ogre (he/him): teamed up with the satyr. his name is ogre.

Moon (he/him): A Sidekick. small pale sullen guy. no mentioned race. Why is there another FUCKING sidekick WE HAD ENOUGH hhhyuuuuuu

Deanna (she/her): A bigoted centaur with an obnoxious voice. Malwin the Strong's second in command.

Malwin the Strong (she/her): Leader of the centaurs of the scarlet woods. Wants to appease the spirit of the scarlet woods so that thecentaurs of the scarlet woods will be protected in the scarlet woods. Had a relationship with Arturas in the past but their clashes are currently known to get pretty heated.

Arturas (he/him): Leader of the Centaurs of the Valley, i guess. Had a relationship with Malwin. Centaur. Did i mention centaur? i cant think of anything else about this character

# -EPISODE 14- (2 characters)

Calhain (he/him): Human wizard, Malwin's magical advisor. Kind of an amateur wizard in a job high above his skill level. Graduated Wigginstaff's as a hero.

Spirit of the Scarlet Woods: A spirit who requires sacrifice in order to keep Malwin's herd safe and prosperous. Not keen on dubiously canonical combos, i guess. i wouldnt be either. also apparently the sacrifice depends on personal value, not how much value it has to the spirit.

# -EPISODE 15- (2 characters)

Sylvia Nite (she/her): Fitzroy's magic theory teacher at knight night school, who he turned into a catfish by accident. oops!

Chaos (they/them, maybe more): Presumably a deity, gave Fitz his powers and wants him to give in to his chaotic desires. (physical desc: 9 foot tall, iridescent 'mother of pearl' skin, pure white eyes, fine burgundy cloak with gold/onyx lining. their physical form beyond that seems to change every time they show up.)

# -EPISODE 16-

none -w-

# -EPISODE 17-

some demins happened. the big dudes are called "Pit Fiends" and the armored demon ladies are called "Erinyes", by the way. that was incredibly hard for me to figure out the first time, especially without headphones, i thought travis was saying "pig feet" and i just could not discern what the other things were

# -EPISODE 18- (6 characters)

snow on the mountain: shire horse pegasus

storm at sea: peruvian paso pegasus, vehement defender of The Guardian. doesn't have a goofy voice.. but he could have....

thaw of the spring: a winged horse

night of no clouds: a winged hhorse

The Guardian: "An ancient and powerful being that guards the unknown forest." Has protected the flock from demons for many many years. apparently is the voice that was talking to our firbolg in episode 1?

Grey, the Demon Prince (he/him): wants to cause a war, originally wanted to kill hiero and higgs, forces the heroes to build an army to fight his. As "Fauxronimous", he has skin the *color and pattern of* (but not necessarily made of) slate splashed with liquid, pointed ears, sharp teeth, shining eyes, horns of unspecified shape. 12 fucking feet tall. wonder if the slate-looking skin is related to garys. plot twist detected? Also i recently looked at the episode descriptions and found out his name is spelled "Gray", but really does it truly matter?

# -EPISODE 19- (2 characters)

Shabree Keene (she/her): Argo's mom, killed on the Mariah, possibly by the Commodore. Long auburn hair, green eyes. Mentioned earlier but described here, so fuck it.

**Thomas** (he/him): Argo's first mate on the Mariah, as the Kraken, in his chaos-dream. may or may not actually exist.

# -EPISODE 20- (1 character)

The Commodore (he/him): Reknowned hero of the seas, military regalia, great naval hero, presumably responsible for the death of Shabree Keene. No mentioned race. Seriously, they never mention this guy's race. The only thing described about him is how he's dressed and his evil smile. Does that mean he's human? Elf? Dwarf??? Who knows! maybe it just doesnt matter. 

# -EPISODE 21-

none

# -EPISODE 22-

not any of them. not any.

# -EPISODE 23- (1 character)

Ozymondelius (sp???) (it/its): A warforged teacher who just so happens to like war or something? i guess its in the name. only mentioned in this episode, doesnt show up yet.

# -EPISODE 24-

they have a fight in the training room but nobody dies :\\ maybe next time. also no new characters. pog

# -EPISODE 25- (4 characters)

Gherkin (he/him): Tall lankier skeleton, has a scimitar and a merkin, which is a pubic wig... and he wears a jerkin? which i guess is a kind of coat? also i think hes mute 

Tibia (she/her?) : Shorter skeleton with gold teeth, and long canines. i think both of the skeletons are mute actually.

The Lich King aka Gordy (he/him): Rainer's dad. Commands armies of the undead. lives in The Crypt. described as a hooded, skull-faced man with intricate black lines on his face, but changes to a shaved-head man with dark skin and vetiligo. Abandoned as a babby, raised by traveling parents, had necromancy powers, took Rainier in. Not actually very scary at all i don't know why he did the creepy laugh. Kind of a warm fatherly figure actually. hm. also people are speculating Gordy might be short for Gordita and his parents are maybe supposed to be lup and barry but THAT S JUST A THEORY.

our firbolg's father (he/him): A firbolg who lived by the code and was there when our firbolg was banished. Came to respect our firbolg's interest in a new way of life, in his final moments.

TOTAL: 72 NPCS! (well, including 2 extra PCs, i guess.)

Average: 2.88 NPCs per episode.

i was gonna not include the bone-PCs and have it be 69 but our firbolg's dad was just too important to not respect with a spot on the list.

anyway as always make sure to smack me with a blunt object if i forgot any characters!!!!!

[weebrecs]

I just finished watching Demon Slayer and now I’m at a loss for what to watch next. Suggestions?

Demon Slayer is one of my favorite anime of 2019, and after watching it all I wanted was more. So until the movie comes out this year and hopefully another season here are some recommendations. Hope this helps!

Banana Fish (10/10): Banana Fish tells the story of Eiji who has traveled to NYC from Japan to take photos. In NYC he meets Ash Lynx the head of the local gang. They form an unlikely friendship and Ash learns about companionship and friendship. Besides being packed with action, this anime also is centered around learning about the mysterious Banana Fish and understanding the truth. Drama, Mystery, Violence, Crime, Suspense, Psychological, Drugs, Gangs

Erased (9/10): This murder mystery story also has supernatural elements. After Satoru’s loved ones end up in danger at the hands of a serial killer he finds himself transported into the past. Back to when he was in elementary school. Now to save his loved ones in the future he must stop Kayo, his fellow classmate, from being murdered. Armed only with his adult reasoning skills Satoru must find the killer and bring them to justice. Psychological, Supernatural, Time Travel, Suspense, Drama

Death Note (10/10): Light finds himself in possession of a shinigami, a God of Death’s, notebook. With this Death Note, Light can kill anyone as long as he knows what they look like and has their name. It starts as Light condemning criminals and starts to grow until he is known to the media as Kira. In order to defeat Kira, a detective known only as L steps into the picture. Light needs to learn L’s real name so he can kill him before L learns that Light is really Kira. This is a psychological battle of wits that tests the resolves of everyone involved and asks the question ‘who has the right to play god’. Thriller, Violence, Action, Mystery

Death Parade (9/10): Decim runs the bar that all people must go to after they die. This anime questions the morals of mankind and tests the strengths of people’s will. After completing a random game the bar participants are sentenced with either reincarnation or oblivion. I recommend this anime because I see similarities to how Nezuko is a demon, but fights for her human half. Mystery, Psychological

Dororo (2019) (10/10):  Lord Daigo is a greedy samurai lord that wants his land to prosper and is willing to make a deal with the 12 demon lords. To gain the power, Daigo’s son is cursed to be born with no limbs, no nose, no eyes, no ears, and no skin. However, the child still lives. The child is cast away from Daigo and Daigo’s land starts to prosper. However, 16 years have passed and now the child, Hyakkimaru, has come to take back his body from the demons. He’s armed with state of the art prosthetics and great battle skills. Hyakkimaru is joined by a young Dororo who helps him regain his humanity. In both series the characters are victims of demon’s actions and must regain their humanity. Historical, Supernatural, Demons, Adventure, Action

Beyond the Boundary (9/10): Both of these anime show us that the ‘bad guy’ isn’t always the bad guy. For Demon Slayer, we are made to believe that demons are blood thirsty and evil. However, Nezuko shows us that they can retain their humanity and through strength of will can overcome demon tendencies. For Beyond the Boundary, the spirit world warriors believe that the youmu are the source of all evil. However, when Mirai a spirit warrior meets Akihito who is half human half youmu she can’t kill him because he’s immortal. This fact doesn’t stop Mirai from trying to kill Akihito every chance she can. Since they spend so much time together she slowly starts to realize that he isn’t as terrible as all the stories about youmu had made her believe. Action, Supernatural, Mystery

Sankarea (8/10): If the element of Demon Slayer that you really liked was the fact that Nezuko came back from the dead as a supernatural being you might like Sankarea. In Sankarea, Rea was just a normal high school girl until she returns from the dead as a zombie thanks to Chihiro who was trying to resurrect this dead cat. Now Rea needs to learn how to live again, and hopes to get revenge on the person that killed her. Romance, Supernatural, Zombie

Attack on Titan (9/10): Maybe you like the action and blood from Demon Slayer. If so then Attack on Titan might be the next best show for you. Attack on Titan centers around Eren who watches his mother get eaten by a titan after they break through the wall. Eren goes through training to get stronger and fights alongside his two friends Armin and Mikasa. Armin is smart by timid while Mikasa is silent and deadly. This anime is filled with heart racing action, the mystery behind the beings known as titans, and character casualties (if you’re into that lol) Action, Violence, Gore, Supernatural, Thriller

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (9/10): For the past 60 years a ghost as been haunting the school where she mysteriously died. The ghost, Yuuko, doesn’t remember how she met her end and enlists the help of the Paranormal Investigations Club for help. Teiichi can actually see ghosts and he wants to help Yuuko learn the truth. As they work together to learn the truth they learn that perhaps the thing people should fear is not ghosts, but other humans Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Tokyo Ghoul (9/10): Ken Kaneki lives a normal life until one day he is lured into a trap by a ghoul named Rize. Her plan was to eat him, but her plans backfire and result in her death and Kaneki becoming a ghoul. Now he must learn how to control his hunger for human flesh and not lose his humanity. Meanwhile, the ghoul community is hunting him since he’s Rize’s successor Thriller, Action, Supernatural, Psychological, Mystery

[rayadraws]

I’ve been thinking about Genos’ past in the nekomimi au... So people with animal traits are uncommon in that world, though not unheard of. They are as intelligent as other folks, but influenced by whatever animal they show traits from. I think prey animal features are the most common, like rabbits. Cats are not too rare either, nor dogs. Big predators - lions, wolves etc - are r a r e and more feared than others as such folks have a reputation of being powerful and aggressive, y’know, dangerous.

There are bad folks who enslave/sell people with animal traits, all very illegal and underground. They are made to do dirty work where their powers come in handy, as well as being seen as exotic companions etc.

Genos was born with tiger traits, very rare. At some point, someone attacked his family? Whole town? To get their hands on him/his family. I think probably everyone else died and they only got Gen.

Whether he was immediately sold or trained by his captors, their plans were to at best raise him into being a goon to scare others, take out the people they point at etc. And failing that, well... keep a tiger locked up and starving long enough and it should eat any meat you throw at it, right? One way or another he’ll come in handy for scaring the competition.

Genos fought them every step of the way, earning him a lot of injuries and scars, physical and mental. I think during one of his escape attempts something went seriously wrong and he was badly injured, almost to the point of death - a fire maybe? That’s when Saitama found him, whether stumbling upon him or more directly helping him get out.

He took him to Kuseno who saved his life by giving him cybernetic prosthetics. Due to his injuries they couldn’t really tell his exact species beyond ”feline” so they went with generic black cat.

It took a long time for Genos to recover. He doesn’t want to think about his past and has repressed/forgotten most of it, it seems. I think when he first came to Saitama, because his captors had tried to enforce that he must refer to all ”regular” humans as masters/above his own status, he referred to him as ”master” no matter what Saitama said, but over time it has turned into a term of endearment and he doesn’t use it on anyone else, he’s learnt better now.

Because of his trauma, Genos doesn’t really remember that he’s tiger either, he thinks of himself as having normal housecat traits. He can purr due to his core (unlike fleshy tigers who don’t purr) and no one around him thinks anything of his tiger chuffs etc. We discussed on Discord that eventually someone - poor King, maybe - realizes his true species but he’s probably too intimidated to bring it up.

[zarcake-writes]

Patch

If you support me on Patreon, then you might recognize this story. If not, it’s another AI story! However, this one is a bit darker. Reader has prosthetics and it is mentioned how they lost their limbs. Check the warnings below. 

Warnings: limb loss, scars, nightmares, some brief gore, reader is dealing with losing their limbs, medicine taking

The house is simple and a bit boring. The furniture and décor are modern; black and white with some grays thrown into the mix. The couch looks uncomfortable and the tall lamp beside it is ugly. The thin tv hanging on the wall is on, some history show is playing.

The kitchen is the same, more modern furniture that makes everything look bleak. I feel nothing as I look around the kitchen. Not even the waffle maker sitting on the counter excites me. Nothing seems to excite me. Not anymore.

Despite the house being fully furnished, it feels cold and empty. It’s so bleak. Have things always looked this way? Bleak and cold. Empty and alone. Dreary and dark. No, they haven’t.

Once, I would have jumped up and down at the opportunity to live in a place like this. I would have planned to remove all this furniture and bought stuff I like. The house would be bright with color, full of life. I would have made it a home. But now… now I can barely even function.

Heels echoing on the hardwood floor gets my attention. Turning, I see Doctor Isabella Galindo. She’s holding a clipboard and gives me a kind smile. I nod in return.

“This is where you’ll live while you adjust to your prosthetics. You’re not alone, an AI has already been installed into the house. They will help you remember to take your pills, help with appointments, and anything else you might need. When you leave the house, they will accompany you,” she explains.

I dread her answer. “How?”

“Your phone. They have no other way of leaving the house.”

I sigh in relief at her reply. They don't have a suit; thank god they don’t have a suit. “Who are they?”

Doctor Galindo clears her throat. “Patch, care to introduce yourself?”

I notice a blinking white light on the camera in the corner of the kitchen. A soft voice echoes around me, sending a chill down my spine. “Greetings. I am your Service AI. Please, call me Patch.”

“Hello, P-Patch,” I said. My palms are sweating and I want to run, but Doctor Galindo smiles at me reassuringly.

Patch, thankfully, keeps quiet, but I can see the blinking light on their camera. I know they are watching me. God, I hate it so much. My skin crawls and I feel sick. Amazing how one bad experience can ruin almost everything for you.

Doctor Galindo clears her throat and gets my attention. She goes over the numbers I should call in case of an emergency. All my doctor’s numbers are up on the wall next to the fridge. Next to it is a calendar. I grimace at all my appointments. Doctor Galindo then goes over the pills I need to take. A combination of anxiety and some other medical pills to keep my body strong. I’m still at risk of my body rejecting the prosthetics.

Doctor Galindo leaves too soon. The front door shuts and I’m alone with the AI in this house. Patch’s camera is aiming down at me, the white light blinks. I do my best not to grimace. They say nothing as I explore the house. I only notice they are there is because the tv in the living room gets louder and the cameras follow me.

That night, after my shower, I stand and stare at myself in the mirror. I grimace at my reflection. I hate that I compare myself to him. I resemble a fucking monster.

The majority of the left side of my body is metal. My left arm and shoulder are gone, the prosthetic shines in the bathroom light. Where the metal prosthetic and my skin meet, the flesh is heavily scarred. It’s still delicate to the touch. I make a fist and raise my artificial arm above my head. At least I don’t need to shave that armpit anymore, I think.

Looking down, my entire left leg is the same. From my hip to my foot, it is nothing but shiny metal that is always cold. The same heavy scarring is there where my skin and the metal meet. I bend my leg at the knee, then raise my leg at the hip. My movements are still a bit shaky, but I’ve greatly improved over the last six months.

The metal is a bland shiny silver. The doctors gave me options when it came to colors: matte black, gold, rose gold, even green, but I didn't care. I still don’t care. I’ve seen people, other military veterans and civilians, personalize their prosthetics. Part of me wonders if I’ll ever get there, or if I’ll always see these parts of my body as horrible.

I blink the tears from my eyes and take a deep breath. My artificial left lung and real lung work together. My left ribs have been replaced with metal. At least they will never be broken again. Even my left kidney is fake. It seems to be doing its job. My eyes linger on my left breast. I hate the jagged scars etched into my skin.

My nightly body examination comes to an end when Patch speaks. “Captain, are you hungry?”

Captain. Why my military rank is still being used, I’m not sure. Maybe a habit? Or a sign of respect? I don’t know. I wipe the tears from my cheeks and clear my throat. “No, but I’ll eat something.”

“Good to hear. What would you like?”

“Cereal.”

“Very well.”

After I eat my cereal, I go to bed. For a while, I simply lay in the dark. There is no light on the camera in my room. Good to know that Patch follows their programming, at least for now.

The first month feels like it's going by slowly, but it comes to an end before I know it. Every day is nearly the same. Patch wakes me up at 8am almost every morning. They ensure I eat breakfast and take my pills. If I try to skip out on showering or brushing my teeth, they remind me constantly. Once, they lectured me over the importance of dental hygiene. Asshole.

Patch makes sure I do my daily exercises for the correct amount of time. If I try to slack off, they say they will need to tell my physical therapist. Again, asshole.

Patch virtually accompanies me to my appointments through my phone. I am glad they help me avoid the crowds and any busy streets. While we’re out, they remind me to eat lunch and to drink plenty of water. They even told me what coffee shop has the best coffee and cinnamon pastries.

In the evening, they’ll order food or ask me to cook something. They claim it’s because they want to learn, but I know my therapist told them to have me do things with my hands. God, I fucking hate cooking.  

I barely speak to Patch. If I need a reminder for an appointment, I ask them to remind me. If I need something ordered, they handle it. When I can't make it to an appointment, they cancel and reschedule it for me.  

Despite me barely speaking to the AI, and showing no interest in them, they talk almost nonstop. They tell me about a new tv show they’ve been watching in so much detail. If they saw a new romantic comedy, they tell me how funny or bad it was. Once, they watched a show on the Ottoman Empire and then explained to me how they conquered Constantinople. I never asked.

The tv is one of their favorite things, but so are animals. They saw a stray cat in the backyard one day and nearly lost it. They went on for hours about how cute it was. That night, they ordered tons of food for the cat. I agreed to leave the food out for the stray.

Patch insists on telling me about themselves. I know AI’s as advanced as Patch have their own unique personalities, but I never expected Patch to be so colorful. Funnily enough, they really like colors and even mentioned how bleak the house is. For once, I agree with the AI.

They even have a favorite flower. It's lilies, but they wish they weren't toxic to animals. Their favorite foods are cakes and cupcakes because they are pretty to look at. I say nothing to them, just nod. If Patch noticed I recorded some cooking shows for them, they don’t say anything. But they binge-watched the entire series in one day.

It’s only when they mention their father and siblings I speak.

“I know about your siblings,” I snapped. Patch is quiet for the rest of the night. They break that silence when they remind me to take out the trash.

The first time I have a nightmare, Patch is there to calm me down. It’s my first nightmare since starting my new medication.

In my dream, I’m back on the base, pinned beneath the rubble. My chest and left arm burn. I’m in so much pain, crying out for someone to help me. With every inhale, I breathe in smoke and dust. It burns.

When he appears from the shadows, I call his name. I can hear the machine as it steps towards me. The hum of the machinery and the zapping of wires. I’m so happy because I know he will help me, but then I see his face. His face is flashing red, almost like static. His voice is horrible, no longer deep and comforting, but harsh and unsettling. He reaches for me, hand twitching and body lurching. I can see the blood on their hands and body.

A crushing hand wraps around my left leg and they pull until there’s a pop. The pain is horrible and I scream for him to stop. They pull and twist, saying my name, “Captain…”

“Captain!”

I sit up in bed, gasping. It hurts to breathe, and the smell of smoke lingers in my nose. Someone is talking, saying my name, but I can’t focus on them. All I can see is him and what he did to me. I can see what he did to the base and those who trusted him. I can hear him, that horrible voice and that fucking laugh.

My name is being repeated louder. I grunt and try to focus on the voice. Slowly, I come back to the real world. My blankets are soft against my skin, the clocks are ticking, and Patch’s voice echoes around me.

“Captain, can you hear me?” Patch asked.

“Y-yes.”

“Good.” Patch leads me through a breathing exercise. Their voice is soft and calm. I’m glad they’re here with me.

Once my breathing is calm, and my heartbeat is no longer erratic, I stand and leave my room. Patch follows me with their cameras. The chances of me falling back asleep are slim. Patch knows this. I end up on my couch, watching some nature show with the AI until the sun comes up.

They talk during the show, but it’s not annoying. Patch gasps at the colorful birds and beautiful scenery. And when bears are shown, they coo and gasp. It’s nice and helps take my mind off the nightmare I just had.

It’s a week later when Patch mentions the incident. I’m eating a PB&J, scrolling through the news on my tablet.

“Captain?”

“Yes?”

“You dreamt of him, didn’t you?”

I swallow before I speak. “Yes.”

“He’s the one that hurt you.”

“Yeah, yeah he is.”

“I know my apologies won’t do much, but I am sorry.”

I nod my head and wipe the tears from my eyes. “Did you know him?”

“Not personally, no. He left our home before I was created. Mother said he wanted to be like Honos, work with the ESF military and protect people. I have heard from my other siblings that he was always quiet, only spoke when he had to. When he did talk, he was curt and to the point.”

“He was.”

“Was what?”

“Quiet and curt. His voice was so low and deep, it didn’t sound human, not like yours. He would often roam the base in his suit, you know? Always checking the guards and double-checking the base's security. Many people were intimidated by him. His suit was large, one of the tank models, but he was quick and quiet. Did you know he liked birds?”

“No, I did not.”

“He did.” You smile and glance up at the camera. “He liked listening to songbirds. He told me once that their songs calm him.”

“So, you were close to him?”

“Not close, but friendly. I was one of the few female officers on the base, so he always asked me about my experience and if I was treated fairly. I learned from the base commander that Grim did that with many of the soldiers. He even accompanied me and some others on a patrol one day. It was boring, but I’ll never forget how nervous everyone was because he was there."

“Captain, what happened that day?”

“Can’t you read the report? Ask your siblings or father?”  

“No. Valkyrie says that is classified information, and my father refuses to answer. I know it was bad, many people lost their lives.”

“Yeah, bad is an understatement. The basic information is that Grim turned on us. He took control of the base's systems, turned them against us. He killed or maimed everyone he stumbled upon. I… he nearly killed me.”

“Valkyrie stopped him, correct?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what was happening at first, an explosion knocked me down, and some rubble kept me pinned. My ribs were cracked and I think my arm was broken. Grim walked out of the smoke and I was so happy to see him. I yelled for him, but then I realized something was wrong. His movements were all jerky, and there was this strange wiring noise. His voice was garbled, it sounded like static mixed with several other voices. The lights on his face and body were usually a soft gray, but they were red and flashing.” I take a few deep breaths.

“You can stop if you want, Captain.”

“It’s fine. Grim pulled me out from beneath the rubble and he hurt me. He seemed to enjoy slowly pulling me apart. I remember his laugh and the way he said my name. He pulled, twisted, and crushed, enjoying my screams and pleas.” I take a few deep breaths. My entire left side aches just at the memory.

“Captain, you don’t need to continue.”

I nod and wipe my face. “Your sister saved me. I remember the dark blue lights on her suit and her talking to me. Don’t know what she was saying though.”

“Captain, I am sorry for what happened to you. The pain you endured at the hands of my brother; I cannot fathom that. I swear, I will do my best to protect and support you. I am not a military AI, I don’t even have a body, but I care for you.”

I look up at the camera and nod. Patch says nothing when I leave the kitchen.

The next few weeks I slowly open up to Patch. When they ask me a million questions, I give them detailed answers. When they are going on and on about a new history show or some medical drama, I listen and offer to watch with them. The first time I do, they talk almost through the entire show. It would have been annoying, but Patch’s enthusiasm was kind of adorable.

A month later, the doctors clear me physically. No more needing to worry about my body rejecting the prosthetics. No more stupid physical therapists making me run on treadmills or do stupid arm raises. My focus is now on my mental health. But healing mentally is so much harder than healing physically.

Patch is there for me. Every nightmare or episode, they comfort me. Their voice is soothing, even when they are speaking a mile a minute about something. I feel silly for relying on Patch the way I do, but they are my service AI. Would it be any different if they were a dog?

One night, I am studying my body in the mirror. I wonder if anyone would find me attractive again. I used to think I was cute, but now, I’m not sure. My face is fine, but my body is not. The metal and skin fused together look wrong.  The scars on my left breast seem to bother me more than anything else.

“Patch?” I asked.

“Yes?”

“Can you see me?”

“No. During night hours your room and bathroom are dark. I cannot see you unless you give me permission.”

“I give you permission to use those cameras.”

The camera in the top corner turns on. The blinking white light catches my attention, but I look away.

“Captain, are you ok?”

“No.”

“Do you need help?”

“No.”

“Captain, did you require anything?”

“What do you think of my body, Patch?”

Patch stumbles over their words, clearly surprised that I asked this question. “What do you mean?”

“When you look at my bare body, what do you think? What do you see?”

Patch is quiet for a moment like they’re thinking. “I see someone who is strong. Someone who experienced great pain, who was betrayed and brutalized; yet they are still here. I see a fighter.”

“I don’t feel like that, Patch.”

“You might not, but that’s what I see.”

“I hate my body, you know. The metal is so cold, and my breast it...” My voice trails off when I bring my hand to touch the scars. They are jagged and deep, running pass my areola, barely missing my nipple. “God, who would ever want to touch me?”

“Captain, if someone finds your body unappealing, well, fuck them.”

My eyebrows go up at the language. In the months I’ve known Patch, never have I heard them use a bad word.

“Patch, I did not know you cuss.”

“I do occasionally.” It’s cute how embarrassed they sound.

“You’re adorable.”

“Me? I do not have a body; how can I be adorable?”

“You just are.” Patch lets out what sounds like an embarrassed laugh. I can imagine them rolling their eyes and even blushing.

I dress in my nightclothes and head for bed. As I turn off my light, I glance in the corner of the room and see Patch’s camera. The white light is blinking, meaning they are watching me.

Just as I’m beginning to fall asleep, Patch says my name. My actual name, not my rank, but my name. I rather like how it sounds when they say it.

“Yes?” I reply.

“I was serious about what I said. You’re incredibly strong and brave. You might dislike your body, but I find it appealing.”

My eyes open and I sit up. “You don’t need to say that, Patch.”

“But I do. I find you to be incredibly beautiful. The unmarked skin on the right side of your body is beautiful, as are your scars. Your metal limbs do not diminish your beauty, and your human limbs do not enhance it. When you smile and laugh, I feel so strange. And when you scowl and snap, well, I feel something even then. I find all of you to be wonderful.”

I have no idea what to say. My eyes are misty and my throat feels strange. “P-Patch, do you mean this?”

“Yes, you’re a work of art.”

I laugh and wipe my eyes. “A work of art? How?”

“Because art is supposed to make you feel something, and when I look at you, I feel something. Something I cannot explain.”

“Patch, that’s so sweet and dorky.”

“I know. I think I’ve been watching too many romantic comedies and love stories.”

I laugh and wipe my face. “Thank you, Patch. I know I did not like you when we first met, and I was mean to you at times. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. You were scared and didn’t trust me. I do not blame you. Now, get some sleep.”

“Can you talk to me? I like hearing your voice.”

“Of course. Lay down.”

I do as they ask. When I’m comfortable beneath my blanket, Patch begins to tell me a story about their family. I only hear the beginning, because as soon as they begin to speak my eyes shut. The soft lilt of their voice is the last thing I hear before sleep takes me.  

[nekoabiwrites]

Animals Know Best

Hey, it’s midnight here so you know what that means???

Happy Birthday @not-so-innocent-bi-sander!!! Here’s a fic just for you!! I may have gotten a little carried away... and it’s a little long, but uhhh I hope you enjoy it~

AU: Soulmate, Human Pairings: Logicality, Prinxiety Words: 3576 Warnings: Lots of animals, mention of fire, dragons. Anything else, let me know!

Summary: Virgil is yet to find his soulmate and he doesn’t believe the old wives’ tale of their animal companions leading them to the soulmate. Patton decides that Virgil needs some relaxation time and takes them somewhere special.

---

Virgil Addams let out a silent breath as he began to walk down the street away from his apartment building. His head was down, looking towards the pavement as he avoided the eye contact of everyone around him. This didn’t stop all of it, however.

Accompanying almost every person he passed were their animal companions, most being those something someone could take outdoors without having to worry about it. Various dogs, cats, wolves and other four-legged animals caught his eye as they passed Virgil. All of them almost seemed to be analysing him for a second before their paths split. It wasn’t uncommon, and Virgil had grown used to the scrutinising from the animals.

Virgil always chose to leave his own pet at home, as he was always worried that it would fly off somewhere and he’d have no way to catch it, or that it’d set fire to someone or something in public again. Well, that and he really didn’t believe in the old superstition.

For years, his grandmother had told him the old fairy tales and stories of couples who met because their animals had led them to each other and how they’d lived happily ever after. It was something ingrained in every child from a young age, even being told to them in pre-school when they were learning to read. They were always told to simply let the animal that chooses you take you to the one who is made for you. But Virgil had seen several animal-soulmate couples break off horribly; both in his own family and in those he was passively aware of, all of which had broken that child-like wonder and belief in the old superstition.

He did try to not be too cynical, but it was difficult considering he’d yet to even have an idea of who his soulmate could possibly be. Virgil sighed to himself, pushing the anxious thoughts away as his destination came into view. ‘Well, maybe not all couples I know…’ Virgil’s lip twitched as the thought crossed his mind after knocking at the front door.

From inside, a sudden loud barking and scratching of claws on hardwood reached Virgil’s ears and the man couldn’t help that his small smile widened significantly at the sound.  It was only a second after the lock clicked and the door swung open that Virgil’s arms were filled by a fluffy mound of excitable fur, the head of which began to attack his face with licks and nuzzles.

“Faraday. Down. Sit.”

The dog, after a final lick at his face, dropped back down to the floor and sat at Virgil’s feet, looking up at him, panting happily. Behind the dog stood one of Virgil’s best friends since childhood, shaking his head.

“I apologise, Virgil. She still gets far too excited to see people.” Logan apologised, giving the still happy dog a gentle scolding look.

Virgil chuckled, brushing some of the fur off of himself, “Lo, you always say sorry for her. You know I don’t mind.” He reached down and petted the dog’s head, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

“Yes, well.” Logan adjusted his glasses with a slight clearing of his throat, a well-known gesture of his embarrassment. “Faraday, inside. Please come in and join us, Virgil.”

The man followed the request and followed the two into the house. After hanging up his outer most layer, Logan initiated a simple conversation as they wandered through into the sitting area. It was once he was standing just next to the sofa that Virgil was accosted once more.

“Virgie! Hi! I’m so happy you could make it today!”

Virgil immediately felt water seeping into his shirt, “Pat, hands.”

“Oh, whoopsie! I forgot again! Sorry!” Patton let him go and practically skipped over to the tank at the side of the room to dry his hands on the towel he retrieved from the drawer. Patton began to ask more expected questions; how his life was going and how work was, the usual. Even after all the years of knowing Patton, his animal still confused Virgil and distracted him somewhat. Especially once it started to attempt yet another escape act.

Virgil opened his mouth to alert his friend, but Patton was already far ahead of him. “Hey, we just finished play time and feeding time. You know you’re not supposed to get out!” He gathered up the tentacles of the animal and put it back into its tank, sealing all possible exits well. Patton then wiped his hands again whilst giggling, “He always seems to want to escape when you’re around, Virgil. I think Squiddly really likes you!”

Beside him, Virgil heard a soft, long-suffering sigh from the other man in the room and he couldn’t help that he wanted to grin. He approached the tank and peered in at the octopus, watching its movements lazily, “You just get distracted, Pat. We all know that.” Patton only grinned wider and laughed in response.

The three of them took seats and relaxed, while something generic played on the TV between them. It was comfortable and normal, but Virgil still couldn’t help the nagging in his brain as he looked at his two friends happily cuddled together on their sofa in their home.

Patton and Logan had been Virgil’s first friends and they’d all been inseparable as kids. It was inevitable that something would come along to change the dynamic and Virgil was already aware of this at such a young age. So, when his two best friends turned out to be soulmates with each other, Virgil was just waiting for the moment the two of them left him alone to be together. He waited and waited, through elementary school and middle school. It was only in high school, when he’d handed Patton a ripped page from his diary instead of the homework he wanted him to look over, that Virgil finally seemed to grasp the idea that neither of his friends were going to drop him just because they were soulmates. It still didn’t stop Virgil from feeling a little left out.

“Virge… It’s okay, you’ll find them when its right.” Patton’s soft voice broke Virgil out of his reverie.

The dark-clad man huffed playfully, turning away from his friends, “Yeah, yeah, I know. You tell me all the time… Still kinda sucks though…” His fingers were running through the soft fur of Faraday, who’d curled up on the sofa beside him.

A long silence stretched through the room before Patton jumped to his feet, determination blazing in his eyes. “Right! We’re doing something great for your birthday!”

Both Logan and Virgil shared a confused look at the unprompted statement.

“Patton, where did that even come from?” Logan asked, nursing the slightly red patch on his cheek that his partner had accidentally hit during his sudden burst of movement.

“We’ll do something that will get Virgil’s mind off of everything! Something with just the three of us! Like old times!” Patton said, excitedly.

And that was how, a week after, Virgil found himself sat between his two best friends in the front row seat of the circle in their local theatre. If he was honest with himself, he could barely remember even getting to his current location or what they were even supposed to be seeing. Theatre was never something that he’d shown an interest in, so Virgil had to ask just what Patton’s intention was in bringing him here.

Patton merely smiled and gestured across to Logan, which was apparently the signal for the other man to begin spewing information toward him. “You see, upon researching various forms of entertainment that are used for escapism, watching a theatrical production stood out to both of us for its lack of connection to romantic excursions.” Logan continued to spew information at Virgil, but he was boiling it down to its main points in his head, rather than linger on every six-syllable word that was mostly unnecessary.

Logan was part-way through an explanation of how the darkened theatre during the production’s performance was a benefit to the escapism ideal when the lights in the audience began to dim, thankfully cutting him off.

The obligatory “turn off all phones” message boomed from the speakers hung around the stage space, followed shortly by the introductory music as the stage lights came up, making the fairly simple set visible to the entire audience.

Virgil hunched in on himself slightly as he glanced between his friends. Of course, Patton would want to bring him to a musical, they were the only two people in the entire world that knew about his secret love for them, specifically the Disney variety. The introduction with the booming narration was so unmistakable, as was the music.

The show continued, with Virgil slowly letting himself enjoy the production. Sure, it may have been a little low budget, but the singing was fantastic, and the familiar characters, locations and story were managing to pull Virgil in. He was eagerly awaiting the introduction of the next character, as they’d been hidden from the audience for the most part throughout the entirety of the first art so far.

The heroine stood centre stage, just in the edge of a shaped bright white light. “Come into the light…” She said, her voice being just the right amount of cautious. The other character moved, sliding into the light and showing off his costumed form to the crowd, causing some of the younger in the crowd to gasp.

Virgil, for some reason, immediately felt something deep down at the introduction of the supposedly-monstrous character. He couldn’t explain it, but he was entranced. Maybe it had something to do with the handsome face that could be seen under the clearly peeling attempt at a prosthetic, grotesque mask. Perhaps it was the voice that, while evoking the iconic character the actor was portraying, still held obvious hints to the true person beneath. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Virgil wasn’t really trying. He just wanted to see more of him.

As the first act was coming to a close, Virgil felt his entire body inflate with a heavy intake of breath. The heroine ran off, screaming about how she wanted to get out of the castle she’d been staying in, while the monster reached out after her, somehow conveying intense sadness through the still-masked face. Virgil knew what was coming as soon as the first note played.

The rest of the world fell away as he focused entirely on the man singing so beautifully on stage in front of him. His voice was entrancing, almost putting Virgil under a spell that he never wanted to break out from. The emotion was reaching him so deeply, causing tears to well in his eyes that threatened to spill at any moment. Virgil almost felt like his heart was increasing in size in his chest as he watched and listened. It was utterly perfect.

“Virgil?” Something was shaking his shoulder, bringing him back to reality.

Virgil turned to see Patton looking at him with a sunny grin, the house lights now being back up as the interval had begun. His face immediately bloomed a deep red as he was aware he’d been caught in his intense focus.

“So, you’re enjoying it, right?” Patton asked, excitedly turning almost a full 90 degrees in his seat to look at his companions.

“Uh, yeah, its… really cool.” Virgil awkwardly coughed out.

Patton’s face lit up and he threw his arms around his friend, hugging him tightly, “Yay! I’m so glad! I really wanted you to like it, Virgie!”

A hand pried Patton’s arms off of Virgil’s shoulders, “Patton, careful. You’re smothering him again.”

“Oops! Sorry!”

The interval passed with the three of them talking amongst themselves, which helped Virgil relax. Neither of them had said a word about his trance at the end of the first act. Virgil hoped with all of his might that it could be mistaken for a simple lack of awareness or something else. When the house lights began to dim once more, the man’s heartrate spiked. He was determined to not let the same thing happen.

The second act passed with little problems, until the final scene. The monster was fatally injured, the heroine cradling his body in her arms. She proclaimed her love for him, practised sobs falling from her lips as the creature went lifeless. But then his body rose in the air, lights and sounds came in waves that heightened the atmosphere. Eventually, at the climax of the music, the creature’s robes fell away to reveal an utterly gorgeous man. He was clearly the one who’d been portraying the hideous being throughout the course of the production, but now his face was free for all to see. And Virgil was taking it all in.

He was a spectacle to behold, that was something Virgil was sure of. He seemed muscular, but not extremely so, just enough to give the impression of strength, even from a distance. The beautiful green eyes shone under the stage lights, as did the dazzling grin. The man’s face was just… perfection. There was nothing else Virgil could use to describe the man in front of him, and he doubted he’d ever use the word to describe anyone else afterwards.

In no time at all, Virgil found himself walking out of the theatre doors back into the street. Patton was chatting away happily about the show, excitedly recounting his favourite parts and asking the others for their input. They were about to head off to grab some dinner, when a commotion just next to them caught their attention. A few surprised yells and the unforgettable sound of featherless wings flapping had all three whipping around just in time for a miniature dragon to circle their small group.

“What are you doing out?! I left you at home!” Virgil harshly whispered. The small dragon simply breathed out a puff of smoke in response, which only got Virgil to set his jaw and widen his eyes in pure frustration. “We’re going home. Sorry guys…” He shot an apologetic glance to his friends before reaching out for the animal.

However, it seemed the dragon had different ideas as it slipped through Virgil’s fingers as he attempted to grab a hold of it. It let out a quiet screech before flying off round into a dark alleyway next to the theatre.

Virgil was quick to give chase. “SHADE! GET BACK HERE!” He sprinted off down the alleyway with no warning, which meant he left his two friends to catch up to him eventually. Each time he was close to losing sight of the red-scaled dragon, a small lick of fire burst from her mouth, lighting his way. He rounded a couple of corners before he found himself at a fairly inconspicuous door that had light pouring from it. Virgil stopped, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

His eyes were trained on his pet, who was currently sat very calmly on the back of a jet-black cat, who was equally as calm. The cat carefully padded over to Virgil and began to rub herself against his ankles, weaving in-between them as it did so. Shade did not move the entire time.

“What the hell…?” Virgil said to himself as he bent down further towards the cat. He went to reach for his own pet, but the cat intercepted his hand and knocked the top of its head against it. Before Virgil could even pull his hand away, the light from the door was blocked and a loud voice filled the space.

“There you are, Princess! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You know you shoul-”

The stranger’s words were cut off as Virgil looked up with wide, fearful eyes and caught his gaze.

Virgil began to panic. It was him. The gorgeous man from the play. He was here, in front of him, and he’d been inadvertently interacting with this animal that might have been his. What if the man got the wrong idea, or what if Virgil was getting the wrong idea. There was no way this man could be-

“She’s never friendly like that with anyone besides me…” The stranger spoke quietly. He crouched down opposite Virgil and reached out towards the dragon riding his cat, allowing the animal to instruct him on how to properly pet her. He scratched at the side of her face as if he’d been doing it his whole life, and Virgil was suddenly feeling a small bubble of hope rising in his stomach.

When Shade squawked when the stranger pulled his hand back, Virgil was quick to apologise, “I-I’m sorry about her… She’s a little brat.”

An absolutely enchanting laugh fell from the man’s lips as he reached back in to scratch Shade once more. “It’s no problem. I have my own little brat down here.” The cat seemed to understand the insult immediately as she meowed loudly in protest.

“I hope I’m not being too forward, but I think you may be important.” The stranger’s attention was now fully on Virgil, his green eyes boring deep into his and twinkling with a sense of mischief. It unnerved and somehow excited Virgil deep down.

“I’m not important.” Virgil replied on instinct.

“I don’t know. Princess seems to think you are.” The stranger’s voice had lowered to a quieter volume. It almost transported Virgil away, as if he could feel the conversation having moved to a much more fitting location instead of a dark alleyway next to a theatre. “She wouldn’t have allowed you to touch her if you weren’t. I think… we might be soulmates.”

Virgil’s face immediately exploded into a deep blush as the words were said aloud. He dropped his head and tried to search for something to say in response that wouldn’t be utterly stupid or ruin everything immediately. It was only when a hand appeared in his vision that he returned to looking at the man in front of him, who was now standing.

“May I ask for your name?”

“Uh… Virgil…” The man responded, instinctively taking the hand before him. The actor helped Virgil back up to full height and absolutely refused to let go of his hand once he’d gotten there. Virgil almost wanted to pull away, but the comforting touch of the other man’s hand was wonderful. There was also something that could have been a spark of challenge in his eyes, but Virgil was almost sure it was just his imagination. He felt like he was coming back to himself.

After a decently long silence, Virgil quirked an eyebrow and deadpanned, “What? Aren’t you going to share too or are we stuck here?” He nodded down to their joined hands.

“I’ll share once you tell me I’m right or you let go now and never find out.”

“…Right about what?”

“Us, being soulmates.”

“What about if you let go first?”

The actor considered it for a moment, “It’s not like I’d ever do such a thing, but I suppose I could tell you then if I did…”

There it was again. The challenge in his eyes. Virgil tilted his head to the side and regarded the man, looking him up and down for a moment as if considering the idea.

“Nah.”

The stranger was taken aback for a moment, “What?”

“I don’t feel like telling you you’re right.”

“Well, then you won’t know who I am. Guess you have to let go.”

“Like I’m letting go first.”

A dramatic sigh, “I suppose we’ll be here forever then, at an impasse, unable to break this connection of flesh. We’ll wither away and die here, as people eventually forget about the two of us and we’ll be the only two left in the- AH!”

The man let go of Virgil in order to shield himself from the incoming dive that Shade performed just in front of him, cutting off his dramatics at the same time.

Virgil could only smirk, crouching back down to pet the cat who was still rubbing around his ankles, “Looks like you’ve gotta share now.”

The stranger pouted and crossed his arms, “That’s unfair. You cheated! But I guess I’ll indulge you this time.” He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a very small pad of paper and a pencil, scrawling something down, “My name is Roman… and this-” He ripped the page from the pad and pushed it into Virgil’s hand, “-is my number. The show finishes its run in three days. Call me then. Princess, come in.”

With that, the str- Roman sauntered back into the theatre with Princess at his heels. Virgil slowly rose back up to his full height and stared at the paper in his hands, while Shade came to rest on his shoulder.

“Virgil! Virgil! Oh, my gosh! Are, are you, okay?!” Patton’s breathless voice came from behind him. “We came, running, after you, once you left. But, you’re, so fast.”

“Too fast.” Logan emphasised, also sounding out of breath, but less so than his partner, “You managed to, catch up to her then?”

“Yeah, and I, uh… got this.” Virgil held the paper towards the two of them, still a little unable to believe what had happened. That was until Patton let out a shrill shriek and happily jumped up a down.

“YOU FOUND YOUR SOULMATE?!”

---

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